#of which there are only implications here

[tboy-trash]

CW graphic descriptions of animal abuse and police K-9 violence.

A study found that between 2011 and 2015, about a quarter of police dogs in the US that died "on the line of duty" did so of heatstroke, after being locked up in police cars under the sun BY THEIR HANDLERS [1].

A study on dog training methods that sought to investigate whether shock collars are worse for welfare than "traditional" physical punishment used the dogs in a police dog training facility, and, when it found out that the collars indeed caused more visible stress, it had to clarify that this was despite the non-shock-collar dogs being pinched, choked and kicked routinely [2] (←sort of unrelated but if you want to know how this is possible, it's not bc the shock collars are necessarily more painful than a beating, but because the unpredictability factor makes it so much worse, you can look up studies on rats and unpredictable punishment, if you have the stomach, to understand more).

During and after the Vietnam war, the US military abandoned some 5000 dogs in Asia. Dogs that were abused and prone to attacking anyone [3].

In 2014, the US department of justice issued an investigation on the Ferguson police department. 100% of those the Ferguson police sicced their dogs against was Black [4].

Nationwide, a report from 2019 that looked at data from the period 2005-2013 found that the victims of K-9 bites remained majority Black and that, despite propaganda showing these dogs are trained to find and bark at someone "unless they move aggressively", in which case the dog would bite, the proportion of biting was exactly the same before and after police departments were encouraged to train this behaviour [5]. Police dogs also seem more likely to bite repeatedly and to the chest, face and neck than domestic dogs [6]

Lest you think this is an US problem, the police also shows a pattern of harassment and violence towards racial minorities in Europe [7], the only reason I'm using US data is because it's easy to find. Not every country allows for dogs to be used this way though, so the implications depend on the specifics, but every country that uses police dogs trained for attack has the same fundamental problems.

Anyway, here's Malcom X on police dogs

"A hundred years ago they used to put on a white sheet and use a bloodhound against Negroes. Today they've taken off the white sheet and put on police uniforms. They've traded in the bloodhounds for police dogs and they are still doing the same thing.”

Sources:

1- Barberi, D., Gibbs, J. C., & Schally, J. L. (2019). K9s killed in the line of duty. Contemporary Justice Review, 22(1), 86-100.

2 - Schilder, M. B., & van der Borg, J. A. (2004). Training dogs with help of the shock collar: short and long term behavioural effects. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 85(3-4), 319-334.

3 - Houlden, S. (2020). Gone to the War Dogs: An Analysis of Human-Canine Relationality in Twenty-First Century Conflict and War (Doctoral dissertation).

4- U. S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. (2015). Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department. Retrieved from: https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf

5- Loder, R. T., & Meixner, C. (2019). The demographics of dog bites due to K-9 (legal intervention) in the United States. Journal of forensic and legal medicine, 65, 9-14.

6 - Meade, P. C. (2006). Police and domestic dog bite injuries: What are the differences? What are the implications about police dog use?. Injury Extra, 37(11), 395-401.

7 - Borooah, V. K. (2011). Racial disparity in police stop and searches in England and Wales. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 27, 453-473.

All k9 dogs are abused hands down if you post any pro k9 stuff on my dash you’re unfollowed I don’t care if we’ve been mutuals for years, you can claim to be anti-cop or a leftist or whatever but if you post k9 dogs with like “a good doggo! A good boy!” fuck off, if I lose followers over this then good riddance

[keepmycandleburning]

It's always frustrating to me when I see people's misunderstandings about the degree to which a writer's words and writing choices are intentional. There are many types of writing and some people may be writing for fun or whatever, but in a story that is complex and carefully put together, the writer's choices are not coincidences or things that just so happen to be that way, they are carefully and precisely made choices that are designed that way to communicate something to the reader.

Surprisingly often I will see people write these complex and meaningful HP analyses, and then end their post with 'but I'm sure Rowling didn't mean any of that, or even think about it, she just wrote it this way because she's stupid.' All of that was somehow magically in the text for you to find and analyze, and she didn't even mean to write it? EVERY word of these books was typed by a human hand and reread with human eyes.

Think of how for example people will say foolish things like 'Did JKR just forget that Bellatrix was married?' Bellatrix being married is a HUGE part of who she is, who Voldemort is, how the DEs function, how the traditional pureblood families and marriages and culture function... You're missing SO MUCH of the meaning in the text by denying the writer's intentionality.

Same with things like mistaking her world-building for being statements of her real-world beliefs. 'Here's an in-depth analysis of what the text implies about gender and sexism in pureblood culture... but JKR probably just wrote all this because she's sexist, and I magically put meaning into it that makes perfect sense' ??? The idea that a writer will only write sexism into their fictional world because they're communicating that they think sexism is good is insanity. Characters don't do things solely because their writer thinks that is proper behavior. Characters' behaviors or words, or elements of the fictional world the story exists in, are not straight-forward statements of what the writer thinks is good or ideal, and in fact are often the opposite. If you can't analyze things with such complexity, that's a problem with your reading comprehension, not with the text.

Or, when people will treat the text too much like it's a real life event that happened, rather than something that was carefully put together by hand to mean something. I love analyzing characters and the HP world like they're real, but when you find yourself denying meaning by using logic like 'well it probably just happened that way for no deeper reason' you're just misunderstanding what fiction is.

For example attempting to disprove the numerous hints at the Bellatrix/Voldemort relationship by saying things like 'but other people call her Bella so it could have meant anything' or 'there are other types of pleasure than sexual so it could have meant anything.' But why would Rowling choose that word? And put it right next to Bellatrix longing for his physical closeness? And why would she set up this exchange at all? Why 'lover'? Why 'lover' placed so directly with physical closeness and care? Why 'lover' and 'pleasure' and 'longing' and 'closeness' in the same book? Why have Harry point out that she's acting in an intimate way that invokes being lovers? Why do other characters later use 'Bella,' if not to communicate that it's used by people she considers/ed family?

When everything that 'could mean anything' all lead to the same answer, why is that? Why are you assuming Rowling's implications are for some reason unintentional? Unintentional over and over and over again? If many readers are catching it, why are you assuming she's not smart enough to catch it herself? The only person not catching it here is you. Word choices or words with clear connotations are not random or accidents or coincidences, particularly when several of them occur in quick succession or when it's associated repeatedly with the same two characters. Nor are characterizations or patterns in the text. If you read that way, that's a misunderstanding on your end (not with the author, not with other readers) so don't complain when you can't understand the text. 'I'm going to act like the person who wrote this is stupid, and therefore ignore everything that the text is saying, and then say the text sucks' is YOU being an idiot. Notice how other people don't have this issue when they analyze actual meaning and intentionality in the text

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Hey there!

I have something I haven't worked on in almost a year and I hadn't written the chapters in order. As a result, I'm left with plot holes.

Do you have any tips on getting back to work after a long time and how to deal with plot holes?

Love your work, by the way :)

Writing Notes: Plot Holes

Plot Holes - inconsistencies or gaps in the storyline or character development.

They are formed when a narrative stops following its own logic.

Viewers and readers only have the details you’ve provided to immerse themselves in a believable world.

If you present a narrative without thinking through the implications of each plot point, you may create an unsatisfying and incomplete story, which can lose your audience quickly.

Types of Plot Holes

Plot holes betray your audience’s trust and can lower the quality of literature, film, or television shows. Examples of plot holes include:

Factual errors: Factual errors—like incorrect dates or wrong information—can lose your audience (especially in historical fiction). For example, if you’re writing a romance set during the Civil War and your hero escapes in a jet, that would be a factual error that would create a logical plothole for the audience.

Impossible events: Any occurrence that defies laws of physics or science is an impossible event—like a character who becomes a professional dancer overnight to win a big competition, or a person who can hold their breath underwater for 20 minutes to escape a monster. Impossible events remind audiences of real life logic, which can distract and remove them from the story. Of course, as the author, you can build a world where impossible things do occur and seem logical.

Illogical plot developments: Events that upset the flow of logic can create huge plot holes. If you’ve built a world without magic, a character cannot suddenly be capable of magic to get themselves out of a jam. An all-powerful bad guy bent on world destruction won’t suddenly have a change of heart or point of view for no apparent reason. Audiences want the narrative you’re weaving to track with the details you’ve provided. They want to know that they are emotionally investing in a story that is going to make sense and pay off.

Contradictions: Introducing a rule and then breaking it for convenience later on is an example of a contradictory plot problem and produces inconsistencies within your writing. For example, if you establish in the beginning of a book that characters cannot come back from the dead, but then you suddenly have a deceased character return for story purposes, that creates a big plot hole. Contradicting your own rules destabilizes your narrative, depriving audiences of the grounded sense of information that they need to immerse themselves fully.

Unresolved storylines: Even your subplots should have their own story arcs—too many loose ends can make a story feel incomplete. Leaving loose ends can also lower the stakes of your story, since there are no real consequences to anything that happens outside the main plot. For example, a character who is introduced with a storyline that conveniently influences the plot or protagonist but is forgotten about later would be an unresolved storyline.

Tips for Fixing Plot Holes

When you reach the end of the film or book you’re writing and suddenly discover major plot holes, it can take a lot of hard work to write yourself out of a jam. One of the easiest ways to fix plot holes you come across is to identify potential ones early on in your writing process (like during the outline or first draft) and prevent them from occurring in the first place.

However, it can be nearly impossible to anticipate every avenue for your narrative, and sometimes your story needs tweaking. Your job as a writer is to do as much as you can in order to tell the most complete, understandable story for your audience.

Here are some tips for doing just that:

Think things through. Spend time worldbuilding in order to give your story structure and somewhere real to live. Establish the rules and boundaries of your imaginary world and how everything exists within it. Figure out the power dynamics, setting, backstory of your narrative. Think about how you want your story to develop, the cause and effect of each plot point, and where you want your main character arcs to go. Keep track of those details as you write to keep your world consistent.

Research your topic. If you’re writing a book about a hospital, you should be aware of all the common medical terms and how to use them. If you’re writing a movie about airplane pilots, you should know everything you can about being and becoming one. Common advice is to “write what you know,” but you can expand on what you know by doing the proper research. Research from reputable sources is the best way to avoid factual errors and can save you the headache of having to rewrite with new or different information later.

Provide setup. By establishing certain guidelines for your universe, you, in turn, establish them for yourself as a writer. When an easy solution to an impossible problem comes out of nowhere, it’s considered an example of “deus ex machina,” and is generally frowned upon by critics and audiences. Provide proper setup of your world by describing earlier events and characters—enough information to foreshadow an occurrence later (so that it doesn’t seem unwarranted) but not so much you drown your readers or viewers in exposition.

Pay off the information you set up. As the creator, you must find the balance between giving your audience too much information and giving them little enough so they’re intrigued for more. You’re also responsible for making your readers or viewers understand why certain elements of a story are important. This is one of the purposes of the Chekhov’s gun plot device: If you’ve written a scene where a particular element or object is introduced at the beginning, that element or object needs to be used by the end of the story. Otherwise, your readers may feel like they’ve wasted their time or like the writer forgot about their own details. Introduce things and provide enough information so that it pays off in a satisfying way by the end of your story.

Take a break. If you find yourself drowning in illogical plot points, walk away from your writing. Sometimes, an author can be too close to their writing project in order to see it objectively. Revisiting your writing later with fresh eyes may offer you a different perspective or new strategy that could possibly help solve any issues you’ve come across.

How to Get Back Into Writing

When you first return to writing after a long hiatus, you should have a plan for building up your writing practice and getting creative juices flowing the way they once did. Here are some tips to get you back to the craft you love:

Read a lot. Nothing can jumpstart a return to writing quite like some inspiration. It doesn’t matter what you choose to read, but you may find more relatable inspiration in contemporary authors like Stephen King and Dan Brown than in classics from a past era.

Make a schedule to establish writing habits. Any published author will tell you that the secret to becoming a better writer is getting into a routine. In order to establish a writing groove, most authors write at the same time every day. Some aim for a specific word count or page count, while others simply write for a fixed amount of time. If you have a day job to balance, you can schedule your own writing session at any time of day. The key is to keep writing at the same time over a prolonged period.

Assign yourself creative writing exercises. If you want to build up your writing muscle after a long time away, you simply need practice. Creative writing prompts can be a great way to kickstart a writing practice.

Start a journal or digital document for story ideas. Nothing derails a return to writing quite like writer’s block. But you can stave this off by keeping a running list of novel, short story, and even nonfiction book ideas. The process will depend on how you work best. Maybe you prefer to jot down broad ideas, or perhaps you’re the type to sketch out ideas in great detail before you start the actual writing process. Either is fine; the main goal is to not find yourself staring at a blank page and unable to think of an idea.

Get ideas from real life. Your actual life is full of sources for writing projects. Base your main character on a family member or your best friend and use their real-life changes to guide your story’s character development. Use details about your hometown to build the world of your fictional story. Or, if you don’t want to invoke any person or place that’s too connected to you personally, take it upon yourself to do some people watching. Sit in cafes or libraries and see who comes in. You never know who might provide you with that spark of inspiration.

Comb through old writing projects. Revisit the works of your younger self and see if there’s an old work-in-progress that might be worth revisiting. Perhaps fresh eyes will give you a thousand ideas as to how to develop what’s currently on the page, or perhaps you’ll remember why you abandoned the project in the first place and turn your attention to a new book project instead.

Get ideas in unorthodox ways. If you’re still short on ideas, try random idea generation to get yourself going. For instance, pick up a great book you admire and start the first draft of your novel with the same first word. Or start your draft with a totally random word and then write a first line that puts that word in context. Try freewriting without an outline—but perhaps only as an exercise since it’s really hard to freewrite an entire book without meandering. Don’t be too precious about the story you make up. If it’s your first time back in several years, no one is expecting you to write a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Brush up your creative work as a content writer. Content writing tends to fall into two categories: marketing (particularly branding-based writing for the Internet) and technical writing that explains how to do something. Compared to fiction writing, there are a lot more paid jobs for content writers. If you can get one of these jobs, you can brush up on the mechanics of your writing—from grammar to syntax to clear explanations—and later apply that to your creative work. You can also rebuild your writing skills by blogging or just keeping a private diary.

Write for writing’s sake. The sobering reality is that most story ideas will not be published, much less end up on a bestseller list. So rather than invest a lot of time triangulating your writing for commercial appeal, be true to yourself. Write about what excites you, give it a strong point of view, and invest in the art of writing fiction for no other reason than that you love it.

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Plot Holes & Other Structural Issues

Structural Edit ⚜ Book Editing Checklist

Thanks so much for your kind words! Glad to hear you're getting back into writing. Hope these notes and tips help :)

[vindicated-truth]

“You want me to do what?”

The sigh the other man lets out sounds unfairly put upon. “Look, Prosecutor Kwon, everyone else has already blocked their calendars for this. It’s imperative that Joowon-ah himself has to come. After all, this is a surprise for him.”

Hyeok stares. “So you want me to make sure that on that day, no major crime will occur so that Joowon-ah’s schedule will actually be free. Or even if said crime will happen, I am to make sure he doesn’t find out so he won’t be distracted?”

“Well—yes. Basically.”

“Lee Dongsik-ssi, are you asking me to do magic?�� Hyeok throws his hands in the air. “Do you have any idea how stubborn that kid is?”

The insufferable man has the audacity to grin at him. “I do, actually. It’s one of his terribly attractive qualities.”

Hyeok shudders. “You’re the one sleeping with the man, you be responsible for him.”

Dongsik, to his credit, is unfazed. “You’re the one who raised him.”

Hyeok heaves an outraged breath and opens his mouth.

Dongsik arches an eyebrow at him.

Hyeok clamps his mouth shut and deflates. “Only for about ten years, more or less,” he grumbles under his breath.

From his seat in front of Hyeok’s office desk, Dongsik crosses his legs as his grin turns foxy. “Which does mean you are at least part of the reason why that stubborn kid has turned out the way he is.”

Hyeok glares at him. “And why are you assigning this responsibility to me? Why won’t you do it?”

Dongsik casually shrugs as he leans back with his hands behind his head. “I’m under probation. Can’t risk any run-in with the law, you see.”

The sting of guilt that awashes Hyeok is quickly tampered down as he realizes the implication. “But I’m allowed to circumvent the law just to control a wayward police officer?”

Dongsik smirks at him. “You’ve been doing it for more than ten years. Isn't that why you became a lawyer?”

Hyeok is aghast, not even bothering to dignify that with a retort. “Dear god you two are made for each other,” he instead mutters in disgust, and Dongsik actually preens.

The sound of a sickeningly bright Kpop song pierces the office, and both men’s attention are arrested by the phone lighting up and vibrating in the pocket of Dongsik’s jeans.

The man instantly brightens, and Hyeok swears Lee Dongsik suddenly looks ten years younger. “Speaking of the handsome little devil himself,” Dongsik says happily as he swipes on his phone to answer. “Yes, jagiya?”

‘Jagiya’? Hyeok mouths as Dongsik stands up to move into a corner of Hyeok’s office, talking on his phone in hushed tones like a giddy teenager, and the realization dawns upon Hyeok in absolute horror.

Did Lee Dongsik just assign ‘Super Shy’ by New Jeans as the ringtone for Han Joowon?

The disturbingly smitten man finishes the call with a soft little smile and actually clutches the phone to his chest for a moment before turning to Hyeok, who startles at being caught staring.

“You’ll be there on that date too of course, Prosecutor Kwon,” Dongsik suddenly declares as if it’s a guarantee.

Hyeok folds his arms across his chest. “I have a court hearing on that date.”

“No you don’t!” Dongsik counters brightly.

Hyeok furrows his brows. “Yes, I do.”

“No.” Dongsik bestows upon him a beatific, non-negotiable smile. “You don’t.”

Hyeok internally debates on standing his ground before he sighs, dropping his arms to his sides in defeat. “Why does it matter so much to you that I’ll be there? I get that you’re invested in him—” for whatever crazy reason that only a lunatic like you will ever have “—but why are you so invested in me?”

The way Dongsik’s playful demeanor suddenly sobers into an introspective one unsettles Hyeok. Slowly, Dongsik approaches Hyeok once more, and Hyeok instantly recognizes that look.

In court, it means that the witness is about to drop a revelation that will completely overturn the case—and forever change the course of justice.

Here, now, it is Lee Dongsik who approaches the witness stand of which Kwon Hyeok is the presiding judge.

“I lost my sister, Prosecutor Kwon. And it’s a pain I will never wish even upon my worst enemy.”

Dongsik stops right in front of him, Hyeok’s office desk being the only barrier between them.

“And that’s why for as long as I draw breath, I will never let Joowon feel the pain of losing his brother.”

Hyeok stills. He can’t breathe.

Dongsik holds his gaze for a long moment before his eyes visibly soften, crinkling at the corners. He drops into a ninety-degree bow, in which Hyeok is too shell-shocked to return, before he straightens, gives Hyeok one final smile, and turns to leave.

“You love him.”

Dongsik halts his steps.

The need for air makes Hyeok sharply inhale, and he finds his feet moving before he’s even aware of it as he strides across the room to stand in front of Dongsik.

“Does he know?”

Desperately, Hyeok searches the other man’s eyes.

Calmly, Dongsik meets his.

And this, too, is something Hyeok recognizes far too often in court.

“Lee Dongsik,” Hyeok whispers, “does Han Joowon know?”

It’s the eerie tranquility of a defendant awaiting his final sentence.

“I can only hope that I will continue to be granted the privilege of staying by his side for the rest of my life,” Dongsik softly confesses, “to make sure that he will never doubt it.”

—

Missing scene from circles.

Also posted at AO3

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

Terror of the Autons:

(this is a little break from the full serials, this is just notes from the scene where the other time lord appears to warn the doctor about the master's arrival)

Love the tardis noises and then this guy just fading in standing in midair → does beg the question though of if he’s like shrunk down his tardis and is somehow using it without being in it, his tardis is invisible, or he’s using a time ring or something (or what’s probably the real answer, they wanted something that looked kind of cool)

Also interlude to say, i think this guy is brax, i do not care what anyone else has to say about this, in my mind that time lord is irving braxiatel, i mean just look at how he’s dressed and how he interacts with the doctor and talks about him and the master, and the fact that the doctor clearly recognizes him (‘sarcasm always was a week point with you wasn’t it’ and then he goes on to insult him), it is so clearly brax

Gallifrey is 29,000 light years away from earth according to this guy

‘We time lords don’t care to be conspicuous. Some of us, that is’

‘The tribunal thought you ought to be made aware of your danger’ → i’m assuming the tribunal here is the people who are in charge of the doctors case and exile, also shows that the master and the danger he poses is known (at least by the cia, since i’m guessing this has something to do with the cia, which would make sense) but they don’t seem to know who he is in the deadly assassin and the cia is just like not there

‘We’ve always felt that your hearts are in the right place’ → now i don’t believe that

Master has a degree in cosmic science (of a higher class than the doctor’s no less, also implying that the doctor has the same degree) → well we know one of the degrees you can get at the academy now

They already know what the master had done → know he’s killing people, but only send a guy to warn the doctor about it, not actually help him in any way (noninterference, they can leave that up to the renegades) (also the implication here that they are just letting the master get away with his interference, because the moment they knew where the doctor was they captured him, but they know the master’s there and aren’t doing anything about it) (idk maybe something something the master may be evil, but his interference keeps up the image as time lords of all powerful gods of time while the doctors does not, so they let the master keep doing his thing while the doctor faced consequences for it)

The other time lord just completely refuses to do anything about the masters trap/bomb he set up and just leaves instead (see above paragraph)

He just pops in and out of existence, for lack of a better word, with no tardis noise, which he can do i guess

so i've decided to watch through every episode that gallifrey appears in and take notes on them (not doing this for every episode a non doctor time lord is in because that's too many) for the purposes of either ranking them, figuring out the lore, or later comparing eu depictions of time lords to how they're shown in the show, i'll figure it out later. this little intro thing is basically just for myself to make a post where i can put the highlights of my notes (very much not putting all of them since so far its been an average of 1.5 pages of notes per episode)

[mochimochimona]

Rewatching Arcane Only For Viktor and Jayce, analyzing for storytelling purposes as an artist* -S1 EP:4 or Viktors staring is sus

I loved that scene, where Jayce firstly implies Viktor to keep sitting so he doesn't need to crawl up and also for taking the blame completly.

A little disclaimer here because it might be confusing why I am doing this analyzis (?)...sss english is not my native language sorry - so I am an artist and Arcane is a huge inspiration for me and I wondered what the animators did to imply Jayce and Viktor being really close to each other, even having feelings for each other. And I do get the impression Viktor always had feelings for Jayce because he acts different in a lot of interactions with him. Body language is also an implication, so I will take a closer look on that as well. So I am going through scenes of them together and asking myself what makes me think they wanted to imply something more than lab partners, what makes me think that and HOW I would have done it differently to AVOID that. Also I want to know if I misinterpreted Jayce's behavior and read too much into it. So, here we go. It's actually part #3 already, I will put a post on tumblr with all of my guesses later. If you wanna share your thoughts, please do so!

Knowing what will happen and how sick Viktor gets, seeing it (really, seeing it because I can pay attention) and Jayce not noticing because he is so caught up in playing political figure hurts. Really hurts. And also I am sure now that Mel used Jayce most of the time to get what she wants (not in an evil way, honestly, she does take a liking to him later one, but I will say not as much as we get the feeling Jayce and Viktor care for each other) and she makes advances to Jayce, using his insecurity and jearning for acknoledgment.

I mean how can Jayce not tell that Viktor is immensly sick? I mean those two were working their asses of in the lab I get that, but I think it started right then and there that Jayce lost their dream, really, and the fact that Viktor is his best buddie (or whatever) and it got worse after he holds the speech.

And Viktor is clearly more devastated, which might even shocked Jayce too, than Jayce was, I mean the reaction:

Jayce really was surprised Viktor was so desperate. Viktor knew he was gonna die sooner or later so I think he thought with studying hextech he might find a cure for himself in the process. He didn't touch him, though, so Viktor wasn't shy, just shocked.

This scene made me laugh and choke, I have flashbacks of Jayce being in the Future but instead of seeing Mel and Viktor through the fire, we see him. Interesting choice to make the appearance of Jayce like that. Is that...is that foreshadowing again???? This makes my brain hurt.

Why am I doing this to myself again?

LOOK HOW HE LOOKS. WHY IS NO ONE ADRESSING THIS. Why am I doing this to myself, SEND HELP? Viktor was confidently asking "where have you been, they asked me to do the speech (or whatever)" but when Jayce touched him, said they were partners, he got a bit shy and even stuttered a bit. Okay so IF you are fine with your homie....anyway, the next thing:

"Not in front of" - there is a pause, his look:

"...all of them" and then THE STARE. Why would you do that? I am an artist myself and when it comes to visual storytelling, I am always asking myself what I want to tell people with frames and panels (if you make comics), so I am really wondering from a storytelling point of view: what did they wanted to make a point about? Apart from highlighting Viktor in this situation, to imply that he isn't comfortable in speaking to others okay. But his pause. Looking at Jayce...?

Because clearly Viktor is staring. Honestly, if they didn't want to make it read as longing, or something similiar/else, you would have took a different shot after he told "not for all of them", because if you did that, you wouldn't imply that he would have done it maybe in front of everyone, but not with Jayce staying there because it made him nervous being in front of him. ALSO really important thing I noticed here: when he interacts with Jayce in close proximity and out of context of research, he gets shy but he usually is a confident person.

And again, you could have approached Viktor not wanting to perform in front of a huge audience differently, if your only goal was to make that clear. Ya know, him being touched by Jayce on the shoulder, saying "You are my partner" and keeping a wide shot, making him gesticulate that he isn't comfortable, "in front of all those people" (he would do it in front of Jayce though). DOES ANYONE GETS WHAT I MEAN?

Still staring, or paying a lot of close attention to your lab partner.

And then he says "you - pause", AGAIN WITH THE CLOSE SHOT. I HOPE for the love of god that some people from the Studio will be at the Art Department in Berlin because I really want to ask about this. And I hope I won't get spooked so I ask lol. Because that's really what is interesting about this.

And then comes a really interesting thing, I guess. Sky approaches and she looks at Viktor. A short, acknowledging look from Viktor and he gets back to Jayce. So I was wondering why they made the shot like that again and showing she has interest in Viktor, but Viktor is just respectful.

And right back to Jayce but the next shot is a perfect masterpiece, I laughed so hard.

Replacing Vikor with the mug, where Jayces "Man of Progress" can be seen is, again, peak foreshadowing and storytelling. Again, you could have showed it differently, but every scene has a message and wants to convey something, so this is an important shot. Man, these guys from Fortiche are madmen. Stopping here or the post will get too long.

[mockiery]

Thinking bout the implications of Killian's joke in 3x21 at New York's expense: "On the bright side, I'm sure real estate is much more reasonable here [in the Enchanted Forest]."

So after only a couple months of time in the real world, with his 2 trips to NYC (one arriving via invisible pirate ship), Killian learned enough about NYC, real estate and regional differences of housing prices, the American economy and currency value, etc. to be able to make that joke.

Which, if so, says a lot about his attention to detail, intelligence, adaptability, and effort to learn and understand this unfamiliar world. Though he could've just heard someone else make the joke and just ripped it off lol

[mollysunder]

My wildest theory for now is that Mel will make a pact with a demon in the Noxus show.

The eye on this sword tells me that it's either possessed by a Darkin or a demon, and either can bind with a host.

Why do think this? Well in Blood Sweat and Tears it's apparent Mel is connected with the Kindred, but the Kindred is strange here. I don't mean something like, "Oh the Lamb is black and gold and red all over". I mean the Lamb's arm seems to be permanently red here.

The only person with an arm like that , completely and fully red, is Swain, who was included in the Wolf's afterlife. Swain's arm is only like that because the demon Raum replaced it using his power.

There's also many similarities to the Lamb and Mel which I discussed in another post. If we treat the Lamb as a stand in for Mel, the reason Ambessa rejects a relatively peaceful death, for a life of ruthless ambition to protect her children (as referenced in Ambessa's bio), the connection becomes clearer and the implications become further reaching.

[aliteralchicken]

just gonna expand on a few of your points and rebuttal some because I think you’re unintentionally trauma porning her a bit

Steph may be mad at herself here im not arguing with that but its very little if at all to do with the baby, she was already very mad before this scene because of the events prior to it (Tim showing concern for a female civilian after she got shot and being upset she doesn’t know that part of his life)

deans age is never confirmed yes so it is possible he’s is confirmed by DC to be a teenager, though he could be on the higher end, the text I used is from the Batman encyclopedia, Stephanie (who Chuck originally wrote to be 16, later changed to 15) was also driving, as was Tim at 14 but that was a special case

we know near to nothing about Dean because it’s not written, there’s nothing to ever imply he cheated on her or had even been with anyone else, you can’t just assume it as fact because you don’t like him, even if she had been cheated on in the past it could have been with a previous boyfriend and prior to their relationship Steph herself is very okay with the idea of Robin cheating on his girlfriend with her, Steph’s frequent accusations of cheating seems to be less about cheating itself and more to do with your previous point about her low self esteem

i never said Tim didn’t cheat on Ari, but this isn’t a post about him, Steph and Dean were confirmed to be dating, again we don’t know when this started, but timeline wise unless they were in a very very short relationship (which is possible) while that was happening Steph was flirting with, attempting to date and kissing Robin, which is cheating, I’m not a fan either but it did happen

Again you could be correct about Dean pressuring her but the only thing we know about the sex is from Steph’s own account, that is was more romantic to do it passionately rather than than think of any future consequence, it is possible Dean was the reason they had sex but also it’s possible she had sex with him because she wanted to feel more mature as someone who had to act mature, my personal interpretation is that she was hyper sexual due to her past trauma of Murray seeing her as a sexual object so young, but we don’t know the actual reason

I agree with your point about Steph’s opinions on teen mothers and it actually highlights another point that I forgot to delve into which is her reaction to Cynda Reed specifically, Cynda has already gone through the pregnancy and labour and is currently taking care of her daughter yet despite Steph not knowing anything about this relationship, not having her own baby yet and at this point had already decided to give the baby up (prior to considering keeping it) Steph implies Cynda, like her very naive friends (Dixon when I catch you) doesn’t understand the consequences of what she has already done, this scene is very interesting to me because Stephs tendency to see her own experiences in others is something that is highlighted in her superhero career, what comes to mind being her beating penguin because she saw herself in the little girl she saved, which I think is interesting to see in her civilian life as well

TLDR: a lot of your points could have happened but we don’t have enough implication or confirmation to say for certain

Correcting things I’ve seen people get wrong and lie about Stephanie’s pregnancy and her ex boyfriend because its slowly becoming its own fanon: (tw: for teen pregnancy)

Tim is not the father, I can’t stress enough how Tim is very much not the father, the father is her ex boyfriend Dean

We don’t know when they got together but Stephanie was dating Dean up until cataclysm, meaning she was attempting to cheat on him with Robin (though unsuccessfully) Dean wasn’t cheating on her

Although we don’t know if she dated them officially it’s implied Steph had more than one unnamed partner before Dean, he’s not her first boyfriend

Dean is not an old man, he’s a teenager, though Stephanie does have trauma related to older men (her babysitter Murray) and a very creepy uncle named Dave

Dean didn’t leave because of the pregnancy, he left because of the earthquake, Steph explicitly says that she didn’t tell him

Dean does eventually find out about the baby, though a significant amount of time after it’s already been given up, but didn’t know if it was his or not until he asks her

Steph didn’t beat Dean up because of the baby, she very explicitly says he’s not the one she’s mad at (she was mad at Tim) Steph also beats up another teenager Tito for the same reason

The sex was underage (Steph was 15) and unprotected but it was consensual, Dean was said to be a jerk but he was never harmful

Stephanie was always very against the idea of getting an abortion and would get very angry if anyone suggested it

Stephanie went to birthing classes (with Tim in his Alvin Draper disguise), she also saw a councillor at Gotham county social services, though temporarily, was able to homeschool and take her books home and had her mom supporting her completely

Steph declined an agency offering her money for a healthy baby, it’s unclear how many others she went to but the one she settled on was “st. Swithins”

Although she did consider keeping her own baby Stephanie didn’t have very high opinions of teen mothers, she called her classmate Cynthia Reed, who unlike Steph had already had her baby and was raising it, a “raging moron” telling Cynthia’s friends who were trying to be supportive they were also morons and should wise up (she also later calls them stupid)

During the labor Steph lost a lot of blood and the doctors struggled to stop the bleeding, she had to have her baby via c section, although it’s never shown in comic she would likely have a scar

Steph asked not to know the anything about the baby after it was born, but during war games she says the baby was a girl, its never stated when she was told, if ever, it’s possible she’s guessing the gender or that she asked Tim at a later date

the baby is never named, I’ve seen people say this panel is Steph asking Tim to help name the baby, it’s not, she’s asking him to hug her

What cemented the decision of giving up the baby was a nightmare she had while unconscious during labour, where her father took her baby with other rouges in order to introduce it to a life of crime and put it in danger

the actual baby is never shown on panel, only on a cover, so it’s possible she grew up to look like Dean rather than the copy paste blonde hair and blue eyed child Stephanie dreamed about

[corpsentry]

a glass sun 1/2

[k-wame]

POIROT 2.02 | The Veiled Lady

[cosmos-dot-semicolon]

The widow venom being a thing the team needed to get is what makes the difference for me. Yeah they only had it in there because the writers wanted something to raise the stakes, but regardless the implication was that it was a bad job that somebody had to do, so it's only fair that someone who let two of their team members get captured for selfish (preventable) reasons should have to risk it.

On the other hand, the Misfortune's Keep fight was explicitly done to break Jay's will. Nadakhan's goal is to get him to use his final wish above anything else, and I highly doubt that we're supposed to side with that here. I agree with cboffshore in that it's a more of an 'oh shit' moment for him as things come crashing down due to his own actions, which I think is interesting to see happen, but I wouldn't call it 'deserved' in any sense.

Had Skybound on the mind for some reason (dont even like that season for how much i think about it frfr) but I got curious about something so I'm gonna poll it

[lightbulb-warning]

i used to freehand comics all the time as a child and since the part i liked was the drawing part i would just draw panel after panel because i didn't want to stop drawing to think about icky icky words, plus the story TOTALLY still made perfect sense! to me! and noone else, but 'whoooo caaaaares omgggg its not like comics and sequantial art are a communicative meeediummmm lmaoooooo'. i spent my entire childhood telling myself stuff like "oh pfft I know this story by heart- ill SIMPLY remember the dialogue and write it later" ...and. I can't help but admire baby maiora's (call that a minora ba tm tsk) fucking audacity? hubris? confident wrongness? kid couldn't even remember to finish the comics in the first place? INCREDIBLE levels of unearned self assurance, wish that were me, genuinely- what an icon!!! anyway i think i have forever cursed myself

[daily-hanamura]

[jackmkelly]

jacks survivors guilt goes crazyyyy

[galacticlamps]

not sure i've seen anyone mention it yet but also i havent looked - but the bit at the beginning of episode 5 where edwin's reading up on astrological compatibilities just before brad & hunter show up - is there a prevailing theory about a specific taurus and aires he might be referring to?

he did just leave charles and crystal together to settle their relationship status (not that he's aware that's what they're discussing at the time), so i'm kind of inclined to assume it was them, but as far as I can recall he & niko are the only people whose signs we're told outright (and frankly, just removing his from the equation does rule out about half the potential ships in the show)

but if crystal is one of the parties involved, that just raises more questions

Like does that mean she remembers when her birthday is? I wouldn't have thought so, since even with only a partial name, a specific DOB might make her significantly easier to look up, particularly if her parents are kind of famous (i've been assuming all along that her name being a noun effectively made her google-proof). Or is it more likely monty just declared her something & they all accepted that as fact because he was noticeably right about everyone else so far? But if that's the case, how much has he been talking to/getting to know the rest of them, because she would press him on that, right? like it's one thing to make quips about people who are capable of confirming their own birthdays being typical of their signs - but since crystal's actively on the lookout for chances to learn more about herself, you'd think someone being confident he can just tell certain things about her like that would be of particular interest to her. And alternatively if monty hasn't spent too much time with her & is still responsible for assigning her a horoscope anyway, does that mean he's been like. displaying a certain amount of supernatural knowledge all along without anyone getting suspicious of him? and where does astrology fall on that scale anyway, in their world? edwin's skepticism at first would imply it's not considered a normal science to them, even in the context of ghosts and spells and witches - unless that's just meant to read as him being especially hypocritical?

Do any of these things have clearly implied answers to people who do know about astrology? Or have I missed canonical birth dates given for anybody anywhere? I feel like they'd shed some light on an unusually large number of questions for me at the moment