#hope everyone else has as well

[reallybadblackoutpoems]

rudy giuliani: emperor of the city (2001) - andrew kirtzman

"the debat"

[onewingedangels]

Yennefer of Vengerberg THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT (2015) dev. CD Projekt

[windcarvedlyre]

I've been following @druidposting's DR2 playthrough on discord and we just had a really good discussion about DR's Closing Arguments. Specifically the way the murderer is depicted as grey and featureless, which until now I found a bit annoying.

In Danganronpa it's repeatedly the case that we don't have the full picture until the talking actually stops- which always goes beyond the end of the trial. We generally vote first and come to understand what the murderer's actual motive was, sometimes filling in important pieces of the timeline in the process, afterwards.

But none of that matters for the killing game because characters' emotions aren't directly relevant to who was the 'blackened'- the only thing that matters to Monokuma- so it comes out afterwards and does nothing to change their execution. It doesn't matter how sympathetic they are (basically everyone) or whether other people share responsibility for the situation (eg. Hanamura, Pekoyama, Momota) or whether they intended to murder at all (Nanami). They objectively pulled the trigger and nothing else matters. Nothing about them as a person matters.

The Closing Argument mechanic might illustrate that problem- literally. They're a dramatic, conclusive summary of the entire case... constructed before the vote even happens, before we know if we're actually right, and they're missing something really important:

The actual perpetrator.

We quite literally don't even begin to see the real person behind the crime, any real exploration of their mental state, anything besides the cold, hard facts of the murder that are necessary to convict them, until the comic finishes and the protagonist makes their final accusation- replacing the grey figure with their real appearance in a shot that's often intensely emotional.

And these comics lack crucial parts of the case's timeline and sometimes important parts of the very scenes they depict that we only find out about afterwards. And those are what we know; characters may die with some pieces of the truth and prevent us from ever learning them. These aren't objective depictions of the murder, they're the protagonist's subjective attempt to connect the facts they have. A join-the-dots portrait of someone with missing dots and no colour.

Even characters' expressions may not match how they truly feel, with the grey placeholder potentially looking way more confident and sinister than they were in reality. Pasting Falter's commentary here since they put it well.

For obvious reasons this could especially be a problem for characters that die before the trial- the ones we never get a post-vote testimony from. DR1 chapter 4 really highlighted that in the way Asahina's huge misinterpretation of Oogami's feelings took up a lot of the post-trial discussion, only for Monokuma to reveal Oogami's real suicide note and recontextualise everything.

It might really be a problem for how Komaeda's depicted in DR2 chapter 5. While he isn't greyed out, we get panel after panel where he's either level-headed or maniacally evil, and even the depictions of his self-torture and death don't humanise him:

But we know that his real feelings were more complicated than that. We have his actual corpse to compare the last page to.

He died afraid.

If we approach the comic as Hinata's mental image of him instead of reality, he died without anyone truly understanding him. He was alarming, very hard to relate to, actively fought against people doing so, ensured even the killer didn't watch him die, and the survivors couldn't begin to understand his motive until a chapter later. The Closing Argument reflects that.

Early in DR1 Togami calls out the rest of his class for judging others by their own standards. However, he, too, is doing this, maybe more so than many other characters; his inability to view other people through anything but the cold, brutal logic of the killing game bites him in the ass in chapter 4. In DR2 chapter 2 voting without a good understanding of Pekoyama's motive or Kuzuryuu's involvement nearly got everyone killed. Komaeda's a walking embodiment of the problems with flattening people into caricatures and not empathising with them, suffered from people doing that back to him, and his case- the Closing Argument for which turned everyone else into grey placeholders- was impossible to solve with objective facts. It was only survivable because the survivors cooperated and one person tried to analyse things the way he would.

The games have always been a critique of the justice system and Japanese society and push us to care about others as individuals, not reduce them to- and judge their right to exist by- something they've done or their net impact on society. There are always consequences when someone neglects to do that, and the above might be yet another way the games explore that theme.

[sainz100]

some Max moments from the 2024 Qatar GP

[lovesodeepandwideandwell]

It's crazy how I can be like "I'm having a depressive episode" until I'm with the right people and then it's like oh no I'm ok actually

[rogloptimist]

LAKE MISSOULA x JONAS VINGEGAARD

credits under cut!

lake missoula - richy mitch and the coal miners // jonas vingegaard - team presentation, tour de france 2024 // jonas vingegaard, tadej pogacar, and remco evenepoel - podium ceremony, tour de france 2024 (belga images) // tadej pogacar and jonas vingegaard - tour de france 2024 // wayward son - rainbow rowell // jonas vingegaard - stage 21, tour de france 2024 // it's down to legs - caley fretz // jonas vingegaard - stage 20, tour de france 2024 // jonas vingegaard - tour de france 2024 // jonas vingegaard - stage 11, tour de france 2024 // a poem on hope - wendell berry // jonas vingegaard and remco evenepoel - stage 19, tour de france 2024 // quora user shulamit widawsky // jonas vingegaard - stage 21, tour de france 2024 (getty images) // jonas vingegaard - stage 21, tour de france 2024 post-race interview (flobikes) // 'now the fight is over': jonas vingegaard concedes tour de france battle for yellow, but still aims for second - adam becket // jonas vingegaard - stage 19, tour de france 2024 post-race interview (flobikes) // video: jonas vingegaard and matteo jorgenson consoled after heart-breaking end to stage 19 of 2024 tour de france for team visma | lease a bike - kieran wood // jonas vingegaard - tour de france 2024 // jonas vingegaard - tour de france 2024 // 'probably the hardest moment of my career'-- jonas vingegaard on his crash and fight to be ready for the tour de france - stephen farrand // jonas vingegaard's tour de france was a venn diagram - iain treloar // rise up and salute the sun: the writings of suzy kassem - suzy kassem // jonas vingegaard - tour de france 2023 // jonas vingegaard - stage 21, tour de france 2024 // jonas vingegaard - stage 11, tour de france 2024 // vingegaard exhausted after tour de france: may cut season short - sjoerd valkering // jonas vingegaard and tadej pogacar - stage 20, tour de france 2024 (belga images) // the thing is - ellen bass // "if you had told me four months ago that i would be second, i wouldn't have believed you" - jonas vingegaard disappointed but proud of his tour de france - ondrej zhasil // jonas vingegaard and tadej pogacar - stage 11, tour de france 2024 // jonas vingegaard - stage 11, tour de france 2024 post-race interview (nbc sports) // alfred lord tennyson // jonas vingegaard and tadej pogacar - stage 11, tour de france 2024 // remco evenepoel and jonas vingegaard - stage 21, tour de france 2024 // jonas vingegaard and tadej pogacar - tour de france 2024 // matteo jorgenson and jonas vingegaard - stage 19, tour de france 2024 // matteo jorgenson and jonas vingegaard - tour de france 2024 // jonas vingegaard and tadej pogacar - podium ceremony, tour de france 2024 // jonas vingegaard and wout van aert - tour de france 2024 (team visma | lease a bike)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Names revealed and returned. (context)

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[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

finished episodes 7 and 8 with my sister:

she called the show scary a couple times before starting episode 7

"fuck the council" "well he is"

she was very happy when ekko was revealed, "FINALLY FUCKING FINALLY"

^but also went "i got him back and at what cost, HIS LIFE?" after marcus shot him

"i know that her tattoo says vi but i would like to think it says six for the five kids and vander"

she apparently never noticed how high mel's dress slits were until we got to episode 8

"i can't leave her again" "girl, we got in the boat, we paddled in the water, we got up here and now you want to make that decision? you could've told us before we packed up the boat"

"that looks like a nice hug" and "the bickering is insane" (about caitvi)

"i don't think you had to do that, madam" (about the opening scene with ambessa killing the girl)

when it cut to jayce's shirtless scene in the forge, she went "why does it look like he's having a sex dream about him, like "jayce will understand" then it cuts to this" ('he' being viktor)

^speaking of that scene she did in fact need a second after the "don't lose your nuts" bit

"is caitlyn still tied up while we're seeing the sights, taking a trip down memory lane?"

"caitlyn's like 'another bitch you know, another fucking bitch you know? do all you pests know each other?' is that not the face she's giving? look at her!"

"if y'all are just gonna chit-chat, y'all can leave. there's the door" (talking for viktor about jayce and mel)

"tell my daughter that i-" "that her father was a bad guy? sure"

"are you trying to take your daughter's man?" (about ambessa)

all she had to say about sky's death was "that's wild" (okay i'm kinda burying the lead, she was shocked and had her hand over her mouth the whole time but those were the only words said)

"she's such a self-saboteur but i understand" (about vi)

every time heimerdinger appeared on the screen in his cloak, she laughed at him, "he turned around like a thief in the night but he's this little thing"

"jayce, have you checked on your homie?" (no the answer is no)

"the way she walked was like 'there's a new sheriff in town'" (about ambessa's entrance at the port)

^she was also just like me and was disturbed by her interactions with the boytoy (no shade to them tho, to each their own)

"he killed a kid, that's gonna mess with him...i hope it does" (about jayce, also the "i hope it does" is meant to be read like she hopes he doesn't just move on)

"could this bitch die already, she's been close to dying a lot of times" (about sevika)

"MISS FRIZZLE?" (during the scene when we were in viktor's bloodstream)

when episode 7 ended, she did in fact think that jinx had killed herself and ekko (i also explained the whole thing about ekko hitting the bomb away from them, i also explained the thing about him having a crush on her when they were kids)

"i don't like mel's mother, i don't think you're supposed to but i don't"

"enforcer 3 is booo *thumbs down*" (because he was using a lot of force on the kid that jayce killed)

"it's giving zuko alone" (about heimerdinger going into the undercity)

"these hairs are fucking insane like on everybody in this world. like vi's looked like a sideways chicken"

her thoughts on episodes 1 and 2

her thoughts on episode 3

her thoughts on episode 4

her thoughts on episodes 5 and 6

her thoughts on the finale

[cluescorner]

I cannot imagine being a Damian stan right now. You've got both Zdarsky's bullshit (where he clearly doesn't give a shit about your boy) and The Boy Wonder (where Juni Ba clearly gives so many shits about your boy) coming out on the same day. The whiplash must be insane. I hope y'all get some nice warm soup for your efforts jfc

[xehanortsreport]

the subtle resignation in his expression at even bouncing with the context of his final words kinda destroying me ngl

[mueslicrumbs]

[rosyprayer]

I made some new dance friends and omg they’re both bunnies and fearnots like I am and we’re having a party and I’m SO EXCITED !!! ૮꒰ྀི∩´ ᵕ `∩꒱ྀིა

🎀 ˖⁺‧₊˚ 🤍 ˚₊‧⁺˖ 🩰

[ineffablefool]

Random reminder that fat people are precisely as good, important, worthy, beautiful, valuable, and deserving of respect and love as thin people are. Including really really fat people! There is no version of you that is superior just because they weigh less. All the different-sized versions are identically wonderful.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

winston my quant of billions

[lesbianwithchainsaws]

Honestly one of the things that I find really appealing about horror, at least some horror, is that it shows you a way to be alive without being alive in the traditional sense. Because right now being alive means participating in society to some extent. It means having a job, or being expected to have one. It means being expected to have friends and expected to want a family. Being expected to fit in, at least to some extent. Even if you can't or don't want some of these things, there are still a ton of social expectations that are placed upon you from the moment you are born. And that is a lot of pressure to put on a person. It's not easy for everyone to have a job or to fit in. In fact, for a lot of us, it's incredibly difficult. Horror has always shown "the other" so of course it's also going to appeal to people who are "the other" in real life.

But the thing is, it's almost impossible to escape that expectation. It takes ages to even get to a point where you don't care about what most of the world expects of you, and it's pretty much impossible to get rid of others' expectations. And, in the society that we've built, you kinda have to fit in. There are exceptions obviously, but the majority of people have to work a job, often one they don't want or like, just to survive. They have to interact with others. They have to participate in the world in the way they are expected to. It sometimes feels like the only way to escape is to not be alive.

But death is scary. The idea that everything you are, ever have been and ever will be, can just be gone in an instant is terrifying. But here comes the horror genre, showing you a world where someone can be both dead and alive at the same time. It shows you a ghost in a haunted house, who has no job or expectations, but is still able to be in this world and do things. It shows you a vampire, who can live anywhere and not be in danger from anyone, who can essentially do whatever they want. Here's the undead who is literally both alive and dead. To some extent, even real people fit this role of being alive and dead. The killer who everyone thinks is dead, but who very much is still here, just hiding. The outsider who lives in the middle of nowhere that no one knows exists.

Though some horror media does show all of these in traditional society, most of them do not. And that's what's so appealing to horror, in my opinion. The very idea that I can be alive and dead at the same time. Even if in real life I'm not or can't be, it's a bit of escapism and an idea that maybe someday I, too, can achieve both

[voidcxltist]

Narinder just needed a break from being broke. He needed a break from being judged. He needed to rest. But the world couldn't let him take a breather.

On Darkwood City, everything happens quick, and now. Jobs fly, Not even a soul can be put to rest in peace by death.

Narinder, kicked out of his house four years ago for being an appasionated fashion designer, now finds himself with that life isn't easy, at least not with the different.

When our feline thinks he had overcome successfully a problem, life throws another, and when he thought his life couldn't have a 180° turn, it does.

Now, he meets a difficult decision after being dragged to a new world where motorbikes and races will become a spoonful of sand in a motor: To be a god of asphalt or to become a roadkill, sinking deep into the darkness of his own mind.

It won't be easy, because enemies and empires rise and fall. And soon, maybe something may do a difference.

HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT! IT’S OUT IT’S OUT!!!!

Read it now! :3