#disorganized rant

[pensarecool2]

So the way I manage to survive in this capitalist hellscape is through delivery apps with my girlfriend (she drives). Basically, I deliver packages/groceries/etc. Lately, we’ve been delivering Whole Foods groceries via Amazon deliveries out of the car, and it is fascinating to me how you can tell how rich someone is based on how many items are in their order.

I think there was a Mother’s Day promotion or something recently, and there was a lot of deliveries with just flowers (like single bouquets) so these ones were just going anywhere, right? Single flowers sent to poor or middle class areas. Places where the other deliveries never go.

Then, you have orders that are maybe 2 or 3 bags. These are going to relatively nice houses. Maybe it is a house that has been split into two apartments. The sidewalk is kinda not great, but you can tell its a decent house.

Then there’s orders that are like around 4-7 bag. This person got some groceries through Walmart. Not just a few things like a cake or whatever, they got a decent haul. These orders are going to a nice neighborhood. The houses are far apart. All the lawns are maintained. Its summer so maybe there’s a landscaping crew out that you gotta awkwardly interact with as you drop off the order.

Now 8-10 packages? This person has a private gate. You gotta open that shit. This person ordered from Whole Foods and they know you know. Houses are far apart. This isn’t a neighborhood where you’re gonna see police. This is rich people. But we’re not done yet.

11+ bags in the order?? Fucking private road. DID YOU HEAR ME SAY DRIVEWAY?? NO! I DID NOT! The biggest order I ever delivered? Private property. They had a roundabout. A mansion. 3 buildings; the house, a “garage” and I think it was a guest house??? It was the smallest building and it was bigger than the apartment building I live in (I live in a roach-infested studio apartment on the third floor and there is no elevator and I hate those stairs).

The 11+ package orders usually go pretty far, too. Like farms or just homes that are like around 30 minutes away (or more) from the Whole Foods they’re picked up from. I hate these stupid flimsy paper bags as well They don’t have handles (basically like large paper lunch bags for groceries with stickers to keep track of them). I hate seeing these huge fucking houses. I hate rich “people.”

OH ALSO BEFORE I POST THIS… can we talk about rich “people” farms? Like, I grew up in rural New York. There were a lot of farms around me. Now, these farms usually had local brands and grocery stores, right? The big ones around me had mainly apples if produced based and cows if otherwise. There is other seasonal produce, but you get the just. Some of them got chickens. If you looked around, there’s maple farms and bee farms and sheep, etc. Lot of variety. Some kind of small business, probably older folk who are very proud of their craft (they show up at the farmers markets. every listen to an old woman talk about her homemade maple sugar? or a woman show off her hand knitted hats? i once talked to a couple explaining their duck farm and their stuff was so fucking good).

Anyways, rich “people”?? They have fucking horses. Fucking mansions with swimming pools and horses and chickens walking around for the aesthetic. They order from Whole Foods and they pay double so it can be delivered from half an hour away.

[alostlittleriverlotus]

Oh yeah make sure neglected people get love until that neglected person is a fucking narcissist. Cause all narcissists are bad. Everything I do is intentionally manipulative or maybe they'll say I'm not actually a narcissist and are just confused or supporting them cause I've been made to feel guilty. I've been on both sides. People will believe I'm a narcissist and so therefore I'm abusive or people will not believe I'm a narcissist cause I'm too nice and just getting caught up in narcissists manipulating me to support them.

I hate the idea that my self image is not by my choice. I will always be what OTHERS perceive me as. I have always been that and it will continue to be that. People will either see someone that can't do any wrong or someone that can only do wrong. Like stfu I am a person! I can do good and bad! I have a past of being toxic and harmful esp as a teenager cause I was a fucking mentally fucked teen still in an abusive situation.

I just. I dunno. Im waiting on food so I'm very like just ranty about everything and anything. But like. Stfu. Stfu stfu stfu stfu stfu. If anyone else is needy and needs attention or reassurance then it's fine. But I have had it demonized since my fucking childhood and had my fucking meltdowns demonized as being intentionally manipulative!!! I WAS A FIVE YEAR OLD AUTISTIC CHILD STFU!!!!!

And people praising empathy as being good piss me off. Cause you know what else can also have hypoempathy? AUTISM. Low empathy is not just an "evil" personality disorder thing. Anyone can be anywhere on the scale of empathy. And it doesn't fucking matter. And anyone can be capable of good or bad. It has literally nothing to do with narcissism or any disorder.

Like wtf are anti narcissists gonna fucking do when they realize theyve done harm??? Cause you know what being someone believing in narc abuse did to me?! It made me believe that i was justified as a victim of narcissists so therefore I couldn't be wrong in my trauma responses.

Yeah. Accepting im a narcissist did way more for helping my relationships by allowing me to understand and communicate my needs than believing in narc abuse and calling my parents narcissists ever fucking did. Wtf are they gonna do when they're told about the harm they've done??? Not even related to narc abuse. I would have horrible episodes and defended myself cause I wasn't like my abusive "narcissistic" parents. And all it did was lead to more fights and more episodes and my friend couldn't help cause they were dealing with trauma responses too (people pleasing, believing it was okay what I did or that she deserved it even when I told her not to say or believe that, it's a very lengthy explanation required thing.)

Anyone and everyone is capable of good and bad and is capable of harming others. Whether it's full on abuse, even worse things, or just being insensitive and thoughtless. Focusing so much on the big bad narcissists will only continue to focus on this "us vs them" mentality that completely negates any sort of nuance and ignores the fact that harmful people, abusers, and even the worst of humanity is ALLOWED by society. It isn't a prevalence of narcissists, it is fucking bigotry. And it is everywhere. And it allows abuse to be normalized.

Big list of things I been thinking on. Fuck fuck fuck. I'm already fucking stressed and my parents won't stfu so I can think and type. Disorganized speech, semiverbal, can't thinky think.

[i-am-trying-my-best-okay]

Attempting To Analyze Luka And Till To Try And Figure Out How Round Seven Will Go

LUKA:

From what we've seen of him, while he knows how to manipulate people's emotions, doesn't quite know how to understand them and process them. We see this as far back from when he was a kid, when he and Hyuna's brother would get into fights, and he would use his frailty as an excuse to go running to Hyuna for her to defend him; it's an excuse to get her attention, to get her to side with him against her brother. This probably made him feel good, like she placed him above her brother, even if it was momentarily.

However, this strategy came crashing down when he went too far, when he killed her brother. Perhaps this was an accident, just him being too frustrated that day, him going to far, and he didn't realize it till too late. Even so, it was fine, he just needed to present himself as the victim to Hyuna like he usually did. What he didn't anticipate, was Hyuna's complete horror and rejection of him.

Now, we don't know when exactly Hyuna ran away and went rouge, but it couldn't have been right away; also, if we're going on what we saw that one time with Hyuna still having cuffs when she was an adult, then it wouldn't be till many years later. The aliens wouldn't have put Hyuna in a different group or anything; even if she did somehow try and plead a case that she was worried for her safety or something, they'd take one look at little prized Luka and be like 'nah he's harmless; that stunt with your brother was in self defense', basically not caring at all about Hyun Woo dying at all; he wasn't as profitable as Luka. It helps that Luka is so sickly; it helps with him getting out of any actual punishment on the rare occasion he slips up. And so, in the aftermath, Hyuna and Luka still had to interact with each other everyday for the remainder of their training in childhood.

Now, to backtrack, for Luka's backstory, this is more speculation than anything. But from what I can tell, he's always had a camera in his face, some sort of eyes on him looking for media entertainment. Even before he's been properly trained, we saw that small scene of him as a child with a bunch of aliens crowding him, eyes on him, and him just looking so tired from it. I'm assuming that he was either breed and born for being a singer, or he was clocked at a very early age. Either way, he started getting media attention from before he was even put into training with others. It's in this, that Luka formed his understanding of interactions; it's performative, doing whatever the aliens want out of him for their entertainment, he learns that he needs to do certain things in order to get a positive reaction out of the aliens. It's what he needs to do to survive, all he's been trained to do really. From this all he knows about socializing is how to get an emotional response out of someone, a completely hollowed understanding of how emotions work.

And then he was put into training with other humans, which is likely the first time he's actually put with other humans. He's ostracized; he's seen as sort of 'other', since he's leagues ahead of the other humans who've barely started properly learning and he's been trained for this since forever. Also, the other humans likely have been around other humans before, meanwhile we have Luka over here who as none of the common social ques that humans have. Basically; he's never been treated like an equal before, he only knows the dehumanization dynamic from aliens, who just want him to perform. But with his group, their not asking him to perform, so he essentially ignores them, thinking that's all an interaction is. That's when Hyuna comes in; she feels like the sort of person to see how Luka is put on the outside of the group for being strange, and doggedly tries to become friends with him, despite his initial disinterest. It's through this, that Luka forms an obsession with Hyuna, his first friend, the first living being that doesn't demand anything from him. He can relax around her, do weird shit like chew on his sleeve if he feels like it and she doesn't mind, doesn't have to mask a response. He actually has positive feelings himself when he's around Hyuna, something he's not really used to. But despite this, Luka still has a dysfunctional idea of how emotions are, and really likes Hyuna, so he wants to get a positive out of her, so he still tries to do things he knows will get that out of her, like that thing with her brother.

Now, back to Hyuna now being horrified of Luka, he really doesn't know what to do with this. He tries to fix it, do every trick he knows to get a positive response from her, try to get her forgiveness, but nothing was working, and he doesn't understand why, and he's getting increasingly and dangerously frustrated. Luka is not use to getting a negative response, and I think it's through this that he really learns what that's like. So, I think to ward off his frustration, he tests getting negative responses from his fellow humans, particularly his opponents. It's through this, that he finds out how useful that can be, a more secure way to survive. As the years go by, Luka gets all the better at manipulating others emotions, and it's through this that he understands why Hyuna still won't forgive him, despite his understanding of these emotions being very clinical. Because of this, he knows how to try and better manipulate Hyuna into forgiving him, so much so that it actually starts messing with Hyuna's head. She emotionally begins to be swayed into forgiving him, but rationally she doesn't want to, and it gives her a whole complex of what she knows what she wants to feel versus what Luka is manipulating her to feel. But she ends up running away from the aliens before Luka could completely manipulate her.

When she runs away, Luka falls into a spiraling depression. The one person he's ever loved is gone, the one person who made him feel anything. From this, he dives into his work, trying to glean any sort of joy from manipulating negative responses from his competitor's to make them mess up, turning it into a sort of game at this point. It becomes his only defense against the constant eyes on him from the aliens, the constant and disgustingly dehumanizing attention that has choked him ever since he could remember. Luka folds further and further into himself, burying whatever sliver of humanity he felt with Hyuna. However, he follows very closely the revolution movement that's happening, knowing for a fact Hyuna would join (or start?) the group. The aliens likely have covered up this revolution, especially from the humans so they won't get any ideas, but with Luka being Luka, he likely has the influence to get some insider information whenever he can, causally eavesdropping on important alien figures talking about it while he sings for them. Whatever the case, no matter how much time has passed, Hyuna haunts him just as much as he haunts Hyuna. And even after all this time, he still doesn't hold the proper remorse of murdering her brother or trying to manipulate her into forgiving him, just regretting the results.

TILL:

From what I can try to glean from Till's past, it's littered in violence from the aliens. I can see there being a sort of cycle with Till; he does something that his alien owners lightly punish him for, which puts him on the defense and gets violent, which in turn makes the alien's get violent and try to restrain, which makes Till get even more violent, and so on. The aliens viewed him as sort of this feral dog, completely untrainable, moving him from home to home, shelter to shelter. They try all their methods they have to make him 'submit', but each and every time he simply refuses.

I sort of have this theory that Till didn't start out as someone with an owner, or someone who was even regulated by an alien in a adoption facility or something; he used to live on the streets, completely unmanaged, which is very rare for humans. Maybe he even had other stray humans he hung around, or maybe he managed on his own. Either way, eventually he gets captured by the aliens, and maybe his fellow stray humans get captured and broken down or killed in this. The aliens try to integrate Till into their human pet system, but he's just not having it. He wasn't trained by aliens since birth to act a certain way, which would explain his intense resistance towards them. He sees the situation for what it is, how humans being put in such a degrading and dehumanizing dynamic is wrong, and it makes him angry to be expected to put up with it. It makes him especially angry that his fellow humans expect him to go along with this dehumanization, just to keep the waters calm. Because even the humans that have sort of realized that this is wrong, were still trained under this system, and has just accepted that they need to live with it, and Till won't. They all act like he's crazy, aliens and humans alike, but Till refuses to give in.

Whatever the case, Till proves to show constant resilience, something that probably was having him set up to be on track for being 'put down', having no worth as a 'pet'. Till knew this, but it just made him push even harder, fight back harder. We see in a few flashes of Till be experimented on with syringes; possibly in an effort to make him calmer. This was probably something that happened before and after he became a singer. Even then, physically and biologically abused, he refuses to go along with this system, to try and hold on to any sense of autonomy he has even as they try to restrain and degrade it. And all this fighting does take a toll on Till; we see it in the heavy bags under his eyes, but even so, he keeps going. You know, unironically, I think Till is the embodiment of the term "the indomitable human spirit"; he just absolutely refuses to be cowed for the sake of an easier survival.

I think what kept him from being 'put down' was when it was discovered he had a talent for singing. I don't know how this was discovered; maybe Till was just bored and entertaining himself with singing or strumming a guitar, or maybe they had him tested for a talent before the decided to kill him just in case he had any sort of monetary worth. Once they figured out he had a talent, he was shipped off to be the Anact Garden's problem.

Now, Till, at his core, is an extremely protective person; it's actually kind of insane. Once he decides something is 'his', he tightly holds onto and protects it with everything he has. We see this time and time again; deciding to be the sole protector of the flowers and encouraging them to grow, literally beating someone up if they stepped on them. Following Mizi around just in case she would need help, and one day she did, and she didn't hesitate to run into that cave and fight off whatever monster she had stumbled upon, literally just some child squaring up against some mutated beast (or possibly striking a deal with it? we didn't see the whole thing. either way whatever he did must have been a huge deal because it literally changed Ivan's life). He doesn't even care if Mizi loves Sua and that she'll never love him; he just wants her to be safe and happy. And in defending Ivan as well, cause he was a weird kid, and I know Till would go from snarling at Ivan to snarling at another kid who's making fun of Ivan. And that's why he fights so hard for his own rights and autonomy as well, because he's protective of his own sense of self, refusing to let go of it. His protective instincts are his main motivation for basically all of his actions, all of his supposed feral behavior.

It's probably this that trait that drew Ivan to Till in the first place; his and Till's first interaction was Till beating him up over some flowers. It kind of looked like Ivan felt alive for possibly the first time in his life during that fight. I bet afterwards, if Ivan were to question Till on it, Till wouldn't even understand the point of the question; like of course he would defend the flowers till his last dying breath? Duh? Don't be a dick? Ivan probably followed Till around all the time, but I imagine the reason Till didn't form as close a connection to Ivan was because Till sees Ivan as just another source of violence in his life he needs to fight against. It's why he probably developed such a crush on Mizi; Till is drawn to kindness more than anything, to softness. It's why he forms a connection to the flowers, to Mizi. He can't see the kindness in Ivan, not till it's too late.

It's probably those protective instincts that made him turn back when Ivan was trying to get him to run away; of course he wanted to run away. But then he thought of Mizi, left unprotected. And then he considered Ivan, who upon running away, would also be left unprotected out in the world. His need to protect was being torn at, and in the end, he chose Mizi, leaving Ivan to fend for himself. What he didn't expect, was to see that Ivan came back too. That's when Till truly stopped seeing Ivan; his guilt didn't allow him to. He feels like he abandoned him, thrown him aside what he feels he needs to protect, forced him to come back to the facility, and now Till can't look him in the eye.

Honestly, I think it's these protective instincts that serve in his break down after Mizi left. He feels like he failed in protecting her, and not only that, he feels like there's nothing left for him to protect. He'd already thrown away the idea of protecting himself when he was entered into this competition, only motivated to protect himself to get far enough to go against Mizi in the final round, in which he was going to throw the round so that she could live. He completely threw away any protective instinct for his own survival, having accepted that at the beginning of this competition, because those he loves will always come first, and he and Mizi both couldn't survive, so really it was a no brainer for him. But now Mizi is gone, and he doesn't know how to get that desire to protect himself back, can't find the motivation for it. And so, going up against Ivan, all of the years of constantly fighting are just coming to get him, and he's just so tired. With nothing left, he was just going to throw the match. And then Ivan comes up and starts kissing him, which catches Till completely off guard. But then Ivan starts choking him before Till could process what that meant, and this made a lot more sense to him. Ivan killing him on stage lines up with everything he thinks Ivan to be; just another source of violence, and he's going to let him. But then he realizes what's actually going on, and it all clicks into place for him; Ivan loved him. Ivan had a whole inner world Till never knew because he decided to look away. And Ivan was something Till still had left to protect, but now he was gone. And all he has left to protect is the sacrifice Ivan left behind; himself.

TOGETHER:

It's unlikely these two have ever really met before; they were in different age groups when they were being trained as kids, and given their extremely different vibes it's unlikely they'd be asked to perform together or even be asked for from the same clients. So this competition is likely the first time they've met. Having never really met, what they currently think of each other is Till thinking Luka "is a dick who messed with Mizi and kisses up to the audience", and Luka thinks of Till as "an idiot who will go unhinged at the drop of a hat and has no sense of his own self preservation".

Till finds the motivation to want to survive, for Ivan's sake. He wants to protect Ivan's cause for dying, almost like he wants to make up for not properly seeing him over the years, for tossing him aside and not protecting him. Bro's got a whole complex he'll work on for the rest of his life, but right now it's really motivating him to win, so at least there's that.

It would be really easy for Luka get a negative reaction out of Till; he's very reactive to things. But I think Luka will fail in getting the right kind of reactions out of Till. Typically, when he backs his competitors into a corner, they feel too much turmoil to properly sing. But that's the thing with Till; he's reactive. If Luka pushes him physiologically, his response won't be to shut down, it'll probably motivate him to sing even better, try to sing over Luka out of spite. So Luka's best bet is to try and provoke Till into violence, and it'll prove a challenge for Till who probably already hates this guy for giving Mizi a breakdown. I bet for the entire round Till will have to try so hard not to beat this guy up, to push all his aggressive energy into the performance, but it's so clear how much he just wants to murder this man, leaving the crowd and the guards on pins and needles.

Till's normal style of competing seems to be singing over his opponents, making sure they have absolutely no time to collect themselves. It's kind of funny, how both Till and Luka's strategy is just to make the other one look worse. But Luka has a lot of experience with making the crowd like him, so he throws tricks at Till he wouldn't be expecting, somehow blending the performances perfectly. But Till has never been one to stick to the script, so I can imagine him just playing a wildly different tune, trying to force Luka to change lanes again and again, seeing if he can keep up. In the end, this isn't a performance; it's a fight, a tug of war for the spotlight.

On another point, I wonder if Till will accidently remind Luka of Hyuna; she was obviously a rebel herself, given her whole thing of going to go join a revolution, so I wonder if at some point in the performance Luka will see a bit of Hyuna in Till, and it'll cause some faulter. It's kind of funny; Luka will on purpose psychologically torment Till with those that he lost, and Till will accidently psychologically torment Luka with the one that he lost.

Really, them competing with each other is sort of like a round of chicken, seeing who will crack first. But of course, all this could be for naught when we thrown in these two uncontrollable elements; Hyuna and Mizi. They're here, at the facility, and they're in trouble. This is something both of them will deeply care about, and it's unclear how it'll factor in. I wonder, if at some point during the performance the two of them will realize Hyuna and Mizi's situation, and give each other a look, like they're saying to each other "okay fuck you and all but we've got to help them", and then their battle turns into a weird sort of temporary alliance. Maybe they try to distract the aliens with their performance or start actually fighting. Maybe they do some sort of weird complicated dance move that's made to break the power and to make it easier for Hyuna and Mizi to get away. Maybe they just say 'fuck it' and run off the stage together, going to help the other two and have them all escape. Either way, I think the ending of their performance won't have anything to do with the two of them at all, but rather another. And I suppose it's fitting for the two of them, whose current sense of identity is tied so closely to other people, rather than themselves.

[clownsalot]

im very normal about fuuta in general but i dont think im ever going to emotionally recover from his fire motif and what it represents for his character and how he reflects the greater theme of justice so that means i must rant about it

(more under the cut because this got longer than i expected whoopsies)

so anyway fire is pretty obviously supposed to be symbolic of his passion for justice right? that fire is all over the place in bring it on. he's wielding it to take down enemies, his signature weapon is a flaming sword. it's what he uses to lead the campaign against the people he's after, the people he's deemed in the wrong.

it's a fucking flaming sword, it's badass as hell!!!! it's what a hero of justice, a knight, would use!!!! it's cool as shit, it's his symbol of justice.

that's how he sees his justice in trial 1.

he's righteous, he wants so badly to believe he was a hero, he was doing it all for a good cause, for justice. his passion for justice was a tool he used to meet those ends, to be a hero, to wave it valiantly in the face of enemies.

the fire, however, is conspicuously absent once he's noticed the blood on his hands

interestingly, despite backdraft as a song title being much more related to his fire motif than bring it on, fire is actually surprisingly absent from the mv's visuals. fire, as in actual orange burning fire, doesn't show up much at all in backdraft except for when both fuuta and his victim begin turning to ashes, and a short bit near the end right after the last chorus when the spraycan explodes in fuuta's face. you know what the mv does show a lot of though?

smoke. and ash. the byproducts of a fire, the byproducts of fuuta's passion for justice.

bringing it back to firefighting for a moment: as many people have already pointed out, backdraft as a firefighting term refers to when a fire that has consumed all available oxygen suddenly explodes when more oxygen is made available, such as when a window or door breaks. the thing about fire hazards, though, is if the fire and the heat don't do someone in, usually it's the smoke. the smoke inhalation causes breathing difficulties and suffocation, making it even more difficult for a person to escape the fire.

in backdraft, instead of fire itself, what we're shown is these byproducts of a fire. the smoke is damaging to human health, and the ash shows that the fire has burned things up and caused destruction, in this case killing someone. all we're shown is the negative results of a fire, in sharp contrast to its badass, positive portrayal in bring it on.

hell, even fuuta himself starts turning to ashes and the spraycan explodes in his face, showing how even he is experiencing the negative results of a fire that has gotten out of his control, how even he has gotten burned by his passion for justice. or, is it es' desire for justice?

translation of fuuta's t2 vd by onigiriico

Me, too! I was like that, too! I also didn't think it'd turn out that way!

You and I are exactly the same breed! The only difference between us is the clothes we're wearing.

fuuta's justice and es' justice, it's all the same in his head now, he directly tells es that they're the same, that we're the same. it's all the same hunger for justice that ends up causing harm even if that wasn't the intention.

you know that saying that fire is a good servant but a bad master? i think that's pretty applicable to fuuta's situation. his passion for the pursuit of justice was great when it was still a tool, a sword he could wield, after all he did manage to shed light on some people's wrongs and bring them to justice. but once it exploded, when it became a backdraft that even he could no longer control, it did more damage than he intended.

it burned even him, it killed a middle schooler. and he recognizes that in backdraft. he only shows us the ways fire that becomes a hazard can go wrong.

translation of fuuta's t2 vd by onigiriico

What did I do? All I did was say that what's wrong is wrong! I was just going off at a bad person online!

I didn't think they would die! I just thought that wrong things are wrong, and that a crime is a crime! You get that, don't you? See? Aren't we the same?

it's just. fire is such a good metaphor for the message of fuuta's character and his arc. it's an amazing illustration of how dangerous it is when you feed a desire for justice too much, when you forget to put a boundary on how you handle that fire. eventually the fire spreads just like how passion for justice becomes zealotry, until more and more things fall under what you consider to be 'punishable' by your standards and goes out of control to hurt people that probably didn't deserve it. it's a warning to set proper boundaries on our own definition and desire for justice and what's 'right' so the good intentions doesn't spiral into harm. it's a reflection of our attitudes towards milgram as the audience responsible for their justice and forgiveness. it's amazing i love it i love fuuta's fire symbolism i love fuuta's character arc and i love milgram's writing so so so much

[fanaticalthings]

You’re headcanon of Battinson crying when it comes to his kids makes me wonder what his reaction would be to Jason’s death. Like even in the comics it’s said that Jason’s death shattered and nearly killed him emotionally as well as physically as Bruce literally threw himself into his work and fighting crimes

But you’re headcanon makes me imagine that it would go a little further and just not go out as Batman and instead wonder the Manor maybe spend a lot of time in Jason’s room. I can see Bruce also clinging to Dick and becoming protective of him.

Yess, in canon comics after Jason died, Bruce withdrew himself from everybody, including Dick. He threw himself fully into crime fighting to the point where he disregarded his own safety and health.

And on top of all that, Dick also mentioned how Bruce basically got rid of any evidence that Jason even existed (I'm assuming photos, Jason's clothes, his books, etc) from his (Bruce's) bedroom. So comic Bruce clearly was so pained by Jason's death that he couldn't bear to even look at anything that reminded him of Jason. I have no idea what Bruce did to Jason's own bedroom but I'm assuming he never steps foot in it again.

Now as for Battinson, I think his reaction and grieving would be a bit different. Like anon said, I def think Battinson would cling more protectively to Dick and would spend long periods in Jason's room just mourning the loss of his son.

I also feel like he would sleep in Jason's bed and cry himself to sleep, imagining that he still has his son in his arms with him like all those times Jason sought him out after a nightmare or when he just wanted to cuddle with Bruce.

Comic!Bruce barely cried when Jason died (although it was still very obvious he was distraught over it), but I think Battinson would be the opposite and would cry at every little reminder of Jason, and unlike Comic!Bruce, would make sure to keep all of Jason's belongings where he left them (especially if they were left in Bruce's room)

In the comics, Bruce never told Dick about Jason's death, causing Dick to miss the funeral and making their relationship even more tense than before, however, I think battinson!Bruce would want Dick even more present in his life now that Jason has left a gapping hole.

This man just went through the most traumatizing and heartbreaking thing a parent can experience so of course he'd want to keep his remaining child with him at all times. I also feel like this would make Dick and him closer than ever (even if Bruce's helicopter parenting can be a bit much), since Battinson!Bruce would be more emotionally vulnerable and open, which would allow them to grieve together and maybe in a more healthy way.

Battinson!Bruce would dedicate so many charities and memorials to Jason, and would visit his grave all the time so he could read to him. In general, I still believe this Bruce would still close himself off, but only to people who aren't in his immediate circle/family.

The immediate aftermath of Jason's death would be absolutely devastating for him. If Death in the Family were to happen in The Batman universe, I need Battinson to let out the most heartwrenching cry when he comes across Jason's body, like i need him to be full body sobbing in the explosive aftermath of Joker's deeds. I need to see him viscerally torn apart as he clutches Jason's body tightly to his chest like how a parent would gently cradle their child to sleep. I just need it to be absolutely obvious that this man has just gone through something maybe worse than his own parents' deaths, and I want it to be known that Jason dying meant a part of Bruce died too.

It would hurt so much more considering Battinson!Bruce started off very closed off, and the only reason he came close to functioning like a healthy human was because his first sons broke down his walls and filled his life with a purpose other than serving vengeance. Dick and Jason would probably bring sm love back into his life, so imagine how badly he reacts when suddenly losing a large part of that? Bruce basically raised Jason, taught him almost everything he knew, and in turn Jason (and Dick ofc) taught Bruce how to love, and be a father, so it must've been so painful knowing he'll never get to see his baby grow.

I still think Battinson would pull a comic!Bruce and throw himself aggressively into crimefighting and detective work, except when he comes home he'll make sure to spend time with Dick, and maybe sit around in Jason's room, reminiscing all their memories together.

As for Jason's return as Red Hood? Lmao that man wouldn't dare lay a finger on his son, he would immediately tackle Jason into a loving embrace and cry his heart out after finding out his baby is alive

[flonbowe]

So I was thinking about Mettaton, and something hit me

Mettaton Neo has a very angelic design. I may be stretching it, but considering what a certain other angel looks like

The resemblance is very much there. Mettaton's Ex and Neo forms look far more human than anything or anyone in the underground, including Frisk themselves during the Genocide run. Mettaton Neo is specifically a form used in a last case scenario to stop you. Now depending on how you view the Neo form, this can probably mean a few things. My two cents is that its Mettaton trying to keep himself and you fooled. Mettaton first and foremost is a showman. He's a TV star, and even if he may no longer have an audience, there's no way he's going off air lying down.

Now why would this relate to his Neo form resembling the Angel? Well he's bluffing, whether intentionally or not he is bluffing. He can't beat you, and deep down I think he knows too. The best he can do is stall for time to get as many people out and evacuated as possible, to inspire hope. Its why he stays in the underground, and its what he's good at: inspiring. So he fights you and blocks your path, in the face of a demon he uses the visage of an Angel as the last line of defense for Monster kind. Undyne has fallen, the Asgore will fall too, but Mtt cannot let the monsters hopes die too. I know this isn't in game, but this kind of idea is even further expanded with this cover of Power of Neo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI0CxTgpA6Q

It uses a bunch of leitmotifs, and one of which is Bergentrückung, the other theme of someone who tried to bring hope to the Monsters, and the theme of who will fall after Mtt. This is also apparent with how Power of Neo is a more techno Mtt themed version of BAATH to begin with. At every point in the Mettaton Neo fight, from design to music to personality: Mettaton is stalling and pulling an intimidation act as a last ditch effort, since he doesn't know Sans is waiting in his church to play ball with Frisk. https://www.tumblr.com/dn-838/738700806141952000/how-aborted-genocide-affects-the-mettaton-neo?source=share This post goes more in detail on other aspects and Is generally just really interesting. But what I want to point out is what this means for Spamton Neo. By this logic, Spamton ALSO uses the visage of an Angel. Just for funnies, lets compare sprites too!

I know im using fan made content again but after UTY, that really isn't too bad I think, especially for a more for fun exploration like this. Speaking of fan made content, lets see where that sprite came from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkDjXdp2Ayc&t=69s

Notice how it only uses the first part of the loop, it doesn't go on and doesn't continue Power of Neo fully. It doesn't have the full meaning of Mettaton's heroic sacrifice to help people, as instead of an Angel to save the Underground, Spamton is that Angel of Death in Undertale's prophecy (in the Snowgrave route anyway). Like Mettaton, Spamton also uses the visage of an Angel to achieve a goal, but no matter what route it is its a dark perversion of Mettaton's goals. Mettaton wanted to inspire the Underground and achieve his dreams, trying to stall and kill Frisk to either save them from Asgore, or save the survivors from You. Spamton wanted his freedom and attacks and tries to kill Kris for their soul so he can be free. He also assists in the Snowgrave route, being an accomplice to many many deaths for 15 minutes of fame. This idea is more properly conveyed in the last parts of Big Shot with the use of Power of Neo. Oh yeah this was a Mettaton analysis whoopsie Ok so I know this was a Mettaton Neo thing at the start but man I just wanted to gush and gush about Mettaton cuz man I really can't get enough of him. He's the only one of two characters in Undertale to directly have connections with the Angel prophecy when it isn't just the Delta Rune itself, he inadvertantly saved the Underground because he's what made Alphys get the Royal Scientist posi--OH WAIT YEAH THATS SOMETHING I CAN TALK ABOUT OK SO SIDE TANGENT METTATON UNINTENTIONALLY SAVED THE UNDERGROUND AND I FIND THAT REALLY REALLY COOL! Because Alphys used Mettaton as a project to show to Asgore to become the Royal Scientist, this let Alphys work on the amalgamates and also create Flowey. Without Flowey, the barrier wouldn't have broken and no one would have been freed. Yes I know this isn't all solid since Mettaton didn't somehow cause 6 random kids fall down but you get the idea. Mettaton transitioning saved the world totally I NEED MORE METTATON AUS GRHEYCGDHWUDYGHJWYDH IM GOING TO GO FERAL!!! HE'S NEEDS IT AHHHHHHH!! Ts!Underswap is honestly amazing for Mettaton. I mean Mettacrit. He doesn't get his JoJo body, but is that going to stop him? OF COURSE NOT!

HE'S METTACRIT! AIN'T NO ONE STOPPING HIS DREAMS! He's also a wonderful little gist of Mettaton's whole character, just get rid of Alphys (sadly). Someone who wants to achieve their dreams, wanting to share the love and kindness around, with of course the sassy show stealing charm he needs.

But what if that wasn't so easy

SURPRISE! UNDERFELL TOO! We got the whole holy trinity of Undertale au's, specificallyyyyy

I MAY BE READING TOO FAR INTO THIS BUT I LOVE METTATON GAMMA SO MUCHHHH Its still our same ol Mettaton, but now his dreams are falling on deaf ears. He's Spamton in nature instead of Fabulous. Everyone is violent and blood hungry, so a simple cooking show with a touch of murder won't be enough, or another beautiful rendition of Oh My Love~! Its clear (to me anyway) that Mettaton in this au is nowhere near as big a star as he is in the normal Undertale continuity. In his intro monologue he brags about the audience he brought in, and during the fight he's much more focused on what the Audience wants rather than the show HE wants. Something OUR Mettaton just wouldn't do. This is the same sexy rectangle who basically just broadcasts whatever he wants. I forgot the exact dialogue and screenshot but its just not something Undertale Mettaton really does. Underfell though? A different story. He's bound to his viewers in a bad way till Frisk comes along. He's even more bound to Alphys in this AU as her little science fair project. GOD I LOVE THIS GAME ITS WHAT I'D WANT FROM AN ACTUAL UNDERFELL GAME! Oh my god I haven't even talked about Deltarune Mettaton and Mike and how that works OK SO THIS IS ENTERING MY PERSONAL FANON BUT Y'know how Spamton and Mettaton have their parallels? Y'know how the internet has been down in Deltarune?

Chapter 3's dark world is definitely TV themed, there's no way it can't. I know Tenna is the big TV related baddie now, but Im using Mike in this take. If Spamton is the more passive parallel to Mettaton, Mike in this chapter 3 take would be the darker direct parallel. Instead of the dreamer from humble beginnings who, even if he can be vain and self centered at times, still means well deep down like Mettaton is, Mike would be the cynical producer type who's fueling problems in the industry to make it big on top. A dark Mettaton if you will. Basically like this

https://www.tumblr.com/paintedhen/703948707502145536/determinators-determinators-mettaton-has?source=share

WHICH SIDE NOTE METTATON IN DELTARUNE IS DEPRESSING IM SO SORRY FOR HIM

https://www.tumblr.com/everysongineverykey/691083816166686720?source=share

I KNOW I KEEP LINKING OTHER POSTS BUT ITS NOT MY FAULT EVERYONE IS COOKING! GRAHHH Mettaton's such a character man. He makes me think lots of things and I wish I could gather my thoughts more clearly

[bobbinalong]

thinking about jon and clothes. like, he comes home and none of his clothes fit and his parents look like they're about to cry and he's like: i mean, it's been years, i didn't think they'd still fit, and clark excuses himself but jon can still hear him cry and lois immediately grabs him to get him a whole new closet and they start to clean his old stuff out, his year old stuff, his week old stuff, and lois lingers on a shirt because she knows it was his favourite and he remembers, too, when he looks over, and it kills them all a little bit, and maybe they don't have to throw it out, maybe they can just ... leave it here for now. all the clothes. leave them in his room. and he folds them and they're so small and he used to be so small, he forgets that sometimes, and in the hall stands a pair of flickering light up sneakers that don't fit anymore and it reminds him more than anything how much time has passed. how little time has passed. these used to fit him. this room, these clothes, this all used to fit him. and now he sits surrounded by clothes he barely remembers with parents who startle at the sight of him and he's lost and he doesn't fit, nothing fits anymore and. anyway. my point is clark gets that boy some light up sneakers and ma kent knits him a sweater just like the one he's outgrown and he sleeps in his parents' room for a month, because it's nice to be held again. it's nice to hold him

[mythicalwatch101]

HELLO. I AM HERE TO TALK ABOUT KROMER/CANTO 3

kromie is one of my Favorite characters Of All Time and if i see one more person horribly misinterpret her & her story & her motivations i am for real going to distort

FIRST AND FOREMOST

CANTO 3 ISN'T ABOUT ABLEISM

(it's not about racism either. she's not "cyborg racist". god damn it.)

canto 3 is about

religious extremism & societal pressure

PROSTHETICS IN THE CITY ≠ DISABILITY

prosthetics in the pm world are pretty obviously NOT the same as prosthetics in our world, and using them to point towards kromer being ableist is one of the weakest arguments i have ever seen in my entire life. give me ONE piece of evidence of kromer being ableist that doesn't mention prosthetics i fucking dare you

look at that. it's not about needing a missing arm replaced, or legs that you can walk on; it's about doing away with all of the inefficiencies of a flesh and blood body. you can get so much more work done if you don't need to eat or sleep!

unfortunately, there are many ways to be ableist and if she truly was, to the point where it was an important part of her character with an entire canto centered around it (like hating pm-prosthetics is), then i feel like maybe

just maybe

she would express this in other ways

that don’t involve slaughtering people that just happen to be made of metal.

just a thought.

which brings me to my next point

Prosthetics in the City are about class and money and the societal pressure i mentioned earlier

UNNECESSARY PRESSURE TO CONFORM TO THE AESTHETIC

WORTHLESS SURGERIES THAT POOR PEOPLE CAN’T AFFORD AND YET FEEL THE NEED TO GET ANYWAY

SINCLAIR’S BODILY AUTONOMY BEING STRIPPED AWAY FROM HIM SO THAT HE MATCHES HIS FAMILY

sinclair's family even turned their DOG into a robot for god's sake

it's a fad! it's cool to turn yourself into a robot! it's the new thing everyone is doing, so now you have to do it too to fit in with everyone else! even sinclair himself acknowledges this when talking about his family

also adding a ruina screenshot from this post i saw a while ago that i think you all should read

was hesitant to include it because i wanted to make my point without dragging ruina into this, to prove that you don't NEED the context from ruina to understand kromer's beliefs and motivations, but like. look at this. what the fuck.

"adjust emotions" "completely shut off desires" look me in the eyes and tell me this has ANYTHING to do with disability. i dare you. this is some rich people shit

prosthetics are a LUXURY for some, and a TOOL for others; something for rich people to enjoy, and for poor people to either get a shitty version of, or to sell their soul to afford, so that they can survive in the capitalist's dream world! kind of reminds me of cars, actually

(the extra info abt prosthetics from ruina helps, but as someone who has mostly only played limbus & doesn’t have the full context of the other games, it’s obvious even to me that they're not a disability thing)

in conclusion;

kromer is not ableist

she just really really really likes flesh and is super weird about it

to paraphrase/add to something someone said in that post i linked earlier: the district has an "ideal form" for the human body, and kromer has an "ideal form" for the human body, but these "ideal forms" are not the same

she prefers the human body the way it is, and when she sees this "ideal form" that's like the exact opposite of HER "ideal form" starting to take over, she resorts to being a violent bloodthirsty cult leader about it because she sucks ass and is incapable of being normal

she is a bad person and you are allowed to hate her ofc but please for the love of god hate her for something she’s actually done. stop making shit up

[bumblingbabooshka]

Trying to pull together my thoughts about missing family and Vulcan bonds vis a vis Tuvok

Married Vulcans seem to be joined together telepathically in some manner: “Parted from me and never parted. Never and always touching and touched” These words, as well as being hopelessly romantic and making my damn heart ache;  Seem to imply that Vulcans have a constant awareness of/closeness with their spouse and I would assume a facet of that closeness would extend towards their children.  Thinking about Tuvok specifically we know he loves his wife and children, even though he wouldn’t describe it that way. We also know that his love for them is not seen as something to be ashamed of, it’s not an emotion - they’re part of his identity and he’s not complete without them. I wonder if without his wife and children, Tuvok is different. We only really see him/get to know him while within the delta quadrant. I wonder if there are small changes to him because of the loss of his family. I’m sure if I were a person who was constantly sharing my thoughts with another person for years I would grow in tandem with that person and they would be like a part of me. Like Inosculation. I’m sure it would be strange to be so incredibly alone all at once. Tuvok and T’Pel existed together, with one as an integral part of the other for decades and now Tuvok is utterly alone - not just physically but like...he’s now a singular person. Which I’m sure is brand new. It’s not just immediate family - Vulcans are implied to be connected to all other Vulcans through some distant psychic link web. I’ve heard people talk about an episode where a ship of Vulcans die and Spock[?] feels it. So I’m sure that even before Tuvok was married/had children he had these bonds. To his parents and also all Vulcans. And all of that’s just gone in the delta quadrant. Vulcans seem to put a lot of emphasis on family and pride. When you do something unfortunate you reflect poorly on your family and it’s a problem. I wonder if that’s in some part due to their bonds. Like, for a human it’s not like you can control your daughter at a certain point. She’s fully her own person but maybe Vulcans are never fully their own person - you’re always an extension of your family and by extension of them - All of Vulcan. So when you look at something it’s not just you, so many eyes are looking at it. And I don’t mean literally that when Tuvok looked at something all of his family were also looking at it but more in the sense that he had access to them and knew them. It’s sort of an alien idea so it’s hard to explain but I hope I sort of got close with my illustration. If you’re painting something you have a palette of colors at the ready. You may only use two or three but you have more than that. You always have access to more, you always have the option to use more. Even if you decide not to, it’s there and you can imagine what that color would look like on the canvas. Before every step of the painting you’d be able to look at the pallette and go “Hmm no not red, not green....maybe if I mix these two...no, what about...?” In the Delta quadrant Tuvok only has his own color. I’m sure in the beginning he can remember what his family’s colors were and how they might look but over time wouldn’t those senses dull? Wouldn’t those colors fade, unable to be replenished? If you only have one color, over time you won’t be able to properly imagine what other colors might look like. Over time you probably wouldn’t even consider it. In Tuvok’s pon farr episode he implies that he remembers what T’Pel looks like to the exact measurement of her features. I wonder if he goes over his family’s faces in his head - clinging tightly to facts and numbers as more elusive things like voices and colors fade.  “[My family is] part of my identity and I am...incomplete without them.” And faced with both this and 70 years I wonder if Tuvok strives to find a new “complete” on his own or if he’s resigned himself to being incomplete - and if he does I know he’d do it for the same reason he’d rather die than be with another woman during his pon farr - love. Perhaps (by nature of being Vulcan) being complete again, to be fully at peace would be to stop missing them. It would be the logical thing to do of course, but, like sleeping with another woman - Tuvok wouldn’t. Because he’s loyal to what and whom he loves. Even if that love is going to manifest as lack for the next seventy years, he’ll hold onto that lack. Just like he was prepared to die T’Pel’s husband, utterly each other’s until the end.

[samuraijackpostdump]

sometimes I wonder what the fuck Genndy was thinking with Jack and his mother’s robes. I don’t even know where he got the idea for plain white kimono, considering that’s not really something in any samurai movies and such. The thing that’s especially amusing to anyone who knows abt traditional Japanese clothing is that. that’s essentially long Johns or a slip. It’s the underwear of the actual kimono and is sometimes a sleep dress. I think I know of one Japanese media where a plain white kimono is used as an actual public presenting outfit, and it’s Okami where Kushi wears one as the sacrificial offering. (hold on, getting to that.) If he wanted it to be an actual training gi, for one it doesn’t make sense that his mother is wearing the exact same thing, and two, it’s not a single layer kimono. anything samurai wore was not a single robe— the kimono shirt was double layered (with the white juban underneath normally) and the hakama pants were pants, not an open robe, despite often looking like a dress to outsiders bc of how flowing and wide they are. A gi looks even less like Jack’s robe— think of the white karate outfits. That’s a gi. For Iaido and Kendo and such the training clothing does tend to be the kimono shirt and hakama, but it’s not white on white, and I don’t know that it would be called a gi like the type worn for judo and such. I just wonder where the hell Genndy got the idea of Jack just essentially wearing underwear all the time lmao. I DO understand why he chose white, he wanted the contrast between Jack and Aku, but choosing a single layer plain white robe, beyond just for the sake of simplicity in animation, is the thing that surprises me. (Not in a negative way, just that I wonder where it came from). I have to wonder what people watching in Japan thought of Jack wearing that. No one seems to feel strongly enough to comment, and I believe part of that is just suspension of disbelief and Samurai Jack being such a simplistic cartoon in its displays that it’s kind of easy to ignore, but there have to be times ppl wonder why he’s wearing that lol. Especially bc Genndy KNOWS the proper attire, evidenced by the clothes he puts on Jack’s father in both the opening scenes and Birth of Evil.

I highly doubt this much thought was put into Jack’s clothing, but I do like to think that the reason Jack wears such a shockingly minimal and unarmored outfit is because of his function as the one meant to defeat Aku. Going back to the mention of Kushi in Okami, she wears those clothes bc she is meant to be the “pure, innocent, sacrificial offering”. The robe is not unlike those worn in Shinto purification rituals, or robes worn by Buddhist priests. Tying that in with Jack, I believe the reason Jack wears what he does is because he is meant to be similar. Jack is an offering from his parents, giving up their son to be the nameless warrior in order to defeat Aku for good. They want him to be the antithesis to everything that Aku is, so Jack wears robes meant for purification and to an extent representing sacrifice, a simple, genderless and unadorned kimono very uncharacteristic of the Emperor’s son, because as long as Aku lives, that title is not his. Jack wears that robe because he is meant to be the pure, innocent, forged and powerful sacrificial challenger to defeat Aku, or die trying.

As for Jack’s mother, part of me wonders if she had connections to the monks she stays with in the opening, and therefore from the moment she and the emperor decided on their son being the backup plan in case Aku returned, she was preparing both herself and him in her own way. (That’s the best explanation I can think of bc all things considered his mother should have been wearing some very heavy and ornate court Kimono. Maybe she and the emperor just weren’t into the style lmao.) edit: she DOES wear what looks like a simplified layered kimono in a few scenes, but the ones where she’s with her son, like the opening and I think the scene where she’s making a straw hat, she’s usually wearing a white robe.

[lindirs-gaze]

i'm sure someone has said this more articulately than me but i feel like a lot of the people who defend AI art genuinely don't understand what AI can do. i won't pretend that I fully understand. it's like the way people compared the first cars to "carts with no horse"; it allowed them to understand the automobile but that is in no way an accurate description of what a car is capable of, especially nowadays.

i don't like the argument that it's fine for AI to "learn from artists and writers because that's what people do" because that isn't accurate at all. the human brain isn't capable of doing what an AI does. human brains are not capable of synthesizing tens of thousands of images in a fraction of a second and mashing that into whatever parameters have been set. there's no organic creative process. AI is not a person. it doesn't feel or make its own decisions. it's a bunch of lines of code with no intrinsic values or unique perspectives beyond the parameters that an actual human has to set.

i think there's something to the conversation about accessibility and what AI can do for people with disabilities. but you can't ignore the ethical problems with how AI models are being used today. where are these companies getting the physical materials for their computing hardware? they're not ethically sourced, i can tell you that. who's training these models in the first place? are they getting paid fair wages? (no. the answer is no.) AI just isn't ethical on the back end, and i disagree with people who say the material it produces is going to be some benefit to society.

it just makes me mad because i never consented to having my data scraped. i work really hard as a writer and it makes me feel disposable and unappreciated to see people produce paragraphs of text with the click of a button. sometimes you have to work hard to make things. it's good to work hard. i genuinely don't feel that there's a need for AI in creative mediums. i certainly don't want it here.

[iamyelling]

ranting about the state of the "job market" and "the economy" to my dad over text today, here's what i said basically:

so i remembered seeing that a bunch more people got laid off in the games industry and i looked it up today and found that 8,100+ people have been laid off just in 2024 so far.

what are these 8100 people going to do? that’s a lot of people! like lol are there other industries that are willing to hire people with totally different experience backgrounds? no, because every job has hundreds of applicants, so they can pick someone who does have experience in whatever that hiring company does. i mean, i don’t know that much about games world, but it seems like .. bad !

like are these unity engineers going to fix the hiring and staffing crisis in healthcare and education and childcare??? that’s the way people talk about things, the job market, “the economy”. they’re like oh well layoffs are ok bc there are sectors that can’t find anyone to work! and it’s like… you’re going way to vague. these are totally different people with completely different education and career history and experience and resumes!

do the Big People In Charge seriously think it’s all the same workers? like that it’s totally interchangeable exchangeable? it feels like.. on a whole other level of out of touch to me. i just. the degree of complete overhaul of how the entire system works, from education to hiring practices and norms to training would need to be. so out there as to be unthinkable and impossible

i saw a headline recently that was saying that "underemployment is good news for staffing shortages", or something very similar to that. it made me so mad when i saw it a few days ago i scrolled away without clicking. i can't find the article now, which is a bummer.

When an industry is ~strong or growing, layoffs or shutdown in a portion aren’t as rough - there are other jobs. But it seems today nobody is hiring so this is different than other eras.

i’m like oh i’d be happy to do all sorts of work! but i have the wrong experience so im not even gonna apply. they’re desperate for workers, but they need someone with very particular experience and qualifications and certifications and education and the pay is low and the working conditions very unpleasant. it’s a huge disconnect. Many companies have no idea how to find, recruit and hire people. They are so unsure that they don’t make decisions or make bad decisions.

like, there’s no “childcare certification bootcamps” lol. no “education cert courses” or if there are it’s not public knowledge. but they’re not getting people trained to get into the field, they’re just asking magical perfect workers to pop up into their inboxes out of nowhere. and all for $20/hr! lol!

it’s apples to oranges. there’s hella tech workers! soooo many! lots of office workers! but how are we going to get these people to fill all the vacancies in totally different industries? is it even realistic to expect people to shift like that? the expectations and standards are extremely high and there’s no room for error or imperfection. the trades and blue collar is staaarting to do training and certs and education courses

all the companies are cutting their workforce. there is now a pool of thousands of extra workers with no openings for them in their field but! there are openings in different fields

my question is how do people expect that gap to be bridged? people need work, desperately. certain industries are in crisis. essential industries! but the pool of unemployed is not matched to those jobs there’s thousands probably a million other people like me. with office job experience and education and qualifications, looking for office jobs. and there’s a million job openings for completely different work. like in schools, hospitals, construction and trades, childcare, food and dining, infrastructure. plus the money isn’t there, so those positions are lower pay, less cushy, also require certain certifications and education and qualifications and abilities, and they’ve been in crisis and understaffed for ages so the shifts are long, the schedules are chaotic, and management is toxic.

i guess my hot take is, if these places really want workers, they should hire laid off office workers and just set up on-the-job training. it’s that simple. people need to eat and pay rent and pay for their kids and things. just do paid training. not free, not scholarship, not low-cost. just hire and train for the first couple months or however long

[gurlbur]

gurlburs long winded L.N. rant (the fandom is rising from the dead so you KNOW I had to make this post)

I fucking hate 90% of little nightmares fans because none of them understand the game. I understand it is up to interpretation for the most part but there's also a lot of complex themes and stories going on you can't conclude your stupid fucking game theory with "So that's why this 6 year old girl should be tried and hung."

Did the overwhelming theme of evil capitalism not get through to you?

Did the themes of generational trauma not make it through your thick skull?

Did the game wringing your neck and pleading with you to not blame these children for the way things are just not compute?

Because they ARE children. They are children who are in INSANELY traumatic situations but no one is ready to talk about that yet. But its true, they're traumatized, and starved, and lonely, and scared, and the things around them don't make sense, and the things around them are big and scary.

They won't make logical choices because they are traumatized children trying to survive. Why did Six drop Mono? I dunno but I can assure you its not because Six is an evil monster who wants the time-loop to keep going. And it also wasn't because Mono was an irredeemable monster who was destined to kill her no matter what.

AND AGAIN, DESPITE THE CONSTANT HORRORS THEY WITNESS

they're still children, they still have compassion and love for each other. R.K. gave Six food (even if he did get eaten in the end) Six still helped mono up all those times, LITTLE NIGHTMARES TWO WAS FOCUSED AROUND MONO AND SIX'S FRIENDSHIP. And L.N. 3 is about Low and Alones friendship.

These are children who get distracted by wooden toy blocks and little model trains, these are children who throw around paper airplanes and hold each others hands, these are children who braid flowers into their hair and wear bags on their heads, these are children who wear smeared makeup, these are children who wear silly hats, these are children!!!

please stop treating these kids who aren't even close to having fully developed brains like full grown adults who have all the information the audience does!

[jonahsimmsmybeloved]

cali pt. 2 is honestly so devastating because i cant even be mad at jonah or amy for what happened. They are both completely valid in their concerns

Amy feels like she could be rushing things the way she did with her previous marriage and that is completely understandable and makes total sense. of course if the last time you got married it ended badly you would feel like you could just be doing the whole thing over again. she's not a bad person for feeling this way and its just gutwrenching

and then jonah is uprooting his whole life to make this move, so obviously knowing that amy was getting cold feet would make him feel like hes not appreciated and hes doing this all for nothing, for someone who doesnt really care

and what makes it even worse is that they are both also coming from a place of deep love for each other.

Amy knows how unhappy her marriage was and how the divorce affected her, adam, and emma. of course she would never want that for jonah (and parker too). She loves him so much and is always seeing the good in him; her telling Jonah how she feels is an expression of that. She sees herself as the bad person in this situation for having second thoughts and stringing Jonah along(or at least thats probably how she feels). But the thing is shes not, and Jonah is in the same position as her.

Jonah loves Amy so, so much and he would never want her to feel stuck the way she was when she was with Adam. Knowing how Amy is feeling rushed, then Jonah feels like hes the bad person in this situation because hes holding her back.

it's just... they both love each other so much, which is partially why they even made the decisions they did. And the personal reasons they separate are completely valid and understandable, so its impossible to be truly mad at either one of them.

the hurt feelings on both sides of this situation and the incredibly strong underlying love is what makes the breakup so unbelievably devastating. both Jonah and Amy have undeniable concerns, and it just makes the whole situation feel so helpless, even though you know they love each other so much.

[neos-schlond-poofa]

Garrance: How to Save a Life

I live laugh love Garrance and I once edited the first part. And ever since like one day, I listened to How to Save a Life by The Fray and went "omg..." AND WAS LIKE THATS THEM!! It was actually in like 2021 and it was me imagining if I had artistic talent and making a general MCD edit of it but slowly its turned into a predominantly Garrance theme song for me and like. I NEED TO SPREAD THIS AGENDA!! Just a heads up, its 1am for me rn, I don't remember everything the clearest, and I'm literally just rambling so it wont be too organized or have consistent grammar or writing styles. ANYWHO cue the music

Step one, you say we need to talk He walks, you say, "Sit down, it's just a talk" He smiles politely back at you You stare politely right on through Some sort of window to your right As he goes left and you stay right Between the lines of fear and blame You begin to wonder why you came OKAY SO LIKE THIS WHOLE FIRST PART I always envision it as late season 1 Garrance. Specifically when Garroth had his depressive episode (WHICH BY THE WAY GUYS WAS NOT HIM BEING AN INCEL!! IT WAS HIM BEING DEPRESSED AND MANIPULATED AND MOST LIKELY BRAINWASHED STOP VILLAINIZING HIM). Laurance did try to talk to him in that one episode, and it obviously didn't work. Laurance CARES about Garroth, like thats obviously super clear, and to see someone close to him randomly go into hiding and act all depressed is scary to him. And then... THE WINDOW TO YOUR RIGHT IS QUITE LITERALLY THE PORTAL TO THE IRENE DIMENSION!! Garroth goes left (to Zane) and Laurance stays right (to Aphmau). THE LINES OF FEAR AND BLAME? Laurance finds out that Garroth was tricked. He's scared of Garroth rn because he's literally insane but he blames himself too, not just for being part of the illusion that made Garroth become like this, but also because he wasn't there to help him out more maybe. He could've saved him, but he couldn't, and it still plagues him especially after he escapes the Irene Dimension. Garroth is all alone there with his brother who wants to kill him.

Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend Somewhere along in the bitterness And I would have stayed up with you all night Had I known how to save a life Yes this continues with the last part. But Laurance lost a friend here. Like. Not just by Garroth betraying them, but by him getting stuck in a dimension thats practically torture. And the bitterness? ITS THE BITTERNESS GARROTH WAS LOST IN!!! Laurance would stay up with Garroth all night... but he didn't know how to save a life.

Let him know that you know best 'Cause after all, you do know best Try to slip past his defense Without granting innocence Lay down a list of what is wrong The things you've told him all along And pray to God He hears you And I pray to God He hears you, and Alright this is were a lot more interpretation comes in because once Garroth returns, they interact like... TWICE??? The scene were Laurance goes out of character and hates on Aaron (although he had a point) and when he finally saw Garroth again but Aph was dressed as Zane. I also don't remember the ending of Season 2 that much; most of my strongest memories of MCD is Season 1. So like. Bear with me here. But this is Garroth to Laurance now. Laurance is now going insane. The calling (whatever that is because it is so unclear) is well... calling to Laurance. To me, Laurance's mental health is literally just spiraling. And Garroth, someone who has had his fair share of mental health struggles, wants to help. He knows best; he knows to talk to people, he knows the dark paths it can bring people. He's trying to get through to Laurance and telling him whats wrong, how he can help. But of course, in this situation, Laurance can't listen. He can't hear Garroth, and Garroth's close connection with the religion in MCD is a bonus for the final lines too.

Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend Somewhere along in the bitterness And I would have stayed up with you all night Had I known how to save a life Of course the chorus is back because I have to explain this perspective too. By now, I imagine Laurance has left. Garroth feels guilty; someone who helped keep Aphmau together while he was gone and someone he loved. This is really simple but like, I can't skip over this.

As he begins to raise his voice You lower yours and grant him one last choice Drive until you lose the road Or break with the ones you've followed He will do one of two things He will admit to everything Or he'll say he's just not the same And you'll begin to wonder why you came AND NOW THIS IS BOTH PERSPECTIVES!! It shows the parallels between their own journeys. Let's start with Garroth, since we have more stuff on him. Garroth was very defensive during his depressive episode and during the final episode of season 1, he has one final choice. Go with Zane, or come to his senses. And he does admit to everything, but at first, he said he's just not the same. BECAUSE HE WASN'T!! HE WAS SAD AND MANIPULATED. But for Laurance, he would also be defensive about this. His own self will is being stripped from himself because of weird Nether laws and he's spiraling. Garroth tries to help... but he simply can't. There is nothing he can do. OR MAYBE THERE IS?? Idk this is kind of just in my mcd rewrite universe and i like to imagine theres some way Laurance does get better but at the same time realistically... would he?? The nether is like so strong. Like how would he do that. But he does have a choice: either go to the Nether, or stay with his group. He can either admit it's hard, or he's just changed and leave. And now the final chorus and everything plays and its kind of the same as before... ive gotten increasingly more eepy during this writing and I hope my rambling style got my ideas across because this song literally got in my top 5 spotify wrapped because i kept imagining garrance angst to it. its so them god one day i need to share stuff about my rewrite. theres so much random stuff i have in there and this song is really important to it. i just like. GARRANCE RAHHH. my former interpretations of this song also had an aphmau perspective, which does entirely work; like. imagine the final verses is mirroring her own experiences with garroth AND laurance. i love garrancemau (SHE HAS TWO HANDS!! ignore how i also ship her with two more people too she can just hug them all at once) but i cant put it into this song as much as i used to because its so garrance. theyre so ugh i love my sad little gay men!! anyways toodles my rant here is done

[easydoesit-rn]

I don't know if the woman that raised me loves me or hates me.

I think she doesn't knows either.