#meta question

[gamma-ghoul]

I have a question, and perhaps the Stranger Things fandom can help me with this.

But, I've been wondering about this for a while: why does Joyce seem to not care that much about money, unlike Jonathan? One of Jonathan's core traits is that he constantly worries about money, even when they move to California and the family is much better off, at least they are in my opinion. I understand that the first season was meant to show that Joyce is willing to do anything to find Will so money is not even within her scope. However, in season 3, she all but ditches her job to figure out what the hell is going on with the magnets. Meanwhile, Jonathan is getting into a fight with Nancy over an internship.

I like the dynamic personally, as it shows how Jonathan is more tied to his social class compared to Joyce. I mean Joyce has played a role in the parentification of Jonathan Byers.

While Joyce loves her children deeply, she does make some questionable choices when it comes to Jonathan. I mean Jonathan's plight highlights the traumatic impact that can be caused by poverty. And you can sort of infer that Joyce probably didn't experience that growing up.

But it is jarring as viewers to see Joyce give not a single fuck about their financial situation while Jonathan is worried about mortgages. It makes Joyce look way more irresponsible as a parent, or Jonathan is clinging onto an identity that is no longer accurate to their current circumstances.

[sarahthecoat]

i just finished watching ep3 for the second time, and i am wondering, where does aziraphale's idea, that poor people have more opportunities to choose good or evil than rich people have, come from? i remember he and crowley have that conversation in the book (i forget if it's also in s1). but does it come from the bible? az collects them, and presumably reads them even if he regards them as human retellings or whatever. or does it come from someone in heaven? doesn't seem like the rest of them have the faintest idea how humans really live, though. aziraphale seems to believe it so wholeheartedly here, but step back one inch and it's utter bollocks! crowley sees what bs it is, and makes aziraphale give elspeth the money, hoping she'll follow through on buying a farm and "being good". (i just hope she's not robbed, swindled or murdered first) i would just think if aziraphale is paying much attention to humans, surely he can see that rich people have, if anything, more opportunities, and more scope, to choose good or evil, or both! anyway, i just had one of those moments where suddenly what i had been simply accepting something because it came out of aziraphale's mouth, fell apart entirely when i actually looked at it.

[sageshouldknowbetter]

I feel for Gemma so, SO much after this episode.

She wakes up and her husband is there. The same man whose name she cried in the elevator. The man she’s missed for two years. And his hair is longer and his beard is gone but he’s smiling, and she’s smiling, and they fall into each other and the blood on his face mixes with the tears in her eyes and it doesn’t even matter.

She drags him through the scarlet, screaming halls — she’s fast from whatever she does on the days she wears a tracksuit, he’s slow from sitting on the couch and crying/drinking until he falls asleep — stepping over a dead man and into the elevator and treasuring the warmth of his hand. That sick, perverted doctor runs to get her back, but her husband steps between them and closes those doors.

And it is then Gemma knows. She doesn’t need to be afraid anymore.

But then she blinks and everything she’s wanted, everything she’s dreamed about for two years is staring her right in the face, an inch of glass between them — and no matter how hard she bangs on the door, all he does is stare at her like a bad dream he’s already forgetting.

She sobs for him. She screams his name. And all he can do is back away and take another woman’s hand.

Gemma’s dreams come true for a few, wonderful seconds. But that just makes it all the worse. Like loosening the grip around the head of a drowning man to let him come up for air — all her temporary relief did is remind her how much she is suffering and plunge her deeper into the pit of her grief.

This is the testing floor elevator all over again. Except this time, everything she wanted is not only taken from her.

It gives her a long, sorrowful look. Turns around. And walks away.

[astonishment-and-dread]

silly poll idea that i had

rb for reach please

[zottower]

My current favorite character is Cecil but …

... actually my first crush on a ff4 character was on Rydia. To me, she's a fantasy of a life in perfect harmony with the forces of Nature (the eons). Nature isn't a threat for her, Rydia's actually her favorite, as a child, as a grown up. She's very spontaneous, turned towards life, and she has her own kind of wisdom. Yes, she turns into a "poster girl" but it only emphasizes the enchanted aspect of her unrealistic character : she's pretty and she doesn't even know it, walks innocently around half naked. She's fun and heartwarming at the same time, in one word : adorable. I also had an Edge period, at a time when I needed a sly character in my life. He's so full of optimism and nonchalance that it's funny and endearing. I love him because he can be an asset or a liability in the fight strategy, depending on the versions of the game and how you use him. The game challenges you, and I like this. I know the jokes and the humor of this character annoy quite a lot of people, it just works well for me. I love my loumouthed goofy ninja, just as Yuffie ( and I liked her before the remake). I really liked what TaY did with him. I also have my Kain moments. Sometimes I want to hug him, sometimes I want to hit him on the head with the fry pan (when he's brainwashed). He's a very proud and beautiful knight and struggles with his feelings and his duty, it can't leave me indifferent. And Cecil … I love this character because of course he has relatable flaws (to me), because he's a knight in shining armor archetype, but he also has qualities that I love in a hero. First one being that he has a strong sense of justice. Rosa too, but she's more on the forgiveness side, I think that's what makes them complementary in my opinion. I think this quality disappears later in the series : Cloud needs a whole adventure to care a bit about the world's fate, Squall still remains in my memory as mister "whatever", and Djidane … he's very generous, but he helps people more because of solidarity. That's nice too, but it's a bit random : he just helps the first person he meets ? So yes, this is one of the main qualities I like in Cecil.

FFIV Week: Favorite Character

Hi everyone! Hope you’re all having a great FFIV week because I definitely am! All the beautiful art and writing has been amazing and I can't wait to see what's next.

For today, I wanted to ask: Who’s your favorite Final Fantasy IV character, and why?

Reblog with your answer!

[yekokataa]

Nix Gottlieb is very much based on a real person. With the house Luiks interited there came a bunch of black and white photos. We started using these photos as blueprints for characters. All real people, all deceased by now. And one of them was a picture of a man with monk’s hair, glasses, and this strange, strange smile. This was a drinking buddy of Luiks' father. If you had to describe him in a sentence you would say ‘one horrible cunt.’ Absolute terrible fucking human being, but also a legend in this drinking circle back in the day.

This is a real story: there's a party that Luiks’ dad is at, and this guy ‘Nix’, he’s an actual doctor. Somebody at the party complains of a stomachache and Nix touches his stomach and diagnoses him with appendicitis. He literally takes him into a bedroom and operates. He cuts out his appendix and it turns out it’s close to the point where it’s going to explode, so it was very good that he intervened at the last moment. Two days later this person runs into Nix on the street and thanks him. And it turns out Nix was so drunk he has no memory of it. When he finally understands it’s not a prank, all the color drains out of his face, because what are the chances he didn’t kill the person by accident?

There was so much about this real person that was not an adaptation, we just put it into the game.

– Argo Tuulik

[jackwhiteprophetic]

graph (tracking how often Buck and Eddie say each others' names) is NOW UPDATED TO INCLUDE 8a!!!!

(CLICK FOR QUALITY)

[s0fter-sin]

thinking about the way ghost doesn't hesitate to start killing shadows when graves betrays them but soap only takes one hostage

you can almost hear the voice in his head telling him it doesn't have to be this way; they can still talk it out

"i'm calling shepherd"

his first instinct when confronted with betrayal is to play it by the books: to go up the chain. that goes against everything we've seen him do. he bucks authority at every chance except for the one time he's confronted with the barrels of his allies' guns

he wants a peaceful resolution; for the first time we've ever seen, he doesn't want violence to be the answer. there has to be another fix, a solution that doesn't end with him killing the same men he's been working with; his friends

nothing's happened yet

it doesn't have to go this way

but ghost has been betrayed before. he knows the way this ends; either with him six feet under or his enemy

he doesn't hesitate

it's only when they knock alejandro out that soap shoots; when they spill the first blood and cross a line they can never come back from

only when ghost orders him to run and he has to cover his retreat

and somewhere along the line, between civilians’ screams and taunting voices, between his shaking breath and ghost steady in his ear, that naivety is stripped away; his trust turned to teeth that he uses to sink into throats of men he'd have given his life for

"be careful who you trust, sergeant; people you know can hurt you the most"

he's learned the price of trust

just like ghost did

but unlike ghost, he has someone to guide him through the aftermath

"good advice, It"

[medusaesque]

The radicalization of Kim Kitsuragi

[mohntilyet]

i have to be so real. sometimes you have to outright not give a shit what the author thinks. i’m not saying to disregard how a character is portrayed and give into fanon characterisations but sometimes i will see fans be like “(head writer) omggg do you think this character is a good person?” “how would this character react if xyz happened?” as though that’s not a question you can and have to answer for yourself.! any character can contain multitudes and if you keep limiting your perception of them solely on word of god its not fun for the writer or even yourself anymore. THINK FOR YOURSELF. INVENT NEW WAYS TO FUCK YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTERS OVER

[ultfreakme]

"Gojo should've gotten to live as a person-" THAT’S THE POINT. That is the ENTIRE point of JJK. Every single character who died was someone who "should've gotten to" do a lot of things. Riko should've gotten to live for herself, Geto should've had the chance to be a teenage boy given support and safety, Junpei should've gotten to live without fear, Nobara should've had the chance to let people in without fear, Nanami, Yuki, Mai, Higurama, EVERYONE.

Here's the thing, Gojo is on this list. Gojo isn't the exception because JJK at its core is a story about how overarching systems destroy people; bullying, capitalism, sexism, etc. And this system does not need people to run it. Which is why killing Kenjaku didn't stop shit because yeah he started this mess but its grown beyond him. Fuck, it was there before him.

This is also why despite Sukuna & Uraume being the only ones who are actual threats, nothing is better. The cast got rid of the higher-ups, jujutsu tech as it is, is no more. The major families are dismantled. This should be a victory. This is what the Sashisu gen pointed out as the problem but things have never looked more bleak.

Why? Because the problem isn't Kenjaku, Sukuna, curses, sorcerers or curse users. It's the existence of Cursed Energy itself. This has been pointed out multiple times by Yuki. Its the system and Gojo has been complicit to the system for a long, long time. He's also it's victim. Gojo says he's the exception a lot, but as everyone has rightfully pointed out, he was nothing more than a weapon to jujutsu society.

JJK has followed a very clear pattern to every character right from Geto to Junpei to Riko; characters are representatives of systems of suppression, and they will not escape it. I can't recall a single character that's escaped unscathed, much less alive.

Is it disrespectful? Yes. Is it demeaning? YES. There has not been a single character death that's been dignified in JJK. It's all on a scale of bearable to absolutely horrifying. It is genuinely wild seeing people resort to threatening the author AGAIN. Calm the fuck down. You are entitled to feeling upset about how Gojo has been treated but Yuta stans are being calm despite Yuta arguably suffering the "he is a weapon" thing WORSE. It's still a fictional character and JJK's narratives never treated Gojo with any exceptions despite the character saying otherwise.

[evadingreallife]

If someone has written and published actual books and then writes a crossover between their book and some other story through, say, an ao3 account, is that crossover canon or just another fanfic in the fanfic sea?

[artbyblastweave]

Superhero deconstructions for the Justice Leaguers who've managed to weasel out of it so far:

Wonder Woman: What's that? You're from a matriarchal, monarchal enclave of immortal, bronze-age warriors who worship the actual Greek gods? Who are real? And you came out the other side of that with values completely compatible with 21st-century progressive mores surrounding individualism, secularism, gender identity and governance? And you're completely accepting of trans people? That is so cool and marketable The Flash: A white midwestern cop has developed omnipresence. This is probably fine Green Lantern: Is the objectively-quantifiable and measurable quality of "Willpower" in the room with us right now. Also. who exactly signed off on this extraterrestrial paramilitary. Is this a cult Aquaman: A hereditary monarchy exerts military control over 70 percent of the world's surface. This is also probably fine

Martian Manhunter: God I wish Martian Manhunter had enough of a presence in the popular consciousness for there to be an intuitive attack surface

[dukeofthomas]

I find the fact that the confrontation at the end of UTRH is often summarized as Jason asking Bruce to kill the Joker for him fascinating.

Because that's not what happened.

Jason holds a gun up to Joker's head, gives Bruce another, and tells him that if Bruce doesn't do something (shoot Jason), he will kill Joker.

Jason doesn't give the gun to Bruce so that he would shoot Joker. He isn't expecting Bruce to pull the trigger on the clown. He's asking Bruce to do nothing. To be inactive. Because that will still be a choice, and despite having done nothing, everybody clearly agrees that Bruce would still, at least in part, be responsible for Joker's death.

...And to me, this moment is a kind of- microcosm, of the rest of Jason's point. Because after being captured and carted off to Arkham, the villain will escape again, and will kill more people. The only way to truly prevent that from happening would be to kill them; Bruce refuses to do so, and I respect his right to choose such a thing for himself, but it is still a choice, and if we agree that Bruce's inaction during the confrontation would leave him at least partly responsible for the Joker's death, then we must also agree that his inaction in permanently preventing the Rogues from killing more people means he is also, partly, responsible for all of those deaths.

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[zottower]

My favorite dungeon is the Sylph Cave. I like trying to find the weak points of monsters to defeat them quickly and survive, and I always forget about the solution of this maze, so it's always a trial and error exercice that I enjoy a lot. With my goldfish memory, I will never get bored of Sylph Cave. And the 3D version is soooo pretty ! My least favorite dungeon is the Lime Cave. Because with Tellah and Cecil's magic stats I have to use items, especially ethers. I don't like using items. I'm stingy. lol

FFIV Week: Favorite and Least Favorite Dungeons

Which dungeon did you absolutely love? Was it the design, the monsters, the exploration?

And which do you dread re-visiting? Did it make you want to pull your hair out?

Reblog with your answer!