#y'know bc they're people

[inke-ri]

4am thought but I always think it's hilarious, if a little exhausting, that there are 4 million different posts trying to trace parallels between Lucy Gray, Sejanus and Snow and Katniss, Peeta and Gale. Y'all, it's never gonna be a perfect fit. There's a little bit of all three of them in the TBOSAS main cast. There's probably a little bit of them in everyone.

Look, the THG kids all stand for very metaphorical things, like hope, compassion, optimism / trauma & ptsd, being forced to play by others' rules to survive / indignation, anger, doing whatever it takes to survive/win.

You LITERALLY can't pin them down to one character each bc all of them, even Snow, are children traumatized by war, and those emotions are warring inside every single one of them. Everyone has moments of fear, of compassion, of anger. It's a really freaking great choice bc it means these characters aren't just there to be failed versions of the original series' protagonists. They stand on their own.

[evilkitten3]

au where team hebi agrees that it's a bad idea to leave kabuto unsupervised.... so they drag him along. as the team mascot

[skrunksthatwunk]

actually i'm still thinking about the moral orel finale.

he has a cross on his wall. do you know how much i think about that bc it's a lot.

a lot of stories ((auto)biographical or fictional) centering escape from abusive/fundamentalist christianity result in the lead characters leaving behind christianity entirely. and that makes complete sense! people often grow disillusioned with the associated systems and beliefs, and when it was something used to hurt them or something so inseparable from their abuse that they can't engage with it without hurting, it makes total sense that they would disengage entirely. and sometimes they just figure out that they don't really believe in god/a christian god/etc. a healthy deconstruction process can sometimes look like becoming an atheist or converting to another religion. it's all case by case. (note: i'm sure this happens with other religions as well, i'm just most familiar with christian versions of this phenomenon).

but in orel's case, his faith was one of the few things that actually brought him comfort and joy. he loved god, y'know? genuinely. and he felt loved by god and supported by him when he had no one else. and the abuses he faced were in how the people in his life twisted religion to control others, to run away from themselves, to shield them from others, etc. and often, orel's conflicts with how they acted out christianity come as a direct result of his purer understanding of god/jesus/whatever ("aren't we supposed to be like this/do that?" met with an adult's excuse for their own behavior or the fastest way they could think of to get orel to leave them alone (i.e. orel saying i thought we weren't supposed to lie? and clay saying uhhh it doesn't count if you're lying to yourself)). the little guy played catch with god instead of his dad, like.. his faith was real, and his love was real. and i think it's a good choice to have orel maintain something that was so important to him and such a grounding, comforting force in the midst of. All That Stuff Moralton Was Up To/Put Him Through. being all about jesus was not the problem, in orel's case.

and i know i'm mostly assuming that orel ended up in a healthier, less rigid version of christianity, but i feel like that's something that was hinted at a lot through the series, that that's the direction he'd go. when he meditates during the prayer bee and accepts stephanie's different way to communicate, incorporating elements of buddhism into his faith; when he has his I AM A CHURCH breakdown (removing himself from the institution and realizing he can be like,, the center of his own faith? taking a more individualistic approach? but Truly Going Through It at the same time), his acceptance (...sometimes) of those who are different from him and condemned by the adults of moralton (stephanie (lesbian icon stephanie my beloved), christina (who's like. just a slightly different form of fundie protestant from him), dr chosenberg (the jewish doctor from otherton in holy visage)). his track record on this isn't perfect, but it gets better as orel starts maturing and picking up on what an absolute shitfest moralton is. it's all ways of questioning the things he's been taught, and it makes sense that it would lead to a bigger questioning as he puts those pieces together more. anyway i think part of his growth is weeding out all the lost commandments of his upbringing and focusing on what faith means to him, and what he thinks it should mean. how he wants to see the world and how he wants to treat people and what he thinks is okay and right, and looking to religion for guidance in that, not as like. a way to justify hurting those he's afraid or resentful of, as his role models did.

he's coming to his own conclusions rather than obediently, unquestioningly taking in what others say. but he's still listening to pick out the parts that make sense to him. (edit/note: and it's his compassion and his faith that are the primary motivations for this questioning and revisal process, both of individual cases and, eventually, the final boss that is christianity.) it makes perfect sense as the conclusion to his character arc and it fits the overall approach of the show far better. it's good is what i'm saying.

and i think it's important to show that kind of ending, because that's a pretty common and equally valid result of deconstruction. and i think it cements the show's treatment of christianity as something that's often (and maybe even easily) exploited, but not something inherently bad. something that can be very positive, even. guys he even has a dog he's not afraid of loving anymore. he's not afraid of loving anyone more than jesus and i don't think it's because he loves this dog less than bartholomew (though he was probably far more desperate for healthy affection and companionship when he was younger). i think it's because he figures god would want him to love that dog. he's choosing to believe that god would want him to love and to be happy and to be kind. he's not afraid of loving in the wrong way do you know how cool that is he's taking back control he's taking back something he loves from his abusers im so normal

[morninkim]

In 2025, firmly into the Heroic Age, three of these superheroes become beacons to the newer generation now taking hold of their destinies.

Wonder Woman, once ascended to godhood as the Goddess of Truth as reward for her years of services to the Earth, left Mt. Olympus to return to the people. She reaches her hand out to those who need it, fostering belief in oneself and in others, showing the truth of human potential.

Batman has fostered friendships and maintains a vast network of allies all throughout Gotham City and beyond, a shining example of what human connection can do for not only one person, but many. His unwavering moral compass and sharp analytical mind make him a symbol for justice across the world.

Superman, a shining beacon of hope, the original superhero and the one to truly guide the Heroic Age. Like his contemporaries, he encourages and mentors new heroes stepping out into the sun where he is needed. The father of heroes, patriarch of the families El and Kent, his hope is one shared by all who join this extended family of superheroics.

The hope for a better tomorrow.

[liedownquisition]

Today I am once again and eternally haunted by the connections my brain makes between:

“Over all the millennia, only you have ever loved me, Thor. Only you have ever looked at me with affection in place of condescension. Why, then, am I killing you, and not the others? Because you stopped.” ~Loki #4, Robert Rodi

And

"Bruce, I forgive you for not saving me. But why? Why on God's Earth is HE still alive? Ignoring what he's done in the past. Blindly, stupidly, disregarding the entire graveyards he's filled, the thousands who have suffered, the friends he's crippled. You know, I thought… I thought I'd be the last person you'd ever let him hurt. If it had been you he beat to a bloody pulp, if he had taken you from this world, I would've done nothing but search the planet for this pathetic pile of evil death-worshiping garbage and sent him off to Hell. … I'm not talking about killing Penguin, or Scarecrow, or Dent. I'm talking about him. Just him. And doing it because… because he took me away from you." ~Batman#650/UtH#13 Judd Winnick

.

[angelsdean]

ruthlessly deleting old 2021/2022 posts (not by me) from my dean studies tag like *click* un-incorporating that from my beliefs system! also the way SO many posts have me like ok uh-huh good aaand then say one completely wrong thing that loses me. it's so many posts.

[charles-simmons]

c!inniters water down the story so much the character are just stereotypes, and c!dreamers will burn you alive if you can't quote entire streams by heart and know even the birth dates of buildings. So, in theory, c!discdoers should be normal... right?

[cursed-spirit-manipulation]

jjk is about a lot of things but most of all with regard to Shoko Satoru and Suguru it's about how if you don't interact with people who aren't in your weird fucked up school with like 10 ppl total on a regular basis you WILL become an incredibly interesting adult in a way that makes people pity you

[agueforts]

me vs eternal grudges abt d20 captions

[rotisseries]

"I can see will appreciating all types of music genres" well I cannot. peace and love<3

[inke-ri]

So I couldn't help but browse the THG tag bc those books own my whole heart. I actually check it now and again, and it's been interesting see how opinions have changed over the years, especially in regards to Gale and Peeta. Going through the evolution of them as just potential love interests to being far more complex than I could have expected has been a wild ride. Crazy how this reads different than from when I was a preteen.

That said, I wanted to give my unsolicited two cents on my boys, because though I have been enjoying the discussion on Peeta and Gale and what they mean to the story, I also feel like reducing them to Peeta = peace and Gale = war is far too simplistic... and oftentimes unfair to one or both of them.

See, I don't think Peeta and Gale are peace and war/destruction. They're compassion and indignation.

Peeta worries about the other tributes, or their families, or how to repay people like Rue and Thresh for what they did.

Gale is indignation at how the Capitol treats its citizens, it's anger at the injustice of inequality and brutality.

Both are needed in a story like THG. You can't have people like even Peeta not say something like "maybe we're wrong about keeping things quiet in the districts", you can't have him not drop the baby bomb, you can't start a revolution without Gale's indignation at the status quo. At deserving a better life but being denied it, at having your kids be mercilessly killed for literal sport.

However, if you start a rebellion and loose sight of your compassion, you end up no better than the people you're fighting against. Gale wasn't a bad person, imo. His heart was in the right place. He was flawed, yes, but so is everyone in this series. Gale, most importantly, lost sight of the line between fighting for the people he cared about and fighting against the people who hurt him.

Reducing Gale's indignation to just revenge and hatred ignores so much of what he stands for. Who hasn't seen laws passed that dehumanize people, who hasn't been angry and furious when someone is elected who fundamentally hates everything you are, who doesn't think some people need to pay for the atrocities they committed? There's a little bit of Gale in every single one of us - and it's important that it's there, because that's what gives us strength to challenge the status quo and make life better for the future generations.

But. You can't let it take over. You can't loose sight of your compassion or your empathy.

That's where Peeta comes in. Peeta is the voice in your head that worries about how many good lives will be lost when they give themselves up for this cause. Peeta is the worry about the people caught in the crossfire. Peeta is rebuilding when it's over and believing that the next generation will have a better life than your own. Peeta is being kind, even to people who may not deserve it.

And Gale... Gale looses sight of his compassion, and he doesn't realize it until it smacks him in the face when the bombs go off and Prim is gone and he's too far gone. Meanwhile, Peeta advocates for the end of the war even though it means the status quo remains - and regardless of what he believes himself, I don't think Suzanne chose him to say those lines by chance. It means both mindsets have their flaws: too kind and things that shouldn't remain will never be challenged and changed, too angry and you may loose sight of what you're fighting for.

And that's just how Suzanne uses her characters, both of them, all of them. Just look at who is with Katniss depending on the situation:

- Katniss chooses to "rebel" after Gale is brutally whipped. She kisses him.

- Katniss realizes that in order for D12 to rebel, everyone would need to be in on it, and she realizes most of them are not like her, that they're scared and she understands, emphasises with them. Peeta walks by her side.

- Katniss finally does it though, shoots the arrow at the force field, and Peeta is taken from her, it's now Gale by her side.

(You can't start a rebellion without indignation, and sometimes you HAVE to do it or things will never change, regardless of the inevitable pain that will come along.)

- Katniss is righteously angry at the Capitol bombing a hospital full of innocents to make a point. Gale remains there.

- Coin twists people's compassion into an army to fight for her own personal gain. Peeta is hijacked and looses his sense of self.

- Katniss and Gale go to District 2 and even though she tries to be like Peeta, she's still shot- reinforcing Gale's views, the person who was with her during that sequence.

- Katniss is angry at Snow, Katniss goes to the Capitol to kill him. Gale is there.

- Katniss gets in way over her head and realizes she is responsible for the death of most of her squad. She shares the lamb stew with Peeta, and later cleans his wounds.

- Finnick dies and she's at her lowest up until that point and all she wants to do is give up and give in to the anger. She kisses Peeta and begs him to stay with her.

... Claiming that Gale is destruction ignores the fact that he's with Katniss through her own moments of strength. Her desire to change things, to fight back, is as important as her compassion. Mockingjay just brutally shows you what war does to your indignation, to your compassion. How easy it is to cross a line between righteous anger and revenge, or how your sense of empathy and compassion can be manipulated into something monstrous by others, or by all the terrible, brutal, painful things you see.

How easy it is to loose yourself- and that goes for both of them.

Peeta and Gale aren't static characters, they go from representations of sentiments regarding an injust government to what happens to those feelings when an extreme situation such as war breaks out. All of that, by the way, while dealing with this duality themselves, because they are still characters who think and feel and struggle and have flaws of their own- and while I love what they stand for, I've seen too many comments that pin everything into what they mean, that they forget that Peeta and Gale are still people, they aren't perfect metaphors. They're human.

Ultimately, Katniss doesn't really choose peace. She wants peace, yes. But what she chooses is compassion. empathy. hope. There's a time and place for anger at injustice. There's a time when fighting back is the right thing to do. There are even times when you wanna give in to your despair and lash out. But if you want peace, then you have to choose Peeta, because Peeta represents what you need to focus on to achieve that peace. You have to let go of the anger or you won't ever rest. So Gale leaves, and does not come back... And yet, Katniss still has her moments of indignation, of making a stand, even as he goes - she still casts her vote at that meeting, she still shoots Coin. Katniss does not abandon that part of who she is. It's just not her main drive anymore.

So then she goes on to make the choice, every single day, to be compassionate to others. To have hope. To rebuild. Of course she chooses Peeta.

... Idk, man. These boys are so much more than what I see them so often reduced to. They're in all of us. There will be times to stand and fight, and times to show mercy and be kind. We just need to find that balance, as Katniss eventually did.

[fizzyghosts]

Hywel is inspired by a mix of my issues with stories with nonhuman protagonist/about nonhumans becoming human AND vet posts ive seen warning people about the dangers of anthropomorphisizing animals. Its fine to joke about your pets doing things out of spite or other human emotions, it does put you at risk of not being able to read their body language correctly. Cats dont cry out of sadness, a cat crying, with actual tears streaming down its face, is a sign of a medical issue. A dog smiling isn't doing it bc its happy, it means its nervous. Not being able to spot these is bad, and sometimes even dangerous, for you and the animal.

If you never get past Hywel's human appearance and treat him like one its like getting a reactive dog, doing zero research or training, and then taking it to a dog park. If Hywel mauls someone in town then its on you.

[shima-draws]

In regards to the rarepair week, is it necessary for the mod/s to determine what's a rare ship and what's not for the event to happen? If it's just a general create-what-you-want ship week event then it might not be necessary to establish a list of what can and can't be created for. Like, not trying to knock you so absolutely do what you want!! But considering how many characters are in OP I think trying to figure out what does and doesn't constitute as a rarepair would just end up being so long and drawn out (for you) and so limiting (for creators) because a complete list is never gonna be possible

Yeye that's definitely fair! I just want to be thorough and at least get a feel for the more popular (?) ships in the fandom and see whether they're truly considered rarepairs or not. Like Croc/Doflamingo - some people might view it as a rarepair. I personally don't bc I see content for them pretty often. But that's my own personal bias; maybe the fandom sees it differently. Which is why I wanted to ask in the first place :") I definitely don't wanna limit people from creating what they want but I also want the event to be enjoyable for everyone, so someone making content for a ship and someone else going "Hey wait they're not a rarepair I see art/fics for these guys all the time :(" is the kind of situation I want to try avoiding if I can 🤔

I'm not gonna be super strict on limitations either way lol I mean at the very least the REALLY obvious popular ships (i.e. Zosan, Lulaw, Zolu, etc) are off the list already. I'm done posting polls too so the potential candidate list was pretty short to begin with. But yeah no I promise this isn't gonna end in me yelling at people for including ships that aren't considered rarepairs. I'll probably just provide a list for people to go off of with ships divided into categories of "please don't make content for these bc they're everywhere and this event ain't about them" and "fandom doesn't consider them a rarepair, but if you do and you wanna make content for them anyway you can absolutely go for it".

I want people to have fun and do what they want first and foremost!! Any guidelines/rules will be super laid back. I just want people to be able to have fun exploring all the rarepairs the series has to offer rather than just going straight to the ships that are more "mainstream", even if they ARE considered a more uncommon ship. Hopefully that makes sense and I don't sound like an idiot lmao

[magentagalaxies]

my toronto-trip happened to coincide with the last toronto show of taylor swift's tour so i've been getting to people-watch all day with so many people clearly dressed in their concert outfits

there's even a tree near the children's hospital where people have been hanging up friendship bracelets on the strands of christmas lights the city put up and encouraging people to take a bracelet and leave one of their own. and like say what you will about taylor swift and the culture surrounding her but this is just objectively adorable. especially since most of the people i saw at the tree were little kids but even seeing teens/adults get this excited was sweet. like even tho taylor swift has plenty of overpriced merch (as all big musicians do) the most iconic "merch" items from this tour are handmade by fans for fans and accessible to pretty much anyone

like can this friendship bracelet thing catch on for other fanbases??? would love to go to the kith shows this week and trade friendship bracelets that say shit like "chicken lady" or "impolite and evil"

[bobbinalong]

there's some discourse about the potential new team adams and mercer are teasing maybe being called young justice, and like. i get it. "young justice" isn't really a team with interchangable members, everybody who ever joined really only did so because they joined the friendgroup, but i also so genuinely couldn't care less about this because if it's a decent project with steph as some sort of lead or even just in a red-tornado-esque roll and nobody thinks she's fourteen (which we have yet to find out, i suppose lol) and "young justice" is gonna make it sell, i'm all for calling it young justice. idc

[infinitethree]

Lucid!! I haven't talked to you in a while!! How are you and San doing?

Lucid jumps a little at the sound of that question.

He's been deep in codework, trying to figure out the best way to program Innit’s body.

It’s a lot more intense than what he usually does, in all honesty. Not only is he having to alter the code of two extremely mistrusting admins, but he’s helping create a body from scratch.

Not just any body, of course– a body that suits Innit’s needs.

As shitty as it is to say, this has much higher stakes than usual. Fucking this up could very well lead to Daz and/or Innit being maimed or killed.

Codework always has risks, and he never wants to hurt anyone. He’s never liked altering mobs, let alone players.

Daz, though…Daz is someone he knows. He’s attached to him– not just because of his shiny false persona, though.

He’s a person who has shouldered the impossible, unenviable burdens of both newcomer orientation– a hell in its own right– and secretly being the first and last line of defense if something goes wrong.

There have been some talks with Day, and more with Lee. That’s not even counting what Daz, himself, has told him.

The scope of Daz’s efforts just on the surface are breathtaking. Adding the hidden ones, the ones that only a scant few people knew about until recently…

Lucid is sort of humbled and awed by him.

Maybe a little weird to say about someone who holds him in such contempt, but also, Lucid still feels queasy when he thinks about the wreckage of Daz’s code.

Saying that it’s miraculous that he’s still alive isn’t an understatement. It makes– a terrifying amount of sense that the program not only wasn’t meant for that, but that it wasn’t even remotely ready for human testing.

How the hell can he blame Daz for his lack of trust? From what little Lucid has learned about his original Dream, he was someone who may have had an even more intense desire to be fair than Lucid did…before he snapped when he was pushed too far.

Someone like that, someone who Daz clearly trusted, being the one to hurt him so profoundly…

That’s the big reason he marvels at Daz.

Lucid struggles to be around most Quackities and Sams, after all. He avoids them as much as possible, and most of them understand.

The fact that Daz puts himself in such close proximity to Lucid on a regular basis at all is kind of a miracle. His mistrust and anger are pretty understandable– even moreso than when they all thought that his original Dream was just a pure monster.

That kind of betrayal cuts deep. When you put every ounce of your faith in someone, only for them to plunge a knife into your back…it’s a special kind of hell.

It was bad enough when his friends distanced themselves from him. It had hurt like hell, but now he knows that they just didn't understand why everything went wrong.

Daz’s Dream, though? He understood exactly what he was doing. Soul erosion or not, he would have been acutely aware of the unspeakable trauma of not just failing to protect a claimed person, but being forced to kill them with your own hands.

Lucid being good now can’t possibly erase that, one, he’s fucked up before, and two, that there’s no way to know if or when he might snap again.

Even aside from that major reason to be impressed by him…well, he’s kind of enjoying being taught by Daz. It might come with a heaping side of snideness and sneering, but the way he thinks about code is fascinating.

Daz is smart. Daz is one of the vanishingly rare types of born admin with a spark. Daz is a pillar of Sanctuary, holding his hand down on the scales to stop the server Lucid calls his own from going into a tailspin.

So, yeah! He’s kind of frazzled, because he’s terrified of the consequences of fucking this up.

It would ruin him emotionally and socially, and potentially ruin the whole damn server.

“Tired,” he answers, squinting at the clock on the wall and realizing that it’s four in the morning.

…And also that Hope is pawing at his face.

He tells her, “Sorry, sweetie. I got caught up in coding.”

She meows with a distinctly reproachful tone, her tail lashing a few times.

“It’s an important project. I’m not making a habit of it– once this is done, things will go back to normal,” he assures her, scooping her into his arms as he gets to his feet.

His body aches from staying in place for so long, but it helps to move.

…Also that he’s got heated floors.

Sometimes, especially during winter storms, he could just about kiss Vio for that choice. He knows it must have been expensive, and yet the alien did it anyway.

Out of faith that he could do better, be better, if he was treated with humanity, dignity, and a little kindness.

Oh, and bullied into actually dealing with his issues. That too.

He coos to his self-appointed therapy cat, “You’re such a fuzzy little snowball, yes you are! My little guardian angel snowflake.”

He kisses her little nose, getting a few licks in return. Laughing, he whispers, “Don’t tell the others, but I’m gonna give you some treats.”

It isn’t until they get to the kitchen that he sets her down again. He’s long since given up on keeping any of them off the counters, but Hope gets a double pass. She only really hops up when she’s trying to get his attention or otherwise has a good reason.

Unlike the others, who just try to steal his food or get in the way.

As Lucid makes a sandwich– giving his special girl a few bits of it as payment for her services– he resumes his response.

“San is still reeling from everything, to be honest. I get the impression that you all knew already, but it’s…weird. Daz has always been a bright, cheerful person for us, so learning he’s– like that…it’s a lot to wrap our heads around.”

His server tells him something he can’t understand; a previous question, the day they learned about the Showrunner, then curiosity.

It takes a few increasingly frustrated cycles before Lucid remembers what had been asked on the day San is showing him.

He was told he's among the favorites of one of the Observers.

…The same Observer who also told them to be kind to Innit.

The same Observer who is currently checking in on him.

Huh. He’s…not entirely sure how to feel about that?

Good seems like his predominant gut feeling. Surely an entity who likes him and San wouldn't beg for mercy for someone who would destroy the server, like Daz has argued Innit wants.

He chews on his thumbnail a moment, then asks, “You…said I'm your third favorite, right? And you definitely like Innit, too. So…who's the other one in your top three?”

He blinks and then adds, “If that's fine to ask, I mean. I'm just curious if there's, uh, some kind of similarity there. Observers know a lot about us, but we know almost nothing about you.”

San ever-so-helpfully shows him the point of that meeting where Aster told them that Innit is friends with three of them.

He amends, “Well, aside from Innit. I'm sure you've told it plenty about yourselves. But I can’t really ask it that, y’know? Not just because it'd have to go through Daz–” and their relationship did not seem good, “--but also it's a bit weird to go behind the back of entities that can just…watch us.”

And torment them, if they so chose.

Lucid is aware of the occasional, cruel questions lobbied to some parties. Maybe not the details, but he does know they happen.

So pissing off the Observers and risking that sounds stupid as hell.

No; it’s better to play nice and not make waves. He'll be polite about this sort of thing, but unless he's told to back off he's still gonna ask.

Turnout is fair play, after all.