#though narratively it kind of is

[eri-pl]

Silm reread 7: the Darkening of Valinor

So Melkor loses his shapeshifting "soon after" he runs away from Valinor (hiding from Tulkas and Orome), but when exactly? I suppose when he empowered Ungoliant. Because later he doesn't disembody or go in spirit form again.

Yes, he takes his big bad form to talk with her— and so he stays. Forever, says the book.

Ungoliant is afraid of Aman and of the Valar. :D

Melkor promises her a lot, with no intent to keep it. I feel like this may have something to do with him being so much nerfed after the situation, unable to take his power back from her (if it would be possible anyway) and almost eaten.

The Valar do like to take CoI-like forms and eat and drink (and celebrate in general I suppose). It is canon.

Feanáro is ordered to come to the party. Huh. why? who thought they had the authority to do it? the book doesn't say, so maybe it was Ingwë, this would make sense and I see why he would think it was a good idea.

Finwë is still upset, and as long as Fefe is banished, he does not want to meet his people. So again, Fingolfin doesn't feel very usurpy to me here.

…and despite being named "Wise", he overtalks Feanáro too. :( This time it doesn't result in Fefe getting upset, but in a badly worded promise.

Ungoliant eats the trees, gets so big and ugly that even Melkor is terrified of her.

Darkness mentioned again!!!

(googling the english text of this part)

The Light failed; but the Darkness that followed was more than loss of light. In that hour was made a Darkness that seemed not lack but a thing with being of its own: for it was indeed made by malice out of Light, and it had power to pierce the eye, and to enter heart and mind, and strangle the very will.

Oh. Darkness that is a thing. No, It *seems* to be a thing. (see: Theodicy and all that.)

I'll have to make a mass analysis of all the capital D Darknesses and how to connect them all (bind? no, we're not gonna do the bindy-bindy) to one concept. But I feel like they should be all facets of one thing concept.

Another thing (a thought for @dfwbwfbbwfbwf especially, I think): It's not "if". It's whenever their deeds started failing too much, Darkness fell upon them and entered heart and mind, and strangled the very will.

I don't think I'll subscribe to this HC, not fully, it makes things too easy, their hand was forced and I don't like their hand being forced.

But partially? This I will subscribe to. They did call upon something, something that seemed to be true, something that seemed to have the power to compel them. I think this reading is very close to Tolkien's intent, because it stinks of "this is how evil works".

Am I portraying Ungoliant as more evil than Melkor?

I think that at least in some aspect I am. Because she feels like something that is not entirely, well, that not entirely *is*. I don't know how to explain it better. And he was a Vala.

Can you stop being? Can you turn from a being to a non-being? I don't think so… I do not subscribe to the "Ungoliant was an uMaia" theory. I don't subscribe to any theory of "Ungoliant was [something that objectively exists]".

Ungoliant as Melkor's (self-inflicted but still real) trauma given a illusion of form by his power? Mmm. I like this one. I don't think it will be popular, but I do like it. (Or: his hatered, his jealousy, something like that, if you prefer. I don't think those are far apart from one another in this case.)

(Why is it easier to me when something evil-evil is not really real? Is it philosophy or my personality issues? Good question. I think there is some philosophy there too.)

Tulkas gets paralyzed by the spider-induced Darkness and Orome gets a "silence" spell on him. So, not only Melkor is defeated by a spider, he's just the most defeated.

[vulpinesaint]

quiz enjoyers! i am now inviting you to come create something in my workshop❕

[egophiliac]

So.... what are your thoughts on Ace's UM, if you haven't been asked this already?

sneaky magic for the sneakiest boy

no but really, I think it fits him really well! I had thought his UM would probably involve something kinda sleight-of-handy or pickpockety! and I looooved that it made such a nice loop-around back to episode 1. ❤️ I was. kind of half-expecting him to just run out and punch Riddle in the nose again. but instead this time 'twas he who offed the queen's head! it was great! and he did it while stone-cold terrified out of his mind! because Ace is the only remotely normal or well-adjusted person at NRC and therefore the only one who is like "we're going to literally die, this is super effed up". but he did it anyway!!!! I AM SO PROUD

[qoldenskies]

Thinking about Rise Splinter hate… it always makes me kinda sad. Like YEAH, it wasn’t right the way he treated the boys. But like, Rise is really good at expressing subtle familial dynamics, and one of the big ones for me is the fact that like… there’s always an undercurrent of “It’s complicated” to their interaction with Splinter. IRL, it always pisses me off to see people casting judgments on people’s relationships with their family, because you don’t know!! Yeah, they hurt you, but not everything’s black and white. It’s complicated. Because you love them, and sometimes you get to understand a little bit better why things happened as you get older.

In a matter of smaller importance, hate for him loses so many opportunities in his character… even things that might just be kinda off-handedly mentioned.

He fought for SEVEN years—give me Splinter with chronic pain. Splinter relating to his boys with their neurodivergence—it’s HIS fault they have it!!!

That was seven years of imprisonment, or even simpler, an abusive relationship. What did he learn from that? How did he change? What things are skewed in his worldview?

His childhood! We saw his relationship with his grandfather a bit, but how did Splinter grow into his dream of being a movies star? HIM BEING A MOVIE STAR. He was both a rebellious team and a literal celebrity, this guy probably took empyrean at some point without knowing it, just like. Recreationally or something LMAO.

I maybe just need more of his old man knowledge. Him being so loser-core was a great move by the Rise team, and I could SEE where his story was going—ROBBED. We were ROBBED.

splinter hate is CRAAAAZY when he's such an INTERESTING character who does actually have a lot of obvious depth. like he's goofy and he's objectively flawed as a parent but he does go out of his way to improve himself and LEARN throughout the show, and he does listen and apologize when he knows he's messed up. his issues are so similar to leo's actually, leo's a kid so he's got more leeway to be shitty but idk when people act like its endearing on him and not on splinter. splinter's hilarious free my man

on the other side of the coin i dont really like when people make him a perfect loving parent either,,, i think people going for all kinds of interpretations in order to serve whatever story they need is fine but i do prefer kind of messy parent splinter, i think its kind of sad to see him reduced down to bad or good. he LOVES his boys so dearly and he would NEVER intentionally want to hurt them, but he's quick to cast judgement when he's angered/feels disrespected (evil league of mutants comes to mind, but also in turtle dega nights when donnie first stops the tank) and he's really a lot more inattentive than he should be. but there are REASONS behind this, coming out of an abusive relationship, fighting in bloodsports against his consent for years, you could probably count the whole draxum thing as traumatic (its presented as kind of silly in the show, but considering what it lead to,, its a pivotal moment in the backstory. its one of those things that i reasonably feel can be recontextualized because its so essential) and then dealing with crippling body dysmorphia and being forced into the sewers with no company other than his children,, it really adds up

idk like ,,,, you can still be extremely traumatized and be a horrible parent. in fact trauma can be a direct CAUSE of being a bad parent because that kind of thing influences every facet of your life and if youre unprepared emotionally, yeah. but splinter isn't the kind of person to double down and become more overtly nasty when he feels cornered. if he gets the feeling that his kids are actually upset with him, he backtracks. this is actually kind of a key trait of his, that he does try very hard to correct himself when he messes up. he's communicative and apologetic, and he tries very hard to be that way.

and also this is maybe something that i just have a wider problem with when it comes to the way people interpret things in cartoons at times but splinter's actions in eps like lair games (especially in lair games) and flushed but never forgotten are meant to be like. jokes. its absurdist comedy that's meant to catch you off guard. there are more serious emotional beats in rise you can use but i think when youre adapting this world and characters into a more serious tone you have to keep that kind of thing in mind because some things are meant to be surprising and absurd for the sake of making you laugh. i think the best comparison i can think of is how in musical movies they're not actually singing (in most cases, sometimes the fact that they actually are is played for laughs it depends. but yk what i mean). the joke is that this is kind of a shitty thing he's doing but taking the actions themselves seriously in a vacuum in order to cast shame on a character has always been odd to me. that'd be like calling raph abusive for rolling up the window on mikey's neck in late fee. or calling the teetz murderers because they caused a robot mass suicide that one time. it just doesnt make any sense

[anna-scribbles]

they should've been at the club(infertility treatment centers)

[paladinsbrainrot]

does anyone see the vision

[coyoteworks]

IN CASE YOU MISSED THE MEMO: HERE'S THE THING ABOUT DRAGONS

[mismarch]

i still think that the conclusion to daniels downward spiral in season 5 shouldnt have been everyone getting together to be there for him. the issue isnt that people were unwilling to meet daniel halfway, the issue is that daniel never expressed his trauma. he spent three seasons avoiding mentioning terry silver by name, only vaguely referencing the events of karate kid 3 without much detail. and when he does to johnny in season 4, it's off screen, which makes me sincerely doubt that daniel actually talked about how that fucked him up emotionally.

daniels trauma with silver is just a fairy tale to sam and the rest of the miyagi-do's. he tells it like a story, one where he pulled away from the dark and one where he triumphed over fear. but he leaves out the bitter, ugly truths, the way it has damaged him even after all this time, leaves out the details, the blood, the pain. the only people who were there at the time dont even really truly understand the extent of it, either, and i doubt daniel wouldve opened up to either jessica or miyagi about how badly terry silver traumatized and hurt him. no one gets it, and no one will--except, well, maybe one person.

with that, i think that it wouldve been more appropriate to tie that arc into johnnys with kreese by making johnny the person daniel actually confesses the extent of his trauma to after the events at stingrays apartment. have the emotional breakdown, or whatever, and have johnny relate, because they have similar experiences! and it tightens the narrative conceivably more because ultimately the catalyst for johnnys regression over the decades was his trauma with kreese, and daniels behavior in ck was due to his trauma with silver. they were both badly abused by these guys! they both developed massive trust issues! it also makes johnny remain significant in season 5 if it remained daniel centric in its plot points, but thematically you still tied johnny into it with kreese.

and, like, it makes sense then that this would be the true start of their friendship, because they recognize they are similar not only in their personalities, but in their trauma, in the ways they hurt, and finally, a recognition of why the other does the things they do. that recognition of "oh, you were a hurt kid too.", and like... you can tie it back to johnnys cobra kai, the refusal to stay the fuck down, because why should they let their abusers have the satisfaction of watching them give up??? and THAT revives daniels drive, and even with a miyagi-do heavy season its still a call back to the (supposed) core of the show

then, you can have the whole getting the gang back together thing for miyagi-fang or whatever lol idk i think there was a ton of missed potential there

[read-marx-and-lenin]

govt of ukr is actually pretty transparently genocidal wrt their treatment of russian speakers since 2014 when they started to shell the east. doesn't make russia *not* imperialist but to obscurate this is either coming from ignorance (no investigation means no right to speak) or you don't think it's a big deal at all

(question asked on May 17, in reference to this post of mine)

I've been thinking about this question and the post I made for a while now. I very much regret the way I framed some of these issues and the way I spoke on things that I will admit I have been very ignorant of. You are right, no investigation means no right to speak, and I spoke when I should have been investigating instead.

I have learned a lot more recently about the treatment of Russophones in the Donbass by Ukraine since 2014. I will not speak to the claims of genocide here, and instead I will recommend paying attention to the ongoing ICJ case regarding the matter and any developments that occur regarding the claims. Whether or not the activities of Ukraine within the Donbass amount to genocide under international law, Ukraine has clearly acted in an excessively brutal manner towards a minority population within the country in order to quell resistance to the coup against Yanukovych and its measures to deprive the Donbass and Crimea, majority Russian-speaking areas of the country and the source of much of the pro-Russian sentiment within the country, of their rights to autonomy.

The coup against Yanukovych and the subsequent actions of Ukraine within the Donbass are important context to the ongoing war that I left out from my original post wholly because of my own ignorance regarding the subject at the time, and I apologize for that. Additionally, it is the people of the Donbass who should be centered first and foremost in any conversation about this war, and I failed to properly consider them and their interests.

Finally, my ignorance led me to downplay and ignore the role the US and NATO have had in the last decade of events within Ukraine and the Donbass, particularly their role in the coup against Yanukovych, the massacre of protesters during said coup, and the subsequent military build-up within Ukraine. This was also very important context that I had left out from my original post.

Whatever my opinions on the Russian Federation as a nation should have taken a backseat to properly investigating the situation in the Donbass and providing a fair and balanced assessment of the situation, and I failed to do that.

I will leave anyone reading this with some links to pertinent reading on the subject.

The Maidan Massacre Trial and Investigation Revelations: Implications for the Ukraine-Russia War and Relations - Ivan Katchanovski

How A False Flag Massacre Led To The Proxy War In Ukraine - The Dissident

Ukraine’s Zelensky admits he sabotaged Minsk peace deal with Russia, West blocked negotiations - Ben Norton

CIA has trained Ukrainians to kill Russian-speakers since 2014 US-backed coup - Ben Norton

Ukrainian leftist criticizes Western war drive with Russia: US is using Ukraine as ‘cannon fodder’ - Yuliy Dubovyk

[aroaessidhe]

2025 reads / storygraph

Something Extraordinary

historical platonic-romcom

an aromantic woman tired of feeling unworthy when the people closest to her leave her behind for romance, and a gay man in unrequited love who is planning on giving up and marrying a woman in misery and drunkenness

she kidnaps him the day before the marriage to stop him ruining his life, suggesting that they get platonically married instead - and on the ridiculous journey to scotland to elope, they have to convince each other if it’s what is best for them, and what they want out of life/love/and friendship

[utilitycaster]

In the end, it is extremely vindicating to see the various accusations levied re: why people don't like Campaign 3 because like, in the end, most of the people who do like campaign 3 are desperately insecure people who cannot live with the idea that someone else doesn't love the thing they love. Like yeah, if it makes you feel better, sure, call me a stupid jesus freak centrist edgelord who isn't a Real Punk (who also apparently only wants feel-good liberal endings), and who only cares about stories where you can ship two men; you can conjure up an image of me sitting slack-jawed on a couch, face covered with cheeto dust, pointing at the TV and going HAHA LIGHTNING GOD GIVE BIG LIZARD A BELT. It won't make you feel better, is the thing, because you've decided total fandom consensus is the only thing that will ever make you happy, and so long as a handful of people are like "Campaign 3 isn't very good and I don't think Bells Hells are very good people within the context of that world, and outside of that context I don't really care about them" you will be miserable.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

So, I broke down and made a meme version of this post.

(Alt/cleaner ver under the cut)

[ladykatibeth]

It is really frustrating how a lot of people who read victorian female sexual repression into Nosferatu (a fair interpretation imo) are unable to go one step further and recognize how Thomas literally being bitten in the exact same place Ellen is in a scene that mirrors the ending and is unique to both of them, might imply a different kind of victorian sexual repression in the story as well.

Sure he can’t understand this societal repression from a woman’s perspective, but that doesn’t mean he can’t understand repression at all.

[northstarscowboyhat]

About the older clover au wouldn't asgore know about this and tell the royal guard to look for clover or he just give up looking for them?

I answered another ask about Asgore here, but to summarize, Asgore (and Undyne and the Royal Guard by extension) don't know with 100% certainty that there's a human living in secret in the Underground. After all, Martlet obviously didn't report Clover in when they decided to live there! There were rumors spread throughout the Underground, though, that a human child was briefly spotted before "disappearing", leading to an official Royal Guard investigation.

Asgore. of course, ordered an investigation into these rumors, but nothing turned up. So he continued to wait in his castle, assuming perhaps that the rumored human died alone somewhere or perhaps never existed. Clover and their family still remain vigilant, though, knowing that it'd take only one sighting or reporting of them for the Royal Guard to come and try and deliver their soul to the King....

[sludgekludge]

always bugged me that blitzo basically has a breakdown in front of stolas, crying about how he can do better, how he needs the book, not believing stolas can love him, and stolas doesn't show concern even once. blitzo's screaming and crying, in hysterics, because he just went from 'i thought i was going to lose my business' -> 'you're abruptly telling me you love me after being distant' and we're meant to hate him because stolas, the one who never once asks if he's ok, not even in apology tour when emotions have settled a little...stolas got his feelings hurt a bit.

stolas wasn't the only one crying and breaking down. helluva boss pushes the 'perfect victims are the only ones that matter' mentality so hard. its why blitzo doesn't matter, why stella doesn't matter. because they're more abrasive than soft boy stolas.

i had a similar thought process when watching that scene lol

i think you're spot on about the perfect victim thing, though. there's a reason stolas is the saddest guy in the whole world, he's soft and waifish and nice and has only ever experienced being battered. if your trauma response is fight over faun, that's brutish, and you're undeserving of sympathy. miserable

[silkenedstars]

Sometimes I see people theorize why Hong Lu's ids seem to split into 2 in terms of personality and some of them are really cool theories but I'm pretty sure the actual answer is just his response to his trauma. For ids like dieci and liu (and I'm pretty confident r corp is in this group too, contrary to what some people may think) he represses his emotions to deal with his trauma. Meanwhile for ids like tingtang, fanghunt and kurokumo, he acts violent so he feels like he's in control of what happened to him or something along those lines