#which would be a tragedy because some of you are using it politely

[kedreeva]

i really hate that allowing replies means I get emailed when someone replies to my reblog that isn't originally my post, especially since I don't get emails when someone @ mentions me in replies on other people's posts. I feel like it should be the other way around. I should only get emailed when people reply to a post I made, and I should get notified if someone is trying to get my attention. Anyway I'm cranky today.

[kcrabb88]

It's truly wild to me how many people out there don't understand that the Star Wars prequels are a tragedy or how tragedies work.

Posts like "these are the Jedi failed movies" truly just make me shake my head. They're actually the "fascism wears a smile until it strikes you down and then it's too late" movies. They're the "the senate became corrupt and clapped in the face of genocide" movies. They're the "make people scared enough of war until they accept authoritarianism" movies. They're the "fear and possessiveness will tear you up on the inside" movies. The Jedi were the heroes of lore, people loved and looked up to them, looked to them for safety, and then too much got put on their shoulders on purpose by Palpatine, and also by a senate that didn't want to act (not you Padme and Bail and Mon, you're perfect). They were drafted and used and scapegoated, which is, you know, a tenet of the vast majority of authoritarian governments (Hitler and Stalin, for instance, might be on different ends of the political spectrum, but they sure both did scapegoat specific groups and commit mass murder, just differently).

When some people say "these movies are about the fall of the Jedi" what they mean is "the Jedi failed" but that's not what "the fall of the Jedi means." It means they were wiped the fuck OUT. Like, Jesus, in Rogue One Tarkin is talking about burning out the final MEMORY of the Jedi by blowing up the holy city in Jedha. Palpatine had to get rid of the Jedi because to get rid of the Jedi was to get rid of the final people standing in his way after he had already worn them out. His intention was not only to kill them, but to alter the galaxy's entire perception of them. To rip away hope. People are always looking for the Jedi to be Bad or nitpick their mistakes (because while other people are allowed to make mistakes, the Jedi never are). Palpatine made himself look like a benevolent grandpa who would keep everyone safe. And that, more than anything, is what gave him SO much power. He stole the narrative.

It's just like. Of course WE know what was going to happen! We know from watching the OT that the PT can only end in tragedy. But the characters don't know that! They don't have all the info! That's how a tragic story structure works. We see it coming and they can't.

Anyway. The Jedi are laser-sword wielding monks with psychic powers who just wanted to do what they could to help. The world would be better if more folks remembered that.

[theveryworstthing]

a small selection of ill omen spirits common in myths and legends from mainlander and rabbit culture respectively. ghosts and spirits are different things and no one knows exactly what spirits are, but rabbit priests hypothesize that if they're real (very rich of them to assume they know what's real but whatever) they might be ghosts that sort of decomposed a long long time ago and turned into Something Else. probably not though. who knows. here are some spooky facts:

Mainlanders:

mainlander spirits bringing ill omens tend to be very bestial and chimeric. often they have have too many limbs, shrouded and/or twisted faces, and a lack of markings at the joints that all mainlanders have, though sometimes these markings will be replaced by a cracked texture that looks more like broken shell than skin.

silent weeping isn't always present but it is common, and the spirit never actively cries, its tears just continually leak.

most of the time.

spirits that specifically come warning about death are always surrounded by a circle of mushrooms wherever they go, and may even be the center of countless interlocking circles if they're coming to warn of mass tragedies.

stories say that these spirits can be talked to, but that would involve getting close enough to hear their whispered words. the "proper way" to engage with them is by thanking them politely while averting your eyes and then offering to sing them something in return. you start singing before they answer of course, and then keep singing, drowning out their words, until they leave. never try to leave first and never disrespect them but don't listen to them ESPECIALLY if they're saying anything involving or incriminating the Royals. if you encounter one then you must contact a medium who will tell you what they probably wanted without the pesky threat of blasphemy involved :)

Rabbits:

rabbit spirits bringing ill omens are a little more...unavoidable...if the stories are true. they have something to tell you and they're gonna do that whether you like it or not. which is a conundrum because rabbits, as a rule, do not fuck with omens and destiny and foretellings. letting the universe think it can lead you around is a bad idea most of the time. that's how you get Chosen Ones, AKA, Fate Slaves. rabbits refuse to be doomed by the narrative, they can doom themselves thank you very much.

all this is probably why their brand of spirits are so insistent, because they know rabbits want nothing to do with knowing the future.

but.

it's complicated.

because while most rabbits turn down carot readings and side eye tea leaves, they do listen to these spirits. because danger is danger and they haven't survived this long on the island ignoring information about their surroundings. rabbit ill omen spirits are treated less like beings trying to order you around and more like the smell of smoke before a fire starts or the far off sounds of a predator. a personification of vigilance. if a spirit of ill omen starts bothering you it's best to hear them out. you shouldn't let them lead you anywhere or follow their orders because if they're giving orders then they're Something Else, but if a Black Crush floats through the halls, headless wormlike body crumpling in on itself section by section until it's just a writhing black line dripping phantom blood on the floor, then you should probably check the tunnel stability of the entire warren.

now.

culturally these spirits have a lot of moth attributes and tend to show some kind of damage correlating to the threat they're warning you about. many of them are non-verbal but their messages are always very clear. no cryptic bullshit. if the rabbit encountering the spirit doesn't seem to get the message then they'll up the ante until there is conformation that they are being understood. spirits should be respected and listened to but using your common sense is the most important when dealing with them and it's important not to freak out and jump to conclusions.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Jane Fonda (Barbarella, Sunday in New York, Barefoot in the Park)—Feminist icon, LGBTQ+ rights activist since the 70s, Civil Rights and Native American rights advocate, environmentalist… she really is THE woman ever

Rita Hayworth (Gilda, Cover Girl)—Absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous. She steals every movie she’s in; she was Fred Astaire’s favorite dance partner, as you can see in clips from their movies [link][link]. Born Margarita Carmen Cansino, Rita's story had its tragedies—her father was awful and had her performing in nightclubs way, way too young; the studio totally remade her look because they were afraid of her hispanic image, putting her through painful treatments and diets; she had a string of failed marriages. But beside all that, I think there's something about Rita that still glows through—an inner beauty that has nothing to do with the studio, or the men who pinned their dreams on her. Rita brings an incandescence to roles that's impossible to replicate, and was truly a great actress in that she could switch from herself—shy Margarita—into a bold and glamorous femme fatale so convincingly everyone fell in love with her as Gilda. She's my favorite movie star, and I think she was a beautiful human through and through—Rita, gorgeous and real and shining bright.

This is round 5 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Jane Fonda:

" I assume she's already been submitted but I gotta make sure. I think there's an element to movies like Barbarella or her segment of Spirit of the Dead of those having been directed by her husband, who famously made movies about her being hot, and the incredible costume design also helped, but good lord. Look at her"

"She was so pretty, dear lord! She was and still us stunning. She’s great at comedy and drama."

"Shes so hot im so gay for me i will let her hit me with hers car"

"Gorgeous and also still getting arrested at climate protests, which is sexy behavior"

"Watching her in Barefoot in the Park seriously made me, a straight woman, question things"

"PLEASE I LOVE HER SO MUCH"

"Her vibes in these movies are so interesting because she, the daughter of an Old Hollywood star, went on to make both poignant dramatic movies and the some of the silliest things you've ever seen but even in the silly space adventures and sexploitations there's always this undeniable gravitas to her. It's like she's able not to take herself very seriously but at the same time never stops having this grace and elegance and makes it all work together. And she's always been very politically active which is also sexy. Her famous mugshot is from 1970 so right at the cutoff mark but come on"

Rita Hayworth:

Do you need any other propaganda? Here’s the video.

She was not called "the love goddess" for nothing: beautiful, glamorous, despite playing sexy and provocative roles her inherent shyness somehow also would shine through sometimes, creating this contradictory and incredibly attractive image

Often played "the bad girl" who tempted the male hero away from "the good girl"; but did have roles that broke her out of that mold. She was also the inspiration for Jessica Rabbit. THE pinup girlie.

HELP

She was soo beautiful when she was young and she MAINTAINED that beauty into her later years and I think that old lady glamour is hot. bombastic sex appeal

every line she delivers in gilda is so flirty and passionate or absolutely desolate and it's so good

I just have a lot of feelings about her

[hello-nichya-here]

Did Sia insult topic of autism somehow?

Oh honey, it's sooooooooo much worse than that.

Sia wanted to make a movie about an autistic girl that manages to connect to people/feel safe and confident through music. So far, nothing outrageous, just a simple concept that would obviously put Sia's music front and center while doing something nice and educating people on autism.

There was controversy about her not casting an autistic actress as it would have been nice representation, but she could have totally gotten away with that since, come on, hollywood hasn't even figured out Rain Man isn't exactly true to life, they're not ready to have an autistic person playing an autistic character. Baby steps.

The real problem started when Sia started promoting the "charity/support group" that was helping "educate" her on the topic to make the movie. The "charity" in question was Autism Speaks - which is absolutely HATED by the autistic community for things like:

1 - Spreading the myth that autism is a mental illness that one can develop/catch like the freaking flue and potentially be cured of, instead of a neurotype, aka something starts in the woomb and cannot be "cured" because to do that you'd need to replace someone's entire nervous system, which is impossible.

2 - Using that myth to get outrageous amounts of money from people so they "search for a cure" - that doesn't exist and will never exist because curing autism is biologically impossible, AND despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of autistic people don't even want to be "cured" (plus, since said "cure" would essentially mean giving the person a new brain, it leads to the question of "Would I even be the same person, or would that just kill and replace me?")

3 - Using the myth of "We don't know what causes autism" (we do, it's genetic) to, of course, get MORE money from people so they can "do research to find the missing puzzle piece" (if you ever see autistic people complaining about a puzzle piece being used to represent the condition, that's why, it was started by Autism Speak's massive disinformation campains).

4 - Falsely "confirming" things like soy milk cause autism with one of the world's most ridiculous "research", losing only to "vaccines totally make kids autistic, buy MY vaccine instead, guys, I am totally not an unbelievably biased person, it's ALL the other doctors/scientists lying to you. GIVE ME MONEY!"

5 - Pushing the narrative of "autism is inherently a tragedy" to distract from the fact that all the money they waste on stupid shit could be used to help autistic people and their families. Instead, they focus on creating more and more panic, making parents in particular despair even more - to the point that one of their "awareness videos" includes a mother talking about how she wants to murder her autistic daughter and then kill herself... while sitting right next to said daughter.

6 - Promoting ABA "therapy" - which was created by the same guy responsible for the attrocity that is gay conversion "therapy." Both have led to unbelievably high rates of confirmed PTSD and suicidal ideation in patients (victims), and ABA in particular has been compared to literal dog training. Very fitting since it was created by a guy who famously did not believe autistic people truly counted as thinking, feeling human beings, and said as much several times. Despite that, it is still praised by some utter bastards because "it makes the patients act less autistic when they're not crying in the corner or trying to jump out a window"

So yeah, working with these guys is a genuinely horrible thing to do since they're basically a scam/hate group pretending to be a charity - and people were STILL willing to give Sia the benefit of the doubt, since Autism Speak uses all their resources to make sure they're the first thing people see when looking up how to help autistic people.

Lots of Sia's fans, both autistic and allistic, warned her repeatedly, politely, that she needed to supporting them IMMEDIATELY as their goal was the exact opposite of the one she claimed to have - aka raise awareness through an accurate portrail of autism. People were even kind enough to name organizations like ASAN as replacements to help her fix any damage done to the project.

And instead of being a decent human being, Sia decided to cry on twitter about how the mean retar-I mean, autistics were bullying her even when she was so kindly using them for her vanity project.

Because yes, that's how the movie turned out. An unwatcheable piece of garbage, with the autistic "character" being so fucking bad even the people who actively use "autistic" as insulted being offended on our behalf - and of course, she was used just a prop to show how awesome Sia's character was.

Seriously, it was so bad the actress playing the autistic girl was sobbing in between scenes because she knew how it was horrible and she didn't want to insult anyone, but Sia is literally her godmother and helped her career by putting her in nearly all her music videos so she felt obligated to go along with it.

So yeah, fuck Sia and fuck Autism Speaks.

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Lies, truth and being back in Oldtown

Otto Hightower x wife!reader

warning : Otto slayed episode two (and I'm his biggest lover for it), fluff, kissing, little hurt/comfort, drinking alcohol, grandpa gets a time out with his wife, no use of Y/n, but they are THE player pair

Summary : The young prince's death a tragedy, Aemond's impulses devastating, Alicent's nocturnal activities sinful and in this mess of his own bloodline Otto is dismissed from the office of the Hand but with a personal victory and his supportive wife by his side…of course another dismissal screamed a couple of free time in Oldtown.

info : Otto was always good looking, he just got too good in the second episode and grandfather needs some time off. To be honest this is not my best worl I had an idea but my hands and mind were like ,,No we do it like this" and yeah it comes a little different. Happy reading and thanks for all the support.

masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fire was no longer burning in the fireplace, the night was over and the day had long since dawned, a day full of emotion and excitement after the events of the tragedy that had taken place.

Westeros had lost a prince, the heir to the throne of the young King Aegon who had invested so much in his son.

For the first time it was something that made him cheerful and happy, his wife the queen had found a grip on reality, the dowager queen had smiled again when she saw the little prince and his uncle was at least satisfied that his brother was doing well.

It was a brief period in which all seemed well and the hand and his wife had at least a moment's peace and quiet in front of the family who were getting on their last nerve.

But in the Hand's tower room, the couple who had spent the night with good conversation and a little wine were also slowly stirring, unaware that so much more would happen that day.

At least her husband's dark eyes were on her sleeping form, darting back and forth over the papers and writings he'd had to take care of in the early hours. Pleasant as you are my star, he thought as he looked from his sleeping wife to the empty wine bottle, thinking back to the evening he'd come back to late at night and to his chagrin had to take care of business that his grandson or daughter were unable to do due to the death of Prince Jaehaerys.

His own great-grandson the little prince was a child without a care but he didn't have much to do with him, he was a busy man and his wife had a much better hand in family matters.

Not that he didn't grieve, there were hours when he would throw himself into his work and his wife would hug him, sighs coming from his lips…but there was no time for real grief at a time like this.

One thing they both knew was that in the beginning it had been excellent at keeping Aegon in check, one thing they were both sure of, it was because of them that everything here was running smoothly, that the city had not yet ended in chaos. ,,You're pulling such a worried face again," he suddenly heard her voice and saw that she had woken up from her sleep and had put the blanket on her upper body as she sat on the bed and watched him go about his work.

A knowing smile came to his own lips as he grabbed the hand brooch and came over to her, the face of a woman his age smiled softly and slightly tiredly at him, light wispy hair hanging on her head and yet it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

She was his lady, the mother of his two children, the great grandmother of the royal family and the only thing the green ones had left as a loving heart.

A woman he had married out of duty and politics but a woman who showed him that knowledge wasn't everything, how important it was to get things with ties while behind her stood her own powerful house and she was so much better interpersonally that he saw she was a player of the game in her own right.

,,The prince's death and Aegon's escape are troubling, I can't do everything," he admitted and pulled up a chair to sit in front of her, his hands taking hers in his and stroking the small scar she had gotten from her grandson when Aegon had thrown glasses through the small council and injured her, causing the hand to make a loud word and the king to withdraw.

But she straightened up, still thinking about him, she pressed a light kiss on his lips and took the golden pin from his hand, ,,I take care of the family and you take care of politics… pieces are set you just have to lay them right" she reminded him of the words and saw a knowing smile on his own before he squeezed her hands one last time and disappeared from the room with his papers while his wife, his shadow, his back wheel, his teammate got ready to go see if she could do anything with her family.

No matter how this war started she knew that the royal family were a bunch of mismatched people her own family was completely dysfunctional which was not least her fault and the fault of the throne it could have been different but things had happened and you had to make the best of it.

Lying in bed for a moment the smell of Otto a mix of paper, leather and wine made her smile at the conversations they had had emotional, devoted but most of all they were conversations about the tension in the bridge it was as if something was going to blow up at any moment.

Because this wildfire several hundred years later was the loud talking and shouting that could be heard in the corridors of the halls. The green golden dress of the royal grandmother was still wet with tears a few hours ago when she went to her daughter, the widow queen burst into tears, confessed her sins and sought refuge in her arms before they prayed together, it seemed as if she had at least caught her daughter.

Getting close to her granddaughter Helaena was always a little more difficult but she talked to her and tried to convince her with insects and help her, which at least ended in a little play with Jaehaera and Helaena seemed to have at least some support.

Aemond, on the other hand, had disappeared and she suspected to find her grandson in the brothels she had heard about a long time ago. But now she ran faster and faster as she heard the screaming and cursed inwardly that she hadn't been the first to find Aegon.

She hadn't noticed anything from outside, she had just been with her family and god knows what had happened again. Rushing into the room, the open doors alone made her nervous and she was met with a scene of chaos.

,,What's going on here?" she asked as the guards hurried to close the door before she stood between her husband and grandson, knowing the stunned look in her husband's eyes and Aegon's who only seemed more stubborn.

A sigh crossed the eldest's lips as Aegon put his hands on his hips and smiled, ,,Grandmother, I did my wife a favor and with Lary's help let the ratcatchers down," as he admitted his actions that hit her like a wave of bad wine at the wrong time at the wrong moment.

Her look of utter bewilderment went to her husband who looked at her the same way and shook his head, ..Aegon you hanged all the ratcatchers?" the elder asked her grandson and put a hand on his shoulder which he pushed away after a moment when he realized she wasn't on his side and went to Criston who was still standing in one place.

,,I am the king, I have done right and avenged my son," he countered, making sweeping movements and defending himself, not realizing what he had done on a larger scale, ,,You idiot, you have enraged the people, the foundation, do you understand that?" Otto asked, ignoring the warning of Cole, who stood by the king and pointed his hand at his grandson.

In his emotional state, Aegon didn't quite seem to want to understand that he had avenged his son and that was what mattered, ,,So what? I am the king the crown sits on my head by my father" said the Targaryen and his grandmother hid her head in her hands for a moment as she gathered herself and Otto slowly placed her behind him.

It was done, Aegon in his grief not seeing what he had done, the players of the game of thrones were no longer in control of their own game and the king began to move himself.

It was an abyss that opened up and they realized that they could no longer get through to him, ,,Is that what you think?" was the last question Otto asked his grandson before this abyss became something unstoppable as he dismissed Otto from the office of the hand.

It had happened again her husband lost the office of the hand in a situation that couldn't have been more nerve-wracking and the family's upper management had to find themselves without a place in the castle and a few hours later in an empty room of the hand.

,,He's a fool," she murmured, stroking her temple to quell the pain that threatened to rise in her head as she felt his hand on her shoulder and he held her close, ,,He's a dog let off the leash," he added, and they both knew that once they left the castle, they would be "free," but their family would perish. It was a feeling that the whole board game would turn and the family could no longer be properly protected.

It was a decision they couldn't change, and the feeling of his kiss on the top of her head only slightly loosened the knot in her heart. ,,What will they do without us?" she spoke her thoughts, feeling the temptation he was pulling her into, but he had no answer either, an answer that did nothing to ease her pain and grief, even as they made their way back to Oldtown by coach and ship.

But as soon as they saw the great Old Town, the tower of her husband's house, the fire burning inside and were greeted by Otto's brother, the atmosphere seemed to have changed.

It was calmer, you were hardly tense and even if you were always surrounded by worry like a draft of air, it seemed as if you could think more clearly again without being surrounded by city walls.

A city with a tower, the main seat, and large rooms in which noble couples found themselves looking out onto the balcony over their homeland, their hands joined together and drinking goblets of wine, ,,As if the blessing of the seven would calm you down," Otto murmured, placing the goblet on the railing of the balcony and looking out over the city where he had grown up and where his children had spent years.

,,We needed this blessing," she admitted, stroking a strand of hair behind her ear that had been blown away by the wind. She could feel his bend and knew that he was upset at how much he had been going back and forth now that they no longer had direct access to decisions.

They really had to play the backseat family members and even Alicent didn't seem to have a breakthrough anymore. ,,Yes, a break, my dear, is probably what we need," he finally gave in anyway and pressed another kiss on her, which she returned briefly, however much she loved him Lust was not what she felt on this day, rather a need for something palpable to help her.

She let her gaze sweat until she looked up into the sky, the infinite cradle, and drank her cup with one last draught. ,,We may have lost turns, husband, but there is something we can use to protect what we have created," she reminded him and grabbed his hand, pointing to the sky and the two of them looked up at the dragon in the sky with their youngest grandson on it.

She saw the same knowing flash in his eyes as in hers before his hands wrapped around her body, it had been a long time since she had seen him so unsettled. He didn't show it often that he was worried, he probably hated himself at that moment but he had a drive a cunning in him that she knew together they would save her house from its own destruction they hadn't given up their places yet, ,,Together the chosen pieces move on to a new one my star and we will be victorious" he added with a slight smile.

The apprehension disappeared for a moment before he placed his hand on her cheek and pulled her into another kiss. In every game, you had to give yourself a time-out to hit even harder on the next play.

~~~~~~~~~~~

@ewanmitchellcrumbs

@xionthelostpuppet

[direquail]

My specific read on John is not that he's a nice guy, either. It's that, like any good character (specifically a tragic character, which, TM has said that he is modeled on a mythical tragic hero, so) he has a flaw that dooms him. And what that means is, when he has the choice to change what he's doing, that flaw either prevents him from taking the option he's aware of, or prevents him from being aware that there is another option altogether.

And so as a writer, what I look for are moments where either:

something good about a character becomes an excess that harms themselves or others

we receive information that shows a persistent blind spot a character has

we look for times when a character gives their view of the world/a situation and it Does Not Match Up with reality, or is hinted that it doesn't

we look for evidence of something simmering under the surface that clashes with their outward, agreeable presentation

What fills that role for John?

Yep.

When this first pops up, it's pretty easily dismissed as yet another layer on the falsehood he's propped up. Admittedly, he's been doing it for ten thousand years, so it's probably got a few layers to it.

However:

This one, to me, gives us a hint about what John is blind to: That his friends see his vindictiveness and his failings and that they could still love him. This is where it crosses into tragedy, for me; where his own inability to forgive blinds him to the capacity that other people have for generosity--and so, to a world where "justice" means more than "vengeance for the dead".

And this illuminates the whole chain of events that leads him to that climactic scene in Harrow the Ninth, telling Mercy that she never would have forgiven him anyways:

John is, at heart, deeply angry--like most characters in the series, and like a lot of people who grew up in poverty, especially if they managed to escape it. He also has some deep sense of justice, and deep sense of judgment.

So we have this cycle of related emotions and ideas: Justice, judgment, outrage. And a human measure of selfishness, amorality, double standards, etc.

In one situation, this allows him to throw himself completely into the cryo project, something that (if it hadn't been sabotaged politically) could have made a difference to humanity. He brings in people who work to make it even better, who demonstrably want to make the outcome as just and humane as possible. It's also implied that this is part of why he received those powers; "I chose you to change."

(And, I'll be honest, one of the other things that I see that chafes me is the implication that there was nothing about John to recommend him to the Earth. I'm actually of the opinion that there was; she chose him, and I don't think she just rolled a d100 or drew a card off a tarot deck and called him up. John is also still a human, flawed person.)

Then, the situation changes. It's no longer an issue of dedicating expertise to solve a problem; this is a political issue, and specifically of rich people using their resources to shift outcomes towards the one they think will benefit them the most, that will secure their survival, explicitly at the expense of everyone else.

And their strategy is, profoundly: short-sighted and unnecessary (pooling resources would help create a better outcome for everyone, including the rich, by reducing global trauma and preserving more of the systems that already structure their world); bigoted and uninformed (many rich people think that the world has to be a certain way, generally that the world is violent, competitive, dog-eat-dog, etc., and someone has to be "on top", and there will always have to be a loser, or lots of losers); and utterly cruel, unjust, and pointless.

And John--John, who grew up poor, who grew up aware of the despair around him and the injustice of his position and more than likely made use of that anger to achieve what he had up to this point--John is so angry.

Because they're all the same. They're all the same. It's the same song, over and over again, no matter how stupid and pointless and unnecessary. He is certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it doesn't have to be this way. He passes judgment.

But John is losing to them, because he doesn't have the resources they do. He can hate them and fight them all he wants, and it doesn't matter, because he's nowhere near in the same league as they are politically.

And then, after the cryo project is cancelled, he gains his powers.

The thing about anger and judgment is that the deeper it runs, often, the more invested the person who holds that anger in themselves is in not seeing what they hate in themselves. E.g: John has conceptualized the people he's resisting as fundamentally unjust, cruel, amoral, and bigoted. There's a very good chance--to different degrees, depending on the person--that becoming aware of similar traits in himself might wake up those feelings he has towards those other people--aimed at himself (that is, cognitive dissonance). He can't see the things he's passed judgment on in himself and function. He's not like them; he's trying to fix things, to bring about justice.

Of course, there's justice as in "living in a just society", and justice as in "justice for the dead". But that's a later realization, because right now, everyone is still alive.

So John hides those parts of himself; from himself, from other people. So thoroughly he can exclude it from his consciousness and pretend it doesn't exist. He thinks no one sees the real depth of his own rage, his own cutthroat pursuit of a solution. And then, when he can't pretend it doesn't exist, he can still pretend to be the man he thinks they need him to be. He can "fool" them. He can say--he's trying. He screwed up. He doesn't know what he's doing.

And then, Casseiopeia says, No, actually, we know you, and we know you're horribly vindictive. And we're on your side--we're on the same side--our fight is your fight--and we love you. But your drive for revenge is seriously limiting your ability to imagine and create a living, just world, and that's what we're fighting for. Remember? That's what we set out to create.

And John's brain can't quite handle this; he can't imagine that they could actually see him and still be on his side. Because he couldn't see that and still be on his side. He can't forgive; he can't imagine forgiveness.

He can't see the things he's passed judgment on in himself and function.

And, by this stage, in some ways, it's already too late to change course. But this is one of several "come to Jesus" (no pun intended) moments where John could become aware of alternatives, or could change his behavior--and doesn't.

And I think this is where we get that self-awareness from, the thing that makes him creepy and tragic but also infuriating: He is aware, but apparently that's not enough to stop him from being his worst self--so is he just pretending to be moral? Capable of making different choices but choosing not to? And the weird statements he makes later:

This is, imo, not a power-hungry dictator who genuinely doesn't care about the cost of his throne, or a gleefully predatory abuser. This is a dude who's committed to a course of action and doesn't feel great about it. This is a guy who has violated his own sense of justice and has to live with it.

This is a guy who set out to save the world, killed it, and now the only thing that's left to him is to avenge it.

And like, from a mythology standpoint, that is exactly what the Erinyes are, like the Furies and Alecto. They are not the justice of Apollo or Athena. They are screaming for blood. They are hunting their quarry to the ends of the universe. They are chthonic.

Again: This isn't what Cassieopeia or Christabel said to him. This is what John has said to himself. This came from him. This is a reflection of what he believes.

And it encapsulates, exactly, why he erased their memories. Why he took away their agency.

The difference between him and many, many people is he had the power of a god and no one to check him when he was struggling with his own worst impulses. And then, he created a world where no one could, not just because then he could do what he wanted and pretend to be kind and loving and moral, but so that he would never have to lose the love of the people he needed.

Because, unfortunately, he still needed them.

It just took ten thousand years for the lie to unravel.

[greenflower21]

I wish people would stop treating Kira’s faith like something detrimental to her strength as a character— like, as if being religious makes her any less “good” in their eyes.

Kira is a deeply religious person- it is one of my favorite things about her as a character. It does give her a layer of complexity we don’t usually see, but I wish we could re-frame this and stop thinking about her religion as a type of complexity usually looked at by fans as a moral shortcoming.

Yes, I know it is difficult for socially “progressive” people in our current political climate to see religious characters and not immediately equate their religion with bad things and oppression. But in reality religion, like people, is many layered, diverse, complicated, and so so important to so many people and societies. Religious belief does not always equal Political conservatism and/or oppression: equating the 2 is actually harmful to communities like mine. Like the Bajorans, Jews have survived countless tragedies, and yet we are still here: we are still here, because we didn’t relinquish who we are, which in many cases (not all) is our faith and religious practice. The Bajorans were almost obliterated— their faith united them and kept them going— THIS, is why people like Kira felt so threatened when the federation tried to come in and suppress it (even though they meant well)— Kira’s opposition to Keiko O’Brien teaching Bajoran students about the wormhole isn’t bc she has some kind of moral flaw bc of her religion, it’s because she almost saw that essential piece of their culture destroyed. And if the Cardassians didn’t manage to destroy it by force, the federation just might destroy it by way of “benevolent” assimilation. She isn’t being “anti Science,” she’s just not on board with the idea of the federation totally ignoring and rejecting her people’s autonomy and cultural beliefs. And as a religious Jew, I can definitely understand where she is coming from.

As a socially progressive person, AND as an Orthodox Jew, I love representation like Kira Nerys, because it makes me feel so seen. I too care about fighting injustice. I also love Hashem and I love my culture and I resent the way that secular people talk about us as if we don’t live up to their moral standards because we believe in G-D and have a lot of intricate practices to show that belief that don’t make a lot of sense to them. (Assimilation is in itself a form of oppression you know)

Kira being religious is a beautiful part of her character. Yes, it makes her “complicated,” but not in that it adds flaws. It adds culture and love and faith and community and passion and so so many things. It makes people like me feel seen and valued. You know what doesn’t make people like me feel seen and validated through? People talking shit about faith and acting like it’s a character “flaw” that hinders someone’s ability to be the perfect paragon of “progressive” virtue. .

[ohnoitstbskyen]

ARCANE season 2 is just one year away!

We finally have a confirmed date for Arcane season 2: November of 2024, just one year away. Riot posted this striking stylized rendering of Jinx simply walking away from camera while some music plays. It is barely more than a teaser trailer, and it would be completely absurd to try and divine meaning or predictions about the show from it. So that's what I'm gonna do! The teaser is accompanied by the musical theme of The Bridge, which Powder sings in the first scene of the show as she and Vi are crossing this very same bridge in the aftermath of a pitched battle, finding their parents among the dead. It is Jinx's foundational trauma, and the crossing of the bridge is a repeated motif in the first season of Arcane, representing the divide between the cities, between characters, between ideologies. And so in this teaser Jinx is crossing the bridge again, in the aftermath of having lost her third father, blaming Piltover not inaccurately for all her suffering. If this is the tone-setter for the show, then, it seems Season 2 of Arcane will be grounded in Jinx's war on Piltover, her attempt to do what Vander couldn't with his riot and what Silco couldn't with his political manipulation. Dear friend across the river My hands are cold and bare Dear friend across the river I'll take what you can spare

To expand a little bit beyond what I can do in a 60 second short - it is of course an obvious conclusion that Season 2 of Arcane would feature Jinx's vengeance against Piltover (there is only so much you can try and predict from a 15 second teaser), but I wonder about the structure that this will take. Will Jinx's vengeance be a feature, a concurrent storyline running alongside all the other storylines, or will it be the central axis that everything else is orbiting?

In Season 1 the show was very much structured around a handful of storylines all converging into the same, single, tragic end-point - for most of the narrative, characters like Jayce and Vi were not even consciously aware of one another, even as their actions had impact on one another. By the end of Season 1, the characters are much more closely acquainted and connected with one another, and maybe that requires a change in structure. Perhaps, rather than a handful of narratives all converging together towards one central tragedy, we get a series of stories exploding out from one central starting point?

Because I could absolutely see Jinx and her war being the anchor-point that everyone else is reacting to. Vi's primary quest is to stop her, so is Caitlyn's. The Council will want bloody revenge, Noxus is going to sense weakness and take advantage of a civil war, the Chembarons will be fighting among themselves to take Silco's place...

It's only really Viktor and Singed whose storylines I could see maintaining some degree of separation from Jinx's vengeance... but then, I do operate on the assumption that Hextech will be used to build weapons of war and that that will be the final breaking point between Jayce and Viktor - I don't think Viktor's moral compass would allow his invention to be turned on the undercity in this way, the very people he most wanted to help and protect.

In this way, I have a feeling he'll enter the war essentially on Jinx's "side," building augmentations and applying Singed's nihilistic philosophy of science to build something to defend the undercity which Jayce, in turn, will find too horrible to contemplate or forgive.

Also who the fuck knows what Vander/Warwick is going to be doing? Is the connection between Singed and Orianna going to... like is Ori going to turn up? I would like Ori to turn up.

[txttletale]

so when Palestine fights back by killing civilians, including children, you go: it's justified

but when Russia invades Ukraine and kills civilians, including children, and Ukraine fights back in defense, you go, Ukraine should settle for peace

and you say Israel can just stop the occupation, they have that power and then they could avoid their civilians dying by simply deciding to that, yet you don't see that the Ukraine war stop just as "easily", by Russia stopping the invasion. They invaded, they started the war, just like Israel occupied Palestine, they are the one who can stop it

I know these are two different situations but I cant help but notice how different your approaches are, like adjusting your theory according to who is attacking who.

also, you said it would be strategically impossible (im paraphrasing you) for Russia to stop their invasion, well, wouldn't it also be strategically impossible for Israel to stop their occupation.

Also, if Ukraine settle for peace (I want them to, I generally agree with your points on the topic) and Russia gains something from it (as their peace treaty will most definitely assign a lot of Ukraine land to Russia), then Russia gets the message that invading other countries is successful and a good way to go about things. I mean, obviously the peace work will begin after they settle for peace, preferably working with Russia, im just curious to hear your thoughts.

English isnt my first language but I hope you understand

volodymyr zelensky might have something to say about this comparison. obviously to be clear his comparison is fucking ridiculous, but is illustrative of a key difference--that all of the force of NATO are arrayed behind ukraine (a privilege not enjoyed by palestine) and that the government of ukraine is aligned with NATO rather than its own people--which is why it's selling everything that's not nailed down to the predatory west.

i do of course think that russia should stop the invasion! i respond flippantly to most people asking this because they rarely ask in good faith, but let me say it unequivocally--i'm a communist, i think that the fall of the soviet union was a tragedy and the oligarchic mafia state that rose from its ashes is an insult to everything it stood for. putin is a far-right anticommunist and the oligarchs that he represents are scum. in the case of russia vs. ukraine, russia is straightforwardly the agressor and it would be a good thing if russia withdrew immediately.

but when i talk about the need for a peace settlement, i'm not (no matter how much nationalists and the NATO fandom will yell that i am) advocating for an unconditional ukrainian surrender. i'm talking about the maximalist positions about 'punishing russia' and ensuring some imaginary total defeat that the NATO bloc advocate for and push the ukrainian position towards. the US and their allies have made no secret of they fact that they seek to prolong the war, use it as an opportunity to open ukraine up to US investors, and don't care about ukrainian casualties:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

& ultimately, there is the fact that i (and almost all my followers) live in the imperial core--as communists there is nothing any of us can do to push russia towards peace. that's a task for the russian communist and peace movements. what we can do, however, is obstruct and protest NATO's involvement in the war. this is what the union of ukrainian communists have said in their statement on the war:

We appeal to the Russian workers as a fraternal class, bearing all the burdens of war on its shoulders, also suffering from impoverishment, unemployment, and the elimination of fundamental rights and freedoms: seek the defeat of the bourgeois power in Russia, turn your weapons against the Russian oligarchs and their political acolytes. We are ready to fight with you to turn the imperialist war into a class war against the power of capital and for the communist revolution. We appeal to the workers of the countries belonging to NATO: To stop the threat of the destruction of humankind in the nuclear clash of imperialist war is only possible in a struggle not for abstract peace, but for the overthrow of the power of the bourgeoisie of their countries, who are waging these wars and profiting from them. Work for the defeat of the bourgeois governments and the NATO bloc in this war, put forward the task of turning the war between nations into a war between classes, turn the weapons produced by workers' hands not against the workers of other countries, but against the capitalists of your own countries, against their power.

—Union of Communists of Ukraine, On The War And The Tasks Of The Working Class

so--people in the west are powerless to do anything to prevent or weaken russian imperialism, short of supporting their own imperialist powers--which, if you care at all about human life or the working class, is robbing peter to pay paul. however, those same bourgeois western governments are the ones supporting the israeli genocide--this is a case in which the Western proletariat can and should mobilize to suppress the imperialism and colonialism of the aggressor, because they live in countries that directly support it.

of course, there are also massive differences in the actual circumstances of the relations between russia and ukraine--russia is not, for example, built on stolen ukrainian land, nor is ukraine an open-air concentration camp whose water and electricity are provided by russia only sparingly, nor has ukraine seen in peacetime regular brutal massacre, invasion, bombing, and murder as palestine does every single year of so-called 'peace' that passes between israel and palestine. the situation of 'peace' between russia and ukraine before 2022 was not one of totally intolerable one-sided massacre, as the situation of 'peace' between israel and palestine has been.

as such, there are in fact multiple parties who can pursue peace in ukraine, including parties that we, communists in the West--who are the people i blog as and for--can pressure and organize against effectively. there is only one party that can pursue peace in israel. the situation is not comparable, either on its face or in the relation the West and as a result communists in the West have to it.

[malaierba]

I think that Kabru and Shuro being friends makes no sense negl

Well... They are.

I'm gonna guess you want me to sell their dynamic to you?

I'm feeling so so sick I'll keep it short though. Nothing I say will be better than rereading the manga paying attention to their interactions.

1. Their stories parallel each other in several places. Raised by a surrogate mother, trained to be skilled warriors from a young age, both are disconnected with something about themselves as a result of their upbringing, both are politically minded, both capable of approaching any social interaction trying to determine what their interlocutor REALLY wants out of it... They are both also very ascetic and aren't very in touch with their desires. I feel like they both look outwards more than inwards.

I actually just saw this post which i find so apt. Kabru is better at taking care of his foils than himself. Toshiro, in a way, is also better at performing when it's for other people rather than for himself. Maizuru said it herself, asking for help saving Falin was his one selfish request and it wasn't even for himself. Parallel that with Kabru being so willing to sacrifice himself in order to prevent a tragedy like that happened in Utaya. Sacrifice is high on both of them.

I'm not saying all of these parallels are like, direct equivalents, just that they're similar enough that Kabru and Toshiro could look at each other and be like. Hmm. I feel like I get you.

2. 1. Toshiro literally has Rinsha Fana energy

Using these because it's the screenshots I have most at hand lol but. While maybe not her temper, something about their general approach to a group dynamic and general disposition is very similar to me.

2.2. Kabru has the type of social skills that would make it easy for Toshiro to communicate with him. It's not a perfect comparison but to me it's like if you took a bit of Falyn and a bit of Namari, yeah? Extroversion but also awareness of how to put someone like Toshiro at ease.

3. Idk their general interactions man, they just manage to communicate well with each other! Again no mangacaps bcs my head is killing me but, Kabru being able to talk some sense into Toshiro during his meltdown when he's about to kill Laios? When Kabru opens up about his trauma to Toshiro and Namari even though the way I read it, the action wasn't going to get them on his side anymore than they already were? (Aka true moment of seeking connection and showing vulnerability? You don't do that with just any stranger!)

Look at how they're hanging out during the feast. Isn't that so friendship.

TL;DR: they're both: 1. Similar in a lot of important dimensions central to their characters, 2. Already have friends that share traits or with whom they have a dynamic they enjoy, 3. They fr have chemistry man look at the manga.

[prontaentrega]

@fluctuating-fixations It's mostly about some specific word choices that don't really change the plot or the whole direction of the story so it's not like, an entirely different book, but they alter the whole tone of it and makes it worse to me. The first thing i noticed I didn't like about it was when Valentín first mentions Marta and he says "my girl" i immediately went he would not fucking say that!!!!!

In the original Spanish the word he uses for Marta is "compañera" which translates to partner or comrade (F). It's not the most common word to talk about your girlfriend in spanish so it's a deliberate choice on his part. What was the need to change it? to make it sound more natural? to make him sound less political?

In that same page he goes on to talk about his guerrilla comrades and he actually uses the word compañeros for them. The masculine/neutral form of the word he uses for Marta

But the one that really annoyed me is this one

Because in this part the word he uses in Spanish is, again, compañera. And idk about you but i think it has a completely different meaning if you say "if she's my woman, it's because she's in the struggle too" or if you say "if she's my comrade/partner, it's because she's in the struggle too." And besides he would never call anyone "his woman" it's just completely contrary to his whole character... this and a bunch of other small stuff like it mischaracterizes Valentín as more of a macho figure than he really is. And this is an issue i have with literally every adaptation and translation of this book tbh everyone's always so fixed on making this college educated communist latino more violent and sexist and angry. I wonder why

This one's minor but it also bothers me, when talking about the panther woman movie there's a character that in Spanish is "the architect colleague" but in English she's "the assistant" ????? what reason was for that other than misogyny

Maybe this is a non-issue and I'm nitpicking but with the book's narrative being exclusively a dialogue between two people, word choice is fundamental because this is the only way we have of knowing these characters. And especially on a book where gender expression and gender roles are such a main theme this is not like, getting mad because they switched coffe for tea on a sentence. Which I'm also mad about btw. They completely ditch any mention of the characters drinking mate and switch it for tea. Once again I'm asking what was the point? to make it all less exotic? to make it easier to understand to English speakers? having to look up what a mate is or just guess it from context isn't gonna kill anybody, but the translation is so afraid of alienating its gringo audience that it discards cultural context and reduces its only two characters to shallower versions of themselves. And I'd say the cultural context is pretty relevant because this is a book about two political prisoners under a dictatorship that was written and published when Puig's own country was under a neoliberal dictatorship. It's not Vonnegut's cat's cradle with a made up dictator in a made up country, this was actually the situation in Argentina in 1976.

And obviously someone who only speaks english won't notice any of this. What makes me sad about this is that none of the problems i have with it have to do with impossible cultural clashes, it would be extremely simple to fix all of that. It's a tragedy that the only english translation of a latin american book about gender and propaganda was made in 1976. But still I'd rather someone read the book even with the bad translation than not read it at all

[larrylimericks]

23Mar23

We’re feeling some internal friction At silver screen Louis’ depiction; All the world is a stage But it’s hard to engage When plot lines combine fact and fiction.

I get really rambly below the fold. Proceed with caution if you’re over the discourse already.

I debated seeing All of Those Voices in theaters. I didn’t see either of Harry’s films in theaters — Harries are too much of a wildcard, and I refused to sit through hours of squeals and gasps and reactions, not to the movie but to “omg! Harry’s going down on someone! omg, Harry’s bum!” So I was already tentative about seeing Louis’ film in a shared space, outside the protective silos of tumblr. But I bought a ticket, because I want to support him and because I was genuinely curious what story would be told. Then we got the trailer and I hesitated again, not wanting to watch a propaganda film. But, I’ve lived through all the other Bullshit moments, so I figured I could live through Bullshit on the big screen.

My theater crowd was great — pretty neutral aside from an amusing row of politely excitable Larries I was in secret solidarity with. And I pretty much loved the film. Well, 92% of it. I look forward to watching it again when it streams. I mean, it was an hour and a half of content featuring this fascinating creature we’re all obsessed with. I didn’t want to blink. I hung on his every word (when I could understand them). How cool to get, essentially, a long-form interview, where he’s not promoting an album and we’re not getting the same sound bytes. Louis is wonderfully open and vulnerable, and the story of his life (heh) is inherently compelling. The cinematography is beautiful. The behind-the-scenes are delightful and delicious. I can’t wait for the AOTV gif sets once we have it in high-def.

But it has some plot holes as wide and deep as the ones in Don’t Worry Darling.

First, there’s the confusing (to the uninformed) absence of a love interest. Louis is asexual, as far as the film goes. There’s not even a ghost of Eleanor, with whom he’s cumulatively spent a decade and who is supposed to have inspired so many great love songs and with whom he is supposed to have survived a pandemic. Props to E for living her best life now: going to see Scream on AOTV opening day, enjoying full custody of the pups, publicly supporting her assumed partner — sorry you got Kiki Layned from the film, but I’m guessing you weren’t even written into the script. (It’s not like the film was conveniently re-edited in the months since their break-up. Her stunt tapering was intentional.)

Then there’s the glaring absence of a baby mama (thank god; that family would have been even more insufferable). We’re cruising along for 45 minutes or so and then, wham, Dad!Louis enters the chat with a fully formed 6-year-old child. The kid just magically appears with no backstory — just like in real life ... twice (the first time with the pregnancy announcement and the second time with the revival of Dad!Louis after several years of dormancy, right in time for documentary filming. Just like Harry stunted with his co-star during filming and production, Louis stunted with his.)

The kid is cute, and faultless in this. The scenes are objectively sweet (as they were designed to be). But Louis, who normally keeps things very close to the vest, is all of a sudden an emotional spigot you can’t turn off when it comes to these scenes. It seems quite out of character. Which brings back to mind that this Louis *is* a character. The Freddie scenes just didn’t seem to have a point in the plot other than: Louis is a dad. And that role isn’t integral to the film’s story.

He’s incredibly emotional with Freddie, but the movie doesn’t tell us why. The storytelling gets lazy here. The lad/dad plot seems wedged in. The movie would be perfectly complete without it. I felt like it could have been integrated a few different ways: Louis experienced tragedy after tragedy after tragedy — loses 1D, loses his mum, loses his sister ... and then impending fatherhood either becomes another trial he must reluctantly face (in the surprise pregnancy narrative) or it helps him navigate the grief of losing his sole parent, his closest confidante. OR, Louis, not wanting to be like the absentee father he had, shows up for his own oopsie baby despite the unexpected circumstances. But there’s no exposition or rising action. No footage or photos from the first few years of the kid’s life that we haven’t already seen. Just an immaculate conception.

I think the most compelling narratives of the film are these:

Louis’ overcoming adversity after adversity after adversity. Holy hell. I lived through 1D ending, through the devastating news about Jay (god, I remember the shock and sadness of that day — it was incomprehensible), through the heartbreaking news about Fizzy, and then when you think Louis is gonna get his moment of victory with his first solo world tour, coronavirus pulls the rug out. (That sequence was well done: where we keep seeing the dates get closer and closer to March 2020, and we all know the villain that’s coming, but it’s still such a blow.) I lived through all that in real time, but seeing it in such a concentrated sequence really highlights the shit he’s been dealt, and hearing him open up about so much of it ... that’s the character development relevant to the film’s denouement. And getting to see Louis get what he deserves, finally, and hearing him acknowledge that he deserves it, was a lovely ending.

Louis’ journey to find his footing and his confidence as a solo artist after unfathomable success as part of a group. But, in a sort of plot twist, he’s not really solo, is he? The film gives a lovely introduction to his band now — and in their own words, reveals that they’re not just a backing band, they’re a *band* band. Louis has let them in. He’s forged a new brotherhood. *That*, for me, was the heartwarming story. I loved those scenes, loved seeing Louis in his element, which is in a collective, where he is both king and jester at the same time. (Or perhaps Oli’s the jester. Thank fuck for him, man. Oli is the standout. The breakthrough performance. The comic relief. I want a spinoff series.) It’s easy to miss 1D and glorify those short years and think nothing will ever top it, but Charlie’s storytelling of the LT Band is remarkable. We’re left looking forward, not back.

I know Louis’ dedication to his fans and his fans’ dedication to him is a huge focus, but I don’t really enjoy watching commentaries on fandoms I’m a part of. I’m living it. I don’t need outsider context. And in a fandom as fractured as Louis’ (and 1D’s) there’s not a universal experience. The film depicts dedication as sleeping on streets for rail, hopping from country to country and draining bank accounts — because that’s the kind of “superfandom” that gets easily turned into a marketable freak show. Show me the documentary on the fans who organize the light projects, who run the fashion accounts, who curate livestream sources on show nights, who have turned giffing into an art and science, who help promote Louis in the absence of a competent marketing team, etc., etc. I also thought the interview with the American(?) girls talking about LATAM shows was shortsighted. And showing the rainbow factions but not addressing them? What a missed opportunity to talk about songs like Only the Brave becoming a queer anthem. Straight artists can have gay fans, you know.

But the film doesn’t make the kid relevant to any of those storylines. He could have been worked into the first, but wasn’t. It was like a standalone narrative, with footage from a narrow set of days. I was at both those L.A. shows. The energy was so different from night 1 to 2. And in retrospect it’s clear Louis was performing the first night so Charlie could get the right shots. More like a choreographed play than a rock concert. It makes sense now why the Clarks weren’t in the VIP box with Freddie — couldn’t have them cluttering the frame or distracting the actors. Just, everything about the Freddie scenes is heavy-handed. Make a sign for your dad! Draw his logo in the sand! Fly a kite at sunset! He’s the spitting image of Louis! (Len does all the heavy lifting.) And all the maneuvering it had to take to get all those shots from the L.A. show?! In the VIP box from behind (and from the front, and when he just happens to be mouthing along to Two Of Us), side stage watching Louis end the show, on-stage watching Louis approach Freddie after the show, on-stage catching the moment Louis gives the lad a shout-out ... Charlie had a shot list. But sure, nothing was set up, it was totally organic.

I’m still unsettled by how heavily Charlie laid it on at the first premiere press conference — *he* was the one to bring up the kid, and was weirdly emphatic that nothing was staged, nothing was forced. It had the same energy of the “It’s. Not. Real” thrown baby doll moment, only it’s Charlie insisting that It. Is. Real. Thou dost protest too much, me thinks.

And of course, the lack of interaction between Louis and Harry remains, as ever, the biggest tell. We get poignant post-1D Nouis and Lilo moments in the film, but no Larry. We’re spoon-fed these Very Emotional Moments between father and son (“love you,” “Darling,” mouth kisses), when the real story, the real emotion, the real connection is in just a few seconds of furtive glances between Harry and Louis in the backstage footage of the last 1D performance. Christ, the way Harry’s eyes bore into Louis — chin tilted down, eyes glancing up from beneath a furrowed brow, lips tight, disguising his attentiveness with a hair flip ... they mastered so many forms of silent communication. The quiet call and response, the depths of love and care and concern and protection contained in micro-expressions. Fuck, give me 90 minutes of that. Just a silent film of Louis and Harry looking at each other.

Anyway. Sorry this sounds so grumpy. I did really love most of the movie. But I haven’t made sense of why this film was made. I don’t know its purpose. Maybe the introspection forced by the pandemic lockdown is to credit for this glut of music docs (“docs”) lately. Maybe nine minutes frees him up for nine more months or nine more years. I dunno. He obviously wanted this story told in this way.

Seeing a movie requires the willing suspension of disbelief. You have to ignore critical thinking in order to enjoy the story you’re being told. You tune out your knowledge that everything is fake for the sake of being entertained. We know that Superman can’t actually fly, but we still buy tickets to the cinema. But, a documentary shouldn’t require us to employ this semi-conscious perceiving mode. Yet here we are. I’m just not sure how much more or how much longer we can suspend our disbelief to enjoy fandom.

[soupandsimple]

Better For It (with Sirius Black)

[ your short lived attempt of trying to avoid thinking or talking about Sirius’s time in Azkaban at the start of staying with him ]

* angst / fluff 🖤

This was requested: see the ask here

…………….

It was decided Sirius Black was to stay at Grimmauld Place. And for his sanity, the higher members of the Order suggested someone stay there with him. Instantly, you volunteered.

Before tragedy struck all those years ago on the night of October thirty-first, you and Sirius had a strong friendship. So strong that it reached the stage where it started blossoming into a romantic love. Neither of you had the chance to act on it then because it was around the time all hell broke loose with Voldemort. So where did that leave you now with him?

Since his escape and reunion of the Order, it seemed you were both on the same page to not acknowledge each other romantically but just as old friends. Truth is, you were both afraid to cross a line that either of you might have, which caused for awkwardness and tension which you hoped in time would repair itself.

Back to the present, your first day alone with Sirius began. Mad Eye had just left the house after going through some protective ground rules with Sirius and you upon dropping you off.

“So…” you started.

“So…” Sirius repeated with a small smile.

You giggled and looked away with a blush. You hadn’t spoken one on one with him since his reunion of the Order so you knew it’d be a little weird at first given your past. “You up for some breakfast?” you suggested cheerily then.

“What, you cook now?” Sirius asked, playful astonishment laced in his tone.

You scoffed and rolled your eyes. “Yes I cook now! What do you think, that I live off of take out?”

Sirius looked down at his feet and chuckled. He used to love winding you up because of how cute he found your defensive reactions and it was comforting to know that still hadn’t changed.

“Ugh. C’mon,” you said, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him towards the kitchen, “you can help me and maybe learn a thing or two in the process.”

His hand was currently cold for some reason and it made you think about how long he must have been deprived of a warm touch from another being while locked up but you quickly dismissed those thoughts from mind and led on.

After getting a proper breakfast cooked up, you and Sirius served up your plates and sat at the table to begin eating. The only sound that could be heard for some minutes was your forks hitting against the plates and some quiet chewing.

“This turned out pretty good. Thought I would have messed it up for sure” Sirius eventually said as he picked up a forkful.

You smiled and grabbed your glass of juice for a sip. “Yeah, not bad huh?”

Sirius reciprocated your smile and shook his head.

The awkward silence from before began to build itself up once more and it made you think to yourself that maybe you shouldn’t be there.

Maybe you shouldn’t have volunteered for this. Maybe the tension and awkwardness would never go away. Maybe any connection you had with him in the past, platonic or romantic, should have been left in the past. But before your thoughts could spiral any further, Sirius spoke.

“I meant to write to you, you know. After I escaped. But I refused to risk getting you in trouble in case the letter was intercepted or something.”

You smiled politely and nodded as you looked down and pushed some food around on your plate.

“Also thought about visiting you but of course I didn’t know what your living situation was.. if you were married, had children.. anything like that.”

“Hey, do you want more food? There’s still some left over,” your voice squeaked at your quick attempt to change the topic of conversation.

Sirius scrunched his eyes. “Why are you avoiding it,” he questioned.

You ignored him and asked about the food again. “I think there’s only enough left over for one more plate but that’s okay I’m full, you can have it.”

“Correction, why have you been avoiding it?”Sirius now ignored you.

“Avoiding what?” you sighed, playing clueless as you stood up from your seat with the intention of picking up your empty plate but before you could, Sirius gently grabbed your outstretched wrist.

“Stop trying to run away from this, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You haven’t asked me once about Azkaban or where I’ve been hiding out these past two years or- or if I missed you or how I’m doing now. Nothing.”

Face saddening, you set your plate back down on the table and took a seat in your chair again.

“Y/n,” Sirius said tenderly as his hand delicately slid from your wrist to your hand. “Look at me. You can tell me anything. Please.”

With teary eyes at his plea, you quietly let out with it.

“It’s just… I didn’t want to make you sad or remind you of what you’ve been through by bringing it up.”

“Oh darling girl, we must talk about it. We don’t have to ignore the reality of where I was or what I went through. I think we’ve both seen we can’t just pick up where we left off and pretend those twelve years didn’t happen.”

“But it was so horrible Sirius, I can’t bear the thought of having you relive everything you lived in there. I can’t let your mind go back there, I can’t let you tell me about it and I… I don’t want to be reminded of your absence either” you selfishly concluded, wiping a running tear from your cheek.

A small smile escaped Sirius’s lips upon hearing the last of your words. Given the nature of the conversation, it was absolutely not the time for smiling but to suppress it was impossible because those last words of yours let him know your feelings for him still existed just as his did for you.

“I promise you it’s alright to talk about all that because you see…I’m here with you now” Sirius assured.

He then pulled a handkerchief out from his pocket and leaned over to gently wipe at your tear stained cheeks. “Not only that, but we’ll be better for it if we do.”

You sniffed your nose and looked into his eyes for a moment before agreeing with a nod once you realized he was right. Painful as the past might be, your relationship would never go anywhere if you insisted on ignoring it.

As if on cue, you both stretched over to embrace each other into a hug and for the first time since reuniting, truly indulged in each other’s presence, scent and warmth.

The rest of that day was spent sitting side by side under a blanket on the couch, with a fire warming the room as you talked about what life had been like for each of you during your twelve years apart. And although your heart broke at his share of stories, for the first time in many, many years you felt a sense of peace begin to build within. <3

[bbrokenbback]

I guess it`s somehow an addition to the previous post with crazy pairings, but this time it`s not about dices deciding on our future but me. So, I present you the worst and the best questionable pairings from Warhammer 30k. The position of the character in the *name*/*name* thing is important.

Sanguinius/Rogal Dorn and NOT the other way around.

Sanguinius, just as Vulkan, can be paired with anyone if you`re brave enough, but I think he looks the best with that Imperial Fist in his ass. The Siege of Terra is the basis of their relationship because nothing attracts people to each other better than shared suffering and the same tragedy.

Sanguinius is the soldier who`s general doesn`t want to let him go to the field because he values him too much personally. But he still goes, yet, as he was asked from the general, never says “goodbye”. And Rogal is dying inside while trying to keep track of everything that is going on in and out of the Palace, receiving special reports about the Angel`s wellbeing. He just cares about him too much, and, since he technically has the right to prevent Sanguinius from throwing himself out only to be eaten by a bunch of heretics, he uses it quite often. Even if it doesn`t stop the Angel at all.

The hawk boy is just happy to come back to someone who waits for him from the battlefield.

I sincerely believe that the future in which there`s only war we desperately need some angsty fluff, and those two make the best of it.

2. Vulkan/Ferrus, for the balance of universe.

The previous couple was all about softness and fluff, about how feelings bloom in people in spite of the Great War. But these too exist only because they match.

They are both from death worlds, and both Medusa and Nocturne, if I remember it correctly, are not actually considered to be death worlds, but they are. It`s probably because Vulcan didn’t want to send people away from their homes and Ferrus was just to lazy to apply for the status of his homeworld.

Ferrus also needs someone who`d kick his ass, and there was a scene in canon that showed how desperately he wanted to fight with Vulkan in his special training cage for strong opponents, but Vulkan refused. Probably because he knew too well that Ferrus` pride would not hold against the reality in which he`s not the perfect one.

But I think eventually he would agree, after Ferrus made him a little too frustrated with his demeanor. He`d brutally beat him and then calmly explain to him why it`s so important to be polite and respectful to people.

Fulgrim also does not deserve Ferrus so let the forge boys stay together please.

3. Roboute Guilliman/Perturabo

That`s pretty simple actually. I don`t remember who exactly said it here, but Roboute is just Forrix with no spice, and Perturabo, being Greek, probably hates spicy food. Roboute has a thing for fixing everything around him, and Perturabo desperately needs someone who would fix him.

Or they can become worse together, it depends on how you look at the couple.

They both are also two representatives of high-functioning depression, but Roboute is someone who tries to hide his condition by throwing off formal parties and dressing in colorful clothes, while Perturabo shows it off, bearing his burden proudly in front of everyone (it makes everyone uncomfortable). They have incredibly similar personalities if you look closer, their perfectionism, their intelligent sarcasm and their intelligence and education in general.

Also, Roboute is not that calm and collected as he is usually shown. He`s got a short temper just like Perturabo, his rage rises in a matter of seconds. He just knows how to control it and most of the time does not allow his frustration to affect his actions. Unlike Perturabo.

They make a great team in work and for both of them this fact is very important. Roboute likes to plan everything, Perturabo likes to follow plans. Perturabo is a tactician and Roboute is a strategist. Roboute is the sword and Perturabo is the shield.

I can see them having a noble slow burn with lots of long conversations about philosophy, art and history, during which Perturabo finally gets to talk about the things he actually like and Roboute gets to know the man behind the armor. They fall for each other slowly but surely.

And Roboute can keep Perturabo loyal, not to the Imperium, but to himself.

4. Mortarion/Lorgar Aurelian

This might be the strangest pairing so far but don`t worry it`s the last of them. I`ve already mentioned that to me there`s no greater basis for the relationship than shared suffering and I want to add hate to everyone around the couple to it.

Mortarion is a gentle soul. He has a tough personality, but he`s soft in hearts, so he protects them at all costs. And Lorgar knows too well how to treat gentle souls properly.

Aurelian probably sees Mortarion as his own younger self, treating him like he would like to be treated in his past. He listens to him, allows him to rant about the grudge he holds against the Emperor and simply gives him the much needed understanding.

They have a few similarities in their pasts too, they both were raised by some freaks and that traumatized them. They could discuss and treat each other`s daddy issues. It`s like mutual masturbation but it starts with their minds.

Speaking of mind, Aurelian is a psyker and Mortarion is allergic to it. But with time he could see that there`s no monster behind those powers, and although he`d still prefer Lorgar without them, he can tolerate it.

I hope one day they will team up, kick their first captains` asses and have their happy ever after.

[oh-shes-lit]

I've been firmly anti-citadel in my thoughts (their long-war strategy of slowly gathering information and weaponising it in every way possible, taking human lives and turning them into machines, taking human behaviour and weaponising that in every way they can)

Which also inevitably means being anti wizard because the citadel and wizardry are Very difficult to separate. Every time suvi has aligned herself with the citadel it sets alarm bells off, the way the suvi seems to disappear and the sky salutes and marches to the drum of their standing orders, it feels wrong and is frightening to see it happen.

When suvi gets mad at ame and eursulon it's because they've taken upon the graces of her house and proceeded to throw paint on the walls and set fire to the kitchen. But they also tend not to recognise that the kitchen wanted to eat eursulon and if the walls got the chance they might be the ones staining ame's clothes with citadel paint. The citadel is an institution with motives and (to us the audience) pretty clear goals.

(control it's control they want to control everything all of the time which is why it lines up with wizardry because that Requires bringing control to the chaos of umora's magic)

That being said.

I am starting to recognise how this doesn't go one way only. Suvi is justified in feeling how she feels and, more importantly, ame is also the child and product of an institution.

The institution of The Coven of Witches seems to wield unfathomable power that is divided in far, far greater pieces to its members. One (one!!!) slight from suvi and ame can ruin her life 100 years from now??? Ame (semi-unwittingly) committed some casual terrorist acts and gets off with a social reprimanding from suvi because suvi went out of her way to Make That Happen

The rules of witchery are esoteric and complex, to suvi and us the audience - much in the same way the rules of the citadel are esoteric and complex to ame and eursulon. There's certainly some commentary here about how i can recognise and call out most of the political mistakes ame makes in the citadel and yet would be lost entering the domain of a witch

I'm so glad we're getting to see more of all of the witches because it's actually highlighting how much power they wield. Seeing indri ask if ame knows the names of suvi's entourage is just as terrifying as watching the suvi be questioned at the gallothopter (ornithopter? Heli-boat.)

We The Audience know that the coven seems to have access to the power to End Wizardry which is frankly, rather insane to think about. Imagine if 7 people had the power to just turn off the internet and 6 of them were random strangers that live at the most intense extremes of nature and the 7th was Doris who makes cool clockwork watches at the summer fair - oh but she died so her adoptive granddaughter (no living relatives) that she trained for a decade gets to do it instead. 20-ish is old enough for a key to a nuclear button, right?

...maybe that was too much metaphor but you can see how insane it feels when you actually give it some context. It's heartbreaking to watch it tear them apart but if they're able to start recognising where their lines are drawn then they might actually be able to use their rocket powered institutions to fly instead of just staying afloat in the ocean.

Anyway, I think I'm getting on the -goes both ways- train for how suvi has been treated. I still think she fails to recognise why her institution causes her true friends to act the way they do but i now also think that ame fails to see the same for her own institution. In the end, they're both victims atop their own Situations which are themselves 16 situations deep, this is either gonna be a beautiful story or a beautiful tragedy and it's going to take a hell of a lot of finesse if they want to survive.