#i guess they're doing the same thing here!

[wheeloffortune-design]

I guess you're unlucky because I just happened to glance at the comments on this post a year and a half after posting it. And your comment was near the top. So, graciously,

fuck you.

Telling someone that the way they reacted to empty platitudes the day their father died is 'kind of being a dick' is more than being rude, it's being cruel.

The whole post was about how, for one day, I decided to not entertain someone else's fantasy. For one day, I did not smile, placate, kept silent. That day was not about them, it was about me, my siblings, my step mother. That day, no one else's feelings mattered to me. I gave myself the right to be unpleasant while my father was dying down the hall.

It's incredibly hard to find something to say to someone when they're grieving. I've been on that side too. You can appreciate the thoughts and prayers, but nothing forces you to play along.

So I told my aunts that they could stop telling me about heaven, about how I would see him again someday, because I didn't believe that. I told that other family friend she could stop trying to give me her crystals because I didn't believe in that either.

The post I wrote a year and a half ago is about how they reacted badly to me rejecting their words. It was never about me, I don't regret what I said. It was about their reaction.

And here you call me a dick, for refusing to placate them on the worst day of my life.

I'm replying to this message not for you, but for the same reason I wrote the original post in the first place. Not knowing it would resonate with so many people, I just wanted to share my experience because I'd never heard anyone else speak of it. Maybe it could help someone, or make them feel less alone in this horrible feeling. I am lucky, it seemed to have helped several people.

If you are grieving, or when you will grieve, because we're all doomed to know grief, here are the things I learned, from that worst day of my life, and the 879 days since:

there is no good or bad way to live this pain. there is no correct way. you do whatever you can, however you want, to deal with this.

there is nothing good about this situation. don't look for the silver lining. accept that it's horrible. don't try to change this feeling into something it isn't because you feel like there should be a good side to this. there isn't. you loved them, and they're gone. it hurts.

it will get better, slowly, very slowly. you just need to make it through. but it will always hurt, at the strangest moments. the tears, years later, will be as true as the tears from the first day. this will be a relief.

and this is the whole point of the original post: if and when you lose someone close to you, you need to focus on your own pain, and not placate the other people, the ones who don't hurt as much as you do. it's not about them, it's about you. when the funeral comes, don't spend your energy in niceties, in small talk. don't make it a show for other people. take that time to get your closure. protect jealously your grief. it's your time, it's not a presentation.

The day of the funeral, a cousin talked to me about ancient Egypt, trying to cheer me up with a subject he knows I love. He started telling me about how the pyramids were built by ancient aliens, he'd seen something on youtube about it. I stopped him, told him I didn't believe in that. He was disappointed, but his disappointed was not my problem.

Tell me, should I have changed myself and nodded at his ludicrous conspiracy theory? Should I have accepted my aunt's crystal beads because they were supposed to give me strength? Then why should I have accepted something that, for me, is as completely false as ancient aliens and crystal beads?

Every other day, you need to meet people halfway. The day your father died, then his funeral? fuck that. their feelings are not your problem. don't let them make their feelings your problem.

grief fucking sucks, and this is me giving you permission to not make yourself smaller for other people when your loved ones die.

it's been a year so i feel more comfortable talking about it..

when you're atheist and you lose someone, religious people don't really know how to interact with you. it's fine, we have different worldviews.

'He's in a better place, now.'

Sorry auntie, but I don't believe that. I believe that his brain stopped working at 5h55pm on december 11th 2022, and that's it. Nothing after that.

It makes grief very difficult, because not believing in god or the afterlife also means accepting that you will never, ever see that person again. That's it. The end. Nada mas.

But, back to the aunties and other faceless people gravitating in the grey blurry waters of your awareness.

They tell you 'He's with god now' and you tell them 'Yeah I don't believe that' and.

they. get. annoyed.

Here I am, gutted open, the worst day of my life, barely holding myself together, and they! Get annoyed that I won't smile and entertain their point of view!

Another faceless person tried to heal me with cristals. She also got annoyed when I told her I didn't believe in that.

I usually don't really mind religious people. It's fine, we have different worldviews. I think I'm right but so do they. As long as they're good people, I don't judge them for their faith.

I'll even be grateful for them trying to console me. I get that you're trying to give me strength and love. Thank you.

But I'm going to be true to myself, yes even when I'm mad with shock and grief. And I still can't believe they got annoyed that I didn't play along to placate them, on the worst day of my life.

(I wanted to share because I've never heard anyone talk about atheism and grief, and the loneliness that comes out of it.)

[itoshirinnn]

thinking

about how when shamura says bonds (chains) must be forged in godly matters they refer to both the bishops' blood but also narinder's. look at his robes, the red in the middle that starts at his throat and trails down, as if his throat had been cut not necessarily to kill but to make him bleed as much as possible

in the game, the god of death cannot die. the only time the player is in actual risk of "dying" (permadeleting a save file) is when they have 0 followers for two days. the solution to this is to recuit TWO followers minimum. guess who narinder has by his side in the afterlife.

TWO followers, given to him by shamura. they said they didn't want narinder to be lonely. But exactly why would narinder be lonely if he was "swelling with devotion" ? and forneus never says when her kits were taken, just that they were a gift to "the one they loved the most." by "they" it is heavily implied that she's referring to shamura. still, I don't think shamura meant to gift them to narinder out of malice. i truly think he did not wish for him to be lonely.

now, what does narinder say about baal and aym?

intended as KEEPERS??? why would narinder interpret them as keepers, if they were gifted to him before he was imprisoned? maybe he thought shamura was distrustful of him from the start. but even then, if they were already his loyal followers by that point, why wouldn't they be chained? they're completely free to move. Not to mention, look at their eyes. reminds you of something??

DISSENTING FOLLOWERS. all four bishops and their respective minibosses have black scleras and red irises. the only characters / enemies who have similar eyes to baal and aym are the witnesses, that I theorize are old enemies sealed away by the bishops that rise after the death of their capturer. (and barbatos but like. they're the only miniboss who has those eyes so I don't count them) Maybe shamura sent them to narinder under the guise of "keepers," knowing that narinder would guide them. Notice what he says. "Must I be blamed for my influence?"

Narinder says it was here that they cast the chains that bound him (ignore kallamar's joy I have no clue why he's so happy here?) meaning it's here that they probably fought. The monument says the same. "Here did death no longer wish to wait." this obviously refers to narinder. The one who waits could no longer bear to wait, and he put his and the other bishop's reigns in peril trying to expand his domain. shamura feared narinder would grow too greedy and held a council of war with the others.

Narinder struck at them, supposedly second. They knowingly attempted to kill (bound) their brother, just like cain and abel, and were punished for it. See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil, think no evil. narinder was punished too, relegated to the afterlife, destined to be forgotten, to rot. my theory is that shamura gave him baal and aym afterward. they loved him the most, to the point where their brother being forgotten, truly dying, was so unbearable that they gifted him two young followers under the guise of "keepers."

also think about kallamar and how he can't bear to see narinder. We know that kallamar is the second oldest, and that he's aware of his cowardice.

"... of course, it could not last forever. Perhaps my siblings did not understand this, but I have always known."

"It did not make me less afraid. Cowardly Kallamar, ha..."

"So many things I did not wish to hear... Narinder's foolish plans."

"When Shamura told us what we must do to ensure our survival... I did not wish to hear that, either."

"And yet I was a willing conspirator. Cowardly Kallamar."

shamura tells us this.

I think shamura set aside their fear of losing their brother and the love they held for him, to save themselves and their other siblings in case narinder betrayed them. kallamar did not. he was cowardly, he did not wish to hear narinder's heresy or shamura's plans, even knowing their happiness would not last.

side note, narinder's speeches to you after beating each bishop are the longest when he talks about kallamar and shamura. This could also be because he knows the lamb for longer at that point, but I do truly think that he couldn't bear to resent his youngest siblings enough to blatantly insult them like how did to kallamar and shamura.

not to mention heket's dialogue. she blames the red crown, never her older brother. when she does refer to him, she calls him a monster who will not be satisfied until all four of them are felled. she never names him. she grieves, laments about how they were happy once, all together.

narinder's dialogue about leshy is the shortest. maybe it's because they didn't know each other well, since leshy was so young, but leshy is directly stated to not have known about the plan, at least not completely. I don't think narinder resents him as much as the other because of that. leshy even calls the lamb an unworthy bearer of the crown. he doesn't insult narinder, he simply calls him "the chained one."

shamura deems you an unworthy bearer of the crown if you bow to them: "I am disappointed, I admit. I thought my brother had better… taste."

if you do not bow: "A lion in the guise of a Lamb. I expected no less from a vessel of the Red Crown. Very well. War is also my domain."

shamura is also the most outwardly resentful of mortals. "He wanted to open the doors between Life and Death, to... to allow their return. Those mere... mortals." they were the oldest, but also the most prideful, even more so than heket, who is the only other bishop who commands you to bow, and has similar dialogue to shamura. but if you do not bow, she does not compliment you like shamura does, instead she demands you to bow again, which shows her immaturity.

if you bow: "Ha! Cowardly vermin. You disgust me." if you do not bow: "You will bow, or I will make you!"

another side note about heket:

"There is no justice in this world."

"No matter how... how loudly you demand... urge... beg..."

she tells you this after you give her relic back. this is purely headcanoning now, but perhaps she had her throat torn out by narinder because he could not bear to hear her beg.

TL;DR: narinder was so, so loved. my doomed siblings 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

even more tlm references

Part 1 (Episodes 1 + 2) / Part 2 (Episode 3) / This post covers Episodes 4 + 5, as well as references from the event boys' voice lines and vignettes (since those have also been unlocked now)!

OH MY GOD. Rook says he enjoyed a bath in the hotel's bathhouse. He and Malleus comment on the beautiful interior of it, mentioning a shell-themed bathtub and a carving of a fish. THEY'RE LITERALLY DESCRIBING THE BATHHOUSE THAT ARIEL WASHED IN???

While at an outdoor market, we spot a lady in a white dress secured with a rope. Jade explains that it is a fashion style unique to the Sunshine Lands. By simply changing the way you wrap the cloth and rope, you can make many different looks! This fashion originated from repurposing the cloth used to make sails and rope.

This might just be me buggin’ but 😳 Jade says the Coral Sea has high biodiversity, meaning when those animals and plants decay, they add a lot of minerals and nutrients that enrich the water. This makes rich, imami sea salt. I wonder if this is a reference to??? How the sea Ariel comes from is also very colorful and biodiverse, as we see in Under the Sea.

At the outdoor market, Malleus spots forks of a strange shape. These, Jade explains, are actually combs in the shape of forks. There is a legend about a mermaid that combed her hair with a fork because she had recently come to land, and at a time when her people and humans knew little of each other. She would go on to have a happy marriage. This is of course a reference to Ariel using a fork to comb her hair at dinner🍴(Jade also mentions the Atlantics Memorial Museum from book 3!! They have a replica of the fork the mermaid used on display.)

The market also has stuff salvaged from sunken ships! There’s precious antiques and things of value, but also tons of junk that can be refurbished or polished back up and made reusable again. This has to be a reference to Ariel’s grotto full of items collected from sunken ships!!! She has many things here, some useful, some not, but all interesting to her.

The people of the Sunshine Lands love song and music! An example, Jade gives is playing the flute on ships and the coast. You know who plays a flute??? ERIC. We see him playing one when Ariel sees him for the first time, as well as right before he spots Vanessa on the beach.

There are lots of clothes hung up to dry in the strong sun. There’s a scene in TLM where the maids of Eric’s castle are doing laundry!! Sebastian gets caught up in it.

The groom apparently works on ships and is quite familiar with the sea… LIKE ERIC.

The cove is the same as the one Eric and Ariel went in for Kiss the Girl!! Look at this neat new background and how they’ve nicely decorated it!!

The Eternity Float starts off with the groom gushing about the “first time [he] heard [the bride’s] name”. Definitely a callback to Eric guessing Ariel’s name on the rowboat 😭

Rook makes a thick fog by firing fire at water. Fog??? Like… THE FOG ON THE BEACH WHEN VANESSA APPEARS AND ENCHANTS ERIC?!!!!!?!?!

Riddle thinks to launch barrels at the bride and groom! This makes me think of when Ariel used a barrel to help herself catch up with the wedding ship departing with Eric on it.

Jade and Riddle get into a magic fight that produces fireworks. The couple reminiscence on the time they saw fireworks together. Fireworks appear over Eric’s ship on the night Ariel sees Eric for the first time!!

Malleus creates a mighty tornado with his wind magic. Is this maybe a reference to the powerful storm Ursula summons when she has all the powers of the sea at her disposal?!

THE BRiDE AND GRoOM ARE LITERALLY ArIEL AND ERiCCCCC (Side note: Jade leaping in his merform fr reminds me of that fucking leaping dolphin meme 🐬 which is funny because his fandom emoji IS the dolphin!)

The bride saves the groom by swimming with him to safety…! Like how Ariel rescued Eric after the storm at the start of the film!

Jade successfully capsizes their rowboat!! Similar shot to what appears in the film.

The event ends on a similar shot as the film too!!! 😭 The sea… the ship drifting out on it… the rainbow appearing… Even the font they use to write “The End” is similar to the font used for TLM title. This is setting off all kinds of nostalgia alarms for meeeeeeee 🌈

In Rook’s vignette, he and Malleus go fishing but catch nothing. Right as they’re about to leave, something snags on the line—and they fish up a fragment of a statue. They hear from a local that there is a sunken ship nearby, so it’s common to catch stuff from it. Rook is amused and wonders if the fragment once used to be part of a man with a strong will. This has GOTTA be talking about the statue of Eric that got busted up.

In Malleus’s vignettes, he practices maintaining balance while rowing. I don't think this refers to anything specific in TLM, but I'm thinking maybe it could refer to the scene where Eric's men are in those lifeboats during the storm and trying to keep afloat in the rough waves??

He has a voice line saying he would like to play violin at a wedding (and in the Sunshine Lands, they often take place on boats). We can see one of Eric's crewmates playing a fiddle on the night Ariel sees him for the first time!

Malleus also has a voice line about how they are many sunken ships at the bottom of the sea. This is pretty non-specific, but I'm sure all of us remember the film opening scene with Ariel exploring a sunken ship.

In Riddle’s vignettes, he mentions that a horse's demeanor can change depending on the handler. Then an incident occurs in which a horse gets spooked and runs off without anyone in its carriage; Riddle and Rook chase after it and are able to get in the carriage. With Riddle at the helm, they're able to get the horse to leap over a valley. THIS A NOD TO HOW WHEN ARIEL TOOK THE REINS TO THE CARRIAGE... and then she and Eric bolted off... AND THEN SHE GOT THE HORSE TO LEAP OVER A GAP.

In one of Jade's voice lines, he talks about how he used to look at the city longingly from the waters. JUST LIKE ARIEL... JUST LIKE ARIEL AS SHE SINGS PART OF YOUR WORLD REPRISE ON THAT ROCK AND THE WATER GOES SPLASH!!!!!!!

Finally!! In Jade’s vignettes, a storefront sells items imported from merfolk. Items include seaweed for fortune telling, musical instruments, and accessory cases made from shells, and seahorses with anemones on their heads. This calls to mind the general seashell accessories of the merfolk, musical instruments used in Under the Sea and the concert scenes, and Ursula's little potion ingredients cabinet + skrungly clients/prisoners.

He tells a tale of how he got caught in a whirlpool while chasing after something shiny that had fallen into the sea. Could this be a reference to Eric using glowing under the water to try and attack Ursula?? asjdhasdsalid I MIGHT BE OVERTHINKING THIS ONE AND IT'S NOTHING

Jade ends his vignettes by mentioning there may come a day where he “returns to the sea”… THE LITTLE MERMAID 2: RETURN TO THE SEA?!?!!

[miqojak]

Here I've been calling Jak + Ketsuchi 'rivals to lovers' but uh. Physical violence HAS happened that once. And she is VERY proud of her scars from that encounter, these days, even if at the time she was LIVID and SCARED. But she figured out he was testing her, and pushed herself through the 'test'... and these days wears her scars as a badge that she proved herself to him. (So I guess... they're technically enemies to lovers, according to OP's bit about violence! XD) There was lots of name calling. Yelling. Breaking things. Sexual tension CONSTANTLY boiling over into 'god I think I hate you' intimacy that returns right to 'fuck you' except he still shows up at your door humming that same damn song, and you still let him the fuck in. And yet, even in the midst of their roiling rivalry... he was the first one she trusted to be physically intimate with. Even while they fought... she knew, intrinsically deep down... he was like her. She trusted something in him because it was so familiar. So yeah. With two years of writing between us before they admitted to what had been long simmering? That is the best slowburn I've ever written, and one of the deepest, most complex relationship dynamics I've ever written. These two fucked up people helped knit up each other's inner wounds (and sometimes literal ones) with lots of time and patience - because who understands your fucked up emotional walls like someone else who builds the same fucked up walls and lashes out in the same fucked up way? In real life, hurt people hurt people. In fiction? Sometimes the hurt people get to heal the other hurt people. They were both chasing a death-wish after losing people they loved... and both gave up chasing death for the other - all without ever once saying "I love you." Because actions speak louder than words, in their mad world. And yeah, to that bit about mocking names becoming pet names... he once mockingly called her Little Robin, so she added it to her tattoos, all those years later - and just like he brought color to her dull world, her robin tattoo is the only one on her body with color. And a gesture from her that was once defiant - pressing her hand to his chest, to show she wasn't afraid of him? Now, is a tender, loving way for her to connect with him. To feel his heartbeat, and be soothed that it DOES still beat. And she'll keep fighting to make sure it keeps beating. And OP is right - "It's about truly knowing every single piece of your partner's heart and soul, from their anger to their joy and loving them not just despite it, but especially for it."

Because there were times Ketsuchi would be just... caught up in his anger, and would call her names and rage at her... and she refused to even be upset by it. (Now and then a zinger really dug in, though.) But she knew what he was doing... because she did the same thing with others. Lash out. Bite, scratch, gnaw, be as nasty as you can... and they'll leave. They'll give up. But she doesn't give up. And she saw something too akin to her own hurt in him... and in refusing to abandon one another, and insisting they keep butting heads and 'competing' to one-up each other... they kinda just ended up falling for that ferocity in each other, and wanting something better for the other person. And now? They *have* seen the worst of one another - and I think they've actually progressed to trying to bring out the best.

One thing that has always pissed me off is when people call the Enemies to Lovers troupe toxic romance and say it's abusive. Like I don't know what was advertised to you as enemies to lovers but babe that is so not what this trope it's about.

Now listen I'm a fantasy reader, so my normal level of enemies to lovers is "they have tried to kill each other at least once" or "they have definitely physically fist fought" at like the minimum. Anything below that is rivals to lovers to me. Just wanted to make it clear I'm not sugar coating anything here when it comes to my ships.

Enemies to lovers was never about the abuse or the fighting and the attempted murder, that's not what makes the trope.

Enemies to lovers was always about seeing the worst in each other first, being unafraid to show someone the ugliest part of yourselves and them still managing to fall in love with you. It's about realizing that the only person who has ever truly known you is the one person you cannot stand, it's about them being an outlet to each other the one person they are not afraid to be negative towards because that's your dynamic all the time.

This is also why people enjoy the fighting and the bickering between the enemies, because it's the one time when these characters are not holding anything back, they are unafraid of showing each other cruelty because why fear being disliked by someone who you already hate, that also hates you back?

It's about this chemistry these characters have, how they are somehow always pulled towards each other, how they can recognize each other in a crowded room immediately because they are annoyed by each other's presence obviously. It's about them always somehow ending up in a situation together even though the last thing they want is to be near each other.

They start noticing more about each other, they realize their habits, they know little stuff about them that almost no one else has ever noticed and maybe along the way they realize that maybe they're kind of different from what they thought at first and maybe they're not so different from each other.

It's about name calling turning into pet names, verbal sparing turning into old married couple type of bickering, going from dreading each others presence to searching for each other in a room, sneers turning into smirks, it's about keeping the same dynamic you had but making it more lighthearted, warmer.

And this is my personal opinion, but I truly believe there is no way to make a good enemies to lovers story without it also being a slowburn. It makes absolutely no sense why these characters that hated each other until now are suddenly falling in love so quickly. Enemies to lovers was never just Enemies -> Lovers, There needs to be some forced proximity thrown in there, a begrudgingly friendship, actual friendship, unexplained feelings, realization of feelings, secret pining because we barely became friends there is no way they would ever feel the same way, confession and by the end lovers. It just makes sense since they have a very complicated relationship and they need to grow as people and need to get used to familiar feelings first before actually getting together.

And this is what enemies to lovers is all about, these characters knowing every part of themselves, from the worst to the best, hiding nothing and being free around each other. It's about truly knowing every single piece of your partner's heart and soul, from their anger to their joy and loving them not just despite it, but especially for it.

[lynxgriffin]

Umm, unfortunately I feel like my answers to most of these might be kinda mean, and I feel bad about that even if it's my honest thoughts, so I'm going to put them under a cut. Sorry guys. :[

You're not the only one to have this idea; I've seen it out and about quite a bit. And I'm sorry, but to be completely honest, I really dislike it (even moreso than Kris Knight), and I'm honestly kind of baffled that it's as popular as it is. We're supposed to be building this tension of the primary antagonist in the game...their actions could destroy the world! What are their motives? Can they be stopped?? And then just turning around and going "actually a central antagonist doesn't exist and it's just a bunch of random people who all happen to be doing the same actions for different reasons" just completely kills any tension the idea has. It feels like it just drastically lowers the stakes here. Who made the first two fountains? Well, if they're not making more and their actions aren't going to develop further, why would it matter? Again, plenty of people out there seem to be really into this idea! I am just definitely not one of them.

It's bad. Maybe it's just a joke one, but if so, the joke's going over my head. Honestly I'm of a mind that (at least in the normal route), no one is going to die, or has been dead the whole time. I'm even skeptical of Rudy dying!

Whoof. I definitely don't want to police what other people are doing in the fandom to have fun, because having fun is what it's all about! But just for myself, I had to stop watching his videos, because I reached a breaking point of "oh this guy does NOT know what he's talking about and I'm not enjoying these any more." It's really kind of a shame, because I think he's really good at gathering lots of bits of evidence that might be forgotten and extrapolating from it! But his understanding of DR's characterization and themes is, in contrast, so off-base, and the staunch belief that Deltarune is just Undertale's story told over again causes problems for all of his over-arching theories. The craziest thing is, one of his biggest ones, Oberon Smog...I actually agree with!!! I think there's good evidence that Gerson Knight is possible and would fit both logistically and thematically! But one of the reasons why I went ahead and made Mightier Than The Sword was because I wanted to present some kind of alternative take on Gerson Knight from Oberon Smog. The concept as he presents it gets tripped up, again, on mischaracterization, and the assumption that this is just Undertale again. But it could work!! Anyways...yeah I guess my thoughts are complicated.

Uhhh...is it that popular?? I would not really have expected that, since it is a crack theory! The evidence for it is scant, I just thought it would be a neat story beat! I don't know if I've really heard folks talk about it much outside of the comics I did for it, but maybe I'm not paying close enough attention.

[yesiamabot]

For your question about paying for housing, I feel like you are not engaging with the whole thread here and if you did, you'd be able to answer the question yourself.

I don't think that would help me. Your argumentation style not only takes it for granted that "stealing one dollar" is just as much as much a theft as taxation and that being payed by the government is just as much slavery as being held in bondage by a plantation owner (with only a difference of degree in both cases) but also takes it for granted that everyone else agrees with you on these points and only disagrees with your conclusion.

feotakahari says they're fine with the government taxing people to feed the poor and your response about the government seizing a farmer's crop by force comes across as a complete nonsequiter because you never bothered explaining why these two things would be similar. phaeton-flier says that even in your pet example the comparison to slavery is drastically overblown and your response is that you know your comparison bad but you still believe it, and then you don't explain why you believe that.

I'll be straight with you, I also believe that “Leftists want to enslave doctors” is a very weird take. You're tags show that you've already guessed that I don't agree with it, and that's correct. But I do kind of want to see where this position comes from, and after reading all the posts in this thread...I not only still have no idea, I might even have less of an idea than before.

Like, I keep thinking about when you said "[leftists say] 'right to housing' and hope nobody will notice that someone has to build the goddam house." And, sincerely, what are you talking about? Of course someone has to build the house, how is that a problem? Is the implication that a government contract is somehow coercive? Why would it be? Why do you think it would be?

You're approaching this discussion like everyone is on the same page and just disagrees on the details, but genuinely the disagreement is way deeper than that.

“Leftists want to enslave doctors” is such a weird take to keep showing up. I think it’s a libertarian thing?

[flow2024]

its very funny to me but if nicky is getting his shit wrecked by that car (likely) probably its not gonna be a Major Thing just because they're not gonna have time for that in the whole overarching akasha narrative. hes gonna get roadkilled and then they'll probably have to stop the car and pick him up or go back for him later (AT MOST hes getting picked up by quynh/akasha but they got damsel in distressed last movie i dont think its happening again, and i'm guessing this scene will come quite early in the film, plus he and joe in that shot of them at the table are probably in the same place as andy and nile discussing the merits of defenestration) similarly i think joe and nicky will Not Do Much on account of them being just kinda there. dont get me wrong i am hyped. but i think whatever scene that one shot is from will probably be their Major Bit. this is also why neither of them are dying if thats what andy is yelling at behind the glass because they're too much of a Two Of Them situation and they're not gonna kill off both probably. also greg said he didnt want that. also i dont actually think anyone else is losing immortality that was kind of the first film's Big Thing. its possible that akasha has some kind of superpower to turn off immortality (it would be very funny if the film's explanation, if it gives one, is akasha was just running around and going now You are immortal. and You are immortal. and You Two are immortal. and then yoinked it away from lykon. but i digress) which they could be discussing if they're having some kind of dramatic talk but i dont think theres a real risk of that

in a similar vein i fear nile is taking somewhat of a backseat here. which is annoying to me. the first movie is very much her as a foil to andy, young and old and jaded vs still maintains belief in things. there's a chance she could figure into the andy vs akasha situation by continuing to fulfil role of young and hopeful vs old and jaded. even quynh may potentially not be as important as we'd hoped if they're setting up akasha as our central villain and quynh as a secondary minor villain.

but where the first movie was asking what the impact of them was, what the point is of helping people, whether all that time they spend dying is worth it, what one does with immortality, this movie seems, if it is asking anything at all (which is like my no.2 fear for this film, because tog at least has a coherent central question) to be setting up a conflict between isolation vs connection as other people have pointed out, which has the potential to be interesting but i fear that adding akasha into the mix will be much less complicated than force multiplied having quynh fulfil the role of humanity-is-fucked, because ultimately Netflix Action Movie benefits from having an easily defeated villain.

none of these are particularly coherent or connected i'm just saying shit

[improbablecarny]

spotify drops their wrapped around the same time every year the fact that it came out now isn't exactly worthy of panic. however we have known about spotify's support of the military industrial complex for YEARS and people who were previously pretending to be concerned about that and the laundry list of other ethics concerns with the Billion Dollar Corporation are throwing that to the wind so they can discredit Palestinian activists. like yes the particular alignment of the dates were blown out of proportion entirely but that doesn't mean that Spotify is innocent and accusing their critics of being in Qanon mode for not wanting to support them... while ignoring the israel apologists furthering literal qanon/conspiratorial shit like the idea of "crisis actors"... tumblr leftists have never been good at moral consistency. nevermind the fact that spotify has been censoring palestinian artists too

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I don’t think this is a hot-take, but I really wish Book 7 didn’t explore the other dorm’s dreams. Or at least they should have limited it to the other overblotters and maybe Ace and Deuce because of HeartShackle trio. Not only did it drag out Book 7 horrendously long, but I think it was detrimental to the book in general. Not only did most of the dreams have no impact on the overall narrative, it shafted the actual Diasomnia member’s screentime (Namely Lilia and Malleus) to only being there at the very beginning and the end. Sebek and Silver were there the whole time, but they kind of were pushed to the background as the other dorms were explored (School bus Silver). Maybe if some of the dreams were shorter then maybe it would have been ok, but I also think that throwing in what was essentially very in your face examples of the students’ character development just wasn’t necessary—at least not for each character.

If Book 8 has the same pacing as Book 7 I’m actually going to lose it. Following previous patterns, Diasomnia will play a role since the past dorm always ties in with the plot of the next book, but I fear the game is going to drag out the plot again. I would have less of an issue if the plot was longer with actual meaningful substance to move the plot along, but twst isn’t known for having decent pacing so I have little hope.

To quote Vil:

Book 7’s took a nosedive as soon as we hit the party recruitment section 💀 I’ve made no secret that I have numerous issues with the execution of every character’s dream, so I won’t repeat them here. (You can see me airing out my frustrations with the dreams here and here if you're interested!)

adibaiofaefas The ironic thing is that I remember being asked if I think we'll see everyone's dreams a few years ago and I had basically said "No way, it'd be so distracting and drag the story out for so long!" ... Well, guess what? That's exactly what happened...

While I do agree that Lilia and Malleus were only relevant at the beginning and end of the book, I'd actually say Silver gets similar treatment. Sure, he's technically present to be our Magic School Bus, but he does not actively contribute to most dreams. His character development starts in the start and ends at the end; there's nothing happening in the middle portion where they're going around waking up their peers. The ONLY Diasomnia character that consistently gets development in book 7 is Sebek, due to him getting unique interactions with the first years and consistently having his internalized racism challenged beginning all the way back in LILIA'S dream. (I speak more at length about Sebek's consistent growth here!)

Another huge issue I have with the dreams is that we don’t learn anything new about the characters. We’re just being told or reminded more directly about how these characters have developed since our first introduction to them. It lacks subtlety and it is especially the worst with the OB boys, who stare down their darkest selves and announce (literally announce) to them how they see their inner-evil, how they’re above them, how they resolve to be better from now on, etc. etc. etc. It’s a shame too, because Twst has proven to us they can have nuanced interactions that demonstrate character development back in book 6. They were not able to replicate that magic for book 7 😔

GOD. I don’t even want to think about book 8 and how bad the pacing might be for it… Is book 8 going to be even LONGER than 7??? Are we going to have every character with a needlessly long, time wasting segment where they recap their growth to the audience? Is Diasomnia going to get shafted again even though we REALLY need more time in the kitchen to cook with Malleus in the aftermath of his OB??? 😭

[myauditionfordrphil]

1. India gave Pakistan many many warnings to eradicate the terrorism and stop with the cross border terrorism on their own. Even before the Pahalgam incident, this has happened countless number of times.

2. That is exactly what I said. Instead of looking at one post and deciding that you know everything about the person, you should actually have the decency to just do a lazy scroll. I said this again and again that it is the US who is funding this terrorism and the corrupt Pakistani military uncaring of their people's suffering continue to do their dirty work.

3. Reparations? How much reparation should we provide? Would that be of any use? How much reparation should we provide to the victims of cross border terrorism when an average of 2 such attacks are faced by Indian citizens and soldiers every year? According to you we should sit back silently, taking every act of violence silently, providing reparations to the victims whilst completely ignoring the fact that each and every year it's the same story.

4. That act was preposterous, I hundred percent agree. Apparently grief is not grief if it doesn't cause hatred. The politicians only want to milk votes (pretty apparent by the bjp it cell posting ghibli images of the tragedy) out of the tragedy while the civilians suffer.

5. First of all the number of deaths is not a competition (and I also love how you are ignoring the 26 people that died in Pahalgam and god knows how many more in the constant reoccurring acts of terrorism). Also isn't it great that we are absolutely not questioning the Pakistani government as to why there were civilians in such close proximity to terror bases (which according to both geographical and satellite based evidence clearly exists). I fully empathised with the people who lost their lives as "collateral damage" in Operation Sindoor, that was one of my first posts about it. I still say that a life lost is a life lost no matter whether they're Pakistani or Indian and instead of celebrating such attacks we should work on defending ourselves. War cause nothing but damage. But that thing has to be understood by both sides. What exactly was Pakistan aiming at during their strikes on bordering states? Unlike Pakistan, there are no terror bases here, I had to listen to my relatives and friends in Jaisalmer, in Amritsar, in Jammu and most importantly in Kashmir shake and talk about the fear they felt. It was due the ability of the Indian armed forces (who for a change are actually capable once given a free hand and not shackled by the centre) that there was minimal damage otherwise the casualties would be deafening. Also we held Indian govt accountable for Pahalgam and I still do, but there's a difference in supporting your nation and supporting your govt.

6. Guess what? The situation here is the same. That is why I said again and again that war doesn't favour anyone, it takes equally. The whole point of the above post was you CAN (like me) sympathise for the innocents killed on either side of the border, but sympathizing with the victims and sympathizing with the Pakistani military and in sync the terrorists, who blatantly without any shame attack equally innocent Indian civilians is very different. My very first reaction to Operation Sindoor was that I hope no civilians died, and I advocated for their lives, but apparently Indian civilians don't matter equally and are just numbers.

7. I indeed KNOW that this is not normal. My own school - far away from the border in North India - hosted such drills. There's equal panic here because US will support Pakistan under the table and China will do so openly. I am nowhere near being a pro-war person, hell my askbox has been filled with hate due to me being "anti-war" throughout the last week. But same thing has to be understood by Pakistan. I can criticize India, speak against it if it attacks Pakistan without any reason (Operation Sindoor was direct reply to the Pahalgam incident and it happened AFTER Pakistan was given more than a week to cooperate and eradicate the terrorism harbouring in their land on their own) but how am I supposed to criticize them retaliating when civilian spaces were targeted without any reason?

8. "Tata, owned by Ambani" brother what? What multiverse are you living in? Last I checked they were competitors and bold of you to assume that even 10% of Indians like Ambani, like even some of those who are pro-bjp hate that man and his schemes. I equally hate the fact how bollywood milk such tragedies for money and try to generate faux materialistic nationalism and this move was criticized by almost all Indians (surprising ik). But you would only know that if you go ahead and see the actual picture rather than bland propaganda. I am very well aware of the war propaganda being spread by the Indian media, I have spent the past week continously telling not to celebrate such a conflict, you cannot possibly hate Godi media more than I do.

I urge to read the post you reblogged once more and tell me where I said not to empathise with the victims. The last week has been filled with me continously trying to advocate how dangerous war can be and how to avoid the communalist propaganda that directly affects me more than most people. I have been screaming that a life lost is a life lost, that killing innocents can't serve justice (which it's pretty hypocritic to talk about valuing human life when the people in Poonch were just a number as if 15 lives are nothing).

And what are you even high on? "Born into hindu upper caste upper class privilege"?!?!? I am a Muslim girl living, born in a middle class family, equally suffering from this war as you are, combating communalism in my own country and being scared for me and my loved ones. I have lost the opportunity to go to a prestigious institution for studies just because I am from general caste whereas people with a rank 100 numbers below me got into the same program. I know all about how it feels to not be from the upper class or be from a religion that is constantly looked down upon and having to prove my love for my country again and again. That is not a flex. But probably a lesson for you to keep your judgements about my personal life and speculate about my religion, caste, or class without even having to have the decency to double check by just a lazy scroll.

I have raised my voice for lives being termed as collateral damage on either side of the border, I have seen first hand the suffering of people in Kashmir, the plight of the people who have lost their loved ones in constant act of terrorism while the country that harbours it does nothing to combat it and most of all I have seen in me, the things people like me go through because of the actions of few commited in the name of my religion, my faith which I hold close to my heart. The government of a country does not equal to the essence of the country. Loving one's country doesn't mean that you love it's government (in my case a government which is hell bent on making the lives of people like me more difficult honestly it's crazy that how me out of all people got interpreted as a Sanghi Modi fanatic - that was surely a first). Next time before telling people to not believe the media blindly, do that yourself and refrain from speculating about a person's personal life.

There's a fine line between empathizing for innocent humans who become collateral damage on any side of the border and supporting Pakistan over your own country, valuing the human life loss across the border while ignoring our own countrymen dying, expecting the Indian army to stay quite as Pakistan blatantly attacks civilians in India. Don't cross that line.

[deservedgrace]

sometimes you're in your feels about religious trauma stuff and feeling like you'll never really recover and then you come across some shit from when you were first leaving the fold and it's like..... you know what actually at least it's not that bad anymore lmaooo

[iskodeguzman]

"I don't think you'll find them at random here, not unless they have the numbers for an attack," he answered. Isko might not know the ins and outs of this new group but he understood human nature well enough. They were cowards so they had to move in packs to take down the supernatural community. "I've heard that they have witch's on their side, ones that probably have magical items that can track what species you are. If you don't show up as human, they'll run the other way or attack you."

"Deities should be intimidating them, apparently your kind is the only one who can do something to stop them," he replied. Vampire's could do something about it but no one would like the result and he guessed that was the same for the demon's in the city too. The more peace driven species didn't seem to be all that bothered about catching or prosecuting the Artemis threat either so it was quietly infuriating to him. "If no one else is going to try and stop them, how far are they going to push things? When is it enough for the higher authorities to step in and fix things?" he asked curiously.

"This city will fall into chaos before Artemis listens to a supernatural being, even if they're a deity like you." Isko had heard how human's forsake the gods nowadays. When he was a child, he would have been beaten black and blue for talking against a god and now there was no punishments delved out, no old testament kind of smiting happening. It was a damn shame.

"So you're saying I have the wrong district?" Perhaps not the wrong one per se—vampires and demons posed the greatest threat to humans, whereas Elena had never heard of an elf attacking anyone. Werewolves were a topic she conveniently avoided. "What have you heard?"

"Good. I'm not looking to intimidate them. And if they think I need to be rescued, all the better." They had taken down elders who were much more powerful—much more in control—than she was. Elena was fairly certain they could take her too, though that wasn't a theory she was eager to test. She didn't need them afraid, she needed them willing to listen. This wasn’t about forcing compliance—it was about getting through to them. They were already afraid.

[cappybawa106]

Rivals 🎼🍎🦔

Close ups + Extras:

[reddamselette]

just realized while rewatching aot that before i had jean and jeremy, i had jean and armin and i think that says a lot.

[cosmotellurias]

I actually just realized this too when thinking about a fic idea!! Like if the whole the Mist falls thing happened, how will the people that follow Hellenic Polytheism think? Because from my limited understanding, pagan religions don't consider mythologies to be "real" in a sense. Mythologies are like stories made to explain a spiritual concept. They worship the gods, not the mythologies. Their domains are what's important to the followers.

but then what if the mythologies itself are real like the case in PJO? I understand the demigods not wanting to worship the Greek-Roman gods, but they are like— still gods with legitimate followers across the world, and it wouldn't feel nice to them to have their gods disrespected. I do agree that the absence of altars is a major plot hole since it seems to be the "center" of Hellenic Polytheism practices. Also isn't technically the cabins are temples of the gods? It would make sense to have an altar inside for each of them.....

it's kinda hard to expect RR to write about Hellenic Polytheism since the guy himself views the mythologies as the thing the followers worship and "why anyone would want to worship the Greek pantheon is beyond me" (at least, that's what he said in 2007 here, don't know if his view has changed since then) I guess that also influences the way he wrote his characters. Maybe he just wrote from the mythology standpoint and completely disregarded the religious part.

ugh, the whole part about the religion is confusing me because from a demigod's POV it's like who wants to worship gods who looked at them like cannon fodders? But at the same time they're their children, it's common sense to worship them.

but worshipping or not, there's one thing I'm sure at. I wish there were more Hellenic Polytheist plotlines in the books but also about demigods connecting with their HERITAGE. The culture, the food, the clothes, etc. You bet that as demigods, they have full resources to lost ancient Greek/Roman literature or practices. Hell, Chiron witnessed it all. He probably has a collection of ancient books in the Big House, and cabins like Athena (goddess of Wisdom) and Apollo (god of Knowledge) should have their own private collection that would make historians go crazy. The amount of resources in CHB and CJ should be able to single handedly clears the missing history of the ancient period.

Not only the architecture, but also the traditions. Have the Apollo cabin compose hymns and epics, about gods and heroes (old or modern), and especially about the recent war. You can't tell me there's not a single poem about Percy being sung at the campfire. Have the campers spend arts & crafts time designing potteries and weaving threads with techniques long gone in the mortal world. Have them conduct ancient festivals, like honoring the gods of agriculture every time it's time for strawberry harvest. In CHB Confidential, it was mentioned that the campers are preparing for Panathenaia. But it only happened after Malcolm got a vision from his mother and had to tell Chiron about it, when ancient festivals like that should've become the norm already. Because the whole point of these camps is that the legacy of the gods still lives on!! And that means the culture should still be alive!!

(I just know deep in my soul that Dionysus has every camper doing an annual theatre performance. He is super strict about it)

there are just sooo many possibilities and canon is not exploring it enough!!!

+ just a note about the RR confirmed Nico and Will's religion thing, if you're talking about this post, from my understanding it's the religion they were raised as, right? So it could be their family's upbringing, and Nico and Will just doesn't practice it anymore after finding out their heritage.

Was thinking back at the whole "Apparently Riordan confirmed Nico and Will religions" post I made a couple of weeks ago,and I realized that the demigods don't really worship the gods.

We have the offerings during every meals,sometimes they pray to them,but that's usually when they are in danger and needs help,and also sacrifices something to them,but that's it. They don't have altars (you don't really need them but they are useful to remember your path in more of a tangible way),no hymns,no libations,they don't do rituals. And even the few prayers we read weren't really that...respectful? Yes,praying to your mom/dad to help you survive the day,and do the bare minimum in your life,can't be awesome but at the end of the day they are still Gods.

PJO Greek Gods are totally different than the hellenic Greek Gods,some more than others (Looking at you Ares),and we all agree that Riordan rappresentation of them isn't that good,but they are still Gods and they need to be treated and worshipped with respect and the right methods.

Chiron should be in charge of teaching them everything about that part of their lives,but he barely does something useful other than have some conversations with Percy and teaching Thalia. He is totally useless when he should be a guide to demigods,helping them embrace and understand that part of them,teaching them the proper ways to address Gods and in general the religion.

He doesn't and most of the demigods are straight up disrespectful to them. Which,again,the Gods in PJO are asshole most of time so it's fair for the children to feel like that,but you can't being disrespectful to a God without fearing a punishment from them (Looking at you HoO).

Rachel is basically one of Apollo's priestesses,the most important one,but it's talked only for a bit in the Hidden Oracle,and we got robbed of seeing her embrace her role and devotion to him. Apollo is basically her God from the moment she welcomed Delphi and accepted to be the new oracle. Where is the importance of that at??

Worst thing? it's just crazy how I started to realize this only now,after years of being in this fandom and reading the books.

On the side note I kinda understood how the whole double religion work. It's s like when you have multiple faiths and believe in more than one religion,right? I'm an atheist,and while I respect all religions,it's a bit difficult for me to understand certain things,especially when you believe in both a monotheistic and polytheist religion.

But even with this,I still stand on the ground that it was a dumb move since half of their identity is about pagans gods. I don't see anything wrong in having multiple faiths but they are children of greek gods,so for them is a bit more than"I choose the religion I want to practice" like we do,when we want to follow a different religion than the one our family has.

[claitea]

i know i shouldnt dwell on stupid opinions like this but a while ago i saw someone complain that Applin was a boring concept bc its just a worm in an apple and i was FLOORED. this iirc was in response to smth about gen 1 designs being boring as well

its not just a worm its a Wyrm its a pun. that is a concept. maybe you don't like it personally but to say its objectively bad is certainly Something. not every pokemon has to be based on a myth or something else fantastical to be a good concept. you Need "boring" pokemon for the dex to feel complete, if Everything is Cool then nothing is actually cool

"gamefreak is running out of ideas" yeah there's a billion fish pokemon but they're all actually very different to each other, lanturn is an anglerfish and lumineon is a butterfly fish. say what you will abt gamefreak rn its probably warranted but imo the one thing they still do right 100% of the time is unique concepts for each pokemon. the execution can be debated but the fundamentals are always there