#in a degree of tragedy

[waywardted]

“Sometimes you meet these people in your life and it's not meant to work out, but they change you for the better. Actually sometimes the strongest love can be someone that you never touch. I think it makes it much more powerful."                 - Cristin Milioti on Once

[finalgirlsamwinchester]

was meaning to write a serious and thoughtful meta on this shot as the show's first use of metatextual framing (a story within a story) linking its premise to the war movie as a genre (the show as a fascist gothic work) but yknow what. scratch all of that lmao. the only thought that matters is: the moment you really start thinking about the show as a reactionary post 9/11 power fantasy, you can't stop.

[faaun]

my research partner and i are huddled in a blanket in paddington waiting for a too-late train i already miss you and you and you

[klbzplb]

quick sketch color practice thing

(scene from chapter seven of i am weary with contending! by the amazing @ari--anon . i am not the biggest fan of the drawing but the fic is the best thing i read in my life so. genuinely its so good. its a masterpiece.)

[valeriefauxnom]

A Subtle Running Theme

So, a day or two ago, I had the sudden realization about a theme in Abyss that I'm not sure I've seen addressed: 'getting what you wanted in the past that you no longer want now' and how that might influence the ending. Major Abyss spoilers up ahead!

Take Guy, for instance. He, of course, wanted to kill Luke fon Fabre.

He doesn't any more. He wants Luke to live and live well.

And yet...

Asch dies nearly instantly after he finally declares he intends to accept the 'Luke' identity:

...and then Luke follows in short order, despite his fervent wish to see what was done to his family returned to the Duke's.

Jade's another case.

His original intent when he first started working to create replicas was to use them as replacements for the originals, just as substitute bodies to revive the dead, memories and all. He worked and worked hard to find a way to make this dream come to life, modifying the means by which replicas are made in an effort to increase their stability (by means of switching to 7th fonons as their origin fonon).

Since then, he's moved on to believe that such a thing is just flat out impossible. That the dead do not come back, and that everything he did was a fool's errand.

But then, his 'impossible dream' of the Big Bang suddenly is possible. He gets to see it with Star, the original successfully taking over his replica's body, his mind intact...and now is faced with the prospect of it happening to Luke.

Which, again, is a thing he no longer wants.

Jade, shortly after: ...But this time, I do hope that the answer I’ve produced is incorrect.”

I also quote, from a talk between him and Dist, it's clear that Jade is trying very hard to avoid acknowledging the reality for what it is, that Asch will almost be guaranteed take over Luke's faculties and body in the near future, whilst not trying to appear weak to Dist:

Dist: ...Regardless of what caused his death, we can assume the Big Bang had begun. Jade: ...It may not have begun. Dist: What is that supposed to mean?! You're the one who finalized the theories on perfect isofons! Do you not believe your own research?! The Jade that I knew – Jade the Golden Child – isn't someone who would say something like that. ... Dist: Or is that replica that important to you? More than your best friend, Saphir?! Jade: The dust on the floor has value compared to you. Dist: Listen, Jade. The Contamination Effect cannot be prevented. Even with your talent.

Despite this attempt, Dist recognizes that Jade is not exactly happy with this fact, and tries to console Jade, while displaying his own perspective of 'memories=person' that Jade has moved on from. You know it's bad when Dist is attempting to console Jade in his own warped little way.

What had been his greatest dream is now a worst nightmare: Luke, as confirmed on Eldrant, would have lost his life and mind regardless if he survived the freeing of Lorelei, all to be a backup to the currently-dead Asch.

Hell, I can extend this to Natalia, too. She, in essence, wished for Luke to stop being himself the past seven years. To hurry up and re-become that prince charming she saw in Asch before his 'amnesia'. And soon he will, just as she has started to learn to appreciate Luke for his own merit instead of just being the inferior reflection of Asch.

Luke himself is not immune, either.

Starting at act two, Luke is increasingly depressed. He goes from passively wishing that maybe he ought have died to actively thinking dying would be the best for the world.

Enter Tower of Rem, where he finally decides that he actually wants to live. Lo and behold, it's exactly then the universe then decides to ensure a death in the near future for him via fonon separation. Not just that, but his journey's course leads to a duty that will kill him. Doomed twice over to certain death.

And that's not all. Another struggle he has is determining his own self identity. He finally resolves to want to be his own person, be able to have his own mind and body separate from just being 'Asch's replica' or 'Asch' at all in any capacity. This is a big thing that starts to anger Asch in the ending, as Asch has his own complicated feelings on Luke's independence from him and what it means for his own impending death (that I could and might rant about in another post).

Again, though, even that is possibly contested in the ending.

In short, Jade, Luke, and Guy all got what they wanted at the end of Abyss... just not what they wanted in the present.

---

So, uh, yeah!

I see a lot of arguments that it just has to be Luke in the end, that he's the protagonist and thus is more untouchable/more likely to be revived than less central characters like Asch, and that it would be against Abyss' themes of self-determination to have that mysterious figure be anything other than Luke in body and (complete) soul.

However, with Abyss also consistent in its 'be careful what you wish for' narratives that come back to bite and bite hard the good chunk of the cast, I would argue it's entirely possible to have the ending be but another case of this corruption of past wishes.

[bayesiandragon]

Not sure I care enough to engage with the post, but to read SVSSS + extras and come away with the interpretation that SJ doesn't care about why YQY failed to save him, just that he did fail, and therefore would never forgive him or change his behavior towards him if he learned the truth, feels off-place to me. It seems to lean into the view that SJ doesn't actually care about YQY, just sees him as a useful tool, and thus couldn't be hurt by the supposed abandonment - with that interpretation it would then make sense to think he would neither care nor change his behavior (towards YQY) upon learning what actually happened.

[qsmpbutwithsignlanguage]

quackity used his law school education quite a bit during dsmp lore and i would assume also for the qsmp election. he flexes that law school brain of his, it's just not always done so in a typical court room manner.

You're so right, anon. I just constantly find it hilarious that it only seems to come in handy during Minecraft.

[name-doggo]

One thing I really wish the FF Community would Stop doing is Removing All Nuance from the Parents in Those Stories in order to Make Them Abusive Supervillains who Never Loved their Kid.

Like... In the Four Years I've been here, and for how Small the Community really is, you'd be surprised how many Times I've seen it-

[spirithunter-deathmark]

I definitely think Mary was being genuine whenever she talks to Yashiki about saving the mark bearers and expressing her gratitude for carrying on Saya's wishes

It would be easy to say that oh that was all an act on her part so she could kill Yashiki much easier but by him pacifying all those spirits he makes hos mark weaker no? So if Mary goal's was to get rid of Yashiki why give herself a handicap? If the blue end audio drama is anything to go by with seeing Yashiki get possessed and ultimately get destroyed as a result from it, I'm of the belief that Mary is a good person and probably wants to be a good person, but the nature of being sacrificed to be turned into a doll and that being almost a curse in itself has had the tragic result of warping her into a sinister corrupted version of herself much like the spirits such as Hanayome before her

[philsmeatylegss]

If you claim to be a feminist, you should be outraged by the situation in Sudan.

The lack of gynecological care for nearly two million pregnant people aside as well as little to no access to period products, rape has become a common tool.

Mass rapes happen daily.

Though happening to men too, women and girls are targets at any moment.

That’s not to mention there are not any birth control or STI prevention implemented. Leading to more pregnancy that cannot be given proper medical attention or treatment for STIs.

You may be aware it is a civil war taking place, and there are reports from Sudanese women claiming that soldiers from both sides are perpetrating.

About 1 in 5 are displaced.

The war began only a year ago.

Villages are being looted and burned. Men and boys are killed or kidnapped. Women and girls are attacked and raped. Everyone is starving. Children aren’t going to school. People are no longer people.

This is a women’s issues, as well as a major humans rights issue.

Here are places to donate if you can. If not, please stay informed and spread the message as much as you can.

-Fight Hunger in Sudan: The Khartoum Kitchen appeal

-Women for Women International

-Dafur Women Action

-One Million Pads

-UNHCR

-Islamic Relief

[noknowshame]

my little source of egotism is that I am fully convinced the black sails fandom is responsible for making the concept of Doomed by the Narrative popular on tumblr

[cjbolan]

wait what was anti-science about twisters?

It’s not anti-science (quite the opposite!) but anti-education I think.

*WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW *

The male lead proudly boasts that his storm wrangling team don’t have or need “fancy PhDs” to do their job, while being very reluctant to discuss his college background . He and his less educated team are the good guys, giving free food and using their earnings from selling tornado merchandise to offer tornado disaster relief.

Meanwhile the more educated academic team, Storm Par, are all boring snobby squares, and idiots unknowingly giving their data to evil real estate developers who exploit tornado victims. The only two likeable Storm Par members (Kate and Javi), are the ones who switch sides to help the other “hillbillies” team.

[astrobei]

sorry to the “the party would be homophobic bc realism” truthers out there but it could simply not be me

[fjordfolk]

Every now and then someone will dump a box of kittens in the yard of some cat lover or a caged rabbit will turn up at a vet's office or a dog'll be delivered at a boarding kennel with no forwarding address, and we all stand in a circle and grumble about how irresponsible and cowardly people can be.

but in all honesty i have infinitely more respect for people who do that than i have for people who do less, like leave their animals in their enclosures to deteriorate or shut them outside to fend for themselves/'let nature take its course' when they can't deal anymore, which is way more common than you want to think.

i get that there's a 'right' and 'wrong' way of going about it, but i'd actually much rather someone do the very bare minimum to rectify a situation, rather than nothing at all.

[starsailores]

in honour of long lost's anniversary. remember when ben said this about not dead yet. i feel unwell

[novelconcepts]

It’s always so funny to me when someone can’t tell the difference between an actor who’s over the top and an actor who is doing an intentionally over the top performance. The former can be super aggravating, I get it—but the latter can be so goddamn effective. Especially when you know the actor already, know they’re fully capable of giving normal human facial expressions and chill line deliveries. And they’re out here doing The Absolute Most all of a sudden? It’s for a reason, dude. It’s almost always for a reason. And once you can see past the camp on the surface, it’s so much fun digging in to what emotions the character is actually hiding.