#smart weapons

[sobbing-org]

the vibe I bring to the function:

[sycamorality]

liking scavengers is the liking bugs/spiders of the rain world fandom

[lena-in-her-mind-palace]

Okay, so anyone who says Tim is a Ravenclaw is WRONG. If you think Tim is a Ravenclaw then you don't understand Hogwarts houses outside of "the cool kids, the smart kids, the nice kids, and the mean kids".

Like you mean to tell me Tim "I blackmailed Batman to make me Robin" Drake isn't a Slytherin?

Tim who has more contingencies than Batman and is the only Robin that can LIE to batman?

Tim decides something needs to happen and then makes it happen. Like that isn't the most Slytherin trait ever.

Slytherin's are cunning, resourceful, and ambitious. If you don't think that describes Tim Drake then you clearly haven't read the Red Robin comics.

I mean let's take a look shall we?

He realizes that batman didn't really die, and not a single person in the entire hero community believes him, so what does he do? He decides to find and save batman himself. AND HE SUCCEEDS.

There's the ambition.

Tim fought seven powerful metahuman assassins, whose abilities he did not know of before, while protecting a civilian, AND WON.

Resourcefulness.

And do we really need to talk about how many times Tim faced Ra's in a battle of wits and won?

Cunning.

So yeah, Tim Drake is a Slytherin and if you still don't think so, fight me.

[romtoss]

i start my exams tomorrow but instead i drew mel with a chainsaw

[ruushes]

there are so many creative ways to approach any given situation in bg3 and i remain staunchly ignorant of all of them and do the most obvious thing possible every time. i got an achievement for beating grym without using the forge hammer and was like oh that would've been really clever, wish i'd thought of that instead of standing around it in a circle beating it with clubs until it died

[corviiids]

ok but . . . . . . . Could YOU be kira and win?!

based on how light formulated kira, it's impossible for kira to win. kira's 'new world' has no win condition - light never cleanly defines what criteria he would need to satisfy, so the new world is inherently aspirational, because deep down, light doesn't want to win at all, he just wants to play.

social reform via mass murder, especially in the way kira formulates it but really in any way, is also not only (obviously!!!) deeply, deeply unethical, it's also just fundamentally impossible for myriad reasons. again, kira can't win.

if you found the death note in real life, i would heavily advise against using it. i personally would not use it. aside from, again, the obvious ethical ramifications, it's just too fucking risky!!! the parameters of how the note functions, the potential consequences, the rules, the terms of the 'contract' you'd enter into by using it - all of these are unclear, even if you knew about death note the series. furthermore, even if you had access to the rules, which you don't, the rules explicitly state that the shinigami don't have to explain everything to you. not even the shinigami can access all the rules (only the shinigami king). and based on the a-kira short story, the rules can change and apply retroactively at any time. even if you didn't know all that, by choosing to use it, you would be submitting yourself to all sorts of unknown supernatural and non-supernatural risks. it's just not a smart thing to do. leave that shit Alone

kira is a hubris trap. the death note is designed to appeal to all the most unstable parts of a person's psyche. it's especially good at targeting one particular vulnerability in humanity, which is that people are generally much worse at considering how they would react in a hypothetical scenario than they think they are. anyone who thinks they could succeed in using the death note, even with a better formulated plan than light yagami, is falling victim to that trap.

yes

[sadlynotthevoid]

Okey, but, I feel like og!Cale is the type of person that, if someone tried to make fun of him for a crush, he would be like "ah, yeah, that's true" and openly admit it.

So, og AlbeCale AU where whenever someone tries to mock Cale about liking Alberu or asks him about it, he downright says the truth. Regardless of who is hearing him.

As in, maybe once someone asks if Rok Soo and Cale are dating because they seem close (in part because they're kind of close, and in part because Cale keeps knowing what he is thinking, but they don't know that's just a Cale thing). And Rok Soo is like:

Rok Soo: Nah. This guy's type are baker princes.

Cale: You got it wrong. I don't like any princes who bake, I like Alberu only.

And Alberu, who was drinking tea on the background, suddenly chokes on his cup. Which they notice, of course.

"Oh. Hey, Al. Are you okay?"

—Totally unfazed for having Alberu heard the whole conversation.

He's so shameless about it and it's completely unintentional.

He has no idea of how people treat their crushes normally nor is interested on doing the same. He knows that some people tend to get shy, but a decade purposefully acting as trash killed most of his shame— Well, at least when it is about others' opinions of him—. If he wants to do something, being laughed at is not what's going to stop him.

And what he wants is to say how adorable he thinks Alberu is, so that's what he does.

Rejection? He isn't proposing anything. He doesn't plan on dating or wooing Alberu either. It's not that he wouldn't like it, it's just that it hasn't occurred to him that that's even an option. For him, who had spent years hearing everyone say the worst of him, the idea of someone wanting him by their side is so far away that it has yet to form.

So he keeps making casual comments about how cute Alberu is when he's confused, or "his hair looks so soft, I bet it feels that way too", or "he looks so handsome when he's tricking people. I like it more when he doesn't have to, tho", while everyone else feels embarrased for it. Except Rosalyn, she thinks it's hilarious.

Of course, he's pretty much respectful about it, never crossing the line to sexual harassment. And he would stop if Alberu told him too, but he doesn't. He kinda didn't realize that was an option at the beginning and, at this point, he got used and actually enjoys it a bit (a lot).

Cale: oh, sweets! They're my fifth favorite thing in this cruel world.

Rosalyn, fully knowing what she's doing: what are the other four?

Cale, carefully choicing which cake eat first: Well— *rising a finger per item* my family, animals, Alberu and wine. In that order.

Alberu: *frowns* I'm only third?

Cale, picking a chocolate tart: Mm? I loved animals since before meeting you and, at this point, is a part of myself. The other day I saw a dog and spent two hours squatting at her side without realize. It was not a conscious decision, it was... a soul impulse, let's say.

Alberu, looking at his thighs because damn, that's a lot of time to stay in that position: Oh. Wait, you've also loved wine since before meeting me.

Cale: Yes, but drinking wine is a choice. I can live happily without it. You would be... more difficult to leave.

Alberu: *processing* (that means— can't be happy without me aksjdjsj) "blushes hard*

Rosalyn, looking at Alberu's silly fuming face: (don't laugh don't laugh) Pff—

Cale: cherry pie? *Holds a mini pie in front of Alberu*

The turn tables when Alberu realizes that Cale doesn't have resistaince against genuine compliments. He never takes fake glibbery words seriously, but if someone says the slightliest good thing about him and they mean it, he'll become a mess. He just— doesn't know how to react when someone believes anything good about him.

So, Alberu starts complimenting him seriously— as reprisal, of course ("that's just flirting, nephew. You two are flirting, stop calling it vengeance"). Small but real things, details most people doesn't notice, deeper things that he deserves to hear (because, honestly, someone should tell him how sweet he is. How considerate he is. How much he should be appreciated because he's precious. And it seems Alberu is that someone). It works everytime.

Alberu calls his smile cute once and Cale stops talking. Face red and eyes avoiding everything, he can't pronounce a single word.

He calls him kind after Cale subtly helped a strange for no reason (he's obviously doing it in a way others wouldn't notice unless they knew what to look for. Alberu wonders if this is other "Cale thing"). Cale trips and almost gets discovered. When Alberu looks at his face, he's pouting.

Curiously, he doesn't have the same reaction when he gets called smart. He just smiles a bit and sometimes puffs his chest. Huh. Still adorable, tho.

[baraturts]

[sesamestreep]

sexy himbo jock interpretations of James Tiberius Kirk are silly and do a disservice to the character for a lot of reasons, not least of which is that it fundamentally ignores all the times in canon when Kirk is faced with a scientific discovery or oddity and you can see the effort it takes for him not to clap and skip with excitement. like in ‘the devil in the dark’ when Spock posits that they might be dealing with a silicon based life form and McCoy’s like “but that’s impossible!” and Kirk literally crosses the room to flirt talk excitedly with Spock about the prospect and how it could work! and what it would mean!

What I’m saying is, Kirk’s gotta be smart and a huge dork because how else could he pull a bad autistic bitch like Spock?

[orlofsky]

Anywhere else I'd be a ten!

[moongothic]

Et tu, Nico Robin

The way Crocodile reacts to what Robin says here is so interesting though, and I don't mean his decision to kill her, no, I do mean how he reacts

Like yes, as he says a few pages later, he "never trusted anyone from the start", Crocodile had been fully expecting someone would betray him eventually. And that does reflect in his calm demeanor in this whole scene, how he just accepts it and what'll happen next

But what interests me is how he seems almost... slightly sad? Which would be a natural reaction for someone to have if their belief of betrayal being unavoidable and eventual was confirmed like this. But also, it's not really an emotion you'd expect to see from Crocodile (even if it's mild and barely noticable)

Thing is though... Like Crocodile had made it a huge point how He Did Not Interact With His Minions Directly. He went out of his way to hide his identity to ensure success for Baroque Works, that's why he had Robin send out all the orders and borderline running the organization for him. It's why he ordered his agents to go hunt down the Strawhats and stop Vivi, to stop his identity from being leaked out and so that he could take over Alabasta without WG interference. But Crocodile isn't stupid. Surely he must have considdered it. Thought about the possibility. That Robin could've been the one who leaked out his identity to Vivi in the first place, that she had betrayed him already. After all, Robin was supposed to be the only one who knew who "Mr 0" really was.

And so in this moment, when Robin claims the Poneglyph does not mention Pluton at all... I wonder if this would've been confirmation in Crocodile's mind of Robin's betrayal, of her leaking his identity out in the first place. Yes, he says he's getting rid of Robin because she's not delivering on information about Pluton as promised, but that could be because he can't say for 100% certain if his suspicions are right; he can't read the Poneglyph so he can't tell for sure if Robin is telling the truth or if she's lying and intentionally withholding the information. He can't say for 100% certain Robin was the one who leaked his identity out either, it's just that if she had been planning against him this whole time in secret then of course she would refuse to co-operate here, of course she'd withhold the location of Pluton from him.

Had Robin told him Pluton's location here, perhaps Crocodile would've continued to believe (or hoped, at least) that Robin hadn't been the one to backstab him. But Crocodile does not trust others. Even if he can't know for a 100% certain, Robin not delivering on the information he had been promised did make it more likely she had been the one to backstab him to begin with. And this time, unfortunately, he was right in his beliefs. Robin did betray him.

Et tu

[redbean-nom]

din djarin, age 10: clone wars refugee child

boba fett, age 11: in federal prison for destroying an entire venator while trying to kill mace windu

[sapphorror]

You know, I think there was a real moment of clarity achieved here with the revelation that he's the thing most likely to get in his own way. That's like, the most self-awareness he's shown over the entire course of IZ canon, I'm almost proud. It's too bad about the brain damage, but,

[historymakesmeangry]

The woe of being into old shows that have since gotten a TV show or movie reboot so all I see when I look it up is the reboot 😔

[gem-femmes]

How to Understand an Artwork: A Brief Guide

I've recently read a book by a French author that promised to teach the reader how to understand a painting.

Art is my special interest. I keep up with contemporary art, attend art fairs etc. I've been to major and minor museums, galleries and churches in Europe and the US. But I feel that there's always room for improvement when it comes to understanding art.

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991) by Damien Hirst

I went through this heavy tome full of the author's own convoluted interpretations of artworks. The book taught me nothing about how to interpret and understand a painting on my own. But it did inspire me to create my own guidelines for reading works of art.

🦋 Why Bother Understanding Art?

Artworks are rich in meaning, symbolism, and emotion. Learning how to read them can enhance your appreciation and understanding of art and, consequently, life. This includes your own life.

The Embarkation for Cythera (1717) by Jean-Antoine Watteau

I find art an incredible place to seek answers to life's questions. I'll show you how you can do this too.

Additionally, this guide contains some of my favorite artworks, old and contemporary.

🦋 1. Observe the Artwork Closely

First Impression: Start by taking in the artwork as a whole. What is your immediate emotional response? What catches your eye first?

Details: Examine the piece in detail. Notice the colors, lines, shapes, textures, and composition. Pay attention to the focal point - where your eye is naturally drawn.

🦋 2. Identify the Subject Matter

Figurative vs. Abstract: Determine if the artwork is representational (depicting recognizable objects or scenes) or abstract (focusing on shapes, colors, and forms without representing something specific).

Iconography: Look for symbols, figures, or objects that might carry specific meanings. For example, a skull might symbolize mortality, while a dove often represents peace.

Lake George (1922–1922) by Georgia O'Keeffe

🦋 3. Consider the Composition

Balance and Symmetry: Notice if the composition is balanced or symmetrical. How do these elements affect the mood or message of the artwork?

Perspective and Space: Observe the use of space. Is there a clear foreground, middle ground, and background? Does the perspective create a sense of depth or flatness?

🦋 4. Analyze the Use of Color

Color Palette: Identify the dominant colors. Are they warm or cool, bright or muted?

Color Symbolism: Consider the emotional or symbolic meanings of colors. For instance, red can signify passion or danger, while blue might evoke calmness or melancholy.

🦋 5. Explore the Technique and Medium

Brushstrokes and Texture: Look at how the artist applied the paint or medium. Are the brushstrokes smooth or rough? What effect does the texture have on the artwork’s feel?

Medium: Consider the medium used: oil, watercolor, pencil, sculpture, etc. How does the medium influence the artwork’s appearance and impact?

🦋 6. Contextualize the Artwork

Artist's Background: Research the artist’s life, style, and the historical period in which the artwork was created. Understanding the artist’s intent and the era can provide valuable insights.

Cultural and Historical Context: Consider the cultural, social, or political context of the time. How might these factors have influenced the artwork?

The Parakeet and the Mermaid (1952) by Henri Matisse

🦋 7. Interpret the Meaning

Narrative: If the artwork tells a story, try to piece it together. What is happening in the scene? What might have happened before or after the moment depicted?

Themes and Messages: Reflect on the themes or messages the artwork conveys. Is it making a statement about society, human nature, or a personal experience?

🦋 8. Engage with Your Personal Response

Emotional Reaction: Pay attention to your emotional response. Art can evoke a range of feelings, from joy to discomfort. Your reaction is a key part of the interpretation.

Subjective Interpretation: Remember that interpretation can be personal. Your background, experiences, and emotions can influence how you read an artwork. There’s no single “correct” interpretation.

I Want My Time With You (2018) by Tracey Emin

🦋 9. Ask Questions

What does this artwork remind you of?

Why did the artist choose this subject or style?

How does this artwork make you feel, and why?

🦋 10. Discuss with Others

The most useful tip I have for you: Share your thoughts and interpretations with others. Discussing different perspectives can deepen your understanding and appreciation of the artwork.

Reading an artwork is both an intellectual and emotional exercise. It’s about connecting with the piece and the artist, finding meaning, and appreciating the craft.

The more you practice, the more fluent you’ll become in the language of art.