that last sentence took me out
Reblogged kreature-ofthenight
You see it's quite simple: if they call the earth Gaia, it's fantasy. If they call it Terra, that's sci-fi
deletededed-direwolf
If there's one vampire, it's horror. If there's 100+ and they have politics, it's urban fantasy.
☝️if there's four vampires, it's a sitcom
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By the way, I really hope people here are aware of Cory Booker delivering a 25-hour filibuster blasting everything wrong with today's republicans, because he broke the record previously set by Strom Thurmond when he argued against the Civil Rights Act.
A black man just erased the record of a racist white man.
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Margarita & Behemoth - art by Aleks Shcherbakov
Source: instagram.com
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Saw another bad faith take about T'Pring being a murderous bitch, gotta write another fic that paints her in a warm and sympathetic light
I'm tired of seeing this argument. The 'Making them fight to the death was too far'. I'm asking you to have empathy for a woman.
Transcript, T'Pring: You have become much known among our people, Spock. Almost a legend. And as the years went by, I came to know that I did not want to be the consort of a legend. But by the laws of our people, I could only divorce you by the kal-if-fee. There was also Stonn, who wanted very much to be my consort, and I wanted him. If your Captain were victor, he would not want me, and so I would have Stonn. If you were victor you would free me because I had dared to challenge, and again I would have Stonn. But if you did not free me, it would be the same. For you would be gone, and I would have your name and your property, and Stonn would still be there. It is incredibly obvious to me that Vulcan society as portrayed by TOS heavily favors men in marriage. (I will not be taking other shows into account, IE: "It's shown in SNW that T'Pring can end the engagement at any time so she's evil and bloodthirsty for making them fight!" T'Pring's actions are in the context of TOS and everything else came after, thus having no bearing on what she does in TOS. It doesn't matter how Vulcan society is LATER characterized in THIS episode.) The Pon Farr in TOS only affects men and women are there to sate the pon farr. It's been made literally impossible for a woman to reject a man wholesale. T'Pring cannot say "I do not want him" - it is an illegal action to do so. The BEST she can do is say "I have another man." The kal-if-fee hinges on having two champions fight for a woman's hand. This implies that there must BE two champions, that T'Pring must have another man ready and willing to fight for her or she'll be Spock's wife regardless of her own desire.
Words like 'property' and 'freed' are used when describing T'Pring's potential marriage to Spock and it is plainly stated that T'Pring's ONLY lawful option for any kind of divorce is by the kal-if-fee. From T'Pring's wording it's obvious that she feels trapped by Spock, why shouldn't she? He's a man who's a stranger to her and we see throughout the episode/series that Spock is from an incredibly powerful family and is a legend in his own right. ("She's probably from a powerful family herself!") Yes, undoubtedly. She calls Stonn HER consort, implying she DOES have a good deal of power, royalty in her own right I suspect but crucially we don't really SEE that. We can assume, but T'Pau is there for Spock's family, those are his family's grounds, Spock is the one we know has an ambassador father, who has the status of a legend. It's implied, in many ways, that T'Pring is (while wealthy and powerful) NOT on the same level as Spock. They are not on equal footing. TOS Vulcan society is portrayed as one where women are legally property of their husbands. About becoming angry with Christine Chapel for making and offering him soup, Spock says that women should only be 'servants' to their own men [husbands] and to serve others is undignified.
This isn't just the case in this episode. In Journey to Babel there's this exchange between Amanda and Kirk.
Kirk: It sounded like [he commanded you]. Amanda: Of course. He's a Vulcan. I'm his wife. It's notable that Amanda does not say 'the ambassador' or 'Sarek' - implying that this behavior is due to him being an important figure or a facet of his personality. No, it's stated that because he is Vulcan he expects his wife to obey him. It's such an innocuous thing too, he just tells her 'continue the tour' but it's telling that this IS acknowledged by Amanda herself as a command which she intends to follow. It is explicitly NOT a suggestion and it's portrayed as natural. "Of course" this is how a marriage works. To Amanda, this isn't an issue. She has a bond of trust with Sarek and they obviously love each other very much, as demonstrated by the episode. I have no doubt that their relationship is friendly and caring. They fell in love with each other, chose each other, etc. I wouldn't even argue if someone said that Sarek probably wouldn't become upset with Amanda for 'disobeying' him. The point here isn't "Sarek and Amanda are in a bad relationship" it's that on Vulcan it's expected for a woman to serve her man absolutely. Whether or not that's how Sarek and Amanda's marriage actually functions (I doubt it), it's how it's EXPECTED to. Now imagine if you were expected to have a relationship with that sort of potential power imbalance with a total stranger. A rich and powerful stranger. Can you imagine? Especially when there's a man you know and trust and care for so close, willing to be with you, a man you actually WANT who you're certain won't treat you poorly. Can you imagine being asked to give that up, or even risk giving that up - to risk that man's death on the CHANCE that the stranger with total control over you might be merciful? On TOS Vulcan a wife is 'servant' a wife is 'property' a wife is to be 'commanded' - these are things which characters OTHER than T'Pring say, so it is not her subjective opinion on how Vulcan women are treated in this society. A wife is expected to serve, regardless of desire, because her husband commands it. Even things such as what she'll do in his absence are able [and expected] to be determined by him. I am not saying that T'Pring had NO other choice. She could have, perhaps, reached out to Spock. The kal-if-fee isn't explained in detail, while it's heavily implied she requires a male champion to become wedded to instead of Spock, could she have #girlbossed it and chosen herself as champion? Maybe she could have gone outside the law and refused him without issuing a challenge, etc. What I'm asking is, why is that what you're looking for? Why can you only empathize with T'Pring if she had LITERALLY no other option? T'Pring is her own character, living her own life separate from Spock. She doesn't know Spock, they haven't spoken to each other since they were engaged at seven years old and she comes from a culture wherein men essentially rule over their wives. Why can't you grant her charitable interiority? Why do you jump so quickly to vitriol and blame and assume her actions were malicious at worst and "too far" at best? Why are you so timid in your praise but so eager in your invective criticism?
For all those earlier 'what ifs' I could offer my own 'what ifs' on T'Pring's side. Why would she contact Spock? Both from a cultural perspective [wherein women are the property of men] and a 'purely logical' perspective: Why would a man release a woman if having a woman is the key to saving his life? How would Spock benefit from that and if he doesn't benefit, why would he agree to it? Again, she doesn't know Spock. He is just a powerful man to her, a legend who owns her as wife-property. She might just be tipping her hand, increasing the chances that Spock will prepare for the battle and kill Stonn, the man she loves. Contacting Spock seems naively hopeful at best and downright stupid at worst given the culture and the fact that T'Pring, one more time, doesn't know Spock at all. Could she have girlbossed it and chosen herself as champion? Setting aside the fact that this doesn’t seem to be a viable option, would she have won? She isn’t shown to be physically strong. She isn’t shown to be unconventional. The challenge she invokes is ancient and all of her plans are within the bounds of Vulcan law.
“She should have just said no!” Unfortunately, T’Pring is from a culture where her saying ‘no’ is heavily implied not to mean anything. Again, she isn't shown to be unconventional. She's likely from a wealthy, powerful family and her personality is a factor in the decisions she makes. To me, it's a bit silly to say 'she could have just been a different person!'
“T’Pring should have just told Spock, she should have just said no, she should have just-” My, how easy! It’s amazing that T’Pring didn’t think of just saying ‘no.’ It’s honestly baffling that T’Pring didn’t just think of calling Spock up and telling him she didn’t want to marry him, actually. Almost as if there were structures in place which stopped her from doing that. Almost as if there were reasons she couldn’t, but no…that can’t be the case. There are a million reasons in Spock’s favor, of course - ways in which Spock could have been treated better, given more consideration, spared from more pain, but absolutely zero reasons for T’Pring to have made the choices she did. Naturally. Throughout this post I've shown many arguments against T'Pring, 'what if' scenarios that might be true and might make her bloodthirsty and evil, willfully and murderously cruel at the worst and mind numbingly stupid at best, if they were true. My question is why? Why are you working so hard to vilify this woman? Because her actions MIGHT have led to the death of Spock or Kirk? Because Spock was sad for a little while? Because, theoretically, Spock might have been hurt by her rejection? Because Spock and Kirk are the main characters and she’s just some bitch? I am asking you to spare some of that empathy for her and it's very telling that even in 2024 I encounter so much resistance to this idea. "It's fine that T'Pring didn't want to marry Spock, honestly, girlpower, of course it’s fine, but did she have to be so mean about it? She had choices." [General you] say and I am pointing to the society. I am pointing to the words 'property' and 'freed' and 'servant'. I am pointing to the way you spend so much time thinking of ways T’Pring could have been in the wrong that you can’t (and won’t) spare a second to think of ways she could have been in the right. It’s telling, the way [general you] fight so hard to find a way to still place the blame at her feet and her feet alone. It’s telling, the way I never see “The situation was fucked up, the society was fucked up, etc.” It is always “T’Pring is a racist murdering bitch who hated Spock and wanted him to die” at the worst and “T’Pring was within her rights not to want to marry Spock but the way she went about rejecting him was all wrong” at the best. I am pointing and I am asking you: Is that the best you can do? Is that all we can hope for? "I love female characters!" Until they put the men in danger. Until they do something you don't agree with 100%. Until they make a choice you don't like and aren't completely absolved of any free will in making it. Until they aren't perfect. "We need more complex female characters" You can't even handle T'Pring. "I love female characters!" But never at the expense of men.
I suspect people are judging her at least partly on fanon, on a view of Amok Time and of Vulcan society based more on fan lore and what people think it was. A sort of Spock Drift, to go with Kirk Drift?
Reblogged roboticoutlaw
fear
Internet search : how to hug a drawing?
Internet search : how to say i will protect you in vulcan?
Dungi-klashau nash-veh tu.
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HE BROKE THE RECORD
Senator Cory Booker just broke the all-time record for the longest Senate floor speech, speaking for over 24 hours without a pause (no food, no bathroom breaks, only water to drink) as a protest against Trump and Musk and what they're doing.
The previous record was set in 1957, when Strom Thurmond spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes protesting the Civil Rights Act.
Senator Booker has blown past that record, currently at 25 hours and still speaking as of 8 pm local time. Respect.
Reblogged trillscienceofficer
your job is not more important than media from 2005. never forget this.
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To those of us in the US, waking up to Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey currently filibustering in the Senate Chambers. This is a masterclass in using the US Government's policies for potential change. He is filibustering against the current government's actions. This is what a filibuster is supposed to be here for. Between back-and-forth questions with other senators and reading letters from Republican districts, people who won't go see their constituents.
If he reaches the 24-hour mark, he will pass the historical marker of the longest filibuster, which was set in the 60s by Strom Thurmond, who was attempting to stop the Civil Rights Act.
You can watch his filibuster live on TikTok. He is trying to ensure the whole world can see what is happening in the US government and what the people actually want.
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i love how as you read more into tlt, the ninth house seems more and more normal. Like if i'm at an immoral evil government competition, and i use human fat as soap and animate skeletons to do menial labor, i'm gonna LOSE if my competition is the third house, represented by ianthe "who HASN'T eaten human flesh and fucked a corpse" tridentarius. My weird skeleton thing seems normal, suddenly. Well-adjusted, even. It's recycling. They're using resources in a sustainable way. Normal and regular and productive for a post-climate change apocalypse universe.
People go on and on about how Muir drops you into gtn hearing from the person who knows the least about whats happening, and does not hand hold the reader through the crazy shit that occurs, and that's all true. It truly is a crazy writing decision to make your first pov character come from the universe's equivalent of amish fundamentalists. But the reader is actually done a huge favor being dropped into the ninth house first, because we already understand that space is cold and what catholic nuns are, and what goths look like, and what lesbians are. Very little time is wasted in the first chunk of gtn ripping hair out of your head wondering what the fuck is going on, because for all of its strangeness, the ninth house is already the most familiar thing we're gonna get.
Because THEN we learn that this whole universe's medieval chivalry system is designed to groom people from CHILDREN to not only be exploited and used as human batteries for necromancers, but to LIKE it. to wax poetic about it. to confuse it for love, to write fucking academic papers about it! Then we learn about planet flipping, an act so horrific and violent it turns the planet's soul into a massive vengeful monster capable of killing GOD. Like what do you MEAN the animals "change"? Is this why noodle has six legs? I would MUCH prefer to wear skeleton makeup and repent forever if the alternative was to witness my family dog grow TWO EXTRA LIMBS because the planet he lived on fucking died. Suddenly, living in the asscrack of a planet where no light gets in seems like a sweet deal when the whole solar system is lit by a sun that MAKES YOU GO CRAZY. The ninth house's WORST sin, killing 200 babies to make Harrow, a waste of resources and an act so terrible it haunts Harrow for the entire span of her life, is like a BLIP compared to the death count Jod's empire. God even hears about it and he's like, no big deal! The cohort probably kills that amount of people in a DAY.
And its ALSO tragic because you realize that all of this trauma and abuse that Gideon goes through is not really because of the ninth house at all. It's really just an individual skill issue that she wasn't treated with compassion. Nobody hated her because she's jesus or a bomb, nobody even KNOWS she's a bomb. It's just Priamhark and Pelleamena being deeply guilty and scared people that motivates her treatment, and absolutely nothing else.
They did something bad, and they know it, and Gideon survived it, and they can't kill her to cover it up, and that's IT. They killed themselves for pride, because they were afraid of the consequences of their actions (both the baby killing and Harrow opening the tomb) coming back to bite them. You can argue this is the catholicism of it all, and I wouldn't say you're wrong, but compared to the cavalier system, where exploitation is in the very lining of the house's institutions, the ninth house is really removed from the space empire's blood factory. This is compared to the fourth house where they have tons of children to be CANNON FODDER to join the cohort at fucking 14, compared to the eight house uncle nephew fuckery, even the fifth house which actually does seems nice to live on but also seems to have the fourth house in some sort of fucked up political bear hug??? (maybe the fourth house has so many kids in order to fight the fifth's battles? which is EXACTLY what jod's whole empire is about; politely stirring your tea and acting nice while you destroy everything) compared to ALL OF THAT, the cruelty that Gideon faces is really more a bug of the ninth's system than a feature.
There's nothing baked into the culture and everyday life of the ninth house that necessitated that cruelty; in fact, for such a pragmatic and resource-scarce place, it's WEIRD that a strong able-bodied young person was treated like a waste of space and resources. It could just have easily not happened, if Harrow's parents had been different people. Maybe they were products of their environment, but so was Harrow, and she values Gideon's life SO MUCH that she'd literally rather carve out parts of her own brain than exploit her. Gideon grows up knowing really NOTHING about cavaliers, so remote from the horrors of the empire that she develops an idea of what the cohort is from porn magazines. And in a lot of ways, that upbringing was desolate and terrible, and in a lot of other ways it literally DID NOT HAVE TO BE.
Gideon's MAIN THING is that she wants to be useful, to be needed, to be loved and it SUCKS that she couldn't even get it in the one place where she was actually an invaluable resource, where the death empire had the weakest reach. Gideon can't even blame her lack of love on the fucked up chivalry system like everyone else can because it JUST WASNT REALLY RELEVENT!?!?! This is like if i rolled up to the trauma competition and everyone else was raised in a nuclear warzone by wolves or something and i grew up in like, the suburbs and was raised by teachers and i somehow STILL WON. truly what the fuck guys.
