One Of The Hardest Things To Learn As A Depressed Former Gifted Kid™ Is That Half-assed Is Better Than

More thoughts on the rest of season one:

Raina keeps talking about what she and Skye will become even way back here.

A guy stabs May and she later uses the same knife on him, just like with Izel later.

The contrast of Quinn hugging Skye to shoot her again more effectively with Coulson cradling her body hurts.

Garrett doesn't realize that all the kerfuffle is because Hydra has revealed themselves until Skye decrypts the signal.

When Coulson locks May up in the cage, you can see Ward trying to figure out if she's Hydra too. He's so confused for a minute, and it's hilarious to me.

Speaking of Ward, Raina tells him how she would manipulate him if that's what she wanted to do and then immediately follows up and does it, but he totally falls for it.

I forgot how intense (and ridiculous) Fitz's one-sided grudge against Tripp is. The Moby Dick bit is great.

Daniels tells Audrey something like, "I'm a monster, but you can save me," which is interestingly similar to how Ward is treating Skye in these episodes.

Speaking of which, the cello continuing to play over Skye discovering Koenig's body is amazing.

Skye says May left because she didn't care at all, but it's the opposite—she cares too much.

While they're talking by the pool, Jemma says Fitz will never have to find out what it would be like if she were Hydra, but thanks to the Framework, she will have to see him that way. Poor babies.

Garrett sarcastically tells Deathlock/Mike that he loves him right before a cut to Fitzsimmons in the pod.

Coulson says Skye was compassionate, not weak, when she chose not to let Ward die, whereas Garrett calls any sign of compassion in Ward weakness. It really hammers home how much of a difference it makes who finds you.

I've recently started rewatching Agents of Shield with my sister who hasn't seen it before, so here are some rewatch-inspired thoughts about the first half of season one:

The Bus Kids are all such babies! Especially Skye.

May gets knocked out in each of the first two episodes. It's definitely taking her a moment to readjust to fieldwork.

So many Shield water bottles.

Even though I know what Ward actually is, he still makes me like the version of himself we see here.

May and Coulson's one-sided conversations are amazing.

I honestly can't remember. Did Ward's younger brother die in the well? The flashes we see aren't super clear.

Interesting that Coulson tells Skye that there was a little girl in Bahrain, but he doesn't mention that she died.

I'd never realized that we get a glimpse of the carvings during Coulson's flashbacks of being revived.

Speaking of which, I thought looking at the carvings was what triggered his instinct to carve, but the drawings on the whiteboard in Eye Spy don't seem to set him off.

I love the way that when Coulson is kidnapped, he doesn't say the "Previously on" or "We'll return in a moment" bits. I remembered that from later seasons, but it's a nice touch to start it now.

I 100% adore the Lord of the Rings movies, but the fact is that the Arwen-Is-Dying-Because-Ring-Magic plotline makes zero sense by the lore (if I’m wrong please correct me I’d love to learn). Don’t get me wrong, it works great for the movie, brilliant, in fact, but it doesn’t really make much sense in book logic. Why would Arwen’s fate be tied to the Ring? If she’s mortal now she can’t Fade, and if she’s still Elvish there’s no reason why it should affect her more than anyone else.

BUT, I was watching the extended scene where Aragorn looks into the Palantir and Sauron speaks to him in Black Speech and shows him pictures of a dead Arwen and smashes the Evenstar (Which is a whole other The-Books-Call-Bullshit shebang), and I came up with my own in-universe explanation.

Sauron: *Chilling in Mordor*

An Orc of some kind: My Lord Mairon (Because THAT is what they would call him), the spies have come back from Rivendell.

Sauron: Show me.

Magic Evil Spy: *Shows Sauron the image of a mortal man of the race of Numenor making out with an Elf lady who looks suspiciously familiar…*

Sauron: OH HELL NO!

Evil Spy: Indeed, Master. The Heir of Isildur lives.

Sauron: Get rid of her, now.

Evil Spy: Right away, Mast- her?

Sauron: Yes! Yes yes yes, I don’t care what it takes, get her out of here.

Evil Spy: My Lord, but surely, Isildur’s heir-?

Sauron: Do not harm that man, you hear me? Do not lay a finger on him until she is taken care of.

Evil Spy:

Evil Spy: Are you sure-?

Sauron: Was there a dog?

Spy: A dog, Master?

Sauron: Yes, yes, a dog, a big one.

Spy: Not that I could see, no.

Sauron: Oh well thank Eru for that, at least.

Spy: Are you feeling ill, Master?

Sauron: No, and I’d like to keep it that way. Arwen annihilation is priority number one, ok? And don’t you lay a finger on her man until I say so, got it?

Spy: Alright then…

Sauron, still looking at the image: HE’S GOT THE RING OF FELAGUND!!!

Spy:

Sauron: KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER RIGHT NOW!

What kind of a stupid superpower is Heart anyway?

The post about Frodo from earlier got me thinking about the underuse of Heart as a superpower in modern fantasy, by contrast to perhaps its overuse in older texts.

The idea that I started to get at in the tags is that Frodo is “above average” in a non-standard sort of a way, and that is in compassion.  His name, Maura, means Wise, and he’s very deliberately named after Froda, doomed king of the Hathobards, famed as a (failed) peace maker.  And that is what makes Frodo “special.”  He has other virtues, sure - heading off on the quest because it needs to be done even though he hasn’t got a clue what he’s doing takes a huge amount of gumption.  But that if anything goes into “hobbits are just kinda great that way.”  The thing that sets Frodo specifically apart is the wisdom to make peace and show compassion.  The Taming of Smeagol, which is for one reason or another really the last thing Frodo actually does as Main Character ™ is the single thing that allows the quest to succeed, and it is above and beyond what is normal and expected (contrast Sam’s reaction).  Because although Frodo ultimately falls, he does not, in fact, fail.  It takes Sam’s loyalty and determination to get them to Mount Doom, and it takes Gollum to get the ring into the volcano.  And it took Frodo’s compassion (and Bilbo’s pity) to get Gollum.

And this is a thing about Frodo.  He takes mercy on Gollum with the Taming of Smeagol, and he takes mercy on Saruman in the Scouring of the Shire.  It’s something he grows and develops into, but you can see the roots of this flavor of Wisdom even in how he reacts to Sam’s eavesdropping in the very beginning (despite the absence of eaves on Bag End).  Taking Sam along is the first major step towards ensuring the success of the quest.  It’s not just that Frodo needs help, it’s that (with some token stubbornness) he’s wise enough to accept help.  Kindness, Mercy, Compassion.

There’s an old style of fairy-tale which I have referred to as a “gift fairy-tale.”  And in it, the heroine’s superpower is, once again, kindness.  I had a book called Old Bony Legs, which was a version of the Baba Yaga story, and it went about like this.  There’s a little girl, who goes to see the witch, and packs a lunch - bread and butter, and a little meat.  When she gets to the gate it creaks, and so she gives it her butter to oil her hinges.  The gate is grateful and swings easily.  She likewise gives her meat to the cat and her bread to the dog, who in return giver her a magic comb and a magic mirror, and instructions on how to use them.  When she has to escape (because the wants to eat her), well, the gate opens easily before her, not even creaking to give away her flight, the comb becomes a thick forest, impeding the witch, and the mirror becomes a vast lake, ensuring her escape.  There’s a number of these sorts of stories, and the common pattern is this:

random acts of kindness/compassion –> gifts/debts from the powerful –> PROFIT

What makes the hero or heroine special, then, is the decision to be kind.  All the magic and power and whatever comes from outside, from the beneficiaries of that kindness.  The heroine succeeds not because she is Great, but because she gets help, and she gets help because she is compassionate.  Kindness, Mercy, Compassion.

So, my childhood was shaped, even before Tolkien, primarily by impoverished itinerant do-gooders called the Doctor.  Let’s talk about the other one.  Doctor Doolittle’s superpower is that he can talk to animals, right?  WRONG.  Doctor Doolittle’s superpower is that he’s a really nice guy.  One of the crucially important things in universe is that talking to animals is not an innate ability - anyone can learn it, if it occurs to them to try.  Tommy Stubbins, the Doctor’s apprentice, is training to be a great naturalist and he can talk to animals as well, or at least is learning.

The story is this.  John Doolittle, successful physician, acquires at some point an African Grey Parrot and names her Polynesia.  And, in an act of kindness, rather than training her to repeat a few words, goes all the way and just  teaches her English.  And she, in return, teaches him Parrot.  And, upon realizing that animals have languages and personalities as rich as humans, he gives up his practice and his respectability to be an animal Doctor - not a vet, but a Doctor who can actually communicate with his patients.  Because he cares.  He gives a voice to the voiceless and then stops and listens to what they have to say.  And, importantly, anyone could have done this, but only John Doolittle does, because only John Doolittle cares enough to try.

Dr. Doolittle has no superpowers.  He’s small, unassuming, quiet, unsuccessful (by human standards), penniless, a disgrace to his family, a joke to his colleagues, kind to a fault, trusting to the point of naivite, assuming the fundamental goodness of every living thing and returning it without question.  And every animal on earth (and on the moon, eventually) knows his name, and would do anything for him.  He is the Great Man.  And what’s so great about him?  Only this: he took the time to be kind.  Kindness, Mercy, Compassion.

There was a really fun comic about why all superpowers suck, if you only get one, and the only power that gets you everything without the drawbacks is Being Rich, as long as you don’t waste all your time angsting about your dead parents or trying to kill Superman.  But Dr. Doolittle is penniless, and flies to the moon on the back of a giant moth, and moves mountains with the help of some friendly whales.  Frodo Baggins sells everything he has to set off into the vast unknown - but he has a magic sword given in friendship by a King of Dwarves, a light when all other lights go out given in friendship by a Queen of Elves, and a loyal friend to wield them both (not to mention a King of Men as a guide through the wilderness).  Little Sasha has only her lunch and she gives that away - and yet throws behind her magics powerful enough to defeat Baba Yaga herself.  One of my favorite lines in one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes is this:

“We couldn’t change our future - but we talked to people, influenced them, and they changed it for us.”

The best superpower is Heart.

Reblog if you think public libraries are important and should be maintained.

consider: teenagers aren’t apathetic about everything they’re just used to you shitting all over whatever they show excitement about

blind fic exchange!

a detective wakes up to the most beautiful woman he's ever met

a man dreams of death, and only his brother can help him

a new kindergarten teacher and the shenanigans of his peculiar students

happy reading ♡

Thank you for the recs! I ended up picking the third one, and it was really cute! I'm not familiar with the fandom, but I enjoyed the first chapter.

This reminds me of my creative writing professor's reaction. One of my friends brought a D&D book to class. This was at a Christian school where D&D was pretty popular, so he teased her about it being satanic and she teased him right back. Later while we were working on peer feedback, our professor asked if he could look at the book since he'd never really seen anything D&D related.

Several minutes later, he asked, "Why was everyone panicking about this? It's just imagination."

My friend told him yeah, it was just imagination and math rocks, and I think we actually changed his mind about it.

Found that over at mastodon

Edit: link to original post: https://mastodon.social/@senatormeow/100908678269940898

[Image ID: a Toot from User "Senator Meow":
 "when I first ran D&D, my grandmother, who had bought fully into the IT'S SATANISM hype, insisted on sitting and watching the first session. about an hour in, she threw her hands up and yelled 'THIS IS JUST MATH' and stormed off"/END ID]

Friend has the sad???!!??!!!!!

I’m coming friend I’ll save you from the sad!!

I am here now you’re going to be okay!!!

You are so beautiful and i love you!!!

Hamiathes's Gift Exchange 2025: Schedule Announcement!

The schedule is here, and well ahead of time this year! We're kicking off in about three months, and the schedule will be relatively close to last year's. This exchange is open to anyone with an AO3 account who wants to write a fic or make a piece of QT art. For more details on length, size, and logistics of the exchange, check out the FAQ linked at the bottom of this post.

2025 Schedule

Character/relationship/worldbuilding nominations: Thursday, July 17 - Thursday, July 24

Signups: Friday, July 25 - Sunday, August 3

Assignments sent out: Tuesday, August 5

Fanworks due: Friday, September 12

Fanworks revealed: Friday, September 18

Artists/authors revealed: Friday, September 26

All deadlines are at 8pm EDT

Note: If you don't have an AO3 account, you can request an invite here. There is currently a 3 week waiting list to get an invite, so please make sure you request one soon if you're considering participating!

If you have any questions about how the exchange works you can find last year's FAQ here. Check out past HGE works here! If you want a reminder when signups open, dm me!