#Against the Spirit

[stefisdoingthings]

but still, you gave me your heart

[s-aint-elmo]

part 1 of my pining falin agenda aka it was so tragical that falin got benched for the entirety of marcille's little black dress morally bankrupt baddie era and falin thinks so too

(ID in alt text)

part 2

[methoughtsphantom]

Danny fake guardian angel au

You know how sometimes it’s highlighted how you have to be very careful on what you say in the presence of a spirit because they can twist your words and end up bidding yourself to it?? well uno-reverse-card the spirit also has to be careful on what he says because when Danny had said he owed the dude one for coming to his rescue in a gala Vlad had dragged him to, he didn’t expect that to be taken literally.

danny: wait seriously?? i literally say that all the time!

cw: not after being crowned ghost king, you haven’t

danny: but—but I was also human when I said it. doesn’t that protect me or smth

cw: *shakes his head*

danny:

danny: omg this is a nightmare

cue timmy’s brucequest period (cuz he’s the guy) being so high strung and tired, he just wants some company, which is a so low stakes thing to want the deal Danny unintentionally goes sure we can do that and pulls him towards the guy, despite Timmy never outright saying he wants company. (tim always speaks in the sanctity of his own mind, not out loud)

So. random spirit manifesting. Tim going all who the fuck are u

and Danny panicking and saying your guardian angel

Tim not being impressed while Danny promptly blushes like a moron because that did not come off as he wanted it to.

Yes accidental dead tired where the dynamic goes from Tim trying to shake this probably demon that somehow latched to him being all like ??? dude leave me alone, and Danny being there like bitch i’m trying

to

huh. im actually being protected by a spirit like he said he would. he’s strangely an idiot but also he’s overpowered and just never leaves my side which he says it’s an angel obligation but I think it’s bullshit but also hoping it’s not because it appeals to my crippling fear of abandonment (anyways he really seems to take after those little cartoon angels that poof into your shoulder to keep from me doing wrong decisions) translate into my future boyfriend seems increasingly appalled to what i am up to

meanwhile danny

Bitch you better thank your god I’m dead because otherwise I would already been killed. I did not sign up for a assassins what the fuck I thought you were a normal civilian not a literal superhero and omg that is a fruitloop. no no back off you wrinkly raisin this is my emotional support idiot you can’t have him and what do you mean you’re messing with time whatever this way I can get back to clockwork—

[possession1981-moving]

THE FIRST OMEN dir. Arkasha Stevenson, 2024

[dw-gaster]

i trip and fall and dozens of drawings of afterdeath spill from my pockets onto the floor

[kevjeanday]

Wait do people actually think Kevin asked Jean to teach him French for his own benefit? What’s next, he bought Jean magnets and postcards where he wrote down little memories for himself as well?

[randomness-is-my-order]

one underrated moment of wei wuxian’s impeccable quick-thinking is when wen chao’s contemplating the torture and murder of wei wuxian and wwx is like *fresh* out of an unspeakably painful surgery and a highly traumatic experience, tired and exhausted and beyond the limits of any human to be coherent of thought and yet, he expertly uses wen chao’s inherent cowardice against him by suggesting that he will turn into a vengeful ghost and haunt him and even as he’s simulataneously coming to terms with his possible fate, his move does pay off because he gets into wen chao’s head and throws him off-balance. in a very roundabout way, just that verbal maneuver alone ended up saying his life.

[deliriousblue]

THE HEART KILLERS (2024) + tropes prior art by @hurlumerlu

+ bonus:

[abusivelittlebunny]

I don't imagine kitty Max is the biggest fan of nasty dog Carlos - he's always pulling his tail and trying to touch his ears and calling him gatito, but unfortunately that's not gonna matter a whole lot when Carlos scruffs him, shakes him a little and then rubs his stupid smelly face everywhere until poor Maxy is absolutely covered in his scent :/

Max definitely doesn't like the nasty dog scent on him of course that's why he has to make sure to properly clean Carlos with his tongue and rub his own scent all over him (effectively erasing the annoying mouse undertone in the process). Carlos can't complain he loooooves the purring delight in his lap ♡ Charles, however....

[palatinewolfsblog]

"What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; It's not so much the opinion itself, but the boldness of wanting to think for yourself - an ability of which they themselves are not capable." Arthur Schopenhauer.

[lacilashea]

I love Jesus more than all and all my posts belong to Jesus and he is my Lord and savior, the Messiah, the Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ the truth, Jesus King of the jews, the rest on the earth and that much being God's son. as my Lord and savior and this is not about me but about Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ the truth, Jesus King of the jews and the rest on the earth and that much being God's son with Mary, and Jesus, God, and the Holy Ghost have feelings like you and others do that also exist because of God, and you can talk to Jesus, God, and the Holy Ghost literally all the time and they do talk back to you and outside of prayer also and will be that close to you and talk to them and others that exist like you all day and night long and you'll never be alone and start talking to Jesus about everything and your lives will improve, No one needs governments, kings, queens, etc of people anywhere when people could just help one another as God and Jesus said and with God and Jesus being kings over us and all the people even now God and Jesus should be-1 samuel 8:6-9-It displeased Samuel when they said to him, “Appoint a king over us,” so Samuel prayed to the Lord. The Lord said to him, “Listen to everything that the people have requested of you. It is not you whom the people have rejected, they have rejected me as their king. They have done this from the day that I brought them up out of Egypt to this very day. They have rejected me and served other gods, just as they have rejected you. So grant their request, but warn them solemnly and inform them what the king who reigns over them will do.” and then what happened to Jesus-John 18 and 19 and he-JESUS IS EVERYONE'S KING and GOD'S BEGOTTEN SON with Mary and GOD JESUS'S DAD AND OUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS KING-as for you, DO NOT BE CALLED RABBI. you have but one TEACHER, AND YOU ALL BROTHERS. CALL NO ONE ON EARTH YOUR FATHER; you have but one FATHER in HEAVEN. DO NOT BE CALLED MASTER; you have but one master, the MESSIAH-JESUS-MATTHEW 23:8-10. Just more FACTS.

I love Jesus more than all and all my posts belong to Jesus and he is my Lord and savior, the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus is my King and should be your too instead of people and made up governments and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ the truth, Jesus King of the jews, the rest on the earth and that much being God's son. as my Lord and savior and this is not about me but about Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ the truth, Jesus King of the jews and the rest on the earth and that much being God's son with Mary, and Jesus, God, and the Holy Ghost have feelings like you and others do that also exist because of God, and you can talk to Jesus, God, and the Holy Ghost literally all the time and they do talk back to you and outside of prayer also and will be that close to you and talk to them and others that exist like you do all day and night long and you'll never be alone and start talking to Jesus about everything, and your lives will improve and I'm not just saying that it is true and I know from my own personal experiences that Jesus is a friend to all that want to be his friend just like God is Abraham's friend, God is the same way, the Holy Spirit, Also others really do exist God Jesus and the Holy Ghost have made-a variety of angels, animals, plants, people, demons, devil, you, me and more me who God, Jesus and Holy Spirit has made and you only worship Jesus, God, and the Holy Ghost as that how it is suppose to be and Jesus is who allows you to talk to God and anyone(as you are breathing)-John 14:6 just ask Jesus and he let you talk to them. Exodus in the comments to Chapter 24 and goes to 40 to look up the rest-Jesus is King and should be ruling us with God as King and the Holy Ghost everywhere right now instead of people and made up governments. Jesus, God, and the Holy Ghost are my-Laci Lashea Higgins and many more last names in my families only kings and you should understand why you do not want people over you and all should be given back to Jesus God's son to be over/leading as king, ruler, leader over everybody only with God and the Holy Ghost-not people as Jesus is the only Messiah and that is why. If they do not take a hint with made up governments everywhere just write in JESUS on the ballot because that is not suppose to be going on either anywhere with made up governments or kings over anyone anywhere when Jesus can be over everyone and should be-not people. Everyone looking at my blog knows exactly what I mean.

[bewareofitalics]

Tagged by @starberry-cupcake!

Okay, okay, the last one is actually a cheap replica that used to be on a bookmark. I keep it around to fidget with. :D

Tagging... @all-peristeronic, @greencheekconure27, @moonlightredfern, @fullmoondelinquent, @pilferingapples, and anyone else who wants to do it!

[katerinaaqu]

No one absolutely no one:

Athena and Diomedes in Iliad:

[lunar-years]

Propaganda in SOTR

An interesting facet of the way propaganda is used in SOTR is that the Capitol/Plutarch's manipulation of the footage happens gradually over the course of the Games in real time, which means people see multiple versions of the same events. Things are aired and then scrubbed, or else aired and then re-aired, slightly altered, until we get the edited cut that emerges during the Victory Ceremony recap. That 'final' edit succeeds in replacing the nation's collective memory of the Games, but it's important to note that plenty of citizens have, to varying degrees, witnessed parts of the truth!

For example, the footage from when the Games is airing "live" across Panem during mandatory viewing is not tampered with to nearly the same extent as the post-Games recap, both because:

1) the overarching 'narrative' of the Games inherently cannot be determined until the Games are finished and a Victor is named. Even the Gamemakers don't know exactly how the story's going to end. Things that might've seemed like normal gameplay (such as Haymitch and Ampert's initial meetup/alliance) likely air to the public before it becomes clear that what those two are actually up to is rebellious. When they begin to carry out their plot, certainly the cameras cut over to the other players, meaning none of the tank explosion gets shown, but only later would the Ampert & Haymitch alliance have been cut out completely.

2) The five or so minute delay is not long enough to make the kind of changes Haymitch describes watching during his Victor's Ceremony, and it is more likely that it only gives the Gamemakers/broadcasting crews enough lead time to determine which tributes they should be following at any given point of the Games (and when to cut away when someone is involved in something questionable). When the Careers and Haymitch and Maysilee encounter Gamemakers in the arena, for example, you can bet the footage airing across Panem shifts to Wellie in her tree. But later, when Haymitch tracks down Wellie and helps her, that's something that probably is shown at first, only to be erased later.

I'm thinking about this because I read a review where someone was saying this book opens up new plot holes for the original trilogy, because if they changed up Haymitch's games so much they could've just edited out Katniss and Peeta's suicide attempt and the berries altogether. I think it's a lot more complicated than that!

In her SOTR B&N edition interview, Suzanne even discusses how many versions of Haymitch's reaping exist and air to different people at different times. On the one hand you have what actually happens and is first filmed: The peacekeeper's shooting Woodbine, Lenore Dove helping Woodbine's mother, Haymitch's rigged 'reaping.' All of District 12 witnesses this, but the wider nation doesn't. Then you have the version that is aired to the rest of Panem after the 5 minute delay: Haymitch's name is called. No one reacts. Then you have the version Plutarch tweaks for the nightly recap: Sid and Ma are shown reacting to Haymitch's name being called. You then have the version shown during the Victor's Ceremony, post-games: Sid and Ma are scrubbed from the footage. And even then, finally, you get the version Katniss and Peeta watch on the train in Catching Fire, which Suzanne states could very well have been further tweaked over the years to fit an evolving narrative.

One can imagine this is true of many other elements of these Games. Capitol citizens directly witness both the Chariot Parade and the Interviews. Since the Interviews are also mandatory "live" viewing, nationwide, presumably the rest of Panem get much more extended footage of each tribute (with maybe just a couple of their answers cut by the 5 minute delay) than what is ultimately preserved on the tape Katniss & Peeta see. It's only after the games that the Newcomer alliance is all but erased.

The tributes' families are interviewed when there are eight kids remaining. Sid and Ma must've been interviewed back in Twelve, and surely that was shown. It's cut out, after, to make people forget about Haymitch's family. Similarly, the footage of Haymitch receiving the milk in the arena probably airs, because Snow's plan there is to force Haymitch to look like a terrible person (by dumping it when Wellie needed it), or force him to kill his ally (by giving Wellie the milk), or force him to kill himself (by drinking it), all of which needs to be seen to be effective. That entire plot line is cut from the recap footage because it goes nowhere, and no one who did see it probably thinks anything of it because it ends up not being important to Wellie's or Haymitch's death, but this doesn't erase that people did see it.

Ultimately, the point Suzanne's making re: propaganda isn't as simple as the nation being fed one (1) false version of events and believing it because it's the only thing they've ever been shown. It's that many citizens WITNESSED (to various degrees, depending on where and who they are) other versions of these Games, with more, though still not entirely truthful, elements from reality. Yet even though there are plenty of discrepancies for people to question, no one does. Haymitch even comments on this as he's watching the recap. The Capitol's gone so far as to have even changed up the order of the deaths (which wouldn't have been altered in the "live" footage for obvious reasons), and the Capitol audience is eating it up even though they MUST remember it didn't happen like that!! The propaganda, the final narrative, is so effective that it makes people forget even the truths they have seen with their own eyes. Reality gets buried under several layers of falsehood, not just the one. And no one asks any questions.

To bring it back around to Peeta and Katniss, their games and rebellion are harder to alter for several reasons. Some things do get cut, including what Katniss' does for Rue, in the recap. But The Finale is the one point of the games that to some degree needs to be shown in all versions. There's no one else left to cut away to, for one, and there also needs to be some sort of narrative ending to close the Games. It's harder to edit actual deaths, and harder still when it's down to the last two tributes remaining. (I'll point out here that the Capitol doesn't alter the force field trick in Haymitch's games, either, even though some people might have read rebellion even in that [Katniss and Peeta certainly do!] They really couldn't. This is why I think Haymitch's side plot to blow up the cornucopia and kill off Silka and likely himself in the process might have actually worked to cause a visible stark for the rebellion more than anything else that he does. To at least some degree, that would've had to have been shown. They would need it to explain the ending.)

Now, in a best case scenario, the Gamemakers certainly could've sent in a targeted mutt or something to take out Katniss or Peeta, and thus handpicked their singular Victor. But this idea is immediately foiled by the both of them very imminently killing themselves. This time, the Capitol does not have the benefit of time on their side, and the 5 minute delay in the footage makes not one ounce of difference.

Secondly, Katniss & Peeta have the added protection their personal narratives afford them. It's harder to erase Prim from all footage than it was Sid and Ma, because Katniss volunteering for Prim is The Fact about her everyone latches onto pre-Games. The desperate star-crossed lovers storyline, meanwhile, effectively makes the berry trick ambiguous, instead of inherently rebellious. Some might see it as an attack against the Capitol, but plenty more buy into the romance, and even Snow is forced to admit that this narrative can be useful in shifting the public sentiment. By that point in the books, the time for killing them has passed and it makes more sense for the Capitol to use Katniss & Peeta, just as by the end of SOTR, it makes more sense for the Capitol to use Haymitch to solidify their propaganda. Thus, Haymitch's story enhances Katniss and Peeta's, rather than tarnishes its believability. When propaganda works, it will have people believing what they are told above even their own memories. Katniss' ~luck~ comes from what Haymitch never had... a series of other events and people directly aligning with her actions to allow them to break through the Capitol's narrative.

[spooky-activity]

Oh I see now why Kafka knew exactly what to do about Himeko's panic attack earlier

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[raddest-laddest]

local man accidentally throws his dead wife into a cult and forgets