#EVEN HERE IT’S PREVALENT

[doxytoy]

>I log on

>I find a cool nsft blog

>I scroll

>They shared a post celebrating the massacre of civilians/defending terrorists

>I block them

Rinse and repeat.

[front-facing-pokemon]

[samarecharm]

People who really like shuake also seem to write themselves into a corner wrt Akechi and his relationship to Akiras team. Contrary to popular belief, the team, including Haru, does not hate Akechi. At worst, they tolerate him and deal with his attitude. Hes a good teammate and respectable fighter and the team recognizes that at the end of the day, he was a teenager who was manipulated and abused by a man who saw him as disposable. Just about every thief understands this intimately. They have the same mindset wrt adults who take advantage of the people beneath them. Under different circumstances they wouldve been friends. And if u approach it from that angle, it becomes less about Akechi being the sole person who ‘gets’ Akira, and more about the thieves being the only people in the world who ‘get’ Akechi.

When you expand your thoughts to include the thieves as members of his Team and not roadblocks that get in the way of your ideal shipping dynamic, you allow urself to give Akechi and Akira more depth and nuance to their own relationship.

Akira and Akechi are wildcards; both of them struggle with the face they choose to display to the world. Its the first time Akira interacts with someone who is, at a literal, technical level, his ‘equal’. But Akechi is one of many firsts for Akira yeah? Every thief has their bond with Akira thats completely unique and personal. Akechi will never be the person who witnesses Akiras Awakening, hes never the person who watches Akira have his restless nights alone in the attic, and hes never the person who realizes in real time that the teenager hes housing is just Some Kid, not the delinquent hes been warned about. Hes not Ann or Yusuke, or any of the thieves; he doesnt have the time or experience that they have with Akira, and I think its interesting to explore that part of their relationship, shippy or not.

Akechi is someone who is incredibly lonely and self depreciating despite his cockiness and attitude. He has no positive bonds to speak of save for his connection with Sae. To have him see a team that works together and cares for each other, how do you think he would feel? Out of place? Inferior in some way? Angry about how hes been alone for so long in this single minded quest for revenge? Wouldnt that be a point of struggle between the two of them? I think what makes shuake good for me is knowing that Akechi needs alot of time to heal, and the thieves would want to help with that process. They do it bc they care, bc Akira cares, and bc they trust Akiras opinion (and he trusts theirs in return); if Akira feels like Akechi is someone who can be trusted Now after everything thats happened, then the thieves would do their best to help. And how would Akechi feel about that? Angry about the show of pity? That even now, he has no real say in what happens to him? Or begrudgingly grateful that they are cordial with him? Because they do care, he KNOWS they care, they care TOO MUCH actually; but the one thing he values over brawn and wits is honesty- fighting for what you believe in without having to use soft words to justify it.

[yujeong]

What are your thoughts about the pacing of the story? I've seen a lot of people saying that it wasn't well distributed I mean they didn't get enough GreatTyme for them to build this Real Connection between them. I see people saying they don't feel the connection between the characters. And then for Korn and Tonkla, people were saying they were such a big deal on the past episodes and suddenly no interactions between them after that fight. What do you think?

Anon, I would be lying to myself and everyone else if I expressed any negative thoughts or feelings about 4 Minutes, because I genuinely don't have any. The way Sammon and BOC chose to present this story is breathtaking and I'm so impressed and proud of what they've done with it.

I've seen all the complaints you mentioned and it makes me sad, I'll admit. 4 Minutes is a show that should be judged as a whole, not in fragments and certainly not in the way many fans have chosen to talk about it.

Especially about TymeGreat the complaints are pretty unfair, because we've gotten soooooo much about them and about their bond and about who they are as people, individually or together. It's a shame to judge a story this way and it makes your experience watching it worse.

About KornTonkla, it's pretty logical why their story is laid out the way it is. I don't know why someone would not like how their relationship has developed when that was the whole point to begin with.

I'm not delving into any of this further because I don't have the brain power right now, but basically what I want to say is that the pacing is perfect, if not a little too fast, all the characters have gotten their time to shine, all their stories are interconnected in a way that's deeply satisfying and fascinating to watch, and all the relationships make me want to eat my skin and light my house on fire.

I hope the final episode will conclude this wonderful show in a way that will stay with me for a long time, as the rest of the show has achieved so far.

[quibbs126]

So I heard a leak about the new Cookie from the Mystic Flour story, the one with the peach

I guess if you don’t want to hear it, I’ll put it under the cut. It’s pretty minor though, it has nothing to do with the story, just something basic about the character

It included the name, but that’s not the most interesting part to me, since to me it seems pretty obvious with their design

No actually the more interesting thing I heard is that this Cookie is in fact a guy, which fully surprised me

We technically don’t have confirmation, and it could be wrong, but honestly I really hope it’s true, if only because it’d be surprising given the design

And also if it’s true, then this’ll be twice where with a Dark Cacao related character, I mistook them for female on account of the design, but later find out they are men. Just thought that was funny

Oh yeah, this is the original leak I saw btw. While as I said, the leak isn’t confirmed, I also as of yet haven’t heard anything to disprove it either

[a-typical]

— On Palestine, Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappé (2015)

[jadebread64]

has anyone pointed out that a tritone was played on the piano to summon maestro to earth, and that sutekh went by the name triad

[m1ckeyb3rry]

sometimes someone will comment complaining about a certain aspect of one of my stories and i just want to tell them to write their own fic if they’re so bothered by my choices

[padawanduck]

seeing people on bb reddit and bb twitter be sad that cameron is probably gonna leave this week is so bizarre

meanwhile over here:

[eclipsecrowned]

seeing other people post about new followers not reading rules. stares directly into the camera (not at you at the camera crew or whatever)

[todayisafridaynight]

ignore my previous ask i misread their ask😭

naw i cant ignore this you woke up and chose VIOLENCE im WHEEZING

[dragonsarecats]

To be fair CF is just as much about found family than VW

Hi anon! I'm gonna link the post I talked about the Golden Deer here for clarity's sake lol.

I think when discussing themes of found family in different three houses routes, it's important to talk about Byleth. In a game where the single, main variable between possible futures is Byleth's interference, it means the story has to be written in a particular way--I mentioned this before when talking about character supports and endings; each character needs to be able to have a romantic ending with Byleth, which affects how their supports are written. In the case of the Lord's, this means you're given tangible reasons why you should've chosen them.

I mean. Let's be real here. Claude has the highest survivability rate of any character in the base game. He can't die if you're completing Verdant Wind (for obvious reasons), or Blue Lions. He's heavily implied to live to see another day in Silver Snow, and you can spare him in Crimson Flower! Edelgard and Dimitri die without the professor's stabilizing influence--but Claude? What does he lose without the professor.

That's sort of how I determine subtler themes of each route in a way--by comparing what you get with and without Byleth.

So when I argue that Verdant Wind is the most about found family, I mean it thematically; the other routes don't have tangible less found family, but without Byleth members of the Golden Deer just blatantly disappear unrecruited post time skip in several routes!

Without Byleth, the option for found family is removed for Claude in a big way, I personally feel, and not just by full recruitment runs lol. Not completely, of course--even in Crimson Flower a recruited Lorenz laments having to face off against Claude and Hilda is willing to die in defense of him and the city--but enough that it was blatantly shocking to me that if you don't recruit Marianne, she does not appear at all post time skip, no exceptions.

In a narrative sense, perhaps slightly unshocking; but in a practical sense? This leaves Claude without a healer.

Claude can't hold onto all his Deer even if you don't recruit any of them in the Academy phase. Silver Snow, Azure Moon, Crimson Flower--Marianne will always be gone; consistent, non variable. Depending on the route other characters like Lorenz might disappear as well.

The themes of found family are prevalent in all the routes, but since each route is pretty much defined by the Lord who leads it, I feel as though their personal relationship with the found family is most defining, if that makes sense.

People stand by Edelgard, Dimitri, and even Rhea for better, or for worse. Even recruited, characters like Felix make it abundantly clear that switching sides doesn't change the immense emotional attachment they have to their original lord.

This just. Isn't true for Claude.

Without Byleth, he doesn't get to keep everyone together. Without Byleth Hilda is recruitable in two routes. The idea that you could ever do the same with Hubert or Dedue is blatantly laughable.

Byleth's presence is what enables Edelgard, Dimitri, and Rhea to remain the most of themselves, if that makes sense. Edelgard's war strategy in Crimson Flower is a lot less aggressive and scorched earth then it is in the other two routes because she's had the professor as an emotional rock. Similarly for Dimitri, he's able to recover because Byleth is there to keep him alive and safe. And then Rhea will blatantly die in the Verdant Wind route where she doesn't in Silver Snow. Byleth, in every sense of the word, keeps these three characters alive and well.

But without her? They still inspire loyalty and devotion--unquestionable, again, if no recruitment takes place. Dimitri, Edelgard, and Rhea can all face up against you as enemies with the full force of their houses/allies (save for, oddly, Annette).

Claude does not.

Claude's whole route is about learning to trust others in a way that allows them to trust him. The Deer are devoted to Claude in Verdant Wind in a way they just, textually aren't otherwise, and that's due to Byleth's influence, both as a Professor to these individual students, and to Claude.

When I say that Verdant Wind is the most found family thematically to me, I mean it at a very base level. Claude knows he doesn't have what Dimitri and Edelgard seem to take for granted. It seems almost effortless, in Verdant Wind, the loyalty and devotion he inspires in his friends despite how often you, as Byleth, are told that Claude appears to be an untrustworthy and sneaky individual.

But it's easy to see in routes where you don't chose him that without Byleth, that image mantains. Claude is an outsider. And maybe he doesn't need Byleth in the way the other lords do to survive or achieve his dream (after all, there's nothing saying he can't open diplomacy with his former classmates after he goes back to Almyra so long as he lives to do so), but just as Byleth is uniquely able to be a peer to the Golden Deer, so can Claude uniquely trust and gain the trust of his house in full.

It's not as dramatic as the other two houses, and I think it's the point. Edelgard and Dimitri have already built a solid foundation of devotion and loyalty. Ferdinand and Felix (your "rival" characters in those houses) are loyal without Byleth, even if Ferdinand claims it's to guide her or if Felix complains every step of the way. Lorenz isn't. In Verdant Wind, you sort of take it for granted that everyone will be there at the reunion if they survived the Academy phase. Of course they will--they promised, didn't they?

But outside Verdant Wind, it's clear to see that you as the player took it for granted. And that's why I think Verdant Wind is thematically the most found family. It's not because the other routes don't love each other as much or aren't as complex or there isn't devotion. It's because fundamentally Verdant Wind is about Claude, for the first time in his life, having a group of people he can rely on and who will rely on him without hesitation. It's about the formation of found family, and how Claude doesn't need it to achieve his dreams, but man, does it give him something to achieve those dreams for.

[magpigment]

life can still be better, dragon child; you are loved by all and you have music in your soul. remember to listen to it, and you’ll know how precious you are.

anyway tallulah amirite

[tommycorriander]

Being a niche character enthusiast is all fun and games until finding merch of your character is nearly impossible, there're only three real options and one of them is sold out already, fics about them are scarce, and fanart is hard to come by.

[caddyxjellyby]

By the late 1950s the U.S. birth rate was approaching India's. The number of U.S. mothers who had given birth to 3 or more children had doubled in 20 years. The increase was most spectacular among college women; they were abandoning careers to bear four, five, or six children. The percentage of females in the American college population (35 percent) was lower than that in any European country and lower than the prewar figure on U.S campuses (40 percent). Nearly two-thirds of matriculating girls dropped out before college graduation, while more than half the men stayed. Many coeds left the classroom to take menial jobs, supporting their male partners, who remained on campus; this was called the degree of "Ph.T." (Putting Husband Through). Other women quit because they had not acquired spouses. Deans' offices found that coeds were leaving at the end of the first or second year because they had found the pickings slim and wanted to try their luck elsewhere.

The Changing Image of the Nurse by Philip A. Kalisch and Beatrice J. Kalisch (1987)

[artsyhamster]

Trektober Day 9 - Historical AU

Yupp! I went with plague doctor again, because it brings me joy.

Anyway, here Spock & Kirk are two gentlemen strolling the outskirts of town to get some fresh air, and this hermit doctor is catching Kirk’s attention. :>