Budgie-lover Rudra

Programmer, reader, singer, movie and cartoon lover, otaku, photographer, sketcher, Bengal. He/him. AO3: Rudra_Ak_47 Reddit: u/Unequal_vector DeviantArt: UnequalVector

[unequalvectorrudra]

Happy 30th birthday, Misaki-san!

[unequalvectorrudra]

If the Elric brothers existed in modern world, Edward's "least favorite" song that he absolutely cannot stop listening to would be Chester Bennington's "Don't Stay." He'd listen to the song every time when bored, then frown, and remove the headphone while grumbling, "Sounds like an emo guy mad at his old man" (aka Ed himself).

Alphonse's most favorite song would be Johnny Cash's "Hurt". He'd listen to it on every afternoon, play it to Winry, his favorite cats, and ask Den about its meaning, and write reviews of every song he listens to afterwards.

[unequalvectorrudra]

Is Agamemnon supposed to be sympathetic or not?

Is Achilles supposed to be sympathetic or not?

Is Medusa supposed to be sympathetic or not?

Is Zeus supposed to be sympathetic or not?

Is Hades supposed to be sympathetic or not?

Is Athena, Hera, or any deity supposed to be sympathetic or not?

The answer is that Oresteia, Elektra and Iliad aren't the same works. Theogony and Homeric hymns aren't the same works. Metamorphoses and Apollodorus aren't the same works. Odyssey, Aeneid and Divine Comedy aren't the same works. Wonder Woman and Greek mythology aren't the same works.

They're entirely different, copyrighted works to be studied separately and aren't studying the same myth.

It's like asking whether Ramayana's interpretation or Meghnad Badh Kabya's interpretation of Ravana is correct - both are separate works with completely separate contexts.

Greek mythologies are like superhero stories and folklores. Tumblr and Reddit fandoms need to understand it. Those fandoms have already achieved the maturity needed to understand the difference between Shelley's Frankenstein and 1931 Frankenstein long ago.

[unequalvectorrudra]

To Sir Nigel John Dermot Sam Neill, 1947-2026.

So long, Dr. Grant. You were the best thing to ever step on Isla Nublar.

[miggylol]

Spin the wheel. That's who's trying to kill you.

Spin the wheel again. That’s who’s trying to protect you.

(If you have zero idea about a name you got, spin until you see someone you recognize.)

Are you safe?

Absolutely not. I'm dead. 100% dead.

I might stay alive, but it'll be a really close thing.

I'll take some hits, for certain, but I should be okay in the end.

A few attacks might get through, but nothing concerning.

The attacker might be able to get in one lucky hit. If that.

I am the opposite of worried. I'm 100% safe.

…Look. I've tried picturing this. But I honestly don't know how to answer.

Voting ended onJul 14

(I've run this poll twice before, expanding it significantly for the second run. With about a year passed since that second run, I thought it was time to add another couple hundred names to the list and have another go.)

[unequalvectorrudra]

MrBeast defending me against the Cat… I take some scratches?

Honestly, I’d be more worried about my house.

[unequalvectorrudra]

Eren stopped caring about Levi long before Levi could even begin caring about him.

That's why he didn't give Levi a Paths talk.

Everyone else got a Paths talk only when they were Eren's friend from the 104th group. Mikasa, Armin. Jean. Connie.

Even someone as toxic as Reiner and Annie got one. Connie accused him of being callous about Sasha, and Eren pulled him in the Paths. Jean fought him and Eren pulled him. Reiner and Annie led the Titans to Carla and Eren accepted them.

Levi? He wasn't part of that old group. No matter what potential that could've existed, Eren shut the door on that long ago.

In the moment of Eren's monstrosity, only a select few were allowed to see the man still underneath. They were the peers of 104th, who he couldn't let go. No matter how much they hurt him and everyone. No matter how unhealthy, they formed the most visceral, intimate, and instinctively responding part of the pre-Rumbling Eren.

Levi wasn't that.

No, Pieck, you couldn't have. You weren't part of Eren's most humane days. Only ten people were: Carla, Mikasa, Armin, Hannes, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Reiner, Annie, Historia.

[unequalvectorrudra]

[unequalvectorrudra]

Why do we love Baymax but hate ChatGPT?

Drop your comments on what modern chatbots fail to do to win our hearts like our personal healthcare companion won.

[unequalvectorrudra]

The Fifth Mizukage has a very underappreciated backstory.

She was the only person to have fixed a village without Naruto ex machina - and unlike Hashirama, Tobirama, Yahiko, and many more, her legacy didn't collapse.

Gaara, Nagato, Obito, Sasuke - all needed Naruto's solution to make peace last.

Of those who never had the luxury to meet Naruto, only Kirigakure's peace lasted. Mei transformed the Bloody Mist into a cute mist without Danzo or Hanzo sabotaging her reign the way they unraveled Hashirama and Yahiko's legacies.

So, I wonder, what kind of strategist was she? What did she do? There are so many possibilities to tap on.

[unequalvectorrudra]

Hercules after killing Megara and kids does twelve grueling labors as atonement on Apollo's order.

Ajax ibn Telamon after ravaging Greek tents kills himself to preserve honor and gives his weapons to his son.

Agamemnon after killing Iphigenia nearly destroys the Greek army twice over Chryseis and over Briseis. To tell you how serious that is, know that even Diomedes, famous for hurting Ares and Aphrodite without hesitation, didn't dare to double cross Apollo.

As if crossing Apollo wasn't bad enough, Ajax ibn Oleus after raping Cassandra and dooming the Greek army with Athena's wrath boasts he's immune to even Poseidon's storms.

Whatever grief Agamemnon may have felt over Iphigenia still didn't make him anywhere near the self-aware man Greater Ajax was, let alone Hercules. Agamemnon is fundamentally a man closer to Achilles and Lesser Ajax than to Diomedes, Odysseus or Greater Ajax.

[unequalvectorrudra]

My two cents on why Snape began resenting his own best friend, Lily.

Why did Snape call his best friend a slur? Shouldn't his friend be his absolute priority?

It has a surprisingly real but obscure explanation. Snape viewed Lily as a symbol of what a good muggle-born should be. People who suffered like Snape tend to have expectations from friends. When friends "fail" to hold up to that, the disappointment can become resentment, and it's actually very possible for them to deem their friends "as bad" in a moment of fury.

The reason I know this is because I myself have at times wondered whether I would've viewed my American heroes, the likes of Joe Frazier, as perfect had he ever made any comment on Ali or Vietnam that I deemed less than perfect.

Why was Lily a disappointment to begin with? It wasn't solely over dark arts; Lily herself had several misplaced acts, one of the most overlooked but significant of which was Petunia. Lily believes that Petunia is her sister, and all family must be held at the cost of everything else. Snape is the son of an abusive father and sees no point in blood when the relationship is clearly toxic on Petunia's side. While we cannot tell that this specific incident drove Snape over the edge, we can tell that in general, Snape's and Lily's relation wasn't perfect on Lily's side either. On a side note, Lily actually affected more people than Snape by it—her own husband James was insulted by Vernon precisely because of Lily's obsession with Petunia's blood ties.

One of Dumbledore's feats of tolerance is also this: despite longing for his own family, he never guilt-trips Snape into liking students by playing any "But they're orphans" card. It might be partly because of Dumbledore's own guilt over Ariana. Either way, Snape's significantly healthier relationship is likely partly because of this.

[unequalvectorrudra]

Magneto had three things backing his revenge up in the fandom's eyes at that moment.

Magneto had already deconstructed the inner peace argument typical against revenge. "Peace was never an option."

His opponents were Nazis, first and foremost. No widespread stance against patriarchy and toxic masculinity is a big reason revenge narratives are condemned against abusers. Most abusers get a moral justification of some sort from their audiences. Nazis' reputation, however, is completely different from typical abusers, real or fictional.

The literal Nuremberg argument playing out verbatim didn't help the anti-revenge argument either.

[unequalvectorrudra]

Liberal Zionism: "The West Bank settlements shall not be stopped. Nor will I leave Israel's safety to chances."

The rest of the world: "But Gaza has a worse situation with Hamas, and you never built settlements there. You blocked their borders but never occupied them until Hamas began the war. Why go preemptive in West Bank?"

Liberal Zionism:

[unequalvectorrudra]

Your daily reminder that Mustang has canonically stolen many women's hearts from their men.

[riza-hawks-eye]

Okay, but wording it "give me back my girlfriend" makes it sound like Mustang physically took his girlfriend away from him and is still keeping her from him.

Was Bradley holding Riza hostage an-eye-for-an-eye style form of justice on behalf of nameless background soldier?

[unequalvectorrudra]

New headcanon unlocked!

[unequalvectorrudra]

Jacques Chirac's ghost is manipulating Macron into not escalating the Iran war.

Just like Eren manipulated his father.

Chirac is at least using his power for something good.

[unequalvectorrudra]

MHA doesn't truly have a forgiving theme for abusers.

Endeavor seems off the hook only because his family members are staunch conservatives who believe in family honor.

That doesn't apply to the Shimura family, and their fates, namely Kotaro's, are much more straightforward and expected.

There's also the fact that Shigaraki is a far stronger villain who can force a greater number of the audience to look at him than Dabi could. While Shoto can forcefully stop Dabi, drag him to a jail hospital and lecture on reconciliation/crossing paths, Shigaraki is physically too powerful for even All might to attempt that kind of reckless maneuver. You have to weaken Shigaraki emotionally - and defending the heroes/Nana is the LAST thing you should do to weaken his emotions.

Another thing is that Dabi's main foil is Shoto who believes in family honor, while Shigaraki's rival, Deku, isn't really that concerned over family.

[unequalvectorrudra]

A victory earned with identity

"I think I kind of understand now why you never had your memories back. Dita came into your life for a very short period. You didn't have time to grow a feeling for her. You weren't an ideologue either, which kept you from feeling strong attachment to the watchmaker's life or works. You were also not a homesick man. If you had them, your amnesia wouldn't have been permanent. You could've lived your life like the past by holding to any one of them."

"I went down the tunnel—I was the only one trusted to go—because I was unaware. But why not others? Why not Ark? Any unaware partisan could've substituted... Was there no such person? Were all of them too invested in the mission to remain ignorant? And a stranger... would've never agreed to risk everything for the war. Was I the only one... who didn't ask anything? Because... like you said, I felt attached to nothing?"

"Yes, you're right. The tunnel's junction, which you now know was a macroscopic quantum double slit, needed to remain unobserved by the keeper of the watch to ensure the possibilities wouldn't collapse into something inevitable like a possibly lost war. Secrecy was non-negotiable to it unobserved. And few would’ve dared walk down there uninformed. You were principled enough to not turn away, but dispassionate enough to not demand the secret. Those very traits that made you the perfect person to carry out the job... also seem to be what made your amnesia permanent. I'm sorry, T."

_

Dita's Watch (2012), by Dr. Dipen Bhattacharya