#imagine being so important to a character that they fundamentally changed their entire life AND gave us another extremely important charact

[nanami-is-nanamean]

in a world where everything is okay, i can just imagine gojo being a horrifically great babysitter for megumi and being unofficially adopted into the fushiguro family like

toji hates his guts, and gojo hates his guts too—but fushimama is so nice and kind, and finds him to be an absolute darling, and toji will always fold to his wifes whims every time—so toji puts up with the annoying blue-eyed menace

at the very least, he can take solace in the fact that baby megs also hates him, and fushimama has never seen her boys so cooperative and together as a family unit before—despite it being at gojos expense lmao

as much as she wants to break up their mini-fights and bickerings, she doesn't because it is somehow enrichment for the three of them

she always manages to wrangle gojo to stay just a bit longer for dinners on the weekends, despite him insisting that he doesn't want to be a bother. the smile that spreads on her face when toji invites him to stay for dinner for the first time—toji would do anything for that smile. even put up with gojo teasing him for being so down bad for her LMAO

[bigskydreaming]

Imagine looking at a character whose entire premise is that in every stage of his life, he's made every version of himself into someone that inspires people to such a degree that EVERY SINGLE VERSION OF HIM has people wanting to literally follow in his footsteps in some way or another.....

And coming to the conclusion that like.....the most important things about him are the sum of all his trappings. His entirely homemade developed from scratch could not exist if not for what he already was and brought with him BEFORE crafting this newest version of himself trappings, with his greatest trait throughout all of it being his adaptability; his ability and willingness to roll with the punches and not try to simply weather any opposition or changes to his life but instead reshape himself as needed to better fit INTO whatever new shape his life and the world around him takes. All while managing to carry the most innate, fundamental and necessary aspects of himself from one version to the next. Thus every single version of himself is different but simultaneously every single version of himself is also undeniably the same person.

The strength of this character, to me, will always be that he can be so many versions of himself, he can become so many things, all without ever actually losing or discarding any of the aspects of himself he considers most essential, the things he's not willing to lose or give up just to keep going. Finding that road not taken by most, usually because most never even think to look for it as an option. But one that he's always able to find because the one trick he's mastered in his tumultuous life is threading that needle of not just digging in his heels in an unproductive way but rather being selective about when and where he makes a stand and decides "this is not a thing I'm willing to compromise about" but here are places and ways I can and will change and evolve and adapt in order to make it possible for me to hold onto these parts and keep them as they are.

And that's why its always so mind-boggling to me that so many writers can't seem to think of anything else to do with Dick Grayson other than invent some new reason for him to just....not be that person, or to like just take the character whose most basic fundamental trait he's NOT about to compromise on is willingly giving up his spot in the driver's seat of his own life.....and make him just a passenger in his own life and stories.

Dick Grayson at age nine....at age nineteen...at age twenty nine....the one core thread running through all versions of him is the only way he's standing back and letting you call the shots for him or putting him on the sidelines in some way is over his dead body.

HOW he goes about that, what that looks like, who he becomes and what aspects of himself he plays up at some times and what traits he lets fall by the wayside at other times when they offer less in service to his primary goal here....that changes constantly. He changes constantly.

But those changes are almost always (or at least they used to be/should be IN MY OPINION) made with the intention of keeping certain things about him or his life as consistent as possible.

That's the duality of Dick Grayson that I'm here for. The inherent contradiction of him that COULD allow for endless conflict and breaking new narrative ground in all sorts of ways if mined properly:

His eternal willingness to compromise....but only ever in pursuit of doubling down on the ways he's not willing to compromise.

Forever walking that tightrope in ways that only a kid born and raised in a circus could ever hope to.

[jane-d-ankh-veos]

Some people aggressively tried to convince me that it's 100% canon that the Hexcore has its own malicious will and fully controls Viktor, and, well... usually I'm only glad when there is a wide variety of theories – I love exploring them and can peacefully ignore those I don't agree with – but I really can't stand this kind of arguing. Leave others some freedom to have their own interpretations, please...

So, why persuading me into adopting this one is a waste of time and effort: I don't like that it deprives him of responsibility and meaningfulness of personally taking it. The mage admitted that he had chosen a wrong way and attempted to set it right, and this is such an admirable rare strength. It's an important part of his character: staying true to his "in the pursuit of great, we failed to do good" and desires to lessen humanity's suffering, his intentions were always for the best, so he is able to consciously renounce evil when he sees that the consequences betray his ethics. This requires immence willpower and intelligence. His own. He isn't simply cleaning up some unruly magical orb's mess after being its possessed puppet, he acts like a complex personality.

(Just imagine, for example, how boring BG3 would be if instead of its interesting vivid characters all the communication/flirting/teamwork was in fact happening only between their illithid tadpoles...)

Even the original Machine Herald, despite being devoted to the Glorious Evolution for a longer time and certainly not going to abandon it, is also capable of genuine self-introspection and honest abidance by what he thinks is right. (My precious ironclad cinnamon roll ❤️)

And then there is also fans' claim that the Arcane and magic itself is malevolent and corrupting, which is baffling me because there are so many magic users who aren't corrupted or ill-intentioned – Mel (if you need an example from the series first), yordles, other hextech wielders, Lux, Ryze, Nami, Karma and other Ionians, Zilean, Lillia, Targonians, Ezreal... It's just a tool that can be used for good or evil. Sure, Heimerdinger recalls the latter first, likely the Rune Wars, but it's still the same – a weapon in human hands, misused by human will, showing a human culprit at the center of his flashback for a reason. If you want a corrupting kind of magic, there are the Harrowing and the Darkins, but neither has any connection to hextech; or the Void, but it's not even magic in that sense, it's a breach of (un)reality in Shurima and Freljord, far from Piltover and Zaun and likewise never mentioned in the series.

As for the argument that the Hexcore recoiled from Viktor in S1 like a living creature, even our own world's nature has a lot of things that can react to a potential threat without necessarily having sentience. Some of them can even learn and distinguish:

What I could somewhat accept is the version that the Hexcore was given life by his blood. If its alleged independent mind is a direct creation and part of Viktor himself, then at least it's more logical than appearing from nowhere, has actual on-screen basis and doesn't take away his responsibility so entirely.

Anyway, even after their fusion, there are so many scenes clearly showing that it's still this same Viktor who speaks, watches and makes decisions:

Or his monologue at the end of S2's sixth episode. The character himself explains his reasons, that's why I don't get those saying that there were none so the eldritch influence can be the only possible explanation.

Speaking of which, I do get his logic in some of my own personal ways. The heavy burden of empathy... The constant frustration... The feeling that only some near-impossible universal change would be able to make things better because life is so fundamentally injust and so tragically vulnerable to evil/violence/illness/death/pain... But this would require a whole another post, I'm afraid, and would be highly subjective.

What I see as actual villainizing influence is his own despair. First he had already been about to take his life, then he was horribly killed within an arm's reach of achieving a better future for Zaun, then his hopeful commune was destroyed, a close friend/lover shot him, etc... Anyone in his place would run out of patience to act rationally and nicely, so I understand and forgive him wholeheartedly.

[ryanthedoctor11]

So, I've been thinking a lot about the Timeless Child, and I think the idea is actually salvageable. Not it being the Doctor, that's terrible. But the idea of Gallifrey in the past having found a child, experimented on it, made what they got from that child a fundamental part of their existence from that point forth, and then covering it up is all very in character for them. But it would be so much better if that child were the Master (I know I am far from the first person to say this, but I'm gonna add stuff), but for his character it makes so much more sense. Like the 2 things the Master has always wanted more than anything else in existence are to be immortal and to be important. The discovery that he was both of those things in a past life and the Time Lords stripped that away from him really would break him. Then imagine that it was still Rassilon who did all of this, it was always stated that Rassilon was the Time Lord who created regeneration, it would add so much more context to their relationship (in fact, whether it was the Doctor or the Master who was the Timeless Child I still wish it was Rassilon who had done it since Tekteun was such a wasted character, any potential for interesting plot involving her was destroyed when she acted like a typical Time Lord and then died after one episode, but anyway). Imagine the Master found out that Rassilon has actually been sort of a father to him in the past, and had still placed those drums in his head because of that selfish need for him to survive. I also want to take this idea even further, imagine the Doctor knew. Imagine that at some point in their travels (perhaps even season 6b and that's where the Ruth Doctor was located) the Doctor had found out about the Timeless Child, and that it was the Master. It's known the Doctor has lots of secrets, imagine this is one of them. Then imagine the Master didn't actually know that she knew. So when he left her that message in Gallifrey's ruins he expected it to still be a reveal, and the Doctor's reaction is just "oh shit, he found out" then during their confrontation in the Matrix the Doctor is trying to play it cool and pretend she doesn't know while the Master explains about it, he expects it to change her lives forever, to take the ground from beneath her. Then he does what he always does, he offers for her to join him, they could rule the universe together, find Rassilon, kill him, then take everything because all he has ever really wanted is to rule the universe with the Doctor at his side, he's offered it enough times, and she has to tell him. Tell him that this doesn't change anything because she already knew about it, and he gets angry (rightfully so in this case) and the rest of the episode plays out basically how it happens in the show. But this explains Power of the Doctor a lot better. The Master has never wanted the Doctor dead, not really. Sure they put the Doctor in death traps or shoot them but they always know the Doctor will escape. In Power of the Doctor all he wanted to do was kill her, not just kill her, destroy her entirely as well as her legacy. That hatred coming from her having lied to him for centuries about something this important is a much better excuse than 'I hate you for something you didn't even know happened and has a much larger effect on you then it ever would have on me when you really think about it'. These are just my thoughts though.

[allwormdiet]

Gestation 1.3

I'm gonna be so annoyed if Automattic kills Tumblr before I finish reading this series, but anyway

Again, Taylor, I adore you and I've barely even gotten to know you, but this costume is so fucking scary and if that wasn't on purpose I'm not sure how you missed that.

Incidentally, was thinking about this haste during my shift yesterday. The events of 1.1 are massively critical to the entire rest of the story's events in a way I hadn't initially registered, even when they were laid out in 1.2: the incident with the juice wasn't just another awful moment in Taylor's life, and it wasn't even meant as a simple establishment of the bullies' characters. The destruction of Taylor's notebook is what puts her out here on the streets tonight, and of course her first night out is a momentous one.

WOW just going right into it huh. Crack whores and gangsters. Taylor you live next to these people and, if I understand correctly, you live in a single-income household and your father works for the Dock Worker's Union, in a city where there's no dock work. You wanna show a little more sympathy for the have-nots next door.

...Is there still a crack problem in Earth Bet? Like crack cocaine pretty decidedly fell off in its presence and profitability in our own world, for a lot of reasons. It could be a matter of timeline differences, but this one irks for some reason.

Whatever, moving on.

There is a certain kind of delicious symbolism in the Protectorate being so removed from the city it's charged to protect that it is literally an artificial island on the water, bristling with force fields and missiles that have never even been used. Taylor finds the defenses comforting, but will they protect Brockton Bay?

And again I'm a little surprised at the lack of sympathy for the people who lost work with the Docks losing their lifeblood; the rich get richer and the poor are there to be goons for the costumed lunatics trying to make money off those rich dickheads. No care for whether the goons are doing it because they want to or because they're trying to make the best of a bad situation.

For now I'm gonna just chalk this up to Taylor thinking like a cop, but I suspect with the different POVs in the Interludes it's gonna turn out no, Wildbow's thinking like a cop.

Kinda more of the same as above. Interesting that the Docks are short on power, but in a really bleak kinda way; the first two chapters weren't shy about describing the lingering cold in the Bay, that can't be comfortable in there.

I know everyone who's already read Worm is well past this point, and I know enough to not be surprised, but this first introduction to the ABB is not heartening. Like I know a bunch of them are here as a diaspora, like Japan just straight up doesn't exist anymore, and I can't imagine that Brockton Bay treats its immigrant population super well, given the fucking Nazis running around so sticking together is somewhat reasonable, but like. Pan-Asian ethnic gang (which is a fucking oxymoron in itself) that hangs out in a mostly-abandoned neighborhood with no profit opportunities? What, are they bullying the drunks for spare change?

Also it's such a petty gripe but what the fuck with the red/green gang colors, it makes me think of Christmas and it ruins the seriousness of the moment.

Yeah hey I know this guy

Wild to know Lung just goes around shirtless, doesn't even put on a jacket or anything.

Again that lumping Asian cultures together by calling the dragon tattoos from "Eastern" mythology, I know Taylor probably doesn't know which ones they're from but she doesn't have to specify. Just, ugh. I need to move past all the gang based narration before it spoils things.

Current Thoughts

Yeah so that thing up at the top where I mused that the destruction of Taylor's notebook being a fundamental stepping stone in the novel's timeline was partly informed by osmosis, because I know this first night is important for a lot of reasons. Obviously got a bit longer to go before we see the rest of the night play out, and of course the repercussions form literally the entire rest of the novel, but that's for later.

Meantime, God, people have told me Wildbow was a frustrating writer when it came to like, the treatment of nonwhite people and poverty and the root causes of crime and all, but it really is a different beast to experience with my own eyes. What a fucker. I'm probably gonna get real sick of that down the line, but I've navigated around worse writer habits than this.

Probably gonna keep reading through the evening. Let's go save the Undersiders.

[hide-in-imagination]

Why Merlín's character is fundamentally wrong

I previously made a post talking about Marrey and why a big part of the fandom prefers Rey over Merlín, and now I wanna do a deeper dive on why Merlín's character was set up for fail with the way he was written.

Let's go to the core conflict of Merlín's character 'journey' (because he doesn't evolve in the whole season) and subsequently the main obstacle for the main couple he is part of. Merlín is 21 years old and the prince of Krikoragán, a country that his father took over after staging a coup on the previous monarchs, Max and Florencia. Merlín, due to moral reasons, believes his father, and consequentially, his whole family, shouldn't be in power, and that the real princess, and future queen of Krikoragán, should be Margarita. This ideology is reinforced by his father and uncle being shown as very strict, cold, 'evil' men, from which control Merlín tries to escape, first, by living in Argentina instead of Krigoragán, and after, sneaking out of the university campus he stays in without his uncle's knowledge to do whatever he wants. He's shown as kind of a rebel prince, but with a good heart. He rebels because his father and uncle are 'evil.' I think it's important to mention that not all his family is evil, since his mother is shown as a submissive but kind woman, and his little brother looks like a very sweet kid who Merlín loves very much.

Now, we don't know for how long Merlín has been planning to woe the exiled princess Margarita to give her the throne, but considering he pursues this plan from episode one, we can only assume he came up with the idea of marrying her a long time ago. At least, I want to believe he thought it through and it wasn't just a sudden idea, but even then, maybe that would just make it worse.

Because here's the issue with Merlín's logic. Well, one of the issues-- I'll dive into every one of them. Merlín says he wants to marry the exiled princess as a way to return the throne to her. He thinks this is the most fair thing to do and, again, his moral compass leads him into that direction. But how, exactly, is he planning to achieve this in the long run? Because he's only prince and she is only princess-- His father still lives, and doesn't look very old or sick to assume he's on death's door. So, let's imagine that Merlín achieves his goal and marries Margarita. Now what? He has condemned her to at least 20 years of life in a country where his direct family would mistreat her (they made the coup for a reason, they didn't like Max and Flor, why would they want their daughter anywhere near them?), where he wouldn't have any real power to change any laws and make things better, and therefore, she would have even less power to do anything, and where they'd be under constant surveillance, or at least that's what we're lead to believe, seeing as Merlín is shown escaping from them from day 1. If he escaped, it couldn't have been a great life, was it? And yet, he wants to imprison Margarita alongside him, living that life until his father eventually dies and he gets the throne. They could be 60 by the time that happens.

Unless he's planning to stage a coup on his father, because that man would never give up his throne peacefully. Merlín would have to, maybe, find some law or some part of Krikoragán's Constitution that would give him the grounds to take the throne from his father. If, and this is a big if, he already has that law prepared and it's just waiting to marry Margarita to enact it and take the throne, then I guess he wouldn't be so inconsiderate toward Margarita, but he would still be being inconsiderate toward his entire country.

And here we get to one of the main issues, if not the biggest issue, with Merlín's character. His whole conflict (both alone and with Margarita) is shown to be Duty vs His Real Wishes. He even says it in one episode when he's trying to get Margarita back after he lied about being engaged to Petra: "I keep bouncing back between my duty and what I want to do, and in the end, I end up doing nothing."

But, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you: What is Merlín's duty?

Merlín is the prince of Krikoragán (as he says 40 times on the show). Therefore, he has the duty and responsibilities of a prince. What is the duty of a prince? Well, if you're a good one and have good intentions, as we are lead to believe by Merlín's character, then your duty should be toward the well-being of your people, right? Your duty should be to get the best education you can, especially in politics and history, to be able to help your country in the future, to be able to lead it toward prosperity. You would also have a duty to marry and have children to continue your bloodline, secure the throne for future generations, and teach those future generations for them to do things right when it's their turn to rule. Somehow I don't get the feeling Merlín is even thinking about that part of his duty when he's thinking about marrying Margarita. And all the rest? He completely ignores it.

That's the thing with Merlín. He keeps saying he's doing his duty, trying to do his duty, but he's not doing that. Because if he were actually doing his duty, he would be focusing on his education as much as he could instead of escaping from his university to pursue music or whatever behind his uncle's back. If he were actually doing his duty, he would be in Krikoragán, doing whatever little he can to help the people, to help his country, and yet, we learn in one of the last episodes that the death penalty is still legal and enforced in Krikoragán, and when Margarita mentions this to Merlín completely distressed by it, thinking that surely he must not know about it, Merlín tells her that he, indeed, does know about it. And yet, his solution to this thing he sees as a problem, something that should be corrected for the well-being of the people, is to... marry Margarita. Because that will somehow fix everything ??

Can we please dimension just what a selfish, useless prince Merlín is? Because the entire story, he's just thinking about what he wants, trying to soothe his conscience by marrying Margarita (hurting people in the process, but we'll get to that), and not at any point did he think to himself: "Hm. Maybe I should do something for my country instead of trying to give the throne to someone else."

Because that's the thing-- Merlín doesn't have to want to be the prince, he doesn't have to like it, it even adds angst to the character if he does things he doesn't necessarily want out of duty-- but HE should do his DUTY!! The entire show he is completely escaping his duty, trying desperately to put that responsibility on someone else, and sure, okay, let's say his goal is to rule alongside Margarita, to work on changes together-- What the hell is he doing on his part, right now, to help his country? And you can't tell me that woeing Margarita into marrying him is to help his country, because how does he even know? How does Margarita's presence help in any way? He didn't even know her before he started flirting with her. She could've been stupid, selfish, evil like his father and uncle-- He didn't know!! He was riding the whole future of his country on the chance that Margarita would be a good ruler, because, allegedly, her parents were good before they were dethroned. But he didn't know that. Margarita could've been an awful person, unfit to rule, and then what? Well, then I'm guessing he would've had to step up and figure out how he was going to improve the future of Krikoragán, which, again, IS WHAT HE SHOULD'VE BEEN DOING FROM THE BEGINNING.

Okay, so Margarita seems like a good person, let's say she looks fit to rule (is she smart? No one knows. Academics are not ever discussed in this show), how does that by itself help his country? His people? Simply because she would be well-liked? Because she would support him when he wanted to make good changes? Any good wife would do the same. Merlín simply wants to marry Margarita because he feels guilty about how his family ended up in power. That's what his whole character revolves around: Guilt. Not duty.

So now that we've established that, see how that distinction corrodes everything Merlín claimed to do out of duty, everything he justified for 'having good intentions.'

He flirted and declared his love to Daisy-- Out of duty? No. It wasn't his duty. It wasn't even necessary for his goal. He could've been honest about his intentions from the beginning. Say 'Hey, I want to marry you to give the throne back to you, so, let's get to know each other, alright? You seem like a lovely girl and I'm sure that, with time, we'd grow to love each other."

There was no need to lie to her, constantly. There was no need to say he loved her over and over when it wasn't true. There was no need to say he wanted to marry simply because he wanted to be with her and not because of other reasons. All of this he did it because he is stupid. I can't find another explanation, at least. And being stupid is not a sin. He's still young, only 21, so he's bound to make mistakes. But this needs to be acknowledged. This whole thing with Daisy wasn't something he did out of duty. He did it out of foolishness, and recklessness, and pure selfishness. Because let's go back to the first scenario I presented. Both of them, married, living in Krikoragán for years and years, waiting for Merlín's father to die so they can be on the throne, and in the meantime, what? Merlín keeps lying to her about his feelings? She keeps believing he truly loves her when he does not? For years? For her whole life? You can't tell me that doesn't sound diabolical. It's cruel, and again, completely unnecessary. It would be so much different if Daisy chose it. If she had the information, and she chose to still be princess and queen of Krikoragán because she cared about her country and she wanted to help them. It would automatically make her a better ruler than Merlín, who has done nothing until now but renounce his responsibilities and act selfishly at every turn.

You know what real Duty vs Real Wishes looks like? Petra. This poor girl is doing everything she can to help her country, and when Merlín finds out, how does he react? He berates her. He screams at her. He tells her to leave Argentina and never come back. He gets on her face, telling her menacingly how she's the worst human being on the planet because-- What? Because she lied to him? She was doing it out of duty. She was doing it because, otherwise, Merlín's father would've hurt her country and her people. She didn't do it because she wanted to. Her intentions were noble, she never wanted to cause anyone any harm. But does Merlín care about that? No. And it's very interesting, when we take into account that, throughout the whole show, he's been claiming to do the same thing.

Isn't that right? Didn't he say he had to marry Daisy? Didn't he act like lying to her was necessary? Didn't he agree, barely a few days back, to lie alongside with Petra, to the whole world, saying they were in love and engaged, because he wanted to renounce his titles of nobility? Because he claimed he had to renounce his titles of nobility?

And again-- HOW DOES HE RENOUNCING HIS TITLE HELPS HIS COUNTRY IN ANY WAY?????????????

It's been established, many times, that his father and uncle are evil and therefore unfit to rule. By renouncing his title, he's just giving them free reign to do whatever they want, and leaving all of his responsibilities TO HIS LITTLE BROTHER. Who Merlín claims to love. Why would he subject his little brother to this fate he doesn't even want? What does that accomplish? If anything, his brother is way more susceptible to manipulation from his father, so it's possible he might grow into being an evil ruler just like him, and it would all be Merlín's fault. Because he thought he was doing the right thing, god knows why.

The whole time, he was only doing what he wanted without caring if it hurt people or put them in danger. Because taking Margarita to Krigarán is putting her in danger. Of course it is! If it were Daisy, it would be dangerous because of course his father and uncle wouldn't want her there. If they already killed her parents, what's stopping them from killing her too? Did Merlín not think about that?

And even Margarita could be in danger, even if no one knows she's the real Margarita, because she clearly has different political views, different opinions of how things should be done in the country, and it is established that Merlín's father doesn't take well to opposition. The death penalty was mostly enacted on people who opposed him. Death Penalty. Just for people who thought differently than him. And who clearly thinks differently than him and it's stupid enough to say it openly? Margarita. What was Merlín's plan to protect her? Apparently nothing, because the only reason they didn't die on that plane was because of Margarita's fairies magic.

Magic. That's what saved them. In the real world, Merlín would've gotten them both killed. Out of duty? No. Out of stupidity.

The only thing Merlín did that could be justifiable or redeemable, I guess, if you squint, is him flirting with Margarita and pursuing her romantically, because at least then you could say he was just a boy in love, and love makes people do crazy things.

He still went about it very selfishly though, as I established in my previous post, and this one, if you've been paying attention. Also, he's 21 years old, playing around with two 17-year-old girls. Let that sink in. Put that into perspective and ask yourself, as I do: Why did the writers think this was a good idea?

And with that I mean all of it. I genuinely don't understand it because these are people who've been in the industry for years. Who've created very successful ships before. Incredibly loved characters to this day, even if their respective shows ended decades ago.

How did they write Merlín's character so badly? How didn't they see the inconsistencies? Didn't anticipate that all his selfish lying would be a turn-off for a big part of the audience? How did they expect the audience to root for this man as the love interest for the protagonist when he does nothing but hurt everyone around him at every turn? Even their couple song, 'Si quieres herirme', makes nods at this: "If you want to hurt me, go ahead. I don't know how to defend myself from someone like this, who keeps secrets, lies, and spins tales, who makes me suffer. If you want to hurt me, here I am, come to me."

Is this the romance they want for the new generations? Is this the love they're teaching little girls to receive? To hope for? To tolerate in the future because surely if it hurts it must mean is true love?

The writers' construction of Merlín's character is incredibly damaging and dangerous because of what he represents. The fact that the whole narrative defends him and pictures him as the good, noble guy is frustrating, because he's not. If he has a way to take the throne from his father, he should've done it yesterday. If he doesn't have a way, then he's selfishly setting Margarita to a life of misery. And if he does have a way but for some clause he needs to be married to take the throne, then it didn't need to be Margarita/Daisy, it could've been any woman fit for the role (read: WOMAN, because these two are still 17-year-old girls), and even if he insisted on it being Margarita/Daisy because of his noble (and it's the only noble thing about him really) idea of returning the throne to her, he didn't need to lie about it. He could've stated his intentions from the beginning and no one gets hurt.

By this point, I'm thinking maybe Merlín knew he was too stupid to rule a country and that's why he's been running from his responsibilities his whole life and desperately trying to give the throne to someone else. At least then it would make a little bit of sense. At least then he would be doing it for the well-being of his people... kinda? Because his brother would still have to take his place, and how does he know, at this young age, that he would be a better ruler than him? Does he plan to help him grow into the best prince, and then king, Krikoragán has ever seen? It is never mentioned. It is never even alluded that he ever considered his little brother would have to take his place if he stopped being prince, which is stupid because-- of course that would happen. Anyone would've seen that coming from galaxies away-- That's how lines of succession work.

So, I've gotten to the end of this analysis, my friends, and the only conclusion I can gather from all this is... that the writers were overconfident. They knew this show had a target audience of little kids and therefore didn't worry about making it make sense. They expected the audience to eat it up from vibes alone. They expected no one to question it and just blindly believe what the narrative fed them.

Well, they were wrong. Fundamentally wrong, if you ask me, because even if the target audience is children, who watched Floricienta? Who would be the most invested in the story of their daughter? The little kids? No. The grown-up adults who watched Floricienta or grew up with the other shows by Cris Morena. And they have developed thinking skills. We have the ability to see the issues in the narrative. And we won't shut up about it. Even if, at the end of the day, it'll make no difference at all.

[marimayscarlett]

Hi hallo 👋

Please please please!!! Gush about Vampire!Richard!!! That new photo we got on Sunday was so incredibly sexy and I love hearing your thoughts about Richard!!

Thank yooouuuu ❤️❤️

Hi 👋🏼 (writing prompts incoming I'll never use since well. I'm not a writer yet I have too much imagination for my own good)

Thanks a lot for this ask! A while ago, I got a similar one which got lost on the way into my drafts, so I'm glad I get a second chance to delve into my made up lore for my beloved elderly vampire lord 🦇 So very subjective and personal imaginary facts about vampire!Richard incoming:

Vampire!Richard is an everlasting part of my obsession over him, and 'I'm still alive' really changed my brain chemistry further more in that regard - before it was mostly Völkerball!vampire!Richard, who ruled over my darkest fantasies, drawing me ever deeper into his spell:

In this version, he is in my mind a slightly arrogant but so charming, self-assured young vampire, recklessly spirited and hardly containable, propelled by success, hungry for more - and he fundamentally sees mostly the positive aspects in his immortal existence, which he savors to the fullest extent.

However, at times he falls into melancholic phases, reminiscing about his mortal life and pondering what might have become of him had he not fallen into the clutches of eternal existence.

And yet, I have to admit, with the release of “I'm still alive”, my attention was definitely turned to the senior vampire lord, who immediately captivated me.

Here, Richard strikes me as an educated and worldly gentleman who has a sense of restlessness about him. He appears to have a great demeanor, is confident in himself and knows how charmingly he has to approach people to get what he wants, and yet he carries a certain melancholy with him, some thoughts and memories never seem to quite leave him and which hint at a troubled past. Although he is no longer subconsciously searching for the ultimate sense of immortal life like the young vampire!Richard, he still doesn't seem to be entirely at peace with his past and himself.

Since my brain won't shut up and I had wonderful support by @dandysnob in the quest of working out some thoughts on a background story for elderly vampire lord!Richard a possible origin story for him - of course based entirely subjective on our fantasies around the topic of vampires in general and Richard in this role speficically:

He was born in the late Middle Ages/early Renaissance (around the late fifteenth century) into a fairly well-off, but not overly wealthy family in the northern region of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation - so he had a good start in life, but had to make something of himself to succeed in life.

His ambitious and inquisitive character enabled him to make a name for himself as an intelligent and knowledgable scholar, particularly in the field of art, rare artifacts and, to a certain extent, music research (music was part of the 'septen artes liberales', a canon of seven subjects of study which was very important during which were very important in antiquity and the Middle Ages).

On one of his travels, which led him to the region of Transylvania in Romania due to research on architecture and paintings, something happened that would change Richard's life forever - something he wouldn't have expected at the age of about 50. On the way back from a day trip to the Prejmer fortified church (Church Fortified by Tartlau), his carriage was ambushed on the road through the forest - Richard himself doesn't know exactly what happened, but he woke up after what seemed like a long period of unconsciousness and hasn't been the same since. The changes were gradual - daylight began to blind him unbearably, he became more irritable, had an unbearable hunger, suddenly much sharper senses, and an inexplicable desire to go for the jugular of his fellow human beings.

The following years and decades were difficult for Richard. He distanced himself more and more from his fellow beings and began, through research, to slowly but surely discover what had happened to him. Humanity had less and less space in his life; the vampiric nature gave him a feeling of omnipotence and a hunger that made him completely ruthless towards human life. He deliberately embarked on many journeys to conceal the fact that he no longer aged and to disguise his consumption of humans as a source of sustenance. Changing names became commonplace, and at every university where he began as a scholar, he provided a new name. Thus, he traveled extensively throughout the world, learning more and more about the dark hidden world. Despite the immortality and invulnerability he now enjoyed, Richard was internally torn - on one hand, he managed to keep his private escapades under covers and presented himself outwardly as a distinguished scholar; on the other hand, he missed human life with its true emotions and loved ones deeply.

In the 19th century, he arrived in Victorian London and found his way into high society, moving in similar circles to Lord Byron and his companions. He had always sworn two things to himself: firstly, never to let serious feelings for anyone else arise, as it simply did not fit his lifestyle, and secondly, never to seek victims whose deaths would arouse suspicion - so no woman from the nobility or a similar standing. Until one day, he fell in love with a young woman who was just as enamored with ancient objects, art, and music as he was. Even though he knew this could have no future, he could not resist and courted her, with great success - until one night (she knew of his dark secret and yet loved him deeply) he lost control and accidentally weakened his beloved so much with his thirst for blood that she died in his arms. In her final breaths, she appealed to his humanity, urging him to see that life offers so much if only he allows it.

This experience tore him apart internally, yet it also gave him back the willpower he had lacked for over 300 years. Once again, he swore to leave behind the matter of feelings and emotional relationships, and to exercise more caution, moderation, and compassion - as much as possible as a vampire. After the experience in London with his beloved, he naturally had to leave that place and became restless once again. After further travels, he eventually landed in 21st century New York, where the cultural sector thrived with museums, theaters, film, and music, alongside a flourishing supernatural underworld. Outwardly, he was a successful art dealer, a generous patron of musicians and opera houses, and an expert for museums; secretly, he quickly became known as the most influential and powerful vampire in the city, one best not crossed - a rise akin to Scarface, yet far more sophisticated.

Here we are now - an accomplished man with a successful career, centuries of experience behind him, yet he's filled with melancholy, partial bitterness, constantly struggling with his fate. Whether he will ever find complete fulfillment and happiness again...

a possible continuation can be found in the second part.

[seeyouonsaturn]

Post about why Prowl is special to me.... except I have chronic yapping disease and far too many Thoughts and Feelings™ about him, so it just turned into a whole essay. I've been doing Not Great and I'm having so many feelings about him again. My beloved on my mind. 🧡

you taught me the courage of stars;

and i'm not gonna lose you now

I've been trying for ages to make a post on why Prowl is particularly special (as opposed to my millions of selfships that I do have and cherish) but I haven't even been able to find a way to put it into words. I mean, I'm very much a chronic selfshipper, I'm kissing all my blorbos with abandon, but Prowl isn't like the others. There's a reason I've never cared about sharing before, but with him I just can't stand it.

It's like... all the others are just fictional characters I like, and sometimes imagine myself being with. Some are more intense than others, some I genuinely feel deep emotions for (most if not all of them, really). Most of the time I just ship them with OCs, even if I imagine myself with them in my mind, I never talk about that. A few special ones get self insert OCs, but even those are technically separate characters from myself that are merely based off me. And all of those characters, if someone else loves them too that's great, hell yeah, same taste!

But Prowl is different, and the only one I actually, genuinely consider to be my true f/o. He's mine. He's just home.

I mean, I obviously know he's a fictional character, I'm not stupid. I understand the concept of fiction. And also that this is a cartoon alien robot ninja that turns into a motorcycle. But he's just real to me, at least in a way. Not real in the sense that I could touch him, but real enough that I can feel him. Plus, there's uh.. there's this. And I joke about it, but the feelings are real. The pain is real.

And not only have I felt this love for him since I was 13 years old – which is a damn long time to love someone, half of my entire life – he's also had a fundamental impact on how I turned out. I am who I am today because of Prowl. He's changed the way I look at the world so fundamentally that, even when I fell out of the fandom and – for a while – no longer thought of him at all, he still remained an integral part of me. I've always loved animals, but he taught me how to truly look at the world, how to appreciate it, all of nature. He showed me how truly, deeply beautiful it is. And that has never left me.

I remember being 13, going out with two friends into a foresty area behind one of their houses, because we'd dressed up and wanted to take pretty aesthetic pictures (they were 13 year old girls, and I let them put makeup on me and got dragged along). I forgot about this for so long, over a decade, but I very distinctly remember now, that they were taking photos, and I just had this one sudden moment when i stopped and looked at a tree. And of course I'd seen trees a million trees in my life, but for the first time, I really stopped and looked. And it was beautiful. I just stood there with one hand on the bark, feeling it under my fingers, utterly mesmerized that such a thing can just exist. I am that way with everything now, all of nature, all of earth - but it started because I was a kid, hperfixated on this cartoon I found on youtube that I didn't even understand half of (I barely understood english back then), and Prowl, my favorite, taught me to pay attention to the wonders all around me.

I like to think he'd like me, if he saw how I turned out. I like to think he'd be proud. It feels so silly when I write it down like this, but I cannot overstate how important and special this was to me. I was an undiagnosed autistic kid with no friends (even those aforementioned two ditched me soon enough because just associating with me was social suicide) and an abusive home, no support system, nothing at all, and this one robot man from a silly little cartoon saw me. He would've thought I was beautiful too, if he'd seen me, just for the way that I am – he'd have thought that about any human, but still. I counted. I would have liked to sit quietly and look at animals together. I feel his presence when I do.

I had nothing, and then he appeared, and it's been 13 years and he's in everything I do. This isn't just a fictional character I like. This is deeper. Yesterday I finally bought myself a ring in his colors so I can have a physical reminder of belonging, because I think after 13 years that feels appropriate enough, even if people will definitely judge me for it lol. I don't really care. It makes me happy. If my happiness offends you in any way, you can just leave. But this is what feels right for me. He may be gone - he may have never been real at all, again, I understand the concept of fiction - but he's in my heart, and he's in everything I do, and this is right for me. I'm fully aroace anyway, I have zero interest in a real human person. I am very content with just my cat and my memory.

I'm planning a tattoo or two too, only I hate social interaction and that makes finding a tattoo artist quite difficult, because I only have a vague vision and I need someone to design that thing. Hmu if you think you might be able to ig. Because god I need it on my skin. Anyway.

This was an endless rant and I still don't feel like I've even remotely captured what Prowl means to me. It cannot be put into words. He's everything to me, he's special, and the connection I have with him could never be broken. He's real to me in the ways that matter. If he's real enough to change my life, he's real enough for me to love him.

And as for being non-sharing – I respect other Prowl enjoyers, because I could never fault anyone for having superior taste, but ship content (selfship or canon) just scratches my feelies, you know? It's not personal, but that's my beloved late husband of 13 years, excuse you. I try to be silly about it because I'm fully aware that this is a me-problem, but it just genuinely gets me, unfortunately. I usually just politely block people or filter tags (and there are a few exceptions, you know who you are) but even then it's not easy sometimes. I'd never be mean about it. Putting someone else down will never make me happier. And in the end, this is a fictional character, I don't own him, you can do whatever you want. But I'm gonna have to kindly remove myself because it's making my brain unhappy.

Well, that's all. I am entirely unable to phrase this better, but at least I finally got it out of my system. Yay!

Hope you all find love like I did, in whichever form it presents itself to you. Love that feels like home. I may have a bazillion dearest blorbos, but Prowl is who I come home to every time.

divider credit

[nourrris]

peter parker

(going off the tom holland vr! this is going to be a very long ramble about the character) i cant get over how genuinely hauntingly sad peter parker is, when the idea of peter parker was created, (to be different incomparsion of other characters), because you have a teenager superhero - it's such a good concept mind you - but god? having somebody so young have such a large role on their shoulders is insane, and it's so interesting because just the change in age literally completely fundamentally changes his characters actions and future, he'll have more impulsive decisions, extreme mental issues (which is unavoidable in his situation), and simply a very difficult time trying to navigate.

his level of severe childhood trauma (which quite literally gives you a form of brain damage) will ultimately affect his entire future and actions, he saw his uncle die at what 14? maybe younger? that itself even without the spider-man part is horrid, he never had the chance to even grieve because he was thrown into the most life changing event of his life, he also had no parents either, he has a very significant lack of figures in his life that is so hard to change how they impacted him. what happened in homecoming was the least terrifying experience he probably went through which says alot when a whole warehouse fell upon him and he was just /inches/ way from dying near the end from the vulture.

then infinity war happens next, his fight's and experiences horribly scary situations that nobody could probably even digest at such an age, or even older. and when he 'dusted' its obvious it takes a toll on him before it even happens, he could feel it, and god isn't that scary to think of? the unstoppable force of death? then fucking endgame happens, which i honestly can't even believe the fact that if i said it wasn't the worst thing that happened to him i'd be right, even though he saw somebody who he considered a 'father' figure die in his hands.

excluding that even if tony never died peter would have never recovered mentally so normally, seeing how he was beat up to hell holding that gauntlet was so fucking terrifying. he was tossed around so much and he quite literally held the most dangerous and world altering item in his hands, and if he lost it he'd have the entire world's blame on him. thats so much responsibility a newly(?) sixteen year old should never have, you cannot possibly tell me that it wouldnt literally alter his brain from the terror.

far from home is one of my favorite movie's ever but never fails to make me cry. he didn't even get the time to grieve tony, or the fact that his entire world changed in the matter of days, or the experience it was to endure the endgame fight, how can you casually go back to school after witnessing and /participating/ in the fight that could have possibly entered in the doom of the world again or bring it all back. then mysterio happens, which in my opinion is one of the absolute worst villains that peter's fought, because he was just so human. he ruined peters life completely, and he was just another human. wouldn't that make somebody so bitter? that no your life wasn't completely thrown away to shit by the big evil purple alien, but by another full human. absolutely nothing special to him power wise, not possessed, no weird voices, he did it with pure manipulation and thats one of the worst possible things i could have imagined somebody doing to him.

because peter at the end of the day was just a complete kid, mysterio made him believe he could trust him and peter did, he just lost so much in his life that somebody who could finally understand him was all he needed to feel assured, its why the significance of that one talk they both had after fury was being a dick to peter was so important, mysterio decided to go for such an emotionally devastating route it's unbelievable. but seemingly manipulating his trust wasn't enough, he just had to fuck him up so bad with that illusion scene, putting everything he loved against him and god the stark part was so fucking cruel, but after it all the part that hurt so much to watch was when happy got to him, peter questioning if he was real is so cruel. making this poor kid unable to trust his surroundings (after also being hit by a fucking train!), when he already had so much psychological issues going on is literally the cruelest fate he could have given him at the time.

and lastly no way home, and his future at that. mysterio exposing peters identity was such an irreversible decision that i honestly believe no matter what peter did, there was nothing that could give him or his loved ones the life he wanted unless if he did try to make everybody forget him. like if he originally went to the lady to re-persuade her to let his friends in it wouldnt have worked, and it also showed that much before peter ended up saving the lady in the car, all their fates were fucked and frankly there was no good way to get out of it, he was so absolutely doomed.

may parkers death was the worst of it all i think, i believe from everything that's happened to him, that absolutely nothing would affect him the way she died did. every other death of a loved one that had happened he couldn't truly take the blame for, but knowing how everything lead up to him is the most excruciatingly important detail. he canonically blames himself and i dont believe that feeling will ever end up going away. there's just no way it could, the fact he was the last person who ever saw her alive, the last person she spoke too, he quite literally saw the life drain out of her, there's no way to recover after seeing the person who's been with you for longer than you can remember die in your hands, and in the hands of your accidental actions.

i dont think there was a world were he could have escaped that death coming, peters identity being out as spider-man would have definitely done something in the future, and the problem is everything in no-way home happened in the smallest time stamp ever, i could be wrong but i believe it all went down in a few days at most, there was no way to even comprehend the absolute mental load and overwhelming amount of information being handed to him, nor do i think he'll manage to get over it easily later on either. the idea of different versions of him existing is so much to chew on, the idea of other versions of him living the happier life he could have, ones that never have the people he loves in them, ones where the people he loved are still alive, or some of them even. he even directly saw worlds where their peter parkers arent forced to be forgotten.

this version of peter lost so much that its impossible to cope with, all the peters lost alot already, like all of them didn't have parents iirc, all lost uncle ben, but the tobey and andrew spider-man had a living aunt may, then tobey's lost harry (?), and andrew lost gwen.

this version of peter parker lost both uncle and aunts, parents (of course), and tony stark. this is all just by death, he also lost his best friends, and girlfriend. they stay forever out of reach which is so tauntingly cruel. because he starts at 13/15 (pre homecoming) and by 17 (nwh) he's at the same point of all the other spider-man's started where theyre practically completely alone, or just experienced such a stark change to their lives.

my boy....... he deserves better..... sorry this is so long i had alot to say and i dont get the chance to talk about peter much and ive been recently hyperfixated on him since early feb and i love him so much and cant stop thinking or crying about him . also do tell me if i got any info wrong cause' ive only watched the tom holland trilogy, so im a bit uninformed there but did try to do some research!

[deeplyridiculouslyinlove]

I’m realizing my fundamental issue with the Wheel of Time books is that despite the entire point of the series being the importance of saving the world and essentially all of humanity, in some ways there…isn’t a lot of humanity in the series.

Where are the characters weeping for those they’ve lost?* Where are the characters who make a choice and regret it? Or question forever if it was the right one even if they felt they had no other option? There are so many romantic relationships but never do we hear a character thinking about *why* they love the person they supposedly love. What draws them together? Why is that person so unique and special that they stand out above all the other beautiful people in the world? What are all the long-standing friendships in the books built upon besides proximity at a young age? Why are these characters willing to die for their friends? Do the Aiel or the Seafolk get homesick? Does anyone after maybe book 4 even miss their family and friends? Do they worry about them and in what ways? Why does only that one Aes Sedai care about and for any animals that aren’t horses or wolves? Does anyone feel tenderness? Even most of the romantic relationships are full of hitting and insulting each other, even if it is (usually) playful.

Why is everything about “men this” and “women that” and nothing is about the ways people are the same so even lowly strangers are worth risking your entire life for? No one fees like an outcast? (In this crazy gender dichotomy of a world I’d love an internal struggle with the gender roles someone was put into, but I’d take a more general struggle with who a character was told as a child they were supposed to be as an adult.**) Why can’t we see an older woman who can channel thinking about what it means to have lived for hundreds of years, to have seen generations of people pass before her? Imagine how that would raise the stakes for her in confronting the breaking of the world.

The most human part of the books for me so far was Nynaeve confronting how her anger is rooted in fear and a feeling of powerlessness and lack of control - yet she’s the character consistently named as someone a lot of readers dislike?!

I’m only halfway though book 10 so this all may change but like, if it takes until book 11 of 14 (or later) for the humanity to largely manifest I think my point stands.

*Lews Therin is the exception here, and I don’t think he really counts as a character - at least where I’m at.

**It seems like Min might give us this at first, but then by book 7 her whole personality is removed to make her a Rand love vehicle, so sadly that falls immensely flat. Faile sort of rebelled against her role in life, but only sort of, and we also don’t get to hear any of her thinking about this firsthand.

[linklethehistorian]

So while working on a drawing WIP of mine, I was watching a video from Drew Gooden on the Avatar Netflix adaption (note: I have never seen Avatar: the Last Airbender, and I don’t particularly plan to, either; I am just a fan of Drew Gooden’s videos and I like to learn about various series I will probably never and honestly have no desire to directly, personally interact with), and I think that he perfectly summed up in very short terms what I mean when I say that the Fifteen anime and manga are both poor adaptions of the original story.

[Transcript: “Now, before I continue getting mad about every single aspect of this show, I do wanna answer a more general question of like, ‘what should we expect out of an adaption?’ — because it may sound like I’m trying to say that this should have been a one-to-one recreation of the original show, when that is not the case.”

“You can, and should, be able to change things; why even bother spending all this money to make something that looks worse, if it’s going to be exactly the same? But, those changes need to enhance the story; they can’t be at odds with the spirit of the show, or fundamentally change a character.” /end Transcript]

While I still need to finish my article on Fifteen and its anime adaption, and later better address the manga, this is the point I want to hammer home to people who refuse to get the position I am coming from:

I am not saying that either the manga or the anime would be bad in and of themselves if they were wholly original stories, or that there is anything inherently wrong with adding content that was not in the original source material.

I am saying that they are bad at being adaptions; they are bad at representing the pre-existing story they are supposed to be telling in a new medium. While they could be perfectly fine and serviceable — if, in my opinion, far less compelling — stories if they were original content with no previous source material to adapt from, they are not that, and that is what makes them bad. They are horrible representations of the story they are trying to tell, and for an adaption there can be no greater failing than this.

The biggest changes that were made to both the anime and the manga do not enhance the story.

They do not fit the spirit of the source material.

The anime fundamentally changes a major character and re-writes an entire scene and major plot points in order to allow them to have an excuse for a few seconds of cheap fanservice for a popular pairing/character — which could have still been had in an even better way without mutilation in a different scene they actively decided to remove in order to save time that they completely squandered anyway.

The manga in certain crucial chapters takes visual creative liberties that do not at all fit the spirit, tone, or descriptions within the source material in order to play up a horror aspect that very simply was not intended to exist in the first place, and in doing so fundamentally alters important characterization, along with unnecessary and tone-altering tweaks to a few choice lines of dialogue.

An adaption should be just that: an adaption, not a re-imagining, not a re-telling, not a re-make; its job is to tell the story and elevate it as much as possible using the unique perks of the specific medium it is being brought into. For both anime and manga, this should have been done through the use of visuals (and in the case of the anime, movement, music, and voice acting) to bring the scenes described within the original source material to life and fill in the blanks based on the rest of the picture painted there, as well as expand on certain points and add to them using the spirit of the original story.

Both the anime and the manga have times when they prove that they can do such things quite well and quite efficiently, but then utterly fail to do at some of the points where it matters the very most, and that is why it can’t and shouldn’t be forgiven.

It is not a matter of not being one-to-one with the original with every scene, it is a matter of completely ignoring the most fundamental and important aspects of some of the very most crucial ones of those scenes in favor of “doing its own thing”, even if it means completely ignoring the points the original source material — and the adaption most closely worked on by the original creator (the stage plays) — tried to make.

[studious-musings]

The Value of Reading

Hello, Internet Void;

I saw a quote on a certain social media site that asked a question that you can now see in my description: 

Why would they burn the books people do not read? 

The quote is rather simple to understand - people in power have no need to use force when the people act so dumb and unaware. Yet this question also speaks to the deeper power that reading has. And so, as my first blog post, I want to muse on the value of reading - is it actually as important as I feel it is? 

My first reaction is obviously, yes! Reading has given me immense value over my life - it has transported me to other worlds, it has stretched the boundaries of the world I live in, it has added flavour and texture to the meal that is life. I accredit a large amount of my empathy to the vast range of life experience I have lived through second-hand as my favourite childhood character embarked on journeys and experiences that could never. My reading allows me to have an immense range of skills both directly and indirectly related - I can normally have a decent definition for a new word based on its context, I have brilliant comprehension, I have well developed critical thinking skills and I have a vivid imagination - all of these skills can be, and have previously been, accredited to my reading as a child. 

Yet what happens now that I am definitely not a child, and imagination is not as important anymore because I live in the ‘real world’? Many people slow down in their reading as they finish highschool - university and adult life come into the fray. Suddenly you have a million and one things to do and the last thing you want to do is sit down with a book and have to read it for the self-care guru’s recommended thirty minutes. Reading becomes a hobby, something to do when you eventually get the time, and it is no longer an essential part of daily life. 

I think that it is times like these when you really need to dedicate more time to your reading. Reading does far more as an adult than it did when we were children. It still does the basics of working on your imagination and critical thinking skills, yet it also does so much more. You can be inspired by people doing amazing things in an autobiography, or have your ideas challenged and expanded in a piece of social commentary. You can have your worldview change entirely by a piece of political or social theory, and be radicalised [see radical: (especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something;] by the history of your fellow man. You can live many different lives, all in an afternoon, through exploration of fiction; travel the world in even less than 80 days. 

Reading has immense value in many different ways, yet the value I want to focus on is its political and social value. This sounds basic, yet bare with me: words are how humans communicate. And the written word is one of the most common ways we are communicated with. And in this sense, I speak not of blog posts like this, or articles or books. I speak of advertisements. As human beings we are constantly bombarded by advertising, most of which we ignore. Yet we are also bombarded by advertising by governments. We are told constantly what the people who control our world want us to think. We are told to agree with this or agree with that, all in order so they can have the legitimacy to do as they please to enrich themselves and their friends. 

Reading teaches you the skills needed to resist their attempts to control your consent. 

Reading teaches you from a young age to think critically - it begins as ‘do I like what I am reading?’, yet that quickly develops into ‘do I agree with what I am reading?’. Reading teaches you how to read between the lines of what has been said because every word has many meanings, even more so when combined with a second, third, fourth word. Reading teaches you to formulate your own opinions and more importantly, it keeps these skills sharp. Reading regularly ensures your skills remain at a high enough level to be able to effectively resist - and that is not a high level at all. All that is needed is an ability to ask why, and follow that up with a second, or even third question. Questioning is such a crucial skill and yet it is so sorely lacking when I look around myself at people who blindly accept what is told to them. When we do not read we are easy to control. 

So again, I ask the question,

Why would they burn the books people do not read?

Happy musing Friend.

[lazyyogi]

Talking about spirituality with people who have not had stream-entry is like talking to virgins about sex. They can try to imagine what you're talking about but until they get laid, they have no fucking clue.

Before stream-entry, spirituality is only a collection of perspectives and unique experiences. After stream-entry, a fundamental crack has been opened in the fabric of your dream. You are never again the same.

And similar to getting laid, everything is a lot more intuitive after stream-entry. You can appreciate, for example, two seemingly contradictory spiritual teachings while receiving the truth conveyed by both. Having tasted the truth that is not words, words no longer get in the way of truth.

So, what actually is stream-entry?

Contemplate the following metaphor:

You've been binge playing a video game as a character for an unknowable amount of time. It's been so long in fact that you feel that you are the character. Their fears, desires, sense of self, plans for the future, and so on, are all yours. That character's world is your world.

Then, suddenly, your mom throws open the door to your bedroom and starts shouting about laundry and Fox news. You are jolted from the game and pause it. You do your chores and then go back to playing. Now when you think of "I" or "me," you don't feel like you are the character. This isn't to say the character feels separate from you or disappears. But now you can play the character more clearly, enjoy the character more vividly, without the anxious veil of identity confusion.

Stream-entry shatters the felt belief in a false self.

All of us live with a thing inside of us and we serve it like a slave. Do you want to learn to serve it better or to break free from servitude forever?

We seek that which gives this thing pleasure and we try to avoid that which gives it displeasure. It requires constant re-enforcement with contrived confidence and fragile security.

The things that make it happy are temporary and limited. The things that cause it suffering are endless.

And the whole time what do we call this thing? Me.

There is a point of tension within each of us that is used as a reference point to interact with our idea of ourself and our idea of the world. We have become accustomed to thinking of that point of tension as “I.”

It may seem harmless enough but this fundamental point of tension becomes ten thousand tensions. The tensions between ourself and our desires. The tensions between ourself and our fears. The tensions stored in the body by traumas and fixations and triggers.

The Good News is that there is an alternative to living in this grossly deluded state. Stream-entry is the beginning of the end for this entire mess.

Stream-entry is the first profound revelation on the spiritual path that changes everything from belief to direct experience. Sometimes called awakening, stream-entry should not be confused with final enlightenment/buddhahood/self-realization.

How is stream-entry achieved?

Any practice done correctly should theoretically get you there, however the real question is how to enter the stream efficiently and with clarity. That clarity is important because you can imagine how suddenly awakening from an identity you've held all your life might precipitate a severe existential crisis or even psychotic episode. As such, having a guide is an immense benefit.

While there are a number of methods available, the one technique I strongly recommend is The Two Part Formula (2PF). Follow the link for more information and a free ebook, titled "Awake!" by Kim Katami.

The 2PF is elegant in its simplicity and powerful in its effect. It is best undertaken in the context of guidance--someone who has had stream-entry using the 2PF and who will correspond with you daily until you have had stream-entry too. While I can guide, I do not have much free time these days but you are always welcome to check in with me and see if I'm available. Otherwise there is a website with a number of qualified guides whom I wholeheartedly recommend. Check it out here.

And lastly, what is the stream being entered?

It is the inevitable current that carries you all the way through to complete buddhahood.

LY

This is the second post of the Fundamental Dharma series. Post 1: Spirituality is absolutely essential. Why? Because humans are awkward as fuck. Post 2: Talking about spirituality with people who have not had stream-entry is like talking to virgins about sex.

[triptychgardener]

What made you decide to linger with the meat timeline peeps after they had accomplished their goal of cracking younger junes egg?

Hoo boy! Well thank you for asking that question, because it is kind of THE question to a lot of my thoughts and philosophy for how I've been tackling the theming for Early June in my head.

(This is gonna be a long one, brief mention of suicide and longer discussion on kinda heavy transition-related things under the cut)

First off, the most honest answer is that, when I started this fic, I planned out the story. It was originally going to be something like twenty chapters, following pretty much entirely the younger crew. However, I am terminally unable to stop writing and expanding on things. So, I decided to write what their plan would be and their particular thoughts and reservations about it.

The second has to do with the premise of Early June as a whole, whose entire core conceit was perhaps... founded on an unhealthy impulse on Older!June's part. And of course, kind of on my part.

I think a lot of trans people, obviously not all, imagine what it would have been like if they had come out younger. At the very least, I certainly have. And that's kind of the core premise of the damn thing:  "what would happen if June came out during the game, and was therefore more "awake" in a personal sense, and can therefore maybe prevent the Meat-adjacent timeline from happening in the first place." That was the set premise with the goal put in place.

But! Most importantly, when this essentially became the largest creative project I have ever put time into, I started to question that premise on a philosophical level. On a practical level, yes, June has absolutely changed things in the timeline that could construed as making the whole thing better. But on Older!June's part, she isn't seeing it at the start as "helping another group of younger players win the game and create a better tomorrow," she is seeing it as herself doing it. Which, due to the passage of time and the deviance between the timelines, isn't really true!

The Ultimate Self as a concept is something I've been ruminating on a lot, as most postcanon-adjacent works tend to do. In a way, I can see it with its intention to both A.) Consolidate the MANY different versions of a character that Homestuck Proper presents and B.) give some weight to them. Even the doomed versions will, in the Ultimate Self, have some influence on who the core of that person is.

But! Like Roxy says to June, to intentionally erase yourself just to add to the ultimate self is kind of tantamount to destroying the "You" that is an individual. And in Early June specifically, I think a lot of characters balk at the idea of essentially being boiled back down to some core concept of who they are as a collective narrative presence. Jake and Roxy at the start, Dove and DS, all of them want to keep their individuality as people and be able to actually choose which parts of themselves they want to keep, discard, or remake, and not just lend cosmic weight to the Ultimate. And therefore, that's why Roxy comes to essentially talk June out of, essentially, deleting them once they've fulfilled their "purpose," which is also me finding out through my own writing that their plan was kind of fucked up, and how I can take these characters much farther. Plus, it is just fun to write these characters as older, and give them some more nuanced positions that they gained as they aged.

Now that's obviously the "In-Canon" reason, which leads to the more personal reason of "someone who regrets not transitioning earlier wants to lose themselves in the idea of a life they, fundamentally, could not have had in their current state." Older!June's life isn't over, even if she feels it is, because, first off, the age you transition at has literally no bearing on your validity as your chosen gender, and secondly, even if you feel like you did all the most important things you've ever done before you transitioned and after that everything's just been a disaster, there is still more life for you to live. Obviously, this is a fictional world that does not conform to our reality, but the author is, as usual, stuck in reality, and given that fiction is often used as a way to process reality through metaphor, Older!June's arc is about learning to salvage what's there instead of starting anew, because this her only has one life to live. Aaaand that of course can very easily be a message applied to people who transition later in life.

This actually WAS going to be partially explained/explored more explicitly in the fic, towards the end of the conversation between Callie and Calliope, (i.e. the [DATA LOST] part), but I decided to omit that conversation between the author figure and them (though I can't promise there won't be any meta/author shenanigans in the future) because A). It got. Really personal at times and even though I'm not opposed to that, B). it was causing me genuine consternation over whether or not I was supposed to include it and I figured that my hobby should probably not be causing me more psychological distress and C). This story is not about me, it is about the characters who I very heavily project onto.

My one regret is that Ado didn't get to make an appearance in the fic proper. Ah well, there's always next time. Thanks for asking, sorry this was kind of a long one!

[cryptovalid]

The Centrist Politics of the MCU

One of the most central themes of the MCU is its attitude towards authority and violence. It’s a very interesting topic, but I think it’s worth discussing the pattern.

Long story short, the MCU is all about using the aesthetics of revolution, while undercutting the substance of it. It is uniquely effective at marketing the idea of rejecting authority, while also reinforcing the status quo.

Captain America is depicted as defying orders in almost every property he’s in. Carol Danvers frames her entire character arc around questioning authority. Thanos and Kang are specifically framed as genocidal despots that justify their actions by claiming to protect the people. Ultimately, this is even Hydra’s justification. 

Freedom vs. Authoritarianism is often framed as a tension between ethics and security. And on a dramatic level, this works. It gives heroes a nice internal conflict and character arc, and can be repeated for every single threat. 

The problem is that the MCU consistently frames the authoritarian as both sincere and ultimately correct. And it consistently frames actual soldiers like Sam, Carol and Steve as agents of critical resistance.

Thanos’ plan is a good example: at multiple junctures, heroes call out the cruelty of his actions. But they never question whether or not his belief that eradicating half of all life would solve food shortages is true, or whether he believes it. The characters all take for granted that this really would prevent starvation.

In reality, of course, this idea is called Malthusianism and is fundamentally incorrect. It is also a cynically convenient justification for policies that hurt and kill marginalised and poor communities.  

Meanwhile, freedom fighters are repeatedly depicted as both insincere and naive. Often, their causes are so appealing that the movie makes them wanton killers for no reason just to give the protagonists reasons to oppose their plans. Imagine what Killmonger would be like if he didn’t kill any defenseless women, for instance. Imagine if Karli Morgenthau just really believed refugees should be treated better and didn’t randomly blow people up to make a point.

This would immediately make their goals extremely difficult to argue against. Killmonger is presented as an indiscriminate killer and manipulator, and Karli as a misguided idealist whose actions endanger people rather than save them. Unlike Thanos, they are depicted as being incorrect or deceitful.

In the recent Loki season 1 finale, we see another example of a mass murderer and despot who seems to truly believe there is no better way, and it seems like the story is set to vindicate his beliefs.

The villains in the MCU are generally either autoritarians who understand the way the world really works and are willing to do seemingly immoral things to achieve truly good ends, or they are revolutionaries who are naive or selfish in some way. 

A similar dynamic is present in the heroes of the MCU, particularly in Tony Stark. He is all about creating weapons of mass destruction. He seeks control. He does this with the Hydra carriers, he does this with Ultron, and he does this with EDITH. In all three cases, his weapons clearly put the power to spy on and murder people in the hands of a very small group of people. In all three cases, the weapons fall into ‘the wrong hands’ within weeks of completion, causing massive casualties. He blackmails Peter, a teenager, into fighting for him against Captain America, and then gives thim the responsibility to control deadly, powerful weapons with no oversight. And not once does this cause Tony Stark or anyone else to question whether or not this is generally a good idea. Whether there is such a thing as ‘the right hands’. Time and time again, the MCU vindicates the idea that Tony Stark’s arms race is at worst a zero sum game, but mostly a necessary thing. It does a lot of work to make Tony Stark into a martyr, whose paranoia saved the world.

This leads to an incredibly centrist worldview. Yes, dictatorships are bad. government overreach is bad. But if people are good, you can trust them with the ultimate power to spy on and murder people.  Meanwhile, revolution sounds good, but it’s never realistic or sincere. 

These are not openly stated beliefs of characters, but they are constantly reinforced by the narrative. It’s pro-status quo. Legitimate concerns are made unpalatable by having unreasonable, naive assholes voice them. And incorrect bullshit is presented as a sincerely held belief by smart people who can’t afford to be moral. Your moral compas as a viewer is being manipulated.

The narrative is manipulated to make the MCU marketable to all demographics and not to offend any government that could subsidize or ban it. 

This is why you will never see an anarchist in these movies that is both smart and sincere: because their arguments would endanger the interests of the Disney corporation itself. But at the same time, its heroes will be ‘rebels’ in that they will resist ‘authority’ when it tells them what to do (purely as metaphor of course, this will have no direct bearing on actual controversy) while also mostly being unsupervised unaccountable paramilitary operatives. Anyone who seeks to change the status quo pro-actively is going to be either deceitful or incorrect.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Disney narratives are bad or not worth following, but it does feel important to keep track of the values and worldview that the MCU reinforces.  

[cardentist]

I haven’t been in the star trek fandom for very long (I’ve only just started binging the series in the last couple months), so it’s been pretty surprising to find out just how negative the perception of the reboot movies are.

this isn’t coming from the perspective of someone who grew up with the series, so it hit different for me than it might for people with a different relationship to TOS, but I thought it was genuinely clever and Respectful with how it was handled.

To quote leonard nimoy: “Well the alternative timeline gives them license to escape from canon concerns. I can’t see people saying ‘they shouldn’t do that because…’ or ‘that doesn’t tie in to such and such’ because it is a different time and place. Am I right about that?” [Link]

the entire Premise is that the original series happened as it was presented in TOS, but an event late in Spock’s life caused the creation of a parallel universe in which everyone’s lives were significantly altered through two key changes to the timeline. this gives them the freedom to Both revel in fanservice And explore different facets of the characters and their relationships. 

the destruction of vulcan Vastly impacts the characters and the plot moving forward, and its a detail that a lot of people take issue with. but the emotional impact of sarek admitting Directly to spock that there is value in his humanity, that his feelings Aren’t wrong, that sarek married amanda because he Loved her cannot be understated. you can read all of these things into sarek as he was in the original series, but he Never had an open conversation about these things with spock. this creates a Believable and Rewarding change in their relationship, where we get to see a different facet of them Because of the changes made. and that’s exactly the appeal. showing us pieces of these characters that we never got in TOS that are nevertheless undeniably Them.

everyone is Different yes, but they’re also fundamentally the same people at their core and that matters.

kirk’s personality obviously takes the biggest change, with him experiencing trauma at a young age, losing his father, and having an implied abusive father figure after that point. he has a harsher personality in reaction to harsher conditions, he’s spikier and harder to love. but he’s also still fundamentally a Good person whose willing to risk everything to help people. he still has what made kirk prime a good captain and a good friend.

I’m not gonna say that it’s the most nuanced story in the world, but it explores a version of kirk that was born from even Less fortunate circumstances than kirk prime, exploring a kirk brimming with potential who learned to bite back after he was kicked down. exploring those themes of trauma and loss, of insecurity and growth, and coming to the conclusion that Fundamentally He Is Capable Of Good isn’t a Bad thing. you don’t have to like it, but his growth into a better person is The Point. they deepened his flaws (all of which were present in a less exaggerated form in TOS) To Show That Growth.

and then of course there’s his relationship with spock.

people are totally justified in not liking that they had a rough start to their relationship, I usually don’t like to see that kind of thing in reboots or hollywood adaptations either, but the way people talk about it is just unfair.

Yes kirk and spock and bones have a very strong relationship in TOS, they also already know each other by the time the show starts. to look at them having to learn to get to know and trust each other when they first meet and say that it’s Bad because they were already full on ride or die for each other in the og series is silly. TOS kirk and spock had to meet and fall in love with each other too, it didn’t just happen over night kings.

secondly, the entire point of the first movie is that Even With reality itself being altered to pull them apart they are fundamentally compatible people that are Bound to each other. they meet each other on bad terms because of circumstances outside of their control, and yet they’re still pulled into each other’s orbit and find the other slotting into place next to them as if they always belonged. one of the first things that spock prime says in the movie is “I am and always will be your friend,” spock and jim are Meant for each other and the movie goes out of its way to explain that. which is what makes it so Weird to see people complaining about how they don’t like each other.

it’s a Different relationship, but it’s absolutely no less steeped in yearning or queer subtext. 

speaking of queer subtext ! some people are Very unhappy with spock’s relationship with uhura.

first thing I wanna say is that making the argument that they’re doing anything that the original series hasn’t done is just, completely untrue. kirk has fallen in love with more girls in the og series than he knew what to do with, leonard nimoy was a heartthrob in his time (and he deserves it, awooga) and spock reflects that ! Spock usually turns the women who come onto him down (or when he doesn’t it’s because a plant has literally altered his mind), but there are exceptions to even that. all of three of the main boys have plenty of romance subplots, it happens. if that takes the possibility of them being queer off the table for you (which it shouldn’t, m-spec people exist) then I’m sorry to say that TOS is not exempt.

now, I can understand why Specifically This Relationship could rub people the wrong way or being disappointed that they didn’t outright depict kirk and spock as having a relationship (if not in the first movie then in the following ones after they’ve gotten to know each other), but even in that context the way I’ve seen people talk about it comes off as insensitive.

no, the relationship did not come out of nowhere. they considered having spock and uhura date each other in the original show (and you can see signs of this in the earlier episodes, where uhura very obviously flirts with him and they spend time together in their down time) before they decided against it, and spock was originally going to kiss uhura until shatner insisted that he wanted to do it (because it was the first interracial kiss on tv). [Link 1, Link 2, Link 3]

nichelle nichols was asked about this exact thing (spock and uhura’s relationship in the movie), you can read the interview in full here [Link] but I’d like to highlight this paragraph in particular:

“Now, go back to my participation in Star Trek as Uhura and Leonard (Nimoy) as Spock. There was always a connection between Uhura and Spock. It was the early 60’s, so you couldn’t do what you can do now, but if you will remember, Uhura related to Spock. When she saw the captain lost in space out there in her mirror, it was Spock who consoled her when she went screaming out of her room. When Spock needed an expert to help save the ship, you remember that Uhura put something together and related back to him the famous words, “I don’t know if I can do this. I’m afraid.” And Uhura was the only one who could do a spoof on Spock. Remember the song (in “Charlie X”)? Those were the hints, as far as I’m concerned.”

the film makers looked at the fact there were Hints for uhura and spock, that they were Interested in exploring an interracial couple for the first time (both before and immediately after interracial couples won the right to legally get married) but Couldn’t because of the circumstances of the times and decided to Make that depiction. you don’t have to Like their relationship just because of that fact, but it’s Incredibly reductive to play down it’s significance as just a No Homo cop out. explicitly queer relationships are not the only progressive or culturally important relationships in fiction.

moreover, if you can’t imagine polyamory in the communist utopian future that’s on you.

moreover, this perception that this was a soulless cash grab is just, unfounded.

leonard nimoy returned to the role as spock for the first time in 16 years (since 1991) and this was Entirely because of the respect they had for nimoy, spock as a character, and the franchise as a whole. 

Lets look at some quotes from nimoy in interviews regarding the film:

Leonard Nimoy: When I first read the script (...) I immediately contacted J.J. and said “I think it is terrific…I think you guys have done a wonderful job. There is still work to be done, but it is very clear that you and your writers know what you are doing and you know how to do this movie and know what it should be about….and I am very interested.” Then as time went by we worked things out with Paramount, but the most important things were J.J. and the script. (...) I am very pleased about that and I am very comfortable with where this is going. I think the writers have done a terrific job. They have a real sense of the characters and the heart of Star Trek and what it is really all about.

(...)

TrekMovie.com: Now in the case of the new movie you have been retired from acting for years. What was it about this one that made you want to act again and go through the make up again? What was it that made you say ‘I really want to do this?’

Leonard Nimoy: You are right, this is a special situation. First it is Star Trek and so I have to pay attention. I owe that to Star Trek. Second place is that it is J.J. Abrams who I think very highly of, he is a very talented guy. Then came the script and it was very clear that I could make a contribution here. The Spock character that I am playing, the original Spock character, is essential and important to the script. So on the basis of those three elements it was easy to make the decision. So those three things: Star Trek, J.J. Abrams, and an interesting Spock role.

[Link]

Praising the cast playing younger versions of characters from the original 1960s TV series, he [Leonard Nimoy] said: “Let me take the opportunity to say this. Everybody at this table [the cast] are very, very talented and intelligent people.”

“They found their own way to bring that talent and intelligence to this movie, and I think it shows. (...)  When Karl Urban introduced himself as Leonard McCoy and shook hands with Chris Pine, I burst into tears. That performance of his is so moving, so touching and so powerful as Doctor McCoy, that I think D. Kelley would be smiling, and maybe in tears as well.”

“The makers of this film reawakened the passion in me that I had when we made the original film and series. I was put back in touch with what I cared about and liked about Star Trek, and why I enjoyed being involved with Star Trek. So, it was an easy way to come on home.”

“[In this Star Trek] they said things and showed me things, and demonstrated the sensibility that I felt very comfortable with, and I think that shows in the movie. I like it.”

[Link 1, Link 2]

again, you don’t have to like it just because leonard nimoy did, you don’t have to Agree. but the idea that nobody working on the film Cared is provably false. near everyone working on the project was already a fan of the series or were excited to be involved and did their homework. it’s genuinely a Miracle just how much of a labor of love this was, and in my opinion you can feel that through the movie itself. I’d highly recommend looking into interviews and behind the scenes details about the movies. they had a respect not just for the source material, but for leonard nimoy as a person.

there’s definitely more I Could say about this, but it’s 4 am now so I’m gonna shelve it jklfdsa

that said! it’s Fine to not like the movie, not everything is going to be suited to everyone’s taste, but the specific criticisms I’ve seen feel very off base