#glory rant

[kdramacrybaby]

Now that it’s over, I’m not really sure what to say. I feel like the drama speaks for itself.

I guess one thing I want to point out that I liked, was how, in the end, Dong-eun didn’t actually have to do too much to get her revenge. She worked her ass off to get the pieces where she wanted them on her chess table (i should probably say go table) and then all she had to do was to watch them tear each other apart.

Because she knew them better than they ever knew themselves, their innermost thoughts and weaknesses. Press one button and everything blows up. She calls herself a bad person, and some things she did were definitely not good, but ultimately they did all the dirty work for her.

They never changed, never regretted anything they did in their past. In the end, it came back to haunt them with a vengence they had never predicted.

Dong-eun was only able to fully win when she learned to trust the people around her. They trusted no one but themselves. And so they lost.

I don’t know where I’m going with this thought, so I’ll probably just end it there.

What a drama.

[danderling]

Sum wings of fire art!!!!

Oh god can I just say- (wof spoilers)

Arc 2 could have been PERFECT but from what I remember it got way out of hand imo

Take this with a grain of salt and a mountain of cluelessness btw… going off of what I remember in the book series I haven’t reread it in forever

MoonWatcher was such a peak character in book 5 I loved her so much and I used to associate myself with her because of her personality but then book 6 happened and….. idk it wasn’t the same

It’s not that she became a horrible bland character I think I just lost that connection with her since she sort of became more soulless to me,,,,, the love triangle also kind of bothered me but I moved past it because I love all three characters

Anyways live laugh love arc 2 protags we miss you Carnelian you would have hated Skibidi toilet

[icecreamsodaaaaa]

Thoughts on different dragons having cultures and different languages?

[incorporeal-entity]

I want to talk about Kestrel because yeah she is an awful dragon but that's just surface level talk. Now I want to make it clear here I am not defending her actions as they are reprehensible I am just analyzing her character. I genuinely believe that the reason why she is so abusive and horrible is because she lost her dragonets. Scarlet made her kill one of her dragonets just to escape with one so she chose the weakest one with no fire (sky) only for Scarlet to try and take her other dragonet Peril. Kestrel tried to escape with her but because of Peril's firescales she is too hot to escape with and Kestrel had to leave her behind with Scarlet.

It's why she treats the DoD so horribly instead of raising her own dragonets she stuck raising these dragons from different tribes she has no relation to. The DoD will never be able to live up to Kestrels expectations not just because they aren't skywings but because they aren't her dragonets all Kestrel could care less about well being as long as they can fulfill the prophecy. I also think the reason why Kestrel treats Glory the worst is because she was the replacement for the busted skywing egg. That skywing egg would have hatched a skywing that would have served as a replacement for her lost dragonets but instead of getting a skywing they get a rainwing.

It's why she hates Glory the most of all that skywing eggs was basically her last chance to be a normal parent to a skywing but it hit squashed. Replaced by a stupid and lazy rainwing among stupid and weak dragonets she has to raise for the prophecy. She so desperately wants to raise her kids or at the very least a skywing that the DoD and especially Glory will never live up to her expectations of raising her own dragonets. No matter what they do no matter how hard the DoD will try they will never be good enough for Kestrel because what Kestrel wants is her own dragonets (I also wouldn't be surprised that her having a skywing supremacy mindset also lead to her mistreatment of the DoD). It's why when she figures out when Peril is still alive her tone changes she isn't as harsh to her as she is to the DoD just because Peril is actually hers.

This is where her mistakes come into play where her own actions come back to haunt her. Because the DoD will hate her because of all the abuse she has caused them but since Peril is close with Clay and the rest of the DoD if Peril ever figured out how Kestrel treated them she would hate Kestrel too. Why would she like Kestrel who abused the DoD ever since they were children especially since Peril was also an abusive victim with Scarlet how could she ever trust Kestrel knowing she would basically just be another Scarlet in the way she treats her. Same thing with Sky to.

I know a lot of people get mad at the idea of a Kestrel "redemption arc" if she lived and yeah I get it because the way some people paint is that the DoD and everyone she abused forgives her which is very icky. The way it would realistically go is that the DoD and her children would hate her guts they wouldn't want anything to do with her. Nothing she does will ever be able make up for the abuse she has caused and she wouldn't be able to repair her image amongst the DoD or Peril and Sky and they will never like or love her back. In the off chance she somehow managed to make new friends (very unlikely but not completely off the table dragons are notoriously shit parents) she would have to live the rest of her life knowing that her own children hate her and want nothing to do with her. She will die alone and with no one by her side and if you ask me that's a more deserving punishment, living your life knowing your actions ruined everything and dying alone instead of dying before you can see the consequences of your actions and understanding how your horrible actions were your own downfall.

[yannaryartside]

Did Carmy took advantage of Sydney (being in the bear)?

I am gonna be brief for once, and it may sound cruel to Carmy, because I know he is not manipulative at heart, but let me just say this:

There is no way in hell, nor timeline or universe, where Carmy would have been as absent of the Bear as he was (due to Claire) if Sydney was not working for him.

Who the fuck was gonna be able to do all the things that he was supposed to do? Nobody else understand the inner logistics of a restaurant, Nat is smart but she would not be able to talk to vendors, Richie would not be able to hire all staff, specially the kitchen staff. Literally nobody else knows this shit the way Carmy and Sydney do.

Carmy may have been desperate for the relationship Claire gave him, but he is not stupid. And he is still in this position where the knows this is Sydney most desperate attempt in the industry, she works for him. And more than anything, he knows she is honest and reliable. I think very deep inside of him, he knew she will cover for him. Maybe he believes they are friends and he will compensate her in other ways, maybe the mistakes he made in handling his responsibilities accumulated as a snow ball effect and he was waiting to pick up by magic or luck and everything will be okay between them…and yet, I think more times than he would like to admit, he just prayed to heavens in thanks for Sydney being in the Bear, and thought it was somehow okay. He left her in the dark about the menu and other important aspects (vendors/naptins/how the fuck hire personal, and those are the ones that come to mind now) so many times, and again, he is not stupid. Is this one of the instances when he thought she would do better without your interference? Or he just assumed she would figure, because that’s what’s it’s expected of her, as his cdc? The more you think about it the more space there is for something really messed up. You either still carry very toxic perspectives on the culinary world and “paying her dues” still, or you are really emotionally immature (like we know you are) but to the point to not clearly set expectations with your partner because you don’t want to look bad in front of her? I am going to vote for the later with a little bit of the former.

[spearxwind]

sea of thieves rly was like. we are delaying the tenth season soo much its gonna be soooo good you guys <33 and dropping hints for more hunters call content and then the reveal drops and its just guilds. in the year of our lord 2023 (and one more mid world event i guess. coming a month after that but initially planned to be the one thing in season 11. and also the singleplayer mode coming in on december so two months into the "season")

[animazed]

not that anyone cares, but the tumblr logo is back and i just wanted to say THANK GOD.

IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME.

[clydegivestwofucks]

its horrifying how so many people are eating up the fact that the genocide survivor is gonna be played by a literal russian whose nation is conducting a real fucking genocide right now in real fucking world i dont care how pretty she is or how good she is as an actress its making me sick to my stomach just thinking about it

one piece was a part of my life literally for more than half of it and it was always a place for me to grow to reflect and to change my views on some topics and they cast a russian for niko robin??? i wonder if an israeli actress would get similar reactions... oh no wait an actress for dr kureha showed her support for israel and suddenly she's no longer playing dr kureha how neat it is! so what about russians huh? we okay with them now even considering everything that is happening right now?

last night i was scared shitless coz there were fucking kamikaze drones in my neighborhood and thanks god (wrong: thanks zsu) everything is okay but today there were explosions in at least two big cities today and people are fucking dying everyday and we as a society are okay with it?

nah fuck you netflix and fuck everyone of you whos simping for this person

one piece always was about politics and its funny for me to see yall were reading/watching it with your asses

[cienie-isengardu]

MK1's Lin Kuei

I’m trying to figure out something about the current Mortal Kombat, so bear with me here for a moment. Since the MK1 (2023) dropped, there is no doubt that Netherrealm Studio decided to make Lin Kuei the bad guys again, and between Lin Kuei brothers, Bi-Han got the short straw. He is the cold bastard while Kuai Liang the loyal supporter of Liu Kang. Only Tomas arguably could be said to be treated even worse than Bi-Han, as Sub-Zero at least gets his chapter and some focus, while Smoke is sidelined to the point Liu Kang doesn’t even once acknowledge him through story mode.

However, what intrigues me the most about the new version of Lin Kuei is… do the NRS have a fixed idea about the clan's nature or is it a flexible thing, depending on the needs of the storyline? Granted, the expansion story mode is still not released, so I’m basing my wondering mainly on Cyrax Gameplay Trailer here and her criticism about Lin Kuei under Sub-Zero (and Sektor)’s leadership. Those charges included an unseen attack from distance (to Sektor) and attacking Shirai Ryu at Kuai Liang’s wedding (to Sub-Zero)[1]. Cyrax even mentioned that “there are rules”, presumably rules in combat.

Now, Cyrax has a valid reason to question those tactics yet I wonder why the current timeline/characters put so much pressure on honor in regard to Lin Kuei in the first place, when the MK1 itself heavily implied this clan was not made for “honorable fight”.

Let me explain.

Mortal Kombat 1 established that:

Lin Kuei is a centuries old clan and its members were raised in secret to defend Earthrealm.

Members of said clan did not take part in Mortal Kombat, the official and honorable fight one on one - 10 000 years old Kitana asking Bi-Han about the reason for that is the best “evidence” Lin Kuei were excluded from Liu Kang’s Champion, as we can assume she witnessed many tournaments to attest that.

At the same time, Outworld’s prominent figures seem to be fully aware of Lin Kuei’s reputation and its role in protecting Earthrealm. So logically, if Lin Kuei was excluded from Mortal Kombat, those characters needed to either personally face Lin Kuei in battle/fight or heard about their skills.

Lin Kuei took part in battles against vampires and apparently tangled with Kenshi’s ancestors, suggesting Lin Kuei took part in both the external and internal affairs of Earthrealm without revealing themselves for centuries. Presumably on Liu Kang’s orders.

The latest game also gives us insight into Lin Kuei by showing us their missions. The first one was regulated by Liu Kang to test his Champions, thus Bi-Han, Kuai Liang and Tomas were forced to hold back. The second however presented the Lin Kuei infiltrating enemy’s hideout and none of brothers were bothered by attacking from behind (done by Sub-Zero who eliminated one of guards)

nor with killing defeated opponent (as would happen with Shang Tsung if General Shao and his men did now show up in time).

And here is the core of my problem. Why is Cyrax - a Lin Kuei herself - so angry and/or resentful about things that Lin Kuei was doing even as the good guys? Or why is everyone so set on “honor” and “honorable rules” if Lin Kuei weren’t made for that type of battles but to do the dirty job for Liu Kang and Earthrealm’s sake for centuries? Of course Bi-Han is prone to sneak attacks because this is how he was raised - to strike an enemy when the least expected, not to knock on the door and challenge to an honorable one on one duel (and he personally likes testing his skills against powerful opponents). Even Kuai Liang, the "good Lin Kuei" said in intro dialogues that stealth is the only tactic he needs[2].

It sucks that Bi-Han attacked his brother at the wedding and both Kuai Liang and Cyrax have a right to be angry about that, yet from a logical point, this is exactly the best moment to attack. When Bi-Han and Kuai Liang infiltrated the fortress, they did not challenge the sorcerers to fight until they were all alone in the same room. Until that moment, Lin Kuei Grandmaster and his younger brother were both fine to stay in their hidden spot, awaiting the right moment to strike. Same with killing the enemy from behind (guard) or defenseless opponent (as would happen with Shang Tsung). Kuai Liang and Tomas did not blink an eye when Bi-Han eliminated the guard. Scorpion did not protest when Sub-Zero was about to decapitate the unconscious sorcerer - even though Liu Kang told Lin Kuei to capture the man[3].

My point is, Cyrax’s criticism about ambush & sneak attack tactics feels a bit off, considering this is what Lin Kuei were doing as the good guys, presumably for centuries and with full approval of Liu Kang. Now, NRS claiming this is unhonorable and evil makes me wonder is this intentional choice on NRS’s part to bring an interesting nuance to the relationship between Lin Kuei and Liu Kang, or is it just the studio’s oversight and ignorance of their own lore? Because to me it feels ridiculous to establish Lin Kuei first as ninja clan (black ops) and then call them dishonorable for the same thing that benefited Liu Kang/Earthrealm before.

Granted, once the expansion story mode will drop, the fandom will be the most focused on the emotional impact of the conflict between brothers. I do, however, hope the game will include the reason for the flexible “morality” to which Lin Kuei is held.

SIDENOTES:

[1] Cyrax's criticism about attacking Kuai Liang during his wedding may not be about the method itself but the following consequence - not gaining the respect Lin Kuei wanted. So, does Cyrax cares about the sneak attack or more about Lin Kuei's reputation here? (Bi-Han's answer how it is better to be feared than respected also raises a question about NRS' choice, as Sub-Zero was estabilished in first game as someone wanting the recognization for his clan.)

[2] The full mentioned intro dialogue:

Shang Tsung: I could teach you the secrets of shapeshifting. Scorpion: Stealth is the only tactic I need.

[3] Considering Lin Kuei situation during the mission, I assume this is less about Sub-Zero ignoring Fire Lord’s orders and more about him understanding that leaving the fortress with Shang Tsung on his back may not be possible. Thus if he can’t capture the man, he decided to eliminate him for good.

[fazgoo-connoiseur-1987]

I am OBSESSED with the idea of college henry being an antisocial little annoying freak and william being drawn to him like a month to a light. that's the good shit

Oh yeah I love it too. They met at a house party Henry DID NOT want to be at and Will was soooo enamoured by him because he didn't immediatly fall for his 'social trustworty guy :)' facade and was pretty rude to him when he came over to chat. Cus of this Will saw breaking Henry's walls down and earning his trust as a test of his abilities.

This meant that he'd just 'happen' to be at places he knew Henry was gonna be and he was 'conveniently' also into the Robotics Society !! By the time it worked and Henry opened up to him William was hit by such a wave of genuine gay feeling he didn't know what to do about it. Afton played himself into getting really very attached to this weird and unpleasant man and he never ever gets over it.

[achairwithapandaonit]

anywayyyy i loved the toymaker i hope people write gay ass fanfic of him and the doctor

[kdramacrybaby]

Here I am, crying about a woman putting on red lipstick 🥲

[spotlightstudios]

Shout-out to my other English professor who somehow has not interacted with the Percy Jackson series. At all. Completely unaware. Blissfully ignorant.

(And to me who is apparently more mentally ill about the collection than others because I have read every single series by uncle Rick and that is apparently *not* a common theme among the English Majors)

[cult-princess]

you can remove glory box by portishead from tiktok but you can never remove it from my on repeat playlist

and also i can put it on tumblr so fuck you again, tiktok

[merrybandofmurderers]

had some Thoughts on the exalted council

[royalreef]

"Eugh-!!!!"

"Let me expound a tidbit of advice to those of lesser birth — if a royal approaches you and claims that they are not like the rest of their peers due to the fact that they loathe royalty and prefer the company of those without a title to their name, then they are lying to you. They have been lying to you. Anyone with half a notion of sense to them would be able to see such, but as none of you are quite so experienced in the matters of royalty as us, you keep falling for it.

The truth is that every royal loathes the company of their fellow nobles and prefers the company of the lesser-born. Each and every one of them has and will seek to fill the space around themselves with the companionship of those who possess no title, no claim to noble birth, nothing which they could cling to power with. Each and every one of them will posses the bare minimum number of companions with a position similar to their own, and none will tolerate the presence of a title higher than their own if they are not lying about their intentions in the first place.

Kindly think for a moment. I understand this is a tall order, but it really is very simple.

To pass your time with your fellow nobility means that they will be thinking about their position, their duties, their obligations. They do, in fact, have their own motivations, as much as you have your own. And it is a very large risk, should your motivations ever misalign, or if one or the other lies, or if there is some other issue which arises.

There is none of that with the commonfolk. They possess no power over the royals. There is no risk with them. There is no need to guarantee proper behavior. Who would they even contact, if they wanted to use this as blackmail? You can dispose of them as easily as the tide washing away sand if you really need to, or if it entertains you, neither of which is possible with the nobility. You can do whatever you want with them.

Oh yes, I do not doubt you consider them your friends. It can be quite easy to impress, dressing up one of the powerless as special or unique because they have caught your attention. Certainly this lack of danger in every form means that any noble who does does not have to worry about dressing up their own emotions, or behavior, or feelings. It is so very quaint, to have someone to air all your woes to, knowing that this information is useless to them.

And, of course, I am certain that your new royal says that you are special. There is some special connection, some unique relationship the two of you have. I do not doubt that. Assuredly, they will never speak about those who came before you, or what they did with the bodies afterwards. Maybe they might tell you how they used to like someone like you before, and they broke their heart, and how essential your secrecy of this preference-for-the-commoner is. They like it when you are quiet. If you are too loud, then the other royals might hear, and then they might be inspired to do something with this information!

Are you understanding yet? You are disposable. They have all the power and influence and command to dangle over your head, and they prefer it that way. All royals prefer it that way. None of them are special for it. None of them are better than any other for it. If anything, they are far worse. They are taking advantage of you in your powerlessness, and expecting you to thank them for it."