#this should be the definition of egotism/selfishness

[lenteur]

hyuna saying she knows what people think about her current relationship (with that man) yet decided to ignore all the criticism to focus on her own happiness has got to be one of the most tone-deaf things i've ever heard in my entire life. like what do you mean you're choosing to ignore actual proven criticism just because you're in love? what about the many victims whose intimacy was vi*lated? what about the many victims who suffered/are suffering and will suffer psychological damages because a bunch of wealthy and so called "VIP" people decided to have "a little fun"? what about the many victims who felt so defenseless they wished at least one person would speak out and stand up for them? what about the many victims who feel ashamed because they were ab*sed (when the ab*sers should be the ones to feel ashamed)? what about the many victims whose lives have changed because of your man's friends? what about the many victims who now have a hard time trusting others? what about the many victims who might not have the means to get proper help/treatment? what about the many victims hyuna? have you ever thought about them even for a second?

[hollow-lime-green]

you've mentioned in 2sorcs that your interpretation of yuki's technique is different from canon, right? (I agree...the physics is not. physics-ing.) would you mind explaining your interpretation or would we have to wait for further chapters of 2sorcs/installations of the verse?

Oh yes, thank you for this ask, I would love to talk about this!

My interpretation of Yuki's powers is what I think they should be in a balanced universe where a.) Gege understands physics, and b.) Yuki is undeniably special grade.

I do really like Yuki's canon arc, but I think Gege copped out in how they got there due to him not really vibing with the math/science involved. Luckily, I am a STEM girlie here to womansplain. Since I'll mention about manga-only Yuki stuff, I'll put it under a cut.

(Side Note: I really hope some of the anime-onlies that I know have read this verse go back and reread if/once they catch up on the manga. There's a lot of easter eggs!)

Yuki's Canon Powers:

Yuki can use cursed energy to add virtual mass* to herself or her shikigami, Garuda.

*This mass only affects how hard she hits**.

**Until she adds enough mass to turn herself into a black hole, wherein it now does affect everything else.

Now, I think this is really stupid, because it is so limiting to say mass = power (force), and the black hole threshold is arbitrary. It is stupid on its own, and it is stupid in the context of the Kenjaku fight because if you let Yuki be cool, the fight can be way cooler. Kaori's anti-grav actually could have been an amazing counter and led to an interesting fight.

(Of course, the point of Yuki's fight is that she lets go of herself/her agency, and by not being selfish and arrogant, she loses the fight. The strongest need to be a little crazy, and they need to have unlimited faith in themselves/insane egotism. By doing what Tengen wants, she has to lose. I like it. But Greg still could've made her cool.)

Yuki's Powers (Taylor's My Version):

So, science: if the size of something stays the same, but the mass changes, the density has increased. So my interpretation of Yuki's powers is technically based on density.

Yuki can used cursed energy to add mass/increase density to anything she can touch (including other sorcs), and Garuda at a distance (familiar mechanics, baybee).

Yuki's cursed technique reversal is taking away mass/decreasing density.

All things are affected, not just 'power'. When things are heavier, they are harder to move and generally more durable, so she gets defensive buffs when heavy and speed buffs when light.

Yeah the black hole still works. But Yuki's relationship with mass is linear; there's no 'threshold' where suddenly Greg changes things.

These changes are relatively minimal in terms of the actual powers, but I think they would make a world of difference. When Yuki's powers interact with real world physics, she can have a lot more strategic options for changing her own mass, which you see in her spar with Geto. It's great for hand to hand. I have Satoru change his weight in the fic essentially by using a Blue behind him to lift himself up like a momma cat might lift their kittens up lmao. But Yuki could just directly target herself.

She could probably be special grade with *just* that change, especially since we know she has a DE and she has RCT. But I think it's balanced (whatever that even means in jjk) for her to also be able to apply her CT to unwilling targets, like Projection Sorcery. (By the way, Projection Sorcery is busted, and we will get into it 👀). With enemy/ally targeting, I think she'd be definitively special grade.

The Kenjaku/Kaori fight could have been an absolute masterpiece with the interaction between density/mass and gravitational pull. Both have both CT and RCT, so if you expanded on Kaori's antigrav and let her set a source point for gravitational pulls (similar to Blue), or at least a direction, she could reaaaaally fuck with Yuki. And then you've got the setting with Tengen's barriers falling apart. Kaorijaku could hover/fly, Yuki could go light to jump around on them. I mean - Greg, I just wanna talk Greg open up Greg-

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk <3

[magiefish]

OH GOD OH NO OH FUCK ME OH SHIT OH NO <- Just finished listening to Neverland

Further, more coherent, thoughts (and spoilers) beneath:

*Through gritted teeth* There is no alternative. There is no alternative. There is no alternative.

Anyway I really enjoyed that episode. I had forgotten what an enjoyable and satisfying conclusion to a story arc felt like. NuWho really sent that one through the Oubliette of Eternity.

I've never watched classic who romana but I *love* her dynamic with the doctor. The bit where they're under the console alternating between yelling technobabble and whispering plans? Effervescent.

The bit where Charley is like "Oh no! The Doctor!" and the co-ordinator says "Who?" mockingly. Brilliant.

The sound-effects were also really good. Charley's screams as she got "transfigured" were genuinely harrowing. And the moment of silence before the casket explodes? Gorgeous

The Never-People are really cool. Sentris' backstory was messed up and I like her character in general (also the doctor told her 'don't get your halo in a twist' or something? Much to consider design and symbolism wise)

The whole 'oh we're sorry the government did those terrible things to you, but don't worry, it's all a thing of the past now bit!' immediately followed by the reveal that no actually the horrors are ongoing you just didn't notice. Was certainly. Interesting. In the contemporary political climate.

TARDIS THAT HIDES AS A PLANET!! NuWho should really do more tardises disguised as unlikely objects. Work that chameleon circuit. Let's have a TARDIS necklace or something.

Rassilon seems a lot chiller here than he is generally depicted as in new who? Maybe that's just what the time war does to a motherfucker. Also he's dead? Didn't know that was a part of the canon.

Charley is honestly so delightful. She has so much wonder and curiosity but she's not afraid to assert herself, and she's frankly far more willing to put her own personal hang-ups aside for the greater good than the Doctor is.

Speaking of which, I find that a lot of New Who stories that try to do 'the darkness of the doctor' lean really hard into the potential ruthlessness and egotism and anger of the character (see Ten) but honestly I've never seen those as the Doctor's primary flaws? They're definitely angry with certain people and species (see Nine and the Daleks post-Time War) but their self-centeredness is not just being kind of controlling and ignoring the wishes of the people around them occasionally, it's also tossing their own health and safety aside at a moments notice. Sometimes being self-centered isn't just about being selfish or self-involved, it's also thinking of yourself as an isolated individual who's death or self-destruction won't affect the people around you who care about you, and that is definitely one of the Doctors major character flaws.

They also suffer from what I affectionately term "Best friend related object impermanence" in which they become incredibly attached to singular people and even when it's a them vs the universe situation if they're right in front of them they just kind of forget the universe exists and always put the companion first, usually at a detriment to themself. Like, if they can't see it it may as well not be there, laws of time be damned.

I think it's because The Doctor's so old and they already know almost everything about the universe so they need their companions in order to experience the wonder of it again but ultimately that just kind of leaves them in a bit of a co-dependent relationship with them. Which is a Yikes for them from me, but I also love relationships in which two people are entangled with one another in an deeply unhealthy way, so I will be both patting them on the back and pulling out the popcorn to see how it goes this time. (Can you tell I'm a Face the Raven-Heaven Sent-Hell Bent fan)

What Thirteen was really missing was a deeply messed up relationship with Yaz. Where's My Toxic Yuri Chibnall.

What I'm trying to say is: The Doctor is a merciful and compassionate character who tries to do what they think is right, and what they think is right is usually the option that ends with only him getting hurt -- this does not mean that they are good.

And The Doctor and Charley, ohhhh boooooyyyyyyy there's a lot to unpack there that smarter people than me already have but just. Charley accepting death and being grateful to the Doctor for giving her these adventures and actively telling him to shoot her to save the universe. The Doctor refusing to shoot her because he can't accept her dying and choosing to essentially kill himself instead of her. AGhhhhhhhhOuGGGhhhhhhOWwwwwwWWWWWW-

Platonic "I love you"s. Mwah.

The bit where The Doctor tries to send Charley away to a party and hide the truth of the situation from her and she puts her foot down and chooses to go and confront the Time Lords using an old trick he taught her. Queen. Assert your agency. Don't take shit from him.

GOD I LOVE THE ANTI-TIME CONCEPT. I'm just really into ideas about primordial chaos and dream logic and paradoxical identities like "I exist but I never was" or "I am this person but I am also not this person", nom nom nom, I was eating so well this episode.

I also love me an Ancient Horror and Messed Up Rhymes or Chants That Forewarn Their Coming (see Nowhere King from Centaur World) so, again, I was eating SO well this episode.

Love characters who have no identity so they take it from other sources like fiction or the external environment. Delicious.

Moffat, Flux-Chibnall, and RTD-2 wish they were Neverland so bad.

Wait hang on. Could The Frog from "It Takes You Away" be Zagreus? I know the Solitrax is a different thing but it's such a similar concept that I'm just going to make that my personal crack headcannon now. You can't change my mind. There is no alternative. It's just too funny.

Sentris, upon The Doctor running off into the TARDIS and dematerialisting: Agh, just ignore the silly bugger, what could he possibly do now?

The Doctor, rematerialising the TARDIS around the Time Station: WHAT'S UP BIITCHESSSS-

A few minutes later:

Romana: The paradox has been resolved, thank goodness! The Web of Time is fixed, the future continues, and now I shall return to look after Gallifrey! Is there any advice you can give me, Matrix!Rassilon?

Rassilon: No, Romana. You know I cannot speak of the future.

Romana: Yes, of course, that makes perfect sense. And even if there *were* an impending catastrophe, I'm sure you'd warn me of it. Well, goodbye Rassilon! Thank you!

Rassilon: .....Okay boys, she's gone. Drop the Zagreus mixtape.

Charley: Doctor, what's wrong? Have you been injured or something?

Eight: Injured? No. I've not been injured. This TARDIS contained all of the Time Station when it exploded. This ship was filled to bursting with a great mass of the fierciest, fizzing, energy!

Charley: What?! Anti-Time!?

Eight: A crude term for such a matter of life - and death. But now that the breach is resolved, now that the problem of you is resolved, well, all that remains of that stuff in this whole reality is held in here.

Charley: What? In the TARDIS?

Zagreus: *Laughter*, oh, no no no. In here.

Voice of girl whose favourite things include "Strange case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde", "Another Twist", "The Fly" and "Penumbra: Black Plague";

Anyway, girl if your man starts talking in nursery rhymes and his voice becomes distorted that ain't your man that's Zagreus.

In conclusion: They were right. That Doctor sure could Become Zagreus. Wonder what bearing this will have on Hades II. Go listen to the Eighth Doctor's Main Range audios, they're all available on Spotify :gun:

[sadsongsandstories]

So it seems I might have judged the epic musical demo too harshly

I think a lot of the criticisms I felt are still totally valid, but at the same time there are some amazing character moments, pretty good humour and some effective emotional motifs

That said,

I still feel like the entire soundtrack suffers from a case of tryhard, and try hard in the sense of trying to be the next Hamilton, when it's not. Because Hamilton takes some incredible skill and writing, and years spent perfecting every number, which it seems to be epic does not have. The rhymes often feel painfully forced and straight forward. I don't care how badly you want your lyrics to rhyme, survive and alive should not be paired five times in five different songs. And rhyme is important to music, Hamilton rhymes spent with cent, sent and scent, which works perfectly. The issue might be that the emphasis is always on the rhyme, or that it's always aa bb cc dd rhyme. The songs have an imagine dragons feel to them, which is a strange sense to get from a musical soundtrack.

Which kinda leads to my next point, there are no highs and lows. Or more accurately, there are only highs. The songs are hype after hype which really does not work, for any medium, but especially musicals. Both within the songs and within the soundtrack, various is key, with the swells and flows creating an emotional journey for the audience. Instead, every song sounds kinda samesie, with a couple of gems thrown in to spice it up. I know this is a dramatic voyage across the sea. I know it is literally and figuratively epic, and the music does reflect that. But epicness can only be perceived relative to its absence, which is a fact they seem to forget.

Hamilton masters this balance. And I'm sorry for the repeated comparisons to Hamilton, but this musical seems to demand parallels be made! Songs like my shot, right hand man, and satisfied are intense and exciting, full of big dramatic moments and fast raps, and in between them we find softer, simpler ballads, like the story of tonight, helpless, and farmer refuted. Even fan favouites like you'll be back starts slower before building up.

Listening to epic, there isn't a sense of variation, and as such the songs all seem to blur together. The repeated hypeness makes it all rather forgettable, and the endless intensity makes listening kinda tiresome eventually.

Onto some of the good stuff, because there is definitely good bits

The gods are done really well!! The way they appear and immediately command their respective songs is effective, and in each case make for powerful memorable numbers. I like this Hermes and persoidon especially, since they're different to the portrayals I'm used to, being a hadestown and Percy Jackson fan. Persoidon is absolutely the villain of this tale, and his song perfectly reflects that. Circe also seems quite well suited to her mythological character, and wind goddess is perfectly serviceable. Polyphemus not so much, I really can't stand his lyrics and I feel like he should sound notably different, but that's a minor point.

The moments of complete chorus chanting, and the motifs therein, are all striking and effective. You can feel the yearning to get back home alive, or the weight of the 600 men under Odysseus' command. Full speed ahead is a bop, and it's repetitions do well to remind us of the endless homeward journey.

Odysseus is not Odysseus enough. Odysseus is a cunning trickster and wise leader, and the only moment when I felt that was at the end of the persoidon song, (which has hilarious and clever). And if this is meant to be a more flawed portrayal from which he can learn and grow, then show that. Show his egotism and selfishness, but maybe not singchanting it at the top of his lungs over crashing choral vocals. Show don't tell. Let us see the man or the hero or the menace.

In Hamilton, - I'm sorry I will stop with Hamilton I swear!! It's just such a similar approach, a protagonist driven tale with a flawed hero who must learn and grow - Hamilton acts arrogant and rash, and we see him fail as a result, many times over. Yes he sings his feelings, but it's done few and far between, and each time is done completely. The aside in my shot, and it's repetition in the battle of Yorktown, are the only times we really hear his mind in act one, along with dear Theodosia. Otherwise, his mind is seen through his actions and conversations, or with the words and motifs of others. Hurricane is a massive monologue, and we understand everything. He pulls it all together, thing narrative threads like a conspiracy theorist to his own life, justifying and explaining every action we have seen him take, and the biggest choice (and potentially mistake) of his life. Just before his death, we hear another such monologue. It's like slam poetry, and unlike the rest of the musical rings cold and hollow. This is a man moments before death, and we get to share in his reflection on the life we have just seen him lead. When he aims his pistol at the sky, we understand, we hear him and we follow every swerve and pivot of his mind. Every motif, every relationship, every love and loss has been leading to this moment. And we watch as he aims his pistol at the sky, solidifying his legacy.

That is epic

That's how you create an epic musical with an epic ending

The world will never be the same, and now we know why

Because Hamilton is not a hero one might consider worth singing about. He's just some guy, one of many founding fathers who added some things to the birth of one nation and made some mistakes. The musical could have been about Washington, or Jefferson, or any of the other more relevant and notable historical figures. But no, Lin man chose Hamilton. And for whatever reason, he ran with it. And by the end, you don't question the decision. There is no doubt that this was an incredible story, and one that the world needed to hear. Hamilton is a hero, an epic hero, not because the story is inherently epic, but because of its portrayal. Because of Lin man's skill as a master poet.

Epic, meanwhile is a story the world knows and cares about. Now they just have to do it justice. Because it's not a given. The characters have to be clear and powerful and emotional, real people with motivation and desires, who have normal human conversations, even if they are rapped. The story has to have highs and lows, and fit together as a singular coheatanr narrative. Because at this stage, it seems like too many myths and characters and moments to really make sense. The music has to reflect the story, and carry the narrative, where each song is amazing in its own right, while being integral to the overall narrative.

And it's a tall ask, but that's how it is with musicals! It's a tough artform, which is all part of why it's my favourite.

By the end of epic, I want to have seen the tale of the Odyssey in it's full musical glory, but I also want to feel like it was necessary and sufficient to portray it in the musical medium. I want to see odysseus as a man and a legend. It can be done, Hamilton does it, hadestown does it, legally blonde does it, every musicals with a strong protagonist fulfills this duty. The hero has to be a regular person, with regular person reactions, flaws, and dialogue. And at the same time, they have to grow into a spectacle, a remarkable force to be reckoned with. Like veronica Sawyer, or Tris from hairspray. And they have to learn, be broken down and built up and left to reflect on the journey that they have taken. Like Evan Hansen. And the audience has to be drawn in, spun around to a boppy tune, carried to the brink of heaven and spat down to the depths of despair only to be shown a light.

That's how you do epic

That's how you make a music amazing

That's why musicals can be transformational

You just have to do the work, and get it right.

[egg-emperor]

If anything Flynn's explanation sounds like a compromise between what the two major camps want. It's not "Eggman selflessly loves Sage, what a good guy!" But it's not "Eggman has no love for Sage at all" either. He loves her to a point, but it's in a stunted, selfish, flawed sort of way. There are many parents like this... They feel some love for their child, but still put themselves first and ultimately treat their children more like extensions of themselves than their own people. Selfish love.

A majority of Eggdad fans do want it to be more selfless and pure, for Sage to change and make him into a better person. It's evident in popular fan stuff because wholesomeness is the appeal to them and his selfishness and egotism still being present takes away from it. And in how I got major backlash for my analysis (which is now confirmed by Flynn) and my concepts that lean into it and line up with his treatment of creations and lackeys all the time. So I don't think a lot of that crowd would be very pleased with this.

But I like it much better when it actually just emphasizes his narcissism and ego, which I didn't see many consider before Flynn said it too. I wouldn't say it's really genuine love for her that way, it's really love for himself with how he's praising himself through her as his creation and how he says she's great because he's her creator/"father". It's shallow, self-centered, and self praising. It's very fitting that he can't praise someone and find reasons to "love" and value them without praising himself in any way.

With that in mind, I still don't believe that he has it in him to genuinely love and care for anyone else, as it would require selflessness and thoughts for others beyond his own involvement which he's confirmed not to have. I don't think he should suddenly develop out of that and change due to Sage because his ego and selfishness have always been very important parts of the core of his character that defines him and is present in all his motivations and actions. But there are definitely some people that want that.

[astrowithkaro]

Are you still doing the language of birthdays series? If so could you please do April 17th?? :x

Language Of Birthdays: April 17 - Aries

The Day Of Serious Purpose

Those born on the April 17 carry a strong sense of their own power while at the same time exhibiting an adventuresome spirit and leadership qualities. These are definitely people who expect to be listened to when they speak. As a matter of fact, being ignored in any manner is extremely difficult for them to handle. They know that they count, that they are important, and often they expect that others will pay respect and follow them to the ends of the earth, if necessary. Some born on this day may make a quiet impression at first, but one can nevertheless feel the force submerged in them. If an April 17 person is as yet unaware of his/her power urges, it will only be a matter of time before some crucial incident in life brings these to the fore.

Those born on this day may be deeply interested in philosophy or religion, for powerful ideas often attract powerful people. They may also seek to ally themselves with strong individuals and institutions. For them, everything that is established of a social nature is to be defended and served to the fullest. Yet they also despise bullies and will seek to bring down those who abuse privilege or position. Those born on this day may themselves come from quite humble backgrounds, but never forget their roots.

April 17 people cherish their willpower and sharply reasoning mind above all else. They have a kind of shrewdness or cunning that will lead them out of the most difficult situations. In this respect they are amoral, so they must beware of lending their energies to unscrupulous or underhanded endeavors which will eventually catch up with them, no matter how high they rise.

More highly evolved April 17 people put their power directly in the service of others, particularly those weaker and more vulnerable who cannot protect themselves. Un-evolved April 17 people may be carried away by egotism and greed. A desire to indulge the pleasures of the mind as well as the body can become all-consuming pursuits for some born on this day. Learning to be less possessive by giving up material possessions from time to time will be an important lesson for them to learn. Actually, every individual born on this day should beware of selfishness, especially in the name of family, where it passes as filial or parental responsibility. Eventually these individuals may come to realize that they are part of one human family and find a realistically helpful role relative to the common good.

April 17 people take themselves seriously, perhaps too much so. They have to remember to laugh at themselves from time to time—discover a lighter side of life, perhaps cultivate pastimes. They should also try to be less judgmental; it is very important for them to live and let live, and the sooner the better.

Strengths:

Well-grounding

Strong-willed

Responsible

Weaknesses:

Overly critical

Judgemental

Grim

Advice

Those born on April 17 must beware of all forms of excess and indulgence, whether sex, drugs, food or drinks. They may fall into certain addictive patterns through feeling lonely or misunderstood. To control their weight (which can really shoot up if they are depressed) they should avoid saturated fats, excessive meat, rich sauces and cake. If those born on this clay can manage to find a suitable vocation, enjoy the company of one or two good friends and live with someone who loves them, they will have a good chance of stabilizing their emotions. As a way of relaxing, yoga may work. Also travel, particularly adventuresome holidays, will do wonders to keep them lively and focused for the rest of the year.

Try to be less critical of others

Beware of becoming to dependent on having their approval

Seek spiritual as well as physical activity

Lighten up: remember to have fun

Set easy tasks for yourself as well as difficult ones

[chaotic-kitty]

Hey its me! So I have this nagging thought about a god hunter's existence in ftlog realm because as serene and wholesome the series makes me feel, I'm craving a ~little~ conflict.

Like, imagine our mc minding their own business and suddenly got strucked by an enchanted arrow. Can you imagine the chaos?

-majestickitty-si

Ooooh I love that!! I can totally see that happening. Though I would hope that even if it was an enchanted arrow, that the shooter was a better shot😅 But I can only imagine just how upset and angry people would be. Now each mc would react differently so I can’t speak much on that front, but!! The Main 6? They would be furious!! That hunter deity should start praying coz they’re gonna have a horde of angry deities after them.

But given that we’re talking about deities, they probably all have superhuman regeneration, them being immortal and all. So no real harm done…..besides like mentally scarring them🤷🏻‍♀️

Though what would a hunter deity be hunting?? Would they be hunting the animals!?!🥺😭 I mean there is an arena in Eonia, why can’t they practice shooting stuff there? They could do what Hephaestus did in Blood Of Zeus (tv show) and make like BIG semi sentient metal contraptions to fight instead.

Though I like to think that there is also a deity of war (Given that in most mythologies that worship multiple gods, war deities are popular figures). Which depending on how you wanna look at a figure like that, the same kinda situation can arise. (I have my own thoughts on how certain deities might act, but I’ll get to that in a minute) Because a war deity is likely to be defensive and even hostile, as is likely to be skilled in fighting, which could make for some interesting problems. Like if the deities hold regular fighting matches in the arena, a war deity or even a hunter deity could take it a bit too far. Or like in the case of Aurelia and Astrellio, their powers going berserk because of anger. I’d hate to see how other deities would go in those situations. Though everyone is probably used to it by now…..but the mc would definitely find themselves caught in a few, less than desirable, situations in the months/years following their arrival.

Though on that note, this story follows the polytheistic belief, so like with Greek mythology or even Norse mythology there are going to be deities of all kinds who aren’t all necessarily ‘good’ or ‘bad’. I like to think that with these deities (my mc included) that all of them represent EVERY aspect of their title. They represent the good, bad, and grey areas. For example: The deity of love in their virtue represents love, compassion, selflessness, benevolence , ect. BUT!! In their vice they represent selfishness, egotism, destruction, and so forth. The same with the other deities, meaning that they can all, when pushed far enough, have moments of destructive behaviours that threaten the balance of their realm. And given that we’re talking about deities, even the most harmless squabbles can have catastrophic consequences if people aren’t careful.

Edit: Because of this though, I’m pretty sure the deity of love would have their work cut out for them.💕

[lesbianrobin]

if you’re still taking character asks....hopper👀

favorite thing about them

ok there’s a lot i could say but my Absolute favorite thing about hopper is how much he cares about kids... like hopper is not in a place to be taking in el but he does it anyway because he Needs to help her yknow he just can’t sit by knowing this little girl is out there alone he has to leave food for her and make a home for her and he goes to extreme lengths to do whatever he thinks will keep her safe... he risks his life breaking into the lab and walking straight into the upside down to rescue will, he goes out of his way to comfort jonathan in s1, and GOD the way he held mike in s2 while mike was cussing him out and hitting him... 

what gets me about hopper is that like. he could have been this guy completely driven by his past trauma yknow he Could just care about keeping these kids safe as a way of making up for not being able to do anything to help his kid like it could be a personal ego sort of thing. but it’s not. he doesn’t Just care about keeping them physically safe, he wants them to be happy, too, even if he’s not as good at that part of parenting. he still tries! he knows el’s favorite foods and he compliments her little punk makeover and he tries to let her see her boyfriend all she wants even though he hates it (though he eventually cracks and fucks up the whole situation lmao) and he lets el have her little sleepovers with max freely. it’s just like... so often parenthood in real life and in fiction is just an exercise in egotism and the fact that hopper KNOWS he’s not the best dad but he keeps trying every day because he wants to give el and the other kids the kind of father and protector they deserve... god. i just love him.

least favorite thing about them

it would be easy to say my least favorite thing about hopper is how he can be pretty selfish or short-tempered or jealous but like. it’s honestly those flaws that make him more real and loveable to me ksjdnckdmn so this is hard.

i guess my least favorite thing about hopper is his stubbornness? like it’s one thing to be short-sighted or insecure but it’s another to be unwilling to listen to other people and question yourself and talk things out. he got called out for it in s3 though and i get the feeling his arc in s4 is Really gonna challenge his worst traits, so i’m not too mad about it.

favorite line

god there are So many and the black hole scene is... a revelation. but it’s hard to pick a single line from that instead of just the whole conversation sdkcnm so i’m gonna have to go with his line from s3, when he and el are talking in the mall and el says “i can fight,” and hopper says “Better than any of us. But I need you safe.” 

it’s just. god it’s simple but it just shows how much he knows his daughter yknow? he knows that el doesn’t like feeling incapable and he DOES know that she’s strong and she can fight, and he makes that clear. he tells her explicitly, yeah, i know you can fight, i believe in you and i trust your assessment of your own abilities, but i’m your father and i need you safe. it’s “i love you” and “i believe in you” and “you’re an incredible kid” and “you’re the most important thing in the world to me” all in one and it fucks me up. 

brOTP

if bob was still alive i’d say him and bob skjdnckn but as it is... idk about brotp but i really like the dynamic between hopper and owens i think their sort of like. half hostile half friendly exchange of favors is just super fun. 

OTP

nOTP

honestly as far as i know there’s no hopper ships really floating around in the fandom besides jopper dkjncmnc i don’t even know what to put here... my man is a one woman kind of guy 

random headcanon

whenever el asks him a remotely hard question about like politics or religion or sex or economics he’s always like hm good question i don’t have time to answer that one right now i uh i just remembered i promised joyce i’d help her with something but i’ll tell you as soon as i get back :) and then he goes to melvald’s and he’s like heyyy joyce got a question for ya :) 

he never actually ends up saying what joyce tells him to say but just talking to her makes him feel better about it <3

unpopular opinion

i think i’ve said this a dozen times but i don’t think hopper was that bad in s3 like. yeah he was a dick but the narrative clearly wasn’t on his side and he was the butt of the joke yknow plus his s4 arc is definitely gonna make him change in a big way. so i don’t have that much of a problem with it besides like just thinking he should have been more worried about the kids once he and joyce found out that some shit was going on in hawkins again.

song i associate with them

literally i have too many there are like three i want to say right now... i’ve talked about hopper and you never even called me by my name by david allan coe before (“i’ll hang around as long as you will let me/and i never minded standing in the rain” ...s2 jopper) and i’ve also talked about him and one bourbon, one scotch, one beer by john lee hooker (blues) OR one bourbon, one scotch, one beer by george thorogood and the destroyers (rock n roll medley between hooker’s version and another hooker song, house rent boogie). the thorogood’s my personal favorite version, but they’re so different they’re both worth listening to and they might as well be totally different songs.

anyway i’ve said that all before so i’ll give u all a NEW one and say jim dandy by black oak arkansas!! just to like preface it IS a cover and the original’s by lavern baker but i picked the black oak arkansas version because it’s a lot more wild and i feel like it matches hopper’s Vibe better. it’s a really goofy kinda nonsense song but the lyric “i’m dandy the kind of guy/who can’t stand to see a little girl cry” just makes it impossible for me to listen to it without thinking of hop <3

favorite picture of them

idk if this counts but it’s this screenshot of a tiktok where stranger things is playing on the big screen at a club and hopper’s watching his daughter die while everyone in the club is partying

but if that doesn’t satisfy u i’ll give a bonus

whore <3

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Erik Killmonger

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has always been able to tell compelling stories with its heroes, but for the longest time the films lacked a key component of any great superhero story: great, compelling villains. Sure, there were enjoyable foes like Ultron and Red Skull and then there was Loki, the poster child for villainy in the early days, but I think at some point we can’t JUST have fun, we need something compelling and engaging too. To quote one of the greatest MCU villains, it should be “perfectly balanced, as all things should be.”

Thankfully, we eventually got those compelling villains. Characters like Zemo, Toomes, and Ghost showcased a level of complexity and depth not really seen in anyone outside Loki, and fun villains like Hela and the Grandmaster were better than ever, with more engaging personalities. Then we got villains who were a blend, like Ego and Mysterio, and don’t even get me started on Thanos. But there is one villain who stands out even among the greatness of these villains, a villain who is one of the few Marvel villains that I would without hesitation call one of the greatest villains of all time: Erik Killmonger.

Killmonger is a character who solidified Marvel’s turning point from weaker villains into villains worthy of high praise. And not only that, he helped to completely redeem his actor, Michael B. Jordan, in the eyes of filmgoers everywhere after a not-so-fantastic previous outing into the superhero movie genre (though starring in Creed probably also helped him out). Killmonger’s story is almost Shakesperean, with a tragic life molding him into the ruthless man he became, a man whose entire motivation is founded on hypocrisy. But it’s these facets and more that make him if not the greatest, but one of the most fascinating characters in the MCU. And yes, I mean characters period.

Motivation/Goals: Erik had a pretty miserable life growing up. His dad was killed by T’Challa’s father for allying himself with Klaue due to wanting to end Wakanda’s isolationist policies after seeing black people disenfranchised in America, and his mom was apparently in jail (and she died there). Erik’s greatest desire is to carry on his father’s work, only on a grander scale: he wants to take the throne of Wakanda for himself and forcibly end their isolationist policies, supplying vibranium tech to black people around the world and giving them the strength to fight back at their oppressors. And, you know, I can’t really fault him in theory, his plan isn’t totally evil…

...but it becomes very clear that the only person Erik really thinks about is himself. He’ll oppress and murder black people if they don’t fall in line with his plans, he doesn’t give a damn about anyone who isn’t black in general, and most tellingly of all: he decides to keep the power of Black Panther to himself, destroying it to keep any future generations from getting it. While there definitely is some truth to his goals and desires, it’s hard to deny that Killmonger is also acting out of vengeance and a lust for power. Unlike most villains who lust for power, he at least has a lot of other things going in to his motivations, which keeps him from being bland like, oh, I don’t know, Malekith.

I think it’s also worth noting that even in the film, the characters point out Erik is still operating like a CIA wetworker, dismantling and destroying governments while masking his motives under the guise of rebellious ideology. The thing here is that he’s not working for anyone who’s going to swoop in and scoop up the assets from the ruins of the places he’s destroying – he’s the master, and all he is doing is leaving behind chaos, destruction, and death for nothing. His own goals are not truly helped by a lot of his actions, especially not when he decides to eschew Wakandan traditions in the third act, which helps lead to his downfall.

Performance: Michael B. Jordan is a very talented man, which anyone would be able to tell you provided they had watched Chronicle and sat out F4ntastic. Unfortunately, the latter managed to stick in most people’s minds since it ruined the career of Chronicle’s director and basically garnered a lot of vitriol for everyone involved, so it was going to be an uphill battle for Jordan with this film.

Boy did he win the crowd here.

Jordan manages to make Killmonger everything you would want to see in a villain. He’s cunning, he’s dangerous, he’s charismatic, he’s pretty damn hot (Did you SEE him with his shirt off?!). It’s to the point where despite the incredibly embarrassing CGI cat fight at the end between him and T’Challa, Jordan manages to turn Killmonger’s death scene into a poignant and emotional moment that ends up deeply affecting T’Challa as a character and setting the stage for his character growth to the point where you can almost forget that you spent the last ten minutes watching a PS3 cutscene.

Final Fate: For a comic book movie villain, there is about a 10% chance you will make it out of any given superhero movie alive. Killmonger does not fall into that 10%; thankfully, he does get a poignant sendoff, where he gets to watch the sun set on Wakanda (both figuratively and literally, considering T’Challa’s actions in the ending) and deliver one last line clinging to his ideology to his dying breath. Maybe he was just playing a bit to mask his own egotism, but you have to give props to a man who stays steadfast and defiant even to the end. Even when offered the chance to be saved, he chooses to go out on his own terms.

Best Scene: I can hardly narrow it down to one scene, because Killmonger basically steals the show whenever he’s onscreen. But his cold-blooded murder of his own girlfriend when she became a liability to his plans, followed up by executing Klaue and delivering his corpse to Wakanda? That’s just ice cold. Most villains wish they could get the lengths they’d go to established like that.

Best Quote: After going on about the poignancy of his dying words, how could I not put them here? When T’Challa tells Killmonger Wakandan science can save his life following the Video game cuts- er, final battle between the two, Killmonger responds thusly:

“Why? So you can lock me up? Nah. Just bury me in the ocean, with my ancestors who jumped from the ships, 'cause they knew death was better than bondage.”

Final Thoughts & Score: There is just so much to unpack with Killmonger.

I think one of the aspects about Killmonger I like the most is that despite his good intentions, there is an inherent hypocrisy in all he does which, despite valid points and incredibly valid grievances, firmly cements himself as a villain. For all his talk of aiding and liberating his fellow Africans from the opression they face around the world, he feels no remorse in appropriating from them (as he does to that mask at the start of the film, ironically after calling out a museum worker for stealing it) or violently subjugating them and destroying aspects of their way of life as he does when he comes to Wakanda. And his own gripes against white people, while founded in a place of legitimacy, are also filled with hypocrisy on his part, to the point where he actively does everything he rails against the white colonizers for doing, down to even oppressing and harming other non-white racial groups so long as it furthers his desire to turn Wakanda into a power that can oppress all other nations with its technological superiority. Now, usually such rampant hypocrisy would lead to a poor character, or even an idiot – but such is not the case here. His own hypocrisy only serves to make him a richer, more well-rounded character.

Compare him to Thanos. Thanos also had a plan that was inherently flawed, hypocritical, and not rooted in rational thought – and he is widely praised as an excellent character. This is because you are not supposed to agree with a villain, valid as their points or their anger are. But at the same time, their anger and their motives gives you an insight onto who they are and how they operate, a window into how their mind works, and Killmonger’s definitely shows how he is a broken, angry man who was failed by Wakanda and failed by America and has suffered bigotry, racism, and violence all his life. And in his shoes, would you too not be angry? Even with the numerous atrocities he commits and the horrible hypocrisies he wallows in, it’s hard not to feel a bit of pity for a man who could have offered so much, only to give in to hatred.

And the thing with Killmonger is that not only is his anger valid, it ultimately does have ramifications, it ultimately does change the status quo, though maybe not in the way he envisioned. T’Challa realizes in the end that Wakanda failed Killmonger, that Wakanda has been selfish and allowed horrible things to occur to their fellow Africans because they didn’t consider them their people. And so T’Challa opens the borders, decides to share Wakanda’s gifts with the world, and reach out and help disenfranchised black people around the world so that someone like Killmonger never rises up again. What this could mean for the MCU going forward is anyone’s guess, but it definitely shakes up the status quo of Wakanda a fair bit.

I think it’s rather obvious that Killmonger earns himself a 10/10, joining the ranks of Thanos, Mysterio, and Ego at the table of champions. As far as villains go, I’d say he’s probably the deepest and most well-written, though I’d still say it’s arguable if he’s the absolute best. Still, he is certainly a fine metric by which to judge other villains, and if nothing else he will most definitely wash the bad taste of Jordan’s Johnny Storm out of your mouth forever. Killmonger really is what I would consider the gold standard that other villains need to live up to in other comic book movies, and generally speaking, we’ve been getting that recently. Let’s hope that the pace can be continued, and let’s hope whoever T’Challa is fighting in Black Panther 2 can measure up.

[somewhereperhapsarchive]

1, 5, 6, 7, 13 for the MDZS ask game! (๑^᎑^๑)♡

Wei Wuxian: Who is the person you’d die for?

My mom. She has sacrificed everything in order to take care of me and my brothers. 

Lan Sizhui: What is your most favorite childhood memory?

Definitely the summers where I would go the library and read the Percy Jackson books religiously. I miss those times. 

Lan Jingyi: What is the wildest thing you have ever done? 

Hm. I had this epiphany junior year of high school where I should always be honest in how I feel. As a result, I approached this dude I had a crush on during junior prom and literally said, “I think you are enticing and extravagant.” He then preceded to give me a fist bump. The sweet boy friend zoned me kindly.  

Ouyang Zizhen: What is the most romantic thing for you? 

Honestly, holding hands and looking the person in the eyes and just saying how you feel about them in prose. The moon is waning and I am yearning. 

Wen Qing: What traits do you dislike about other people? 

Selfishness and egotism. There is so much out there in the world besides ourselves. It is dire to see ourselves in the bigger picture. 

Thank you for asking :)

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: Why does I-No feel the need to torment Dizzy in X2? It's one thing to be mad with her alternate self, but the present Dizzy didn't do anything to deserve being totured by I-No. In fact, doing that earned I-No That Man/Asuna's anger and imprisonment in Dizzy's Path 1 Ending.

I-No deemed all Gears as "Failures", right from the very beginning.

I-No didn't even see them as anything that resembled humans, and simply a biproduct of Human egotism and greed.

I-No's origins were initially unclear, but she has always bore an air of superiority towards others she deems "less" than her.

To her "trash should be stepped on like trash" and those in power "bathing in the spotlight, burning".

By that argument you might ask "Well, Gears represent Power, so why hate them so much?"

Gears were given power, yes, but they themselves misused that power in much the same way as Humans did... that is why they're considered "failures" to I-No.

Dizzy was this person who could have resented the world for her fate, inherited all the hatred and rage from her forebears and continued the cycle of bloodshed and war for the sake of her own satisfaction... but instead she sought a brighter future.

I-No resented Dizzy for being this very strong being who refused to use her powers for her own selfish desires... And while that might very well encapsulate the very definition of what I-No deemed a "failure"... I-No believed in the idea that those who are given a "role" should not deviate from that "role".

Dizzy was a Gear... and so she should ACT like a Gear. She SHOULD resent humans, she SHOULD kill everyone... she SHOULD be this embodiment of destruction and chaos just as she was born to be... or at least that was I-No's perspective.

In I-No's mind, a "failure" should always BE a "failure" and not deviate from the script they're given.

But that's where I-No and Asuka R. Kreutz' ideologies clash.

Asuka believed in Evolution. He believed all life should be given a chance to grow and change for the better.  He also believed in the concept of a "God" called the Merciless Apocalypse... a being whose identity was bound to "evolve" the rest of humanity (at least from a symbolic standpoint).

Where Frederick's (Sol Badguy's) beliefs clash with Asuka's and I-No's is that he believes that everyone has a "choice", a "say" in how to live their own lives.  They aren't bound by things like "roles" and "Gods".  Everyone is "free" to live as they see fit.

Sol gave Dizzy her "freedom", gave her a chance to live on her own terms and become someone who wasn't "just a Gear" who wasn't "just a human", but something that surpassed both and much more.

But where Sol gave Dizzy "freedom", Ky Kiske gave her "hope". A means for Humans and Gears to live together on equal terms.  Not as "weapons", not as "enemies", but as "allies", "friends", and "family."

As someone who never had a family, I-No couldn't possibly understand Dizzy's values or the reason she resolved herself to protect what was important to her in the face of fear, bigotry, and blind hatred.

The very irony being that fear itself (fear of Gears) was what created I-No in the first place.

I-No doesn't yet understand what Gears and Mankind are truly capable of, but I think someday she will learn, even if Sol is the one who will teach her.

[truthbeetoldmedia]

The 100 6x06 “Memento Mori” Review

Along with its impeccable world building, what Season 6 of The 100 has done so well is remind us that no matter how strong one’s moral compass is, every action has a reaction. Monty’s words to “do better” may be lingering in the minds of all of our heroes, but then again, they weren’t exactly expecting to encounter body snatchers in their new world.

Episode 6x06 of The 100, “Memento Mori,” written by newcomer Alyssa Clark and directed by P.J. Pesce is reminiscent of the “old” The 100 in more ways than one, but with a Sanctum twist. There are equal parts lore and moral conflict, and a pinch of backstabbing thrown in for good measure.

Heart Over Head

Try as he might to remain rational and think with his head, Bellamy was certainly not expecting this curveball: Clarke is dead. Josephine restrains Bellamy in her bedroom, and we can tell once she’s thrown Murphy in there with him that it’s been torn apart. While Murphy attempts to subtly convince Bellamy to stay and take the mind drives for the rest of their people, Bellamy has a one track mind. Clarke is gone, and there’s no bringing her back. (Or is there?)

It’s heartbreaking to see Bellamy mourn Clarke in such an outward way. We missed this in the years lost on the ring, and even in the brief moments we did see him grapple with her death, it was clear he was going about it logically. After all, Clarke had just told him to use his head. Now though, after Jordan has reminded him that his heart is what allowed him to be such a heroic and inspiring person, his head seems to have taken a back seat in his processing.

Though Bellamy tells the rest of Spacekru at the end of the episode that they must do what Clarke would want and survive, it’s likely he won’t be able to stick to that for long, at least I hope not. Murder is wrong, kids, but this has been a long time coming. Bellamy’s passion is what makes him such a standout character. That version of him resurfacing would be the cherry on top of such a good season.

Once a Cockroach, Always a Cockroach

The tagline of the season is “Face your demons”. While for Madi this is the Dark Commander and for Diyoza it may be her likeness to Hitler, for Murphy it’s what he’s seen in the afterlife and his unwillingness to go back. This is a character that has cheated death so many times that’s he’s never perhaps grappled with the thought of his own mortality. Now that he knows there’s a way to cheat death forever, he must decide whether to be the hero or slay his demon.

It isn’t surprising in the least that Murphy has taken a deal to save himself. After all, this is his trademark. Even he knows it. However, it’s difficult to tell if his motives will change at any point in the season. What does Josephine have to do to lose him? Though Murphy acts in this episode like he can deal with losing Bellamy, we’ve seen just how ferociously loyal he is to those he loves.

When Clarke, Abby and co. threatened to test the nightblood solution on Emori back in Season 4, Murphy literally had to be restrained. He promised he’d kill Clarke if anything happened to her. Now more than ever, Murphy has a family. Something tells me that as much as he refuses that fact sometimes, he won’t let the Primes harm them — especially since he’s witnessed death firsthand.

Murphy has always been an unpredictable character though. Just when he seems the most bastardly and selfish, he bends and does something to save someone. I wouldn’t be surprised if Murphy turned into the hero of the season.

Echo, Emori and Raven

When Josephine tells an oblivious Echo that Bellamy has gone into the forest on a scouting mission, she’s suspicious but she takes the bait. Josephine figures this will buy her enough time to sway Abby and get the nightblood solution, but she still sends Jade to follow Echo.

While Echo is ultimately looking for Bellamy, she finds herself mercy killing someone who’s quite literally being eaten alive by a tree and learns about Josephine/Clarke from Jade. While it’s nice to see Echo go off on her own and have an independent storyline, it’s short-lived when she returns to the compound and reunites with her friends.

However, we still got a brief taste of a possible new pairing: Echo and Jade. Both spies, they have the potential to either grow closer as they empathize with one another, or play a very entertaining game to see who can gather more intel. Either way, I’m seriously hoping we get more of these two.

Meanwhile, Raven and Emori help Ryker, a Prime, work on the radiation problem. However, once Raven knows about the body snatching, there isn’t much working at all. While it’s understandable that Raven would question the morality of this all, the argument seems to go in circles. Ryker defends the way of the Primes as a significant aspect of Sanctum culture, and Raven argues its immorality.  

Raven doesn’t seem to persuade Ryker, but it’s possible that his mind may change later on and he may become a key ally in helping our heroes to defeat the Primes and get Clarke back. He seems the most willing of the Primes we’ve met to break, anyway.

The issue here is that Raven continues to argue that she’s done nothing wrong, she’s innocent, and she has no demons. She can’t realistically keep up this facade forever, no matter how much she projects onto other people. Raven is a character that needs a serious reality check, and soon. She was once one of my favorites, but I’m beginning to lose hope that Raven can redeem herself from all the bitterness and egotism.

The Mysterious Spiral

Also in the forest are Octavia, Diyoza and their new friend Xavier. Octavia has been exposed to flares that rapidly aged her hand, and the aging is rapidly spreading. Xavier fears she may only have hours before the aging spreads to her mind, killing her. So, the three unlikely confidants search for a possible cure. It turns out that Xavier is a fan of homeopathic medicine. He collects the sap from a tree to apply to Octavia’s wrinkled skin, and while it doesn’t exactly help, her hand does begin to twitch uncontrollably.

The gang soon discover that her tremors aren’t random at all. In fact, they’re forming a spiral that shows up elsewhere in nature, and inked on Xavier’s skin. He says this anomaly called him and it is calling Octavia now.

While it’s unknown what exactly the anomaly is, it’s likely that it will give Octavia some kind of purpose she didn’t have before. Maybe it will even encourage her to live. Octavia’s demons are arguably the most difficult to face of any character on the show, so she likely needs some strong ammo to fight back.

I have to note that watching Octavia and Diyoza’s unlikely friendship blossom has been nothing short of a treat. This is a pair so many were hoping for at the end of Season 5 when they had a brief interaction in the Eligius ship, and one that is definitely not disappointing now. Diyoza and Octavia both have a lot to regret, so it only makes sense that they help each other get their humanity back.

Befriending the Dark Commander

Not knowing that Clarke is dead, Madi struggles in this episode with a commander who won’t let up taunting her. Gaia calls him Sheidheda, the Dark Commander. While in a deep meditative state, Madi speaks to Sheidheda and attempts to reason with him. However, he acts as the metaphorical devil on one’s shoulder, encouraging Madi to kill Gaia before she herself is harmed. Madi questions his words, but once she wakes up in chains, she seems to second guess herself. And when Madi learns that Clarke is dead (in the most heartbreaking scene, might I add), something clicks.

Madi banishes Gaia, and with Sheidheda now by her side, plans to kill everyone in order to avenge Clarke. While half of me was jumping for joy at this new heart-heavy side to Madi, the other half of me was frozen in place, worried about what may become of her without Gaia to guide her, and with this new, evil spirit guide.

Lola Flannery’s performance as Madi in this episode was magnetizing. My eyes were completely glued to the screen during her scenes. Even the most innocent of characters like Madi and Jordan have been forced to face their demons in Sanctum, which means that Lola has had to show a whole different part of her range. It’s always exciting to watch actors explore different sides of their characters, like Marie Avgeropoulos with her rendition of Blodreina last year.  I’m anticipating many more Madi scenes worth singing praises about in the near future.

Mother Knows Best?

Still in the dark about Clarke death is her own mother, Abby. Abby has been so preoccupied with finding a way to save Kane that she’s ignored every suspicious thing Josephine has said to her. While Josephine originally believed that Abby would be her most difficult challenge, she’s actually been the opposite. Josephine takes Murphy’s advice and uses all of Abby’s demons against her, bringing up her addiction and her questionable decision to sell out her husband on the Ark.

Josephine doesn’t just taunt her with her past actions though. She tells Abby that she fears what will become of her if she loses Kane too and reminds her that she needs her mom. Abby falls for this hook, line and sinker. I have a theory that once Abby finds out about Josephine and learns she was the last to know, her priorities will shift. Her real demon should be what she’s done to her daughter. She can probably live without Kane, but can she live without Clarke, knowing she’s, at times, been an arguably bad mother?

Can’t Get You Out of My Head

When Murphy tells Josephine’s dad on her, she’s forced to bargain with him and give him the mind drives. Instead of dwelling on the impending shitstorm coming her way, Josephine ends her day by telling herself tomorrow will be better, taking a mystery pill, and laying her head on her pillow. When she closes her eyes though, Clarke is alive inside her mind! And then: boom, out.

I never had a doubt in my mind that Clarke would be alive somewhere, somehow. After all, she’s a fighter. This could be of course because Clarke is a synthetic nightblood and this may not pair with the memory drive as well as a natural born nightblood would. If this is the case, it would certainly spoil Josephine’s plan.

So there’s a way out of this for Clarke. Now the rest of our heroes just need to figure that out and hurry up!

Once again, this episode left me speechless in a way that only The 100 can. Right now, there are a bunch of unconnected storylines all taking up equal parts of screen time. I’m eager for that moment when they start to intertwine. I suspect that Gabriel may be the missing link in all of this. Perhaps he’ll have a way to save Octavia and even get Clarke back.

Stray Thoughts:

I miss Jordan. I can only suspect that given his situation with Delilah, he won’t want to just try to survive. Maybe he’ll even team up with Bellamy and Madi to get Clarke back (wishful thinking?).

Bellamy sitting outside by himself crying was so heart wrenching but so, so telling. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Josephine and Bellamy saying “Shut up Murphy” at the same time was excellent.

Where is Indra this season? I miss her and her words of wisdom dearly.

Jessica’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝🐝

The 100 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW.

[diguerra-moved]

TYRANDE WHISPERWIND HEADCANON 001: THALYSSRA AND SURAMAR

Tyrande’s participation in Legion is... controversial, on some accounts. I personally think it could have been handled better, but that is not really what I mean to discuss. The first time we really interact with her in Legion, it is in Val’sharah. Malfurion my love aside, we help her there, and later meet again in Suramar, where she’s taken kaldorei forces to help free Suramar from the Legion.

Tyrande’s tone when greeting to the player character is vastly different depending on if they are Horde and Alliance --- not contradicting, but very different nonetheless. I don’t think one is truer than the other: they are both ultimately the same thing, only phrased very differently.

I am glad to see a friendly face on this battlefield, <name>.

It is... hard... for me to once again walk in Suramar. Ten thousand years have passed since my feet last felt the grass of this land.

Back then, we were fleeing the Burning Legion.

I never believed I would return to the place of my birth to wrest it from the grasp of those I once believed were my people.

To the Alliance, she is obviously more friendly, as would be expected. Tyrande isn’t the most forgiving, she doesn’t believe in ever lasting peace with the Horde, and if there is a truce and she will respect it, ultimately she doesn’t see the Horde in a friendly manner. To Alliance players, she speaks not of the Nightborne, but of Suramar, reminiscing about the War of the Ancients. I’ve seen people take the last part as her meaning to take Suramar for the kaldorei but that is obviously untrue: when she speaks of freeing it from those who were once her people, she doesn’t mean Thalyssra and the Nightfallen (why would she help them at all if she did?). 

But this shows the emotional weight the entire situation has for her. Suramar was Tyrande’s home. She was born there, she grew up there, and she believed it lost forever with the Sundering. Returning to it is to her more bitter than it could ever be sweet; it was her home, but it isn’t hers any longer. Those were her people but they aren’t anymore. While she and others fought the Legion and struggled to survive, part of the Highborne placed a shield upon Suramar and hid beneath it, not caring for those who really sought to stop the Legion (of course, we know it wasn’t really like that, but this is how she sees things). To her, they kept a city that wasn’t just theirs all to themselves, all the while leaving everyone else to die. She loved her city deeply, and she didn’t have a shield to protect herself and those who ended up following her because the people who led them before were either dead or betrayed them. She didn’t have a choice but to fight, for herself and for others. Of course she’ll be bitter learning about Suramar’s fate.

When I let you take the Tears of Elune, I assumed the next time we would see each other would be at the final battle with the Legion.

I did not expect to see you in the company of mana addicts at the footsteps of the city of my birth.

Speak quickly, <race>. I am not in the mood for Thalyssra's petitions.

In the end, what she says to Horde players isn’t as different from what she says to the Alliance: only harsher. Like I said, truce or not, she doesn’t like the Horde and ultimately they are enemies. Sure, you helped her in Val’sharah, and maybe she would be grateful for it, but like I said, Suramar feels very personal to Tyrande, and if she doesn’t feel as comfortable showing that vulnerability, she’ll be hostile, which is exactly what she does. In the end, the meaning is the same: she’s bitter about the situation, she resents the Nightborne for hiding and leaving the rest of them to die, and seeing her past home as it is wounds her. But since she has no friendship for the Horde, instead of allowing herself some vulnerability, she turns to aggressive words.

(As a sidenote, I want to comment that Tyrande using their addiction as an offense is, of course, terrible. They are not to blame for it, and addiction is never something to be made fun of. It is also very hypocritical of her, because in the War of the Ancients, when Illidan was the one suffering from magical addiction, she was the one who offered him the most support, and she wasn’t at all judgmental about it. So yes, I agree with anyone who thinks that her doing this is awful, but well, she is not perfect and this is one of her most evident flaws).

We elves are long lived, but not as long lived as our prejudices it would seem.

Tyrande’s progression line during the one quest with the pranks and provocations between the elves is this one (I believe it’s the same for Liadrin but shhhh). I particularly think that not only the elves tend to hold on to their prejudices, they keep exceptionally long grudges because they are so long lived. And in this case, Tyrande’s motivations to act the way she does are definitely influenced by her emotional responses to the entire Nightborne situation, which really isn’t surprising considering how often she acts based on emotion. Tyrande is very intense on that regard, and she can be very blunt and rash due to it.

She feels betrayed by those who stayed in Suramar, as the leader of a people who didn’t have a similar choice and as one of Suramar’s previous inhabitants. The Nightborne turned their backs to the rest of them for their own survival, and as she says in one other quest (Any regret I had for these people vanished when they went under that shield), she has little sympathy for the Nightborne due to it. Her resent makes it hard for her to have empathy for their fate; in her eyes, they were selfish in hiding beneath the shield and not caring for those who were not Highborne, and that they became addicted due to it, well, it’s just a consequence of their own egotism.

Could she have been more diplomatic? Sure. But Tyrande isn’t perfect, rather the opposite. She’s flawed, she resents, she favors being honest to the point of bluntness no matter how much it will wound those hearing it.

With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at the infamous conversation between Tyrande and Thalyssra that takes place right at the beginning when they first meet, and that Thalyssra later shows to Liadrin and the Horde player in the Nightborne recruiting questline.

Tyrande Whisperwind says: Arcanist Thalyssra. I remember where your order stood in the War of the Ancients. How do we know you won't betray us and become the next Elisande... the next Azshara?

First Arcanist Thalyssra says: We do not intend to be slaves to the Nightwell. We seek to drive the Legion from Suramar and put an end to Elisande's oppression.

Tyrande Whisperwind says: The kaldorei will fight to see the Legion defeated and the Nightwell destroyed. Beyond that... we shall see where Elune's wisdom guides us.

While I will 100% agree with anyone who claims Tyrande to have been disrespectful and needlessly rude about the Nightborne when speaking to the Horde player, I don’t really agree with it on this part. Again, she could have been more diplomatic, but she isn’t as much rude as she’s merely blunt. On her experience, the Highborne, particularly the magical elite, mostly sided with Azshara and aided her in bringing the Legion to Azeroth; those who didn’t or who regretted it were the ones who became the Sin’dorei later on. The Highborne from Suramar, even worse than those who became Belfs, abandoned their kin to die to the Legion or to the Sundering, became addicts due to it and now need her people’s help to free themselves from yet another fallen leader. 

What reason does she really have to immediately agree Thalyssra will be different? As far as Tyrande is concerned, Thalyssra took part on all of that and just recently turned her back on Elisande because Elisande allied with the Legion. What reason does she have to trust her, when she thinks Thalyssra was one of those who betrayed their fellow kaldorei in the War of the Ancients? What reason does she have to trust she won’t turn out like Azshara or Elisande, when all of them seem to her to have a shared background?

She’s not being cruel or mean for nothing. She is simply voicing her doubts, even if they seem harsh. And when Thalyssra claims she wants only to free her people, while it isn’t enough to convince Tyrande, her reply isn’t mean either. She agrees that her people will help the shal’dorei fight the Legion and destroy the Nightwell. She’s just unwilling to compromise beyond that, because she really has no reason to be that trusting. All Tyrande says is that they will help then, and later they’ll have to see, and she has every reason to approach the situation like that. Her past experience with the Highborne and those who became the Nightborne wasn’t good to say the least, and she just found the Nightborne again and they’re in the middle of a crisis with yet another corrupt leader and a huge magical addiction problem, which doesn’t tell her that much has changed. Why should she make any future compromise to these people, when they may end up repeating those mistakes again and dragging her people along the way?

The Nightwell is no more. These Nightborne will learn to survive without its corrupting power, or they will perish. Let us hope it is the former.

Admittedly, by the end of the Nighthold and with Thalyssra’s decision to let the Nightwell die, Tyrande should have seen that she really did intend to make a new path for her people. But there are too many reasons for her not to show them any warmth, and while I think the destruction of the Nightwell could have been a first step towards building an actual relationship between their two peoples, that alone wouldn’t be enough for Tyrande to seek out Thalyssra. It was Thalyssra who needed allies, truly, and the Nightborne who had done questionable things in the Kaldorei’s views; Tyrande wasn’t the one who should have sought the other side after Suramar was freed. She did what she promised, and that was it. Still, as the above quote shows, she did hope the Nightborne would learn to survive free of their addictions.

Tyrande had more than enough reason to act the way she did, and she didn’t even act actually antagonistic towards Thalyssra (she never says the worse of it, like calling the Nighborne mana addicts, to Thalyssra herself). Yes, by no means she showed them the empathy Liadrin showed, but the two of them are coming from very different places. While Liadrin sees in the situation something that reminds her of her own people’s struggles, Tyrande sees in it a reflection of the tragedies that befell her people because of the greed of others.

In the end, Tyrande made the decision she thought was best based on her past experiences, and according to her experiences she had every reason to act the way she did. After the destruction of the Nightwell, there is no indication that Thalyssra tried to approach her or the Alliance again --- in fact, it seems the Sin’dorei were the ones to offer continued aid out of their own volition, and while this makes it an obvious choice for Thalyssra as to who would be more more desirable allies later, Tyrande didn’t have any reason to be the one to try to bridge the gap between the two races. Later, when the Nightborne join the Horde, she probably just saw it as being proven right in her distrust: instead of seeking to give the Kaldorei reason to trust them, they simply stuck with those who would be less likely to hold them accountable for their past mistakes. 

[lovemirjaile]

my thoughts and love

throughout my life, i felt like i was a failure. i may have excelled in many things but i couldn’t stop begging for my parents’ love. love. the word i keep repeating at every entry. love is something i do not have but i would want to give. i never realized that i, the person who many people at my school call “heartless” and “loveless” would be actually able to love. i have disappointed and i have satisfied. i don’t think that my life has any direction, to be honest. my life has been a crazy ride. i know hundreds of people, certainly. but i can name every one that actually supported me and shared their love. those few people are the reason why i always think of loving. the quote “you cannot give what you don’t have” is true, but it does not correlate to my thoughts and love. but again, what is love? what is it with that feeling that i desperately want? 

according to wikipedia, love is considered to be both positive and negative, with its virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection, as "the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another" and its vice representing human moral flaw, akin to vanity, selfishness, amour-propre, and egotism, as potentially leading people into a type of mania, obsessiveness or codependency. it may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self, or animals. in its various forms, love acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative art. love has been postulated to be a function that keeps human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.

love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. an example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse, which differs from the love for food. most commonly, love refers to a feeling of a strong attraction and emotional attachment. 

love has and had many sides. but why is it that sometimes we have to beg for it? i don’t know, and i don’t think i’ll ever know. i’ll share if i already know why. for now, i think the sense of joy i feel whenever i see my friends or family smile every time i say “love” is enough. i feel like i could only answer the question if i ever experience true, genuine love. romantic love, something i didn’t believe in for a long time since growing up, everything i saw from my parents was detest. fighting. it definitely wasn’t healthy but i met people whose parents loved me unconditionally. (you know who you are) every memory i have with all of you is very much treasured. i appreciate every “i’m proud of you” and “i love you”. they mean the world to me. 

what i’m trying to say is that even though your life is dire, you can still give and share love. in every way possible. loving should not be limited to those who experienced love growing up. it is unjust if then. the world be incredibly mundane if only the people who were loved would be able to love. break the cycle. love even though it is hard to earn and feel love. again, it’s a feeling everyone wants. don’t be uncompassionate. if you want it, there’s a huge chance everyone around you wants it too. don’t ever be afraid to love.

love.

[alice-in-hyrule-bastion]

Odd Thoughts: Pride

Pride is lovely thing-

Another word I associate it with is ‘beauty’.

I think this world has lost sight of ‘beauty’, too focused on the ugly to see what’s already in front of us.

Unfortunately, people also use beauty as a punishment, an exclusion, a statement of ‘because I am different from you, because your definition of beauty is different from mine, you are ugly.’

No. No, I don’t believe that.

Beauty is not the color of your skin.

Beauty is not your age.

Beauty is not your gender.

Beauty is not who you want to love.

Beauty is not two-dimensional.

Beauty is your soul.

Beauty cannot be contained within a page, though I do my damnedest to try.

Be a warrior, a knight, a king, a queen.

Be a fae, a creature of lovely darkness, a mythical beauty.

Be the universe, be the ocean, be the sky, the earth, the flame, the forge.

Be the holy, the righteous, the just, the kind.

Be you.

Women, you are beautiful.

Men, you are beautiful.

Those in-between, the beasties of magic and mythos, you are beautiful.

Humans are beautiful.

Everyone is born with the capacity to be beautiful.

You are not broken.

You are not wrong.

You are not a burden.

You are not ugly.

The only thing that could ever make you ugly is your soul.

Should you choose to fill your soul with cruelty, egotism, intolerance, forging your tongue in hellfire because ‘you are something I am not so you must be punished’, you are ugly.

Be selfless, not selfish.

There’s enough ugliness in the world now.

However, be not prideful enough to use your self-love as a weapon, as then it no longer becomes beauty but Pride, the father of the Sins.

Beauty is a gift, both to yourself as well as to others.

As you read these words, I hope to share my own beauty with you-

You cannot see me in my human prison now, can you?

Am I white? A PoC?

Am I old? Young? Somewhere in-between?

Am I male? Female? Neither? Both?

Am I straight? Am I anywhere on the beautiful spectrum?

Am I religious? Am I spiritual? Am I scientific?

I am nothing but words.

Beautiful, invisible words-

And that is all I should be to you now, because these words are my only beauty.

I am human, just as you are.

A beautiful, beautiful human, with pride.

Because as long as you don’t hurt anybody, that’s all that matters.

-M.G, 6/6/18

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!

[pooma-unvolunteers]

We live in a world......

Group Discussion.

🍁

Participants: Mr. Suraj, Dr. Parvathi, Mrs. Rekha Kumbar, Mrs. Sweta srinivasta, Leader. Ms. Leena Rai, Mrs. Pooja Hanji, Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Menon,

🍁

We live in a world where simple kindness is a revolutionary act.

A kind person is either treated as a mentally challenged or he is isolated from the society for being real.

Are we so cruel?

Let's know about our world we live in.

• Pooma: A teacher once said, the future of my world is in my classroom today.

How many of us agree to that.

We were once in that same classroom.

How far have we benefitted our world through the years.

We have grown up in so many areas of life and fields were our excellence is reaching the skies.

But have we found the solution for our quenching thirst of craving happiness.

Nothing else brings happiness more than sharing the surplus you hold in all aspects.

Which means, your tumbler is overflowing and you paid in full and in return you are paid in full.

• Dr Parvathi: For a teacher whole world or the surrounding is like a classroom only. Because some or the other way she teaches,learns , implements and delivers knowledge

• Mrs. Sweta Srivastava: Look at a person's life and you can fairly estimate their personality, their beliefs and their mindset.

Nothing is a 'chance' phenomena.

It is all rooted in our choices, in our decisions and in our truest and deepest desires.

Kindness is a virtue . In all relegion kindness is considered as an important value.

• Dr Parvathi: We are still in learning phase so I think excellence is still a Question mark??

• Mr. Suraj: Very nice topic! And it's truly is.

"Children are the mirror in which a teacher sees himself." isn't it?

When he laughs, they laugh, when he cries, they cry. You know love begets love and hatred begets hatred. When an teacher shares his launch to an empty stomach or wipe out tears of sobbing face , he doesn't express his love , his care but go straight through their heart.

Nothing please an teacher when he sees his children are happy and motivated.

And you know when his happiness get doubles ,twenty five years from now when he looks back and says, "You were very important person in my life ." This shows how the children used to enjoy your company. You were not just a teacher for him but an inspiration.

• Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Menon: I totally agree that the happiness a teacher gets is when his/her students come back to them and tells that whatever I have achieved is only because of you .

A classroom is definitely a place where transfer of knowledge, values, emotional bondage takes place.

• Pooma: On one side technology has done things which has even made us forget God in some cases and forget ourselves in many cases.

We do appreciate ourselves that the deeo rooted implications in all walks of our life, specially in education, the technology.

But have we ever realised that the technology came with a bane on us we are yet to realise it.

Of course I agree everything comes with both advantages and disadvantages but what if we are unable to see some disadvantages which plays a blindspot for many advantages it boasts???

• Mrs. Rekha Kumbar UNV: It's always the students or the disciples who revealed their teachers or Guru's to the world respectively.

Hanuman revealed Rama

Swami Vivekananda revealed his teacher,Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa

Chandragupta Maurya revealed Chanakya.

Aristotle revealed Plato...

When students achieve success,and reveal their teachers..it's the most valuable gift.

Pooma: For example: Cell phones bring you closer to the person far from you, but takes you away from the ones sitting next to you. Have we ever realised that?. Never, not even once.

All we do is try to keep in touch with every single person through social media sometimes we even text our siblings sitting in the next room.

Immersed in technology we are lacking humanity.

We started thinking that spending time with the person next to you or our loved ones is a waste of time.

Rather think that a text through the phone is more than sufficient to keep in touch.

Technology connects farthest distant relationship closer, whereas nearest relationship farthest.

Back to our question - What kind of world do we live in?

We live in a world where Wealth is more important than Happiness.

We live in a world where Love is hidden and Violence is practiced in light.

We live in a world where there is more information and less meaning.

We live in a world where we have very long contact list and a very short friend list.

We live in a world where emotions are symbol of weekness and impassioned is symbol of strongness.

We live in a world where people are always in hurry but never reach on time.

We live in a world where quantity matters over quality.

We live in a world where poor walks to miles to get food and rich walks to digest.

We live in a world where Honesty, Peace, Equality and Love are just bookish words.

We live in a world where pizza arrive faster than police.

We live in a world where truth offend people and lie comfort them.

We live in a world people have reached Moon but still hesitate to go at neighbor's house.

We live in a world where people have thousands friends on Facebook and still waiting someone to stand outside the ICU.

We live in world where our goodness is consider fake and our help called selfishness.

We live in a world Love is always sacrificed and Hatred is always continue.

We live in a world where people install more security features in their phones than their homes.

We live in a world where taking selfies is more important than helping someone.

We live on the same world where a person, exactly Einstein stated at him as: days are near to relaise that such a man with flesh and blood walked on this earth with us. Who was that: Gandhiji.

We live in a world where if you say the wrong answer in class, you get laughed at.

We live in the world

Where if you dress a certain way, you get looked at.

We live in the world

Where if your grades aren't as good as others, you're stupid.

Where people say “You need to eat more” or “You need to lose weight”.

We live in a world where people don't know the things that others are going through.

We live in the world Where if you don't know what you want to do with your life, you won't have one.

We live in the world Where if you aren't part of the “in-crowd”, you are a loser.

We live in a world where we all expect to live up to other people's expectations.

We live in the world

Where one word can make someone and their life.

We live in the world

Where we constantly judge people.

We live in a world, where being yourself, isn't accepted.

• Mrs. Pooja Hanji: We live in the world where everything is pointed out or criticized, whether it's wrong or right.

We need to go on . Exeptional ones will lead us and others will follow them.

Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.

• Leader. Leena UNV: Kindness is which is the habit to show empathy and always ready to be supportive instead of personality who is famous for that cruel face.

That can be true that a very earthy person is taken into the category of fool or an ignorant individual by some but as there are basically two kinds of personalities in common like coconut personality and mango personality so if we behave and be the mango fruit we can earn true respect may be at later stages but children learn and follow the same

The classroom and the students to be considered our own home and family and to be treated in such manner but alas ! these days teachers are worried for their kids and families (most of them) but consider only their job or the responsibility to teach.

Experiences play role lifetime achievements to sort out other issues and be the winner with flying colours at later stage

• Mrs. Rekha Kumbar UNV: Self Awareness and realisation on why we are here ..and working on our thoughts which gives rise to feelings,actions, attitude ,behaviour and finally destination

• Mrs Suraj: It's true that we are living in a world that has seen transformation in last fifty years where

Chairty is blurred by egotism and hunger is overturned by greed.

In total the fight is Spirituality Vs Materialism. But again if children can't feel pain , can't understand the meaning of.

Similarly if they do wrong can't realize how it feels when you are right.

So experiencing both is necessary to motivate other.

Yet , what is the correct? so what I feel give them freedom to do the wrong and guide them to do the self introspection in decision making.

Even though one try, one can't control children these days.

So here the formula of Content Vs Concept implies

If we want to teach them for life long.

Give them pen in right and mobile in left. Keep a tab. Let, they should not be imoosed but give them choice to experience good and bad themselves. See we just not have to teach but we have to develop skill that sustain lifelong to choice something worthy. Appreciate positively where there is a growth and respond critically where there is fall

And Leve the rest, one will see positive changes oneself.

See there are teachers who complain and there are teachers who make dedicated efforts to experience the changes.