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sarah-yyy · 7 months

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Sorry to bother you, is My journey worth watching?

what: period cdrama // completed // 24 eps, roughly 50 mins each where: iqiyi (i think most eps are still vip-locked) (standard disclaimer that i don't use eng subs so i don't speak to the quality of the subs) why: ngl, i was in it purely for zhang linghe to start, but then got !!! over cheng lei and lu yuxiao, and was too invested to quit even when the plot got sloppy. extremely gorgeous cast, extremely gorgeous set. the cinematography?? chef's kiss. you can see the budget for this show was good. the relationship between the characters? v interesting.

story revolves around the Gong family who is v prominent in jianghu even though they live up in the mountains and keep themselves sequestered away from the rest of jianghu. the Gong family itself is split into 4 different factions: Shang, Jue, Zhi, Yu.

Yu 羽 - the Yu household deals with internal affairs. the head of the Yu household is the head of the Gong family (the title is Sword Wielder or zhiren)

this is our male lead, gong ziyu (a baby). second son of the Yu household. his dad is the zhiren and his big bro (gong huanyu) is the named heir who will inherit the zhiren position. has a v lukewarm relationship with his dad. introduced as being quite useless. his martial arts is :/ and he sees no need to improve his skills etc because his brother will be there to protect him.

is quite suddenly thrust into the position of zhiren when his dad and his brother die under ~mysterious circumstances :(

Jue 角 - the Jue household deals with...external affairs, they are the ones who leave the mountain to Get Things Done outside and manage all relationships/partnerships outside

gege step on me this boy is gong shangjue, head of the jue household. he is The Man. the pride and joy of the gong family. everyone (*cough*i say everyone but really yuanzhi-didi does it enough that he counts for everyone*cough*) worships him. martial arts skills?? loyalty to the gong family?? incredibly attractive resting bitch face??? he is a 10 no matter how you assess him.

missed out on being the zhiren by virtue of him not being home when tragedy struck the old zhiren and gong ziyu's brother. doesn't think gong ziyu has what it takes to be zhiren and take care of the Gong family. my boy gong shangjue would make an Excellent zhiren tbh

do i have to seduce y'all into watching this i think i have to:

Shang 商 - the Shang household develops/produces weaponry

for most of it, the show has a p dark vibe, BUT whenever gong zishang shows up, we know we're in for some laughs. this zishang-jiejie is the eldest daughter of the head of the Shang household.

her father doesn't take her v seriously because she's a girl (also because she's always following behind gong ziyu's personal bodyguard jin fan like this: 😍💖🤞🏼; valid life choices tbh because same) but she does take her craft v seriously! ride or die for gong ziyu.

Zhi 徵 - the Zhi household develops poisons

YUANZHI-DIDI!! this boy loves two things: poisons and gege. #1 gong shangjue fanboy at least 10 years in a row. parents died when he was p young, and gong shangjue took him under his wing. whiz at poisons and v fight fight fight (ง •̀_•́)ง. is suspicious about everything and VERY protective of his gege.

alright that's the main Gong sibs all sorted. there's also an assortment of Inner Mountain (houshan) characters that are v interesting but i won't get into because 1) spoilers, 2) this post will get too long if i get to talk about hua-gongzi and xue-gongzi/xue-tongzi.

okay so the Gong family live in p much a fortress up in the mountains. no outsiders are allowed in, and only a select few are allowed out of the Gong family territory at all. we learn that this is to protect the Gong family from Wu Feng, a spy organisation which has p much taken over jianghu. Wu Feng learns that the Gong family will be holding a bride selection contest thingy for gong huanyu, and sends:

yun weishan, a low-ranking assassin in Wu Feng (Chi, the lowest out of 4 ranks chi, mei, wang, liang), disguised as a bride.

her mission is to be picked by gong huanyu as his bride, and become the next zhiren-furen so she can p much feed intel to Wu Feng. when gong huanyu and the old zhiren both croak, her attentions turn to gong ziyu who is by that point already 😍🥰😘 over her anyway NO SURPRISES. the 恋爱脑 on that boy istg, absolutely head no thoughts only yun weishan at least 20 hours in a day.

shangguan qian, a higher-ranking assassin (Mei, one rank above yws) in Wu Feng

my love my wife her mission is a little different from yws. her target isn't anyone from the Yu household but gong shangjue instead. the goal is to get her hands on this secret weapon (this is also a v HMMM part of the plot but no matter we endure what we have to) that the Gong family is safeguarding.

the relationship between these two wu feng spies is so interesting too!! they're not friends, not exactly allies, but also not quite enemies. they will help each other out if they really have to (and only if it doesn't jeopardise their own positions and there is adequate compensation), but will also not hesitate to stab each other in the backs if it serves their respective missions.

i needed like 100000 more scenes of them together ngl

ANYWAY the plot revolves around the Gong family trying to Catch The Spy, the Wu Feng spies trying to Complete Their Mission, gong ziyu trying to Prove Himself as the zhiren, and ofc there's romance sprinkled around. that's p much the gist of the show.

listen listen listen... i know this show has a bad rep in the cdrama circles, i agree. the plot is......HMM and it tries to hard to be one of those clever mysteries when it should just be what it is which is p much an idol drama?? i mean...it is a guo jingming show, we weren't going in expecting to be wowed by the plot. i think if they'd just stuck to the basics, this would have been a stronger show, but imo this wasn't bad bad. the worldbuilding was good and the characters were interesting, and like i said, the whole thing is shot really beautifully!!

the ending was......but i'll keep this spoiler free and just say that it was HMMMMM and v unnecessary what they did.

with the preface that i watched it without much expectations as to the plot, i enjoyed a lot of parts of the show! it's an incredibly easy watch, and because it's only 24 eps, the pacing is quick and conflicts don't tend to drag on for too long. if you're looking for some easy entertainment, i'd say go for it, but if you have Standards regarding plot etc, this is probably not the show for you

#tv rec #my journey to you #cdrama

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imaginaryelle · 2 years

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I love Yue Qingyuan. I love characters who try again and again, even though they know they'll never measure up to who they want to be. I love characters who care so deeply that their moral compass is compromised by it, by that depth of feeling, by their need to be accepted, by their hope that this time things will be different, no matter how many times they see things go wrong again and again and again.

Yue Qingyuan is held up as a paragon of the cultivation world, a peacemaker, one of the most highly respected individuals of his generation. He has good reputation, power, wealth, and of course, responsibilities to match. But he will throw all of that away if you push the right buttons. No price is too high to pay. If you pull the right string, literally nothing else matters. There's no real internal conflict about it even. An extremely pure example of loyalty turned to fault over virtue. Persistence becoming a source of problems rather than solutions.

I think that's neat. It's fun to read, it's interesting. And oh, it's so fun to write. This is a man who walks through a world of warriors without ever drawing his sword, until the threat is great enough. That sort of character is usually quite noble all the way through to their core, but Yue Qingyuan carries his flaws in the palm of his hand and knows exactly how they can be used against him and just. Lets it happen. Because his flaws are too closely tied a part of himself that he doesn't want to let go of. He's trapped himself in a pattern he doesn't know how to escape, but he's not interested in changing it until he gets Shen Jiu's goodwill back.

And oh, he's so lonely. My favorite kind of lonely character too: surrounded by well-meaning people, by people who call him friend and sect leader and shixiong, and yet, no one really knows him. No one. Not even Shen Jiu, when Shen Jiu is still around, because Shen Jiu isn't interested in learning how Yue Qi was changed by becoming Yue Qingyuan. Shen Jiu's seen enough of that, and he doesn't want to know what's left of Yue Qi because obviously it wasn't enough to still care about Shen Jiu, was it?

Add in his insistence on providing any comfort he can any time Shen Jiu is hurt, as if he can try to make up for all the hurts he feels responsible for even as Shen Jiu pushes him away again and again... Ah, Yue Qingyuan. There's so much in just a small handful of scenes. I want more.

#yue qingyuan #svsss #svsss meta

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dailyadventureprompts · 2 years

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Monsters Reimagined: Celestials

BE NOT AFRAID

Angels and their kin have been a common request in my inbox for some years now, but It’s taken me some time to actually write this post in no small part because I needed to come to terms with how I wanted them to work in my own world.

The problem was finding a balance in the “all angels are good, if not nice” angel, and the “gritty, singleminded zealotry” angel that’s become the default as generation after generation of creator has pushed back against an oppressive religious culture and wanted to see the icons of that religion dragged through the mud as a means of validation.

As I’ve discussed with my post on fiends, I don’t like how d&d does alignments: not just as moral absolutes, but as universal constants that leave no room for debate or faith or contradiction, as belief is systematized and taxonomized, with each good and bad deed having a corresponding outsider and designated parkingspot in the great cosmic wheel.

Here’s my pitch then: Just as demons embody mortal vices gone awry, and fey embody the natural world, celestials embody ideals, pure concepts that exist one step removed from the practical considerations of physical reality. Not only does this allow you to keep your usual “justice”, “kindness” angels on theme, but it also lets you square concepts that would seem to be contradictory without making hard and fast moral judgements about things that can be good in some cases but not in others. An angel of feasting and good cheer might disagree with an enlightened master of ascetic self discipline, especially about whether their mortal wards should really help themselves to a third round of dessert, but neither would fault the other should the decision go their way. Good is not absolute after all.

That said, there’s plenty of different types of celestials, some of whom might disagree on that non-absolutist take, but to find out about my personal taxonomy, you’re going to have to keep reading under the cut

Angels: While all celestials embody some kind of ideal, the angels are out there being the good they want to see in the multiverse. Just like devils actively work to find fault with mortals or punish them for their transgressions, angels wish to extol and foster their virtues. Including angels in your adventure will typically have them picking someone (possibly a PC, possibly a side character, maybe even a villain) and nudging them towards their better nature. Some angels may even be created when someone’s goodness outlives them, or called into being when a collection of goodness coalesces over time. Angels are not the direct subordinates of gods, as gods exist in an even further removed state of idealization, they do however have closer contact with gods, more akin to that of a higher level cleric.

Fallen angels: just as medicine can become poison depending on the dosage, virtuous behaviour can become a vice if taken to its extreme. Righteousness can become wrath, love can become obsession, selflessness can become martyrdom. Little better than demons at their worst, angels that lose the ability to compromise or see other points of view are at risk of becoming something destructive.

Archons: Embodiments of laws by which people are governed, these celestials were placed in charge of mortals during the chaotic dawn age, in an attempt to give the fledgling cultures and civilizations they cared for a scaffolding to build off off. The arcons were despotic tyrants horever, caring little for the wellbeing of their charges compared to the enforcement of the systems they personified. These draconian despots have long been banished to their own little corners of the multiverse, and adventures involving them will likely revolve around an archon trying to reobtain power, or the unearthing of cruel artifacts they used to maintain it.

Lesser Graces: What could be called “Feral Angels”, these spirits represent minor or incidental forms of benevolence removed from coherency or greater morals. The Reverence of moths towards a lamp, a child’s dream of flying free, the protective spirit of a community of feral cats. These are the celestials most likely to be encountered by players in the early stages of their adventures, stumbling upon them incidently as they explore the untouched places of the world.

Psychopomps: Though often spooky or grisly, the shepherds of the dead play an important role in seeing the souls of mortal to their final destination, whether that be in the keeping of a god or the great resting place of the underworld. A party is most likely to encounter psychopomps after someone kicks the bucket, though minor spiritguides may linger around graveyards and tombs, looking to escort lingering souls and dismiss the undead.

Indescribable: From a distance the light of the sun warms the world and nourishes growth, but on a greater scale it can scorch a land to lifeless desert and at its maximum is it nothing but thermonuclear oblivion. Such is the case with the indescribable, celestial entities that take concepts like “purity” or “sanctified” and turn it to the absurd. Ethanol is pure after all, but that’s because it kills any microbial life that it comes in contact with. Indescribables tend to exist beyond the reality of the multiverse, or else carve off very specific territories within it, and adventures involving them likely involve some holier than thou idiot who’s decided to take an ethical system and drive it into an omnicidal ditch.

#archon #angel #celestial #alignment #d&d #monsters reimagined

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popcornsalty · 5 months

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Okay so so like. I feel like something people should know is that these cracks in team soulfire have been there since day one, firstly, and that bad and pierre consistently don't follow tubbo on things that they consider necessary to win, and that I want to talk about all that because this shit yesterday was a long time coming

(Obligatory /rp for all of this I'm not putting q in front of all that)

To start, on quite literally day one two people put their name into the ring for leader, which were bad and tubbo, and tubbo won by virtue of being more enthused about it. And since then, he's been a great leader for both morale and grinding, with bad and Tina as Co leaders of sorts. This was most apparent in the early days, where bad would gather the team together and help keep track and organize where tubbo had wandered off. Tina was also super helpful, because she led the non- combat crew and helped give people stuff to do and is really good at keeping up team morale.

All of that's to say, blue team has excellent internal leadership when they're functioning together and have a shared goal, which was purely the pvp and uhc style of combat they took up on early days. But that has changed over the course of the event

One of the more prominent examples is when tubbo was trying to repair relations with red and specifically told bad to lay off fighting them, only for him and pierre to team up with etoiles to try for kills- which, I'm sure they felt was necessary to win.but I bring this up to illustrate how they will not follow orders if they think it's necessary to win by doing what they're told not to

This is part of why blues rep is so fucked, especially due to bad, because he tends to do stuff thats "bad manners" and stretch the rules as far as possibly for victory, in addition to a loooot of shittalk, which has been discussed in some post team calls n stuff by tubbo y Tina but I digress since that's not lore lmaooo. But it's interesting to consider to me since while nothing is explicitly outlawed on qsmp, there is shit that once you do, there's no going back- bads rep with red, and pierre now too, and blue generally is gonna suck because of yesterday. And why is that?

Because they choose to unbalance scales that everyone thought could be balanced, and *everyone* knew the stakes listed in the tweet quackity studios made. It was very very clear, no matter the explaining away of "death of the teams" or whatever. And it's interesting to me!!! Because if you watched blues pov yesterday, you'd know how tubbo spent an hour long call with bbh early on in the morning explaining why they needed to balance the scales, and that bbh was prepared to-do that but was very paranoid that they were going to backstab them, and pierre was focused entirely on winning even at the expense of the other team. Which is some interesting stakes tbh!!!

Because like, literally a few days ago they were fucked over by green who attacked their egg statue when they had an alliance, and were wary as a result. Even if green hadn't killed their egg it was still a breach of trust, which fueled both bad and pierres fear about green fucking them Over- when like, in a few minutes of thought, you'd realize that green can't have gotten the stuff to turn in that many quests last minute, not with blue having been prepping all day as a unit to prepare to counter this if it happened.

^ but here I take for granted those moments to think in an outside perspective. So. Moving on

This is all to say- this was always going to happen. And probably in this way too, because bad is a paranoid guy who's very invested in his own survival and pierre has been worn down into being extremely focused on victory above all else. And im excited to see the consequences of that! Because killing other islanders will have that for surrrre like I'm excited for today

And like to be clear I get wanting to preserve your own life at the cost of others but likeeeee. Part of that is absolutely a No going back because it's not gonna look good to kill a team who didn't log on most of the day to anyone who survives 😭. and it'll be interesting to see how that plays out tbh!

Because the more aggressive members (bad n pierre) of the blue team have most of the ire, and the rest of blue might be offered a spot with bolas the way tubbo was- but I doubt they'll take it. Though we'll have to see how this plays out

Anyhow I have really disorganized thoughts sorry if this doesn't make sense, I just like overall wanted to say- what happened was in a long line of shit thats happened, I'm interested in seeing the fallout

(Though like for all I say this was always gonna happen, those characters made a choice that they didn't have to because they wanted to survive above all else. And that's the fun of these types of games.)

(Also anyone else crazy about the dramatic irony of tubbo wanting to save his friends with the even points and almost killed them all. That went hard)

#poke post #so sorry again my thoughts are so disorganized its hard to make sense of em hope you enjoy the vibes tuo #tho #whatever stay slay #long post #im deeply scared of harassment so no maintaf #poke blockposts

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random-iz-stuff · 10 months

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Hey, I know you usually talk more about Zim, but I have a question about Dib: What do you think is he an anti-hero or anti-villain or neither? I got kind of confused with the terms, so I'd like to read your thoughts about it to get a clearer picture.

Let’s see:

Anti-Hero:

A character that has and/or uses traditionally evil or negative qualities to do an ultimately good thing. Or, they might do the right thing, but for non-heroic reasons, like purely out of self-interest or monetary gain.

Basically: A heroic character that is heavily flawed, and/or morally ambiguous. Their goals are good but their methods are questionable at worst.

Anti-Villain:

A character with heroic goals, personality traits, and/or virtues who is ultimately the villain. Usually, their desired ends are mostly good, but their means of getting to that point aren’t.

Basically: A villainous character with some redeeming qualities, like a goal that’s ultimately heroic, even if extremely evil things need to be done to achieve it. Their goals are good but their methods go way beyond just “questionable” into “definitely evil” territory.

At least I think that’s the definitions of both? It’s a bit confusing for me too so these definitions (ESPECIALLY the Anti-Villain ones) are probably at least partially flawed.

Anyways, Dib if definitely an Anti-Hero in my eyes. He’s doing the ultimately heroic act of protecting the Earth, but he’s also a little shit that’s willing to sink lower than even Zim goes in order to win. Zim constantly provides flaws in his plans and traps for Dib to exploit unless he’s trying to get petty revenge or believes that he’s in genuine life threatening danger, and then Dib is willing to torture Zim to a slow death via PAK deprivation without a second thought. There’s also the fact that every time the two work together, Zim is the one to initiate the team up (even if he hesitates to do so and clearly dislikes it) and if the two of them betray each other during that team up, it’s always Dib that does it without a hint of hesitation.

Plus, many people forget that Dib’s motivation for protecting the Earth isn’t “because it’s the right thing to do” or even “because I live here” but simply because Zim is Dib’s ticket to making it big as a paranormal investigator. Killing Zim will prove that Dib is right about all his paranormal research and theories and that’s why he goes for him. Protecting the Earth is a byproduct of that somewhat influenced by the fact that without Earth, there’s no one for Dib to prove anything to.

Dib’s Wonderful Life Of Doom is the best example of this, because once Dib actually gets what he wants and captures Zim, he immediately uses Zim as springboard to go accomplish other feats of paranormal research, not caring about the Irken Armada until Zim personally points it out to him years later. It was never about protecting the Earth or doing the right thing, just proving that he’s right and earning the respect he deserves.

So I view Dib as more of an Anti-Hero. Someone who ultimately does good (protecting humanity from aliens), but whose methods and motivations for doing so are far from heroic.

Comic spoilers under the cut:

Zib however, is an Anti-Villain.

His ultimate goal of wiping the Irken Empire from existence in the multiverse is (at least from his perspective) a heroic goal and he claims to be doing it to protect and save other worlds from the Irken Threat (in contrast to the real Dib, who only truly has interest in furthering his own career), but the things he’s willing to do to achieve that goal and just how downright dangerous and destructive his methods are are far too evil to make him a Hero or even an Anti-Hero.

#invader zim #asks #dib membrane #analysis #zib #comic spoilers

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harlequinoccult · 1 year

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The Valley of Luck was said to be a myth. Something that grandparents would tell their grand-kids around a campfire. Even those who worshiped Lucian, The God of Luck, thought it nothing but an old wives tale.

Until, one day, a man with an arm made of solid gold started telling people that he'd been there, that he'd seen the Valley. Word spread quickly, and suddenly, every continent was alight with the rumor that The Valley was real, that it could give you all the riches you could ever want, and then some.

Choose from 4 different species to play as!

Humans, Elves, Fiendish, and Orcs!

Customize your Adventurer!

Each species have their own unique customization options!

Choose your weapon!

Five different weapons to choose from! That you can name! Or not!

Choose your skills!

Choose your three main skills! Use them to solve problems!

Build your personality!

Different personality traits! be a smartass! be timid! be honest! or not!

The Eldritch Doctor

-Xandin Ivory- Your "Employer" as it were. He largely comes off as aloof on a good day and down right cold on others. He keeps his face hooded, masked, or otherwise shrouded in darkness via magic, Few seem to know what he truly looks like, and those that do are evasive under questioning. He expects your absolute very best on the tasks he sets you on, but he doesn't come across as unfair. There are no shortage of rumors about the man, ranging from completely banal to down right terrifying. Certainly, a warlock acting as a village doctor couldn't be as cruel as he's rumored to be....could he?

The Immortal Bard

-Yuuki Itsuki- A playful bard that seemingly everyone knows, who apparently knows everyone. Everyone but you, that is. He seems keen on remedying that with his uncanny ability to show up in the most unlikely of places, as he's taken an interest in your quest. There are rumors that he's immortal, that he's been around for decades, that he knows where The Valley is, but keeps it a secret. Is he really just a friendly face, or is there something deeper behind his charming demeanor?

The Arcane Knight

-Andrew Hartlyn- The current sovereign's personal guardian, He's been protecting them since they were a child and considers them family. Kind and level headed, He comes off as an uncomplicated man born from humble beginnings, but the question remains of how this seemingly normal man became the guardian of the Altrien monarch is a mystery to many, most of all you. Is this man as modest as he claims, or is there something more extraordinary going on with this knight?

The Vibrant Valkyrie

-Claudia Duskstar- A descendant of the goddess Illumae, her angelic features contrasts sharply with her impudent demeanor. A known bar fly and gambler, this mercenary claims she's only in it for the coin nowadays, but she has plenty of history she isn't exactly keen on sharing, not while sober anyway. Is this divine paladin truly just done with valor and virtue, or can you prove to her that there is some goodness left to protect after all?

The Wandering Merchant

-Vylasia Ambrees- The ever charismatic merchant you stumbled upon by pure chance, Vylasia has her ear right at the pulse of the rumor mill. She and her trusty steed Diego have traveled far and wide in her caravan, she hocks her wares with an air of mystery and allure and barters her knowledge to the highest bidder, but she seems to keep people at arms length and always plays her persona of the mysterious merchant flawlessly. Will you be able to find out how this merchant really feels about you?

The Enigmatic Noble

-Cyrus/Cyriene/Cyrid Ari'Nodel- Cy is...an odd person by noble standards, from their blatant disdain for other houses of nobility, their extreme willfulness, to their oddly obfuscated noble parentage, they seem to be many contradictions bundled into one person, but the one thing you know they are, is the Ezrian council's head archivist, they've kept sensitive documents for the Council safe for years, but that can't be the only reason their frequent insubordination and flippant attitude is ignored, can it?

______________________________________________________________ -DEMO-

#interactive fiction #if wip #intro post #writeblr #CYOA #if intro #writing #interactive story #WIP #romance #wip intro #lgbt writers #lgbt stories #writers of color #fantasy #TVoL #The Valley of Luck

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justa-smalltown-gargoyle · 2 months

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Assassin’s Creed Rogue Thoughts As I Go!

-did not realize this game is so short, woah

-I got spoiled about this game in a YouTube comment section which made me really not want to play it😔

-but I still am because I own it cuz it came with black flag haha

-right off the bat, I wish I knew why Shay joined the brotherhood in the first place. Why is he here? Why does he want to be an assassin? Personally if I was his mentor his way of going about things would indeed worry me

-what happens in Lisbon is horrific. I think they did a really good job of portraying that and feeling that fear and also helplessness that you can do nothing and your actions caused it.

-I think Shay should have actually tried to talk to Achilles first and I think Achilles should have tried talking to Shay as well- I’m frustrated because we don’t even learn if Achilles knew that would happen or not. And also why tf would this device do this? That’s extremely different from any other device from Eden that we have yet to see.

-I do appreciate Shay’s anger at what happen, it makes complete sense to me. However it’s like? He’s just like oh I’m a Templar now I guess. What? Like maybe no side is the good option here? Or maybe, idk, see why this happened???

-people might jump me for this and idk maybe im being to extreme, but this game……is not doing good for repping poc. I mean, yeah this is Ubisoft. And obviously people of color can be morally gray, can be antagonists, they are not a monolith, however I feel like they made Achilles the man in charge of the colonial brotherhood which is so dope and then now they choose to question the brotherhood’s actions? Have him be all about people following without asking questions?

Painting Shay as the one in the right here, the white man, in comparison to the black man? Idk it’s just not sitting right with me. (This is also taking place in the same game you kill that man’s father, the one black man protagonist this game series has had thus far)

-and going off of that, I think it is an important point to show that the assassins are not this beacon of virtue, which I feel the Ezio games and even AC1 taps into. And that not all Templars are nefarious villains. But I feel like isn’t the whole point of the conflict about how ends don’t justify the means? How both sides want peace, but what differs them is what they’re willing to do to achieve it? how the assassins focus on freedom and the Templars focus on control? It doesn’t matter how pure your motives are if you take away peoples freedom to achieve it?

Also looking at who holds power in the world, in our world, how that aligns with who are Templars. The Templars line of thinking is a slippery slope to fascism. The top dogs are fascists, I feel like this game is forgetting that? Maybe that’ll be different by the time I finish playing it. It’s just important to remember what side the maroons were on and what side the plantation owners were on. And to be fair, the Governor in Black Flag was anti-slavery, but did he truly see Black men and women as his equals? My guess is no.

I just feel like “Templars aren’t actually the bad guys!” Is not the nuanced take it’s being painted as.

-so idk i appreciate Shay being a literal human being and being angry about what happened but i question his choices

-also when he’s on the ship and tells Liam about …the women 😀 around the world I was really grossed out. (Also his dialogue is a great example of the Madonna Whore complex!! We love to see it!) (we don’t, that was sarcasm)

-so um he lost some major points from me due to that convo

-he looks better with less facial hair and a ponytail tho

-and I really like Liam! Please don’t make me kill him😭😭😭😭

#Shay lovers please don’t come for me #you can enjoy your Pookie #you do that and I will have my thoughts we can be peaceful #Assassins creed #assassin’s creed #assassins creed rogue

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 3 days

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By: Charlie Walsham

Published: Apr 12, 2024

What must it feel like to realise you are part of an organisation that has placed so-called progressive values ahead of evidence, risking real-world harms to countless vulnerable young people?

In the wake of the publication of the Cass review into gender identity services for under-18s in England, I know exactly how that feels. No, I’ve not been moonlighting for the now defunct Tavistock clinic: I work as a journalist for BBC News.

Regrettably, I believe there is a straight line between the BBC’s capitulation to extreme trans rights ideologues and the disturbing findings in Dr Hilary Cass’s 388-page report.

Crucially, what Dr Cass has exposed was only able to happen because of a skewed and distorted national conversation around the issue of sex and gender, a narrative I believe aided by the nation’s broadcaster. Dissenting voices have been marginalised, castigated, cancelled, silenced.

Well before Dr Cass got to work, BBC employees started putting their preferred pronouns in their email signatures. Given the increasingly polarised political debate over self-ID, these virtue-signalling postscripts made a mockery of the BBC’s neutral remit; they also exerted an unspoken pressure on colleagues who resisted this posturing.

When Dr Cass began her work in 2020, after an alarming spike in the number of gender-questioning patients being referred to the NHS, mainly teenaged girls, what was the BBC doing? Was it providing an evidence-based corrective counterweight to the toxic trans extremist narrative gaining traction online?

Nope. As children spent even more time on screens thanks to the Covid-19 restrictions and school closures, the BBC Teach website was hosting an educational film in which young children were told there were over 100 gender identities.

As Dr Cass tried in vain to wrest data from the uncooperative Tavistock clinic to assist her work, the BBC was doubling down on its adherence to the cultish self-ID doctrine, depicting in news reports sadistic male murderers and devious rapists as women so as not to offend these odious men; victims be damned. This approach by a news organisation on any topic, let alone a hugely disputatious issue, looks like pure propaganda.

Despite having a well-funded Verify department, the BBC has made no attempts to set out the cold, hard scientific reality that modern medicine has found no way of changing a healthy biological male human into a woman, or vice versa.

Neither has the BBC’s Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent ever tried to interrogate the often-aired claim that ‘trans women are women’, a favourite slogan of the charity Stonewall, which the BBC was closely affiliated with as recently as late 2021.

Even simply looking the other way was not enough for the BBC. Instead, it signalled what looked like a complete abandonment of accuracy on the trans issue when it upheld a complaint against the Today programme’s Justin Webb for daring to say that trans women are ‘in other words, males’.

Now, thanks to the diligent and courageous work of Dr Hilary Cass, the BBC has been forced to reflect on its sins of commission and omission, and platform some sane voices on the subject.

On the day of her review’s publication, Radio 4’s Today programme broadcast an interview with Dr Cass. With the measured and level delivery one would expect of a respected clinician, she detailed some of her shocking findings, from the rocketing number of troubled teenage girls seeking gender dysphoria treatment to the fact there is no good evidence puberty blockers are a safe treatment for young people wishing to transition.

She refused to opine on whether her review had uncovered a scandal. The author Helen Joyce was far less reticent when, nearly three years after publication of her book, Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality, she was finally invited on to the BBC to talk about the issue.

She told the 5 Live breakfast programme the report was: ‘A stinging indictment of the NHS, of the regulators in healthcare, the politicians and the media, including the BBC… all of whom have looked away as a medical scandal unfolded with vulnerable children at its heart.’

In a move characteristic of the intellectual level of 5Live debates however, Joyce was only allowed to speak after listeners had been subjected to the views of former Big Brother contestant and transgender celebrity Hallie Clarke. Clarke declaimed she had always known that she ‘wasn’t in the right body’ because she used to dress up in ‘blonde wigs’ and wore pink as a young child.

Nicky Campbell was up next on 5Live, hosting his weekday phone-in. It soon became clear that there was relief among callers that the BBC was finally waking up and smelling the coffee. One mother told Campbell how her daughter’s school had connived with the youngster, who began questioning her gender after being ‘horribly bullied’. The school allowed her to use a different name and referred her to a gender clinic without her mother being informed.

Mercifully, the story had a happy ending. The teenager narrowly avoided gender dysphoria ‘treatment’ due to long waiting lists and had grown into a young woman who was now a ‘happy and thriving lesbian’, content in her own body following ‘lots of counselling’.

‘Thank goodness I didn’t take her to one of those private gender clinics,’ her mother said. ‘She could have been prescribed hormones; she could have gone down the wrong path. Thank goodness we didn’t do that.’ This brave mother then gave words of advice to other parents of gender-confused children: ‘Watchful waiting. First do no harm.’

Another courageous woman, one of the few BBC journalists to emerge with credit from the gender treatment scandal, also appeared on the airwaves. Hannah Barnes, formerly of Newsnight but now associate editor at the New Statesman, wrote Time to Think: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Tavistock’s Gender Service for Children.

She told Woman’s Hour the disturbing findings of the Cass Review had been known for a long time.

‘For those who have followed this for many years, there are no surprises in there but it’s quite shocking to see it laid out in such devastating and comprehensive detail… For the Prime Minister to say a spotlight has been shone (on the issue), well, yes, but it’s been shining in the background for a long time and really we probably should have acted long before this.’

A brave mother and a courageous journalist. Perhaps in future, BBC editors should be guided by these fearless women, rather than fretting about ‘misgendering’ killers and sex offenders.

Charlie Walsham is the pseudonym of a BBC News employee who has worked at the Corporation for several years.

#BBC #BBC News #ideological corruption #ideological capture #gender ideology #queer theory #gender identity ideology #intersectional feminism #Cass Review #Cass Report #Tavistock #medical scandal #medical corruption #medical malpractice #religion is a mental illness

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philosophicalparadox · 8 months

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The thing I like about Berserk most of all, ironically for me, is that the characters are dominantly human.

I usually never like the human characters or root for the human side in Man Vs Monster tropes, cause humans are usually dicks being unfair and judgemental and most man v monster is just Catholics vs Jews or Catholics vs. Protestants, or Catholics vs Heretics of any other flavor 2.0

But Berserk doesn't play by those rules, ironically - VERY ironically, considering there's a whole arc dedicated to the Holy See and Catholic church torturing heretics for funsies.

But that is exactly what I love about Berserk - there's no “man must become a monster in order to defeat one”, no - man is already a monster, plain and simple. Anyone, anywhere, can become a monster in the right circumstances - and those circumstances are A) not at all universal and B) not always tragic or relatable or heroic. They're often vile, disturbing, disgusting. Hypocritical. Nasty. I wont go into detail - if you've read Berserk, you already know.

But that is how it is - everyone has their reasons, everyone has their moments - and they're not always pretty, or justified, or sane. Sometimes the person in those moments thinks so - but often in Berserk you see people, ordinary humans, doing heinous things knowing they are doing something injurious or harmful, purely because they can, or they want to, or because they think they'll be rewarded in some way. Inquisitors torturing innocent people because they think God will reward them is among the least of it. Hell, the Band of the Hawk is unto itself a Mercenary Band. Judeau said himself they had all types of folk in their rank - that they didn't care about pasts, only futures. Criminals, bandits, you name it. Judeau himself was a performer - not a nice thing to be back then - Corkus was a common bandit/petty theif. They had decent folk the same; second sons would have been trained knights without a title, not that being a knight made one at all decent. Plenty of nasty, rapey ones existed.

Point is, the only black and white in Berserk is the colour coding of Griffith and Guts (which is deliberately ironic in multiple ways) and it lays that out right from the start.

Grey. There's so, so, SO MUCH GREY, it's all there is, anywhere, in anyone. There's no virtue without vice. There's arguably the opposite- Wyald comes to mind - but even he is just supremely dark grey. His actions are as despicable as possible, but his reasoning is that of a child. He is so dark he might as well be black, but I still hold that he is just the deepest grey- similarly, Laban is surprisingly very chivalrous, and a genuinely good and honest man. Even in the face of the destruction of everything he knows, he remains virtuous and steadfast. He is mostly white - as white as its possible to get in this story and still be somewhat grey; for even he can't help his humanity and despises those which would assail himself and his country, as a knight ought to I suppose.

What's interesting here, though, is that both our image of the deepest grey and the palest are both side characters. Wyald plays a pretty important role in the plot, but so I would argue does Laban, for what little we see him. He demonstrates that even in a world collapsing, humans can still have hope, and that when calamity strikes is when humans are most keen to band together and support each other in the wake of common circumstances (plague, famine, disaster).

The two main characters however (well, 3 if you count GA Casca) are, despite their respective color palettes, extremely mid. Yes they both do some extreme stuff, but morally they’re both opposite but still similar shades of grey- and personally I’d argue their palettes reflect the exact hues they possess, with Guts actually being the darker, more morally corrupt one. But that’s a post for another day.

Berserk is the ultimate tribute to the Cynic's philosophy. And I am nothing if not a cynical philosopher lol.

#berserk #berserk meta #griffith #guts

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anheliotrope · 1 year

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Shallow Approaches to Transhumanism

I recently watched Rhystic Studies' video on Phyrexia. In case you aren't aware, Phyrexia is a hellscape and a faction where horrific and runaway transhumanism features heavily.

I am often disappointed by how shallow even (supposedly!) great works of art treat transhumanism. I don't think Phyrexia says much that is meaningful on the topic of transhumanism's political problems -- and I'm pretty sure that was never the goal. I don't think MTG has to be deep on this axis, people don't go to fantasy for realistic political analogues, but despite that, people are drawn to trying to suggest strong connections to real world political issues. And this always makes me focus on the inadequacies of art rather than its virtues.

We live in a world where, sans AI risk, the main threat from technology is unequal control, which will lead to the class that has control over technology dominating the class that does not -- and this process can accelerate. This social problem is rarely represented in media and it is ongoing. It is not a problem of the future, it is a problem of the present. Those who do not have access to technology are forever at the mercy of those who do. And technological progress accelerates technological progress.

More on Phyrexia

To take Phyrexia as an example of shallowness -- it has beings that are just stronger than others. The resulting hierarchy is somewhat arbitrary or fueled by fantasy worldbuilding -- it is not generated by the societal structure of Phyrexia. The concept of Phyrexia generates the social structures as needed, in order to serve the themes the artist already wanted to depict.

And a lot of these themes of technology-induced spiritual degradation are used purely because it is a popular and easy theme to approach. It has been affixed to the shared artistic consciousness of humanity though sheer repetition because it is an easy way to introduce a tension where none would otherwise exist, and to explore interesting and messed up things.

Its origins lie in two places. Religious opposition and economic fears. For that matter, I can freely admit it is delicious for Phyrexia to have religious overtones -- this embraces spiritual degradation, it's just on the nose now, but it also assimilates a desire for spirituality within that which supposedly destroys it. I think MTG fails to take this synthesis to its extreme however -- Phyrexia is never a genuine religion that just happens to be extremely messed up, but rather it is a monument to the sin of pride, ala Divine Comedy.

Phyrexia's language is vastly more developed by the creators and has its own unique beauty, but the same care isn't given to its religious worldbuilding, which remains, in most cases, just an inversion of good, failing to emphasize the alien.

Human Revolution [spoilers]

Looking at Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the endings feature a pretty insane set of choices. I am going to explain them very expediently, feel free to look them up in more detail.

Reveal the truth about what corporations have been doing with augmentation technology and let humanity decide.

Pervert the truth, blame extremists, so that skepticism of augmentation technology does not rise.

Pervert the truth, to make all of it look as just an accident that can be resolved by increased government regulation.

Destroy the mcguffin facility, never share any information to humanity, to "let them decide".

The fourth ending is so idiotic we can ignore it.

If you have any respect for your fellow humans, casually creating an extremely potent distortion of reality by falsifying evidence on such an important matter should be out of the question (2 & 3).

If you pick ending 2, Adam talks about how it is in humanity's nature to rise above its limitations. Ending 3 is like a dumbass centrist take, humanity should self improve, but we need more oversight.

Ending 1, which is, on the object level, the least morally objectionable one, triggers Adam to say some extremely opinionated shit at the end such as "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal". Technology is bad and humanity cannot be trusted with it.

The common theme in all of this is that there are never specific groups at fault or specific features of how we have set up society. It's always about the essential moral value of technology and whether humanity's nature is good enough to handle technology. It is inherently both a collectivistic view and a strongly morally essentialist view. Phyrexia investigates transhumanism from the same angle, in this respect. I could rant for two hours how extremely Christian brained this is, but I'll spare you that.

What I mean to say in the end is that the vast majority of media is completely allergic to dealing with object level problems, with specificity. It is easier to repeat existing themes than to look again at the world and investigate something more relevant to our lives.

#transhumanism #phyrexia #deus ex #anpost #human revolution spoilers #the world really needed another mid rant #vidya #worldbuilding

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lakesbian · 8 months

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General thoughts about the reveal on who the Maggie in the Toronto arc was?

Also general thoughts on the arc?

i think its fun that she and blake are both connected (& she's the last tether blake has to anyone knowing he exists) via having both slipped through the cracks due to Whoopsie-Daisies. also say what u will about literally everything else in wb's writing but i like how girls in wildbow novels are more often than not grungy and a little weird. already talked abt the goblin thing some in the last maggiepost but i do really like the goblins. "pure distillations of the dirty abandoned scraps of the world which exist solely to kick you when you're down" is an extremely coherent and fun spin on goblins. the constant "fat = gross" associations are insufferable but the rest is solid. the padraic thing isn't one of the iterations of maggie's prophecy but it does feel fitting for her character that the girl who was initially inducted into being a practitioner via living somewhere that was slipping thru the cracks was fucked over for a Second time via slipping thru the cracks. i hope she is fucked over a Third time by it for rule of three. also i was in fact correct previously when i said this:

i also think she’s probably still in over her head without realizing. she’s manipulated into ordering someone’s murder and then is like “you know i think i can make up for this one AND go on a fun little adventure to add to my scrapbook of knowledge at the same time.” that’s not how reality works! you killed someone! and then tried to semi-earnestly befriend slash mooch from their cousin! she’s only been a practitioner for six months–i think there’s a very fundamental disconnect btwn the maggie that’s lucky enough to still have parents she can be a normal silly teenager with and the maggie that’s making forays into The World Of Backstabbing, Horror, Murder, and Fates Worse Than Death. and i think that disconnect will result in strain for her as the fact that she’s sort of doomed to do some really awful things, have some really awful things happen to her, and/or both sinks in.

except instead of just Strain. that fact had to sink in via her doing, as sandra put it, the magical equivalent of crashing a car 2 learn respect for the road. YA protagonist maggie holt died in the crash now it's just wannabe goblin queen mags scrambling 4 purchase in the wreckage. i believe in her i hope she captures sooo many crass little creatures. i'm glad that buttcheeks stuck around he's fun to watch :)

i don't feel like we actually know johannes yet. the thing about the really successful practitioners is that they're doing less Desperate Violent Scrabbling to maintain their positions and subsequently have more luxury of ostensible niceties and lofty philosophies. they should throw a bucket of mud on him and toss him to the wolves so i can see what he's like when shit gets real. also the entire arc is a really funny demonstration in how severely being a thorburn has fucked blake over. everyone is sooo much nicer to maggie than him he's out there playing on hard mode. this is what i mean when i say that alec would b a diabolist, diabolism is fundamentally abt when you are marked Rotten by the world by virtue of the family you've been born into, defined more by their legacy than by anything about yourself, even moreso than the other brands of practitionerism.

hmm anything else. oh yeah i think we should flog wildbow for crone mara. ok thats all. OH yeah and Not Being Maggie Holt Anymore is a really funny way to skip out on the other iterations of the prophecy. its that fairy bitch's problem now. i have a lot of thoughts on pact faeries but that's a post for one of the "why are pact creatures good" asks just know i'm rotating them in my mind rapidly

#ask #pact time #pactblr

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robininthelabyrinth · 2 years

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Mini-fill prompt: Lan Qiren has a good relationship with his brother

The Lan sect had an unwritten rule – yes, unwritten, they still had those – that seclusion didn’t count during a moon run.

Presumably this was because the purpose of seclusion was to permit one to focus the mind, to cultivate the virtues of self-control, self-discipline, and self-reflection, which were traits that, as werewolves, the Lan sect valued extremely highly. There was a reason that ‘restraint’ was written into so many of their rules, and turning into a wild beast once a month was a pretty good one, as reasons went.

(It was also why the rules specifically relating to their familial condition were unwritten: embarrassing family secrets ought to stay within the family, after all.)

Before his brother’s permanent seclusion, Lan Qiren hadn’t thought much of the rule, which had no impact on his life other than the occasional chance to see some long-secluded kin that he didn’t know very well and a permanent association in his head of Auntie Wenjun and a particularly shaggy brown wolf. But afterwards, when it was the only time he could actually see his brother…

Lan Qiren had a routine in place for the full moon, because he had a routine for everything. He would finish his paperwork early, do an extra round of patrol, then retire to his room and go to sleep on time, just as the rules prescribed. He would wake up exactly a shichen later, after moonrise. He would remove his forehead ribbon, the symbol of his self-restraint. He would step outside, allowing the moonlight to turn him from man to beast. He would make his way over to where his nephews lived, greeting each of them with his teeth in the ruff of their neck and a little shake to remind them to behave – they were always well-behaved, of course, but he’d gotten into the habit long ago, and by now they would get anxious if he didn’t greet them with a little bit of a scolding – and then he would lead them over to the secluded back portion of the Cloud Recesses, where their father, his brother, would be waiting.

He would, invariably, forget all of his decorum upon first sight of Qingheng-jun and rush forward, yipping happily, to rub his head all over the familiar sight and sound of his beloved elder brother.

His brother huffed in amusement and ran his muzzle over Lan Qiren’s head briefly before turning to look at his nephews, giving them a faint nod, which they returned. It wasn’t exactly close family bonding – Lan Qiren had the distinct feeling that no matter how much he encouraged them, his nephews only put up with his brother purely because of how much Lan Qiren liked him, and that his brother, a father who’d never met his children in the human flesh, was similarly indifferent to them – but it was something, anyway. Better than nothing.

After the greetings were done, they arranged themselves appropriately and headed out to the back area of the Cloud Recesses, that great wilderness the Lan sect deliberately cultivated and protected for their own personal use, in order to meet the rest of their family and lead the moon run, as was their duty as the Lan sect’s main clan line.

After, once the run had begun, Lan Qiren usually stuck with his brother instead of doing his own hunting. This was seen as a little embarrassing – Lan Qiren had a reputation within the sect of being rather sticky – but he didn’t really care. It was the only time they had together, the rest of it separated by walls and family rules and his brother’s self-destructive oath. One day, he was sure, his nephews would find themselves someone else they wanted to spend all their time, someone whose company they valued more than anyone else – they’d see who was sticky then!

#mdzs #lan qiren #qingheng jun #lan xichen #lan wangji #my fic #my fics #alt headcanons #werewolves #listen so many people asked for the same thing #I'm going further and further out #and someone who shall not be named asked for 'something with werewolves'

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adelrambles · 1 year

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Ok SO. Let's talk Fast Forward!Bishop, because I have a lot of thoughts and conflicting feelings on the matter. Initially, I found FF!Bishop (or President Bishop, that might be easier,) a frustrating turn for his character-- and while indeed I do feel the execution in the actual show is lacking, upon review I think there are a lot of ideas at work here that are extremely compelling.

First and foremost, the concept of Bishop being a "good guy" at all inevitably hands us some very interesting ideas to chew on. After all, part of what makes Bishop originally so compelling is the fact that his motivations should align morally-good, but he is a monster in pursuit of them, despite this. So, then, President Bishop presents us with the idea that these motivations may eventually turn him morally-good. And how that might happen is super interesting to consider, too!

Looking at the development broadly-- and this is a trait that is apparent even before FF, in my opinion, but this change only cements it-- he prioritizes his goal of protecting earth above EVERYTHING. Even himself. He will do anything to achieve it. So, it follows, if the job requires him to change who he is as a person, he will do so. Especially if the job turns into becoming a public figure, a politician. What really sells it for me is that present-time Bishop is a lot more emotional than he may seem. He has fun with his fights, he gets angry at his failures, he blusters and threatens and he is fueled by a centuries-old fear. But President Bishop barely emotes; he is measured and polite and he is often wearing a blank expression. This suggests that he is far more in control of himself, which would be a necessity if he's trying to project a personality that is a fabrication.

(On that note, it's also an interesting thought as to what he might think of 2105's pacifism. From what we see in the wrestling episode, even staged fights have to be extremely toned down for modern sensibilities. Such excessive pacifism on earth, one might consider, was essentially Bishop's goal, but does it ever bother him? We know Bishop loves combat, he loves violence, he loves winning and inflicting pain. He's also like, a veteran, comes from times where violence was considered a necessity and then watched it become increasingly taboo. What must he feel, knowing the world he built would turn on him if he ever indulged in any violent whims?)

The broad idea is that Bishop will chameleon himself into whatever he needs to be in order to keep earth safe. This becomes further likely when you consider just how old this guy is! By the time FF rolls around he is over 330 years old, grew up in the late 1700s. In order to be so involved with the world, he'd have to be constantly adapting to changing times. Given how he seems to be doing just fine with that in both present and future, there's already a precedence for him to be able to adapt himself to fit his surroundings.

Another point I find extremely interesting here is that President Bishop lets us try and figure out what about present-day Bishop is actually genuinely him, by virtue of comparing and contrasting. Like discussed above, President Bishop is very measured and inexpressive. So, then, we can probably assume his sadistic nature and anger at failure are very much real.

The flip side to that is that we can apply some of Agent Bishop's methodolgy to President Bishop's government. We've seen how he runs things when he's not concerned with concealing the darker parts nor keeping up the image of a benevolent ruler. This is purely headcanon, but I don't believe all of that would just go away with a change of heart. If Bishop's goal requires he be president of Earth, he will undoubtedly have plans to ensure it stays that way no matter what. He may have been elected genuinely, but if ever he isn't, he will make sure it looks like he was.

No matter what, Bishop's character is that of a bad person working towards a good goal. President Bishop is still that, but in a different flavor. He's softened up around the edges, but he's also more fake than he's ever been. He will do anything to keep earth safe, and that hasn't changed.

Anyway, I think for all the SUPER interesting ideas at play, Fast Forward does not really capitalize on them. For example, Bishop should by all means be an unbeatable opponent in combat, but he is not really shown that way. I also think the absolute drama of Bishop trusting the turtles but them being afraid of him is sooooo interesting, and the fact that this conflict was brushed over so easily is MASSIVE missed potential.

I will probably have more thoughts to add onto this post later, but it's been in my drafts for a few weeks now so here take it have fun. I've been thinking about Fast Forward a lot lately so I will definitely have more to say

#Agent Bishop #TMNT #tmnt 2003 #help girl I keep almost moving to a new fixation and then this bastard drags me right back to tmnt #I wish my art account would stop being shadowbanned so I could post more art of him :/#President Bishop my beloved #this isn't even going into how weird he would express sentiments like friendship #he is such a detached person. I think he's capable of caring but it works differently for him #Like even when he genuinely does care everything always has some layer of transactional with him

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bardicbeetle · 11 months

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hello fellow vampire-oc-named-alex-haver! I love your alex, can I hear about your alex? whatever fun or not-so-fun facts you'd like to share :D

Hi Monday!

You can absolutely hear about my Alex, I will gladly ramble about them for almost certainly too long.

Alex Blackwood is more or less, the protagonist of Safe in the Dark, in so much as they were the original protagonist and are going to maintain that status despite the fact that there are now... five POV characters. They've come a hell of a long way since I first started writing them at the bright young age of 14, and are... somehow both more and less traumatized at the same time.

Quick little overview: mid twenties, asexual, agender, dark curly hair that is long not so much in an On Purpose Way but in an "I haven't had a haircut in Many Years" kind of way, one of the few characters whose eye color hasn't changed over the years--they're still a dark stormcloudy grey. Facial features tended to get described as birdlike when they were younger, sharp lines, prominent nose. Has a little mole on the right side of their neck and another one on the underside of their chin on that side.

Some Fun Facts:

Alex has no idea how cooking works, cannot produce more than a piece of butter toast reliably, will somehow burn things even if heat is not involved. (tbh probably a good thing they end up having to live on blood)

Has lost the majority of their southern accent as a result of being so much of the everywhere but it creeps back out the SECOND someone else near them has one. To such a strong degree that even people who know them well go ??????? what was that??????

They are indecisive to a fault, mainly because they are very afraid of making the wrong choice (whether this is the wrong choice for themself, or in relation to someone else, they spend a lot of time planning out the hypothetical consequences of things they will never actually do).

Is probably the most physically active member of the vamp!house by sheer virtue of needing the feeling of Body Moving to make their brain go quiet sometimes. Likes to run, loves sparring with Isaac and the chaos trio once that starts up. Likes the physical outlet to all the thoughts in their head.

Some Not Fun Facts:

Grew up in an extremely fundamentalist household.

Ran away at age 15 and never went back.

Suffers from sleep paralysis and really intense nightmares.

Has a lot of trouble staying present when something brings them into a memory. A smell, a sound, the look some someone's hair, they're prone to spiral into the things connected to it until their surroundings kind of, melt and they're just listening to the sound of something else, someone else, somewhen else. (oh hey the one part of my own trauma brain I gave them)

Witnessed the massacre of three dozen college students and to this day thinks it's their fault purely because their indecision meant they were still a half vampire when Eric came back, prompting him to try and force them to kill.

ANyways.

I love Alex so very very much.

They've been with me for... well over a decade now in some form or another which feels frankly ridiculous but it's so so amazing having gotten to evolve and learn more about them as time has gone by.

@albatris

#the magician cries #character ref ab #questions concerns and or rotten tomatoes #sitd #screaming about sitd #albatris

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donnerpartyofone · 9 months

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When MAD GOD aired on The Last Drive-In on Friday, the EIC of Fangoria quote tweeted me, where I'd said approx "What would you spend 30 years doing if you had no idea whether you would profit by it?" The comment he added was "Some of us know because we have," and this provoked a slew of responses from people announcing their many years of starvation in the various arts. It's nice that they all had a fun discussion but I found it a little insulting. I agree that "there's nothing to it but to do it" or whatever and I think that personal satisfaction should be your main motivator in any creative work, but I felt like my tweet got recast in this light as if I meant, "Can you IMAGINE doing something you don't get paid for?!", in order to prove something about who lacks character and who has the right stuff, and I thought that was really flattening. There's more kinds of people out there than those who Do and those who Don't, and if you don't get to do what you really want to, you don't always "only have yourself to blame" in every single instance. There are people who have to spend all their energy and resources surviving, combatting poverty or illness or both. Someone can always point to disabled and oppressed artists who built amazing careers despite it all, but the lesson isn't always "If they can do it then anyone can do it," sometimes the lesson there is "That particular person is extremely remarkable" or just "They have a totally different economy of energy than most people." There are people who aren't able to feel that they're good enough at what they want to do, so it's hard to fully commit to work that may not even have artistic value or entertainment value, let alone monetary value. Will power alone isn't always enough to bring together the material resources necessary to make the kind of thing you want to make, especially if it's as complicated as a movie (and let's not forget the creator of MAD GOD is an Oscar-winning artist partially responsible for the original STAR WARS trilogy, not some basement dweller with uncertain prospects). The more expensive and technical your thing of choice is to produce, the more support and ingenuity and self-confidence you need to get it done, and those things can be in short supply for many of us; just "being obsessed" doesn't always open every door.

Part of me thought, "Hey wait a minute, there ARE things I've done for decades-plus that are purely for my own satisfaction (my film writing is the biggest example), this isn't a foreign concept to me, I just think I'm asking a good question!"...and then another part of me thought, "I drew, passionately and prolifically, every single day of my life until I got into an abusive relationship in my mid-20s, and by the time I was 30 I basically never drew again. Something about that experience flipped a switch and there are now things I can't enjoy anymore, including things that had always been core parts of my personality. I hope this changes, but there's not much I can do about it." I think the Fango EIC is reacting in part to being constantly assailed by angry nerds who think they automatically deserve jobs at the magazine because they're fanboys and they're active on Twitter or whatever; a few years ago he wrote an editorial about doing creative work out of desire first and foremost, and how that *sometimes* does form the foundation of a career. I loved that, that's basically what I've been doing with my writing for years and I wouldn't stop even if I found out for a fact that I'd never see a return on it. I just HAVE to write for some reason, I don't question it. So yeah anyway I felt a little dunked on, and maybe I asked for it or something, but I didn't think it was fair. Thankfully I have enough sense not to go on the defensive with anyone on Twitter, but part of me felt like saying, "I co-run a horror academia non-profit, you don't have to explain to me the virtues of working for pride and pleasure above all else. I just thought it was worth posing the question in general, for anyone reading: What would you be willing to spend 30 years doing if all you ever got out of it, as far as you knew, was the work itself?" I mean yes, work hard, be obsessed, trust the process, make the journey the destination, etc. That's an excellent premise to start from, for sure. But not everybody who can't spend 30 years on their favorite thing is some kind of lazy ingrate, sometimes there's also circumstances. Anyway that episode of Last Drive-In was amazing, Phil Tippett gives an amazing interview, the whole thing was very inspiring and I highly recommend it.

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houseofpurplestars · 10 months

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"At the core of ‘anti’ debates is a foundation of beliefs rooted in conservatism that what a person consumes in fiction determines their real-life behaviours. Thus, an anti-shipper who is against those viewed to be pro-shippers is already deemed more morally pure."

"...no kind of communal fandom restoration can begin to occur until those targeted by such anti-shippers are viewed as human beings (not sub-human) and a universal understanding of fiction, reality, psychology and human behaviour based in science is established."