Staring into the abyss

I'm mostly here for the memes and tea

[natnormalatall]

roald dahl was antisemitic and misogynistic. george orwell was openly homophobic. edgar allan poe married his 13 year old cousin. dr seuss cheated on his wife (and was racist as well as antisemitic!). hp lovecraft was racist as fuck. anyways they’re fucking dead it’s not like you’re enabling their behaviors in the afterlife or something. then again I think they bleed into the books so uh keep an eye out for that

the difference between these old white guys and jk rowling is that the former group is all dead. jk rowling is alive and using your money to oppress trans people

[hannigramislife]

Sometimes, I still wonder how Tim Drake came to be so mischaracterized in fanfiction.

This is Tim, he forced his way into becoming Robin (very politely said he would keep all their secrets after being told to go home) had abusive and negligent parents who left him alone as a small child (he went to boarding school and they would actually die for him) had to deal with a cold, kept-his-distance Batman whom he had to parent because of grief (Bruce literally gained new life and pulled himself together because there was a kid that needed him) had no one else around so he was lonely (Dick literally was Tim's best friend after day 1, plus Tim had plenty of friends and a girlfriend) felt like a replacement because Jason was his favorite Robin (self-proclaimed number 1 Dick Grayson fan first, human being second).

[malusfox]

What makes me smile is that regardless of any hate, any huge diatribes or essays...Tim Drake is the first canonical queer Robin.

And Bernard? Bernard is the first same sex partner of a Robin. And he's an absolute cutie.

Haters can stay mad but they can't change shit. Tim Drake is a bisexual disaster and his boyfriend is a delight.

Stay mad.

[picascribit]

There are 2 types of fanfic:

fanfic that I like

fanfic that is none of my business

[mysharona1987]

[pjharvey]

i don’t understand how neil gaiman intellectual properties still trend on here so regularly he literally trafficked women. like it’s not even a discourse thing or a “he’s problematic” thing he was “cancelled” for human trafficking. he repeatedly isolated women, usually his or his ex-wife’s fans, with no support system for the purpose of raping them while they were dependent on him for income and housing. that’s human trafficking

[punkrocktipsblog]

And to all his former fans… Neil Gaiman is not your dad. You didn’t know him on a personal level. He wrote stories you liked, and he turned out to be a power-hungry monster.

He didn’t betray you. He betrayed the trust of the women he employed. I’ve never seen such a case of former fans making an abuse narrative about them, when there are women who were materially, physically harmed by him.

The horror of this story is not that you had liked Sandman. It’s in the abuse he perpetrated against multiple young homeless women and against his son. So many people have lost the plot with Neil Gaiman, it’s baffling.

[theunfortunate-author]

my daily affirmation as an author

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

if you comment some demanding shit like this on fanfic writers’ works, you don’t deserve the privilege of getting to read fanfiction for free

[rockytheeridian]

if any of you fuckers put that new Harry Potter show on my dash I am blocking your ass

[spicy-apple-pie]

Guys I’m going to do another hot take.

I don’t think that Dick is Bruce’s favourite.

Apparently that is a hot take because I saw someone on tiktok (or somewhere) say that it’s objectively true because Bruce gives Dick the most responsibility and the most trust and it’s like…

Yeah, Because he’s the oldest??

Personally, I do think that Bruce doesn’t have a favourite, because he loves all of his kids so much.

He say he does and that it’s Jarro to piss off the rest of them tho

[spicy-apple-pie]

Me rn because Cass is not his favourite guys she’s a little shit too

Like I love you guys no hate but you’re wrong and I won’t explain why

[malusfox]

Bruce's favourite is an ephemeral thing based on whichever child is not causing him a headache or heart attack at the time.

Unfortunately this being comics means that the favourite is a constantly rotating tombola and Bruce is getting a new grey hair every second.

[linguinemunch]

big fan of bernard dowd. hey can we get some more bernard dowd in here 👏

[kiowa170]

I have realized I may have been reading Bernard's name wrong all this time, listening to one of those machine-read ficlets on instagram (I don't know if any of those accounts are not machine-read but they all seem to be). Anyway, it said BerNARD, word stress on the last syllable, French style, and I have always said BERnard, stress on the first syllable. So, question for the English native speakers around, what is the right (or usual) way to say it?

[malusfox]

BER-nard for me as an English speaker.

I've always found the way Americans pronounce the name to be weird. It's rather uncanny valley for me and the way it's said to me sounds like they're stressing the fact the nard part because it's a slang term for testicles.

Ber-nuhd is how the Brits would say it. There's no elongated stress on the "ar" in the second syllable.

[dragonanon]

Hades with Melinoë: “Oh my beautiful daughter, I never thought I would see you again!…I implore you to get out of here at once, but if you really insist on this fool’s errand, please at least take this boon and be safe.”

Hades with Zagreus: “How many times do I have to beat the shit out of your stupid ass before you FINALLY get it through your thickass skull that you CANNOT leave Tartarus?! Stars above, what did I ever do to deserve being cursed with having the biggest dumbfuck in existence for a son?!”

[malusfox]

I mean terrible Father/Son relationships are a hallmark of Greek Myth.

Where Hades is lucky is that Zagreus is a far better person than Hades was. If Hades didn't get character development, and if Zagreus wasn't who he was, then Hades may also have ended up cut into tiny bits and cast to the depths of Tartarus.

Melinoe may have been robbed of her childhood by Chronos, but she wouldn't have happened if Zagreus hadn't been a better man than Hades, and made him into a better (or even into an actual) father. Not at all trying to diminish Melinoe, absolutely love her, but Melinoe got the father, Zagreus got the cold king of the dead.

[atayart]

[bored-trans-orchidsexual]

The Essek Hate

It's funny how basically every reactor I'm watching and most of the people in their comment sections, all HATe essek now with the same logic: Essek betrayed his best friend and got him killed, for no reason, just because he's an asshole. How dare he? Completely ignoring how half of his lines in the show were "Well, I'm gonna report this and get you and/or your mom killed, but because I'm such a nice guy I'm giving you an extra day to feel normal before I rat you out." Essek had the perfect oppertunity to get rid of this guy clearnly, by not saving him from the beacon attack. He saved his friend because he cared, and eve nafter doing so, that friend still chose the *faith* that Essek hates, that has only ever taken from him and his family, over Essek and his mother. When someone tells you over and over "hey I'm gonna get your mom killed, get you killed, but like it's the right thing to do" no, you getting him killed is not an unfoudned betrayal, it's choosing yourself over him. This guy literally had his life SAVED by Essek and still chose to get him killed, if anything this is Essek fixing his own mistake in saving him. YES there's moral complexity here. The war in general is the reason so many people are in danger, Essek made mistakes, yada yada. But this show has only reinforced to me that Essek's choices make rational sense. As long as this Kryn system of ritual sacrifice and refusal to understand keeps going the more people are going to get hurt and it takes someone acting selfishly, someone looking to CHANGE this eternal cycle of pain, to make a difference. Let's not forget that this system literally keeps the upper caste of it's society immortal while punishing the lower caste, the Kryn Dynasty has just as many faults as the empire but unlike Dwendal, the brightqueen has been ruling it personally for what, thousands of years? Essek has a *point* that his people and their faith is upsetting and wrong and if they are going to insist on killin their own people with a smile on their face why are so many viewers upset Essek killed one more, who is trying to get Essek himself killed. Did they forget he was minutes away from getting him executed? Choosing to save yourself at the cost of a freind's life is selfish, true. But the context the show gives us is that A. This "friend" chose the death cult's ways over the life of Essek or him mother B. This "friend" is about to get Essek killed, not because he has to, but because that's just what his duty calls him to do C. This "freind" is also many lifetimes older than Essek and in the end seems not to actually care all that much about him on an individual level.

[malusfox]

Completely agree.

And let's not forget: Essek is probably the smartest in the room for the Kryn, and possibly the Empire too as we've seen it. Maybe not the wisest but he's up there for the most intelligent.

Was he naive with Trent? Yes. But he can see that there's a way to stop Typhros and ensure consistent reincarnation. But instead of being able to get that and save countless souls he's being stifled by a regressive religious system that is too scared to want to understand things.

He had worked it out, and he could have solved things if he can get the beacon back. Except now someone is going to ruin it all because religion and treason? And his mother is going to waste herself rather than try and hold on a bit longer because of her faith?

Essek isn't a complicated character, if anything he's probably the only one with a clearly defined motive that is also consistent.

The hate he's getting really just reinforces that people cannot cope with nuanced and detailed characters these days who actually act like real people. Of course when he's backed into a corner without options and made to kill his mum, Essek will destroy any further obstacle or threat.

I dunno, people do amazing moral relativism when it's the protagonists but that is thrown out if the window with Essek. If folk can empathise with Caleb but not Essek then they're idiots.

[malusfox]

Honestly Deirta making Essek be the one is an amazing play on her part. It's both brilliant and cold.

On the one hand she's being "saved" by one of the people she loves the most and knows loves her the most.

Likewise she knows what he's done. In this respect she spoils all of his actions by denying him "victory" by ensuring her soul is forever lost to him.

But at the same time she dangles the prospect of the religion to him as a tantalising thread. She knows he likely will never take it but it's still offered. And she dies hoping he may find the Luxon and right the wrongs he's committed.

In picking Essek, Deirta both offers her son condemnation and some form of salvation. Oh it's wrapped up in a "fuck you, you dumb idiot boy who thought you knew everything" wrapping but still.

I think in her final hours, Deirta hoped that by showing Essek that his actions and selfishness had denied him what he wanted, he'd learn humility and work "for the greater good".

Unfortunately, her son is a brilliant academic who's been betrayed a lot in recent weeks, and has realised that everyone has an agenda. And unfortunately, he's seen the beacon as a mechanism and a weapon. It will never be holy any more, he's lost the person he was fighting for, he's seen the follies of both sides of the war...that man no longer cares. He'll only now look out for himself and what he cares for.

Damn if Essek isn't a wonderful realised character.

[johannestevans]

i'm so exhausted and tired by constant Mature Language Mature Thoughts Mature Content flags and having to censor perfectly normal words and having to think twice about everything i say and what platform it can go on in case somebody could see it and feel things and waaaah

like. fucking hell

i'm not a mormon. i'm not an evangelical christian. i'm not a self-loathing mid-western american person who belongs to any cults. i don't despise and loathe the concept of female sexuality or women existing. i don't feel ashamed or disgusted by sexuality or sex, and i refuse to

meanwhile every goddamn website i use is trying desperately to train me into exactly that sort of shame and self-loathing and fear of sex and sexuality, and bodily autonomy, and personal physical empowerment

skewing the meaning of "consent" to mean. if someone sees a picture they don't like

being horny is good. sexual and sexy art and literature are good. i like to feel sexual desire and to be sexually desired. i like sex. i like sexuality. i like "mature themes". i don't need to click a consent box to see every single potentially mature post one-by-one. i feel like i'm going insane