#there was more I could've said

[reginrokkr]

By the time I will post this I'll already have completed 「Bedtime Story」, meanwhile here are some thoughts as I go through the quest without delving too much into each of them:

✧ It's very interesting to see how this quest is foreshadowing right from the very beginning Natlan in a way, with the thematic of someone without a name vs the importance there seems to be in the [Ancient] name in that nation.

✦ I keep talking about how level-headed Dain is, but I was amazed once again by this when he asked Aether if he thinks Lumine has betrayed him. Considering that he himself is in the position where his own brother actually has and that their relationship is apparently irreparable (there might be some relation with the fact that he figured out the whole truth of what happened with Vedrfolnir, whereas Aether still didn't), it would've been quite easy to spill some venom not necessarily to cause harm and shit talk Lumine behind her back (and even still, they had that dispute hundreds of years ago and still have) and still he not only doesn't, but he cheers Aether a bit by saying that their relationship isn't to a point of no return. The capacity this man has of staying logical despite being the emotional individual he is at times is genuinely outstanding.

✧ Without reading too much into it due to lack of information, the way Dain makes sound that the five sinners betrayed the nation and him seems to suggest that perhaps all six of them shared something in common until they didn't (this beyond the fact that it seems like they were the pillars of Khaenri'ah) or that they gave him their word that they were going to do something which eventually they didn't. We only know a little more about Vedrfolnir, Rhinedottir and Surtalogi so far, but presuming that the missing two are just as powerful in their respective fields as the former three seem to be, it is quite interesting to think that Dain might've been similar if not an equal to them enough to earn their respect beyond the fact that he's Vedrfolnir's younger brother.

✦ Special vengeance talk bullet point. I talked about this recently, so I won't go deeper into it again. However, it's quite ironic to see that Dain's stance on the gods so far was one of bitterness at best to describe it somehow, meanwhile he looks and sounds very angry when talking about them and claiming that he'll never forget their names. Even though he's been affected by the memory erosion, it speaks to lengths that his drive for vengeance against them is so high that, if we were to imagine a what if he were to become say a Black Serpent Knight fiend with no more intelligence or memories, what would persist of him would most likely be his wish for vengeance against all five of them.

✧ More talk about the six: besides five of them being described as carrying the hopes of Khaenri'ah (while Dain put himself out of this, it remains uncertain if it's because he didn't consider himself that important or because he doesn't want to be associated to them in a group together beyond the scope of stopping the Vinster King to prevent the disaster + protecting Khaenri'ah), it's quite telling how powerful they are to become like some kind of regulating system of the monarchy at the time, either by the people's desire or as a thing they attributed to themselves precisely due to that power / influence they had over Khaenri'ah.

✦ The transcendent being notion is heavily interesting if we think about Jakob and René, who became such themselves and if we think about how Vedrfolnir used this exact terminology himself. Suffice to say and just judging Gold alone (and potentially Vedrfolnir too, considering the prophecy of Fontaine and that those stone slates were quite ancient in olden ruins), it's not surprising to believe that all five of them pushed the limits of mortality that would've corresponded to them as humans (?) before the Cataclysm. Given that this seems to be linked to the five of them sharing among them the power of the Abyss, it's quite intriguing to think if Dain himself is a transcendent being or if his mortality limits were nuked strictly by the curse.

✧ Assuming that the power of the Abyss is equal to the world-shattering power he speaks of, it's very interesting how this serves as a contraposition (or maybe not so much contraposition) to the power of beyond Skirk mentioned, supposedly wielded by Dain to defy this world.

◜The six of us, together... We should have been the ones to prevent the disaster, the ones to stop the Vinster King from continuing to rock the foundation of the world. [...] And when the cataclysm occurred, not one of them stood up in defense of their nation, not one came forward to prevent the tragedy... And for that, they shall never have my forgiveness.◞

✦ This here makes me a bit confused as to what to think. By the way this is worded either out of convenience (HYV has a long track record of making Dain's speech be purposefully blurry / uncertain, it's never a matter of hearing him say that the sky is blue and the reality being like that— there is always more to it), it seems like if they stopped the Vinster King, they would've prevented the disaster (unless these two are different things). I say this because later he mentions that the sinners didn't lift a finger to prevent the tragedy nor defend the nation during the cataclysm, supposedly a result of not preventing the tragedy when something could've been done about it time before the cataclysm erupted.

✧ To conclude with the Sinners talk, the notion that if they're left unchecked they could do irreparable damage to the world which... considering it's related to the power of the Abyss and what was caused in Fontaine alone because of Narwhal, hence because Surtalogi, it wouldn't be all that far-fetched to even think about.

✦ Perhaps this is attributed to Dain's intellect and no more, but for someone who is struggling with erosion and how it affects his memories, it's quite intriguing that he'd know what is something that was falsely implanted in his mind if up until that point he had already lost some of his memories.

✧ Ironically I've been talking recently about his capacity of looking at things from a broader perspective / having a very down-to-earth mindset and I think this is yet another example of that: there could be other things Dain could be focusing on just at the notion that someone could implant memories, but not only he doesn't do that, but he realizes on the spot that they're still after the eye of the first Field Tiller and thinks ahead of time to lay a trap for the Abyss Order, as there is something quite clear that makes him think it's impossible for him to have given the eye. And yet Caribert makes him believe that he handed over the eye to Aether and Dain is fine with that wtf.

✦ How does that eye even make it inside Dain's body hello?

✧ Following the miscellanies alongside other subtle details about him throughout his quests, it was abundantly clear to me his connection to Irminsul. But to see him grunt in pain because the Ley Lines were being tampered with to implant in him a new memory really seals the deal for me that the connection he has with Irminsul must be considerably deep to even experience pain. As that is some big sentience that even Paimon points out and that I don't think was seen before except for Rhukkadevata— and she was a divinity and Irminsul's avatar.

✦ I'm positive that I mentioned how "coincidental" some of Dain's actions during the 「Caribert」 quest were, so I won't get back to those. But to add one more as a genuine follow-up to that quest, it's surprising how eerily similar the ruins where he leads the Abyss Order and Aether in are to those where Vedrfolnir was. And Dain hasn't experienced that memory Lumine had 500 years ago... apparently. Locations are different, that's for sure. But there is an undeniable level of excitement at seeing how these ruins mirror the others that makes me wonder how deep can Dain look into things (aka Ley Lines? Irminsul? Some connection to his brother because brothers™?).

✧ To add to the sus from before, the Cryo Abyss Herald was also introduced during the 「Caribert」 quest and he was guarding the entrance to a larger room where Vedrfolnir was.

◜The Abyss Order is putting something in motion. If you return to Vimara Village, I suspect you might finally have the opportunity to locate the missing villager.◞

✦ I've discussed in the past about Dain's foreseeing abilities but sir, what the heck— (I say as this is what exactly happens after Aether leaves the ruins lol).

✧ Although it would be easy to think that his grunts are signs of memory implantation in his mind, the fact that Caribert implanted the last false memory before they entered the cave refutes this. This is because Dain's last reaction (and the most painful one, as even his voice was intertwined with the pain he felt) was when they were already in the last chamber of the ruins they were last together. This concludes that his sentience isn't just on himself and to figure out what said false memory is (as he does notice that), but it's a genuine sentience on the Ley Lines and the disturbances they're suffering.

[evgar]

this came to me in a dream

[knightofleo]

Angela Orosco Silent Hill 2

[castielsprostate]

the confession scene but it starts with castiel saying, "i'm out of minutes, dean,"

[albaricomics]

Who would've thought

[somewhereincairparavel]

JASON GRACE PLAYS LACROSSE AND TENNIS. I CAN'T AND WON'T BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS-

[egophiliac]

still absolutely losing my mind over Lilia

[yrsonpurpose]

@rwrbsource & @rwrbmovie's rwrb appreciation month bingo cast: taylor zakhar perez ± his love and understanding of rwrb ♡

[manicpixiemidgirl]

Y'know, I think you and a lot of people mistake House for being homophobic, racist, sexist, and transphobic (maybe a little more credit to that one, but if the show was being made in more modern day we might see otherwise). None of them remotely realize,

He's being edgy.

He's purposefully getting a rise out of people because he likes getting people angry at him.

If you listen to what he says when he ACTUALLY means what he's saying, he's actually progressive, especially for the time. He calls the HIV guy's dad a bigot because he thought he hated his son for being gay. He told the football player "you won't need to play sports now to get a good career" when his skin started to discolor to white. He literally said "white, skinny, pretty people make all the rules in society" at one point. All of his actions prove that he believes women are just as capable as men are, if not more so in some cases, especially with Thirteen and Amber. He's FIERCLEY pro choice and doesn't even try to hide it or pretend otherwise.

And while he definitely has some pretty terrible stuff going on with intersex/trans people, the show frames him in a bad way for doing so.

House is a horrendous person in a lot of ways, but he's not ACTUALLY a bigot. He just likes to pretend to be because he hates it when people like him and tries to push them away.

[gingermintpepper]

In my Zeus bag today so I'm just gonna put it out there that exactly none of the great Ancient Greek warrior-heroes stayed loyal and faithful and completely monogamous and yet none of them have their greatness questioned nor do we question why they had the cultural prominence that they did and still do.

Jason, the brilliant leader of the Argo, got cold feet when it came to Medea - already put off by some of her magic and then exiled from his birthland because of her political ploys, he took Creusa to bed and fully intended on marrying her despite not properly dissolving things with Medea.

Theseus was a fierce warrior and an incredibly talented king but he had a horrible temper and was almost fatally weak to women. This is the man who got imprisoned in the Underworld for trying to get a friend laid, the man who started the whole Attic War because he couldn't keep his legs closed.

And we cannot at all forget Heracles for whom a not inconsiderable amount of his joy in life was loving people then losing the people around him that he loved. Wives, children, serving boys, mentors, Heracles had a list of lovers - male and female - long enough to rival some gods and even after completing his labours and coming down to the end of his life, he did not have one wife but three.

And y'know what, just because he's a cultural darling, I'll put Achilles up here too because that man was a Theseus type where he was fantastic at the thing he was born to do (that is, fight whereas Theseus' was to rule) but that was not enough to eclipse his horrid temper and his weakness to young pretty things. This is the man that killed two of Apollo's sons because they wouldn't let him hit - Tenes because he refused to let Achilles have his sister and Troilus who refused Achilles so vehemently that he ran into Apollo's temple to avoid him and still couldn't escape.

All four of these men are still celebrated as great heroes and men. All four of these men are given the dignity of nuance, of having their flaws treated as just that, flaws which enrich their character and can be used to discuss the wider cultural point of what truly makes a hero heroic. All four of these men still have their legacies respected.

Why can that same mindset not be applied to Zeus? Zeus, who was a warrior-king raised in seclusion apart from his family. Zeus who must have learned to embrace the violence of thunder for every time he cried as a babe, the Corybantes would bang their shields to hide the sound. Zeus learned to be great because being good would not see the universe's affairs in its order.

The wonderful thing about sympathy is that we never run out of it. There's no rule stopping us from being sympathetic to multiple plights at once, there's no law that necessitate things always exist on the good-evil binary. Yes, Zeus sentenced Prometheus to sufferation in Tartarus for what (to us) seems like a cruel reason. Prometheus only wanted to help humans! But when you think about Prometheus' actions from a king's perspective, the narrative is completely different: Prometheus stole divine knowledge and gifted it to humans after Zeus explicitly told him not to. And this was after Prometheus cheated all the gods out of a huge portion of wealth by having humans keep the best part of a sacrifice's meat while the gods must delight themselves with bones, fat and skin. Yes, Zeus gave Persephone away to Hades without consulting Demeter but what king consults a woman who is not his wife about the arrangement of his daughter's marriage to another king? Yes, Zeus breaks the marriage vows he set with Hera despite his love of her but what is the Master of Fate if not its staunchest slave?

The nuance is there. Even in his most bizarre actions, the nuance and logic and reason is there. The Ancient Greeks weren't a daft people, they worshipped Zeus as their primary god for a reason and they did not associate him with half the vices modern audiences take issue with. Zeus was a father, a visitor, a protector, a fair judge of character, a guide for the lost, the arbiter of revenge for those that had been wronged, a pillar of strength for those who needed it and a shield to protect those who made their home among the biting snakes. His children were reflections of him, extensions of his will who acted both as his mercy and as his retribution, his brothers and sisters deferred to him because he was wise as well as powerful. Zeus didn't become king by accident and it is a damn shame he does not get more respect.

[ofswordsandpens]

aang and sokka weren't in the wrong to worry about katara possibly spiraling into a self-destructive path in the southern raiders and they were sincerely trying to help her, but oh my god if I said "I'm going to find the man who took my mother from me" (ie after years I'm finally able to face the heaviest source of my grief) and the very first words out of someone's mouth in response were "ummmmm.... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish 🤨😬😥"???? she should've been meaner idc

[omo321]

“Are you crying?” Fina exclaims in alarm. Tsurumi is equally startled when he wipes at his face and his hand comes away wet. Not once had he shed tears, not even when he’d lost them. Pulling a chair up to him, Fina dries his cheeks with soft dabs of her handkerchief. With her hand on his shoulder and her beautiful, bright eyes soft with more love than Tsurumi can bear, she waits for an explanation that he cannot give.

gnawing on "theatre" by Saengak again... it's free serotonin to me

[halalchampagnesocialist]

Historically, the violence of colonialism and imperialism has often been obscured behind the veneer of “decorum” and “politeness.” The same can be said for much of Zionism’s history. Another thing that permeates discourses around Israel/Palestine and Zionism is the politics of “moral respectability.” I would define this as morality politics seen as respectable or acceptable according to liberal, Western standards. We see this, for example, in the way that many liberal politicians talk about Israeli violence compared to Palestinian violence and so forth.

The politics of Zionism and moral respectability serve to act as double standards to absolve the Israeli state of its colonial violence. It is a politics that presents Israelis and Jews as deserving of sympathy, compassion, and solidarity, whilst Palestinians are merely a charity case at best, undeserving and facing an oppression of their own making, at worst.

A very recent example of this is the backlash to Mohammed El Kurd’s tweet about Jewish symbolism being appropriated by the state of Israel. For context, a Jewish man entered a Palestinian-owned coffee shop wearing a blue hat with a Star of David and was kicked out. This spawned outrage from many. Afterwards, Mohammed El Kurd tweeted the response below. This also drew outrage from some other Palestinians, Zionists, and everyone in between.

While I don’t necessarily agree with the equivocation of religious symbols with symbols like the Swastika, El Kurd is absolutely correct in his assertion that Zionism (and the state of Israel) have turned the Star of David into a racist symbol. We see the Star of David often graffitied onto Palestinian homes in the West Bank by settlers and now in Gaza by Israeli soldiers. There have been instances of the Star of David also being branded on Palestinian prisoners by Israelis. It is blatantly used as a symbol of violence and Jewish supremacy against Palestinians.

For those unfamiliar with El Kurd, he is a Palestinian New York-based writer, hailing from Sheikh Jarrah in occupied Jerusalem. Sheikh Jarrah, arguably, is one of the main sites of the ongoing Judaisation of Jerusalem. Palestinians in the neighbourhood are battling forced evictions and displacement against settlement organisations who plan to take their houses, remove their Palestinian inhabitants and give them to Jewish settlers to live in. El Kurd and his family are one of those families and he has been documenting this struggle with his sister Muna since he was a child. It is fair to say that El Kurd is not merely posturing about Zionism for ideological reasons, but like many Palestinians, he is a victim of Zionism in practice.

----

wrote about zionism and morality politics for my substack. this is just a small excerpt, continue reading in the link.

[buckyscap]

you know when you experienced something so traumatizing or grieved too hard your brain sort of temporarily locked that memory to protect you from the pain? i think that's what's been happening to me after deadpool 2 bc tell me why every time i rewatch that movie, i always forget how painful these scenes are?

they always leave me sobbing and totally wrecked but with each rewatch i'd just... forget they would eventually happen and i'd eventually get hurt??

[emmaswanned]

estevez: this is the kind of case my ex hated. the ones that might kill me.

[kitespark]

sorry to all of you white middle aged man lovers out there but shane madej subtly shifting the blame with the whole 'steven, talk about money' feels like a pathetic way to salvage the hip leftist uncle persona he's got going on and you all are waiting for him to return to your embrace like some prodigal son who was forced and didn't go on his own accord