#go scorched earth with it

[blueskittlesart]

i hope everyone in nintendo’s management department dies and goes to hell no matter what and i’m not kidding

[bleakbluejay]

you motherfuckers have no concept of what "land back" or "decolonize" even mean. you're too busy demonizing entire groups of people, terrified, shitting yourselves, that they'll do even half of the horrors to you that you've done to them for decades or centuries. this shit comes off as hella racist for real. you hate arabs so much. you hate first nations people so much. you hate black people so much. even if you sympathize with them, you can't fucking bear the idea of them gaining freedom, independence, autonomy, safety, because you're so, so scared they'll hurt you back and cause chaos in the streets. these same people who just want to rebuild. who just want to go home. who just want to see their families again. who just want food. who just want medical care. who just want dry, warm shelter. you're so focused on the ideas of colonization, of "us vs. them", of one people displacing the other for a state to exist, that you cannot comprehend coexistence, and your only idea of peace is if an entire group of people were just gone and dead.

grow the fuck up. for the love of GOD, grow the fuck up.

[motherfucker-unlimited]

Clearly the final act to this "white tumblr users VS Rap music" shitshow should be someone hosting a best rapper of all times poll tournament and have eminem win

[gingermintpepper]

You're not wrong, but all the gods are terrible in Blood of Zeus. It's why Gaea goes scorched earth.

Actually, I'd argue that we only see a case for the older Olympians* being terrible and even then, it's not all of them: Poseidon, for one, is a really good example of someone who understood that mistakes were made, that something had to give, and was more that ready to set old conflicts aside in order to move forward in the wake of Zeus' death. Hera also seems to be genuinely reflective and apologetic for the crimes she wrought and wanted, more than anything, to be given the opportunity to make amends for her actions by doing the one thing everyone thought she never could; give up her power.

Going down the line, the talking point of "oh, all the gods in Blood of Zeus are terrible" becomes weaker and weaker: Apollo's only actual crime is being too filial/his contempt of Hera, but he shows more compassion and understanding than anything - both while comforting Electra about the nature of her son and by welcoming and supporting Heron, Hermes is also similarly shown with a very strong familial loyalty, but prioritises his work above all else, Hephaestus is a councillor and assistant, Athena is protective and shown, not only rallying together her siblings in order to properly inform them of the nature of the foe they were facing (even when they had been on different sides of the Hera/Zeus conflict and even when it casts Hera in a good light and plainly makes it known that she's being framed) but also getting Persephone to fess up her part in the scheme without resorting to violence.

The only gods that were portrayed poorly in Season 2 were Ares, who feels like he'd be better off being called Damian Wayne with how intensely he's preoccupied with blood purity and being Zeus' legitimate son, Aphrodite who sides with him (but even then is shown feeling ill at ease at going along with his treachery prior to the Eleusinian Stone trial), and Demeter who is so far removed from simply 'being an asshole' that she's hurtled headfirst into being a sadistic supervillain.

(Of course Hades is also a tyrant and an asshole but I also consider him too wishy-washy and inconsistent to figure out what angle they were trying to take with him. I can't think of him as good or bad, merely confusing)

Anyway, I think people hold on to the idea that the gods in BoZ are all assholes too closely because Heron and Seraphim, our main characters, hold on to the idea that ALL gods are assholes due to being the pawn of -counts on fingers- exactly two of them. With the exception of Ares, all of the other gods have been nothing but welcoming and supportive of Heron! And what Hades does to Heron in S2 has nothing to do with his feelings about Heron himself but rather with his own goals and desperations that have been multiplied by Demeter's machinations and his own frustrations at being unable to keep his family together.

[hood-ex]

Wow, okay, I thought it was going to turn out that Zur was largely in control of Bruce's actions during Gotham War hence the whole Jason thing, but both Bruce and Zur confirmed Bruce's actions weren't Zur's doing.

DC cannot make him do something so incredibly unethical and then try to pass him off as this loving father who only wants what's best for Jason. I mean, sure, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Bruce obviously views what he did as an act of love, but if you play a card like that, you damn well better show the repercussions of it, which would be Jason cutting ties with Bruce completely and forever.

But nooo. You know what they made Jason do after all this? Offer Bruce emotional support after Selina "died." Get bent. They should've had Jason walk over to the pit looking distressed over Selina's fall, had Bruce try to put his hand on Jason's shoulder, and then had Jason smack Bruce's hand off with a, "Don't you ever touch me again you piece of shit."

Like fuck! Where's the lingering feeling of betrayal?! The lack of trust?! Don't give me this "you did a terrible thing to me, and I haven't had any time to process it, but I still care about you and love you, so I'm here for you" type of bullshit. Siiigh. I'm so tired.

[narwhalandchill]

spicy take incoming but i kinda wish ppl werent so desperately attached to and protective of this moniker of Great Big Brother 100% Perfect So True And Real when it comes to childe bc honestly. he really isnt (perfect or even that good at times) and to me acknowledging the ways both he and his family (for enabling him) are in some ways kinda just. doing teucer incredibly dirty in the long term but only with the best of intentions in the short term is so much more interesting than just pretending hes a flawless brother?? like it only adds to the drama and irony of it all man like theyre rly so dysfunctional as a family unit its great. even if hoyos likely never exploring that shit in its true depth it still lives rent free in my head for sure lol

like. you rly dont have to turn ajax into some sort of unfeeling uncaring monster of a shit brother to acknowledge that he does, in fact, repeatedly make incredibly reckless and selfish choices during his SQ with teucer and in general by choosing to obstruct the truth of who he is from lil bro so completely?

like this stuff can be nuanced and coexist with his absolutely 100% genuine commitment to protecting teucers bubble of a worldview (and w the theme of childlike dreams and wishes being so prevalent in general who knows what could be cooking w that one in particular) and his loyalty and love for his family without just having to whitewash the dumb shit he does lmao

like just bc hes capable of and willing to face the potentially grave repercussions of absolute bangers (🙄🙄) like teaching an actual fucking child to consider ruin machines fun besties and 100% insta ready to fuck himself up by protecting teucer at the cost of aggravating his still-unhealed injuries from the liyue AQ when dottores abandoned lab turns out to be more lively than expected doesnt. make that choice not a very irresponsible one yall im begging 💀

like. hes the adult here . the entire situation unfolding as dangerously as it does in the factory is Absolutely all on HIM for not being able and/or willing to disappoint teucer by just . Doing the mature thing and sending him away to safety because HES gotten too attached to this idea of being his lil siblings' loyal knight and perfect brother that Always finds a way to surpass the expectations no matter the cost its a role HE wants to keep playing despite the risk

like its So obviously a pride thing for him too and thats so fucking interesting because Of how flawed and questionable the logic is!! like yes he truly cares about teucer and ensuring he has a great unforgettable time during this impromptu escapade in liyue like thats not up to debate but the point im trying to make is that the choices he makes are Still very much intertwined with his ego and overconfidence and not really based all that much on Whats Actually The Best Approach Here. he improvises a way to give teucer the best mr cyclops outing he has ever seen bc HE wants to be the one offering him that experience and ends up biting off a bit more than he can chew and he can only blame himself for that one and This Isnt Fucking Sustainable

like i dont think that makes him evil but i do think it showcases his arrogance and flaws in a very concrete way and is a part of why calling him a perfect brother or at least one without an asterix just. rubs me off wrong lmao

like idk feel free to keep calling him that if its important to u and all if u want idc (and i do to some extent get why this defensive narrative of insisting hes great no issues at all emerged bc i remember 1.1 some ppl acting like hes childcare satan for how he treats teucer lol) but. at least like . Be willing to chip in to fund the therapy teucers going to need for those lifelong trust issues in the future man 💀

Bc Thats The Other Thing. now tonia and anthon i dont consider a part of this bc at least they Know hes in the fatui and hiding the gory details of ur harbinger job from ur baby sibs is like. fair enough and reasonable. but. crafting an Entire different AU version of yourself and feeding it to your baby brother as what constitutes actual reality surely is a choice of all times like ajax ily but genuinely . What the fuck if you were real id throttle you

AND HIS FAMILY ENABLING IT THE ENTIRE TIME ITS CRAZY LIKE. As a person with multiple siblings both older n younger with some similar age gap cohorts involved. God id snitch so fucking fast i dont think ppl rly stop and think much abt how objectively horrifying this shit is from teucers long term pov 😭 in the best way obviously given its fiction like its so scrumptiously awful and dysfunctional .

(& just in general man im just so obsessed with the way ajax 14 basically broke the eggshell of his past life and emerged to rise towards his destiny drowned in the guts and gore of the place and people and community he once called home unconditionally. Bro he fucked that town UP and now his family relations will never ever be the same its so fucking Delicious. those 3 days missing and what followed are just Actually a literal fucking horror movie when you stop blindly stanning our ginger menace, forget ajax' side and take the pov of his family and morepesok in general Why Are People Not Talking About This)

like. its not that i dont understand Why this is sth childe ended up doing as i said Thats The Point. its human. teucer is the only one in the family who wasnt there during that fateful 3 days/months . Like yea anthon and tonia were prolly sheltered from most of the carnage back then too but they still Know where he was sent when he became literally uncontrollable and almost killed the neighbors (everybody & their mom loves demonizing his parents as if his demon spawn ass left them a fucking choice JFEJSJSJSKDKS) . like its at least Known.

but then theres teucer.

And like. teucers the Only one with whom ajax can even pretend to have that delusion (ha) of normalcy and a family that hasnt seen him gaze into the abyss and stare back bloodied and grinning ear to ear . like. hes the only shot childe can have at even playacting some crude imitation of normalcy before Everything and even That comes with an expiration date hes fully aware of. so theres just lies after lies after lies and the fact that even his family just. if not actively partaking in the charade then at least silently allows the entirety of it to happen to teucer whos the Only fucking one out of the loop is just..... dude its not fair on him At All

Misleading teucer THIS much is just. its fucking horrible man but i GET it. thats why its so delicious man i GET it but god its just . imagine being teucer in this situation.... thats his entire fucking World shattered once the truth comes out. Everyone close to him has been lying to him his entire time. They all knew and they let him be misled. Like sure he might be happier Now with ajax dutifully protecting that childhood dream of his but after that. Just. sit on this for a bit. after everything do we Really think teucers just going to understand why it came to be and see it as worth it???? Will he really????

yet at the same time as awfully cruel it all is its just So human!!!!! Its so human of both ajax and his family to use the innocence of the only child that was spared the aftermath of worlds best/worst 3 month abyss training camp to indulge in this flawed false reality where their third son didnt walk into the void and come back hungry for More until only the fatui could take him and even then it only spurred him on further on that path. Like its all an act and a lie and its just. Not fucking fair on teucer but hes still doing it and theyre letting him even tho they Know it wont last theyre all looking teucer in the eye every day and letting him believe like man....

like in both the entire ruin factory sequence And in general hiding the truth from teucer as extensively as childe does hes being incredibly selfish but at the same time its selfishness only rly in the way all people are when it comes to Wanting to be seen a certain way by the ones they love and care about. and thats what makes it so interesting. bc as much as the choices he makes are dubious (or like. this decision makes sense to him. a morally bisexual total omnivore ethics-wise narwhalpilled since 14 who sees exclusively in abyss shrimp colors and acts accordingly) both they and the motivations behind them are also just. So very human ones . as terrible as the implications and eventual inevitable downfall of those choices can (will) be.

like. is it not that much more fascinating to consider all the ways that childe is neither a particularly exemplary nor an egregiously bad brother just one that. Happens to be wired weird in the head and proud and flawed and with a track record of heavily suspect decision-making but that also very much genuinely loves his family man. Like i can love that about him without dismissing the fact that theres parts to how hes treating teucer that 100% can and imo rly should backfire horrifically bc. It really just is that fucked up

hes not a good brother hes Worse AMD better than that and also not alone in this like. his family is an active fucking part of this . But like still . Is he trying his best with his abyss shrimp colored vision ? Yes. Is his love genuine? Absolutely. What are the marks? 3/10 meet me in the office after class mister youre just actually horrible (affectionate) 😭

A perfect brother? Not My Ajax man 🗣🗣 and like theres SO MUCH to explore in that it makes me so sad you just. Never see any of it p much in fanworks bc we all just call him best bro and whatever and thats that like its so sad. this family is terrible horrible awful and no good and they deserve it but also didnt deserve it it was misfortune it was fate it was inevitable . justice for teucer man i need to get him in therapy asap

[ramblebramblefun]

Bakugou Katsuki lived his life by a scorched earth policy. He left all his bridges burning behind him on his way to the top, and now that he’s there, he’s eyeing a long, long fall.

Because the thing about being at the top is that there is nowhere to go but down.

Down, down, down, like the rest of his graduating class. Within the span of five years, death, forced retirement and what had to be a fucking manufactured scandal have all but eradicated the heroes that Ground Zero graduated with.

The reporters keep asking him to make a fucking comment but Ground Zero never lets them finish the question.

Time goes on.

The top ten empties, refills. Rearranges itself and plays the system. Fucks around and finds out.

Katsuki still doesn't watch the news, but he takes to searching up the names of his old classmates to see what's become of them.

There's fewer and fewer names to check on, and if it were any other class an investigation would be opened into the attrition rate but fuck 3-A, right?

It’s got to be a fucking conspiracy.

It's just him and Freezerburn left soon, the latter still sitting pretty at number five and like hell is anybody that consistent.

Being number one is easy. You just have to be better than the next guy.

Being number five exactly for multiple years running, on the other hand, is some kind of bullshit. Like hell is Todoroki consistently both outperforming whoever’s number six and underperforming number four. The extras in those positions are always changing, you’d need some kind of spreadsheet keeping track of everyone’s strengths and weaknesses in order to calculate their-

Not that Katsuki fucking cares about Todoroki’s theoretical statistical analyses of his opponents. Or the stuck-up bastard himself. Todoroki can go to hell.

He used to want to be number one, too. Didn’t matter if it was just to prove a point to his old man, he used to have ambition.

Frezzerburn’s refusal to advance beyond fifth place had certainly seemed to drive the man that was Endeavour mad. That was a kind of winning, Katsuki had supposed. Problem is, Todoroki kept that shit up even after his old man kicked the bucket and he didn't need to be mediocre any more.

Katsuki had been hoping for a real rival, once Endeavour was in the ground. Drove him mad when he didn't get it. PR team reamed him out for that one, but fucking-

They don’t get it. No one fucking gets it.

Bakugou Katsuki keeps watch at the top of his fortress year on year, but not one hero comes to challenge him. He watches them all squabble at the base for the number two spot instead, talking shit like second place means a goddamned thing.

Fuckers. At least Endeavour fucking tried.

Freezerburn, son of the man who never gave up, does not. Try, that is. The fucking bastard.

Doesn't even put up a fight now that Katsuki’s out of the running.

Because Katsuki’s out of the running. He’s not a fucking hero anymore. He’s out. He’s done. Not by fucking choice, but them’s the fucking breaks when you blow the fucking whistle.

Turns out there really was a conspiracy against class 3-A.

[blackmagictrait]

so ellcrze deleted and took all their cas backgrounds with em. 😒 personally I think it's lame when creators rage quit and delete all their shit, so I put everything I could find of theirs together in one sfs folder. have at it y'all.

I also snatched up their old url when they split so imma post preview pics for everything too. ✌🏾 (so hopefully people trying to follow their dead links will at least find the new ones.)

[pinacoladamatata]

[fuckingpajamas]

Parenting 101 by Vanshound - A Review

Parenting 101 is easily the best comic I have picked up in a very long time. It's in the small details but the artwork and general flow sucked me in right away. The composition of frames and the overlying story work in perfect harmony and if someone asked me to pick a favorite moment I would probably melt into a little pile, unable to do so. I was gifted (by Irish ofc) Parenting 101, Scorched Earth and the Butchlander bookmark from Vanshound's collection. Vans has posted about their architecture work and it's very visible in this book, especially in regards to cleanliness and stunning backgrounds. The way pages shift from dark to light also aids the general quality but- I would be lying if I tried calling this book anything but perfect. Admittedly as a supe!Butcher fan, I loved this timeline. Picking up from the end of season 3 we get to see our two favorite co-parents somehow stumble upon their truce thanks to Ryan. The conflict was kept in line with the show and left me wondering at times if I was confusing 'Parenting 101' with the canon show. TL;DR: If you are a butchlander fan, Homelander fan, Billy Butcher fan or a general enjoyer of art that is so perfect you'll want to stare at it for hours on end, please consider supporting this absolute masterpiece. BUY IT HERE

[EDIT: there is now a digital version for purchase on Vanshound’s site / gumroad, check it out if you can’t afford shipping costs!]

[ot3]

the fact of the matter is that given the current state of both the art industry and the legal landscape of copyright/ip law, there will not ever be legislation around AI image generation that restricts companies while benefiting independent artists. rather than pushing for formal legal weigh-ins on what does or does not qualify as theft by generative outputs (i still think there could be something to be said about what companies are legally allowed to input into their generative models) we really just need to continue to. well. use our brains.

i may be in the minority in that i believe there are plenty of ways to use generative models as a tool in your artistic process (rather than being a replacement for an artistic process) that doesn't infringe on the work or livelihood of your fellow artists. and rather than wasting energy on trying to shove this genie back into the bottle, which, will not ever happen, we should work on publicly discussing where these boundaries lie. and we should also, without question, continue giving major shit to companies who are using AI generated images to avoid paying artists.

[trans-elrond]

okay this had to be the dark knight (2008) vs. ant-man and the wasp (2018), right? [edit to add: jk it was almost definitely bird box!]

[samijey]

we need to stop pretending WWE didn't publish an official series of comic books exploring how sami turning heel at hell in a cell was fruit of manipulation by kevin, who systematically got into sami's head by trying to make him believe no one around him really loved or respected him (other wrestlers and fans included) and constantly rubbing his own successes in sami's face in order to convince him he had to "stop caring" aka turn heel to active success - Sami turning "for Kevin" is an incorrect way of putting it, he turned because of Kevin, yes, but that doesn't mean it was a good thing for anyone involved - it wasn't a gesture of friendship, it was the product of guilt, isolation and sami's own insecurities (a consistent quality to his character, either as a heel or a babyface) being manipulated, so can we please stop sugarcoating their relationship??? the kevin and sami dynamic is interesting because it's complex and layered and i'm tired of seeing it reduced to a 1-note buddy show

anyways go read those comics if you never did, they're well written and most importantly, canon (here's a cute video of sami and kevin announcing the comics).

[ghostbiter]

[ PROMOTIONAL RP POSTER ; REDRAW OF SHIN GODZILLA POSTER ]

Character pictured is Breaker, an Antagonist currently in the roleplay! If it interests you, dm me for the joining link!

Scorched Earth my beloved

[poorlittleyaoyao]

There aren't horses in cql?? In what direction cql takes that scene?? Again why there aren't horses 😭😭. It's very cool in the novel

CQL has very few horses in general! One of the best things about Fatal Journey to me, a former Weird Horse Girl, was that the Nie soldiers ride horses. I vaguely remember Wen Chao riding a horse with Jiaojiao en route to Xuanwu Cave, and there are occasional background horses here and there, but other than that CQL has minimal horse content--presumably because horses are expensive and dangerous and if they had the budget/patience for that, they would've spent it on having more human extras so the supposedly epic battles have more than like 20 people in them.

The archery contest in the show takes place in the wake of Sunshot as a precursor to the Phoenix Mountain Hunt. The young masters who aren't sect leader all line up to try their best at archery--but then! Ominous cellos play as master of ceremonies Jin Guangyao beckons forward some guards who lead out a row of shackled Wen prisoners who are clearly civilians to stand in front of the targets as an added obstacle.

Jin Zixuan steps forward and successfully shoots a target.

WWX then blindfolds himself, shoots like 4 arrows at once, and hits bullseyes with all four of them, forcing an end to the competition because nobody could possibly beat him.

I dislike that scene for SEVERAL reasons. Firstly, it's cheesy; it's another instance of showing that WWX is soooOOOooOOOoo cool by having him demonstrate an implausible protagonist skill we will never see again. Secondly, it makes every single other character look like an asshole, but I don't think it intends to do that. Everybody present sees these terrified, malnourished prisoners led out in in chains, and some of them make vaguely perturbed faces, but nobody actually objects to it. Someone pointed out to me when I grumbled about this scene previously that WWX's trick shot is potentially an act of resistance since it frees the prisoners, and I can get behind that interpretation; however, the framing of the scene centers the Coolness Factor above all else, and there's no moment of WWX acknowledging the prisoners as people that would've been a nice setup to his actions re: the Wen remnants later (since, IIRC, he meets up with WQ later in the same episode).

More importantly, though... in the novel, from what I understand, the question being grappled with is when and whether retribution is justified. The Wen remnants are not all civilians and some of them directly profited from WRH's regime; WWX's opposition to their mistreatment (and NMJ et al's rejection of that opposition) is more complicated. In CQL, it is established VERY early that WQ and WN are from a separate branch of the Wen clan and were also oppressed by WRH, and it is this branch who comprise the majority of the people WWX rescues. We also have two instances establishing that the Jin sect is imprisoning and executing noncombatants. In the first, LXC expresses concern at Nightless City that there are non-cultivators among the prisoners, and extracts an assurance from JGS and NMJ that civilians will be imprisoned but treated kindly (after which we immediately see JGY order a mass execution on his father's orders).

In the second, WWX and LWJ personally witness Jin Zixun and his men firing arrows at a group of Wen prisoners (A-Yuan among them) and intervene.

So by the time we get to the archery competition, WWX, the Twin Jades, and NMJ have all witnessed and objected to Jin mistreatment of Wen hostages... and yet none of them has anything to say about the very public use of hostages as archery props, except for WWX and his trick shot, I guess. NMJ, known for being honorable to a fault, has nothing to say about JGS breaking his word. LXC, known for his kindness, has nothing to say about a public display of cruelty (overseen by his bf, no less!) that he himself already spoke against. LWJ, who never attended a gathering he didn't immediately exit the second he decided it wasn't the vibe, stays put, does nothing, and also apparently didn't mention Jin Zixun's target practice to anybody with decision-making powers. Later on, these three men will have very little to say when it's time for the cultivation conference to discuss WWX establishing the Burial Mounds settlement. (LWJ speaks up to defend WWX from allegations that he spoke ill of JC, LXC half-heartedly states that WQ and WN seemed nice enough when he saw them at Gusu, and NMJ is adamant that all Wens be punished as collaborators.)

Meanwhile, this all makes Jin Zixuan's lack of knowledge about JGS's atrocities as Chief Cultivator seem... pretty damning. JGS using JGY to do all his dirty work while keeping Jin Zixuan shielded from it all is a huge deal, and being transparently seen as a tool rather than a son is a core component of JGY's bitterness. In the novel, from what I understand, Zixuan really has no idea about the secret demonic cultivation research or anything. In the show, however, Zixuan is RIGHT THERE, WITNESSING THIS ARCHERY CONTEST HIS DAD IS SPONSORING. He is therefore aware that something fucked up is going on! And his response... is to participate in the contest? To shoot an arrow with no further objection or questioning, even though he's the only young lord present who doesn't have to fear retribution from JGS and doesn't have formative memories of his parents getting murdered by WRH? Okay. Cool cool. (Meanwhile, sweet little JYL claps happily when he does a good job, and claps even MORE enthusiastically when WWX does. GIRL, THERE ARE HOSTAGES.)

Honestly, the only people for whom I find this scene interesting rather than frustrating are JGY and JC. JC looks both deeply uncomfortable and DEEPLY STRESSED OUT when he sees WWX step forward; he looks so relieved when all WWX does is shoot some cool arrows, and it's a good little glimpse into the awful choices JC is soon going to have to make now that he's the political face of Yunmeng Jiang. JGY is racking up villain points here, obviously, but in a way that at least is compelling; it's politically prudent for him to go all-in on harming the Wen to prove that he has no lingering ties to his former employers. For everyone else, though, it's got ramifications and all of them are Not Great!

Granted, I don't feel as if the show wants you to think about it too hard. I think they wanted to include the archery contest since it's in the book (and contains a Wangxian flirting moment that they can get past censors), and they wanted to also establish WWX as super cool, JGS and JGY as super bad, and the Wen remnants as helpless victims. It's not that deep. Unfortunately, I am here to OVERTHINK.

[kangaruthi]

adventure time style griddlehark