#More of a rant really

[wowyoulikeflowers]

I just came across a community post asking whether Regulus could be considered a good person in canon, and out of curiosity, I clicked on the comments. One person's stood out to me and has made me feel a multitude of emotions, so here I am, ready to rant and create an essay of sorts as to why, yes, Regulus was a good person canonically.

For starters, we don't know for certain whether he willingly joined the Death Eaters. Sure, Kreacher said he did, but Kreacher has been indoctrinated by generations' worth of Black family blood purity beliefs and cannot imagine a world where his Master Regulus would go against the grain like Sirius did and betray their mother. And even if Regulus did, it's unlikely he would have told Kreacher because he would have very likely gone to Walburga and told her that Reg didn't believe in the cause anymore. Regulus may have been the heir at that point, but his mother was still Lady Black, and her commands would have outweighed his.

There are, of course, the newspaper clippings stuck to his wall about Voldemort and his victories during the First War, but we don't know the reasoning behind their existence. Sirius' room has Gryffindor memorabilia, muggle posters of half-naked women and motorbikes, and images of his friends stuck to the walls, and that was one of the ways he rebelled against his family. Regulus could have, very likely, been doing the opposite; sticking what his mother would approve of onto his walls so she still trusted him. He could have been using them for research purposes. Or, as is assumed in canon, maybe he did have those up as a pledge of his allegiance to the cause. We don't know.

All this to say, Regulus' motivations behind joining Voldemort in the first place will only ever be speculation. We'll never know for certain, but for the purposes of this 'essay', I'm going to assume that Regulus did willingly join at 16 and was excited to serve.

Now, continuing with what we know canonically. It is common knowledge, or at least not hidden away, that Regulus left the cause when he died. Sirius says in OoTP: "From what I found out after [Regulus] died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out" (p. 112). We obviously learn in DH that isn't exactly true, as well as a lot more about the nature surrounding his death. We know that he discovered the existence of Horcruxes, or at least knew of the one, and that he died attempting to retrieve the locket Horcrux so that Voldemort could be mortal and therefore killed.

The comment that inspired this rant claimed that he changed his mind in the end, but he still wasn't a good person. Disregarding the fact that this way of looking at someone's actions is incredibly reductionist and also implies people aren't allowed to change and grow, it's his defection I want to look at. We know of at least two other Death Eaters from the First War who defected: Severus Snape and Igor Karkaroff. Snape became a spy for the Order while Karkaroff was on the run before eventually being caught. Two very different methods of leaving the cause and changing allegiance. Regulus certainly could have gone the route Karkaroff went. He had the resources as Heir Black, and he obviously would have been smart enough to evade capture and discovery by both sides, as evidenced by the fact he pieced together that Voldemort had created a Horcrux, a piece of incredibly obscure and dark magic.

Instead, he went a route more similar to Snape, in the sense that he completely went against Voldemort and blatantly wanted to take him down. In his note, he says, "I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more" (p. 609, HBP). Regulus wanted Voldemort to die, wanted him to be vincible so his reign and regime would one day fail. And, sure, one could argue that he wasn't against what Voldemort was fighting for and instead the lengths he was going to. This is when I remind you of how Regulus died. Regulus died from drinking the potion the locket Horcrux resided in and then being dragged into the lake and drowned (and likely torn apart, too) by hundreds of Inferi.

And he did this in the place of his house elf.

It is mentioned quite a bit, what with Hermione's S.P.E.W. campaign, that house elves are commonly mistreated by Wixen society. They are seen as lesser, sub-beings, servants and little more by the majority of wix. If they mess up, they are forced to beat or injure themselves as punishment. And yet, Regulus Black, Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, a house that considers itself royalty and above other wix, much less non-human beings, died to protect a house elf.

If Regulus truly believed in the cause, why would he have been worried for Kreacher after he first returned from the cave? Why would he have "...told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house" (p. 195, DH)? Why would he have drunk the potion instead of having Kreacher drink it when it was proven the elf could survive it? Kreacher, someone who very few others would have considered protecting, much less treating well?

And, of course, I could go on about how Regulus (like Draco), didn't truly believe in the cause because he didn't know better, since he was placed in a vacuum chamber of sorts with other pureblood Slytherins who all grew up hearing the same mantra and was never truly challenged by anyone other than his brother (most likely), and it certainly wasn't explained to him why blood purity is nonsense, as well as joined as a 16-year-old and therefore wasn't anywhere near old enough or mentally developed enough to make such a large, drastic decision. But that isn't what this 'essay' is about, so I digress.

To conclude, Regulus was a boy, no older than 18, who died trying to bring down a dark wizard and going, quite firmly, against what he was raised to believe. He was a good person, and had he survived, I'm sure he would have become a champion for house elf rights with Hermione and done whatever intelligent, swotty thing his heart desired.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[up-sideand-down]

24 for your choosing violence thing! 🌟

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

Maybe it's because I'm ace, but I do not understand any of the ship wars in FF7. It doesn't matter. I don't care if the ship is toxic, pure like a cinnamon roll, or boring. It doesn't matter. You wanna know why?

IT'S AN RPG. Everyone is going to have a different experience, because you are meant to role play. Fuck it, I've had a difference experience each time I've played.

I don't care that much about your ship. At all. If you love it, good for you. Sometimes I'll read about it. But I'm interacting with you if all you do is spout hate about other ships. You don't have to like them, but for your own sake, stop thinking about them.

Learn to curate your online experience to be more positive for you.

[twinkuraba]

TBH OG twewy is like. The only time for me personally that NS actually... works.

And that's because it comes across as exactly what I'd personally label what it is at the time; a mutual teen crush.

They're both in this high stakes-high risk situation where their emotional states are already hitting the roof and continuing to climb so it's not unrealistic to think that 'oh this person is actually pretty cool and neat' is getting mixed in there.

The fact they don't have any hobbies in common isn't a big deal as teens; that's something they could solve by actually dating and figuring mutual interests out together.

But instead Neku gets shoved into the UG again. And Shiki is separated from him for 3 years and we get no background on if they ever even started dating officially and put in that work to ensure their relationship had a sturdy foundation.

It's just taken for granted that because Neku is the Boy and Shiki is the Girl their relationship is 100% a thing without actually putting in the work to make the relationship seem at all viable to anyone besides people who nod their heads and go 'yeah he's the main Boy and she's The Girl of course they're together'.

It's just so. Empty. Perfectly Female Gender Roles girlfriend and Perfectly Male Gender Roles boyfriend playing sweet empty domesticity that you could find in any standard mainstream m/f relationship and completely sandblasting both their original personalities for a relationship that has two people with nothing in common, built off teen feelings instead of anything substantial, where they didn't even see each other for three years, and feels like the narrative just brushes it's hands and goes "it's a Boy and a Girl, that's all people should need to think this relationship works."

And it's not even a ship sinking thing because I have never been under any impression that my main ship was going to be canon (nor did I ever want it to be, JN is more fun when it's non canon); it's basically 'I could cut out Shiki and replace her with Kairi from KH and nothing about this relationship would change.' They turned Shiki from an actual character into a cut and pastable female love interest and I fucking hate it.

[auroraboringaliceinwonderland]

Gosh damn I dread watching live action shite. The closeups are too close and there’s so many of them and then there’s romance and kissing and because of the closeups it’s right in your face and you’re just sitting there all aromantic and asexual and autistic and uncomfortable like AAAU (for aro/ace/autisic/uncomfortable) but at the same time you can’t look away from the screen because the characters are mumbling and the music in the background is too loud and sometimes there’s background noise irl so you have to look at the screen to see the subtitles but then there’s the closeups again and you’re like eeeeeeulgh and you can’t even look at the screen and you’re wondering if there’s something wrong with you because why can’t you just look at people they’re people so you should be able to look at them but then there’s closeups again and you literally cannot do you spend most of the time actually watching the space around the tv and reading the subtitles from the corner of your eyes but even then it’s uncomfortable because from the same corner of your eyeballs there’s the closeups and the—

[tomofjoy]

Finally done with this i guess but anyway i was actually done with it last class but when I came to class today my teacher just wasnt there like i couldn't find him at all i even checked the staff door thing but he was just gone and i didn't know what to do cuz i was done with this painting but i couldn't just go and start a different one cuz i didnt know which one and well it just seemed weird i guess??? So after like 7 minutes of standing awkwardly waiting for him i just got an easel and started working on this one again but i had like no idea what to do so i sorta just sat there for one and a half hours putting random strokes to look like I'm doing something and hoping i dont accidentally ruin it but then he came back and like i COULD just go up to him and say like hey yo im done with this, what do i do now but like at tht point i already accepted my fate. Oh and also while i was sitting there i kinda discovered that i talk to myself in my head? Like i don't know i guess i just never noticed before that i have conversations with myself mentally but cool that was fun . And about the easel things, i just googled the word for those and it kinda bothered me while i was in class that i didn't know what it was called but anyway the tiny little room everyone was painting in was like pretty densely packed(as in 4 people . It's like really small, not THAT small but the giant table in the middle takes up a lot of space ) so it was really awkward trying to get to 'my' spot first of all, and second, my seat was like really close to another girl's easel so i was just really really worried about accidentally leaning back too far and bonking my head on it so that was awkward. Also my shoulders are in absolute fucking pain right now.

Oh and when I was taking the picture I was in a hurry cuz everyone started packing and i didn't wanna stay in the way too long so it turned out crooked and at a weird angle. I knew it would be crooked when I was taking the photo, but damn i didn't think it would be THAT bad. My favourite part of this thing is probably the bottom right corner. Oh and the things on the like uhm . Wtf is it called. Basically the lamp and the things in the painting kept fucking moving every day i came there so like the lightning n all is very inconsistent on the weird wooden thing so thats annoying but whatever i guess. Not sure what I'm gonna be drawing next but i'll prolly go with gouache cause the watercolours stressed the hell out of me. Oh and speaking of watercolours, my dad said that im laying it too thick and it looks like gouache and that im using it wrong but like when I draw it too transparent it feels incomplete??? :'I so idk

Anyway thomas out, thank you for maybe reading

[honeypleasejustkillme]

i thought i was at my lowest but holy shit it gets lower

[bixels]

The final TF2 issue really got to me. Spoilers, but it’s the reveal that all of this suffering and murder and war over gravel and shitty land was for nothing but senseless, bottomless hatred. That the administrator can’t even remember where this revenge plot started as she flashes through different false memories of her parents’ deaths. There was never a tragic backstory or justification, only terrible people doing despicable things. And despite how crass and stupid and unserious TF2 is, the story subverts every expectation by showing the survivors and inheritors willingly breaking the cycle. Ms. Pauling lies to the administrator and chooses not to save her, and finally lets her die. (Hurts even more if you read into the subtext that Ms. Pauling is in love with the administrator.) She lets the final cache of Australium go and walks away from the burden and legacy of a century-old bloodfeud. Hale lets Gray’s daughter go and live her life freely. Spy is the first to arrive at Scout’s house and meet his big family, finally takes off his mask, and helps with the kids. Even Merasmus exhaustedly makes peace with himself and Soldier and chooses not to curse him or something. There’s nothing to finish, no promises to keep, and no one to avenge. The only thing to do is break the cycle and walk away.

It feels odd how happy and warm everything is, but it feels so right and earned. These bloodthirsty, awful, violent men were expendable cogs in a machine of endless violence, and they found a way out. It’s a genuinely great message about letting go the past that burdens you and finding the will and a way to hit the bricks, change, and be happy. Maybe they don’t technically deserve happiness, but they’ve got it nonetheless, and they’re not gonna let it go to waste. They’re still all crazy and violent, but on their own terms now and with people who love them! Smiles.

[loolilyumm]

Agent 3 interrupts the Octo Expansion character selection screen (not clickbait)

[hacked-wtsdz]

I love early seasons supernatural aesthetics so much. The isolated highways, funky motel rooms, neon signs, shiny guns and shiny cars, leather jackets, old books, through a film camera lens in seasons one and two, makes for such a specific atmosphere. It transfers the isolation Sam and Dean experience so well, cramped into the seats of a 67’ Chevy impala, claustrophobically un-alone while individually lonely. The nasty, sometimes created with horrible special effects, monsters really do look monstrous, unsettling more than outright terrifying. With yellow eyes, in dirty clothes, glitching and pale. The whole colour palette is grey-ish and cold, you almost feel the contrasted darkness, the distrust, the nagging belief that something wicked may be hiding behind every corner, behind every corner of your own self as well. Idk. The blood looks dark, the sulfur looks sickeningly yellow, the skin looks unnaturally pale. It’s all so horror-coded, and gives such an atmosphere of instability in your own existence in the world, which aligns with the themes of the seasons. This atmosphere, to me, makes it a better horror show than if it had had better special effects and scarier monsters. Because the horrifying is in the daily existence, in how you are, rather than what you face.

[papanowo]

i think dan should get to be a little weird too. as a treat

[arcanegifs]

Here are some Season 2 Arcane GIF comparisons before and after I color and sharpen them! | Season 1 Comparison GIFs

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[wolfram-but-art]

some recent sketches i did without context

[rasangan-raspberry]

I don't think i posted this? lol

tbh after thinking about hancock a bit, i feel like she would become attached to anyone that treated her like how luffy treated her (as an equal and a friend, and not practically deifying her)

[sharkylad]

Thinking about the fact that Mabel and Dipper didn't know they had two great uncles.

Yeah they are 12 and at 12 I had a shotty understanding of my family tree- But really? Nobody brought up their great uncle? Stanley? Especially since they'll be staying with his twin brother, Stanford?

Shermie never went to Stan's fake funeral, which to me means the twos relationship was strained on some level. If Shermie is older that means his view of Stan was poisoned in some way, that even as kids they weren't close. If the Shermie is younger then he never even got to meet Stan and all he knew about him was how he failed his family. Hell, people probably barely mentioned Stanley TO Shermie.

The fact that Stan had become a black stain upon the Pines family name makes me so vividly upset. Stanley faked his death and the family just- seemingly decided to strike him from the record. To pretend he didn't existed to spare themselves the sadness and shame.

Stanford and Shermie Pines. The only children worth mentioning of Filbrick and Caryn Pines.

It was never Stanford that was lost to the world. It was Stanley, ever since he had to leave New Jersy- it was always him that had to be struck from the record. Change his name, change his state, change his affiliations, destroy the remains of ghost that was Stanley Pines. Kill him so the family doesn't bring him up, doesn't ask questions, stops asking "Stanford" about his twin.

I just keep thinking about the fact that since the day he made one single mistake all the way up until Ford walks out of that machine- Stanley Pines was killed and did not exist. And Stan himself had no one to blame, he had to play the part in his own demise- He is the only one who ever knew Stanley was alive and has been for decades.

He lives in the multitudes of every personality he's ever taken, all in the hope that he himself can stop being Stanley Pines.

[charlunday]

"Finnick Odair? Who's that?"

rip Finnick you would've loved chilling with your kids and not being famous

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