#i'm putting her post-war

[fightaers]

❛⠀i've always heard suna's alcohol is infused with its own spices. is that true ? ❜

@desertgourd ♡'d starter call !

[bixels]

vague-posting about this here cuz i don't feel comfortable yapping about my su takes on twitter, but after everything that's happened the most interesting thing about the su fandom to me is that so many are 100% there for applying the "everyone can change and deserves a second chance" message to everyone, even the diamonds. except for one ☝️ she doesn't count. cuz she's dead.

[tongues--and--teeth]

Post-War Golden Cheese and Dark Cacao my beloveds <3

[tea-cat-arts]

"Madam Yu would be a Karen/ treat minimum wage employees like shit-" literally the only servant she's shown abusing is Wei Wuxian (and that's because he's the victim of a proxy war between her and Jiang Fengmian around the idea of him being adopted into the family, not because of his class). Madam Yu's two handmaid's love and respect her, and Madam Yu actually defends them when Wang Lingjiao tries being a Karen to them. She also tells Wang Lingjiao to fuck off when she demands the Jiang servants bring her tea.

Also, Karens are unpleasant women, but not all unpleasant women are Karens. That term is about entitlement and being unreasonable (and often times, racist). Madam Yu is mean and unpleasant to talk to, but she keeps most of her interactions brief and probably doesn't have the time or mental energy to be a Karen or hold a grudge that long. If you want an actual example of a Karen in mdzs, Wang Lingjiao is right there

[moongothic]

I don't even know how to start this post, I've been just thinking about this concept of like... "Role Redundancy" in One Piece, regarding the OG Shichibukai. A lot of it does come from people just speculating about Crocodile's past and future role in the story, and how often I do kind of feel like certain suggestions/ideas feel somewhat too redundant, as the idea may have already been done with another one of the Warlords if not multiple. (An example of this could be the "former slave" theory, because we already have two former slaves amongst the OG Shichibukai; the fact that Crocodile would then be the THIRD one makes me less likely to believe the theory personally.)

And that just made me wonder even more about how, when you think about it, a lot of the Warlords do actually have stuff in common with one-another, but only to a limited degree. Like there is what almost feels like intentional redundancy amongst these characters and their roles, but it's done carefully so they're not too repetetive?

And to really visualize the connections... I had to make a chart

(Could've added a "Tried to kill Luffy" but literally the only characters who wouldn't fall into that bubble would be Jimbei and Kuma, so it felt a little unnecessary)

Now this is just what I could think of very quickly at the top of my head, you probably could figure out more "Role Redundancies" between these characters. But figuring out all the theoretical connections/similarities between the characters isn't as important as noting how, yeah, most of those similarities are only shared once or twice between characters. They get repeated, but not so much they become actually reduntant in the story (personal feelings/relationship with Luffy aside, that one is quite natural to repeat after all) Also interesting how Crocodile seems to have The Most Shit going on with him, to the point the only characters he doesn't really seem to have one-on-one similarities to are Moria and Hancock

I don't really have a point to this post, I just thought it was interesting to think about and try to visualize. And I do wonder if this could be used to like, try to predict where the story is going, somehow? But yeah, just something to chew on

[genericpuff]

And with that, 2000 years of history and 10+ years of an animated adaption later, Attack on Titan is over.

I wasn't planning on making an essay post about this but like all of my essay posts, it got crazy out of hand, so here we are. I have a lot to say on it and the more I wrote, the more I realized exactly what the Attack on Titan finale was about. It's cathartic. It's also kind of a big shitpost but not for the reasons you might think.

Spoilers for the Attack on Titan finale ahead! CW: DISCUSSION OF WAR AND GENOCIDE AHEAD!

Now for anyone who knows what I'm about to talk about (and anyone who follows my stuff here), I'm sure you're wondering , what side do I fall on in regards to Attack on Titan's ending? Am I about to talk shit about it? It's very divisive and somewhat inconclusive. It followed the exact ending in the manga which, while expected, was still disappointing to many who had hoped the anime would take some other path.

But I have to ask, could there have been any other way?

Eren committed mass genocide, bordering on extinction of the entire human race. There was no way that he was gonna come out of it redeemed or as a hero, and he knew it. He went straight up Walter White core here and like Walter White, he is not a hero.

The fact that the Marlayans have been constantly going to war with other countries using Eldians as their personal soldiers goes to show that for countries that seek out conquest, there's no target too small or insignificant that can't be marked as an "enemy", and we see that reflected in Eren as well, in his pursuing of "freedom", an ever-moving goalpost that can never truly be satisfied.

The Jaegerists were hellbent on creating a new empire on the bloodshed of Marley - 'an eye for an eye', so to speak.

Nothing was ever going to truly satisfy either 'side' in the conflict of humanity vs. Eldians because such conflicts' origins have been obfuscated in hundreds of years of history, propaganda, and generational trauma that has repeated itself for so long that many don't even know what they're fighting for anymore, aside from one thing - that they don't want to suffer, that they shouldn't have to suffer for the actions of their ancestors, that they want peace and happiness but don't know where to start with taking the first step.

I think people are disappointed in this ending because, let's face it, it's anime, and it's an anime adaption that took years to finish. We always want to see some kind of vindication from stories like these, but I think in having vindication, it ultimately removes the point altogether of what's being said.

As much as we may try to fight it, try to deny it, the course of human history travels in a circle. Conflict will always arise. History is written by the victors, and those victors will be seen as heroes by whichever side they're fighting for regardless of what heinous acts they may have committed to justify their salvation. And after all of that conflict, regardless of the result - time goes on, and new conflicts arise.

But I don't think that means we have to succumb to grief and suffering and that's a point that I'm seeing missed in a lot of the discussion around the finale. There's a very powerful scene between Armin and Zeke, in which Armin talks about how he was born to run up the hill with Mikasa and Eren. He recognizes fully that if his life isn't meant to be long, he can still cherish those small moments that he thinks back on fondly, the moments that defined his life with the people he cared about.

And that's really all life is. Small moments and experiences that stick with us until the end. The very act of being born in and of itself is a cosmic miracle that gives us the chance to experience things that bring us joy and stay with us forever - however short or long that 'forever' may be. We take these small moments for granted when we're comfortable, but we look for them the most when we're suffering.

If I can relate all this to another piece of media that says the same thing - albeit with a much brighter ending - FF XIV: Endwalker also asks a similar question to Attack on Titan - is the only meaning in life to suffer and die? Of course, by its end, we learn that while death and suffering is an inevitable part of life - not something that should be avoided - it shouldn't persuade us to give in to fear and despair as a constant state of being. And I think Attack on Titan goes for a very similar approach, albeit slightly more as a cautionary tale - a nihilistic reminder that ultimately, the losses and victories we find in our current point of history are still just that, a single point, a blip that will be forgotten until it's ultimately repeated, and there's no escaping that.

It cautions us that freedom cannot exist without constant vigilance for war and conflict. It cautions us that our values and core beliefs for attaining freedom, love and happiness can be twisted into a weapon to cause harm, vindication gained at the cost of another. It cautions us that when left in the wrong hands, power can and will be abused by the ignorant while propagandizing itself as "the greater good".

So why not just find the joy that we can? The friendships, the little moments, the things that bring us happiness even if only temporary. Conflict is inevitable, suffering is inevitable, but that doesn't mean life isn't worth living. "Happiness" is not a tangible end point - it's the side effect of living a meaningful life that's true to yourself.

Attack on Titan is over. Some will argue the ending was the only way, others will argue that there could have been another way and that the anime adaption had the chance to change it but still didn't for reasons beyond their comprehension.

But isn't that the whole point? We'll argue. We'll bargain. Many of the arguments made will reinforce our own beliefs further rather than sway us. Many of us will insist there had to be another way, just as Armin insisted that this couldn't have been the only way, that humanity must have had another option. Meanwhile, many of us will acknowledge that at the end of the day, this is the story Isayama wanted to tell, and regardless of whether or not it makes him an idiot toying with his audience and admitting defeat by lampshading it in the penultimate scene of Eren admitting to his own idiocy, this was the power given to him and he used it in the best way he knew how.

Much like in any conflict, there's one thing that unites both sides - the human need for joy, connection, and freedom.

We might not agree on how Attack on Titan ended, but we can agree that it was a hell of a ride, and I hope we can all agree that it was worth riding, even if it wasn't satisfying for everyone in the end. It brought many people together regardless of their backgrounds, experiences, and differences, and connected them through something they all loved for over ten years. And despite how big a part of our lives it was, life will still go on, and we'll move on to other things to watch, enjoy, and argue over. Isayama will move on to whatever awaits him next, knowing fully well that his choice was his own, that he created the series he wanted to create regardless of how people feel about it. We'll all look for our own forms of joy and happiness as life moves on around us, as conflicts come and go.

Isn't that really what freedom is at the end of the day?

[fortanuvasyama]

#THEY DID WHAT TO JASON?????#ALSO IF ROSE HAD TO RESUCITATE HIM IT MEANS HE DIED BC OF WHAT BRUCE DID????#omg

@crepus i spotted your tags and had to say something lol

the answer is... maybe??? idk what Jason would have done if he was brought into the fight under different circumstances, but he did choose to work with Joker B of his own free will (and agreed pretty quickly, though that might be more because the [supposed] plan was to kill Joker A) (and also bc Joker B has decided he's not the Joker after all and that he needs to kill Joker A after which I guess Joker B would... die? kill himself? i think? idk man) and he actually set up a distraction with Rose to prevent Bruce from interfering (bc I'd imagine Bruce wouldn't want him to kill Joker A 😒)

(side note: lost my shit laughing here at the entourage of actual bats following the batmobile)

(btw that kid with Rose up there ^ was part of Joker B's group and Jason had the condition that the kid be uninvolved if Joker B wanted Jason's help)

(that's why Rose has the kid with her, so Batman can help the kid)

ANYWAYS so Jason is at the fight because he wants to be/he has a chance to kill a Joker/Joker B gassed him into not being paralyzed by fear, so depending on which motivation you think is right then one could argue that it's Bruce's fault he's involved.

BUT ANWAYS.... the set-up here is: Joker B is driving a train that will (unbeknownst to Jason) crash into Gotham and cause a big boom. It's a trap to lure in Joker A - who wants to kill Joker B because there must only be one Joker, blah blah - and Joker A comes swooping in on a dirigible/blimp (filled with bombs) to blow up the train.

A big fight between them and the henchmen ensues, Jason gets Joker A at gunpoint, and then Joker B reveals the true plan, and Jason gets booted out of the conductor's car.

(btw i'm omitting panels that are unnecessary to my narration, there's more in-between chatter that makes the story flow better)

so Jason decides to go for the blimp and steals Killer Moth's suit-wings-jetpack-thing (no idea what it really is) to get there, and hijacks the blimp. He tries to call for Batgirl (Stephanie atm) and gets Batman instead, and outright tells Bruce that he chose to do this, and also that they need to stop the gas in the train and the bombs in the blimp somehow. But there's no way to do either in a way where the gas won't blow into the city anyway...

And so Jason's solution is...

a big explosion that eats up the gas with the bombs in the blimp.

(genuinely a miracle he's not dead just from that lmao)

And there's an argument to be made that, uh, Jason... drowned. And was dead. For a pretty solid amount of time.

and Rose resuscitates him!

Rose is a miracle-worker apparently lol

A N Y W A Y S the point is, yeah Bruce could be held responsible for part of this if you look at it a certain way. I definitely think Jason's plan of blowing up the ship he was on by crashing into something in order to save people is very reminiscent of a certain other time.....

.....yep.

[wonder-worker]

people really do not know what they're talking about when it comes to Elizabeth Woodville's social status, huh?

[lilyharvord]

Cal: *almost dies* Mare: *running away to avoid FEELINGS* Evangeline: *stands, stretches, yawns, cracks her knuckles* All righty, time put in some work. 😈

[gailynovelry]

So, Ecosia is incorporating AI chat into their search page toolbar, like a lot of search engines are now, and we're having thoughts about it. Those thoughts mainly being "this is a bad idea that will spread misinformation more quickly, same as the other AI chats in other places do."

You can contact Ecosia through the "Contact Us" tab on their main website. Here's the message I sent them;

Hello! Unfortunately, as a longterm user of Ecosia, I think I have to step away from this search engine now. AI chat technology should not be implemented anywhere near informational search features, as AGIs are an unreliable way to retrieve facts, and often generate falsehoods in the pursuit of unique sentence structure. Incorporating this feature into or around a search engine, even just as a chat, has a great risk spreading misinformation around the internet. Many people do not understand how AGIs function and trust them in the same way that they trust general search features. Thank you for reading this email and have a good day.

It's more effective if you take my general message and write your own instead of copy-pasting, but still. Maybe we can start sending in some feedback to discourage search engines from dropping AI into their tools willy-nilly like this? Yeah.

[ndostairlyrium]

10 characters 10 fandoms ✨

Whaaat she's alive? And she's doing a... tag game?? What's going on??

Thanks dear @greypetrel and @buridanshorse for tagging me ;u;

I'm tagging (no pressure darlings <3): @underneathestars @melisusthewee @dungeons-and-dragon-age / @layalu @daggerbean @transprincecaspian @herearedragons

1 - Alistair Theirin (Dragon Age)

2 - Vetra Nyx (Mass Effect Andromeda)

3 - Boromir (The Lord of the Rings, movies and book)

4 - Jesse Custer (Preacher, show and comics)

5 - [equally] Ahsoka Tano, Asajj Ventress (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

6 - Laura Roslin (Battlestar Galactica)

7 - King Richard (Galavant)

8 - Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride)

9 - Nadja of Antipaxos (What We Do In The Shadows, the series)

10 - Sara Connor (Terminator saga)

-

I'm not surprised that there is no middle ground between "women who could incinerate you with a single look" and "unredeemable cretins with wet cat in their bio"

[fallingbyjuleecruise]

i think most art that tries to critique christianity, and specifically american charismatic christianity, is shallow and honestly corny unless it comes from someone who has experience w that institution

[buddy-daddies]

so ep11 huh.....

[roobylavender]

another tangent to that but the funniest thing about the modern conflict and dynamic between bruce and talia is that if you wanted to pit them against each other in terms of parenting philosophies you could have done that just as easily going off of son of the demon alone. talia being an abusive mother is never something that should have been in the cards but her choice to prioritize bruce’s position as batman over the life they could have had together as parents of their child is something i think about a lot and generally talia is someone who was shown to criticize bruce when he let personal emotions and conflicts get in the way of honoring his duty. i could totally see her struggling to fulfill her role as a mother bc of how seriously she takes her ethical duty regardless of however much love she has for her child meanwhile bruce would take one look at an under-10 damian and be on the verge of dropping everything for him out of grief and severely emotionally clouded judgment bc that’s just who he is when it comes to his blorbos in dire straits 

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

with the armor skins sale going on, I finally managed to snag the last pieces I needed to finish Flourish AU Pirkko's look.

a proper photoshoot is coming soon...

[phoenixiancrystallist]

"You've flowers in your hair," Astra said, and Susurrus turned to her, a wide grin on his face.

"A helm fit only for the bravest and most noble of warriors, milady," he said, melodramatic and overflowing with delight. The child riding on his shoulders giggled as she wove yet another blossom into his coppery locks. Astra found herself staring, in part admiring the contrast of the delicate, slightly squished blooms against the regal lines and planes of his handsome face. And yet, she also found herself captivated by the way he interacted with the children. Susurrus was the most powerful combative mage in the armies under her command, ruthless and efficient on the battlefield. Yet here he was, children dangling off of him and a smile fit to outshine the sun swallowing his hazel eyes.

Another child hit him at the knees and he tumbled, careful and controlled so as not to harm the little ones that clung to his arms. Astra did not see how it was done, but despite no less than two gangly, uncoordinated bodies weighing each limb down, Susurrus managed to flip the child riding his shoulders so that she landed on his chest. His rich, sonorous laughter rang around the plaza like bells, accompanied by the raucous laughter of the children.

"I've been felled!" Susurrus said through his laughter, and the young lad who'd downed him leapt onto him, a battle cry in his throat that sent the other children scrambling. "Have mercy, have mercy!"

Astra found herself giggling as the other children ran past her, dispersing themselves around the plaza and hiding in garden beds and flowering bushes to prepare for a merry game of chase. But she had need of Susurrus, and so clapped her hands to get the children's collective attention focused on her.

"Come along now," she said, "don't you all have lessons to attend?"

The unanimous whine that met her words forced her to smother a smile. But a stern glance from Susurrus sent them scattering to the winds, off to seek some other entertainment for the day. Astra offered her hands to Susurrus to help him up, marveled at the warmth and gentleness in them belied by the rough calluses and scars he'd earned through battle.

"Bad news?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair. Each flower dislodged was gathered and carefully cradled in his free hand, held tenderly so as not to crush them.

"Nothing we hadn't anticipated," Astra assured him, even as her eyes tracked a delicate, yellow, star-shaped blossom. He noticed her attention on the bloom, and reached out to tuck it behind her ear. Though the gentle smile he gave her held a hint of harsh steel underneath, Astra breathed easier to see it.