#but can you criticise how people grieve?
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Jessica “Chilli” Chilton and Jimmy Borelli both deserved so much better. In this essay I will.....
#like#they both lost their siblings#and clearly never recovered from it#I have feelings about them#I mean yes Chilli could be out of line#but can you criticise how people grieve?#Chicago Fire#One Chicago#chilli#jessica chilli chilton#jimmy borelli
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sorry, yapping quickly. I saw a post earlier analysing how vi doesn't stand up for the zaunites to caitlyn, and contrasting that to jinx (and ekko), and viewing vi as a sort of pick me (not the language used but I can't find the original rn), and like. yes, I think the argument is correct, but there is like one thing I want to add, which is that vi, unlike jinx and ekko, isn't really in a position where she can criticise caitlyn right? ok hear me out. so one) imo a lot of s1 establishes vi as someone genuinely desperate for connection - its the thought to getting back to powder that gets her through prison (where she has been pretty isolated), her and caitlyn click incredibly fast etc, and all of s1 into s2 happen pretty damn fast right? vi gets out of prison, gains a friend, regains a sister and then instantly loses her again, and then that loss of powder is really underscored in the finale - vi has very few relationships left, and most of the ones she has had have ended in horrible tragedy and violence; it is no wonder that she especially would try to cling to the one (cait) she has left and two) vi is also someone who is constantly in the big sister/protector role - her intro shows this, her leadership of their little gang as kids, and after the time skip (after she fails) you can see her try to assert her dominance over caitlyn in s1 - vi is the one who knows the lanes, caitlyn has to keep up, vi throws caitlyn out of her comfort zone in the brothel etc., vi is trying to demonstrate that she has worth to caitlyn right? and of course when maddie is talking to vi, it's caitlyn expressing respect for vi's actions that vi seizes onto. I don't think this is (just) a way of showing off to caitlyn, rich girl from piltover, I think this is part of vi's understanding of herself as a figure of authority and protection in her relationships put them together and you have someone who, when confronted with an angry and grieving caitlyn, her last real connection (not counting ekko) makes compromises to avoid a confrontation with her. vi doesn't counter 'what kind of animals' directly, because that risks her relationship with caitlyn; she is pretty consistently someone who cares more about personal relationships than the grand scheme of things (as does powder/jinx but that's a different post). and yet, with that in mind, vi does try to defend zaunites! first, she tries to humanise them right; instead of being wild uncontrollable beasts, vi positions them as making a calculated attack - they wanted the spectacle, they're trying to scare you, and then after caitlyn doubles down on her anger towards them, vi pushes for caitlyn to call off the invasion. those aren't the actions of someone who doesn't care about zaunites, or would rather side with piltover imo, they're the actions of someone who does care about zaun, but who doesn't want to jeopardise her relationship with caitlyn. vi joining the enforcers is not only her staying with caitlyn, but also her trying to prevent the invasion. if I go after your sister alone, one of us comes back in a box = caitlyn won't go alone. the strike force then, can be read as a deliberate compromise between caitlyn, who has all the power here, and vi, who doesn't want zaun to be invaded by the enforcers
this is, of course, just a way you can read all this lol, if you disagree/want to add on please do so! I am a bit busy rn but I cannot express how much I want to talk about arcane with people
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LET'S ENJOY GREEK MYTH RETELLINGS AND STORIES BUT NOT TAKE ALL OF THEM SERIOUSLY
You know, I really have to say this.
I don't think that Greeks, Hellenistic Pagans and other people who know Greek Mythology would be as frustrated as they are today if people DIDN'T TAKE MODERN SOURCES DEPICTING GREEK MEDIA AS ALWAYS ACCURATE.
Bear with me now.
All right, so, we all know about Percy Jackson.
And PJO was basically the Greek God make or break of its time and it broke the Greek Gods. Greeks and Hellenistic Pagans had the unfortunate experience of being bombarded with false, incorrect interpretations and thoughts about their deities.
And we have to remember here that to these Hellenistic Pagans, their gods are as sacred to them as God is to Christians. Maybe they wouldn't kill people over their gods, an added bonus, but we must respect the fact that they worship the gods and we must be respectful of Greek Gods when interacting with them.
See, I'm not saying that you can't be lighthearted. You can joke around and all that-it's just that actually hating and condemning the Greek Gods shouldn't be done when you're interacting with their worshippers.
Now that I'm done with that, well, Rick Riordan fucked up with Greek Mythology big time. Making Athena have children, HIS MISOGYNY. THERE ARE ENTIRE TAGS DEDICATED TO RICK'S MISOGYNY, NOT JUST OF HIS FEMALE CHARACTERS BUT OF ACTUAL ANCIENT GREEK GODDESSES. If I did a whole essay on his misogyny, I'd have to make multiple posts.
Rick done fucked up with them. I do not have to be the first person to tell you that.
HOWEVER, I am obligated to say that any author is freely able to portray the Greek Gods as they want (unfortunately at times).
And so Rick is free to interpret them how he likes.
Let's also remember that Rick thought terribly of the Gods and their worshippers when he was writing Percy Jackson and the other series.
Of course, he HAS changed for the better. Now he's more respectful of Pagans and has apologised, which is nice, but I just thought I'd let you know.
See, now we can accept and criticise Rick's writing, but before-
Well, before, it was absolutely awful for Greeks and Hellenistic Pagans. I mean, it's still awful, but it was more awful back then because almost nobody criticised Percy Jackson about depicting Greek Gods terribly. Everyone said that Greek Gods were American and belonged to America-ugh, that was horrible. It's absolutely appalling to do that, no less to Greeks themselves. People ranted about how horrible the gods were.
And I mean yes, the Greek Gods could be awful by modern standards, but we need to remember two things-
The Greek Gods were based on an ANCIENT SOCIETY with DIFFERENT MORAL STANDARDS. Judging them by modern moral standards isn't going to do anything.
The actions of the gods were SYMBOLIC, NOT LITERAL.
a) Artemis' cruelty towards humans? That's the cruelty of nature towards him. Artemis was a nature goddess and she hunted and resided in the wild.
b) Dionysus being kind and charming but also mad and ruthless at times? Well, that's what wine does. It can make people funny and charming to a point, but it also drives people mad and makes them violent.
c) Hades kidnapping Persephone? Well, Hades represents death, and that's what death does-it rips children from their parents' arms. Also, it signifies the fact that daughters and mothers did not have a say in their marriage, the father could give the girl away to any man in those times. Demeter actually being able to get Persephone back was a comfort to grieving mothers.
d) Zeus cheating on Hera multiple times?
There are multiple explanations for this one.
First, kings and princes often claimed to be descendants of Zeus, so Zeus was said to have many affairs with royal mortal women so that their claims to divine lineage could be accurate.
Second, Zeus' rain represented fecundity and fertility. As I said above, the actions of the gods are symbolic and they represent their domains, so he had multiple affairs and loads of children to signify his fertility.
Third, the Greek Gods were based on Ancient Greek society where multiple men took concubines and lovers. And Zeus did this too, because he was a king!
e) Hera punishing the lovers and bastards? That's what queens did to some concubines for revenge, since they couldn't take it out on the king.
It's all either symbolic or based on Ancient Greece. The gods that humanity created were based on those times, and they were created millennia ago, when things were different in nearly every way possible.
Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is that we're allowed to have fun with these stories and retellings that include Greek Mythology, but if you really want correct information on Greek gods, go and read the myths and the compositions of Ancient Greek poets and playwrights (Homer, Hesiod, etc).
Because many people, when reading these modern retellings and the like, think that they are actually real mythological information and accordingly spew nonsense.
People call Apollo 'Asspollo' and harass his worshippers because of one incorrect comic that came out in 2018. Apollo never raped Persephone.
And people also view famous figures like Odysseus and Achilles incorrectly because of incorrect translations that don't correctly capture the original and CERTAIN RETELLINGS (cough-Madeline Miller-COUGH)
And there are so many more examples I could give, but then this would be too long to post.
See, it's not that the writers completely rip the original lore out. They keep a lot of it, but they also add in some incorrect information. And sometimes this isn't that bad or malicious, it's just incorrect.
So if you're not sure about whether something in a retelling or story depicting Greek Gods is true, you should search it up online or ask someone who knows.
Because Greeks and Hellenistic Pagans are constantly frustrated at how their gods are portrayed and that everyone just takes the retellings as mythologically correct.
TLDR Greek mythology retellings can be fun for you to read but don't take all of the info in them as mythologically correct. You can be lighthearted about the Greek Gods but please don't actually loathe or mock them with others who believe in them and worship them. If you're not sure about info in a retelling or story, then search it up or ask someone you know.
There are multiple blogs on tumblr who can tell you more information about the actual Greek Gods and they're pretty nice about it too, so don't be too afraid.
#rr crit#pjo critical#pjo#pjo crit#percy jackson critical#percy jackson#rr critical#pjo discourse#rick riordan critical#percy jackson crit#PJO meta#Lore Olympus critical#LO critical#anti percy jackson#anti rr#anti rick riordan#Greek Gods#Greek Mythology#Anti tsoa#Anti Madeline Miller#Achilles#Odysseus
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Ok, so Episode Aigis dropped, they changed some dialogue and now people are pissed and saying P3 Reload ruined The Answer.
If you want my TLDR, Atlus’ changes (both writing and mechanical) for the DLC are overall small, some good some bad, but they’re ultimately band aids that fail to address the much wider flaws of The Answer as a story.
I think there’s a genuine intent to try and better get across the character’s motivations. And for some characters it works well. I think the new dialogue for Mitsuru is a genuine improvement. I’ve seen some criticise it for focusing more on Mituru’s thoughts towards the protagonist then her (rather queer coded) loyalty to Yukari. But as much as I love my SEES lesbians, I genuinely think giving Mitsuru multiple reasons to side with Yukari rather than just blind loyalty, is much more in character for her than FES’ approach (where she comes across uncharacteristically stupid). But I think by only changing minutia like this it just ends up highlighting the bigger problem.
A lot of people hyper focus on Yukari’s role and talk about how irrational she is here. And now you’ve got people complaining that Reload softens and sanitises her character and makes her storyline weaker. But I feel it’s a case of identifying something doesn’t work but being incorrect as to why.
The thing about the SEES group fight is that it’s fundamentally a really poorly done conflict. It sucked in FES and it sucks here too. There’s not enough meaningful disagreement between the group to make it feel earned. The only one acting out and taking the MC’s death badly, is Yukari. When really if this is the climax they wanted to build to, everyone should have been grieving badly and constantly at each other’s throats. It could have been this building frustration and animosity, until they’re all at odds over what to do with the key and a fight breaks out.
What we get is everyone…mostly being pretty chill, aside from Yukari being kind of petty and jealous at Aigis. And I think the reason people react badly to her (misogyny notwithstanding) is that it’s really weird when she’s the only one having this extreme reaction. Instead of everyone dealing with the MCs death in their own distinct way, it’s only explored with Aigis and Yukari and only somewhat. Hell if you didn’t have such a jarring disconnect, and there was a better variety of reactions and thoughts from across the cast, I think more people would praise Yukari’s writing here. As it stands, when everyone else is almost ridiculously reasonable, it looks very jarring.
And then when the group do fight it feels completely out of nowhere precisely because of how agreeable everyone’s been. Everyone willingly jumps into a pointless fight that could get them all killed, one that only one member of the group even wants. All for a very contrived plot point that was set up five minutes ago. It’s executed in such a sloppy way that it makes the genuinely good scene of Yukari’s breakdown ring hollow. You get the sense that the writers weren’t really interested in exploring Yukari’s grief beyond using it as a plot device to make a dumb, unnecessary punch up scene happen.
I can see what they’re trying to do in Reload. They wanted to make Yukari stick out like less of a sore thumb compared to the rest of the group. But if they were gonna do that, they kinda needed to dial everyone else up, not dial her down. Build the tension between the party further rather than decrease it. Because now, if Yukari, and by extension the rest of the party are way more reasonable, it just begs the question even more of ‘they why are you fighting in the first place?’ It’s slapping on a band aid in a way that just exposes the whole scenario’s weaknesses
I genuinely think Episode Aigis needed to either keep the Answer entirely as is, or overhaul it completely. Making little changes like this won’t win over people who hated The Answer the first time, and will just annoy people who liked it as is. As it stands, The Answer is still a mess of good ideas mired by poor execution and Reload’s take only makes a handful of small changes that are ultimately different, not better.
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Characters with wasted potential : shota aizawa (rant)
Look I first got into the series because of the idea of dadzawa but now i can confirm that it is just a fanon concept that people made(one that I wish was actually true). I have many problems with Aizawa's character that hori never really focuses on:
HE IS A BAD TEACHER. It is without doubt that aizawa shota is cannonically a horrible teacher who clearly favourites students like bakugo and shinso while clearly treating other students like izuku unfairly. One of the things that makes him a bad teacher is the whole expulsion thing. Something like that is very big as it completely ruins a perfect record which can ruin lives AND CREATE VILLAINS. Even his old students fear him and have a bad impression of him which doesn't help the "oh dadzawa" or "aizawa is a good teacher stuff". Shota can and will protect the students but that's it in terms of teaching his students something and taking care of them he rarely does that.
THE WAY HE INTERACTS WITH OTHER CHARACTERS. Iam talking about both sides here. He favours bakugo and goes to extreme lengths to defend him even though the public actually have a point and even nedzu states that the reason that they kidnapped Katsuki was because of his behaviour. It then makes no sense for him to keep on criticising midoriya instead of actually doing something and helping him handle OFA (he is one of the best teachers to help him with combat and his quirk) even if he doesn't know about OFA specifically he can still train and help midoriya which he never does or never offers. The only time we see him train a student it isn't even someone from HIS OWN CLASS which adds to the whole he looks like a bad teacher.
HIS BACKSTORY. Let's be honest the whole oboro and kurogiri thing had potential but it's all their just for shota and to make him a lot more sympathetic. It's literally Horikoshi's way of giving us a reason to justify shota's on paper expulsions and why he is so distant which doesn't work. His backstory had potential but was dealt with the wrong way to the point where later in the series all that shota is reduced to is the nomu oboros friend.
HIS INCONSISTENCY. Eraserheads character is very inconsistent like he goes from being this bad teacher who threatened to expel any student for coming last on a test and not showing heroic potential to him somehow forging yuuga for being the traitor and sympathising with him?!?! To me this development kind of comes out of nowhere especially when you realise that he KNEW he treated izuku badly and THEN PROCEEDED TO NOT APOLOGISE AT ALL?!!!?!?!. There are many other things inconsistent with his character like the way he treats all might and his friends like istg midnight is your friend so why you shutting present mic up for being angry and grieving midnights death?!!?!!
Honestly, I don't think Aizawa was supposed to come of as a bad teacher and a bad person but because of Horikoshi's writing it came out that way which is sad. I think horikoshi wanted him to be something similar to kento nanami (jjk) and hatake Kakashi (Naruto) but that didn't work out as seen here. You can improve this by:
Making him a good teacher. Show him reading his students files and trying to learn more about his students before meeting them which would help with his introduction scene where we see him waiting outside of the class to see how everyone is settling in. Have him use his rational deceptions but not make the consequences something huge like expulsion ( a transfer or a visit to the principles office would have the same effect). Let him acknowledge bakugos behaviour and have him call out stuff he sees. It makes no sense to me why anyone espe shota who got bullied by someone just like bakugo likes and constantly defends bakugo. HAVE HIM ACKNOWLEDGE/ LEARN MORE ABOUT HIS CLASS; he should know stuff like how secretive and closed off shoto is or how unusually aggressive bakugo is. Have him give actual concequences to his class that make sense like with mineta and bakugo they should of been dropped long ago or at least been sent to nedzus office so he can deal with them. FOR A GUY SO LOGICAL SHOTA DOESN'T SEEM TO DO ANY OF THIS!!!
Change the way we see him talk to and interacting with different characters. Iam all for having him be someone closed off but someone who still cares because that's the something that the narrative tries to do but fails at. The narrative also tries to make him as this guy who is scared to form real bonds as a trauma response to what happend with oboro but ironically he always ends up caring and trying to protect people in his own way which is an interesting plot point but fails. I would be content in keeping both of those plot ideas as a part of his character however, to do that have him not have any FAVOURITES and just slowly/unconsciously have him build bonds with the students in his class (can start to happen after the usj) and for shinso have him build a bond after shinso manages to get into the hero course. When it comes to him talking and interacting with his students keep him blunt and have him point out flaws but also give ideas and help into how to actually FIX THE FLAWS. This could lead to him trying to help izuku with his quirk situation and actually teach him quirkless combat (which is something CANON IZUKU SHOULD OF HAVE LEARNT!!!) From then we can see aizawas perception of izuku slowly change and he slowly starts to understand his student and realises the uncanny similarities they both end up sharing. When it comes to him interacting with teachers have him at the start feel like he doesn't fit in and be distant but slowly with the help of his friends present mic and midnight he starts to open up to the UA staff and we can get him develop a little rivalry with Vlad (I know a lot of people say it exists but it's quite one sided with just Vlad being competitive) Iam not saying aizawa should be extroverted and competitive but still be petty and uphold a bit of the rivalry in his own way. When it comes to his friends I think with them he should be close but also have this irrational fear of losing his friends ( actually have him realise and try to teach the dangers of heroics). With all might I feel like he should respect him as a hero and what his goal is which is to teach heroics to the younger generation ( he still doesn't know about OFA until way later ) but have him as someone who has been teaching for a longer time period give constructive criticism and sympathise a bit cos let's be honest teaching a group of overpowered kids is tough.
Have his backstory focus on him and his friends. When reading the vigilantes manga and just looking at the main manga you can clearly tell that the whole backstory of oboro and the kurogiri situation is just there for aizawa and no one else which is such a shame considering it ruins all the characters that are involved writing. Throughout the reveal, we should of focused on the whole rooftop trios reaction as a whole and not only on aizawas we should of seen them try and take comfort and confide in eachother ,we should of seen their own regrets and suffering while giving all the characters screen time to show that. Also aizawas backstory doesn't make sense considering how he goes on to favour bakugo even though he was bullied by someone like bakugo so have him actually follow his backstory and maybe as a teacher empathise more with Izuku and try and help whatever nonsense pos is on.
It's such a pity that aizawa (one of Horikoshi's favourite characters) has so much wasted potential and could of been a great teacher that tried his best to teach and protect his students but because of the inconsistencies in his character and his actions all of that just FAILS horribly.
#anti shota aizawa#mha critical#bnha critical#hori is a bad writer#horikoshi critical#mha#wasted potential#aizawa shouta#anti aizawa shota#anti aizawa
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Can we talk about something that is not harleep 🥺 Maybe we can talk about how stupid and pointless shadowheart is??
Got you anon I'm always happy to talk about how stupid and pointless is Shadowheart. People like to criticise how Asterion quest is really not that much tied to main story but when you think about Shart it feels like she's way too forcibly put all the time in the center.
Like Sharrans don't even know why they want the artifact, she has it just so she has something going on in the first act and also to make sure player canon miss her.
In act it's all about her quests and how she's immune to the curse and fine whatever let have her act two. But what really annoys me in act three is that she cannot even be kidnapped by Orin? Like House of Grieving won't run away, to me she makes as much sense as Gale as kidnappable character.
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Girl, there is no reason to be so mean… like you could at least sweetly reject her! Poor thing, her dad passes away and she wants to know more about affirming. I get the ‘savage personality’ but you should really try to lift others up… 😔
This is exactly why you haven't manifested anything yet 🙄
Be kind!
Hello. I don’t think i’ve replied to an ask about anyone who’s dad passed away? Maybe i missed it, can you send me the link if i have. But I would never be insensitive to someone who is grieving. I usually skim read my asks because I get so many in a day and don’t have time to read them thoroughly.
About the “savage personality”. I’m not being a savage. I understand that I write my posts with an attitude but that is for a reason!!! If somebody genuinely needs my help, they can look at my master list and read posts there! If they have a question that those posts in my master list do no answer then i’m more than happy to help and that is evident on my page!
I’m not going to repeat myself when it is so time consuming to answer asks everyday and run this blog especially during exam season. And of course i’m going to get frustrated when people just ignore me when I tell them to check my master list before asking me a question. I’m sorry that people can’t consider the fact that i’m a human being and i’m busy. I’m not some AI machine that you can ask the same questions on repeat like a broken record. There’s an actual human being behind this blog and people are just abusing my inbox spamming me with the same questions everyday asking me “How do i manifest” “How do I assume” “How do I affirm” As if my master list doesn’t have a whole entire detailed lengthy post dedicated to that specific topic. I didn’t make those posts for no reason. It takes me 2+ hours to make posts sometimes because of how precise and detailed I make them so that you guys can fully understand and for people to just disregard and ignore my work like that whilst proceeding to ask me for more is straight up disrespect. I made my master list so that it is in big bold letters and easy to navigate. People refusing to not read my posts and educate themselves is not my problem. I’m not going to baby them nor let them victimise themselves. They have all the resources they need and they don’t want to use them. If they have a genuine question i’m more than happy to answer unless there’s a post in my master list that answers it.
Maybe you should try running a blog before criticising me like this.
P.S. I’ve manifested many things. “That’s why you haven’t manifested anything yet 🙄” That’s laughable. Turn your anonymity off next time. And you’ve so clearly manifested your dream life. Oh wait I can’t see your blog because your hiding behind the anonymous icon. Keep it going!
Don’t try to school me. I’m not going to answer ignorant people. If you’re mad, then you are that ignorant person that needs to read this message. My gosh.
#void state#void#law of assumption#loa tumblr#loassumption#loa blog#loablr#manifestation#loa#the void state
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The Great War, chapter 3
In favour of not letting the editing get too out of hand (which it already has, this is nothing like the original chapter) I thought I'd just go ahead and post the third chapter, titled "Not much. Not to me, anyway.", on fanfic and ao3. Once again, this is using original dialogue from Episode 6.
"I will not criticise a mother who grieves for her daughter."
Normally, this would have surprised Robert, and normally he might have commented on it. The fact that his Mama chose not to criticise Cora, which had been all she had been doing for 30 years now, was remarkable. The circumstances, however, were such that he would rather forget about all of this. After all, his wife — his darling wife who had not even so much as batted an eyelid at any other of his misgivings in the past — wanted nothing to do with him. Even just being in the same room filled her with so much pain and anger as resentment seemed to radiate off her; so much so that even he noticed. He simply could not see a way this could change in the near future. "I think she's grieving for her marriage as well as for Sybil."
It was a thought that had occurred to him countless times by now, and how could it not when this hardship coming between them exceeded any of the ones before? How could he not when it seemed so much more insurmountable than anything they had to face in the past? At night, when he lay awake in his narrow bed, entirely unable to fall asleep with the weight of the world pressing down on his chest as if to suffocate him, he tried to think of how he could possibly turn things around, how he could win her back. But nothing he thought of would ever be enough with the way things currently were between them, he knew that much.
If his nonchalant tone surprised her as he talked about his marriage, then she did not let it show. Her appalled expression at his words and what he was insinuating, though, was quite enough already. "Robert, people like us are never unhappily married."
At that, Robert could not help but scoff. He knew only too well about everything that was expected of a marriage for people in the aristocracy, and he knew the lengths some of his peers went to in order to keep up pretences and stay afloat through a crumbling, loveless marriage that had ultimately run its course a long time ago.
He should not talk like this, not to his mother, but he could not help it any longer. Keeping up this facade he had put up for more than two weeks already was draining, and right now he was past caring about it. "What do we do if we are," he all but sighed as he walked back to the empty seat opposite her and unceremoniously sat back down. He had not meant for it to come out like this, and he certainly did not expect his mother to respond to it, and so quickly as well.
"Well, in those moments, a couple is unable to see as much of each other as they would like."
The words Violet carefully uttered needed a little while to sink in as his eyes were fixed on the embers in the hearth to his left, and he did not particularly care for the meaning barely veiled by her concerned tone. "You think I should go away?"
"Or Cora could go to New York to see that woman."
At that, Robert could only barely contain yet another scoff. His mother's disdain for anything American and especially his wife's mother was quite something. So much so that even in moments like these, she could not keep from letting it show.
Upon seeing her son lounging quite forlornly in the armchair, she added truthfully: "It can help to gain a little distance."
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What is wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority is in favour of it.
To judge a country, one must see its prisons from the inside.
Leo Tolstoi
the right way to end war is to stop making war
Leo Tolstoi
The Russians believe that they are a cultural people, but that is a misunderstanding of their own self-image.
Otherwise, they would have read their great authors like Tolstoy.
He still hangs in Russian schools, but as an empty picture frame without the dangerous content he stood for. Dangerous for dictatorships and oppressors.
The Russian people never emancipated themselves from his rules, there was no enlightenment in Russia, one is ashamed when it gets dark. That was the case under all dictatorships that have ever ruled in Russia.
As Tolstoy wrote: and the people are silent.
The Russian people count themselves as belonging to the tribe of the Russians and are thus first of all tribal, that is, we are Russians and all others are not Russians and thus enemies. It sounds simple and it is. The state ensures that this circle is not interrupted.
In kindergartens, schools and universities and with the help of the Orthodox Church, the non-independent citizen is shaped, with the army providing the finishing touches. Tolstoy already criticised this in the days of the tsars and described people as slaves of the system in the truest sense.
We are not talking about propaganda in the media and the unfree press, which is the propaganda cloud that any reasonable person could escape if they wanted to.
No, we are talking about the willing people who are already living under a dictatorship again.
At first, the state only gave jobs and didn't want anything, but then it started demanding loyalty and statements. That started with the illegal occupation of Crimea and suddenly state employees were obliged to take a stand. Pro occupation.
At some point, almost all Russian citizens were in line with the Kremlin.
Those who were not in line were now ruthlessly persecuted, imprisoned and killed. Not by just anyone, but by Russians killing Russians in the name of the Kremlin.
To not attract attention? To just go along, without any restrictions or moral principles.
And the Russian people remain silent!
Then a historical event had to occur to confirm the greatness of the man who had made them all his lackeys.
Something gigantic, and what could be more obvious than to repeat the greatest event in history, the victory of the Russian people over Nazi Germany.
But how?
The Russian people are silent, but they are not completely stupid and know that there are no Nazis in the West, so they cannot attack the West. Besides, the risk would be too great.
So you create an enemy who is profoundly evil, Nazis at their very finest, created by desire and supported by propaganda.
The Nazis in Ukraine were the perfect opportunity to go down in history as a great man in the Kremlin.
But what once worked because the aggressor invaded Russia looks very different when you are the aggressor yourself.
The whole of Ukraine is almost completely bombed, had Hitler not used the scorched earth system to hit the civilian population in order to bring Russia to its knees.
And now, even if the Russian people remain silent, the dead sons who fall in the unspoken war have their effect.
Every dead Russian soldier has a family, so all the propaganda cannot make it seem that his death was pointless. A death for destroying dirt. Not to mention the genetic weakening of the Russian gene pool: every dead soldier does not make any new Russians.
The people are silent and grieving, but perhaps one day they will wake up, read Tolstoy and understand him.
.
Then the time will have come when the Russian people will become aware of their great culture again and emancipate themselves from all their silence.
mod
Those who carry out inhumane acts in the name of authority can claim after the evil has fallen that it was only orders.
#Leo Tolstoi#galelry mod#russia#reality#russland#freedom of expression#freedom of speech#free art#free books#equality#equal rights#the Russian people#foto Wikipedia
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25. Destined, by PC and Kristin Cast
Owned: No, library Page count: 325 My summary: Neferet's plans have ramped up. Killing Zoey's mother to make her perfect vessel, Aurox, wasn't enough. She wants to destroy Zoey and her friends, and she's going to need power to do it. The Darkness is calling...meanwhile, Zoey's friends face trouble amongst themselves. Rephaim is still settling in, and Erin and Shaunee have started to separate themselves. And Zoey is grieving her mother's death. Can they get it together long enough to find out what really happened? My rating: 1/5 My commentary:
Back at it again with the House of Night and hoo boy folks, this one's a doozy. I'm so close to the endgame now - only three more to go after this! And as soon as they come into the library, I swear, I'm speedrunning this shit. But this post is going to be the opposite of speedrunning. Turns out I have a lot to say about this continued train wreck, and I'm gonna spill a lot of digital ink in so doing! So without further ado, let's get down to it.
Right off the bat, we have a healthy dose of ableism! Yep, this book introduces Shaylin, who became blind as a child and is Marked by Erik. But she's Marked as a red vampire, and immediately regains her sight - and is gifted an aura-sensing True Sight. And of course, she goes on and on and on about how great it is that she's not blind anymore, and how bad being blind was, and it's just enough to make me cringe. Because all blind people need is to magically get their sight back! Not, like, better accommodations to help them live in a world that hasn't been built for them, or to be treated like actual adults or something. Nope. Magical sight, that's the best thing. It carries forward that unhealthy idea that vampires in this world are physically 'perfect' - before, we've seen the kids whose bodies reject the Change being portrayed as fat, greasy, and unfit. Now, it seems that disabled kids aren't allowed to be vampires while retaining their disability. Gross!
Nefert has a new boytoy, and his name is Aurox. Get it, because he's a werebull. Sort of - he was gifted by the white bull of Darkness, and he can turn into a bull involuntarily. But because Neferet botched the summoning, Aurox has a soul and stuff. Specifically, Heath's. Remember Heath? Zoey's human boyfriend, got necksnapped by Kalona? Yeah, the book treats it like it's a big mystery, but it's so obvious that it's Heath. Aurox knows things about Zoey he shouldn't, calls Zoey by Heath's pet name for her, has his mannerisms…it's one thing for a book for teenagers to be simpler than I, an adult, expect, it's another for it to be so obvious that a toddler could realise what's going on. And yet again, we've got another topless teen badboy who angsts about being evil and is gonna get a redemption arc. Christ alive, how many of those are there? Stark, Kalona, Rephaim, now Aurox…we get it, Casts, you got a kink. Can you please come up with another male character?
Speaking of male characters, in order to sew some chaos, Neferet's invited humans to come work at the House of Night, which means we're introduced to Lenobia's cowboy, Travis. He's a cowboy. Who works at the stables. And Lenobia, running minor character and horsemaster at the House of Night, is falling hard for him. What does this relationship do, plotwise, other than add a sexy cowboy to the cast? Even though I've criticised things like Stevie Rae and Rephaim or Zoey and…most male characters…I can at least acknowledge that they serve a function. Introducing or adding to the theme of redemption, giving those characters conflicts and secrets, furthering the plot somehow. But this? I guess it's giving us an insight into Lenobia, but so far all I've gathered is that she has a thing for cowboys and doesn't want to be romantically involved with anyone but oh no this guy's too sexy. It drags the book down and takes up valuable page time - not to mention that Travis himself has less depth than a Mills and Boon cowboy. He's just…charming and folksy and respectful to Lenobia and loves horses. Exactly the sexy cowboy archetype. Bleh. Lenobia seems like she might have been an interesting character, but the new context we learn about her is entirely about her love life, or lack thereof, and nothing to do with who she is as a person. It's lacklustre, is what I'm getting at here.
Neferet continues to be the big bad, evilly doing evil things because she's evil. She's escalated to human sacrifice and gives blood to the Darkness to drink whenever she needs something. As if she wasn't enough of a cackling supervillain already. My biggest problem with Neferet is that there's no depth to her. Why is she doing what she's doing? Sure, she wants power, she wants to rule the world and become a goddess, but why? I don't need a Disney-live-action-movie backstory for her, just something other than her hatred for Zoey and lust for power! Has this always been a facet of her from before Zoey? Was she striving towards this goal before Zoey? And, of course, for all that the Casts seem to think they're clever for making the evil bull the white one, we have the Darkness demanding blood in order to do Neferet's bidding. Not at all an overdone trope. And the way they take it from her is uncomfortably sexual - almost like the Casts haven't gotten over their whole 'slutshame the villainous female character' thing. Above all, though, Neferet falls into the biggest trap for her character archetype - she's not camp enough. If you want to have a cackling balls-to-the-wall Evil Bitch as a main villain, she needs to own it. Think Maleficent! Think Ursula! Neferet just isn't interesting enough or ridiculous enough, that's my problem.
Meanwhile, there's trouble in Zoey's inner circle. Erin and Shaunee, the Twins, have started to un-twin themselves, separating from each other to become their own people. This would be a perfectly fine plot point, but for three things. One, Erin and Shaunee aren't well-developed in general - literally, their only character trait is that they are Twins. This would be a good time to give them more character, except that this mostly unfolds with people standing around and telling Shaunee how much nicer she is now, rather than us being shown it really. Two, it seems to come right out of nowhere? There's no particular reason it happens. And three, none of the other characters seem to care about Erin after it happens. They're obviously setting up for Erin to become more of an antagonistic character later, but as soon as the split occurs, all Zoey and her friends seem to care about and check in on is Shaunee - nobody ever checks in on Erin or seems to give much of a shit about her as a person. Which is…really fucking weird? Like, if Zoey et al had checked in on Erin and been yelled at or something, that'd make sense. But it's like this girl wasn't their friend at all, so quickly is she dumped. And that's just lazy writing. It's a clear signal to the reader that Shaunee is the 'good one' and Erin is the 'bad one', despite it being a particularly cold and uncaring thing for the characters to do in-universe. There's no reason why Zoey can't be like 'hey are you okay' to Erin at least once. It'd give a chance to show how Erin is changing! But nope. Subtext is for cowards. Let's just spell it all out to the audience. Wouldn't want them to start thinking.
And yet, for all that seems to be going on here, that's actually a negative. Because it makes the book so unfocused. You can hardly concentrate on one plot thread, so much is being brought up and juggled and dropped. And a lot of it isn't resolved - sure, this is a series and there's three more books after this, but it just feels like the Casts are throwing a lot of spaghetti at the wall to see what will stick. It strikes me as a series that hasn't been tightly planned, that was loosely improvisational, and it really shows. New conflicts come out of nowhere and aren't properly foreshadowed in anyone's behaviour. New twists are set up that are predictable from the moment they are introduced. Characters are sort of fleshed out, but only in very limited ways. Characters stick to one-dimensional archetypes. There's a lot going on, but it's all as thin as paper. And it's just as bad as all the books that came before it.
Next up, time travelling meets a pirate tale.
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Being aware of how I want to be transformed.
Allowing myself to feel out the nuances of wanting and needing.
Many want it.
To be full of life. Fully alive.
Few get it.
And none keep it.
Taking up space to enter into a renewed energy.
Accepting to work with what can fairly be withdrawn again.
Allowing the dirt of transformation to spread
in my space as to be wrapped up in it
like a caterpillar in a cocoon.
Ashamed of showing that this change is what I want.
Laying open a need.
Maybe not even a need of appreciation, acceptance or support.
But the need of having my own back enough when questioned and standing behind it
Open to attack.
Energetic test:
do you really want it that much as to face this amout of counter force?
Burning contact.
Diminishing everything that is not necessary.
Am I ready for that purifying fire?
That asks you to accept all possibilities of suffering?
That destroys the images of mind,
which with soul and heart combined
could not bring to life a lived reality?
In Bulgaria I see the faces of people,
I long was not ready to accept.
Mirrors of everything I wanted to avoid,
was encouraged to defy.
An united surrender to humanity.
Am I okay to stand my ground when everything tears me down?
What am I ready to let go off?
Do I trust life enough minimise materials for skill and reach?
Exposure.
Vulnerability of need.
Everyone can read what I write,
A mind I long tried to hide
I cut myself away
Yet how to navigate a plane without knowing who I am.
With intention to play is different than
Yet how to connect meaningfully?
That's always connected to some pain and discomfort.
I rarely am able to access the connection over joy (partying, celebrating, art, etc.)
Where is my lightheartedness?
I connect to duty and comfort of sorrow.
I'd like some more movement and simple joy.
All the war talk at Vegetarium upsets me.
I haven't even truly enjoyed life enough to lose it.
But maybe accepting the potential immediate loss is a good enough connection to fuel me with drive.
To be with what I am being given.
I criticise a lot about myself on behalf of others.
Certainly with some right as I've been raised with values that I didn't need to hang onto much longer.
They said I might have your baby.
The desperate tormentingly luring delusion makes me give in to false hope and horror.
What I did to that child.
Unknowingly!
Symbolically speaking for what must be steong enough for you to decide to create physical boundaries between us more than already given.
You want space.
And in that you push me out from what I thought takes space away from me.
Break a promise of holding up a bond that can let both of us thrive.
Now you antagonise.
And I cannot blame, only see balance fall into place of time - for have I not made the same mistake to someone else?
Only that I believe I just have to invent myself anew.
★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★
An after-you.
You called me a black hole,
when you are the force,
from which I still cannot pull myself away from.
Not yet.
Which is when they told me I might be pregnant from you.
Or have a fatal illness
Making me internally choose the life you might have given me.
Only for them to refute their statement.
Thanking the universe for my life and grieving the one I painfully, yet literally, never had with you.
*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*★*
I train myself to drink little as not having to be so sad when there is nothing more to drink.
I am filled with explosive anger.
Where can I put it?
Because I'm ready to destroy a person
in blind rage.
How does that relate to Vegetarium?
Maybe it doesn't.
Maybe it does, for I see myself vegetate.
And maybe it's both because I am a full person, living in a bubble -
a moment surrounded by past and presence, reaching out to other moments that I can never reach.
For I am not there to fulfill another reality, another version of me.
And ultimately - what would I have changed?
Would I like myself and my time more?
What's a vision and where does it come from?
Some things I see on the telly (tele-vision)and watching causes such impressionable emotions that I'd like to recreate such an experience. Believing that's how I will feel those emotions more deeply, as though it was real then.
Only that it isn't the same at all oftentimes.
I ran into this trap quite stupidly - trying to recreate things to a T deluding myself blindly i to the belief the more I would recreate, the more I would reach that state of a fulfilled experience - and feel more alive and more aware of life by that.
It does sound silly to write it out, and still I believe that I'm not an only case. At all!
Isn't that the premise and foundation of trends. If I follow x routine, I will experience y own emotion i want to experience that. I have to repeqt so i experiencia what i felt when watched not same tho
When does it turn into an attachment?
And why do I hear attachments being used in negative connotations? Isn't an attachment not some creation of this reality we create within this dimension?
On the basis of comfort
Freedom of not being measured in productivity.
Finding companions to complain with as we set out on a jounrey of questioning our values and standards together.
Discipline- doing it tired. Listening to needs and body signals vs discipline helping to maintain
Usefulness = offering to take over a tedious task for others so they pay you with the freedom of giving another tedious task to others
Becoming okay with discomfort.
I am learning that here.
I don't like the emotional roughness & coldness that is also interchanged with niceties around this place.
Even though I do fancy niceties,
which I would like to join in and return,
if it wasn't so hurtful to be met with unpredictable rawness again.
It does remind me of situations
that already hurt too much in the past.
So I prefer keeping my distance and keeping it professional (which likely will eventually turn into a regret,
because "what if I haven't tried enough to like it here"?)
At the same time, I know it's time to set emotional boundaries as not to fall into depression. It's time to both stick it out and, looking for alternatives. Some ego punches might even do me well in my personal growth.
Capital is what we are born with.
Someone with valued status is only in their energy when role is feedbacked to her.
Sonof course they try to keep their
status as much as possible.
Bad feedback would feel like loss and throw them out of their circle.
Meaning:
I feel sick to my stomach.
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i would say most things that plague them are avpd and bpd related, not dissociation. i feel like they are relatively “fine” but they do not ever feel happy nor okay and they dont really want to live, so if nothing happens theyre at Most content. just surviving, fine. the issues arrive when avpd or bpd stuff happens. i feel like the former is more … constant. and the latter less so, but a lot more fiery. well, actually its both. because its like theyll be criticised or corrected and then go away and not eat because they feel not worth it. or consider trying to die or whatever. or other things, i dont know. another issue for them is their ocd but only sometimes. its like most things are only sometimes
most things that they experience are like sleeping monsters. and then you stand by the monsters and they attack. the things that affect their life the most or at least the person they are, to me, is avpd, bpd, autism, and the dissociative amnesia. id say they agree
there are mini micro triggers and threats that cause big things. like, autism for them does not like a lot of loud sound. if they could live on their own they may be more stable, because there would be less sound. part of the reason they are the way they are is theyre permanently exasperated because the autism does not like that there are people in the house who make noise, and then theyre stuck. if they close doors, leave, wear headphones, etc everything has issues. whether it be others or theirself. they sleep in headphones (autism and ocd reasons) and they dont like to because they dont like how the headphones feel, so that isnt resting. plus its loud. so everything is still, for lack of a better word, “traumatising” for the autistic state of mind
that is a horrible and dangerous baseline threshold to be in especially with everything else because either that or everything else is immediately last straw. time and time again theyll see something upsetting, and then hear at the worst time the piano playing. now they are in hell, they cant cry if they wanted to because physically its slightly impossible and well they dont want to, they cant scream, they cant really do much to navigate this. and even if they tried to “regulate” the issues are still around. its like trying to calm down when the room is on fire. how. when the room is literally on fire
triggers often include being told how bad they are at things in any way, moralistic language in any capacity, hearing people talk shit about others, i dont know there are a lot of them. they have to wear their headphones to hear none of this, but then theyre overwhelmed. it seems like everythings an issue. and it feels like everyone reduces their feelings to the fact theyre autistic as an excuse to not aid them. like You dont get this because youre autistic. rather than considering that their own perspective may just be plain wrong to begin with
no one is willing to accomodate them when things get weird. any accomodation thats unconventional doesnt get respected the same or is just something to get over. if they say something about this then it doesnt matter or whatever else. i dont know anymore
theyll never want to live, they always live for other people so they dont grieve and because they beg, and i dont think thatll change. thats been their life for nearly eternity. though, it makes them fragile in some places. they always feel awful as a baseline, more or less, so bad things make them feel worse. i cant say this all easily right now. im sure i stopped making sense some paragraphs ago, but the point is i think dissociation is an affect. i think dissociation is the byproduct of the taxing life they life. they probably need an escape. not sure how they do it honestly. i feel like the things giving them the most grief are the pds, but sometimes other things happen. i dont know, everything seems to Start there. maybe autism sometimes. but i wont know until a crisis occurs. i can barely remember and they are tired. so. dont know
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A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy
by Sue Klebold ★★★★☆
I read this book as a Brit who was only 4 when Columbine happened. It was something mentioned on the peripherals of my life, some brief awareness of the two boys in trench coats shooting at students, not knowing much about the facts of the case, but you could say I was entirely detached from the event. And I think that's why I was able to go into this book without prejudice.
The reviews on Goodreads are absolutely infuriating.
The reviews where people criticise Sue for defending her family and how she raised her kids… of course she's going to do that??? She received endless abuse, hate mail, blame and threats from essentially the entire world, so it is totally understandable that she wants to set the record straight! Who wouldn't? She would be damned if she did and damned if she didn't. She mentions in the book that people already viewed her negatively, so why not share her experience to at least try to set the record straight?
Also, the frankly idiotic reviews talking about how couldn't she have recognised the anger in Dylan as a child?! You all only say this IN HINDSIGHT. There are countless kids out there who behave like Dylan did as a kid and as a teenager that don't do what he did, and turn out to be great human beings. Do you kick off at their parents for not recognising that their kid is a little angry or too independent? No. She also covers in the book how even 4 year olds can deceive adults and FBI experts. Teens are excellent at hiding things and their true feelings. I feel that even if Sue did everything "right" (as if her parenting had any influence at all) he would've never admitted to his mother what he was planning and she may never have been able to prevent it even if he did tell her. The world is placing far too much on Sue and her family's shoulders.
What Sue does an excellent job of is drilling into the readers' head the warning signs of depression in adolescents (they present slightly differently to adult depression). If you have a teenager at home that you're worried about, Sue shares the things she regrets not doing or saying with her son (as well as some anecdotes of parents whose child committed suicide whilst they were unaware of their feelings) and knows now what signs/opportunities that she missed, largely because she assumed her family were fine and happy, so it could be incredibly informative to a parent who doesn't know what to do for their teen. It's probably not the first resource to go to, but it's certainly very eye opening at how little parents know and understand about poor mental health in adolescents. She has done an excellent job of turning the tragedy into something positive by spreading such awareness.
My heart goes out to Sue, for the sad loss of her son who could've gone on to do great things (most likely if he had not met Eric). My heart goes out to her for the intense emotions, stress and trauma she experienced whilst having the community point their finger at her and send her abuse and hate, instead of seeing her simply as a grieving mother who has absolutely no culpability in the tragedy. I hope Dylan's family have learned to ignore the idiots that criticise them and focus on the positive comments and support from people around the world. We're out there.
And although I know Eric was the main instigator of all of this, due to his psychopathy/personality disorder, and despite not knowing absolutely anything about his family or upbringing, I still have the ability to see Eric as a human being separate from his family. His actions are his alone. It's the same for Dylan. Keep their families out of it!
#booklr#book blogger#book blog#books#bookblr#books & libraries#goodreads#reading#bookworm#books and reading#book reviews#book review#columbine#columbine 1999#massacre#murder#true crime#memoirs#non-fiction#history#school shooting
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At the end of the day I am always going to care more about narrative priority more than I am ever going to care about the abstract moral responsibility of art. I think that does exist to some degree, but not within the bounds of storytelling itself, but to storytellers themselves. I think that representation of diverse characters/perspectives/experiences etc. is a responsibility to good art, and this is again like, the approach I have to criticising the moral content of art. This is also why I view it as much harder but more internally consistent and worth thinking about.
It's why I have an issue with 'well, if you ignore the sexism/racism/homophobia, it's a good book and product of its time' because I don't view that as possible to be divorced from the text. It is actually an irresponsibility and potential technical fault of the work and should be considered on those terms. Equally when it comes to - and this is a good example - something like Dune, the homophobia and misogyny (to name but two) is an ingrained part of the work and its worldbuilding and thematic ideas. You'd actually be compromising the message of the work to take that out, which means you need to critically interrogate what's worth keeping and what isn't if you decide to adapt it. Notice how the homophobia was permissible to reject with Baron Harkonnen but the moralising about weight wasn't, because that speaks to our social values (for a corporate production homophobia is generally bad now). Even right down to making the Harkonnens physically ugly tells you about intended beauty politics of Hollywood. Harkonnen evil = ugly and inhuman.
My point about Sapphron/Terra is that I enjoy that the relationship is nonarbitrary narratively because it's a justified reason to include it which isn't 'how can we optimise our political representation' which can just end up feeling gross and commercial (and a view of representation/diversity that way is very strange...) This view of optimising leads to pretty damning consequences where peoples' takeaway with the Ace-ops (or even my own with Alyx) is that narratively abnegating Black women feels fucking weird, because at this point in the story the characters basically have to be dealt with swiftly and can't really be integrated in more holistically. I still think Harriet's story was done well, particularly for how she suppresses her true feelings and isn't allowed to actually grieve and be angry, and the Ace-ops overall were great contrast to the main cast, but this is a consequence of filtering in more diversity, later. I do think there was greater meaning behind the Ace-ops but this is why nonarbitrary representation does actually matter. (In this case I might even go so far to say that R/WBY is partly constrained by the cultural boundaries it draws from, because it's mostly Western and a little bit of Eastern, but then when you cross those boundaries it can come off as appropriation).
Of course this conflict between nonarbitrary and normalising representation is complicated. It's also very easy for people to say 'well it's meant to be only straight white characters' but they're intellectually lazy, and sometimes that intellectual laziness comes with its own set of bigoted attitudes.
It's actually really hard to think about why you're writing your story, and why your characters are who they are, doing the things that they do.
And to be totally fair about the Sapphron/Terra relationship, I do like background normalisation, but I also like that it's that and narrative backing. That's my point I guess. It's both at once, when some people might reject the former because it's not 'weighted' enough as a main canon ship (... Blake/Yang) when I view it as being attached with (subtle) narrative priority.
#anyway#it's a very rough topic#but I think this also explains why commercial superficial diversity feels weird#not contemplated on the terms of the text
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Ok the time has come
If you are a diehard Raiden fan or won't take me criticising Genshin for some other reasons, plz skip this post, because It's gonna be one hell of a Rant.
Don't get me wrong, I love Genshin and I'm not planning to quit it or something, but criticism must be given.
And that being said...
GENSHIN 2.1 STORYLINE WAS VERY, VERY BAD
And here's why:
Barely any playable characters were given any depth in this version. They were all treated just like plot devices.
Especially Yae Miko, who was there just to explain everything to our dumbassess and and give us an axcess to the power of ambition and friendsip I guess
Kokomi and Gorou? Nahhh, why give them any actual spotlight, if they were there only to deliever the schocking news that Fatui gave dellusions to the resistance? We might've as well learned that from some random soldier NPC and it would make little to no difference.
Speaking of delusions, don't Kokomi and Gorou fight on the front line? HOW THE HECK did they not notice that all of their visionless soldiers suddenly can use the power of elements? Did everyone hide it from them and everyone actually succeeded? Wasn't Kokomi weired out buy th sudden improvement of the whole resistace? How the heck did none slip up? WHY DIDN'T KOKOMI OR GOROU CHECK OUT THESE "WEAPONS" BEFORE GIVING THEM TO THEIR SOLDIERS? THEY COULD HAVE BEEN BOMBS OR SOMETHING
Also the fact that Kokomi just made us a general without giving us time to get to know how resistance works, or that she would give Teppei promotions just because he asked was extremely stupid. Not a master strategist move for sure. We could be a spy. Kokomi didn't even aknowledge Teppei until he asked her for a promotion.
Overall the whole resistance arc was extremely rushed and basically almost useless. If it was wisely prolonged, this update could be spread between two versions no problem. We could have had more quests where we and Teppei would slowly climb up the ranks, get to know more about Kokomi, ACTUALLY FIND OUT STUFF ABOUT EI AND SCARAMOUCHE INSTEAD OF LETTING YAE INFO-DUMP IT ON US.
Kazuha was ok I guess, but he was given very little screentime, and as my friend (a big Kazuha fangirl, mind you) noticed, that his whole arc revolves around Tomo and he barely has any personality besides grieving his loss, which is dissapointing.
I'd rather see him actualy join the resistance and face Ei not because he randomly appeared to save us, but because he was banished from Inazuma and had the courage to return.
Speaking of random appearances, why were Kazuha and the resistance at Tenshukaku anyway? Like, hear me out: Last time they've seen us alive was when we declared we would find the dellusion factory. So unless Yae told them we were here, they had no right to know (and if she did, how would that help?) And if they ACTUALLY thought that they could raid Tenshukaku, why do that right after their army recieved such a big blow, and with so little men? Besides the fact that Kazuha Conviniently managed to save us, it was all just an unnecessary bloodshed.
And Ei... Oh my god, I'm sorry, but the way they did her was such a mistake.
She basially went through the same thing as Venti and Zhongli, but was the only one to chose violence.
When we tell her that her people are suffering she's like "yeah, I know, so what?" But then we defeat her with what's basically a power of friendship and she's like. "Ok, I'll stop the decree I guess" and in her story quest she suddenly wants the best for her people? Oh no I know you don't.
She could have been the actual victim of The Fatui's plot. Imagine if Sara was actually collaborating with the Fatui and when we told her about them "manipulating" Ei she'd say she's gonna tell her but would actually go to backstab her before she realises the truth. Or if the "you've changed, you're getting weak" line would be what Scaramouche said to Ei after he defeats her.
Or, she could be an ACTUAL villain. The one that isn't forgiven just because she buys some dango milk and pulled a sword out of her boobs. She's a tyrant and there's no denying it. So why didn't she die to get what she desserved? Why didn't she get any actual redemption, or make some sort of sacrifice to show that she wants well for Inazuma after all? She could face the consequences of her wrongdoings and see the death she caused or experience the wrath of the people she hurt but noooo, her people already forgave her and are concerned for her health! But she's just being angsty, so let's go on a peacefull stroll and show her some horny light novel people wrote about her <3 Like come on, really?
Like seriously, if Mihoyo had the guts to actually call her evil, that would barely infulence her popularity. People simp over well-written villains like crazy. Well-written villains rule.
I'm honestly worried about how The Tsaritsa will be handled...
But okay, okay. To lighten up the mood, here are some things that I liked about this update:
Teppei, duh.
Watatsumi Lesbians.
Sara. Oh dear, oh dear, gorgeous. Once again, she proved herself to be an honorable person. We've seen her admit that she was doubtful about the decree. We've seen her world being shattered as she realised what her family did. We've seen her put away her selfless devotion to do what's right. My hot tengu gf, I absolutely love you and your writing so far.
Scaramouche has more interesting backstory and motivations than hid creator. He's the villain we deserve. He has the gnosis and he's yet to cause some drama, so hopefully he fixes this hell of an arc.
Thoma didn't have much screentime, but I like how they touched the topic of how it's hard for him to stay in hiding
Sayu was cute and fit into the story nicely.
ANGRY TRAVELER YES. They spoke. They were pissed. They were traumatized by witnessing Signora's death, even though they hated her. They see that the gods are nothing to mess with, they're changing, they're becpming just like their sibling. YES, YES, YES.
The fact that Raiden somehow "marked" us to attack us when we join the resistance army was cool and relflected her elemental skill really nicely.
#genshin impact#caro talks#genshin 2.1#genshin rant#raiden shogun#raiden ei#beezelbul#yae miko#guiji yae#kaedehara Kazuha#thoma#Scaramouche#kunikuzushi#kujou sara#la signora#aether#lumine#balladeer#sayu#teppei#sagonomiya kokomi#gorou
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I just think that... It feels very unfair to compare Bdubs and Impulse's first session to Ethubs' entire Last Life series and then say Etho is a worse partner to Bdubs. I feel like that kind of comparison take a way a lot of the context and scope of both relatioships, and feel a little... Cheery picking on Ethubs' relationship.
Cause the thing is that we have seen comparatively much more of Ethubs' ups and downs with their 8 episodes, and only 1 episode of Impdubs. There is more downs than ups in Ethubs' story than what Impdubs currently have right now, because that's how math works. Not to mention, because most of the things that makes Ethubs' a sad story happened a lot later than their domestic and soft moments, we remember the sad moments a lot more.
When you're comparing Ethubs and Impdubs, you're comparing an old marriage and a new relationship in a honeymoon phase. You're comparing people who know each other so well they know they don't need flashy declarations of affection, and people who were so newly and excitedly in love that they want to shout it to the whole world and shower each other in sweetness. They are very different showcases of love, but it doesn't make either of them less valid or less sweet.
When you are comparing Ethubs and Impdubs, and call Etho a bad partner because there weren't much "loving" actions, you are taking them out of their series and putting their way of love as an individual choice, without interraction with the world they were in. Double Life, for all the first session, is about finding love. Last Life, since the first session, was about death and betrayal. Impdubs has something Ethubs was never afforded: they was allowed peace. Impulse's Bdubs wasn't forced to kill, Etho's Bdubs was. Impulse will not be forced to give up on his ride-or-die, but Etho was, and he said "no, he won't give up on Bdubs" three times, and the one time it didn't work out, he was blamed for it. Impdubs was allowed to be openly loving in their honeymoon phase, Ethubs had a giant target on their backs. Impdubs' world put them together, Ethubs' tried to tear them apart.
And yet, that doesn't mean Ethubs don't have domesticity or softness. Doesn't mean the only way they show love was to kill and betray for each other. Because there was "Bdubs, I'm glad you were my partner". Because there was the stairs and the mushroom and the roof conversations. Because there was "my fragile little flower" and "I care more about Bdubs than an enchanting table". They have domestic moments, so many of it. They build together and tease each other and take care of each other. They are domestic, as much as the world allows them to. We just didn't remember it because Bdubs turned red three times, because Grian wanted Etho dead, because Tango was also a redlife and bitter about them both. But Etho loved Bdubs, and he made it known numerous times. Maybe he didn't explicitly use the word "i love you" but was it really necessary? Their world was so inherently violent, so inherently tragic, but they found softness for each other so many times, people just did not remember it.
Also it's just such a petpeeve of mine that Etho was so demonised for not giving Bdubs a life. You can love someone and have a boundary for what you are willing to give. You can love someone, and not tear yourself apart to prove it. Etho was not a coward for wanting to run away from the wither fight, he wasn't uncaring or selfish to want to live. Because in the end, he stayed and fight with Bdubs. Because he wanted to win for Bdubs afterward. Love is not sacrifice yourself without self preservation. No one else was as criticised as Etho for not giving their red partner a life, so why was Etho so harshly judged? Was it because Grian said Etho didn't love Bdubs? Because Grian's words were so trust worthy? Did you know that Etho was silent the whole way back to Scott and Pearl's after Bdubs' death? Did you know that he was grieving? That grief was just love without a recipient anymore? You watched Etho's silence and you watched his final confession, and you tell me he didn't love Bdubs. That he was a bad partner because he wanted to live.
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