#we were having an actual discussion in the tags

[islandoforder]

My thing re: Porter was only that he wasn't praising Fig for what he disapproved of with Gorgug. Like, Fig was doing things differently than Gorgug was, and it didn't have anything to do with protecting one's friends or anything like that, it was a matter of embracing fury in order to do so. He's still not a great teacher, though I do think Zac meant "I go into a worry" to be a flaw and that he wasn't looking for someone to just say "that's valid".

brace for a reply that's at least twice as long as intended haha

okay i think we do actually agree on more than we don't - i do think that 'i go into a worry' is a sign of gorgug not being raised to be comfortable with negative emotions, and the ramifications of that (love the thistlesprings, no hate to them, but their hardwon earnest positivity is probably a lot harder to recognise and appreciate as a teenager who has literally the weight of the world on his shoulders a bunch).

the point i was trying to make was about this exchange from porter to gorgug: "Most of what I see from you in class is, your rage is a place that you go to to put your body on the line for your friends. It's very selfless, very noble. Do I see you actually capable of wielding the destructive power of rage, when the chips are really down?"

to me, this reads as porter saying that his rage stemming from his protection of his friends, that selflessness, that loyalty, is not a good enough motivation, that his rage HAS to be destructive to be valued in porter's eyes, even though he has literally established in this conversation that gorgug is v good at the basic tenets of being a barbarian. he's not saying that gorgug isn't using his rage at all, he's explicitly saying that it's not the right flavour of rage for him. this exchange bugs me so much just because his little speech to fig about her paladin powers being inspired by her friends is very explicitly praising the exact same type of selfless nobility and loyalty. it feels even more hypocritical as this is the same convo with gorgug where he says he feels "heartbroken" and the same convo with fig where he says lucilla was too emotionally involved in fig's decisions in an inappropriate way.

i think it's also a bit tricky bc since emily has decided to engage with/agree with porter (and possibly with bts convos with zac there's no way to tell) brennan has (rightfully!) pivoted. it's a good move as a dm of a campaign to react to your players and how they interact with your npcs, but it does lead to a sort of retconning over the points porter was initially making. like on a mechanics of roleplaying level i get it, but if we just look at the character, it makes him inconsistent and hypocritical more than anything.

it's also hard to know where exactly i'm bringing my own feelings about teaching into it, but in this specific scenario, where gorgug is struggling to articulate his rage and negative emotions, i think not only is porter's behaviour to gorgug not helpful but is actively unhelpful, let alone how he acts with and what he says to fig, knowing they're close friends and gorgug will inevitably hear these double standards. i know it worked in the show, but i think that's bc the players chose to have it work, rather than it being a good or healthy method for a teacher to take. i've honestly got other issues with him too, but not on the point you were making so i'm not gonna keep ranting haha

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[skitskatdacat63]

Fernando Alonso & His Relationship With Cards

I'm sure we're all familar with the cards on the back of Fernando's Vegas GP helmet by now, but did you know his relationship with cards goes a lot deeper?

I. Magic Tricks

You've probably seen or heard someone at least mention Fernando's propensity for card tricks. As far as I can tell he was doing them(publically) as far back as 2003 all the way to as recently as 2018. Even once performing a card trick, with a condom and a teddy bear(!??!?!??!!), in front of Valentino Rossi who said "How was that possible?"(x)

But how did this start? According to James Allen, "Fernando admits to having been heavily influenced by his grandfather, a mercurial figure, who taught him magic and card tricks, still one of his passions away from the race track."(x) And I'm not sure the validity of this one, because I couldn't find an actual source, but apparently he once said: "My parents are responsible for the two things I like doing most - driving and magic tricks. They bought me my first go-kart and a magician's kit."

In several interviews he described it as his hobby off track, and that he loved learning new tricks and surprising others in the garage with them! So clearly cards are pretty important to him both as a hobby but also to who he is as a person since they've been with him just as long as racing has.

II. Card Symbolism in His Helmets

This is the reason I originally made this post, but I thought I should also explain the origins of his card fascination first. As I said, we probably all remember the cards on the back of his helmet in Vegas, but did you know that wasn't the first time he had cards on the back of his helmet?

From 2008-2013, he used to have a pair of cards on the back of his helmets. The symbolisms of the cards themselves as well as the evolution of their design is really fascinating to me! Even more so with the recent development of the card choice in 2023.

Fernando said he wanted to reference his two titles in some way on the back of his helmet and after his friend sent him several ideas, he decided on having two cards(an ace of clubs and an ace of hearts, sometimes pictured with 05 and 06 on them as well), saying: "I picked the cloverleaf [the ace of clubs - Ed] to give me luck, but the only pity is that it doesn't have four leaves!"(X)

2008.

Here's the very first appearance of the cards! They're displayed flat, with the 05 and 06 clearly visible

2009.

Very similar to 2008, but with a slightly different design, and they're maybe a bit more straight with less shadow?

2010.

This is the first major change! I was sad they didn't have the years on them anymore, but then I realized they're sparkly to match with his signature lightning bolts on the top of the helmet!!

2011.

Honestly I'm still somewhat unsure if this is the actual 2011 helmet? It's pretty difficult to find clear photos of the back of helmets from older seasons. It's easiest to find them on replica sites or auction sites so I'm not 100%? But anyways, I like that this has the championship years on the underside of the cards

2012.

This is when I started getting weirdly emotional about the helmets. Do you see how they've progressed from being a centerpoint to being curled up and sad at the bottom of the helmet? Not listing the year anymore??

2013.

Same thoughts as 2012. And after this season, they cease to exist (just like his ferrari chair in the garage, WOAH CALLBACK), until cards make a reeappearance in his Vegas helmet, albeit in a different form

2013 Monaco(Honorable Mention):

For some reason 2013 helmets were easier to find proper pictures of, so I happened to witness this absolute beauty. The creativity of this helmet genuinely blows me away??? Wanting to keep the card motif, but making sure to incorporate it into the rest of the puzzle piece design?? Mwah! There was another special 2013 helmet but they didn't change the cards at all so I really applaud this one

2023 Las Vegas(The Return of The King):

The magnificent return! But look! The cards are different cards! Instead of being two aces, it's now an ace of hearts, a four of hearts(his driver number of course!) and, the, now iconic, representation of himself as a Joker. I literally could not believe my eyes when this helmet was released and I saw the Joker card, what a fucking silly old man....I really wonder if he felt nostalgic having cards on his helmet again or if he didn't think about it all and was just like, "ah cards because Vegas!!!"

III. Why Does This Matter?

*The rest of the post was factual, this is moreso my personal thoughts on the symbolism of the cards/designs

This post spawned from me recently watching the 2010 Bahrain gp and noticing "hey wait a minute...are those CARDS ON THE BACK OF HIS HELMET!?" It's a really tiny detail that's unfortunately covered up by the HANS device pretty much whenever he's wearing the helmet, so it's really difficult to spot! But I became fascinated with the fact that he had cards on his helmet before that recent helmet, and now here we are!

There's something to me about how the design of the cards evolves over the course of six seasons from the cards being front and center to being smaller, more folded up and closer to the bottom of the helmet. As I said, the 2012-2013 ones genuinely made me depressed because it feels, symbolically, like his hopes for getting another Ace are becoming more and more unlikely and falling away until they eventually fall falt and fade away entirely after 2013 and disappear for basically a decade.

But when they return? They're not the same cards! Instead of representing Fernando's championships, they now represent him as a person, displaying his driver number and his persona of being a Joker!! Though I do think it's interesting he happened to keep the Ace of Hearts, even though he talked more about the Ace of Clubs before. I'm not sure it's actually this deep in reality, but I like to think that it's him not letting his championships(and the lack thereof) define him, but rather letting who he is as a person shine and be the centerpoint instead! But on a sadder note, as @suzuki-ecstar said to me, maybe the Aces aren't there anymore because he's lost all hope for a chance at a third Ace entirely :(

[uncanny-tranny]

In discussions about mental health, I am so tired of the only voices mattering being other people or other people who do not deal with a condition/disorder or a specific situation.

"Here's how I deal with loved ones with [x] condition!"

"If you do [y] because of [x mental health reason], you're selfish and everybody who loves you is having their lives made harder by you!"

"If your symptoms are [z], you're gross, and you deserve no sympathy for struggling"

I understand to an extent why people do this, but holy hell, as somebody who struggles and struggles often, the last thing any of us need to be told is that we're a burden that others have to carry. And it's terrible how everybody else's feelings but ours matter - even if we are the ones most affected by our condition or situation.

If you are dealing with issues surrounding your mental health and well-being, know that everything above isn't true; you are worthy of patience, understanding, kindness, and love. You are worthy of being listened to without judgment. You don't have to apologize or "make up" for who you are or what you struggle with.

[spittyfishy]

What did you think of Season 5 of ML, if you have seen it?

So, I have seen season 5 and frankly… I wasn’t a fan.

Season 5 was just chocked full of missed opportunities, because there were some interesting ideas there but the show's writing fumbled the execution so hard it was difficult to watch at times. Just seeing character assasination after character assasination unfold on screen was so unpleasant. I don’t think a single character came out of season 5 unscathed, I’m wracking my brain for anyone that got better this season, or at least didn’t get worse in some way, and I can’t think of any.

To be fair, there were a few bits I liked. A couple akuma designs were good (Hoaxer, Dark Humour, Queen Mayor, and Ryukomori). I thought the Ryukomori episode was well done, I’d probably say it was the best of the season (which is a low bar). But everything else with Kagami was bad. Full honesty I hate Felix and what his role in the story has been so far, but I especially don’t like that Kagami got brought down with him. Felix is the entire reason Hawkmoth got EVERY OTHER MIRACULOUS and it seems like everyone forgot that?? He didn’t get any consequences At All, and yet when Chloé worked with Hawkmoth (when he already had the miraculous for the record) she was painted as the worst person on earth.

I know I’m not the only one who’s pointed out the double standard between how the girl characters are treated compared to the boys, but it really got highlighted this season. Male characters like Andre, Jaggedstone, Felix, and even Hawkmoth himself can do any number of horrible things and still be ‘sympathetic’, but the two fourteen year old girls are irredeemably evil?

I’ll admit I'm biased, Chloé has been my favourite favorite character since I started watching in season one, but she really deserved better than the show gave her. I don’t have an issue with her staying a villain, in fact I think she worked really well as a minor antagonist in season one, she moved the story along and was entertaining to watch. But the last two seasons they’ve made her out to be this giant threat, but haven’t let her actually do anything! She’s been nothing more then a lacky to Lila and Hawkmoth, as far as having Lila in her ear telling her exactly what to say. If Chloé is as bad as the show claims then she shouldn’t need other characters to hold her hand and tell her how to be mean.

But the writing is just like that. They really need to get better at ‘show don’t tell’, and even more importantly, consistency. Because they keep adding things after the fact and retconning things from the earlier seasons to try and clap back at fans criticisms, and it’s just sad. I’ll never stop complaining about the absolute train wreck that was Derision. They made Chloé worse then she was in season one, and made Kim so much dumber then he needed to be. At the beginning of season one Kim was characterized as a bully, he antagonized Ivan in Stone Heart and helped Chloé willingly in episodes like LadyWifi. But for Derision Chloé had to trick him into pranking Marinette? Why?

The pacing in that episode was even worse, because so much of it was dedicated to a flash back everything else was rushed at the end. And Marinette saying she’d never crush on anyone again if she didn’t know everything about them was clearly just the writers trying to justify her frankly creepy actions in earlier seasons because people pointed out that it wasn’t cute or funny it was just weird. And her whole line and issues in that episode flat out don’t work as a retcon because A: why even crush on Adrian at all if she vowed not to like anyone associated with Chloé, and B: we’ve already seen her in a relationship with Luka where she didn’t show ANY of the obsessive behaviour she showed Adrian OR freaking out about going on dates. AND ON TOP OF THAT there’s been two other timelines where her and Adrian have started a relationship (Chat Blanc, Ephemeral) and she hasn’t had any of the issues that come up in Derision.

It’s just such a lazy way of writing the story, and that’s really the core issue with this season. It feels lazy, like the writers couldn’t be bothered to watch their own show and make plots that fit in the world they’ve already built.

Miraculous is a franchise that’s dear to my heart, it’s how I met my best friend and really became comfortable sharing my art online, and I still really like creating content related to the characters, but I’ve been very disappointed in the show since about the end of season three. I still have a small amount of hope that maybe the show will turn itself around and improve, but it’s dwindling.

But at least when cannon goes off it’s rocker that’s what fan works are for!

[cornerful]

Sméagol and the Gift

'Now!' said Sam. 'At last I can deal with you!' He leaped forward with drawn blade ready for battle. But Gollum did not spring. He fell flat upon the ground and whimpered.

'Don't kill us,' he wept. 'Don't hurt us with nassty cruel steel! Let us live, yes, live just a little longer. Lost lost! We're lost. And when Precious goes we'll die, yes, die into the dust.'

Devastated by this. Just a little longer, he begs. Even though his existence is a torment. Even though the will that holds him to life is barely his own anymore. He has long outlived his time but it's such a cruelty that now the only freedom for him is in death. I'm glad Sam didn't kill him but the whole scenario is awful.

When a mortal keeps a ring of power he does not gain more life, he continues, denied natural mortality as the fear of death is amplified and twisted into fear of separation, nothing matters anymore but the keeping, the continuing. In that miserable existence there is no peace, and at its end there is no graceful goodbye to life, there is only dust. Sudden, empty, and final.

It would take murder to spare him that. Or falling with the ring into the fire.

Bilbo let it go in time (did he feel anything when it was destroyed?) Frodo is freed of it now, though the toll it extracted for the separation was at very least a finger. It was too late for Gollum for the price to be anything other than it was, and that's brutal.

If you live long enough, death is no longer the enemy. What Sauron did to Gollum ensured that it would always be the enemy, to be feared and avoided for ever, once time and the ring had fashioned it into the only escape left. Evil.

[joanthangroff]

On another note insane that I got a job offer and it did NOT send me into a spiral about how this is actually a fluke and how horrible it could be,

[wutheringmights]

what is wars diagnosed with. I know he has them I just don't know which ones.

I would prefer if we didn't pathologize Warriors

[cubedmango]

And not only are they at the risk of an unwanted adaptation but they’re also at risk of being completely misinterpreted by those same fans who only care about their actor ships… like I’m still bitter about the amount of them who were saying that the gmm version of cm would be better solely because they’ll kiss and probably do more in the physical romance aspect like . I understand wanting to have an actual on screen kiss included but most of the people who said that weren’t even fans of the show and just wanted to tear it down over something and it annoys me beyond belief because to insinuate that a show’s quality is based off of how many kisses or sex scenes it has in insane);£;)

LITERALLY ???? the fact that the only 'talking point' these people have against reasonable complains abt the quality of writing is "well the gmm versions are gonna show them kissing and/or having sex so itll automatically be better" is like ?? tell me u have literally zero standards for good television writing and that u have no idea romance stories are supposed to be Engaging and making u invested in the charas and their relationship besides just showing intimacy (mostly for views lets be real) without telling me that challenge: passed with flying colors! 👁👄👁 plus them clearly caring less abt the physical intimacy stuff in context of the charas and the story itself and how it would add to the storytelling and arcs and all but rather for their actor shipping bs like i see u people ur not subtle trust me 🤨

[starcchild]

((so one of our biggest stores is wanting to unionize lol

[loregoddess]

Birth by Sleep is actually the best game because you get to beat the shit out of Peter Pan

This is the funniest thing I could have learned about the game honestly. Here I am reeling in laughter bc the characters from TWEWY look so weird with 3D models, and I find out that I get to look forward to Peter Pan getting beaten up by Sora and Riku. Comedy gold.

[icharchivist]

something about Dracula Daily that can’t leave my mind this year is how much i remember when it started last year, there were so many people saying stuff like “you all are getting into it right now while it’s new and everything and you’re making it trending, but you’ll see everyone is going to drop it eventually, none of you have this commitment for so many months”

and while people did drop out, obviously, the activity of this little “book club”, of the people who didn’t drop out, still made it trend up until the very end, there were enough people who were still motivated enough to read this book in this format that it carried on all the way to November

and now it’s starting again. now people who were sad they didn’t jump on the bandwagon last year AND people who loved the ride so much last year they’re participating again (and it being kept spicy thanks to the Re:Dracula podcast) are STILL participating to this tumblr bookclub enough to make it trend.

There were so many messages about how “you’ll see you’ll get tired of it so quickly”, and yet people made it a yearly commitment

there’s something so endearing about that

[forevercloudnine]

Not to be nosy, but is there any particular reason you are running a tally of which Batman villains are sterile?

I was going to say "it's a long story" but actually I guess it's a very short story

[alienhazy]

wait, what if they start blazing their call-out posts?

[vote-loki]

Didn’t get any sleep last night because I had a migraine and I was still awake when my wife got up for work, which is fine. Except they lost their wallet and I was trying to help look and offering suggestions to where it may be even though my head hurts so horribly bad and they just kept getting more frustrated, because they couldn’t find it, not with me, and being mean and now I’m upset

Like bro I haven’t slept all night after an eight hour shift and I’m in severe pain can you please be nice to me for five seconds while I’m trying to help you

[beyblade-champion-coolatta]

to be honest i think i just might not engage with this fandom anymore.