#and they all have some warped perspectives on good and ‘evil’ and justice

[scoobydoodean]

question for you, if you're interested: with all the usual caveats that we can never truly know authorial intent, do you think 04x21 was intended to inspire sympathy for sam? dean? both? neither? i've been wrestling with it but i'm conflicted. would love to hear any thoughts you have :)

Oooh interesting question!

The TL;DR would be that I think it's supposed to help us understand both Sam and Dean's perspective, and absolutely—Sera Gamble wants us to feel sympathy for Sam. However, I also don't think the implication is intended to be that Sam is actually doing something he should be doing or that Dean is mean and unfair. It's just supposed to help us make sense of where Sam's head is, because he's been lying to everyone (including himself) all season.

In terms of Sam's season 4 motivations, 4.21 is a firehose. It fleshes out a huge tangled web of motivations Sam has for his actions, some of which are much more sympathetic than others. In that sense, I would say Gamble's primary goal in 4.21 is to make us understand and feel sympathy for Sam. We also get some of Dean's perspective (especially during his conversation with Cas and Bobby), but I think the primary focus is Sam, and that's timely, because the episodes leading up to this one show a lot of Sam's arrogance. We're repeatedly reminded from 4.14 to 4.20 that Sam absolutely thinks Dean is weak because of Hell (despite claiming "it was just the siren talking"), that Sam is a liar (and isn't even good at it), that Sam has an inflated (and growing) ego, and that Sam is self-deceived about his intentions (Pam and Chuck both point to it). We also see him scathingly compared to John in 4.19 (and while the episode gives us insights into some of Sam's driving motivations as well, it ultimately paints him in a fairly unsympathetic light imo). 4.21 formally lays out a variety of Sam's motivations that were touched on during the season, through his hallucinations in the panic room. Many of them involve a warped perception of events:

Sam can't fight destiny. Sam was never going to be normal. There was never any point in fighting. This is his destiny (4.04, 4.08, 4.19).

Sam is a monster. Monstrosity is inescapable and innate to Sam's nature, and the only way to fix his self-image is to prove that that monstrosity (represented by demon blood) doesn't make him evil and can be used for good (i.e., stopping the apocalypse). (4.04, 4.05).

Sam is just doing what needs to be done. His actions are ruthless, but he's the only one who can save the world. He needs to do this even if it kills him (4.14, 4.16, 4.18)

Dean can't do what needs to be done. Dean is weak (4.14, 4.16, 4.18).

Dean needs Sam to save him (4.18).

Sam wants revenge on Lilith (4.09, 4.18).

Sam wants justice against Lilith (4.21 only).

Mary and Jess's deaths are Sam's fault (1.05, 1.21), and he has to make their deaths mean something by using the demon blood (to which their deaths are connected) to do something good and make their deaths "worth it" (4.04).

The demon blood makes him feel better for being different. It makes him feel stronger and better than everybody else. A part of him likes it. Sam feels intense shame about this and it's the number one thing he hasn't been able to confront (4.15, 4.18).

More generally, the hallucinations show that Sam's motivations are incredibly varied, and that Sam fights within himself about whether the things he thinks about himself and everyone else are really true. The internal battle also indicates Sam's incredible uncertainty despite his bravado from 4.12 to 4.20. Deep down, Sam is not actually sure he's doing the right thing. He also questions whether he's actually strong enough to stop the apocalypse and whether Dean might be right that the demon blood is making him weak.

All of these bits of context feature oodles of self-deceit, and some of the motivations he denies, because he's talking to people he's hallucinating, but they are all ultimately Sam's thoughts. The motivation that gets called out as deceitful the most directly is when Sam hallucinates Dean telling him he's already a monster and always has been one, that Dean pretends to love him like a brother, but that they aren't even the same species. This is both a reflection of Sam's feelings about himself and Sam's beliefs about Dean's feelings, and while it's all being said, Dean is upstairs contradicting the conversation Sam is having in his head.

Dean is upstairs telling Bobby he'd die for Sam, and he's willing to become the shady-AF angels apocalypse-stopping bitch boy if it'll keep Sam from having to turn himself into a monster to achieve the same goal. Dean actually asks Cas if Sam could stop the apocalypse with his demon blood powers in this episode as well, proving it's something he was actually willing to consider, contrary to the dogmatic lens some fans view him through on the issue. Cas tells Dean that it's possible Sam could stop the apocalypse, but that Sam would have to consume so much blood he'd never be able to come back from it. This is what pushes Dean to commit to serving the angels. This is a decision Dean makes even though he explicitly does not want to. He doesn't trust the angels (4.02, 4.07, 4.09, 4.10, 4.15, 4.16, 4.17, 4.20), and previous episodes highlight Dean's growing discomfort with their sense of entitlement to him (4.15, 4.16, 4.17). He agrees to give himself over to them anyway.

Sam's repeated acts of deceit (and the outright cruelty of his views in 4.14 that he reiterates to Dean at the end of 4.21) reinforce Dean's belief that the demon blood is turning Sam into something he isn't. I'm also sure Sam getting slammed into walls by the force of his own powers in this episode did not exactly assuage Dean's concerns. Neither did him going into withdrawal and growing so desperate for a hit (during Ruby's 100% intentional absence) that he completely ruined an entire season of secrecy about consuming demon blood to drink the blood of a demon right in front of Dean and Cas in 4.20, blood all over his mouth and everything. He totally lost control.

Basically, I think we're supposed to see two different perspectives, and feel sympathy for Sam, while also understanding that Sam is deceived about what he's doing and his own identity. He hallucinates his own mother telling him he's evil and that he should die to make her death mean something ffs—it isn't that what Sam feels is the truth—it's that he believes it is.

Unfortunately, Dean reinforces one of Sam's broken beliefs at the end of the episode by saying that if Sam doesn't realize what he's doing is wrong and stop, it means not his actions, but his inner nature might actually be the problem. However, this line isn't supposed to uniquely demonize Dean. It comes right after Sam reiterates his statements about Dean's trauma making him weak, and acting entitled to trust after over a season of secrets and lies. What's so fascinating and tragic, is that both Sam and Dean, on the apocalypse issue, are at some level placing a hope for redemption in being the one to end the apocalypse. Dean hopes that stopping the apocalypse will make up for what he did in Hell (4.05, 4.15). Sam hopes that stopping the apocalypse will prove he isn't a monster. Each of them is also contending with their brother's image of them not being what they want it to be. At the end of 4.21, Dean knows that Sam truly believes Dean is weak for being traumatized by decades of torture, and Sam knows that Dean thinks he might be a monster beyond saving. The end of 4.21 is them each digging into the other's most terrible wounds. While I think there's a tendency for some fans to focus in on what Dean says to Sam (partly because of the incredibly emotional reaction it produces from Sam, and then later Bobby), I think the mutual harm here is plain (and we know from my multiple bitchy posts today and yesterday that Sam entirely loses my sympathy in the last few scenes of the episode ofc). But I do think that final fight is supposed to feel balanced as it separates the brothers through mutual harm.

That's the main response, but if you're interested... a word on Sera Gamble as a writer and some of the larger themes in play here:

4.21 is a Sera Gamble episode, and Gamble likes both of the brothers a lot I think. She wrote "Houses of the Holy", and "Nightmare" which are heavily focused on Sam's fears about his monstrous destiny. However, her first episode was "Dead In The Water". She wrote "Faith", "Salvation", "Heart", "Dream A Little Dream Of Me", "Jus In Bello", "Time Is On My Side", etc.

If I had to form the episodes she'd written into a sort of Gamble thesis on the brothers up to 4.21, I'd have to say she definitely sees Dean as the heart of the family and the moral center.

She writes Sam disinterested in helping someone in the absence of leads on their father (1.03). She writes "Faith" where Dean feels horrible about someone dying in his place and Sam quickly lets it go, just happy to have his brother alive. She writes "Bloodlust" where at the end of the episode, Dean reflects back on all of their past actions with monsters and how John raised them and wonders if they killed monsters that didn't deserve it, while Sam has no such qualms and lends sympathy for their father's emotional state instead. She writes Sam wanting to turn himself and Dean into immortals (3.15), and considering human sacrifice in "Jus In Bello". She writes Sam insisting on entering Dean's dreams in "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" despite Dean's protests about his privacy. She writes him instantly leaping to toss aside Dean's dying wishes so he can get revenge against Lilith in Dean's name (4.09).

All of this suggests a Sam who is desperate to keep his family alive (with a side of John's "losing sight of the actual family in the face of revenge for the family"). She writes a Sam who will jump to extremely morally dubious plays to keep Dean alive or save him and won't feel bad about it. Season 3 features a lot of Dean trying to be the person who curbs those impulses, and Sam (usually) ultimately conceding. I think there is an element of this dynamic in 4.21 when she writes Sam to say, "You [Dean] take the wheel. You call the shots". I think Gamble's really talking about Sam letting go of some of his most morally dubious plans to save Dean because of Dean insisting on it—within her own episodes (3.12, 3.15) and others (ex: 3.16).

I've written about how one of Sam's motivations in season 4 is that from his perspective, Dean's relatively more inflexible morals got Dean killed, and Dean getting killed then sent Sam into a suicidally depressed tailspin. Dean would rather die in 3.16 than sacrifice his moral principles, and Sam would rather have sacrificed both of their moral principles than see Dean die. This fundamental difference between the brothers runs through their entire season 4 conflict, from Sam calling Dean weak for being traumatized by Hell, to Sam lying to Dean all season, to Dean risking Sam's death to detox him from demon blood in 4.21, to Sam conflating a moral clash with loyalty and trust.

#writer disk horse #mail #monstermoviedean #4.21 #season 4 #the flannel business #sams motivations #i wanted so badly to believe i could be saved #i carved you into a new animal #gamble

[thyandrawrites]

Not a real meta because I don't have the juice to argue this on a deeper level, but just some food for thought:

I was thinking about how strongly this "war" arc is driving home the point that heroes blame the villains for their violent radicalization, right. Times and times again, during this arc, we've seen them strike punches harder and harder (plus ultra!) with the fervor of someone who thinks they're fighting for justice, and striking down the bad eggs who "choose" to do evil things for no reason, or because they're irreparably warped after crossing an (arbitrary) line between good and bad.

(for the record: this is not my bias. This is straight up canon text. Aizawa blames Shigaraki for Shirakumo's death. Gran Torino blames Shigaraki for "choosing" to be bad (read: abused and brainwashed since he was 5) and for rejecting Nana's will, wishing to kill him for it (when her will was to keep her legacy alive, mind you). Hawks blames Jin for choosing the League over reformation in jail.)

Arguably, none of them has even attempted to rescue any of the villains.

What we can glean from this is that the heroes are fully pushing the responsibility of "being bad" on the villains, right. Implying that they were rotten from the start.

With Hawks as the only notable (and flawed) exception, all of them are fighting the League as if they're past the point of saving.

I think it's interesting to compare that narrative to a different perspective, one that isn't told through the pov of someone belonging to the hero establishment. An outsider, if you will. Cause when the heroes talk about the fine line between villainy and victimhood, they do so from a very biased and not objective perspective.

Dabi's case is the perfect example to understand the theme at play here.

Dabi was canonically introduced as a follower of Stain, but one without a noteworthy criminal record prior to making contact with the League. It's even arguable if he even did crimes before that. Everyone else, even secondary characters like Magne, had a death count prior to that, save Spinner, a fellow Stain enthuasiast and hikikomori. Up until this point, Dabi is pretty much a random nobody who talks big, but without anything to prove that he's even a bad guy. Even at training camp, he led the operation in a way that specifically avoided unnecessary clashes between his people and the heroes. He spared Aoyama, he forgot he had a noumu that obeyed his orders, and he didn't kill anyone despite voting to pick up on Stain's agenda. I remember that at the time his... Laidback attitude towards villainy struck many fans as odd, to the point that many theorized that he was a mole, or an undercover hero.

So when does Dabi's violent radicalization actually start?

Interestingly, it's right at the start of Chisaki's arc. After Kamino. After his first actual villainous gig where he could've gone hog wild with bloodlust.

In other words...

... After his father unofficially becomes number one following All Might's retirement.

That is not a coincidence, because we're informed of it literally in the same chapter.

Chapter 115, notably told through Jin's pov. The pov of an outsider, of a victim of the system that was later brutally murdered by that same system who doesn't look people in the eye after labeling them viillains.

This is literally a couple of pages later.

Dabi's case is interesting because his violent radicalization is not the result of Stain's influence, but Endeavor's.

Canon went extra out of the way to make it clear that this was Dabi's first kill. Before this moment, he wasn't a murderer. So get this:

Endeavor made it in the news as the new symbol of peace, rousing people's anxieties but not enough for anyone to question his hero status. Within the same chapter, Dabi starts roasting people to a crisp.

Later making the news himself for it.

... Get it?

... As a murderer who uses fire to burn people to a crisp. It's almost like he's trying to say something. Wild, right. I wonder what that could possibly be.

It's super ironic then, when this happens:

On a literal level, Endeavor's vision is blurry and that's why he doesn't recognize Dabi.

But on a deeper level, it's kinda telling that despite that he only ends up identifying Dabi as Snatch's killer. But not his son. Because he's so focused on his job, on fighting villains without holding back, to the point of overheating and almost dying if it means neutralizing the threat, that he doesn't even recognize his own child.

The symbolism is pretty obvious here, especially when you reread this through the lenses of the heroes' self-righteousness in the war arc.

Endeavor doesn't expect Dabi to be his son, because he doesn't expect to be faced with his own actions. Cause to him, and to hero society at large, villains are villains because they are irreparably broken.

But who actually broke Dabi?

#my post #Thyandra.txt #Bnha meta #Bnha spoilers #Meta:dabi #I guess #It's more a ramble #Don't argue with this if you're just gonna remind me that dabi still killed people #I don't need a reminder because I can read thanks

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

anonymous: Am I the only one who really doesn’t like that Meatbun chose to make a member of a brutalized race the villain? I feel like it feeds into that message of revolutionaries who want justice being doomed to be corrupted by the power getting to their heads and turn into evil tyrants.

This is an interesting question anon! Thank you for this ask. 

First of all, I understand completely where you’re coming from. I’m always iffy when a main antagonist is a member of a brutalized, discriminated race whose ultimate goal is to get his/her people to safety. I don’t, as a general rule, sit very comfortably with the antagonist being someone who wants to end discrimination based on race against his/her people, or any people. Like, nope. I’m also extremely leery of that message of “revolutionaries who want social justice go bad”, and my wariness toward seeing a main antagonist with the motivation of ending some kind of oppression is an extension of that. 2ha, to a certain degree, does press those buttons, because just the fact of a member of an oppressed people being in an antagonistic position is... meh. I wish we’d at least seen the perspective of a non-villainous Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast. (Of course, this is just personal taste - others might not feel the same way.) 

However! There’s a reason why that doesn’t turn me off from the story. I would really dislike it if Meatbun made out Shi Mei’s desire to save his people as a bad thing, or if she had that desire gradually be warped into something less sympathetic - say, an appetite for destruction and vengeance. But she didn’t do either of those things, not at all. Although she rightfully condemns the damage he did to innocent people because of that desire, the desire itself is painted in a very sympathetic light. I would go as far as to say that the fact that Hua Binan’s resolve to end the oppression of his people was truly a good thing is why Meatbun gives him such a peaceful send-off despite the many terrible things he’s done. I mean, it’s not peaceful in-universe, since he’s literally squashed, but it’s a dignified death. He’s not crying, or screaming, or having a Villainous Breakdown over the fact that he has to die. Instead he’s... unhesitant in literally defying cosmic laws so that his people can get to safety, and the text is comparing his actions to that of his mother, who sacrificed her life to give him time to escape. (Off on a tangent, but I cannot help but laugh disbelievingly every time I reread Hua Binan’s death. Like, this man said, “Hey guys, I’m going to fight the demon guardian upholding a law of the universe, hold on a minute.” No consideration, no weighing of options, no nothing. Just “That’s what I’m gonna do then!” I mentioned in another post that despite his villainy I cannot help but respect the sheer audacity that Shi Mei has, and... yeah, I’m going to have to admit that the actions Hua Binan took leading up to his death display that same audacity.)

If I was choosing something to contrast the narrative tone of Hua Binan’s death with, I’d bring up Yagami Light, from Death Note. (I’m sticking to manga canon here, not anime.) He’s absolutely losing his composure, unable to face the fact that he’s been defeated and he has to die, and is crawling all over the ground desperately for a way to save himself. He then proceeds to start begging Ryuk to help him, and goes completely ballistic when Ryuk instead writes his name in his Death Note.

Hua Binan goes in almost the exact opposite fashion; he is not losing his composure, he’s unflinching at the knowledge that these actions mean his own death, and he’s not trying to save himself - he’s giving his life to save the other Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts. I mean, he literally keeps holding on despite being in enormous pain to make sure everyone gets through! At no point during his death does the text say or imply that he regrets sacrificing himself for the other Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts. I also really like how there is no thought in his mind as he’s being crushed that isn’t related to his people - most notably there’s nothing about Chu Wanning, whom he is supposedly in love with. I think it’s driving in that Hua Binan’s ultimate priority, despite what kind of feelings he might have towards anyone else, has always been his people. Nothing else will ever matter to him as much as his goal to get the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts to safety. (Although, mind you, that’s not necessarily a good thing - just look at all the devastation and death he caused in pursuit of that goal.) And like I said, I think that by giving him a heroic death, Meatbun was respecting that, if nothing else, his determination to stop the suffering of his brutalized people was truly genuine, and truly commendable.

That’s what sets this apart, for me, from the message, “Revolutionaries who want to overturn deep-rooted social injustices will go bad because they are corrupted by the power they have.” Hua Binan is not corrupted by power! His desire to save his people never changes, it’s never gradually distorted into something megalomaniacal the way that “cautionary tales” warn us will happen to revolutionaries. It is not the warping of his goal to end an injustice that makes him a villain - because that remains pure and unchanging, from start to finish. Rather, it’s the amount of innocent people he hurt and killed to achieve that goal. The fact that he perpetuates a cycle of abuse - dehumanization and brutalization is what he and his people suffer, and he responds in kind, by creating and executing a master plan hinged on dehumanizing and brutalizing others. That’s what Meatbun is condemning him for, and that’s why he’s the villain. And I really appreciate that she, in my opinion, makes it very clear that his goal itself was and remains a good thing. As mentioned above, the way I see it, the relative dignity of Hua Binan’s death was an acknowledgement the fact that there was nothing inherently wrong with his desire to save his people, that it was in fact a heroic desire. Because of that nuance, I’m not as put off as I usually am at the idea of the main villain being the member of an oppressed race, and I think Meatbun avoided the “cautionary tale” trope of having a revolutionary seeking justice becoming warped with power. 

#2ha #2ha meta #2ha spoilers #shi mei #hua binan #asks

[my-writings-and-musings]

Can I request the hostage prompt with whirl,cygate and megatron with a human so

Ohoho I've been waiting to do this one... Hope everyone enjoys some silliness mixed with sweetness!

Part One: You're Here!

Part Two: Here!

Whirl

·You've always had a kind of strength Whirl recognized and admired, it's one of the reasons he fell for you in the first place, but even you aren't sure what exactly gives you the fuel to snap with enough force that it freezes your captor at their active communication station. Maybe you're just tired of being chained up, but their arrogant demeanor is more than likely what pushed you over the edge, specifically with that last taunt at Whirl that used "Cyclops" as the punchline for the millionth time. Swears are beautifully melded into an avalanche of fury that starts with you demanding this lazy idiot think of a better insult for your partner than something involving his looks, because "You think YOU'RE hot shit?! There's corpses in here with more charisma than you!"

·Fear doesn't even register as you keep on tearing apart your captor in every way you can. Nothing is off limits with all the taunting Whirl has been forced to endure on the other end of the communication line, and thus you bring out every below the belt insult you can think of. The bad bot's jaw is slack as you continue, looking to their dazed face and declaring "Not to mention you're dumb enough to go after MY mech, you think a loser like you is gonna stand a chance against WHIRL?! Just last week he tossed a combiner off a bridge because he called me "fleshy", what do you think he's gonna do to YOU?!"

· The communicator is still running when your kidnapper leaves it to try and intimidate you into silence, a move that makes you laugh in exasperated dismissal. "Oh, now you're gonna THREATEN me, really? Did I not make myself clear? You've pissed off the deadliest mech in the universe, and he's got the entirety of the Lost Light helping him search, your next few hours would be a lot better spent deciding how you want what's gonna be left of you interred!" Though you're not even knee height compared to your captor, he actually seems to flinch at your words, especially with you raging so close to his gobsmacked face. The rush of finally shutting him up spurs you to continue your roasting with increasingly petty and crude comments on your partner's significantly superior looks.

·In a stroke of fantastic fortune or misfortune depending on your perspective, a tactical explosion tears into the underground base just as you start to elaborate on Whirl's many other impressive skills. Bots rain in to overwhelm your kidnapper and his automated defenses in a coordinated ambush, one quickly ruined when your absolutely giddy paramour rushes forth without a care to take out the captor in a flying jump kick with a howling battle cry. Rather than eviscerate his now vulnerable enemy, Whirl leaves the crumpled kidnapper where he lies, heedless to the battle still raging all around as his optic sparkles as he beholds you. Like a damsel being swept off their feet you're plucked from your chains and pulled into his careful claws.

·All but gushing with euphoria, he explains that your brilliant distraction tactic gave them the ability to trace your location, and that he heard every word of your spark warming defense on his behalf. You can hear the unhindered adoration in his voice, but you also get a chance to see it as he practically dances through the combat with you held in one arm. By the time your kidnapper is the only one left, he looks lovingly into your eyes and primes his gun with a tender whisper. "Want me to kill this glitch just for you, babe?" The other bots quickly interfere to insist on taking him in for a proper trial, something you're quite alright with as you explain all you really want is to get some rest. Whirl insists on carrying you all the way to bed, whispering sweet nothing's and more or less being the most affectionate anyone has ever seen him.

·Afterwards you're told what it was like on the other end of the communication line. He'd been inconsolable at your kidnapping, and it had taken multiple bots to prevent him from tearing apart the ship as the messages came in. But the moment you'd started shouting? He'd been initially frozen like the rest of them, but had eventually leaned in beside the communicator to listen, his optic getting mistier at every passing curse word yelled on his behalf. Some described his demeanor as that of a lovestruck teen listening to their crush sing a love ballad, though they emphasize his emotional reaction to hearing you was undoubtedly genuine, as it was probably the first time he'd ever been defended so passionately by anyone. The endless doting on you he engages in afterwards leaves you little doubt this is true.

Cygate

·Having two loving partners has always been a blessing, which is probably why you're so easily driven to a blind rage in the face of your captor's endless attempts to mock both of them through the brief communications he sends to the crew, which are also made more unbearable by his ever increasing list of demands for your return. At his latest taunting of their "freakish" romance, you hit your boiling point. The communicator is still running when you lay into the callous bot for having the audacity to insult anyone's choices when he's set himself up in a literal evil lair. "There's body parts just thrown around like confetti in here, and you LIVE like this?! Do you think you get to decide who's weird in this scenario?! At least those two were decent enough to have each other as roommates, you couldn't convince anything living to shack up with your creepy ass!"

·At the total silence you somehow find the fury to keep going, but harder and faster this time, your self restraint little more than a memory as you dangle from the chains keeping you still. "Is it a jealousy thing?! Are you just that peeved off you're single? That you had to steal me to cut them down from three to two? Bad news dumbass; they're STILL beating you on the dating front!" It's not helping your situation, but tearing in to the jerk who's dragged you into a cave and spent so long bullying your partners feels too good for you to stop, especially with the stupid look of indignation and confusion twisting his expression. Not to mention he gives you plenty to rip into even as he tries in vain to make you shut up.

·"You think you scare me?! Do you even know who I'm dating?! Do you think they'll let you get away with this stunt?! One of them can destroy your stupid face with one punch, the other is Cyclonus, and you've gone and pissed them both off!" While it may be a little underwhelming to threaten the guy with what others will do to him, you're hardly in a mood to complain when his expression briefly gives way to one of horrified realization. Yet that hardly calms you down in any significant way. Did he drag you to some nowhere planet and chain you to a wall without even bothering to consider the consequences?! Your back is killing you and the bots have been enduring his incoherent demands for hours, and perhaps you could forgive that if not for all his haughty taunting, which drives you to once again begin raging.

·"Did you even have a plan?! Do you actually have any idea what you're up against, or did you just think you'd swipe a human and earn an easy paycheck? Because if you had even an inkling of what my mechs are capable of, you'd be headed for the nearest space bridge and warping as FAR away from here as physics allow!" While it's a new level of ridiculous, even for your crazy life, the absurdities of the nonexistent plan simply make you see red. It's one thing to be kidnapped by someone who at least has goals, but to be chained up in a cave by some idiot who doesn't have any plans beyond profit and bragging? That'd be enough to tick you off in itself, but the additional insults he's levied at your partners bring your tirade into molten levels of anger that seem absolutely bottomless.

·You're practically red in the eyes when the whole place quakes, and by the time you realize your captor is booking it he's already made it to the door, though his escape ends there when it opens to reveal the bots you've been wanting to see more than anything. A single strike from Cyclonus sends the kidnapper clear across the room, and he's followed by a battle ready Tailgate roaring out his fury as the security systems come on. The chaos of automatic turrets does nothing to distract you from the little blue bot pummeling your captor, and it only makes the arrival of a familiar purple mech that much more heroic as he snaps your chains and pulls you into his arms. The battle is little more than a formality before the barely conscious villain is cuffed and prepared for transport to trial, something your two partners are only willing to allow under the threat of personally hunting him down if he tries to escape justice. Before even leaving the cave you're smushed in the middle of a passionate hug.

·Tailgate alternates between ecstatic buzzing and relieved weeping at your rescue, while Cyclonus never loses a soft smile but keeps finding opportunities to hold and touch you as if he needs to be reassured you're here. It's heartwarming, but according to the rest of the crew it all started at your unplanned radio takeover. No bot had been prepared to hear their favorite human erupt in such unbridled rage, but those two had been shocked in the most wonderful meaning of the word, their expressions reflecting awe like no other until the ship had actually arrived at your location. Cyclonus had actually gone slack jawed while Tailgate had threatened to faint in his arms, but joy had painted their reactions more and more as time had gone on. The tiny powerhouse and the colossal mech out of time were still effusive in their praise every time you three were together, neither having ever known someone could truly love the two of them so completely.

Megatron

·Knowing that Megatron has a sizable target on his back and a lot to be criticized for doesn't make enduring your captor any easier, which is probably why you end up reaching a boiling point after a few hours of listening to the bot who's tied you up try to claim some kind of moral high ground. A tiny human being protective of a titanic gladiator may be illogical, but you can't seem to care when you finally hit your limit, the chains keeping you in place rattling from your sheer force of rage. Because seriously, so long as we're criticizing people for immoral actions, can you cut in about the time some raging jerk tied you up just to taunt another bot and get some cash on the side? Your simple but glaring barb immediately gets the attention of the much larger alien as they stare at you in shock.

·At his bafflement you become entirely unhinged. "Really? What, do you need me to spell out the irony of all this?! You're calling MY MECH a monster, but I don't see him running many evil lairs at the moment, do you?! Kind of rich, you claiming the high ground while I'm literally CHAINED TO THE WALL and our only present company is CORPSES, don't you think?!" The various and still unexplained dead bodies dotting the cave remain as the only audience you know of while the communicator is abandoned, your captor leaving it behind so he can approach and try to growl out some kind of intimidation. It has no effect beyond making you more furious than ever before. Had the chains not been holding you down, you'd have certainly tried to swing at his stupid face while you snapped.

·"Are you trying to scare me? You, a two bit kidnapper who holed himself up in a cave, and I'm supposed to be impressed?! I'm DATING Megatron! One look at a bot that terrifies the galaxy and I decided I wanted a piece of him!" You're almost proud as you declare your undying love for your gigantic partner, something that has earned you a lot of grief from others but has made you happier than you've ever been in your entire life. While you ordinarily don't attempt to argue on his behalf, per his request, it's impossible not to just grill a jerk who thinks he has the high ground to criticize literally anyone. Plus your open and passionate fondness for the former warlord seems to be scaring your captor more than the mech himself ever could, something that brings a devilish twinkle to your eye as you continue to threateningly gush over the bot you adore, if only to pay this jerk back for all the gloating he made said mech endure.

·You're absolutely effusive as you passionately and quite aggressively go on about what a gentlemech you're dating, with ample divertions to the many ways his incredible strength and size are used for much more protective and noble purposes, like holding you close or crushing bad guys. It isn't long before you're spinning a terrifying yarn about the time you were caught in a firefight and he tore a hunk of the wall clean off to shield you from the danger before proceeding to beat the attacking forces with the corpse of their leader. The kidnapper is actually backing away slowly, which turns to backing away quickly as you begin to describe Megatron's romantic poetry skills and how some of his greatest talents lie not on the battlefield but in the bedroom, by which point he's preparing his security systems to cover his escape.

·Perfect timing, from your perspective, makes the sudden explosion of every door a beautiful and inspiring sight. In what has to be the most well coordinated ambush of all time, your friends of the Lost Light storm the cave and annihilate the resistance so fast you only have to blink before a very restrained Megatron is cuffing your petrified kidnapper and tossing him to Magnus so he can be taken into custody. When he turns to you he's actually smiling, and there's a lot behind the expression. Relief, gratitude, exhaustion, and a million other emotions swarm in his optics as the chains keeping you bound crumble like dust in his grip, and you're lifted in his cupped hands like a priceless treasure. Though he's mostly quiet for some time after, you can hear how absolutely smitten he is with you every time he speaks, and the lovestruck look of pure affection never seems to leave his face, which you see often as he appears terrified to lose you.

·A couple of other bots feel compelled to tell you; he was on the warpath when he found you missing, and many had been taking bets on how little would be left of your kidnapper once the former Decepticon got his hands on him. Yet, as soon as he'd overheard you, something about his whole demeanor had changed in an instant. He hadn't just softened, he'd been visibly moved by the passion of your defense and the fire of your love for him. The very idea that he could be defended had been unthinkable in his mind. Yet you'd faced a much larger foe without fear because you'd been so angry on his behalf, what could he possibly have done to deserve such a thing? His gratitude is apparent every moment the two of you spend together, from his rather out of character cuddling to his impressive increase in poems written to describe his adoration of you. Though it isn't at all necessary, you do enjoy having been able to let him know how deeply you cherish him.

#transformers #maccadam #mtmte #more than meets the eye #lost light #idw #tf #my writing #my asks #anon #requests #whirl x reader #cygate x reader #cyclonus x reader #tailgate x reader #megatron x reader #human reader #self insert

[flightfoot]

I was Marinette Stan before. But I keep seeing people said Mariette never do wrong, she never get jealous of Lila and she called her out as ladybug is because her senses of justice, she never get jealous of Kagami and etc etc, basically ignored all her flaws and mistake and just glorified her as this pure angel and agent of justice. It make me sad and started to hate her character despite I know Marinette is not like what the toxic fans describe her to be. But it just hard to see her and not remember what those people do to her. Do you have any advice how to get rid of those thought?

Yeah, I’ve run into that as well. Worst of all when it’s combined with then bashing everyone around her for not being good enough for her, turning them into caricatures that... at a certain point I’m not sure I can even say they’re caricatures of THEMSELVES, they’re so far removed from reality. Though judging by the “angel of justice” bit, I’m guessing those are the sorts of cases you’re talking about, since that’s often how she’s presented by that crowd.

It’s difficult, I won’t lie. For starters, I mostly call that version “Saltinette” in order to differentiate her from Marinette. She has little in common with Marinette anyway. She’s just a hollowed-out shell that people use as a self-insert for revenge fantasies. 

Not like she’s the only one this is done too either. For pokemon, “Ash is betrayed by his friends and he goes off and trains and becomes super strong and powerful without them and comes back to yell at them about how horrible they are while rubbing in their face how powerful he is now” became quite the popular sub-genre apparently. Seriously google “Ash betrayal” and you’ll find no shortage of fics. And it’s not like this was derived from anything in-show or had anything to do with the characters actual personalities. It kinda helps me, seeing that it’s not really anything personal about Miraculous Ladybug or the characters - people will just write this kind of story regardless of there being any basis to it.

But there IS still that bitterness with seeing her used that way that can carry over to her character, even with differentiating them as much as I can

For myself? I’ve blocked about twenty tags on AO3 to try to minimize the number of fics I see pop up about Saltinette - even seeing the SUMMARIES pisses me off to no end. But of course, some still worm their way through. 

I read a lot of fics where Marinette’s in-character, where she’s kind and cares about people besides herself, as well as fics where she may fight or disagree with her friends or family - but it’s not treated as Adrien or Alya or Chat, for instance, being mean or evil, but instead like a genuine disagreement, with their emotions and reasons for disagreement being treated as valid, even if they’re based on incomplete information - likely related to Marinette’s double life.

Plus, there’s always rewatching episodes of the show. I especially recommend Reverser for salt fighting. 

With seeing Marinette reach out a helping hand to Marc we see her kindness and concern for others, even people she barely knows.

When her plan to give Nathaniel backfires and he yells at her, yells at Marc, even rips up Marc’s notebook, she’s mostly upset that things went horribly wrong - is upset on behalf of both the boys rather than herself. 

And when she and Chat Noir are hit? She’s kind and gentle and sweet with Chat, while going to her friends for help, including Nathaniel who’s calmed down and started thinking things through again. Because other people are treated as having their own emotional states and overreacting without being demonized for it and thrown in the trash.

At the end Marc and Nathaniel even engage in some light ribbing with Marinette, something she takes in stride, laughs along with.

Of course there are other episodes that are great to watch if you want to try and cleanse your mind of Saltinette, but that’s one I highly recommend.

Oh, and I also already wrote a fanfic dismantling the salt, showing where it has a kernel of truth to it in the beginning and then where it takes that too far, with the rest of it having the main thesis being that without the narrative bending to Saltinette’s views, she’s actually pretty bad from an outside perspective - not least because of how she warps the characters around her. And that she is NOT Marinette, is not anything LIKE Marinette, that Marinette would never be like her. So I remind myself repeatedly that I already wrote a fic on the matter and have already gotten my views on it across, which helps as well.

#ask #Miraculous ladybug #ml fandom salt #fandom salt

[stitchlesswitch]

have a question and haven't found anyone to answer it.. I've got very mixed feelings on doing any sort of cursing or jinxing of people because I feel like it's not my place and God will be upset... Thoughts and opinions? 👉🏻👈🏻

Oh man, that’s an excellent question, and I hope I can do it justice, but please keep in mind I am no way the final authority on the subject matter. Buckle up, because you made the mistake of asking a particularly wordy person. I’ll try to break it up to be more digestible. 

TLDR: Do No Harm ... But Take No Shit 

PS: Binding and Banishing Spells are pretty good “christian” alternatives -- to me, anyways. See the bottom of the really long post below.

Inadvertent Masterpost Below?

Opinion on Other Witches Using Curses

In terms of Other witches using cursing, hexes, and jinxes---don’t judge them. (Don’t call it black/dark magic either. It associates “black” or “dark” with “negative/bad/harmful” which has racist repercussions.) To me, it is not a Christian’s place to pass judgement on how other people live their lives.

Now this might confuse some people, and in fact it already has, because I literally just made a post where I told people to not curse donald trump--to clarify, I was kidding. It was supposed to be irony/satire.

Opinion on Christian Witches in General Using Curses

In terms of Christian witches cursing/hexing/jinxing, it’s the same rule, I don’t tell other christians/christian witches how to practice their religion.  But it gets really complicated, because there’s obviously a line, right? Like if someone starts using Christianity to be homophobic or racist or as an excuse to oppress other groups, Obviously I’m gonna step up and try to stop them. As christians, I feel we have a certain obligation to stop other people from warping and twisting our faith into a tool of hate. So how does cursing/hexing/jixing fit into that line of thought?

In terms of other Christians using curses/jinxes/hexing, to me it’s a two sided coin. Either they are doing it to be malicious, in which case that’s their personal problem between them and their God. I’m not the sin police. I’m not gonna sit here and pretend I espouse Christianity in all my words and actions. On the other side of the coin, and this is really important, they could do be doing it for the sake of Justice, or even in defense of worthy causes. For example, cursing an abuser, or hexing white supremacists. So that’s the distinction I hold, and I feel it’s important to separate: essentially, don’t tell people how to live, but don’t stand by and let them use christianity as a tool of oppression either. 

My Personal Opinion on Cursing as an Individual Christian Witch

But, it goes even further, and I think this is really the heart of your question: how do I feel, personally, as a Christian witch, about curses in the name of justice? How are we supposed to know God’s thoughts/feelings/opinions about enacting negative consequences for the sake of a good and just cause? I think that, with all things, it depends. 

Defense

I think using curses against someone who is abusing you in any way is entirely justified as self defense. I refuse to believe that God would want you to just lie there helpless and suffering if you have the means, any means, to stop it. 

Vengeance

 Now this is a big one, and the most complicated one. Especially if the person in question is a past abuser. I have a few of those in my life, and the temptation to curse them, is really powerful sometimes. It’s really hard, because one of the staples of Christianity is forgiveness. We’re taught to believe that those who are evil will get whats coming to them in the afterlife, therefore we do not need to seek retribution against them in this life. So I had to analyze my fundamental beliefs. Perhaps you too, could benefit from these questions:

Why did I become a Christian witch? What is it that I hope to get out of being a Christian witch? And the answer to that question is that I’m trying to be a better person, a better Christian. I am a Christian witch because I’m actually an incredibly hateful, angry, and violent person--I’m trying to use christian witchcraft to undo that. So to curse as a Christian witch would be hypocritical and counter-productive In My Case. Cursing For Me, would go against my core reasons for being a Christian witch.

Secondly, Do I accept letting God take responsibility for seeking vengeance on my behalf? I had to ask myself that--do I trust God? Do I relinquish control of justice into God’s hands? And again, because control issues and trust issues are major problems I’m struggling with, it is in line with my practice to say yes to those questions. To say no I don’t trust God and I don’t relinquish control when it comes to seeking justice, would be counter-productive against my core reasons for being a Christian witch.  

But if you have entirely different reasons why you are a Christian witch, then your answers might differ. 

Social Justice--Cursing Against Injustice in General

I always go back to this quote: “When we go before Him, God will ask, “Where are your wounds? And we will say, “I have no wounds.” And God will ask, “Was there nothing worth fighting for?”— Allan Boesak (via shaneclouw) 

To me, I very much believe that God would want us to stand up for those who are being persecuted. In these cases, things along the lines of “hexing white supremacists” is quite acceptable in my perspective. But that’s because I’m a fighter. 

Like I said, I’m a very violent and angry person. I have Zero issue with using violence for the sake of what I believe is right. BUT, not all Christians are like me. Some Christians are pacifists. I know people who are pure love, who are incapable of hate, who couldn’t hurt a fly if their life depended on it. Those are the kind of people that violent and angry people like me are supposed to protect. Does that make sense? 

Not all Christians choose to respond to injustice with bloodthirst the way that I do. And I can’t sit here and pretend that there is only one correct way to respond to injustice. Both the fighters and the lovers are important and necessary in the response to injustice. Your wounds don’t automatically have to come as a result of being violent. 

( This post is a cool resource fyi )

Protection Post and Hexes for BLM Movement from @littlewitchygreen

Talk to Your God

You don’t have to take my word for it. Try to pray, use divination, journal, ask for signs. Communicate with God. Easier said than done,  I know. And God sometimes specifically withholds answers because he wants to see what we’ll do. But I really don’t recommend just jumping into something so serious without having multiple talks with your deity about it first.

It’s Not Black and White

Take this post for example, what magic does the bible prohibit? a very good post. Except, shit’s just not that simple. For example, the Bible unequivocally says, “Thou Shall Not Kill” -- but if someone is attacking me, you bet your ass I’ll kill them without hesitation, remorse, or mercy. Another example, it explicitly prohibits contacting the dead. Well I Regularly speak to love ones that died at their grave--could that count as contacting? Maybe maybe not. The point is we Love to pretend that Religion is just So Simple and Black and White and it just fucking isn’t. We can’t box the creator of the universe into a dichotomy. 

Christian Alternatives

Protection Spells/Return to Sender

In some cases, protection spells can accomplish the same thing in a less malicious way, by simply keeping negativity the fuck away from you.

Ultimate Protection Magic Masterpost 

[part 1]

[part 2] 

Source: auricwitch

Baneful Magic Countermeasures from @breelandwalker

Return to Sender Protection Jar from @shroud-of-roses

Return to Sender Spell from @cyncrow

Return to Sender Masterlist from @the-canary

So you think you’ve been cursed from @sylvaetria

Banishing Spells

Definition: Banish--to forcefully remove something; to put an end to something. Source: lunaesteria. Banish--To magically end something, Or to rid the presence of. Definitely works on people. Source: unknown but not me sorry.

Methodology: 

Banishing - take an item that represents what you wish to banish and: throw it in the trash, flush it down the toilet, burn it, bury it, drown it; burn the item and sweep the ashes out the back door or bury them; carve the name of what you want to banish into a black candle and let it burn down completely; transmute negative energy into a stone (preferably a black stone like onyx) and throw it over the fence in your backyard (or whichever direction is south in reference to your home); stir your morning coffee or tea in a counter-clockwise motion while focusing on the intent of what energies you wish to banish for the day; using incense that is associated with banishing negative energy, walk around your space in a counter-clockwise motion with the lit incense in your hand. Source: lunaesteria

Specific Banishing Spells:

Other Examples of Banishing Spells and This One both from @sylvaetria

Christian Banishing: Banished with a Blessing

Binding Spells

Definition: Bind – to restrict the actions/behavior of someone or to tie them to another object, place, or situation Source: lunaesteria

spells – what’s a binding spell ..?

Methodology:

Binding & Sealing - wrap a string around a poppet or other representation of the target or item you wish to bind; put the poppet or other representation in a plastic bag filled with water and freeze it; place the item in a black box and seal it - store in a dark place or bury the box in your backyard; drip wax over the item. Source: lunaesteria

Specific Binding Spells: Search “witchcraft binding” on Tumblr and you will find a Ton of binding spells for a variety of different purposes/reasons. Unfortunately they are not compiled on a single post.

Christian Binding Spells:

Prayer to Bind someone who wishes you harm

I’m so Sorry I didn’t post the below spell I looked all over tumblr for the original person who posted it but I can’t find the post anywhere:

“Christian Witch Binding Spell

Disclaimer: This spell does not belong to me.  It belongs to Aslinn Dhan.  It’s in her Christian Witch’s Book of Shadows

Materials

Anthame Bowl

White and Black Candle

paper and pen

wand

Incense

Sacred Fire

salt water

Perform cleansing and the calling of the corners to begin each spell. Pour some of your water into a bowl and bless it with the sign of the cross. Using salt, cast your protective circle and light the white candle from your sacred fire. Place the candle in the center of your circle and with your wand intone:

Angels of the four corners, hear my cry. Carry my words to your Master and mine. Within this space stands one who believes Protect me and give me the strength I need.

Write the name of the one who is harassing you. Roll it like scroll or fold it and lay it in your sacred space.

On this paper is the name of who is vexing me. Bind them from harassing others, and me, from harming others or me. The harm they inflict comes back to them. By the power of three make it be. May their heart grow heavy with regret but may they make amends. St. Michael the Archangel, I ask your help in this matter.

Burn or otherwise destroy the paper.

Say the Lord’s Prayer.

Take up your wand and say

___________ I admonish you from harming yourself and others. Your hurtful ways harm not only others but yourself, Angels of the four corners, protect him from harm and protect others from being harmed by him.

Announce: Blessed Be!

Angels of the four corners carry the sentiment of this spell to God in heaven. May all of the elements of this spell enlighten me to help me to withstand evil and encourage those around me to put aside their evil ways that are harmful to themselves and to others. May all we do come back to us seven times.

Perform closing ritual.”

Why are Banishing and Binding Okay?

To some, they aren’t. To me, they are just more defensive. They aren’t saying “I specifically wish ill intent on you” it’s more along the lines of “I wish you would go away” and “I wish you would fucking stop doing that.” (Some will say you’re infringing upon free will with binding, but to that I say, I also fringe upon my dog’s free will when I stop her eating a doughnut off the counter idgaf free will is a myth.)

Tips for Cursing

You should never cast a curse unless you know how to undo it from @sylvaetria

How to undo a curse from @heatherwitch

Curse Breaking from @nightmarist

What I learned about Curses from @kendallscraft

Jinxes Hexes and Curses from @orriculum

Source: lunaesteria

✖ Spell & Curse Breaking ✖

Methods for negating spells you have cast:

Destroy the physical representation of the spell i.e. if your spell was contained within a jar, break the jar and dispose of the pieces

Disassemble the spell and cleanse each component individually

Place item in a bath of sea salt and dried herbs that are associated with cleansing and banishing - leave overnight and disassemble the spell when finished

Cleanse the item with moon or rain water and disassemble if applicable

Place the item in a black box to negate its effects

Bury the item for 3 days, retrieve it, then dispose of it

Bury the item on the night of the full moon and retrieve it at the next new moon

Create a sigil or written incantation with the intent of breaking the spell and place the item on top of the paper - leave in place overnight

Create a written incantation that includes the details of the spell - bury, burn, drown, rip apart, or throw it away

Light a black candle that is surrounded by sea salt while focusing on the intent of negating the spell - recite an incantation if you wish, and allow the candle to burn down; sweep the sea salt out your back door

Breaking and warding spells others have cast upon you:

Perform a “Return to Sender” spell - find a black taper candle; turn it upside down; cut the tip off and leave the wick in place; carve “return to sender” and the target’s name (or a description of them) into the candle; light the candle upside down and let it burn down completely

Leave a Witch Bottle outside of your home - it should contain items like: pins, needles, broken glass (to shred their negative intentions towards you); your name and the names of those who may be affected by this negative energy plus an incantation for protection (e.g. your loved ones, pets, anyone who lives in your home); and lemon juice, lime juice, or sea salt (to purify their negative energy so that it may not get to you)

Create a mixture of charcoal, chili powder, and sulfur powder - sprinkle around the perimeter of your home to stop a spell in its tracks

Alternately, you may combine these ingredients, add to a hollow pendant, and wear on your person to protect you from the effects of a spell

If you know the details of the spell that has been placed on you, write them down on paper; while focusing on breaking the spell, hold the paper in your hand, and then rip it to shreds; throw the pieces in the trash, or bury in your backyard

If you don’t know the exact details, write down the effects you have been feeling if you think they have been caused by a spell or malintent directed at you; follow the steps above

Submerge yourself in a bath of sea salt and light frankincense incense - place the incense on the edge of the tub or somewhere safe in your bathroom - to cleanse yourself of any negative energy that has been directed at you

Place an energetic shield over yourself or your home that is designed to negate negative energy

Tips: 

Close all loopholes

When crafting a spell, remember to create a fail safe (e.g. “this spell will be broken if X occurs”)

Add timed conditions to your spells (e.g. “this spell will be broken on the night of the next full moon” and include a specific date)

Be specific when describing the target that will be affected by the spell (whether it’s you or someone else, be sure to include taglocks whether it be their name written or spoken aloud, DNA such as hair, fingernail clippings, etc., or a photo of the target)

Use ingredients, supplies, and tools that match your intent

Employ a method of protection before casting spells, whether the intent is malefic or not

Cleanse your space and tools before and after performing a spell to “wipe the slate clean”

Herbs:

Ague, Angelica, Asafoetida, Bamboo, Basil, Bay Leaf, Benzoin, Boneset, Brimstone (Sulfur Powder), Burdock, Chili Pepper, Cinquefoil, Comfrey, Datura, Frankincense, Galangal, Garlic, Geranium, Holy Thistle, Huckleberry, Hydrangea, Iris Root (Orris Root), Lemon Verbena (Vervain), Lilac, Lily, Lucky Hand (Orchid Root), Mimosa, Myrrh, Nutmeg, Oak Moss, Onion, Oregano, Papaya, Patchouli, Peony, Pokeroot, Prickly Ash Bark, Rue, Safflower, Solomon’s Seal, St. John’s Wort, Stinging Nettle, Squill, Thistle, Toadflax, Turmeric, Vetiver, Willow, Wintergreen, Witches Grass (Dog Grass), Wormwood (Absinthe), Yarrow Flower, Yew, Yucca

Crystals:

Agate, Amber, Amethyst, Ametrine, Black Tourmaline, Bloodstone, Carnelian, Celestite, Chrysocolla, Citrine, Emerald, Epidote, Fire Opal, Fluorite, Garnet, Halite, Hematite, Howlite, Jet, Kunzite, Labradorite, Malachite, Natrolite, Obsidian, Ocean Jasper, Onyx, Selenite, Silver, Smoky Quartz, Sugilite, Sunstone, Turquoise

Jesus Christ I hope that covers everything. 

#cursing #hex #hexes #hex white supremacy #christian witch #christian witchcraft #jynx #anon #answered #banishing spells #binding spells #inadvertent masterpost #long post #christian cursing alternatives

[theworldbrewery]

A playlist for my current party: 4 idiots + their honorary cult grandma, four with new names and one with someone else’s--god I love them. they requested a playlist breakdown so i’ve placed it under a cut for brevity. I’m always soft for making fan content for the campaigns I’m in tbh.

Alice: an elf-turned half-orc after a reincarnate spell went awry, her wild magic caused her marriage to fall apart when she accidentally burned down her home. She’s looking for control over the magic that is ruining her life.

Remmy: a man of many names, Remmy is an aasimar cleric with more secrets than even the other party members are aware of. He’s untrusting and full of fear, but the party gets him to open up--against his better judgment.

Gadao: an earth genasi from an isolated monastery, he’s looking for an identity of his own after realizing he may not be an incarnation of an ancestral spirit after all. Looking for his place in the world, the party’s fast-paced life contrasts with his steady nature.

Leap: an elderly tiefling ranger, she grew up in a cult of pain and left it only by good fortune. Her taste for adventure--and a need for closure--keep her on the road, though she looks forward to seeing her family again.

Blue: an aarakocra bard, Blue awoke with no memory and promptly joined a shady merchant vessel as a good-luck musician. They’re always down to fight, curious, and ready to hoard as many items as they can get their hands on.

Anger | Sleeping at Last

I love the way this song opens, the energy it has. Favorite lyrics are “it all spills out/reckless but honest words leave my mouth,” which maybe speaks to my love of intra-party conflict… but I also have a soft spot for “and suddenly I’m someone that prays/last-minute man of faith” given the campaign’s attention to the divine. I’ve really loved leaning into that. It feels like this song has threads that connect to every character.

Hellfire | Barns Courtney

God, I love the chorus to this song. I feel that in this party, Leap and Remmy have the strongest links in these lyrics, between Leap’s simmering fury at her cult and Remmy’s...everything. There’s a period of the song that isn’t quite an instrumental, but has sort of mangled lyrics/rap, and though I can’t quite make it out, one bit sounds like “roll the dice” -- a fun nod to D&D as a whole and the risk-takers among the party.

Blood I Bled | The Staves

My favorite lyric here is “raise your banners and ride to war/throwing ‘round your name.” This song feels like a challenge to the world, suitable for a group of adventurers just forming a party. The singers and songwriters mention the song as one of “no, I won’t take this bullshit,” and that strong message really speaks to the PCs.

Hustler | Zayde Wølf

Hustler is all about coming out on top, and y’all are “turning up the heat” all the time. “Looking at the city like I already own it” feels like a foreshadowing moment to me; one day, when you all are level 10, 15, 20, you might reach an unmatchable power, if you live long enough to see it. 

Homemade Dynamite | Lorde

I chose this song for the absolute clusterfuck D&D parties can be. “Don’t know you super well/but I think that you might be the same as me/Behave abnormally” encapsulates something really funny about party members getting to know each other and start to trust each other, even when the rule might still be “I’ll give you my best side, tell you all my best lies,” and your secrets and private problems haven’t yet come to light.

Nervous | X Ambassadors

The chorus of foreboding in “cause what comes up must come down”  is, how do I put this? Iconique. I think this song especially fits Leap and Alice, both of whom are aware of how quickly things can go awry but put a cheerful face on their own worries. Even when nothing’s wrong (“and I can’t complain, it’s amazing”) they know things could go south quickly.

An Act of Kindness | Bastille

This song best fits Leap and Gadao’s relationship, especially when they met. “Oh I got a feeling this will shake me down/Oh I’m kind of hoping this will turn me round” seems to speak directly to Gadao pulling Leap away from the cult and giving her the opportunity to be better than she was. On another level, the party’s bonds are born from acts of kindness and friendship--Remmy buying lorebooks for Alice, Leap making tea, Gadao stepping in to defend the party from the mimic.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World | Lorde

Despite the name, this has something for everyone, I think. “Turn your back on Mother Nature” suits Alice’s vendetta against the Forest Father, “Help me make the most of freedom/and of pleasure” fits Blue’s brand of hedonism, “It’s my own remorse” echoes Leap’s regrets. Gadao alone doesn’t quite fit in here...unless… >:)

Kicks | Barns Courtney

This is a Blue song! “I’ll show you how to live for free” the artist sings, and Blue’s freewheeling lifestyle seeking “kicks” matches this energy really well. If Blue is “a wild one” “singing in the midnight street,” they’re getting their kicks with this party for sure. Blue lives without being tied down, theoretically limitless. 

Hail to the Victor | Thirty Seconds to Mars

This song is about Leap, no question. “Another life, another love/another kill, another drug” fits into Leap’s two lives, one in the cult and one out of it. And in this new mission against Babylon Lionel, she’s seeking a revenge of her own, though it’s one against her childhood more than her actual enemy.

I’m a Wanted Man | Royal Deluxe

Remmy “would kill again to keep from doing time,” without a doubt, so this one’s for him. Constantly warning he’s trouble for his friends, saying that “you should never ever trust my kind” isn’t too far off. Like Remmy, this song is edgy, but with a hesitant moment of emo-ness that makes the performance of darkness something a little more genuine.

Big God | Florence and the Machine

Alice is not a faithful woman, but she’s unfortunately entangled in some religious nonsense she hates. At the same time, I feel lyrics like “you’ll always be my favorite ghost” refer best to Alice’s fraught relationship with her wife. My favorite line here is “Sometimes I think it’s getting better/and then it gets much worse,” which is essentially Alice’s experience of her wild magic. Deep down, she might even be drawn to the magic’s chaos, but she can’t help but resent what it’s taking away from her.

Wisdom, Justice, and Love | Linkin Park

This one’s for Gadao. It starts off so peaceful and hopeful, the instrumentals overlaid with a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. But as he starts to list the evils of the world, King’s voice, so steady and confident, is warped. Gadao’s own faith experience becomes warped by the power games of the people around him, and even as he’s seeking “wisdom, justice, and love,” he can’t escape the effects of materialism and violence around him.

Icarus | Bastille

Some folks live steady lives, but not these people. Adventurer’s lives tend to burn bright, hot, and short. From Leap’s perspective, most of the party is made of kids who don’t know the world yet. Are they “digging their own grave,” “too close to the sun?” Despite their ride-or-die commitments, Leap can see all of you risking yourselves--and for what? Who do you want to be, at the end of it all? A wife and mason? A sage and monk? Or do you want greater things than that?

Losing My Religion | Dia Frampton

I can hear so much of Remmy’s opinions in this song, saying “I’m choosing my confessions, trying to keep an eye on you” but realizing, over and over again: “Oh no, I’ve said too much.” As he tries to keep up his own facades, Gadao and Leap’s own faith collides with the beliefs of a cult leader and Alice struggles with a religion she doesn’t care for at all.

Start a War | Klergy and Valerie Broussard

Like Hail to the Victor, this song is all about Leap’s conflict with the cult of Loviatar and the Mother of Martyrs. Even though the Loviatar cult might be gone, the spirit lives on. My favorite line for Leap here is “bang, shots fired/pain is what you desire,” for the decision to challenge Babs to a one-on-one fight. But is it Babs who is starting this war, or Leap?

Friction | Imagine Dragons

This one kind of gives me Gadao vibes with the lyrics “when you’ve made it/won’t you tell me what to do?” After all that pressure to fulfill the expectations of other people, he has to get out of the middle and move on, maybe even become someone new. Key line is “why can’t you let go/like a bird in the snow/this is no place to build your home,” reminding Gadao that he doesn’t have a place in this world. Not yet.

Transcendental Youth | the mountain goats

“Sing, sing for ourselves alone,” sings John Darnielle, and maybe that’s what makes this feel so much like Blue. Maybe it’s the lyric, “cedar smudge our headbands/and take to the skies/soar ever upwards,” calling to Blue’s dislocation from time and place, flying away from their problems. Blue doesn’t remember their childhood, and has no idea how old they are. Even if they did know, their lifespan is short. They live every day like the halcyon days of youth, footloose and fancy-free indeed.

Champion | Barns Courtney

I swear this is the last Barns Courtney song. But this song is the resilience of coming through fights and perils and dangers. My favorite lyric is “Oh, Lord, save my soul/take my pain and turn it into gold” which, incidentally, is exactly what happens when you level up. The party’s struggles translate to strength, to influence, to skill, and even riches.

In the Woods Somewhere | Hozier

On the one hand, this could be about any combat in the dark woods at night (*cough*, Remmy killing that dragonborn, *cough*). But more importantly, this song is about Alice. She struggles with a power she doesn’t understand, with something’s eyes on her that she can’t fight. The best she can do is run from the danger and try to survive it. Whatever eyes are watching her now, Alice better take care. Favorite line? “I clutched my life/and wished it kept/my dearest love/I’m not done yet.”

Natural | Imagine Dragons

Natural tells the party one way of surviving. The line “you gotta be so cold/to make it in this world” suits Remmy’s outlook so well, the one he pushes at the rest of the party. The line “rather be the hunter than the prey” speaks well to Blue’s tactics--preferring to act from above. Alice and Leap know better than anyone that “nothing ever comes without a consequence or cost,” and Gadao may be the only one ‘holding the line’ against a harder heart. Another song with bits and pieces associated with everyone.

Dead Hearts | Stars

There isn’t a specific lyric here that jumps out at me, no line that tells me who this song is for. This is the song for the ones who die--those who have, and who will. We might not be there yet, but this is a song for acknowledging the sacrifice of your friends and allies. The knowledge that you knew them once, and in some ways, their ghost stays with you. Or maybe they’re revived, or reincarnated, but there’s always something a little different.

The Projectionist | Sleeping at Last

Eventually the session ends, and the story closes, and the lights come up. “We’re leaving our shadows behind us now/we’re leaving, we’re leaving it all behind for now,” Ryan O’Neill sings. We’re putting on costumes, telling a story for each other, and maybe the game ends every time, but maybe it makes us brave. I’d like to think so. 

The lyrics to all these songs can be found at Genius.com. Thanks xx

#dnd #d&d #Dungeons and Dragons

[the-desolated-quill]

The Abyss Gazes Also - Watchmen blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. if you haven’t read this comic yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Rorschach is arguably the most beloved character in the graphic novel.

Now anyone reading these reviews who hasn’t read the graphic novel I imagine must be slightly confused by that statement, considering I haven’t exactly been painting a very glowing picture of him. He’s misogynistic, homophobic, bigoted, violent and sociopathic. Not exactly the traits you’d associate with a ‘beloved’ character. And yet that’s exactly what he is. Out of all the characters in Watchmen, Rorschach is by far the most popular. Of course this isn’t exactly a good thing. A big reason for his popularity is because of people either missing or ignoring the satirical subtext of the character (Ted Cruz reportedly is a big Rorschach fan. Let that sink in for a moment). That’s not to say the character isn’t well written or compelling. I’ve said in the past that Rorschach is my personal favourite character simply because of how interesting I find him.

The Abyss Gazes Also explores the origins of Rorschach and I thought this would be a good opportunity to not only analyse the chapter, but to also question where this romanticised view of Rorschach may have come from.

The Abyss Gazes Also is told from the perspective of Dr. Malcolm Long. A psychiatrist assigned to evaluate and counsel Walter Kovacs, aka Rorschach. I absolutely love this setup and how it plays out. Like with Doctor Manhattan’s origin story in Watchmaker, rather than just giving us a big info dump, we get to explore the backstory through the eyes of a certain character.

Malcolm represents everything Rorschach despises. He’s part of the corrupt establishment, thinks of no one but himself and deludes himself into thinking everything will be fine so as not to upset the apple cart. (also, while not overtly stated, considering Rorschach’s extreme right wing views, I imagine the fact that Malcolm is black probably doesn’t help matters either). From the beginning we know that Malcolm doesn’t really care about helping Rorschach in any meaningful way. He just wants the fame attached with studying the mind of this infamous vigilante. And by the end he does get to fully understand Rorschach better than anyone else, but at a horrifying cost.

As Malcolm learns more about Walter’s transformation into Rorschach, we see his otherwise upbeat personality slowly dissolve as he begins to see the world from Rorschach’s point of view. I love how Alan Moore chooses to represent this. In the beginning, Malcolm’s notes are eloquent, detailed and optimistic, but as the issue goes on, the sentences start to become more broken, much darker and disjointed to the point where it actually begins to resemble Rorschach’s speech pattern. It’s a subtle illustration of Malcolm’s changing psyche. We also see him become more and more aware of the situation between America and Russia, whereas before he was very much focused inward on his career and his wife. As his perception of the world around him changes, the things he used to care about fall away. He neglects his wife and by the end his career is virtually in tatters because in the wake of potential Armageddon, none of these things matter to him anymore. Now on the one hand you could see this as some kind of comeuppance. A selfish man getting what he deserves. But it’s also deeply tragic because the point is no one should have to view the world the way Rorschach does.

Which brings us to the man himself.

The life of Walter Kovacs is... a bit of a bummer, to say the least. His mother was a prostitute who regularly abused him and he had to endure a lot of bullying and torment by sexist pricks labelling him as a ‘whoreson.’ It’s this that has contributed to his view of women (more on that later) as well as his own distorted view of sex. In the extra material, we get to read some of Walter’s psychological profile, which includes a diary entry from a younger Walter describing a nightmare he had where his mother was ‘dancing’ with a man and, upon further inspection, realises the two have been morphed together into a grotesque monster that then chases him. A literal beast with two backs, if you will. 

It’s also worth mentioning that the most significant moments in Walter’s life that led to him becoming Rorschach were all sex related and involved women. Obviously there’s his mother. There’s also the job he got at a women’s clothing store, which clearly made him feel extremely uncomfortable, the rape and murder of Kitty Genovese, whose uncollected dress was used to make the Rorschach mask, and of course the murder of Blaire Roche. This I think is what led to Rorschach’s reductive view of women and also serves in some ways as a damning critique of how women are presented in comics. Every woman Walter has ever encountered has either been a helpless victim or a sexualised monster. Even Laurie, the Silk Spectre, contributes to this because of the sexualised image her mother forced onto her. In many comics, the assault or death of a woman often serves as the catalyst of a male hero’s journey, and Rorschach is the same, except it’s presented deliberately as being incredibly distorted. His relationship with women is already fraught thanks to his mother, but his encounters with Kitty Genovese and Blaire Roche serve as a way for him to justify his distorted view of reality. I particularly like the inclusion of the real life case of Kitty Genovese and the myth that over forty witnesses saw her being attacked and did nothing to help. Of course Walter seizes on this and uses it to support his worldview. We’re not even sure if the dress he uses to make the mask was actually intended for Kitty as it could just be a delusion that Walter has concocted to fit his narrative. Whereas other comics might use a woman’s pain as motivation for the male hero, here we see the male ‘hero’ use multiple women’s pain as a means to an end. A way of excusing his behaviour and justifying his actions. It’s a great reversal, exploring the sexism of the refrigerated woman trope.

What I find especially interesting is how despite his childhood, despite his right wing views and despite his reductive view of women, in his early days you could accurately describe Rorschach as a proper superhero. During the period that Walter refers to himself as being ‘soft,’ he teams up with Nite Owl and stops many criminal masterminds such as Big Figure, Jimmy the Gimmick and Underboss. You get the feeling that, had he stuck with Nite Owl, he might have grown to be a somewhat more balanced individual. (which is not to say Dan doesn’t have flaws too, but he’s far better adjusted than Rorschach is, that’s for damn sure). It’s what comes later that sends Rorschach past the point of no return. And no I’m not talking about the murder of Blaire Roche, though that was probably the final straw. I’m talking about Rorschach’s first encounter with the Comedian.

See, I don’t think Rorschach would have become a murderer if he hadn’t met the Comedian first. In his interview with Malcolm, Walter speaks of the Comedian in glowing terms, saying he’s the only one that understood how the world works. If it wasn’t for the Comedian planting the seed of nihilism in Rorschach’s head, he might have reacted slightly differently when he discovered the fate of Blaire Roche. I’m not saying he wouldn’t have reacted violently, but I do honestly think it wouldn’t have been quite so extreme.

I’ve said in a previous review how all the characters of Watchmen are technically nihilists. Rorschach and Comedian are a perfect illustration of two contrasting ways of reacting to nihilism. Namely moral absolutism versus amorality. The Comedian believes that the world has no meaning and that morality is a joke, and so uses that as an excuse to commit heinous acts for his own amusement. Rorschach is also a nihilist. After his encounter with Gerald Grice, he learns that morality and meaning doesn’t exist, but unlike the Comedian, Rorschach takes the opportunity to impose his own morality onto the world. Like ink blots on a blank canvas. The problem is with his own warped sense of reality as well as his motivation. Having discovered that Gerald had killed Blaire Roche, dismembered her and fed her to his dogs, Rorschach no longer has any interest in helping people because, in his mind, people are beyond help. He just wants to hurt and punish those that ruined the world. This isn’t justice. This is revenge. Revenge based on faulty logic. Walter says this was the day he became Rorschach, but it’s also the day he stopped being a superhero as far as I’m concerned. While his motivations and worldview was questionable before, he was at least acting for the common good. Now he’s just an angry man lashing out at the world indiscriminately.

So why do some people have this romanticised view of Rorschach? Well one reason I think is because he’s a man who lives by his own code. Whether we admit to it or not, there is a part of us that wants to see the predators of our society get what they deserve, so even though we recognise that Rorschach is going too far and that his views and beliefs are unsavoury, there’s a little voice in the back of our heads that most of us may not want to acknowledge quietly whispering ‘yes.’ Because if these are truly evil people he’s doing these despicable things to, then it must be okay, right? But then we have to ask ourselves the same question we did about the Comedian back in Absent Friends. Are we saying that the moment someone commits a crime, their life becomes forfeit? That they deserve to die? What does that say about us and our own morality? Which leads to another reason why I believe some people romanticise Rorschach. It’s because it’s easier to romanticise Rorschach rather than to acknowledge what he potentially says about us. 

I love Rorschach because, as a character, he forces us to ask some very awkward and uncomfortable questions about our own morality. How far is too far? Where do we draw the line? If the misogyny, psychotic behaviour and extreme violence aren’t deal-breakers, what is? Can we really excuse these poisonous views and beliefs if the person in question is acting, supposedly, for the greater good? This is what makes Rorschach such a fascinating character in my opinion. And I’m sorry to say that if you can’t bring yourself to think about these things, then I’m afraid you just don’t understand Rorschach, or indeed Watchmen, at all.

#the abyss gazes also #watchmen #alan moore #dave gibbons #dc comics #review #spoilers

[nightcoremoon]

there's lots of tiny brained bad takes of the far left branding things as Bad™ based solely on their association to other things or certain aspects of part of their fanbase.

this isn't to discredit the shit idiot brain fungus plaguing everyone from centrists, the moderate right, the far right, and the alt right, and even some of the moderate left, where they label everything that isn't about a Cishet White Male American Capitalist Bootlicker who's stateist, ambiguously christian/atheist, neurotypical, able-bodied, has "aryan" facial attributes, is an insufferable asshole, and the like, as "SJW garbage".

but see, prejudice and judgment is bad even if it's not motivated by minority demographic. being a rude dismissive asshole is, you know, bad. maybe making fun of a furry or whatever isn't as bad as being a racist, but you're still a fucking dickhead either way. fuck both of you but fuck the racist more. I'll punch both of you but punch the racist twice (maybe a third time for good measure). do y'all understand what I'm trying to get at here with the tiers of badness? the shades of grey? the steps down the path of evil from "kind of rude" to "literally hitler"?

bigotry is not the only bad thing in the world. yeah it's one of the worst, but you can talk about other bad things without discrediting that, which I know is next to impossible for teenagers (or people who never bothered to mentally progress from such) to comprehend.

anyway what sparked this is all the fuckin joker memes. now I went into it expecting, you know, literally taxi driver 2 followed by a silly horror movie about a clown murdering people. which is what the joker of the comics is all about. if I never watched the movie and only saw, what, the killing murray scene, the stairway dancing scene, the trailers, and joaquin phoenix sitting in a padded room and laughing, that's exactly what I'd had gotten.

but like. I fucking watched it because my dad wanted to watch it with me and he fucking loves all things batman (except Ben Affleck). and wolverine but mostly batman. he's a comic nerd. so yeah I went to watch it with him.

and it was legitimately terrifying from a purely psychological perspective. it's LITERALLY the best scary movie I've ever seen without being horror in the slightest. the acting, the writing, the score, the pacing, the cinematography, it was well put together without being a moffat level overproduced mess. it was a good movie. you're allowed to not care for it or not like it but to objectively call it a bad movie is not only a logical fallacy (eye of the beholder) but it also discredits the opinion of every single person who didn't hate it and makes you come off as a pompous fucking asshole rather than having different tastes.

it's about a guy with severe mental trauma in a bad situation trying to make the best of it and care for his family and hold down a job but he gets fucked over from literally every angle and eventually he snaps and makes a mistake and kills the misogynist rich asshats on the train. oh fuck. he could have gone to the police and said self defense and go through the court system but wait, society in gotham doesn't allow for a clean system of justice when you aren't rich. so instead he proceeds to be a major creepazoid turned murdering lunatic blaming everyone else for his own bad situation instead of the whole deal where he did stupid shit like taking a gun into a fucking children's hospital and stuck his fingers inside a child's mouth and stealing shit and falling further down the rabbit hole. until finally, he says fuck it and seeks revenge. the whole bloody mess that follows is his own fault. he chose to kill people. he chose to murder for petty reasons. he made his decisions and he suffered the consequences for it. all of the festering rotten crime in the city spawned by waynecorp's supreme negligence heralded him as a hero and so begins batman's story.

arthur fleck is not a fucking hero. he is a villain through and through. his circumstances were unfortunate but he made the wrong decisions. the world fucked him over and he said okay and retaliated. joker is exactly the fucking same as breaking bad. arthur and walter white are both evil people through their own decisions. but they were once normal people. and that's the point. the scariest monsters in the world are usually the white men angry at the world for their own shortcomings. oswald. ruby. dahmer. bundy. gein. manson. klebold and harris. white. fleck. they're all the filth stuck in the gutter of society that, if left unchecked, has deadly results.

I'm not kidding at all when I say joker was an important movie for myself personally to see exactly when I saw it. because that first half, I'm not gonna lie, it got me. the therapy didn't work and then it was taken away. he didn't eat most days because he had to support his mother. the people he worked with were dickheads, the people he commuted with were dickheads, his boss was a dickhead, people treated him like garbage on the streets. he couldn't remember the trauma inflicted on him when he was a baby but it still warped every aspect of his life. he had aspirations but lacked the skills. he was sad. alone. empty. he was suicidal. he was me.

then he started killing people and using the neighbor girl as a tulpa and I realized oh no oh god oh shit OH FUCK I need to change from this. and I did.

joker is a perfect template of how not to react to the world when it kicks in your teeth. it's a perfect template of a dark movie. just enough to sympathize with the bad guy but not enough to excuse his actions. the opposite of star wars with kylo ren. a good movie. a good character. an amazing actor. a terrible person.

if you watched joker thinking you're watching the story of the protagonist, you're right, but if you conflate protagonist with the good guy, yeah you won't like the fucking movie because it'll leave a sour taste in your mouth. you'll feel slimy. disgusting. unless you're a megadouche shitlord piece of human fucking garbage who wants to cosplay arthur fleck because he's so damn cool like walter white and eric cartman and rick sanchez and bojack horseman and tyler durden and all those FUCKING HORRIBLE LOATHESOME HUMANS TO NEVER EVER TRY TO EMULATE OR YOU ARE AN UNEMPHATIC ASSHOLE AND A MORON TO BOOT.

if you hated the movie, that's fine. you're kinda supposed to hate it. and if you loved the movie, that's fine so long as you understand what the message was. but if it's one of your favorite movies of all time ever made holy shit please go to therapy jesus christ.

still the point of this post is, discrediting the movie as a steaming pile of shit is incredibly ignorant. and as for the "good movies made by white men are only liked by other white men and are therefore bad movies" thing... if y'all can thirst over eddie brock in the trainwreck of venom and admit that the standards of good movie vs bad movie are all subjective, you're a goddamn idiot if you can't apply the same logic and reason to every movie just because some white boys like edgy clowns (even tho joker is way less edgy than pennywise but go off) in abusive relationships with harlequins. oh and assflash newshole, I'm not a white man.

I swear this bandwagoning bullshit is exactly the same mentality as "hurr durr nickelback worst band ever" even though nickelback is ripe with musical talent underneath a few pop songs that they wrote for the record label as part of their career so they can make a fuckin living BECAUSE CAPITALISM IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL and also because of all the misogyny that bled its way into the music industry in the 2000s but that's a topic for another day. 'joker bad' and 'nickelback bad' are products of the same mental decay that social media wrought upon us all, inflicting mass mob mentality and incapacity for individualistic rational thought. which is exactly why there's a war between camp 'joker is bad' and 'joker is amazing' and nobody acknowledges the group in the middle that's like 'joker was good objectively but also terrible subjectively and content-wise'. polar. I could make a political statement and also say how the neoliberals and the fascists are at war while the people in the middle are caught in the crossfire and forced to fight like pawns on a chessboard, but the moderate right, dumbass centrists, pastel commies, and pockets of the moderate left, but that just throws everything into chaos.

tl;dr learn to think for yourselves omg

[wondr18360]

Thoughts on Goro Akechi

Okay I admit that my initial opinion of Akechi wasn’t that great when I was watching the P5 playthrough, but after seeing his last few scenes and thinking it over, he actually kinda grew on me as a character… Which is why I am pretty disappointed that he kinda got tossed to the side after the Shido arc.

Warning: Long rant analysis and spoilers ahead

Throughout the game Akechi does play a pretty big role in the story, first as the Ace Detective who challenges the Phantom Thieves’ sense of justice, then as an “ally”(?) of the Thieves, and finally as one of the primary antagonists that the Phantom Thieves have to defeat, yet after Akechi had his painfully short redemption arc scene (which didn’t totally redeem him partly because it was so effin’ short) and died, he literally only gets a few seconds of mourning from the Thieves right afterwards, a brief discussion about him in the group chat once they go back to the real world after his death, Shido asking his men where he is and calling him a “useless brat” when they can’t find him after Shido’s calling card is broadcast, a short dialogue mention before the Shido boss battle, and finally a mention from Sae Nijima when she says that he’s “missing,” and apparently the Thieves can’t straight up tell her that he’s dead. I get that storywise the Thieves aren’t obligated to forgive him and really feel horrible about his death given that a) he was the culprit behind the mental shutdowns, b) he did murder Futaba’s mom and Haru’s dad and attempted to do the same to Akira, and c) he attempted to place the blame on the Phantom Thieves and get them all arrested and killed, but I still feel like his existence and his death, particularly the way he died and what happened right before, should have had a bit more of a lasting impact on the Thieves and on the story.

Let’s face it, Akechi did some pretty horrible things and he deserved to be held accountable for them, but one of the reasons he ended up the way he did was because he had to endure both the loss of his mother and the lack of a father figure due to said “father” being a selfish asshole who would willingly get rid of anyone and everyone in order to get what he wants. Not to mention that because he had no parents, Akechi was passed between foster homes quite often, and this made him feel both lonely and as though he was unwelcome everywhere, something he tells Futaba and Akira when he visits Leblanc for the first time. It’s no surprise that having these experiences would make Akechi resent Shido once he figured out that he was his father, and there’s no doubt that they’re at least part of what fueled Akechi’s twisted desire for revenge. However, there’s also a part of Akechi that desperately seeks acknowledgement from Shido because he’s his father, which is probably part of why he decides to help him by causing the mental shutdowns before carrying out his own revenge, rather than working against him from the very beginning like we sometimes see other “heroes” in similar situations do. His desire for acknowledgement is also what drove him to become a detective, since he thrived off of the public’s support. Though that being said, Akechi most likely doesn’t necessarily enjoy working with Shido and killing people; to him it’s just a job, a necessary stepping stone to get him closer to Shido so that he may ultimately bring about his downfall. And it’s clear that that is his plan; he says so to the Phantom Thieves when they meet in Shido’s palace, and he curses them for interfering, albeit unknowingly.

But, when Akechi first began to interact more with Akira in particular, he took an interest in him, and as he also got introduced to the rest of the Phantom Thieves and eventually “joined” them (quotations cuz he technically wasn’t a bona fide mona fide Phantom Thief), he got exposed to something he never really experienced before: strong bonds of friendship, camaraderie, and even love to a certain extent, since the Thieves all care for each other quite deeply. Moreover, he felt a certain connection with Akira and greatly admired him, while simultaneously envying him for being surrounded by friends he can rely on and for being able to freely walk a path of his own choosing despite the shackles that others have tried to place on him (his criminal record and the related stigma from others). This envy is what causes Akechi to choose his personal mission over a possible future with the Thieves in the hopes that he can become a hero himself, and the resulting conflict between his obsession with revenge and acknowledgement and his yearning for friendship unhinges him to a certain extent, so much that while he seems to revel in killing Akira and the rest of the Thieves, he also is slightly hesitant to do so, and especially during his boss battle he alternates between these two attitudes.

It is only when Akechi is finally defeated for the second time that he loses the will to keep fighting and says, “I’ve had enough,” which is honestly quite heartbreaking because you can practically feel the exhaustion and despair that he’s experiencing as he accepts that he’s not only failed his personal mission, but he’s effectively destroyed what chances he may have had to experience true friendship and acknowledgement, which leads to him pouring his heart out to the Thieves and finally musing that he “couldn’t be special.” And that’s when the Phantom Thieves, who practically despised Akechi since the time they met him and possibly even hated him after finding out his true identity, feel for him. Because he’s at his lowest point now, all secrets bared, ready to call it quits and give up, and they recognize that because they have all been in similar positions at different points in the game, normally right before they awakened their Personas. Moreover, they see where he’s coming from, as each of them have their own troubled backstory that isn’t too far off from Akechi’s, but they also take it to heart when he reveals how he envies their bond as a team because they’re able to recognize that they lucked out when they found each other, and that Akechi didn’t have that same fortune. This is why Ryuji, who constantly ragged on Akechi before, assures him that he is special, and why Makoto admits that they needed to work as a team in order to be able to match and defeat his wit and strength. It’s why Haru and Futaba, despite not being able to forgive him for his previous actions, find a way to sympathize with him and see things from his perspective. And it’s why when Akechi tells them to kill him, they refuse, and instead want to give him a chance to redeem himself at least somewhat by working with them to take down Shido.

So when Akechi's cognitive clone appears and Shido's true intentions to eventually dispose of him become clear, Akechi decides to entrust his mission with the Phantom Thieves, opting to sacrifice himself to aid in their success not just because he doesn't want to weigh them down in his weakened state, as he tells them before he dies, but also because he has "had enough." He knows that even if he does decide to join the Phantom Thieves for real this time, he'll still be somewhat of an odd one out because of how he's hurt them before, and in the end regardless of their success or failure he still won't be a hero because his justice - and justice itself - won't allow his crimes to go unpunished. The public will shun him after finding out what he did, and at this point Akechi is too tired, too jaded to even imagine undertaking a long journey to redeem himself and regain acknowledgment after that, especially since he knows that unlike Akira, his crimes are real and that he will always have to live his life atoning for them. In that case, the least he can do is attempt to make up for everything by giving up his own life for the sake of the Phantom Thieves, who he now trusts to carry out justice in his stead.

So here’s where my problem begins. I think that the Thieves should have given more remembrance to Akechi later after they defeated Shido and even after they put an end to the Metaverse, since by doing so, they ensured that Shido would be brought to justice, and they fulfilled the promise they made. Yeah I get that right after the Shido boss battle they had to try and get out of the palace alive and then Ryuji “died” and came back to life, and that after the final battle not only did Morgana disappear but Akira also went to juvie, but at least after Akira and Morgana returned and things settled down, there should have been more dialogue or other story material that indicated that the Phantom Thieves hadn’t forgotten about Akechi and still kept him in mind at least somewhat. At the very least, Akechi’s story and how it could have been any one of them should have had some sort of lasting impact on the Thieves and their views regarding good and evil, teaching them that people aren’t always inherently good or bad; they’re often the product of the events and circumstances in their life, and without guidance and support from others, they can stray down the wrong path.   Instead, Akechi is basically treated as a mere stepping stone in the plot that lays the foundation for Shido being the more important villain, and he’s practically forgotten once Shido is defeated.

As I said before, the Thieves are visibly saddened after they hear the gunshots that indicate Akechi’s death, and later on when they return to the real world and begin the group chat, they discuss what happened, and they make some important points:

Haru says that it was sad what happened to him, and that while she honestly has mixed feelings, she thinks that he was a victim too (to which Ann follows up by commenting that he was a victim they couldn’t save).

Yusuke says that if he had not met the other Phantom Thieves, he may have become like Akechi himself.

Ryuji says that he personally cannot forgive Akechi, but more than that he can’t forgive Shido for warping his mind so much.

Starting with Haru’s statements, they’re especially poignant because she was an indirect victim of Akechi’s since he killed her father. She has every right to be angry at him, to hate him, to want him dead. But instead she has “mixed feelings” because while she struggles with some of those emotions and the overall resentment towards him for his actions up until his last moments, she takes his story into account and realizes that he wasn’t all evil, that like her, he was used by his own father as a tool, and despite his conviction that he was doing things by his own will in order to ultimately betray and kill Shido, he was slightly forced into it because deep down he wanted his father’s acknowledgment, something he never had before. This also ties in with Ryuji’s comments because he also recognizes that ultimately if it hadn’t been for Shido, Akechi may not have gone so far down his dark path and had such a tragic ending.

Now onto Yusuke’s statement. This is really important because it actually can apply to everyone. If they didn’t have their friends, their loved ones, and their team, and if they had to go it alone even through their toughest moments and darkest days, they may have ended up like Akechi. Just think: imagine Ann didn’t have Shiho and had to deal with not just bullying and harassment from her peers, but also harassment and abuse from Kamoshida and other adults like him, and eventually she became determined to make them pay for everything they did to her. Imagine if Ryuji had lost his mom in a similar way that Akechi lost his because she couldn’t take the abuse from Ryuji’s father anymore, or worse, if his father actually killed her, and Ryuji then became consumed by hatred and desire for revenge against not just him, but even all those who later treated him like an outcast. Imagine if Yusuke had discovered the whole truth about Madarame on his own and as a result became consumed by revenge like Akechi did. Imagine if Makoto was even more detached from her sister and became obsessed with avenging their father and fighting against the burdens and expectations that others placed on her. Imagine if Sojiro didn't adopt Futaba and she eventually either succumbed to her guilt over her mother's death or discovered the truth and became fixated on finding and killing the people who killed her mother. Imagine if Haru, like Akechi, remained unable to form any close bonds with the people around her and eventually grew to resent her father and ultimately focused on nothing else but betraying him and bringing about his downfall. Imagine if Akira, fueled by the sheer injustice of his situation, sought to rebel against society and get revenge on not just Shido, but everyone who ever shunned him and treated him like a criminal, alienating almost everyone around him. All of the Thieves could have ended up like Akechi or even worse, but it was only because they were lucky enough to have each other that they were able to come through their difficult times and avoid a fate like his.

In summary: Goro Akechi was a pretty complicated antagonist with regards to his backstory and the motivations behind his actions, and it’s a shame that he was effectively reduced to a pancake-loving psychotic hitman detective-turned-martyr with a relatively minimal impact on the story’s characters and message.

Thanks for reading this long-ass essay rant and I hope you liked it! Feel free to share your own opinions too, I’m always down to discuss stuff :D

#also quick note but i didn't mention morgana all that much because he didn't really have as much of a connection to akechi as the others did #at least it didn't seem like it to me #just in case you guys were wondering #but anyway thanks again for reading #!! #persona 5 #persona 5 analysis #video game analysis #goro akechi #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #ryuji sakamoto #morgana #ann takamaki #makoto nijima #yusuke kitagawa #futaba sakura #haru okumura #masayoshi shido #sae nijima #p5 #atlus

[applekitty]

WIP Challenge

@radiantseraphina is literally evil for making me write out like 30 or so wip summaries!!!

i’m tagging @roy-my-boy / @captainvul since that’s my only other ao3 mutual other than socially and seraphina already tagged them

Challenge: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous.

fun fact i now keep my wip list public over on my fic page, but here’s the link anyways

anyways, i title everything by fic titles, nothing goes untitled so yeah here we go

Kirby: Back At Ya Again!: a series of 100 chapters, planned to be 700k words long. it regards a sequel to the kirby anime with haltmann instead of nightmare. i, fun fact, was just writing chapter summaries for this before checking to see i got tagged here

Kagami No Kaabii: the all too familiar mirror anime i post art about too much, lol, also planned to be 100 chapters and 700k words long, or maybe even 200 chapters and 1.4 million words long depending on if i want to mirror the above fic as well

Zero Percent Chill: the fic you guys know as ‘the one ching hasnt updated in over a year and for some reason is still her most popular fic’, this fic is the bane of my existence and it’s on hiatus rn

Capricious Support: an au to ^ regarding customer service, due to plot details i cant say much about it

Blue Cat: my mirror magolor fic i haven’t updated in a while either, lol, despite it only being what, 10 chapters long? it’s basically about return to dreamland but mirror world.

True Paradise: true paradise is.. interesting. it’s a fic wherein suddenly, no one can feel negativity. kirby and meta knight and everyone else, no one can feel it. except beings of negativity like gooey, dark matter, negativity based demons like nightmare, etc. things begin to die and necrodeus sees this and goes ‘ah, well, FUCK’ and smacks meta knight, kirby, and tiff and MAYBE tuff and tells them to go fix shit by slapping people into reality. aka you cant be happy all the time, pain is natural and being forced to be happy is wrong

To Hunt A Monster: a fic following some kirby ocs who are monster hunters. they will do anything to kill monsters and to get money off of their skins or get trophies. anything.

Knightmare: a ‘meta knight is nightmare’s kid’ au. essentially, nightmare has a whole family of orbs he keeps in his empire while he’s at war. he keeps them sheltered and happy, making sure none of them hear of his horrific acts. meta knight is one such orb. one day, all the other orbs are taken by the gsa in an act of heroism except meta knight (and his stepbrother jecra) who were ontop of nightmare’s shoulder that day. 

Kirby Destroys Capitalism: sequel to what a lovely nightmare

And The Price Will Be High: sequel to what a horrible dream 

Galactasies Away: sequel to zero percent chill with galacta knight being there

Dadroach: a fic wherein daroach acts as kirby’s father figure rather than meta knight. set in cappytown / the anime since squeak squad acknowledges its existence

Le Monde Est a Nous: susie backstory fic, explores what dmk said in ‘dont worry she’s redeemed’ with  susie unnerving dark mind.

Suit And Tie: cs backstory fic, lots of corporate backstabbing, sexism, betrayal, manipulation, trauma, and office drama. i’ve gotten like.. 4k done on this and it’s going pretty swell

How Unfortunate: this one is being rewritten, it’s basically a fic wherein nightmare’s a wishgranter.. for a price

A Good Guy: taranza is an incel fic

Unlicensed Merchandise: ‘wouldnt it be funny if nme sold bodypillows’ i asked myself before jecs even drew a single line on that yamikage bodypillow

Mischief: marx backstory fic about how marx is bitter about being handicapped, and though he went through his entire life with a good family and good friends he couldn’t help but feel like he’s lesser. 

Hope, I Like Hope: sequel to ‘what do you like’ from nightmare’s perspective, trying to explain why he had such a drastic change of heart.

Hired: a half-venting fic about metasusie wherein susie tortures meta

owo: sequel to uwu

ⵙwⵙ: sequel to owo

Three Years Between Them: an au fic where kirby is an adult and he’s very, very jaded with a warped sense of justice because of how many eldritch horrors he’s fought. he believes that being a hero means he doesn’t have to value anyone else because he knows better than everyone else.

Sleepy Afternoon: a fic wherein nightmare is summoned back into reality post-anime by some cultists

#tagged #on one hand it's nice to write this all out on the other i feel guilty i have so much shit to do

[dovefawn]

A Comprehensive Guide to Melanie Martinez Alternatives

This is a months-late masterpost for anyone who enjoys the musical style and visual aesthetic of Melanie Martinez, but has misgivings about supporting her in light of her catastrophic horse shit handling of a rape accusation, or for anybody uncomfortable with her sexualized baby thing. This is NOT a claim that Melanie is ripping off or copying the following artists. Artistic influence is a beautiful thing, something to be encouraged. This is a list of alternatives for anyone who feels they need one. If you question her ability to give a truly satisfying, well-approached pop-surrealist analysis of cultural issues, or if want to find other musicians who are doing just that, come in!

I see a lot of masterlists of this nature suggesting alternatives to Melanie’s music. I’m making one of my own because I feel that some valuable artists have been left out, and hype/album rumours around Melanie seems to be stirring a little again with her Instagram updates. Common recs are Halsey, Marina, Lana, Lorde, and lesser-known female artists with a general indie/electro/bedroom pop sound to their music. I could take hours writing another post about why I love these artists, and you definitely should check them out! But I’m not going to get into them here. I’m specifically choosing artists who match very closely with Melanie’s artistic style (ie music box melodies, cute vocals, screaming, creepy-cute, smooth spooky production, cabaret vocals, and sugary pop hooks), so you can hopefully find new people to provide you with a similar listening experience. I’ll try to explain why somebody who was moved by Melanie’s music might love these artists.

Melanie’s artistic style fuses visual and thematic elements of creepy cute pop-surrealist artists (specifically Mark Ryden, who she’s named as a favorite, and Nicoletta Ceccoli), harajuku fashion, specifically lolita fashion (which draws inspiration from victorian and roccoco aesthetics), creepy doll horror stories (she likes the Chucky movies), American female led goth/punk bands, horror in general, dark cabaret (less visually evident, but her vocal style makes it crystal clear. Her voice also draws from jazz), aaand the 2012-ish explosion of pastel goth fashion which helped propel her to a semi-mainstream level of fame. She juxtaposes the cute and creepy in her production and lyrics as well, and uses this to talk about uncomfortable truths, dark subjects, and personal feelings.

Mark Ryden

Nicoletta Ceccoli

Ok, so going from there, these are some musical artists who were doing what Melanie Martinez did YEARS ago!

Emilie Autumn describes her music as “fairy pop” and “victoriandustrial,” including influences from cabaret, classical (she’s a classically trained violinist), pop, and electronic music. All 3 of her albums are concept albums that tell elaborate stories, and her writing is deeply personal to her own life. Her life shows feature backup dancers that are trained circus performers who also do burlesque, and there’s audience participation as well. She wrote a book called “The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls” accompanying her third album Fight Like A Girl. It’s a semi-biographical/psychological fiction thriller which includes tons of bonus material like her own drawings and diary entries.

Here is her song Swallow. It’s a good introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rlDFsExijo

Here’s Emilie covering Bohemian Rhapsody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCcnubpAtYg

Her song Gothic Lolita strikes me as one example of everything Melanie could have been, but then wasn’t! It’s a gorgeously produced creepy pop song with dark jazz vocals about the sexualization of girlhood, culminating in violent revenge. It’s a very personal song about her experience as a csa survivor that took her a while to be able to perform live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIFtG4JIaHE

Here’s a track from her first album, Enchant. It’s a concept album Emilie wrote from the perspective of a fairy character based on herself, and there’s an overarching story made up of strong individual songs with fairy, fairytale, love and fantasy themes.

How Strange is a song about loving yourself for your strangeness. The production is like...Destiny’s Child, but goth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nv6G305tKY&list=PLXqdmjQes3y4BhxiYgF5GMMo3zpQV5lGv&index=2

Hannah Fury describes her musical sound as “as a carousel in deep, warped space or a carnival underwater – something dense and ferocious with thin, shimmery tendrils shooting out from it in all directions." It has a haunting, dreamy quality, and her visuals include beautiful dresses, creepy dolls and puppets, occult and vintage motifs, and flowers. She has released six albums on her own label, MellowTraumatic Recordings. She also wrote a concept album for the novel “Wicked” before the Broadway musical even existed, no kidding.

Here is one of her album covers, inspired by a dream she had. 

Hannah Fury isn’t well known. She didn’t do any big tours because she’s very shy. She’s an angel to her fans though, she even responded to me on facebook once, rip.

This song is called Carnival Justice (part II) and it’s a murder banger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSEz7o-BcpU

Never Look Back’s production is simple and beautiful. One of her best. If you like music boxes I have great news for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtU3IVhIwAk

Defenestration, another gem, similar to Carnival Justice. Dreamy and beautiful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbEuICTv_lw&list=RDAbEuICTv_lw&t=6

Jack Off Jill was a riotgrrrl band in the 90s founded and led by Jessicka Addams. They’re not active anymore, although they reunited for some shows in 2015. They merged riotgrrrl punk and feminist politics with creepy, dark themes. Their live shows involved shit like actual blood and candy getting thrown onstage & into the crowd. Jessicka was kind of an early icon for body positivity, too.

“We are all candy-covered on the outside, peel away the shell, and we’re rotten on the inside.” Lollirot fuckin slaps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmYZpsLD08k

Girlscout, ft sweet cute vocals and shrieking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0NnukrY0Jk

My Cat. Surreal, punk, cute vocals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6-ZccfRrIo

Strawberry Gashes is probably their best-known song. HUGE sensitive topic trigger warning on this one, though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m6m9tMdca0

They have an album cover illustrated by Mark Ryden! (Tove Lo has a tattoo from it on her shoulder)

The Birthday Massacre is a gothic electronic/rock band that makes gorgeous, dramatic melodies with great beats. Their lead vocalist, Chibi, says their title “works well for the music [they’re] making. Sort of contrasty, you know? Birthday, and massacre. Light, and dark. Cute, and evil."

This is their very popular video for Blue. When I watched it in like 09 at like 14 it blew my baby mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp1FRKc24Zk

Looking Glass also has a visually amazing video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SREZ-ggSDjM

Divide sounds amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ci7m6-H6Q

I’ve been told by friends that TBM live shows were their greatest ever concert experiences.

Kerli tends to make a lot of these lists, and for good reason. She’s sometimes described as bubble goth.

Walking On Air, one of her hits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXMeZwO2qZ0

Tea Party is a song she did for the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland Soundtrack. It’s hit or miss but if it’s not Melanie-ish i don’t know what the fuck is dude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY58uPtAM68

Bonus Artists (aka artists that fit this list but I don’t know as much about)

Cindergarden

Hex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9A5Wtr_X9I

Playthings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPYWT2W0Db0 

Nicole Dollanganger

Beautiful and Bad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2HttcXtiCg

Cute Aggression (catchy as fuck):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCepfI6QmPE

I hope you find some songs you like!!!!

#melanie martinez #melanie martinez is over party #emilie autumn #hannah fury #jack off jill #kerli #the birthday massacre #mark ryden #nicoletta ceccoli #cindergarden #nicole dollanganger #alternative music #melanie martinez is cancelled #tw csa #tw self harm #pastel goth

[sleepynegress]

Any thoughts on that castle rock finale?

Okay. I’m late answering this due to stormy weather, but I liked it.  I’m liking it more and more given time to marinate.  …Especially given that it didn’t feed a certain all-too-typical mindset, but actually (unintentionally?) called it out.The show gave us various points of view of the characters and the town that all work, i.e. Ruth could be a time traveler, merely have dementia, or be both.  “The Kid” could be collapsing the town purposely (we and Andre’s Henry saw that he either wasn’t fazed by what his presence could do or could flex it himself without any kind of remorse during the jail escape sequence) or merely be an unwittingly wrongly placed cog screwing up that universe’s Castle Rock with his presence….

The typical viewer these days isn’t about that much work or lack of a single definitive answer going into a viewing experience nor Castle Rock’s patient pacing and lack of sexy young white people to ship (which is why they were hyper-focused on Bill). Most media these days gives you visual zingers every five seconds to keep viewers’ attention *cough*AHS*cough*. This show wasn’t that desperate for you to keep watching at the expense of the story.  The show took it’s time and the results were better for it, IMO.

The Henry’s provided a neat little mirror for judgments, assumptions, and selective empathy regarding race. Even calling this grown-ass white man with a possibly pregnant wife and career in advanced medicine “The Kid” was inspired, because it mirrors a certain kind of realistic social bias and selective empathy/woobifying that only white males get the benefit of, even those presented as literally coming from under the jail.This is juxtaposed with Andre Holland’s Henry, who himself was an *actual child* during his initial pivotal traumas in the series and wasn’t called a “kid” in his reality… He was regarded as the suspicious black person who got away with killing his father by the town, despite his being the most successful town native and in the end, doing that for the greater good, -for his mother Ruth’s safety, foreshadowing his ability to do similar for the rest of the town (and possibly the world, if it spreads somehow).  Henry Deaver is a hero in many ways.Regardless of what many on tumblr came for, Andre Holland ‘s Deaver is the primary perspective, -the sun, all the planetary characters and events orbit and a lot of viewers refused to see it that way and thus, were disappointed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯In this show, we’re presented with two men who we are shown to possibly have the same identity on either side of that warped mirror that is the schisma/thinny.  Two people who endured imprisonment. Two people escaped with help and are judged by the people surrounding them in a particular way.All of this was set-up for the viewer to question the nature of justice, right and wrong, good and evil.  And that in the end it didn’t give you easy answers to that, is what made it great. Because in life, that absolutely resonates as true.My personal interpretation is that the schisma is the only actual purely evil force, and instigator. It amplifies and pushes the worst impulses and breaks down reality and humanity by it’s proximity.   Being in it -crossing through it, means having the worst of it’s influence constantly refracting off of you, hence all the other glimpses of lost corrupted souls from various realities, times, and universes trapped within or crossing through it.Ultimately, Andre’s Henry is doing everything he can, sacrificing himself  and possibly his soul for the good of the town, protecting it from “The Kid’s” influence for as long as he can.  Whether Kid/Henry is doing it purposely or not is irrelevant, as I interpreted that glimpse of Kid/Henry’s withered visage as not some demon, but aged and corrupted beyond repair by the schisma/thinny.That glimpse is what he would be if returned to the narrative he presented, even if he was being truthful. So, regardless… Andre’s Henry made the right choice.

#castle rock #andre holland #henry deaver #meta #spoilers #love the show #hate the fandom

[howtohero]

Transdimensional Cities

There are a lot of weird places in the world. There are talking jungles and upside down plains where the rain falls upwards. There are psychedelic tundras and digital rain forests and that one island that’s completely cut off from civilization where all the seagulls constantly sing songs about cool guys not looking at explosions and throwing things on the ground and being way too excited about boats. But some of the weirdest places in our universe are the places that sometimes aren’t even in our universe!

Transdimensional cities are locales that phase in and out of any given dimension. One second they’ll be there and the next they’re shimmering out of existence (ok they still exist but now they’re in a pocket dimension that can’t be reached by anybody). If you’ve even seen one you know how trippy of an experience that can be. The word “mirage” actually comes from the name of one of these cities that fritzes in and out of the Sahara Desert every so often, confusing travelers. The supernatural properties of the vast majority of transdimensional cities are magic-based. Some monks decided they’d get more meditation done if they didn’t have to deal with the rest of the world except for for one week every fifteen years. Or some rogue mage folded an entire city into a pocket dimension in order to practice his evil magic in private, and on dozens of unwilling participants. Recently scientists have made a few forays into trying to replicate the abilities of these cities with varying results. At best they’ve been able to warp individual buildings like smoothie stores or Halloween themed restaurants (Boo Burger was sorely in need of this transdimensional upgrade, now instead of offending people all year long, they can just blip out of this dimension whenever it isn’t October) but entire cities have proven to be a bit more tricky. If you would like your city to be considered for an experiment in dimension shifting enter our sweepstakes here! 

As far as you need to be concerned with these cities, remember, cities that only enter this plane of existence very briefly every so often might be very appealing to a variety of types of people. Supervillains, for example, might appreciate the downtime from being on the run or having their evil schemes foiled by a kid with a magic backpack that can fit more rocket launchers in it than should be physically possible. (Here’s to you Ricky Rockets, keep doling out your hilariously disproportionate brand of child vigilante justice!) In days past, superheroes were forced to assume that every transdimensional was home to dozens of supervillains who were hiding out. Plus, due to the transient nature of transdimensional cities, they had to assume that the city could blink out of this reality at a moment’s notice. This resulted in superheroes storming transdimensional cities and beating up as many people as possible and throwing them in prison while there was still time. That caused everybody a lot of headaches (both literal and metaphorical). It turns out that it is erroneous to assume that most people in any given transdimensional city are supervillains. Lucky for you the citizens of the various cities have worked out a better system!

These days transdimensional cities have pretty heterogeneous populations. It took a couple of years of bussing people between cities but now everything is pretty well organized. There are cities specific for every kind of person who might want to hop out of reality for a while. We’ve got monks who want seclusion. Supervillains who need to keep out of the public eye. Deadbeat dads, people with overdue library books, people who’ve unintentionally killed people, people who don’t want to be spoiled on shows they’ve only just started binge-watching, procrastinators. If you don’t want to be a part of society all the time you can bet that there’s a transdimensional city somewhere out there for you! So now all you need to do is figure out where the supervillain-filled ones are going to pop up next so you can be there to rain justice down on their bald, horned, helmeted, and on-fire heads!

Determining where and when a transdimensional city will next appear can be a tricky thing. Most cities will appear in the same place every time, and most of those are on a set cycle, so all that needs to be done there is a good old-fashioned, potentially decades long, stake-out. Grab a buddy, some donuts, and a big ol’ book of Mad Libs and settle in for a good long wait. But sometimes the cities don’t show up in the same place (more on that later) or it disappears and reappears at infrequent intervals. In which case you’d be wise to keep a few tracking devices on you and throwing one into every city that randomly pops up in your path. Short of that, I’m sure you can get some brains together (from the brain store) and devise some sort of mathematical algorithm to calculate the exact where and when for any given transdimensional city. Unfortunately you’ll have to do your own work for this one. We here at Howtohero steadfastly refuse to do any math. As a rule.

When transdimensional cities’ locations are randomized, or if they always appear in the same place but it’s been a while since the last time this city appeared and since then some foolish people built a lame stationary city in its spot, things go sideways real fast. That’s how you have situations where cities become superimposed on other cities or stuff starts getting spliced together. Gross. Luckily, using some regular off-the-rack-store-bought magicks these problems can be easily avoided! Sort of! And as we all know, sort of avoiding a problem is the best way to deal with a problem! See, using magic you can actually cause it so that when a city magically vops into a location that already contains something (a city, a town, a village, a cat) the thing that was there before actually switches places with the transdimensional city. Turning the transdimensional city into a regular one and vice versa. (I bet you guys didn’t expect to learn the secret origins of Surprise Cat! the cat that appears when you least expect it in this post but there you have it!) Sure, now there’s a regular city warping in and out of our dimension and that’s not really what those people signed up for but all transdimensional cities were normal cities at some point! (Except for Nexusville, which was built from a one-of-a-kind transdimensional brick over a period of three hundred years by different construction workers and engineers who happened to come across the partially completed city during that time.) 

If you’re a guy who is from a transdimensional city and is deciding to use your first trip to this dimension to fight our criminals, then first of all, welcome to the neighborhood. Second of all, where do you get off punk! These are our criminals! You come in here all high and mighty and judgemental from your crime-free teleporting city (remember all the transdimensional criminals live in their own, separate city) of ninjas and think you can fight our crime? Get over yourself! Also, be warned, lots of times people like you tend to lose track of the time. I guess time flows differently in between dimensions. But you might find that when you get tired of beating up our muggers in our alleys that your city might be gone. Now, it important that you don’t misunderstand what’s happened. Your city has simply transported itself beyond the vail of what we can perceive in this dimension (as cities are wont to do). It hasn’t been destroyed. It hasn’t been stolen. Just wait ten to fifteen years and it’ll be back. No harm no foul. What you need to do now, is not go on a roaring rampage of revenge where you punch everybody in sight. Also don’t blame us for your city going away. We didn’t do that. Have you read the rest of this post? We clearly have like zero to two ideas about what’s going on with these cities. Don’t punch anybody. If you really feel like you have to punch somebody you can punch some more of our criminals but your city and all your loved ones aren’t gone forever. Write that down.

Transdimensional cities are easily one of the weirdest parts of the Weird Factor. They’re cities that are sometimes there... but usually not. What a headache. And most of the time the people who live in the city don’t even know when things are gonna get all space-warpy. They’ll just be buying groceries and vwoompf now they’re underwater, or in a frozen wasteland, or in Cincinnati. What a life that must be. Still, it’s interesting to see how civilizations and cultures develop when they’re removed from society for years at a time (or minutes at a time, but in cities like those there’s not a ton of deviation from the world around them). From an anthropological perspective that is. So good for anthropologists I guess! 

#superhero #superheroes #comics #comedy #humor #funny #creative writing #transdimensional cities #Ricky Rockets #Surprise Cat! #sweepstakes #I'd click on that link if I were you guys #Nexusville #teleporting #space warp #pocket dimensions #Dr. Python #lots of snakes #Magic #implausible physics #science #Boo Burger

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Top New Fantasy Books in November 2020

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Here are some of the upcoming books we’re anticipating this month:

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Top New Fantasy Books November 2020

Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Tor Books Release date: Nov. 17 

Den of Geek says: Sanderson’s famous Stormlight Archive series continues with book 4. 

Publisher’s summary: After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage, and the threat of a betrayal by Dalinar’s crafty ally Taravangian looms over every strategic move.

Now, as new technological discoveries by Navani Kholin’s scholars begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength. 

At the same time that Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with his changing role within the Knights Radiant, his Windrunners face their own problem: As more and more deadly enemy Fused awaken to wage war, no more honorspren are willing to bond with humans to increase the number of Radiants. Adolin and Shallan must lead the coalition’s envoy to the honorspren stronghold of Lasting Integrity and either convince the spren to join the cause against the evil god Odium, or personally face the storm of failure.

Buy Rhythm of War by Brian Sanderson.

Comes a Pale Rider by Caitlin R. Kiernan 

Type: Short story collection  Publisher: Subterranean Release date: Nov. 30

Den of Geek says: Kiernan’s dark, intricate prose injects a variety of stories with atmosphere and horror. As with any short story collection, there will probably be a range of quality here, but Kiernan is one to watch if you like lush writing. 

Publisher’s summary: Possibly Caitlín R. Kiernan’s most enduring character, albino monster slayer Dancy Flammarion has been carving a bloody swath across the American South ever since her first appearance in Threshold(2001), “laying the bad folks low.” In 2006, Subterranean Press published a World Fantasy Award-nominated collection of Dancy Flammarion short stories, Alabaster, and beginning in 2012, Dark Horse Comics released a three-volume graphic novel series introducing Dancy to comics in Alabaster: Wolves(winner of the Bram Stoker Award), Alabaster: Grimmer Tales, and Alabaster: The Good, the Bad, and the Bird. And now, with Comes a Pale Rider, Kiernan offers a second collection of Dancy Flammarion short stories. From Selma, Alabama to the back roads of Georgia to a South Carolina ghost town, Dancy continues her holy war with the beings of night and shadow, driven always on by her own insanity or an angel with a fiery sword—or possibly both.

Buy Comes a Pale Rider by Caitlin R. Kiernan.

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020 by John Joseph Adams and Diana Gabaldon 

Type: Short story collection Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Release date: Nov. 3 

Den of Geek says: A tumultuous year still includes this annual anthology with stories from Charlie Jane Anders, Ken Liu, Rebecca Roanhorse, and more. 

Publisher’s summary: Today’s readers of science fiction and fantasy have an appetite for stories that address a wide variety of voices, perspectives, and styles. There is an openness to experiment and pushing boundaries, combined with the classic desire to read about spaceships and dragons, future technology and ancient magic, and the places where they intersect. Contemporary science fiction and fantasy looks to accomplish the same goal as ever—to illuminate what it means to be human. With a diverse selection of stories chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and Diana Gabaldon, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020 explores the ever-expanding and changing world of SFF today.

Buy The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020 by John Joseph Adams and Diana Gabaldon.

Top New Fantasy Books October 2020

The Emperor’s Wolves by Michelle Sagara

Type: Novel  Publisher: Mira Release date: Oct. 13

Den of Geek says: Sagara’s urban fantasy sets itself apart with creative anthropomorphic characters. This new entry could be a good entry point into the pre-existing canon, since it starts a new series in the same world.

Publisher’s summary: Multiple races carefully navigate the City of Elantra under the Dragon Emperor’s wing. His Imperial Wolves are executioners, the smallest group to serve in the Halls of Law. The populace calls them assassins.

Every wolf candidate must consent to a full examination by the Tha’alani, one of the most feared and distrusted races in Elantra for their ability to read minds. Most candidates don’t finish their job interviews.

Severn Handred, the newest potential recruit, is determined to face and pass this final test—even if by doing so he’s exposing secrets he has never shared.

When an interrogation uncovers the connections to a two-decade-old series of murders of the Tha’alani, the Wolves are commanded to hunt. Severn’s first job will be joining the chase. From the High Halls to the Tha’alani quarter, from the Oracles to the Emperor, secrets are uncovered, tensions are raised and justice just might be done…if Severn can survive.

Buy The Emperor’s Wolves by Michelle Sagara.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press Release date: Oct. 13

Den of Geek says: Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning sent her careening into the urban fantasy world. Now she brings sharp action and an indigenous perspective to high fantasy with a story inspired by the pre-Columbian Americas.

Publisher’s summary: In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created an epic adventure exploring the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in the most original series debut of the decade.

Buy Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse.

Shadows of the Short Days by Alexander dan Vilhjálmsson

Type: Novel  Publisher: Titan Books Release date: Oct. 20 

Den of Geek says: A unique setting and a fantasy world reminiscent of China Mieville’s serves as the backdrop for a dark story. Both characters — one an artistic rebel and one an antiheroic wizard addicted to magic — sound like they have specific and intriguing ties to their brutal, magical world. 

Publisher’s summary:  Rebels and revolutionaries disappear into the infamous prison, the Nine, never to be heard from again. Masked police roam the streets, dark magic lurks in the shadows, and the implacable flying fortress casts its baleful eye over all below.

Sæmundur, addict and sorcerer, has been cast out from university, and forbidden to study magic. Dissident artist, Garún, is desperate for a just society and will do anything to achieve it.

Both seek revolution in their own ways. Both seek power.

Together, they will change Reykjavik forever.

Buy Shadows of the Short Days by Alexander dan Vilhjálmsson.

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Type: Novel  Publisher: Solaris  Release date: Oct. 15 

Den of Geek says: If you read these lists often, you know I’m a big fan of dragons. Renowned science fiction author Yoon Ha Lee turns to fantasy-with-robots in this twist on the story of an unlikely knight, a mechanical dragon, and a corrupt kingdom. 

Publisher’s summary: Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint.

One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers.

But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics.

What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight…

Buy Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee.

Top New Fantasy Books September 2020

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Type: Novel  Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Release date: Sept. 15

Den of Geek says: Clarke’s atmospheric Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell was an eerie, old-fashioned take on the fairy genre, delicate and complex at once. She returns with a haunted house tale (!) featuring endless rooms, mysterious characters, and “A Great and Secret Knowledge.” Publisher’s summary: Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house-a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

For readers of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane and fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe, Piranesi introduces an astonishing new world, an infinite labyrinth, full of startling images and surreal beauty, haunted by the tides and the clouds.

Buy Piranesi by Susanna Clarke on Amazon.

Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston 

Type: Novel Publisher: Tor.com Release date: Sept. 8

Den of Geek says: A lyrical, apocalyptic fantasy epic, Master of Poisons sends two very different characters into an unforgiving world in a creative new alternate empire. Publisher’s summary: The world is changing. Poison desert eats good farmland. Once-sweet water turns foul. The wind blows sand and sadness across the Empire. To get caught in a storm is death. To live and do nothing is death. There is magic in the world, but good conjure is hard to find.

Djola, righthand man and spymaster of the lord of the Arkhysian Empire, is desperately trying to save his adopted homeland, even in exile.

Awa, a young woman training to be a powerful griot, tests the limits of her knowledge and comes into her own in a world of sorcery, floating cities, kindly beasts, and uncertain men.

Awash in the rhythms of folklore and storytelling and rich with Hairston’s characteristic lush prose, Master of Poisons is epic fantasy that will bleed your mind with its turns of phrase and leave you aching for the world it burns into being.

Buy Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston on Amazon.

 The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart 

Type: Novel Publisher: Hachette Books  Release date: Sept. 8

Den of Geek says: The magic system in this debut has a pleasantly video game-like system of magic talismans and animal automatons. Publisher’s summary: The emperor’s reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands.

Lin is the emperor’s daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright – and save her people.

Buy The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart on Amazon.

Top New Fantasy Books August 2020

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Tor Release date: Aug. 11 

Den of Geek says: The Baru Cormorant series features as its hero a mentally ill accountant with the fate of an empire at her fingers. The third book in the series promises more dark, twisty introspection and grim, creative world-building. 

Publisher’s summary: The hunt is over. After fifteen years of lies and sacrifice, Baru Cormorant has the power to destroy the Imperial Republic of Falcrest that she pretends to serve. The secret society called the Cancrioth is real, and Baru is among them.

But the Cancrioth’s weapon cannot distinguish the guilty from the innocent. If it escapes quarantine, the ancient hemorrhagic plague called the Kettling will kill hundreds of millions…not just in Falcrest, but all across the world. History will end in a black bloodstain.

Is that justice? Is this really what Tain Hu hoped for when she sacrificed herself?

Baru’s enemies close in from all sides. Baru’s own mind teeters on the edge of madness or shattering revelation. Now she must choose between genocidal revenge and a far more difficult path―a conspiracy of judges, kings, spies and immortals, puppeteering the world’s riches and two great wars in a gambit for the ultimate prize. 

If Baru had absolute power over the Imperial Republic, she could force Falcrest to abandon its colonies and make right its crimes.

Buy The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson on Amazon.

Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley

Type: Epic Poem  Publisher: MCD x FSG Originals Release date: Aug. 25 

Den of Geek says: Headley got an intimate look at Beowulf in the modern interpretation The Mere Wife. She turns the intellect behind that inventive, scathing novel about complex and furious women to a translation of the poem featuring new research. 

Publisher’s summary: Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf―and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world―there is a radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements that have never before been translated into English, recontextualizing the binary narrative of monsters and heroes into a tale in which the two categories often entwine, justice is rarely served, and dragons live among us. 

A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye toward gender, genre, and history―Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story. While crafting her contemporary adaptation of Beowulf, Headley unearthed significant shifts lost over centuries of translation.

Buy Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley on Amazon.

The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe

Type: Novel (Reprint)  Publisher: Tor Books Release date: Aug. 11 

Den of Geek says: Gene Wolfe is a modern master of fantasy. This reprint of a 2004 duology provides both original stories in one paperback package. 

Publisher’s summary: A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm consisting of seven levels of reality. Transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Sir Able of the High Heart and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, the blade that will help him fulfill his ambition to become a true hero―a true knight. 

Inside, however, Sir Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive what lies ahead…

Buy The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe on Amazon.

Top New Fantasy Books July 2020 

The Book of Dragons: An Anthology by Jonathan Strahan

Type: Anthology  Publisher: Harper Voyager  Release date: July 7 

Den of Geek says: I’m always looking for a good book about dragons, and this incredible list of authors promises adventurous and unique stories. Anne Leckie, Zen Cho, Seanan Maguire, J.Y. Yang, Patricia A McKillip, Brooke Bolander … it’s an astounding, literary-flavored list of people qualified to write cool creatures.

Publisher’s summary: Here there be dragons . . . 

From China to Europe, Africa to North America, dragons have long captured our imagination in myth and legend. Whether they are rampaging beasts awaiting a brave hero to slay or benevolent sages who have much to teach humanity, dragons are intrinsically connected to stories of creation, adventure, and struggle beloved for generations. 

Bringing together nearly thirty stories and poems from some of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers working today— Garth Nix, Scott Lynch, R.F. Kuang, Ann Leckie & Rachel Swirsky, Daniel Abraham, Peter S. Beagle, Beth Cato, Zen Cho, C. S. E Cooney, Aliette de Bodard, Amal El-Mohtar, Kate Elliott, Theodora Goss, Ellen Klages, Ken Liu, Seanan Maguire, Patricia A McKillip, K. J. Parker, Kelly Robson, Michael Swanwick, Jo Walton, Elle Katharine White, Jane Yolen, Kelly Barnhill, Brooke Bolander, Sarah Gailey, and J. Y. Yang—and illustrated by award-nominated artist Rovina Cai with black-and-white line drawings specific to each entry throughout, this extraordinary collection vividly breathes fire and life into one of our most captivating and feared magical creatures as never before and is sure to become a treasured keepsake for fans of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales.

Buy The Book of Dragons by Jonathan Strahan on Amazon.

Or What You Will by Joe Walton 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Tor Books Release date: July 7 

Den of Geek says: Jo Walton is a writer’s writer, highly praised but still generally skating under the radar. I found her 2014 My Real Children to not nearly live up to its very high concept, but she’s one of those authors with technical prowess who is at least worth checking out for context for women’s science fiction. The metafiction plot sounds fun. 

Publisher’s summary: He has been too many things to count. He has been a dragon with a boy on his back. He has been a scholar, a warrior, a lover, and a thief. He has been dream and dreamer. He has been a god. 

But “he” is in fact nothing more than a spark of idea, a character in the mind of Sylvia Harrison, 73, award-winning author of thirty novels over forty years. He has played a part in most of those novels, and in the recesses of her mind, Sylvia has conversed with him for years. 

But Sylvia won’t live forever, any more than any human does. And he’s trapped inside her cave of bone, her hollow of skull. When she dies, so will he.

Now Sylvia is starting a new novel, a fantasy for adult readers, set in Thalia, the Florence-resembling imaginary city that was the setting for a successful YA trilogy she published decades before. Of course he’s got a part in it. But he also has a notion. He thinks he knows how he and Sylvia can step off the wheel of mortality altogether. All he has to do is convince her.

Buy Or What You Will by Jo Walton on Amazon.

The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal

Type: Graphic Novel  Publisher: First Second  Release date: July 14 

Den of Geek says: The Adventure Zone is a wildly popular humorous fantasy podcast. It’s part of the big 2010s wave of Dungeons & Dragons coming back into the geek space. Especially for someone who might not want to listen to hundreds of episodes of a podcast, the illustrated version does a good job of smoothing out the story into a graphic novel format without removing the goofy chaos of the original podcast. 

Publisher’s summary: START YOUR ENGINES, friends, Clint McElroy and sons Griffin, Justin, and Travis hit the road again with Taako, Magnus and Merle, the beloved agents of chaos from the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novels illustrated by Carey Pietsch, The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins and The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited.

Our boys have gone full-time at the Bureau of Balance, and their next assignment is a real thorny one: apprehending The Raven, a master thief who’s tapped into the power of a Grand Relic to ransack the city of Goldcliff. Local life-saver Lieutenant Hurley pulls them out of the woods, only to throw them headlong into the world of battle wagon racing, Goldcliff’s favorite high-stakes low-legality sport and The Raven’s chosen battlefield. Will the boys and Hurley be able to reclaim the Relic and pull The Raven back from the brink, or will they get lost in the weeds?

Based on the beloved blockbuster podcast where three brothers and their dad play a tabletop RPG in real time, The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal has it all: blossoming new friendships, pining for outlaw lovers, and a rollicking race you can root for!

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Buy The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal on Amazon.

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[cliquestitsandicks]

I woke up this morning with Queen Sugar on my mind and needed to share my thoughts about last night’s episode, so here goes. Warning: all the spoilers.

Ok so first things first, there was literally never any legit reason to dislike Lorna in the present. Let me get that out of the way.

However, the narrative had been, at least in my social media circles, that in the past Earnest betrayed his family and left for some white woman. A more sinister take on it was that white woman stole him. Personally, I’m of the thought that you can’t steal someone from a relationship, but that’s beside the point… anyway, it’s a perspective we now know to be completely inaccurate and 100% Aunt Vi’s warped point of view.

The truth was Trudy, Nova’s mom, didn’t want a traditional relationship with Earnest. They didn’t want the same things so, feeling heartbroken with the relationship being over, he left town. He was not married when he met Lorna. He was not in a relationship. He was not cheating. He found out Trudy was pregnant (with Nova) and came back just to be rejected by her again. So he moved on, married Lorna, and had a baby with her. All of this is to establish that none of the people involved in the actual story of Nova and Charley’s creations are at fault in any way here. Earnest wasn’t a cheater and had every right to move on. Trudy had every right to reject him if it wasn’t the relationship she wanted. Lorna wasn’t wrong to fall for a single man in love with another woman; it was a bad choice, but one that could only hurt her and potential children in the long run really…and it did. And that’s unfortunate. Nevertheless, someone choosing to love someone knowing their heart belongs elsewhere isn’t a reason to think the worst of them. It’s definitely not a good reason to raise children to think poorly of them. Yet Aunt Vi’s general mistrust of whites, undoubtedly a result of the constant violent oppression her entire family has faced being Black in the United States and being 1–2 (?) generations from said family literally being lynched, led her to construct and reinforce a false narrative that’s created tears in the fabric of who the Bordelon children are individually and as a family unit.

Nova’s spent her entire life thinking her father abandoned her and her mother because of some horrible nemesis, her birth not being enough to keep him around. She believed he chose Charley for being half white and It isn’t a stretch to assume she pushed herself to excel academically in competition with the chosen daughter. But then RalphAngel came along after all that time and it seemed like the only thing she could have done to get him to stay was be a boy. This woman grew up her entire life thinking her mother and father were in love but as soon as something shinier came along he left her. Couple that with feeling like she was never adequate and we see why she has severe commitment issues, seemingly always looking for a reason to end it or ensure it can never really start in the first place (such as choosing to engage with a married man who is also a white cop when she’s a Black activist). And I’m not sure from this last episode of Aunt Vi was blind to what this was doing to them, especially to Nova, or if she just didn’t think there was anything wrong with it… but it’s clear she never intended to stop telling this lie. Her response to finding out Nova was with a married man was to mention everything her mother went through with Earnest and Lorna, a reference to the fabricated tale of cheating and betrayal based solely on Lorna being white and Vi’s personal, almost fanatic, belief that Earnest and Trudy belonged together.

Charley’s spent her entire life feeling like she didn’t really belong, but worse must have been the feeling of shame and being the source of so much pain for her sister. Imagine being the reminder of that evil woman your dad abandoned your sister for…that evil white woman…that evil rich white woman (of course we now know she wasn’t wealthy just worked really hard with the added privileges of being white and beautiful). Charley has said she felt more at home with the Bordelons than anywhere else because she didn’t have to try to make her Blackness palatable or make whites comfortable. But clearly the trade off was her mother (the one parent she was with most of the time, a woman who loves her very much and tries to give her the best) was literally hated by these people. She likely felt forced to choose. When she was with the Bordelons, she couldn’t be Lorna’s daughter. She couldn’t acknowledge her too much, couldn’t remind them of her too much, had to keep mom tucked away. In these last couple of episodes we see just how far that went. Charley felt she had to hide her mom, physically, from the rest of the family for fear of disturbing them and hurting everyone. A mom, once again, who’d done NOTHING wrong.

Everyone has stated Earnest babied Ralphangel, was overprotective of him, kept him close. While his daughters worked to feel like they were good enough, he was coddled and we can see the differences in how they conduct themselves both as individuals and in their sibling dynamic. That could not have been helped by this misinformation. RA is a reminder to both girls that they were insufficient for their father and much of it leads back to not just the ending of their mothers’ relationships with him, but how the situation was later conveyed by their beloved aunt. Nova has explicitly and resentfully stated that it wasn’t until RA was born that her father committed to her mother. All of that pain, all of that feeling unworthy… and it’s based on a lie.

I generally love Aunt Vi on this show and enjoyed that this episode complicated who has been the sort of moral compass for all of the characters. She doesn’t just hold grudges in situations where it seems understandable — Darla being a former addict who’d endangered baby Blue, Hollywood having a wife he never told her about — and we can say “yes, I would have responded the same way”. The morality of the show actually has a deeper character flaw than anticipated and i can appreciate that.

Although it was an interesting, albeit brief, conversation on how prejudices damage the efforts of even the most well-meaning and how our children absorb our hate in ways we can’t predict, there were two things I didn’t really like about this development. Personally, I would have preferred to get Trudy and Earnest’s perspectives some way, maybe a letter or other people who really knew them and their story without the fog of being the grieving sister with the racial prejudice. I find it hard to believe people watched Nova struggling with these feelings about her father and never stepped in to tell her the truth, that he wanted their family in tact but her mother didn’t want him. I also find it hard to believe that her mother taught her herbalism and the spiritual world aside from Christianity, raised her to be socially conscientious, was basically an Erykah Badu type… but never told her she wasn’t interested in traditional relationships. That’s odd. But then, we’re relying on the word of Lorna (who is still pretty much a stranger to us) and Vi (who we just learned isn’t the most reliable source on this) to give us the full story dead people cannot give.

The other thing that ultimately displeased me was that this revelation created an innocent white woman being harshly and unjustly vilified by an angry Black woman who is prejudiced against whites. On a show that has done a marvelous job of directly addressing the forms of racism Black people regularly face — in the justice system, business, academia, and media — it was a bit disconcerting for me to watch this unfold. I didn’t think it was a necessary or helpful addition to a story that’s supposed to be about us and our perspectives. But, I trust these writers, and definitely trust Ava DuVernay, not to create a Taylor Swift circa 2009 unless they’re going to expose her circa 2016. So I’m thinking she’s either a vehicle to a more interesting story line for someone else or they’re going to complicate her character and make her an ally to the family without making her a savior and we’ll get to watch how the rest of the family adjusts. Well, I’m hoping it’s something like that anyway.

#queen sugar #queen sugar spoilers