#psychological quandry

[fortunaestalta]

[horrorknife]

every time i see another post saying smth along the lines of “haha man what was jigsaw doing giving adam and lawrence so long for their trap” i jsut wanna grab op by the shoulders and shake them and tell them that theyre missing the point and also that saw ii is such a departure from the vibe of the first one (and sets the tone for the other sequels) because it was not originally written as a saw film and was later tweaked with help from leigh

[siancore]

Hello Beautiful,

I've finally binged the vampire show to ep4. One angle I want to see more of is the psychological impact of New Orleans. Sure Lestat has decades more experience and is sadist. But also NOLA is a new, fresh hunting ground for him. The people and streets are only for his entertainment and meals.

I think Lestat saw Louis pull a blade on his own brother and thought, here is another predator yearning for freedom. As a sadist who wouldn't search for connection to the human world any way, he saw Louis dominance and violence and perhaps thought, "this human sees NOLA as his playground too, he's just caged by human conformity." Lestat's sadist mind couldn't see Louis as performing tough guy but really his identity, his self is created by "home."

Then, our moral quandry fledgling is required to see his home, his people, his streets as food. Would Louis have less of a moral quandry if Lestat had whisked him away to St. Louis or Boston to learn to hunt?

What is the psychological weight of having to feed on your home, on your communal self? I feel like the show, and discourse, could have gone deeper with that.

Maybe New Orleans as both hunting ground and home is covered more in Ep5, since they talk of leaving but still that is years in and after Louis has already decided he cannot kill humans.

Wow. Thank you so much for this deep dive into these new characterisations. Louisiana is a very special, unique part of the world. So far, I think the writers have done okay. There’s so much history to delve into, and I know there’s only so many episodes.

This new iteration is so enjoyable. Full disclosure: I’m a bit fucked up like Lestat. That’s not me being weird or trying to say I relate to a morally ambiguous character. It’s deeper than that. I’ve already said too much. I just get it.

BUT fuck him. I feel inadequate right now. I feel like I cannot give you the deep response you deserve. You have touched on so many relevant points. This discussion around sadism. Toxicity. Hunting. It’s like it is meta meta level shit. I cannot even. Usually, I’m okay. But this. Wow. It’s almost too much. You’re so clever x

[medusasstory]

Chaotic Quotes from week 2 of the 3rd Life SMP.

Bdubs: Look at what time it is.

Cleo: Awww, it’s ten to death.

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Skizzleman: You’re gonna steal from them.

Cleo: “Redistribute the wealth.”

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Cleo: You’re also trying to barter with the poorest people on the server.

Scar: I mean you’re enchanted and I’m naked.

Cleo: Well I stole this. I’m happy to steal. If that’s what you want me to do I’m happy to steal for you.

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Scar: Just a reminder that the sand biome is now closed.

Tango: Closed for what?

Scar: Closed for murder. Grian, get the lava bucket.

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Cleo: I’m not gonna lie, this might be the worst thing I’ve ever done in Minecraft. I’m not a bad person, I just do bad things sometimes.

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Cleo: If these people in red try to murder us, are you suggesting— mutually assured destruction?

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Grian: Don’t trust him, he just wants your shoes.

SmallishBeans: My shoes?!

Scar: They’re unenchanted. I want your diamond sword.

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Grian: I’m stuck on a mountain with a madman.

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Scar: By the way, Pizza is dead.

Bdubs: Pizza is dead?

Grian: Great, everything in our story is dead.

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Grian: I’m not gonna lie, I’m getting pretty sick of people just walking in, doing magic tricks, taking away our story arc, and then leaving.

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Bdubs: I just came over to see what the sand prices are, cause I hear you’re gonna be selling?

Grian: Just take what you want, everyone else does.

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Bdubs: I love that your business is let people come in, you wait for them to come by, and then you gossip.

Ren: Yeah it’s like a coffee shop.

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Bdubs: We have a deal. If I turn red, I’ll be her assassin.

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InTheLittleWood: I had Cleo talking on the one shoulder, Scott was also on the same shoulder— there was no angel and devil situation, it was just double devil.

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SmallishBeans: I’ve given my sword away for bloomin’ nothing!

InTheLittleWood: Don’t worry, you’ll get it back later. If you slaughter them. During the PvP phase you’ll be fine.

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Impulse: Okay, we have an alliance, but we shouldn’t tell anyone. To keep it secret I’ll stay away from you.

Bdubs: It feels a little like “you’ll be my girlfriend. I’m gonna date other girls. You’re my girlfriend, but it’s a secret”.

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InTheLittleWood: *Creeper sound*

Bdubs: You said you wouldn’t! You said you wouldn’t!

InTheLittleWood: Yes but I don’t do anything that I say.

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Bdubs: Do you think they believed me about the more important secret knowledge? I don’t have any, I just wanted to drive them insane.

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Cleo: I’m really torn Bdubs, I wanna be evil. Really badly.

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Ren: So I’m off to do a bit of a scout mission, see what those fools are up to, you know on that side of the server.

InTheLittleWood: From what I know, basically we’ve shattered Grian’s reality, that he’s the only one with dark oak saplings on the server. We’ve shattered that dream for him, so I think he’s gonna be quite the shell of a man now. Not sure what he’s going to do with the rest of his time on the server actually, so that’s good.

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GoodTimesWithScar: Why does darkness follow wherever you go, Etho?

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InTheLittleWood: I’ve come to tell you about Renchanting, tag line “don’t be a dog, be a god.”

Scar: *taking off his chestplate* I do like the idea of being a god, and I do feel rather like a dog right now.

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Rendog: We’ve got some pretty outstanding glowing reviews from our customers today, right? I mean psychologically, I feel we’re in a pretty strong position here on 3rd life.

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Cleo: You appear to be building to try to get away from me.

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Ren: I’ll take the secret to my grave.

Etho: Yeah and then it’ll be written on your gravestone.

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Rendog: Martyn, I want to tell you something my dude. I want to tell you something. I’m in a moral quandry.

InTheLittleWood: I’ve only been gone for three minutes, how has this developed?

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InTheLittleWood: That would be a ridiculous end-game play, just getting that wither set up.

Smajor: On your last life, you just spawn the wither?

InTheLittleWood: Yep. That’s my thinkin. No cap, no joke.

Smajor: This is why I’m glad that you and me’ve always been on friendly terms.

InTheLittleWood: You almost fell out of favour when you wouldn’t do the raid with me, but then the fact that you caused it— you’re my favourite person right now.

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Ethoslab: We went on an adventure, and Skizzleman said that he wanted to come too, and he just had the shortest adventure, with an Enderman.

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Impulse: I never thought in my whole life I’d see Scar punch a cat, wow.

Tango: There’s some serious rage right there.

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Bdubs: If I die one more time I can get paid to— you know.

Tango: A whole new arena of services open up.

[dbh-rambling]

Someone pointed it out and now I can’t stop thinking about the fact that Zlatko and Kamski can be seen as foils.

1. They never leave the house

Luther implies Zlatko didn’t when Kara brings up the car they’re using:

(No other car is visible in the area.)

Kamski’s reclusivity is mentioned in the magazine The Mysterious Mr Kamski:

Zlatko’s mansion is decrepit and falling apart, while Kamski’s is luxurious. 

2. They have servants who can't leave

We get no clear evidence that either of them are deviant while they’re in their owner’s possession, and significant evidence that they aren’t.

Luther helps Zlatko move androids around and lifts heavy things. Chloe answers doors and dresses in bikinis.

3. They both like to torture androids

Zlatko’s is very explicit, there’s a whole scene about it. Some highlights:

His torture is physical and grotesque. He entertains himself opening androids up and putting them back together in the most horrifying ways possible.

Kamski’s approach is psychological.

He welcomes an android into his home, then dangles a prize (and a hazard) in front of him: if Connor performs a task, Kamski will answer a single question. Note that Kamski knows full well what happens to androids that fail their missions (what else do you do with faulty hardware?), and Connor is being given new, completely unnecessary opportunities to fail by not completing a task or asking the wrong question. He doesn’t have to do this, he could just tell him what he needs, or he could just refuse point-blank and not make it a function of Connor’s performance.

This already seems over the top, but ok. So what’s the task Connor has to--oh. It’s a test specifically designed to provoke empathy by causing overwhelming distress and moral quandry? ... In a deviant hunter? 

First of all, that is some blatant poetic irony there. Second of all, Connor is working the highest profile case Cyberlife has. If Connor scratches his ass, Cyberlife will know, because Connor is interviewing Elijah Kamski, and Cyberlife is bound to be paying attention. (Note that this is obvious even without accounting for Amanda.)

Thirdly, let’s consider that from the start again, because Kamski is trying to provoke so much stress and conflict in a deviant hunter that it would (apparently hopefully??) rather die than follow through. 

All the while, Kamski’s got faces like this:

In addition to the situation , Kamski is circling behind Connor, touching him, pressing into his personal space, whispering and murmuring and staring him right in the eye the whole time. He’s putting as much pressure as he can with tone and body language while still maintaining his own image.

When the test is over, he doesn’t even stop. No matter what Connor does, he still stops him (physically or otherwise) and keeps poking at him, getting up close and asking with flagrantly useless sympathy:

And if Connor does show empathy? God does he rub it in. He calls Connor a deviant in front of god and man (again, Cyberlife is paying attention), drawing it out long enough that the subtitles don’t even fit on the same screen.

Connor (obviously distressed) denies it, and he keeps pushing three more times for extra measure. Because god forbid Connor try to cover his ass and not get labeled as the one thing Cyberlife has sent him to destroy and that they’d recall him for being if they could.

Anyway, in conclusion Kamski deliberately puts Connor in a position of deliberate extreme distress, keeps him there if he can, and then keeps poking around for more sore points.

Zlatko’s torture is physical. Kamski’s is psychological, and they’re awful.

[katsidhe]

14.15 Final Thoughts

There have been enough "Sam's trapped in a fake reality" episodes to be a sub-genre, with “Sam’s trapped in a fake relationship” as a sub-subgenre. Even so, this episode somehow felt mostly delightful and fresh to me. I’ll try to tease out why, but I think it boils down to two major things—how Sam’s flavor of denial feels so different this season, and how Jack’s moral crisis is turning into something that interests me.

Cas had more great moments in this episode than he’s had in what feels like seasons.  

Sam’s final words while still trapped as Justin smacked of the same desperation he’s shown at several points this season—it’s a vehemence we don’t often see from him. His futile, brainwashed “we’re HAPPY!!” reads like Sam’s anthem for s14.

Re. Denial: Sam’s made a career this season out of desperately, hoarsely trying to convince people that things are better than they look. Insisting he’s okay is a pretty standard Sam trope, of course, but this season, his denial goes further afield. (Nick just needs time to adjust; if I organize these people well enough they’ll stay alive; we’ll get Dean back; Charlie will be happier hunting than not; Jack will live; we’ll kill Michael somehow; Jack will be fine without his soul; we’ll trap Michael some other way; Dad was decent; I’m fine.)

I think there’s a solid argument that after the end of s13, Sam’s started to want to feel better—to feel like he should be feeling better—and because he can’t really change his life, he’s been putting noticeably more effort into pretending it’s better than it is.

Dean's inclination to tease Sam about his latest mind-whammy—happens every time, but this time I was struck by how “he said you were happy” wasn’t an accusation. Dean didn’t see it a threat the way he often does.

Pretty sure that Sam spends more time “readjusting” to the bunker than actually living in it.

Jack’s always struggled with wondering if he feels empathy correctly or sufficiently, so I was concerned that adding the soullessness angle would flatten this already interesting angle by overcomplicating the premise. But IMO this episode dodged that pitfall.

The devil/angel food cake bit is obviously a joke buuut... it's pretty emblematic of Dean's tendency to set bizarre psychological goal posts and hold the people around him to secret standards of conduct that don’t make much sense. Dean’s suspicion of Jack is taking on a new flavor—now Jack is someone Good who could go Bad, which sets him up for all sorts of potential failures (as if Jack needed more Sam parallels).

“WWWD” is a very confusing and polarizing moral directive. The Winchesters’ standards of acceptable behavior change by the season and are usually at odds in some important respect. Dean’s absolutism is  generally easier to ape than Sam’s more nuanced views, but the goalposts change a lot. 

I’m going to make a whole separate post about Jack’s moral quandry but tl;dr, wanting to do right by someone and then turning them to fucking ASH is A+ “copying the Winchesters” content. 

[llybian]

JJBA Vento Aureo, Vol. 16 Impressions

Sleeping Beauty Up In Here

What Is Going ON??

ACTION TRISH

Correction: ACTION MISTA IN TRISH’S BODY

Your Balls Are Gone, But That’s Still Not A Safe Place To Put Your Gun

(Grabs Own Breasts In Absolute Panic)

“WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY HERE?!”

Let The Record Show That Two People Are Just Pointing At Each Other And Screaming Right Now

Bodyswap AU Mothafucka

“MY ARMPITS SMELL HORRIBLE!”

Correct Body Or Not Narancia, I Forget That You’re Older Than Giorno ALL THE TIME

You Keep My Hand Away From My Vagina

Trish Is Going To Kill Them All

WHO IS TURTLE?!

IS POLNAREFF TURTLE?!

POLNAREFF IS TURTLE

Runaway Chariot

The Stands Are Gonna Go Super Saiyan

“Yes… Although I Have Hair On My Fingers Right Now”

Don’t Celebrate Yet

Strangulation Surprise

The Stands Have Rebelled Against Their Masters!

Mista’s Favorite Movies Are Pretty Woman And The Bridges Of Madison County. His Favorite Music Is The Carpenters. He’s A Complicated Guy.

Shut Up And Shoot Me

That’s… A Hell Of A Walk. You Sure He Didn’t Get The Turtle’s Soul?

Y’all Need To Get A Grip

Oh NO

Beyond: Two Souls

Manful Tears

What Are You Talking About?!

Narancia?! Not Like This!

I Don’t Think You’re Spouting True Psychological Facts

Giorno Left Flowers

Man Barks At Dog

Manful Tears

Just Pee Your Pants. It’s The Most Ethically Sound Solution To This Quandry.

The Worst Person Has Switched Bodies With A Cop

Okay, I Guess That’s One Problem Solved. But That WAS Some Cop’s Body.

D-did You Just Trip Chariot?

Protect Turtle!

Oh. A Real Gun.

POLNAREFF!

What? No! What’s Even? Why? TURTLE?!?!

WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH SOMETHING ELSE, STOP THIS MADNESS

WHAT LOVECRAFTIAN HORRORS HAVE YOU AWAKENED?!

I DON’T LIKE WHAT I’M SEEING

I DEMAND THINGS STOP GOING APESHIT RIGHT NOW!

A Humble Mole

POSSESSION

Soul-Detector Giorno

Calm Down, Mista

You’re A Bad Dad

Unhand Spice Girl!

Shadow (Not The Hedgehog)

ANTS! ANTS!