#also not relevant but still important to me

[aeyumicore]

my stance on calebmc & which trope i follow

warning: super long post. also originally written for twitter so bear that in mind. cross posting here because the following could impact my writing of calebmc.

i want to clear something up. please note most everything below is my opinion.

i am chinese-american. i play lads in chinese dub and english subs. i joke about being chinese illiterate but i have a good understanding of mandarin and am fluent in another dialect (fujian). i follow the chinese localization in which calebmc were once non-blood related adopted siblings.

by definition, their relationship USED to be pseudo incest/orthopedics trope. however, even though caleb and mc are no longer legally tied (which absolves the pseudo-othopedics aspect) they are still family. this is an important part of their dynamic. just because the adoption dissolved doesn’t erase the bond they built. doesn’t mean they’re no longer family.

and them being family to each other is something they HIGHLY value. him being her brother is a core part of calebmc. it’s probably the job he cherishes most. even with no legal tie, their history—the importance of it and how RELEVANT their history is to their evolving relationship, makes the pseudo trope persist. but that doesn’t mean that specific aspect of their dynamic makes up their entire identity and nor do they (or i) fetishize it.

there definitely exists many caleb fans that DO fetishize calebmc’s familial bond. i do not align with this. personally, i don’t actively consume dddne content (however there are mild ones such as somno, cnc, dubcon - which dont make me uncomfortable but i dont actively seek them out). i do not believe in condemning and ousting those who do enjoy those contents, safely and respectfully. i am a strong believer in if i dont like it i scroll or mute/block. i believe fiction can impact reality, but that doesnt mean it always does, and i also believe the majority of people can separate the two. so i dont find that what fiction one consume dictates what kind of person they are.

caleb is proud to be mcs brother. he clings to that role, even if mc no longer needs a brother. it’s important to him. not because of some incestuous fetish, but because it’s what he’s been all his life and what she needed. he lives to be needed by her.

caleb and mc, to me, did not fall in love because of their familial bond. it seems a core part of an incest kink is that it revolves around fetishizing that sibling/family bond. i certainly don’t think caleb or mc fetishize their familial bond, in any localization, though they do cherish it. that doesn’t mean caleb doesn’t love what it means to be her big brother (though he detests the limitations).

哥哥/gege can be used flirtatiously. it can be used in both a familial and non familial honorific context. in this case, i think it serves a dual purpose. mc does use it to tease him, but she also says it literally. he is her adoptive non-blood related brother. he is her family, even after the adoption dissolved.

i believe that their relationship has both pseudo and found family aspects in the “non-english” versions. because their relationship began pre-adoption/pre-living in the same house it is NOT rooted in a fetishized familial incest, feeling more found family. but they were adopted together at one point. they became family. they ARE family.

this whole thing isn’t to say adoptive or non blood related families are any less than blood related, because i don’t believe that either. just like i don’t believe, just because the adoption was dissolved, means suddenly they’re no longer family. it’s just that in this specific instance, the distinction is important as it quite literally defines what incest is.

from here on out, you will see me refer to them as family, refer to him as her brother, and explore their evolving familial bond, much more often. i previously refrained from it as i wanted to cater to more of my following (and not make anyone uncomfy) but that tiptoeing is making ME uncomfortable.

previously, i did condemn the “pseudoincest trope” as at that time, pseudo was largely being conflated with actual incest, and i myself did not have a good understanding of the trope or term (since neither “kink” is something i am actively interested in). as caleb has been out longer, i’ve come to a much better understanding of calebmc, the tropes, and what i am and am not comfortable with.

if you think pseudoincest = incest then i have nothing to say. i don’t owe you anything, you don’t owe me anything. we can block each other and move on. you don’t owe me a “hey so i’m blocking you bc…” just do it and move on.

you’re talking to a wall if you keep pushing the “if you enjoy pseudo” “if you enjoy cn trope” = you’re an incest lover. you could say it until you’re blue in the face. i truly don’t care. if this doesn’t align with how you feel or what you’re comfortable with, please hard block me (if you soft block there's a good chance i will forget and refollow lol). i will also be doing the same and blocking those whose views make me uncomfortable.

i still support all localizations as long as we can respect each other without erasing any localizations, or any asian cultures for that matter.

please note, while i put a lot of thought into this post, i am an imperfect human. calebmc have a very complex and dynamic relationship, and it’s hard to put everything i feel about them into eloquent words.

lastly, those who know me know i had a very intense situation with someone on tumblr a few months ago (aug 2024 ish - dec 2024 ish) where in they harassed me, impersonated me, plagiarized a bunch of my writing, attempted to doxx me, and sent me vile vile things for months on end.

it took a huge toll on my mental health and since that i have tried my best to stay out about overall discourses on twitter, which is why i was quick to condemn pseudo back in ~feb (instead of doing my own research on calebmc/pseudo/incest/etc) as well as why i haven’t made an official post clarifying my stance until now.

but with all the conversations going around i wanted to be clear about exactly where i stand.

you are responsible for curating your own safe space. i am not responsible for yours, nor any of my mutuals. i speak for myself and no one else.

hateful anons and harassment will be met with silence and a block.

thanks if you’ve read this far.

[headspace-hotel]

a lot of the Bucky Barnes fanfics deal a lot with Bucky not having the words or terminology to express what's going on with him, express desires, feelings, etc. because he was conditioned to be a weapon and purely concerned with functionality.

somehow this connected in my head with, okay, i love found language poetry (my Wikipoems are still some of my favorite art that ive made, ever) and i thought of an example of this artform, the poetry book Zong! by M. NourbeSe Philip.

so basically in 1783 there was a court case about an incident where the guy in charge of the slave ship the Zong murdered 150 enslaved African captives to get insurance money. The poetry book is found-language poetry using only words from the papers pertaining to that court case.

The found-language convention is, in this case, a source of impossible and painful strain that screams through the poetry. The poems become incoherent and mangled as Philip tries to force the words (which are rather clinically speaking of human beings as though they are 'cargo') to honor and acknowledge the humanity of the captives, but the source text simply breaks under the demand. The words are not given, the text cannot communicate this meaning and survive.

The idea this gave me is not actually a poem, but something web-based and interactive. I had the idea of clipping fragments of sentences out of a book, scanning them into a digital format, and using them as dialogue for a character that the reader/player(?) can talk to by inputting text.

The concept is of a character that is painfully limited in the way they can communicate. Their words are not theirs, they are cut from another source.

The reader/player would be able to input whatever text they want into the dialogue box, instead of selecting from pre-determined options, but since the character's responses are very fixed (literally being scanned clippings from a book) the chat could simply match basic key words or combinations of words to relevant "found language" clippings that are given as "responses" and return a confused or noncommittal response to everything else.

This would work because the character can't precisely tailor their responses to questions, and possibly can't understand the questions at all and is just responding to words they know. So it would not be necessary to anticipate every single thing a player/reader might type or all possible formats to questions, and it would not detract from the story if the chat function returned seemingly irrelevant clippings. The painful limitation of speaking in "found language" accounts for all of this.

An important part of this would be selecting the book the character's responses are cut from. Found language is about the limitations created by the original text. So, the original text chosen would express the character's mindset and the worldview they are forced to exist within. The original text would haunt the work by setting the limitations to what Character can think, feel, and understand context for, literally providing the only words Character has to communicate.

Found language is also doing violence to the original text. So the medium of clippings would represent Character's attempts to express feelings and thoughts of their own.

I would be selecting a book to literally tear apart, and I would have to consider what kind of themes and ideas I want to represent Character's oppressive inner mental "world" in order to select the book. The ideology present in the chosen book would become the ideology that oppresses Character.

My first thought was to use the book How Should We Then Live by Francis Schaeffer. I consider this book to be somewhat of a proto-Christofascist text, and it has personal importance as a book I read, partially agreed with, and later rejected.

My second thought was to use Old Yeller, yes the book about the boy that is forced to kill his dog, because that book has a lot of (often unacknowledged) ideological implications about violence and manhood.

I have been thinking a lot about AI art and what human-created art has to offer that AI art cannot. This artwork could help be an answer to that question: an important aspect of this artwork is that I have to actually, in real life destroy a book, and each piece of Character's dialogue will be a scan of a real physical object (a clipping from a book). So it is an artwork that depends on the real, physical world and the artist interacting with that real, physical world.

I think I have to learn some coding to tell the stories I want to tell, and I don't know how to get started with that.

[batfambrainrotbeloved]

opinion on the Superman movie? 👀

I fucking loved it so much, bomb ass respectful and relevent political take aside because plenty of people have already sung their praises I LOVE how each character was treated

Clark ofc being true farm boy, hes a romantic, and feels with every bone in his body, he loves so freely and authetically be it a kaiju, a random squirrel, or a "trashy" pop punk band- and it feels so real that a lot of modern hero movies have seemed to set aside. They let him fail, they let him cry- and beg, and be helpless, and yet fight because the alternative was people dying which he couldnt accept.

Lois not falling into her useless damsel gives me so much life- and that were dropped in the MIDDLE of their relationship you see a Lois whose true to herself, oh so human and unsure of her place in this relationship. Not blinded by her growing affection in substtution of her journalistic passion-she doesnt spare Clarks feelings, but she IS on his side. And who DOES something (alongside the rest of the Daily Planet doing their part despite being "just human" which is another so important message)

The Justice Gang?? Guy Gardener whose a dick and yet still a hero balanced in such a beautiful way. Hawkgirl who is loud and uses such a "agressive" weapon- a woman who can kill and is still a hero.

And Mr.Terrific who can come across as the classic "monotone smart" for no more than 5 minutes before you realize how rich and wonderful he was. Someone who "didnt do emotions" and yet always stood up anyways- he was funny, and witty, and impressive.

Each of the heroes (and civillians) shining without needing to deminish the power or accomplishments of the others are just AHH-

I saw a post earlier that talked about Lois confrontation and how NONE of them denied Clark being their friend- it was just Mr. T decided despite all the moving pieces, he would be a hero for his friend- just in case he was in over his head.

I love how even EVE, a character so clearly portrayed as the archetype shallow ditsy blonde influencer as nothing more than status arm candy for luthor and a silly obsession with Jimmy (which me too girl) managed to become so much MORE- she was the moving piece that helped take down Luthor beyond what superman could do.

Because thats the POINT of Luthor that this movie so beautifully executed- he isnt Supermans arch nemisis because hes the strongest, someone who can go toe to toe with THE boy scout. Its his influence, from his money, his connections- all of it enabling his schemes fueled by his obsession.

Superman COULD have beat him up, but he wouldn't have won-

It was only with Eve being brave enough to trust Jimmy with what she knew, Jimmy, Lois and everyone else at the daily planet blasting that information to the public, severing those connections, and stripping Luthor of his power?

All of THAT is what allowed Superman, and Mr.T, and everyone else to win- because the fist fight was only half the battle and would have been pointless without the world shouting behind them

(Also ADORE how they treated Krypto the line of Lois fear fueled argument (justifiably) confused about Clark turning himself in??? But Clark just says he knows its crazy, and Krypto isnt even a GOOD dog- but he deserves to be saved.

Because again someone who works with dogs- I can honestly say that theres not a single dog that I dont whole heartedly love, even the ones that make me want to tear my hair out- because they're just dogs and they deserve the same amount of love and care despite being little assholes in their own unique way

Also side note but important sub message- ive noticed a lot of social media surrounding dog ownership and the "influener" side that portrays impressivley trained dogs, or sweet pampered babies- its good to show families that "The dog can be a piece of shit, itll chew your shoes, pee on your couch, eat your turkey- but they love you and you gotta love them regardless" especially since he learned to work WITH Krypro's shenanigans (I.E taking down the Luthor drones)

[olderthannetfic]

I hate that when a movie focuses on a foreign culture, and is widely acknowledged at being a good movie, some people will say that the reason, the MAIN reason the movie did well is because it depicted the culture accurately. Presenting it as the MAIN reason.

No, just like with other movies that are good, these movies are good because they did good storytelling, good characters, good design, etc etc. Yes the culture being represented accurately is certainly also a part of it, when that is relevant or a goal. But, the previous points are hundred times more important.

I know it seems weird for me to "take away" the fact that representing a culture could be one of the reasons people like it. It can even be a very good reason why it's someone's fave movie. But the reason I disagree with it as a statement of fact, is the simple fact that people often skip over the fundamentals that even allow for the culture to shine so well in the movie.

The fundamentals are the main structure deciding if a movie is good, then you can argue about the level of accuracy and cultural representation. At a certain point of representation or culture the movie will also hit the point where most people who're not part of the culture won't even notice or care if it's accurate. Hell, in some movies it doesn't even matter as much... how many "historical" or cultural movies have you seen where the accuracy rating was nigh 0% and people still flocked to it because everything else was good? Even foreign cultures don't always bother representing their culture accurately, and you get the standard "Movies have shaped our understanding of culture, and mucked up the original meaning of certain cultural concepts."

Let me frame it this way, if people argue that the main reason "People loved the movie/show for representing the culture accurately." could in a way be considered like the praise equivalent of "You're so talented!" comment artists get. Talented meaning that this was an inherent born with skill, rather than skills painstakingly acquired over years of effort and training. As if just draping a good cultural understanding was THE movie making factor. -Making a beautiful painting where the person also accurately drew every detail of a cultural dress can get a great amount of praise. Though if the same artist drew a bit more lax or even took artistic liberties, the painting could still be loved by people for the skill the artist has with anatomy, color theory, and composition. If you suck at all these three though, but still drew the most accurate to history and culture representation of a culture, you're not going to gain as many hearts and sighs of awe.

A good movie can be pulled down by representing a culture wrongly, but a bad movie isn't going to be pulled up by representing a culture well. Maybe it'll get a "Oh at least it did this well." but why genuinely bother and stick around with a movie that's shit in all fundamental aspects that matter?

Bonus observation of mine is also that very few cares on a that deep level about accuracy, at least after a certain level. Many people like the aesthetics of cultures or historical eras, but couldn't give less of a shit if you have aesthetics from 1000 years ago and the 20's in the same room, as long as they look good together. (Seriously how many series have you seen, Wester, Easter, or otherwise, that are popular, but a historical/cultural nightmare if you actually dissect them?)

--

[scullysflannel]

i'm intrigued by your distaste for referring to a tv episode as "season x episode x", would you mind elaborating? i've never thought about it much before......i usually say both the episode name and season x episode x for extra clarity, since i assume a lot of ppl won't have memorized the episode names unless it's a frequently discussed episode. but i would not want to say just season x episode x bc that would sound so clinical to me and also if someone said that to me i would probably have to look it up. and i love a good episode title i think it's fun when we can refer to an episode by its title bc it feels like we're talking about a single and complete unit, which is often a fun way to examine an episode (though of course since it's tv, you also need to consider the season and series as a whole). especially if it's a very clever or snappy title. paper hearts and small potatoes and syzygy and leonard betts. but i also find the season x episode x format useful as a reminder of context, so you can remember oh so this is where mulder and scully were in their season-long and series-long character journeys for this episode. like remembering that detour is s5e4 you're then like oh yeah so that's why they were acting like that.

is there a way that the season x episode x format is more relevant to streaming shows than it is to pre-streaming shows? that hadn't occured to me before.

oh totally, I should clarify that what I'm talking about is not people saying "episode title (season x episode x)." that’s just giving context. I love context. but what's like nails on a chalkboard for me is when people just say “season x episode x” like that is the episode title. it feels like calling your friends by their birthdays and not their names.

on the one hand I’m not even mad; I’m just baffled. is there anyone who honestly thinks of “clyde bruckman’s final repose” as “the x-files season 3, episode 4” before they think of it as “clyde bruckman’s final repose”? on the other hand it makes me feel like I'm in a parallel universe. I'm not trying to call anyone out, but I saw a post a while back that said something like “the x-files season 6, episode 21 (the one where mulder and scully trip on fungus)” and I still can't understand it. there’s a faster and easier way to say that! the writers gave it to us as a gift!

admittedly I blame streaming for a lot of shifts in tv viewing culture, but in this case I think it plays a role because titles just don't matter as much on streaming. on a streaming platform, you want clear directions pointing you to an episode: season x episode x. it's what you say when you want to know how to watch an episode, not how to talk about it.

a counterargument could be that when you were watching tv in the '90s you might not have known the episode titles unless you were reading your (paper) tv guide, but at least you got a whole week to sit with each episode. what feels more corrosive to me is what happens when a show is made to be watched quickly.

so many limited series or shows with shorter seasons don't even title their episodes now, and even if they do, it's easy for those titles to feel arbitrary if the show is structured like a “10-hour movie” — every netflix creator's favorite line for a while. those episodes all blur together; all that matters is ending them on a cliffhanger. but good episodes with self-contained ideas are important even for heavily serialized shows, and they're becoming a lost art. a lot of this comes down to the fact that I'm defensive of the episode as an art form, and not referring to an episode by name feels like it devalues it. it's not just a chapter. it's a whole short story.

it's especially egregious with something like the x-files that did its best work episodically. and like you said, it gave us snappy titles! this isn't like the pitt, where the episodes have names that don't tell you anything. the x-files gave us classic tv episodes that are still being talked about and written about by name. if you're not using those names, you're not engaging with the whole show. it's like calling a poem by just a page number.

[lari-the-dragon]

...A friendly call.

...

???: Shooting Star? Are you there?...It's been a while since I last saw you...Are you okay?

...?: ...Yea I'm fine- don't worry about it.

???: You...Want to talk about what happened on the Tour?

...?: Uhhh- Sorry buddy...I'm- doing some important things right now, maybe later...?

???: You're really making a lot of excuses for this one, huh? Very well, but remember, you WILL give me an answer about it, whether you want to or not...You owe me this.

...?: Sigh- ok bud.

???: I'll give you some more time for you to get ready, alrighty? In the meantime, I suppose I have to do what I should have done a LOOONG time ago.

...?: My apologies for being responsible for that...If you want, we can alwa-

???: Ah, please, Shooting Star! Yes, I know I'd love to make my spectacular intro alongside my dear friend! However, if you stay in this state throughout the process, I'd rather...Wait until you are better.

...?: ...thank you, Puzzles.

Mr.Crystal: Oh!~ What would you do without a understanding friend like me!~ But seriously though, after this, you better watch out that little place of yours...Because I'm coming in.

...?: Damn, not even gonna ask for permission to come in?

Mr.Crystal: Ļ̶͉̖̦̜̘̈̆̌̊́͝ą̵̱͎̯̳̊r̶̙̒͒̌́́͆i̸̜͕̜͕̋̔?̴̡̛͓̺͚͓̹̫́̊̄̏̈̾, you're already lucky that I simply didn’t yanked you out of there by now. Besides, as your friend, this whole "ask for permission" thing is completely annulled!

Ļ̶͉̖̦̜̘̈̆̌̊́͝ą̵̱͎̯̳̊r̶̙̒͒̌́́͆i̸̜͕̜͕̋̔?̴̡̛͓̺͚͓̹̫́̊̄̏̈̾: Okay okay! heheh- fair enough! At least don't sneak out on me like the last time! For someone so tall you are surprisingly sneaky.

Mr.Crystal: What? Are you envious of my soft walk?~

Ļ̶͉̖̦̜̘̈̆̌̊́͝ą̵̱͎̯̳̊r̶̙̒͒̌́́͆i̸̜͕̜͕̋̔?̴̡̛͓̺͚͓̹̫́̊̄̏̈̾: Pfff- as if! I can easy be sneakier than ya!

Mr.Crystal: And yet I can still notice you~ what a professional sneaky fella we have here folks!

Ļ̶͉̖̦̜̘̈̆̌̊́͝ą̵̱͎̯̳̊r̶̙̒͒̌́́͆i̸̜͕̜͕̋̔?̴̡̛͓̺͚͓̹̫́̊̄̏̈̾: Oh shut up Puzzles.

Mr.Crystal: HAHAHAHAH! Maybe you just can't surprise me anymore little Star!

Ļ̶͉̖̦̜̘̈̆̌̊́͝ą̵̱͎̯̳̊r̶̙̒͒̌́́͆i̸̜͕̜͕̋̔?̴̡̛͓̺͚͓̹̫́̊̄̏̈̾: When I'm done, you are regretting those words.

Mr.Crystal: Can't wait for it friend. Now, it is time for I to take my leave. I don’t want to keep people waiting for much longer.

Ļ̶͉̖̦̜̘̈̆̌̊́͝ą̵̱͎̯̳̊r̶̙̒͒̌́́͆i̸̜͕̜͕̋̔?̴̡̛͓̺͚͓̹̫́̊̄̏̈̾: Kay bud, good luck out there! And take care!-

Mr.Cystal: Thank you!...And you too.

Ļ̶͉̖̦̜̘̈̆̌̊́͝ą̵̱͎̯̳̊r̶̙̒͒̌́́͆i̸̜͕̜͕̋̔?̴̡̛͓̺͚͓̹̫́̊̄̏̈̾: Oh! And before I forget! Can you tell them some things? Since I'm not joining-

Mr.Crystal: Hm? What kind of things?

Ļ̶͉̖̦̜̘̈̆̌̊́͝ą̵̱͎̯̳̊r̶̙̒͒̌́́͆i̸̜͕̜͕̋̔?̴̡̛͓̺͚͓̹̫́̊̄̏̈̾: I'm gonna send you a list over, it's better than saying everything and maybe forgetting some things in the process-

Mr.Crystal: Tch- you really have all ways to avoid leaving that cave of yours, don't you?

Ļ̶͉̖̦̜̘̈̆̌̊́͝ą̵̱͎̯̳̊r̶̙̒͒̌́́͆i̸̜͕̜͕̋̔?̴̡̛͓̺͚͓̹̫́̊̄̏̈̾: Hey! I'll let you know, that this "Cave" is my sanctuary.

Mr.Crystal: I hope this "Sanctuary" at least has a shower, considering you barrely leave it-

Ļ̶͉̖̦̜̘̈̆̌̊́͝ą̵̱͎̯̳̊r̶̙̒͒̌́́͆i̸̜͕̜͕̋̔?̴̡̛͓̺͚͓̹̫́̊̄̏̈̾: NOW EXCUSE YOU!?!?

Mr.Crystal: Aaaand that’s my cue! See you soon!~

...

Mr.Crystal: ...Real soon.

...

<Yep, I'm trying to regain back my motivation to draw again AND I'M WORKING ON IT! CALM DOWN- DON'T KILL ME!!!Also, this is going to be relevant for the undestanding of part of his Introduction and the Aftermatch...Why? You will have to wait to see :]>

[cesienthusiast]

Need them both. 🙏

Gahdahm shawty stare into ME WITH THAT RED EYE PLS-

wait, shit. ain’t I supposed to be investigating a case rn or sumn?

Uhhhhhhhhhh.

[searchingforserendipity25]

thomas lawrence's bisexuality is not a secret, as such, not because he made any fuss about it to make a political point, and not because he broke his vows at any point.

but because, back in the late eighties, he was involved in a semi-infamous love triangle involving a forceful up-and-coming middle-aged professor of religious studies.

she; and her sad ancient foppish husband, who in his turn was a rather morose, more-or-less decent theologian of the late roman period.

their marriage was more of a polite convenient arrangement than anything else. the real surprise, at first, was that professor, let's call her profressor whatelet - that professor whatelet wasn't actually a raging lesbian.

many of the early rumors had it that she was a lesbian, and dating a pretty young woman with a taste for tweed suits; until it became clear that the pretty young thing with a taste for tweed suits she was found kissing in the library of the sorbonne after hours was not, in fact, a lesbian. he just had very long bangs.

but then, her boytoy was also her very gay husband's live-in secretary and research assistant. a real arthur-guinevere-lancelot triangulation, by all appearances:

but then, not quite.

there was a great deal of walking arm-in-arm and long debates and chivalrous opening of doors. there was hand-kissing. there were whispers about gold-digging, or worse, academic historical source digging. there were three chairs around a round table, at home and in restaurants and in the office.

this would have been fine enough, in its deeply hypocritical way, paris in the late eighties. a bourgeois academic couple, not unusual they'd have something on the side.

that the something on the side was shared between husband and wife was too salacious to prove. as he was playing the gallant towards both of them, it was not quite eminently clear which way the infidelity was happening.

and that was just what they liked. something to be said about being cleverer and more charming and more original than anyone else. most lovers feel like that. the whatelets had more cause for it than most.

alas, it so happens that this may-december threeway affair had its january-april fallout.

beyond closed door and closed windows, thing came to a head. after some intense intellectual debate and some intense intellectual threesomes, and a great deal of aquinas, and a great deal of st. paul's epistles, and some de beauvoir, the arrangement was found to be non-sustainable.

not least because dr. whatelet wanted to retire back to auvignon to be a beekeeper and try to win back his widowed first love, and professor whatelet was desperately bored of paris andwanted to apply to a senior position in stockolm.

also, their shared boytoy was having a spiritual epiphany no amount of unsacred kneeling could silence. there was that, too.

in conclusion:

professor and dr. whatelet got a divorce, a controversial uncatholic move that shook the foundations of their department.

it broke apart friendships. itlead to a number of low-simmering disputed coming to a head and several supposedly-unrelated resignations, and caused a domino effect of revealed scandals and anonymous letters-to-the-editor debacles.

a small but meaningful faction of the theological studies sphere was pulled through the who-kept-what-friends-and-what-grant nightmare. including a clever chessmaster that would one day become pope, who heard the confession of one:

thomas lawrence. young, successful and disillusioned manager of a london firm, his sabbatical to paris got him a reputation as a homewrecker.

he only barely shock it off by falling out of love with the whatelets, passionately in love with christ, quitting his soul-sucking job, joining a seminary, being extremely weird about chastity as both a theological ideal and a practical principle for nearly half a century, and outliving most anyone who ever heard about it.

except for the old pope, of course. his holiness was the one who celebrated the whatelets' purple marriage in the first place.

[seventeenpins]

ok but have we talked about transmasc!joel?

transmasc!joel, who found out he was pregnant with sarah, way too young and scared absolutely shitless

transmasc!joel, whose boyfriend left him when he came out, his baby girl not even a year old

transmasc!joel, whose baby brother may be an idiot, but that kid loves him and always has, and he sure as hell won't hear a bad word about his big bro

transmasc!joel, who had always been a tomboy growing up, navigating being a whole ass adult with a fully developed brain, finding comfort in his gender identity while doing everything he can not to let the scars of his adolescence affect sarah, letting her flourish however she will

transmasc!joel, who gives sarah the BIGGEST hug (and tries not to let her see the tear in his eye) when she casually mentions starting a GSA at her school

transmasc!joel, who's the heartthrob of the cul-de-sac, but surprisingly private when it comes to his dating life. but from the few bored housewives that he's had encounters with all agree, he sure knows how to get the job done (whether it's the one he's hired for or not)

transmasc!joel, who sees a whole lot of himself in his adopted kid, and if ever Ellie decides she wants to try out a different name or pronouns, he'll be right behind his kid in a way no one but tommy was for him

[joshuamj]

In Stars And Time? More like In Ace And Gender

+ some alts

[unordinary-diary]

Seraphina and Arlo: The Brainwashing of High Tiers

Exposition:

— Remi, Episode 50.

There is a heavy implication that Seraphina and Arlo were raised in much the same way. The pressure on Seraphina comes from her parents, so I’ll extrapolate that the same goes for Arlo. This raises the question: how do the authorities create such a strong societal pressure on such a small percentage of the population? Most high tiers will probably not know any other high tiers besides their parents. Take Wellston Private High School for example: it’s the most prestigious private school around, and canonically has the “highest concentration of high tiers in the region”. There are six high tiers in Wellston. Apply this to god tiers specifically, and there are only three. Not to mention that this current group of students is uniquely strong, even for Wellston. In Rei’s senior year, he was the strongest at 5.8 max.

So much of this brainwashing relies on the parents to do all of the work, and it only takes one or two people to break the cycle. So how are the authorities creating this immense pressure? One tactic could be by isolating high tiers. There is a very widespread concept that one shouldn’t associate with those outside their level range. A caste system like this that affects everyone is much easier to create and maintain than an expectation for a small group, and it also means that high tiers are only being influenced by those who are also high level. This creates an echo chamber. I’ve researched cults and how they brainwash victims, and the first step in the process is isolating them in exactly this way.

But, if there are so few high tiers, how the hell are they supposed be isolated from other groups? The answer is that high tiers are just isolated in general. Take a look at Arlo: his only friend is Remi, and even her, he keeps at an arm’s length. Arlo is only close with Remi in the first place because he was close with Rei, who, at the time of meeting Arlo, was presumably close in level with him. [EDIT: I forgot about Holden, which I think says a lot about his relevance. He is kept at more than an arm’s length and doesn’t seem to have any actual influence on Arlo, let alone a deep relationship. He is also not presented as an equal.] Take a look at Seraphina: before meeting John, she didn’t seem to have any friends other than possibly Arlo. Seraphina and Arlo pre-John seemed to have had more of a professional relationship, and while they were not close in level, Arlo did fit the bill of being a fellow god tier, and strong enough to also be brainwashed.

Now let’s look at Remi. In episode 60, Cecile says to Remi: “And yet here you are... Always hanging around those two monkeys, Blyke and Isen. Letting them treat you as an equal even though you’re in a completely different league.” This struck me as odd because, aside from Cecile herself, the Wellston students closest in level to Remi were Arlo, Blyke, and Isen. And who is she friends with? She actually was doing a pretty good job at following that social convention, unless Cecile wanted to be friends with Remi, which she clearly didn’t. But... her friends were still not close enough to her level. Was she supposed to just not have friends at all? The answer seems to be a resounding yes. Can you think of any genuine friends that Cecile has either?

Friendship simply isn’t considered a necessity for high tiers.

But... why is it that Arlo and Seraphina were brainwashed differently? Creating a societal norm for an isolated group of people is one thing, because those people’s mindsets feed into each other. Putting pressure on individual families to keep them in line, but doing it all in different ways? That would be near impossible. My theory is that Seraphina recieved the typical high tier brainwashing, and that Arlo was raised differently because he was being groomed to work for the authorities. Seraphina didn’t have a set career path planned out for her, but if she’s trying to be “perfect” by the standards of those controlling her, she’s bound to end up going in a direction that pleases them. Arlo on the other hand was specifically planned to become an authority figure. That’s why his brainwashing is so centered on leadership. Also, growing up with direct contact to the authorities makes it more possible for them to customize his brainwashing in this way.

But does all of this apply to high tiers in general, or is it specific to god tiers? Let’s take a look at the high tiers in Wellston. We have Seraphina, John, Arlo, Terrence, Remi, Cecile, and Blyke. John is a unique circumstance because he wasn’t raised by high tiers, so we’ll cross him off the list. Terrence was also unique, so we can cross him off as well. Remi was different from the norm as well. Why is that? Well, Remi actually wasn’t raised by high tiers either. Rei said on screen that both of his parents were elites. We can cross Remi off. Blyke doesn’t fit the bill either, but that’s easy to explain. He was an elite for a large part of the story, and he shot up rather quickly. We don’t know much of his family, but he probably wasn’t expected to be a high tier at all, and was raised as an elite. (All of this also serves to emphasize how much of this brainwashing comes from a person’s parents.) That leaves only Seraphina, Arlo, and Cecile to look at.

Cecile does seem to have high tier brainwashing, but it’s not nearly as intense as with Seraphina and Arlo. She doesn’t seem “obsessive”, and she wasn’t one of the examples Remi mentioned in chapter 50. It’s clear that high tiers are brainwashed in general, but god tiers are kept on a much shorter leash. This makes sense, obviously, because keeping a population in control like that is less necessary the lower the level. However, it’s also a chicken an egg situation: god tiers are both more important to keep in control, and also easier to keep in control. It’s important to note just how many exceptions we had to cross off. People like Remi and Blyke aren’t actually that unusual— a lower leveled high tier is much more likely to have non-high tier parents, or to have not always been a high tier themselves, or just in general, to have way more day-to-day interaction with non-high tiers. The brainwashing gets more and more diffused the lower down the ladder you go.

[y010isaghost]

just watched tadc ep5, spoilers in tags because im going to explode if i dont talk about it at least a little

[itspileofgoodthings]

Random thought but I do think that fun can be such a good marker of whether or not something is healthy for you or even sometimes if it’s just good in general.

[bberry005]

the writing for andor wildly swinging between some of the greatest i've ever seen and the most subpar character writing i've laid eyes on is truly such an accomplishment at this point

[whatisamildopinion]

ella ella ella tell me about the key around kristen’s neck?!?! recurring in multiple drawings??? pls i must know

OHOHOHOHO I'm gonna be so real, I didn't think anyone would notice that in the midst of the doodle chaos. I should have known.

so. aasimar au kristen in junior year has exactly one (1) recurring necklace and she wears it literally every single day and it's actually not a necklace, it's just a key she stuck on a chain. what's the key for, you ask? well, the gukgak apartment, of course.

because I love you (and I am. so incredibly insane about her and her key even though it hasn't published yet) have a snippet under the cut

Sklonda leaves him, hopping down off the platform. She strolls over to the table, where Kristen is slumped in her cocoon of stolen blankets. She digs around in her pocket, and produces something. She reaches forward, and grabs Kristen’s hand, dragging it out of the blanket nest. She sets it down, and curls Kristen’s fingers around it. “Pull in on the handle when you’re turning, it’s sticky. And you better eat lunch, too, sweetie. I’ll know if you don’t.” She pulls Kristen down and leans up on her tiptoes to kiss Kristen’s forehead. Then she’s sweeping past and out, closing the door and shouting, “Have a good day!” after her.

Kristen blinks. She looks down at her hand, and uncurls her fingers. There’s a tiny key on her palm, the ridged teeth gleaming up at her. The curled loop of metal, designed to clip onto a key ring, winks lazily up at Kristen like an eye. Her whole world condenses down to a single point of focus, like looking through a pinhole. Her heart stutters in her chest. She barely feels like she’s breathing, her chest tight. 

She is, suddenly, wide awake. It’s so routine, the way it was delivered. Casual, unassuming. As if it’s not absolutely everything. 

It’s not as if any of the Bad Kids are incapable of getting into any of each other’s homes. It’s laughably easy. They all know the windows with weak locks and where the extra keys are hidden around the stoops and the code to the gates. 

But this isn’t that. It isn’t breaking into somewhere you know you’re welcome to enter at any time. It’s about the symbol of it. This isn’t the guest key. This is Kristen’s key. 

[vesselofvanta]

utatane piko fans are so strong and Awesome 💪🏻