#( both know the best and the worst of humanity and their own self. they're the best to exchange ideas about humanity and life )

[hsslilly-blog]

source

[naitfall]

Monster. A monster he was called his entire life. His soldiers, those he’d sacrifice his life for, would openly question his humanity. Some would doubt the existence of his human heart, malicious and bitter at the loss of the comrades they couldn’t save, searching for a culprit that’d passively take the blame. Others were delusional, claiming he wasn't mortal, wouldn’t die in battle, his life not endangered like theirs, for desperately wanting to believe in his strength, in his ability to survive when all hope was lost, so he could carry their dying wishes to the end. A monster he had been, to those in the underground as well. This boy is a monster. Stay away from him. This man isn’t human. Whether he used his blade to slice one’s throat, or a titan’s neck, whether he fought in the name of humanity, or to protect his family, to kill and protect, were one and the same — his talent, a curse, his extraordinary ability to KILL. To always be looked at with eyes that spoke of both awe and terror.

Levi didn't often speak, he listened, listened to the loud conversations of those he was interested in, whether they spoke of a bunch of bullshit or deep matters beyond his comprehension. Ever since returning from Shinganshina, ever since the sacrifice of their commander and the majority of the survey corps, nothing had remained the same, the once comforting short breaks of silence, having turned to long never-ending disturbing periods of time. Even Hange, the loudest of them all, had grown quiet. Levi disliked pointless talk and never actively sought to start a conversation. Yet, Oda’s presence offered the peace of mind to listen to himself clearly, and say what’s been on his mind— a rare occasion of vulnerability (vulnerability in Levi’s understanding). He didn’t value most opinions. Anyone had one of their own, and all of them held part of the truth with it. But he wanted to hear Oda’s thoughts.

In his eyes, or the eyes of others? ❝ Beats me. No perception is anywhere close to reality. ❞ There was another question he should have asked instead: What to call a man who was ready to sacrifice their humanity for the cause that’d give their life meaning and purpose?

A monster they called Erwin, yet Levi had never seen him as one. No monster, nor human. A deceiving creature, his nature wrapped in mystery. He had followed him, because he couldn’t understand him, couldn’t slice through flesh, see what rested inside of him. How had he, even if unwillingly, looked down on him, humiliated him, when Levi screamed and cried for the loss of everything that had ever mattered to him. Where those eyes of his stare at? How could he keep on fighting when everything was lost? Unbeknownst to Levi when he decided to join him, how utterly human he had been, chasing his own childish dream. ‘When he finds nothing really worth protecting anymore, succumbing to the ugliness of it all.’ Maybe, what made a man a monster, was to live devoid of any hope and dreams. Maybe, Kenny was right all along. They all needed to be drunk on something, to call themselves human. Maybe Erwin would have truly become a monster if he had let him live, and reached that dream of his.

He wouldn’t regret his choice. Not ever.

Satisfied with the answer, he took a sip of his tea, finally meeting with Oda’s eyes, less troubled than he was a moment ago. ❝ I don’t think you do. I sure as hell don’t. ❞ Because Oda wouldn't be intimidated by the darkness of the human soul, familiar to it as much as he was, and yearning to explore its depths.

@naitfall asked:

❛ When does a man become a monster? ❜ ( . . . for Oda? 👉👈 I had to )

"In his eyes, or the eyes of others?" He questions, looking down his glass as if it was a barrel of a gun - no fear, but a whole sea of regrets. He has a sense where the question is coming from, but hesitates to make sure. Not that he's that scared of Levi or worried for him. It was more of a self-centred concern. Once the topic is breached, they'll never be able to pretend it wasn't. Oda least of the both of them; once he got the wheels turning there was no stopping until he reached the conclusion that felt right, a way to proceed. Tempting as it was to put that off for a day or two more, sit in the stillness of it all for a while, it was already too late.

The question was asked, and demanded an answer.

„Maybe when he no longer grieves having to make a distinction between those who he will protect with his life, and those who he won't. The distinction between those who he'll fight to protect, and those who'll die for it. Or, you know what, maybe later still? When he finds nothing really worth protecting anymore, succumbing to the ugliness of it all. Unable to see and feel anything but the darkness of his own doing.” He took a big gulp of tea to prevent his throat closing down on him. And though his expression became wholly pain-stricken, he still forced a little smile by the end. „What makes you think I would know?”

.

[nintendont2502]

thinking about hal and davesprite. davesprite and hal. both splinters of striders. both discarded by the narrative and their friends and themselves. both technically making the decision to give up their humanity, but like. did they really have a choice?

davesprite had to become a sprite. sure, he chose to jump into the sprite, but what else could he have done? he had to travel back to alpha (killing the last friend he had left to try and save all of them) and he had to prototype himself. he probably knew that. and he did it anyway to try and save them all, and what did he get for it? his friends don't care about him - not like they used to, anyway. hes just the weird, spare bird dave that no one really knows how to handle. his own alt self, the one that took his place and his friends, doesn't seem to care - hell, he doesn't even acknowledge davesprite's existence after the scratch and the meteor trip and winning the game.

hal technically chose to create himself. he'd have the memories of it anyway, but how could he have known that he'd be the one stuck in the glasses? imagine just pressing a button and waking up, stuck in code and wires and circuits. you still have all your memories and emotions and experiences but you aren't 'you' anymore. your friends see you as a different person at best, and an annoyance getting in the way of talking to the 'real' you at worst.

davesprite goes from being his own person to just playing a role. davesprite. daves sprite. he isn't a person now, not to the game. he only exists to help dave now. and sure, he rejects it and does his own thing, but having your *name* taken and replaced with a descriptor of the role you're meant to serve? that's gotta hurt

hal has no choice but to accept the role forced on him. auto responder. it's literally programmed into him - he has to respond to dirk's messages when he's too busy. he has to pretend to be his old self only when it's convenient. hell, even his 'ironic' new name still forces him into a box. hal. the 'antagonist' of space odyssey. possibly one of the most famous ai in media. an dangerous ai who threatens and hurts those he's meant to help.

and when they both finally get some semblance of importance, it isn't even as themselves anymore! they've been fused with nepetasprite and equiussprite and while they're still there and still happy, they aren't *them* anymore

they drive me so insane

[magpie-come-east]

Morgott for the character ask meme!

favorite thing about them

What drew me to him in the first place is how much I related to his character. When I was a religious teen I hated myself so much. I hated my appearance. I hated being a woman. I was in a constant loop of thinking of myself as this terrible waste of space that couldn't get anything right. Just damned to fuck up my entire life and then die and go to hell. Morgott isn't quite so pathetic as I was at 16-17 lol, but I saw a lot of my struggles in him. He believes he is born cursed, that no matter what he does he will be rejected by the Erdtree- an aspect of his religion and God- when he dies. He is misguided at best and vile at worst, but I completely understand why he is the way his is.

Also,

He's gorgeous

least favorite thing about them

The giant scabby looking red bump on his head is kinda gross : (

He doesn't return Mohg's calls enough : (

I wish he had more voice lines : (

I mean, maybe this is a cop-out, but there's pretty much nothing I dislike about Morgott. I love his lore, his fights, his stunning good looks (sans red bump). He's a remarkably fascinating character that has tragic and heroic aspects to him while also being a flawed and a worthy antagonist.

favorite line

"Have it writ upon thy meager grave: Felled by King Morgott, Last of all Kings." (A stone-cold reveal? Sexy voice acting? He hates the player so much it makes him look stupid hot?)

Shout out to "Whose hand graspeth thy leash, I wonder?" It's a cut line but it's Ummph

brOTP

Morgott and Mohg. The literal brothers of all time.

The importance and closeness of twin relationships is prevalent throughout the game. You cannot tell me Morgott and Mohg weren't once so, so close. They are amazing foils, too! Both of them exemplifying the extremes they were driven to by their upbringing. Neither have experienced good and healthy love, thus they search for it in unfortunate places. Both of them grew believing they were monsters, and both behave differently in consequence- with Morgott clinging to servitude and humility and suppression and with Mohg embracing everything being a monster entails. I love it.

I think they still care for one another a lot. Their ideologies just strain their bond.

OTP

Morgott x Tarnished or Morgott x Oleg

Please read Oleg's ash description if you haven't. That man was murdering for Morgott for the love of the game.

nOTP

Morgott x Mohg (romantic)

They're just better as brothers.

random headcanon

I have... many headcanons.

Morgott hates Rykard because he envies Carian siblings for being welcomed into Marika's lineage while he was rejected as her 'firstborn' (shhhh Messmer shhhh). Rykard also figured out he was Omen before the war and offered Morgott amnesty and allyship. Morgott was so offended he resented Rykard forever for it.

Morgott hired Oleg to help him secure his throne in the early days of his power. After all, he was an unheard-of Demigod that showed up out of nowhere to make himself King. He probably faced a lot of pushback. Oleg was there to kill the dissenters! (And kiss Morgott)

Morgott used the mimic veil to appear human to Leyndell. His cover story for his sudden appearance was that he was exiled with Godfrey to the Badlands as a young child. When Godwyn died Queen Marika called him back to the Lands Between, having earned his Grace. Thus, he took the moniker Grace-Given. (Ironically, this would make King Morgott semi-Tarnished in his own story).

Morgott was friends with Godrick before he took to grafting. Godrick was weak in body despite being a member of the Golden Lineage, and Morgott felt some kinship with Godrick's struggles with self-image and his lackluster presence as a scion of Marika.

unpopular opinion

I find it a little disappointing that in most fics where he is a central, vital character he ends up as the mere consort to the Tarnished Elden Lord. I know SOTE told us irrevocably that Godhood is not good at all for mortal vessels. But I kinda wish Morgott was allowed to be Elden Lord or a God more often. I find it cathartic when a person so spurned by the church and God of their faith is made into something holy and powerful.

Also, I think Morgott was the eldest child of the Golden Lineage, and that Godwyn never really knew him.

Morgott is definitely not a virgin.

song I associate with them

Take me to War by The Crane Wives! Dreams Wash Away by Joe Wong!

Forsaken by Savant!

Monster and Arms Unfolding by Dodie!

Torture by Les Friction!

Cirice by Ghost!

Favorite Picture

My commissioned piece for my fic Gilded Apotheosis. The art is by bora-in-tamriel

@barrowlands567

@bad-as-me (since you asked this too!)

[shkika]

do you think slugcats actually wawa? It is a fairly popular fanon sure but I have been wondering for the last few days. We know slugcats must have some decent hearing - some of the map markers are explicitly the slugcat using its hearing to differentiate between other living creatures in other rooms and so on (although the actual passages they apparently just commit to the memory). Probably not as good as black lizard hearing but pretty good. However this part of gameplay as proof of canon worldbuilding might be taken with a grain of salt

that may suggest that audial communication between slugcats may actually be pretty hard to hear for humans - similar to how we cannot hear most of audible signals of various rodents. The problem is, well, it is a gameplay concession for the most part and tbh the way gameplay is integrated with worldbuiding - the devs made an attempt but the realization is imho wonky at best and misleading at worst.

back to wawas, we can try to draw a comparison between domestic cats and slugcats wherein meow is something mostly relegated to 'babytalk' and a specific type of call which some cats, especially those who grew up with humans, adopt for cat to human communication (with cats who grew up without much human interaction sometimes never taking up a habit of meowing even if they end up living with humans later on and actively engaging with them positively). In this case a wawa is a specific signal that is either used for example in danger (owing to how we hear a wawa like sound in one of the danger alert osts) or during communication with the young.

this assumes we take danger osts as actually symbolically reflective of something.

Howerver! While just like the map it seems to be largely a gameplay concession, most of slugcat out of cutscene (aka the gourmand ending slides) communication is reliant on body language. Pointing, jumping, things like that. Even with the pups we mostly interact via those things. Which... either suggests a dimension of pup interaction we do not see because of the gameplay limitations or we should take it as wawa not being a slugcat 'babytalk'.

Which leaves wawas with a very dubious space as a potential 'can be fit into canon' or not.

Oh I'm SO sorry, but I don't think slugcats wawa at all,,

I just think Rivulet ONLY can scream.

Slightly longer ramble under cut!

I think lore and gameplay are mostly done pretty well! For example the cycle mechanic is something you can only really theorize on if you look at both gameplay and lore. You get to experience the pain of cycles all on your own!

As for wawas.. as you have mentioned, they mostly use body language and art. Picture from Gourmand campaign ↓

Spearmaster draws too, and uses sign language to communicate with Suns. And I hear you. "Spearmaster is domesticated, they don't count" and you're right!

BUT

The fact they can learn such complicated sign language would imply they have the capacity for it in their brain to learn and memorize a language so complicated in the first place. Unless that was modified as well.

But it is more intuitive for slugcats to understand gestures than speech, which is why they need the mark of communication as they otherwise just hear incomprehensible garble. Their brains weren't made for many complicated noises. Yet when they DO have the mark they are capable of understanding extremely complicated sentences and such.

The wawas in threat themes are just the track not actual noise your slugcat makes. A lot of tracks have quite the bizarre sounds in them.

I think slugcats draw, point and jump to communicate. They're rodents that sign!

My only self-indulgent funny headcanon is.. as forementioned, that Rivulet can scream. There is no proof or basis for this. It's just incredibly creepy and funny to me.

This is why that creature wanders alone. Cursed being.

[beanghostprincess]

Transfem Buggy anon here to drop a silly valentines idea-

1) don't worry too much about speeding through asks, sweetheart, you're doing fine. Take your time and do your thing at your own pace. Anyone has an issue with it? I'll fight em 😤

2) IDEA TIME

So imagine Buggy getting absolutely SMOTHERED in valentines days gifts - from friends, underlings, allies, secret admirers (she thinks they're all fake or lies), and her partners of the year.

She and Alvida do a Self Care Self Love event (maybe include Uta and Perona bc smth about them being so supportive of Buggy coming out as trans and just so easily slotting her in to girls night makes me soft).

Ritchie wears a special Valentine's Day bow, and he gives extra lion licks to his favorite people. He doesn't quite get the whole concept of HOLIDAYS beyond that it makes his humans so happy and silly and so he too is happy and silly. Lion loves.

Mohji and Cabaji, every year, make Buggy a gift for Valentine's. She gives them little gifts too, but theirs aren't conventional - they were there from the beginning, and so they've seen the best and worst of each other. They're besties your honor.

After Impel Down, Buggy wakes up on Valentine's to a MOUNTAIN of cards, candies, stuffed animals, flowers, and balloons. Maybe half of them are signed. It's a long ass affair to organize them.

When she starts dating Crocodile and Mihawk, they hadn't seen the Karai Bari Variant of Valentine's Day. Needless to say, when they wake up and walk with Buggy to get breakfast, they are both BLINDSIDED and BAMBOOZLED by this veritable TON of gifts. Buggy just sighs. "Guys. Really?"

"WE LOVE YOU, CAPTAIN BUGGY!!!"

"I can't eat all this. Okay, line up, I'm passing out candies at random. Consider this a treat before breakfast."

"CAPTAIN BUGGY IS SO GENEROUS AND KIND!!!"

"I- ya know what, sure, whatever. I haven't had coffee yet. I don't feel like arguing."

Crocodile and Mihawk though are surprised when she offers them a soft smile and... two boxes? "Open them when you want to, boys, no rush."

She gets a delivery later on in the day, a crate with a blue rose painted on the top. She huffs. When asked, she shrugs it off. "Shanks is still being a damned sap."

He sends her presents as often as he can - with a relatively ser address for Karai Bari, she is more easily accessible, which makes him go a little overboard. In the crate are her favorite candies (ghost pepper flaked dark chocolates), soft stuffed animals, new clothes, a dress, flowers and silly trinkets. ((And maybe a little treasure map he made just for her)).

Buggy would give thoughtful gifts - smth for Croc's bananawani nursery or specialty cleaner for his jewelry, new seeds for Mihawk's garden he mentioned wanting once in passing or new cording to rebrand Yoru's hilt, etc.

She also ties her hair up on holidays, puts on an apron, and joins the cooks in the kitchens. Cooking is smth she's good at, if a tad embarrassed by, but baking if her favorite thing to do. It's like chemistry and showmanship mixed together, two of her most favorite things. Getting the chance to indulge in it is smth she rarely lets herself have, but she makes exceptions for certain days.

And if Mihawk and Croc, knowing this by that point, pooled together to get her her own supplies to indulge more freely in their shared space, away from prying or attentive eyes, well...

Valentines Day isn't exactly a cliche on their little handmade home, but the sentiment, the intention, the love is there.

((And if Buggy just so happens to send a few batches of Shanks' favorite cookies to him a week after the day, well, he'll treasure them!!!

Until he eats himself sick, that is.))

1) Thank you <333 That's really sweet 😭🧡

AND THIS IS ALL AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A bit late to Valentine's Day (sorry, really akjjddnjk) but I absolutely adore it. Buggy loves Valentine's Day and the thought of everybody getting her gifts and also enjoying the holiday on her island is so cute,,, Everything is perfect and tbh, after coming out as a woman is even better because she's finally able to do it as herself. I think she wanted to do it really bad when she was a kid.

Her crew is so silly,, And having a whole day with Perona and Alvida makes her feel so loved,, Crying and sobbing. Also, Crocodile and Mihawk aren't used to celebrating these things, so now that they're with her they're surprised by how much they enjoy it. Not the holiday itself because in general it's extremely annoying and they do not want to be there with all this drama-- But they do like seeing her happy and giving her gifts <333 Why have mafioso-looking boyfriends if they aren't going to shower you with gifts, you know? And also, they're losers for her, which makes it better.

[cherripentiousshipper]

Unpopular Opinions about characters' sexualities to make the show more adult and complex, cause I love dark romances(pt1/??)

(I take criticism as long as You're polite, thank you)

So, first of all, I would've rather Alastor to be Pansexual, not in the nowadays way, but actually in the Freud -would fuck a tree if It was a taboo- kinda of way.

Stay calm, I have my reasons, and I will tell you all of them.

Like first thing first, it'd be way much more in character for him. He's a serial killer, and a cannibal.

He could have stopped in hell, but actually went even more wild. Thus meaning that he actually has a very passional and lustful nature, like many serial killers, and especially cannibals have.

You may think this is to be connected to the sin of Gluttony, but not at all! He doesn't act rationally to reach satisfaction like a gluttonous person would; instead he acts instinctively, he's driven by his needs, he has no control over himself, so he seeks It on others.

You see as you may have noticed, he is very violent and bloothirsty, ruthless, and merciless. All these characteristics are his true nature that he has to repress in front of others.

So having him hypersexual would've been a better call in my opinion. (Having to repress a lot, means you'd need to.. ahem... "relax" a lot.)

Or rather making him extremely into paraphilias to be considered to only engage with normal living humans (or rather human souls) when He needs to manipulate them.

Like imagine him engaging with overlords only to reach agreements or make pacts, or steal useful informations, (similarly to early Stoliz, but with real pacts where he owns sinners' Souls).

Or like not engaging in any way when he knows that it's the best way to manipulate some others. In this very case for exemple imagine Vox going totally insane knowing that even his situationship (aka Valentino or p.o.s.) went to bed with Alastor, but he didn't, doesn't, and never will. He'd become putty in Al's hands without even having to make a deal!

Plus, mega bonus: if he made a pact with Lilith he can destroy Lucifer just with that information. And maybe He never even went to bed with her, but way worst! He has had her trust for all these years, and been at her service all this time, hating the restrains, but adoring and being allowed to adore the restrainer.

To seduce her, to amuse her, to be at her leash, to be owned by her, all while Lucifer could only dream her and see her in pictures! Damn the rivalry would be beautiful! (And a great mirror to the one Luci has with Adam "bow chica bow now!").

And I would not even want him to be open about It, the other way around! Since It's still a need, he represses It in public. Like he acts like he always does in the serie 'cause that's the mask he wears!

But once he wears It off, he's unleashing everything that's underneath!

This would definitely make him even more of a creep! And I would love to see the characters deal with him.

I can see Alastor turning off Angels' advances, 'cause he knows that he's making Angel insecure, or rather secure enough to make him feel bad about self-ojectifiying (like what happened between Angel and Husk, difference being that Alastor would bribe Angel to make him listen, instead of helping him).

I can also picture him trying to seduce both Vaggie and Charlie, but losing interest as they're both too loyal to each other, while also feeling incredibly powerful when he makes a pact with each of them.

Maybeee he has intercourse with Rosie while or after having dinner with her.

Not sure about the rest.

Aaaaand done for now! Stay tuned to know which characters I would've liked to see as Aces instead of Alastor! Yeeeeeeeh!

Thank you for reading, go drink a glass of water at least, and have a nice day! Goodbye!!

[all-pacas]

Do you think he ever regrets killing Dibala? He fully believes he did the right thing and that the world is a better place because of his actions. But it took so much from him—his wife, his happiness, his humanity. Is he self-sacrificial enough to think it was worth it for the world, or does he wish he didn't do it?

Chase seems pretty ambivalent about it tbh.

PATIENT : Haven't you ever done something in a relationship you wish you could take back? CHASE : Maybe. PATIENT : How'd you handle it? CHASE : I told the truth. Eventually. PATIENT : How'd that work out? CHASE : Not well. (Recession Proof)

He's also… not that self sacrificial. Chase is a pretty self centered person in all honesty. I don't mean selfish, exactly. He's plenty capable of empathy and care. But he pretty consistently puts himself first; he's a survivor. He rats to Vogler without regret, he doesn't like to put himself at risk, the times he chooses to ignore or defy House aren't over ethical matters (Chase does have ethical objections sometimes) but over legal ones: one of my favorite lines in the whole series is in Fools For Love, when House wants to do something wildly illegal:

CHASE: Give it up. Foreman and Cameron are too ethical, and I’m too scared of getting sued.

That's what I mean when I say he's self centered. It isn't that he doesn't care about anyone else, but he looks out for himself first. Dibala was a rare moment where his feelings (anger over Dibala lying to him, anger that Dibala assaulted Cameron, anger over an impending massacre) overtook Chase's feelings of apathetic self preservation. He thinks he did the right thing, objectively. He believes the world is a better place. But Chase doesn't often try to do the right thing. He put everything on the line for an abstract moral good, and he lost a lot. As you said, it wasn't just Cameron. Chase is a markedly different person after Dibala. He's emotionally closed off, he's unhappy, he spends his time sleeping around. He gets bored of sleeping around. He gets bored of surfing. He doesn't like who he is very much, but feels powerless to change.

I think he does regret it. But what can he do? If he regrets it and wishes he didn't do it, then what was the point? He did it. It changed him. It broke up his marriage. At least he can tell himself he did the right thing, he got something out of it. He didn't just ruin his own life for no reason.

One of the wonderful tragedies of Dibala is that it literally happens at the worst/best time. Arguably, at the start of S6 Chase is happier than he has ever been. He's incredibly good at his job and everyone knows it. He and House are buddies; he and Foreman are finally friends. He's recently married to arguably the great Love Of His Life (we have never heard of Chase having any serious relationships before or after Cameron). He's doing great! He has a ten year plan! They're planning on having kids! Chase has never had it so good. And it's gone in seconds. He threw it all away. And he knows it. And if it wasn't the right thing to do, then he threw it away for nothing.

(You could also speculate, in a very fun fanfiction-y way, that Chase wouldn't have killed Dibala at any other moment. If it was an earlier season, he wouldn't have grown enough to care enough to put morals first, to get that angry: he simply wouldn't have cared enough. And if it had been a few years later, if say he and Cameron were still together and had a kid, then again, would he be willing to risk himself? Instead, it was at a moment he was both completely sure of himself and capable of getting involved in that way: Dibala 2.0 comes in in S1 of Chase MD and Chase isn't doing a damn thing to stop him. It's a pretty small window of time.)

But admitting "I wish I hadn't done it, this is what happens when you stop looking out for yourself and make a moral stand" is… also a rough take. He stays fairly ambivalent about it all. But Chase also never makes another moral stand, either.

[leviathan-supersystem]

some thoughts on the right-libertarian discourse on greed, namely the whole "stupid communists are against greed, but they don't realize that greed, ie. self-interest, is actually good, and an inevitable part of human nature" talking point:

so like, on the face of it, treating "greed" and "self interest" as synonymous is obviously moronic. greed is a type of self-interest, sure, but most people would not define all self-interest as "greedy". brushing your teeth is obviously in your own self-interest but nobody is going to be like "wow look at this greedy motherfucker brushing their teeth". no, obviously when people talk about greed they're talking about when people act in their self-interest specifically in ways that harm the interests of others, when someone acts only with regard to themselves in ways that harm the group overall.

to give a hypothetical, if there's a birthday party, it's not greedy for someone to get a piece of cake, even though this is obviously in their self-interest, it's greedy for them to go back for fourths or fifths before everyone else has gotten a piece, thus causing others to go without. and by pursuing their short-term self interest in a way that does not take into account the interests of others, they harm their long-term self interests, since after that people might not want to invite them to future parties.

so the whole "greed is human nature" argument ignores that while there are of course circumstances for every person in which they will act in their self-interest without regard for the well-being of others, there are also circumstances for every person where they will be willing to make sacrifices to their short-term self interest for the greater benefit of the group. largely this depends on how someone feels about the other people in this scenario, we'd probably be more willing to make a personal sacrifice to help our best friends than to help a stranger, or our worst enemy.

and of course usually this can still be modeled in terms of long-term self-interest, but that said, there have been examples of people giving their lives to save the lives of other people they truly care about, and i think it's pretty hard to model that in terms of long-term self interest. but at any rate, in most cases all that's really necessary to avoid acting in ways that anyone might call "greedy" is to just consider long-term self-interest and not just short-term self-interest, to consider how making sacrifices to our own short-term self-interest for the greater good of our community benefits us in the long term because we benefit from our community continuing to function.

okay, so we've established that "greed" is not the same as self-interest, but rather, a specific form of malignant self-interest, short-term self-interest pursued in ways harmful to the community, and, consequently, usually to one's own long-term self interest. great. but the thing is, libertarians/ancaps/objectivists/etc ultimately do acknowledge this distinction.

the real disagreement between marxists and righ-libertarians isn't "one thinks humankind can exist without greed/self interest, one knows that greed/self interest is human nature", though of course right-libertarians are very fond of this framing since it's flattering to themselves, it's that marxists and right-libertarians fundamentally disagree on where the distinction between benign self-interest and greed is. see this tweet which is what got me thinking about this in the first place:

okay so do you see what he did there! first he talks as if greed and self-interest are fundamentally the same, but then he changes gears and talks about how greedy communists are with clear disdain. almost as if greed isn't just "self-interest", but rather, self-interest to the detriment of others, most especially, theft. the most direct and overt form of prioritizing one's own self-interest with callous disregard for others.

and the thing is, both marxism and right-libertarianism propose vast expansions to the category of "theft", propose that many acts which are currently considered benign are in fact malignant acts of greed/theft, namely that marxism proposes that the profit reaped by landlords and owners is theft, and right-libertarians propose that taxation is theft.

but while marxism arrives at this conclusion by looking at society as it exists, looking to see where it's dysfunctional, and drawing conclusions about how it could be improved, right-libertarianism bases itself not on material analysis but rather deonotological principles which are derived from nothing. the "NAP" is true because it's true because it's true, don't question it, don't ask them to provide evidence that it's a viable foundation for a functional society. and certainly don't ask why it's "aggression" for a tenant to stay on a property when they can't make rent, but it's not aggression when the landlord calls the cops to drag them into the street.

like, the funny thing is right-libertarianism proposes that basically every society on earth is wildly wrong about the morality of taxation, but also proposes that all existing land ownership claims are legitimate, even though basically every one of them, worldwide, can be traced back to either feudal land disputes, which were resolved through violence, or colonization, which also occurred through violence. fundamentally, the history of existing land ownership claims is so drenched in violence that the notion that they're somehow one of the only things society as a whole got right is ludicrous, especially coming from people who claim their ideology is based on a "non aggression principle."

[mulderscully]

the way people talk about ten and martha's relationship is so narrow minded that it's starting to drive me insane. according to the fandom, either martha is the worst ever or the doctor is the worst ever when neither of those things are true. they're both good people who care about each other but aren't compatible for various reasons.

in season three the doctor is mourning rose. whether you like it or not he was in love with her. and in a sense, to him in that time, she JUST essentially died. i feel like people don't take into consideration how genuinely messed up he was at this time. in the runaway bride he almost killed himself, as we see in turn left: if donna hadn't stopped him he would have drowned. he was not in a good mental place.

martha meets the doctor and quickly develops a crush on him, which is understandable, and him "kissing" her doesn't help. but he is VERY clear with her that the kiss meant nothing, that it was a genetic transfer to protect her and that he was NOT interested in her - or in anyone. he knew he should not be traveling with anyone else at that point, but at the same time he needs companionship to stay sane.

i love martha, i genuinely think she is one of the best companions there is, but she is not very compassionate about the fact that the doctor has lost someone that he clearly loved very much. and ideally he should have been clearer about who rose was to him, but i feel like it's clear that it's obvious.

a lot of people give the doctor shit for "rose would know" comment and i do feel that comment was a hurtful thing to say, but he wasn't being intentionally malicious to martha here. he was just thinking about how rose would know what to say to comfort him because he was in love with her. not because martha isn't smart or capable or anything of that sort. does that make his comment okay? no! but intent matters.

he brings martha to new earth because he's missing rose and he wants to feel close to her in whatever way he can, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that since he had NO romantic intentions or feelings for martha. he made that exceedingly clear- she calls herself a rebound, but that doesn't make her one either.

did martha deserve better? of course. martha is put into many unfair situations, and there are a lot of things i think should have been done differently but the show never denies that the doctor was a dick to her. the show never denies that he hurt her by being too focused on his own grief and generally uncaring.

what makes martha's arc impactful is that it is realistic. i have been martha. a lot of us have! you love someone who doesn't love you the same way so you get hurt along the way. you convince yourself they COULD see you that way if x,y,z but they never do. at which point you have to realize you have to put yourself first and remove yourself from the situation. and that's important, that's powerful, that's part of the human experience.

martha grew as a character, she saved the world, she took her power back and became her best self because and despite what she went through in s3. by acting like she's just a helpless victim you do her character a great disservice by ignoring the person that she became.

and in turn the doctor grew and learned from that experience as well!

the doctor is allowed to be wrong, the companion is allowed to be wrong. sometimes at the same time. what a concept.

[96percentdone]

Every time my old post expressing bafflement at 'anti player theory' undertale and deltarune fans gets a note, I go through the war again. Maybe some of them are normal, but like every post from these people that I have ever seen is never content to just have a strictly in universe read of the text. They gotta assert that believing a video game has meta elements spits in the face of craft and storytelling, and no video game could ever draw attention to it being a video game as part of it's thematic identity. They have to debunk the concept of metafiction just to be right, which is hilarious because they end up overwriting the thematic craft they claim to be the only real supporters of.

Undertale is about war, and violence, and hate and how we respond to it. Most monsters don't really want to fight, half of them are just hanging out, so they're happy to be friends if you are, but the memory of the war between monsters and humans lingers. Whether they don't entirely understand the war's true essence because of their purehearted natures make them antithetical to it (Papyrus, Monster Kid), or use the narrative around it as a prop for their personal goals and are forced to contend themselves (Alphys, Mettaton), or try to teach its horrors with its methods (Toriel), or are convinced that the only way to escape the shadow of the war is to win it (Undyne) even if they don't really want to wage war at all (Asgore), the history of that war informs it all. Flowey is who he is because that violence ravaged Asriel, a small child, SO hard his grief and anger are now everyone's problems. He cannot feel love because the cycle of violence stole his ability to believe in it. Every genocide boss only fights you to stop you from carrying out your own. They know that if the entire underground is so easily destroyed, there is no reason humanity wouldn't face the same fate, and this cycle must end, even if they are powerless. The ending is determined by whether you perpetuate war. The genocide run is a grueling, unfulfilling, deliberately difficult challenge as punishment for enacting war for nebulous gain, while pacifist ending brings about the best future, where everyone including Asriel is saved, and it is the most fun to play, because is one where you commit to kindness and understanding. They both are in service to the thesis statement that "love and compassion are good and the key to rectifying all wrongs."

Hbomberguy and NezumiVA have made videos on the same lines, but Undertale's meta because it's about how we engage with video games as a medium. It's about completionism. It asks whether mining a story for every possible scrap of information is worthwhile. Chara's true name is literally a derivative of player character, you are meant to name them after yourself, and project onto them and Frisk until the game seperates them from you because you are a real human being, not a character in a video game. You only learn Frisk's name by the end of pacifist, the best possible ending that you should be satisfied with as a means of separating your ties, and you only meet Chara when you go way the fuck out of your way to get the worst possible ending because of vague hints that there is one. Undertale uses the vibe and aesthetic of old turn-based rpgs to draw you in, get you comfortable, only to use it's characters to ask why are you doing any of this? Is this why you like stories? Are video games merely arrangements of lore to be logged into a wiki until you run out of data to sort, or did you like Undertale and other video games because its characters and ideas resonated with you emotionally? The text has a lot of compassion for Alphys and her fan hobbies, and it only criticizes her when she treats the real world as a self insert fanfic, and it's meta thesis for you is similar. It's fine and good that you love your favorite games, but what are you getting out of engaging with the medium in this way? "Don't you have anything better to do?"

But Deltarune is where they really start to lose me. It is not finished, things could change with later installments, but from what little we have, it follows up on Undertale's commentary about the cycle of violence, and brings it back to suburbia. Violence here is interpersonal abuse and neglect. It is adults caught up in the myriad problems of adult life they do not notice, or fail to support, or do not care about the children suffering under those same systems. Kris is a child who lives in the shadow of their older brother. They befriend Susie, who eats garbage and doesn't seem to have parents (or at least not any that give a shit), and they have a childhood bond with Noelle, who has lost her sister, her father is in the hospital, and her mother is absent and otherwise not great. Even Berdley has a whole complex about needing to be smart thanks to his upbringing. Kris opens this portal themself, literally escaping into a fantasy land where they, children, are the most important and powerful, unbeholden to adults and their baggage. They get to be agents, not subjects, and yet the dark world still has those same anxieties. Lancer is afraid of his father, Queen is an overbearing mother, Rouxls is an opportunist most concerned with himself, King struggles in vain to liberate himself from being a subject while forcing his subjects to adhere to his agenda, Spamton wants to escape his chains and is the incarnation of a spambot, Seam gives up, and Jevil escapes into his imagination. Kris can abuse Noelle into the snowgrave route, and Susie and Berdley are bullies because kids are just as capable of hurting one another as adults are. Darkners may say shit about not wanting to fight anyway, and Ralsei might regurgitate Undertale's lesson as truth like it's his full time job, but even he re-evaluates by the end of chapter one. In the real world things cannot be as simple they were in Undertale.

Agency obviously relates back to the meta, as Kris' is literally overwritten by the red soul you are asked to give your own name in a dialogue that once again separates you from your fictional vessel, a player character, then goes even harder when they slam dunk that little guy you made into the trash because "No one can choose who they are in this world." You can't either. You can get Kris to abuse Noelle into killing people, carry out the abuses that made these kids desperate to escape in the first place, even if they don't want that, but understanding the player solely as a force that strips agency, much like understanding Undertale's player as a comment on real world morality, is incomplete.

If Undertale critiques completionism and datamining as a valuable ways to understand art, then Deltarune reuses its cast and critiques is thesis as part of a its meta to showcase the it's real value. It is a story that even in universe is about fiction. The dark world and its inhabitants are palatable reflections of Hometown. Kris and Susie keep going back because it is freeing, and allows them to grapple with the their complicated feelings about their world. They can come out more confident in themselves, with a healthier mindset, or Berdley can fucking die! Violence in the dark world comes back out of it because the dark world is a mirror. Video games aren't real, you don't actually kill monsters or darkners, but war is real, and violence is real, and abuse is real, aren't they? Isn't that why you get sad when characters you like die? How often do we use analogies and metaphors to explain our feelings, or complicated ideas? Fiction is just a tool to understand the world. What are the stories you love saying to you?

If the meta doesn't compel you, it's not what you find value in, or how you interpret the text, I don't care, even if I think it's strange. What you get out of these games belongs to you, and you deserve to have your reading as much as I or any meta proponent does. But anyone making claims about what fiction must be, just to deny the a meta angle is possible? That's anti-intellectual bullshit. It denies metafiction exists as a tool altogether. It shits on not just Undertale and Deltarune, or meta video games, but stories written across every medium that have ever used their work to comment on itself, its genre, its medium, or art as a whole. If you denigrate a whole artistic convention and the work of countless artists just to validate your hot take? You don't deserve any respect.

[imthepunchlord]

Marinette's Elemental and Miraculous Matches (Wu Xing)

Bagua, Zodiac

After much debate and going back and forth, as she's one of the harder ones to pinpoint cause I find a bit of everything to her, I'm suspecting Marinette's core elements are Wood and Metal, with Wood as her primary element and Metal as her secondary.

Wood plays off her leaping between being level headed and reasonable to her imagination just running wild. Wood works off her creativity and her means to think out of the box. It can play off her being curious and nosy, seeking to expand her knowledge of what's around her. It works off her being quick to support and help others, and her being a social butterfly. It works off her being open to learn and grow and seeks self-improvement.

Metal works off her desire for perfection. That she must put forth the best that she can create (one example being in Mr Pigeon where she drew a lot of good hat designs, but they weren't up to her standards), and for things to go as smoothly as possible. Metal also works off her as a thinker, working off logic, facts, and making quick evaluations. Metal also really works off her strong sense of self-righteousness and her dislike of dishonesty (as Metal does like things to be clear cut).

Wood and Metal plays off her being ambitious and aiming high for herself, her capability as a leader, and her tendency to meddle as Wood can be nosy and Metal has a desire for things to work out a certain way. These two elements work off her being very independent and self-sufficient. Wood and Metal also works off Marinette being her own worst enemy, as these two are elemental opposites, but it can also work off her great potential with Miraculous as she is tied to a yin-yang pair.

Of the Wu Xing, that makes Butterfly and Cat as her best matches, and Nooroo and Plagg are the most ideal kwamis to work off of her.

Butterfly's powers are something Marinette will be able to use well. She has the means to connect with others and knows what to say to work with them and offer the support. She also knows to let people thrive and do what they're good at, having faith in their capability. She'd be clever with making minor changes, and astral projection could work off her nosiness and allow her to move about stealthily.

Cat's powers are also quite promising for Marinette. She has the analytical mind that's able to evaluate how to use her destructive power, and be able to expand it's use than just straight forward destruction and malfunction. She naturally goes for stealth so traveling through shadows she would thrive with, and seeing through shadows can play off her nosy nature and wanting to unravel the world before her. And summoning shades to work with her works off her being a leader but able to work with others, listen to their wisdom and ideas.

Kwami wise, Nooroo and Plagg both have the big appeal of being a rock in the storm Marinette typically whips up. If she overthinks/lets her emotions run wild, they're able to bring her back with their calmness and logic.

Nooroo would work with her without taking over and telling her what she must do, work with her to figure out the best course of action. Through his influence, Marinette will gradually be calmer and more grounded, and would work off her strengths without turning it into a full blown Atlas complex as he helps implants the fact that she can rely on others, she just needs to branch out more than try to solve everything herself.

Plagg meanwhile rolls with the chaos, with Marinette probably one of the funniest humans he's be paired with (honestly these two would be delightful to watch). Plagg would have the additional perk to act as a foil to Marinette being a lazy and selfish kwami, countering her need to prioritize selflessness and to always be productive and busy. Through his influence, Marinette would find the fine line between productivity and breaks, and prioritizing herself and her needs to the needs of others.

By elemental placement, Peafowl, Ladybug, and Fox are viable Miraculous for her to wield. She wouldn't be the best matches, but she can pull them off and utilize them well, but there would be some sort of issue be it kwami or a struggle with powers. Power wise, she can become better with them, but there would be a learning curve. Kwami wise, something would need to be addressed. As Wood and Metal are next to the other 3 elements, there are no subpar matches for Marinette.

Peafowl Marinette can utilize well. As a time manipulator, this Miraculous requires strategy, resourcefulness, and being opportunistic. All things Marinette is covered for. She'd be clever in selectively rewinding time, would best utilize pausing time, and would work off resetting time to secure the best results or work off what would be the best route. The last power though could be the one she struggles with most as she would want the most "perfect" outcome, but I do see it as a quick lesson to learn.

Duusu is a kwami I do see getting along with Marinette and would bring something to the table in terms of growth. Duusu would work off her strengths like her skill in observation and quick thinking, and she can be bubbly, energetic, and just as animated as Marinette, so they can click and work off each other right away. The only thing I see as a major issue is that Duusu and Marientte could feed into each other's overreactions and both could spiral into a panic that will only end when they fizzle out. Now if this duo can learn to take turns in their overreactions so one can be the calmer one, or both learn to tone down their overreactions, this pair will thrive. Otherwise they're a ticking time bomb of spiraling panic.

Ladybug Marinette is set with power wise. She has the resourcefulness and creativity to work off Ladybug's two creation powers, able to utilize the generated item and secure she can have a complex and efficient Worker. She also can use the light generation and all it's possibilities well.

As backed by canon, Tikki at the core is the biggest issue with Marinette having Ladybug, as Tikki is set to work off personalities that are a lot more "fiery" and at times "problematic" than Marinette is. Marinette does thrive between Tikki support and affectionate, and doesn't mind Tikki's opinions when shared with her. The issue comes from Tikki insisting on prioritizing others and dedicating her humans to their duties, which is good for Fire personalities that can be easily distracted or selfish, but for Marinette who already is very dedicated and considerate, it just leads to an Atlas complex. Unless Tikki can learn to ease and realize she's piling too much pressure on Marinette, this could wind up quite destructive for Marinette.

Fox Marinette may struggle a little with, though the potential and promise is there. Power wise, Fox does work off Marinette preferring stealth, to dance around her opponents than actually fight them, being a meddler, her creativity, observation, and quick thinking. It can also play into her tendency to disguise herself, and with a power tied to it, should be a true master of disguise. Only issue is that Marinette is not a good liar, and most of the time she gets very lucky. I also can't speak for how good of an actor she is, so may give herself away when disguising herself as another. But over all, everything should be pretty solid.

With Trixx, I do see this as another fascinating kwami-holder match up as they both work off intellect and both can be meddling and know how to work off others and their strengths, and how to sway things their way. Trixx most likely would toe the line between Nooroo and Plagg, rolling with the chaos and enjoying the shenanigans, but also keeping up with duty and opening up her mind to work off others more, to have faith, and to help teach the means to secure things can go your way. Honestly, they'd probably be the ultimate scheming buddies. Trixx is probably the only kwami of the doable trio I don't see being an issue paired with Marinette, it just comes down to powers and how good of a deceiver Marinette actually is.

[je-brille-dans-la-nuit]

Watching Star Trek TOS and loving it! Sex pollen!!

The Return of the Archons

Jim Spock shenanigans shenanigans it was ok enough.

Gotta say I'm all for criticism of organized religion

.

Space Seed

So I met Khan (not the Benedict Cumberbatch whitewashed version)! The episode was good, lots of good dialogue, a solid plot and an uncertain ending (kofkof uncertain for them).

The toxic masculinity vibes were off the charts though:

First, I'm not commenting on McGivers instantly falling for the hyper masculine guy, accepting his abusive behaviour and choosing to stay with him; because if I do, I'll get mad. But you know, it's terrible and I hate it.

Then the admiration for Khan, "the best and most dangerous of the tyrants" expressed by Scotty, Bones and Jim. Sigh. Of course it's all three of them, the only one out being Spock ("Illogical"). We're supposed to take away that it's because he doesn't feel the human/manly appeal of courage, ambition, greatness or whatever. Honestly not even IC? (sorry but I don't want to picture Jim and Bones as real life fans of Napoleon lmao they are the worst)

SPOCK: Gentlemen, this romanticism about a ruthless dictator is KIRK: Mister Spock, we humans have a streak of barbarism in us. Appalling, but there, nevertheless. SCOTT: There were no massacres under his rule. SPOCK: And as little freedom. MCCOY: No wars until he was attacked. SPOCK: Gentlemen.

You tell them Spock!

MCCOY: Well, either choke me or cut my throat. Make up your mind.

Instant classic

MCCOY: Well, there aren't any regulations against romance, Jim.

Duly noted!

Jim thinking he and the bridge crew were dying and recommending commendations in his log? Him being in the decompression chamber being murdered? I was on the verge of tears then

jsbfjhe i'm sorry i can't take it seriously this shot is so funny

SPOCK: Surprised to see you Captain, though pleased. JIM: I'm a little pleased myself

they're so dumb (lovingly)

SPOCK: It would be interesting, Captain, to return to that world in a hundred years and to learn what crop has sprung from the seed you planted today. KIRK: Yes, Mister Spock, it would indeed.

.

A Taste of Armageddon

Wow the plot's heavy but powerful. The whole episode is dark but hopeful ending! (plus pissed off Jim is v sexy)

Death, destruction, disease, horror. That's what war is all about, Anan. That's what makes it a thing to be avoided. You've made it neat and painless. So neat and painless, you've had no reason to stop it. And you've had it for five hundred years. 

I've given you back the horrors of war. 

Ending a 500-year war is just one of many things Captain Kirk does!

And of course:

SPOCK: Captain, you almost make me believe in luck. KIRK: Why, Mister Spock, you almost make me believe in miracles.

I love them ._.

.

This Side of Paradise

OMG OMG IT'S HAPPENING THIS IS NOT A DRILL!! SEX POLLEN!!!

The perfect mix of fun and tension in this episode! Loved it!

Jim's confusion at Spock is everything. When he says "Spock" - clears his throat - "Mr Spock"

Jim being his dramaqueen self "In effect, I am marooned here."

Jim's immunity is his sense of duty what a goody two-shoes (affectionate)

The idea that anger/strong emotion is necessary ties up nicely to The Enemy within

Then the scene... You know which one... Did I have to pause because Jim was being so mean to Spock it was a bit much to watch? maybe!!

SPOCK: You did that to me deliberately. KIRK: Believe me, Mister Spock, it was painful in more ways than one.

My heart!

SPOCK: Captain. Striking a fellow officer is a court martial offence. KIRK: Well, if we're both in the Brig, who's going to build the subsonic transmitter? SPOCK: That is quite logical, Captain.

Sooo dumb <3

The scene between Layla and Spock was lovely too!

MCCOY: Well, that's the second time man's been thrown out of paradise. KIRK: No, no, Bones. This time we walked out on our own. Maybe we weren't meant for paradise. Maybe we were meant to fight our way through. Struggle, claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way. 

This after the reference to Milton two eps ago! Yes! Yes to all of this!!!

[zukkacore]

⭐️

HIIIII Thank you so much! I ran out of space again for @italicized-oh so I realized i'm gonna continue just talking about the works I like that kinda help me conceptualize what IYWD was meant to be. I'm very derivative at heart <3: PART 1 | PART 2

"The stranger seems perfectly ordinary / But at the same time, Jace can’t find anything he doesn’t like about him." ok i HAVE to talk about this b/c idk if i'm being insane here b/c "I can't find anything I don't like about you" is actually something Joel says to Clementine in Eternal sunshine. Is it completely weird for me to have Jace say it about himself??? But i also think he deserves that. There's a lot of space given to his self loathing and desire to transcend himself. There's smthng about the old jace being so mundane in his "perfection" here. There's so little here to sully him b/c the scene is so short, their relationship was so new. Both kinda perfect in his simplicity. There is really nothing bad. But also kinda ordinary. it's not like he's special. There's a bit of yearning for his old self when he says he can't find anything about him he doesnt like, while also being so alienated from that he doesn't know who it even is. But I think it's like. A very rare instance of Jace showing himself some kindness in a story w a lot of self loathing

He seems lovely. I understand why you miss him. / He was. He was perfect. / You're perfect. This is so guardians 3 Gamora n Quill "you know, I'm still not who you want me to be" "yeah, but who you are ain't so bad" except evil version fucked up mirror universe lol. Like instead of accepting who this person is is different from the person you want them to be, but also being like. You're still also a person worthy of admiration and love but on your terms. Not with the expectations i place on you to be them, be something you're not. I think while sweet in its own way, Porter is just going from romanticizing one version of jace in the past to idealizing this version of jace in the present. And like. Is it really his fault. This version of Jace loved him to the point of invention. But still. I think there's a reading that this is like. Him saying both past and present are worthy of love as they are but how can he say that? PORTER is the one who did this. Infuriating. But very paladin devotion coded. Could be read as a synthesis of his feelings but also. Deeply simplistic and reductive.

"Porter can’t decide what he wants more. To make him see the way the world could be, or to lock him in a cage and keep him this way forever." I mean. Obviously Hadestown. Especially that first part. "Make him see how the world could be" (Evil version). Vs "Someone who appreciates the comforts of a gilded cage / who doesn't try to fly away the moment mother nature calls". It's like. Him caught between two impulses of. Him trying to actualize jace, fix him in his flaws, make him more of a reflection of what a follower of a god of war n rage should even be (and this ties into gorgug mcat thesis, porter's perceived flaws of Gorgug are jace's actual flaws and Porter thought gorgug needed tough love to actualize). Or this need to like. Grasp onto the past, clamp down on control, to preserve him in this precious state. And I think there is something in both impulses that are not. The worst thing ever. Wanting someone to be the best version of themself b/c you see so much in them vs. wanting them to stay precious and imperfect and human even in their flaws. BECAUSE of their flaws. But also obviously the more sinister and obvious reading is like. I mean, they're both extensions of control but like. To fix him or to own him. In a way, Porter tried to do both and lost what he thought even was precious about Jace in the first place.

A Message to Porter, You’re early - I mean. This throughline of "you're early" is obviously hadestown. Hades keeps coming up for Persephone earlier and earlier. Orpheus turned around too soon. It's that doublespeak of like. It's not just that Porter left class early to get him which is definitely weirdo behavior but that Jace didn't expect him to try to win him back THAT SOON after one of their splits. Every time Porter mentions in his internal monologue that he misses jace, that's all Hades. And "We're doing this again?" is obviously "And what about you and I? are we gonna try again" coded.

"I’m tired, Porter.” - again, kinda a weird pull. Whenever I think about Jace and exhaustion i think about Eurydice in Hey Little Songbird from Hadestown. Something about death also being refered to as rest or a final rest. I've always viewed sorcery as kinda grueling b/c its so internal and all about self control and self regulation and you have to do everything yourself. It's all you. There is no higher power to give you answers. Like. To me Jace is very chronic fatigue / choice fatigue coded. So There is this whole idea of Jace's resentment of like. When Porter killed him, damned him, brought him back wrong, he was denied any kind of meaningful life but he was also denied rest when as a sorcerer, that's secretly been the only other thing he's ever wanted. He and Eurydice are: "I want a nice soft place to land. I wanna lie down forever"

"I can wait. You know I can wait" n also "Guess I'm staying, then?" "Guess so" - Obviously the Thing with hadestown n the concept of waiting w/ "Wait for me" "I will". I also think there's something so Wait for Me (Reprise) about it in which it's like. "Think they'll make it?" "I don't know." "You let them go." "I let them try." "And what about you and I?" "are we gonna try again" "it's time for spring." "wait for me" I will" in which they're literally watching younger versions of themselves go through something they're experiencing.

^^^ But also Eternal Sunshine... I think he says "I want you to wait for just a while" & you can see in her face she's kinda moved by that even tho she knows they're doomed to get sick of each other. and its at the VERY end and they know if they were to get back together they would literally just go through the same journey they went through last time. But also that it's worth it. There's something so fatalistic seeing Porter say he's going to stay. Like. We know that's not going to happen. But we're happy he says it to Jace in the moment. It's what he wants to hear. It's what he's been wanting to hear the whole time. But when it was happening, it was so trivial.

Porter stops his mouth with a kiss. The line "Peace. I will stop your mouth" I think is such an a funny n interesting way to talk about kissing and its from Much Ado, benedick says to Beatrice. I don't have a lot of thoughts about it. I just think it's interesting. And makes a lot of sense obviously bc the whole POINT is the charged banter. Something about a character who rambles, lives in their own head n its like kinda a chirp but also kinda earnest to just be like Peace. I will stop your mouth.

"Ill take it— / I'll take it all" is also kinda a double thing. First off It's an evil Tom Succession moment. God should i even admit this. This part is unserious. I just think there's something so harrowing when he's telling shiv abt when they first started dating and he says "and i kept asking. Do you like this. Do you like this. And you said eventually. I like it all"

Also Fleabag. this has a darker undercurrent than in fleabag but i love the scene abt her mom w/ Boo when she says "I don't know where to put it. The love that i have for her." "I'll take it. Seriously it sounds lovely". And like. In the moment it's so innocuous. But Jace gets to HEAR himself say what he wishes to say to Porter. He will take whatever Porter has to give him. Whatever form of love. Even if it's not really FOR him. He's desperate for it. He was built to for it. It's the only thing he's ever wanted. If you're willing to give it

[themculibrary]

Stucky + Samtasha Masterlist

Are You Lost In Paradise? (ao3) - dameronpoetry E, 54k

Summary: The one where Steve and Bucky are both actors who meet on the Evening Show with Clint Barton. They fall for each other hard - as you'd expect - but things get in the way - though no one falls off any trains.

This is a tale involving motorcycles, cuddling, disgustingly cute emails, terrifying Russian actresses, heartbreak, snarky New Yorkers, ridiculously convoluted plots between interested parties, and maybe, just maybe love.

Dude, Where’s My Pants? (ao3) - debwalsh steve/bucky, natasha/sam N/R, 3k

Summary: In which Steve wakes up with the man of his dreams in his bed ... but apparently that’s his crush’s worst nightmare.

What happens in Vegas may spell the end of a beautiful friendship.

It’s a good thing Nat and Sam aren’t going to allow Steve and Bucky to get away with not talking about what happened ...

Family Placement (ao3) - notlucy E, 88k

Summary: Steve Rogers had a train ticket in hand and the chance to begin again after losing everything in Brooklyn - his father, his mother, the comfort and familiarity of home. Going west meant the opportunity to become his own man and stake his claim on the wide, flat prairie.

Then, of course, there was Bucky Barnes.

Fire Alarms (ao3) - starlight_starbright E, 11k

Summary: Something sets the fire alarm of and, thankfully, Steve forgets his room key.

I literally cut myself out of my pants. Waste. Of. Money. (ao3) - relenafanel M, 6k

Summary: Hey friend of Sam’s can I get an opinion on this outfit? Bucky texted, attaching the selfie taken in Sam’s bathroom mirror.

He received an answer almost immediately. Bucky was almost expecting a lecture, or at least a concerned question about who had stolen Sam’s phone.

He got neither.

New text from Steve: What do you want it to say?

Or: Bucky strikes up a flirtation with a stranger over text message in the month leading up to Valentine's Day.

Laughter Lines (ao3) - drmcbones M, 100k

Summary: Bucky Barnes is a rising Hollywood star with a tragic past and a reputation for driving his bodyguards away. Steve Rogers is a veteran with the same tragic past and the need to get back out in the world. The two of them have been estranged since they were teenagers, so when Steve joins SHIELD as a bodyguard, he is less than thrilled when he finds out that Bucky is his first assignment. But how bad can it be? They're both professional adults, right?

Wrong.

Murder on the Dancefloor (ao3) - 74days T, 3k

Summary: After getting over a bad relationship, Steve is taken out for a night on the town by his best friend Sam. However, when he sees his ex on the dancefloor with a much hotter guy, Steve decides to grab the nearest guy and make out with him. It's actually a really good decision - if you don't count getting thrown out of the club.

Poltergeists (ao3) - enemyofrome T, 17k

Summary: When the helicarriers blow up and the Winter Soldier goes on the run, he takes Steve with him. He's got a name written in Morse code on the inside of his arm, a ton of questions he doesn't know how to ask, and now, a new handler with absolutely zero sense of self-preservation to contend with. Life is hard.

In which Bucky tries to figure out whether he's a human being, Steve does everything he can to keep from losing him again, and there are lots of explosions.

Shoot a Hole into the Sun (ao3) - keire_ke, PR Zed (przed) T, 28k

Summary: It was Nat who'd noticed the pattern. Every afternoon at exactly the same time, Steve and Barnes would share a heart-in-their eyes-hug, and then moon over each other at a table in their favourite coffee shop in the Tower.

Sam and Nat spend their afternoons making fun of the old people in love. Which maybe isn't the smartest thing in the world when they just might be in love themselves.

The Daily Rogers (ao3) - Nonymos E, 32k

Summary: College AU. May contain exchange students, a Starbucks addiction, daddy issues, anger issues, closets and how to get out of them, the ever-ominous influence of social networks, various levels of betrayal, awfully poor life choices, but also, ultimately, real chunks of love.

The Right Way to Fall (ao3) - Taste_is_Sweet T, 41k

Summary: He's just scruffy enough that most people would avoid eye contact in case he asked them for change. But his eyes are startling blue and stark and wild, and he looks at Sam and Sam looks at him, and yeah. Turns out he knows where Bucky is after all.

Except, Sam reminds himself, this isn't Bucky. This is the Winter Soldier, who's gone completely, absolutely still like an animal trying to decide whether to attack or run. And Sam is suddenly, terribly aware of all the people around them: all the tourists and the kids on their field trips; all the families with their babies and toddlers; all the sentimental fools like him come to visit Captain America on an overcast Wednesday afternoon.

But Sam has also seen that expression on the men and women who come to his counseling sessions. He's seen it in the mirror more times than he cares to count. He knows that kind of fear and pain, just like he knows that the man who was once James Buchanan Barnes could have already killed him. Killed as many people as he wanted to, and run.

He could have, but he didn't.

Through a dark night, without a sunrise, love will tell us where to go (ao3) - LunaCanisLupus_22 E, 126k

Summary: “I know you,” he says faintly.

“Yes,” the man agrees without looking up. “I’m Captain America.”

That’s no it. That can’t be it. There’s something more. There’s something-

“No.” The declaration is persistent now. “I know you.”

Or the one where Bucky doesn't remember being Bucky or the Winter Soldier but ends up a little too interested in Captain America anyway.

Welcome to the Jungle (ao3) - neversaydie E, 44k

Summary: "What do you think about guy-guy scenes?"

He was too self-conscious to act, modelling didn't pay enough, and time out of school for the medical trial that fixed his body had left him barely scraping a pass on his GED. He shared an apartment with a burlesque dancer, and she'd talked him into it over a weekend and way too much tequila.

Three pictures and one embarrassingly short amateur jerk-off video later, and here he is.

"Gay scenes?"

His mom can never find out about this.

[Porn Industry AU]

When Life Gives You Lemons (ao3) - starbunny G, 9k

Summary: Steve's idea of a simple life consisted of two things. First, drawing and taking art commissions whenever he pleased, and second, taking care of his wonderful garden. 

What it did NOT include was: Having the local wildlife unanimously decide that his garden was the greatest sanctuary ever, attracting the attention of the mysterious species of humans known as 'The Avengers', or starting a war with a cunning raccoon that destroyed everything in Steve's garden, then learning that the raccoon was not really a raccoon after all and Steve should have really known better. 

What has become of his life?

[ammyamarant]

I was talking to my sister recently about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the topic of what I thought was the worst season popped up. Without hesitation, I said season 6.

And I stand by it. Everything in it, everything people are now saying is good actually, is only good on paper. Buffy depressed about being resurrected? And doing incredibly self-destructive things? Having to live without her mother and try and be a good guardian for Dawn? This is all good on paper! But the execution? We get a comedy episode for Buffy trying to get a job. Buffy getting, and failing at a new job, having to deal with both earning money and her duties as a Slayer could have been a short plotline where she couldn't balance it and it made things worse for her. It could have really shown just how much she struggled, and made her self-destruction hit even harder.

But it had to be a comedy episode.

I'm not saying Doublemeat Palace is the only example I have of how they fumbled showing her depression and inability to readjust after being resurrected. But it's the beginning of it, and indicative of how they fumbled showing it.

Willow and Tara having problems with their relationship? Even the best couples have conflicts. But the out of nowhere magic addiction? When it's never been hinted at that the reason Amy abused magic was an addiction, just moral failing when realizing what she could do with it? And then the sheer amount of shit Willow put Tara through? Tara was abused so badly by the writers. Fighting with Willow then having her memory wiped several times, breaking up with her, only to finally make up once Willow was able to admit she needed help only to be killed in the same episode?

No wonder Amber Benson was on board for the audiobook. Tara deserved better.

Xander and Anya? I'm sorry, Xander has a lot of flaws but he's not the type to leave someone at the alter just so Anya can have her own destructive arc. He'd be more likely to just call the entire thing off before the wedding if he was that afraid that it would turn into what happened with his parents.

The trio? Okay. So. I'm going to talk Arknights for a bit. After going through Code of Brawl, I joke about how much trouble Penguin Logistics gets into and how I don't know how they're still alive after their antics. But the difference between them and the trio is Penguin Logistics is also competent. Exuisai can lean out a car door to shoot rubber bullets at the essentially Italian Mafia guys chasing them and not die because she's, mechanically, a 6* unit who can be a boss killer on her own. This is nothing to her. Texas is the last surviving member of the Texas famiglia, and people constantly refer to her as very dangerous. Il Siracusano showed why. Of course being the driver and pulling off that shit is easy for her. In comparison, the only thing the trio has to offer is Warren was the form of "actually evil" that is oh you're evil evil. They should have never been a threat outside the fact Warren had no moral compass. They're constantly bumbling, and only a threat to Buffy because the plot said so.

Spike? Holy shit. He has more dignity than what he did in season 6, and the bathroom scene felt like a punishment for those who liked Spike enough to keep him around. Like "are you sure you like him? See! He's an irredeemable monster! Stop liking him." We already know Whedon hated how popular Spike was, and because of that, this incredibly out of character and just plain cruel scene can only feel like punishing those who liked him.

Tbh the more I think about it, the more I feel season 6 was a punishment for whoever wanted to keep it going. It's so unpleasant, and it is pretty much just dark for darkness's sake. The writing isn't strong enough to support anything they wanted to do and not have it come off as malicious. It's bad and no amount of good ideas can excuse execution.

Season 6 could have been a poignant look at grief, loss, depression, and self-destruction. Having a human being more evil than a demon and finally showing that the Willow we know really does have the capability to be as evil as her alternate vampire self could have been great, since we've never really had that. Even in season 4, the Initiative was more misguided than actually evil. Instead we got grimdark and out of character writing.

Season 6 sucks, is the worst season, and I will not be convinced otherwise.