#「 this is where it started ― threads 」

[magnetic-rose]

the pitt does the same thing that ER does where they'll have these funny, almost nonsensical cases (the woman asking dr robby if he wants to see her vagina, the patient with the dog collar super glued onto him) interwoven with tragic cases (the old man with dementia, the teen who's brain dead).

and it just creates this sense of heightened chaos where you're laughing one moment and then crying in the next scene.

[sovonight]

there are only 8 seams in this knit dress but at this rate each one's going to take me 2 hours

[vaguely-concerned]

rye in the sheltered glade with evka and antoine after destroying the blight eruption with unholy amounts of alchemical fire, looking Directly at lucanis studying a flower as it emerges undaunted from the thousand year horrors of the blight with all the guileless wonder and fascination of a little boy: yeah that's uh. wow. that is beautiful actually. this kind of does change everything doesn't it

[kryboxkrinkledicks]

guys i think hes picking up embroidery. idk just a thought

[lost-inanotherlife]

some thoughts about addictions in LOST

there will be spoilers and, obvi, I'll talk about addiction as a narrative theme/motif in this post, so be warned if this is triggering to you.

In this post I've said that, on rewatch, I didn't particularly like Charlie and I've also added that, perhaps, one of the reasons for this change of heart (I used to love Charlie back in 2004) is the show (not particularly brilliant, imho) handling of his addiction/recovery storyline. This post, though, won't be specifically about Charlie but it will be about the way the show portrayed addictions mainly as signifiers of 1. the possibility of being "saved" and 2. clinical depression.

To be honest with you, I don't agree with the people that say that LOST is a character-driven show. But I don't agree with the people who say it's plot-driven either. To me in LOST characters and plot go hand in hand. So how can i describe LOST? Well, I would say that LOST is theme-driven: both plot and characters must adhere to the show's main themes. And it makes sense, right? I mean, never believe TV writers when they say they have everything planned out in advance, you know that it's a lie. 99% of the time they just have a half-baked story and, perhaps, some more or less well thought-out characters. The rest is "just" some very general and very big Themes and they rely on those to write their story like water in a desert.

One of LOST's big themes is, of course, destiny. Like all the tales about destiny the more the characters struggle against it, the more they end up enacting it. In LOST the struggle takes the shape of a rejection of the past: in one way or another all the characters are compelled by their past or by one event that happened in their past/childhood that has molded the direction of their lives and the way in which they experience the world. In other words, as you all well know, these characters can't let go, they can't move on.

One of the ways in which this compulsion is portrayed is substance addiction. Charlie and Jack are the two main characters who struggle against it but they do it very diffrently. Or, better, the writers portray their respective addictions very differently.

In Charlie's case, his heroin addiction is a very prominent feature of this storyline: you take it away from him, his story loses most of its pathos and meaning. Charlie's addiction and his recovery from it are an integral part of his character that you can't substitute with anything else.

On the other hand, Jack's addictions are treated as a motif to basically telegraph the audience that The Character Is Not Doing Well. If you take away Jack's alcohol abuse, for instance, from his story, you won't end up changing it that much. Like, with or without his alcohol abuse, Jack's still pretty much a depressed man with a difficult relationship with his father and a general lack of belief in the value of his life per se.

However, in both cases, the ways in which these addictions are written are never realistic, they only serve a narrative purpose, aka to signify something else: in Charlie's case his addiction stands for his possibility (or lack thereof) to be "saved" while in Jack's case his addictions signal his clinical depression.

When LOST writers write Jack sitting in a sea of empty bottles, popping pills like there's no tomorrow, they want to show without telling that "Jack Is Not Doing Fine!". Theirs is a narrative device to say something without saying it, it's not active interest in exploring what it really means to have substance abuse-related problems. In other words, it's NOT a way of telling the audience "Look, there's a quite big and deep element of substance abuse in this character's story that actually plays a big role in the decisions the character makes because hey! he's not okay, so we'd like to portray this in a realistic way and explore it in depth". They dont' say that because they aren't interested in that. And they're not interested in that because LOST is not EXCLUSIVELY a character-driven show. Characters and plot must go hand in hand and the plot is fast-paced, chop! chop! let's go! we don't have time to go THAT deep into character analysis.

Case in point, when Jack's on the island his addictions seem to disappear. He's not only Suddenly Fine but even characters who are close to him and know about his issues conveniently seem to forget about them. In S5 Kate and Jack go back to the 70S to live in Dharmaville and they literally PRETEND that nothing has happened in the previous three years between them, like nothing at all. Jack's addictions are not treated as something that the show really wants us to pay attention to because, if we do, we are bound to realize that, even if, when he's on the island, Jack doesn't experience any withdrawal symptoms, he's still NOT in a healthy place, mentally speaking. And not like, "I'm sad because I've ruined my chance with Kate", but more like "My mind is a minefield, I can only think about one thing and I need it to feel better, to make myself feel better again or I'll kms". This is what "We have to go back" really means: symbolically, it's Jack's compulsion wrt his past trauma, in much realer terms, it's Jack's being an addict and thinking that the island is his last dose, his ultimate chance at HappinessTM.

Something very similar happens to Charlie as well and I think it's no coincidence that both characters end the way they do and both deaths have scarred an entire generation of people watching TV in their teens, lol.

Charlie's perhaps the first character that introduces the theme of destiny when he writes "fate" on those thingies he has on his fingers (I'm aware that "destiny" and "fate" are not necessarily the same concept but let's use them as interchangeable terms bc, come on, we only have 5 fingers per hand and the word "destiny" doesn't fit, lol, okay?). He's also the only character whose story is decidedly connected to drug abuse. And, I think, this wasn't necessarily a good move on the part of the writers team because I personally think that you can't write a character who's struggling with addiction and then write said addiction solely as a way to talk about something else. You gotta factor in what it really means to be an addict and what it means to be an addict on a fucking island with tons of free heroin on it. The reason why I think that the writers didn't really think it through is because nobody on the island shows an ounce of compassion, or just plain sympathy towards Charlie. Like, Charlie's addiction is written like The Bad Thing and everybody around him treats him like The Bad Man Who Snorts Heroin and it's just so... moralistic!!!

Not only that, S2 is a season where almost every character starts having some sort of hallucinations. Mental health is a whole sub-theme in S2, the season where we have episodes like "Dave" where Hugo/Hurley's past history in a mental health facility is revelead. So people are, beliavably I'd say, starting to get a bit weird on the island and they all begin to See Stuff and the people around them seem to understand this, they're sympathetic and they all go like "you have to rest" or something. Not with Charlie. Charlie has visions and nightmares because he's a Drug Addict. No other explanation. Not even one person who was like: "PERHAPS if it's hard for us who don't have to struggle against a fucking heroin addiction, maybe, MAYBE, it's even HARDER for Charlie so, not saying we have to justify the shit he does, but at least let's all try to understand him". Nope. Charlie's bad and does bad thing because, CLEARLY, he was using drugs and he was using because he's bad person and an addict. Like, no, don't write stuff like this, please.

If you add the fact that his recovery story is LITERALLY compared to being baptized, aka "be saved from the Original Sin", I'm sorry but I can't shake the feeling that there's some veiled, surely unconscious, Christian propaganda at play here.

Aside from that, Charlie's whole "Heroin Arc" ends in S2. Like, it's done, it's over, he throws all the heroin into the sea, Charlie Pace Is Saved. That's good, right? Weeeeeeell. To me no, it's not good because then S3 starts and we have the "Charlie Is Supposed to Die" arc and I asky myself why? Like, I can feel that the writers didn't know what else to do with Charlie besides Charlie having drug problems. So when the drug problems are over, they "redeem" him with a storyline of self-sacrifice that feels a bit forced, to me at least. Not only that, it also reduces Charlie to his former drug abuse storyline and this reinforces the feeling that Charlie is an addict, can only be an addict and, once he's not an addict anymore, he must die because he can ONLY be an addict since the writers hadn't figured out anything else for him. What I'm trying to say is that I don't think the writers understood and/or cared about the consequences of the things they had written and the other possible takeaways people might have inferred from the way they wrote addiction stories.

I'll say one good thing the writers did and it was what I consider the actual Big Reveal of S3 finale. Des' flashes weren't about Charlie dying, they were about him not allowing Charlie to die because Charlie was the one who was SUPPOSED (not to die) but to go the The Looking Glass station and stop the jamming signal because he's the only rock musician on the island (which means that, surely, he'd know "Good Vibrations"). So, to me, Charlie was not "supposed to die", he was "supposed to be there" which is a whole other thing. And Charlie can "be there" because he accepts that he will die. This was a very interesting thing but, I mean, S3 is a fucking mess, we all know that, so for one good thing there are at least three more that aren't so good (let's all remember that S3 is the "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Further Instructions" season, and many more laughable episodes written just because they had to write the show and the network wouldn't "free" the writers from LOST, lol).

I'm reaching rambling territory so I'll stop now but, basically, I personally don't like the way LOST handles addictions. I understand that this is a story, a narrative where things means something else as well, I understand that both Jack and Charlie's addictions are strongly connected to the issues they have with their respective family members and, therefore, the reason why they were on that plane in the first place. So I understand that addictions mean many different things in LOST. And, ngl, it'd be fine by me if both characters didn't end up self-sacrificing themselves thinking that THAT was their redemption. But they do, both Charlie and Jack die in order to save other people and this is great and noble but I simply can't forget that these were two characters struggling with addictions who ended badly. The nobility of their acts doesn't make them less sad and, frankly, wrong.

[captainsavre]

The best of Spampi 1/?

[sol-consort]

Before the turian galactic expansion, the worship of Titans used to be more widespread. Titans are described as gaint creatures that roamed the planet back in ancient time, and left their footprints behind—a common theory that those titans might have been the reapers visiting to gauge the development of turian civilisation.

Greek mythology also has Titans in it, ones that have been said to bring entropy upon the earth wherever they roamed, tyrannical and destructive, the forefathers of the greek gods of which they came and eventually usurped.

And we know that by the Stone Age of humanity, the reaper attack hasn't occurred just yet; by that time, protheans were still around and kicking, observing humanity from Mars.

The Stone Age ended between 4000 BC and 2000 BC. The widespread oral poetry that helped pass down the myths we now know as greek mythology started around 1800 BC to 1701 BC.

This offers a window ranging from 2,200 to 299 years in which the reapers invaded and defeated the protheans before roaming the rest of the galaxy and observing the infantile sentient civilisations.

It's very possible that both the turian Titans and greek mythology Titans originated from tales of the reapers in the world of Mass Effect.

And if I'm allowed more creative liberty, I'd say some tales of the mythology gods wars were heavily inspired by witnessing the reaper/prothean conflict on Mars, with the planet being very visible to Earth dating back to the ancient Egyptians. The explosion of ships in space, the red lasers of reapers splitting the sky. It does imply that the addition of titans into mythology is a late one which came after the Olympians' myths.

[souvenir116]

Hiii! Do you know of a master list of all the lestappen moments? Or a list of races to watch specifically for them?

I think having every lestappen moment would be a bit too much for anyone to work on it, if its not a combined work by multiple people, but @scuderiafemboy made a really nice thread last summer consisting of important moments, which is so helpful and sweet if anyone wants to know more about lestappen lore. @pretzelgotze also makes really nice summaries of each gp weekend, so I would advise it too ❤️

[avichor]

updated my rules! under the cut so yall don’t need to search for it

IMPORTANT: i understand some people put deadlines on when they expect interactions, but i operate incredibly slowly if the expectation is on me to initiate. if we are mutuals, i have every intention of interacting with you both ic and ooc, it just takes me longer to write, and that could take up to several months. i try to make up for it with dash interactions ( e.g. liking your posts, commenting, sending memes, etc. ) i will not adhere to any deadlines as it makes me feel pressured, as if my time with my hobby is a job, and makes my reaching out to you feel inauthentic. if you feel it is taking too long, you are more than welcome to initiate interactions with me! i always reply, just slowly. interactions are a two - way street. i never ignore anyone on purpose, if i'm active on dash it's just because it's easier to be " brain - empty " and i'd want to provide a substantial, sensible response for you, especially if we're plotting. i'm also a big believer in building community, curating a space where it's fun to vibe on dash. doesn't necessarily mean we need to write immediately. <3 ty!

[madsclinett]

mads: how are you feeling after yesterday? bc this bike and wine tour looks kind of cool as hell, any interest? it's not a hockey game or anything but I think we'll both like it? plus it says you can request picnic baskets and now I can't stop thinking about a picnic 😂

@jachasestokes

[galarglory]

Thinking about Gloria's anger & like how she really is angrier all the time then she let's on. She is constantly angry at the state of the world, at how she is treated by the Board, how people treat each other so cruelly, how Pokemon are treated like tools, how the world itself is treated like it doesn't matter. She is constantly angry but she doesn't want it to show. She tries to bury it down because "causing a scene" with her anger won't do anything. Acting on her anger won't help her or others. She swallows her anger letting it turn to determination to keep fighting and what doesn't turn to determination sits in her. It sits with her, fuming, aging, waiting until it comes out all at once. Whether she means for it to come out or not.

[starheirxero]

Actually hey. Does anyone know where Rez's model comes from??? I have genuinely been wondering if it's a model of a pre-existing character or if it's an OC or of it's just some vibe or whatever for the longest time, I need to know what its supposed 2 be.......

[jademight]

I'm seeing people be like 'wtf is Hulk doing in a Spider-Man' movie but like

[maudie-beans]

I subscribed an orca zine and Im excited. The post about levels of hyper-fixations made me think about my own and Im in that "the shelf has collapsed on my head" category

When I first worked on my zorca I didn't think much of it. My first thought was "yeah I'll make a zora based on a killer whale, I like orca!" then my kid self leapt through time, kicked my door down, held me at knife point and said "YOU WANT TO REPEAT THAT? ONLY 'LIKE'? THE OCEAN IS CALLING AND YOU WILL ANSWER"

And since then its been this slow descent into madness with research and hunting for orca and ocean related sites and blogs. I wanted to make a goal of memorizing groups of whales. Then I heard Orca Conservancy has flashcards of the Southern Resident Killer Whales 👀

It's amazing how learning can be incredibly fun when you love something so much 😭

[daisywords]

I think a part of being on tumblr is that when you make a rebloggable post you are not starting one conversation but in fact making a jumping off point for many other people to say tangential things on their own blogs. and it can be frustrating as the op to feel like people are getting off topic, but sometimes people on this website are cataloguing their own collection of esoterica in ways only comprehensible to them and the way they tagged the post was not addressed to you, the op, or your larger point, even though you can see all of it. (sometimes people are intending to enter your conversation space and are being wrong in there though. the problem is that mechanically this can look identical). I have been on both sides of this and yes it can be very frustrating as the op of something that gets spirited away to tangents beyond your original intention and context but you do have the option to turn off notifications if it bothers you that much. instead of getting angry at people using the website for various of its intended purposes

[gildead]

@tetramulti || get in loser we're drafting you into rezzie

"Silver? Honey?"

Silver head snaps up from his PokéGear as his girlfriend's voice snaps him out of his spiraling thoughts. How the hell could he even begin to approach this conversation? If the unknown number was talking about what he thought it was talking about... Sweet merciful Ho-Oh, this was not how he wanted to spend his date night.

"Silver." She speaks again, folding her arms as her expression hardens. "You've been staring at your PokéGear for several minutes now. What's going on?"

He rolls his eyes and moves to put it away. "Nothing we need to worry about--"

"Don't give me that. You've gone whiter than a Dewgong." Before he could even respond, Lyra snatches the device from his hands and studies the screen, her brow furrowing. Silver considers stopping her for a moment, but as soon as Lyra's expression gives way to confusion and horror, he knows it's too late.

[Is this Silver? I'd like to talk to you about the situation from a few months ago. The one that involved your now-dead friend.]

She sets the PokéGear down and stares at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"Shit, fine." Ugh. He had such a headache. "Remember when I was on bedrest a few months ago--"

"From 'champion business'." She shoots him a skeptical expression as she sits back in her chair. Dammit, dammit, dammit, he knew that was a stupid excuse. How the hell did he think she was going to believe him, especially with that bullshit detector of hers? He let out a frustrated growl before continuing.

"Look, what if I told you Gold's stuck in a weird purgatorial ghost state, bonded with a Celebi, then got kidnapped and experimented on by a creep my dad wouldn't even hire?" He's shocked by how quickly that slipped out and even more regretful when he notices how Lyra's eyes well up. He should've led in more gently, especially considering she was the one who found him.

Or, at least, what was left of him. Barely enough to fit a small casket, she had said.

Lyra sucks in a deep breath as she forces back tears. Silver's voice goes soft immediately. "Babe, I... I'm sorry." He runs a hand down his face. "But you get how crazy that sounds, right--?"

"Answer it." Lyra answers quickly, before Silver can get another word in edgewise. Clearly he's taken aback if his expression's of any indication, because she keeps going.

"Answer the damn text, Silver." Oh. She's not kidding. "I want answers. To all of this."

He nods wordlessly and texts his response.

[Indigo League Building, 5:00 AM. Be there or no deal.]