#the culpability of the act

[chickenstrangers]

NOT ME (2021) || EPISODE 12

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

None of our hands are clean

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[astvaryking]

it's the way lottie symbolizes hope... or false hope (does it matter? "there's no such thing as false hope, there's just hope"). and the second she's out of it the group SPIRALS. akilah realizes nugget has been dead all this time. mari has a breakdown and sees blood on the walls. "the other tai" comes back. so of course lottie can't be the one who dies - hope is too valuable. so they'll hunt each other and they'll eat each other and they'll blame it all on her.

[ansburg]

yall ever read da meta and know that op thought they were cooking. but the post is like this

[imakemywings]

There’s another draft (“the Draft”) of The Silmarillion where Amrod and Amras (then still Damrod and Diriel) primarily lead the Third Kinslaying, with Maedhros and Maglor offering “reluctant” aid, and this is fascinating to me because it offers, frankly, the most characterization of the twins we get anywhere in the Legendarium.

We know almost nothing about them and I think they often get the treatment of a youngest sibling or set of twins by the fandom which is that they’re kind of cheeky and run a bit wild but are generally amiable and comedic. The picture painted by this brief mention in the Draft is very different. It presents a much darker side to the twins which perhaps existed before, or perhaps developed only after they had been apart from their brothers for a long while in Middle-earth.

Generally I still picture Maedhros as the “leader” but the idea of Amrod and Amras driving the effort to attack the Havens at Sirion even after the events of the Second Kinslaying is quite juicy. Not only are they the champions of this effort in the Draft, Tolkien describes how they “ravaged” Sirion. They were fearsome in their efforts to regain the Silmaril, perhaps to the point that their own willingness to violence led to their deaths there. This was not “just as much violence as we need to get what we want,” this is characterized as wanton brutality, which to me smacks of revenge for the deaths of their brothers.

They would have also been likely to know that the Gondolindrim--the remnants of their cousins’ people--were there as well, but clearly this did not stay their hands, if they knew it.

There’s something narratively fascinating about the twins returning from their travels and sojourns abroad in the wilds of Middle-earth as people their brothers don’t recognize anymore, in becoming drivers of the violence that’s now taken three of their brothers. Was it an act of revenge, primarily? Did they see themselves as avenging Celegorm, Caranthir, and Curufin on the refugees of Doriath? Was it about the Silmaril? And if it was, was it about retaking something that belonged to them, or avenging their father’s murder and robbery, or just about having something to show for all the years they had been chewing over that oath?

(I come again to the fact that Melkor still possessed two Silmarils, but the Feanorians chose to pursue Luthien’s--and again I think Amrod and Amras were not out for the Silmaril, but for revenge.)

And as to Maedhros and Maglor--why allow the twins to talk them into this? Did they see no other way and so considered it a necessary evil? Was it just that Amrod and Amras were willing to suggest that they all saw as the only path? Were they unwilling to let Amrod and Amras go alone, for safety? Did Amrod and Amras convince them it was necessary to avenge their brothers, or that none of them would be at peace without Luthien’s Silmaril? And what were Maedhros and Maglor’s feelings on it in the long run, when it became clear what a mistake they had made?

I know this part didn’t make it into the published Silmarillion, so it’s deuterocanonical at best, but being as it’s basically the only evidence we have of what Amrod and Amras were like as people, I can’t help but return to it. What were the twins like? Going off this, every bit as terrifying as the rest of their brothers.

[creepiefarm]

i know it's nothing new for people to exclude jessica when talking about mh characters (which always sucks) but seeing people say things like "everyone in mh is a bad person who did awful things" is like. what did my girl Jess do??? Amy??? i really feel like you are unfairly lumping them in w alex and jay 🤕

[normalbrothers]

TOMMY: Arthur, Frances was right. Linda was here today.

[vanhelsingapologist]

Strahdposting (with possible spoilers so tread lightly)

One of the worst things about Strahd in our campaign is that he's not overtly forced anyone to do anything. His underlings have, sure, but never him. He just waits for us to eliminate our options all on our own, and then presents us with his way. And of course, his way is the easiest. He'll even make it easier. We keep falling into the pit because he ensures we dig it ourselves.

We're almost past the point where he wants to bargain with us and I'm nervous about what happens when he stops being the devil we know and becomes something else altogether.

The recent reveal that there were other parties before ours has been so shattering for us, I think, because it made us all realize that our party is an amusement until it is an inconvenience, and then we'll be insects in the garden that have overstayed our welcome. And then he'll start with the force.

[findafight]

Me, lying face down on the carpet: I don't know how many times I have to explain that people love characters like Steve Harrington and Zuko, is that they have done things that are bad. They have said things that are bad. Possibly reprehensible. Possibly violent.

But then. And this is THE fundamental aspect of them that you must understand, they realized they were wrong. They realized that what they did and who they were were not things they were proud of. Were not things they liked doing or wanted to continue doing. Were things that hurt people. They realized that they didn't want to be that person anymore.

And then they changed. They went and tried to apologize to those they wronged. They worked to fix what they had done or helped do. They made strides to be different from what they once were.

Zuko stood up to his father, he apologized to the Gang, admitted to them he and his people were wrong, and taught Aang Fire bending. He changed and he helped and he apologized.

Steve helped clean up graffiti, he went to Jonathan's house to apologize for the terrible things he said and their fight(and got dragged into monster fighting and saved Jonathan and Nancy's lives), he replaced the camera he broke.

They owned up to their mistakes and apologized and did their best to remedy them. The apology and the changed behaviour make these characters likeable. They have flaws that have glared but they have accepted those things, tried to do better than them.

I need you to understand that there are characters out there that do the same things but never apologize. When you question why someone likes character a but not character b, when character a has also done bad things, I need you to think about whether or not that character has apologized and since changed that behaviour and thus been sincere in their apology. That is why. No excuse or justification. Did the character apologize and change? Did the other not? There you go.

Me, sitting up with the imprint of the carpet on my face: Woah haha where'd that come from?

[mariocki]

The Naked Kiss (1964)

"You know what's different about the first night? Nothing. Nothing... except it lasts forever, that's all. You'll be sleeping on the skin of a nightmare for the rest of your life."

[lunar-years]

As for the RoyKeeley reunion part of my KJPR/Keeley arc discussion (here)...I've processed more and landed on the reason I didn't love it, and it's not because I don't believe Roy has done the work or fixed his side of many of the problems that contributed to the end of their relationship. Not because I don't think he's finally at a place to accept joy and happiness into his life. We've seen that growth in him throughout the season, in his relationship with Jamie especially, but also with him processing the end to his time at Chelsea, with Trent, the Rebecca scene last week, Isaac, the final epiphany moment this episode with the teacher...It's all been there, it's been gradual, and I believe in it without hesitation.

I didn't like that they threw RoyKeeley back together** because it doesn't make sense for Keeley. It doesn't help or allow her character to grow at all. I think a lot of the fandom is happy to believe the breakup was all Roy, and his self-confidence issues, and his unwillingness to allow himself to have good things' fault. For me, it's always been more than that. Keeley has a lot of self confidence issues herself that the show constantly sweeps under the rug; and having Roy tell her she's still Keeley fucking Jones is not the magical fix all to it, either. I know this absolutely isn't the show's intention, but it kind of does read to me like they're stamping a relationship with Roy back on her like a bandaid and calling her a healed case, and I hate that.

Let's not forget that just LAST EPISODE, Keeley was sending Jack a wall of desperate blue texts all but begging Jack to take her back! Not even that, just to talk to her! To acknowledge her at all!! She was begging this woman who treated her like crap, from a relationship that was detrimental to her mental health and wellbeing, to please accept her!!

The reality is, we have:

Keeley breaking up with Jamie in season one, regretting it the very next morning because as she herself proclaims, she always second-guesses her relationships ending, and then getting together with Roy not long after.

Roy breaking up with her, and her getting together with Jack not long after, notably right after proclaiming she isn't over Roy and is also reevaluating her prior breakup with her other ex, Jamie

Jack breaking up with her, Keeley trying to still fix it between them, then....getting back together with Roy not long after that

Like, no wonder the RoyKeeley reunion fell flat. Look, I haven't been in the "why won't the writers ever just let Keeley be single!" camp all season, but it's partly because I assumed they were trying to tell us a clear narrative about her. There is an undeniable pattern of behavior they've set up here that points to certain aspects of her character: Keeley struggles with abandonment issues, Keeley struggles with being alone, Keeley struggles with feeling good enough for people and leans on external validation, she has been known to act rashly when it comes to her relationships, etc. If the goal was just to get RoyKeeley back together as quickly as possible, well, they succeeded at the cost of throwing Keeley's character development out the window, because none of these problems have actually been addressed. And if they weren't going to address them, why were they not only introduced but also reiterated across multiple seasons?

**And yes, I say "throwing Roy and Keeley back together" without taking into account what they might do with the last two episodes. Was this a "getting back together" moment in the sense of now RoyKeeley is endgame, back in a committed relationship, their problems won't be addressed again or addressed only minimally, and they will now ride off into the sunset happily ever after? Or was it more like, there's still a ton of love there, Roy made a deeply important breakthrough with his apology, they had their long awaited and much needed post-breakup sex, and now Keeley is going to realize she's slipping back into familiar patterns and roll things back? And to be fair, we don't know yet!

What I want is something like Roy acting like things are now great and Keeley's obviously his girlfriend again, only for Keeley to stop him and be like "Wait, Roy, but this hasn't magically fixed everything." I do want Keeley to be single for a while and deal with her own stuff. I want them to work at it, together, perhaps with the expectation that yes they will probably get back together in future but not right now, not when they still have a ways to go with themselves as individuals. If the show goes in the second direction, it scraps this whole post for me, but with two episodes left of the series, this is coming from the part of me that is very concerned they're heading towards the former.

[scoobydoodean]

I see this held up as major proof of Dean's badness, but couldn't it also be proof of Cas having faith Dean can get past anything without Cas having to change his behavior? The way it's structured the onus is on DEAN to work through it, not others to change or make amends. ---- CASTIEL: You know, Dean, he – he feels things more acutely than any human I've ever known. So it's possible he could work through this. One day, he may explode and let it all out and breathe deeply and move on.

I see what you mean in a general sense, and it's extremely possible that Cas is thinking about his own past fights with Dean and Dean forgiving him, and from the perspective of the critique you have in mind that you're refuting, I agree. But of course deancrit casgirls will forever insist that Cas has never in his life done anything harmful to Dean either accidentally or on purpose, so any time Dean might dare try to hold him accountable for anything, he's actually just making shit up and being toxic and controlling, so here Cas is just apologizing for his own abusive relationship. You can only get their take by being deliberately obtuse/disingenuous.

That said, the context of that line (from 15.13 "Destinty's Child") is Cas answering soulless Jack's question about whether Dean will eventually forgive him for murdering Mary.

CASTIEL: Hey, Jack. JACK: Cas, you know what's good about being dead? CASTIEL: Uh, as I recall, very little. JACK: Well, when you come back, you – you really get into all that life is. Hot, cold, sweet, spicy, funny, scary. CASTIEL: And are you? "Into it"? JACK: I want to be. But I don't... feel things the way I used to. Before I lost my... CASTIEL: Your soul. JACK: I used to feel things. In my bones. It was glorious, and sometimes unbearable. But I felt them. Now, I understand joy or sadness, but... I know those things aren't in me. I understand why Sam and Dean were angered by what happened to Mary... CASTIEL: By what you did to Mary. JACK: Yes. I see that I've caused them pain. And it's clear that things have changed. Especially with – with Dean. Will he ever forgive me? CASTIEL: You know, Dean, he – he feels things more acutely than any human I've ever known. So it's possible he could work through this. One day, he may explode and let it all out and breathe deeply and move on. JACK: How long will that take? CASTIEL: I don't know.

And yeah—I have seen people refer to Cas's little speech here as "condoning child abuse" and other bullshit. Because how DARE Dean not forgive soulless Jack for murdering his mother (something soulless Jack is unable to actually really acknowledge he did). I mean clearly any time someone murders your mom because she made them mad and threatened their sense of security by asking if they're okay and saying their concerning actions can’t stay a secret… That’s just natural understandable stuff! You need to forgive the person who murdered her instantly and if you don’t idk you’re kinda overreacting don’t you think? :/ I mean your mom probably deserved it kind of anyway for reading the room so wrong and talking about getting a person help. And I mean if you don't forgive the person who killed your mom or do anything trying to stop them from hurting more people you're really a child abuser... toward an adult... who murdered your mother in cold blood and is unable to even understand why it was wrong in any sense other than an intellectual one like he read it from a book... preferring to refer to it as "What happened to Mary" instead of acknowledge it as something he himself did because he was mad and felt threatened—which is what he circled back to in "Jack In The Box" too. It's only when Jack gets his soul back that he's able to actually feel true empathy, acknowledge his real actions and the gravity of them, and give an actual sincere apology. Because his soul is actually important—something this fandom refuses, by and large, to notice.

Anyway, this fandom's take on Mary's murder and soulless Jack vs. regular Jack is overwhelmingly a bag of wet third grader vomit and feces so what can one expect?

[henrysglock]

S4 Victims: Story by Proxy?

Okay so. In spitballing with Em...something stuck in my head.

So we all know how serial killers leave crumbs because deep down they want to be caught/want the truth to be revealed? Well what if the Duffers, or even current Henry, are doing the same thing. That is, leaving breadcrumbs.

This mainly has to do with the S4 victims, their stories, and the order in which they're chosen.

So, it goes like this:

Chrissy: Abusive mother who resembles Virginia

Fred: Eaten alive by the guilt of being responsible for the accidental death of an innocent.

Max: Suicidal over guilt about Billy's death and her response to it. Billy, who died saving her/while she was saving herself from the Fleshflayer, a regenerated form of the Mindflayer.

Patrick: Abusive father, not much else told.

Max (again): Suicidal Ideation, dies, soul taken, but was revived by El. She's now in some limbo-state, where her body lives but her identity/mind is elsewhere. She will likely be brought back entirely by El in S5.

It almost feels like a story by proxy if we piece it together.

So, let's piece it together:

Person with an abusive mother...feels responsible for the death of an innocent...a sibling who was killed while this person was trying to save themselves from a monster which came from Hawkins lab, which leaves them suicidal...and this person lives in a situation with an abusive father figure. This person becomes suicidal, and their suicide attempt was not entirely successful. They were revived by El, and end up in a limbo state. They may or may not be brought back by El later.

Now, let's collect details about our serial killer:

Abusive mother? Check. (No matter how we frame it, Virginia was not a good mother.)

Innocent died? Check. (Henry has nothing bad to say about Alice, which we know he would if she were not innocent, since he does this with every other victim.)

Sibling died as a result of saving oneself? Check. (The Creel massacre was a situation where Henry was, with whatever intentions we may assign for the other family members' deaths, trying to save himself from Virginia and by extension the lab.)

Ended up with an abusive father figure? Check. (Well...an abusive Papa, one might say.)

Brought back by El multiple times? Check. (El was the one who took Soteria out and brought Henry back from being powerless. El was the one who put Henry in the UD/limbo state. El was the one who opened the gate for his return to the RSU.)

IT ALL ALIGNS. So let's put it together with all the feelings involved:

Citations (I guess? Explanations?) are in the tags listed by number!

Henry had an abusive mother who was at least trying to have him shipped off to the lab, if not actually trying to kill him outright. This situation builds and builds, him wanting to be left alone (1), putting out subconscious and conscious cries for help (2), and her targeting him about it, until March 25th, 1959.

Virginia starts it, attacks, and this time she's out for blood (3). Henry defends himself (4). Virginia, being the parent with powers (5), doesn't actually die (6). Victor, Alice, and Henry go for the door (7). Virginia's on the stairs (8). She's got to finish what she started, since her original plan was botched (9). Henry puts his energy into trancing Victor (10), protecting him from Virginia, since logically two people can't occupy one person's mind.

This leaves good, innocent Alice to fend for herself, standing directly in front of the staircase. She's a loose end (11). Virginia kills her, but can't kill Henry or Victor while the trance is occurring. She figures Henry's going to run himself into the ground (12). She figures she can call Brenner in to collect Henry, like they planned (13). If she disappears, she figures it'll go into the news something like this:

"World War II veteran kills entire family in deranged fit of insanity. Wife missing, presumed dead. Son dies in hospital."

And on both counts, she's essentially right. It does basically go into the papers that way. Victor is taken in for murder, and Henry is taken by Brenner, but not before he sees that Alice was caught in the crossfire (14).

Henry ends up with Brenner, the abusive Papa. He's got the guilt about Alice's death, something that makes him sad and angry. Brenner, maybe, decides to push this in order to increase Henry's powers, but it backfires. Henry's powers increase, but he does...something. He lashes out, he snaps, maybe he even tries to kill himself. He's Brenner's prized pet, though, so Brenner can't let that happen. He seals Henry's powers away with Soteria. It's a death for Henry's entire identity, so far as to have him under the name Peter Ballard. Then comes along 011. She removes Soteria from Peter Ballard...and revives Henry Creel. She then exiles him to the Upside Down in 1979, only to eventually bring him back in 1983 when she opens the Mothergate.

All this to say: It could be his own story, told through the stories of his victims.

Breadcrumbs, or maybe...obvious things, which nobody by any chance ever observes.

Below the cut is where I speculate into motivations for his actions after Soteria's removal, so...not required reading for this particular analysis.

Years of MKUltra torture warp Henry's guilt about the situation into a bastardized, violent, brutal, unethical savior complex based in the notion that he's a predator by nature, but a predator for good. He "saves" the lab kids from a future like his own, filled with nothing but torture. He "saves" El from her ignorance about the lab and intended to have her join him, thereby attempting to "save" her, technically his little sister, from the lab entirely.

He "saves" his s4 victims from their guilt and suffering, which so closely mirror his own, which no one saved him from. I could even go so far as to say he was "saving" Will, who is set up to be so much like him, from a world of horrible people who (from Henry's viewpoint based on his lived experiences) would only serve to abuse and betray him.

This of course isn't to say any of it is right. None of it is right or good...but it makes sense. It follows a pattern. It coheres. The math...maths.

[famouslysleepy]

my sister unsurprising a chronic self-centered bitch remains wholly and completely unconvinced that more than one person (herself) can be utterly miserable in a situation (the inherent misery of sharing a car ride with her insufferable ass)

not that i should be surprised i already know shes a hate-able prickly bitch!

[wandalives]

If any of y’all reblog something onto my dash that implies the Japanese Imperial Forces weren’t just as bad as the Nazis you’re getting blocked

[tinky-dinky]

Alfred being the one who technically handed the Robin uniform to Damian does not excuse Dick of culpability in it. Dick was the one who didn't immediately tell Damian to take the uniform off and that he's not Robin. Dick is the one who took Damian out as Robin. Dick is the one who allowed it.

If Dick actually cared about Tim, and wasn't a massive hypocrite, he would have told Damian to take the uniform off and made it clear that he is not Robin. Hell, if Dick cared about Robin's legacy and reputation, he'd have gotten the murderous little bastard out of it straight away.

But he didn't. Instead, he allowed Damian to be Robin. Allowed him to take the one thing Tim had left.

Supposedly because Damian needed it more. But did he?

No. No he did not.

Damian lost Bruce, who he'd only known for a short time.

Tim lost his bio parents, Bruce and his best friends. On top of that, his big brother cares more about a murderous, arrogant, insulting, entitled little brat who's tried to kill him multiple times. And Dick thinks he's crazy because Tim thinks Bruce isn't dead, despite both of them knowing that they live in a world where people either seemingly die but aren't actually dead or come back from the dead all the time. And Alfred screwed him over by handing Robin to Damian, even though he had to have known how badly it would hurt Tim.

And don't give me that bullshit about how Dick was struggling. If he was struggling, why would he take Robin away from Tim, who is experienced and well trained, and can be trusted to follow orders and not murder people, and give it to Damian, who has no experience, is not trained as a Robin and cannot be trusted to follow orders or not to murder people?

Why doesn't he ever ask anyone for help? Clark could fill in for him as Batman for a night or two if he needed a break. Guy or Dinah could help him get proper psychological help for himself, Tim and Damian. Or just ask the Titans for help; Roy's a parent, he might have some helpful advice, maybe he or Wally or Donna or someone could have Tim or Damian to stay for a while to give Dick a break.