#conflict narratives

[howdoesone]

How does one explore the impact of ethnic and religious divisions on the occurrence of war crimes?

Ethnic and religious divisions have long been recognized as significant factors that can influence the occurrence of war crimes. These divisions often exacerbate tensions, fuel conflicts, and create conditions that facilitate the commission of atrocities during times of war. Understanding the impact of ethnic and religious divisions on war crimes is crucial for comprehending the root causes of…

[thelittleoddling]

COZY GAMES ARE MEANT TO BE A LITTLE DARK

I keep getting videos on YouTube that talk about how cozy games are secretly not cozy because they have dark elements to them like the war in Stardew.

Apparently this is somehow meant to ruin the coziness? I hate to break it to you but THATS THE POINT.

These games do not exist in a cozy vacuum where nothing bad happens ever. That would frankly be a terrible game and an even worse story. Cozy games are not cozy in SPITE of their dark elements they are cozy BECAUSE of them.

In Stardew yes there's a war, and people have dysfunctional relationships and that's the point! you're in a shitty town living on a shitty farm but you're there to help. you make friendships, and you fix your farm, and you leave the town a little better than when you found it.

In Palia you're living under an oppressive government and everyone has lots of problems. Some people are just struggling to be a single parent, others are on the run from a cartel. It's not light and cheery! but you get to help these people as you work to find your place in the world. I could go on for hours about other games but I think these examples are enough to drive home what I'm going to say next. COZY GAMES ARE ABOUT COMMUNITY, LOVE, AND FRIENDSHIP.

You don't expect your real life friends and communities to be conflict free. Bonds are built on the back of hardship. Lifting each other up. Loving each other and being kind when things are hard.

villagers in both games give me advice on how to do what I need to so I can fix up my property and start life in their town, They send me gifts they think will help with my projects. And in turn I give them a relationship they need. I'm an understanding friend for Linus, or an open ear for Najuma.

WE SUPPORT EACHOTHER IN HARD TIMES.

[mysterycitrus]

their relationship is complex and not entirely definable but if u look me in the eyes and tell me that dick grayson isn’t bruce waynes first kid im not gonna take u super seriously. sowwy

[lizlovespace]

I like to headcanon since it’s pretty much what happens in the books that the subtleties of Hoids interactions in era 2 are not in fact because he is silently watching from the sidelines waiting to influence the plot in the most subtle of ways but because, he's actually really trying his hardest to insert himself into the narrative he’s trying his damn best but the co are just so oblivious to anything that doesn’t concern their little detective clique that he unintentionally ends up completely sidelined every time. Like:

Hoid: “Sir your Taxi is here!”

Wax: “oh great thanks” *uses it as allomantic anchor to go soaring off towards next big development*

Hoid: “gadammit”

[loveydive]

The Tragedy of Hayakawa Aki - chainsaw man, tatsuki fujimoto

grief lessons: four plays by euripides, anne carson // chainsaw man, tatsuki fujimoto // deathless, catherynne m. valente // “untitled,” 2016, ink on paper, kara walker // james, clementine von radics // slide tackle, japanese breakfast // how to cure a ghost, fariha róisín // red glove, holly black // the letter, richard paul evans // interview with james hall, richard siken // ptolemaea, ethel cain // iq84, haruki murakami // the godfather, mario puzo // god's silence, franz wright // crush, richard siken // tumblr user ojibwe // when i was done dying, dan deacon

[bacchuschucklefuck]

one thing I really really appreciate abt riz gukgak as a character is that he is un-self-aware to the max. he inhabits his body so completely. the arc that would usually be run as "I'm different and unable to connect with my friends in this way that everyone seems to be able to do and so something's wrong with me and I don't like myself" when it comes to riz is actually like no! I have literally no problems or praises for myself personally. I don't stand outside of my own self and judge it. it's phrased as "other people will eventually find someone more important to them than you" rather than centering it on his self-perception. he doesn't know why he doesn't have the best social life on earth even though he's not afraid at all to talk to other people. every time he sees himself in someone else's actions or behaviour he gets startled by it. his latest epilogue is realizing seemingly for the first time that he's not just an agent of causes but an actual character. he's my hero and I want to be him when I grow up

[frau-kali]

Black Sails Anniversary Week

Day 2: Favourite Dynamic - Jack Rackham vs Woodes Rogers

"If no Anne, if no rescue, if this is defeat for me, know this - You and I were neck and neck in this race until the very end, but Jesus, did I make up a lot of ground to catch you."

[lovegrowsart]

i need people to recognise that while osha was/is emotionally repressed, that doesn't mean she's innately passive in her personality?? passivity is forced upon her by other characters (primarily sol and the jedi) but since she was a kid she expressed a desire for action and adventure - she was the one sneaking out of the fortress to the bunta tree, desiring her own life outside of the coven and her relationship with mae, drawn to the jedi and their lightsabers, and even when she leaves the jedi order, she doesn't exactly settle down somewhere quiet but goes to the other end of the galaxy and takes up a dangerous mechanic job that's only legal for droids to do while hopping from ship to ship and getting tattoos on drunk nights out with her crew? even in episode five with yord trying to haul her back to the ship, she doesn't exactly go completely willing (sol has to force push her into yord!) and is then the one that convinces yord to go back (💀), and she also immediately latches onto the idea of rejoining the jedi when she thinks sol is offering that at the beginning of episode four, and once she does know the truth, she instinctively force choked sol and bled his lightsaber (even anakin needed more convincing/encouragement to go dark side than she did)

mae comes across are more active/aggressive because she's more emotionally open/driven and has the truth that osha does not (that sol killed their mother) so is therefore incredibly motivated by that truth and desire for revenge/justice - but she's also the one that was comfortable and content with her life in the coven, that seemed to only need osha in her life, that didn't like osha sneaking out of the fortress, that seemed to flourish under the coven's teachings whereas osha chafed against it, doesn't actually seem to like conflict all that much considering how quickly she's willing to give herself up to the jedi once she knows osha is alive and then when she seems content for sol's punishment to be facing the high council/the republic, she seems surprised when she succeeds in killing indara and then doesn't kill the shopkeep alien even though that'd likely (and does) make things harder for her, offers torbin the option of going to the council or taking the poison, and doesn't even kill kelnecca or sol, and generally is clearly not all that committed to the dark side/sith stuff qimir's trying to teach her and spends episode five running from him/pleading for her life over trying to fight him (in comparison osha manages to (temporarily) defeat him by siccing giant bat moths on him)

they're both more complicated than they might appear on the surface!!

[philtstone]

ironically reflecting the stories' philosophical differences movie arwen & movie chani are both given onscreen agency that they did not have in the books by playing precisely inverse narrative roles that are yet equally integral to the externalization of plot and theme in their respective films in this essay i will

[sskk-manifesto]

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple and how “ability users” (opposite to “normal people”) learning to accept themselves through the acceptance of their own abilities is a queer metaphor of acceptance of own's sexual orientation and gender: an essay by me

[bixels]

What did/do you like about Pharah?

Uh, gameplay-wise, I really love characters in shooters who rely on three-dimensional movement techs. Chaining together hover and jump to stay in the air for as long as possible and keep momentum is so satisfying, and picking enemies off from the sky made me feel like a bird of prey. I was a good Pharah main.

Story-wise, there unfortunately isn't much to canonically go off because Pharah is so underutilized and neglected. Her personality's pretty boilerplate "heroic hero" (she's literally inspired by Captain America).

But it's the crumbs/bits and pieces that I really latched onto. Pharah's a confirmed lesbian; her short story with Baptiste implies she harbors a crush on Mercy (fucking thank you.). She's biracial Egyptian/First Nations. She has major mommy issues, having grown up both admiring and resenting Ana. She's the bridge between Old Overwatch, inspired by the idealized heroes who surrounded her childhood, and New Overwatch. She's one of the only inter-generational characters in the cast; someone whose experiences span the gap, which is why I seriously believe Pharah would make a great main character.

There isn't much to go off of, though; she's a very uncomplicated character (she's a soldier for a private military corporation, lol.). But that just means she's a blank slate character, so I've seen fanfic writers run wild and create some really interesting takes on her. My favorite interpretation of her's a dense, herbo gym-bro type (a lot of her liens are about work outs, exercising, and playing sports) who's easily excitable under her seemingly self-serious, armored visage. We see how she tends to gloat and hype herself up when she's on a streak too, so Pharah definitely has a competitive and boastful side under her more professional and militant performance.

Now Mercy? Mercy is a real complex character.

[seance]

Sorry. You think you're a demon? With your curly little... and your neat white... I'm a fallen angel! I lied. To thwart the will of God. Well yeah, you did, but I'm not gonna tell anybody. Are you? No. Then nothing has to change, does it?

[athina-blaine]

kabru's relationship with his eyes makes for suuuuuch a fantastic trans allegory (an aspect of your body alienating you from your community, being compelled to understand the perspective of someone who also has a complicated relationship with their body in the hopes that you'll better understand your own, people straight up misunderstanding biology) it makes me kind of insane because now I feel like I can't dig into any complicated feelings he might have about his body in relation to his gender without feeling like im just ... double dipping?? like fifjpejgh ryoko kui straight up already told that story in a way that exquisitely fucks??

[demodraws0606]

People complaining about Tsukasa5 already are pissing me off, because like, it's so unbelievably obvious what this event is trying to do and the fact that people are so hung up on "urgh dur tsukasa strong why can't he do a wall climb".

Like, first of all, a lot of Tsukasa's strength has been used as comedy before and also it's never been said that Tsukasa could specifically do a wall climb before so people calling this a retcon or a stretch is really dumb to me.

Sure we can make jokes about it, but this is not like a serious writing problem or anything.

Also are we just gonna ignore the fact this event is literally just a reference to his 3rd event in a silly trenchcoat. Or the fact that this is obviously meant to be WxS's downtime and training arc to prepare them to face the loose plotpoints in the future?

His inner dialogue when chasing the ninja is very clearly a reference to the whole Pheonix thing, how he can't reach it no matter how hard he tries.

The wall climb is like an extremely fucking on the nose metaphor to him climbing over his issues as an actor.

THERE IS ALSO THE WHOLE THING THAT HINTS THAT TSUKASA CAN ONLY OVERCOME HIS PROBLEMS IF HE HAS HELP FROM OTHERS (AKA tsukasa would've literally BEEN INJURED, if it wasn't for the fact the troupe's leader was there).

In fact this literally followed an event aka Tsukasa 4 where he FAILED to do his role correctly.

It's almost like this event is meant to be a transition point between Tsukasa 4 and 6, where Tsukasa builds up the knwoledge on how to face his problems.

But no this is just mid event because it's very silly and "wow plot is stupid why can't tsukasa wall climb".

WxS fans are slowly just turning into VBS fans in terms of how whiney they're being i swear

[scarapanna]

[WIP] Some more updates!!!

I've been quiet recently, but got a bunch of stuff in the works for y'all!!

I'm still working on those paper puppets for a little project regarding intertwined opposites (Possibly one of the most ambitious things I've ever worked on so far) and found a proper way to introduce that new au I'm working on!!

Here are two more paper puppets for the big pmv

And a few sneak peaks for the new au!!

(Doodles+notes alongside a silly little meme with a sprite edit of pewpaw)

I'm working on an info post for it, progress has been slow however since I wanna prioritize the pmv again (Started it on june, stagnated a long period, and went back to work on it. I'm dead set on finishing it this summer AND stubborn/silly).

[Personal reminder: Beetle stop starting wips when you're already busy/silly]

[flashhwing]

thinking about how one of the responses to the “mages always betray you” thing is “no they just have their own agenda that’s not necessarily betrayal” the context of it and like okay but Does Anders have his own agenda tho? Like “having their own agenda” has the implication of like “they are working with you for their own secret reasons” which applies to Morrigan and Solas because they both join on this Epic Quest To Save The World for reasons other than to be on an epic quest to save the world, ie their own agenda. but Anders didn’t join any epic quest. Hawke doesn’t have any epic quests they go on actually at all. They are literally just living. They are Just A Guy (gender neutral) Doing Things in and around Kirkwall because they don’t have a job. And also Anders is there. so it’s like yeah Anders Has An Agenda and his agenda is Mage Liberation but like it’s not his *own* agenda it’s just An Agenda, much like the Bi Agenda which, as a bisexual, I assume he is also following