#the rituals.... theyre intricate

[pebbledrat]

😭 I ran out of tags on that ctubbo post but you guys I love the cookie outpost/burger arc so so much and no one talks about it and I can literally feel myself devolving back into full ctubbling madness

[micahdotgov]

[wyrmwright]

right-hand men

[intertexts]

actually kind of homophobic over what i'm currently writing. tbh.

[3416]

Sorry this is petty but I need 1634 back right NOW because why am I seeing soulmate talk with 3488 like the entire beginning of the season didn't happen

exactly 😭😭😭 like not even just this season but their whole nhl careers.... i'd respect it more if ppl were just like those are my favorite guys so !! but . they are trying to rewrite the history of these mens careers like willy hasn't ALWAYS had other guys he's way closer to and like auston and mitch aren't like. objectively this franchises superstars and also haven't been completely intertwined. like i don't even need to argue about it.... auston matthews literally says it himself over n over he loves mitch the most fjkdsksdfl so.

[fappellmoan]

right. theyre barely even talking and hes gonna give him a haircut.

[liobi]

How it started

How it's going

[sunglasses-and-bowties]

i dont think this has any deeper meaning but one thing i find funny in the good omens tv show is how aziraphale's white hair and crowley's red hair are seemingly that way to provide visual cues as to their respective angel- and demon-hood. But also none of the other angels and demons in the show have the same sort of visual coding, there's all sorts of variety in their hair color and basic appearances. aziraphale and crowley are just That committed to the bit i guess

[chuuyafucks]

Every single major ship in bsd does nothing but murder each other in canon and well if that doesnt spell out true love...... idk what does

[boyswanna-be-her]

Another social night out together, another carefully navigated clown routine 🤡

[fagdykemuppet]

playing fields of mistra and im so obsessed with whatever valen and juniper have

[codenameregnar]

Ok ok this is actually one of my favorite pieces of Cardassian society as outlined in asit.

So Garak essentially opens the letter questioning how most Humans can so readily except the masks they are shown, seemingly without ever stopping to question what they see at face value or examine their own subterranean motives and obfuscations. Implying that most Cardassians are acutely aware of what lies behind the mask others wear and are more adept at reading between the lines of the truth presented to them.

He then goes on to explain that in Cardassian society it is paramount above all that everyone do their duty in service to the state and work withing the group to achieve a goal set forth by the leader of the group, but that as along as the job gets done it is frankly nobody's business how you did it. What others don't know won't hurt them. Efficiency above transparency. As such children are taught from a very early age to mask their emotions and deflect from outside perception.

Later in the book, once he arrives at Bamarren, it is quite literally beat into him that the unit and cohesiveness of such is the most important thing. That the individual is nothing and without the group you will be singled out and made to pay.

All of this to say, it is a good deal more complicated than "lying is good". Unit cohesiveness is good, and more than that, the appearance of such. Everyone knows they cannot trust what others tell them at face value, but to appear as though you have warranted such mistrust or are yourself mistrustful amounts to a chink in the armor of Cardassian unity, and thus compromises the entire Union. By appearing to be anything less than truthful you have effectively singled yourself out and are thus a weak link that must be punished accordingly until you fall back in line.

Garak, while in the Order, made it his life's work to lie so deeply yet so effortlessly that it would be difficult to expose his dishonesty and use it against him to remove him from the group. Which is exactly why he was so dangerous. He says in the book that his smile was his biggest tool in his line of work because it is disarming and made him appear open and genuine while, when he chose, it could also be used as a threat. And I think that is a great example of how lying and dishonesty works on Cardassia. The trick isn't to make everyone think you're being honest, it's to lie in such a way that to expose the lie would come at more of a detriment to the person exposing you and give the group a reason to feel attacked or betrayed.

Idk, I just find the layers of their society and personal psychologies as colored by the state so endlessly fascinating.

it's funny when fics make it out like all of Cardassian society openly and conciously values secrecy when the show makes it more complicated in two ways: both the shri-tal and prisoners are encouraged to confess secrets, and the latter is done through a spiritual framework. "Confession is good for the soul".

plus I'm given to understand authoritarian societies naturally keep secrets, but expect the public to be "honest" as a matter of control, even though naturally, the populace will keep secrets, and indeed, keeps more secrets in response to authoritarianism. However, one should not be perceived as secretive, because it can invite trouble. So secrecy is valued in every part of society, but being PERCEIVED as honest and open also carries a lot of value. Dukat certainly tries to present himself as honest, and I think at times he almost fools the audience.

It reminds me of a post I think @idonotbitemythumbatyou made or added onto- Garak’s ability to be unknown and ambiguous on DS9 is a great freedom not normally afforded to Cardassians. "He's guilty, but of what". Frankly being so blatantly dishonest might be considered disturbingly anti social behavior.

[florenzist]

my videos are terrible bc its just me screeching but i got this picture 🫶

[stsebastiens]

matt telling foggy he can tell when he’s about to speak cause his breathing changes is the same as superman picking out batman’s heartbeat even in a crowd. going in sane

[gumgumvibecheck]

don’t know why people starting to insist there is a difference between intricate rituals and mundane rituals, as if the things you do every day aren’t a long standing and bizarre combination of rote habit, preference, and all the choices you make in between. your mundane is still a spider web. its just as messy and intricate as anything else

[hollowslantern]

gay sex as usual

quick break let's see what the moya crew is up to