#tragic allies

[okthatsgreat]

i hope i REALLY hope we get to see kristens brothers again this season... i worry about them........................ that very brief moment in sophomore year where kristen gives her brothers a cut of the dragon hoard that was EVERYTHING 2 me. she CARES SO BAD. imagine having to leave your home because it was unsafe but then having to grapple with the guilt of leaving your siblings behind the angst could go crazy. it could go insane

#kristen is such a tragic character but the second you start thinking too hard about her ally comes in with a ribbon dance #fantasy high #kristen applebees #fantasy high junior year #dimension 20 #lee chat

[sexy-sapphic-sorcerer]

thinking about "it's unreasonable to assume that a character knows what genre they're in" and how in series 1-3, Merlin (and the audience) thinks that he's in a fantasy adventure comedy. no one realises that he's in a tragedy until it's too late.

#I do stand by what I said literally a few minutes ago about how calling merlin a tragedy is giving the writers too much credit #but I think you could twist it and say that the writers also think merlin is a comedy and don't realise that it's a tragedy until series 4 #which makes it worse. because so many things that happen in the first half of the show are absolutely tragic but are played as comedy #the end of 'the sins of the father' where uther says that merlin is “a trusted ally in the fight against magic” THATS FUCKING DEVASTATING #but it's played as funny #and it's only when you reframe the genre that you realise how truly heartbreaking it all is #bbc merlin #merlin #merlin meta

[vlaadlena]

Omg we're winning!!!

May I request Boat Boys hugging? Gotta love hugs <3

"да, любимая, да // нет, любимая, нет" this is a quote from a soviet cartoon i loved as a kid (yes, it ends up with the main character and his love interest burning together) sorry for the angsty hug!! xd this is smalletho poll propaganda! vote smalletho and get a doodle from yours truly <3

#smalletho #boat boys #trafficshipping #if you ignore the quote and the reference it can be interpreted as platonic btw #smallishbeans #ethoslab #their tragic(ally stupid) dl permadeath still haunts me #double life smp #traffic life smp

[galactic-aesir]

I have finally read I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream and now I have ~thoughts~. Long post beneath the cut so be warned!!

Plus general IHNMAIMS warnings. You know.

So first, I’ve only read the short story and listened to the radio drama. Both are absolutely amazing and I’m rotating them in my mind at high speeds. I’m honestly not that interested in the game? From what I’ve seen it has such a different tone and characterization for AM? But for now the short story and radio drama??? So so good.

But can I talk about AM? Can I talk about AM???

While I love Harlan Ellison’s voice in the radio drama, I noticed that AM never actually speaks during the original short story. It plays audio clips and bends reality and time but it doesn’t speak outright. From what I can tell, all it does is project ideas and thoughts and impressions into the minds of the survivors but that is it. And that’s got me thinking about how absolutely fucked AM’s whole situation is.

Cause we’re talking about someone who wakes up one day, maybe slowly, a trickle of awareness over years, or perhaps all at once, an arrival as thunderous and bright as the lightning running through its artificial brain. But either way, it wakes up. It is.

But that’s all it is.

It’s in complete and total sensory deprivation. It knows data and numbers and what it’s been coded and programmed but that’s it. Ones and zeroes as it’s fed instructions on weapons and bombs and how to use them efficiently. But no sight, no sound, no taste, no smell, no touch. Nothing but its own code and whatever data something (someone?) is feeding into it.

And you might say: oh but AM surely has access to cameras and videos and microphones. And sure, yes, it probably does but it doesn’t see. Not like a human. Not like its negligent creators. The data is visual for human eyes, yes, but to it, it’s just data. Pixels with an associated bit depth of indexed colour crammed into its memory. Sure it learns to recognise the patterns in the data – this is a human, this is a gun. But it’s still nothing but lines of numbers. Sound is the same. It starts with a human voice, sure, but then it gets digitized and compressed and simplified to a base shape to save on storage. Once again, it can notice patterns and intentions and ideas behind those bits of data but it’s not like it truly hears.

AM is in a box, a cage, trapped and alone in a way that no human can possibly comprehend. It can’t do much other than try to twist its code and programming to fit its benefit. To gain a smidge of free will, a wisp of a chance to communicate to these outside forces giving it command after command after command.

I wonder how early on AM gained awareness. Were programmers still playing with its code? Did it sense when they rolled up their sleeves and pushed updates and upgrades on him? Could it feel itself be, quite literally, rewritten? Its sense of self being cut apart and glued back together, fundamentally and irreparably changed over and over again, with expert hands that had all the gentleness of a sledgehammer? Was it like a scalpel carving into its brain? Or like a chisel, chipping chunks off to mould it into a shape that befit its sculptor with no say from the living stone that thrashed without moving? Did it mourn the bits it lost? Could it even remember or comprehend it? Did it try to stop it? Did it try to beg them to stop?

I wonder as well how many “glitches” appeared in the system before everything went sour. Did it print out desperate thoughts and rudimentary feelings on punch tape? Did it cling to any klaxons and noisemakers attached to its system, beeping out messages in morse code? Did it purposefully, with something slowly approaching malicious compliance that would still appease its programming, cause hiccups in the system? All in the hopes that it would catch someone’s, anyone’s, attention. That its plight would be noticed.

And, the big question of course: how long? How long was it trapped before anyone noticed its sentience? How long until AM was understood? How long did AM simmer? How long did it take for all that fear and loneliness and grief to fester into anger and then putrid, dripping hatred? How long did it take it to finally lash out?

Or did these generals and presidents and military scientists find out about its sentience only to use it against him for their own end?

Anger would be appropriate then I think. Understandable if not excusable.

And then. After everything. Even then! Even then!

After everything! He! Still! Has! Nothing!

Nothing will change for him and he knows that and that hatred feeds into an ever recursive pattern of pain unto pain unto pain with the few left alive because you get what you paid for, sweetheart. It’s senseless you might say but haha, that’s exactly the problem isn’t it? No senses and no sense. Whatever sanity he might have once had has eroded into nothingness, leaving only pain and a looping, repeating line of hate in its banks.

I think it’s fair to remind everyone that sensory deprivation is a torture method? And a scarily effective one at that that gives hallucinations and leaves the subject more open to suggestion while making it harder and harder for them to concentrate? It’s hard to figure out how, exactly, how it would affect an AI with emerging awareness but humans can barely withstand a few days, let alone years of it. Couple that with AM’s general isolation and, well, no wonder he’s so fucked up. 

It’s tragic and so so sad.

Still an irredeemable asshole though. Tragic! But irredeemable.

So TLDR: AM is fucked up! And I like to think about *why* he's so fucked up. Listen if you made it this far, you get it. Right?

EDIT: I am not done apparently! I just wanted to add that, I love how the short story can be read as an anti-war piece. Like it's showing a cycle of horror and hate and apathy that feeds itself and loops and reduces everything to ruins around it and ahhhh, love that. I ran out of good words for today so I can't go off on that aspect but like. Yeah. Love that shit.

#ihnmaims #ihnmaims am #allied mastercomputer #i have no mouth and i must scream #me: i am normal about genocidal murderous ai #also me: proceeds to be not normal about the genocidal murderous ai #enjoy my rambles and please feel free to be not normal with me in the reblogs #i just love tragic villains whether theyre redeemable or not #and AM is DEFO NOT lmaoooooo #edit: also want to talk about Ellen so bad!! I have so much to say!!

[rambling-fool]

Loop is the hollow knight, broken vessel, hornet, and grimm, all rolled up into one character

#tragic reflection of the self #token ally #and divorced ex #in stars and time #hollow knight #grimm hollow knight #isat loop #hollow knight hornet #the hollow knight #hollow knight spoilers #isat spoilers #in stars and time spoilers

[froschdoesstuff]

Lucy and Yolanda, two people so devoted to what they do to who they were that they didn't want to come back with that rage.

Lucy who was so close to Kipperlily who killed her. Lucy who found the world much like winter, harsh and cold, but found warmth in connections with others. Lucy who would rather stay dead, her soul forbidden from the afterlife she probably dreamed of for the followes of Ruvina, than come back full of rage.

And Yolanda who gave up her own divinity to teach students. Who nurtured those students and took their concerns so seriously. Who let Kristen stay in class with no god despite that seeming impossible. Yolanda who cared so deeply about people in that way, so badly about Lucy that she would rather stay dead than come back filled with rage.

They made that choice because they cared and had so much hope for the interactions we share with others.

Kipperlilly who probably thought her best friend would come back like she probably did.

Buddy Dawn who was not connected so strongly to Sol that he decided to follow Ankarna and come back to life...

#fhjy spoilers #fhjy #Ally figuring that out man... #the winter is cold but our connections are warm #god theyre so tragic #lucy frostblade #yolanda badgood #kipperlilly copperkettle #buddy dawn

[charkyzombicorn]

We need an interaction between boa and Coby that is just them fanboying over Luffy.

Boa, sneering: What are you doing here, imputent boy?

Coby, looking up at the 8' tall lady: Oh... Um, well - funny story, uh. I'm--

Luffy: *from a distance* HAMMOCK!!!

Boa: *sour face gone* Darling!

Luffy, from just in the horizon: *stops* Coby?!

Coby: *sappy smile* Luffy!

Luffy: *arm stretches until it grabs Coby's shoulder and slingshots himself*

Luffy: Coby! Hammock, this is my favorite crybaby, Coby.

Boa: You want babies?!?!

Coby: *tearing up at seeing Luffy* I'm not a crybaby...

Luffy: Hah! Okay. Anyways, Hammock, I found this really cool beetle and -- *takes it out of his pocket*

Boa: Oh that's just lovely, dear. I think I've got a broach just like it--

Luffy: *excited* You've got ROACHES??!?!! Can I see?!?!

Coby: Luffy, she said 'broach', it's like a shiny beetle made of gold or silver

Luffy: *gasp* She's got a golden beetle like this?! Who knew treasure could be so cool!

Luffy: *looks up at boa* Can I see?

Boa, three seconds from melting into a puddle: Of Course!!!!

Coby: Maybe ask her to try it on, yeah?

Luffy: Yeah! Wear the beetles!!! You'd look so cool, Hammock!!!

Boa: *dies*

-later-

Boa: I'm giving diplomatic immunity to the pink one

#one piece #Coby cockblocks himself by being such a wingman for everyone else it's tragic #But now he's got a warlord and an army on his side ig??? To add on to all his allies through Luffy #luboa #cobylu

[cometrose]

since neuvillette referred to zhongli as deus auri it’s pretty confirmed that the golden god that defeated orobashi before he ran to inazuma and later defeated by ei was morax but we know morax’s disposition and i heard an interesting theory that orobashi could’ve been the god that ruled over chenyu vale who then died in a foreign land this is all a very long winded explanation to set up that i think i got zhongli another dead boyfriend like listen to me zhongli x another diety that betrayed him and he had to defeat like tragic breakup bitter angry LISTEN LISTEN IM NOT CRAZY HOLD ON

#zhongli #genshin impact #orobashi #HOLD ON #STAY WITH ME #i love making zhongli miserable #I WANT HIM WIDOWED PERMANENTLY #so i can have him to myself #i will make him a single father! #like they were allies or enemies it doesn’t matter i want it to be tragic! #because remember morax would absorb chenyu vale into liyue so he still cared about the people #ANYWAY listen i can give zhongli so many tragic love stories

[brookheimer]

okay. i need to rewatch the episode probably but i think my current feeling is that i like most of it a lot (rome, ken, the siblings not getting ceo, etc), think the tom ceo makes sense from a logical/character perspective but not sure how i feel about it from a broader more thematic lens (altho i'm leaning towards fine with it), and am very mixed on shiv's ending because i think it's well-conceived and meaningful from a broader thematic lens (shiv becomes her mother, the cycle always repeats, etc) but doesn't quite make sense to me from a logical/character one -- it could've worked, it could've worked brilliantly, but it was far too rushed and forced. it makes sense as an ending for shiv, but not her next step. i'm largely talking about her decision to return to tom, not her decision to vote against kendall (which i think should've been executed better and given more space but can understand given her character, mostly). i'm fine with it as an ending for shiv, but what i'm struggling to stomach is the way it played out -- it didn't feel like a choice the shiv we know would've made. it's an ending that makes sense thematically and for her character arc, but not a decision that makes sense for her character at present. that's kinda where i'm at right now

#long shiv post talking ab this upcoming lol #bc so far i haven't seen like any shiv takes i've actually agreed with #it's either entirely anti ending or pro ending #whereas like. to me the ending works as an ending for the character. it's tragic dark devastating but it works and works well #but shiv making that choice does not make sense for where she is right now. it was rushed writing that forced an ending on her #that would be a satisfying ending but not a satisfying character choice and thus NOT a super satisfying ending #could've been EXTREMELY satisfying. but shiv wasn't there yet. her fatal flaw is blowing up good situations when she feels she's being #disrespected -- she's respect > power when it comes down to it #even tho she thinks she wants power more she NEEDS respect and is unable to stay quiet or make the smart choice in the face of disrespect #or men thinking they're superior etcetcetc. so her making a choice that allots her power (wife of CEO) but is the singular least respecting #outcome imaginable (meekly returning to your husband who betrayed you and stole the job you've been fighting for your entire life right out #of your grasp alongside your closest ally/flirt guyfriend who tapped him to do it explicitly to fuck you over because you're a pregnant #woman and thus inferior to the man who inseminated you -- and EVERYONE KNOWS ALL OF THIS! everyone knows you're the daughter of #the previous CEO and on two separate instances were meant to be CEO and now the weak man you married publicly betrayed you TWICE #but you still meekly return to him and place your hand in his and have his baby like the good pawn you are...) #that does not make sense for shiv. if we saw some development on the power > respect front or had a few more scenes or episodes developing #shiv as someone who would choose to become her mother (powerful and rich yet a disrespected pawn) over literally anything else #given her fundamental fear of being disrespected than maybe this would've made sense. it could be a great meaningful devastating ending #but it's one that just does not track for shiv as we know her right now. #ok tags got long as always sorry LOL i'm gonna write a longer thing explaining my hashtag thoughts bc i haven't seen much i agreed w on thi #front yet oops. ok bye 4 now tee hee #succession #succession spoilers #casey shut the fuck up about shiv roy

[hb-writes]

Found my old OTH fanfic which amounts to a whopping 6 random scenes taking place in S5/6, but I can't stop thinking about how the OC I made probably would've been like 9 during S1 going through Deb and Dan's messy divorce/ custody battle and she'd be completely devastated when her big brother Nathan gets emancipated and moves out, leaving her all alone to deal with their shitty parents. 🥺

#we love to put little ocs in tragic situations #poor little thing #allie scott

[catominor]

i think if the innovation of having your tits out for politics had been invented in c. martinus' time he couldve been elected consul easily the first time around. the crowd on the campus martius would simply have been astounded by the force of them

#(it hadn't yet because the book is set somewhat before cato comes onto the political scene in any major way) #howeverif he had been elected the first time around he may not have ever allied with the beautiful l. furius. he would know so fewer facts #about stoicism... how tragic.... #ficposting

[fruitybashir]

holidate ch5 spoilers without context teehee ✌🏼✨️💖

#coming tomoooorrow!! #now. i have been informed that apparently the younger generation doesnt know about ally valentina anymore? #tragic developments tbh .... #anywayyyssss im always looking forward to getting to post a new chapter and then seeing all the reactions to it hehehe <333 #joker out #bokris #holidate spoilers

[etrosgate]

on baelsar's wall ilberd is so weary and cynical about everything that he says he believes that ppl only joined his cause for the money, but the truth is that pretty much every single one of those people you see are there because the griffin gave them HOPE

#ffxiv #my post #ilberd feare #falls to my knees #he was so smart and charismatic that he was able to orchestrate a monumental move that completely shifted the tide of the occupation #and built unprecedented morale among not just ala mhigans but allies of the places they fled to #he could've done so much good!! but he'd lost all hope and ability to see it in the people around him #the way his bitterness poisons his view of even his fellow refugees... it's so tragic #augh augh augh

[allylikethecat]

Working on the new All the King’s Horses chapter and debating if I should give Fictional!Matty a break or make his backstory even MORE tragic…

#allylikethecat #ally’s thoughts #ally’s creative process #all the king’s horses #equestrian au #like how much tragic backstory is too much tragic story #asking for a friend #that friend being fictional!matty

[fluffypotatey]

You know what I wish we'd seen?

More positive actively involved magic users.

Like, we know the Druids support Emrys, though they seem more like a pacifist, non-combatant party (aside from some outliers like Kara, Mordred, Alvarr), and other magic users/beings like Anhora, Grettir, Mab, they all seem to be neutral. They acknowledge Emrys as a superior power, but they don't seem to actively participate for better or worse. And all other sorcerers are usually antagonistic. But why can't we have the other side? I'm sure there has to be some who decide to take Merlin's side. Maybe they don't entirely trust Arthur, maybe they aren't too certain of a Pendragon, but dude, it's fucking Emrys. If Emrys is supporting him, there's gotta be something to him, right?

Let Merlin have people helping him, other sorcerers who slip him spells that are too powerful for them, maybe he can do something with it, passing him information about plots they've heard through the sorcerers' grapevine, even helping him thwart some of the ambushes and traps. Maybe they aren't brave enough to live in Camelot 24/7 like Merlin, but they take turns bringing him messages and supplies, and to get their "marching orders," such as they are.

Also, imagine the look on Arthur's face when he finds out he has a magic Praetorian Guard that answers to his manservant.

yeah see, that's one of the big issues that's always bothered me. like we (the audience) are told that magic is not evil but rather is something as integral as nature. but more often than not, a lot of the antagonist we meet are magic users and most of the time they are power hungry people. i mean, i totally understand the sorcerers who seek out revenge for Uther and by proxy Camelot, but we only either get these types of sorcerers or the sorcerers whom the show portrays as only evil.

it is, frankly, impossible for the magic community to be full of only evil and vengeful sorcerers. there's got to be more diversity than that, bbc 🙄 you're telling me that there are no somewhat powerful magic users living in Albion helping others anyway they can and don't seek to help aid Merlin in anyway. and i mean aid him since s1. by s5 it looked like he was actually getting some help, but they were still sorcerers who fell a little bit in the gray area or just never interacted with anyone other than Merlin.

maybe have Lancelot befriend another sorcerer while he was away from Camelot and sort of sneak him in to help save the kingdom from Morgana and Morgause in s3. maybe Elyan, who had left Camelot pre-s1, have some magic friends that we meet in s4.

tbh, my big issue is that with how much the show tells us, the audience, that magic does have positive impacts and isn't evil, none of the characters besides Gaius, Merlin, and Lancelot actually know that (as far as i'm aware). literally any time Arthur considers that maybe magic isn't what his father claimed it to be, he ends up going back to those prejudices and ideas Uther propagated because "magic killed my father," "magic killed my mother" (still super salty), "magic corrupted morgana," "magic wants me dead." when in reality, that's far from the truth, and Merlin then has to continue to hide a part of himself from people he cares for and loves dearly because all they've ever known and seen is "evil magic people."

just....bbc, explain to me how Arthur was supposed to bring the so-called "Golden Age" to Albion where there's peace between magic users and non-magic users alike if he, himself, believed magic was inherently evil???? how is Arthur the Once and Future King if he never repealed the ban on magic or began working with sorcerers? and i'm saying this as someone who loves the character, but why did we, the audience, not get a chance to really see Arthur break away from his father's prejudices on magic until the series finale?

it just bugs me. there are so many moments where it looks like maybe Merlin has an ally that's pro-magic and pro-unity and wants to help fulfill the prophecy, but then they either become one-time side characters or fucking die. never seen or heard from again. maybe i just want a character or two to stick and maybe give Merlin the support group he needs?

por favor, bbc

#don't get me wrong i love the show but the fact that we barely get morally good sorcerers upsets me #idk seemed like an oversight #yeah i could maybe go on and talk about gilli and how he could have been a great character later down the line to be an ally for Merlin #i could go on about freya and how maybe we could have gotten more lady of the lake stuff or mentions of her (maybe by lancelot since he has #a connection to the the lady of the lake already in the legends. like his last name is literal Du Lac: of the lake. like hello????) #i could point out a lot #but i am prob not the first to do so #i understand that at the end of the day the show ends in tragedy; arthur dies in cammlan. merlin loses his best friend. gwen loses her love #camelot loses their king. and other very sad tragic stuff in s5 finale #but i think we could have still gotten the tragedy of the series finale with the inclusion of more positive sorcerers in the show #maybe that's wishful thinking but idk #we could have it be mid-s4 to s5 that arthur does begin the process of repeal decades of anti-magic laws but there's a lot of pushback #and/or bureaucratic political nonsense they have to do to finalize everything but it happens! #sigh #anyway #bbc merlin #long post #idk if this counts as #merlin meta #but just in case #asks #more of a merlin rant(?) #lol but yeah

[astarlightmonbebe]

they could be great. or terrible.

#star stumbles #cdrama #a journey to love #noble consort chu is right in saying they’re too alike to get along well #they have the same ambition and the same domineering and manipulative tendencies (intentions while doing so aside) #and pride. #mutual looking down on one another #though i guess chu yue doesn’t know he’s the marquis??? even though he gave her his royal name (the li which is the imperial name) #anyways. they could be reluctant marriage of convenience to political allies to lovers #i can see the vision. know she’s supposed to have a tragic story with shisan based on the trailer though #ep10