#in the end i blame all of them

[turtleblogatlast]

Every day I’m haunted by the fact the boys happily swim in sewer water

Even if it’s filtered somehow there’s no way it’s not still nasty 😭 Bet they can defeat any of their villains just by accidentally giving them diseases I swear

[ahaura]

im sure its been said already but as the election draws near more and more liberals will come out of the woodwork to shame people with a conscience to give away their vote to the democrats for free. i'm already seeing posts saying "why aren't people more concerned about a trump presidency?" you want to know why? it's because people already know he's bad. everyone already knows what he is and what he's done and what he'll do. there's nothing to discuss. he's a racist despotic worm of a man. there's nothing else to say.

biden is currently president. the genocide is happening under his watch. he's the one funding isra*l and arming them; he's sidestepped congress more than once to give them weapons. by oct. 27, the biden administration already knew that "Israel was regularly bombing buildings without solid intelligence that they were legitimate military targets." the state department/biden have engaged in atrocity propaganda, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the death toll recorded by the gaza health ministry, and so on. the united states is currently in the process of trying to pin the "war in gaza" on netanyahu (see sen. schumer's speech) after months of backing blatant genocide as a means to act as if they're "doing something" about the genocide (Instead of, say, threatening to cut off all aid to israel with the condition that all hostilities in gaza, the west bank, and occupied jerusalem are halted immediately and permanently, allowing palestinians freedom to travel, allowing aid into gaza, etc etc etc.)

the long and short of it is that liberals view their own lives as being worth more than palestinians'. that's it. they'll vote for another 4 years of the guy ushering in genocide and supporting apartheid + settler colonialism because he isn't outright attacking them (despite various laws and rulings happening both at the supreme court level and at the local level all over the country that will endanger people). they'll settle for the illusion of safety and security and shame anyone with a conscience and accuse them of "supporting the republicans" when in an actual democracy you would be able to use your vote as leverage to extract concessions from those who want to be elected. that's how it's supposed to fucking work.

democrats are not owed people's vote. if biden loses, it will be biden's fault; it will be his campaign's fault; it will be the democrats' fault. trump is bad; the republicans are bad. we already know this. this is not an endorsement of either. but if democrats are too cowardly and feckless and servile to the motivations of the american empire and never do anything for their constituents then why the fuck should anyone vote for them. you want to get mad at someone, why don't you do something useful and stop worrying about team-sports with a purely selfish basis and start hounding the people in power who are supposed to serve you, the voter.

[manichewitz]

sam and frodo’s relationship is so crazy theyre like what if we had a homoerotic adventurer’s bond that was so strong it overcame the power of supreme evil, saving not just the world but one another, and the only reason we were able to survive the violence around us was through sheer love for each other, and although we’re not canonically lovers our relationship is so much more intimate and tender than acceptable norms for male/male relationships that we transcend easily definable labels and thus become queer irregardless of whether our attraction is platonic, romantic, or sexual…and we were both hobbits

[madbard]

Thinking about how the Stan twins were both taught from a young age that life is a matter of transactions. How they were valued only for the money they could bring their family, and how this shaped their lives in such different ways.

Ford was the intelligent one, and this made him valuable. He knew what he had to offer. He knew he was important. (He had to be. Experience had shown him that love was conditional. He had to earn it. He had to be enough.) When Bill Cipher approached him, he confirmed everything Ford wanted so desperately to believe about himself. Imagine that sense of excitement, of accomplishment, of pride and power and relief. Imagine having that final, unshakeable source of external validation - that this being that knew everything and could have chosen anyone, chose you. Imagine knowing exactly what you could do to please this being and, with the understanding that love is conditional, knowing that you could fulfill the requirements for that love. Imagine knowing exactly how to ensure you would be loved, not just by that being but by the family you uplifted and the future you created. All you had to do was satisfy your own curiosity… all you had to do was build a portal. Is it any wonder that Ford fell for Bill’s tricks?

Then we have Stan, the failure. If love was transactional, he could never pay the fee. He knew people only helped you if you had something to offer. And he had nothing to offer, so why would anyone ever help him? Why would anyone care? Of course he didn’t fall for Bill. He couldn’t. When Bill promised gifts and power and happiness, how could Stan believe a word he said? In a world without altruism, such promises could never be trusted. There was always a price to be paid - and Stan had never been able to pay it.

And so the end of the world was triggered and then averted, all because one brother thought he could earn the world’s love, while the other knew he would never earn anything good.

A+ parenting, Filbrick. Truly.

[anti-terf-posts]

hot take but plus size/fat people shouldn't have to sexualize themselves for you to be accepting of them.

[ashleys-doodle-corner]

do you regret it now?

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Still very wild to me when people try to gotcha Jason with the whole "if you can kill other people for being evil why can't they kill you" when jason is like. One of the most passively suicidal characters I've ever seen. What if man

[shopwitchvamp]

So as gauche as it's gonna be, I'm gonna be back to posting & boosting preorders despite everything :[ Like especially because I have all these amazing guest artists who put their hard work into designing for this set & have entrusted me with their artwork.. I don't want to let them down by having the collection fall flat. I wish I'd chosen different timing for these preorders but unfortunately there wasn't realistically any other time that would work since we'll be moving early next year. I hope you'll all understand that I've gotta keep trying to push forward. Thanks as always for your support, everyone 🖤

[jayktoralldaylong]

"If gender roles were swapped, you guys would acknowledge Mel's manipulation."

I mean, I've been saying that since Season one, but some people want to argue that Jayce was not forced into anything (As if that's not how manipulation works.) Sure doesn't help that she's older.

"She used him!"

Okay, hold it right there. 😌 I didn't fight this hard to prove Jayce's innocence so that you guys can demonise Mel. She's a product of her upbringing, okay? Her mother, bless her heart, sucks with love. Controlling Jayce was what Mel thought would keep him safe from harm, and it did help his business flourish...at the cost of his morals.

And the scene where Jayce argues with her in Season 2, everyone keeps misinterpreting what was happening there.

He's not upset cause he got manipulated (okay he's partly upset about that) but he's more upset that she saved him. So he's trying to figure out.....why? Why him? If he was truly nothing more than a tool, then why had she saved him? What was he to her? What more did she want from him?

"You used me AND Viktor." Is not him saying she doesn't care, but he's asking why he was prioritsed over Viktor, when he cannot function without his partner. If she really wanted to keep using them, then why had she not saved Viktor? Or had she thought he was the only one worth keeping?

As much as I love the scene that came right after that, I really wished they'd finished their conversation. Cause Jayce just pushed it aside and focused on what he had to do to save Viktor now, and it was like they just let the entire conversation drop.

He felt so confused and unsure and traumatised. And I feel sorry for him.

[jat-a-fan-of-stuff]

Im not THAT obsessed with Coalecr-

[screechingfromthevoid]

"No time." "No time."

The acknowledgement of the fact that they might not have time. This is all just for a night because tomorrow may come but the next day may not.

Dorian's regrets at thinking about all the different choices and paths they could have taken. Him falling asleep to the idea of bargaining for more time. How this all could have been different.

Orym getting a vision from the wildmother, Will, getting that permission to live came so late. As Orym and Dorian are going off to do something impossible and deadly. That acknowledgement that there really is no time but that night.

If the world ends tomorrow, if they end tomorrow... It would be too soon. It wouldn't be fair. But none of this is fair, is it?

[dxxtruction]

Louis' "You're boring!" Could mean so many things, but I think what's most apparent about that line is that Armand takes no initiative just for himself. He's not really anybody, because he never goes out and finds himself or gets attached to anyone but Louis. Without Louis as his guide he's literally just sitting on a couch picking lint! That's the thing.

He orbits constantly around what would make Louis happy, and never really fully going what would make me happy? Ultimately that drive to please Louis is what drives him to torturing Daniel, not so much that he'd care to just do it. Ultimately, not giving proper care to Louis is just a way to make sure Louis knows he has to orbit around him as well, with shoving Lestat onto him just that other nail on the coffin. So, even if he fails to figure out how to make Louis happy with him, he still knows what Armand is good for, and better than.

That dependency is what drives Armand's abuse. It really just comes down to that. Armand doesn't even realize how suffocated he is by his own dependency. This is just how life is to him. (It shouldn't be lost either that dependency is a theme considering this episode also deals with addiction).

Daniel's fascinating because he's just so driven to be somebody. He's largely independent, he seeks things because he wants them. It's his drug to poke and prod at all the things that he shouldn't. Daniel's exciting because he lets Louis in to something different, lets him in to all this potential in another person that he can also do the same with for himself. It's a real connection. A two way street. It's easy to tell how Armand can be smothering then because he's never introducing him to anything really new, and most the ways both of them connect are all painful and traumatic. It's never just fun because there's always that layer of that pain. Fun died with Claudia.

50 years on they've gotten to a lot better place, both of them, but it's still that same shit. No seriously, "How is this any different from last time, Louis?"

Well... Because Armand's going to be, at the very least, making one [1] decision only for himself - and that's to hold power over Daniel's life. Fucking sick foreshadowing.

They aren't driving each other to the brink anymore but "The vampire is bored" STILL. Maybe it's even worse, despite being in better places, because Louis' sort of just been defeated by it. (I mean, can he even really leave this either?). He's accepting the dependancy cause he kind of has to. He'd literally ended up letting all the enjoyment be up where he can't reach [The book shelves]. Armand so desperately wants Louis happiness but what really ends up happening is that Louis ends up having to give Armand all his own. He's got no one or anything else to get it from. But like an iPad and an over the top eating ritual. Two extremes of what's just more lint picking.

This whole relationship is one I find just tragic inside and out. You have to just pity it, really. There's ways in which you can find yourself feeling bad for both of them. But you can only really be mad at Armand for any of it. Armand, who isn't even 'free' in any sense, having so little concept of his own independence, but is at the same time so controlling over other's. It's a tragic cycle. It's an infuriating one.

Louis at least has the mind to know when enough is enough. If just needing that extra push to get there. Armand's too scared of it being over to even try.

[sunburstsandmoonshadows]

With a second read of Jonathan's journey to Dracula's castle, more and more I find myself admiring the locals he meets along the way.

They've clearly been under the oppressive threat of Dracula for a long time--all of them show true fear in the face of him. He's paramount to the Devil itself to them, going off the words Jonathan translates. And that's totally understandable, considering he steals their children for his "brides" to eat, never mind what other things he may be subjecting them to.

With that context, it would be very easy for them to leave Jonathan to his fate. They could tell themselves there's nothing to be done for him already. They could be glad that he's Dracula's choice, even, if that chances a reprieve for them.

But many of them chose compassion over fear.

Every step of Jonathan's last leg to Dracula's castle has someone reaching out to prevent the tragedy in front of them.

The woman in the hotel begs him to leave, please leave, for your safety, and when he refuses she freely gives up what might be a precious belonging in the hope it will save him.

The people at the bench of the hotel try to bless him from evil.

A man in the coach points out a beautiful view of the mountain during the ride, perhaps wishing to give Jonathan one last moment of wonder before he vanishes into the horrors of the castle.

The coachman drives his horses to their limit in the desperate hope that he can make Jonathan miss the awaiting coach, and the other passengers do not begrudge him this risky move but instead urge him to go faster, faster!

Very little of helps, in the end. They cannot prevent the start of this tragedy. There's a very good chance they knew that themselves.

But by god were they willing to try.

[annn-starrr]

their love story hurts me so bad. if someone asks me "damn, who hurts you?" it's them. they hurt me. they are so "loving you is a losing game" coded. the way no matter what path she took, she will always be on the path that is against him. and lovers who HAD to be on the opposite side in any kind of event could actually kill me on the spot. I'm not even attempting to joke around rn. the way their nature is opposed to each other but they were still drawn by each other. LIKE HE KNEW WHO SHE WAS AND STILL PATIENTLY WAITING FOR HER TO COME CLEAN WITH IT HERSELF. HE DIDN'T FORCE HER LIKE HE DID WITH OTHERS. AND THE WAY THEY'RE NOT EVEN ENEMIES, THEIR NATURE FORCED THEM TO BE ONE. SOMEONE TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME, I CAN'T BREATH WHEN I'M READING THEIR SCENES. I JUST CAN'T

[ratatatastic]

im coping very normally after that loss if youd like to know

[transmascutena]

people framing their discussion about utena being groomed as her "making bad decisions" i am hitting you with several large rocks