For every person who dreams up the electric lightbulb there’s another who dream up the Adam bomb
isn't it crazy that in only around 50 years or so after creating the electric lightbulb that kickstarted the revolution the atomic bomb was made a weapon that can literally wipe out the planet at any given moment because of corporate greed and technically all the major companies in the world could force the government into world-ending warfare if they just decided it 'fuck it we ball' one day and then inventions started to stagnate again but that's all boring we should talk about one of the oldest perpetual stews to ever exist that actually ended because of world war II because they ran out of food to fill the stew with, it ran on from the fifteenth century to ww2 and technically would've been our only hint to what certain meats and vegetables would've tasted like ages ago before they came to stagnate where they are in their evolution line now, and that notoriously sourdough and stew kept from those eras have such a distinct and different taste than to anything we have now. it's existence has also assisted in scientists figuring out what certain vegetables and fruits had the craziest evolution lines, like apples for example. it's theorized they used to be more like pomegranates which puts the story of hades & persephone into an entirely new light anyway here's my thesis o
Once the prey has been successfully lured and captured, it will be wrapped in a cuddle cocoon and thoroughly nuzzled, hugged and kissed until the vicious beast is satisfied.
Batman #149 by chip zdarsky is mostly unremarkable, but I'm really fascinated by how it makes a great case for 'good' endings not saving 'bad' stories*. Because there's a lot of interesting concepts in this issue (bruce having to deal with his rapidly aging and decaying clone making him think about his own life, re-establishing a 'nest' so to speak for his family after pushing them away, etc) but bc of the OOC slog that came before it, almost every moment w/ the batfamily comes off as unearned and disingenuous imo.
Like, everything with Damian is the perfect example in this. Because in isolation it's...fine. admittedly it's a missed opportunity to not go deeper into how Damian would feel about a clone of his dad who tried to kill considering Damian's relationships with clones of himself (the heretic rejects and respawn) or with former enemies who wanted him dead but who were manipulated and/or brainwashed (like suren and maya).
Zdarsky doesn't go into any of this but you could maybe excuse it as the issue not being about Damian. However, coupled with the previous bizarre characterizations of Damian in 147 and 148, it ends up not being fine- instead it starts to feel...icky how Damian (who, despite often being drawn and written as white, will never have his connection to the non-white al ghuls forgotten and will always be effected by racism even when not portrayed as a poc) is constantly written as overly violent, uncaring and narrow minded in this run. Coupled w/ trying to recanonize the morrison origin for Damian it's like. OH this is badly written and laden with subtle bigotry, sick**
That's me going into detail on it with Damian but it's applicable to other things in this issue- the way Cass, Steph and Duke have all been ignored or turned into jobbers makes their inclusion in the 'family' here feel hollow instead of satisfying. Bruce proclaiming that Zur was still a part of him and he needs to accept responsibility for his actions (when it means taking in clone son) wrings hollow when just last issue zdarsky was bending over backwards to separate Bruce and Zur bc otherwise the Jason thing would get really awkward. Ends are achieved through means that feel hollow or strange. I'm at my destination but damn why'd the bus have to do all that???
I only really have opinions on this latest arc of zdarskys Batman bc it's the one I've read the closest (bc I'm a hater, masochist and avid follower of even the bad damian storylines) but it's not saying great things.
Bc zdarsky can do one thing good in this book, and it's write Bruce and Tim. And yet this entire story, whether of his own volition or editorial mandate, includes other characters who aren't Bruce and Tim, the fabric starts to unravel in very telling ways.
(p.s, I think pennyworth manor is an interesting idea but I feel like in execution it's just gonna be 'bruce living in a house haunted by the memory of the people he couldn't save' but with a different dead guy this time. Illusion of change and whatnot)
*whether or not the ending is good is up to you ofc, as is your opinion on the proceeding arc! I saw some ppl complain that the ending was too "WFA" for them, which I get even if I dont think it'll literally be the same premise. If anything it's probably a lead into the new tec run. Likewise many ppl who aren't in the weeds of Damian and Jason characterization liked the previous arc! But I have my opinions and rest my case before the bench
**disclaimer, I'm white and portrayals of bigotry in comics are complicated and subjective, but I am basing my point here off what other poc comic fans on socmed have been saying about 149. Also the "sick" is sarcasm incase that wasn't obvious
Something about Izuku I keep thinking about is how much he's a downright hypocrite and the only reason he isn't called out on it is because he's one for himself and not for others and at the core of it all it boils down to his pending childhood issues and the *vaguely gestures* "relationship" he and Katsuki have- I mean, just out of the top of my head:
Wants to be a strong and dependable hero but is at his weakest when he's alone.
Says to Himiko he would never hurt someone he loves but was the reason Katsuki was forced to dance with death until his own sacrifice. Hell, I'm expecting him to actually accidentally hurt Katsuki (Physically? Emotionally? You decide) next time they talk.
Wants to save people with a smile but barely cracked genuine ones during his battle with Tenko- I can think of two(?), and even then those felt more like a resignation (379 and 412 iirc) than actual smiles.
Being aware Kacchan's a jackass, fine, but the entire "Imitate the people you love/admire" themes, having an attitude when heated or absolutely Done with anyone's BS (makes sense for someone who grew up besides a kid in the Inferiority-Superiority Complex but still) and "This is a battle between All For One and One For All, you can't keep up" is still very much pot calling the kettle black (it's because his "arrogance" is rooted in selflessness and desire to be useful but that's for another day)
Deadass called All For One out for being a lonely man pretending to be a "Demon Lord" yet will not admit he himself thinks a he's just a lonely kid pretending to be a hero; and by the time he seemed to be growing out of it: Paranormal Liberation Front.
"IT'S YOUR POWER, ISN'T IT?!" Cool, nice of him to comfort Shoto and try the same with Touya, now if only he could do the same in regards to himself and OFA-
Wasn't able to connect with Tenko at all and that's why he failed but it's wild to me he'd still the one who even at surface level could relate to):
Spinner, because they're nerds who were ostracized based on Quirks/lack thereof looking for a purpose and were unable to help him because of AFO's interference;
Himiko, because they want to be like others (because they hate themselves at least a little bit) but also show love in a way others wouldn't accept and;
Touya, because they wanted to prove they could be useful to others and be heroes to the point of actively harmed themselves while using their own Quirk.
Hell, when you think about it he related to the crying child but he could've used Literally Anything from his relationship with Katsuki to try and reach Tenko, but of course he didn't, that means he'd have to think about his own issues and yet he saw Tenko's issues no wonder he didn't get the job done-
Also can we talk about him saying he relates to Ochako confronting Himiko but she actually succeeded- Or even Shoto wanting to forgive Endeavor; I keep recalling both Ch. 322 him saying he won't forgive Tenko for anything he did (understandable but still) and Tenko going "And I won't forgive anyone". Connecting these three instances are huge stretches, I know, but really, he hasn't addressed the apology he got- combined narrative punishments for empty platitudes.
Kept saying he needed to improve in his control with OFA: had to get beaten up during his internship and in the Summer Camp for that lesson to stick... Then he heard the words "Control Your Heart" and decided to Not Address It At All.
Supposed to surpass but he's really All Might's successor in every way that counts: Smile so nobody will worry, keep fighting even though you are destroying yourself, be so selfless you'll make your friends desperate enough to make you stop for your own good, hide every single thing you can about yourself, the only difference is in the bed they made: Toshinori lies in omission most of the time, and Izuku thinks he lies in white when almost every other character's in the dark, but as long as there's a dream of bright smiles in the future, who cares they're now forcefully entangled in this nightmare, right?
And these are just the examples I can think of the top of my head, there might be more, but. No wonder we've been "panicking" (let's be real his therapist already scheduled him for Ground Beta atp-) Shoto and Ochako brushed him off by accident in Chapter 425, it's the consequences of his hypocritical ass coming back to bite him-
(I am not hating on him, by the way, it's just something about him I wanted to point out. I like that aspect of his. Makes him more human. But jeez can someone call him out and make him practice what he preaches? XD)
You posted about getting married young, and I just wanna say thank you? I got really lucky and met THE woman when we were 17, and engagement is in the horizon for us at 22, 23. Sometimes it gets to me when people say we're wasting our youth, it's nice having someone batting for us
Also love the pfp, carmilla fans are still alive and well and if you've got any fanfic recs lmk
Congrats! I hope it works out for you. (I would say "girl" at 17, not "woman," but I assume it's just a random word choice since it sounds like you're the same age, so not a big deal.)
While I of course don't advocate for child marriage- ie marriage below age 18, and really I think 20+ is wiser -the whole "date around or you're Wasting Your Youth!!!" narrative pisses me off, like I said. I grew up with that shoved down my throat to the point where I believed my own desires to just meet the right girl and stay with her forever were just youthful romanticism; that I'd "mature" and want to date more people instead of wanting to settle down. (And for some people that is the trajectory! And that's fine! Just...not everyone.)
When your mother got so lost in the Swinging Sixties sauce during her own teen years that she goes too far the opposite way of most parents, I guess?
Yeah, someone might regret a young marriage. But they might regret ANY marriage- that's just a risk you take when you get married. Trusting people to know their own minds in relationships that present no actual red flags is important, even for teenagers. Teaching young people not to trust their own (harmless) emotions and desires for their lives because it doesn't match what you'd have them do seems horribly backwards to me. It's a dangerous precedent to set for them.
When I was 16, I thought I'd be perfectly happy if I married a girl I met at that age- when we were older, of course. Now I'm 30, and guess what? I still think that. I would have been satisfied. Hell, I wish that had happened. It's not right for everybody, but it would have been right for me.
Under the cut are mostly self-insert doodles of decreasing quality. Again, not much directly tied to Team Fortress 2. Might as well toss these out while I have no access to my puter. Much yapping under the cut and in the tags incoming.
Another self-insert, this time less of a "here's me as a tenth class" and more of a "here's my game experiences translated into the class I would take the place of". The Cleaner. Although I guess they could still be wearing either suit. It doesn't matter that much.
That one Convict's Case taunt with Backup would be extremely funny, because the man would be on the verge of a breakdown (he does not want to go to jail so bad you have no idea). The second image- I owe no explanation. You know what I am. You see the pattern with my favourites.
The duality of the man. Resting face versus "just heard you express interest in religion/Russian folklore" face. He's not that hard to make friends with, when you pull him away from all the explosions.
Some doodles of trying to figure his face out. Unfortunately, the more I stare at him, the more I worry that he looks like A Certain Guy With The Last Name "Kazarin", and the fear of never being original in my life caught up to me.
Don't look at me, don't perceive me, I refuse to explain any of my actions to you.
She had resigned herself to apathy – to burying her love beneath the cold, hard soil and letting it rot amongst the graves of a long dead civilization, burned to ash in only a day. Yet how quickly it all fell apart in her hands, slipping through her fingers like sand, no matter how desperately she tried to cling to it.
Was she not diligent enough? Was she so weak that she faltered at the first person who showed her genuine trust and affection? Had all her work been for naught?
A part of her revolts – the same woman who watched the sky burn and the ground beneath her feet crumble into ash. It would be so easy to wrap her hands around your delicate throat, to squeeze until you finally saw her as the monster she knew she has always been.
Yet she doesn't think she could. The look of betrayal, of fear..oh, it would ruin her, she knows.
Perhaps that makes her weak. Perhaps you have made her weak.
Perhaps she does not mind as much as she should.
You trust her, after all – enough to sleep in her bed like she couldn't just kill you before you ever knew what was happening to you. Your body was so..fragile, in this mortal shell you descended in. How easy it would be to snuff out your life, here and now.
Yet she doesn't.
Instead, she looks at you like an old lover – with all the love of a woman who had died in the ashes of a dying civilization, of a woman who thought she could love no longer. Emotions she fought so hard to suppress well up in her chest and fill the empty space where she knows her heart should beat. Try as she might – and oh, how she tries – she can never quite stem the affection that consumes her every waking moment when she sees you.
It is like an addiction that she cannot rid herself of, no matter how she tries. She always finds herself back at square one – back to you.
Her hand lingers against your cheek, undue affection filling the empty spaces in her chest until she feels like cannot breathe. She traces her hand along your jaw, her vision narrowed on the softness of your lips.
Yet that same thought rises unbidden to the forefront of her thoughts. Love was a dangerous thing – you both knew that. To let it fester and rot her from within..she would be throwing her plans out the window, and for what?
Because she was too weak? Because the affection and trust in your eyes whenever your looked at her made her feel whole, like she was more then just an Archon playing God with the fate of the world?
You do not even stir as her thoughts toil like a brewing storm. She swallows the lump in her throat, removing her hand like she'd just touched a piece of hot metal. A part of her still screams that it's for the best, that you've corrupted her enough, torn apart her plans in the span of a week, a mere blink in time..
But it goes silent as she leans in, pressing her lips to your cheek. She will not let the thought fester, tonight – she will let herself be weak, if only for another day. If only to covet the affection that she finds herself drowning in for just another day.
And when you stir, she pretends that she had never thought of it at all, that she has only ever known love with you. Even if her heart that does not beat leaves a stabbing pain in her chest in the agony of knowing that even this is futile..
She lets you wake, let's the recognition and the affection fill your vision until she is all you see – two stars locked in orbit, unable to break away.
And when the day comes that you collide, she will be holding the blade that drives into your chest, and she will know nothing but love when she does.
Aaahh, I simply cannot stop thinking about what comes after the final confrontation!
Like so many things! The image of Eclipse suddenly realizing what he's done, hearing and seeing his own trident going into Sun, his brother looking down at the weapon and slowly looking up at him in pain, hurt, incredulous of what Eclipse just did.
How where Eclipse usually relishes in the smell of blood in the water, right now it means to him what it means to most people. Death, anguish, grief, fear.
The brief but no doubt intense argument of wanting to reach out to Sun but being furiously stopped by the vigilante and his other brother who might be directing at him the worst look he has ever given him, before they have to accept that there is no time to argue if they want Sun to make it.
The feeling of dejavu at the urgency of hurrying towards the surface as it's the only hope of saving a member of his family. Seeing Sun slowly fading away right in his grasp as they go.
The conflicting feelings of seeing many mer people, no doubt a lot who have been helped by his brothers, rush to the help of a twilight mer, and it's a slight relieve because Sun might make it, but also indignation because why did they not help her too? How dare they all suddenly act the good guys when it was much too late for those who needed it before?
And then the wait.
He must be known around the reef. Moon hides his resemblance for a reason. So it's not only dealing with the wariness around him which would be delightful some other time, but now there's too many eyes on him at the worst moment. When he's unsure and afraid his brother will die. He's too exposed and among those he loathes here in the light.
Then there's knowing the wrong move will get him kicked out and unable to know the fate of his brother, the vigilante pointing a trident at him at all times. There's Moon's scathing looks, full of accusation and distrust. One of his brothers who begged him to just leave the life he kept choosing and come with them, now seemingly looking at him like there's nothing he wants more than for Eclipse to go back and stay in the darkness like he's always done.
Maybe at one point when Sun has passed the worst of it, Eclipse finds a moment to slip in unnoticed, to check in on Sun while no one is in the room. And he has to see him, covered in every measure they had to stop the blood, breathing weak, like his chest is barely able to expand enough, like inhaling the clean water he needs to keep going is currently the hardest task for him.
And maybe he reaches for him. But Sun, in his semi conscious state both from the blood loss and the medicine he was given, minutely flinches back. Because the last time he saw his older brother with his hand extended towards him, what followed was sharp awful pain.
And there might be a twinge of indignation in Eclipse at first. Because this is him. How could Sun ever be afraid of him. Afraid that he would hurt- And then remember that he did. He did.
Words from long ago, and an instruction to protect his brothers echo in his mind as he looks at Sun fighting for his very life.
Emotions he hasn't experienced or that he thought himself above of for years and years now flood him.
I do have to wonder how even approaching after that would work. You said Sun still wants Eclipse in his life and it's what might be keeping the vigilante from trying to figure out a way to spear Eclipse into a wall and give him a last diminute chance to fix the mess he made. But there's also Moon who refuses to have him close. I'm veeeery interested in what might make Moon accept any attempts from him! Because hurting the vigilante in his pursue of them was already a betrayal knowing how much Sun and Moon cared for them. This? This was crossing a line both brothers were at least somewhat certain would never be crossed.
AHHH CHAOTIK I AM EATING UP EVERY WORD OF THIS IT'S SO GOOOOOOOD!!!
It's really hard to imagine it going well after such a devasting blow, but, Eclipse made his bed, he's gonna lie in it now.
Once the sand settles and Sun is tucked safely back into their coral reef home, on heavy medicines, and no longer in danger of bleeding out, that's when Moon lets Eclipse have it.
The vigilante keeps watch from the passageway between where Sun rests and where the fight unfolds. Moon wants Eclipse gone. Eclipse refuses to leave until he knows Sun is going to be okay. Moon attacks Eclipse.
It's freezing waters as the two brothers duke it out. Moon is completely undone by this—Eclipse is their big brother. He was their protector. He cared for them and raised them when their parents were gone. It is absolutely unfathomable that Eclipse could do this to Sun.
Eclipse lets Moon get it all out, taking his blows and wearing him down until they're both exhausted and the chamber is a wreck. The vigilante simply stays on guard, trident in hand, ready to finish Eclipse like they so desperately want to—they just need a reason, a better excuse to give Sun when he asks for Eclipse.
Moon punches Eclipse and his hand catches on his venomous spines framing his face, several breaking off as they puncture Moon's flesh. In a knee-jerk reaction, Eclipse rips off the nautical shell on Moon's head where it's thrown and shattered against the wall. The vigilante reacts badly, but they're quickly told that Eclipse's venom won't hurt Moon because they're blood-related. Which is great news among the recent damage done.
The water temperature drops below freezing, and Moon and Eclipse look at each other, floating in the wreckage of what's supposed to be their family.
That's when the vigilante persuades Moon to go and stay with Sun. He better not have been woken up by their battle. Eclipse glares as Moon disappears, and the vigilante prods Eclipse towards a lightless chamber in the coral reef home. Eclipse goes. The vigilante studies his broken quills while they explain something. They make it clear that if Sun wasn't so concerned about Eclipse, even after he skewed him, they would have killed him. They still will if Eclipse doesn't stop and doesn't control himself. They won't watch him hurt his brothers anymore, in any way. The vigilante is done with Eclipse.
Eclipse says that Sun and Moon have their mother's eyes. The vigilante doesn't know what prompted that. Eclipse says he can't leave until Sun is recovered. He has to survive.
The vigilante asks how Eclipse how could do it. How could he react so terribly and hurt his brother?
Eclipse asks in a soft voice how the vigilante could have killed a mer-child, his golden gaze burning through the sunlight zone mer.
That ends their conversation in a snap of tailfins as the vigilante abruptly leaves Eclipse in the dark chamber and returns to Sun's side. They tend to Moon's bleeding knuckles and whisper about finding him another nautical shell. They carefully watch Sun's chest rise and fall with weak breaths of water and pray that no more red wisps leak into the chamber from his many bandages.
billions also comedy gold presenting winston as a scapegoat for abuse culture fans when it's like but hey it can't be actual scapegoating if you Enjoy It or consider it Justified or experience Reassurance from Its Opportunity For A Group Cohesion Substitute For A Cohesion Based On An Inherent Equal Degree Of Belonging, The Absence Of Which Allows For, Encourages, Reinforces, & Rewards Scapegoating
it can't be Bullying if someone's Weird or you Just Don't Personally Like Them or Nobody's Actually Stopping You, Maybe At Least If They Don't See Too Much Of It, Maybe Others Are Supporting It
it can't be Abuse if you're just doing things Normally or are Following Rules or Aren't Feeling Malicious And Aren't Getting Divine Revelations Otherwise and probably it's just that a lot of abnormal people are being whiny &/or unfair &/or the Real malicious ones. kinda just like how that scapegoat is the real person ruining everything and really just forcing you to treat them like this
Hrngh I just. I don't want to argue with people but. Being an addict is not a moral issue. You are not more morally good and pure for never having experienced addiction. You are not inherently bad for being an addict. Like the recovery narrative centres becoming a "better person" or being "redeemed" BUT BEING IN ACTIVE ADDICTION DOES NOT MAKE SOMEONE INHERENTLY A BAD PERSON. You don't need to be redeemed. That kind of dichotomous thinking is detrimental to recovery, setting people up to see relapse as a moral failure, a weakness in character, something they need to repent and self flagellate for. When it's just... not. It's a part of the process.
And even beyond that, if you can't bring yourself to uncouple addiction from morality, you have to see that addiction never happens in a vacuum. To ignore the socioeconomic factors that contribute, the way that addiction and alcoholism intersect frequently with chronic pain, the way that our society is essentially made hostile to people experiencing addiction which then in turn self-perpetuates... it seems needlessly cruel as well as ridiculously individualistic. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps type of mentality. Poverty and chronic pain are significant contributing factors in many cases of long term addiction; it is far more useful to blame power structures that allow people to remain in poverty, their pain untreated, the inequalities and failed safety nets, disregard for vulnerable populations, all amounting to social murder. Choosing instead to place blame and vitriol at the feet of addicts is unhelpful at best and frankly malicious at worst.