#that's not a fair reflection

[girlbob-boypants]

Unless there's scenes I'm missing, I think saying her hair is the "source" of her magic is an extrapolation not a confirmed thing? We know that hair and caring for it are vital because of the scene where magic is ineffective because of dirt and grime and we also know that [redacted end spoilers ares don't look at tags]. But that's more like. About how effective Marcille is at magic.

[yumaisbored]

Xie Lian always describes Hua Cheng as so effortlessly handsome—as if that man hasn't been meticulously planning every single outfit XL sees for more than five hundred years... mf is making SURE the angle of that crooked ponytail is perfect

[darkstarofchaos]

Okay. While we're talking about EarthSpark S1 problems that have been made worse by S2. Why is Megatron special?

One of the weakest parts of EarthSpark for me has always been the fact that Megatron is the only Decepticon known to have defected. Later on, Cons like Breakdown, Tarantulas, and even Starscream added some nuance by showing them willing to risk themselves for non-Decepticons, though understandably, none of them were willing to defect at that point. But even though such Cons clearly existed, none of them defected along with Megatron, or at any other point during the war.

And Megatron's own defection was just... It's painfully obvious that he was developed to be a Good Guy and didn't have a lot of thought put into what he was like as a Decepticon. By his own admission and Starscream's assessment, he was a violent leader who ruled with fear, but all it took to make him change sides was... Seeing a human care more about his side than he did? That's it? And if that is why he changed sides, he clearly took the wrong lesson away from that, because he still doesn't care about what used to be his side. Instead of trying to do better by them, he abandons them. And then all he has to do to make Optimus trust him is... Scan an Earth altmode. Really.

It all feels very weak to me, and doesn't adequately explain anything. Did Megatron make any attempt to be a kinder leader, or did he just defect immediately after seeing the Error Of His Ways? How did we get from "damn, I don't care about my guys enough" to "my whole cause is corrupt, I'mma go now"? Did he ever try to use his position as leader of the freaking Decepticons to end the war peacefully or steer them onto a better path, or did he just wash his hands of them the moment he considered himself morally superior to them? If he did try to use his influence before bailing, how did he change so much so fast that none of his officers wanted to follow him anymore? Why did he give up on his entire faction and not bring any of the more open-minded Decepticons with him?

There are so many questions that either aren't answered or only get vague suggestions of what might have happened, and the answers we do get aren't enough for me to buy Megatron's redemption. It all feels too fast and too easy, and I do not understand why he could defect from the faction he led but less committed Decepticons just didn't.

And now all of these issues are worse than ever, because all the nuance the other Decepticons had is gone. Now it's just "Y'know, Decepticons. They're evil." Apparently not all of them, because Megatron is still hanging out with the Autobots, Con insignia and all! I ask again, why is Megatron special? Why does he get to change but all the others have to be flat and evil?

The real-world answer, of course, is that he never changed. He was conceived as a good person and ally to the Autobots, and that's how he's going to stay. But you cannot have a "Cons are just evil" story while the ex-leader of the Cons is walking freely in the Autobot base. Megatron's entire character is only possible with the assumption that Decepticons are capable of changing, and trying to revert to Cons Evil makes his redemption weaker than ever. Because it's so painfully obvious that he was written to be a good person and his dark history doesn't actually matter.

[limitedseries]

"Go to her."

[waystarresourceco]

Kieran Culkin on Roman's playboy image and the way the actors/writers understanding of backstory fits together. (x)

[phoenixyfriend]

As a reminder, I do blogging commissions on ko-fi, explaining things like economics, business, and writing advice. I do not write fic for money. You cannot commission fandom things from me, for legal reasons. However, you can hop over to this post that outlines my charity donations exchange for fic.

If you don't want to commission anything in particular, just want to support me, I do have both a regular ko-fi and a Patreon. Smaller donations (e.g. $1) are better through Patreon as I can withdraw in bulk to avoid losing over half to Paypal fees, and one-off donations are better through ko-fi, as it has a lower per-transaction percentage. I am not doing much on Patreon that you don't get on tumblr itself, but it's useful for the aforementioned fee structures situation. A $1 donation on ko-fi turns into either $0.48 or $0.67 after fees paypal/stripe fees, but is either $0.66 or $0.91 on Patreon.

No ETA: 500 words on the Econ/Business topic of your choice

Toss me $50 and a prompt, and I'll write 500 words on the econ/business topic of your choice, explaining it as I would to a five-year-old. I will DM you a tumblr link to the post once written, through ko-fi DMs. I do not promise a firm ETA, as my life is currently in a rather hectic state.

2 Week Maximum: 500 words on the Econ/Business topic of your choice

Toss me $75 and a prompt, and I'll write 500 words on the econ/business topic of your choice, explaining it as I would to a five-year-old. I will DM you a tumblr link to the post once written, through ko-fi DMs. For the extra $25, you get a promise that it'll be done within 2 weeks, instead of with a nebulous timeframe of the standard.

[cripplepunkbarbarian]

I just think that if you asked Fabian his sexual identity he would very confidently almost defensively say he’s straight but also later that night he will be laying in bed staring at the ceiling thinking about it so hard he gives himself a stress induced nose bleed.

flags under the cut o7

Riz: aroace & aeregender

Kristen: nonbinary transmasc & lesbian

Fabian: questioning

Adaine: cupioromantic & lesbian

Gorgug: bi-recipromantic & gender apathetic

Fig: genderfluid transfem & bisexual

[good-beans]

I would love to hear what you think of the recent milgram update and what it means for the story

Waahh thanks for the excuse to chat pal!! I have so many thoughts :') First off, let it be known that I'm SAD. These deaths tore my heart out and it's going to be rough knowing the characters are gone next trial.

However, from a writer's perspective, if you'll allow me to gush a bit... 👀

So, I always believed that Es would have prisoners' deaths on their hands and be judged themself, but I assumed it'd be from finale executions. I was shocked so many were killed off early, but it actually does follow the setup Yamanaka established (no matter how many incidents, three were injured badly during the first hiatus, so raising the stakes, three would die the next.) And doing it a trial early gives us way more time to reflect on these feelings -- rather than hold executions and be done, we're now forced to see the hole these people leave behind, see the emotions and mourning that follow that, see how everybody's view of them becomes twisted in death and recollection.

And the method of these deaths adds so much to the reflection/themes the audience feels. Execution deaths would have carried the theme of the Milgram experiment (would you cause harm because an authority figure told you to?) but that's it. These bring us so very close with the prisoners' cases.

We see Haruka’s death and find ourselves experiencing Mahiru’s horror: "I knew about his intention to, but surely someone would have stopped him! I thought he was bluffing! If it was his choice, was it really my fault?" We hear Kazui’s voice: "it wasn't supposed to be a grand betrayal, I was just being honest. I didn't think my truth about someone else would make them to that..."

In Shidou’s death we find ourselves making the same justifications as Muu, John, Kotoko, and even kind of Shidou himself: "there was someone I was trying to protect. I wanted to save both, but it couldn't be helped. It was one or the other, that's what the world gave me and that's what I worked with. I protected the one I deemed weaker/more precious to me, is that so wrong?"

When we want to cry about Mahiru and say, "it's unfair, we didn't know the stakes would be raised when we made our vote in trial one! They didn't warn us until trial two!" we only sound like Fuuta: "it's unfair! I was just doing something normal online! Sure I knew it would cause emotional harm, but I had no idea she was going to die!"

And even people who disagreed with the current vote find themselves in the prisoners' shoes. People who wanted to prevent Kotoko/Amane’s actions with a guilty vote can feel (depending on your interpretation, Yuno,) Muu, Mikoto, and Kotoko's motivation for themselves: "I knew the situation. I knew what I was doing. Things would have gotten worse if I didn't intervene. It's important to intervene when you know how things will end up.

So on one hand, it makes us extremely sympathetic to the prisoners by feeling their same motivations and regret. On the other hand, if we've gotten too soft, this simultaneously reminds us of how horrible they are. It was easy to forgive when the victims were half-hidden, faceless, and nameless. But now, we're reminded that all 10 victims were cherished by others just as we cherished Haruka, Shidou, and Mahiru. Even Kotoko's victim must have been -- how can we write him off as a universally hated criminal when we're mourning three people who murdered very knowingly? It becomes both easier and harder to offer our forgiveness now going into final verdicts.

And lastly, we hear Yuno's voice (as well as the point of the whole project) as we approach final judgments: neither innocent nor guilty is a good vote. Judgment in another's business will never help anyone. Guilying one and forgiving another can get someone killed. Guiltying two people to prevent them from causing harm can get someone killed. Naming two innocent in the hope it heals them can get someone killed. Though the project does encourage us to forgive others, these deaths acknowledge that in the real world, being wholly accepting of everything still won't work -- people will still get hurt. Black-and-white systems hurt everyone involved, we need to seek out the gray area and choose kindness rather than just a kind judgment, since there's no such thing.

And one last thing in line with that -- the deaths drive home the running theme that no choice, no matter how well-intentioned, can be taken back. I believe the "route" title only refers to this version so that they can release a full cast version of the song (maybe on the milgram anniversary) that exists outside of the story. Injuries can heal. Even losing an eye can be recovered from. But giving us completely permanent consequences is important in a project reminding people to act carefully to all those they interact with.

Okay I've already talked a lot addghj so I won't go into too much detail, but it also highlights the themes about humans being social creatures and no situation is truly isolated. You can't examine any of the prisoner cases individually because they're so interconnected with people who were just recently strangers. Shidou got two inno votes -- in an isolated situation he should be doing great! But like the crimes themselves, we must pay attention to the relationships and emotions that drive a situation forward rather than just it's physical logistics.

---

I think my only issue with this choice is that it's going to really screw over the already screwed over women (Muu, Amane, and Kotoko are going to be slammed with hate and even less willingness to understand them as human beings) BUT that's not Yamanaka's fault -- it has and will always be the fans'.

[mortellanarts]

🧡 My full piece for PrisMagic by @dotzines starring my OC girlie as a magical girl

[zukkacore]

Something about a Pygmalion take on Jaceporter is so appealing to me… in that way that Porter reveres power and domination… the tension between his desire to seek out and keep a Jace as a perfect spineless compliant lackey vs a need to remake Jace in the image of someone who is powerful and dominant and assertive. Jace that is complacent and cowardly and passive is a Jace he can use and control but never respect, and he loves what that Jace can do FOR him. But as Jace is transformed by rage, a Jace who is furious and oppositional and autonomous and actualized and powerful and is able to stand in the face of Porter and tell him he cannot stay even if it means death is a Jace he can respect and maybe even admire but no longer control. In the same way Henry Higgins cannot truly make a Lady until she has outgrown him, (“Eliza you’re magnificent. 5 minutes ago you were a millstone around my neck and now you’re a tower of strength. A consort battleship. I like you this way Eliza” “goodbye professor Higgins”). Because conflict is at the heart of war, Porter cannot truly anoint a Saint of the God of War until Jace has outgrown him.

[kyouka-supremacy]

Hey (^-^)/

I have a question: What did Atsushi mean in this panel when he said "the fact that you're the one standing in front of me"? I don't get it.

And why Akutagawa's face seem conflicted by hearing that?

I'm not entirely sure - that line is fairly ambiguous - but I can share my own interpretation! Here, Atsushi is trying to explain Akutagawa that the reason why Dazai has not acknowledged him yet is not, as Akutagawa is convinced of, because he isn't strong enough, and that his being powerful is actually of no interest to Dazai. Atsushi suggests that there's something else Dazai is waiting for Akutagawa to grow better at before acknowledging him, and Akutagawa will only be able to see what it is by keeping himself from killing (likely, what Atsushi is thinking Akutagawa lacks is moral virtue to some extent, compassion and humanity. I feel like that's also consistent with how Dazai sees Akutagawa in Beast, and what believes is wrong with him: “It’s human nature to lash out with violence. But if hurting others is your natural instinct… then you are nothing more than a mindless beast” (Dazai, Beast novel, page 18) ).

Akutagawa so far has believed that everything he could do to be seen by Dazai, was proving his own strength; and that his current situation of not being yet recognized was due to his own limits on that front. With that last line, I think Atsushi is telling him: “The reason you are where you are now [both in terms of his path towards being acknowledged by Dazai and overall current status as conjunction of events that led him to be where he is] has nothing to do with your strength or lack thereof. You're here in front of me [in your current situation that led you to this place in this moment] because there's something you've yet to realize [that would be, once again, that strength is not what Dazai seeks in him but rather for Akutagawa to accomplish a moral step up]”.

Additionally, I think Atsushi might also imply: “The reason you're here in front of me, the reason Dazai decided you had to be here, is so that you could see something you still can't grasp”, since both sskk and the bsd author seem to be fairly assured that everything sskk themselves do is because Dazai wanted them to, in some sort of weird determinism (“Why were you so eager to put Akutagawa-kun against that tiger lad? [...] How long have you been aiming for this scenario?” “From the time I met Atsushi-kun.” (Hirotsu, Dazai, chapter 37); “Why do you think Dazai-san put us together?” (Atsushi, chapter 51); “Dazai-san didn't abandon me after all. This was all a trial. A guidepost, lined with wailing.” (Akutagawa, chapter 85); and even more examples could be made; everything sskk do, seems like it's because Dazai wanted them to at some point.)

The reason why Akutagawa looks so conflicted, then, is probably out of bewilderment for Atsushi's words, for the revelation that proving his strength - that is everything Akutagawa has tried to do since meeting him - is actually not the way to make Dazai acknowledge him.

Here's an alternative fantranslation to the official English translation + the raws of that page for further insight :)

[sysig]

No go on please (Patreon)

[wiishopchanelboots]

Been thinking about this quote from Mira Furlan's autobiography (For context, Mira Furlan was an actress, known by many as Delenn on Babylon 5, who fled Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars in the 90s and narrowly escaped to the U.S.) "Why does an emigrant continually make mental lists of those "special people" who helped him in times of distress? Why does this not occur so prominently in lives that are "normal," unbroken? Is it because the vulnerability of your situation puts you in a place where you suddenly NEED help? From your comfortable life, you're abruptly launched into a void where nothing and nobody awaits you. It's like being suddenly stripped naked in the midst of a crowd. It's like losing your voice in the middle of a theatre production. It's like everyone dear to you dropping dead at once and leaving you alone, surrounded only by foreign, indifferent faces. Sudden change from somebody to nobody sharpens your senses so that those rare good, compassionate people almost glow in the darkness of your new, bleak world. That's why the emigrant experience is so valuable in the end, despite all its hardship. It makes you see more clearly. It makes you recognize without a doubt the good people around you. And those have been and will always be very few, even in "normal" circumstances. The only difference is that now, in this new life of yours, you KNOW this with absolute certainty." . . . "In general, though, people in America would "help" by making one or two phone calls and disappearing from our lives if those phone calls didn't produce a result. In general, people were indifferent to our "situation." Americans prefer simple stories with clear separation between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." Where did "our story" fit? A new history was being created. Nationalism in Croatia was dismissed as a necessary by-product of Serbian aggression. We, the victims of the fascist tendencies of the "good guys," were just too complicated to even try to understand. Not only America, but the world needs simple stories. And to create those, truth is most often sacrificed." - Mira Furlan, Love Me More Than Anything In The World

[welcometogrouchland]

Noticing that TV and film will often have a character either have had an abortion in the past that isn't showcased on screen (and just used as part of the character's ~fucked up and twisted backstory~) OR contemplate getting an abortion in the present day but not to through with it. Just once I want to see someone delete that fetus within the events of the plot and not be like. Extremely majorly punished for it and/or be in the wrong

[sidsinning]

Not to go too deep into a kids movie but did the cop Judy Hopps in Zootopia break the law and blackmail a citizen to improve her position in her career

Like sure what he was doing was illegal but like

as a cop

that's way more fucked up than selling stolen ice cream right

like,,,do you deserve your position at that point even if you solved the case,,,,

[danidoesathing]

hey remember that one horror fic i mentioned i was doing like a month or two ago. yeah finished it