#life itself life herself

[ravenrroth]

ah ok so after years of fighting Trigon’s influence, rejecting violence & prioritising the safety of others, choosing to be a decent compassionate person… her moral compass is now entirely dictated by what Gar would want for her ??

[ash-and-starlight]

i was about to make a post about how zhu and ouyang have a completely opposite outlook on fate and desire, but then it turned into a breakdown about how MA also had the same concept of fate and desire as ouyang until zhu came along,,, man,, OTZ

[ccbatman]

actually so evil how much of hal's internal world gets obliterated with the rewriting of his relationships with jessica and martin.

[wonder-worker]

"It is too easy to dismiss [Leonor of Navarre] as an overambitious schemer who would do anything to obtain a crown, shedding the blood of her own siblings and her subjects in order to attain the throne. However, a deeper investigation of her long lieutenancy and ephemeral reign shows a woman who fought tenaciously to preserve her place but also worked tirelessly to administer a realm which was crippled by internal conflict and the center of the political schemes of France, Aragon, and Castile. She tried to broker peace, fight off those who opposed her, repair the wounds caused by conflict, protect the sovereignty of the realm, and keep the wheels of governance turning. Leonor was not always successful in achieving all of these aims but given the background of conflict and the lack of cooperation she received from all of her family members, bar her loyal husband, it is a huge achievement that she survived to wear the crown at all. Many writers have argued that Leonor deserved the troubled lieutenancy, personal tragedies, an ephemeral reign, and a blackened reputation, basing their assumption that she committed a crime that cannot be [conclusively] proven. However, a more fitting description of her would be that of a resolute ruler who successfully overcame a multitude of challenges in order to survive in a difficult political landscape and gain a hard-fought throne.”

-Elena Woodacre, "Leonor of Navarre: The Price of Ambition", Queenship, Gender and Reputation in the Medieval and Early Modern West, 1060-1600 (Edited by Zita Eva Rohr and Lisa Benz)

[stuffyflowers]

*massaging my temples with an irritated expression* I am soooooooo tired of people misunderstanding starlos character

[jyou-no-sonoko19]

(self-)defence mechanism

[thegreatyin]

How would the Scoundrel react to Miss Emilia Stone, do you think? To give you an idea of who she is, the Threadbare Outrider is one of the alternate identities of Barnabus Moss, and possibly the closest to who he actually is - he's only still an egg because he's too busy with his job to give too much of a shit about being trans right now.

She is functionally the Hyde identity; open revolutionary, Parabolan wanderer, purveyor of extreme and generally unnecessary violence. I also considered naming her the Extremely Unlicensed Silverer - she has never actually fulfilled the requirements to become a proper silverer (she thinks the sunglasses look kind of dumb) but she offers equivalent services for cut-rate prices to people who can't afford a "real professional."

In terms of her actual personality, she is... frighteningly happy. To steal a phrase, she wields her joy like a hammer; judiciously and with great violence. Moss is basically drunk on life whenever he's her, and it very much shows. She is a release valve on all of his life's worries - whenever he gets too pissed off at his life as Moss or Haversham or the spy, he can just duck into Parabola and gut a few chessmen with a meathook to unwind.

Correspondingly, he gets really irritated under the hood when she has to act consistent with the persona rather than how he actually feels - for example, Emilia is the kind of person who doesn't really dislike anyone, so when someone pisses him off she can't really show it without breaking the cheer, and it is thoroughly upsetting to him.

I think original flavour Moss would probably be fascinated by the Scoundrel, from a professional standpoint - he has a degree in the Correspondence and the whole bat thing is very interesting - whilst simultaneously being deeply, deeply exhausted by the man's life choices. Meanwhile I think Emilia would enjoy doing this to him.

Thoughts?

first of all, love the OC dissertation, chewing ur little guy like a gummy bear as we speak

second of all, the scoundrel would probably react the same as they always do- with overwhelmingly smug manners and more than a little bit of "i'm better than you and i'm being generous and indulging you by existing in your presence"... at least at first.

depending on how their interactions go from there, the scoundrel would either be delightfully open to infodumping about the bat thing to the point of tedium, or needlessly spiteful for Literally No Reason aside from a vague sense of pettiness and jealousy. how dare she get to be so damnably happy all the time, how dare she act so damnably carefree about it, etcetera etcetera. whether or not they'd like to admit it, i could see them holding a grudge against emilia purely on the principle of (supposedly) having everything they've ever wanted.

which is to say, they absolutely get scrunched like a cat, and they are biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + b

[nadekofannumber1]

Looking back at Nadeko's life, do you think it was a tragedy?

I think that really depends on what defines a tragedy for you.

Some define tragedy by avoidability others by unavoidability of on coming actions that lead to a sort of bad end. I tend to think of tragedy most defined by the concept of an end, whether it’s literal death, a point of no return, irreversible damage, or the worst possible solution. Death itself tends to be a strong signifier of a tragedy, as the dead can no longer change.

If you believe that then I’d say that Nadeko’s life was a tragedy that met a tragic end. In otori she becomes an oddity, something often akin to being dead narratively speaking. (As oddities are often selectively portrayed as unchanging existences with singular fates and by becoming god nadeko is locked into a “dead” existence that can’t change grow up or grow to be the person she wants to.) Yet now, Nadeko is no longer dead but instead undead, and living not waiting for the future ahead. To quote what the conman said “as long as you keep living something good is bound to happen.”

With that said, I’d say that I don’t consider Nadeko’s life of now to be tragic. Her past could be considered tragic in the way nobody ever saw Nadeko and only saw “Nadeko” (and even much more than that), but the past and future are connected so it’s more bumps on the road for Nadeko becoming herself.

Because there’s a bright road ahead it in ways can stop being a tragedy, the past can become her beloved history instead of being forever mired in doom.

[zatna]

my zatanna is transfem btw

[slightlytoastedbagel]

thinks about Kohane Azusawa and photography (explodes)

[springcatalyst]

2, 10, 18, 25 for the relationship asks with Diana and who ever you think would be most interesting for these questions!!!!

yesss thank you beloved im feelin like the pepe silvia scene from it's always sunny but im just pointing to a picture of diana. im in love with her

most of these will probably be her and julian because that's the one thats. how u say. complicated.

2: How long have these two characters known each other?

Diana and Julian have known each other long enough that it doesn't matter. Since childhood. Sure there must have been a time before they were friends, but it's like the period before your sibling is born- can you really say there was ever a point you 'met'? They lived in the same town, they gravitated towards each other in the way that queer people do even (especially) when nobody involved knows what queerness even means. It would be false to say they're both outsiders, because Diana is very good at Doing What She's Supposed To, but they share a sort of alienation and ill fit and dread (ha) that ties them to each other. It grows with time, but at the same time it's almost unsteady, because it's built on more negative than positive. Who would they be if they weren't just huddling together beneath the jaw of something, you know?

10: What is one major difference between them?

They are structured fundamentally different, even as it's spurred by very very similar circumstances. Diana keeps herself safe with compliant passivity- she is polite and pretty and knows what to say and when to say it. She is actually rather well liked through the town because of this. Of course, they don't really like her, rather a smoothed-out version of her that has buried most of the genuine personality, but it grants her the grace to float through her life causing as little stir as possible. 'Causing little stir' is her 'safe'.

Julian, on the other hand, even when he's younger and not nearly as problem-causing as later on, is never as easy as Diana. He's stubborn like all his family, he gets frustrated easily and when he is he gets snippy and rude- which means he is often snippy and rude. He doesn't compromise. He doesn't like being told what to do. Diana has learned to live with everything that pisses Julian off, because the consequences for her are more immediate, while the consequences for him are more long-term. They are both trying to avoid the same thing, but Diana is punished for acting out and so spends much more time trying to avoid that, while Julian is largely left to his own devices for everything but that long-term result, which means he does anything and everything to obviate it, causing as much of a fuss as he can.

I hesitate to call Diana passive, though, because it's only half true. She is not unfamiliar with anger, she's just unable to express it. That, and she has a messier, closer relationship with her family, and so simultaneously wants to do right by them, and rightfully feels wronged when she is mistreated. She is very close to her father, and he protects her as she simultaneously tries to protect him. Her siblings care very much for her, but are first and foremost getting their own lives in order. They implore her to do the same, not understanding the kink in that system. She feels an obligation to her mother independent of what their actual relationship looks like. Where Julian's family is more distant and so he can place blame on anyone he wants without guilt, Diana has some semblance of a functional, meaningful relationship with hers (positive and negative), and so can't just get angry. It drives more of a futile non-action in her, because she doesn't think of anything as being anyone's fault.

18: Do they view their relationship as temporary or permanent?

They would have both figured it permanent right up until it ended. Even then, ended is a strong word, because what really happened is someone just disappeared. It had been just them for so long, and then Julian disappeared and that word is not an exaggeration- nobody even knew if he was alive or dead. Some were firm in their belief of one or the other. Diana fluctuated between the two. Thinking he was alive was better, obviously, but if he was then that means that he left without her. Without even telling her. She would have gone with him, if he'd asked.

Suddenly, she was alone in a way that she hadn't really thought would ever happen, even as bad as anything would get, she'd always thought it'd be the two of them going through it together. And then it just wasn't.

And this isn't about Julian but even for him- he didn't plan it like that. He didn't plan at all, actually. The decision to leave was impulsive and sudden and he followed through with very little forethought because he knew it he didn't do it now then consequences and promises would catch up to him. He didn't even think about taking Diana with him. It didn't even cross his mind. I don't know if that makes it better or worse.

25: If a stranger saw them together, how would they describe their relationship?

Well it depends because crazy enough they do actually cross paths again, years and years later when lots has changed. When they're young, though, back in Ereform, they kind of just go together. They're a matched set, where one goes chances are you'll see the other. Not always, because they both have their own responsibilities to their houses, but often. People who didn't know them well kind of thought Diana was being nice to him? Like- I said already Diana is very likeable because she is just what people want or expect her to be. Julian is not- he's kind of jagged around the edges and offputting and just kind of odd. So people looking in can safely assume that kind, sweet Diana has befriended the weird Kil girl and put up with her bullshit to give her a friend. But if you know either of them much more it's obvious that it's not nearly that one-sided. They do both care very much about each other and Diana would be just as lost without him as he would without her.

Later on though. Aha. Well. They meet by chance or luck (good or bad depends on how you look at it) or perhaps fate, once again, in the harbor closest to Ereform. It is very messy. Then when Julian (and Liliana but she's not a part of this get your nose OUT of their business girl!!) end up stuck in Acrofin, and when Diana turns out to be a method to get where they're going (or more accurately, to get where they're going to come to them) it gets! Messier! But there is still an odd sort of friendship that happens under really weird circumstances that I can't really get into because it would not only be spoilers (as if i've ever cared about that before) but also just really long. But safe to say they make an even odder pair than before. Julian is all his brash, cruel, loud sharpness that he's ever had x100, and Diana is still much of the sweet, kind, quiet woman she always was, because funny enough that's really hard to leave behind, even if everything else goes. I'm gonna end on a funny note, because if I have to be so for real with you, people assume they're fucking. Because why the hell else would she be hanging around him?

OC Pair Ask Game! i will do more of these for any two please please please please

[giantkillerjack]

Watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend from the start so I can finally finish the show, and I forgot just how badly Paula enables Rebecca's bad behavior immediately right out the gate in the biggest ways possible.

Also the actress playing Paula is fucking fantastic. Simultaneously a great best friend, an overbearing mother, an unfulfilled woman looking for better things, and an evil mastermind with an incredible voice! I'm excited to see where her character goes in the 4th season!

[perenlop]

i know in OBT, damini is clearly the worse parent because she didn't even attempt to raise dielle and clearly sees her as a failure, and she wouldn't have been a good parent even if she stayed.... but damn it, the deviantart comments are so annoying about mateo that i'm this close to stanning her anyways. very epic of her to subvert gender roles by being the deadbeat dad. hashtag feminist icon.

[wonder-worker]

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

[clerati]

I would argue that Gilmore Girls does nuance *really badly* because it tends to gloss over details and handwaves to "families are complicated am I rite?" super often and super casually like that makes anything and everything ultimately okay so no details are necessary.

Nuance requires context, and context requires detail.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Sek & T'Nia