thirdwifeofriversong

[thirdwifeofriversong]

Miles making up the story of his clone on a spur of the moment running-his-mouth-to-save-his-ass situation and then his clone being real is SO FUNNY TO ME

[thirdwifeofriversong]

The Archive will be down for about 3 hours of maintenance tomorrow, Jan 14 at 22:00 UTC. Check what time that is for you: https://bit.ly/4aiO4Cs.

[thirdwifeofriversong]

Made a dark mode skin to go with the light mode version of this one.

[thirdwifeofriversong]

like the first rule of cooking is to have fun and be yourself and the first rule of baking is to stay calm because the dough can sense fear

[thirdwifeofriversong]

One thing I love about Cordelia and Aral is that they come from such different cultures with such different taboos and mores, and they are each delighted by the other's expression of these differences

[thirdwifeofriversong]

we were ROBBED

(Another story in the case of 10, 11 and 12)

[thirdwifeofriversong]

spoilers for Memory from the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

So if you’re in the middle of the series, don’t read this post.  OK, so Miles was fired for (among other things) concealing a medical condition that put himself, his subordinates, and (through that) the Imperium in danger. 

Now…. Illyan has to have known he was getting sick. The earliest one Galeni saw (memo with the wrong date) maybe he never even knew; maybe his secretary corrected it without informing him.  And maybe the second one (requesting a report he’d already received) he dismissed as too small to be a concern, although for Illyan forgetting even that small a detail was probably a warning sign worthy of a check-up. But by the third one (memo with the wrong date addressed to Galeni’s predecessor about a topic out of date, which he then forgot he asked for), this was a clear situation, and Illyan had enough evidence to know it even if Galeni didn’t – especially since it’s exceedingly likely that there were warning signs that happened when Galeni wasn’t around. Now I’m not saying he should have immediately put himself on medical leave or anything. But he did have a clear responsibility to warn Haroche that he might need to take medical leave shortly, and Haroche should be prepared for that. And to inform Gregor of that possibility.   In short, he concealed a medical condition that – to a much greater extent – put himself, his subordinates, and the Imperium in danger.  I can’t believe I’ve never seen that parallel before, and now that I have it I don’t know what to do with it.

[thirdwifeofriversong]

I feel like we need a refresher on Watsonian vs Doylist perspectives in media analysis. When you have a question about a piece of media - about a potential plot hole or error, about a dubious costuming decision, about a character suddenly acting out of character -

A Watsonian answer is one that positions itself within the fictional world.

A Doylist answer is one that positions itself within the real world.

Meaning: if Watson says something that isn't true, one explanation is that Watson made a mistake. Another explanation is that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made a mistake.

Watsonian explanations are implicitly charitable. You are implicitly buying into the notion that there is a good in-world reason for what you're seeing on screen or on the page. ("The bunny girls in Final Fantasy wear lingerie all the time because they're from a desert culture!")

Doylist explanations are pragmatic. You are acknowledging that the fiction is shaped by real-world forces, like the creators' personal taste, their biases, the pressures they might be under from managers or editors, or the limits of their expertise. ("The bunny girls in Final Fantasy wear lingerie because somebody thought they'd sell more units that way.")

Watsonian explanations tend to be imaginative but naive. Seeking a Watsonian explanation for a problem within a narrative is inherently pleasure-seeking: you don't want your suspension of disbelief to be broken, and you're willing to put in the leg work to prevent it. Looking for a Watsonian answer can make for a fun game! But it can quickly stray into making excuses for lazy or biased storytelling, or cynical and greedy executives.

Doylist explanations are very often accurate, but they're not much fun. They should supersede efforts to provide a Watsonian explanation where actual harm is being done: "This character is being depicted in a racist way because the creators have a racist bias.'" Or: "The lore changed because management fired all of the writers from last season because they didn't want to pay then residuals."

Doylism also runs the risk of becoming trite, when applied to lower stakes discrepancies. Yes, it's possible that this character acted strangely in this episode because this episode had a different writer, but that isn't interesting, and it terminates conversation.

I think a lot of conversations about media would go a lot more smoothly, and everyone would have a lot more fun, if people were just clearer about whether they are looking to engage in Watsonian or Doylist analysis. How many arguments could be prevented by just saying, "No, Doylist you're probably right, but it's more fun to imagine there's a Watsonian reason for this, so that's what I'm doing." Or, "From a Watsonian POV that explanation makes sense, but I'm going with the Doylist view here because the creator's intentions leave a bad taste in my mouth that I can't ignore."

Idk, just keep those terms in your pocket? And if you start to get mad at somebody for their analysis, take a second to see if what they're saying makes more sense from the other side of the Watsonian/Doylist divide.

[thirdwifeofriversong]

Self Care by Katie Green (author of Lighter Than My Shadow)

[thirdwifeofriversong]

I turn 30 next month so here’s what I learned in my 20s:

—don’t work for startups, they’re always one ‘innovative idea’ away adding ‘sell your kidneys on the black market’ to your job description.

—keeping a collection of basic OTC medicine on you will save your life one day. I recommend Advil, Imodium, and TUMS.

—those little single-use glasses cleaning wipes are 1000% worth the money

—overly self-depreciating jokes just make people uncomfortable, wean yourself off of them

—you can buy dehydrated mini marshmallows in bulk online and they’re a godsend for hot cocoa

—people don’t care if you have fidget toys on your desk they just want to play with them

—try to go to bed BEFORE the existential ennui kicks in

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adults: oh silly children with no responsibilities no real trauma no life experience no worries and yet oh so dramatic about nothing

also adults: oh thank fucking GOD i am not in school anymore, i had another nightmare i was THERE again, i woke up in a cold sweat bc i didn't study for my TEST-there's nothing not anything like the sweet relief of realizing that you actually don't have one and you won't have one in a very very long time, i still remember what the hallways smell like, i graduated years ago but i don't feel safe yet

[thirdwifeofriversong]

i was 100% sure this song would end up in my top 5 spotify wrapped songs, but apparently not??! number 7? heartbroken

me, trying to keep the teeniest tiniest bit of sanity intact less than 24 hours after watching the carriage scene, listening to a string cover of Mr. Worldwide on repeat at my grown-ass job until I can go home and rewatch😭

[thirdwifeofriversong]

You know what? It’s fucking hard trying to get better. It’s exhausting managing doctors appointments, doing daily PT exercises, eating better, trying to exercise, trying to meditate, and doing ADL’s. I have had a bad crash per week trying to juggle and do all of the above.

It’s easier and less acutely painful to just coast and not actively work on ‘getting better’. Is the work worth it? I don’t know yet.

But to people who’ve tried and given up, to those who don’t even bother - you still deserve care and compassion.

[thirdwifeofriversong]

Are we not gonna talk about the fact that Sacha said, at Chicago Tardis this year, that “The Master’s sex scene with the Doctor” was cut when asked if any content was cut from his episodes? 😭👀

[thirdwifeofriversong]

i hate that we’re (at least in the us/most western countries that i’ve been to) expected to sit in chairs “normally” (knees 90° and feet touching the floor). i’ve had a tailbone injury for a couple years and sitting cross-legged makes me not be in pain and when i go to a restaurant or am working in an office or in a public place, i just want to sit how it doesn’t HURT but apparently that’s not SoCiAlLy aCcEpTaBlE (sometimes i do it anyway though)

can we normalize sitting however we want, fuck “proper”? please? i know i’m not the only one who feels this way

also low-key bisexual erasure to not let people sit in chairs however tf they want (coming from a bi+ person)

[thirdwifeofriversong]

Romanticism-inspired fantasy.

Joining inprnt’s print sale through the weekend 💜

[thirdwifeofriversong]

Yet another Stargate/Riordanverse Comparison

So I've gone on about how Percy Jackson could either be baby Jack O'Neill or baby Daniel Jackson (or, canonically his long-lost nephew or something), but it just hit me out of the blue that I've been overlooking another great parallel: Percy as baby John Sheppard

Not only are they both sassy af and massive dorks, but they're also both highly intelligent (John passed the Mensa test, remember) yet seem to be under the mistaken impression that they're dumb. Like Percy with Annabeth, John usually defers to a female counterpart he sees as the "smart one" or the "competent one" (Elizabeth, Teyla, Sam, all of the above, take your pick). But like Percy, he's just as smart and competent, just in a different way (pure of heart, sound of mind, but dumb of ass - that's both of their characters in a nutshell). In SGA we obviously don't get to hear John's inner monologue but I bet you anything it sounds a lot like a grown-up version of Percy sarcastically commentating on all the chaos, especially when he has to deal with sleazy authority figures. In addition, he has a habit of lobbing snarky comebacks at most of the enemies he encounters, which is peak Percy behavior. He also seems to be in a constant state of frustrated internal brooding, which is once again peak Percy behavior, especially in the later books. After some consideration, I actually think that out of the three options Percy would be most likely to grow up to be like John. Yes, even more so than Jack. They both have snark and the trauma-informed brooding tendencies, but something about John's particular manifestation of that actually feels a bit more Percy than Jack to me for some reason. The perpetual "done with everyone's bullshit" expression, the constant deadpan asides that just sound like he's Somehow Even More Tired Than Jack O'Neill™ , the visible confusion towards most of what's happening around him or what his friends are saying, and the "idk what I'm doing 99% of the time but I'm surprisingly good in a crisis and I'm a natural leader that people follow for some reason" - it all feels very much like how adult Percy would behave, and Percy's already more than halfway there as a teenager, tbh. Also they both have some latent power/special attribute (Percy being a demigod/John having the ATA gene) that comes to light rather abruptly, thrusting them into a previously unknown world where apparently everyone and everything wants to kill them. And one last thing: befriending a life-sucking alien and saying "I'm sorry for shooting everyone!" are absolutely things Percy would do (idk what the context of the latter would be but it'd probably be something ridiculous)