#Duality of Identity

[threeawfulfruits]

Not the “Across the Spider-Verse” film introducing yet MORE ways in which Miles is pulled between two worlds/two identities!!!

Already in “Into the Spider-Verse” we saw him pulled in two directions / straddling two identities or communities on multiple fronts, namely:

Afrolatino

Bilingual

Graffiti artist / STEM student

Regular kid / Spider-Man

Fancy private school kid / Brooklyn public school kid

“Focused” honors student / “Distracted” serial truant

And now we get to tack on:

His DNA is literally hybridized - part from his birth universe (Earth-1610B) AND part from the Earth-42 universe

Heroic Spider-Person AND dangerous anomaly

Bruh. The levels. They really went all-in with him on the myriad ways one can be othered by their own community - never being considered enough of one identity to be claimed by either of them and thus never really feeling like you truly, wholly belong anywhere, huh?! Gotdamn.

[cinephilesadeqi]

MOVIE ANALYSIS AND REVIEW: "The Mask" (1994)

Introduction:“The Mask” is a 1994 American superhero comedy film directed by Chuck Russell and produced by Bob Engelman. It stars Jim Carrey in the title role of Stanley Ipkiss, a bank clerk who discovers a magical mask that transforms him into a green-faced troublemaker with supernatural abilities. The film was a critical and commercial success upon its release, cementing Carrey’s reputation as…

[t0bey]

WON’T LET ME SHAKE, I’M SHAKEN

[thevelaryons]

ADDAM & RHAENYRA - The Dying of the Dragons

Fire and Blood, George R.R. Martin // Anti-Savior Savior Complex by @/asoftepilogue // Photo by Tony Webster // To My Father/To My Future Son, Ocean Vuong // Antigonick, Anne Carson // Tumblr Poll by @/allthingswhumpyandangsty // Smoke and Fire 1 by Jennifer Walton // Family Line - Conan Gray // The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats // It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - R.E.M. // House Burning by Adobe Stock Images // Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad // Dynasty - Miia // Blinbox: Game Of Thrones Dragon Skull by TaylorHerring // unknown // A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin

[sciderman]

Only just realised Oliver me is all over me. I feel ashamed.

heehee... heehee... oh, the double entendres.

[witchblade]

i think vivienne was the most galling example of majority of players not understanding well really anything. but im not going to write another scary essay about that well i probably will once i replay it. sorry in advance

[hellgram]

also with all the damage the show did to jon's reputation as a good northern lad and wildling i hope germ comes out with like. yeah he's rhaegar and lyanna's son and the name she gave him while bleeding out on the birthing bed alone but for her big brother holding her hand in a tower with no way to know that baby aegon had been murdered leaving the title of Egg 6 up for grabs was like. howland.

[katiajewelbox]

Happy Birthday to the incomparable Dilandau Albatou and their other identity Celena Schezar! My fan art combines AI generated art with my traditional pen and colour pencil art in this tribute to my favourite character from the Vision of Escaflowne. Are Dilandau and Celena really so different or are they simply hidden aspects of the same person? My art poses that question.

Media: Pen and ink with sharpie and colour pencil, AI generated background art made with DALL E 3, digital text and edits done in Canva.

#katia_artpage#dilandau#dilandaualbatou#dilandaualbatau#manga#anime#fanart#visionofescaflowne#tenkuunoescaflowne#escaflowne#transgendercharacter#lgbtqcharacter#silverhair#redeyes#blueeyes#medieval#visionaryart#symbolist#fire#animecharacter#escaflownefanart#colourpencil#traditionalart#aiart#mixedmedia

[hanzajesthanza]

nooo like reading maria janion's such comprehensive overview of vampires and what defines a vampire and how the myth changes through times and authors, as entirely expected, has contributed to my regis brainrot.

because though it's obvious how many tropes regis subverts as he literally talks about himself, it's more overwhelming when they're all summarized focused on examples from across history and the literature canon, and pretty much hitting none of them or fucking with all of them. because it's not that he just doesn't fit in within his own fantasy universe, but that he doesn't fit in within the broader canonical definition...

"my personal vision of fantasy (...) he is not the typical vampire bloodsucker, according to the dictates of the canon" ... uggghhhh sapkowski, in his witcher, by challenging all genre expectations and tropes, creates all of these characters that don't fit in anywhere, neither in their universe or in the broader canon. and thus, can only find fraternity with each other

i was just reading like 'so... so he doesn't fit in *anywhere*... 🥺'. regis in baptism of fire explaining how he doesn't conform to either vampiric expectations of vampires (socially, for his personal principles) nor of human expectations of vampires (biologically, for his literal existence). but it even goes farther when you look beyond the witcher and to the broader literary and mythological canon. in practically every understanding of a vampire he would not be recognized as one of them... and does he even want to.

[inverse-problem]

I like v4v because you know what’s hotter than one robot? two robots

[liaragaming]

There was a post going around earlier that made me realize the theme of Inquisition is duality. Every character in the party is torn between two sides of themselves.

The Inquisitor can believe they're chosen or just some poor fool who was in the wrong place at the wrong time - and they can go back and forth on these thoughts.

Bull is torn between his duty to the Qun and the people he loves.

Solas - obviously - has a lot going on. Not just with who he is and who he pretends to be but also joining the Inquisition with a straight forward plan and finding himself questioning the wisdom of that plan at every turn.

Blackwall - the honorable man he wants to be and his traitorous past.

Cole - human or spirit?

Cassandra - the noble Seeker who finds her faith and everything she believed in (including herself) in doubt

Sera - undeniably an elf who refuses to have anything to do with her race, which is ultimately a trait that makes her who she is while also alienating herself.

Vivienne - a woman with a practiced hard exterior who's afraid to show she cares because it can be construed as "weakness"

Varric - he's his cheerful self, but I think he really hates being back in the fight again

And I'm not really sure what the point of all this is except... perhaps the game itself has a bit of a dual-nature to it. Like, is this a story of your protagonist striking out and saving the world? Or is it a story of Solas and Corypheus, two gods who set out to "destroy" the world, and the poor mortals who got in between? Are we the hero in this story? Or a side character?

And that point, I think it's more accurate to say the theme of Inquisition is identity. Because we, the player, are the only ones who can answer the question of what the game is about. And our choices help direct these characters toward one side of their internal struggle or the other.

[frillyfacefins]

I beg all Fizzarolli-Fans to watch (or at least listen) to Stick It To The Man from the Musical version of School of Rock

I know Beetlejuice is Alex‘ signature role, but the energy he brings to Dewey „Mr. Schneebly“ Finn is SO infectious. I can‘t listen to this song without suddenly regressing into my 14-year-old wannabe metalhead self; an incredibly great Rock-Anthem-turned-Musical-Banger

And it‘s so much fun to imagine Fizzy singing this song, too

[summertimemusician]

Linktober Shadow Day 6

Shadow Beast

The Twilight Princess fan in me really came out on this one huh? I blame the sleep deprivation. We never quite addressed the effects of the Twili Magic on Twilight and how it's only sheer force of will and the fact he's so darn kind, Midna's influence and Time teaching him the Song of Healing first being the main factor in making sure he doesn't fall huh? Even more so than the One Cutscene. We also need to talk more about the fact we technically kill Midna's people and how by the end of it all Twi is so changed by the Twilight Realm who's it's own can of worms that, much like Time he can't quite go home as himself me thinks, as a treat to myself

Mostly Twilight x Reader, this goes out to all of the folks who never quite recovered from Twilight Princess and the fact we never got that sequel (I mean it gave us BOTW and TOTK and Wild, but at what cost?), but can be read as Link x Reader either on the platonic or romantic.

Don't think there's any warning this time but might edit later if needed.

Actually yeah there is one warning

TW:

References to body horror typical to Twilight Princess, though I recommend not reading it I'd you're squeamish period.

Even after so long, you and Twilight could still remember the beauty and solemnity of the Twilight Realm, with it’s zircon skies with clouds of trapped fire and rains of viper obsidian.

The silence of the infection upon the realm of light broken only by the echoes of the howling elegy of the Twili and Interlopers who came before creeping over the land like rot and wither over flowers, the lament of the lost spirits of the people and animals of Hyrule falling over your spirit like a shroud, a shared hymm from two worlds reality had been twisted, only both of it’s princess, one filled the luster of empyreal sorrow in her mind and one with the scorch abyssal fury in her heart knowing to see the reflective tragedy befallen to their people. With Link as the one who restored the memory of what once was in both worlds as divinity and calamity sang in his bones and you a witness to the restoration of harmony to the discordant symphony, the two different songs of light and shadow refusing to let go of either of you in an eternal duet.

(Once touched by magic, it shall never leave the one if holds onto Twilight may have been the one with the Beast in his soul, with the howl of a wolf, the bite of shades in his veins and the lament of innocents taking precedence over anything purely because he learned how to silence the whispers of the one’s who made a grab for heaven’s throat and we’re pushed in the cracks of reality for their prideful vánitas even as he could taste it in the back of his tongue, twining around his ribs and overgrowing into his shattered mirror heart like vines, flowering with the divinity and eternal nature of the Hero’s Spirit, already having the hunt of the Fierce Deity in it’s veins and the remains of cursed divinity welcoming the new aspect merrily so he could bear it. The song of the innocent wrongly punished among the sinners rang into your mind, scratched at your skin and dug it’s claws around your throat, chocking you with sorrow and regret, more willing to leave gouges than to let go of someone’s who’s looked into the reverse side of the sacred realm and wept with grief for it’s people and the curse of it’s beauty.

It would never leave you, Link or Zelda, who learned who love the darkness the way Midna did, madness and unsightly delight and all.)

While the people of Hyrule merely became trapped as observers at best, if they were lucky, Midna’s raging grief and resentment quickly became obvious, once she revealed that rotten Zant had done to her and her people, twisted into a new form, distorted in body and trapped in mind like the animals and beasts of Hyrule, their pain driving them in becoming feral attack hounds for the usurper, their howling screams as much sorrow, wailing in an attempt to let their agonized, tortured souls to escape from it’s mouth, a futile attempt to flee from the strain of reality forgetting their true form in favor of Zant’s twisted design, of being used as sentient canvases for cruelty and ruthlessness, of their will being stepped over in favor of corrupting recreation.

Of how it only didn’t quaff down at Midna’s mind because of the nature of her ephemerality, fully beloved by the Realm of Darkness, of how she loathed him for it and wouldn’t wish her fate of that of her people’s on any living or dead soul, once she came to love the Realm of Light through Zelda’s sacrifice.

Which was why, when you saw three of the victims of the telltale twisting from darkness utilized with the intent to drive one insane, a familiar looking plate of stone engraved on the remains of ashes from their identity, the curling of distorted, solid darkness making crooked mishapen manes, bent out of shape from their too long torso and long, long arms adorned with twitching, deformed claws, you feel very justified in way your blood froze, holding onto Wild’s arms and yanking with all you had so his shot will miss, his yelp of surprise swallowed by the bone cracking, blood curdling screech from one of the beasts as a Skyward Strike grazed it’s petrified flesh.

You feel something warm drip down your ears, taste the promise of violence and the cry of lost souls on the back of your tongue and swallow it down as the memory of the Twilight Realm attempted to bite and crack your ribcage to quaff down your heart, to devour it bones and all, calling out in desperation, “Don’t! That’s a person!”

Sky freezes, as still as a statue, Legend curses the heavens crimson in a way you are so glad Wind isn’t around to hear as he retreats Twilight snarls, the wolf in him revolted and disgusted, you wonder if the Twilight is singing in his mind too as he restrains himself from reaching for the crystal as nails just a tad too sharp invite droplets of blood to one hand, grimm as a graveyard “We need to get them together anyway, felling just one won’t be enough.”

You grimace, releasing Wild, keeping your eye on the Shadow Beasts and another on your group, pointedly not mentioning the twitch in Four, amethyst clouding his gaze and the prism of his eyes turning gray with memories you and Twilight both knew all too well, of the grimace in Time’s otherwise stony countenance, you’d wished to avoid bloodshed of whoever was turned against their will, but you and Twilight both knew that might not be possible, death, unfortunately, might be the greatest mercy you can grant these poor souls.

(The Twilight is harmonizing in your ears, jeering, you feel the Interlopers insanity and the Twili’s lament on your teeth. As lovely as it could be cruel, the merry feeling upon meeting, the sorrow at a parting.

If you ever see the Shadow, you might just try indulging the echo by offering it’s blood as tribute. You'd make it hurt. The fact it learned the spell used to deform reality in such a way was cruel and vile.)

“Legend, how is your magic?” shoots Warriors, analyzing, calculating, it snaps the purple back into Four’s gaze, brings his mind back to focus as he reaches into his inventory for his Moon Pearl, Twilight is circling the beasts with single minded purpose, herding them together and prowling as he would as a wolf, Wild thankfully listened to your warning and had switched from the more destructive Flame and Lightning Arrows to ice ones. It doesn’t contain them for long but it gives a few precious seconds to strategize.

Legend catches on, switching to the Ice Rod on one hand and grasping his own Moon Pearl with the other, Sky has another Skyward Strike ready, but doesn’t release it, you switch from your sword to accepting a Magic Rod tossed at you from Wild, “Good enough.”

You breath in shakily, the symphony of the Twilight Realm has quieted, more lament than anthem as it’s Hero steps back, returning to your side, he nods grimly, “... Then, let’s end this quickly.”

You know your will boys will do their best to heal them, and failing that, you hope that they’ll hear the requiem of the Twili rather than the lament once they’re at peace, that they'll find some form of threnody.

It is a horrible thing, to be forced to die as a beast.

[likealittleheartbeat]

"The mask in a primitive festival is revered and experienced as a veritable apparition of the mythical being that it represents--even though everyone knows that a [human] made the mask and that a [human] is wearing it. The one wearing it, furthermore, is identified with the god during the time of the ritual of which the mask is a part. He does not merely represent the god; he is the god. The literal fact that the apparition is composed of A, a mask, B, its reference to a mythical being, and C, a [human], is dismissed from the mind, and the presentation is allowed to work without correction upon the sentiments of both the beholder and the actor. In other words, there has been a shift of view from the logic of the normal secular sphere, where things are understood to be distinct from one another, to a theatrical or play sphere, where they are accepted for what they are experienced as being..."

Joseph Campbell, Primitive Mythology, "The Lesson of the Mask"

[whiskeyswifty]

my summer style icons for 2024 in case anyone was wondering

[turiyatitta]

Beyond Illusion

Discovering the Space Between The mind creates identities and builds a sense of self out of thoughts, emotions, and past experiences. These constructs shape beliefs around who you think you are and who you think you aren’t. This entire narrative, though compelling, is merely a distortion. It presents itself as reality but, in truth, is nothing more than an intricate mental creation. We become…