#there are a lot of separate stories

[grimfantas]

i'd love to dry my tears as pain disappears.

[racke7]

Ectoplasm and Jason Todd

Danny is wandering around Gotham (visiting, chasing a ghost, running from GIW, attending college, etc) and stumbles across Jason.

Jason who is flaring his ecto-signature like a madman (is he trying to get into trouble?).

Danny drags the guy into a nearby alley to give the guy some kind of crash-course on how not to do that.

Jason isn't sure why this guy grabbed him and dragged him into an alley, but if it's a fight he wants, Jason would be able to fight more freely in an alley, so he doesn't struggle. (Does he know that Jason is Red Hood? Does he think that Jason is a random civilian? Is it just him, or does this guy have really cold hands?)

Jason isn't sure why this guy is now trying to... ask him to meditate? The fuck is going on? But if it's not a fight, then... maybe it's fine to just listen to the weirdo? Taking a few deep breaths isn't going to hurt him.

Danny is very proud of himself for guiding the ecto-flaring guy through how to not flare his ecto-signature. He's such a good teacher.

And then Jason collapses.

Turns out, Jason has been using his anger to create a feedback-loop that artificially raises his ectoplasm-levels.

Ghosts need ectoplasm to live, but they'll also produce ectoplasm when feeling strong emotions. For most ghosts, this a bit like saying "everyone needs a good cry every now and then". For Jason, he's been basically aiming a gun at his own face for the adrenaline-rush. Constantly.

So, Danny is now holding onto a barely-conscious person who desperately needs more ectoplasm. As in, this is a medical emergency, and every second probably counts.

Danny, being that he wasn't planning on needing to carry around some kind of ectoplasm-container at all times (who the fuck does that? His parents, that's who), is now desperately trying to problem-solve this.

Danny realizes that, actually, even in his human form? Danny has a lot of ectoplasm in his body. Enough that he could probably save this guy by... feeding him his blood.

Cue intimately sexy reverse-vampire scene.

And oh boy, if Danny's blood doesn't taste fantastic to Jason's ecto-starved self.

[devastatinglygreen]

the plot thread of colin and missing penelope on his tour hits a lot harder when you watch 1-8 without a month long break. him having feelings for her but not knowing what they are yet are handed to us right away at the start of episode 1 until he says it himself in episode 5 then goes into a deeper thread of him understanding that his yearning for home also meant a yearning for penelope herself because home is where penelope is🥺

[lynxalon]

i've seen a fair bit of... pessimism about dorym lately, esp with the ep107, for example wondering if dorian's opposing views on the gods making orym fall out of love, and i have to say. i very highly doubt it, ur fr talking about the man who has held on to will for so long, holding onto will's family and affectionately calling this *his* family too because that didn't stop when will died. i dont think falling out of love is an option or even a thought to orym.

that said, we know that orym has contingencies for if anyone in bells hells crosses the line into being a version of themselves they would despise, for anyone who jeopardizes their mission. his mission. i think, for the first time since knowing dorian, orym finally has a contingency for him. the longer dorian is back, the more orym sees how scarred he is by what's happened (understandable so) and knows that dorian is with bells hells all the way. but if he isn't...

[gaytobymeres]

I like that Benoit Blanc is in many ways a homage to previous fictional detectives, but he himself is not the central character. I think that’s what makes it fresh - the films focus on Marta and Helen, not his ability to detect and deduce which is something you can get in pretty much any detective story.

[mlobsters]

billie eilish and finneas - interview with zane lowe - may 21, 2024

finneas embarrassing billie ✅ it's not literal 😤😏✅ making points about the parasocial song interpretation trend ✅

Billie: We live in a world of like, somebody puts a song out and everyone is like, "So, this is who this is about and this is the entire story of what happened," and it doesn't even give the listener a chance to interpret it how they want to interpret it and how they naturally hear it.

part 2 for how this album was scary and honest

[alexkablob]

not to wade into discourse about shows online which I swore to stop doing but I think some of you need to recognize that not every piece of media is about you, and that focusing only on the themes that you personally identify with while erasing the ones you don't is Not Great

[ruvviks]

finally got around making a proper outfit reference sheet for nathan! he likes wearing dark clothes which really emphasizes just how pale he is. he was a STEM developer at MOBIUS for nine years what did you expect </3 click for higher resolution and to get a closer look at all the details! outfits from left to right: his gear for the evil within 2, 1am convenience store trip, his mobius gear, and an improvised outfit for my own fictional the evil within 3 =^)

taglist (opt in/out)

@shellibisshe, @florbelles, @ncytiri, @hibernationsuit, @stars-of-the-heart;

@lestatlioncunt, @katsigian, @radioactiveshitstorm, @estevnys, @adelaidedrubman;

@celticwoman, @rindemption, @carlosoliveiraa, @noirapocalypto, @dickytwister;

@killerspinal, @euryalex, @ri-a-rose, @velocitic, @thedeadthree;

@jacobseed, @swordcoasts

[varpusvaras]

Index: Commander got hurt two days ago. They were chasing two suspects in a speeder in high speed, and since our speeders are... not always in tip-top shape, the door Commander was leaning on opened by itself

Index: He went hurling out pretty fast, and, by Corporal Brass's description, did "more volts than the trapetze artist that got stuck in their own tigthrope we had to go and rescue last month"

Index: Anyway, Commander proceeds to get up, run after the speeder, take it down and apprehend both suspects. He said his arm was just a bit sore, and he seemed coherent, so they let him slip out from a healthcheck. Commander Thorn brought him in the next morning because he had said something about his 'neck hurting' before he fell asleep

Index: Turns out that Commander had completely shattered his collarbone and proceeded to just...ignore it? I need to check his adrenalin levels... *muttering*

Index: Anyway, I knit the bone back to its original shape, but left it in a sling, for at least a week, so he can take a break from fieldwork at least. And he did, I swear! And I only gave him some mild painkillers. Mild.

Index: So I am not really sure how this happened

(Bullet, standing at the bottom of a very high transmission tower: Commander! What the kriff are you doing?!

Fox, not in full armor and on top of the tower, his arm still in a sling: Look, Bullet, there was-

Bullet, losing his mind: I don't care why you are up there! HOW DID YOU GET UP THERE??!)

Thire, just back from an escort mission:

Index:

Thire:

Index:

Thire: *sigh*

[anominous-user]

triple threat end card but with the honkai inpact trio. and also bald TT.

[henrybelly]

honestly when i tried to figure out why some fans are so mad at ivypool these days i was looking through avos and. the scene where ivypool apologises to twigpaw for not supporting sending a patrol for skyclan is genuinely very sweet??

i actually saw someone characterize this as "ivypool forcing twigpaw to forgive her". is it crack you smoke. is that what you smoke. you smoke crack?

[crescentfool]

does anyone else want to stick these two in the same room together or is that just me... i simply think they are adjacent in vibes... (+a bonus thing???)

get u a fictional guy that makes you feel like this... seeing these guys just evoke a Similar Kind of Brain Chemical and Response. Help Me.

also have bonus yosuke doodle featuring the same brushes used here...! from january 23rd, lol.

[ancientbygone]

i'll never let you forget the chaos that birthed you

[ddenji]

asaden nation…. how are we feeling….

okay but on a real note…. denji acknowledging the way that violence informs all of his relationships and how he wants to escape that so badly!!! he wants something good and normal, or perhaps just normal to the extent that he’s not getting hurt, which is like the baseline thing you could ask for in a relationship!!! on the flipside, readers know that yoru was technically the one who kissed him & she is actively trying to kill him from inside the body of the girl he likes…. which does not seem promising for his goal of not getting hurt!!!! but also the girl he likes does like him, as both a human and chainsaw man no less, which does seem promising for his goal of being in a relationship!!! idk. to me, i feel like their relationship & how they treat each other is gonna be a big part of this story /the ending bc they’re both so vulnerable & desparate for connection. overall, fujimoto has set up some amazing tension from all angles regarding their relationship & when it’s resolved its either going to be amazing or soul crushing.

[fictionadventurer]

I went into Ruth expecting a dreary read. How could a Victorian "fallen woman" story be anything other than dark and depressing? So I was shocked right from the beginning to find a sweet, gentle, romantic story. The dressmaker's apprentice who sits in the coldest, darkest part of the workroom because that's where there's a panel painted with flowers that remind her of her country home? How could I not adopt her as a favorite character? Ruth's innocent, romantic outlook on life gave us some beautiful descriptions of the scenery of both city and countryside, and my imagination went on overdrive to create very vivid images of the story. Even the love story, which we know is going to go very wrong, starts out sweet, with a kind, charming love interest who only shows flashes of just how wrong his character is going to go.

Even after Ruth's fall, the story is so gentle, putting Ruth among kind people who are willing to risk and sacrifice a lot to help her. And then the story gets almost too gentle--after some initial struggles with depression, Ruth resolves to bear her troubles patiently and work toward virtue, and her sweet, too-innocent character gets flattened out into someone who's just Good. Life just goes on, with things generally going well, and every potential turn toward drama results in someone deciding to be reasonable, which can make the story drag.

But, in a story like this, the lack of drama becomes the plot twist! It is refreshing to see characters who don't always jump to the worst conclusion or take the worst action, who pause and consider the whole story and act like decent human beings.

And in the places when the drama does kick in, it's good drama. Painful drama. It's also (especially in the last section of the story) melodrama. There were sections of the book where I was rolling my eyes at the cookie-cutter Victorian path the story was taking--but then there'd be one line or one moment that would just stab me in the chest because of how beautifully specific it was to this story. Just enough to elevate it from something bland to something unique and fascinating.

I often had the thought that this book could be about a third of its length without losing anything--yet it should also be just as long as it was. If the story cut all its repetitive musings about Ruth's regret, and used that space to develop the side characters and and show the plot instead of telling us about it, it would be a much deeper story. I found myself wishing Gaskell had reworked this one later in her career--the way that North and South was a more skillful reworking of the issues explored in Mary Barton. In a way, she sort of did in Wives and Daughters, with the story of Molly the quiet innocent getting tangled up in the intrigues surrounding her headstrong, flirtatious stepsister Cynthia serving as a more layered, personality-flipped version of the story where headstrong, sheltered Jemima gets tangled in the story of quiet, sweet Ruth and her past romantic intrigues. (The doctor at the end of the story also feels like a proto-Mr. Gibson).

Yet I'm still fascinated by the themes specific to this story. Contrary to expectation, this "fallen woman" story isn't about sex, or gender, or how unfairly women are treated (though it does touch on that in the end). It's about sin. It's not questioning why Ruth's behavior is considered a sin or looking to dismantle the society saying that it's a sin. It comes from the Christian perspective of saying that sin is real and harms people--so how are we going to deal with that?

The story shows lots of people struggling with temptation, failing, and dealing with the consequences (or harming others with the consequences). Sin is always a case of either not caring enough to do the more difficult, good thing, or a case of "the ends justify the means", where people rationalize their bad behavior as something necessary in this specific case. It always leads to harm, but some people--and some sins--suffer greater consequences in the eyes of the world, whether or not they deserve it. I wish the story had developed and resolved this theme better in places, but the raw material there is fascinating food for thought.

This book is Gaskell at her preachiest, but also Gaskell at her kindest. It explores deep, difficult issues in a very loving way. As a story, there are ways it could be better, but I'm very glad I read it. Perhaps I'm making a point to be kinder to it because I know it's the type of story that today's readers tend to judge harshly. But amid my issues with the story, there are some lovely images, some great messages, and some wonderful characters that going to be living in my heart for a long time.

[herebecritters]

How bout some spicy D&D drama today?

Geshtu and Hopp’s edgy dnd characters: Ilawela and Atlas

Atlas belongs to @ickyguts