#What Defines Us

[random-xpressions]

What defines us the best? Our face reveals a certain physical aspect. Our character reveals our upbringing and how life made us. But to me, the closest that defines us are our secret most prayers, which none ever hears. As if we are shouting it out to the universe - this is who I really want to be, here are my weaknesses, here are my defects, here are my failings, here are my faults, the plea into the unknown for a change, the pursuit of guidance, a shriek out of our deepest void, asking to be filled, quest for light, thirst for purpose. That's what defines us the best - our prayers that none will ever hear...

Random Xpressions

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

maddening that there is a common medical condition whose symptoms consist of massive long-term loss of mental and physical functions, due to the incredibly damaging effects of prolonged stress overextending the mind and body by pushing it into survival mode beyond endurance—and that there is no medical term for it. despite the fact it's so damn common that everyone knows of someone suffering from "burnout."

[whump-in-the-closet]

characters who’s identity revolves around their purpose, defined by something or someone else. By the prophecies, by their service; the lapdog, the weapon, the chosen one. And then there’s a moment of softness, a complete breach and utterly human— they cradle their head in their hands, they bend to pick up a cat and hold it tight, they slump against someone’s shoulder, completely trusting for the first time

thank you that’s it. exits stage and screams.

[sithextant]

bro i dont think you need to hold his face that close when you're talking about how you've never stopped thinking about him and now you're going to ruin his life 🤨

[anghraine]

It's interesting (if often frustrating) to see the renewed Orc Discourse after the last few episodes of ROP. I've seen arguments that orcs have to be personifications of evil rather than people as such or else the ethics of our heroes' approach to them becomes much more fraught. Tolkien's work, as written, seems an odd choice to me for not wrangling with difficult questions, and of course, more diehard fans are going to immediately bring up Shagrat and Gorbag.

If you haven't read LOTR recently, Shagrat and Gorbag are two orcs who briefly have a conversation about how they're being screwed over by Sauron but have no other real options, about their opinions of mistakes that have been made, that they think Sauron himself has made one, but it's not safe to discuss because Sauron has spies in their own ranks. They reminisce about better times when they had more freedom and fantasize about a future when they can go elsewhere and set up a small-scale banditry operation rather than being involved in this huge-scale war. Eventually, however, they end up turning on each other.

Basically any time that someone brings up the "humanity" of this conversation, someone else will point out that they're still bad people. They're not at all guilty about what they're part of. They just resent the dangers to themselves, the pressure from above, failures of competence, the surveillance they're under, and their lack of realistic alternative options. The dream of another life mentioned in the conversation is still one of preying on innocent people, just on a much smaller and more immediate scale, etc.

I think this misses the reason it keeps getting brought up, though. The point is not that Shagrat and Gorbag are good people. The point is that they are people.

There's something very normal and recognizable about their resentment of their superiors, their fears of reprisal and betrayal that ultimately are realized, their dislike of this kind of industrial war machine that erases their individual work and contributions, the tinge of wistfulness in their hope of escape into a different kind of life. Their dialect is deliberately "common"—and there's a lot more to say about that and the fact that it's another commoner, Sam, who outwits them—but one of the main effects is to make them sound familiar and ordinary. And it's interesting that one of the points they specifically raise is that they're not going to get better treatment from "the good guys" so they can't defect, either.

This is self-interested, yes, but it's not the self-interest of some mystical being or spirit or whatnot, but of people.

Tolkien's later remarks tend to back this up. He said that female orcs do exist, but are rarely seen in the story because the characters only interact with the all-male warrior class of orcs. Whatever female orcs "do," it isn't going to war. Maybe they do a lot of the agricultural work that is apparently happening in distant parts of Mordor, maybe they are chiefly responsible for young orcs, maybe both and/or something else, we don't know. But we know they're out there and we know that they reproduce sexually and we know that they're not part of the orcish warrior class.

Regardless of all the problems with this, the idea that orcs have a gender-restricted warrior class at all and we're just not seeing any of their other classes because of where the story is set doesn't sound like automatons of evil. It sounds like an actual culture of people that we only see along the fringes.

And this whole matter of "but if they're people, we have to think about ethics, so they can't be people" is a weird circular argument that cannot account for what's in LOTR or for much of what Tolkien said afterwards. Yes, he struggled with The Problem of Orcs and how to reconcile it with his world building and his ethical system, but "maybe they're not people" is ultimately not a workable solution as far as LOTR goes and can't even account for much of the later evolution of his ideas, including explicit statements in his letters.

And in the end, the real response that comes to mind to that circular argument is "maybe you should think about ethics more."

[bethanydelleman]

Listen, I know that you can't take anything Trump says seriously until suddenly you do, but a world leader cannot joke about the sovereignty of another nation from a nuclear superpower and neither can a nation like mine ignore clear threats of annexation, so

Dear US Americans,

In case you weren't aware because your media lies to you, Canadians do not want to be American. It's actually our whole thing. You can pry our sovereignty from our cold dead hands. I am completely serious, we did a poll and it was 90% opposed.

The vast majority of us would rather die than become an American state. If there is an attempt to annex our country, we will become the Ukraine to your Russia and the world will be on our side.

Sincerely, Canada

P.S. Canada unequivocally supports Ukraine

P.S.S If you think it's in poor taste or something to compare Canada's situation to Ukraine's, well I really hope that you are proved right in the end

[fallofthecelestial]

Okay. Since we're going over all the takes on Mr. X at this point.. What if his powers really don't have a backside. What if (the state of) his normal life is the backside.

What if his normal life is akin to that of heroes where he has to pretend to be something he's not and follow rules that the people who control his life came up with to further their own goals. What if he can only be free of other people's beliefs and expectations when he's a hero.

What if in reality he truly is like everyone else. The other heroes. The ordinary people. All those who work themselves to the bone, who are tired and overworked and sick of all the exploitation...

What if when he's in the form of the number one hero.. when he becomes the most sought after product on the hero market..

Is when he gains the freedom to truly be himself

[justladders]

im at the point again where his face looks off to me.

[nikoisme]

Thinking about giving post part 43 John shorter hair because,,, y'know. trans allegory and also for that feeling of control over yourself

[jewreallythinkthat]

Just seen someone say "am yisrael chai" is a dog whistle.

Like a dog whistle for what? It's a Jewish term which has been around for fucking forever and literally had dnothing to do with anyone not Jewish. They really are taking our word and sayings, deciding a new meaning which is totally bogus and then punishing us for something they made up and pretended was true.

And they call us colonisers.....

[miss-conner3]

En Español: Aquí

This was going to reference a sibling dynamic meme, but I got too excited XD

Brief context: Height difference in a future where Ando becomes a wandering traveler and the lamb digivolves until it reaches its maximum potential.

Or something similar to that, hehe (ouo)

I hope you like it!

Extra: A little idea regarding my two sheep!

"Forever is a long time, little lamb..."

This is the moment where I comment that I like light angst, but it's rare that I prioritize it, so don't worry (?)

[spacedace]

Found this old snippet and don't really remember of the context for it outside of being a joking exploration of how weird the Fenton/Phantom family tree would seem to outsiders (not even getting into how relationships might be classified differently between the human side & the ghost side)

Anyway gonna drop it here as a prompt lol

Mind the quick reference to dismemberment, there's no gore or detailed description and no one is actually hurt, it's more there for comedic effect, but still wanted to give the heads up on it 👍

---

Nomad motioned to the towering, vaguely vampire-looking buff dude with literal flaming hair what the fuck, “Dan, this is everyone. Everyone this is Dan. He’s my…” Nomad trailed off and blinked, a look of confused befuddlement on her face as she let the sentence hang for too long.

“Huh…” She said considering, looking up at vampire-dude, Dan apparently, with a confused furrow on her brow. “You know this is the first time I’ve ever had to try and explain our relationship to each other and I’m drawing a blank and what exactly to call you. Uncle? Dad? Brother? Like, I think you could technically be considered all three.”

What the fuck did that mean??? Kon snapped his attention over to meet Tim’s masked gaze, the look of wild confusion Kon was sure was on his own face mirrored there. Around the meeting room confused and worried looks were being shared by the rest of the League. Which like, yeah, what in the Habsburgs was happening here for all of those terms to be applicable?

“Well, you’re Danny’s Mirror, so if you consider him your dad then it stands to reason I’m also your father.” Dan said, hand coming up to his - literally flaming, how did that work? - goatee thoughtfully.

“Yeah but like, I call Danny dad just to piss Vlad off.” Nomad countered, toying with her severed arm with her still attached hand. Kon didn’t think he’d ever get over how casual she was about being literally disarmed and just…not caring. “And I definitely don’t see you as a dad. Uncle?”

The giant of a ghost shook his head with a frown, “Implies that Danny and I are brothers, which could work but gives our relationship kind of a weird vibe. I feel more like his father than anything.”

“Gramps, then?”

“No.”

Nomad laughed, “Fair, wouldn’t want to take the title of Grampa away from CW. Besides we’re both half Vlad, so I think brother works best here.” She frowned, looking thoughtful, “Maybe half brother?”

Dan considered, “Half-brother could work. Though it gives Vlad more credit than he deserves.”

“Oh come on, can you imagine the look on his face if we went in together on suing him for child support?” Nomad asked, fanged grin wicked. Dan’s face lit up at the idea, and Kon felt like they were rapidly heading towards the two ghosts running off to go and go torment whoever this Vlad guy was rather then them help deal with the current demonic problem at hand.

“Can you please explain what any of that means?” Kon asked, more a squeak than anything else. He was starting to get a headache.

[egophiliac]

I'm trying to avoid getting spoiled so I haven't looked up what's happening in the Jp server's main story, but for my own sanity I need to ask; is the story at a point where we know whether Lilia will get better/survive his almost-empty magic reserves..? Was it a true death flag from the start or only a plot device for malleus' overblot....?

not yet! I do think they're going to get back to it eventually, but -- keeping it as low spoilers as possible -- there's been...let's just say a LOT going on in the meantime.

enjoy 7-6!!! :)

[twilightkitkat]

A major part of Poolverine's dynamic is that they're both envious of each other, in a way. They both believe that the other is their "better half."

Logan feels like he's worthless and undeserving of the title of a hero because of how he let his universe down (and it didn't help to have this confirmed when he found out he was the "Worst Wolverine"). Wade is extremely insecure—he hates how he looks, he finds his own personality insufferable, he doubts his abilities, and he just all-around hates himself.

But why?

The major conflict is this: they both think that the other is a "better person" than they are.

Wade thinks that Logan is the hero he couldn't ever be and that he's inherently more fitting of the title than him. He'd tried to be a hero before—with the X-men, with the Avengers—but he couldn't. He tried but he just... can't understand why he shouldn't kill people who deserve it.

Logan, on the other hand, believes that Wade has so much more capacity to care than he does. Wade so obviously loves his family and is going out of his way to save the universe for their sake. He's capable of emotionally reaching out to people and in a way Logan never could. He failed to save the X-men and protect his home, so seeing Wade succeed and save his family reminds him of his own shortcomings.

When comparing the two, it's easy to say which is more justified in their actions and feelings. It's easy to try to point to who really is a better person to resolve this conflict.

But here's the thing: they both have different standards for what they consider to be a "good" person. And it focuses on the part of themselves that they lack.

Wade believes that "morals" are required to be a good person. One of his defining characteristics that make him a compelling antihero is that he largely lacks a strict moral code. He doesn't follow a set of rules—no killing, no unnecessary damage, no torture—like the other heroes. He tries to care and follow the rules, but he can't find it in himself when he doesn't see why they exist. And yet, everyone around him believes that following a moral code is the standard to become a hero. Which he was never able to do.

To Wade, Logan is fundamentally a "good" person in a way that Wade is not. Even back in his Weapon X days, he clearly had a moral code that led him to leave the army because he couldn't condone senseless killing. When he was a hero, while he did hurt the villains, he was just and tried to prevent unnecessary casualties. He was willing to kill Jean, who he'd loved, for the greater good of the world. He protects people who are weak because it's the "right thing to do" and he can't bring himself to leave them alone even if it puts him in danger (with Rogue and Mariko as examples). He has an inherent moral code that he follows to save the most lives possible.

On the other hand, Logan believes that "empathy" is required to be a good person. While Logan might know the difference between right and wrong, he's always had an issue emotionally connecting to others. He protects people and Does The Right Thing, but he feels hollow. He feels like an imposter because he doesn't "feel" strongly—he saves people so that it won't weigh on his conscience, not because he cares about strangers in the way the other X-men do.

He felt this disconnect pointedly when he worked with the X-men in the past. In serious situations, he was focused on the solution, on saving the maximum number of people and minimizing casualties. Meanwhile, his teammates hesitated and felt bad for each individual life lost even if it was the "objectively" better choice. Logan was the one Charles sent out when a mission required him to do what needed to be done without remorse. Because he would be capable of "dealing with it" (because he was the least "heroic" of them all).

Wade, in Logan's eyes, is so much better than him because he feels for people. He isn't like Logan, he doesn't make the hard decisions based on numbers, he makes them based on emotions. He murdered the headmaster of the orphanage for abusing Russel. He killed all of the people remotely involved in Vanessa's death and his own mutation. He doesn't adhere to a strict moral code because his moral code is his empathy. It's protecting the people he cares about and deciding who is worth saving based on his own feelings. He's confident and proud of his feelings in a way Logan could never be.

(If Logan had been like Wade, had prioritized the people who mattered over the world, he wouldn't have lost everything. It doesn't matter if he was a hero in title, what kind of hero was he to let the people he loved get killed? He still regrets his choices. Regrets killing Jean back then instead of trying harder to save her even if more lives would've been lost. Even if she resurrected later. He regrets not focusing on the smaller pieces instead of the big picture. He regrets never telling them he cared. He regrets and regrets and regrets.)

They are both a reflection of what they wish they could be.

Wade wishes he could care about "justice" and "righteousness" because at least then, he'd have a greater purpose. He could be a hero. He feels frustrated with himself for being selfish and only going out of his way for the people he cares about, but he can't change that. He'd tried and failed. (He wishes he could be "more" like Vanessa had wanted. That he could have a sense of purpose.)

Logan wishes he was able to prioritize the people he loved, back then. He wishes he could admit when he cared like Wade instead of being gruff and emotionally closed off to people. He wishes he was capable of the same kindness. To extend a hand to the Worst Wolverine—who had rampaged, murdered innocents, ruined the reputation of mutants, then chose to drink his days away—just because he empathized with him. To not care about the bad things he'd done and try to sacrifice himself for Logan despite him being an asshole to Wade for the majority of their journey.

They both yearn for what they could never truly have. Whether it's morals or empathy, they define being a "good" person by being the opposite of themselves. By the part of themselves that they'd always struggled with.

By the piece of them that had always been missing.

[jusst-you-race]

okay so @wdc63 and I have been going insane about gax in the dms and realised they're perfect for "who did this to you" and then i blacked out and ten minutes later this was written so i guess enjoy 500 words of vague "they go on dangerous jobs" au gax

George closes the door behind him silently, praying that for once everyone has gone home at a reasonable hour. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone right now. Not when he can still taste the blood in his mouth, split lip still oozing slightly. Not when his head still pounds. Not when he looks weak. Pathetic. 

Their base of operations is dark and quiet, and George breathes a sigh of relief. He eases himself down onto a chair, eyes closed against the pain in his ribs. He knows he needs that looked at, definitely feels like something has cracked, but that’s a job for tomorrow. When he’s had a chance to build his walls up, slip on his mask, pretend he didn’t just get completely steamrolled doing a job that should have been easy. 

He sighs.

The light flicks on.

George flinches.

“George?” 

It’s Max.

Of all the people that George didn’t want to see like this, Max is perhaps the number one contender. Shame and embarrassment writhe uncomfortably in his gut and he doesn’t need some asshole drilling home just how much he fucked up. Max had said this shouldn’t have been a solo job. George had rolled his eyes and gone anyway, desperate to prove himself. To prove that he’s more than what amounts to being the group’s secretary. To prove that he knows how to handle himself in the field too. 

Fat load of good that’s done.

He blinks his eyes open, squinting in the light. Max is hovering in the doorway, gaze fixed on George, expression unreadable.

“I thought everyone had left,” George says by way of greeting. He refuses to be the first to acknowledge the elephant in the room. That George is sitting here beaten blue and bloody after getting home late from a job he swore he could handle. 

He holds his head up high.

Max’s eyes narrow.

“Who did this to you?” 

George freezes. 

Max’s voice is barely more than a growl, eyes now flicking across George’s face and body, cataloguing all of his injuries. It’s not the reaction that George expected at all, and he blinks at Max, stunned.

“Um,” he says, eloquently.

Max marches forwards, intent, and George sits motionless in surprise as Max approaches, something dark and intent glinting in his eyes. Slowly, he raises his hands, hovering in the air mere centimetres away from George’s face. 

“Who did this to you?” Again, Max’s voice rips out of his throat in a growl. Belatedly, George realises Max’s hands are shaking.

“I went on the job.” 

Max’s expression hardens. He nods in understanding, shaking hands still hovering in the air. 

For a moment they just pause, locked in this moment, breathing each other in. Until something in Max’s face breaks, softening just a fraction. 

“Can I?” The growl is gone from his voice, replaced by something soft and cautious. George nods shakily.

They both seem to hold their breath as Max’s fingers land gently on the sides of George’s face. Featherlight, he strokes across the injuries, brushing past a bruised brow, skimming his grazed cheek, thumb pressing ever so gently into the split lip. 

George’s lips part on instinct.

It snaps Max out of whatever trace he’d fallen into and he yanks his hands away like he’s been burned. 

George pretends he doesn’t feel disappointed.

“I’ll kill them.” The growl is back. George barely has time to process before Max is grabbing a pistol off the table and stomping out the door. 

“Max!”

It hangs in the air of the room. Silent, once again.

[silverfoxstole]

A few of the photos from the Paul and India interview in this month’s DWM, plus a couple of snippets: