#yeah this isn’t meta

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

it’s alhaitham shrugging aside comments from others like “lunatic” or “loner” or making a self-amused comment which shuts down the conversation, such as dunyarzard saying he has “quite a personality” and him replying “you flatter me” but then when kaveh says anything that can be considered remotely offensive alhaitham challenges this or just outright goads him into continuing the bickering

kaveh calls him arrogant and alhaitham giggles and twirls his hair and says “yeah? And what else? xx”

he’s so amused and dare i say endeared

#yeah this isn’t meta #just a thought i had #the thought is is that alhaitham is down bad #and has constructed his life around (1) certain person whom he desires the attention of #like he loves these silly little exchanges #but when it strays into something when encroaches on kavehs boundaries he BACKS down #it’s crazy #THEYRE CRAZY #alhaitham #kaveh #haikaveh #kavetham

[salty-an-disco]

I get why people see Shifting Mound and the Princess, per se, as separate entities, but I just can’t agree lmao

Specifically, the default Princess, the one you meet at the cabin. She’s full of possibilities, facet so malleable you can see it changing it even on Chapter 1.

To me, that’s Shifting Mound at her core. Possibilities personified, incredibly malleable, well-spoken even when unsure of her own nature. That’s her core, no wonder she becomes the heart by the end of it, she was always what held Shifting Mound together. That’s why constantly refusing to even interact with her makes Shifty fall apart.

She’s nothing without your perception, and she can only be perceived through her core.

As for the hands at the edges? Those are simply scattered thoughts (unilluminated and without a form to take hold of), they only become Shifting Mound once they have a vessel to speak through. Without the vessels, they remain incomplete. Possibilities of everything she could be left to wander aimless.

You can’t separate Shifting Mound from the Princess because the Princess is a part of Shifting Mound and a part of Shifting Mound is the Princess.

#I get that the way Shifty talks about the vessels can make it seem they’re wholly separate #but I see it more as someone reminiscing on their old self #the person I was when I was 14 isn’t me anymore. but I used to be the #*them #and they helped mold who I am today #slay the princess #the shifting mound #stp princess #stp meta #sal rambles #yeah. let’s drop a meta this late into the night right before going to sleep lmao

[symptomofgout]

the narrative of kaveh being an idiot is so baffling to me because he is, quite literally, canonically considered a genius…? why is the popular consensus “6000 IQ alhaitham and his lovably stupid roommate kaveh” when every npc commenting on kaveh refers to his intellect & talent, the literal god of wisdom says kaveh has an “almost-perfect grasp of what it truly means for sumeru to be a nation of wisdom” (whereas she questions alhaitham’s wisdom in her line about him), and alhaitham’s own story profile calls kaveh a genius multiple times??? like the whole point is that he’s alhaitham’s intellectual equal despite having entirely separate worldviews and demeanors, which frustrates alhaitham to no end — ‘how can someone so smart do all of these things that, to me, are so evidently stupid?’ the takeaway from their dynamic should NOT be kaveh is dumb, but rather that empathy and emotion aren’t actually the opposites of logic and intelligence, but sadly both alhaitham and the realm of academia as a whole are too blinded by their own definitions of logic to fully realize that.

tl;dr kaveh is not dumb by any standards and i will prove it

(under the cut: quotes/screenshots/etc proving this + more. please spread the gospel and dispel ignorance. amen)

some npc voicelines (there are more but i’m lazy):

these are pretty self-explanatory — kaveh is a widely-renowned scholar, architect, and engineer throughout sumeru. he graduated from the akademiya with flying colors, students were desperate to take his classes, etc.

nahida’s voicelines:

both are intelligent but only one is wise: kaveh. alhaitham is too restricted by his narrow definition of wisdom (read: what he deems ‘logical’) to look beyond himself and grasp that there’s more to intellect and knowledge than pure cold rationality. he can’t comprehend that empathy and intellect aren’t fundamentally incompatible — in fact, they’re best when put hand in hand. kaveh is one of the few scholars capable of valuing emotions, empathy, and artistic endeavors, while the rest of the akademiya closes themselves off to that entire realm of knowledge from the get-go. this is what makes kaveh uniquely wise, and what alhaitham lacks. until you understand that emotions and logic can and should coexist, you won’t be successful in the true pursuit of knowledge.

last but not least:

alhaitham’s profile (worth noting that profile stories are pretty much the most reliable source of information on characters’ true beliefs and opinions — their voicelines are still them putting on acts in front of the traveler, but these stories are told from the perspective of an omniscient narrator and are likely closer to the truth):

“two geniuses.” and even after their falling out, “neither of them will deny the other party’s exceptional brilliance” — meaning alhaitham considers kaveh to be exceptionally brilliant. point blank. in the text bro

hilarious line — it’s basically alhaitham saying he doesn’t understand how someone with kaveh’s talent and intellect could have a personality/worldview so different from haitham’s. ‘how can someone that smart be so annoying!!!!!’ and ofc by values we know it’s referring to kaveh’s idealism, empathy, and affinity for the arts

alhaitham considers kaveh to be “another genius,” someone who is so much his intellectual equal that he’s “an excellent mirror” for alhaitham. it’s like an experiment for him — the initial question is “how can someone as smart as me care about all of these things i’ve always believed to be worthless,” the subjects are kaveh and alhaitham, the controlled variable is their intellect. because their intellect is the same, alhaitham is able to study their differences (can’t attribute said differences to varying intellect). alhaitham would never say it out loud — and luckily he doesn’t need to bc his character story tells us — but he’s deeply fascinated by kaveh bc kaveh’s very existence is a threat to haitham’s worldview, & he’s letting kaveh stay with him bc through kaveh, alhaitham learns about not just himself but the outside world and humanity as a whole, and as a scholar, there’s nothing more valuable. (also because he feels comfortable with kaveh [“he’s a familiar face”] and they’re both lonely [“similarly lacks familial attachments”] lol these two are never beating the We Know You Don’t Actually Hate Each Other allegations but that’s a different point so i digress)

IN CONCLUSION:

this is all just the TEXTUAL evidence — people saying “kaveh is smart” — and doesn’t even include all of the obvious implicit signs of kaveh’s intellect (no one who graduates from the akademiya w honors and teaches classes there could be anything other than incredibly intelligent, al “i don’t do anything that i don’t want to do” “i’m not going to bother explaining it to you because you won’t understand” haitham not only puts up with but actively seeks out debates with kaveh which he absolutely would not do if he didn’t respect him or consider him to be of roughly equal intellect, look at the debates he has w alhaitham on sumeru messageboards and TELL ME those messages sound like they were written by an idiot or itto or something [you cant], etc etc etc).

and also this is all from 3.3 (+ 3.4 alhaitham leaks)! we don’t even know kaveh’s rarity yet, that’s how far he is from being playable, but there’s already this much information on just how smart he is! it’s the main thing we know about him — 1) he’s smart, 2) he’s passionate/driven by what he feels is right! why does that keep turning into “LOL HOTHEADED HIMBO”??!

okay look. this is all so extra i know. BUT. i must set the record straight now (god knows it’ll only get worse the closer we get to kaveh’s release) because this sudden-onset mass illiteracy within genshin players is going to send me to an early grave. feel free to use as a resource and educate the ignorant so kaveh does not end up reduced to a one-note meme dumb guy when literally that’s just… not even in the game. i mean at least other annoying OOC fandom interpretations have basis in the game but genshin literally tells u every time it gets the opportunity that Kaveh Is Just As Smart As Alhaitham Because Cold Rationality Does Not Equal Wisdom/Intelligence and losing that would be such a crime because it is by far the most interesting n promising thing hoyo has done with new characters in ages! like, not only are they funny and entertaining, not only are they fascinating incredible foils for one another, but they’re used to make a much-needed argument against the prevalent hegemony of mindless rationality and our “logical” society’s illogical fear of emotion/empathy. but yeah sure, theyre just itto & ayato 2.0, i guess. god. the lack of reading comprehension among genshin players is literally an epidemic

#frustrating me to no end. miss the entire point of their dynamic and characters as a whole why don’t you #literally this isn’t ‘shipping goggles’ or anything it’s just … knowing how to read. not looking for subtext just literally reading the text #kaveh #genshin impact #genshin #genshin kaveh #genshin impact leaks #alhaitham #haikaveh #kavetham #kavehtham #genshin meta #i hope ppl see this bc it Needs To Be Said but sadly it will probably get like 10 notes. BUT STILL. i will try #fr the narrative needs to change i don’t think i can take five months of people on reddit characterizing him as th watson to hthm’s sherlock #yeah maybe if watson was a fucking genius too!!! #long post #(under the cut lol) #100 #500

[greensaplinggrace]

the darkling says “fine, make me your villain” because he is. what’s not clicking

#shadow and bone #grishaverse #sab #aleksander morozova #the darkling #pro darkling #sab meta #‘he acts like he isn’t the villain’ like yeah I guess if you want to examine it without any deeper analysis #when the statement itself is actually fascinating to put into a narrative context and analyze the means by which certain steadfast roles #are enacted throughout the books #and the larger implications of character want/desire and leading goal vs world state and perceived morality #largely due to prejudice and war time sentiments #as well as the individual harm caused and the way it’s significance becomes questionable when placed in stark contrast #to the broader political and socioeconomic climate #which doesn’t even take into consideration individual character roles and the doylist analysis of their relative functions as ideas #instead of entire personalities with depth #when you give an idealistic character a goal larger than life with a tactical relevance over a moral one #within a story that also centers around a broader goal of ‘saving the world’ as well as personal trauma #and attempt to liken both to the same moral equivalence and significance #then try to pit them against each other #especially when your narratively condemned villain desires more than anything to protect the masses and be loved for it #showing a fascinating level of genre unawareness. yet displaying a relative awareness to the role he has been unwillingly cast as #because he is both at odds with the genre but not with the general moral tone of the story and it's discordant messages #that rely on the pov of a character that fundamentally cannot understand him #because of his place in the story #and cannot understand the world state #because of her place in the story #you are going to get statements like this #sure yes. he ‘says it like he isn’t the villain’ #but come on. we can do better

[guckies]

I went back to watch the moment about Bad bringing up purgatory and really it’s just that everyone is confused and Bad needs to explicitly say if he is canonically on or off the island without some weird loop hole that gives him both lores on the both islands for one character to know.

Now the mini events aren’t always like a lore canon thing but the eggs are in lore majority of the time. This is cause the eggs are lore/rp characters the same way Cucurucho is and the only way they aren’t is when they explicitly say it or the cc says that the info they’re saying is out of rp.

But this is what happened -

Bad brought up first that he saw Tubbo that day to sunny who had been with Fit the entire day. Then Richarylson questioned him saying “Aren’t you meant to not be spiritually projecting rn” and he said “I don’t know what you’re talking about” which is just as confusing as what Richas said to him.

Then the others asked a general question just saying how was it and if he was winning not anything about any of the lore aspects. He then later brought up the quesadilla lore stuff with Phil despite it not really being the time or place, as well as him not supposedly being there to the other characters (specifically Fit and Phil think he’s kidnapped because he hasn’t clarified and they honestly act like they can’t be bothered asking anymore about it which not gonna blame them on) who all think that he is kidnapped because Bad has evaded the question and not given them an explicit answer.

So the eggs, current quesadilla islanders and the viewers are very confused.

Cause none of it make sense and Bad’s “1/3 is in purgatory”(which is the spiritually projecting thing richas is eluding to) is a struggle rp wise too because how is he meant to participate in lore or rp when he’s giving so many mixed signals if he is or isn’t canonically on the island.

Like he’s telling the eggs about their parents when they’re always meant to be in lore, then telling the other islanders that he’s on vacation which implies he’s not doing lore. So then it looks like meta gaming (because the eggs are just being told info randomly without knowing they’re getting told ie like a twitch chat that a streamer reads except eggs can’t really ignore it) from the pov of someone who has no clue if it’s in rp or not especially when it’s told to the eggs who are in rp 24/7. But then even the eggs don’t know if he’s actually there or not so they have to come up with a rp opinion about it and now think he’s lying about their parents because they aren’t meant to know about it really.

Along with this how come he can only just now separate himself in parts like this(yes things are secret but that raises the question how come he didn’t preemptively do this in purgatory 1), how is he getting the info back and forward from each “part” of him, how is it even a different part/version of him if he’s still in the same dimension(cause travelling back and forward from the island defeats the whole purpose of purgatory 1 and he isn’t a slime so how would he be able to make a clones/another version) and then why is he even telling the kids that information when they are separated from their parents which is just going to make them sad(but it is giving the eggs a rp struggle because not all of them are going to know if they are meant to know that info or not).

But really the real question is why does bad have to be involved in both lores and knowing everything. It’s not as if the others are going to keep everything from him and not tell him. Like when has anyone not ever told people about lore that affects everyone, he will be told everything all he has to do is ask. By the time he’s back the photo if the eyed workers will probably still be up as well all he has to do is ask them about it and they’ll give him an answer.

#like bad is the only one everyone is struggling with now bc he’s bring back p2 lore to quesadilla and then apparently bads in lore 85% of - #the time and he’s not actively clarifying if it is or isn’t lore now #so no one knows where tf he’s meant to be even the bloody eggs who should know everything #as well the only one we really know isn’t kidnapped is bagi but idk if thats changed #then we have pac tubbo and etoiles who havent really logged in but when etoiles has he is always talking in meta which is clear bc you know- #when he’s in lore mode and bc the topics he’s talking about are so meta and never involved the quesadilla lore #qsmp neg #bbh neg #qsmp discourse #<- tags for those who need #also the excuse he’s addicted to smp is stupid and concerning if he’s addicted then he need to take a break #bc that’s turning weirdly parasocial on his part #like yeah its his friends but then what about when no one is on or when the server is over like he needs to take healthy breaks from the smp

[galadrielspeaks]

just thinking about thranduil and how he categorises his life and how the events of his life affects the way he rules his kingdom…. how so much of his development was defined by huge cataclysmic tragedies… thinking about how his youth is defined as before Doriath and his adulthood is defined as After Doriath… how when he became a prince he probably held on to his more idealistic beliefs only to be sternly reminded of the fickleness of life during war….. how the entire kingdom of the woodland realm probably has a Before Dagorlad and an After. how could you not after losing your king and the majority of your people? it is incredibly telling how these events of Thranduil’s past has affected his rule and everything about him down to his parenting. he understands he’s alone. that’s tragic. but he also understands his kingdom is alone. he’s a lonely king. there's no one higher than him, no one to seek advice from. he understands he is the final defender of a kingdom and he is fighting an inherited war, he has first hand witnessed the tragedies of this war and has been directly critically affected by it, he is just as much a victim of Sauron as his people. his nobility offers him zero protection, at any point he could lose everything, and yet he remains empathetic. he remains kind. he remains generous. he obviously sees the worth in fighting, he refuses to give up fully. he is (reasonably!) incredibly cautious which some call him an isolationist or consider him fickle for, during events like his refusal of gandalf’s invitation to the White Council but it becomes incredibly clear why he is like this when it’s put into context of his past. he has trusted allies before, he has seen what has happened. to join an organisation full of ring bearer’s as the sole leader of a nation with no ring to protect his people is almost an insult. they would not and do not understand what it takes to lead in that situation. Thranduil and all of his people are living in the after of the war of the last alliance. why would they join another? Thranduil has put his people first. He recognises that they themselves are the only ones who understand just how at risk they are. and yet with all of this in mind it should noted that he allies himself with men (who historically have experienced and understand the dangerous climate of their respective nations) and creates trade routes with them to provide for his people and also provides aid to them. and it is noted in the text that Legolas has been raised incredibly happily, and he is well-adjusted. throughout fighting a seemingly losing war thranduil found it implicitly important to raise his son with joy and hope. i like to believe he understands the importance of childhood whimsy and enchantment and worked to instill and maintain his child’s innocence. he raised his son as trauma-free as he could (saying this bc we do not know if his mother is dead or sailed or not but either way to be without the mother is traumatic but besides that Legolas appears to be generally mentally healthy). despite knowing first hand just how cruel and painful life is he did not feel the need to raise his child to be prepared and worried about very real threats. rather he raised his child happily, and simply worked to give his son the skills he needed to survive and to defend himself. usually military father's who have expreienced a great deal of trauma and haven't processed it correctly tend to succumb to the urge to raise their children to understand the cruelty of the world, and loathe their children for their innocence. i think that in thranduil not doing this with legolas, we can infer that he has taken time to healthily process his experiences. I believe that Thranduil is an incredibly important figure in the Lord of the Rings because he is truly an incredible example of someone who learns from their mistakes, learns from tradegy, who learns from life. i think that Thranduil never wanted to be a King, it is a responsibility that fell into his lap unwillingly and that is why he is a successful and well-loved ruler.

#didn’t really get into the war of five army’s bc i just don’t know enough about it #but yeah #just some random thoughts i had inbetween lectures today #also the military thing comes from experience i am a military brat i Know #i can write soooo much on how Legolas’ behaviour is a direct representation of Thranduil’s character like it’s just so telling #also i personally believe that thranduil’s wife died but since that isn’t canon i didn’t include it in this but yeah i think that has a lot #to do with a Lot about him #but that’s more headcanony so i held off on diving too into it #also sorry if any of this is a bad take this is off the top of my head inbetween classes i’m not double checking things rn #thranduil #woodland realm #mirkwood #greenwood #long post #meta

[superloves4]

Thinking about the elvish mourning color poll and it made me think

What if it’s red and Fëanor is doing a Hamlet and constantly wearing mourning colors for Miriel

#yeah i know that fefe wearing red isn’t reeeally canon #but come on #Fefe would absolutely pull something like this #(also he looks good in red) #silmarillion #the silmarillion #feanorians #feanor #tolkien #silm #fëanor #silm meta? #night thoughts

[straight-to-the-pain]

Genuinely don’t mean this as any sort of callout post but it’s interesting to me how there’s been a trend in newer (?) whump blogs putting really long disclaimers in their bios and pinned posts, saying that they don’t condone violence, that they aren’t responsible for other people’s actions, that they know it’s bad and it’s just fiction.

It’s honestly making me wonder how much purity culture has seeped into the fabric of even the Whump community, that people feel the need to explicitly state what I would have accepted as an easily presumed given. When did we get to a point where we have to preface any conversation by stating that we don’t condone irl violence, lest someone accuse us of immorality?

#whump community #whump meta #I’m not like saying this to disparage anyone who has done that #because I get that everyone is scared of the purity police #but like this is definitely something that keeps cropping up more and more #like it’s so sad to me that we can’t just assume that people aren’t evil abusers unless told otherwise #also like makes me worry about how people are actually gonna spot abusers because like #they aren’t Gonna be wearing a sign that says that they’re bad and evil #like yeah I love violence and also I love to hurt people irl nobody is gonna say that #except for me I love violence and also hurting people irl and I’m not a coward /j #I actually think irl torture is also fun and sexy #s talks #this isn’t discourse okay I just want people to feel more confident in their interests #without feeling pressured to justify it at every given opportunity

[magicpotatothoughts]

SVSSS | Did Gongyi Xiao ever stand a chance against Luo Binghe?

My heart will never stop aching for our golden boi Gongyi Xiao and as much as I OTP Bingqiu, I often wonder if GYX stood a chance against LBH, and not for reasons that he has to die because he's too similar to the male lead or ZZL needed to remove a threat/take revenge. Like could GYX, being the incredibly obedient, handsome and upstanding golden boi that he is, even bearing such close resemblance to LBH, could he have won over SY!SQQ's heart? Because ok, the only thing that SQQ actually laments about GYX being lacking to LBH is the compatibility of their teamwork against a common enemy but that's because LBH has had the advantage of knowing SY!SQQ longer and cultivated directly under him as his disciple. Like if GYX were to cultivate under SY!SQQ and also got to know him for the same length of time, would they have worked out?

And then I came to realise that the answer is simply...no. GYX's most notable trait is his righteousness. He would betray orders and hierarchy if he believed that they were doing the wrong thing, but he's not the type to be completely shameless/selfish about it. He won't actively drag bystanders into the chaos if he can help it.

But that's also why he is not compatible with SY!SQQ because SY!SQQ is ultimately most attracted to LBH's shameless obsession with him. LBH is "everything related to Shizun" first and righteousness second. He won't hesitate to practise demonic cultivation, flirt publicly by offering to massage Shizun's sore waist, cause a huge ruckus in order to protect SY!SQQ and to fight over his corpse. LBH's strive for righteousness is driven by the assumption that an upstanding man is the only kind of man his Shizun accepts and that's what he has to become in order for SY!SQQ to stay with him but when shizun dies, righteousness kind of goes out the window. Anddddddd SY!SQQ says he likes them righteous and upstanding but he’s just as fucked up. The man can deny to the heavens but it's so obvious that he enables LBH's obsession by being a housewife, grieving widow then "sacrificing himself" in the name of "repayment", causing a huge-ass ruckus and ripple waves of longlasting pain for his sect family. Like damn, SQQ can be kind and upstanding but when it comes to LBH, isn't that also a shameless obsession? It just wouldn't have worked out with GYX because it would have been textbook master-disciple platonic, GYX would have pushed aside any of his own selfish/romantic desires and every action would have been carefully considered for the greater good of his sect and martial family. It's really like a goldilocks sort of situation, GYX is too righteous, ZZL is too fucked up (he makes sense though in demon logic), LBH babygirl is just the right amount of fucked up and 100% Shizun's sheep with a very pat-able head.

#like SY!SQQ says he hates LBH crying during Papapa but he actually gets off on it #SY!SQQ is kind yeah yeah but he really do be giving so much grief to #everyone else who cares about him when he decides to off himself #but that's what the Bingqiu dynamic is like #bingqiu love is selfless and selfish and so fucked up #to the point it 360s back to a healthy balance #selfish/shameless isn’t quite the right word but he sure makes his obsession with LBH quite inconvenient for everyone else #svsss #gongyi xiao #shen qingqiu #shen yuan #svsss meta #svsss analysis #luo binghe #ren zha fanpai zijiu xitong #mxtx svsss

[laniidae-passerine]

I think some of you guys hate Izzy more than you ever liked Ed and no amount of “he’s my special babygirllll 💞 she’s just a sparkle princess you can’t hold her accountable for anything 🥰✨” posts are gonna be able to hide that

#like yeah nice try using the brown dude as a shield for your hate campaign or whatever but it isn’t working lol #I’m sure they kinda like Ed. but they sure don’t like Ed as much as they like hating on Izzy #who Ed loves btw. let’s just circle back there sometime they love each other. eat dirt maybe #I adore Ed and I love how nuanced and messy his breakdown was #how his actions aren’t motivated by being Evil but at the same time his actions are his own #and they’re undeniably fucked up to the nth degree and he has to own them #because it’s kinda relatable tbh!! I’ve never been that horrid but I’m a person and I’ve fucked up before #and even if I was struggling deeply at the time because of other’s behaviours towards me it was me who did those things #and I had to own them. and grow from it #and my queerness and brownness and trauma didn’t make me exempt from growing and being responsible #which also meant I’m not exempt from personhood and growing and bettering myself and loving myself and all the good that comes with humanity #Ed did fucked up horrible things to the crew and Izzy. and if you can’t acknowledge them for what they are and how awful they are #then you can’t really acknowledge Ed as a character and person beyond the limited ideal you made of him in your head. what he did was wrong #and that’s not alright. but it’s okay. because we know he’s gonna have to grow. that’s the bit people who really care are looking forward to #I’m tagging this #the izcourse #because I kinda feel like it’s overlapping with really shitty Ed takes and meta

[you-can-be-what-you-want-to-be]

I think the reason trans girl mob goes off so hard is because… the show is inherently about a kid who’s an outcast learning to be his best most happy self. Like people always say be yourself yeah but that usually doesn’t actually mean anything.

Mob psychos thesis statement is you are NOT special, and that is beautiful because it means you can be anything. Just because you’re a good artist and a shit singer doesn’t mean you should do art instead of singing, you should do what makes you happy and strive to be as good at it as you can, because mediocre is an achievement when you aren’t special, it’s about self improvement, not being the best.

And then you get a kid, who’s constantly terrified of his own emotions and how they effect others and is seen as naive, who doesn’t fit the stereotypical masculine world well (weak as hell, cares a lot about emotions, pacifist) and doesn’t fit the stereotypical feminine world well either (reserved usually, in the body improvement club, horrible fashion, not able to read a room) and you say part of being the best, happiest possible version of yourself is realizing your gender, and it’s not a sad thing, and it’s not about anyone else, it’s about being the best you possible.

I don’t think mob in show is trans or would be any better or worse at being a girl than he is at being a boy, because it isn’t about that. It’s about the idea that when people do the things that are important to them without regard for what other people might think and only focus on being who they want to be (not who they think they should be, not on who they are, who they WANT to be, who would be both a good person and make them happy) that that is the best, happiest, most successful version of them. And I think that’s beautiful.

#trans girl mob #trans mob #Trans Sheigo Kageyama #mob psycho 100 #meta thoughts #trans #just thinking about if everyone’s not special then maybe you can be who you want to be again #and you’re the protagonist of your own life #might be because I saw the episode with the depressed room and the cultural fair again #and how they thought the one guys problem was being unable to grasp his own life #mob and serizawa both having breakdowns about possibly wasting their lives and mob deciding he doesn’t want his age #to be the only thing that changes #and how mob worked really really hard on the costumes and the result was no one said anything good but no one complained #and how he got 70 in the marathon which isn’t a lot but is over TWO HUNDRED places further than before #and body improvement club in general #the beauty in you don’t have to be special and aren’t and that’s fine because everything is still beautiful and impressive in its own way #like yeah I might be living in one room and sharing living space with people I don’t know #instead of my own apartment or house #but I’m still fucking doing it and I’m happy and it’s cheaper than my last place #it’s important to hold onto and chase what matters to you #without clinging to things just because you always have and it feels safe or like you want it bc it used to be important #and to not want soemthing so bad that what you have now doesn’t matter #but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still reach for something better #anyway I’m rambling if you haven’t watched mob psycho go do it it genuinely changed my life for the better

[lumiereandcogsworth]

oooooooo wait that bit about the curse skewing time and how it was only 5 days 👀 I’d love to hear about that

OKAY. LET’S DO THIS.

so, my theory is that the curse does in fact skew time. in the movie, gaston says “maurice! i’ve spent the last five days trying to find you!” and this is the same night that the curse will be broken. implying that it’s been Only Five Days since gaston left maurice to the wolves in the forest. this, in turns, implies that it’s only been five days since adam and belle met. and while i am happy to play the Disney Soulmates card, and maybe it was five days, i have some ideas as to why it maybe felt longer than that.

firstly, and for some inexplicable reason this needs to be readdressed every now and then, let’s discuss how long the curse has been happening. in batb 1991, lumiere says it’s been ten years in his song be our guest. this, along with the ‘91 narration saying the last petal would fall on adam’s 21st birthday, has unfortunately led to far too many people thinking that adam was cursed as an 11 year old child. this just isn’t true! not only is it positively insane to think that an enchantress would punish a child that way, you really need not look further than our beloved boy chip.

regardless of how old you think he is, i would bet that majority of us agree he’s younger than 10. i’ve always pegged him around 9-10, and in batb 2017, chip’s actor nathan mack was in fact that age at the time! regardless, he’s very most likely younger than 10. now, if you truly think the curse is Ten Real Years Long, i want you to look me in the eye and try to convince me that a teapot gave birth to a teacup. CLEARLY, chip was not born a teacup. chip longs to be a real boy again. i don’t recall if he says anything specifically in batb 1991, but in batb 2017 he asks his mother if he’ll ever be a boy again! he knows what it is to be a real boy! implying he was cursed, and is trapped, as a child; completely destroying the idea that the curse is legitimately ten years long. much more plausibly, lumiere was singing hyperbolically, because he’s a dramatic bitch (and we like him so much.)

now, i’m not going to make this a competitive thing, but batb 2017 DOES do a lot to fix this problem up. number one, the beginning narration gives no indication to adam’s age, or when the rose petals will finish falling. number two, the prologue actually shows chip sneaking into adam’s ball amidst the chaos, highlighting both that he WAS the same boy that you see at the end, and that he was in the room when the enchantress put her curse on everyone. and number three, lumiere’s line in be our guest changes from “ten years” to “too long” - further confirming my theory that he’s just lamenting the agony of their experience. he may not truly know the length of time it’s been, just that it has been too long for anyone’s comfort.

so now that we’ve gathered that time is already a bit funky, let’s look at this curse. the enchantress is one powerful lady. i personally think she’s some kind of trickster goddess of justice or something, who just goes around the world teaching assholes lessons. regardless of who or what agathe is, she is incredibly powerful. the beginning narration states:

“The prince begged for forgiveness, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. As punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there.”

she placed a powerful spell on the CASTLE ! as well as adam and the servants! i think that’s so significant. and it’s very clear that she DID curse the castle! it’s trapped in a perpetual winter, despite the fact that it’s june for the rest of the country. not only that, but you can see the way the curse affects the castle. every time a petal falls, the castle rumbles and parts of the structure crumble and break. the place is slowly deteriorating, the curse is eating it alive. given what we know about their perception of time, and that the castle was individually cursed, it doesn’t seem too much of a stretch to think that the castle is not only frozen in terms of weather, but frozen in time as well.

looking at this next part of the narration:

“As days bled into years, the prince and his servants were forgotten by the world, for the enchantress had erased all memory of them from the minds of the people they loved… …As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?”

she’s so powerful she genuinely affected the entire world. or at least, all of europe. like, nobody is asking or wondering about the french prince?? no one is stopping by?? no one is sending letters?? nope! their minds have literally been erased. not a soul in france is wondering what their monarchy is up to. adam has been entirely forgotten. i also think it’s important to note the usage of the word “years” which she says twice. sure, you could argue that it is real years! because it says so! but honestly i think she’s speaking from the perspective of the cursed individuals, particularly adam. in both instances, adam’s experience is stated immediately after she says “years” — first, being forgotten, second, falling into despair. i would argue, then, that to adam (and the servants) it had simply FELT like years. not real years that the rest of the world would experience, but a terrible weight on their shoulders, a hopeless longing for rescue from this awful state, dragging on seemingly endlessly, too long, feeling like years.

my conclusion: i believe that the castle time and real time are not the same. based on everything i’ve laid out, it seems as though the castle is very especially cursed, and while it has felt like years (i honestly don’t think it’s felt like more than three or four. i feel like if you go any further you have to start accounting for mental age, particularly chip. but i may be getting too deep about it.) in reality, it may have only been a matter of months. what if that awful storm that led the enchantress to come “seek shelter” happened in january or february, and now it’s june. perhaps it’s been around six months in real time. but to the castle’s inhabitants? it’s felt like years. so then, if we can use this theory for a moment, perhaps belle’s “five days” at the castle felt a lot more like a handful of weeks, maybe even a month or two.

i also think this because the sort of rapport that adam and belle have just seems like they’ve known each other longer than five days. and don’t get me wrong, sometimes people have those instant connections. like i said, im happy to play the Disney Soulmates card. but humor me for a minute! they have their little inside jokes about romance novels and belle teases him in such a way that just exudes the comfortability between friends, not new acquaintances. not only this, but when they’re in paris, adam simply asks “what happened to your mother?” when belle explains where they are. this, to me, implies that he already knew her mother died when she was a baby. and, personally, i don’t think that’s something i’d mention to someone i’d only known less than a week. but it seems like she’s already had That conversation with him, and further, it seems he’s comfortable about the topic, and feels close enough with her to ask about it further! to me, the way their relationship is depicted, it seems as though they’ve really developed a friendship over more than a bit of time, and have definitely very naturally fallen in love within said friendship.

anything is possible, and this is all my own little speculations and ideas. whether it really was five days or perhaps more, it’s quite clear that their love is something quite spectacular.

#i’ve genuinely thought this for years but never quite written it all down #that was invigorating #i haven’t written an academic essay in a year and a half but that brought me right back HAHA #look at me even quoting the source material #anyway this isn’t meant to throw stones or anything. purely just a theory i’ve thought about!! #it’s moments like these though when i’m like oh yeah. autistic special interest. i see it #lmao. well! thank you for the ask alex. means the world 🥹🫶 #alex tag #answered #batb 2017 #beauty and the beast (2017) #beauty and the beast 2017 #beauty and the beast #batb meta

[dragon-queensguard]

Nettles, the Last of the Old Dragonriders, and Daenerys, the First of the New

Thought I’d create a post comparing Nettles and Daenerys, two of the best girls with significant roles in regards to the history of dragonriding, since I noticed a lot of similarities between the two, one marking the end of an era, one signaling the beginning of a new.

Both Dany and Nettles have rather humble beginnings. Nettles is a bastard, “growing up homeless, motherless, and penniless on the streets of Spicetown and Hull.” Daenerys is born a princess, and is able to spend the first years of her life in relative comfort under the care of Willem Darry, but things only went downhill following his death:

“They had wandered since then, from Braavos to Myr, from Myr to Tyrosh, and on to Qohor and Volantis and Lys, never staying long in any one place. Her brother would not allow it. The Usurper’s knives were close behind them, he insisted, though Dany had never seen one.

At first the magisters and archons and merchant princes were pleased to welcome the last Targaryen to their homes and tables, but as the years passed and the Usurper continued to sit upon the Iron Throne, doors closed and their lives grew meaner. Years past they had been forced to sell their last few treasures, and now even the coin they had gotten from Mother’s crown had gone. In the alleys and wine sinks of Pentos they called her brother “beggar king.” Dany did not want to know what they called her.”

Not much is expected from Nettles and Dany as they grow up. Nettles is considered an “unlikely” dragonrider, and the people around Dany expect her to serve as a pawn to marry off. Robert Baratheon fears her, but it’s less a fear of her herself, and more a fear of whatever sons she might bear, her potential to continue the Targaryen line.

But Nettles and Dany both defy expectations. Nettles is able to tame Sheepstealer, a notably ill-tempered dragon, who kills many of those who try to claim him before Nettles. Dany survives all the trials of her childhood, and the ones that follow in the first book, and brings dragons back into the world. Throughout all the challenges that continue to be hurled her way, she persists and she survives.

Then you have to consider the feat of taming and training dragons. The Targaryen royal family had centuries of experience in claiming and riding dragons, and an abundance of resources in doing so. There were people around them to teach them and guide them. Dany and Nettles have none of this. Nettles presumably only knows what she hears by word of mouth, but she still comes up with a plan to feed Sheepstealer and get him accustomed to her presence. Dany lives in an age where dragons have been dead for over a century, hearing a few things from her brother about them, but little in regards to their care and training:

“And they must be trained as well, or they will lay my kingdom to waste. For all her Targaryen blood, Dany had not the least idea of how to train a dragon.”

She quickly develops the “dracarys” command, though, giving her control over one of the most dangerous and volatile aspects of her dragon children. When she throws herself into the pit before Drogon, she’s operating on instinct, putting her life at risk in order to subdue him. When she flies upon his back, she does so bareback, using the whip at first, and then just her hands and feet later. Nettles and Dany conquered the feat of riding dragons all on their own.

Admittedly, we don’t know very much about the personality of Nettles, but she does share traits with Dany. Both are caring and empathetic, with Dany putting others before herself countless times throughout the books, and feeling sorrow at people’s suffering. Nettles is crying after the Battle of the Gullet, where thousands were killed, including Prince Jacaerys. But in addition to their sensitive sides, both Dany and Nettles are fierce as well, with Nettles flying Sheepstealer into battle and Dany conquering cities (in addition to countless other examples of her bravery). Both end up leading people who are known to value strength and proving your worth, Daenerys with the Dothraki and Nettles with the mountain clan.

Then you have the enemies of Nettles and Dany who try to cheapen and vilify their accomplishments by declaring them the work of sorcery and seduction:

“‘She is a common thing, with the stink of sorcery upon her,’ the queen declared. ‘My prince would ne’er lay with so low a creature. You need only look at her to know that she has no drop of dragon’s blood in her. It was with spells that she bound a dragon to her, and she has done the same with my lord husband.’”

Vs.

“‘Sweet?’ Qavo laughed. ‘If even half the stories coming back from Slaver’s Bay are true, this child is a monster. They say that she is bloodthirsty, that those who speak against her are impaled on spikes to die lingering deaths. They say she is a sorceress who feeds her dragons on the flesh of newborn babes, an oathbreaker who mocks the gods, breaks truces, threatens envoys, and turns on those who have served her loyally. They say her lust cannot be sated, that she mates with men, women, eunuchs, even dogs and children, and woe betide the lover who fails to satisfy her. She gives her body to men to take their souls in thrall.’”

(I have my doubts over whether or not Rhaenyra actually said this about Nettles, but if not her, certainly somebody was saying this kind of garbage about a bastard girl who dared to ride a dragon.)

Nettles’s story ends with her on the run from a monarch, and that’s how Dany’s story begins. Nettles flies away into the relative unknown, and her disappearance with Sheepstealer coincides with a weakening of Targaryen power, the extinction of dragons, the loss of magic in the world. This all sets the stage for Dany’s story, who, unlike Nettles, is in a better position to turn back and face those who want her dead. Far from exiting the scene, she’s stepping into the spotlight as she rises to power, bringing back all the things that disappeared alongside Nettles.

Anyways, just some similarities between two amazing female characters, both representing very different points in the story of dragons and magic in ASOIAF.

#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #daenerys targaryen #Nettles #asoiaf meta #my meta #writing isn’t my strong suit so just bear with me #but yeah i love my fierce dragon girls #and i feel like im missing stuff between these two but im tired of writing

[whitmore]

ok so the implication is that qniki and qrivers are criminals right. they’re getting real obvious with this the island is a prison metaphor huh

#eleanor.txt #the isolation of it . the federation #the inner politics and workings. it all very much plays out prison experimenty #the other arrivals have seemingly been accidents! plane crash. train crash #the implication from their welcome posters is that they’re here on purpose #which is SO interesting #someone has put these people here!! it makes u start to think they’re all there on purpose!! #(which . sure yeah in a meta sense we’re aware of. they were all invited to the server #but in the canon of it all. isn’t it so interesting that niki and rivers have been placed there #either as undercover correspondents (definitely a possibility that their cover is being sent to the island) #or that the island is genuinely a punishment for them. isn’t that so interesting) #this begins my qsmp metaposting. this is a slippery slope of smp meta posting i fear #nihachu

[anxiouspotatorants]

Alrighty, time to get into my theory about how each of Rory’s three main love interests represent different versions of the bad boy trope! So, I’ve seen some discourse about how certain characters are not actually bad boys and how others are and how that relates to Rory, and it made me go into this big reflection over what defines the bad boy archetype and how it’s changed from iteration to iteration. Long story short: it made me realize that all three of the boys (yes all of them) are one version each. So here’s a massive rant where I explain how that works, with Dean as the «good boy gone bad», Jess as the «bad boy made human» and Logan as the «rich bad boy».

Note: I am writing this as someone who ships literati, so know that my analysis will be biased. That being said, I want to focus on how the boys inform the bad boy archetype (and the other way around) and not on the value of their relationships to Rory. So think of this as a defense/deconstruction of certain characters rather than another round of «who should Rory have ended up with?».

Out of all the boys, Dean is the one who is rarely defined as a bad boy, and with good reason. Seasons 2 and 3 played him up as the «good» against Jess’ «bad», he is routinely described as the perfect first boyfriend (and by Lorelai no less), and he’s the one with the most traditional small town outlook on things (liking the concept of a housewife, being a chaste boyfriend in the first round, getting along with the parents etc). But that doesn’t change the fact that a lot of people despised him by the end of the show, since he cheated on his wife with Rory and made her the other woman. And I think this very action is what solidifies him within the good boy gone bad-trope. I haven’t found a lot of writing on this sub-trope (although one could argue it falls under the face-heel turn trope), and it has very vague limits, but I believe that it exists anyway. A good boy gone bad is a male character that started out in a piece of fiction as all around «good». He respects rules, gets along with parents, might even be a bit of a «nice guy» with/without the entitlement. But something in the story (sometimes a build up) will trigger the good boy’s transformation into a bad one. Sometimes it’s getting sick of being an outsider/underdog, sometimes it’s triggered by romantic conflict. I would argue that this transformation begins for Dean when Jess and Rory get together. While Dean has been a jealous and arguably possesive boyfriend before he breaks up with Rory, he still hasn’t done anything that properly makes him a “bad boy”. But once Rory and Jess are a couple everything changes: he threatens Jess in private, insinuates that he can manipulate the situation to his favour and that he can «steal her back», physically fights Jess at one point and arguably marries Lindsay in part to rouse jealousy in Rory. This transformation is fulfilled once he has sex with Rory for the first time while still being married. He might continue keeping the good boy image, and his infidelity is definitely turned into something that harms Rory’s image more than his, but his actions still qualify for the subtrope. (I also want to note that Dean is introduced in season 1 with a leather jacket and love of motorcycles so… do what you will with that information)

In spite of how often Jess is defined as the bad boy of the show — and by other characters in the show at that — a lot of viewers don’t actually think of him as one. And that’s understandable. I think a lot of people in my generation and onwards have grown up with very simplistic iterations of bad boys that follow the formula to a T. They’re aggressive, violent, wildly sexual and usually downright toxic (see: After-series, Jacob post-transformation in Twilight, 90% of erotica novels). And the women in these stories usually exist to «give in to animalistic urges» and heal the bad boys with their love. Taking even the quickest glance at Rory and Jess shows you how this is not the case. He’s more basket case than sex god, is repeatedly denied second chances at love with Rory, and has to heal and improve without her, out of frame. But I don’t necessarily think this makes him less of a «bad boy». While I despise the overuse of the term «realism» in popular media analysis, Jess is arguably a «realistic bad boy». He embodies most classic bad boy tropes (if not all of them), but each trope is then humanized within him. Jess gets into fights, but the two moments we know about in detail are with a bully and with Dean (and both fights are initiated by the others, not Jess). He’s the first boyfriend that Rory acknowledges/explores her sexuality with, but they never technically consumate (and good for Rory, the Keg! Max! scene is a massive yikes). He’s a high school drop-out, but because he worked too many shifts at Walmart. He reads classic literature (yes, a lot of bad boys in media do this) but is a total nerd about it (see: Bukowski v Austen). He has mommy- and daddy-issues, but they are fleshed out and given the space to exist on their own rather than as in relation to Rory and making her love him more. And while he heals through love, it is not through the active romantic love of Rory, but the familial love of Luke and his eventual love for himself. A crucial factor for Jess is that he gets to exist outside of the romance. His most important relationship in the show is perhaps not with Rory but with his uncle Luke. It is this relationship that introduces him to Stars Hollow and it’s this relationship that officially heals him. The last time we see Jess in the original run, when Rory admits to trying to hook up with him as revenge against Logan, Jess claims that he deserves better. And he does. He’s a human, and more than that, he has spent years working to become the person he has become and to get a chance at a loving and respectful relationship. Jess still loves Rory enough when he lets her go to not hold a grudge, but he also now loves himself enough to know he deserves better than to be the other guy twice. He is the bad boy made human.

But whenever people argue that Jess isn’t a bad boy, they usually claim that another boy in the show is. And while I still think Jess is a bad boy, I don’t think that means that Logan isn’t one. Logan simply fits into a very specific subtrope: the rich bad boy. I can’t trace the origins of the rich bad boy, but my (and probably many’s) first introduction to the trope was Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl. Where the classic bad boy has a problem of reputation and in some cases specifically struggles economically, the rich bad boy is partly bad because of his wealth. The daddy issues come from a tyrannical capitalist father who expects his son to be a carbon copy. Instead of a motorcycle he drives limousines and expensive cars. His sexuality is informed by lavish parties, a casanova-lifestyle and general hedonism. While the classic bad boy drags the woman «down» into his world, the rich bad boy drags her «up» into his world of wealth and «civilized» violence. The woman exists to bring the rich bad boy «down to earth». To teach him values of fidelity and kindness, and to show him he is more than his money/work. And as a reward the woman gets to live out the materialistic fantasy: expensive gifts, exclusive balls, luxurious trips around the globe, you name it. If the classic bad boy is about the inherent eroticism of anger/violence, the rich bad boy is about the inherent eroticism of wealth. And Logan fits this archetype to a T. His initial relationship with Rory is «no strings attached», he apologizes with expensive gift giving, and he introduces her to exclusive hedonistic circles like the Life and Death Brigade. He cheats, he recklessly gets into dangerous situations to simply feel something, he has a dysfunctional relationship with his father, and he loves Rory partly because she simultaneously does and doesn’t «belong» in his world. I also think that either end for him (breaking out of his father’s shadow or falling back in it) is realistic for the rich bad boy. Which end he gets simply depends on whether the author desires an endgame relationship for the rich bad boy or not.

So that’s it. Mind you, me categorizing Rory’s boyfriends as different kinds of bad boys doesn’t necessarily mean I would tie them exclusively to that trope. The Gilmore Girls writers did an incredibly good job at writing fleshed out characters that grew outside of their stereotypes and created their own molds. And one could argue that if you make the definition of a bad boy broad enough, most flawed boyfriends will fit into the trope in some way. That being said, I’m currently standing by my analysis. Not only do I think it’s fun to view the guys through such a lens, I think it helps flesh out Rory too. She isn’t necessarily drawn to ‘bad’ men, but her track record does show that she deals with a lot of inner conflict about her love life, and that this is externalized with incredibly flawed (and sometimes ill-timed) relationships to men who have a lot to figure out themselves. Honestly I’ll probably pull a full analysis on her love life one day too, just not yet.

At the end of the day I think who people root for depends on what kind of bad they’re either drawn to or willing to excuse. If you like the idea of someone going mad/bad with love, you might prefer Dean. If you like a character who is undeniably human (as in has good sides but can be so so so flawed), odds are you’re a Jess-person. And if there’s just something about grand gestures and finding a «real» person in a sea of «fake», you’re probably a fan of Logan. It really is a case of personal preference.

#I’ve had this in my drafts for over a year and finally it’s time #I wanted to add a ‘Poor Little Rich Boy’ by Regina Spektor reference for Logan so bad #but yeah just because I ship literati doesn’t mean I don’t think the other ships are valid #I’m genuinely starting to think that the point of Rory’s loves is less about a competition for who is best #and more about an inkblot test that allows the audience to analyse and ship as they see fit #gilmore girls #gilmore girls spoilers #jess mariano #logan huntzberger #dean forester #not tagging as anti because this post isn’t about picking sides #literati #gilmore girls meta #gilmore girls discourse #the potato rants

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

I know you support debbie in the whole season six situation (where Fiona was gonna kick her out) but I support Fiona on that one. I'm not a huge Fiona fan but that was the one time I did support her. I was a huge Debbie fan until that season. She was going baby trap Derek whom she lied to about being on the pill and get mad when he didn't want to raise the baby that he didn't give consent to having. It honestly pisses me off when people defend Debbie.

okay, i’ve said this before and i’ll say it again: i don’t defend everything she’s done.

i didn’t really like debbie in season 6, but in comparison to fiona, i did. or at least i thought she was reasonable for wanting to keep her baby.

was she reasonable for begging fiona to keep her baby? nope.

was she reasonable for baby-trapping derek? fuck no.

but was fiona resonable for practically forcing debbie to get an abortion and after debbie gave birth, acting as if debbie is barely family? no.

stay mad, idc. but i’ll defend her with my life because she was FOURTEEN up until a few weeks before franny’s birth. she was a kid, her decisions were stupid, her intentions were stupid, her logic was stupid, but she wasn’t as evil as people think she was.

and baby-trapping derek was fucked up, but derek also sucked imo. he got his family to gang up on debbie (who was 3 or 4 years younger than her btw, not like that matters but it’s weird how they were all fighting with a young teenager), left, and then tried to come back and act like everything was fine. i get her intentions, i do, and yeah, they were wrong- but again, what fourteen year old makes perfect, logical, adult decisions? debbie may have been acting like an adult, but she wasn’t.

and it’s not like i don’t get fiona’s side, i do agree with some aspects. i get that she didn’t want another kid to raise, but by season 7, debbie did it all (except for a few instances like when she lost franny) and learned from her mistakes and raised franny. was she amazing? not really, but fiona didn’t do shit, as she said she wouldn’t and y’all pretend that she actually raised franny.

and to y’all who think that debbie was bad for not wanting fiona in the ambulance or not wanting to go to the wedding, i think it’s valid. she was being a bitch, but valid. in her mind, fiona despised her and wanted the one thing she loved dead, and was she right? not exactly, but from her perspective i get it and if i was her age and in her position i feel like i’d act the same way.

and i don’t support fiona kicking her out. sorry, anon! kicking the child you got guardianship over is always fucked up. that’s basically her kid who she kicked out. she was still a child. that’s child neglect. hate debbie and her decisions all you want but she didn’t deserve to be kicked out/homeless, sorry not sorry.

#shameless #debbie gallagher #franny gallagher #fiona gallagher #stay mad ig? #season 6 #i don’t defend EVERYTHING season 5/6 debbie did but i will always defend her when it comes to being kicked out #child neglect isn’t quirky and girlboss guys!! it’s awful! #idc what debbie did fiona SHOULD NOT have kicked her out #no child should be kicked out- no child deserves to not have a house #she was a kid ffs #yeah she acted like an adult but she wasn’t #shameless us #shameless meta #debbie gallagher defense #whatever if you hate debbie defense block me cus that’s my whole thing