#It somewhat helps us to do that..

[recent-rose]

yknowwww there is something... deeply uncomfortable about the way mel never speaks directly to viktor in the 'build hextech weapons' scene. she really only speaks to jayce. plenty of people have pointed this out already but like the one scene they actually share a meaningful interaction and she treats him like he's beneath her. all this after jayce has emphasized how important viktor is, that hextech is theirs, together. she unequivocally ices him out, there's no other way to interpret this scene. the way it's shot too - from viktor's perspective, looking up at her, as though to reinforce the same belief in him. like he doesn't even bother expecting respect from her - or anyone from the upper echelon of piltover. he's fully accustomed to being dehumanized by everyone around him at this point. sometimes even by jayce, despite the trust they clearly have in each other.

then of course after this scene is viktor experimenting on himself. it's pretty clear that he has internalized his own dehumanization. crazy.

[wave-nine]

Hi hi hi!!

I LOVE how you draw Papyrus, Would it be possible to get a tutorial or smth on how you draw him?

preferably with classic or swap, since I'm having trouble getting down how neutral or negative expressions would work with their kind of face

Helloooooooo!!!!! Thank you! :D

Sorry it's not exactly a tutorial, but just a rough step by step. I generally start with the eyes, then I do the overall face shape. I go fixing it as I draw in the mouth, then do the rest of the head and other details.

As for expressions, it might help if you draw it on something more familiar first. I'm more accustomed to drawing anime style people, so I'll use that as an example. Pay attention to the shape of the eyebrows, the eyes, and the mouth. It'll become easier to translate that into the way you draw these guys!

[transmechanicus]

I’m being very brave at 1am this tuesday morning, there’s a queer gathering event for my grad school tonight and if i want The Rewards Of Being Known i am going to have to endure The Presence Of My Ex and every neuron i have thinks i’m being hunted by tigers just for saying yes to the invite. We’re not even on bad terms (afaik) i just have no data on how many ppl there will be, and i’m terrified of seeming like a creep just for showing up in the same space as them. Fuck and Damn and Hell.

[bumblingbabooshka]

I hate when Chakotay is watered down to be Janeway's yes man because their disagreements are actually very interesting. [A lot of rambling analysis of this debate in particular below]

Chakotay in Parallax is very interesting in that he has to navigate a lot of different dynamics. Balance a lot of plates while being watched keenly by everyone around him. Immediately preceding this scene we see him ask B'Elanna for her opinion on the bridge - both as a chance to show her knowledge in his bid to make her chief engineer (because she wouldn't get a chance to otherwise as Janeway has clearly indicated that at this point she views B'Elanna as a troublemaker who won't be considered for the position) and because he just thinks she's a better engineer than Carey and wants the best possible chance of them succeeding. Janeway sees this as unacceptable. Carey is the chief engineer and so he should be called and Chakotay NOT asking for his opinion is an insult to Carey, Janeway, and might make the crew doubt Chakotay (and by extension the Maquis') loyalty to the Starfleet crew.

At this point it seems that to Janeway integration ["They're not your people"] means the path of least resistance, specifically tailored towards the Starfleet crew. She wants Chakotay by her side to keep the Maquis crew calm but also seems unwilling to consider them for important positions aboard the ship. Though she says that the Maquis are not Chakotay's people, not his crew, she certainly doesn't seem to consider them hers [Compare this to later instances where she stresses 'our' crew, here she simply says they aren't Chakotay's: Whose crew are they? Are they crew at all?]. This less leaves the impression of "We need to be a cohesive team" and more "You're not in charge here." She essentially accuses Chakotay of playing favorites. In her mind Chakotay's actions are not conducive to integrating the crews which would (again, in her mind) mean the Maquis being docile and accepting, obedient and content - not making trouble for the Starfleet crew. Chakotay counters Janeway's accusation with one of his own: That he IS trying to integrate them into the crew but her not allowing the Maquis any opportunity to prove themselves or succeed, not showing any trust in any of them (except, implicitly at this point, him) is making things difficult. At this point the Maquis crew are ready to mutiny on his word at any time. He knows this for a fact. Aside from that looming threat (the threat being that tensions are high and if nothing changes and they remain high there might be a mutiny even without his word) - Chakotay knows these people and trusts them. Though Starfleet and Janeway think of the Maquis as a violent bunch of criminal terrorists, Chakotay and a good number of the Maquis joined because they believed in the cause they were fighting for. These are people Chakotay knows WILL fight fiercely for what they believe in and conversely, AGAINST what they perceive as injustice. Even if they're not in the majority - they're used to picking fights which seem impossible to win. At this point Janeway admits that she ISN'T making it easy for Chakotay to integrate the Maquis - specifically talking about practical concerns; how she doesn't feel she can let Maquis crew have roles of importance on the ship because they lack the ability to hold them. "They don't have the discipline, they don't have the training," - asserting that they just aren't prepared for any such roles and it doesn't have to do with them being Maquis specifically. Ostensibly, she's treating them as she might treat anyone unqualified for the job.

Chakotay maintains that some of them, like B'Elanna, have the ability to be trained - challenging her point by saying that IF they're trained there's no reason for any Maquis member NOT to be given a more prominent role on the ship. He isn't suggesting they just unqualified people important jobs. If the problem is that they aren't trained, let's train them. These people have the ability to succeed if you give them the tools they need and a fair chance, he insists. Janeway then switches gears and her argument becomes not "The Maquis are untrained so they can't be given those jobs" but "The Maquis crew are unworthy of those jobs when compared to Starfleet personnel" saying that it'll cause insult and upset among the Starfleet crew if any member of the Maquis were to be promoted above them. Again, her idea of integration is based more on Maquis subservience to the Starfleet crew than it is the two crews working together. (Not that I believe she looks at it that way, it's just where her 'path of least resistance' leads) - though she accuses Chakotay of being too focused on "his" crew, she is admitting here that she believes her real crew are the Starfleet officers aboard, not the Maquis. She also admits here that the system she wishes to maintain (and is asking Chakotay to enforce) is one where there will ostensibly never be any chance of a Maquis crew member being promoted because no Maquis crew member will ever be more qualified, more worthy, than a member of Starfleet. We can see how it'd be difficult for Chakotay to convince his crew to remain calm under these circumstances. There's also Tuvok's behavior toward him at the beginning of the episode where the Vulcan nearly goes over Chakotay's head and when he doesn't do so (as Chakotay reminds him that HE'S the superior officer, the First Officer in fact,) Tuvok acts as if him backing down (partially) and conceding (partially) to Chakotay's authority is a favor to Chakotay.

Tuvok in this conversation is downright insubordinate to Chakotay. Despite Chakotay being the first officer, he doesn't take what he says seriously, argues that his own opinion on what should be done should be followed rather than Chakotay's, lectures the first officer about his conduct, and then almost seems to threaten him with a report. In Starfleet's rigidly hierarchical rules, acting like this to a superior officer (ESPECIALLY the first officer) wouldn't be tolerated and Tuvok knows this perfectly well. He isn't a rebellious character and clearly in other episodes adheres to these Starfleet hierarchies and codes of conduct very strictly. He values them highly. But Chakotay, a Maquis, shouldn't be First Officer. Why should he be given respect for a title he didn't earn? [Affirming Janeway's argument about how Starfleet officers won't be eager to follow a Maquis senior officer] Even though Chakotay tells Tuvok off for it ["I don't have to explain myself to you"] he doesn't threaten to put Tuvok on report or explicitly mention his insubordination. It's unclear if this is Chakotay's personality or if he just doesn't feel he CAN do that. Tuvok is one of the three most senior officers aboard and very close to Janeway. Chakotay has to think of the optics of any situation at all times - we see seconds after this conversation that rumors have already started swirling around B'Elanna being relegated to quarters that've fanned the flames of mutiny. Though we know Tuvok has personal reasons for behaving the way he does toward Chakotay (which he later admits), I really don't think it'd be out of the ordinary for this to be how most Starfleet personnel would treat the Maquis if they weren't outright hostile: Like they're only pretend crewmen. To a lesser extent we even see this with Janeway: In the following staff meeting, she clearly doesn't consider B'Elanna a viable option when Chakotay brings her up and almost ignores the suggestion entirely.

It also, again, leaves Chakotay in an impossible position. If he doesn't protect and fight for the Maquis crew, they won't ever be considered a true part of the crew and dissatisfaction will likely spread among them. Dissatisfaction which the Starfleet crew will then use to further label the Maquis as insubordinate, uncontrollable, unfit. Not to mention that if he doesn't advocate for them, he might lose their trust. However, if he DOES try to help the Maquis crew advance the Starfleet crew will view this as 'favoritism' and will further distrust him, won't respect the people he puts forth as worthy. Janeway seems to be intent on not advocating for any of the Maquis crew and also seems unwilling to ask that the Starfleet crew grant leniency. She implies that the Maquis crew need to learn to get in line and keep quiet and it seems almost like [we must remember the optics] she has Chakotay as the only Maquis in a position of power to facilitate that. Chakotay recognizes and pushes against that, saying that he won't just be her token Maquis - there only so she can point to him and say "See? We don't discriminate against the Maquis here." effectively a tool used to shut down any arguments of unfair treatment and a tool to quell the Maquis if any talk of mutiny DOES arise. In this model, Janeway can just tell Chakotay to calm them down and they'll listen because they trust him. She also doesn't have to really listen to anything he says: A token First Officer has no authority; his words don't hold weight. [Chakotay isn't Maquis anymore, they aren't his crew anymore - ok. What is he then? What are they? Nothing, without respect.] This plan seems untenable, as much as Janeway frames it as sensible: "I can't make it easy, Commander. Surely you can understand that," and alternatives as impossible "How am I supposed to ask them to accept a Maquis as their superior officer just because circumstances have forced us together?" - in the long run, how would this be sustainable? In any power structure, you cannot expect a group of people you're unwilling to grant trust or agency to obediently follow you forever. This proposed form of 'integration' in which the Maquis are kept on the bottom rung and told intermittently to stay there quietly by the only one of them granted permission to stand at the top would never be sustainable - especially with a group like the Maquis who again, were founded on the belief that its members should fight against inequity and are already on the verge of mutiny.

I specifically find the statement "How am I supposed to ask them to accept a Maquis as their superior officer just because circumstances have forced us together?" to be interesting because personally I'd say that being forced together for the rest of almost everyone's natural life is a pretty good reason to ask people to adapt and Janeway does understand this but only applies it to the Maquis - the Maquis are the ones who have to adapt, not Starfleet. The only thing the Starfleet crew have to do is tolerate their presence on board.

At this point Janeway again claims that if Chakotay can show her a 'qualified' Maquis candidate she'll consider them. I believe this is true but we already know that Janeway's standards for qualification will likely not fit the vast majority of the Maquis and Chakotay ignores the claim in favor of putting forth B'Elanna again, firmly. Janeway predictably dismisses her as unqualified and Chakotay disagrees, arguing that he knows her. He's worked with her. He KNOWS that B'Elanna can excel at the job even if she doesn't meet Starfleet/Janeway's qualifications. He doesn't value those qualifications over what he's observed about her - just as he didn't value Carey's title over what he knew about the gap between his and B'Elanna's abilities. Then, Chakotay switches gears. He admits that Janeway's right - he does view the Maquis as his crew but that's because Janeway (almost self admittingly) doesn't and if he doesn't, who will they have? [What kind of captain, kind of man, would he be?] "You're going to have to give them more authority if you want their loyalty." "Theirs or yours, Commander?" Janeway frames Chakotay's words pointing out the flaws in this plan which I outlined earlier, as almost a threat (if she doesn't have Chakotay's loyalty it'll most definitely mean mutiny). Chakotay asserts that it wasn't a threat, he's only trying to help by telling her how the Maquis crew will react to what she's telling him. "I'm sorry you can't see that" - not an apology for what he said but that she isn't willing to budge, not willing to listen to him and acknowledge that she might be as biased towards her crew as he is towards his. Chakotay is trying his best to acclimate his crew but if Janeway isn't willing to do the same, to talk to her people as he's talking to his, then this will not end well and that isn't a threat. It's just the reality of the situation. He then asks permission to leave, showing he is willing to observe Starfleet protocol (just as when he asked permission to speak freely), and Janeway lets him go, exhaling at the intensity of their debate when alone in her ready room.

[brambletakato]

before and after

[vaguely-concerned]

waiting until the second season opener to reveal that stolas terminally love-at-first-sighted that little motherfucker (I wish I was exaggerating or joking but no that shit was literally ON SIGHT), thus recontextualizing in one stroke everything about season 1, was an act of stunning emotional violence in storytelling that I may never recover from it's perfect

[deus-ex-mona]

when the slowburn makes the ship extra cute~~~

[cinnamuff]

I deleted all of my twitter accounts and I'm feeling so so good about it! Haven't had the thought to check it or anything these past couple months so I felt it was time to go.

I'm gonna go draw comics now! Yahoo!

[clowndensation]

alicent haters are wild they'll be like "she's such an ungrateful vindictive hypocritical bitch. why isn't she nicer why didn't she have a spine and stand up for herself when her dad groomed her into being a child bride" like child brides are victims with no autonomy, which often affects how they develop (as they are busy being brides who are children in those crucial developmental years, where they learn things like how to cope with (the) stress (of being a child bride) and feelings of jealousy (over other people not having to suffer through being a child bride) and self hatred (over your body being used without your consent as a child bride)). she isn't capable of being your perfect madonna figure because of the being sold as a child by her father to her best friend's father. as his bride. hope this clears things up!

[hyumjim]

I just think it is amazing that Felix is the most literal minded person on earth so he felt touched by the story of beauty and the beast and he wanted to write a song about it so he did and the song is like “I am the beast from beauty and the beast and I am in love with a woman whose name is belle and then I get in a fight with a guy and his name is Gaston but then belle the woman saves me and there is a happy ending and that’s what happened in beauty and the beast”

[shalom-iamcominghome]

For every person I unfollow with weird opinions on jews, I follow a few other jews instead. This has been for the better, even if I was bitter about hitting the "unfollow" button at first (sound off if you want to use this post to self-promo)

[cultivating-wildflowers]

Tonight’s anecdote from the knitting circle:

When one of the ladies, Ruth, was a girl, mid-Michigan had a really bad tornado season. One day a raven turned up on her family's back porch and, as a joke, her mother opened the door and said, “Well, Jimmy, are you coming in or what?”

And the raven came inside.

He proceeded to make himself at home. He had a favorite perch on one of the armchairs and would clean his claws on the fabric. They fed him outside in an old enclosed dog kennel. He was evidently well-mannered and didn't disrupt the household at all. He simply strutted around like he owned the place and that was that.

Near as they could guess, the storms had disoriented him and he'd made himself welcome at the first friendly house he found.

But word eventually got around about the family who'd been adopted by a raven. A few months later, while Ruth and Jimmy were chilling outside, a car pulled up in front of the house. A man opened the door and called, "Hey, Pete! Come on, let's go home!"

Jimmy (or Pete) hopped on into the car and it drove away.

[ayara-resara]

.

[anghraine]

A bunch of the responses to this post of mine brought up the appeal of a (bookverse) scenario where Denethor lives.

I always find this fascinating! As I said in the post, while Denethor's tragic arc is a fantastic one that makes sense for his character, it also feels a bit like he (and to a lesser but still present extent, Faramir) gets steamrollered by the plot for the sake of Aragorn's ascension.

So what happens if he doesn't get driven to suicide by the plot? I've only read a couple of fics dealing with this, long ago (not on AO3), and both resolved it by having Denethor ultimately come around to Team Aragorn. Personally, it's difficult for me to imagine him doing this of his own free will in basically any scenario.

But what does happen?

I'm not sure, but personally, I always think of three basic ways to avert the "Denethor conveniently removes himself from the picture, leaving a dying Faramir to be convinced by mystical kingly healing" situation without drastically changing the circumstances. Here they are:

Scenario 1

In canon, Denethor briefly regains his sanity when Faramir calls out to him and vacillates for a moment before committing to self-destruction. This scenario can split off there: what if he'd swung the other way and come out of it?

At this point, multiple people are dead as a result of Denethor's despair and Faramir is still dying. His position is about as shaky as possible. What now?

Scenario 2

Let's rewind further. Faramir is brought in per canon, sickened from an arrow + the Black Breath. Denethor considers one last, desperate look into the palantír, but stays with Faramir instead. He never despairs completely and never goes mad. He's right there when Aragorn heals Faramir.

This likely means that Faramir loses his TTT ambivalence the same way as in canon and is a firm supporter of Aragorn. But Denethor (though affected in some way by the restoration of his son) still has major reservations and hasn't jeopardized himself nearly as much as in Scenario #1. This is going to be messy.

Scenario 3

But if we really want to unwind the way the plot is structured to brush Denethor's and Faramir's initial reservations aside without really engaging with them, we've got to go further back. Change exactly one thing: Faramir isn't dying. He's not even that sick, at least not yet.

As a result, Denethor isn't driven to despair. Faramir is basically fine at this point and does not need to be pulled out of the shadows by Aragorn (and thus unlikely to immediately recognize Aragorn as king). Aragorn is not going to push the kingship matter during the height of a war for survival. The best case scenario (IMO) is that, somehow, Denethor is still convinced to send troops to the Morannon as a tactical maneuver, the Ring is still destroyed, and the question of Aragorn's claim is handled afterwards.

How is it handled, though?

[loveologystudies]

thinking about isat flight rising au.......