#gothic is... actually i liked the insanity of it and the fact that i've been really into romanticism lately totally helped haha

[picaroroboto]

I've been wanting for a little while to talk about Pandaemonium, and about Hermes, and what I think these two topics have to do with each other, so here goes. The whole time I was playing the story in Pandae, I kept thinking that I wish I could tell Hermes about all this. For one, because Hermes expresses that he feels he's the only one emotionally suffering, yet here is Erichthonios also clearly going through some shit, so maybe they could find some sort of solidarity together.

For two, because I feel Pandae proves Hermes right in his criticisms of the Ancient world. It's essentially every single flaw of their world in microcosm! Let me try to explain:

To start, let's review Hermes and his problems:

This is from the conversation with him after you show him the Elpis flower changing color for you. He expresses the sympathy he feels for creations, and how being forced to put them down for the sake of the star puts him in this ethical crisis. The entire Ancient world is built around this idea of "for the sake of the star" at the expense of all else, including the lives of their creations and their own individual emotions. Because of this, Hermes feels all the more isolated, as if he's the only one who ever feels bad or questions the foundation of their society.

There is something very, very twisted about the fact that Pandaemonium lies geographically below Elpis, the Hell to its symbolic Eden or Heaven. At the very moment Hermes is crying over having to put down dangerous creations, even more dangerous creations are being kept alive in a hellish gothic prison replete with chains and cages.

As I traveled through Pandaemonium, I also kept thinking "Why is it a prison?" Why does such a place even need to exist? As we find out in Anabaseios, the concept of it being a place to research dangerous creations is a cover story, it's more or less Athena's personal laboratory for her to pursue her goal of godhood. I've seen people praise Athena for being a more shallow and simple villain than Emet-Selch for example, but she's not just a megalomaniac:

"I am no different from our peers" is soooo telling. Her obsession with remaking mankind in her image isn't just a selfish madness, it's the ideals of the Ancients, their obsession with making perfect creations for the sake of the star, taken to it's furthest and most insane conclusion! (also note the irony in her belief that a goddess would remake the species better, when Hydaelyn, the only true goddess in the setting, chose to preserve them as they are. Arguably even making them worse by Sundering).

So Athena takes her duty to the star way too far, Lahabrea sees that she's become a danger to the star for it, and kills her, then cuts off the Hephiastos side of himself - another example of how ruthless the Ancients can be and how they justify anything for the sake of the star. Because the Ancients also place a low importance on emotion, he never talks to Erichthonios about Athena. Feeling neglected by his father and curious about his mother, Erich is lead deeper into Pandaemonium and made even more vulnerable to Athena's manipulations. So even if it was one woman's madness that spawned the action in Pandae, the other flaws of Ancient society serve to perpetuate and exacerbate it.

It's also worse mentioning that for Pandae being a prison for dangerous creations, you actually fight more transformed Ancients and corrupted Warders than you do actual animals. As my brother put it in his own meta, Pandae isn't a case of "inmates running the asylum" as much as it is the power that the Warders wield over their creations corrupting them. Athena is indirectly behind the Warder's transformations, but she also took advantage of vulnerabilities that were already there, like Hesperos's fixation on Lahabrea.

And the same obsession with perfect creations for the sake of the star, the abuse of the power over life and death, continues to characterize the Ancients after the Sundering, with the way Emet and the Ascians ruthlessly Rejoin Shards in order to bring back their "perfect" world. But what Elpis and Pandaemonium prove is that the idea of the Ancient world as a paradise is little more than Emet's grief and nostalgia talking. Hermes may have triggered the Final Days, but I feel the blame for destroying "paradise" doesn't lie entirely on him - his crisis was layered on top of myriad flaws with the world he lived in, flaws he felt he didn't have the freedom to talk about because everyone else believed the world was perfect.

Any world where people can't question the foundation of their society is very far from perfect. A world where people ruthlessly wield power over others, both creations and other people, in favor of a grand goal is no paradise. A world in which prisons exist is no paradise.

If my tone started to sound a bit vengeful there, it's because I sympathize deeply with Hermes, and can't help but feel a bit vindicated on his behalf when I think that Pandaemonium proves him right and Emet-selch wrong. But even after I've spent all this time tearing into the Ancient world, I feel like I have to remind both myself and any readers that the point of the conflict between the Ancient and Sundered world in FF14 isn't to objectively compare them and decide which is better and which is worse. Such pragmatism would be in-character for an Ancient, but we don't have to subscribe to their views. Think about it - even if the Ancient world was proven to be a true paradise, we'd still choose our broken world over it, because returning would cost too many lives, and because we love our world not because it is perfect but because it is ours.

The choice is just made a little easier by all this proof that their world was never as perfect as they said it was.

#ff14 #ffxiv #ffxiv hermes #pandaemonium #endwalker #ffxiv meta #endwalker spoilers #meta posting on my art blog #Fandaniel was right we do live in a society

[leam1983]

On Weirdo Opinions

Referencing @spider-xan's post:

"Oscar Wilde did not invent gay literature, and neither did fucking Bram Stoker, and Dorian Gray is not the blueprint for all queer media ever, and Carmilla is not one of the oldest queer texts in the world and literary history, I think the gothic lit fandom is just insanely racist and Eurocentric and thinks only Victorian literature by white men is important or exists."

Huh. Color me surprised. I grew up being told that the Romantic movement and its tangents like early Gothic horror or the rise of Dandy culture were parts of the modern era's codification of queer identity, but certainly not that they made a monolith. Telling me other cultures and other gender identities have their own roots for their approach to queer culture is one of those affirmations that makes me say "Well, duh - welcome to Anthropology 101".

Gothic Lit, in my experience, has a fandom that's comprised either of young readers or of people that have a strong bias towards the aesthetic tenets of the same time period - especially in the West. I wouldn't describe them as racist, so much as very narrow in their focus of what is and isn't Gothic Lit - which is typical of any fandom, really. If all that comes to mind is Matthew Gregory Lewis' The Monk, you'll forget Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho - and as I've seen in some cases, that Radcliffe was, in fact, Anne Radcliffe.

Being part of any culture whatsoever means having blinders on, being choosy on some level. Reducing that to racism is a dangerous shortcut. Ignorance can be patched up, and then you realize that what looked like racism actually was just a lack of proper exposure. Actual racism looks at any value-added proposition in this respect and goes "Nope, I don't need to re-evaluate my worldviews in light of the new data I've been offered".

#Gothic Literature #Cultural openness

[mitspeiler]

Whole Hog Ruby. Go

wowee, a total stranger asking about ruby. crazy

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

dear sweet precious ruby got her name from being a redhead, probably also in-universe. Her last name, Reveur, was suggested by @wubyreal

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

13 at the beiginning of Filmverse. She turns 14 over the course of Dream Quest.

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

Fenetre, a fox boy she met in a dream. Another boy will try to woo her later

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

she loves sweets and is a rare fondant defender.

💼 - What do they do for a living?

she's too young for a job at the moment. If she weren't a magical fantasy protagonist she would want to be a nurse

🎹 🥊- Do they have any hobbies?

Ruby is a big reader. she doesn't have many creative hobbies due to being sickly and infirm for most of her life. Now that she can move around a bit she will start trying out all kinds of new things. Ruby hates having to take her many many medicines

🎯 -What do they do best?

Ruby is actually a good problem solver. Her pathetic charisma also lets her make friends easily.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

When they were little Henry made her a stone teddy bear, small enough to fit in her palm. It went missing at some point.

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

The week leading up to her solo adventure, Bones in the Ocean, was plagued with night terrors that caused her physical pain. Seeing as it happened shortly after Henry went missing it was easily the worst time in her life so far

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

Ruby's design has changed subtly over the years, starting with myself and her co-creator @wubyreal disagreeing over her eye color.My Ruby's eyes are purple; hers are red. I've also decided to turn the white elements of ruby's outfit black for future entries.

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

The Aristocrats

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

american gothic

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

cishet probably

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

none, but her cousin Henry is like an older brother to her

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

Ruby's relationship with her mother is strained. She faces a lot of negative reinforcement and emotional neglect, but feels as though she should be grateful to her mother for the fact she takes care of her, and at times feels guilty that her mother has been saddled with her. Morgause does not say

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

She is cool and everyone loves her. in real life

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

I post ruby daily in some circles. She has one complete novella

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

nah

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

She's afraid of lots of things but is brave in that she faces her fears. Her only really debilitating phobia is the idea that she is a burden

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Probably Callisto Pellinger, spoiled girl playing pirate on the high seas

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

according to @wubyreal ruby was created on september 6th 2019. Insane to me, I feel like she's been here forever

#ruby reveur #filmverse #ask game

[lgbtlunaverse]

Recently I saw a post that was like "grouping jiang cheng ships by how much they're about wei wuxian" so i'm gonna steal that concept and do "grouping ochako ships by how much they are about midoriya izuku"

Inviting comparisons to wwx and jc's relationship, it would probably have made more sense to do this with bakugou, but I'm 500 times more insane about Ochako so. Someone else will have to do that.

Ochako ships that are about midoriya:

Izuocha: midoriya is literally in this ship. He's right there. This is at least 50% about him by necessity.

Kacchako: The most popular shipname uses Midoriya's nickname for Bakugou as a portmanteau instead of his actual name. I think that tells you everything you need to know. This ship has always had a bit of "solving a love triangle by ignoring the axis" energy for me. And that's a compliment! I like that kind of stuff! You definitely can make kacchako not about midoriya, but you'd have to work for it.

Ochako ships that are not about midoriya:

Tsuchako: Girls! This ship is not about midoriya. in fact it's not about any men. If you're a man, get out.

Iidaocha: Yes, they both know Izuku and are friends with him but he's a background character in their dynamic, they would still be friends even if it weren't for him. This ship is about friends to lovers, mutual trust & competency, and the fun of contrasting personalities.

Minaocha: Protagonist halo gets a little in the way here. A lot of minaocha's canon interactions are mina teasing ochako about her crush on izuku, so he's kind of a plot device in this ship by necessity. But that's not really what the ship is about. Minaocha is about the 2023 barbie movie.

Schrodinger's izuku:

Togachako: narrative foils! Homoromantic stabbing! The classic 1872 gothic novella carmilla! This ship could be about Midoriya if you wanted it to. The charm he gave Uraraka is a major motif in their relationship. Toga starts out liking both izuku and ochako. From what i've seen it's pretty popular among bkdk fans to frame these two as a bkdk parralel and of course in canon they foil izuku & tenko as a hero-villain pair. But izuku is not integral to this ship, he doesn't have to be there.

Todochako: Unlike iidaocha, these two probably wouldn't have become such close friends in canon if they hadn't both been friends with izuku first, mostly because of the profound impact izuku's had on shouto's early character development. But it takes less effort to make it "not about midoriya" than something like kacchako so it goes in this category. Like iidaocha, this is really more about friends to lovers and contrasting personalities and being just, really cute, honestly.

#bnha #uraraka ochacho #midoroya izuku #izuocha #kacchako #tsuchako #iidaocha #minaocha #togachako #todochako

[storkmuffin]

Finished Ink Blood Sister Scribe and had what might be my first experience that's analogous to aroace people feeling repulsed by the thought of romance and sexuality. Because it happens in this book! But more on that later.

I've already said that I like the genderflips that the author has decided to make. It's a boy with magic blood being exploited and trapped inside a gothic mansion as an adventurous girl who can't stay anywhere more than 364 days or be truly intimate with anyone travels the world, having scary adventures, all the way to antarctica. He's very fussy about shoes and cashmeres and cologne and is very sheltered. She's an electrician who can get a job at a base in Antartica. And so on.

This fantasy novel is a cobbling together of all the stuff that's been in this author's childhood popular culture, given her birth year (1987). -

There are two sisters of differing magical / powers who are separated by lies told to protect them by their parents and long for each other (Do you want to build a snow man?)

There's an evil type of book that drains people of blood (HP's Monster Book of Monsters with the PG 13 rating taken off).

There's the one legal instrument firmly embedded in the long term memories of all daughters of E.L.James (It's a silencing spell, that's all it is, but everyone calls it an N.D.A).

There's mirror portals (Alice in Wonderland, The Matrix, Dr. Norris and Mr Strange).

Both the male and female protagonists are bisexual (Ao3).

The boy keeps fainting (hot frail boys are hot) while the girl knows a bunch of martial arts (girlboss etc).

One of the most powerful ways of being magical is to be completely immune to magic (Hi Bella Swan, is that you?).

There are name drops of random singers that signify what kind of cool girl this author is - Kurt Cobain and Fiona Apple. Oh, and Smells like Teen Spirit is actually sung acapella in an attempt to create a magical connection (it doesn't work lol).

The fancy english laird doesn't want to return the priceless artifacts bought and stolen from all over the world to their country of origin because he can take care of it better. (Very topical).

The mommy who gives birth to you is not as much as the mommy who adopted you and raised you. (Very modern, very Angelina Jolie).

There are lovingly rendered details of hand crafts like ink-making and bookbinding (very cottage core), as well as an adoration of huge libraries inside big English estate houses (Harry Potter, again, and also Mortal Istruments, which is Harrry Potter).

I liked this very much, by the way. The fact that all these ideas are not in any way original and simply competently assembled did not at all diminish my enjoyment of the story being told. The thrilling, scary bits were thrilling and scary. The magical bits did invoke a sense of wonder or at minimum, curiosity.

THE PROBLEM THOUGH WAS THE STRAIGHT PART OF THE STORY. There's the sister who travels and the sister who stays in the homestead, guarding her dad's library of magical books. The bodyguard of the fussy Englishman, Colin, who is from Boston, is the first man that the librarian sister allows into her home. They ...immediately.... have the true love true blue heterosexual attraction to each other. And they have terrible horrible flirty talk and they kiss and it's like, Wait, What?

Joanna wasn't aroace and somehow didn't go insane living isolated in her house for ten years with just her dad??? She fell hard for the first man not related to her by blood that was ever invited to her house? Plus why the fuck did the author set up all this chemistry beteween Colin and his fancy English charge, the fainting magic blood having boy, who is canon bi???

The no homo of it was so, so awkward and weird. Joanna even asks Colins if he and Nicholas, his charge, aren't a thing and Colins says no, because he likes long hair. He doesn't say he's straight, or that he prefers women, which makes me think the author didn't want to say those things, because it's not true. GIVE ME GAY COLINS. GIVE ME COLINS AND NICHOLAS EXPLORING THEIR BODIES IN THE LIBRARY OF MAGIC BLOOD BOOKS. The quality of the writing for the very gross Joanna and Colin courtship had me writhing with secondhand embarassment as well as disappointment, whereas the rest of the book is snappy and polished.

That tacked on hetero romance, that happens for no reason, kind of ruined the book for me, sad to say. I was so repelled.

#spoilers #ink blood sister scribe #ytgu reads #emma torzs #long post

[kyndaris]

Gothic September Moods

So, the strangest thing happened when I went to a Big W (a store akin to Kmart here in Australia) back in September. As I was looking for more Lego to add to my possible collection, I couldn't help but notice certain decorations already out on display. It was so horrifying, I had to express my outrage to a few of my friends in our shared Discord group. I mean, it was only September!

I had wanted someone to come over and slap me to make sure it was all a horrid dream.

No, it wasn't the fact there were pumpkins, skeletons, witches and memorabilia from The Nightmare Before Christmas. In fact, I gladly welcome the infiltration of Halloween to Australia's shores - although I wish it could have arrived when I was a lot younger and could go out trick or treating.

No. It was CHRISTMAS decorations! Who in their right mind would start putting out Christmas decorations in SEPTEMBER? BEFORE EVEN HALLOWEEN HAS COME AND GONE?

It makes no sense!

It's sheer insanity!

And so, to celebrate this horrific event, Game Master and I took the opportunity to go watch a fitting film: The Haunting of Venice starring the likes of Michelle Yeoh and Kenneth Branagh as everyone's favourite Belgium detective (because, as we all know from the previous post, the best and most awesome detective in the world is one Sherlock Holmes).

Initially, of course, Game Master and I had intended to go grab some Lego brick burgers. Unfortunately, there were only available on select weekends. A novelty concept that would have been fun to try but, alas, Game Master works weekends and didn't really have time to spare.

As such, we enacted plan B! Go out and enjoy a night at the movies watching Kenneth Branagh ham it up with his terrible accent (it's debatable if he or Daniel Craig is the worst of the two), and try to solve the murder before movie came to a close.

To my shame, I didn't quite 'solve' it so much as remark how odd that the mother was never truly interrogated as much as the other possible suspects. And the odd push about finding a pot of honey in a linen closet. Truly, such strange details that if I'd bothered to put my thinking cap on would have led me to the actual solution.

In my defence, I was being creeped out by the voices of young girls giggling (which was great sound-mixing by the way because I, initially, didn't think it was from the movie itself but me hearing strange things). So, props to A Haunting in Venice for making even me doubt my own sanity even as I jumped at the occasional predictable jump scare.

Still, even with the movie, Game Master and I did stop by for some quick Japanese food. While I still felt we could have tried a slightly fancier restaurant for some quality grub, Game Master was keen to return to his university roots and go back to an old restaurant that provided some decent food for a fraction of the cost.

While I didn't want to begrudge him something comfortable, we were on a DATE. You would think that we might try something a little bit better than just a $10 meal.

Yes, I know the cost of living sucks, what with high interest rates (and as someone with a mortgage, I feel this terribly), and some sticky inflation, and I shouldn't be complaining but it only hammered home how differing views on a proper night out. It's almost like going out to McDonalds even though the both of us make a semi-livable wage.

We aren't poor broke students anymore. We can afford to treat ourselves a little!

But that may be because I wanted to try out some desserts from DOPA.

What can I say? I've a sweet tooth.

After the film was over, Game Master and I chatted for a while as we waited for my train. Given that it was a Thursday and a few of the shops were still open, we checked out a few toys and Game Master (much like the second date) bought himself a Gacha toy. Whether or not he considers it a souvenir of our time together is a mystery. What I do know is that he very much likes to collect quite a few featuring cats.

And so, my third date with Game Master came to an end.

Was it a good one?

It was decent. We didn't end up getting dessert (which I would have preferred) but I still enjoyed my time as we chatted about the economy. I provided a few solid ideas to Game Master on possible social media promotion for his workplace and he also ran through a few of his hopes for his future career.

But the real question, of course, is whether I can see a relationship between the two of us. And I feel like the answer is a no? We could be friends but I don't really feel anything romantic would sprout.

Who knows. Maybe I need to give it some time.

After all, they do say it takes 200 hours of regular contact to make a stranger into a good friend. So, maybe that's just it.

As I've said before, I'm not someone that would readily jump someone's bones. And the thought that I'm out here, looking for love, only makes the search harder and more fraught.

Still, on the plus side, I gave Game Master a new franchise to love: The Hercule Poirot films. He'd only ever heard of them before but he seems to have fallen in love with the whodunnit formula. So, yay for introducing a fellow to the art of deduction?

On a completely unrelated note, I CUT MY HAIR! I paid $70 and now my long hair is GONE!

It's now short! And I've got to get used to that fact! Even as I keep doing things that would make sense for a person with long hair, like trying to pull it out when I slip on a shirt or whipping my head forward so I can dry my long locks (which no longer exist!).

Dear readers, pray for this humble blogger as she mourns for her long lost hair.

That is all. That is the only real reason you should ever read this blog. Gaming? Psh. Dating life? Boorrring! Hair shenanigans. Yes. That's exactly what I know you guys are here for!

#personal blog #dating #haunting in venice #movie date #gacha #short hair

[daincrediblegg]

movie buff questions: any number with a 6 in it. <3

6. Favorite movie from the 90’s? Literally the first one I thought of was Hocus Pocus. So I'm going with that. It's goddamn incredible anyway.

16. Ever watched a movie just because you heard the effects were awesome? YES! Dawn of the Planet of The Apes. saw it in theaters like 10 times throughout the summer after graduating high school bc the theater was right down the block. shit is insane.

26. Best experience going to the movies Honestly the most recent was Everything Everywhere All At Once. My first viewing was on opening week and that was a PHENOMENAL audience to be a part of- especially recently. Also I will never forget the energy that was in the theater after The Grand Budapest Hotel. shit was awesome.

36. Movie quote you live by? lmao it's not from a movie but for years I had this quote up on my facebook page from Westworld "You can't play God without being aquainted with the Devil". Facts man. Thanks A-Hop.

46. Favorite cop film? Gonna go with Fargo on this one I think. Feels right.

56. Movie you completely nerd-out over every time it’s mentioned? Lord of the Rings. You will always get me with Lord of the Rings. No question. No doubt. I have so many lotr related facts and anecdotes and prop replicas.

60. Most visually stunning movie you’ve seen? God I can't choose. I really can't. so many movies are too beautiful I cannot pick just one. help me god.... OK 1917. that bitch has so much going for it.

61. A movie your parents introduced you to? lmao so many. kudos to them tho for taking me to Spirited Away at the ripe old age of baby.

62. Favorite genre? Gothic (clearly- and it's not the same as horror writ. large- there's a difference, even though many horror films overlap with gothic films as well and the whole horror genre literally owes everything to Gothic fiction but I digress)- also because there's lots of elements that go into gothic from other genres like romance and comedy that people tend to forget about- and I'll always take a good genre mix any day over just... one plain old thing? I like a Genre Ensemble if you will and Gothic covers that the best I think.

63. Least favorite genre? Hallmark Rom-coms. sitcoms in general. or reality tv shit or documentaries (lotta people say they're "unbiased" but the nature of perspective and subjectivity in film is bias. never as fully informative of facts as they purport to be and I can't stand the fuckin things. boring as sin).

64. Comedy movie that you didn’t find funny? First one I thought of was Bridesmaids. Deadass. I don't think a lot of mainstream comedies do humor very well anyway. Also fucking anything written by James Gunn that man literally only knows how to write one movie and it was guardians of the galaxy vol. 1 and literally everything he's done since has been copy-pasted from that script (and especially suicide squad. hate that move so much forever and always what a piece of shit).

65. Horror movie that didn’t scare you? Most don't??? not that bad anyway. Fucking M3gan was literally the most unscary shit I've ever seen recently tho. but then again I grew up on Child's Play like I'm immune to freaky doll shit.

66. Favorite remake of an old movie? ok but dicks out for the planet of the apes remakes. I'm so serious. Andy Serkis put his whole pussy into that monkey.

67. A movie that started a passion for you? um... this is kindof a hard question to answer because movies/shows made me want to persue writing/directing as a career. There have been a lot of them, and the more I see the more I want to do it, so the list is ongoing, but LOTR and Joker 2019 are the two biggest contributors that I can think of off the top of my head. LOTR bonus features are what I lived for and got me passionate about the actual filmmaking process and special effects and stuff, Joker is the one that solidified for me the career choice.

68. A movie that sparked an interesting conversation? in my household The Godfather will never not be the film that sparks interesting conversations- bc my dad worked with a guy that was up for the part of sollazzo, and he was on the books and getting payed and everything when Marlon Brando requested that a guy he knew play the part instead, so he got the boot. BUT!! since he was on the books there was a term in his contract that he get residuals anyway- and so he still does. he was at my parent's wedding and everything. crazy shit.

69. The main movie you remember from your childhood? my childhood was filled with them. Can't be specific about this one I'm afraid. Just trust me. Many.

MOVIE BUFF ASKS

#ask games #good talk team