#opinion

[pathologicalrambler]

i could NEVER be a jeid shipper because the way she would roll her eyes or RUN at any given moment when spencer speaks on ANY of his interests… like how would they have a functioning conversation if she constantly walked away from him when he spoke ? it’s just not gonna work out sorry xoxo

[very-straight-blog]

Aegon is constantly accused of having sadistic tendencies, but even if we decide that the rumors about child fighting pits are true, how exactly does this differ from this:

So do I understand correctly that it's okay to enjoy watching brutal murders as far as they're technically legal? Even if it doesn't change the essence of what's happening? The moral standards of TB, which I'll never understand.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

for the cullens, who would you say is the most to least set in their ways?

That's hard, anon, because... well, they're the Cullens.

But alright, let's make this controversial list.

Rosalie

Edward and Rosalie compete for the top spots here but I think Rosalie has to win because we don't see her change significantly in canon. Because of Bella and his falling in love with her, Edward changes both his outlook on life and significant personal beliefs (vampires having souls).

Now, it's hard going to get there, and he doesn't really change as a person, but he does confront himself and does grow in the series.

Rosalie, however, firmly believes that being human is the only option no matter what, even when faced with Bella who shows someone who firmly wants to become a vampire, doesn't want children (at first), and is quite happy upon becoming a vampire.

Rosalie has her set beliefs and she really really really doesn't want to change even when presented alternatives. She also doesn't want to admit that hey, what may be the right thing for Rosalie may not be the right thing for Bella and things that matter to Rosalie may not matter to Bella.

Rosalie is incredibly stubborn and not just set in her ways but determined to be set in them.

Edward

Runner up is Edward.

Edward has certain views of himself, the world, Bella, his father, just about everyone that he will not change no matter the evidence he is presented with. He also is incredibly stubborn and when he decides on a course of action, fuck you, that's what he's going to do.

The entire series takes place because Edward is absolutely unwilling, in all circumstances no matter how dire, to ever turn Bella into a vampire.

Add onto that things like Edward being bound and determined to kill himself via the Volturi the moment Bella dies (remember he plans this early in Twilight when he realizes he's in love. He knows he's not going to turn her, so he's going to wait out her human life then kill himself afterwards and he has the whole thing planned out. It was just a matter of when).

Edward also wants to be a gentleman from the 1910's, when he grew up, and says as much often. Bella wants to do modern dating? Well, Bella, Edward wants to be a gentleman (except when it gets in the way of the things he wants, then he's going to ignore that).

Edward's incredibly set in his ways.

Alice

Alice is interesting.

In some ways, she's the very definition of flexibility. Alice is a leaf on the wind, following her visions for the best future, and as a result never quite understandable. She doesn't fight her visions, isn't set on a particular course of action, and will pivot as needed to do what's best for her and her family.

Except that's the thing, that's a philosophy and way of being Alice.

This is the way Alice has been for her entire life that she can remember, following her third eye and doing what's best, manipulating those around her in a benign manner to get the best outcome even if there are risks.

In many ways, Alice really should be number one, except that it's not that stubbornness of Rosalie and Edward and you are able to negotiate with her (so long as her inner eye agrees that's for the best).

Esme

Esme's third but it's a trailing fourth.

Esme doesn't have the willful stubbornness of Edward and Rosalie, the lack of any desire to change whatsoever under any circumstances or ever change her mind about things, but she does seem very unflappable and very untouched by anything that happens around her.

Esme always unfailingly sees the best in people--even people who are an enemy army of vampires going into Bella's bedroom to steal her clothes. There are times she seems completely out to lunch with what's happening and fails to confront Edward on his alarming behavior (she confronts him but it goes sideways quickly).

It's hard to imagine Esme changing her ways significantly because she's so... Esme.

Jasper

This is a very very very trailing fifth for Jasper, he's nowhere near Rosalie and Edward's level and really not set in his ways at all. Jasper overturns his life, goes on a whacky diet after eating people for a hundred fifty years, starts going to high school.

Jasper is far from set in his ways.

But he does have trouble adjusting and getting himself out of the "I am a territorial warlord" headspace.

Jasper's always looking for threats and how to eliminate them, he doesn't think twice about killing Bella in Twilight to keep the secret even when the family's debating over whether this is something they should do. In Eclipse he's right back in his element of planning the fight with the newborn army.

He struggles the most with his thirst (though this is likely due to losing the genetic lottery and not so much personality) and as a result struggles with the Cullen lifestyle.

He tries to interact with Bella as a human and when he does it leads to disaster and then he retracts and keeps huge distance until he feels he can safely be around her.

Jasper's not set in his ways but it does seem it's hard to remove himself from the past.

Emmett

Emmett's a very easy going guy who's lighthearted and gets along with just about everyone. He's great at easing tension, doesn't take things too seriously, and is able to talk down both Rosalie and Edward throughout the series.

Now, that's a kind of unflappable personality that's not really prone to change, which puts him here on our list, but that's not what I'd really call set in his ways.

Emmett gladly adopts new technology, doesn't seem hung up on anything about his human life whatsoever, and while I don't imagine his personality changing much it really doesn't have to.

I think Emmett's a very adaptable person (as shown by his taking a vampire wife who saved him from a bear in the first place).

The only thing that's a bit strange is his bear vendetta but you do you, Emmett.

Carlisle

In some ways, Carlisle deserves the top spot on this list, as he's the most stubborn man alive. He'll happily die before giving up this diet, even if his eyes turn funny colors, he'll train himself to be a doctor, he remains a devout Christian even when a demon, and he does what he wants.

However, he's also kind of the definition of change.

This 16th century Anglican priest became a demon, then decided to make being a demon suit him, traveled the world to find people like him, then becomes a doctor and attends university because he can, and adapts to each new work environment and his ever expanding family of vampires and nonsense thrown his way.

Carlisle is anything but set in his ways for all that he's very very stubborn about his ideals.

Renesmee

We don't see much of her but Renesmee has no real ways to be set into. She lives in a bizarre glass bubble (in which a war almost happens three months after she's born), she herself is constantly changing physically every second, and it's hard to imagine her ever getting herself into a rut because like it or not things are going to happen as she gets older.

This puts her at the least set in her ways.

[mewsmagic]

I DID NOT EXPECT TO DO ANOTHER ANALYSIS THOUGHTS WHATEVER POST BUT ARLECCHINO IS JUST TOO MUCH FOR MY NEURODIVERGENT BRAIN AND I NEED TO TALK ABT IT SO HERE WE GO AGAIN

Spoiler warning for Arlecchino’s character teaser!!!

If you haven’t yet, watch it here!!

Look look. I really did not expect Arlecchino to be comprehensive, understanding or merciful (of her children) since in the Fontaine trailer she was critical of Lyney and Lynette and we did have other harbingers calling her a wolf in sheep’s clothing and things like that

Oh fuck I screenshotted this at the wrong time LOLL anyway

BUT THEN SHE WAS SO KIND WITH THIS GIRL 😭😭

Despite telling her that she told her recklessness would lead to failure, she was not mad at her AT ALL – and I mean, completely fair, girl was literally on her deathbed – and instead decided to deal with the problem herself 😭😭😭😭😩😩😩🤯🤯🤯🤡🤡🤡 I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS FROM A SUPPOSEDLY “STRICT AND UNFEELING FATHER”

Also, this isn’t my main point but the way she showed up like fricking bogeyman and crushed the nasty man’s skull with her HEEL was insane (positively) for me

Anyway LOL then she went, killed him, exposed his crimes and robbed all his money SO SHE COULD ADOPT MORE HOMELESS CHILDREN LIKE PLEASE THIS IS EXTREMELY CHAD AND BASED OF HER

Not only that, but she went back to her child and saw her off herself 😭😭😭😭 this shot of her closing her eyes, gosh this made me really emotional, especially considering what comes next

She did mourn her death!!!! Not only that but she called her “her child”!!!!! Although she appears inexpressive, it must’ve been so hard to see the children you raised part like that.

And considering we’re talking about a whole orphanage, this is definitely not her first time, and won’t be her last either, it must be so hard to be the director of the House :(

Now, I gotta say I like her character even more after all this 😭😭😭😭

I am all for villains who are actually evil and nasty flawed people and I do like characters like that as well, but I feel like in Alrecchino’s case, it was kinda necessary for her to have a softer side?

I mean, again, we’re talking about an orphanage here. Her underlings are literally her own children, children like her who were abandoned at a young age, had nowhere to go and no one to take care of them. Not only that, but she has to train them to become underground agents and deal with dangerous situations at a young age. To become criminals even.

And this is all without even mentioning that she had to deal with generational trauma too. It’s a tendency for this type of children to become the opposite of their parents, and try to do better than them even if they do still have their own flaws. And I think this is shown wonderfully in Arlecchino.

She tries to put a front of a cold and strict father, but on the inside, she’s not as ruthless as she makes herself out to be. Even to the Traveler, who has been an “enemy” of the Fatui in various situations, she did not care about it and instead judged them to be a valuable ally (AND SHE WAS NOT WRONG!!!!)

It's really no wonder Lyney admires her and wants to be like her. Tbh I would feel the same way if I were in his shoes LOL Lynette and Freminet seem to respect her a lot as well, from what I've seen in the Archon quests and the story quests I mean.

I did not read all of the Hearth siblings lore however, so I may be missing some information about how she raised them, and there’s still the story quest and the Boss fight that still wasn’t released and I don’t look at this type of leaks LOL but still, you got my point!

Another point I wanna mention is that this front of cold, unfeeling and harsh could be considered her flaw, even if it’s just a mask.

I mean, it is considered a toxic trait to pretend to be something you’re not. It could be people pleasing (no shame btw I am one myself), could be narcissistic traits like the previous Knave showed, and it could be pretending to be tougher than you really are, like in Arlecchino’s case.

In this case, she’s not only neglecting her own feelings and not letting them out (i.e.: not crying for her child’s death for example), but it can give the wrong impression to her children as well.

It gives the impression that she doesn’t care about them, especially at a young age, and especially considering they’re homeless children who have already been abandoned by their biological parents, and by the world itself.

According to studies on psychology, this situation makes children even more vulnerable to insecurity, low self-esteem, and gives them even more need for emotional connection and reassurance, which Arlecchino doesn't give them bc she's cold.

So yeah, Arlecchino IS still flawed and questionable in her own way, the children do feel the effect of this and her “good side” was necessary for her position and done wonderfully in my opinion.

Personally, I LOVE it when villains/anti-heroes are unhinged at the right people/moments but at the same time still have their kind side and their own issues. I mean, questionable people in real life do also have their good side, and this is exactly what makes them fucking nasty when they're nasty.

But I'll definitely talk more about this whenever I do make a post about Firefly from Star Rail! Gosh I have so much to say about her, just wait for me guys!!!

[tinzuho]

sorry to all the new d.d fans, but i am never leaving season 1-5 daryl behind. like OBVIOUSLY his long hair suits, but imagine the grease and shit in it 😶 his short-ish- hair would be abit cleaner, and makes him look so irresistible!! 🙂‍↕️

[greenyvertekins]

Probs a very unpopular opinion, but i don't really want keanu to voice shadow. man's too old to convincingly voice a character meant to be 15, though i suppose that's a common problem amongst sonic voice actors. Also think that as much as i love keanu reeves in live action films, the guy isn't a great voice actor. He sounded very flat throughout most of cyberpunk 2077 in my humble opinion. Not that this will impact my hype for the film lol, hell they could reveal frigging danny devitos voicing shadow and i'd still be hyped xD "Shadow what the hell you doin man?" "it's my character sonic, im the trash man!"

I'm rather excited personally. And I'm all for a guy whom I've heard nohing but good things about regarding his generosity and general niceness getting another role. Also, perhaps this casting will draw even more people to the film and give it even more box office success.

[myjetpack]

My cartoon for this week’s Guardian Books.

[incorrectbatfam]

Question: do you think it's better for Cass to be verbal or nonverbal?

Secret third option where she has one line a day like Ferb and it's an absolute zinger

[mcromwell]

AI shit is artificially inflated to appear like "the future", "the way of the future", "new standard" etc.

Remember a couple years ago who was saying the same type of shit?

Crypto bros.

Remember all the companies that adopted NFTs and crypto payment options from the hype? Compare that to the state of crypto now.

Brands are easily swayed by smooth talking tech nerds looking to make a lot of money fast and then split when the tech ends up not performing as well as advertised or too expensive to sustain long term. Or when the public gets bored. They got bored of NFTs, it wouldn't surprise me if AI generated shlock becomes solely synonymous with bootlegs and the companies already producing cheap crap.

This article goes into it a bit more, here's a quote.

"Would it surprise you to learn that OpenAI is also not making any money, and relies on investments from venture capital to stay in the black? Because they are not making any money and rely on investments to stay in black. Part of this is because of the technology itself: according to Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion into OpenAI, they lose money each time a user makes a request using their AI models."

Stay strong, y'all. I'm not saying this tech isn't harmful (it is super harmful) but the situation is not hopeless.

[ghostslimu]

you will never be a bad person for not reblogging a post on tumblr, please remember that

[vyorei]

Full article here:

[very-straight-blog]

It amuses me that absolutely every moment that the black team considers "pathetic" I consider cool as fuck.

"Rhaenyra was supported by most of the lords, and TB also had more dragons."

Ok and the greens still were a pain in the ass for them, they won the war, and Aegon fed Rhaenyra to Sunfyre.

"Aemond was killed by his uncle and wasn't even buried, it's so funny."

Aemond died in battle, he fell into the lake, the water in which boiled and stayed there, along with Vhagar. He had Dark Sister in his eye. Ask me? It's just fucking poetic.

"Aegon was poisoned by his own people, like a rat, they hated him."

Aegon was poisoned because he couldn't be controlled, because he remained true to himself and didn't negotiate a peace that would make the whole war and all his losses meaningless. I have nothing but respect for it.

"Criston was killed by a bastard, it's so ironic, he was shot like an animal."

Criston is remembered in history as the damn KINGMAKER.

And so on and so on and so on. Seriously, I can't take seriously any attempt to belittle the green team, because - like, have you seen them at all? They just know how to serve a cunt.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What if that night in Godric's hollow Lily chose to let Voldemort kill Harry and stepped aside when Voldemort asked her to?

Self-preservation kicked in! No one knows how they will react facing death. She should not be blamed for protecting herself.

Would she be honest and tell people what really happened or make up some believable story? What would happen to her after that night? Does she leave England? How would the Order/Sirius/Dumbledore react to the events? Would Severus go after Lily and tell her he is her hero? Would this be a better AU for Lily and the wizard world?

Woof.

Well.

It's not good.

Would She Be Honest and Tell People What Happened?

We don't really know much about Lily's character is the thing. I make a lot of things up for my own benefit, but that's my taking and running with the very little we see in canon.

We really don't know how she'd react.

The way I characterize her? Feeling guilty over her husband's death (who died for her and Harry) and the fact that she survived her son (who she perhaps could have protected) she'll confess to what happened. She wants people to blame and hate her so she can punish herself for this.

And judge and punish her they do as this is something the Order and the greater public just can't understand. I'm sure rumors of how and why Lily was spared also fly and soon Lily goes from the truth of simply stepping aside (and being spared because of Snape) to having slept with Voldemort to save her life to being his spy the entire time.

What Would Happen to Her After that Night?

The gossip against her is massive and I imagine the Order never quite trusts her again. They may not kick her out, though I'm sure some (certainly Sirius who is mad with grief over James's death) vote for it. Lily may leave of her own free will out of guilt and so as not to give the Order a black eye.

The Prophet may or may not run smear campaigns against her both to distract from the realities of the Ministry not managing anything against You-Know-Who and because this is such a shocking awful story.

Lily becomes persona non grata but is presumably left alone by the Death Eaters as Voldemort chose to spare her life and the order has been passed down through the ranks (and as Voldemort is alive he keeps Bella and the Lestranges and Barty in check in a way he didn't at this point in canon).

Lily lives a miserable life in which her husband and son are both dead, she's of no help to the cause, and she's trying to get on with it.

How Would the Order/Sirius/Dumbledore React?

See above but I imagine ostracization.

Sirius would never forgive Lily for James having died and Lily just selfishly allowing Harry to be killed. I imagine he'd blame her in his mind and believe that she had betrayed James personally by doing this. Not to mention what kind of a person/Gryffindor steps aside to let her baby be murdered?

The Order at large would likely have mixed opinions but the Weasleys for example would vocally condemn Lily and despise her for this.

Dumbledore would, I imagine, think much lesser of Lily and start saying things he says about Merope about how Lily just didn't love her son enough/wasn't a very strong woman. He wouldn't condemn her quite as much as Sirius or Molly but there'd be an undertone of "this happened because you are weak".

Would Severus Go After Lily and Tell Her He's Her Hero?

Severus is home free, you bet your ass he does.

Lily's probably out of the Order, James Potter his greatest enemy is dead, Sirius is out of the picture because of James's death, even the hellspawn Harry Potter is dead and out of the way.

They can now go back to exactly what they were and the Dark Lord did hold to his promise after all (and oh dear god Severus betrayed him behind his back, hope he doesn't find out about this).

I imagine Severus would try to reconnect and either:

lie about being a Death Eater entirely (probably won't work)

say he's realized the error of his ways, admit to giving the information to Dumbledore to save Lily's life, but he can't leave the Death Eaters because of the mark/he'll certainly be killed

Probably he goes with option 2 as he can't exactly pretend he never held his views or wasn't a Death Eater at all and he firmly believes that he took this huge risk, saved her life, and he's completely redeemed now.

Would This Be a Better AU for the Wizarding World and Lily?

Well.

Lily's son and husband died horribly, she's haunted by survivor's guilt forever, all her friends hate her and she's completely isolated, Snape is back on her doorstep believing she should be grateful to him for his actions and he deserves instant forgiveness, and the Dark Lord is still alive and well, has the future minister's son in his pocket, has infiltrated the government completely, and can take over any time he pleases with one out of two prophecy children dead (and Neville... probably doesn't last long after this).

So.

No.

It's better for 0 people.

It's actually much worse for everyone except Tom.

Tom is enjoying not being a wraith in Quirrel's head, thank you very much.

[mylight-png]

I cannot even begin to express how horrifying the lack of outrage about this is.

May anyone who ever claimed "the hostages were treated well" be cursed. Such lies are absolutely disgusting and despicable.

This is not what being treated well looks like. This is psychological torture, abuse, and warfare. This is pure evil.

[classycookiexo]