#having an equal amount of superiority and inferiority complex

[fandoms-and-salt]

The main problem with Ruby gillman movie is that it sends a message that "bigotry is actually justified and your racist grandparents are right". The second, closely related problem is it's villain.

Firstly, if we look at the film without the spoiler-y marketing, Chelsea/Neressa is written as a twist villain. Like Hans Frozen type twist villain, with little foreshadowing and those "sympathetic" scenes that actually don't amount to anything and might just as well be a lie. Even with the marketing, i think the movie still tricked people into thinking that Chelsea might be a misunderstood villain or have a redemption arc or what not. And twist villains could work well, usually if their turn to villainy makes sense with their preestablished goals and personality (eg. Disney's Atlantis). Or a liar villain could work well if the audience knows of their malicious plans, but the heroes stay in the dark (eg. Scar from Lion King). In general, if the twist or reveal makes the story/conflict less interesting and/or didn't have proper foreshadowing, viewers are bound to dislike it.

Secondly, Chelsea is our only mermaid. And she is, well, evil. It would have been better if we had other good mermaid characters, but she is the only one, which, coupled with Gramamah's generous description of mermaids, makes it seem like all mermaids are as evil as she is.

Thirdly, yes, stories for young children about pure good fighting pure evil are generally fine, it teaches them right and wrong, so they can later consume media with more complex lessons. But in those stories the good guys are usually the underdogs fighting an oppressive evil. In mermaid vs kraken conflict, it's actually mermaids who are at a disadvantage. Krakens are big rulers ("protectors") of the ocean with superpowers. The characters themselves admit that Granmamah is a warlord. Mermaids are small, weak and need a magic trident to even match the power of krakens. Their only "advantage" is being popular with humans, while krakens are feared and hated, but humans have no effect on the story or the conflict. If the story was that mermaids are actually more powerful rulers of the ocean, or the kraken family were the just rules but got conquered/overthrown by evil mermaids, or if both species were of equal power ruling their own parts of the ocean and mermaids decided to go and conquer the peaceful kraken kingdom. Then the good vs evil conflict would have looked less like "how dare these evil inferior minorities challenge the rule of our superior race".

Speaking of which. Ruby's first instinct, even after finding out that "mermaids are actually evil" from her granma, is to judge Chelsea as her own person and assume that mermaids can't be actually evil. Which is, you know, a pretty fair and mature response. When she hears that mermaids suffer from terrible conditions, she actively tries to fight what she sees as injustice. But what lesson does she learn? That she should never question her elders, since they do know better. The story is fighting for the status quo to stay the same, while Ruby is punished to trying to change and improve it.

That's all i can say for now. Other complaints i have are:

humans are virtually useless to the story (including the love interest, tho he had some cute moments), they are just damsels-in-distress and trophies for Ruby to save and get approval from. This movie just as well could happen all under the sea with some minor tweaks.

The human designs are weird and uncanny. Otherwise the visuals are fine.

Ruby's arc is kind of all over the place with her main arc being the classic "believe in yourself", which she mainly gains through hanging out with Chelsea. But isn't Chelsea supposed to be the villain who "leads Ruby astray" from being a good citizen who is not skipping school, lying to her mom or ignoring her friends and crush? Make it make sense, movie.

[rivetgoth]

fr i know reddit is like a giant cauldron full of poison but if u go on any of the misogynistic "mens rights" subreddits theres a HUGE amount of trans guys

Yeah like. Idk, there has been much better writing on this by more eloquent experienced theorists and activists but it is an undeniable truth about marginalized identity that certain groups will develop this mindset that they were entitled to some form of privilege that they were denied— Usually in the form of the initial mindset being “if I’d just been born in the oppressor class I’d be afforded the privilege that rightfully should have been mine.” I think this is an understandable and complex instinctive response to oppression but the issue is that lots of people don’t work to uninternalize and work through these things and try to think critically about this first-instinct response. Because it is extremely fucking toxic to hinge your worth not on the desire for equality but on the desire for PRIVILEGE and more than anything it ends up coming out via attempts at punching down at other marginalized groups in order to feel superior and regain some of that perceived owed privilege.

Cis women do this as transmisogynists who implicitly or explicitly are functioning under the belief that had they just been born male they would be afforded the privilege they’re rightfully owed. White gays do this under the pretense that had they just been born straight they’d be owed some form of privilege and it usually comes out as very obvious racism, often towards nonwhite members of their own community. It’s a common mindset in incel spaces among incels who feel that they are at some uncontrollable disadvantage that makes them feel inferior to other men and entitled to some sort of privilege they were denied. And trans men FUCKING DO THIS ALL THE TIME TOO. It’s so fucking easy as dysphoric trans men living in patriarchal cultures to see the privilege often afforded to our cis counterparts and feel that we missed out on something, that their privilege is something we should have been given and were denied for reasons outside of our control.

And they’re right, in a way, right? Like, if I’d been born a cis man I would probably have very different opportunities in some ways than as a trans man. But like, one of the reasons this whole mindset is still a very privileged one that leads to isolating at best and outright targeting at worst other marginalized people is that it leaves no room for intersectionality at all. The idea that a gay man is afforded privilege for being a man that was denied purely due to his sexuality becomes a moot point if you’re also black, or trans, or a woman. For example. It also leads to a really nasty assimilationist “you’re making us look bad whereas I’m the shining example of being as close to normal as possible” mindsets a lot of the time. Andddd it is straight up counterproductive to any move towards actual equal rights for anyone because it’s continuing to uphold systemic inequality and oppressor/oppressed classes, with the goal of marginalized people being to BE an oppressor class, rather than to dismantle them.

So like. Yeah. Trans men have this massive fucking issue of just seething over the fact that they are not afforded the privilege that [white, straight, gender conforming, able bodied, thin, etc] cis men have. I get it. I think a lot of trans men really struggle with self acceptance and it comes out as both self destruction and tearing down others. It’s the root of a lot of the really aggressive truscum types IME, like read between the lines and you can almost always identify the actual root of their anger is that they are insecure about themselves and are projecting that onto others. I say that as a dysphoric trans man who has been in those spaces and has at points in my life sympathized a lot with some of them. A lot of it is born from insecurity and I think that’s quite normal for a marginalized person, especially a young one and especially one dealing with dysphoria at the same time. I also think it’s bullshit to make this a foundation of your theoretical discussions on the marginalization that we face or to allow it to go unchecked just because we are oppressed though. I think spending even a few seconds in any trans man-dominated community makes it very obvious that there is a glaring issue of unchecked bigotry towards other groups and replication of toxic masculinity happening. I have seen so many posts on FTM subreddits that boil down to “women are so shallow for not wanting to fuck me” and/or “if I’d just been born cis then women would want to fuck me.” There is a lot of completely unnecessary hostility towards trans women including very frequent accusation that trans women somehow have it easier than us, usually due to “visibility.” To be blunt I think basing privilege on how “visible” an identity is in the mainstream is like, a thirteen year old’s concept of marginalization and privilege/oppression dynamics and has no bearing on the workings of the world whatsoever.

I am critical of the trans guy community because as a guy who has been dysphoric my whole life, grew up closeted in a very conservative area, was called slurs through my teenage years, transitioned as a young adult after an incredible amount of strife from family, as a trans guy who is openly bisexual and kinky and weird and gender nonconforming, who is non-op and has PIV sex and wears makeup and jewelry with a beard and a flat chest, who has been involved in the IRL queer community for years and whose friends are almost entirely trans people and crossdressers and drag kings and queens and weird kinky gays of all types, I am NOT keen on the way so many of us allow this victim complex “life is so unfair to me” ass mindset to inundate trans man spaces and destroy our solidarity with other groups and each other. I do not think dysphoria or oppression or internalized or external transphobia or whatever is an excuse for punching laterally or down. I think trans women are our closest and most crucial allies in our fight for equality and autonomy and I see them as my sisters and friends. I have fought hard to be proud of who I am as a trans man in a way that hopefully does not knock down anybody else and I do not understand why we can’t talk about our pain or the nuances of our oppression and marginalization without it turning into a game of “who has it worse” and becoming volatile towards other groups of vulnerable people.

And like. I don’t appreciate the fact that I as a trans man complaining and disagreeing briefly about the wording of a popular post made by another trans man on my own blog, with the username of the other guy cropped, turned into bitchy ass online trans guys telling me I have poor reading comprehension and don’t know how to form a real argument. As if it’s my job as a trans guy to fucking write a goddamn manifesto any time I wanna say “I think this is dumb” on my own damn blog about INCREDIBLY niche insular intracommunity discourse. Like how are y’all fighting for our rights and voices when a fellow trans guy so much as saying “this is stupid” in the context of explicitly defending trans women on a post is enough to warrant waking up to like half a dozen guys throwing a fit in my notifications about how I’m a self-hating trans man who needs to word my 30 second complaints better if I ever want to be taken seriously and not face some imaginary online social ostracization.

Idk. Obviously getting off topic but yeah. I have not and never will feel very accepted in trans guy spaces nor do I like the way so many trans guy spaces allow their members to talk about other groups. I stopped using r/FTM after I made a post on there asking that people curb their weird biphobic posts about how they don’t want to date bisexual people because it would make them feel like they aren’t real men (SUPER common sentiment on there) and I had my notifications inundated with guys mansplaining dysphoria and internalized transphobia to me like that’s a fucking excuse for constantly suggesting that bisexuals are shallow sex-obsessed transphobic whores or whatever and some even accusing me of “being bitter that they don’t want to fuck me” as if I’m not a fucking bisexual trans man asking people to just like. Check themselves and their biases sometimes. Like Jesus. I feel like so many trans male-dominated spaces are just so filled with misery and entitlement and a willingness to eat each other and other marginalized groups alive. Even the fact that you can’t step foot into lots of FTM spaces without a ton of posts shitting on DI scars or phallo results OR shitting on guys who DON’T get either surgeries just feels ridiculous. Like what are we doing. Where is the solidarity where is the community where is the sense that we as marginalized people can uplift the voices of other groups and work through our issues to be wiser and kinder and more thoughtful and caring than those who do us harm?

[leeg]

Princess Syndrome (Which is really just: ‘Spoiled and Entitlement’) and how to spot them...sounds like corporations now that I think about it...

Unrealistically High expectations

Materialistic Conduct

Sense of Entitlement

Exploitative behavior

Feelings of Superiority

Lack of regard for society’s rules and *mores

*Mores: Traditional customs and usages of a particular social group, moral attitudes, manners; ways.

Tend to hail from wealthy or upper middle class families, like to describe themselves as ‘awesome’ ‘amazing’  on social media (or in the real world to inflate themselves)

Tend to be attractive due to amount of resources, never naturally beautiful.

Tend to:

Cut in line, berate others, unrealistic dating expectations.

If you spoil your kids, you run the risk of causing them to become spoiled and entitled. You, in addition to doing that, should not berate them with cruelty either, you’ll run the risk of causing them to develop an inferiority complex, which, down the line, could lead to depression, anxiety; anything under the sun.

Treat them as your equal, after-all, we’ve all taken aspects of others that we liked, or have inspired us to do better.

[ilikellamasalot]

Anyone else have a superiority complex and inferiority complex at the same time

Like pick a side dude and let me live my life in one form of torment

[jalsaengginamjajeco]

MESSAGE TO SOMEONE WHO FEEL INFERIOR EVERY TIME A PERSON POSTS HIS/HER ACHIEVEMENTS THAT ARE SOMETIMES GREATER THAN THEM:

Never rely on success based on social media standards. You can be amazing without those FB reactions, and you will never be a failure just because you don't gain engagements like how others do.

You have your success, no matter how often you publish contents.

[niicevibe]

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐤𝐞 + 𝐘/𝐍 𝐇𝐂𝐬

Hello again, everyone. I've come to you on this fine day with some headcanons for Sōsuke Aizen. I hope the things I provide to you on this god-like specimen don't disappoint; however, you'll be disappointed.

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: manipulation, "subtle" emotional abuse; a mention of Stockholm Syndrome; a mention of n/sfw (kind of) for the sake of explanation.

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬: some of the hcs were somehow deleted!!! idk!!! so I’m sorry this is so short compared to the others!!! :(((

See more about Sōsuke here.

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

Sōsuke Aizen as a lover is like... a milder version of Harley Quinn with the Joker.

I can't even put this lightly -- we all know how manipulative this man is. It's about as clear as the man is hot.

First off, I'd like to offer the idea that Sōsuke Aizen is both demi-romantic, and potentially, demi-sexual. While he's not very tied to his emotions, he wouldn't simply involve himself with someone unless there was some kind of emotional connection there, something to tie your ideologies together, for example.

There are a couple of roads things might go down that depend on your character.

Sōsuke Aizen is not a man who would tolerate a weak partner. Not that you'd ever be equals in his eyes, but you need to at least be on some kind of similar level as him to be able to survive things.

We all know that internally, deep down, he's a brooding young man with both a superiority complex and an inferiority complex -- it's complicated. He just wants someone on the same power level with him.

If you somehow entered a relationship with Aizen, there's a very high chance of it being a one-sided one. Quite potentially, you would just eventually exist for him as a form of amusement.

Undoubtedly, he looks down on you as an inferior creature. It'll become so obvious that there's no need to ever mention it.

His personality is very dominating, even without him trying. Maybe it's the new, cold look in his eyes, or his ridiculous spiritual energy. If he wants you at his side and under his thumb, that won't be an issue. Either he's that terrifying, or you're just whipped by this man.

Like, Stockholm Syndrome kind-of-whipped.

Aizen has - most likely - only allowed you into his life because he believes you would be a good cover story; a good excuse to protect him in the beginning stages of his plotting. Where was he when the Hollowfication events took place? With you, of course, working on tasks together.

He likes it when you address him by his first name. So many people say his last name with contempt (not that he cares whatsoever lmao), though when you call out to him with his given name, it's almost refreshing.

If you're at least on an intelligible enough level, Aizen will amuse the idea of calling you by yours, a minuscule amount of respect toward you from the man that isn’t completely fake and falsified.

Would he entertain you and take initiative for a date? Not likely. He’d invite you for a cup of tea, perhaps, to that little table outside his office, mood permitting. It’s always difficult for you to get an honest read on his character, as even to you, you both know he would lie if necessary. And you’d be all the lesser for knowing — he’s just too good at it.

His betrayal to the Soul Society came as a complete surprise to you, and in your position, you had been quickly forced to register the situation. The man you thought you knew never even existed. Maybe there were signs of it, though very minimal, and appearing as near-innocent curiosities, but you’d never taken notice of it as much as you should have.

It’s embarrassing, all of it — the stares, the whispers of "Maybe they’re gonna betray us next!” having you shrink into yourself on your daily walks. Aizen had managed to affect everyone in the Soul Society with his deceit, and this in turn, has everyone willing to turn their back on you.

Maybe… it’s all too much that you find yourself wanting to abandon the Soul Society, too, and find Aizen. But would he even be willing to take you in? Not at all likely. Maybe to amuse him, again. Though I’d imagine he’s not low on the entertainment department anymore.

I suppose you could give it a shot. Don’t be so surprised if you’re left locked out of Las Noches, though.

© niicevibe | please don’t repost! reblogs appreciated ♥️

[chloerinee]

This ep of helluva boss was just SO GOOD in terms of propelling Blitzo's character developement forward, especially within the context of the world building of hazbin/heluva canon. Like how Blitzo and Stolas's personalities and their motivations impact their roles in the society they exist in, and by extention, the relationship between the two of them due to the inherent power imbalance of Stolas's status as a royal. Their character arcs both individually and together are shaping up to be extremely interesting! I'll start with a general analysis of both characters and go forward from there.

To start, Stolas is incredibly entitled and definetly suffers from a major superiority complex. It's an interesting contrast to Blitzo's inferiority complex, and to be honest, when you think about it they act as foils to one another in a lot of different respects. While Blitzo is prideful and an incredibly proud individual, there's an underlying note to a lot of his interactions that leaves you with the impression he has a lot of deep seated self-loathing and internalizations of his unloveability (i.e. ep two "does anyone love you blitzo?" "no."); Stolas by comparison, is self aggrandizing and portrays high self esteem and a secure sense of self and what his duty is even while he's in emotional distress (i.e. also in episode two with his lullaby to Octavia when he touches on his disillusionment with love! more on that bit in a sec)

From what I can speculate about Stolas given his portrayal on the show, he appears to be observably shackled to his sense of duty despite the lack of joy it brings him, however he WANTS LOVE. He DESIRES the thrill of that connection. His relationship with Blitzo goes against everything he built his life around (his marriage to Stella, his status as nobility, his responsibilities to safeguard his grimoire) but even despite this he can not help himself. I get the feeling that he may have impulse control issues or perhaps his willingness to just Risk It All speaks to the amount of infatuation he has for Blitzo??? because everytime they are in the same scene, he's just so incredibly elated and constantly vocalizing his desire for Blitzo's presence. He even goes as far to go out of his way to invite Blitzo to things, and introduce him to his daughter! A parent does not do those things lightly- to introduce your child and construct a situation where your 'partner' and your child socialize is a huge deal. On some level, he wants his two favorite people to interact and be introduced to one another, no matter how misguided that is. He did not consider Octavia's feelings or ask if it was what she wanted, only that he had positive memories at Lou Lou Land and he wanted to share that again- this is a show about hell but we've been shown time and time again the humanity and multitudes of emotional depth that the demons in this verse contain. His actions do not make him completely irreprehensible, but instead show that he does indeed have flaws and redeemable qualities despite our first impressions of him at first as a rich fuckboy, and then again as a dorky, well meaning dad with marital issues. His interactions with Blitzo and the other imps of the wrath ring once again recontextualize everything we know about Stolas as a viewer, and I have a feeling this is only the beginning.

Looking at Stolas's lines to Blitzo in episode 5 through the lense of Stolas being an incredibly lonely man (in a presumably, loveless on both sides and open, non-monogamous, arranged marriage), who craves intimacy on an emotional and physical level to the extent that he will extort his assets and risk every facet of his life so that he can have a continuous 'relationship' with someone, I don't think he was intentionally trying to degrade Blitzo (intentionally being the key word here). Which is not to belittle Blitzo's point of view of his experiences with Stolas, as he is totally entitled to how he feels and it stems from a completely valid place based on his socioeconomic standing as an individual in hell. Alternatively though, Stolas is someone born into privilege, therefore he doesn't see how his words come across and how they are percieved by someone in a lower social caste or someone who deals with systematic prejudice. Privilege is having the option to learn about what injustices people suffer because you don't experience them yourself, and that description fits Stolas to a T as it stands.

Stolas doesn't understand Blitzo's struggle, and that is the core of their miscommunication on the nature of their relationship. Blitzo won't allow himself to view the relationship as anything other than transactional for fear of getting his hopes up and being vulnerable by showing his hand in an emotional sense, and then being just another imp taken advantage of by someone higher up (if im reading this motif of imps vs the greater hell caste system right). Blitzo has had to fight tooth and nail for every success he's had, every achievement he's had thus far is hard won and it's so easy to diminish your own accomplishments when you're born into a society that makes you have to work 10x as hard as everyone else in order to be treated as an equal to others doing less and still achieving the same and more. To Stolas, his endearments and tendency towards physical affection is an expression of his fondness towards Blitzo, but he doesn't ever consider how those very same actions come across as demeaning/ belittling/ or acts of microagression that disregard his capability.

Tldr: im so fascinated by these two bastard demon menaces who have contrasting flavors of intimacy issues and can't wait to see what or who they do next???

[harrypotterhogwartshitpost]

Discussion post prompt:

What ideas of democracy did Andrew Jackson develop?  What were his views on power and the presidency?  How would you define "Jacksonian Democracy"?

My response:

When talking about Jackson or Jacksonian democracy the first thing I consider is something my APUSH teacher told our class- that Jackson had an inferiority complex. Which makes total sense, he was born into poverty and always felt lesser than those around him. 

What that means for him as an adult, is that any time he was given even the smallest amount of power, he had to assert it over everything in an attempt to ‘prove himself’ and finally feel equal to, or better than, those around him. That meant he loved the idea of federal power when he became president. He wanted the federal government to control everything- he wanted to control everything. That’s also why we see him ‘contradict’ himself and his own beliefs. He cared about the power more than what having the power actually meant. The power to remove the Indians just because he wanted too was more important to him than his belief in majority rule. With that also came an obsession with how other people saw him. Not only did he feel the need to have power, he also felt the need to be well liked. That explains why there’s a lot of ‘give and take’ in some of his policies. “Well, the federal government isn't going to fund that, but since I don’t want everyone to hate me, I guess the states can still do it.” 

That’s also why he and Biddle fought so much over the BUS. “Prodigy” Nicholas Biddle’s excessive pride and confidence was most likely a superiority complex, or a god complex. Either way, he also felt the need to have a complete sense of control. Unlike Jackson, he felt the constant need to show off how much ‘better’ he was than everyone else. He wasn’t going to just ‘give that up’ to Jackson. 

I see Jacksonian democracy as a power balance between Jackson and himself. He was constantly debating with himself over what would give him the most power, what would make him the most popular, and what he actually believed in. In the end Jackson ruined himself, both physically and mentally trying to keep that balance.

---

Inferiority complex = The constant feeling of needing to prove that you're just as good as those around you (often done in extreme ways) 

Superiority complex = The belief that you are superior to everyone in your abilities, and your accomplishments are better than that of those around you.

God complex = The belief that you are better than those around you in an extreme or 'god-like' sense. (Often feeling as you are above the law/other social institutions, that you are 'the exception' or that you have 'god-like powers'.)

---

[nitw]

book 3′s theme of growing up vs escapism, and what that says about grace and simon’s fates

infinity train book 3 is as much about empathy and morality as it is about maturity. grace and simon deal with the same obstacles in very different ways, and with the last 2 episodes coming out soon, i wanna make an analysis of what we’ve seen so far, and how that might correlate to the ending of each of their arcs. this is gonna be a LOOOOONG post.

the way the first episode opens up blows my mind every time i watch it. implementing the “when i look at you, i see me” song jesse mentioned in book 2, which is all about accepting each other’s differences, in contrast to the chaos of the apex onscreen? amazing. keep in mind that this was a kids’ song that jesse was taught in school, which makes it even better/worse considering the apex is full of small children.

this is where we get our first proper looks at grace and simon this season. let’s talk about grace first:

grace herself was probably the one who turned the fitting room into her personal throne. she dances around cheerfully as she gears up for her mission. it’s already obvious at this point that grace has quite the superiority complex, but to quote the cat much later on; “she’s very full of herself”.

we get a deeper insight on this in episode 3, when she talks to hazel about her loneliness due to difficulty making friends as a kid.

grace tends to pin the blame on others for her problems to ignore how insecure she really feels, which is likely one of the reasons she ended up on the train, and leading the apex sure didn’t help.

she’s also shown to be very manipulative. she’s a smooth talker who knows how to twist her words to make her seem more trustworthy, and can be very controlling of others to get what she wants. as the leader of the apex, she’s learned how to talk to kids, especially.

now let’s get to simon. THESE are the first shots we see of him:

in contrast to grace sitting proudly in her throne room under spotlights, simon spends his time alone in a small, poorly lit toy store which he’s revamped into a workshop for his miniature figures.

this whole opening sequence shows us, in a short amount of time and without dialogue, how different grace and simon really are. initially, grace feels on top of the world and wants everyone else to view her like that too. while simon isolates himself from the apex to focus on his own little hobbies when he’s not going on missions. he doesn’t feel the need to flaunt himself, because he doesn’t have the highest number and he’s not the leader, that’s grace. their individual surroundings paint a good picture of how they feel about themselves.

so what is there to say about simon? for starters, he’s very hot-headed and loses his temper easily when things don’t go his way...

... he has major trust/abandonment issues...

... and he collects miniatures.

why is that last part important? because from the very first shot of him and then several times throughout the season, simon is painted as the more immature and childlike of the duo.

let’s get a few things straight:

grace and simon are both 18 years old, the oldest members of the apex. 18 is usually considered the confusing midpoint of adolescence, not REALLY a kid anymore but not REALLY an adult just yet. but according to themselves, they don’t feel like adults (”never trust an adult passenger”).

they both arrived on the train when they were around 10, aka they’ve been stuck here for roughly 8 years.

IN those years, they’ve been totally misguided and didn’t know the true purpose of the train, which led them to their “this is our personal playground, and if you don’t play along, you’re weak” mentality. this is why they don’t trust denizens/nulls, they don’t see them as anything other than toys.

what i’ve talked about so far is pretty much how we’re introduced to the two: one has a superiority complex, the other has an inferiority complex, but they’re both equally willing players in the apex’s childish game of chaos and destruction.

... and then hazel and tuba happens.

this is in the second episode. what’s the first thing grace does when she initially meets the two? she acknowledges hazel’s bond with tuba and greets them both, despite her dislike towards nulls. she knows she’s good with kids and uses this to her advantage, because she doesn’t want to lose a potential addition to the apex, but the point is that she treats tuba with respect out of consideration for hazel.

meanwhile, in comparison, simon wants absolutely nothing to do with tuba. he doesn’t speak to her once in this scene and only comments on it to grace. the only thing holding him back from fighting tuba is his fear of losing.

this conflict goes on between them for several episodes. grace wants to get rid of tuba as much as simon, but she wants to take the most harmless approach possible for the sake of hazel’s feelings, while simon couldn’t care less about anyone’s feelings but his own:

but as grace naturally begins to question everything she thought she knew, and grows fond of both hazel AND tuba...

... simon becomes more frustrated and impatient, and lets his blind rage overpower him.

and simon knows this.

aside from fear of abandonment, there’s nothing he fears and hates more than being underestimated.

being looked down upon.

being ignored.

being treated like a child.

every season of infinity train is about change, personal development and self-reflection. book 3 is the season of coming to terms with adulthood and maturity, and this goes for both grace AND simon. they’re just on opposite ends of the scale.

grace’s number is high. it’ll take a long time before she manages to leave the train. but she’s made an active decision to be the bigger person, to open up to and trust even what she doesn’t fully understand. and now she’s finally headed in the right direction.

simon isn’t stuck on square 1. he’s falling further and further behind, because he’s too stubborn to grow up and accept the reality of his circumstances.

this show doesn’t really have any heroes, because the goal of our protagonists is to save themselves. but simon is too self-destructive AND destructive towards others, and the path he’s taken is leading him to the closest thing we have to a villain...

... and the events of the most recent episode may have been the last straw.

[uthseikoashx-inflamedme]

Summer of 1899 fanfictions: with Philosophy, ancient Greek and Latin, foreign languages and a bit of Literature

(note: by “Summer of 1899 fanfictions”, I refer to the summer of Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald’s meeting as teenagers)

(note: I am not a native speaker, so I apologise for the mistakes, inaccuracies, truly bad use of tenses and wrong phrases. I hope it won’t be too unpleasant. Let me know if something is really not understandable!)

What about philosphy, Latin, etc, but in 1899 fanfictions? (dark academia vibes, I know)

There are already quite a lot of fanfics about it but not enough - because it's so great, let me detail why it is (and expose my headcanons)

(the [1] and [2] are notes, check the end of the post to read them)

(tiny disclaimer: i am not at all an advanced scholar on any of the following topics, just studying that kind of subjects and loving to draw parallels with hp. i hope i won’t say too many wrong things, etc.)

Philosophy :

Moral philosophy

The theories and questions throughout the history of moral philosophy (as far as I know) fit so well with the concerns of our revolutionary boys.

Is there any moral duty? Knowing wizards and witches could solve an amount of muggles' problems, is this immoral for them to stay in the shadows? What about the means of the revolution - is this ok to kill for the Greater Good, to initiate injuries, doom and destruction to build a better world, which cost is acceptable? What about consequentialism, utilitarianism, moral of virtue, deontological philosophy, idk? What's good? What's fair?

More touchy question: the maj-people are able to perform marvellous things, so are they consequently more important than maj-people? Because of their capacities, should they be praised - considered as superior beings - as gods? But if yes, should they treat muggles differently than they would treat wizards? If wizards shouldn’t be considered as superior beings, are they equal to muggles anyway?

And what about the Hallows - is this moral to possess them, considering they mirror Gyges’ ring? Should Albus and Gellet keep them for themselves, use them for the Greater Good (yes they want to, it’s clearly exposed in DH)? Is the Quest important enough to justify sacrifices?

Also, what about Aristotle’s virtue system - being moderate and all, use our reason to be in the middle? Because I’m sure as hell Albus and even more Gellert would reject this idea: isn’t it a form of passivism? (no, but through their pov and situation, they might think that)

(by the way they both read passages of Bentham's and Mill's and Kant's and Plato's and Aristotle's books nobody can convince me otherwise)

(I never read Nietzsche’s extracts and haven’t even merely a define idea of his theories to be honest, except for a few uncertain glimpses of his philosophy - he disagrees with religious morality and is quite vehement about it, and praises an idea of a free human being, released from this moral of the weaks. And as far as I know, I’m pretty sure Gellert would agree with him.)

Political philosophy

I do have a headcanon: Albus and Gellert both read the Republic of Plato (initially because it’s well-known and they didn’t want to be ignorant about it and they surprised themselves being enthralled by Socrates reflexions) ; and quite a lot of their discussions about a perfect society instituted by themselves (and about what’s fair and what’s good) were underpinned by the book.

Is this ok to rule the world? Which system is the best - tyranny, democracy, oligarchy? Are the wizards just like the philosophers and, thus, are righteously meant to be the aristocrats at the top of the government? And are all the wizards as legitimate as Albus and Gellert to rule the world (no)? What’s the acceptable extent of power they should have on civilians? What’s the necessary authority they must be allowed to have on civilians? What about the freedom of the press, of speech (those themes are explored in the Republic and well-), of maj-people and non-maj-people?

Philosophy of desire, joy, pleasure, beauty, etc

Have you ever heard of Plato? (sorry, again, yes.) Well in several Socrates’ dialogs, themes of love and desire are developed (I particularly think about the Symposium) and Albus and Gellert could be convinced by it: the praise of relationships between men, of intellect, of beauty… but also by the myth of Aristophanes (people are halves and search their soulmate (more or less)). Besides, I’ll be quite curious about what Albus and Gellert may say about Alcibiades’ eulogy of Socrates and what they may think of their dynamics.

(long story short, Alcibiades is young and handsome and desires the ugly Socrates, is fascinated by his intellect and considers him as the most interessant man he knows, and can’t help but feeling inferior facing him and being deeply humiliated because Socrates rejects him (on top of that, Alcibiades is drunk and jealous - the parallels to draw between them and our revolutionary boys are bloody interesting but back to the point))

Also, I totally see Albus and Gellert as hedonists during their youth - justifying their immoral and unwise chase of pleasure and complaisance by an artificial sentiment of moderation, temperance, so not true hedonists, like they are not epicurean at all - and this is again something quite compelling, I must admit.

Ancient Greek and Latin :

Latin and ancient Greek at Hogwarts

Throughout the 19th century, the civilizations of antiquity increasingly fascinated the intellectuals - a phantasm around the topic grew and influenced artists and erudite persons, and was furthermore a mark of the cultural capital and level of education of somebody.

Although we haven’t any clue about the fact that Hogwarts changed the disciplines provided through the centuries, we know it is possible : Dumbledore himself almost dismissed divination studies and depending the demands of the students, 7th years can study alchemy (most likely thanks a teaching offered by Dumbledore himself).

And I do have the headcanon that Hogwarts was in the past not that far from studies dispensed in english colleges - or at least, proposed classes of British (magic) Literature, maybe Law (like an elitist subject but necessary to enter in the Ministry and consequently pure-blood kids are always following that course) and, of course, ancient Greek and Latin classes.

And it was necessary, because Latin is the language of spells and most of the magical essays written back in antiquity were in ancient Greek - furthermore, the more complex, ancient and ruthless spells and rituals were based on ancient Greek and not on Latin, more used in everyday, ordinary, common magic (it is again an hc).

(by the way, Arabic and Hebrew could be as well considered as ancient languages used in magic (again an headcanon, but it would underline how magic is complex and has multiple forms and is not just European-centred), but I have the slight feeling that the ideologies and culture of European countries combined with xenophobia and racism have excluded the study of those languages even though they are also vital in the history of magic you know)

Yes it’s based on nothing, but it would be so great and ask so many things about the Wizarding World back in the late 19th and early 20th century - especially about social and political struggle between the population - pure-blood families vs muggle born students, etc [1]. (And it would satisfy my dark academia aesthetic. But quite irrelevant here.)

What about Albus and Gellert then?

Durmstrang could also dispense Latin of Ancient Greek class, in my opinion, but I think (again, imo), it is a bit unlikely. But it does not change the fact that Gellert had always been attracted to Dark magic; so he could have learned the basis by himself in order to decipher ancient Dark ceremonies, etc.

That’s why I think both of them had learnt ancient languages. Maybe Albus took an interest in Celtic dialects (Merlin’s language?), and Gellert was familiar with Vicking Runes. It obviously helped them regarding a lot of their magical and academic performances. Indeed, the boys were able to understand old papers about the Hollows, but also ancient rituals, etc. And thus, had a wide access to a more dangerous, unstable, raw and primeral practice of magic: it was not like the average spells in Latin, but an intricate way to unleash their potential [2].

Besides, only few people - erudites - were as interested as the boys were in these old ways to use magic, and needless to say that neither of those persons were as powerful as Albus and Gellert were. Furthermore, the boys were able to keep a balance between the complexity of the enchantments and the instincts they both have regarding the expression of their magic. They accordingly thought of being more powerful than everybody else.

Foreign languages :

The languages in the schools

It is clear that Hogwarts is exclusively Anglophone. The school is quite small: 40 students per year, so 280 students in all, coming from Great Britain - England, Ireland, Scotland, Yales, so the isles. We could also think that the wizardkind living in the CommonWealth during the colonial age also studied in Hogwarts. (again a hc, but Henry Potter and his son Fleamont were both born in India, fight me)

Durmstrang, on the other hand, could host quite more nationalities. I imagine the school having three main languages: German, French and English. But in fact, English and French are more “officials”, used by administration and in some classes (French was quite important at the time, right? then it was English?). So the students most likely speak between them in German (Germany had been formed in 1871 and I think the Austrian-Ungarian Empire was also Germanophone?), Russian, Hungarian, Lithuanian… well, all the languages spoken in Easten Europe.

(and just to mention it, I believe that Beauxbâtons is a huge school, bigger than Hogwarts and Durmstrang, because we need logic at some point - anyway)

What about Albus and Gellert then, again?

Gellert was probably speaking German, English (obviously, he wrote letters in English, spoke in English with Albus and Aberforth…), maybe French, and maybe another language depending on his mother country. I headcanon him coming from the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, but he might as well come from Denmark (the country of Mikkelsen?) or a Balkan State (there were wars here at the end of the 19th century, it could be an interesting theme), etc.

However, I doubt that Albus knew Danish or Hungarian, but he definitely spoke French rather well (he exchanged letters with Nicolas Flamel) and perhaps the basis of something else (Italian? German?).

I do not mention magical foreign languages they could have been familiar with - we know Albus is fluent in Goblegedook and Mermish in 1994, but I doubt he already was in 1899.

(Also, Albus’ mother came from America, so she might be originally from the Native American community and thus know an another language and let Albus know as well, but the fact that she is Christian (most likely, regarding what is her epitaph) let me doubtful; but I’m not enough informed about the Native American history to build meta, headcanon and theories, so I won’t explore this idea more.)

All in all, they are quite familiar with a lot of languages, and they certainly had a few conversations in what was not English (a mix of Latin, Ancient Greek, German and French, perhaps?) to infuriate Aberforth and not let him know about what they were talking about. (headcanon, again)

Literature :

We do not have a lot of clues about fiction - novels, theater or poetry - belonging to the wizarding universe - except Beedle’s Tales, of course. But we can imagine it exists.

Nevertheless, I am more interested in what Albus and Gellert might have read in the muggle literature. Besides, I think it is funny to consider that some writers or playwrights are known by muggles but are in reality wizards and witches - especially Braham Stoker, Mary Shelley… maybe Poe and Shakespeare as well.

So, I imagine that Albus and Gellert would have heard of Goethe, Heine, Novalis for German literature; maybe Hugo, Baudelaire, Flaubert for French literature… most likely Dante (definitely Dante). Though I honestly do not think they were fond of novels and literature, they could have been interested by it sometimes, when it echoed to something in them - Shakespeare, but also the story of Verlaine and Rimbaud, or Oscar Wilde’s story and unique novel.

There is also the theme of Oscar Wilde, homosexual writer, and his trial at the end of the 19th century, which are recurrent topics in 1899 fanfictions - a quite interesting one, imo. Have you ever read the Preface of the Picture of Dorian Gray? Definitely Albus and Gellert vibes.

All in all, I don’t think they may have been interested in literature for literature itself, but rather for the political aspect of it. (except for Shelley, Shakespeare and Dante which are a witch and two wizards, and are interested by the references to magic in the works themselves, again hc)

To conclude :

Even though 1899 fanfictions are great - and I thank you, 1899 fanfictions writers, you are amazing - I quite love the idea of all of this aesthetic that could developed. It is somehow prompt ideas.

(also I an studying humanities so it might be why I see those themes in 1899 fanfics so well, yes)

Thanks for reading! :)

Notes :

[1] : I wrote about the conservative Wizarding World and pure-blood families here:  Why are the Weasleys poor? (eng&fr) (theories about pure-blood families, inheritance, etc) /  How can everyone find their true-love and still be in love after years in HP? (”magic-soulmates” theory and conservative society)

[2] : I wrote about Dark magic and rituals in 1899 here: What if Antonio (Gellert Grindelwald’s chupacabra) had been created in 1899? / What about a dangerous, complicated and a bit gore alchemical experience tried by Albus and Gellert secretly?

And I posted quite a lot of things about GGAD, check the Table of contents if you are interested! :)

[dragalialore]

Caged Desire & Emile

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m enjoying the HELL out of this event. Not because I’m a Persona fan (never played a single game), but because it addresses Emile and his biggest character flaw: cripplingly low self-esteem.

Let’s chat.

First off, anyone who follows my more shitposty blog (@incorrectdragalialost​) likely knows at this point that I have a soft spot for the sixth scion. I also have a habit of giving him quotes that play up his shitty nature. Emile, the black sheep of the royal family, seems to be a character that is universally despised both in and out of universe. And you know what? I agree! He’s a pretty shitty and terrible person, and I don’t think that Euden should be giving him so many chances. I don’t think he deserves them.

I DO, however, think he deserves a redemption arc, and I think it needs to start with him. Let me explain:

Emile is a very insecure character with cripplingly-low self esteem, and he’s desperate to be seen as equal to his larger-than-life older siblings, who all seem leagues ahead of him. That’s what it comes down to, really: he wants respect, and everywhere he turns he just finds people using him for his royal status or manipulating him towards failure. Hell, Chapter 11 had Chelle tricking him into turning on Laxi and Mascula, and it wasn’t even hard. All she had to do was tell him that they possessed an absurd amount of power. Emile, who feels powerless and useless on his own, jumps at any chance to get more powerful, and it bit him in the ass in the end.

Later, in 14′s interludes, we see Emile trying to garner a reputation the only way he knows how: through showy acts of bluster. Not only does it not work, we see another reason for Emile’s desperate attempts for respect: the common people don’t even know his name.

We can actually see the start of his hero worship in Memories of Youth, where he tries sparring with Leonidas but simply isn’t good enough, and then watches Leonidas and Valyx duke it out as rough equals.

We can ALSO see the start of his superiority complex in His Clever Brother, where Euden clearly idolizes his older brother. Emile basks in finally being relied on for something... and then, of course, Chapters 2 and 4 happen and Emile gets fucked both times. He earns it, sure. But at the end of Chapter 4, Euden says this:

That one line shows that Euden has a lot more insight than he’s let onto at this point. He knows Emile wants to be special. He knows Emile wants his own specialty. ALL of the other Alberian siblings are known for something: Leonidas has his valor, Phares his wisdom, Chelle her espionage, and Valyx his might. (Beren doesn’t count. Nobody knew he existed.) And now Euden gets recognized by these siblings that Emile has been trying so hard to catch up to and he doesn’t. And Zethia? Zethia’s the fucking Auspex! She has holy powers, she prays to the Goddess! Every SINGLE one of Emile’s siblings is better than him in some respect. As a younger sibling myself, I get it. It’s HARD to watch someone else get all this praise while you get nothing.

Now, here’s where Emile has all his siblings wrong: he thinks they all got their specialties effortlessly. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, and as an example, we can look at Euden’s journey thus far. He’s worked VERY hard to get to where he is now--and he has GUTS. It takes brass balls to declare yourself a new kingdom within another kingdom’s territory, not to mention defending and expanding his borders. He didn’t suddenly get that magic touch overnight; he grew his ranks and gathered his warriors, and he trains every day to get better. He has companions by his side to support him, and he supports them in turn.

Emile, though? Emile just... stops when it gets hard. He thinks that he should pick up something perfectly the first time, so if he’s bad at something? He gives up. Sort of in a gifted-child burnout kind of way, but without the gifted part. He doesn’t recognize the amount of hard work that goes into developing skills like that--he thinks they should be as inherent as his own dragonblood. He’s got it all wrong; nobody starts out as a prodigy. You decide you want to master something, and you work at it. And if you’ve grown up with a silver spoon all your life...

So yes. Emile? Terrible person. Treats his allies and enemies like trash. MASSIVE superiority-inferiority complex that feeds into itself and decreases his self-worth while increasing his ego at the same time. He needs a fucking wake-up call--what’s more, he needs someone he respects to tell him that he matters. I hope it happens sooner rather than later, because I’d love to see how his reformation arc goes. He shouldn’t be instantly forgiven, and he should fucking WORK for his respect. Even if Euden’s memories of the past are clouded by nostalgia, the guy has a knack for seeing the light in anybody’s heart, and I hope that he’s right on this count.

[kyrievali]

I've been reading your posts and in one of them you mentioned that Iroh in fact is very shady and Azula has every right to hate him, may you explain why?

Sure, I’ll go into it. 

Let me start off by saying that I actually really like Iroh as a character. I think he’s great and well-written. I think the fandom tends to gloss over his flaws and label him as “perfect”, which is not true. One of his greatest failings (aside from making two teenage siblings fight each other for the throne...or really not intervening at all where Ozai is concerned) is his treatment of Azula, and him saying “No, she’s crazy and needs to go down” and essentially writing her off when, if you compare Azula’s personality with Season 1 Zuko, they’re really not all that different. Azula, people tend to forget, is a 14 year old girl who was as much a subject of abuse as her brother. Zuko and Azula were essentially pitted against one another to both gain Ozai’s affection and, more importantly, avoid punishment. The only difference is that she was rewarded and praised by Ozai for her power and cruelty, while Zuko was punished for his “shortcomings”. Zuko’s entire storyline proved how important it is to have a good, guiding parental figure in one’s life, and it’s tragic that Azula didn’t have that.

Now, let’s talk about why Azula probably hated her Uncle.

1. She thinks he’s a failure and, worse than that, weak

And I don’t mean weakness in terms of his firebending skills. Let me explain - Fire Nation citizens are ingrained with Nationalistic pride and complete loyalty to the Fire Lord from a very young age. Iroh, once upon a time, was the heir to the Fire Nation’s throne and the favored son of the notoriously cruel Azulon. He laid a 600 day siege against Ba Sing Se during which his son, Lu Ten, was killed. This tragic event caused him to withdraw his troops, despite having breached the outer wall.   

Upon his return home, his father dies under mysterious circumstances and decrees that Ozai will be the heir to the throne. Instead of contesting it, Iroh leaves the Fire Nation and ostensibly spends his time traveling the world, meeting with the Dragons, and getting in tune with the Spirit World. Doing so gives him the knowledge and wisdom to see the error of his ways, at which point he returns to the Fire Nation and serves as a General in the army. 

Let’s look at this from the perspective of Azula, or really any other citizen of the Fire Nation. Their country waged a nearly 2-year long siege against the Earth Kingdom - and right when they make progress by breaking through the first wall, the Crown Prince gives up because his son died. Countless Fire Nation lives and resources were spent on this 600 day campaign, and they end up with nothing to show for it. If you look at the philosophy of Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai, they likely would have used the death of Lu Ten to galvanize the troops and double their efforts, in an attempt to exact revenge against the Earth Kingdom for daring to spill royal blood - and so that their sacrifices thus far would not have been in vain.

And then, not only does Iroh withdraw from Ba Sing Se, he also abandons his duties and his country completely. Iroh had a reputation as a fearsome Firebender and cunning strategist - and he just leaves. So now not only is he a failure, but he’s also a deserter, one who abandons his nation while it’s reeling from a humiliating defeat and the loss of its Sovereign, Azulon (who, by the way, ruled for about 80 years).

In Azula’s eyes, all of this amounts to weakness, and as we all know from how she was raised by Ozai, weakness is unacceptable. 

2. She is parroting her father’s feelings of resentment

Given that Azula was the favored child of Ozai, it’s likely that she idolized her father and thought he was superior to her uncle, the Crown Prince (for the first few years of her life, at least, Iroh WAS the Crown Prince) and should have been the true heir to Azulon. We don’t see a whole lot of Ozai or his backstory/characterization, but it’s not unreasonable to assume that he, being many years younger than Iroh (it’s never officially stated, but Ozai is around 45 at the time of the show and Iroh appears to be in his late 60’s/early 70’s) had an inferiority complex growing up, and probably some form of sibling rivalry. After all, Iroh is already an adult by the time Ozai is born, and the Crown Prince, who has been groomed from birth to be Azulon’s heir. Ozai is an afterthought; an insurance policy, who at the very moment of Lu Ten’s birth, is outranked by an infant. 

Ozai probably resented Iroh his entire life, so it is not unlikely that Azula would probably feel the same way. 

3. He’s a traitor to the Fire Nation

Azula is a Nationalist and Ozai’s most loyal enforcer. Iroh’s a traitor, and as far as she knows, a corrupting influence to her brother, Zuko. She also probably thinks that he’s committing treason because (she doesn’t know any better) Iroh wants to be the rightful Fire Lord, and she is not going to stand for that. 

4. He reminds her of her mother

Azula is used to being the golden child - a prodigious Firebender, the favored daughter of her father, representative of everything the model Fire Nation child should be. And yet, her own mother does not appear to love her. Her Uncle has stated distaste for her. She thinks she’s doing everything right - because according to Sozin and Ozai’s philosophies and the emphasis of power and loyalty to the Fire Nation - she is; so why do two of her own family members prefer Zuko, the “screw-up” of the family - to her? 

It’s clear that Azula craves the love and adoration of others, but she doesn’t really understand it. I think as she grew older and saw more of the world and how people behaved toward her, she understood on some level that she was considered a “monster” and that people were afraid of her; but that’s how she was raised. Fear was power, and power was everything. And growing up, she was only ever positively reinforced for her ruthlessness and cunning by her father (of whom she is very much afraid, by the way...that is made perfectly clear in her attempts to bring Zuko home and also give him credit for allegedly killing the Avatar. Part of it is actually probably due to some level of affection she has for him, but part of it is definitely motivated by having someone else take the heat off of her in an abusive household) and she witnessed firsthand how perceived weakness was punished - so she did everything she could to achieve the ideal of perfection that Ozai, Azulon, and Sozin had proliferated. So she probably never really understood why her own mother and Iroh didn’t like her. And the fact that they both seemed to prefer Zuko, who she’s been taught to think she’s better than, would only further that resentment.

She thinks she can earn people’s affection by being a perfect Fire Nation soldier, because that’s what works with her father - and when it doesn’t work with Ursa or Iroh, two important adult family figures in her life - she doesn’t understand why and, even worse than that, it makes her feel inferior to Zuko. 

5. My final point is purely speculative, but...He didn’t do anything to directly stop Ozai’s rise to power

In the years after the war, after recovering from her mental break and maybe rehabilitating to become an advisor to Zuko (let’s be totally honest, a Nation whose entire economy for the past 100 years has been built on war and imperialization is not going to have an easy transition into peace, especially when they are expected to give up their colonies and play nice with an equally corrupt government that was controlled by the Secret Police force which has no qualms about brainwashing its own citizens...also the new Fire Lord is a banished Prince who is the apprentice of the Disgraced Prince and who returned to defeat the pride of the Nation, Princess Azula, Ozai’s Chosen Heir and the Conqueror of Ba Sing Se), Azula’s going to be pretty pissed that her supposedly wise and worldly uncle did not intervene in her megalomaniacal and abusive father’s rise to power. 

If my uncle, who never liked me, lost countless Fire Nation lives and resources in a battle that ended with him retreating, abandoned the Crown to go on a sightseeing tour of the world, returned and became a traitor to the nation by foiling the Admiral’s conquest of the Northern Water Tribe resulting in the loss of more Fire Nation lives, escaped from you multiple times and went on to become a tourist and small business owner in an enemy nation, turned your brother against you, did nothing to stop his own brother whom he knew was deeply abusive even after he came back after gaining all this supposed wisdom, and THEN also left you alone with your abusive father while taking your inferior brother under his wing and helping him become an extremely powerful bender who eventually defeats you with the help of a Water Tribe peasant...yeah, I’d be pretty pissed at him, too. 

To be fair, she probably never would have willingly gone with them because they were basically just sent on a wild goose chase at that point...but he never even tried to help her.

Anyway, that’s why I think Azula hates Iroh and honestly, she has every right to hate him. He abandoned her Nation and wrote her off completely, so there’s no reason she wouldn’t do the same.

[houseki-no-suffering]

I love all your analyses on gem society and what makes it so fatally flawed, (from how childish gems are to the collective ideal of conformity for the benefit of all) and I've recently been thinking a lot about how much of a role Adamant plays and has played in how gem society has turned out. It's not fair to say he's completely to blame for it, being a machine who is just trying his best for his gem kids, but what are your personal thoughts on Adamant's role in how messy hnk society is?

ty! i think sensei played a fundamental role in shaping gem society, if nothing for the simple reason that he comes from a specific cultural and social framework that was built for humans, not gems, and that he tried to share with the lustrous.

this prevented the lustrous from going through a long period of experimentation, at the end of which they would form their own culture and society. 

The best way I can reply to your answer is by imagining a timeline where the lustrous were left alone to develop, an island where there is no sensei (and, consequently, no lunarians). What follows is an analysis of the society these rocks could build.

Time & Technicalities

Not being able to build on any preexisting input about civilization, on any direction or clue, these rocks will develop a civilization only much, much later than the lustrous we know. They have everything to learn and all the time in the world to do it.

Keep in mind that societies are born around a large-ish group of individuals and it takes each gem thousands of years to be born, so it will take a very long time before they reach a relatively high number of members. But lustrous don’t die and, since without sensei there would be no lunarians and thus no way for lustrous to diminish in numbers, their society would keep on growing. 

With larger numbers comes greater job specialization (and thus technological development), greater complexity, greater diversity. When societies grow to a certain extent, in-groups start to form and separate from the original group. The lustrous could build cities and form separate sub-groups and cultures.

Language & Communication 

The gems are taught human speech by sensei. Without him, they would communicate in whatever manner lustrous are naturally attuned to. 

If gems are unable to naturally produce sounds unless someone chisels their throats (how gems speak is still a mystery to me: they have no vocal chords, they don’t even breathe) and if they naturally possess the intelligence required to process language, they could develop a complex form of sign language. 

Gems are also unable to see as we understand it: sensei has to make eyeballs for them sot that they can focus the light that filters through their crystal eyes. So that will definitely play a role in what type of language they can come up with. And how complex that can get. For example, if they eventually invent writing, it could be similar to braille. Or something so alien we can’t conceptualize it.

Values

Sensei chisels gems to make them equal. I’ve gone over this a lot in the past: sensei is forcing his own values on the gems. He thinks equality is of absolute importance, but what if no one teaches the gems about (sensei’s own brand of) equality? 

The gems are prone to gossiping, they’re childish, without anyone to chisel them, the lustrous will be able to be physically different and difference breeds conflict. The perceived dis-equality could stem from something as simple as beauty. 

Even the gems we know have a concept of beauty, but what happens when they’re free to carry it to its extreme consequences? some gems will be deemed beautiful, others won’t, some will be considered less worthy, inferior, or superior, and this can be manifested in a variety of ways. 

Desirability and social status will no longer be dependent solely on your work and what you can do for the society. If all gems are different and allowed to be different (with or without repercussions), they will come up with different values and there is no telling which vision of the world will become the dominant one. 

Gems are naturally childish, but this could have been accentuated by sensei’s presence. If left alone to develop and grow, will they eventually mature? learn from their mistakes? Or will they become selfish and hostile?

Social Classes

Currently, high hardness gems and fighters are an elite group in lustrous society, and this depends mostly on the war between lustrous and lunarians. Even with no war, I believe the gems will still develop a hierarchical society, if nothing because they managed to create one even under sensei’s imposed ‘equality.’ 

I can see older (and thus more knowledgeable) gems taking up positions of power. More beautiful/more durable gems could also be in a position of power. Keep in mind that with no one teaching the gems about hardnesses and minerals, they will have to learn it all on their own. They’ll probably come up with different scales and that’s why I wrote ‘durability’ not ‘hardness.’

Mostly, though, i can see doctors becoming an elite group. Since gems don’t eat, the only indispensable job would be that of doctors: a broken gem is as close to a dead gem as you can get. 

Medicine is an indispensable craft for the lustrous and with this comes power and with power comes control and influence. Depending on how cooperative gem society is, doctors might even repair gems on the condition of payment, or refuse to repair certain gems.

Medicine and body modifications could also develop in an opposite direction than the lustrous we’re used to see: no longer pressured to be identical, the gems might develop surgeries to diversify themselves, attach new parts to their body, increase their hardness, or for merely aesthetic reasons. Body modifications could be linked to symbolic, possibly magical reasons or to status.

General culture

Technological development takes a long, long, long time. The gems would come to be in what is essentially a stone age, with the exception that they have no natural predators and so no natural danger that doesn’t come from their own society (ie conflict) and nature (ie shattering). 

When (if ever) will the gems discover the wheel? weaving? house building? tools? how advanced can their technology become? what about their history? will they come up with laws (like confinement, shattering, loss of privilege…)? will they come up with religion? magic? a mythological system? 

The gems seem naturally more predisposed for math and memorizing detailed information than for more artistic endeavors. For example, I always found it odd how sensei never taught gems music since music is such a fundamental part of being a human. Will the gems eventually invent music? What about literature, sculpture, theater, dance, visual arts?

Finally, overpopulation would be a huge threat. With endless lifespans and a limited amount of land, the gems’ numbers will keep increasing until they reach a critical point. 

War could ensue, shattering could become a punishment or a routine solution to prevent overpopulation. For example, gems might decide that, past a certain age, a gem must be shattered (a social and symbolic form of death) to leave room to the new generations. Or, on the contrary, prevent new gems from being born by patrolling the shore of nascency and shattering newborn gems.

Alternatively, gems could colonize the seabed, maybe befriend the admirabilis and form an alliance with them, exchange goods and knowledge... Without being under the constant threat of lunarian war, gems and admirabilis both would have the numbers and time to develop complex political and economical systems, which would be extremely unique in the case of the lustrous because gems don’t age, don’t die and don’t need to produce food to survive. 

In the end, anything could happen. It’s like playing with ‘universe sandbox,’ except with an alien civilization. 

[immortalcoelacanth]

PTA: Science Team (HLVRAI Fic 1/3)

*pulls dusty story out of garage and drops it into Tumblr*

I have been trying to finish the first chapter for AGES, and I finally got it done! I crave PTA AU content due to the wholesomeness and angst, and I just had to work on one short fic for this fandom. So, welcome to the first chapter out of three!

Word count: 1788

Summary: PTA meetings are a sham and no one hates them more than Gordon, but upon being forced to miss a “mandatory” meeting because of work, Benrey comes up with a brilliant idea to deal with this problem.

Chapter 1: Hostile Arrangements Require Equally Hostile Solutions

“Fuck! Shit! Okay-okay, I’ll just-motherfucker she did what?!”

Cursing was in Gordon’s nature. He often used it as a way to express his angry, dismay, shock, and all sorts of other negative emotions. As such it was not unusual to see pacing about and spitting insults left and right. 

What was unusual, however, was the fact that he was cursing in his own home. He had a strict swearing free zone in effect as a way to stop Joshua from picking up on any foul language, including a swear jar that tended to fill up whenever Bubby visited. It was quite fortunate that Joshua was currently being distracted by Benrey as the pair had been playing video games together for the past hour or so. 

Or they had been until, in a surprising display of stealth, Benrey crept out of the young boy’s room and slowly approached the frustrated Gordon. 

Gordon, who was currently continuing to quietly yell into his cell phone. 

“Are you kidding me?! I was scheduled for a meeting on the weekend! I have work tonight! How in the FUCK did she-”

“psssst, hey, hey feetman. you might wanna chill out there and, uh, stuff. turn down the volume.” Benrey cut in while pointing the tv remote at Gordon and clicking the volume button. “don’t wanna be a bad boy and teach joshie any naughty words.” 

“Shut the fuck up.” Gordon sighed, no real anger in his voice before redirecting his attention back to the phone call. “No, not you Natasha, it was just Benrey-”

“tell tasha her cookies are baller.”

“Wha-baller? Who the fuck says baller anymore?!” 

“c’moooooooon man, be a bro.”

“Natasha I am so sorry-tell her that yourself!”

“i can’t feeman, you know i don’t have a phone.”

“YOU WERE THE ONE WHO STUCK IT IN THE MICROWAVE!”

“i-i was just chagrin’ the battery with those radio waves, man. ads… they never lie.”

Laughter could be heard coming from the phone in response to the conversation going on between the two men. It was enough to snap Gordon out of his somewhat enraged state and refocus on whatever it was that Natasha was telling him. He gestured for Benrey to leave and only succeeded in shooing the ex-guard to the kitchen so he could have some peace. 

Not that the peace lasted long based on the muttered cursing and general sounds of Gordon stomping around. 

About ten minutes later, the frustrated physicist joined him in the kitchen, quickly making himself a cup of coffee and grumbling under his breath. Welp, looked like this was the perfect moment for some interrogation. 

“soooooo, wha was that about?” Benrey asked as he took another bite of the block of cheese he had been digging into. If you asked him, he’d say it tasted pretty gouda.

Damn, he needed to torment Gordon with more puns again. 

“Fucking-” Gordon exhaled sharply and ran a hand through his messy hair, too angry to noticed how Benrey reached out and gently pulled at some of the locks, watching them bounce and resume their previously curly shape. “Linda.”

Well, there went his good mood. 

Benrey’s eyes immediately narrowed, becoming nothing more than glowing slits in his shadowy face, as a disgruntled frown replaced his previous smile. Even the cheese in his hand seemed to start burning, smoke wafting off it as it began to melt in response to the sheer anger that name invoked in him. 

Linda Smith, the scourge of the neighborhood and one of the most uptight, pieces of shit that Benrey had ever encountered. A narcissist with a massive superiority complex, she constantly put down everyone around her who she thought of as being inferior.

Which was just a cover for how much of a racist shitwad she was, plus there were the various comments she made about fags invading the neighborhood.

An obvious insult aimed at not just Gordon and Benrey, but the other “not normal” couples that lived here and there. Poor Joshua had overheard some of the insults on multiple occasions, and she had called the kid a mutt to his face-

“Benrey? You wanna calm down before you poke holes in the ceiling again?”

Fortunately, Gordon’s exasperated voice snapped Benrey out of his enraged state before he accidentally inflicted more damage to the kitchen. A place that had seen many, many small explosions and fires. At this point, he towered over the other man as sharpened, boney spikes poked out of his back and scrapped the ceiling. Plaster fell and dusted the countertop. 

“oops, s-sorry dude.” Benrey awkwardly shrugged, flesh dripping from his arms and face in a rather gruesome display, not that Gordon was bothered by this. He was used to how… horrific his partner could become. 

Especially when someone mentioned Joshua being hurt or insulted in any way. It was actually quite wholesome thinking about how much Benrey cared about the young boy and how much their friendship had bloomed since they first met. 

“I get it.” Gordon sighed. “She’s such a bitch she’d make anyone Hulk out.”

“ten points for the ref there, feetman.”

The physicist somewhat seriously flipped Benrey off, making him laugh, before continuing to rant about the purpose of the now finished phone call. 

“I still can’t believe that stupid school listened to her, and I’m not the only one getting fucked over here!” He spat. “I can’t just drop out-”

It was at this moment that the source of Gordon’s rage dawned on Benrey, and the ex-guard spoke up. “wait, the school thingy?”

“You mean meeting?”

“ya.”

Gordon groaned and hid his face in his hands. “The MEETING! Linda fucked up my schedule! I don’t know what she said to the administrator, but they canceled the weekend meeting I was booked for and rescheduled me for tonight. When I have WORK!”

Benrey winced in sympathy and reached out to pat Gordon’s shoulder with his not cheese coated hand. “damn, th-that’s a real cringe move. can’t you get, uh, joshie’s mom to take care of it? s...shea?”

“I can’t,” Gordon muttered, face muffled by his hands. “Shea’s been on a business trip for some conference and she gets back in five days.”

“oooooh, that’s why you’ve had little josh bro for so long?”

Rather than respond, the physicist just continued to groan and hide his face in his hands as he tried to figure out how to fix the mess he had been caught up in. 

Joshua’s school had a very… specific structure to how it was run. Standard funding and where it would be directed was determined by the staff, however, sometimes the school would receive donations or raise large amounts of money through fairs and other events. 

And it was how this extra funding would be spent that the local community had the chance to weigh in on. Determining if it should be used to get more sports supplies, help fund after school programs, or be used to help make the school more accessible. 

The ramp that had been added two years ago was one such example of the potential good that these extra funds had, however there was one problem with this process. 

All parents were required to attend a meeting and voice their thoughts. This was a rather new development that had been added after a small group of disgruntled parents, ones who had objected to using the extra funds to improve the school and arguing that it should go towards planning fun trips instead, had tried to sue the school board. 

Of course, the case had immediately been thrown out and dismissed, but it had set a dangerous precedent. A precedent that now made it mandatory for all parents to attend one meeting to determine their opinions on where the funding should be used and write it down so they could not claim their voices had not been heard. 

Honestly, it was such a stupid arrangement in Gordon’s opinion. Why not just send out an email? Or forms that kids could take home to their parents. It was so… disruptive and annoying, especially for single parents who had to work long hours. 

Like him. 

His hands tensed, nails nearly dug into his skin before Benrey carefully moved them, holding them. As Gordon looked up, the ex-guard sent him an awkward yet warm smile. An attempt at reassuring him that things would turn out alright. 

“hey... you-you gotta chillax feetman, things’ll be okay-”

“How the hell am I supposed to chillax in this situation?!” Gordon barked as he removed his hands from Benrey’s, shoved himself out of his seat, and began pacing around, furiously staring at the floor. 

“I’ve been fucked over by some racist bitch! Joshua needs someone there and it has to be someone who has some kind of guardianship over him for that stupid funding bullshit!”

As his partner raged on about the unfairness and overall stupidity of the situation, Benrey decided that it was time to think. To think, and plot, and come up with something that would hopefully calm Gordon down while solving the problem that Linda had caused. 

Simply put, Joshua needed someone who had designated guardianship over him to be present during the meeting to act in his best interests. Not surprisingly, Benrey did not have this title due as both he and Gordon had agreed that it would not be the best idea due to both his inhumane nature and the potential destruction he might cause. 

But, that did not mean that only Shea and Gordon were listed as the young boy’s guardians. There was one other who had been granted the title in case of an emergency, although his presence had never been needed up until this point, which was probably why Gordon had forgotten about him in his stressed out state. 

Dr. Coomer, one of Joshua’s “grandpas”. 

And, of course, if one member of the Science Team went somewhere, then the rest had to follow. The Science Team stuck together through thick and thin, no matter the strife or struggle and always left chaos in their wake. 

Hostile arrangements required equally hostile solutions, after all. 

“this is gonna be baller.” Benrey chuckled, his eyes flashing brightly at the brilliance of his plan. Now all he had to do was get Gordon to agree to it.

“pssst, yo, xen to gaydon.”

There was something about the tone that Benrey’s voice took on that snapped Gordon out of his ranting. How calm and collected he sounded, the coherency and confidence in his words. Somewhat concerned, the physicist turned around and saw the scheming look in the ex-guard’s glowing eyes as his fingers drummed on the table. 

“feetman, i got a plan.”

                                             xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I would like to make it clear that no offense is intended towards anyone named Linda, aside from the one racist Linda I know that she was named after who will never, ever read this so my sins will forever remain unknown :>

[12thlevel]

let me assign you a realistic personality trait

having an equal amount of superiority and inferiority complex