#like this could presumably happen

[nellasbookplanet]

What with c3 not only nearing but IMMINENTLY nearing its end, what if the reason the cast knows for sure there's few enough episodes left for there to be no reason to plan another 4SD is because in the next episode or so bells hells actually go through with releasing Predathos and Matt just goes

Welp. The beast is out. It kills you all. End of campaign.

And then c4 picks up in the early throes of a second calamity having to deal with the fallout of c3.

[vaguely-concerned]

thinking about not only the specific people lucanis pulls in to represent the 'locks' in his psyche, but the storytelling that happens in the structure/order of them. the underlying ideas are presented something like:

the lucanis who went into the ossuary never came back out again; he died down there (the boy caterina raised is gone forever) -> you're putting yourself in danger doing this (by being close to me), you should leave because I can't bear it if you get hurt because of me -> it doesn't matter even if we do try this, it won't work anyway (again because of me) ('you know what he's like, you can open the door but he won't walk through it' :'( oofie doofie) -> what if the real secret is that there was never anything but the monster in here from the beginning. you should leave, there was never anything here worth saving in the first place. (implicitly: what if I deserved what happened, all along.)

it runs pretty cleanly from outward-oriented attachment anxiety ('caterina won't even want me back like this, she won't recognize me (the same way I no longer recognize myself)) and gradually deeper inwards until we reach self-image and self worth. or you know, the harrowing basic lack of it lol.

"careful -- they'll know we're not right," spite says in one of their first scenes... but clearly, some very deep part of lucanis has feared or suspected for much longer than that that there's something inherently not right at the core of him, way before any demon entered the picture. and the voice he gives those lines to is the person who should know him better than anyone in the world, who he has loved more than anyone in the world -- and who deliberately chose to hurt him so horrifically anyway. 'It's better if I'm just a monster and deserved what happened than it is to allow for the idea that the brother I love doesn't really exist and maybe never did'. it's better if he's fundamentally flawed in some way that needed fixing to help him survive, and that's why caterina chose to hurt him again and again -- out of love. (this one I think he might have a very sad wakeup call on one day if he ever ends up with the responsibility and care of a child of his own in some way and realizes just how alien the idea of ever intentionally hurting them for any reason is to him. oh buddy. also interesting that he keeps caterina as the outermost lock -- there IS a distance he keeps there that he hasn't with illario. he doesn't resent her 'anymore' he says, but he also keeps her carefully further away from his deepest self.)

as far as I could tell the only note in the mind prison that's fully hidden and needs to be uncovered is the sad painful helpless stupid little truth that even after all this, even knowing what happened... he still loves his brother. is there anything illario could ever do that would make lucanis completely stop loving him, do you think? sometimes the trouble with unconditional love is that it is, well. unconditional, even when some terms and conditions probably would have been in order haha.

that's the pattern you see there again and again; he would rather destroy and abandon and imprison himself at every turn than let go of love, even when it's just scraps, even when there's only ever enough of it to hurt him. it's only when rook shows up and as it were takes his hand and walks along with him that he can entertain the idea of changing the story of what walking out the door might mean in the end.

[thedreadvampy]

Losing my shit about this article in which a transphobic Tory was so busy panicking about existing in the vicinity of a Trans that she almost certainly misheard "jeans" as "penis" and decided that not only was this a problem with the other woman, but also that the world must be informed of this pressing danger.

"a trans woman! I had to stand directly behind her....I thought, 'this is going well', I'm handling The Situation fine'..."

translated: I saw a tall woman with broad shoulders. How would I get out of this alive? I thought. she has a PENIS. PENIS PENIS PENIS. through some force of PENIS I mean will I managed to PENIS behave normally towards her. My hands were PENIS PENIS PENIS shaking as I tried to dry them. summoning up all my PENIS courage I said 'dryer's crap innit'. she turned to me and said " yeah I'm just goiPENIS PENIS PENIS"

It's been a week and I'm still shaking. This proves trans women are the problem and I'm not weird. I'm fine. It's fine. If you think about it I'm the hero hePENIS!!!!!

very this

[captain-astors]

The Crown Prince

[aroaceleovaldez]

i am definitely the only person who cares about this but I was re-reading parts of Sea of Monsters (irrelevent as to why) and. in the chariot race. well, a.) The Ares cabin has skeleton horses. where did they get skeleton horses? and then, actually more confusingly, b.) almost all the other chariots besides Hephaestus cabin (they have automatons) have normal horses. not pegasi. Percy actually specifically identifies the Apollo chariot’s horses by breed which is very funny to me because Of Course He Would but like. We never see CHB have normal horses at any other point in time? Where did they get the horses?

[waitineedaname]

i know trying to decipher the timeline in mxtx novels is always an endeavor that ends in madness, but i can't help it. i can't stop wondering: how old is zhuzhi-lang? and, a related question that might either answer or complicate the first question, how old is tianlang-jun?

demons can live longer than humans, and appearances are deceiving when it comes to guessing their ages, just like it is with the immortal cultivators. zhuzhi-lang is described as looking fifteen or sixteen when tianlang-jun gives him a humanoid form, and as a young man when shen qingqiu sees him later, but that could mean anything

here's the timeline i can piece together:

tianlang-jun's younger sister has an affair with a snake demon and gives birth to zhuzhi-lang. we don't really know how much time passed between zhuzhi-lang's birth and his mother's death and tianlang-jun finding him. we have no idea how much older tianlang-jun is than his sister. they could be a year apart, they could be a decade apart. who knows.

zhuzhi-lang serves tianlang-jun for an undisclosed amount of time, and then they meet su xiyan. that affair goes on for an unknown amount of time but at the very least nine months because uh. you know. pregnancy.

seventeen years pass before shen qingqiu meets him in his snake form because this is shortly after luo binghe is sent into the abyss and he was seventeen at that time. shen qingqiu then meets him in his human form after the five years of corpsezun, when luo binghe is 25

so. let's try to do math while i go insane. putting the rest under the cut because it got long

this is made complicated by us not really knowing how demons age, especially heavenly demons or snake demons. snake demons could reach maturity earlier. heavenly demons could age slower. who the fuck knows. tianlang-jun could've been completely guessing when he gave him a human form that was around fifteen, but zhuzhi-lang seems pretty mature, so he's definitely not younger than that when it comes to maturity. so let's say he really is fifteen when tianlang-jun finds him. I'm going to go with the lowest numbers just to make math simpler. he serves tianlang-jun for a while before they meet su xiyan, let's say at least a year, so he's at least sixteen when they meet her. then let's say the affair with her goes on for at least a year, so he's at least seventeen when luo binghe is born, tianlang-jun is betrayed, su xiyan dies, etc. add 25 years to that, and zhuzhi-lang is at least 42 when he meets shen qingqiu in book two. this is especially funny to me because shen qingqiu is, what, also early forties at this point? if we don't count his five years as a corpse towards his age? so zhuzhi-lang is pretty close in age to him

but then how old is tianlang-jun? again, I'm gonna go with the lowest numbers for the easiest math. let's say zhuzhi-lang's mother was eighteen when she had him, for my own sanity, and let's say tianlang-jun is only a year older than her. presuming zhuzhi-lang really does age like a human, fifteen years pass before tianlang-jun finds him, which would put him at 34. then let's do the same math as before and say he was at least 36 when luo binghe is born, then add 25 years again, he's 61 when we meet him. this is so funny to me. get it grandpa

the alternative is that zhuzhi-lang doesn't age like a human, he ages like a snake, so he's acting like a mature teen but is actually like. two years old because of how snakes age. so then that nudges tianlang-jun's ages down, so he's like 21 when they meet and 23 when luo binghe is born, then 48 when he shows up in the main plot. this is still funny to me

there's not really an answer i can think of that isn't insane. i think I've probably thought about this more than mxtx has at this point. I'm mostly just amused thinking about how, in terms of maturity at least, zhuzhi-lang is close in age with shen qingqiu and significantly older than luo binghe

[daily-slugplush]

day 98: cool forest region

[theneighborhoodwatch]

i love franklydear as much as the next guy, but i have to admit i’m always a little thrown off by how much fanwork portrays them as married from the get-go, because part of the appeal of franklydear for me is the prospect of someone having their gay awakening while also experiencing the muppets’ adaptation of silent hill.

[wonder-worker]

Is it true that Elizabeth of York birth celebrated like she was a son? I have seen some historians say this.

Hi! Yes, Edward IV did celebrate his daughter’s birth as though she was a male heir (“a prince”), iirc as per the Great Chronicle.

While we have no contemporary reports at the time of Elizabeth of York's birth, we know that Luchino Dallaghiexia reported that the birth of Edward and Elizabeth's third child, Cecily of York, "rejoiced the king and all the nobles exceedingly*, though they would have preferred a son'. Wanting a son (ie: an heir) was typical for their time period, likely enhanced by Edward and Elizabeth's unprecedentedly controversial marriage, her very unsuitable origins and his own status as a usurper. The fact that he was described as being "exceedingly" delighted at the birth of his third daughter in a row regardless does support the claim that he would have gone over-the-top to celebrate the birth of his first legitimate** child.

Hope this helps!

*Bizarrely, I have seen several historians and blogs using Dallaghiexia's letter to claim that he was bitterly disappointed at Cecily of York's birth. I don't understand how historical reading comprehension can be so poor that "rejoiced the king exceedingly" has somehow been rewritten as the...exact opposite of that. With no self-awareness whatsoever. **His illegitimate daughter Margaret (known as Elizabeth for some reason) was almost definitely born before his marriage. We don't know the birth dates of his other two illegitimate children: I think the likeliest conception date for Arthur was in early 1470, but it's unverified; and we know nothing about Grace (which was in fact her surname, not her name) other than the fact that Elizabeth Woodville seems to have been very attached to her.

[lokh]

oughh i wanted to do a cute laishuro take on the blu ray extras (what if laios had been eaten instead) but lets be honest. they absolutely would not have made it as far without laios

[batsplat]

OOH do you have any old motogp forum recs?? I would love to see what fans were saying in like the early 2000s, but I have no idea where to look

lemme check my bookmarks... r1-forum I've gone through a fair bit, threads dating back to early 2004. motogpforum goes back to early 2005. motorsportsforum picks up late 2006-ish, that one I've gone through in its entirety for the early alien era. motorradonline24 is admittedly in german but has the BIG selling point that it goes all the way back to 2001. apriliaforum also goes pretty far back but it takes a little longer for discussion of actual racing to get going. there's definitely more I've checked out - I might make a proper list at some point, but just to start you off

the thing about these forums is that it's undoubtedly interesting and useful to get some context of fan opinions (good mix of actual nuance/worthwhile discussion and just slagging off a bunch of riders)... but if anything they're even more precious as a record of actual *news* that has otherwise been scrubbed from the internet. there's a lot of drama and controversies and anecdotes that only exist on these forums

which... tbh there's been quite a few that I haven't included in my posts just because I'm not entirely sure they quite pass the burden of proof requirements. but man, so many of them are so interesting. it's a tricky balance. just as an example - one particularly nasty thing casey allegedly said about jorge that IF TRUE does feel like it would add something to my understanding of casey. but the article only exists on forum pages... still, it made it to three different forums I can find and is written in the usual tone of the author, so I feel fairly confident the original article existed. but then again, the article itself is just an anecdotal conversation relayed by one bloke. on the other hand, this is a reputable enough commentator you wouldn't expect to COMPLETELY make it up - and funnily enough I have even found a photo of him talking to casey that specific weekend. on the other other hand, it's a colourful anecdote that might have been exaggerated for effect. then again, I can kinda see casey saying it - not least because casey confirmed in his autobiography years later that he was pissed off at jorge that specific weekend. but it does feel like the sort of thing that should have caused a controversy... like if jorge saw what casey allegedly said you'd expect there to be nuclear winter, and there's no further trace of it. hm

so what do you do with that kind of thing, share it or not? the further you go back with this stuff the worse it gets, where I keep finding - plus am being sent - increasingly wild quotes from early noughties motogp. at least most of those are from news sites, some of them of dubious quality, but generally you'd really like to find at least one other source backing up the quotes. which often you won't get!! so yeah, it's all interesting context and gossip, but as ever I'd advise being wary of the specific stories. even the funny ones. especially the funny one

anyway, all that being said. this ask was sent in relation to a post about laguna 2008, so I'm going to take this excuse to actually share some discussion of laguna 2008

so. taking u through the fan chat of the weekend from one specific forum with select commentary... here's the thread starter

reminder that dani was injured at the sachsenring and would eventually opt against racing (effectively ending his title bid, but michelin was useless anyway that weekend)

relatively good reason to believe in english-speaker (and in particular american) overperformance at the track. obviously hayden won there the first two years, edwards even beat valentino to second in 2005 which has got to be the only time that year he finished ahead of vale. often more familiar with the track, or it just suits their riding style better. and ofc vermeulen did bag a distant third. still. valentino in the trenches if people thing edwards will beat him icl

have to say. the idea of the 125/250 riders going down that corkscrew fills me with a visceral sense of horror

'marco' btw as in marco melandri, in the middle of his ducati season from hell

dovi super popular in 2008 fyi, darling of the posters. everyone was obsessed with his rookie season

plenty of solid foreshadowing happening here you have to say

it is very motogp rider behaviour, and also very valentino behaviour, to look at the corkscrew, go 'hm i don't think this is even safe to WALK down', and then fucking hurl yourself at the other guy into that very same corner as you're both travelling at horrifying speeds on a motorcycle. going tentatively through that bit of the track during practise and then in the race he's making his bike go bounce bounce like a trampoline

wow!

*stares at camera*

still nasty work to say this, he repeated it in several interviews I think

okay, no forum posts during the race itself so now we skip to the post-race discussion

which is what the tone from a lot of posters was like

narrator: casey had not calmed down

(if you watch the podium ceremony and see some of the photos without context, you WOULD think they're having a laff. it's just that they're having a laff while casey is telling valentino that he's lost respect for him and valentino is delighted)

two australians on the podium btw

jorge highside cameo

a lot of people were whinging about a lot of 800cc races being boring because a lot of them were. you can copy and paste much of what people are saying about racing these days, if you want to get an idea of the tone

casey fan writes in

again. cannot be stressed enough how casey very much had not calmed down. but that's the fun thing about that rivalry, like they will ALWAYS have a tonal mismatch between their face-to-face interactions and whatever out of pocket things are being said in the press. casey also really big on the pissed off smile which helps

'not even sure that the riders even touched at any point' is. pushing it

yeah the no handshake thing really didn't get a positive response (casey did ofc eventually shake valentino's hand on the podium)

is it really a clean battle if you think someone will fall off

don't want to say that it's a lost cause because casey DID get smarter about this stuff, but ducati certainly aren't doing shit

so much of laguna and its legacy is about both of them threatening each other lol, please allow him

again, podium chat categorically not a friendly conversation. otherwise qualified casey defence

likewise

thought this was interesting in terms of discussion of actual rules - valentino said a few years ago the move wouldn't be allowed anymore and he thinks that's a good thing

“It needs rules,” he said. .”Because the situation with the overtaking manoeuvers and everything is much more extreme now than it was in Laguna Seca in 2008. The routes have changed a lot, now there is no more grass next to the slope, but the green stripe.  “That was done for safety. Because if you catch the grass at that speed, you'll fly away. The asphalt, on the other hand, is less dangerous. In my opinion, however, you have to make a rule and say that you shouldn't touch the green at all - see it as if there were still grass there. “At the level we have reached today, which is extreme in many respects, everyone goes over the curbs and is all green if you don't have a clear rule. I think that's the right thing to do.”

but yeah tbh... I know casey disagrees but I feel like the move WAS probably fine by standards of back then

some more rules chat

and more

"will be hearing big footsteps every time he is in front"

and here we are then. not much that's groundbreaking, but I do find it interesting!! this is a pretty pro-casey audience... most of these forums were generally pretty positive about him. english language speakers were way more hostile towards dani and later jorge for various reasons - you'll also find at least some distaste for valentino in these spaces alongside the usual adulation. so that's the yardstick... this is probably close to as casey-friendly as discussion of the race got among the wider fanbase. it was always going to be a tough sell to air his grievances about this race until a few years had passed. the general reaction was that the racing had been hard but fine, an extremely welcome contrast to the general quality of racing at the time. and almost nobody thought casey should have reacted as he did in parc fermé. interesting contrast with jerez 2005 actually (though admittedly sete not particularly popular in most forums) - sete was low key seen as having a more legitimate grievance than casey. anyway, obviously this blog's stance is that sportsmanship is overrated, but that's how you end up getting the poor bloke apologising in brno

[mocury-moto]

okokok so this is definitely the most weirdly specific question ive ever asked but does anyone know if the symmetrical worm enemies in terraria (eater of worlds, destroyer, bone serpent, etc.) flip to stay upright in the same way the asymmetrical ones (wyvern, blood eel, and phantasm dragon) do and we just cant tell bc their designs are symmetrical

[veloriium]

spotify cover for my little rainbow factory au thats marinating in my brain

[starbuck]

the thing you really have to factor into Billy as a character is that he nearly drowned, was tortured for a week, made it back home only to be held hostage as he was informed that his beloved adoptive father had been murdered, and then had to continue to work with the murderer for months afterwards in the interest of his crew’s safety and, through all of this, no one ever asked him how he was holding up.

[professorlegaspi]

Absolutely wild that the people on the interim Princep committee were kept secret. You’re telling me the whole country had no idea who was leading them? For 17 years? How were there not riots?

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

im still stuck on the concept that maybe yoko made up mclennon out of whole cloth. god. plot twist of a lifetime that would be.