#topic: accords

[gingermintpepper]

“Your hair’s gotten longer.” 

It’s conscious effort that keeps him from tucking the strands behind his ear, from taking the knife at his hip and shearing it all off. He keeps his stance focused, attentive, there’s little else he can do when he’s taken so completely after his mother when it comes to his hair. His father scratches his chin, the clouds of his beard snaking about his finger like mist parting for mountain-peaks. Ares’ chin is still child-smooth. He can feel the tickle of his over-long fringe against his soft jaw. There’s no heart in his chest, but still he feels as though a pulse is lodged in his throat. 

Father sighs, put-upon, disappointed, and Ares feels a slight tremor start in his calves from holding himself so tense. “Well done, Ares. Go clean yourself up and get some rest. Phoebus will want to look you over later.” 

He should be ecstatic to be praised by his father. Over-the-moon with joy. There should be pride emanating from every pore of his body, the blood on his skin should be sweeter than ambrosia. 

Instead, he bows, manages a soft ‘thank you, Father’ around the lump in his throat and immediately flees the room. A mild ‘make sure to trim your hair’ hits the back of his head like a spear through the skull. He almost wishes the great door had slammed on his foot so he would have reason to feel this horrid in his retreat.  

Phoebus Apollo is waiting for him in his infirmary. 

He’s gilded as ever, gold from crown to heel. Perfect like the statues they carve of him in his temples. He has a smile for Ares when he sees him, a crinkle at the edges of his pretty eyes from the weight of his joy. Ares is waiting to see the crack in the marble, to see if that’s the chip that’ll reveal his fangs.

“Brother,” he greets, and his voice is warm - like the arms that embrace him, his voice is so warm, “Welcome back. I’ve heard you’ve done well.”  

There’s a tremble in Ares’ fingers he hadn’t noticed before. Strain from carrying his sword for so many days, a throb from wounds he hadn’t noticed he’d accrued. “Heard? There’s already gossip?” 

Phoebus blinks, disarming, demure, coquettish, “But of course,” and Phoebus’ voice is honey to Ares’ gravel, the juxtaposition is grating on his skin, “It’s Olympus. The gossip began long before you set your course.” Those warm hands lead him further into the room, bodily sits him on the chaise, pulls his helmet from his head. It’s all one, unbroken motion, “It’s summer alas, so I could not watch your war myself, but I hear it was quite the decisive victory.” 

A thousand thoughts run on horseback through his mind then. 

Did Father overhear some terrible slander that pre-emptively disappointed him? Was Ares’ victory merely a rumour, a bet his father hadn’t bothered to take? Was the gossip more enticing than the stark truth? That Ares wasn’t some child toddling about in the shadow of his sister, that his sword and spear weren’t merely for show - he’d think such a thing would warrant celebration. Not -

“Oh my,” Phoebus is in front of him, pleasant warmth more sticky heat with how close he’s pressed himself into Ares’ space. From this angle, Ares can see the multi-coloured flecks of his eyes, like shards of golden glass suspended in ichor. From this angle, with his hand so gently holding his hair, were Ares to blink too hard, he’d swear Phoebus looked just like his mother. “Your hair’s grown long again.” 

He pushes Phoebus off with such force that he bangs into the wall. It’s Phoebus, it won’t make even the impression of a scratch on him, but Ares wishes it would. Wishes he’d hit his shoulder or crack his neck or hit his head just hard enough for all that perfect, gilded gold to bleed. 

“I’m only here for you to heal me,” the tremble in his hand extends to his shoulder now. He flexes and unflexes his palm. Gods what he would give to just have a sword - “Don’t waste time with the pleasant-work.” 

Phoebus huffs, adjusts the fit of his himation, “...Only because we’re meant to be celebrating your victory.” He crosses the room in two great strides, his hair a swirling tempest behind him as he gathers his poultices and wraps. “The only reason I’ll not throw you from the window is because we are meant to be celebrating your victory.”  

There’s not enough acid in his tone for this to truly be a fight. Ares’ jaw clenches, he bites out a terse, “How benevolent.” 

“Aren’t I?” He’s got nectar and his sutures in hand, that focused look falling upon his face when he switches from overbearing busybody to Paeon of the Gods. “Now strip unfaltering Ares, let us see the measure of damage done to your indomitable flesh.” 

(Somewhere between the fifth set of stitches and the gentle frown that crosses Phoebus’ face when he notices the persistent tremble in his fingers, Ares pins his eyes to the far wall and asks, “What does it mean when Father says ‘well done’?” 

Any other sibling would mock before they gave a true response. Any other sibling would laugh and dismiss it, would say that praise is praise and any lingering ill feeling is just the worst of the war still fogging his mind. Phoebus does not answer immediately. He doesn’t make a single sound. The question settles like fetid water between them, unignorable, the scent right there on the tip of the tongue yet firmly unacknowledged. Ares closes his eyes and tries again to settle his squirming so he does not interfere with Phoebus’ work.  The metallic snip of scissors cutting thread breaks the silence. Phoebus bids him to sit up and slides his warm palms up his back until his fingers tangle gently in the ends of his hair. He twists the dark red strands until he’s gathered it all into a neat handful, holding it loosely as he switches his scissors for his shearing blade. “You should know it was not praise,” Phoebus says softly. The first of Ares cut hairs fall like viscera from his head. Phoebus treats each cutting with the sacredness of a blood-sacrifice. If he focused on the moment of tension right before the blade cuts though, Ares thinks he can imagine the agony of his sister’s sacred birth. “It is acknowledgement. Father thinks you’ve done well so he says ‘well done’.”

Gently, Phoebus releases him. Ruffles his head so all the extra hairs fall like red rain to the floor. Ares runs his fingers through the ends now curling against his ear. “Has he ever told you ‘well done’?” 

A laugh, warm and gilded, “No, and it would not make you feel better if he had.” 

Ares swallows down a thousand different questions. Phoebus wouldn’t answer them, he’s infuriating like that. Instead, he clenches his teeth, the phantom of Father’s dizzying tangle of grey cloud-hairs persistent in the corner of his eyes. “Cut it shorter.”

Phoebus doesn’t protest. He never seems to say a word when it really matters.)

[vonlipvig]

spanish gp on june 1 may the gayest one winnnnnn

[raspberryusagi]

Me, rambling to my wife about this crackpot theory I came up with in the shower about how Les Miserables may have been an answer to The Count of Monte Cristo, or at least could be read as such: ... But then Valjean didn't personally screw Javert over like Dantes' enemies did-

My wife: Are you sure Valjean didn't screw Javert? I thought I read that on AO3 once.

[lynzishell]

The Present 🧡 Chestnut Ridge

Prev // Next

Transcript below the cut:

Danny: Papa? Joseph: Hm? Danny: Do I have a grandma or grandpa?

Joseph: Uh, well, you do, that would be my parents, but they died before you were born. Danny: Oh. What were their names? Joseph: My dad was Luis, and my mom was Adriana. Danny: Did my mom have parents? Joseph: Of course. Unfortunately, I never met ‘em, so I don’t know anything about ‘em.

Joseph: What’s with all the questions today, anyway? Danny: We were supposed to do a family tree in class, but I couldn’t finish mine. Joseph: Your teacher won’t give you a low score for it, will she? Danny: No, she said it was okay, but that I should ask you.

Danny: So, is anyone in our family alive? Joseph: I have a brother, so he would be your uncle. He’s alive, he just lives far away. Danny: What’s his name? Joseph: Julian.

Danny: Does Julian have any kids? Joseph: No, no kids. Danny: Hm. I wish I had a brother. Joseph: …

Danny: Then I’d have someone to play with and we could— Joseph: Hey, Danny, how ‘bout you go feed Daisy and get washed up for supper while I finish up out here, okay? Danny: Okay.

[kayetra-spade-queen]

The Problem With Animated Shows Showcasing Toxicity In People (mostly in Indian Shows)

Let me just come out and say it;

Indian Shows by far had the most atrocious showcasing of toxicity and had little to no filter whatsoever, especially when they market those shows to be made for kids.

Word vomit ahead ⬇️

Indian Shows, especially with action-genres are definitely gonna showcase some violence with friendly(?) filter on it.

What many do not realize that a lot of minor actions done by a character or multiple characters, either a protagonist or antagonist or otherwise, they tend to do some quiet violent things themselves that could've made them be charged with assault when it's the real world, but are treated like a gag instead, subconsciously teaching the audience that such actions are fine because the show does not showcase the severity in them.

(If anyone is saying otherwise, just so you know there's a viewers discretion that wasn't there until a lot later. There's this even one kid who tried to recreate Panja Attack on his sibling despite it all).

The characters amplify this because of how they react to such things; they didn't address the situation, or point out that it's wrong, no. Instead, they just laughed it off to keep up the humorous charm (or lack thereof due to the nature of the actions itself).

Here are a few examples of the actions of some things from shows, while isn't showcased as a major thing compared to the actions of the show's antagonists, are actually pretty bad themselves;

1. Chhota Bheem

Ah yes, everyone's oldest and still favorite Indian hero. Based on the second Pandava brother, Bhima, Bheem lives by his namesake to be the strongest of all. He helps others, and protects his home from any danger.

While this show is a favorite to many for years (and honestly, me too), there are some actions of the characters that were barely addressed (at least from what I can see. Though I'm sure there's some people out there pointed this out, but their statements never gained enough attention to make this something people will point out often).

For the first, I'll address Kalia as our first study subject;

First and foremost, he is by far the most abusive character ever in the show, at least by visual senses. I don't include the villains for obvious reasons.

Kalia had 2 lackeys who are arguably (more like objectively) the most useless characters the show had ever made; Dholu and Bholu, a pair of twins.

Kalia had not once, not twice, not thrice either, but several times in the span of this show's 16-17 years long airing.

Sure, you can account because of Kalia's character who is honestly pretty bad, but the fact that the only way they can showcase Kalia's character was through sheer violence and domination towards people is just-

Moving on to the next person, Bheem himself;

Tbh, Bheem (and pretty much everyone in his group) is somewhat of a gray area when it comes to his morality. The thing about him is that he doesn't seem to give two shits when an actual abuse is going on in front of his eyes (i.e Kalia's abuse towards the twins).

And let me just bring up one of the many times he actually harmed animals in the name of "protecting the people", when he was supposed to protect both.

I'm talking about the crocodile in the early episodes of the early seasons. On the get go, he was set on getting rid of the croc from the dried riverbank by any means necessary, but it doesn't seem to include talking to it.

Like- ok, the animals are hostile and shit, but with the fact that animals can talk (*looking at Jaggu and the winged tigers*), I don't see the point of physically beating the shit out of them when they can just talk it out civilly.

"Hey, sorry to bother you, but my people here are having problems, and you kind of scared them. Can you maybe move somewhere else? I can find you a good place if you'd like."

"Oh shit- aight man, no prob, thanks. I'll take my leave now."

So many problems can be avoided if you just do this bro.

This also applies to everyone in Bheem's group; they don't seem to give 2 shits with whatever's going on around them, unless it's actually threatening them.

2. Roll No. 21

This whole show is just the most confusing and stressful, and I'm not even kidding; inconsistent lore, information provided do not seem to align, among other things.

Anyways, the first person on this list is Golu, the resident bully of Mathura Ashram himself.

He was the stereotypical bully you'll find; big and fat, and of course, a bully. And of course, like Kalia's case, he's actually part of the gang, but his overall status is interchangeable depending on the situation.

I know that the teachers are all demons so they won't bat an eye about it (most of the time at least), but the fact there's lack of order in Kris' orphanage department baffles me with how carefree Kanishk is

Second, most of the characters, if not all;

Idk, the fact that those kids will laugh at the most nerve-wracking and gut twisting shits ever kinda baffles me, like they're like a bunch of sadistic pieces of shit that would laugh at anyone experiencing pain and/or humiliation. And aren't they like 12-13?? It's literally not just Kris, it's literally every single character that does this.

I would say I kind of understand where this is coming from; all of the students of the Ashram are victims of Golu's bullying, and because Golu always had instant karma every single time (more like Kris' revenge plots), they would laugh because they feel satisfied because their oppressor had been served with justice (or whatever the hell this is).

But then again, it's kind of cruel regardless from one human being to another, especially kids who are like 12-13 year olds. Like, cutting in line when waiting for shower turns, but got frozen by ice water in return? That's like a bunny outsmarting a wolf but the wolf eventually eats the bunny.

3. Little Singham

The ongoing sensation that is literally on par with India's beloved and one of the longest cartoons in a matter of a few years.

I won't address the obvious here, but I would address the more minor ones, like Montu's bullying and the retaliations of his victims (this includes Ajay);

Again, we're met with the stereotypical bully, big and fat build, domineering. Honestly- they should make more variety of bullies, cuz this is just giving us the big build people a bad look. Make a bully to be a pretty girl, a handsome guy, expand the variety bro, you can't just keep the same theme over and over.

Anyways, Montu had been self-explanatory already. He's a bully who wants to outshine and dominate his way in the game, but gets karma almost immediately, whether it's by the law of nature or the protagonist's intervention.

Now onto the other characters, particularly the victims, and the trio of Mirchi Nagar;

Again, they had this sadistic mindset that they would immediately laugh loudly when Montu got his "karma", regardless how absurd it is.

And let me just say the many and different times and types of how Ajay retaliated against Montu for bullying him and/or his friends. From sticking a fake donkey tail to his butt after making fun of Karate, to asking the animals to mess with him.

In comparison, Ajay is a lot more tamed than Kris' retaliations. And also with the possibility that he may have been a long-standing victim of Montu for a while even prior to his promotion as LS. I have to bring up the fact that Ajay is introverted and shy with only 2 friends at his back. To kids no older than 10 or below, these types of people are considered weird and often an easy target to bullying because of how weak they are perceived whether it's physically or emotionally.

That isn't to say I support what Ajay has done. Yes, I know what he did is mostly classified as self-defense (I think), but it's not really worth going this far.

Well, I suppose I have to blame the teachers for not handling the situation at all (*looking at Ms. Tara because I hate her with a burning passion*), so ig the biggest villain in the civil side of the world are the teachers.

4. Arjun, Prince of Bali

Last but not least. I put APOB at the very last because of how much things is going on in this show even if it was classified as the minor things, especially when the background setting is a kingdom, where societal values and expectations are at its peak. Also because it's easier to talk about for me because I'm hella into royalty shit lol.

Let me just bring 2 people up, Khojo and Sankat;

First and foremost, they're a lot less like bullies, more like raging oppressors. They both had their goals with the requirements of getting rid of Arjun by any means necessary, and I do mean that quite literally.

Position-wise (and moral-wise also), it's honestly utterly unethical of them to try to fight with a godforsaken heir to the throne. I'm not sure if anyone is aware of how the hierarchy system works (which is weird honestly, but hey-), but when the first heir is eliminated, the title of future monarch will be passed down to the next to the throne, in this case which is Tanya.

And for picking fights with one of the members of the royal family is the equivalent of going against the entire nation.

Let me address Khojo first because he's a repeat offender in majority of the cases; he was delusional in an absurd amount. He hated Arjun but liked Tanya. He wanted to eliminate Arjun so badly so he could be prince, in which if you didn't read my previous post about APOB before, I've explained that it can't be possible, unless he wanted to be prince consort and nothing more if he were intending to just be that and marries Tanya. Even so, when Arjun got kidnapped, Khojo won't be prince —not by a long shot at that— he'll still remain as nothing more as the Minister's son. If he marries Tanya, he'll just be prince consort.

And then there's Sankat; Arjun and Tanya's cousin who seemed hellbent on getting rid of Arjun due to his jealousy. Internal conflicts in the royal family shouldn't be made public to keep up an image, usually there's this inner war between family members to determine which will be worthy to ascend to the throne, or bringing the entire kingdom into ruin. I'm not sure if the people are oblivious or just dumb (both most likely), but there are several times where Sankat pushed Arjun aside in favor of himself in front of public, and he wasn't even subtle about it either.

This concludes my ramble. I only mentioned 4 because for 2 reasons;

1. These shows are the ones I'm most aware of

2. Many would recognize this compared to the newer ones lol

Again, I feel like things like these aren't being addressed enough, because people are more inclined to look passed these in favor of holding the things they liked up high in high standards while in the meantime completely disregarding the bigger issues laying underneath the glorified fighting champions.

This entire post isn't made to take down the shows because they're bad; I'm simply trying to address the things that many people seemed to have prefer to ignore. I am by no means trying to take down these shows or trying to treat these shows as something not worth to be watched; it does, it just had a lot of flaws like many cartoons typically do because they're not made to be perfect, they're shows for kids.

But truthfully, because these are cartoons for kids, such behaviors should be properly addressed and handled, treating them like a gag, especially when they had this whole stereotype in place in majority of these shows which creates this subconscious mindset that'll affect how they'll react in situations.

Ok- I think I can FINALLY conclude this essay holy shit-

[wonder-worker]

"[Elizabeth Woodville] was the only member of [Crown Prince Edward of Westminster's] original 1471 council not already on the king’s council and her name headed the list of those appointed as administrators in Wales during Edward’s minority. [She remained on the council after it was expanded in 1473 and granted new governing and judicial powers]."

"In 1478 Prince Richard married the Mowbray heiress. Like his elder brother he had a chancellor, seal, household and council to manage his estates. His council, like that of Prince Edward, comprised the queen [Elizabeth Woodville] and a group of magnates and bishops, few of whom were Woodville supporters. [...] It was Elizabeth who mattered, for Richard resided with her and Rivers treated his affairs as their own."

— J.L. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503 / Michael Hicks, Richard III and his Rivals: Magnates and their Motives in the Wars of the Roses

[stopmyhearts]

Found a paper that talks about doctor who and the topic I need to write about

I should not have this power

[tinypaperstar]

offers u alnst oc stats

[cannibalmeowmeow]

not to be dramatic but i would give anything to be her plaything

[hippo-pot]

really needed this one 😭 the bill doesn't affect me directly but it does affect my friend, plus I really needed to hear that Republicans can stand up to weird unpopular garbage from on high

"The bill now heads to the governor's desk, and Kissinger said its overwhelming bipartisan support in both the Texas House and Senate could bode well for the measure.

"[We] would be pretty surprised if he didn't actually sign it," he said."

[wellnoe]

reading a book that is very interesting in its quantitative analysis but is so weird in its tone!! the place the author chooses to insert emotionality is bizarre and his treatment of mortality of the be all end all of suffering is equally so.

[vonlipvig]

rewatched conclave with the parents because of course we're rewatching conclave, and godddddd what a good fucking movieeeeeeeeee

[sillywormz]

reading a fic or a book that's good but then they describe a character being fat/depict their fatness in a way that's obviously meant to be repulsive to the reader and it's like. my mood is ruined :( oof

[linnaealyn]

They're just shooting stars, little one.

[redgearsmovin]

Season 2 - Birthday Ball

[clowningaroundmars]

no bc lrb is actually... awakening smthn in me that i hadn't quite put into words before but like??? that shit is actually genius. i am connecting the dots. i'm connecting them

so much of depression is represented in media as weepy and sad and... well, yeah depressed.

when in actuality depression can manifest in many different ways. many different things can cause it as well. the depression that comes with a deep and profound sense of loneliness specifically often shapes ppl into-- paradoxically enough-- the complete opposite of what most ppl picture depressed and unhappy ppl to look like

when ppl are lonely, it's bc they're alone. that is to say, ppl who are lonely often have to fend for themselves, provide for themselves, learn things on their own. and if you can't rope someone into dealing with your ravenous hunger for connection, then storebought is fine you gotta provide yet another thing for yourself: company.

now i'm not saying that every single person who aches to be seen and understood are the perfect examples of peak productivity but the decades of loneliness brought on by his trauma sharpened hannibal lecter into a very, very fine point. loneliness and being alone can indeed force certain people to evolve in certain ways depending on their needs...

"i find that a scalpel cuts better points than a pencil sharpener" is what hannibal first said to jack in the very 1st ep just before jack complimented him on his paper on the "evolutionary origins of social exclusion"

a happy and fulfilled person doesn't write an entire paper on that topic, much less a paper that's hinted at being highly praised amongst psychiatrists, esp by both dr. alana bloom and jack crawford, head of the behavioral science unit at the fbi

hannibal is indeed a severely hungry individual not just bc he chews on his victims' organs, but bc his deep aching loneliness and general unhappiness is exactly what motivates him to live the carefully carved out life that he's spent decades cultivating for himself

he's so productive that he throws dinner parties, goes swimming, takes up several refined and notoriously difficult hobbies (i mean like... the theremin?? seriously man?) runs his own psychiatry practice right in his own home, kills and stages certain ppl to recreate the art he's spent so many years studying, AND helps the fbi with several cases they need help profiling. all on his own.

a man like that? no wonder he's a cannibal! that poor guy is starving for literally anything that can stimulate him in the absence of a true, deep connection and companionship