#amplified sounds

[drs295]

Hallway Scene (w/o music) v2

[beif0ngs]

I’m done pretending you’re my sister, you’re not. You killed her. I’m not gonna let you stain her memory anymore.

Then stop me. ‘Cause no matter what I do, I just can’t seem to die.

[its-where-the-wild-things-are]

[teatimeatwinterpalace]

Empress Charlotte of Mexico

[hood-ex]

World's Finest: Teen Titans #4

[high-voltage-rat]

Actually I'm still thinking about it. Another interesting way in which RvB is anti-war is the way that the Director fills the role of a villain and antagonist (especially in the Recollections trilogy, where he's a faceless villain we never see but is responsible for everything that happens).

In his memos to the Chairman, the Director emphasizes his sense of duty and obligation to the military- he becomes irate for the first time when he feels that it's being implied that he was derelict in his duty... or that the work he did out of that duty is being criticized for being against the military's interests. He also talks about Allison's death in a way I find... interesting.

"You see; I never had the chance to serve in battle. Nor did fate provide me the opportunity to sacrifice myself for humanity as it did for so many others in the Great War. Someone extremely dear to me was lost very early in my life. My mind has always plagued me with the question: If the choice had been placed in my hands, could I have saved her? [...] But, given the events of these past few weeks, I feel confident that had I been given the chance, I would have made those sacrifices myself... Had I only the chance."

The idea of sacrifice is central to the way he talks about his wife's loss, to the way he talks about the war in general. He talks of sacrifice with a sense of veneration- that it's something he aspires to do, that he longs for. There's a few ways we can interpret "I would have made those sacrifices myself"...

-That in Allison's place, he thinks he would have laid down his life too.

-That if given the chance, he would have given his life to save hers.

But most interestingly...

-That he would have sacrificed Allison's life for the continued survival of humanity, if that was what duty called for.

...And personally, I think all 3 are true.

In most war media, the Director's perspective on sacrifice is very common. Sacrifice is glorious and heroic- to die in battle is an honour- and it's the only way to ensure the group you serve survives. This is a tool of propaganda- nobody wants to go to war just for the sake of it, you have to give them a reason that the risk of dying or being permanently disabled isn't just acceptable, but desirable. Beyond that, most people don't want to do things they think are immoral- you have to convince them it's important, a necessary lesser evil. You teach them to sacrifice their morals, too.

The way they train soldiers to follow orders and to kill, is to convince them that they, and the people around them, and the people they care about, will all die if they don't. It's drilled into your head from day one. It's the way they ensure their commanding officers won't shy away from sending their men off to die. The message is constant- sacrifice is your duty, and duty ensures your people's survival.

In the Director's eyes, the damage Project Freelancer caused was his sacrifice. He never got the opportunity to sacrifice himself during the war- so he sacrificed others, as military brass do. The Freelancers- including his daughter. The countless sim troopers. Any people he considered "collateral damage" on missions. And when the opportunity to do so presented itself, he sacrificed a copy of himself- Alpha- and he sacrificed a copy of Allison- Tex.

The very thing that derailed his life- the loss of his wife- he made it happen again. He put her copy in dangerous situations, let her exist in the position of constant repeated failure, created the circumstances that would eventually lead to her death. He put their daughter in deadly situations that nearly killed her repeatedly, provided her with impossible expectations leading to self-destructive behaviours in the name of duty, implanted her with two AI knowing they could cause her permanent harm. He was confident he "would have made those sacrifices himself" because he did.

The Director is the embodiment of the military war machine. As an antagonist, he is a warning against buying into the glorification of sacrifice. He's a condemnation of the idea that one should be willing to do anything to win a war- that duty to the military is the thing that ensures survival... All the messages that are pushed to ensure recruitment and obedience of soldiers.

He's a reminder that swallowing the propaganda leads to you doing terrible things... and in the end, you're a broken man left mourning the losses that you suffered even as you repeated them, convinced that it was all necessary.

[martyrbat]

batman: shadow of the bat #0

[ID: a flashback of the outside of Wayne Manor at night. A narration box (unrelated to the scene) reads, “Ya think he's got a guardian angel, or somethin'?” Inside the manor, Leslie Thompkins and Alfred Pennyworth are talking in regards of young Bruce Wayne. They sit in a magnificent library at a small table as Bruce sits at his own desk that's across the room and has his face buried in a book. Alfred reassures her, “— Worried about him, Doctor Thompkins? I can assure you there's no need! Master Bruce has the manor to live in — myself to look after him — the best education money can buy—”. Leslie cuts Alfred off before he can continue rambling out more examples. She tells him, “It's what he doesn't have that bothers me, Alfred. Friends — hobbies — the kind of life a normal teenager looks forward to. He spends all his time in the gym, or here reading. I don't think he ever recovered from his parents' death.” We're shown Bruce, now in a close-up and able to see the book he's reading is titled ‘Lip Reading For Beginners’. Bruce peers over the book intensely as Leslie continues to express her rightful concern, “He almost seems obsessed!” END ID]

[shi0n]

listen to uragoi hanabi right now. song of the year

[wouldntyoulichentoknow]

touch, 9, kharish and colette

NOT an accurate representation of her resting heart rate 😔

[drs295]

Palace kiss scene (w/o music)

[topaz-carbuncle]

shout out to the british ghostie at work who turned the kettle on in the staffroom, all while me and a colleague were just silently chilling on our breaks

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Loewe Catalog, 1981

[bathylychnops]

more ofmy supervillain Radar whos just Some Guy 

he WAS a hero named Sonar but he got bored of it and wanted to switch career paths

[geodethecrow]

kicking my legs twirling my hair going absolutely feral about the Bluecoats' show this year

there is genuinely no describing how happy this makes me I love this show. "Change Is Everything"? uh yeah it sure changed my life those sounds were magical especially the fucking trombone solo aaaaaaaaaahhh I love that song too

[weedhillfarm]

So awesome to hear the milk sloshing around after the babies eat

[aropride]

how the fuck are neurotypicals just rawdogging being alive im on four meds and listeninf ro my tunes and i still feel likw im

While writing this post i had to go hide in a bathroom real quick bc i did not feel like passing someone on the sidewalk and when i got there i was so stressed i felt like i was gonna pass out i love anxiety. including this information bc i felt like it was relevant to the subject of the post. Anyway i was gonna say im on 4 meds and i listen to my tunes when i can and yet i still shake like a scared chihuahua and feel like im being eaten by rabid piranhas when i have to have experiences and god forbid events