#people tend to forget that prisoners are human beings too

[spirit-praise-and-beauty]

unfriendly reminder that prison jokes aren’t funny and mocking the victims of a system for their experiences just contributes to the oppression of the people put there

[alanaartdream]

1st off I have to say I LoVe ❤️ @cubbihue itty bitties fairly odd parents Au as well as @jessadamsdraws the Deal fairly odd parents AU

That i wanted to add my fairly odd parents Fairy Oc to their au’s

But to do that I’m gonna have to explain about who my Fairy oc Felicity

Well she was a human child when British were sending Convicts to Australia between 1788-1868

She was a child excuse at stealing food and was given a choice of going to overcrowded prison or being sent to Australia 🇦🇺 at the time (she chose Australia)

She then got Jorgen’s Nana Boom boom as her godmother who was only one who seemed to care for her and support her creative talents so when she wished she was a real fairy and could live with Nana Boom boom and she was raised by nana boom boom to become the Fairy of the creative arts and records keeping (she gets to work with Father Time to make sure the records are up to snuff and no fake information is in them) but most fairies know her for helping to inspire humans & fairies alike in art and tend to forget she holds records for all their histories until fairy Timmy or Lawyer Timmy realises they need to look back on records of evens to help with keeping the Da Rules from having too many loopholes or where it could maybe need to change some rules to better help fairy world as a hold ( or to help beat the pixies & anti fairies from taking over fairy world)

She will be a little star struck when she 1st meets Timmy Cosmo Wanda and Peri because she has all the records of when they saved the universe and fairy world (also she hates Timmy’s parents; cocker and Vicky being as she has all the records of how they treated Timmy Wanda Cosmo and even peri and will be herd complaining how humans could ignore all that abuse they put a CHILD through is beyond her) she’ll also be Hazel’s fan because she saved Fairy World from anti fairies (she most likely ask for them to sign her autograph book) Jorgen will be confused on finding out he’s a little related to her through Nana Boom boom adoption of her back in 1788

She loves all animals but cats (big and small so going from your house cat to wild lions)

Watching history documentaries or cat ones

Art and craft shows

And anything that’s art related

She’s always got a paint brush and a pencil stuck in her very very curly hair with cat & flower shaped hair clips and her wand looks like a big pencil with a star ⭐️ on top of it

(Oh and she’s asexual)

If she’s In the Itty Bitties AU

I think she’s a pixie fairy but the only girl one being as in the original show all the pixies were all male or appear to be (didn’t see a single female one in that bunch at all) but being as so many see her as the Artist fairy not many realise she’s a pixie fairy at all so don’t bother to tell her she’s supposed to wear the grey uniforms but then when they realise she is one and has been keeping records for EVERYTHING in fairy world they do Attempt to get her to wear grey uniforms but realise the uniforms were not designed for a female pixie being as it would seem a vast majority of them are male so then give up trying to get her to wear the grey uniforms so then fairy Timmy by that gets to keep his pink outfit being as A) he’s a great worker on keeping the da rule up to date and B) being as he’s related to both Jorgen and like felicity was once human they just have to let it slide being as he was the only one who figure out Felicity was the only fairy who was keeping track of all of fairies records

In the Deal au Timmy has grown up to be a pretty good lawyer and when he has to save fairy world pixies trying to take over with anti fairies because Felicity’s anti fairy likes to keep track of what people did wrong so she can backstab people with that information or find loopholes to get anti fairies to get their way; So of course Timmy will ask for all of fairy world’s records so he can defend fairies against them at first most fairies don’t know who’s been keeping the records for them so hazel steps in and wishes for fairy who keeps track of all of fairy world’s records and Felicity appears has a bit of a excited to see lawyer Timmy rambling until her anti fairy starts pointing out all the bad things Timmy did and then of course She starts telling her anti fairy off and listings down all the good Timmy Turner did with Wanda Cosmo and peri while all the other fairies are gasping in surprise over finding out she’s not just the Arts fairy

And that’s just what I’ve gotten down so far and I really need to go to bed I’m work later

[justsigma-bsd]

A Blank Page, Torn From A Book Without Name

Well, I ended up trying to put the word salad in my head into actual, coherent words after all.

First of all, everything here is just my take on things. The theories and thoughts I've had on certain things. I don't think any of it is official, but if anything of it is, in fact, confirmed to be true or false, feel free to tell me!

Some of the panels were taken from a YouTube video, which I'll link at the bottom!

TW for: Human trafficking, dehumanization

Ok, so first things first, some of this stuff I've already written down a while back for writing reasons. I found some of my old notes, and noticed that, after rereading the panels, they make more sense than I previously thought.

Let's start here: what stands out the most to me isn't that he's in the desert, not even the ticket. No, it's the simple »[...] or even who I was«

Because who, indeed, is Sigma? Sigma does not have an identity. He has no history, no nothing. Just the clothes on his back, a ticket that seems to be useless and earrings, for some reason.

Without a name, you don't have an identity and without identity you don't have a name.

Then there is this, too:

»I gave myself a name. Sigma. A man of the casino«

I don't believe he had a name upon being created. I don't think he had one for a long time, because in the same panel that he mentions giving himself a name, he also mentions the casino- which came much, much later. Sigma existed for three years by the time the series started. However, the timeline is wonky as heck.

Because how long did he stay with the traffickers? How long was he on his own after escaping? How long ago did Fyodor find him? Questions upon questions, but since I've already mentioned the lack of a name and the traffickers, let's get to my thoughts on that, specifically:

»They captured and enslaved me« along with »And once they knew that I had a skill [...]« makes me wonder: how long did it take for them to find out?

I haven't researched anything about human trafficking, but it's basically slavery, from what I've gathered through the previous things I've heard and read. And he does say so himself, too.

Sigma, three days alive, spent his early life a slave. It's confirmed that he was shackled, seeing that he is wearing them in the panels.

(As a side note, I do believe that he has scars from the shackles around his wrist. He wears a tight, wrist-long turtleneck beneath his coat, and I think it's to hide the scars. Both from others and himself.)

His first human interaction was plain horrible. Did he know and understand that? Did he understand that this wasn't normal? I don't think he knew how wrong this was at first. I don't believe that he understood it immediately. If he didn't know who he was, why would he know that being treated like this is wrong?

I believe that he realized it at some point, but not as soon as it started. I think he lived like that for a while, thinking it was normal, before getting some sort of wake-up call. Perhaps through his ability, or a fellow prisoner. Maybe both, or neither.

He must've gotten whiplash, once people genuinely looked up to him when he was the manager at Sky Casino.

I also think that he, probably, does tend to forget that being treated like that is, in fact, not normal or okay. Our upbringing leaves some sort of mark on all of us, experiences define us, give us habits and a feeling of what's normal and what isn't.

Which means that his "normal" is skewed and he expects being used rather than kindness, probably even after learning that some people are genuinely kind. I'm guessing that his mindset is, due to that, a simple "If I'm alive I'm alright".

I don't think he'd complain about being treated wrong and or left behind, or admit when he's injured. Or at the very least attempt to keep it a secret as long as possible- especially from those he sees as authority figures.

However, I also think that he was isolated, as per this panel:

Not only the text, but also the background paint a picture that causes me to believe that.

I almost skimmed past this panel while making my analysis, before pausing and taking a closer look. I thought this was in Sky Casino at first, until I looked closer and realized three things:

1, the background does not match Sky Casino in the slightest

2, he isn't wearing shoes or his current outfit, but the old clothes he had when wandering the desert

3, the shadows aren't from the light of a window, they're bars from a cell

While I did believe before that the traffickers kept him isolated from others (due to wanting to keep him unaware of the wrongness of his situation as well as to make sure he doesn't learn things he should/other prisoners finding out things that Sigma got to know by accident), this sort of put the final nail in the coffin for me.

But, at some point, he did realize that it was wrong. Perhaps he'd had a bad feeling from the start. Maybe he hated being treated like this. Who knows? Point is, he escaped. This brings us back to this page:

»No matter how kind someone seemed, they used me and then tried to kill me for knowing too much«

Sigma, after escaping the traffickers, after escaping the life of a slave, probably still didn't know much about living.

And I firmly believe that Sigma is smarter than even he himself thinks. There's just one issue: Sigma is naive (at least in my eyes), and it's not even his own fault. He simply tried his best to survive, and what was the reason the traffickers kept him around? His ability, most likely.

Problem is that his ability truly is something people would love to exploit, and it seems as if they did. Which makes me believe that he has a talent for running into murderers thinking they're nice people, only to get a not-so-nice surprise.

»The last one to use me [...]«, this specific line is the reason why I believe Sigma to have been used a lot. We don't know how often, exactly, his ability was taken advantage of. But we know the latest person who did.

Fyodor was the last one to use him, which means that, at that point, he was probably used to it. Used to being treated like a pawn, and used to people trying to kill for knowing too much. And I believe that he was, quite plainly, exhausted.

Imagine, your entire life consists of being forced to aid others with crimes, with being shackled. You don't know the difference between working for someone and being used by someone.

If you were offered what you wanted most, wouldn't you accept, too? Even if you know that you're once again being used? I mean... this time around, you gain something for it. Doesn't that make it worth the risk?

It's a gamble Sigma took... and lost.

This page involves two quotes that give me pause:

»Don't you wish for a home?«

We don't know why or how he knows what a home and a family is, but he does. And he wants it. He says it was never within his reach. But it is perfectly clear to us, while reading the Sky Casino Arc, that he wants it. He wants a home and a family.

He'd rather sacrifice his own life than see Sky Casino fall. »Home« and »Family« are, to him, more important than staying alive. Because it's something he never had, and something he clings to. Simply because he doesn't have anything else.

»I, who was originally 'nothing'[...]«

Is the second line that makes me pause. Because like previously mentioned, Sigma was a slave with no name or identity of his own. We don't know when he found out about being created by the book (and I firmly believe that he found out one way or another), but I believe he didn't see himself as a human before, and this "confirmed" it for him.

Think about it, would traffickers care about their victims? Would they treat them as human beings? Call them by their name? What about a person who has no name to begin with?

He wasn't treated like a human being in the beginning, and thus considered himself nothing. Considered his home and "family" to be worth more than hid own life.

He was literally created from nothing. His story doesn't have a beginning. He has no memories prior to being created, he had no name nor identity. How his story will end is unknown. We don't know what's written on his page.

I believe this, combined with being with the traffickers, makes him doubt his humanity. Not only because he was created through the book, but also because for the first (months? Year?) of his life, he wasn't treated like a human.

His sense of self-worth is probably down in the dumps.

»In the end I never did understand what I was born for...«

I don't think he knows the details of his existence. The content of his page, the words that brought him into existence. He doesn't know why he was born/created. He doesn't know what things were predetermined.

He doesn't know what's real and what's just writing on a page.

Sigma, in three years of being alive, went through hell. He was enslaved, his ability was taken advantage of over and over, he was used by multiple people who all ended up trying to kill him and when he thought that he finally found a home? A family? It was taken away from him.

Genuinely, he needs a plate of cookies, a hug and a ton of therapy.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little analysis and theories? I never did something like this before, so criticism is welcome!

Here's also the link to the video from which I got the screenshots: https://youtu.be/KwsSvFYAKjA?si=R_IvH-S8GYut_hrG

[rue-me-nations]

Lines from The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

"One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something to feel it. By the time the mind is able to comprehend what has happened, the wounds of the heart are already too deep."

“The words with which a child’s heart is poisoned, whether through malice or through ignorance, remain branded in his memory, and sooner or later they burn his soul.”

"As I walked in the dark through the tunnels and tunnels of books, I could not help being overcome by a sense of sadness. I couldn't help thinking that if I, by pure chance, had found a whole universe in a single unknown book, buried in that endless necropolis, tens of thousands more would remain unexplored, forgotten forever. I felt myself surrounded by millions of abandoned pages, by worlds and souls without an owner sinking in an ocean of darkness, while the world that throbbed outside the library seemed to be losing its memory, day after day, unknowingly, feeling all the wiser the more it forgot."

"Sometimes we think people are like lottery tickets, that they're there to make our most absurd dreams come true.”

“People tend to complicate their own lives, as if living weren't already complicated enough.”

“Life has enough torturers as it is, without you going around moonlighting as a Grand Inquisitor against yourself.”

“A story is a letter that the author writes to himself, to tell himself things that he would be unable to discover otherwise.”

“... a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us.”

“I could tell you it's the heart, but what is really killing him is loneliness. Memories are worse than bullets.”

“Time goes faster the more hollow it is. Lives with no meaning go straight past you, like trains that don’t stop at your station.”

“Most of us have the good or bad fortune of seeing our lives fall apart so slowly we barely notice.”

“...until that moment I had not understood that this was a story about lonely people, about absence and loss, and that that was why I had taken refuge in it until it became confused with my own life, like someone who has escaped into the pages of a novel because those whom he needs to love seem nothing more than ghosts inhabiting the mind of a stranger.”

“Perhaps for that very reason, I adored her all the more, because of the eternal human stupidity of pursuing those who hurt us the most.”

“In those days I learned that nothing is more frightening than a hero who lives to tell his story, to tell what all those who fell at his side will never be able to tell.”

“Nothing feeds forgetfulness better than war ... We all keep quiet and they try to convince us that what we've seen, what we've done, what we've learned about ourselves and about others, is an illusion, a passing nightmare. Wars have no memory, and nobody has the courage to understand them until there are no voices left to tell what happened, until the moment comes when we no longer recognize them and they return, with another face and another name, to devour what they left behind.”

“The most efficient way of rendering the poor harmless is to teach them to want to imitate the rich.”

“Money is like any other virus: once it has rotted the soul of the person who houses it, it sets off in search of new blood.

“Julian once wrote that coincidences are the scars of fate. There are no coincidences, Daniel. We are puppets of our subconscious desires.”

“Julian spoke with the clear, unequivocal lucidity of madmen who have escaped the hypocrisy of having to abide by a reality that makes no sense.”

“He was a very private person, and sometimes it seemed to me that he was no longer interested in the world or in other people... I got the feeling that Julián was living in the past, locked in his memories. Julián lived within himself, for his books and inside them - a comfortable prison of his own design."

"There are worse prisons than words.”

“You women listen more to your heart and less to all the nonsense. That's why you live longer.”

“Television, my dear Daniel, is the Antichrist, and I can assure you that after only three or four generations, people will no longer even know how to fart on their own. Humans will return to living in caves, to medieval savagery, and to the general state of imbecility that slugs overcame back in the Pleistocene era. Our world will not die as a result of the bomb, as the papers say - it will die of laughter, of banality, of making a joke of everything, and a lousy joke at that.”

“They had parted as boys, and now life presented one of them with a fugitive and the other with a dying man. Both wondered whether this was due to the cards they'd been dealt or to the way they had played them.”

“Some things have to be seen in the shadows.”

[zodiactalks]

Most CHARITABLE Zodiac Signs Ranked

If you were asked whether you would like the world to be a better place, I am sure your answer would be yes.

None of us wish any harm to others and would gladly do our part to contribute to society (except, of course, the psychopathic or antisocial).

A charitable person is socially conscious, generous, kind, very sensitive, and eager to make a difference in the world.

They are less concerned about their not-so-important personal matters and always keep others in mind when making decisions.

However, some of us seem too wrapped up in our personal affairs and then don't have the slightest time left to do a little charity!

While others seem to devote all their energy and efforts to helping those in need.

Read on and find out which are the most charitable signs of the zodiac.

#1. Pisces

Pisces is the Zodiac’s last sign and can see themselves reflected in everyone else, so empathy is as natural to them as breathing. These signs thrive on helping others. They never look out for their own welfare without taking other people into account.

You can find these generous individuals doing charity work in hospitals, shelters, orphanages, and even prisons.

They also often lead fundraisers for abandoned animals and promote environmentalist habits. They just have a lot of love to give to the world, and they will go to great lengths to share it with those who need it the most.

#2. Cancer

Cancer is a water sign that knows very well how it feels to be vulnerable and search for comfort. That's why they tend to do charity work and help people in need of support.

At first, it is difficult for them to open up, as Cancer is shy around people they don't know and tends to be more reserved.

They usually look for organizations that remind them of their childhood and that are in their hometown.

#3. Aquarius

Aquarius, like Pisces, thinks of the common good before their own. These signs direct their actions towards a fairer humanity and won't rest until the most unfortunate people find peace.

Thus, it is common to find them doing charitable work, living in cooperatives, and working as a team for a common goal. This sign is not selfish and couldn't cares less about surpassing others in fame or profit. They honestly seek a more balanced and just world for all.

#4. Virgo

This earth sign is constantly looking for ways to help others and make things work better.

Although they are usually swamped, they find the time to help those in need in their neighborhood. Virgos make their food, clean where they stay and pass along a few bucks to ensure their well-being.

Virgo is not overtly demonstrative with their emotions, but they are very attentive to those who need help and don't think twice about lending a hand.

#5. Capricorn

Capricorns have often gone through tough challenges in their youth that have turned them into the firm and committed people they are today.

That's why they know all too well what it feels like to be helpless and endure the storms that a lonely and vulnerable home life brings.

So, they try to do charity work from time to time to avoid forgetting where they came from. This keeps them humble despite their current enormous success.

#6. Leo

Although they have a terrible reputation for being self-centered, Leo has a huge and generous heart! These signs can sometimes get lost in their little daily dramas, but that doesn't stop them from considering the less privileged.

The nice thing about Leo is that they don't plan their deeds. When they feel like giving something, they do it spontaneously, which often turns out to be very thoughtful gifts.

Leo has the spirit of a child who does what they feel and does not think too much about the motives. If at that moment, they feel like helping someone, they will unquestionably do it.

#7. Libra

Libra is a friendly and outgoing sign. It often hosts charity and fundraising events, which end up being the talk of the neighborhood.

They don't usually help those in need because they naturally want to, but because it's just another excuse to throw a party and show off their beautiful new outfits.

Even if the motives are not the best, the goal ends up being achieved and helps many people to improve their lives. In addition, Librans have a great sense of justice, and when they find that some people are living in unfavorable conditions for no particular reason, they can't help but pitch in to lend a hand.

#8. Sagittarius

Sagittarius is too busy enjoying thousands of adventures and basking in the blessings of life to think about people who are struggling.

Since these signs are so optimistic, they forget some people are going through tough times and need help to get by.

Of course, when they realize it, they give everything they have to support them, as these individuals are not stingy. They just need a little reminder from time to time to remember that some people are in a bad place.

#9. Scorpio

Scorpios do not like to be too exposed, especially with people they do not know. They prefer to remain in the dark, observing how society functions but avoiding too much involvement.

Besides, most of the time, they're caught up in their own struggles and don't have a very positive view of the world. So, there is not much point in trying to help.

When they decide to do charity work, they do it anonymously and do their best not to be seen.

#10. Taurus

Taurus invests too much in its luxuries and a comfortable lifestyle. They think that hard work is responsible for a good standard of living, and if we give away everything to people in need, they will never try to get back on their feet.

So, they spend their hard-earned money on their comfort and sharing with their loved ones. However, when a fellow friend needs assistance, they won't hesitate to lend a helping hand.

#11. Gemini

Gemini is somewhat oblivious to suffering in the world. They spend their time learning new skills, running all sorts of errands, and meeting new people.

These signs love to have fun, and when they have to face the harsh reality of some people, they don't know how to deal with it. So, they prefer to skip it and occupy their minds with other things to avoid getting depressed.

#12. Aries

Aries has an individualistic and assertive personality. These signs are constantly pursuing new goals, and the faster they can achieve them and move on to the next one, the better.

So, they don't have much time to do charity work, unless it is some kind of competition, they are participating in. If you challenge Aries to spend the most time doing charity work, they will do it just to show off their victory.

[thenixkat]

granted that they keep portraying superheroes as gods when they're literally just people that can do more shit fits in with the mindset they're showing

Batman and his forces have joined up with teh old guard supervillains to fight against super people tyranny b/c Superman's crew have begun building prison camps in the irradiated Kansas

in multiple worlds Batman is way too willing to join forces with Lex Luthor than literally any other choice. I think that says something about Bruce and his feelings towards metas

but that's just me. Apparently, the notion that Bruce Wayne is probably some sort of bigot is an unpopular opinion

so the superheroes can strip Kansas of the irradiation but instead of replanting so people can have food, Superman and his crew build a prison. Doesnt that speak volumes about superheroes

dont forget that Wonder Woman is pushing the charge to imprison the unbelievers, we can't make Superman look too bad

the prison is immediately filled beyond capacity

and teh superhero who grew up breaking out of prisons on Apokalypse, Mr. Miricle is the warden its not just a prison its a reeducation camp to teach fuckers to obey Superman's idea of right and wrong

and the illegally imprisoned metas that kidnapping them and holding them against their will isnt exactly moral either

yeah Eclipso and Ra's Al Ghul are like the Joker, big fucking recurring issues that have not been properly handled by the criminal justice system that tend to lead lots of fucking death. There's nothing wrong with permanently handling fuckers like that. But these writers dont have room for nuance

also there's fuckers kidnapped from other countries who dont speak or understand English in this prison camp/reeducation center and all of Superman's teachings are in English

ya know its a great look for your entirely white lead superheroes to have a prison camp full of visible minorities and people whole ass kidnapped from other countries no implications there just a coincidence

also Deadman is here, I spotted him a few times in the crowd of untamed beasts, he's just kinda vibing and decides to have a chat with the pastor that's been our narrator/main viewpoint character

also another reminder that robots dont count as people to even heroes with no kill rules like Superman. Even if that robot is demonstratively sapient its fine to crush their bodies and scatter their main processors across the globe permanently

Captain Marvel has been brainwashed/mind controlled by Luthor

just Batman and Luthor get along waaaaaaaaay too well when it comes to hating on metas and nonhumans

of course the Martian Manhunter is on Batman's side for reasons

and for some reason he's aged as much as the humans around him and thus his abilities have deteriorated Superman just forcing the metas of other countries to either obey him, go to the gulag for reeducation, or stop being superheroes

the Flash spotted the narrator an old ass man through the fabric of reality, snatched his ass and Powergirl is threatening to punch him if he doesnt give up info on who he is and why he happened to be close to them while outside of reality

yeah the prisoners are revoltings you kidnapped their asses from multiple countries and threw heroes and villains in there alike

shit was bound to happen for one reason or another and once again we have Wonder Woman pushing for violence, 'undermining' SUperman's authority b/c we cant make superman look that bad

just Wonder Woman being Superman's warhawk not-wife in this trying to steer him and use his authority to get the results she wants is just so uck in so many ways

[fabdante]

Related to a post I just reblogged (can I send you a link in an ask, or will Tumblr eat the ask if I do that?), but Dante and/or Kat with plant powers would be cool, too. Especially if Dante gets his plant powers from his mom's side, since the Angel barriers in the game already look like vines, and the first Angel weapon you get, Osiris, is a scythe.

I also kinda like the idea of Dante occasionally working as a psychopomp, just because things have gotta be kinda fucked after Mundus died, right? I'm not really sure if I remember exactly what Mundus did with human souls, but it was mentioned in Mission 17/Furnace of Souls, right? I think that's the main thing I'm thinking of. Help? Is it explained more in extra/side content?

Anyway, Dante helping lost souls/ghosts pass on would be Neat, especially since, at least in the original DMC continuity, ghosts exist, and can even interact with the living to carry out their unfinished business. I'm not sure if ghosts would exist in the reboot universe, but I mean, maybe?

Seeing Dante freeing more souls like the ones trapped in Bob's prison or Mundus' tower would be cool too. It's not really clear if those people are still ALIVE- Bob, at least, tells his prisoners that "suicide is impossible", and there's those weird, screaming trains that run through Bob's prison, and its never explained wtf is up with THOSE, but it looks bad, and it's Bob's prison, so something's gotta be fucky there- but if so, they probably need some help. Or, well, a LOT of help, but it'd be good to see Dante do whatever he could to help them.

Same for Dante working with Kat and Phineas to help stop places like St. Lamia's Orphanage from running. The most they could probably legally get away with is killing any demons that run the place cruelly, but at least it'd be SOMETHING.

I'm not sure if links cause asks to get eaten but I checked your account and found the post in question! I suppose also I just never thought of plant powers as something relegated to like softer, healing uses before either asdfghj i feel like all plant based characters I know of tend to use their plant powers fairly aggressively so I just sort of saw that as the default.

But, anyway, the connection between Eva and possible plant powers is cool I think (especially with the Osiris, scythe connection)!! Though I'm not sure if it's a powerset I think fits Dante, even when used more aggressively. I would love plant powers Kat though, it feels fitting to her particularly in the duel use of plants as both something soft and healing but also dangerous and deadly. It feels fitting to her. I could see this as something Eva might have been able to do to, especially given her blue roses she seems to somehow be able to grow despite them not being real. I think it makes a lot of sense for Eva and it'd be interesting to see her sharing that ability with her sons.

The game is very vague about what Mundus did with the souls. There's an implication that the souls torment is some sort of power source for the demons but it's not really elaborated upon. I'm assuming that no one found it particularly relevant to clarify which I guess is fair, it doesn't really come up all that much.

We also don't really know the status of the human souls in the game but I figured they were all dead at this point. As for Bobs prison I think there's probably a mix of the dead and the living and those kind of in between though we cannot forget also that he has demons and other supernatural beings in there as well, who likely are not dead at all who he can easily be referring to. I imagine trying to bring some piece to the dead would be something Dante and the post game gang would be interested in, though it's probably a daunting task given how many there are.

Also the trains I always assumed were a hold over from an earlier level design. The devs talk a lot about how they really, really wanted a train fight scene for the bulk of the games development but it either got too complicated or constraints got in the way so they had to get rid of it during development. I always figured the subways in Bobs mission were just a holdover from that plan or a sort of consolation prize for the effort that went into the non existent train boss fight asdfghjk so they got to keep their train, even if it didn't get used as intended. if it has larger implications to the lore that's possible, but the part of Bob's prison its in is modeled after a subway hub so I think it's just to tie into those visuals from the real world location Bob's prison is mimicking in Limbo. All of this is to say I'm not sure if the trains are exactly carrying anything as much as they are mimicking their real world counterparts (the real world metro system of Limbo City)

I also just kind of figured the orphanages like St. Lamias just sort of fell apart when Limbo collapsed into the real world. With their staff revealed to be demons, I'm not sure if they'd be allowed to continue operating. I'm also not sure how much Kat, Dante, or Phineas would care about keeping up with legality when it came to dismantling that kind of thing seeing as Kat was willing to join the Order to dismantle the system which abused her and nothing the Order did was particularly legal. I can see this however being something that'd be on Kat's radar, given it's a major motivator for her this whole time. The issue though now I think would turn a lot to the systemic issues within the American foster care system which is a far bigger fish to fry then demons unfortunately.

Which is all to say I do think the systems that hurt them would be on Kat and Dantes radar but that'd definitely be a tricky one to deal with in the midsts of Limbo City's mayhem.

[gayvampyr]

Do you support prison abolition /paying prisoners a living wage / making being able to vote more accessible to everyone?

I like your stances and opinions and your jokes but I'm genuinely curious on this one.

(This is inspired by some of the comments under one of your posts talking about how we should just make democracy more livable under capitalism, and while I disagree with that being the ONLY thing we need to do, it does kinda make me think about how many people think we need to get better without abolishing prisons or at least treating our prisoners better than we are treating them currently.)

hi! i'm not sure which post you're referring to but I'm actually anti-capitalist. I think we need to dismantle capitalism as a system because it is inherently inhumane, working exactly as intended and therefore cannot be "fixed" without restructuring it entirely from the ground up; the devaluation of human labor and environmental destruction for profit is not a bug, it's a feature. i could delve into the kind of economic system that i think should replace it after dismantling it, however it's more of a thought exercise and until it becomes a plausible reality, i would rather focus on how we can make capitalism livable for the time being because we have no other choice. for example we could start by lowering rent, instituting a 4-day work week, and establishing support networks for homeless people. i'm not an economist so it's not like i have all the answers but according to the results from other countries who have applied these practices, it improves quality of life and the economy significantly.

as for prisons, i'm pro-abolition. you can check out my prison abolition tag for more information, but essentially prisons exist in this day and age as an industry that profits off of slave labor. many of our laws and their enforcers unfairly target minorities and lower class people, and the denial of convicts the right to vote is just another way our government strips vulnerable communities of their political power, autonomy, and supposedly inalienable rights. aside from the conviction of innocent people and people who did commit a crime but ultimately did no harm, i don't think it's the right of any individual (or government, for that matter) to imprison others. i think people tend to forget that "criminals" are human beings and deserving of the same rights as everyone else, and it is human nature to make mistakes. the important thing is the opportunity to do better. militarist propaganda has done an incredible job of convincing us that convicts are amoral and undeserving of our sympathy, turning society in general against them and destroying any sort of safety net they might have had or needed otherwise. and people are too busy clinging to the notion that criminals are subhuman and deserving of whatever punishment is dealt that they can't see that this is a slide into fascism, and that they can just as easily become "other" should they find themselves on the receiving end of the system. we are very close to living in a surveillance state, which means any minor offense or slip-up has the potential to completely decimate your chances at getting a job, applying for college, getting a loan, receiving housing, and especially being able to have a say in elections. it also makes you more likely to be arrested again on account of "suspected illegal activity", so your record follows you around for the rest of your life.

sorry this got so long but yeah, essentially capitalism and the prison industry are inhumane and should be abolished.

[asoulofatlantis]

I am not exactly very interested in the sidestorys I currently have... but I think I should still watch them. So... uh... lets get this over with ^^’

I honestly don’t know if I find it cool, amusing or weird that basically no book ever in the Trails-Series was based on fiction ^^’ I mean, obviously there was a lot of Liberty taken with most of the books, but all in all they are all based on true storys and true people. Heck, sometimes they even use the actual names.

But I would say they sometimes go too far with it. We would know nothing right now about Swin and Nadias past without the 3 and 9 books.

In case you haven’t read 3 and 9 yet... here is a little spoiler for the ending: They do not end up like that in the book, this is pure wishful thinking on Nadias part XD (For now, that is!)

You know that these days I love Shirley, but uh... this hos thing with Ilya still leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I mean yes, on the long run it served Shirleys first step into being more human definitely well... but if we look at it this way, we might as well say that Crow being a Terrorist served his character-development well or that George placing the bombs inside the Couragous helped his development well on the long run - and neither of this is per se really wrong, but that can not make one forgive them what they did. Ilya almost died, because Shirley wanted to provoke Rixia and that is not something that can or should be forgiven that easily. I mean, in the end I am a Trails-Child by heart and will likely end up somewhat forgiving them all one way or another, because that is what Trails-Children do, but I will never forget it or pretend it didn’t happen.

I guess live will always be hard if you have been practically raised to be an assassin from a young age, forced to murder people when you are still somewhat a child put into an organisation were betraying your partner can save your life... these kids have been brainwashed and programmed and escaping that with so less experience in living a normal and happy life must be a true challenge. Thank good Nadia is not alone.

They would be so darn cute as a ship but he... yes, you guessed it, is practically sisterzoning her ^^’ What else is new? But if you look at Kuro 2, I think we are making progress with their relationship. Not only in a good way, but who said growing up is easy?

I think we found some common-ground here ^^’

...

Oh my... but I can not blame her, after everything that happened, after all the time he has been gone, he should have told her that he would be going back for a little while longe rmuch sooner. I can totally understand that she is angry and hurt right now. After all, she just finally got him back.

And now we are back at the main plot. Its C-Time now.

But he really didn’t mean it. His questions and intentions made absolute sense. Tho I guess he was not expecting her to have emotions like that and... you know... man do tend to have a... uh... you know... less empathic understanding of how to treat other people the right way ^^’ But once again, I am sure he did not have any bad intentions.

Rufus always was good with words, empty promises and fooling people... I can not blame Lapis for immediately falling for him... uh... his words... or... him? Well, you get what I mean. In CS1 I would have never thought he was a bad guy, a traitor in the truest sense. Heck, I liked his character and I thought he was on our side and would protect Jusis and his friends and then in CS2, even when he was with the bad guys I wanted to trust him, I thought there must be some good reason behind him doing what he was doing... and then he revealed to be an Ironblood... This man is really a master if fooling people and I am sure - even tho this will change eventually - at the moment, all he wants is to use Lapis. Like he has always just used people.

Gotta love this girl.

He just escaped prison and “ran” from a death sentence, even the name and title that comes with being and Albarea and the former Governor of Crossbell shouldn’t exactly give him much money under his belt, given they I doubt he needed it in prison and I also doubt he has much access to any of his former bank accounts. So... were does he get the money from? Or is this too just an empty promise?

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

Well a big issue with Vi, Jinx, and Ekko is that who they are now will never be able to measure up to who they remember each other to be.

Because humans alter their memories the more the revisit them, with the memory warping either into something worse, or something better depending on how you felt about that person. Both as a whole and the last time you saw them.

Vi admits that she hardly did anything in prison beyond think about Powder, but we already know from one of her first conversations with Caitlyn that doing so has warped her memories and perception of Powder.

During the parkour scene where Vi tells Cait that "Her little sister could do this at age 7," when the topside girl is struggling with the jumps and to balance up on high beams.

Even though we the audience all know that Powder would have struggled with a number of those jumps and maneuvers. Because we saw the fact that she struggled to keep up with Vi, Mylo and Claggor on the way to Jayce's apartment. And the jump we see Powder almost fall on, was no where near as complicated or as big as some of the stuff Vi was doing and expecting Caitlyn to follow her on.

Vi can't accept Jinx is who Powder grew up to be, because Vi can't even clearly remember who Powder actually was. Beyond being her small, cute, helpless, little sister who she has to protect, and would never hurt anyone.

Even though Powder's primary interest in building stuff was already centered around bombs. One of which I'm pretty sure was a literal nail bomb if I'm remembering it right. Like little Powder was pretty okay with the idea of maiming her enemies.

Sure they never worked. But that doesn't change the fact that Powder was trying to build weapons with some serious potential to harm people, or even kill them, long before she could have ever been influenced by Silco.

And it's somewhat the same issue with Ekko though to a different degree.

Ekko is still Little Man to Vi, to the point she can't take him seriously when he, who's been in the Underground this whole time, tells her that Jinx is who Powder is now.

Sure he sees it in a, she's a hopeless lost cause, sort of way, and he's definitely romanticized his memories of Powder just like how Vi has, but definitely not to the extent that Vi has.

And he tends to view Jinx and Powder as different people as a way of emotionally distance himself from her in order to be able to face her in battle.

Which is fine. We see that Jinx is fully willing and able to kill any Firelight that gets in her way, and Ekko was actively opposing SIlco. Being unable to bring himself to face her seriously on the battlefield would have gotten him killed.

And on the bridge it very nearly does.

Getting a glimpse of Powder in Jinx's face on the bridge nearly lands him in just as worse of a state as Jinx. And Jinx only survives due to a shitton of Shimmer and luck.

And it's the same with Jinx about her memories of Vi.

Over the years aspects of Vi's personality had gotten magnified in Jinx's memories of her.

And unlike Ekko or Vi's memories of who Powder used to be, where they tend to just outright ignore or forget about whatever negative traits she might have had, because she was literally just too weak to actually manage to harm someone else, a good number of those traits weren't all sunshine and roses.

No matter how much she loved, and still loves, Vi, Jinx's last memory of Vi before they're separated is getting screamed at, called a jinx, being slapped, and then abandoned by her. And those actions definitely tempered Jinx's generally rose tinted memories of Vi.

This isn't even bringing in the fact that before Vi's big talk with Vander at the bridge just before she tried to turn herself over to the enforcers.

Vi was a budding revolutionary.

Vi wanted to fight topside.

In the same physical way she fights every other opponent.

And that's who she was the majority of the time Powder knew her.

She didn't make the heal turn of the price of revolution isn't worth it, until literally like the day their family situation went to hell.

And Powder definitely didn't even know that Vi had had that change of heart. She didn't even know that Vi had tried to hand herself over to the enforcers to take the fall for the explosion.

So I don't know why people always act like Jinx is misremembering who Vi was when she was completely bewildered by Vi working with an enforcer, because as far as Jinx remembers, Vi hated the enforcers just as much as the rest of the Underground, and possibly more.

She still doesn't get it. She just doesn't get it!

Vi. Sweetheart. Bruiser with a head as thick as her fists. Your sister is not "gone." Your sister grew up. And, as all people do when they grow up, she changed. This is something she told you when you first reunited with her:

"Things changed when you left. I changed."

Of course, you dismissed her, saying she just did what she had to in order to survive. Which, yes, but also no. Six years passed between when you were taken from her and when you saw her next, and those were her formative years. Formative, meaning forming who she is as a person, a growing and grown person, because time moves ever forward and no one stays a little girl forever.

Now, does this mean you have to like the person your sister changed into? No. Certainly, your sister doesn't like you putting on an enforcer uniform to help oppress the people of Zaun so you can live a cushy life in Piltover with your new girlfriend. But she still IS your sister. Yes, she changed her name to one that lets her reclaim something traumatic from her past. Yes, she's decided to fully move on and look toward the future now. But her past is still part of her. She doesn't have dissociative identity disorder. "Powder" and "Jinx" were never two separate people. She's the same person, and always has been. She was only ever torn between trying to go back to her past life with you, or accepting her present and future — and she has chosen the latter.

But she is still, and always will be, your sister. Something she knows ("Finally got the name right, sister"), even if you, for some reason, have a very hard time understanding this very simple concept.

Get it together.

[wolint]

LIFTED BY GOD!

LIFTED BY GOD

Psalm 75:7

 

God’s word and His power can lift us from any situation, no matter how dire. His promises are sure, and His ability to exalt and restore is unparalleled.

You may be down and deep in the valley now but in God’s time, He can and will lift you up but only through His word as stated in Psalm 121:1-2, "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."

The bible is full of those the Lord lifted in time for His glory.

In Genesis 41:41-44 Joseph was lifted. Despite being sold into slavery by his brothers and later imprisoned in Egypt, Joseph was lifted by God to become the second most powerful man in Egypt. His story is a testament to God’s ability to lift us from the lowest points to positions of great influence and responsibility.

Elijah was deeply discouraged and even wished for death in 1 Kings 19. However, God lifted him by sending an angel to provide food and encouragement, and by speaking to him in a gentle whisper, giving him the strength to continue his prophetic ministry.

Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den for his faithfulness to God in Daniel 6:16-23, but God lifted him by shutting the mouths of the lions, and Daniel emerged unscathed. This miraculous deliverance led to King Darius acknowledging the power of Daniel’s God.

God’s lifting is not limited by our circumstances or backgrounds. His power to exalt and restore is evident throughout the Bible, offering hope and encouragement to all who trust in Him as seen in Psalm 3:2-3, "Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high."

Gideon was initially a fearful man, called by God to lead Israel against the Midianites. Through God’s guidance and empowerment, Gideon was lifted from obscurity to become a mighty warrior and judge of Israel. See Judges 6:11-16.

How do we explain Esther: An orphan who became the queen of Persia in Esther 2:17-18. Her story is a powerful example of how God can lift someone from obscurity to a position of great influence and responsibility. Through her courage and faith, she was able to save her people from destruction.

The Lord does not like the oppressed, anyone downtrodden need to cry out to God and the Lord will lift up His hands to lift you up according to Psalm 10:12, “Rise up, LORD God! Lift up your hand. Do not forget the oppressed.

Do not be discouraged, do not fear! God can and will lift you up.

David, a shepherd boy in 1 Samuel 16:11-13 and Psalm 89:20, was anointed by Samuel and later became the king of Israel. His journey from tending sheep to ruling a nation is a testament to God’s ability to lift and exalt those who are humble and faithful.

If Peter was here today, he won’t have heard the last of his blunder, after denying Jesus three times. But Jesus lifted him by reinstating him and giving him a crucial role in the early church. This lifting is beautifully depicted in John 21:15-19, where Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him, mirroring Peter’s three denials and restoring him.

How far have you gone to think Christ can’t reach you to deliver and lift you? Never too far! Psalm 189:8 and Isaiah 59:1 attest to that.

Again and again, we see God lift people who the world would have written off as finished, useless, rubbish but with God, there’s always more chances to rise than we deserve.

But the greatest human lifting is Paul and Silas: While imprisoned, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God. God lifted them by causing an earthquake that opened the prison doors and loosened their chains.

You too will be lifted in time.

PRAYER: Lord, lift me up out of life’s miry clay and set me where you need me in Jesus’ name, amen.

Shalom

WOMEN OF LIGHT INT’L PRAYER MIN.

[anothergoddamistery]

so, i dont really know how tumblr works so I kinda hope this doesn't show up on anyone's feed, but I've decided that I'm using this like kind of a way to keep track of whatever is happening to my silly little paranormal crew. For the record, I'm currently on ep 94, so a lot has happened already but there's still a long way ahead.

Please, if someone somehow reads this, don't tell me anything about being right or wrong, I want to keep listening and see it by myself <3

Right now I know that there are this entities, gods or whatever involved and as far as know the monsters/entities/avatars belong to one of them?

The Eye (Elias, John, The Magnus Institute?)

The Beholding (my friend told me that the Eye and the Beholding aren't quite the same but they go together somehow?)

The Desolation (The Lighless Flame, Jude Perry, Agnes)

The Vast (Michael Crew, the Fairchilds?)

The End (Georgie's statement)

The Corruption (Jane Prentiss)

The Distortion (Michael)

The Stranger (The Unknowing ritual?)

Don't really know where to fit the Leitner books in here...

More stuff:

As Georgie pointed out in ep 93 (i think?): why did Elias (or the Eye) choose John as the Archivist? Why was he special? And why did they need to replace Gertrude? As far as I know she was doing quite well, right? She was getting closer to stopping the ritual John is supposed to stop, then why kill her? What was she doing "wrong"?

And besides, the creatures such as Jude Perry seemed quite happy to see her gone, but they don't have such reservations with John (yet). What was Gertrude doing? Let's not forget about that statement of the ritual that was most likely pulled up by the Lightless flame (ep 37)

Another question I'd like to answer:

What the fuck is inside the Do Not Open coffin? Is one of my fav episodes and it's still so unclear what the heck was that

I maybe tend to get caught on stupid details but after Jude Perry's statement I can't stop thinking about Tom (NotSasha's bf) who worked on a wax museum... like???? that's so specific

The Circus.... i know it's going to be so fucking bad but I need, crave, beg for answers. Does the Calliope turn people into muppets or smth?

The moving company or whatever that is (Breekon and Hope)... what is wrong with them, who are they. Btw there being more than one character with the same name is something that has happened before (I spent like a good amount of episodes thinking that there was only one Michael) but... one of the guys carrying the coffin was named Tom (ep 60)..................... [probably doesn't mean anything but still... weird]

Where is Gerard Keay I miss him

Daisy is giving not human ngl but idk

Elias is also giving not human. Like who is that man?? Who put him in charge???

Why does the recorder keep starting on by itself, that creepy old thing. I can't help but imagine the Eye or Elias or whatever it is listening to the recordings in real life and giggling, like dude give these people a little of privacy I don't think it's too much to ask.

Out of the people who disappeared in the fish market (ep 1) two have been already mentioned (if I didn't miss anyone). I'm pretty sure there were 6 people missing?

Im looking at the episode list and trying to remember things at this point

Ep 13: I think the Lukas family was also one of the families mentioned more than once.

Ep 18: what the fuck was that why did this man need so much meat

Are ep 27 and ep 85 related?

Ep 29 Cheating Death, so many questions in general

Ep 30 (Killing Floor) and ep 72 (Takeaway) are related, but I can't really fit them with any entity?

Ep 33 about the ship called the Tundra... feels like... unfinished

Ep 36 I know the guy from the Care Home was mentioned on another ep, can't remember on which one, tho

Ep 52 why did Maxwell Rayner visit Montauk on prison

Ep 58 how did the institute get this statement I'm so confused

Ep 59 why was Anges on that house, why did she help Ronald Sinclair. The table seems to be tied to the creature that replaces people (cause somehow notSasha was tied to it). Does that mean that the owner of the teenage home was a NotSomeone?

Ep 68 not really about the statement but I found it interesting that the institute statements were leaked in 1999.

Ep 74 weird, i don't understand why Michael is there

Ep 87 i was so confused about this one but the man giving the statement is such a legend, i think he deserves the best

Ep 90 just... what

Ep 92 why does Elias have a bunch of bones that are like 200 years old on his office, that's fucking weird, what a weirdo i don't like him. Also /Mordechai Lukas/

Im forgetting so many things i just know

There's also another thing that i don't really know where to fit: The cult of the divine host. They are gone since the section or division 31 idk how it is called (a c a b) interrupted the weird ritual. I have thoughts about them, but my thoughts are too complicated to write since Im stupid and i keep on writing on english instead of one of my first languages. Maxwell Rayner, Im keeping an eye on you.

[loubetcha]

get to know your moots

thank you @randomfoggytiger! finally doing one of these :)

what’s the origin of your blog title? i go by lou on a lot of my socials n things so i always like incorporating it into other words or phrases. this one is from the phrase “you betcha!” or “you bet ya!” because i like it and it’s in a song i like too.

otp(s) + shipname(s): phile elders are gonna kill me for portmanteaux but TOO MANY. two i could talk about for ages are mulder & scully (msr) and mike & will (byler). // since i can’t shut up here are more: wilmon, jjpope, kajemac, samfro, jancy, kanej, ronmione, ness, madlyn, locklyle, montperce(?), maeveotis, noorwill(?), johnlock, and kathony. currently obsessed with bela & taylor from tslocg!

favorite color: red!

favorite game: i’ve always been an online game sorta gal but i love animal crossing, google doodle games, and animal jam lol

song stuck in your head: today it’s been here in california by kate wolf or the score from severance.

weirdest habit/trait? i’ve come up with several things to do while i’m watching tv— ie making cylinders out of yogurt cup wrappers, erasing dirt off of things, peeling glue, or collecting the tops of stryrofoam cups & sanding them?? traits… i sometimes get the hiccups brushing my teeth and like some people— sneeze in the sun.

hobbies: watching tv and movies, reading, writing, drawing, listening to music, the usual!

if you work, what’s your profession? i don’t have a job currently other than college, and i just started volunteering at the college-based radio station.

if you could have any job you wish, what would it be? it’s lame, but i’m not entirely sure. ideally i’d be a renaissance man but it’d be fun to work on film sets in some fashion.

something you’re good at: hmmm i’ve been told i’m good at writing? that’s very nonspecific haha

something you’re bad at: being a human and doing things.

something you love: visual media!! bazooka gum, playlists, travel, bookstores, tumblr and my moots ;)

something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: whatever my current hyperfixation is probably. feminism. my favorite shows or movies or the subject of them in general.

something you hate: people talking over something you’re watching, spoilers.

something you collect: bazooka gum comics. i have way too many.

something you forget: simple responsibilities tbh. just random things like words or plot lines.

what’s your love language? i think it was words of affirmation :p

favorite movie/show: movies i love are little women (2019), harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban, spider-man across the spiderverse, and roman holiday. for anyone who cares some of my favorite directors are wes anderson, alfred hitchcock, greta gerwig, and luca guadagnino. some of my favorite shows are the x-files, stranger things, and lockwood & co.

favorite food: i like barbecue, pizza, pasta, roti, and green tea ice cream.

favorite animal: since the first grade, i’ve loved bats <3

what were you like as a child? silly. all around. creative, chatty, eventually nerdy, scared of birds.

favorite subject at school? i’ve always done good in english/writing so i tended to enjoy it. some sciences— chemistry or environmental (i had a good teacher). i even enjoyed some math if the teacher was good. favorite class i may have ever had was a scenic painting class but i didn’t have it for the whole year and the teacher left early on lol.

least favorite subject? human geography, physics, and macroeconomics make my blood boil.

what’s your best character trait? either my intuitiveness or honesty— though honesty can be a blessing and a curse.

what’s your worst character trait? laziness or procrastination. choose your fighter.

if you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be? to have gotten out of bed when i woke up and eaten breakfast.

if you could travel in time who would you like to meet? artemisia gentileschi would be pretty badass.

recommend one of your favorite fanfics: i’ll give you four of many: beacon by @cecilysass, skamania county by @sarie-fairy, all after such a desert by @thursdayinspace, and the unseelie court by @slippinmickeys

tags if you feel so inclined! @heartbash @allthngs @claradrawsstuff @hollyyy555 @scullysmywife

get to know your moots

Thank you, @sixhours!

What's the origin of your blog title? "I need a random Tumblr handle that will work. Love tigers; but that's my only clear idea." You could say my planning was... foggy at best.

OTP(s) + Shipname: Mulder and Scully (or MSR.) Unbeatable.

Favourite colour: Red! Neutral and blue-based ones, specifically.

Favourite game: ...Hm. The Sims 4 if it were good; Professor Layton because it's a complete experience; Animal Crossing: New Leaf/Nintendogs/Super Smash Brawl for my nostalgic younger self.

Song stuck in your head: Now the Super Smash Brawl theme.

Weirdest habit/trait? As a child, I ate sand and crayons and dental picks and ice and fake plants and etc. The impulse still lingers.

Hobbies: Writing meta, reading (getting back into this), listening to YouTubers dissect movies/tv/books/drama.

If you work, what's your profession? The small family business~

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be? Hm. Ballet dancer or nonfiction writer. Probably too lazy to be the former. ;)))

Something you're good at: Dissecting human emotions/motives? Maybe? Making food smell good. Writing rather well (when I have something to write about), though it doesn't have a higher education polish.

Something you're bad at: Communication, in-person. So awkward-- which is my own fault, and something I'm working on!

Something you love: Chocolate. Ice water. T. S. Eliot's poetry. Cold, nippy mornings (rare where I live.) The smell of a cold, green environment. Swimming (bad at it, though.) Ketchup. A song that doesn't depress me.

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: Season 8 of The X-Files, probably. So much good that ties directly back to the first seven seasons; so much bad that can be easily ignored without changing its own canon.

Something you hate: Misinterpretation. Uncharitability. Immovability.

Something you collect: Stickers, when I was a little child. Have a sticker book (Bugs Bunny on the front, I think) filled with them, dating back to kindergarten. 00s made the best stickers.

Something you forget: ...Everything. If there aren't photos, it didn't happen. I'm dead serious.

What's your love language? I used to think it's Touch-- though that's incredibly important-- but I've come to the realization it's quality time.

Favourite movie/show: The X-Files. Good Will Hunting (most parts.) The Last of Us, Beauty and the Beast 1987, Frasier are new gems. I prefer watching people watch TV/movies than watching 'em myself.

Favourite food: Steak? No, it's chicken. Can't go wrong with chicken.

Favourite animal: Dogs and rabbits. Dogs because I adore them (and they adore my sister), rabbits because I owned two lovable, cranky ones.

German Shepherds and Flemish Giant rabbits should rule the world.

What were you like as a child? Shy, quiet, mischievous. Always up a tree or running away from home. If I did something I thought was clever, I'd look at the ground and try to hide my smile.

Favourite subject at school? Until middle school it was reading or grammar. Soon after, my interest in everything faded.

Least favorite subject? Chemistry or calculus. Biology and regular math and algebra are cool, though.

What's your best character trait? I took a quiz once and got Humor. Mine is naturally facetious. >:DDDD

What's your worst character trait? My limited patience (which bleeds over into a short temper.)

If you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be? To get rid of the ant infestation out in the grass.

If you could travel in time who would you like to meet? I would like to observe Marilyn Monroe, as a shadow.

Recommend one of your favourite fanfics (spread the love!): I have a list here, but today it's gotta be @o6666666's Escondido, California.

Tags if you want to play~

@baronessblixen, @dd-is-my-guiltypleasure, @welsharcher

@agent-troi, @amplifyme, @laurencem, @illaisland, @halfali3n,

@virtie333, @television-overload, @brenayla, @nachosncheezies,

@leiascully, @catharsisxf, @numinousmysteries, @frogsmulder,

@suitablyaggrieved, @loubetcha, @storybycorey, @rachg82,

@thatfragilecapricorn30, @muldersfingers, @is-on-its-way,

@lilydalexf, @thescullyphile, @teenie-xf, @touchstoneaf, @ellivia,

@trusttnno1, @settle-down-frohike, @thursdayinspace,

@sagan-starstuff, @b0oker18, @singeart, @bakedbakermom,

@slippinmickeys, @pookie-mulder, @deathsbestgirl, @calimanc,

@goodshipsmulder, @vincentsleftear, @aloysiavirgata,

@pennyserenade, @dreamingofscully, @xxsksxxx, @writingwell,

@trans-spidey, @scullys-scalpel, @spooky-jordan, @borogirl,

@jessahmewren, @skelavender, @unremarkablehouse,

@sigritandtheelves, @lesbianagentofnothing, @kiivitaja,

@unremarkablehouse, @freckleslikestars, @pianogirlxf,

@thefinalpaperheart, @redteekal, @sarie-fairy,

@justice-for-queequeg, @scullysmywife, @xf-cases-solved,

and anyone else who sees this and wants to give it a go~

[faelapis]

if i ever make like a big steven universe defense video after all, i feel like i would need to give it a clickbait title like "you hate steven universe because you're american."

and then explain everything from how the hays codes section on not showing "sympathy for criminals" resulted in a moralistic black/white hollywood media landscape for a loooong while even after its death, and how regardless of whether you're actually american, you are influenced by these values and standards thru consumption of american media, or you wouldnt be here.

next to that, i would go into how the "actually, i like redemption arcs as long as they're earned :)" attitude is in many ways an extension of this need to see a focus on punishment, which that section of the hays code on villains was about as much as sympathy itself.

From the wikipedia page on the Hays code / Motion Picture Production Code:

All criminal action had to be punished, and neither the crime nor the criminal could elicit sympathy from the audience, or the audience must at least be aware that such behavior is wrong, usually through "compensating moral value". Authority figures had to be treated with respect, and the clergy could not be portrayed as comic characters or villains. Under some circumstances, politicians, police officers, and judges could be villains, as long as it was clear that those individuals portrayed as villains were the exceptions to the rule.

The entire document was written with Catholic undertones, and stated that art must be handled carefully because it could be "morally evil in its effects", and its "deep moral significance" was unquestionable. It was initially decided to keep the Catholic influence on the Code secret. A recurring theme was "that throughout, the audience feels sure that evil is wrong, and good is right".

the focus on punishment is more emotional than rational. it presupposes that punishment is inherently good and produces good results regardless of data or context. i think this bleeds into that attitude indirectly through, for instance, the only "acceptable" redemption arcs being abuse victims who were fucked over by someone "even more evil" (ie zuko, catra, etc) people who were lower in the system and assumed disposable.

that way, even their redemption serves as a "screw you" to the Truly Evil people above them, which is now the standard of how to get your average american audience on board with redemption. punishment is still very much on the table for those "truly evil" emperors and villains above them, placating this strong desire for punishment and violent solutions.

and of course this is alive and well in wider politics too, everything from the prison industrial complex to how elected judges focus on how Tough on Crime they are and the moral outrage of "this one judge didn't give the death sentence every single time, LIB ALERT" in attack ads.

at the end of the day its all very fucking childish. i mentioned it being emotional briefly, the need for punishment and having a Good Guy with a Gun kill the Bad Guy with a Gun is this very ameribrained hyperindividualistic good vs evil conflict, but its also childish in the refusal to engage with the facts of a situation and see whats actually helpful for society outside of your own emotions.

it feels good to watch callout videos and true crime because of their simplistic focus on the evil of the criminals, but there's rarely ever a mention of how recidivism rates go up, not down, with harsher, punishment-focused sentencing. when you forget the humanity of someone and refuse to truly help socially and economically, they tend not to feel much hope for their own future and instead turn to what helped them survive before. all it does is satiate the Proper, Good People in society's demands for blood and hatred.

anyway steven universe is great not only because it says screw all that, but because it has logical reasons why killing the diamonds is a bad idea, such as how their powers are necessary in helping heal corrupted and shattered gems and thus symbolically helping heal society overall, which is something that is crucial for society, not for your emotions.

steven himself represents the emotional counterpoint - that he can't really get over the pain the diamonds caused to himself and others, and for a brief moment considers the alternative where he WAS that vengeful hero who just killed those who "deserve" it... and ends up literally hurting himself in the process. poetic cinema.

some may think i’m missing the point there, that we’re actually supposed to side with steven in that the diamonds are really evil and bad and it would be better to just shatter them, steven is just too much of a cuck to go through with it or whatever - to which i would respond that the whole episode is steven going through a mental breakdown where he’s so stricken with guilt for shattering jasper that he on some level craves the validation that other people are worse than him... only to be met with a procession line of each diamond being helpful to others, healing them emotionally and physically. that actually only makes him angrier because he really, really wanted the validation that he’s not the “monster” in this story and to feel like a better person.

to an extent, i think him running away and ending up there is an instinct to be surrounded by "fellow monsters." its a bit similar to what white diamond claimed was a part of rose's problem in change your mind - surrounding yourself with flawed people so you can feel like the best of the worst.

at the very least, the contrast between steven’s emotions and reality is illustrated very, very clearly and obviously in having him see the diamonds helping others and objectively being good for society vs still wanting to shatter them on a subjective emotional level right after having seen that. like. that’s literally what happens scene for scene, then he hurts himself and runs away trying to be a good little helper boy and suppress his trauma at little homeworld, then he confesses how much of a monster he feels, literally becomes that, to which the diamonds are a part of the group helping to calm him down despite it all. so yeah. its deliberate.

(btw the main reason i stopped with youtube is just that my computer is too weak and would freeze every 5 seconds during editing + there would be some dmca issue with every single video regardless of how relevant the clips i was showing was to the discussion of the media. so yeah this kind of text essay is the closest ur gonna get for the foreseeable future.)

[sexyglances]

Yijin's and Heedo's Forms of Isolation

Thinking about how Yijin and Heedo differ in their isolation. How they both tend to run away when they panic, but the end function for both of them is different.

With Heedo, she tends to use her isolation as a comfort device. She's been left alone for so long, that she's used to feeling the full range of her emotions by herself. From happiness to dejectedness to panic, that fight is a natural reaction for her. She works through her problems in isolation because she hasn't known anything else.  Her father's dead, her mother is emotionally absent, she's admitted that she's never had friends, and her lack of fencing success for most of her career has left her with few supporters in that world as well. Isolation is a way of life for Heedo and its familiarity is comfortable for her. This is also why she is probably so honest with Yijin. She's never been around people actually willing to listen to her long enough to learn to self-censor. He listens and she spills everything out. So while this is natural for her to share without a filter, companionship is also a new sensation for her, too.

When Heedo runs away, she's creating an emotional buffer around herself. She hasn't had the opportunity to learn or experience what it's like to let herself go emotionally and trust and rely on someone else, but what she does know is that she can muscle her way through any situation, she knows how to cope and self-soothe because that's been her only way to survive. It's what makes her inner fortitude so strong, but it also drives Yijin crazy because he wants her to trust him as much as she trusts her isolation.  Because for him, he trusts himself more when he's with her than anything he can create by himself, and he wants her to rely on him as well.

With Yijin, we know he pulled his younger brother out of school twice to protect him. Yijin was taking his brother away from people that were there to condemn and berate them. When they went to Pohang, Yijin went there to hide in shame, run away from judgment that always seems to chase him. He isolates himself because he feels disgrace for not fully living up to the weight of expectations put upon him. He's given impossible expectations and any falter along the way makes him feel layers of dishonor. The success he used to feel is when he was living his more care-free life pre-IMF is now bogged down by the baggage of being the son of a failed magnate, of being a college dropout, of being both a success and a failure together at once. No one lets him forget it either, because no matter how much he succeeds professionally, the dark cloud of failure follows him around.

He's living in a paradox of presumptions where people both expect him to be exemplary beyond anyone else, but also where people are constantly anticipating his failure at any given moment. And when he's alone, we see him slump his shoulders or even his whole body, no longer mitigating his physique against the immense pressure he feels to excel.

He's free from the strain of maintaining the artifice of being the perfect human, but he's not FREE. When he's by himself, he's still stuck in a suffocating headspace of his own making.  This is exemplified when his father calls him after Yijin comes home drunk and he lets his thoughts slip out. He's sad so often, and left to his druthers deep in his own mind, he feels guilty for wanting or expecting anything else.

[side note: notice how the first pic is shot through the bars of a window, as if he is in a (mental) prison of sorts, and then the visual bars theme carries through to the wallpaper behind him as well]

Everything keeps happening all at once and he can't let himself breathe lest he fall behind even half a step. That's why his time with Heedo is so precious to him. Her aura lets him feel fully without having to plan or think it through beforehand. His worries and responsibilities still exist, but they don't seem insurmountable to him when he's with her. His instinct knows what to do, and he doesn't have to second-guess himself so much because of her. He can trust himself again because of her.

It's why when she kept avoiding him how he felt so rudderless. How he hated it so much there's not even a word for it, and when she let herself come back to him, his instinct knew it was love.

For Heedo, her own isolation is familiar. For Yijin, his own isolation is suffocating.

[paragonrobits]

personallly speaking, i think part of the issue is, just based on how it sounds, the 'can imitate human emotions but can't feel them, and are therefore incompatible with human morality'. it depends on what you mmean BY emotions, because if you actually mean morals, cognitive empathy or discomfort in the suffering of others, that makes sense, but not emotions in the sense of the chemical feelings. Emotional response doesn't really do all that much to make people moral.

Always Chaotic Evil COULD probably work as a concept, but in theory, so could anything. The question is whetther or not you feel its worth it?

Lets take that trope. The only take on it that really feels right, in the sense of giving you reliable antagonists you can't really negotiate with and serves as a source of good fights without uncomfortable moral questions is ideas similar to Kingdom Hearts' Heartless; non-sapient monsters that are born from the worst aspects of the human heart, driven to attack in a mindless way, but incapable of choosing anything. Similar concepts include some takes on DND's fiends (literally being born from evil), for instance.

But overall, as a trope, it tends to be more trouble than its worth. It's often too hard to figure out or make sense on a society wide scale or how a species even FUNCTIONS without getting into how that makes them working at all fall apart. Let's not forget Tolkien, who popularized the concept, disliked the implications to his dying day of a species that was MADE to be evil being incapable of making real moral choices and never figured out how to have it make sense.

So generally speaking, if you want the niche it does, or its value in a story, you're best served either having it BELIEVED in-universe (so they're motivated to attack beings, guilt-free, but without this actually being true); making the ACE species mindless or driven by programming, so there is no real moral decisions they can make (but still raise a possibility that they CAN grow to the point they CAN make choices and choose not to be what they were made for).

There is also the option of a faction/group which adhere to a philosophy that is intrinsically hostile to anyone else; for instance, the Decepticons in most takes on Transformers, who expressly believe in supremacist ideology or imperialist conquest. Regardless of theiri individual motives, they ultimately adhere to a philosophy that amounts to 'murder/enslave literally everyone else, because we're doing the universe a favor by cleansing it of species too backwards to know how inferior they are'. This can amount to the same thing as the basic trope, but ultimately it can still feel iffy and be less of a problem to either do away with it altogether or have your ACE antagonists be mindless monsters made of evil or hostile puppets directed by other antagonists and thus have no directive of their own.

Finally, an example of how avoidiing this can work, while still creating entities hostile in a legitimately alien and usually non-malicious way: Exalted's take on demons. That settings demon 'lords' are actually the titans of the setting, sealed away into Hell (a prison realm after their defeat), and the demons are the living tools they've created, to accomplish tasks and satisfy their own alien senses of aesthetics. They are DEEPLY weird, as the Yozis (the titans) prefer to create a species to serve as living tools rather than make literal tools.

Demons can come off as evil to mortals, though evil explicitly doesn't exist objectively in that setting; the Yozis are deeply bitter and wounded entities, and were inhumanly alien to start with (in the sense of 'Metagaos the perpetually ravenous swamp consumes you body and identity, but not out of malice, he's hungry and indifferent to you objecting to this and unaware this could possibly be unwanted'). In their bitterness, they have wound up creating a society that can be maliciious and abritrary, because to them, it WAS; they thought they were good rulers, and their creations castrated them and bound them into Helll without escape, so why not prove their point and do things like force all laws to be written in blue ink, but if you look at the color blue you can be instantly killed for its against the law?

Hell, here, is a malicious and dangerous place where love always comes with pain (because the titans were hurt by it, or have embraced a warped sense of enlightenment by killiing anything they love), only the most brutal survive, and generally engenders a brutal attitude that LOOKS evil at first glance, but is a product of their environment. The second aspect is that all demons were made to perform specific purposes, which informs their psychology. A blood-ape is a soldier; they will kill anyone they can, savagely killing children or a small animals, but its not a moral decision. Its what they were MADE for, and if summoned to protect a child, they will protect it but also kill anyone else they encounter and try to feed the body parts of that person TO the child, as their own idea of genuine generosity.

Something similar applies to other demons, who are defined by their purpose and would find the concept of mortal morality incomprehensibly abstract and random. Demons know why they exist, and perform those function. They're still people; they long for more, fear the society they're a part of but its still they're home and they don't generally want to escape it. They're not evil. They can come off that way, because of their strange natures and the brutal society they were created into, but they're still capable of growing and doing other things, in the right situation, and its simply the perspective and they don't know any other way (and many mortals are event worse.)

This also means that they're very predictable, as long as you keep their natures in mind and don't really understand moral decisions, in normal situations. One type of demon hates loud noises, and will violently attack children who laugh in its presence. It's not out of malice, its simply an instinctive response, so if you keep this in mind, demons are VERY reliable; so the idea of keeping in mind a legitimately alien mindset can work as a possible way to accomplish the same things as the ACE trope without its issues.

(Though i still think its generally better to either do without it, or use mindless creatures made from pure evil. Because then you get your antagonists and easy fights, AND can create the unusual situation of a rare entity that has been mutated by outside forces and HAS made moral decisions and has to deal with these feelings of monstrosity!)

Hi! The "always chaotic evil" trope is often fraught with unfortunate implications because of the history of treating certain groups of people as inherently bad, and what happens when society acts on the belief that some people are born bad because of their race.

However, do you think the trope could actually work with the right writing? In the anime "Frieren", demons are a humanoid monster race that are good at mimicking human emotions which they use to manipulate, yet don't really feel them which makes them incompatible with human morality.

One demon was obsessed with understanding humanity and befriended a human village, acting as its protector for some centuries, then turned all the inhabitants into gold just to check if he would feel anything, but didn't to his great disappointment.

In this setting the concept of an inherent "evil" race is used to explore tragedy by having some demons have enough free will to desire human connection, but too alien to have it, rather than just being there for the heroes to kill without remorse.

Speaking personally as both a consumer and writer of stories, no, I don't think the Always Chaotic Evil trope can ever be done well - at least, not by my subjective standards of what makes a good story. There is not a single story I've seen that employs it that I don't think would be better by being more nuanced. Even ones that are meant to be simple so children can understand them - in fact, especially the ones that are meant to be simple so children can understand them.

If we get out of my personal subjective opinion, one could argue that Always Chaotic Evil works very well as a trope, in that there are SO many stories that employ it which resonated with audiences and are fondly remembered. I would personally argue that at best those stories resonate in spite of using it, and at worst they resonant with audiences for all the reasons I would NOT want a story to resonant with them, i.e. by appealing to the most selfish and cruel parts of human nature, but that is just my opinion.

I have no interest in rehabilitating/fixing the Always Chaotic Evil trope. I would much prefer to take it behind the woodshed, blow its brains out, throw its corpse in a deep pit, and fill that pit with concrete so no one can find the body.