#also applies to the grotesque

[sangre]

seeing the divine in the monstrous again. in the monstrous? yeah it was in the monstrous

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Halloween

REFERENCES (Banshee; Ghost; Ghoul; Goblin; Haunt; Specter; Vampire; Wraith; Origins of Halloween)

Banshee

A female spirit in Gaelic folklore whose appearance or wailing warns a family that one of them will soon die.

Banshee came from combining the Gaelic words meaning “woman of fairyland,” but any positive associations with fairies ends there.

Are female spirits that, if seen or heard wailing under the windows of a house, foretell of a death in the family that lives there.

Today, the word is most frequently heard in the idiom “scream like a banshee” or “wail like a banshee,” which shows the power of myth and the imaginative power of language, since probably no one has actually heard one.

Ghost

Most common meaning today is “a disembodied soul” or “the soul or specter of a deceased person”, which came next, a meaning based on the ancient folkloric notion that the spirit is separable from the body and can continue its existence after death. It originally meant “vital spark” or “the seat of life or intelligence,” which is still used in the phrase “give up the ghost.”

An older spelling of ghost, gast, is the root of aghast (“struck with terror, shocked”) and ghastly (“frightening”).

The German word for ghost, geist, is part of the word zeitgeist, which literally means “spirit of the time.”

Ghoul

A legendary evil being that robs graves and feeds on corpses.

Ghoul is a relatively recent English word, borrowed from Arabic in the 1700s.

Because it’s spelled with gh-, it looks vaguely like the Old English words ghost and ghastly (which share a common root in the Old English word gāst, meaning “spirit” or “ghost”).

In fact, it comes from the Arabic word ghūl, derived from the verb that means “to seize,” and originally meant “a legendary evil being held to rob graves and feed on corpses.” The word was introduced to western literature by the French translation of Arabian Nights.

Goblin

An ugly or grotesque sprite.

Usually mischievous and sometimes evil and malicious.

Haunt

To visit or inhabit as a ghost.

However, this is not the original sense of the word.

For centuries, it had a perfectly unfrightening set of meanings: “to visit often” and “to continually seek the company of.”

In the 1500s, it began to mean “to have a disquieting or harmful effect on,” as in “that problem may come back to haunt you.” The meaning here is simply the lingering presence of the problem, not the possibly scary nature of the problem itself; it is applied to thoughts, memories, and emotions.

The noun haunt retains this fright-neutral definition, “a place that you go to often,” as in “one of my favorite old haunts.”

A lingering idea, memory, or feeling may have led to the ghostly meaning of haunt, or one by a disembodied or imaginary spirit.

Specter

A visible disembodied spirit.

Specter originally meant “a visible disembodied spirit” in English—a good synonym for ghost. But, unlike ghost, the notion of being visible is paramount in specter, which came to English from the French word spectre, which developed directly from the Latin word spectrum, meaning “appearance” or “specter,” itself based on the verb specere, meaning “to look.”

Specere is also the root of many English words that have to do with appearance: aspect, conspicuous, inspect, perspective, and spectacle.

Vampire

The reanimated body of a dead person believed to come from the grave at night and suck the blood of persons asleep.

Legends of bloodsucking creatures go back to Ancient Greece, with harrowing tales of them rising from burial places at night to drink peoples’ blood before hiding from dawn’s daylight. These stories were popular in eastern Europe.

Originally comes from the Serbian word vampir, which then passed from German to French, coming to English in the 1700s.

The extended senses of vampire, “one who lives by preying on others” and a synonym of vampire bat, were both in use within a few decades.

Wraith

The exact likeness of a living person seen usually just before death as an apparition. The distinguishing quality of a wraith, compared with other ghosts, is its specificity.

Originally, it referred to either the exact likeness of a living person seen as an apparition just before that person’s death as a kind of spectral premonition of bad news, or a visible apparition of a dead person.

When referring to a living person, it’s a synonym of doppelgänger, or the “spirit double” of a living person (as opposed to a ghost, which refers to the spirit of a dead person). Doppelgänger is now frequently used in a broader sense to mean simply “someone who looks like someone else.”

When referring to a dead person, wraith is a synonym of revenant, which originally referred to a ghost of a particular person and subsequently has been used for a person who returns after a long absence.

ORIGINS OF HALLOWEEN

The traditions of Halloween have their origins in Samhain, a festival celebrated by the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland.

Samhain marked the end of summer and the onset of winter, and occurred on a date that corresponds to our November 1st.

It was believed that during the Samhain festival, the world of the gods was visible to humans, and the gods took advantage of this fact by playing tricks on their mortal worshippers. Those worshippers in turn responded with bonfires on hilltops and sometimes masks and other varied disguises to keep ghosts from being able to recognize them. Things tended to get spooky and dangerous around Samhain, with bloody sacrifices and supernatural phenomena abounding.

Samhain chugged along for centuries, until Christianity poked its nose in: in the 8th century CE, All Saints' Day, a somewhat new Christian holiday, got moved from May 13th to November 1st.

The evening before All Saints' Day became a holy—that is, a hallowed—eve. Within a few centuries, Samhain and the eve of All Saints' Day had been merged into a single holiday. Protestants of the Reformation and all that came after largely rejected the whole thing, but the holiday persisted among some communities.

19th-century immigrants to the U.S., including many from Ireland, brought their Halloween customs with them and deserve no small amount of credit for the holiday as it's celebrated in the U.S. today.

More: Writing Notes & References ⚜ Word List: October

[bellejolras]

i don’t mean to go on a rant but I’ve been reading reviews of Poor Things bc i hate being happy and ohhhh my goddddd

spoilers under the cut but I have complaints about people’s (lack of) media literacy

Oh my god okay so first of all, if you haven’t seen a movie how are you going to comment on it. Reading summaries and other people’s reviews only is not sufficient to make an original point. you do not know what you’re talking about. just stop.

Second, the movie is. satirical. Which I thought was obvious from the absurd premise and surreal visuals? This is not supposed to be the real world. Nor is it advocating for all the stuff it shows. In fact, it’s even actively indicting some of what it shows. For example: fucked up power dynamics in sexual relationships exist in the movie, but the movie is not saying they are good, it’s criticizing them. Is this not getting through to people?

Third, and related, it’s not ! just ! about ! a sexy baby !! Partly because again, satire. But also partly because she rapidly goes through childhood & adolescent maturity. And it’s not meant to be, like, linear… the regular laws of empirical data and science do not apply to this world… so she is not in fact, like 6 when she’s having sex but more like 16. Which you could argue is still a minor, and im not disputing that, because again the movie is critical of this part and duncan is a total loser. But there’s a massive difference between the mental development of those two ages. ALSO there’s literally nothing inherently wrong with baby bella autonomously discovering masturbation. That’s extremely normal for little kids, often just as a way of self-soothing because it feels nice and not with any awareness of sexuality. And it’s fine if you thought that was a weird scene! but it’s hardly pedophilia to include in the film when the “baby” in question is in fact played by fully grown adult emma stone and I cannot believe that I’m seeing people accuse this movie of that

Fourth, if you claim your takeaway from this movie is “it wants me to believe that women’s power only exists through their sexuality” then I don’t believe you’ve seen the entire movie (see point 1). Narratively it’s only a means to an end for Bella, and when she gets tired of it, she stops! She gets bored of duncan and reads philosophy! She leaves her sex work career and becomes a medical professional! And, even in the sex scenes, while there are many, they center her and her experience, her pleasure. Yes, her tits are out a lot but the sex scenes are weird, intentionally grotesque without being violent. The montage with duncan is shot through a fisheye lens and literally pans away from the bed to focus on a bird landing in the room. Duncan can proclaim himself the best lover in the world, but he’s really not important to the scene ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In conclusion, I know the people I’m complaining about aren’t going to read this, but just in case, I urge you to learn media literacy. And anyone else who read all of this, thanks lol!! accepting good faith discourse in the notes/replies

[youzicha]

Thinking about that that "slop accelerationism" post, and also Scott's AI art Turing test.

I also hope AI text- and image-generation will help shake us loose from cheap bad art. For example, the fact that you can now generate perfectly rendered anime girls at the click of button kindof suggests that there was never much content in those drawings. Though maybe we didn't really need AI for that insight? It feels very similar to that shift in fashion that rejected Bouguereau-style laboriously-rendered pretty girls in favor of more sketchy brush work.

But will we really be so lucky that only things that we already suspected was slop will prove valueless?

As usual with AI, Douglas Hofstadter already thought about this a long time ago, in an essay from 2001. Back in 1979 he had written

Will a computer program ever write beautiful music? Speculation: Yes, but not soon. Music is a language of emotions, and until programs have emotions as complex as ours, there is no way a program will write anything beautiful. There can be "forgeries"—shallow imitations of the syntax of earlier music—but despite what one might think at first, there is much more to musical expression than can be captured in syntactical rules. There will be no new kinds of beauty turned up for a long time by computer music-composing programs. Let me carry this thought a little further. To think—and I have heard this suggested—that we might soon be able to command a preprogrammed mass-produced mail-order twenty-dollar desk-model "music box" to bring forth from its sterile [sic!] circuitry pieces which Chopin or Bach might have written had they lived longer is a grotesque and shameful misestimation of the depth of the human spirit. A "program" which could produce music as they did would have to wander around the world on its own, fighting its way through the maze of life and feeling every moment of it. It would have to understand the joy and loneliness of a chilly night wind, the longing for a cherished hand, the inaccessibility of a distant town, the heartbreak and regeneration after a human death. It would have to have known resignation and world-weariness, grief and despair, determination and victory, piety and awe. In it would have had to commingle such opposites as hope and fear, anguish and jubilation, serenity and suspense. Part and parcel of it would have to be a sense of grace, humor, rhythm, a sense of the unexpected and of course an exquisite awareness of the magic of fresh creation. Therein, and therein only, lie the sources of meaning in music.

I think this is helpful in pinning down what we would have liked to be true. Because in 1995, somebody wrote a program that generates music by applying simple syntactic rules to combine patterns from existing pieces, and it sounded really good! (In fact, it passed a kind of AI art turing test.) Oops!

The worry, then, is that we just found out that the computer has as complex emotions as us, and they aren't complex at all. It would be like adversarial examples for humans: the noise-like pattern added to the panda doesn't "represent" a gibbon, it's an artifact of the particular weights and topology of the image recognizer, and the resulting classification doesn't "mean" anything. Similarly, Arnulf Rainer wrote that when he reworked Wine-Crucifix, "the quality and truth of the picture only grew as it became darker and darker"—doesn't this sound a bit like gradient descent? Did he stumble on a pattern that triggers our "truth" detector, even though the pattern is merely a shallow stimulus made of copies of religious iconography that we imprinted on as kids?

One attempt to recover is to say Chopin really did write music based on the experience of fighting through the maze of life, and it's just that philistine consumers can't tell the difference between the real and the counterfeit. But this is not very helpful, it means that we were fooling ourselves, and the meaning that we imagined never existed.

More promising, maybe the program is a "plagiarism machine", which just copies the hard-won grief, despair, world-weariness &c that Chopin recorded? On its own it's not impressive that a program can output an image indistinguishable from Gauguin's, I can write such a program in a single line:

print("https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gauguin,Paul-Still_Life_with_Profile_of_Laval-_Google_Art_Project.jpg")

I think this is the conclusion that Hofstadter leans towards: the value of Chopin and the other composers was to discover the "template" that can then be instantiated to make many beautiful music pieces. Kind of ironically, this seems to push us back to some very turn-of-the-20th-century notion of avant-garde art. Each particular painting that (say) Monet executed is of low value, and the actual valuable thing is the novel art style...

That view isn't falsified yet, but it feels precarious. You could have said that AlphaGo was merely a plagiarism machine that selected good moves from historical human games, except then AlphaGo Zero proved that the humans were superfluous after all. Surely a couple of years from now somebody might train an image model on a set of photographs and movies excluding paintings, and it might reinvent impressionism from first principles, and then where will we be? Better start prepare a fallback-philosophy now.

[cavegirlpoems]

Okay, let's roll up a PC for Black Death Rising

it will be a fun demo of how the system works.

Step one is to roll for Attributes - Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception and Charisma - in order, and note down each score's attribute modifier. We get 10 Strength (+0), 11 Dexterity (+0), 5 Constitution (-2), 13 Intelligence (+1), 11 Perception (+0) and 13 Charisma (+1). So, our character is smart and charming, but notably delicate.

Next up, we pick a Nature for the character - what other games might call a 'race' - that determines what sort of being they are. Are they a normal mortal human? Some odd variation on humanity? Undead? Some spiritual being? The available options are Mortal Human, Ghoul, Lycanthrope, Purified One, Petty Demon, Mimic, Homonculus, Grotesque, Revenant, Ghost, Waif and Vampire. Each nature determines how many Flesh Points (your first dice of HP) we'll begin with, and grants particular perks and drawbacks. Going through the list, let's pick a Vampire - an undead creature tainted by Plague, with a hunger for blood. A vampire gives us d6 Flesh Points, modified by our unfortunate Constitution of -2. We roll a 4, for 2 Flesh total. We're not getting any less fragile. A vampire comes with all the regular effects of being undead; they heal less effectively and are vulnerable to certain magic, but are immune to things that might hurt specifically living people. Lastly, a vampire gets a bite attack, and can heal themselves by drinking blood, which somewhat makes up for our otherwise fragile health.

After this, we need to pick a class, from the options of Cleric, Doctor, Knight, Libertine, Outlaw, Professional, Witch and Zealot. Our fragile health lets us rule out the ones the more directly combat-focussed classes (the Knight and Zealot, and probably the Libertine and Outlaw too). Meanwhile, our good intelligence and charisma lend themselves to classes that benefit from them, like the Cleric, Doctor and Witch. After a little deliberation, let's pick the Witch, and go for a Ressurectionist variant. A Witch only begins with d4 Grit Points (the rest of our HP), which we roll and add our Constitution modifier to, and end up with only a single Grit Point. Our Constitution also makes our Saving throw worse, going from 15+ to 17+. We're certainly delicate. However, a Ressurectionist Witch also begins with improved Translation and Medicine skills (2-in-6 rather than 1-in-6), which we can add our Intelligence bonus to, for 3-in-6 total. Likewise, our high Intelligence and Charisma give us an improved 2-in-6 chance at the Tinkering, Charm, Status and Rituals skills. Lastly, the big perk of being a Witch is the ability to cast spells. We begin with a spellbook containing an entire school of magic, and being a ressurectionist, we pick Necromancy, meaning we start with Revive Flesh (rank 1), Preserve Corpse (rank 2), Speak With Dead (rank 3), Putrefy (rank 4), Animate Dead (rank 5) and Zombie Plague (rank 6) in our notes. As a first-level witch, we can have up to two ranks of spells prepared and ready to go at once. Lastly, we can note that we'll need 2,500 XP to reach 2nd level.

With our class and its various details taken into account, we can look at equipment. We get ten items, up to two of which can be Rare. If we take on a Flaw - a disability, curse, vice or similar drawback - we can take a third Rare item, at the cost of a disadvantage to rolls when our flaw applies. As a Witch, the first thing we'll be doing is using our Rare items to have a pair of spell scrolls, adding another two spells to our notes; going over the list, we'll pick up Fleshcrafting (rank 6) and Sleep (rank 1). Then, there's the matter of combat. Frankly, if we get hit, we're probably going down, so our priority is not getting hit. Chain armour is the best armour we can get (since plate is rare), so we'll take Chain armour and a shield, setting our armour class to a respectable 16. For weapons, we mostly want to hide behind somebody else and poke at the enemy, so a basic spear (doing d8 damage) will do the trick. Five items down, and five to go. It makes sense to have writing materials - we are after all an accademic sort - and a surgeon's kit. It also makes sense to have a light source, so we'll go with some candles and a tinderbox. This leaves us with one item left. We also have the option to take various advantages - such as social backgrounds, physical adaptations, animal companions, etc - in place of equipment, but many of these are Rare items. Let's say fuck it, and give our character a Flaw - vulnerability to sunlight - that gives us a disadvantage to rolls in direct sunlight. This lets us make our last item a Rare item, and we'll pick a Familiar; a little magical companion that we can talk with, probably one of our undead creations.

There's a few final details. We can note down our Armour Class of 16 (from armour and a shield), our starting Damnation of 0, our starting Bounty of 0, and our basic Bleeding Time of 2 rounds. Now, all that's left to do is sort out the fictional details; who this person is and how they fit into the world. There's a handy table of character quirks to roll on. Let's give it a few rolls until something interesting emerges: 11: Weeps blood. 75: Crawled out of a shallow grave with no memory. And, bingo, that's a character hook right there. All that's left is a name: lets call her Jane Grey, and we're ready to start play.

and with that, we're good to go!

[doloresdisparue]

Since I've had some clown in my mentions claiming Nabokovs intent was to present Dolores as equally culpable echoing the good old "but what about her TEEN SEDUCTRESS powers to CONTROL MEN" let's collect some of what Vladimir "Strong Opinions" Nabokov said about the book and Dolly in particular:

"Some simply haven’t read the book or don’t understand it. It is not obscene; it has none of the dirt of many so-called realistic modern novels. “Most critics have failed to stress the pathetic side,” said Mrs. Nabokov. “It’s really a tragic story. Here, in the hands of this maniac is this poor girl—.” “And a very ordinary girl—” Nabokov put in…." (What Hath Lolita Wrought? Ithaca Author Distressed by Some Reactions,” Elmira Telegram, Dec. 14, 1958. )

"In Lolita, who’s the most likable person for you? It’s Lolita. It’s with her that the good reader should become friends. American readers, generally, talk of her as an unbearable kid, but you pity her as you would pity any kid. There’s something touching in her." (“While Lolita Travels Around the World, the Entomologist Nabokov and the Agronomist Robbe-Grillet Exchange Pawns on the Literary Chessboard”), Arts (Paris), October 28–Nov. 3, 1959, 4.) 

"She came entirely out of my imagination. Critics, in general, find her odious; I pity her: an orphan, alone in life with a demanding forty-year-old. When I wrote about her last meeting with Humbert, I cried, like Flaubert at the death of Madame Bovary. “She cries every night, and the critics don’t hear her sobs,” said Mrs. Nabokov." (“Nabokov Without Lolita”, Nouvelles littéraires, Oct. 29, 1959, 1–2.)

"But she’s also a very touching character. Toward the end of the book, the reader and the author pity her, this poor child who has been sacrificed on the altar of motels. It’s very sad." (“The Good Mr. Nabokov: Lolita’s Father Forsakes Nymphets for the Sake of Pushkin and Robbe-Grillet”), L’Express, Nov. 5, 1959, 32–33.)

"Is Lolita amoral? On the contrary. It has a very moral moral: don’t harm children. Now, Humbert does [...] And Lolita, isn’t she a victim and not a little slattern….After all, haven’t I indicated the evil of all this, in giving Lolita a stillborn child?" (“Conversation, Vladimir Nabokov: He Likes Humor, Tennis and Proust. He Hates Communists, Sade, Freud”),  L’Express, Jan. 26, 1961. )

"How, then, do you explain the “Lolita cult”? How do you explain all these girls who move, act, dress, and talk like Lolita? I wouldn’t know. Perhaps it is a result of the way the popular press has distorted my poor Lo. It has come up with something that has absolutely nothing to do with the book or Lolita the character. Lolita is the story of a sad little girl in a very sad world. The “Lolita cult” is something completely different." (“Love Today: How the Author of Lolita Sees It”), L’Europeo, June 23, 1966, 28–33. )

"Humbert Humbert is a vain and cruel wretch who manages to appear “touching.” That epithet, in its true, tear-iridized sense, can only apply to my poor little girl." (Paris Review, The Art of Fiction No. 40, Issue 41, Summer-Fall 1967)

"Lolita isn’t a perverse young girl. She’s a poor child who has been debauched and whose senses never stir under the caresses of the foul Humbert Humbert, whom she asks once, “how long did [he] think we were going to live in stuffy cabins, doing filthy things together…? [...] It is equally interesting to dwell, as journalists say, on the problem of the inept degradation that the character of the nymphet Lolita, whom I invented in 1955, has undergone in the mind of the broad public. Not only has the perversity of this poor child been grotesquely exaggerated, but her physical appearance, her age, everything has been transformed by the illustrations in foreign publications. Girls of eighteen or more, sidewalk kittens, cheap models, or simple long-legged criminals, are baptized “nymphets” or “Lolitas” in news stories in magazines in Italy, France, Germany, etc.; and the covers of translations, Turkish or Arab, reach the height of ineptitude when they feature a young woman with opulent contours and a blond mane imagined by boobies who have never read my book. In reality Lolita is a little girl of twelve, whereas Humbert Humbert is a mature man, and it’s the abyss between his age and that of the little girl that produces the vacuum, the vertigo, the seduction of mortal danger. Secondly, it’s the imagination of the sad satyr that makes a magic creature of this little American schoolgirl, as banal and normal in her way as the poet manqué Humbert is in his. Outside the maniacal gaze of Humbert there is no nymphet. Lolita the nymphet exists only through the obsession that destroys Humbert. Here’s an essential aspect of a unique book that has been betrayed by a factitious popularity." (“Apostrophes: Bernard Pivot Meets Vladimir Nabokov”), live television interview, Antenne-2 (Paris), May 30, 1975.)

And let's close with my blog title:

"Lolita is an indictment of all the things it expresses. It is a pathetic book dealing with the plight of a child, a very ordinary little girl, caught up by a disgusting and cruel man….But of all my books, I like it the best. " (Author of Lolita Scoffs at Furore over His Novel,” Niagara Falls Gazette, Jan. 11, 1959, 10B.)

Thanks for coming to his TED Talk

[secondtolastfr]

actually no i have opinions about everlux

when dusthides dropped so many people said "it could have been a modern, it's not breaking the mold enough" and when fathoms dropped people compared it to nearly every other breed we have (mostly skydancers, pearlcatchers, guardians). but now we finally have an ancient that 1) most definitely could not wear apparel and 2) looks entirely unlike any other breed we have it's suddenly too much??

"how can it move? it doesn't make sense!" while i can get the argument of proportions to a degree i don't think we can apply actual biology to a fictional creature, especially a bug dragon that is neither mammalian, reptilian, insectoid, or in any way real. also we should be used to weird/unrealistic dragon proportions by now, given fae neck, tundra arm/foot, and aberrations in general.

"why is it fat?" why the fuck not?? i cannot emphasize enough that dragons aren't real and i don't get why we're fine with a million skinny tube-bodied breeds but we draw the line at one more fat breed because "no healthy animal looks like that irl!" the rhetoric used around the fatness is fucking vile. i've seen them described as bloated, diseased, pregnant (???), grotesque, and a lot worse. it reeks of fatphobia and i would think for a playerbase like ours we'd do better.

"we have too many bug dragons!" when veils dropped people said they weren't buggy enough so staff made aethers, and when aethers dropped people said they weren't buggy enough, and now we have a dragon that is Undeniably A Bug people suddenly don't want an actual bug dragon??

"bugs are disgusting!" ...that's probably the one argument i can't go up against. if you don't like bugs, if you have a bug phobia (idk what it's called), that's fine. but not everything on this site is for you. and that's okay! the best part about this site is that if you don't like a breed, you don't have to have it. i'm sure they'll release something you'll enjoy eventually, but at least let the bug lovers have this one.

"they don't look elegant enough to be a light breed!" who the fuck said light is an elegant flight?? pearlcatchers are stuck-up cowardly gossips who eat their shells, vomit up pearls, and then annually vomit up more Pearl Juice to make their pearl bigger. imps have to be buried properly or their dead bodies will melt into an undead monstrosity. the lightweaver calls the imps a literal mistake, pearlcatchers and imps fucking hate each other, and to top it all off there's a fucking zombie dragon destroying the area. what about any of that says elegance to you people. any elegance associated with the light flight comes from the users, not staff.

also i've seen so many people say "i want an eldritch horror breed!" or "i want something biblically accurate!" okay. riddle me this batman: how the hell would they pull that off. it has to look in some way draconic or like some kind of actual creature (not an irl creature ofc), so it can't just be a disembodied Thing With Eyes. we already have a many-winged breed (auras); tentacles and extra wings are already terts we have access too, and multigaze and other eye types already give us the eye horror. what the hell would staff be able to give us that 1) doesn't break their own ToS 2) doesn't draw too heavily from religious iconography and 3) still looks like a dragon that all flights can use.

[tainbocuailnge]

As an art person yourself, what about Raita’s work do you find particularly interesting or noteworthy?

a lot of raita critics are turned off his work because he exaggerates proportions to the point of being grotesque but to me the appeal is exactly in how he exaggerates the shapes of the body to the point everyone looks kinda sickly and grotesque. raita very intentionally draws fleshy freaks as a stylistic choice, just look at his work for valkyria chronicles or even just some of the stuff he posts on his twitter to see it's not because he just doesn't know how to draw "better". a pretty common sentiment among experienced artists whether professional or not is that they really like drawing old people because old people have much more interesting and exaggerated shapes compared to young conventionally attractive people, this is pretty much the same thing if you ask me. I like how he gets funky with it. people point to his massive balloon tits the most but he applies the same kind of sickly exaggeration to men's bulging veiny muscles and bony hands

he's also very good with shapes especially when he gets to go nuts with big winding shapes. i mean just look at this shit. i think he's very good at playing into the shapes of the body with his designs and exaggerating them even further with the clothes, and with "extending" the body through these large winding shapes, in these examples through moriarty's butterfly collar, shuten's segmented sleeves, murasaki's spiral hair and dress frills, and ibuki's horns and cloud seating

i think it does raita's work a disservice to view it as the result of a guy being so horny he forgets what a real person looks like because he's not trying to draw real people he's drawing very intentional exaggerations. it does mean his best stuff is when he really leans into the sickly freak aspect and those tend to be the pics that self-proclaimed raita haters will sigh and admit look pretty cool (and conversely his worst work is when he applies his sickly freak beam to characters who are neither sickly nor freaks). i don't really care if people just don't like his work because it's a particular taste but it does bother me when people call him a bad artist for it because that's just plain not true. also here's some pieces from his fgo artbooks i like a lot

[darkmaga-returns]

When President Donald Trump slapped a fresh round of tariffs on European and Asian imports, the professional hand-wringers and legacy press clodpolls sprang into choreographed action.

Headlines and television anchors blared warnings of trade wars, economic isolation, and diplomatic fallout. The bureaucratic priesthood that worships at the altar of “free trade” without reciprocity—from Brussels to Brookings—launched into familiar homilies: tariffs are regressive, Trump is reckless, and globalism is gospel.

But let’s pause the hysteria momentarily and apply something vanishingly rare in today’s media-industrial complex: perspective.

The prevailing orthodoxy treats tariffs as anathema to prosperity—an outdated relic of 19th-century mercantilism. But this overlooks a simple truth: for trade to be free, it must also be fair. For decades, American policymakers—both Democrats and Republicans—have tolerated a grotesquely asymmetrical global trade regime that has hollowed out the American industrial base and made us dangerously dependent on foreign powers, friend and foe alike.

Trump’s critics are wrong. These tariffs aren’t a calamity. They’re a much-needed course correction

Reciprocity or Ruin

Let’s begin with the fundamental imbalance: the United States has long maintained one of the lowest average tariff rates among developed countries. Meanwhile, our “allies” in Europe and Asia—who rely on U.S. military protection for security—shield their markets with stubbornly high tariffs on American goods. 

[stonegearstudios]

Game Progress and Life Update

Well, my players have actually made it into the mega-dungeon that the whole game is based around, so that's good

-It started with them entering a dark and silent hall from a breach in the wall, after over half an hour of very claustrophobic caving -The area seemed to be a long abandoned market, with prebuilt stalls... and also some hungry Vurmoles prowling the area. -Along the back wall was a strange art piece, a massive carving that seemed to lionize a sun headed figure

-Moving further in they discovered several mysteries. A odd geometric sculpture, a grotesque face of a sun made of bronze and set into a wall, a elevator shaft(?) that vanished into the darkness -To the west was only a immovable vault like door, so they went east. Out of the darkness loomed a defaced statue of a sun headed man, surrounded by lumpy piles of rags... till some began moving. -While frail, the not quite human lurkers in darkness were still a danger with their stone sickles, and beyond them was another locked door. -After more than a few throws of the grappling hook, they managed to squeeze through the guard windows above the gate and open them from within -Beyond was a more lively, and dangerous place. Two more of the strange people sparing, a fish faced master of a decaying armoury, a warehouse with a operating lift, and a great bronze gate with no handles

Exploring the first floor is going faster than I thought, but the dungeon has yet to come to life to.

On to life stuff

January was shit!

Was sick all month essentially, only found out with what partway through, walking pneumonia, so I got basically nothing done on the personal work side. On the Ruins of Giants has languished all the while.

Applied to several jobs and got an interview, the first one all search! And then a week later I got told no thanks. So again, zero progress.

February is soon and this is looking a lot like last year, but we must endure and keep moving. Hopefully back to working on personal stuff.

[yuurei20]

Updated Sebek Facts Part 29: Sebek and Malleus (pt5)

Sebek gives a motivational speech to a pair of classmates in a vignette and they are briefly moved, but then he follows with, “I absolutely MUST pass this assignment for the sake of my dear liege. Which means that indirectly, you two have a golden opportunity to serve the great Malleus yourselves. You're free to throw in the towel with anything else, but only after you succeed here! Do it for Malleus!”

They are not pleased by Sebek once again making everything about Malleus.

Sebek says that they have all been blessed with luck beyond what they deserve to attend school with Malleus, expressing exasperation that the school is “full of feckless ingrates” who do not take their studies seriously. “Don't they understand we must all strive to be worthy of Malleus' company?”

But the three do successfully complete their assigned task, earning Sebek a compliment from Malleus. 

Sebek will often reference things that he is doing for Malleus, making a new year’s resolution to study and grow more as a guard, “and to protect Malleus from any and all difficulties!” He declares that he will “work himself to the bone for him” and applies himself during New Year’s, as “Malleus shall look upon (his) spoils and know (he) fought hard and well!”

Sebek says that he also applies himself to the study of art, as no amount of knowledge will ever be enough for him as Malleus’ retainer.

Sebek also enrolls in the Master Chef course for Malleus, as he had recently seen Malleus looking despondent after eating a late-night snack made for him by Lilia: “So I wish to acquire the cooking skills to make my liege something more suitable to his palate.”

During the course Sebek is consistently reflecting on what Malleus would prefer and how he can further improve to please Malleus.

Sebek is delighted to present Malleus with a gargoyle during the Glorious Masquerade event and, while Malleus initially mistakes it for a grotesque and is displeased, he later thanks them for drawing his attention to it.

(“You needn't thank us, my liege! I'm sure even the gargoyles are honored to earn your noble recognition!”)

[soylent-crocodile]

Howling Banshee (Prestige Class)

(Howling Banshee by LordVishenka)

(This was by far the easiest aspect shrine to convert to PF1; they're defined as nimble terror troops that use 40k's ill-treated morale rules. Dexterity-based intimidate class. Done.)

Howling banshees are the other aspect shrine of the Asuryani focused on melee combat, along with the striking scorpions. In many ways they are opposites; where striking scorpions favor stealth and power, howling banshees storm into battle as a screaming wall of blades and noise. They are designed to terrify their enemies and strike hard and fast, crippling the foes of the Asuryani before they can even react.

Notably, gender in Asuryani society is fluid and tied to the role one is in rather than ascribed to some physical quality. All howling banshees are women; this is not because they only admit women, but because to be a howling banshee is to be a woman. Striking scorpions, similarly, all use he/him pronouns.

Role: Howling banshees are the terror troops and nimble warriors, capable of weaving through combat to spread fear and bloodshed. Alignment: Like most aspect shrines, howling banshees abhor chaos and so are rarely chaotic. HD: d10

Prerequisites

Race: Must have the Elf subtype Stats: Dex 15 Skills: Intimidate 5 Feats: Weapon Finesse, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Asuryani) Other: Must be inducted into a howling banshee shrine.

Skills

A howling banshee gets 2+Int mod skills per level. A howling banshee’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Intimidate (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), and Swim (Str)

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

A howling banshee is proficient with light and medium armor.

Banshee Mask

A howling banshee is gifted a banshee mask, a grotesque tool of terror holy to the Asuryani. This weapon is specially crafted for her; all other creatures treat it as having the broken condition, and it If the weapon already has the broken condition, it does not work at all for anyone else trying to use it. This weapon can only be sold for scrap (it’s worth 4d10 gp when sold). 

Banshee’s Wail (Ex)

When a howling banshee deals slashing damage with a melee weapon, she may make an intimidate check to demoralize her target as a free action. If she is successful, the target is shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt. If her attack was a critical hit, the target is additionally frightened for one round.

First to the Fight (Ex)

A howling banshee adds her charisma modifier to her Initiative, at a minimum of +0.

Intimidating Finesse (Ex)

At level 2, a howling banshee adds her dexterity modifier to her intimidate checks in addition to her charisma modifier. This bonus does not stack with the bonus granted by the feat Intimidating Prowess.

Backflip (Ex)

At level 2, a howling banshee is exceedingly nimble and agile. She ignores the penalty to jumping without a running start and halves the DC to make high jumps.

Graceful Avoidance (Ex)

Creatures with the shaken condition cannot make attacks of opportunity against howling banshees of level 3 or greater.

Piercing Strikes (Ex)

A level 4 howling banshee’s blows are perfectly timed to take advantage of the cowering of fearful enemies. When attacking a shaken enemy, she may apply her dexterity modifier to damage rolls when making a melee attack with light weapons and weapons with the finesse special quality. She also adds her dexterity bonus to trip, disarm, and reposition checks in addition to her strength bonus against such enemies. This bonus does not stack with the Agile Maneuvers. feat

Banshee Blade

At level 5, a howling banshee becomes an exarch, a respected and feared member of their aspect shrine who has lost herself to the craft and is gifted a +3 Thundering banshee blade. This weapon is specially crafted for her; all other creatures treat it as having the broken condition, and it If the weapon already has the broken condition, it does not work at all for anyone else trying to use it. This weapon can only be sold for scrap (it’s worth 4d10 gp when sold).

-

Banshee Mask Technological Item Price: 10,000gp Weight: 4lbs Slot: Head The wielder of this mask gains a +5 bonus to intimidate checks. Additionally, as a standard action the wielder may make an earsplitting shriek, dealing 5d6 sonic damage to one target within 60ft, will save for half. The save is equal to 8+the wielder’s ranks in Intimidate.

Banshee Blade Exotic Weapon Price: 100gp Type: Two-handed Melee Proficiency: Exotic Weapon (Asuryani) Damage: 1d8/1d10 Critical: x3 Range: Melee Type: S Weight: 6lbs Special: Finesse, Reach The banshee blade is an eldritch curved weapon that was designed specifically for the fighting style of the howling banshees. It is uniquely precise among polearms and incredibly difficult to find, granted only to the most powerful of Asuryani warriors.

[codenamesazanka]

rereading Oumagadoki Zoo oneshot!

Unfortunately, because I am this tweet:

I will drawing comparisons of it to bnha. specifically, Shigaraki and the League, because the parallels are pretty obvious.

If you haven't heard of the oneshot Oumagadoki Zoo before, it's one of Horikoshi's earlier works, a oneshot that became his first serialized manga. Premise of both the manga and the oneshot is the same: Aoi Hana, a high school girl, applies to work at a zoo, only to discover too late the zoo is a magical one where the animals can turn into humans, while the zoo director, Shiina, is a human cursed to look like a rabbit-man; she then gets dragged along into crazy adventure as the director attempts to break his curse.

The oneshot is much less zany-comedic in tone, with Shiina a more serious and ambitious character and leader, but still deeply caring for his friends, who are all outcasts animals he helped. I've compared Serialized Manga Shiina with Shigaraki before; but I've always found Oneshot Shiina to be even more similar, especially with later series Shigaraki.

In the oneshot, the first mission we see Shiina and his team go on is to rescue a talking alligator that's been captured and smuggled by people wearing skull-masks. Obviously these guys are not the good guys. They acknowledge that the talking alligator might as well be considered a person, but are still keeping him caged and ready to be sell him.

So I always wondered if they were the basis of the bnha's CRC - skull-mask wearing criminals who looks down on Spinner, a person whose quirk make him looks like a lizard. But this time they're even more evil.

In the manga, it's due to Shiina's cursed magic powers that allows the animals to turn into human form; in the oneshot, however, the animals are born with magical energies that transforms them into human form - and Shiina is only someone who finds and gathers them in order to harvest their magical energy to break his curse.

If this sounds kinda selfish, it is - which Shiina acknowledges. Shiina didn't save the talking alligator out of the goodness of his heart - he needed the alligator's magical energy, and says so bluntly.

But when Hana accuses Shiina of using the animals to his own ends, Uwabami, a snake woman, says no, all the animals are here of their own free will.

The explanation Uwabami then gives Hana about why they stay with Shiina, why they follow him, actually mirrors Spinner's last dialogue with Deku on bnha a lot:

Uwabami describes the animals that have magical energy as beings whose forms have bent away from normal and turned 'grotesque'. In Japanese, the word she uses is 'igyou', which is the same word used to describe people like Spinner - translated as 'heteromorphs' in MHA. Uwabami implies that these 'grotesque' animals had suffered, had stood out with negative consequences, and that was how Shiina was able to find them. Similarly, Spinner says that he was oppressed for being a heteromorph, for having a quirk that altered his appearance.

The context is of course different, but I think the underlying feeling is still the same. Uwabami explains Shiina and the animals' situations are similar, that in helping Shiina break his curse, the issue of the animals' magical grotesque forms may also be solved as well. Shiina's mission aligns with their desires as well. In Spinner's case, Shigaraki told the League that he'll destroy everything, which at first also seemed like it was his specific dream; but within that destruction is also promised the changes and goals each of the League wants - Shigaraki represented him.

For the animals of Shiina's zoo, they were never able to fit in, they were unneeded and unwanted - and yet Shiina would still consider them comrade and friends, and gathered them together. Much like Shigaraki did for the League: he gave someone like Spinner a dream, a chance to be someone. Gave a bunch of strays, the dregs of society, a place to be.

So both Shiina and Shigaraki - leaders loved and respected by their friends so much that those friends - Uwabami and Spinner - are both willing to so straightforwardly spill out their hearts and feelings to near strangers.

anyways, I recommend the oneshot a lot. Read here at mangadex.

[txttletale]

idk how to put this sorry if this comes off as rude/confrontational I'm not trying to be — when you say stories about forgiveness/reconciliation, do you mean more the type about forgiving & reconciling with family, or more generally (so like including - this isn't the best example but I can't think of any better rn - catra for example? where it's about being trapped in hurting people because of trauma and breaking out of that)? or is the thing you dislike more stories' framing of forgiveness as a moral imperative?

sorry if this doesn't make sense I'm just curious what you think bc you've raised some interesting points and would really like to see you elaborate on them

don't worry you don't come off as rude whatsoever! while i think my points apply broadly to how forgiveness is treated across media (rare actual example of cultural christianity) -- i obviously am not, like, against forgiveness or stories about forgiveness on principle. what i dislike about all the narratives about people forgiving their abusive parents is that:

like you said, it's always framed as a moral imperative. there is always an underlying assumption that forgiving the abuser is the 'right' and 'correct' thing to do, that not doing so would be wrong. this is tremendously insulting to survivors who have every right to not forgive their abusers!

in most of these narratives, the parent barely does shit to be forgiven. there's very often a narrative equivocation, in fact, between parent and child. like, sometimes the parent won't even be expected to apologize -- sometimes, even more grotesquely, both the parent and child apologize for their shared supposed 'wrongdoing'. this is also obviously insulting to survivors, who are not in any way responsible for their abuse or for having a poor relationship with their parents.

the reason why this in particular pisses me off so much is that it mirrors and in turn contributes to the cultural expectation on abuse victims in real life to maintain contact with their abusers, the constant casual pressure from everything from strangers to friends to acquaintances saying 'well, can't you just put it behind you?' or 'look, he's changed' or 'she's your mom' or 'you'll only have one chance to have a relationship with your siblings' or whatever the fuck. the sanctity of the family is a cardinal value across a lot of societies and this sanctity means a constant, neverending societal pressure to bow to sweeping abuse under the rug. i've seen many people i care about struggle deeply with feeling obligated to maintain relationships with family members who treat them like shit and make htem miserable every time they interact bc of exactly these sorts of sentiments being everpresent in their cultural environment. & these narratives always paint that sort of pressure as being well-founded and fair and ultimately for the better, which is absolutely repellent to me.

so, yeah. i am not against narratives where an abusive person actually confronts their actions and changes and repairs that relationship (that's another fucking thing, these narratives always put the onus and responsiblity on the character who was abused to forgive rather than on the abuser to earn forgiveness, just like in real life familial abuse victims are always fucking expected to be the ones to repair the relationship). i think such narratives can be powerful and compelling and explore questions of what the value of 'forgiveness' or 'redemption' even are, as well as dispel the mystique and exceptionalism often attributed to the 'abuser' as a holistic malevolent figure that can be cleanly separated from every other parent/grandparent/sibling/etc.

what i'm against is narratives where someone who is abused has their feelings delegitimized -- their rage is wrong, counterproductive, they need to let go and move on, they need to forgive their abusers and let them back int otheir lives because oh, they did something wrong too or oh, their abuser had a difficult life, or whatever the fuck. to which the answer should be a flat -- no. they don't. all the more power to people who choose to do that if that's what makes them happiest and safest but absolutely nobody has a moral obligation or need to forgive an abusive family member. obviously i am exaggerating slightly when i say every abusive parent subplot should end with the parent being killed with hammers, but i'm using the hammer murder as a synechdoche for a narrative treating an abuse victim's antipathy towards their abuser as something legitimate and justified and obviously reasonable rather than a flaw or something they need to move past.

[genericpuff]

The Mishandling of LO’s S3 Mi(n)season Hiatus - Part 3 1/2

Here we go, Part 3 of my analysis of the current FP episodes - a three-parter episode set leading up to the midseason finale of LO.

Part 1

Part 2

Truth is, I had actually forgotten a lot of the weird (and very stupid) shit that happened in this episode, that I thought Episodes 251 and 252 had already offered up the worst that this three parter set could dish out. Boy, was I wrong, because when I went back to check out Episode 253, I was reminded of a reality that my brain had wiped out in an attempt to protect my withering psyche-

I also forgot just how long this episode is. It's so long that I frankly can't even fit it all into this post, so this is gonna be part 3 1/2.

Anyways, let's just get on with it. This is the final stop on our trip into absolute nonsense.

CAUTION: THIS IS PART 3 OF A 3 PART SERIES IN WHICH I WILL BE SPOILING MUCH OF EPISODES 251-253. THIS WILL BE A LONG POST. BRACE YOURSELF.

Well, it's the midseason finale, and what better way to open it up than with the final title card-

Typo and all. It wouldn't be an LO episode without one. Granted, IIRC this typo has been edited out, but the version of the screenshots I have from it feature it in all its original unedited glory. So enjoy that.

And yes, just like the last two times, the title itself only applies to the final cliffhanger, which is an absolute doozy especially for those who were there to experience it in real time.

This is already a bit of a wild opening compared to the last two episodes, but it's quickly revealed that this is laying the foundation for the prophecy that Psyche gave to Apollo back in Episode 252. In true LO fashion, the story can't actually be linear in any regard, we're always segmented from pieces of information at a time. Loyal fans will call this a "writing style", I call it Rachel just trying to get another 70 cents out of me.

That said, I will say the art here is fairly decent, but I think that just goes to show that LO's one of worst features these days - ironically enough - is its coloring. What began as its strongest feature has now become one of its biggest weaknesses due to the sheer laziness in its rendering and the colors become more and more saturated into the grotesque over time. So at this point, you pretty much have to rob these characters of their colors to make them look decent, and of course at that point it just further highlights Rachel's same-face problems. She definitely tried to make them look distinguishable here, at least, with Hestia and Poseidon being the most unique.

Now, this isn't the first time that we've heard of this herb being referenced - it was stated by Hades that Hera was the one to originally poison Kronos with the herb after gaining his trust - but to see it suddenly just pop up and play a role again out of nowhere already gives me a bad feeling in my stomach. It feels like yet another plot device - especially when presented in this type of format - that Rachel is suddenly using to try and seem "unique" in her writing, much like the strange narration we got back during the "Run For Your Life" sequence. It's just once again LO lacking any specific identity, it's always trying to be a million other things at once.

I will say, much of this in and of itself is panel filler. Why? Because the location of the herb doesn't matter. You'll see what I mean in a moment, but the mentioning of Anthedon plays no role here, it's just yet another obligatory "see, I know how to Google things!" lip service moment from Rachel "self-proclaimed folklorist" Smythe.

Anyways, Eros is perplexed by this but Psyche immediately catches on, knowing right away that Apollo is going for Zeus. And this is where we get yet another one of the dumbest sequences in this comic.

(see what I mean that the location of the herb doesn't matter? Because Apollo already got it and laced it into the cupcake).

Now, first of all, the fact that Eros and Psyche believe Kassandra's prophecy is already hilarious in and of itself, because ... well, because it literally defeats the point of her establishing it as a curse in the previous episode. Unless it only works on mortals? It never stated as such, so we literally just have to go with it and pretend not to notice that.

But most of all, of course LO had to play this off as some joke. Like, "hahaha how awkward! I've already eaten the cupcake!" and he still doesn't seem to really be in shock. Zeus has seen what this herb has done to gods before him, and yet his reaction to this is akin to a dad getting upset that he stepped LEGO's that he asked his kid 20 times to pick up off the floor. The whole "record scratch" style formatting of this followed by Zeus' lack of reaction just really makes me not care about any of this, because clearly the story doesn't care either.

But we don't see who he makes these calls to because the comic, of course, can't spend any longer than 10 panels on a single scene, so we cut to Hades and Persephone.

Again, I don't know what the point was of having Hera relay this information to Persephone for her to relay to Hades, aside from the fact that Rachel needed to act smart with Therapy Speak that didn't even apply to Hera's situation (as we talked about in the last part). They gotta make Persephone the center of everyone's world though, so it's Persephone who's delivering this info and trying to come up with the solution.

Hades, though, wants to focus on his wife's birthday the commemoration of spring.

SIR. THE WOMAN YOU WERE IN AN AFFAIR WITH SINCE BEFORE YOUR WIFE WAS BORN IS CURRENTLY GRAPPLING WITH YOUR FATHER WHO ABUSED HER AND IS NOW HAUNTING HER. THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR FLUFFY ROMANCE TIME. THERE IS A CHILD BEING HELD CAPTIVE IN TARTARUS AND LITERALLY NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE.

Anyways, apparently (for some reason) Hades is the one who has to go meet Demeter out front. Even though Hades has literally NOTHING to do with this ceremony, it's not his domain, but Persephone literally says "yep, that's correct" when he asks if he needs to go out to meet Demeter.

This just feels like such a pointless conversation and I don't get what the point of this exact exchange is. Again, this isn't Hades' domain, so I don't see why he needs to be the one to go meet with Demeter.

But then, of course, to make matters worse, this man has the absolute audacity to pretend like he's never done anything wrong to Demeter. As if she should be obligated to be cool with sharing a bench with this man who literally terrorized her for years and then essentially groomed her daughter.

I hate him so fucking much and I can't believe we're supposed to be rooting for him. He has not undergone ANY of the character development necessary for me to want to care about him.

Anyways, Hades has a seat with Demeter, and the conversation is very brief before Hades says that he has a gift for her. And what is it, exactly?

Oh great, Hades. Sure wish you would have had this consideration hundreds of years ago. I fail to see what good this does for her now because it doesn't change the fact that he still cost her the role of Queen of the Mortal Realm and treated her like shit for hundreds of years. This comes across as such a shallow and empty "apology" because it's barely even a "gift", rather something she was OWED back then that he didn't want to hand over for his own selfish reasons. He still comes out the winner here because he's gotten to spend thousands of years being a rich slave-driving oligarch while Demeter has had to maintain the Mortal Realm on her own even without the glory of having a title.

I especially detest this "twist" because it's less of a twist and Rachel finally accepting the fact she couldn't come up with anything better than what her fans had to come up with for her. If this had been the fact the whole time, we would have seen it established back when we first got those flashbacks showing Hades being a total prick to her over the volcanoes. Instead, Rachel dragged it out for weeks and weeks until finally dumping this "twist" that her fans had been talking about all that time. This is yet another one of those "Rachel used her fanbase to come up with her ideas" moments. I know that that seems a little mean and presumptuous, but the fact of the matter is that the writing in this story is such an absolute mess that you just know Rachel's writing by the seat of her pants and has to rely on her audience's headcanons to actually fill in the gaps of her story. Most of the time when people commend her for the "great storytelling" in LO, what they're referring to are things they came up with entirely on their own because of how easy it is to just make assumptions about LO's storyline. Rachel benefits off the story being as vague as possible because then her fanbase will fill in the gaps with their own assumptions and give her all the credit for an idea they came up with.

By the way, to the "self-proclaimed folklorist" who wrote this, the volcanoes were really just entrances into the Underworld. Hades did not own them. They were owned by Hephaestus. And I would argue that the volcanoes were only seen as "entrances" into the Underworld because, fun fact - if you jump into a volcano, you die!

Hades frames his reasoning as feeling like Demeter was pushing him out of the Mortal Realm, but this makes no sense because none of that is on her. He claims that he felt like an "outsider" but the reality is that he made himself that way. He resigned himself to being King of the Underworld, he ate the pomegranate and made the deal with Erebus, and even he stated that he could still actually leave the Underworld, just not for long periods of time. So he was the only one keeping himself away from the Mortal Realm, not Demeter. We even see that in the VHS tape flashbacks where Hades stumbles onto Demeter's property and she lets him sleep it off in her home. So this whole sob story about how he felt "pushed out" by Demeter is such a bad take from someone who's routinely known to make himself out to be the victim. Because Hades can't have an actual reputation for a reason, no, this is a "retelling" told by someone who got all their Greek myth info off Tumblr circa 2016 and the front page of Google, so Hades has to be the misunderstood uwu sad underdog. Even though he routinely does things that reinforce the reputation he has within the comic, like being a slave driver, abusing lower class nymphs, and grooming teenagers.

Minthe showing up for a split second in the background is the best this comic has been since S2. We stan our girl Minthe, fucking run girl, do what Persephone couldn't do. She's the real hero of this story (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ

And honestly, I'm sorry, but Demeter really SHOULDN'T be taking the high ground on this. She has more than enough reason to be upset. For a comic that tries to celebrate feminism and holding abusive men accountable, it sure is willing to make the women - often victims of the men - the real villains who have to "do better". Except for Persephone of course. Persephone is married into the system now, she doesn't have to "do better", she's a "boss babe" for being abusive and petty and undeserving of her status because she's the self-insert Y/N character.

So the ceremony for commencing Spring begins. I gotta say, for the final major scene of the mi(n)season finale, the art is severely underwhelming. You can really tell the difference between S3 and S1 art here, there's barely anything extra done to make this scene even half as impactful as the most basic of scenes from S1.

Like, it's fine, but it still feels so half-baked and rushed to attempt to replicate the kind of art that's been gone from the series for years now. The full sequence itself is actually quite lengthy, with a lot of nymph hands just moving around and playing instruments, but it's about as bland as any other panel, so it makes the sequence itself feel dragged out and boring.

This is about as pretty as the sequence gets and it's still not even as good as the original Dread Queen transformation. There's barely any rendering in the skin, and they couldn't even be bothered to make the hands look normal. It's like it's trying so hard to be "original LO" but is fundamentally missing the point of what made the original LO so captivating.

But oh noooo, looks like Persephone did a bad!

Are they actually gonna give her some kind of flaw? Are we gonna FINALLY gonna find out what she traded to Erebus?

No. We're just gonna make her the cause of winter.

Spaghettios.

And that's where I'm leaving this review for now because, as mentioned in the beginning, this episode is a LOT longer than I remember it being. There's still a whole ass segment with Apollo that we need to cover and I don't want to leave it out but I also don't want to do it entirely in text format and I've hit that pesky image limit. So I'll be posting that second part as soon as I can!

That said, I really can't stand this "subversion" by making Persephone the reason for winter.

First of all, because this is a common problem in a lot of H x P "retellings", as many of them fundamentally miss the point of why Persephone is the "Goddess of Spring".

Persephone was not born the "Goddess of Spring". She was born Kore (Κόρη), a maiden born from Demeter. It wasn't until after she was taken by Hades that Demeter, in her grief, took away the harvest and created winter. It was the return of Persephone every six months that brought about the spring, hence, she earned the name, "Goddess of Spring". What these retellings COMPLETELY MISUNDERSTAND is that the gods aren't 'born' with their titles, they're granted these titles by the mortals who comprehend them and write of them as harbingers of their respective elements, stories, and messages. Zeus wasn't "born" the God of the Sky and Heavens, he was granted that title after he overthrew Kronos and took the Heavens for himself. Hades wasn't "born" the God of the Underworld and the Dead, he was granted that title after he became the ruler of the domain of death.

Where these retellings really fuck up is constantly trying to "subvert" the H x P myth in an attempt to romanticize it, thus undoing the point of why Persephone is called "The Goddess of Spring". A Touch of Darkness also made this mistake by putting a "twist" on Persephone's character by having her start out as someone who couldn't make things grow. But if she sucks at making things grow, then why is she still referred to as The Goddess of Spring? In LO, Hades is referred to as "Grandpa Winter" and the seasons already seem to exist as we saw in this episode through the ceremony, so why has she been called "The Goddess of Spring" this whole time?

But I also can't stand this "subversion" because it fundamentally misunderstands the very myth it's trying to "retell". By giving Persephone the "curse" of creating winter, it further robs Demeter of her own agency in this story, more than it already has. It wasn't enough to make Demeter a helicopter mom, it wasn't enough to drive an actual rift between her and her daughter, they had to take away Demeter's entire role in the story and the creation of the seasons and give it to Persephone.

And this is, surprisingly enough, NOT the first time the comic has done this. There are many traits associated with different gods that have been given to Persephone and Hades. The volcanoes belong to Hades rather than Hephaestus, Persephone is "more beautiful than Aphrodite", Thanatos' and Psyche's butterfly symbolism is given to both Hades and Persephone, Aphrodite's symbolism of roses is given to Persephone, the list goes on. Every single plotline has to involve Persephone as the hero, and every single attribute that's commonly associated with other gods has to be granted to H x P in some way to make them better and more interesting than every other cast member in the comic, and yet they still come across as vapid and boring protagonists with nothing to show for themselves.

So to give the ONE thing from the source material that made LO what it is, it comes across as so unbearably cruel.

But then again, we should have seen this coming. After all, Rachel does not cite this as a retelling of The Hymn to Demeter. She simply refers to it as its more unofficial name: The Taking of Persephone.

Look, I get it, the story is meant to be told from Persephone's POV (or at least through the lens of her being the main character) so I can understand why Rachel may have chosen to reword this to make it more clear. But it's really depressing that she went to such an extent with making it about Persephone that she had to rob one of the most integral character of her moment and retribution. Especially when one of the only books in her cited "research" that's primarily about Persephone is, shocked, The Hymn to Demeter, which is listed at the very bottom of every "research" list you can find in LO's history.

LO should have just stayed as self-indulgent fluff. This isn't "subversion", this isn't a "twist", it's just yet another item on the list of making Persephone the most Important One of all. Even when it attempts to be a 'flaw', it fails tremendously by acting as yet another aspect of her being a Mary Sue, because her 'flaw' has come at the cost of another character's story, identity, and strengths. What was originally a tale of grief, retribution, and standing up against a patriarchal system, has now been warped into a consequence of a muddied plot that doesn't have anywhere left to go. For a story that claims to be "feminist", it has ironically missed the original point of its source material entirely, and completely robbed itself of the feminine strength it could have had if it hadn't tried to be "subversive".

I don't really have anything much more to say than that. I could leave it here for good, but we do still have that extra segment to talk about that covers the actual final cliffhanger in this episode, so... we'll see you on the other side.

[viktoriaashleyyx]

Tamtam and Sky (oc) meet with Tarquin. I am not completely happy with this one, but I have come to the realization that these will always be dialog heavy. My desire with this fic is to uplift the characters who were treated like shit by the narrative.

Also this post by @msbrownwithacrown is cannon to me and I reference it.

This is a pro Tamlin, anti Rhysand self insert revenge fic. All characters belong to SJM, but she wasn't treating them right. Tam x reader, Tam x Rhysands Sister (OC), First person narrative. This will also reference Elucien and Neris in the future but we aren't there yet. No warnings apply, I just wanted to show Tarquin some kindness.

Ch1

Ch4 > Ch6

Chapter 5:

I portaled us to the entrance of the Summer court castle in Adriata. The delicious smell of the salty sea water filled my lungs as I glanced up at the magnificent architecture that stood before me.

“You know, we were invited into the meeting room, we could've just winnowed straight in there.” Tamlin said, offering me his elbow to guide me inside.

“I never portal inside someone's home, I find it grotesquely rude.” I placed my hand on his arm gently, still admiring the beauty around me.

“We are here for a meeting with Tarquin.” Tamlin informed the guards as they led us inside and through the beautifully decorated halls. I bowed my head in thanks to them as they left us at the door to the office and we took a breath together as we entered.

Tarquin was already sitting there at the head of the magnificent table. His immaculate white locs hung down to the middle of his chest and his bright blue eyes sparkled like the sun shining off the sea. Why is every male in Prythia so damn gorgeous? He was young, not counting Feyre, Tamlin had told me he was the newest high lord, only rising to his position a few years ago, but that did not take any merit away from the power he held. A leader with a kind heart will always be more powerful than their counterpart.

“Welcome to the Summer court,” Tarquin smiled as he extended his hand to shake Tamlins, “it's good to see you getting back on your feet.”

“Thank you, friend, what wonders a woman's love can do for a broken heart,” Tamlin gushed as he looked to me. “This is my mate and other half, Sky.”

“It is nice to meet you, sir. I have heard good things about you. The Summer court is lucky to have a heart like yours leading them.” I complimented him earnestly as I turned the chair sideways to sit down.

“It is nice to meet you, Sky, but you must forgive me if I am a bit wary. The last few times a face like yours entered my court, it was left worse for wear.” He added cautiously. “I have come to realize that I handed my trust out far too easily, and it ended horribly for my people. I have been working to learn caution.”

“I understand fully. Your duty is to your people, and unfortunately I was cursed with sharing the face of an arrogant ass,” I giggled at the last part, lightening the mood.

“I will try my best to remain impartial to that,” Tarquin smiled. I, honestly, couldn't blame him for not trusting me. In his short reign he's had to rebuild his city three times. He has seen war and had precious heirlooms stolen from him.

“I appreciate it, but I have no issue putting in the work necessary to earn your trust.” I offered. He seemed pleased with my response.

“We are working hard to rebuild our court and welcome our citizens back home. I understand that the actions I took and decisions I made harmed your lands as well, Spring and Summer were hurt by the hands of the toxic relationship I was a part of, and for that I extend my most sincere apologies.” Tamlin began, Tarquin listening intensively. “And even after all of it, you welcomed my people to your lands with open arms. I can only hold hope moving forward that I can model even the slightest inch of the compassion you have in you.” I had heard him rehearsing this speech every morning since Tarquin agreed to this meeting and Tamlin was doing a beautiful job. A man willing to humble himself and give a sincere apology is so attractive.

“Yes Tarquin, we need help, we cannot rebuild the entire court on our own. We need carpenters, and supplies. We plan to pay well for these services and Spring will be forever indebted to Summer but we did not come empty handed.” I started, Tarquins gaze shifted to me, pondering our words. I pulled out the parchment I had prepared in my bag. On it wrote:

Animus meus est.

Ancilia dimittam

“Do you have a daemati that serves your court?” I asked as Tarquin studied the words on the page.

“Yes, Vili.” He answered.

“Would you please call for him?”

Tarquin sent his guard to find Vili. He looked back at me confused. “Are you not a daemati?”

“I am,” I responded, “but I think it best to have a man you trust for this demonstration.” I continued, “you see, for years, Tarquin, I have hated being a daemati. I believe your mind should be your own, and if someone wishes to change how you think, they should have to show you, in their actions. My brother has been abusing his daemati powers to control the other High Lords for his entire reign. Tamlin shared his memories of the past few years with me and I saw through his eyes at the High lords meeting. Rhysand was controlling the words expressed by Tamlin and I suspect he was doing it to you and Kalias as well. Him and his ladies stole a priceless artifact from you and you resended the blood rubies just like that?” Tarquin was invested. I assume it was Vili who entered the room and stood next to Tarquin, head held high, he didn't trust me either, with good reason.

“On the paper I have given you is a spell, I spent many years studying in the libraries of Aretuza, and that spell has been tested and shown to render daemati powers utterly useless.” Daematis were supposed to be healers of the minds, something incredibly necessary in Prythia especially after Amaranthas cruelty, but that kind of power being genetic instead of earned is how people ended up being terrorized instead of helped. I have tried for years to rid myself of the curse I feel daemati to be.

“You can use it on me. Vili, I request that you monitor my mind as Tarquin performs the spell.” Tamlin offered.

“The first line is the spell that applies a metal shield, protecting and encompassing the entire mind. The second line drops it.” I explained.

Tarquin looked at me hesitantly, then spoke the words, directed to Tamlin. “It's gone, no wall, no entrance. I cannot see anything. He might as well not even be here.” Vili noted aloud.

“I feel fine, great even. Like my head is clear.” Tamlin announced.

Tarquin then uttered the second line. “I can see it again, his walls.” Vili exclaimed, shocked.

“Why give me this information, I have yet to agree to help you?” Tarquin looked at me.

“It's not a payment, Tarquin, it is a gift. If the only thing I gain out of you having this information is that the Summer court is slightly more protected from my brother's antics, it will be payment enough.” I assured. “I do not expect a reply today, please, consult with your advisors, make a decision that you are comfortable with. I understand that this is just a stepping stone towards a hopeful friendship.”

“You have made a compelling case for an alliance, Sky. I do not wish to hold your brother's actions against you.” Tarquin consoled.

“I appreciate that,” I smiled at him, and Tamlin squeezed my hand. “I would like to spend some time this afternoon at the wonderful shops you have in the town square, but, if you would prefer us to head straight home we will.”

“You are more than welcome to enjoy the city, as long as what ever you happen to leave with is acquired honestly.” Tarquin said with a knowing smile. “However, I must warn you that my people might not be the most accepting of you, they have suffered great losses.” He added softly. “All I am saying is, if you want a true Summer experience, you might want to utilize that shapeshifter you have next to you. Just for right now.”

“Oh, that is a good idea.” I pondered and turned to Tamlin, “help me blend in, just for today.”

He was hesitant at first, but with a gentle hand I felt his magic encompassing me. I looked into the large mirror on the wall. I was still myself, just less Rhysand-looking. My wings were gone, and my violet eyes turned to a soft light brown. Changed, just enough, as to not worry the people of Summer.

“Perfect, let's go shopping.” I smiled. We both bowed to Tarquin as a sign of respect and made our way to the pier.

♡♡♡♡♡

Tarquin had invited us to join him to dinner at one of the beach view restaurants on the pier. As the High Lord of Summer, him and his company naturally experienced certain perks amongst the restaurant owners.

We sat at a large table on the patio, and I was entranced by the view of the sea, the waves crashing into the shore and the various colors out where the sea met the sky. It was an effort to pay attention to the conversation taking place between the two High Lords.

“I'm glad you're enjoying the view, Sky. I can still sit and stare at it for hours myself.” Tarquin doing his best to include me, offering understanding at my fascination. “I was still young when my family and I were trapped under the mountain for all those years, as a child of Summer, being denied these sights was just one of the many tortures I endured.”

I offered him an understanding smile, and reached to squeeze his hand. Amarantha truly hurt so many of us. Tamlin had shared his memories of the few months he spent under the mountain, while I practiced the mental healing the daemati powers were supposed to be used for. Tarquin had lived that for 50 years. “To come out the other side, still holding softness and kindness in your heart, shows me just how powerful you truly are. There is so much strength in being gentle.”

“I can only imagine the experiences you've faced that have made you this wise.” Tarquin returned the smile, then turned to Tamlin, “You are a lucky man, Tamlin. I hope to have someone by my side someday that can match her beauty and grace, if the cauldron sees me fit.”

“My advice to you, don't wait on the mating bond. Tamlin and I fell in love a long time before it snapped. Put yourself out there, fall in love because you choose to, not because the cauldron thought you would make an interesting pair. Sure, you're gonna get your heart broken at times, love is messy and beautiful, painful and wonderful. That's what makes it worth it. A woman wants to know you've chosen her out of your own free will, not because some outside force tied you to her. She wants to feel loved because you want her to.”

Tarquin pondered my words for a moment. “To fall in love with the possibility it will fail is a scary thought.”

“Oh absolutely, but have the courage to do it anyway.”

The conversation ended as the waitresses brought out the feast Tarquin had ordered for us. Crawfish, shrimp, potatoes, corn, eggs, and crab legs boiled to perfection and seasoned perfectly and generously. I was happy enough that I didn't have to cook tonight, but this looked divine. I had always heard that Summer court had the best food. The rumors were true.

Tag list: @ladythornofrivia @rcarbo1 @rin-u-pos @knoxic