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pookiethefrickinbunn · 4 years ago

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Tony Didn’t Ask For This (But He’s Not Complaining)

By: Pookiethefrickinbunn - For: @the-panwitch

Rating: Teen and Up

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark

Characters: Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Natasha Romanov

Summary:

Based on the nonsense that spewed out of the boy’s mouth all night and the visual context clues, Tony was pretty sure he knew the identity of his guest. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew only a prince would wear what the child had on. And only a prince would have access to a horse like the one that was accompanying him. In fact Tony was sure there would be more evidence in the saddle bags that were on the steed. But the man was afraid to leave the child to go check. --- OR The story of how a humble farmer named Tony came across the lost prince from the neighboring kingdom. Farmer!Tony and Price!Peter Medieval AU. Friendly Neighborhood Exchange 2020 - Farmer Tony and Prince Peter prompt. Plus a kidnapping in chapter two.

Chapter One: Meeting

Tony knew that he shouldn't have left for home so late, but he had picked up such a good deal in the market. He couldn’t just go home. Not when he had the opportunity to get so much product for such a reduced price. He knew he would be getting in late, but this was later than he thought. He had been riding for hours in the dark, and he was anxious to make it to his bed. His knees and back were starting to ache.

Eventually the lonely farmer came to his property and quietly unpacked some items at the cottage before going to the barn to put away his horse. Everything seemed to be normal as Tony opened the wooden barn door, but that illusion faded when Tony came face to face with a large black horse who stood a few feet inside the barn. His head snapped up in attention, and the hay that he held in his mouth stilled as he looked back at the man.

Tony’s eyes widened as he stared back at the horse in equal surprise.

“Well you’re not my horse,” Tony said, an eyebrow quirking as he quickly tied his own horse outside before re-entering the barn. The animal seemed to have just been placed in the barn to wander freely, as there was no bridal or reins on the horse to direct it or tie him up. Though, it did seem that it still had a saddle on it’s back. Perhaps for a quick escape?

“Hey there bud. How did you get in here?” Tony asked as he slowly approached the black animal. As Tony drew closer, the horse seemed to relax, dipping his nose down and taking a few steps towards the inventor. It’s nostrils flared with curious sniffs and soon the man was able to pet the horse’s muzzle before it allowed him to get closer.

It was a nice horse, a charger by the looks of it. It definitely didn’t belong to a neighboring farmer, that was for sure. This horse was used for war. Upon further inspection, Tony noticed a crest on the end of the saddle blanket designating that this horse belonged to the Royal Parker family in the neighboring kingdom. Perhaps a traveling soldier had comindeered his barn or cottage for the night. It definitely wasn’t uncommon for soldiers.

“Hello?” Tony suddenly called out, turning to face the rest of the barn. “Anyone in here?” He asked, but all that came back in response was silence. It was too dark to search the barn any further. So with that Tony gently guided the horse into an empty stall before putting his own horse away. And from there he went to the cottage to see if his guest was there.

To Tony’s surprise, there was no one. The home was just as cold and dark as when he had left early that morning. In fact, it looked as if no one had been there while he had been gone. Nothing was missing or out of place. So with that Tony grabbed a lantern and returned to investigate the barn.

This time when Tony returned, he could hear noise. It wasn’t terribly loud, but it sounded like someone was crying, and they weren’t trying to be quiet about it. Tony stilled on the other side of the door for a moment, not necessarily wanting to walk in on a soldier being vulnerable, but Tony did his best to ignore that thought. Afterall, this was his property. He would go where he pleased, crying adult or not. So Tony opened the door and walked in.

As soon as the door opened, the sobbing stopped, making Tony still. Tony looked around the barn but still couldn't see anything from where he was standing. “I know you’re in here, I could hear you a mile away,” Tony taunted, holding the lantern in front of him as he walked deeper into the barn.

All the man got in response was a few sniffles.

“Come on now. No need to be shy about crying, we all do it,” Tony said as he followed the noises. And when Tony turned the corner to where his guest should be, he found nothing. Or, what he thought was nothing. The farmer stood in confusion as he looked at the pile of hay in front of him. The longer he stood there though, the easier he could see that the pile of hay was moving. Tony started at it for a moment longer before another loud sniffle sounded from the pile. There was no way an adult could successfully hide under that hay, Tony realized. But a child could. The thought that he could be dealing with a child made Tony sick with anxiety, but he did his best to push the feeling down.

“Hey. I-It’s okay. Just come out please. I want to see who owns the pretty black horse,” Tony said, not really sure what else to say that would comfort a crying child. “I won’t hurt you, I promise.” The sniffling suddenly stopped and Tony stood rooted in place for what felt like forever. It seemed like the person hiding wasn’t going to respond, but suddenly a high pitched, shaking voice, sounded from under the hay.

“I’m sorry sir. I-I got lost and I didn’t. I didn’t know where to go. But it was getting dark and I found your barn but I promise I didn’t take anything.” -- Okay, he was definitely dealing with a child.

“It’s okay kid. I believe you,” Tony said as he sat down on a bench that wasn’t too far off. “But you want to tell me who’s horse that is? Were you traveling with a soldier? Because your four legged friend looks a little too nice to be a workhorse,” the man said as he set down the lantern. The pile of hay was silent for a little moment longer, but soon the voice spoke again.

“That’s my horse,” the voice said. Tony could tell that the kid was trying to put some sort of authority into his tone, but there was a wobble to it, as if he was trying not to cry.

“No offence kid, but you do not own that horse. Does your brother or father work for the King up north? Were you traveling?” Tony asked.

“I was traveling...with my father,” the voice responded. “And that’s my horse. His name is Shadow.”

“Okay, okay. Whatever you say,” the older man said as he scrubbed his face. He was too tired to deal with a child today. Much less one that had broken into his barn. “Well why don’t you get out of that hay there and you can come to my house. We’ll go look for your father in the morning. It will be a lot more comfortable,” Tony suggested.

“I-I can’t,” the voice whimpered, and Tony was sure the kid was going to burst into tears at any moment.

“Sure you can. I’m not about to leave you out here. Especially when your dad works for a royal guard.”

“No,” the voice suddenly sobbed. “I can’t move. I can’t get up,” the child said, making Tony’s eyebrows raise.

“Come on kid, sure you can. You got yourself in there didn’t you?” Tony asked, but all he got in response was silence. “Are you really going to make me pull you out of there?” Tony asked. Again, silence.

“You have to be kidding me,” Tony said as he stood from the bench and walked closer to the pile of hay. “Alright kid, I’m going to pull you out. Don’t bite me, okay?” The man asked, and suddenly he was leaning down to fish the child out of the forage.

The first thing he noticed when he made contact with the body was how hot the child was. He was absolutely burning up. Tony wondered if maybe he was that hot from being under the hay, but he touched the kids arm as well, and realized that it was the child’s body that was radiating the heat. Tony fished around in the hay till he found the boy’s armpits and after getting a good grip he pulled up.

Wow, this kid was sweaty.

As the hidden figure emerged from the forage, the first thing that caught Tony’s eye was the leather jacket the boy was wearing. It was nice, really nice. But the thing that caught his eye was the red and blue silk that lined the inside of the jacket. This was too nice, even for a guard’s son to wear. In fact, no one would be caught wearing something like this besides the Royal family.

Tony’s blood turned to ice as he stilled for a moment before pulling the boy completely out of the hay to get a better look at him.

“ Jesus Christ Almighty,” Tony stammered as he looked at the child that was now in his arms. The boy’s brown curls were pressed to his forehead in sweat and pieces of hay stuck every which way in the boy’s sweat soaked hair. And the kids face. It was pale, and it didn’t look like a complexion thing either. He looked sick. Tony wasn’t sure if it was from being under so much hay for so long, but the boy’s eyes were red and swollen and snot dripped from his nose and ran down his cheek. He was a mess.

“Okay. Hey, you’re okay,” Tony said, not sure if he was reassuring the child or himself “You’re okay. Let’s just stand you up and we’ll get you some water. Maybe lay you down in a bed...away from hay,” Tony said as he maneuvered the kid a bit more, but the child didn’t comply. He just moved with Tony like he was a doll.

“I can’t stand,” The boy sobbed as Tony tried to help the boy up. And suddenly Tony found the boy leaning up against his chest, trying to use him as support as his arms dangled from his body, unused.

“Okay, okay,” Tony said, placing one of his hands on the boy’s back. In an instant the boy was flinching against his side and letting out another sob. Tony suddenly stilled and looked at where he had just touched, only to find himself holding his breath. There was a large wound on his shoulder. It started around the boy’s clavicle and went down his back. It looked like someone had brought down a sword on the child. As Tony examined it even more he noticed that mud had been packed around the top of the wound, and Tony wondered if the kid had done that to try and stop the bleeding. The bottom of it though was still open and angry. And in that moment Tony realized that what he had thought was sweat under the kid’s arm was probably blood.

“I’m going to pick you up,” Tony suddenly said as he readjusted his grip so that he could scoop up the boy’s legs. “It’s going to hurt, but just hold on.” Tony said, trying to reassure the boy. The only reply Tony got was a high pitched wail as he lifted the boy. With one quick movement, the simple farmer grabbed the lantern and made his way back towards his cottage, the little boy crying the entire way back.

After setting the lantern on the table, Tony made his way towards his bed at the back of the room. After setting the boy down on the bed, Tony collected a bowl of water and a rag before returning to the boy. He wasn’t in the best shape, and judging by his wound, it was probably infected. Tony knew the boy would probably not survive the next few days if he didn’t tend to it thoroughly.

“What happened to you?” Tony asked as he kneeled down by the child. He just wanted to distract the boy from the pain he was in. He just needed to get to that shoulder.

“I-I was traveling with my father and mother. We were visiting your king and then we got attacked,” The boy hiccuped, trying his best to speak through the tears.

“Your father and mother?” Tony asked as his eyes landed back on the leather jacket that the boy wore. With a shaking hand Tony opened the front of the jacket and examined the silk that lined it. It wasn’t dirty, but well kept. It looked almost new, but Tony could tell that it was well loved. And then something caught Tony’s eye. -- The small crest of the Royal Parker family, embroidered on the inside by one of the seams. The man opened his mouth to ask another question but then paused. The boy in front of him was a sobbing mess, and Tony couldn’t continue on with a good concious if he pried anymore than he already was. He would get more info when the child was on the mend.

“Let’s get this jacket off of you,” Tony said instead as he helped the boy sit up before peeling the clothing off of his torso. As the jacket came off, it pulled at the wound on the shoulder, and the boy let out a wail, his entire body shaking in response. “I know, I know. I’m sorry,” the man said as he carefully removed the rest of the jacket.

The farmer was used to not getting enough sleep, but the night had taken a lot out of him. Surprisingly, the child was still alive. It had been a long night of sobbing and babbling as the boy faded in and out of consciousness. Tony had done his best to clean the wound, and even put a bit of ointment on it. But besides changing the boy into one of his own shirts, there was nothing else he could do. So he tried to make him comfortable. The night consisted of dabbing his forehead with a wet cloth and giving him sips of water every now and then. But other than that Tony just stayed at his side to make sure that he hadn’t stopped breathing.

As the night continued on, Tony tried to come up with a game plan. The only problem was there were too many variables to what had happened to the child for him to just make one plan. Were there people after him? Would they come to the farm? And who would they be loyal to? Should he return the prince to his kingdom? Or would that put him in even more danger? Tony didn’t know, and he knew he wouldn’t necessarily know what to do until the boy told him what had happened to him.

The sound of floor boards squeaking woke Tony from his sleep, and he found himself scrambling around on the floor as he tried to figure out what was going on. The lantern had gone out at some point in the night, but light was filtering in from the single window that the cottage had, letting Tony know it was morning. In the dim light, Tony could see a smile figure silhouetted in front of him.

Right. The kid.

“What are you doing standing up?” Tony asked as he scrubbed at his face, trying to wipe the sleep out of his eyes. “You should be in bed, sleeping.”

“I have to use the bathroom,” A small voice responded in the darkness.

“Oh,” was all the man could manage to say in reply. Of course the kid would need to do that at some point. “There is a spot outside. I’ll show you,” Tony said as he stood, his bones popping on the way up.

“Thank you,” the child said in response as he followed Tony out of the cottage.

Tony averted his eyes from the child as they made their way outside, and while the kid did his thing. But once he was finished, Tony decided it would be a good idea to get a better look at him, not that it was light.

He still looked sick, his complexion lighter than Tony would like, and dark circles forming under his eyes. But he definitely looked like he had more life in him than the previous night. Tony’s large shirt draped over the boy’s small frame like a large tunic, but he could still tell that the boy was small. His skin seemed smooth and free from any blemishes, and Tony could tell he had never worked a day in his life.

“You hungry?” Tony asked, never taking his eyes off the kid as they made their way back to the home.

The boy only shook his head.

“Okay. Well let me know if you want to eat anything. I’m going to make breakfast,” The older man said as he walked the boy back to bed.

The entire time Tony prepared his breakfast, the boy stayed silent, and the man half expected the kid to be passed out. But when he looked over at him after taking a bite of his food, he could see the boy staring at him.

“You got a name kid?” Tony asked, picking at he bread before taking another bite.

“I’m not supposed to tell you that,” the boy muttered, his eyes unblinking.

“Right,” the man nodded. “Is that because you’re a prince or something?” He asked,his eyes flickering up to the boy. Tony watched as the kid visibly flinched in the bed, pulling the blanket closer around his injured shoulder.

“H-how do you know that?” Peter asked, a wobble forming in his voice.

Oh no. The kid was going to cry.

“Hey, It’s okay!” Tony said, dropping his bread and holding his hands up in surrender. “I’m not going to hurt you. Okay? You’re safe here,” the man said carefully as he watched the boy. “I just guessed. Because of your clothes and your horse. That’s all. I promise you’re safe. I promise.”

All the boy did in response was stare at him.

“What happened out there?” Tony quietly asked. “You said you were traveling with your father and mother?” Tony asked.

“Yeah,” the small boy said quietly, his eyes now cast down. “But I don’t remember what happened,” he admitted as tears began to fall from his eyes once again. “We were going home and then there were some bad people that- that-” The boy started, but he couldn’t seem to finish his sentence.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it yet if you’re not ready,” Tony said, still frozen in his surrendered position. “I just want you to know that you’re safe. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of and when you’re feeling better we’ll get you home.” Tony said, trying to comfort the clearly traumatized child.

“I’m just a humble farmer. But you can call me Tony,” the older man said, lowering his arms. The boy just blinked back at him briefly before sniffling out a reply.

“My name is Peter. Peter Parker,” He said, his voice weak.

And even though this kid wasn’t even his kingdom’s royalty, but just a total stranger, Tony felt something in him well up with emotion. He was forming some sort of attachment to the kid. To Peter. Maybe it was his big brown eyes, or how innocent and naïve he was. Or the fact that he was injured and all alone. Tony didn’t know what it was, but he suddenly came to the realization that he would do anything for Peter.

“It’s nice to meet you, your highness.”

Chapter Two: Missing

Tony felt like this heart was going to explode out of his chest as a makeshift campsite came in sight. It wasn’t terribly far away, maybe a quarter of a mile by the man’s estimate. Far enough that he could tell there were people gathered by the fire, but not close enough to identify anyone. The man was in reach of the camp, but he knew that if he got any closer an animal or someone else might notice that he was there. So Tony waited, trying to see if there was any sign that his kid was in the camp.

His kid.

What a strange thing he had come to call the boy that had fallen into his lap nearly eight years ago. What a strange thing to call the missing crown prince, the heir to the throne in the neighboring kingdom. Over the years Tony had definitely come to think of him as his son, but that was an inappropriate title to give the child. It wasn’t his place and he would never blur the line between his status and the boy’s. Even if he was in hiding. Even if they did pretend to be master and apprentice the few times he took the kid out in public, Tony would never let the kid forget who he was. Because one day the kid would have to return to his kingdom and claim his rightful place on the throne.

But Tony knew that the kid, Peter, had other ideas. -- He knew the child never wanted to go back to his kingdom. In fact, he was constantly pleading with the older man to just “leave him be.” Peter liked the life of a simple farmer. He loved the animals and outdoors, and he especially enjoyed the hard labor of harvesting the crops. He loved being able to feel free to do whatever he wanted without anyone waiting on him. Without having problems looming over his head.

But Tony could see that Peter had the nature of a true leader. He was incredibly sharp. Smart as a whip. He was quick on his feet when it came to decision making, but made said decisions based on facts and evidence, rather than letting his heart get in the way. He was slow to anger and caring towards others. In fact Tony sometimes wondered if the child was maybe a bit too caring. The farmer had definitely seen the boy do some pretty selfless things for people and it made him wonder if he had a selfish bone in his body. -- And then there was his bloodline. A descendant of many wise Kings. Men who were compassionate to their subjects, who would die for just one of the common people. Men who lead the kingdom into great eras. All of that blood was flowing through the boy. That blood did not deserve to live in solitude for the remainder of the boy’s days. It was meant to rule.

So while Peter was in his care Tony made sure that the boy continued his studies. Mathematics and language, as well as the history of his home. On top of that he had the boy learn basic self defense. He was on the run, and many people would do anything if they found out the location of where the boy was, much less that he was still alive. - But even after all the countless hours of combat training that went into the child, Peter had still been taken.

They came while Tony had been plowing the field a half mile from the cottage. Peter had worked himself all morning and once the sun was high in the sky Tony begged the boy to go inside and rest. The kid just shook his head, gave the man a fond smile, and then turned to return to the home. That was the last time Tony saw Peter.

When the boy didn’t come back after a few hours, Tony didn’t think anything of it. The kid had simply worked harder that he had thought and he was sleeping off the exhaustion. At least that was what Tony told himself. -- And then it started getting dark. Surely the kid was awake by now, and perhaps he had stayed in the cottage to make a meal for the two when Tony returned. It definitely wouldn’t have been the first time. So with food on his mind, the older man put up his livestock and plow and started making his way towards his home.

The first thing that tipped Tony off to something being wrong was the fact that the front door was open. Not only that, but that it had been knocked off of it’s hinges. The older man felt the anxiety build in his chest as he quickly ran through the doorway, only to see that the entire front room had been trashed. A table and all it’s contents had been overturned while a kettle laid on the ground, water pooled on the floor. Papers were strewn about and the small bed at the corner of the room had been overturned. There had definitely been a struggle.

Tony’s panic escalated as he ran through the small cottage, calling the boy’s name. But he wasn’t there. In a blind hope that maybe he was outside, Tony vacated the home and went in search of the child on the surrounding property. But he was gone.

Someone had taken the prince.

They had Peter.

They had his kid.

Not knowing what else to do, Tony looked for any sort of clue as to where the kidnappers could have gone. Or even who they were. There were many people who had an interest in Peter. But in the end Tony couldn't find anything. He had no idea when the men had taken the boy, or even how many there were. It might help if he knew who they worked for, so that he could travel in the right direction, but he didn’t even know that. So with all of his options exhausted, Tony looked for someone who could help him.

He had a friend who owed him a favor. A mercenary they called The Black Widow. She had no allegiance to kingdoms or family names, and she was a hell of a tracker. Tony was confident she could help. And after a few hours of searching, Tony found her in a pub.

“They took my kid,” Tony said, his voice breaking slightly as he came into the woman's line of sight.

“Well it’s good to see you too Anthony,” the redhead said, quirking an eyebrow as she set down her drink.

“Natasha. They took my kid,” Tony said again, his tone laced with a bit of annoyance as he advanced on her. Now only the table divided them.

“Who took your kid? Do you know why they took him?” the woman calmly asked.

“I-” Tony began before stopping to see who was in the pub. Anyone could use this information against them. But to Tony’s favor, the pub was nearly empty, with only two other patrons who were drunkenly leaning over the bar, engaged in loud chatter. “I don’t know who took him. But listen to me, this kid is important, you have to help me get him back.”

“I like Peter, you know I do," Natasha tisked. "But I can’t drop everything to spend the next few days looking for the kid. I can ask a few of my connections if they have seen anything but I can’t-”

“Natasha,” the farmer said, his voice straining as he tried to stay composed. “He’s the missing prince from the Northern Kingdom. I came across him after his parents were killed and he’s been with me since. It’s imperative we get him back. Whoever took him knows who he is. They have to. Not only is he in danger, but the future of us and the surrounding countries could be as well.”

The red head just blinked back at the man for a moment, as if trying to get her brain to reset with the new information she was just given. And then after a moment, she pressed her lips together before sighing through her nose.

“I’ll talk to some sources. See what I can find. If I have a lead, I’ll get back in contact with you tomorrow morning. Early. Your place. In the mean time, see if you can find anything as well. We’re going to have to be quick. Time is not on our side,” Natasha said before standing up. “We’ll find him. Okay?,” Natasha said, giving the man a small smile before leaving Tony alone in the pub.

In the end Tony couldn’t find anything. He asked around. He tried searching the general surrounding area on his horse. He even tried to see if the men had left any tracks that would tell him where they had gone. But in the end he couldn’t find anything. He was tired and exhausted, but he couldn't sleep because his kid was missing.

Natasha came back to the farm as promised, and Tony was immediately at her side when she came galloping onto the farm with her horse.

“Anything?” he asked as the woman dismounted.

“There is talk of a group of men that were toting a teenager around last night, heading west. Sounds like it’s a group of men that work for Osborn’s guard. My guess is that they are bringing him to the king. I have two possible locations of where they could be, but we have to act fast.” With that Natasha pulled out a map from her saddle bag. “How do you feel about splitting up?”

It had been hours since Tony had come across the camp, but unfortunately he had to wait till it was completely dark. It would be easier to get the jump on them, and Tony had a better chance of using the element of surprise if most of them were asleep. So he waited, and waited. Finally the activity in the camp calmed down, and about an hour later, Tony made his move. He knew there were six men. Four of them seemed to be in makeshift tents while one patrolled the area. Tony had seen a sixth, but he did not have a location on them. So taking his dagger, Tony descended on the camp, looking for any clue that Peter might be with them.

The man rummaged around by the tent for a moment before making his way to the luggage. He did his best to stay in the shadows, trying to see if they had left the child with the horses, but he must have given himself away because there was suddenly a sharp pressure at his back.

“Don’t move,” A voice called out. It was light and high, and Tony knew that the voice belonged to a boy. Probably no older than Peter. “Who are you, what do you want?” They asked. It was clear they were putting on a front of bravery, but it did not fool Tony.

“My horse was stolen last week. I’m just checking people passing through. Just looking,” Tony lied, his hand gripping the dagger held in his hand.

“Well I can tell you that your horse isn’t here. So leave, or I’ll cut your head off,” the boy stammered.

“Right,” Tony huffed.

In a flash Tony was turning and ducking away from the sword pressed to his back before turning on his heel and hurdling himself towards the guard. In a blink of an eye, the kid was pinned to the ground, and Tony hand one hand over his mouth while his other hand pressed the dagger to his throat.

“Don’t make a sound,” Tony hissed into the boy’s ear. “Or I’ll slit your throat and I won’t even bat an eye over it. -- You have a kid. You took my kid,” Tony growled. “Where is he? Where did you take him?” the farmer demanded.

The boy on the ground just started back at Tony for a long moment, and the two seemed to have a conversation with their eyes. After a moment Tony lifted his hand off of the boy’s mouth, while pushing down on the dagger ever so slightly.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the boy tried, but Tony just pressed harder on the weapon.

“Try again,” he hissed.

“Okay, okay.’ The boy choked out, clamping his eyes closed. “We have him, he’s in the woods,” The boy stammered.

“The woods?”

“Yeah, we tied him up to a tree and someone is standing guard while the rest of us rest for the night,” The boy explained. “That way no one sees him in the clearing.”

So that’s where the sixth man was.

“How far?” Tony demanded, the dagger now drawing blood.

“I-I don’t know, half a mile maybe,” The boy whispered desperately. Tony could only grit his teeth, realizing that their conversation was coming to an end.

“Perfect. Thanks,” the farmer said before knocking the kid out cold.

From there Tony made his way cautiously into the forest, trying to keep an eye out for the sixth person. Tony tried to time how long he had been in the forest to gauge how far he had gone, and at the appropriate time, he paused, trying to see if he could find any sign of his kid.

It was quiet and muffled, but it was definitely a human made noise. After reorienting himself, Tony headed towards the noise, and stilled when he found the source.

Peter was in front of him, tied to a tree like the guard had said. The boy was kneeling on the ground in an uncomfortable position while his arms were tied high above his head, connected to a branch above him. His feet were then bound together behind him and were anchored to the base of the tree while a blindfold was tied tightly over the boy’s eyes. And to top it off a gag was pulled between the kid’s teeth so that he was biting down on the material. The sounds Tony had followed were coming from his kid, and they seemed to be grunts of pain.

Tony knew there was a guard somewhere around him, but he couldn’t stop himself from going to the boy. Carefully stepping in the boy’s space, Tony laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder. In an instant the kid was thrashing in his spot. His entire body swung wildly from the branch as panicked breaths escaped the his mouth.

“Pete. It’s me. It’s Tony, calm down,” The man said quietly but with confidence. Instantly the boys stilled and a heavy sigh was escaping his open mouth. “That’s right, it’s just me. You’re okay,” Tony said as he began to work on the kid’s blindfold.

As soon as the cloth fell Tony came face to face with Peter’s big brown eyes, and the man’s heart broke. Peter looked absolutely terrified. “You’re okay. I got you,” the farmer insisted as he cupped Peter’s face with his calloused hand before going to work at the gag. Soon Peter was free from the gag and was working his jaw up and down, trying to rid his joints from pain.

“Tony,” Peter stammered as tears collected in his eyes. “How did you find me?” Peter asked, his breathing labored. “I-I-I thought I would never see you again,” The kid explained, his chest beginning to rise and fall faster and faster. Peter had never really had a panic attack, as far as Tony had known, but the boy was getting into dangerous territory.

“Shh,” Tony whispered as he pulled the tethered boy close to his chest, rubbing his back in between his shoulder blades where his arms were pulled back. “I got you. You’re with me. I’m going to get you out of here and we’re going to get you somewhere safe. Okay? I’m not going to let them take you,” Tony said, trying to comfort the clearly distressed boy.

“Okay. O-Okay,” was all Peter could say as he leaned all of his weight into Tony, trying to calm himself down.

“You’re doing great,” Tony muttered after a minute of trying to untie Peter’s wrists. They soon skipped off and in one fluid motion, Tony was working on Peter’s feet. As he worked on the rope, the man could see that Peter’s feet were bare and bleeding. They had taken him while he was probably sleeping. They had made him walk as they traveled. At least for a period of time. The thought of Peter being scared and hurt made Tony's blood boil, but he did his best to push down the feeling. Getting Peter out of there was his first priority.

“You think you can stand?” Tony whispered as the rope fell away at the boy’s ankles.

“No,” Peter said, holding back a sob. “My legs are asleep and...my feet hurt,” Peter stammered. “I just… give me some time and I’ll get them working again. I’m sorry.” Peter said, leaning his head into Tony’s chest.

“No need to be sorry Pete. It’s not your fault,” Tony said, giving the boy a proper hug. “I’m just glad I found you.”

“How did you find me?” Peter asked, his voice cracking.

“I got some help from The Black Widow,” Tony hummed, feeling Peter let out a sigh. “You better thank her next time we see her,” the man then added on.

“Sounds like a plan” Peter muttered, as he felt himself being shifted. “What are you doing?”

“Be quiet, I’m going to get you out of here,” Tony said, pulling the boy’s arm over his shoulder.

“Thank you,” Peter hummed as he did his best to stand.

“I’ll always come for you kid,” Tony muttered as he pressed his face to the boy’s curls, breathing in his scent before he fully stood up. “Now just lean on me and don’t make a sound. There's a guard somewhere around here." Tony said as he began to lead his kid out of the woods.

Peter knew he couldn't make a sound, or else they would be found, but in that moment he just wanted to cry in relief. Tony had come for him. And even though they still had to get out of the woods and away from the men, Peter knew he was going to be okay.

#the friendly neighborhood exchange #Vero_nica #irondad spiderson #irondad #spiderson #friendly neighborhood exchange

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synthmusic91 · 4 years ago

Note

thoughts? kjfhlkjdfh asking bc i rb'd the original post from u a bit ago because i agreed w/ original poster but i just saw this rb of it and wanted to know what u thought. ciaran(.)tumblr(.)com /post/652413157345820673/there-is-a-genre-of-posts-thats-obsessed-with-the

well first of all i hope this isn't a bait ask. this reply really doesn't deserve the time and effort i put into refuting it, but there was a point in time when i was emotionally confused by these..."arguments", so whoever u are, anon, i hope this is helpful. i also recommend some distance - literally, "go outside and touch grass", which is a lot more difficult than it sounds, but it needs to be done. anyway, here's my "analysis":

for context, here's what the post in question said:

and the tags:

at a high level, we can see that what ciaran is saying doesn't really respond to what OP was talking about. for this reason, i'm not going to bring in much of what OP said, because it's uncontested in this context, and look at ciaran's reply. i'll try to break this up...

EDIT: i had a long-ass response here, but then i realized it was dumb because the source material is dumb. i cut out most of it, but here are the highlights.

"there is a genre of posts that’s obsessed with the notion that fandom is something much larger, more prevalent, and more able to affect the way media is processed and consumed, than it actually is in reality."

so, as we can all see on tiktok and, indeed, on the electronic lore olympus billboard that takes up a side of a literal skyscraper, fandom is no longer the niche thing that "fandom olds" make it out to be. also, we can't ignore how many (white) fandom players go on and work in the industry (cassandra clare, whoever wrote 50 shades, man idk much of anything so there's probably many more). so this comment is sort of myopic. and since this is what characterizes the rest of the reply, well...it's not great.

also don't look up lore olympus; it's basically a dd/////lg fanfic that happens to be one of the most popular series on the line webtoon app, which is rated for teens...and for $1 to the creator's patreon, you can view not sfw p*dophilic art, so. also obviously i didnt do that; there was a video essay about this. i can't find it though

"ironically but understandably, these posts are made by people who are so terminally fandom-poisoned that they ascribe phenomenal power to it, and think of it as some great evil that must be defeated (by making posts on tumblr, which is obviously a very influential thing to do)"

"fandom-poisoned" is such a nebulous term, especially since it appears to mean "has had some really significant, (in this context) bad experiences with fandom." this is, first of all, a huge assumption to make about a stranger, and second, not the own they think it is. i'm just going to link this post, and hopefully you can see how it relates.

anyway, the "making posts on tumblr is meaningless" is um...interesting, seeing as off the top of my head i can think of two very influential tumblr blogs that talk about really important issues, Gradient Lair and Red Light Politics. I don't know as much about Red Light Politics, but Gradient Lair is frequently cited by academics (not getting into academia nonsense now but... -_-). also, they sound more pissed that the original post did gain traction, but whatever. this paragraph doesn't really make sense, but nothing here does, because i wasn't given much to work with.

"...and then because these people have basically no imagination and unfailingly pick on others for their own faults, they project their own experiences on everyone they perceive as being more ‘in fandom’ than them,"

jesus christ. i'm going not say anything about the tone of this because i put too much effort into this for some rando to call me a cyberbully.

i think what they're thinking about is how there appear to be some "fandom critical" people who try to, holistically, "ruin everyone's good time" by "stirring up drama" about popular fandom artists/writers/whoever else idk. oftentimes these people will also make jokes about fandom whatever, seemingly picking on random people's interests.

however, if you look at the long history of fandom racism, fandom's normalization of p*dophilia, and even general fandom harassment, and then you look at fandom's visceral, unwarranted reaction to criticism regarding these things, you can quickly see that disillusionment towards fandom is entirely reasonable. as for the joking, well...this an oversimplification but not everyone needs to like what you like. it sounds like they just need to get over themself.

and go “You, a 27 year old queer blogger who is into [tv show/anime/movie] an embarrassing amount, are now going to be the face of Capitalism” with no self-reflection or critical thought given to how fucking cringe it is-"

so, i'm regretting putting so much effort into this because this is so fucking long and i have to analyze this nonsense...it feels like i'm back in my feminist thought class. nightmarish. but anyway, this seems to deal with- [CUT FOR LENGTH. nothing important was missed].

EDIT 2: actually here's a summary of what I had. it deserves better than to be a response to this nonsense, but first it detailed how this took 1. the op's post and 2. a comment that we don't even know if op agreed with and misinterpreted that, and threw quite a fit about this- and i hate to say this because this term is misused so often by redditors, but- strawman.

I then went on to discuss how, for example, PoC can uphold systems of white supremacy. while obviously no person of color is going to be the "face" of white supremacy, the discussion still needs to be had, especially within that group. similarly, while fandom constituents may not be the face of capitalism, there needs to be a discussion, within fandom, on how they support and are defined by capitalist (and other) systems.

it was really too good of a point to be making for this trash reply. I could go say more, but I'm still trying to stay on topic, unlike ciaran.

"to act like random people on the internet, end users with no influence over corporate decisions, are the ones personally responsible for the fact that late-stage capitalism has destroyed popular art and culture in an increasingly sordid attempt to make money."

we've been over the "no influence" bit - because in fact fans do have influence, especially since media creators are literally fans, etc etc. i'm tired of people acting like they have no power and using that as an excuse to support and perpetuate harmful, easily avoidable behavior.

also, to act like the nebulous system of late-stage capitalism is the only cause of bad media is ludicrous. first of all, someone has to make these so-called "corporate decisions", and the people making artistic decisions are, again, overwhelmingly members of "fandom." this comment is really trying to keep marvel trash and lore olympus-esque nonsense in the same atomic, indivisible category lest someone catches a whiff of nuance.

"the above post is a great example of this phenomenon because op admits freely that they only think fandom is destroying media because they have been spending more time in fandom and thus have an over-inflated sense of its importance in greater culture. posting your own Ls indeed."

i'm so tired. this person literally has 120 works on ao3 like...who is spending more time in fandom.

and the tags:

#i assure you that fandom has no bearing on my actual real life #and if it does on yours. then that is your problem #it's also a very funny problem to

now this is just egregiously tone deaf. you do not need to do more than a cursory google search to find a bottomless well of examples of fandom harassment, threats, doxxing, and violence, much of which is racially motivated. you can see why it would be bad to make fun of this.

also the way that “fandom has no bearing on their actual real life“...120 fanfics on ao3. 120.

conclusion:

the reply clearly misinterprets of op's point, and as such, does not refute it. they responded to another issue altogether, which is that of the sanctity of their ~coping mechanism~ or whatever it is. their argument in this respect was, in my opinion, delusional and pathetic, especially given that they wrote it on someone else's unrelated post.

FINAL NOTE: i cut out lots of this because the reply went in so many different directions, so some stuff might not make sense. let me know if you have any questions.

#answered #anonymous #fandom #long post #q slur #s

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akvtsuki-ari · 5 years ago

Text

A Study In Body Language | ii. tidal separations

Warnings: depictions of opioid withdrawal/drug use (there's a mention of needles), general warnings for drug addiction and arguing.

Length: 4.4k

Authors Note: After abandoning this fic for like? a year? I’m back at it. I really love this concept a lot and I think the end result will be good so please stick with me and read it! Promise it’ll be good <33

Plot Summary: Spencer takes time off and you’re worried about what the future holds. Maybe it’s moral obligation that leads you to take care of Reid as he works through his vices, but maybe there's something more to it. You can’t say for sure.

Chapter 1

Story Preface: In the altruistic language of foreign tongue, and the flower lettering of love stories, it's important to remember the context. In which Spencer Reid and you will fall in love under the circumstantial evidence that the two of you exchange in the language that is physical, no symbolism or hidden messages but instead an abysmal means to end to find each other in places you never expect. In the image of storytelling, this is a Case Study In Body Language, and all of it's idealist beliefs and intentions.

_______________

Midnight was detrimental to the human mind. The evidence of that was concise in the car ride between you and Dr. Spencer Reid. The space between tangible with tension and bubbling, simmering anger.

Your hands were fastened around the steering wheel, knuckles pale white. Spencer was sitting with his knees away from you - teeth gritted together in a symphony of misplaced emotions and projection. The silence was deafening - both of you looking at anything but the other person with angry and nonsensical confusion. The wind was blurring your eyesight as you drove down the highway to Spencer's apartment, an uncomplicated endeavor that suddenly had some great stakes to it that neither of you could prepare for. Every detail was carefully placed in order to cause the most destruction. The sound of the bottles in the back clicking together, the silence of the entire city at 3am you and Spencers generally disheveled appearance. All things that seem culminated together to create a perfect disaster - it was almost poetic.

Spencer cleared his throat, swallowing his pride as he turned his head to look at you. You were entirely still - nothing was moving except the fact he could see your toes curling in your shoes. It was a rapid and anxious movement, a way for the emotion to escape you while not showing anything else. Your jaw was forcibly still like you were telling yourself to keep it still. You were, gritted teeth and fists just begging to pound on Spencer's chest and knock some fucking sense into him.

Spencer folds first, the silence begging to cut your tightrope friendship entirely. This outcome was beyond your words and description - neither unexpected or catastrophic, but rather heavy. A heavyweight on the both of your shoulders, tied to each other in social contract. Was it respect that kept your hands away from your phone the second you saw? Was it friendship? Or was it something bigger, much more vast than either of you that was bordering indescribable. The silence begged many questions, but most of all it begged to broken. You and Spencer forced to put the pieces together.

“Y/N, listen,” his voice was calm - it was clear this speech was well-practiced and it pissed you off further. You shut your eyes with exasperation, as your tongue swipes the back of your teeth, physically trying to hold it back from calling him a fucking dumbass. You still might, but a selfish part of you was urged to just wait and hear his explanation.

“I’m fine - but please don’t tell the team, I don’t need them worrying about me,” Spencer rushed the words as if they were being beaten out of him. You laugh angrily and swerve your car into a parking lot on the next turn. Spencer looks at you curiously as you stop in - opening his mouth to speak, words replaced quickly with the sound of your voice.

“Oh, are you fucking kidding me? Are you genuinely fucking serious?,” your voice is beyond angry. Spencer's defense raises as he realizes the situation - as both of you play the other side of the court.

“I seriously cannot believe you - I knew you were a selfish prick, but fucking seriously? Jesus Christ, Spencer what do you think happens now?,” your voice borders a scream as you look at him, eyes blurry, fingers shaking. You want to hit him, punch him, anything to knock him to his sense but you don’t, the urge pulsating through your every nerve.

“What are you talking about? You were the one following me but this has nothing to fucking do with you! You’re supposed to just leave this alone, and I’m asking you a favor - what is complicated about that? This doesn’t concern you, so stay out of it!,” His voice is laced with dishonesty, hidden by anger but his selfishness prompts your frustration further. You want to correct him, to get it through his thick skull that this is bigger than him and you - that this has to do with the team and people he cares for but you’re too frustrated.

“I seriously can’t fucking believe you and to be honest, I cannot deal with having this conversation with someone so fucking stupid - I’m throwing away your stash and dropping you off at home - I’ll deal with you tomorrow,” you say exasperated. You were sick for fucksake, nose still dripping and voice already hoarse from before. Too many demons in your own life for you to fight his at 3am. Not tonight anyway.

“No, you can’t throw it away,” his voice nearly reads as a plea but you shoot him a look - one so sharp you suspect if you acted on that expression, he’d knocked out with a bruise on him.

The rest of the car ride passes in total silence, no gritting of teeth or anger left, all replaced with different kinds of exhaustion. Different kinds of frustration creating this chokehold on both of you as the long night become darker by nature - maybe as a show and tell for the plays that both of you are forced to make. To look into another's darkness without warning is a scary place to be, Both of you find yourself to explore together - the consequences were still unclear.

You dropped Spencer off at his apartment, and you drive home. Comforted by the solitude but unable to focus on anything but the road without feeling fear stir in your chest. The feeling wasn’t out of place but it wasn’t what you were expecting.

You feel your throat tightening as you walk into your own apartment, and walk into your kitchen - putting on coffee and rubbing your face with exasperation. The sleeplessness is replaced with jittery caffeination as you watch the sunrise through the window of your apartment. The darkness still seems to wane - but maybe that was the exhaustion talking.

Work called in like expecting but the morning lacked any feeling of normalcy expected. You were less angry now, surely. Everything was left feeling sticky in a sense - a long term discomfort surrounding everything you did, and the only thing that would relieve it would be seeing Spencer. After the anger subsided you just hoped he didn’t do anything stupid, but you weren’t close enough for the two of you to just talk or for you to text him. So you spent the whole night looking at lots of nothing while your mind went a hundred different places trying to figure out how you got here.

Walking into the BAU was helpful - it was grounding, a well-needed kind of sanity. You were one of the few people on earth that was comforted by a place many would consider dark, but it was home. A home with people to hold you still, and love to make you weep, something you didn’t normally experience. Something you’d never really experienced before, anyways.

Emily is the first to greet you, looking at you intently before laughing - partly concerned. You smile at her weakly, sending her a wave.

“Rough night?,” she asks lightly, you laugh playfully and nod. She looks at you fondly, pushing her hair behind her ears.

“Being sick is quite disruptive to sleep apparently,” you remark with sarcasm. She nods and smiles sympathetically.

“We don’t have a case today, Hotch might agree to let you stay home another day,” she comments. You shake your head.

“Still gotta catch up on paperwork,” you say sighing. She nods again and theres a few seconds of comfortable silence.

“Hey, Emily - do you know where Spence is?,” you ask carefully. She shoots you a curious look but answers your question.

“He called Hotch last night and took some time off, said it was something to do with his mom. Haven’t spoken to him since yesterday,” she says, recalling that very conversation.

Something in you drops, as you sit up straight. Emily looks at you confused, but you don't have any clue on how to explain so you don’t. Instead, you stand up and look for Hotch whose in his office.

“On second thought, I think I’m gonna go ask Hotch to take another day,” you say, voice hoarse. Emily just nods at you, dazed in her own right.

“Thanks, Em, see you soon,” you say as you rush over to Hotch’s office. He looks at you as you pop the door open, and greet him. You swallow thickly, your words seeming to be stuck to your throat as you speak them - unable to do anything but rush. Your every movement and expression feel that way - like time is moving too fast and too slow all at once.

Hotch looks at you concerned, sensing your urgency as you walk in and close the door behind you.

“Hey Hotch, can I talk to you?,” you repeat the question meekly.

“Of course, Y/N,” he says to you, brows furrowed tightly with worry.

“I wanted to request some time off, something is going on back home and - ,” your voice sounds like its going to break, so Hotch stops you.

“Take as much time as you need, we’ll be here when things settle,” He speaks knowingly, the only one on the whole team who does know anything about it. It wasn’t technically a lie either, but it was happenstance that you were taking time off for it.

“Thanks, Hotch,” you reply softly. He nods at you and you’re on your way out of the door. No one else is in, and Emily isn’t in sight so you slip away entirely undetected.

The car ride to Spencer's house makes your skin itch. You can’t get dark thoughts out of your head, struggling to drive there in the first place. Worry blossoms in your chest and every stoplight seems to stimulate the feeling. Every moment that you aren’t sure is another moment Spencer could be doing something detrimental and you can’t have that guilt resting in you.

You rush up his apartment stairs, and knock on the door. Silence. You shake yourself, trying to regain some balance before you knock again - voice small as your call to Spencer on the other side.

“Are you okay?, Spencer,” your voice echoes in the empty hallways - seeming to loom over both of you. Every movement you make is calculated, and precise.

Spencer lays against the other side of the door, slumped up against it with exhaustion. He knows he’s experienced minor withdrawals, he hasn’t gotten high in days and its working him heavily. His skin is hot against his clothes, eyes dilated, breathing through his mouth as he tried his best to stay still and relax. Pain shoots within his muscles as he fixates himself on anything, anything to keep him afloat. He hears your voice and winces.

“I’m fine, Y/N, leave me alone,” he croaks out. You sigh with relief but know you can’t leave.

“Just open the door, Spencer,” you say sighing. He feels a shiver run down his spine and shakes his head as if you can see him.

“This has nothing to do with you, Y/N. I don’t understand what you’re here for in the first place, you’re not gonna be some hero for finding this out. I gotta say I am impressed that you figured it out first though, I always figured you were kinda incompetent,” his breathing is heavy, taking an edge of his words. It stings to hear since you know he still means them but you don’t have the energy to complain. You sit down, back against his door and sigh.

“You really are an absolute dickhead,” you say more to yourself than anyone else, growing frustrated. You rub your face in your heads, your legs up to your chest and you sigh aloud - annoyed.

“Just leave me alone already,” his words hold sincerity in them. He sincerely doesn’t like you, and neither do you - but the two of you knew that already - before your relationship was purely political but it was forced to go deeper than that. This feeling was a cross between pure annoyance and frustration - you didn’t know someone's existence could be so frustrating but you found yourself here.

“What do you want Spencer? Do you want some emotional speech about how you shouldn’t do this, and how you’re stronger than this? Well, fuck you - you’re not getting that out of me. I’m not fucking JJ, or Penelope, or anyone else for that matter. To be honest, I don’t give a single shit about your life outside of work and I’ve always planned on keeping that way. This situation, my presence here - we lie in this bed together. I’m not JJ, I’m not gonna pretend to be here out of some deep-rooted platonic love. We’re co-workers, and I’m a decent fucking person so I’m not gonna let you sit here and rot-away. Why? Because JJ, Derek, Emily, Penelope, and Hotch all care for you and I care about them. I’m not gonna let you ruin yourself and be a selfish prick - so open the fucking door and let me help so you can actually get better. After that, I’ll keep your dirty little secret,”

Your speech is given unwavering, and every word you said held a specific weight. You were right, and that was ultimately the problem. You weren’t close to Spencer, but you were close to the team. He knew you were doing this because you had too, solely out of moral obligation - he knew that you understood that something was objectively wrong. And maybe that was the problem - none of this was personal to you. You were actually just trying to help because you knew he needed it - he had no intrusive thoughts about something so objective. He sighs heavily, letting tears escape him. Weakly, he stands up and opens the door slightly.

You walk into Spencer's apartment and scan the room. It’s a mess, books stacked up untidily along with take-out boxes and plastic water-bottle littering random areas. Fresh needles sat on the edge of his desk, and you winced at their presence - the whole thing too familiar. Spencer sitting on the couch dazed off. You know immediately.

“Withdrawal,” you mumble to yourself. He looks at you confused.

“How?,”

“Not important. How many days has it been since you showered?” you ask. He can’t seem to remember and you sigh.

“When was the last time you ate?,” you ask again. He shuts his eyes, lids twitching before he responds.

“Last night,” he says again. You check his temperature and his body is hot. You sigh.

“How long can you be alone for?,” you ask. He shakes his head, rubbing his face.

“An hour, at most,” he admits to you quietly. You sigh, standing up and giving him a tight hug. It’s unexpected, and not something he was used to but the comfort was so... comforting he couldn’t refuse. You feel hot tears land onto your abdomen as you sigh, rubbing Spencer's back with understanding.

“Leave the door unlocked in case you fall asleep, I’ll be back in half an hour. I’m gonna put on a nature documentary, so just watch that and just try to focus on it. When I come back, tell me something you didn't know already or correct something that was wrong - that’s your homework for the next half-hour, okay?” you say softly. Your tone of voice was warm, and knowing. This process seemed familiar to you but Spencer decides against saying anything.

You put on some animal planet on your laptop, and go off on your way, letting Spencer watch and focus intently. He finds his eyes shutting as time passes, and falls asleep.

Spencer wakes up to the sound of pots and pans in his kitchen. He doesn’t think he’s ever used his kitchen so he’s startled at first. He rubs his eyes with the back of his hand as he walks into his kitchen to see you. You’re wearing an apron and bandanna, a long shirt and leggings. He’s never seen you like this, watching with intent as you fidget with the knobs on his oven. The smell of pasta and garlic hit him with ferocity and his stomach grumbles. You startled by his presence and turn to look at him. He finds himself overwhelmed and slips out a quiet hello.

“Hey, Spencer. How’d you sleep?,” you ask the question casually. He blinks again and looks at you.

“Well,” his response is dry. You start washing dishes in the kitchen sink as the oven turns off and Spencer finds himself walking closer to the island in the middle of it. He takes a seat, seeing fresh fruit and a glass of water poured out for him.

“They had some strawberries on sale, so I cut them up for you. Vitamin C is good for you right now, and you need to eat anyways - so have some,” you explain, mindlessly washing away. You shake your head at how many seem to be in the sink, probably a lot of weeks of build-up. It makes you wonder if anyone comes by.

“Why’re you doing this,” he asks before he can stop himself. He flinches at the sound of his voice, gravelly and exhausted. You know the questions coming, but you can’t give him a good answer yet. You figure it’s worth a shot to try.

“Recovery is a slow thing. The small things are what can be the most overwhelming when you’re trying to get better and I want you to get better” you say as honestly as possible.

“But why?” he asks again. Not urgent, just curious. You turn the water off and look at him

“It’s a story for when I know you a little better Spence,”

The answer seems to satisfy him, as he looks down.

His voice is barely a whisper as he looks at you, watching you bend down and pull out a tray of lasagna. He watches you so carefully, he finds his heart, stirring - unsure of why. He smiles, a very small, but genuine smile as you place the lasagna on the counter. You look to him and give him a tight-lipped smile back.

“It’ll be a minute before this cools, so I suggest you take a shower, or bath or something,” you suggest. Spencer winces, the thought of being alone in the bathroom making his skin crawl. He’s brain wracks itself with the idea of being alone again, that loneliness is what got him here in the first place and to be anywhere but there is so relieving. His eyes are hollow when he thinks about it. You see his expression and yours softens.

“I know it’s tough if you want I can massage your head with shampoo or something before you go in - make it a little less daunting. My little cousin likes it because he’s scared of the sound the shower makes, so it might help,” you explain. Spencer blushes, but the idea isn’t all that bad. A little embarrassing but it’d be nice. Plus his head hurts, so it’s not all that bad of an idea. He scratches the back of his neck and nods.

“Thank you,” his voice is barely above a whisper. You look at Spencer tenderly, and you sit down at the island next to him. He turns his body, neck stretching as he looks at you exhausted.

“You’re gonna be fine, Spencer. It’s not gonna be easy because this type of thing, it just seems to follow you. It’ll feel like it’s everywhere at first, but it isn’t. Keep your head up, if not for you - for the people who need you like Diana and the team,” you explained gently. Spencer and you weren’t ever very close but his mother loved you. Even if she couldn’t remember you, she always had a pleasant reaction to your name when she was feeling okay. She had met you when Spencer brought her into the BAU for a case.

Spencer's eyes shift their focus onto you and for the first time in his life, his reaction to you wasn’t so unpleasant. It was still strained, still difficult and unruly - but different. It was humanizing to see you like that. He nods at you, dazed. You give him an awkward smile.

“C’mon, let's get you cleaned up,” you say, softly. Spencer blushes as he leads you to the bathroom

“I’m starting to realize, I don’t actually know anything about you,” Spencer muses softly. Your fingers are tucked away in his curls, white bubbles of foam and shampoo between them as you work Spencer scalp. His hair was greasy, but that's probably because he used that terrible 4-in-1 stuff before. You figured you’d be there for a while anyway, so you ended up using your own products. Disgusted at the fact he was a grown man and still used 4-in-1. Who does that?

“I don’t really talk a lot about what I do outside of work,” you reply casually. You scratch a part of Spencer scalp and watch his neck crane in delight like he was a small dog. You stifle your laughter.

“What do you do then?” Spencer asks.

“I volunteer with kids, mostly. I help them learn to read at the library nearby, you know - read with them and help them pick out new stories to learn together,” you say sincerely. Spencer is softened by your words.

“That's really nice,” Spencer comments. You laugh.

“I guess so. It’s just something I do, you know? Kids are wonderful, they have so much wonder about life. It’s all sincere, too. It’s more fun to read with people whose imaginations are so big, seeing them make up their own world,” you say affectionately. Spencer nods in agreement.

“Yeah,”

There's a moment of comfortable silence before Spencer finds himself curious again.

“What else do you do in your spare time?,”

“I try to volunteer as much as I can, just in general. Soup kitchens, animal shelters, that kind of thing. If I’m taking some personal time, I cook a lot. I’ll invite some people over and have a small dinner party. I’d invite the BAU sometime but that's kinda Rossi’s thing so I wouldn’t wanna intrude,” you say softly. Spencer notes that none of those things are really all that personal.

“Those are all things you do for other people, though. What do you do for you?,” Spencer asks again. You feel something stir in you at the question, and you shift. You become a little suddenly aware at the fact that Spencer's head is between your thighs but you can’t say anything about it.

“I listen to music a lot. I cross-stitch sometimes but that makes me sound super old. I bake a lot too, loaves of bread and bagels and sometimes desserts but I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I really enjoy my me-time so I have very long-winded self-care routines that I do to loosen up and feel pampered. It’s nice,” you say shyly. You’re not used to the question, about what you do for you. It feels vain to answer. Spencer seems intrigued by that.

“Self-care routine?,” Spencer eggs on. You chuckle at his curiosity.

“Skincare, self-pampering, shit like that. Most women have like 3 different versions and they vary based on how much time they have. I’m a working woman, so I have a version for cases and a version for weekends alone and a version for going out. I can’t speak for guys here, so I won’t but yeah,”

“You know, it’s been proven time and time again that it’s majorly beneficial for people of any gender to take time off to attend to personal needs. It’s shown major benefits in overall happiness, mood, and overall attitude,” Spencer repeats back. You give a small smile, it finally feels more like Spencer.

“Take your own advice, genius,” you comment back sarcastically. Spencer laughs, leaning into your fingers without much thought. He’s visibly more comfortable than he was before. It makes you comfortable too.

“Alright, you feeling okay to go shower, kid?,” you ask Spencer. He does, but he find himself a little disappointed. The nickname bounces around his head for a moment before he laughs again. His voice is light.

“Yeah, yeah I think I’m okay. Thank you,” He stands up and so do you, and the two of you look at each other for what feels like a few seconds too long. You look at him, the old t-shirt he’s in, and his pajama pants and you can’t help the way your heart bangs against the cage of your chest. It could’ve been a lot of things, maybe the fluorescent lightning or the way that your hands were covered in shampoo, or the way Spencer stood a little slumped and sleepy. You didn’t want to kiss him. You were just compelled to give him a break, and maybe that was worse. Feeling compelled to give someone empathy even though a small part of you always felt like they were a complete asshole. Feeling moved by someone's vulnerability so much you almost give them a pass, yes certainly that was more dangerous.

You don’t say anything, you just give Spencer a smile and a pat on his chest. He hates the way he takes notice of the feeling.

“I’m gonna set up dinner, and we can watch Harry Potter,” It was the one thing you two had in common before all this. He nods.

“Okay, yeah, that works. Thanks,” he says again more softly. He wants to say more, and in a way so do you but neither of you does. You wash your hands of the shampoo and close the door behind you. Your eyes flutter closed for a moment as you listen to the water run and think to yourself. It was by pure circumstance that you ended up here, really. The way every move had made thus far, though it felt so careful feels beyond your control. You weren’t alone for the first time in a long time and this feeling keeps weighing on you. More dangerous than love is empathy. Empathy for someone so stupid and selfish, it made you feel strange. Yet it was there. Yet, you were there.

Spencer understood the feeling. Guardian Angel, the term bounced around in Spencer's mind as he showered. The feeling of your fingers still on his mind. Not alone, for the first time in too long. Strange is such a phenomenon.

__ taglist: @cynbx @zephyr-studiesjp @reid-187 @louistwinslover @skrrrrrrrrrrt

#spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid angst #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid oneshot #Criminal Minds #criminal minds smut #criminal minds fluff #criminal minds angst #acsibdl #i really like this story mane #please read

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bladekindeyewear · 5 years ago

Text

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-05-19

Figured an upd8 was coming, it’s felt like enough time has passed for one.

Huh, looking at my last post I’d completely forgotten I was supposed to play through Pesterquest sometime... work is busy and stressing me out a bit, I’m not sure when I’ll have the energy on the side to do that. (Maybe I’ll livetweet it like I did Undertale a while ago, but this time not looking at my twitter replies so I don’t get spoiled by One Guy™?)

Also, including bonus commentary on A Threat Sensed.

Okay, going in completely blind. I’d guessed from context that we’re hopping over to Meat side to get a chapter there before we can come back to actually see Yiffy?

Yep. Okay, what is this about exactly?

(Agh, dammit, I’ve been copying and pasting so much at work remoting into Windows lately that now I’m automatically trying to hit control-C instead of command-C to copy.)

> CHAPTER 9. How Goes The Eulogizing, Dear?

CONTENT NOTE: This chapter contains Child Abuse.

Which one???

Wait

JANE: (Where is he?) JANE: (It's a question I've found myself asking many times in recent days.)

Holy SHIT we get two Candy chapters in a row??? So we might see her right away?? No, it’s gotta just be another tiny glimpse.

(Has two Candy chapters in a row happened before? Future Boots, scroll back up and put this here. FUTURE BOOTS: “I forgot to scroll back up and put that here.” EDIT: Also, not the first time with two in a row, but it IS the first time with THREE in a row, huh.)

So Jane has to be talking about either Tavros or Dave. --Oh, if this was a Candy Side chapter title, I guess Rose or Jade is eulogizing Dave for John?

> (==>)

JANE: (Where now is our merry savior?) JANE: (Where is the horn that was honking?) JANE: (Where is the cape and the codpiece, and the...) JANE: (The...) JANE: (Oh, fiddlesticks.)

What? Is she reading a childrens’ book? --Oh. She’s eulogizing Gamzee. So that gives us a third option, where the rebellion crashes the funeral somehow, probably audiovisually rather than in person. (Which would make sense, given Candy practically began with Gamzee crashing Dirk’s funeral.)

> (==>)

Ah never mind, she’s still writing it.

That sure is a single button drama-remote that’s going to be pressed at some point. Oh, and who the fuck keeps a spork in a pen cup??? --No no, don’t say it’s one of those pens with a spork at the eraser end, either ready-made or rubber-banded to the side. That would make sense. You totally know it isn’t that and is just a spork.

JANE: (Okay, poetry is out.) JANE: (What else?) JANE: (Hrm...) JANE: (I've always been pretty good at crying on cue.) JANE: (Could I try staging an emotional breakdown?) JANE: (That could work; playing to people's humanity.)

Why were you crying in Jake’s arms about his death if you didn’t care that much? Did you just want him to hold you and kinda make him feel in on things again? Or did you just cry yourself out about him?

JANE: (Or whatever is the more inclusive term.)

I bet the rest of Earth C figured out a more inclusive term millenia ago FUCK I accidentally added millennia to my dictionary misspelled instead of correcting it hold on--

...There, killed the entry for it. ...Huh. Take a look at my Chrome dictionary’s custom-added words over the years, apparently:

Caliborn Eridan Kanaya Matriorb Meenah Tavros alchemiter dichotomic nephilim reblogged uncaptchalogues uncaptchaloguing

That’s fun.

Okay back to reading. Millennia. Phew! Where was I.

JANE: (One really good and calculated weep could do it, I think.) JANE: (But then there's the danger that I might get carried away and do it for real.) JANE: (And I can't risk that.)

So still feeling something, just too used to calculating over the past years.

JANE: (What can I say about him that will stir up their emotions?) JANE: (Do I mention the stuff about the milk?) JANE: (Think Crocker, think.)

WHY would you-- how much did Gamzee normalize adult breastfeeding?!

JAKE: Ahoy over there!

Not the best time.

(The thing with the divorce papers from the Epilogue and John implying he was planning with Jake to execute something that sounds like a divorce... is that going to be sprung here? Did her lawyers send the divorce papers way back when she was in a fit of pique, and he just had them available to sign now at the tactical moment? Or... let me pull the exact text...)

JOHN: now, harry anderson, i know that you and tavros haven't always gotten along. JOHN: but i am going to have to ask you to try and look out for him for the time being. JOHN: your uncle jake and i... well, i'll explain later. JOHN: let's just say that gamzee isn't the only family member jane is losing today.

(So is John going to submit the papers? Or did they already go through a while ago and default custody to John or something who’s going to adopt him too or some nonsense? And did he plan this out with Jake NOW, or a while ago, and if only a while ago, is Jake going to KNOW whatever John’s about to pull in that respect is about to happen??)

> (==>)

Butte

Janepalme

> (==>)

JAKE: Er... how goes the eulogizing, dear?

Gah. I completely forgot again that capitalized-first-letter chapter names don’t mean KANAYA is saying them. That probably makes a lot more sense out of my wondering about the chapter title earlier to those of you who didn’t realize I was making that mistake.

JANE: It turns out that it's mighty difficult to find touching things to say about a person, the relationship with whom was predicated on deep-seated mutual loathing.

Hah!

--A loathing you regarded as largely more important to you than Jake ever was, by the way. You asshole.

JANE: I imagine this is one of the reasons no funerary tradition was ever established on Alternia, besides the barbarism of their culture. DIRK: Jesus christ. JANE: Not only did a significant proportion of their interpersonality depend on romance in the form of hatred, but it was a society based on cruelty and violence. JANE: What reason could they have had to provide for the dead? JANE: What kind of last rites could they have even imagined?

I wondered for a moment why (bg!)Dirk of all people would react to a single line of her starting to bring up prejudices, but then I realized that (1) Brain Ghost Dirk is a little more Jakey, and (2) Dirk knew that more ranting would follow the first line.

JANE: I can't think of anything good to write about him because deep down, I hated his guts. JANE: But he was and is beloved of the multitude, so I have to think of something regardless. JAKE: Im not sure i understand. JANE: Don't worry your pretty little head about it. JANE: This is politics, Jakey. JANE: Lying through your two front teeth about people you hate is about as good a definition as it's possible to get. JANE: But, by gum, is it tiring work.

Mm. It’s a position Jane put herself in, but it’s still a legitimate position once you’re there.

JANE: The funeral is tomorrow, after all.

Got it.

DIRK: Dude, the bowl. JAKE: Hm? JAKE: Oh, right. JANE: What is it now, Jake. JAKE: I brought something for our guest as well. JANE: You mean the prisoner. JAKE: Y...es.

Wait, bowl?

Oh god damnit which of you had the idea to feed her with a DOG BOWL. Either of you could have thought of it, and either of you would be horrible for it.

> (==>)

Huh, that outfit on Yiffy looks familiar, like a reference to something. And a black tail? This definitely isn’t quite the look I was expecting from Jade Plus Rose, but I suppose the snazzy tie is a Roseish vibe. Also reminiscent of Jade’s old Dead Shuffle dress. Formal wear and soccer cleats??

JANE: She's over in the corner. JANE: Don't worry, she won't bite. JANE: I've seen to that already.

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN. I don’t see anything over her mouth! Did she stick something in it, or drug her? File her fucking teeth???

I mean I did forget the Child Abuse trigger warning to be fair. Hoping whatever would be on her mouth is just not shown in-panel yet for stylistic reasons.

> (==>)

JAKE: Its only mac and cheese, sorry. JAKE: Its all I know how to make, haha. JAKE: ... JAKE: I um... hope you can safely partake of cheese? JAKE: ... JAKE: Well, JAKE: Bon appetit.

How the fuck did Jake eat on his island then? --Oh right, preserved food cans that Grandma Jade stored up, I think I remember. Why would cheese not be a thing for them, if it’s fine for Jade? I know he’s probably not just worried about lactose intolerance.

Either way, if she’s drugged here, that’ll mean we won’t get a good idea of her for a while, so which is it...

> (==>)

DIRK: Bon appetit. DIRK: Seriously dude? JAKE: (What? Did i pronounce it wrong?) DIRK: Jake. DIRK: You put the food in a fucking dog bowl. JAKE: (It was all there was, ok???) JAKE: (I feel awful enough as it is without you getting on my case about it.)

Ah, missed the bone pun. AND, yeah, Jake, you’re a fucking idiot, you could have put it in a cup or something.

JAKE: (So far ive yet to see anything come of that brilliant plan of yours.) JAKE: (Are you sure sending that message to the others was enough?)

Okay, so he IS coordinating this slightly.

> (==>)

Horrifying image to contemplate, eh Jane?

Or anger-inducing?

> (==>)

Seems about right!

> (==>)

Oh that’s a GREAT exasperated Jane face.

JANE: I hope you're not expecting dessert, young lady.

I like how Jane didn’t notice, comment on, or care about the bowl. How can you hate a kid so much??

> (==>)

Oh I know why I felt like I recognized the outfit style, it’s because it’s ANIME AS FUCK. Feels like some Persona 4 Arena nonsense, and I say that not having played any of those games or even remembering what they looked like. Also, white hair, black fur’d dog parts? Nice change of pace.

YIFFY: GRRRRRRRRR... JANE: Oh no you don't.

Red text? What color exactly... “#D00009”? Huh. That’s nowhere near Alt-Callie’s #FF0000, and darker than Dave’s #E00707. In fact, let me go back and check those spilled color pins the commentary pointed out from an update or two ago... no, the red pin is #E63225, closer to Dave’s color. (Also, is Yiffy blocking the doorway out? That’s a pretty slack chain then.)

Did Jane see to it that she wouldn’t bite with like, a water spray bottle?

(EDIT: Oh my FUCKING GOD, THAT's why it's #D00009...)

> (==>)

FUCK I didn’t notice the shock collar in the Yiffy image! FUCK YOU, Jane.

> (==>)

Keeping someone in line with collars, especially ones that punish whenever one strays out of line, has always been a decent way for her to mix in some Doomy control of others to show how she’s “grown” to balance her main role and her Tiara-controlled-like inverse for more power. Doom in part represents boundaries that you can’t cross without getting hurt or punished.

> (==>)

FUCK, those little buck teeth!? D’:

JANE: That's more like it.

She HAS to have more of a reason for hating her than hating her parents, right? Like, more than that and general racism applying to partdogfolk?

> (==>)

Hey fuck off with that!

> (==>)

This is a pretty cool ima-- are those piercings on her dog ear? I didn’t notice that in the first shot, neat.

JANE: You've been a thorn in my side ever since I agreed to enroll you at the academy, little madam. JANE: Back then, I was doing a favor for two old friends who made a disgusting mistake. JANE: I'm no longer going to play nice with you just because of your parents, however. JANE: That truce is over. JANE: Do I make myself understood?

What the fuck? WHY would you do that? Why does Jane run "Ms. Paint’s Home for Inconvenient Girls”? What did Yiffy do to piss her off so much there, how much trouble could she have caused?

I don’t know if she’s referring to the behind-Kanaya’s-back part as disgusting or she’s just being MORE racist.

> (==>)

JANE: We don't want you passing out during the ceremony, do we?

Oh, just showing the hostage off during the clown funeral, huh? Classy much?

> (==>)

JANE: Now, be a good hostage and get some rest, Yiffany dear. JANE: We've got a big day tomorrow.

For a politician, Jane’s not good at looking at herself in a mirror.

> (==>)

JANE: Night night. JANE: Hoo hoo.

> (Yiffy: Lights out.)

Huh, dream stuff is gonna be relevant out in Candy then? *click*

Okay, dark background all of a sudden. Properly dramatic? You even have to highlight the non-link “>” part of the Next link to see it.

> (==>)

-- thespiansGlamor [TG] began pestering adamantGriftress [AG] --

Well, I don’t know WHY it’s happening, but the white-backed pesterlog suddenly on the dark site framing is certainly evocative. Of like, a mood, or something.

TG: i thought he was pretty quiet down there. TG: we'll make a rebel of him yet! AG: Lol. AG: I think it's more that he can't sleep. AG: I know how he feels. TG: yeah. TG: today was a lot. AG: ... TG: do you wanna talk about it? AG: Ugh, not you as well.

It’s really jarring to transition between Homestuck’s “kids jarringly mentally resistant to freaking out about the end of the world” to HS^2′s more realistic “kids traumatized by their first firefight even though it was an overwhelming victory-escape”.

TG: but seriously, do you? AG: Not really. TG: not even about... you know? TG: her? AG: No. TG: ... are you sure? AG: A8solutely. AG: What are you, my moirail? AG: Just leave it, Harry. TG: ok.

Are they about to have an “I wonder what Yiffy’s like” talk?

> (==>)

Very similar Tav/Vrissy convo to the previous one.

GG: I havent ever shared a bedroom before,,, GG: Not even for a slumber party,,, AG: Tavvy, you are just a8out the saddest person I've ever met.

Well, we have an even better idea how horrible Jane can be with kids, now. From Nanna to THIS is quite jarring. I wonder how the double Nannasprites that must still be around here somewhere feel?

> (==>)

TG: nothing about my dad is cute. TG: what are you even saying. AG: Lmao. TG: seriously! TG: i think he has something against that word, even. he gets super weird about it. AG: He's a strange and funny m8n. TG: yeah. TG: ... TG: i think something bad must have happened.

...um. What? Why would John have some sort of trauma about the word cute or being called it?

Did John dress up as a hint of his buried June ambitions as a kid and Dad lavish him with “SO CUTE” praise in an epic supportiveness backfire that caused him to shelve the idea of wearing non-masc clothes and being happier on the flipside of gender ever again??? Because if that’s how June gets canonized as promised, it’s a little harsher than the back of my mind was hoping. I guess it kind of had to be though from the premise of how it was read into his childhood for the original idea, though. Fuck, I hope this Cute business is about something different from that (like a Terezi reference or such) just to get less John Sads. (But still June. Definitely still want to get June.)

> (==>)

Oh, and now Vrissy is doing nothing but talking about what she said she didn’t want to talk about, of course. (Also I like how JANE’s now being called the Batterwitch.)

AG: And the worst part was they didn't even fight a8out it! AG: That made me madder than 8nything else. AG: It felt like I was the only person who even W8S mad! GG: I dont think thats true,,, AG: What would you know a8out it?! GG: Maybe nothing,,, GG: Sorry,,, GG: Its just,,, GG: To me,,, all the way through the conversation,,, aunt kanaya looked even angrier than you,,, AG: ... AG: Adults are so fucking weird.

Guh, I don’t want to be reminded how hurt a good chunk of the fanbase is by Kanaya getting hurt this badly.

Original Tavros was always SLIGHTLY perceptive of others sometimes, but maybe perceptiveness is being hinted at as a Tavros specialty? We still don’t know his classpect/hero-title or have any firm guesses based on purely him evidence. (Also, frightened kids of abusive households tend to learn to get perceptive pretty fucking quickly I hear.)

> (==>)

TG: dad was sitting in the cafeteria with aunt jade and your moms. TG: it looked like they were discussing something important... they were whispering and stuff.

[etc etc] Alright, the what-happened-to-Dave bit. And I imagine they’re kind of helping John grieve there, since Rose and Jade have talked that out already.

TG: aunt kanaya's was the only face i could see. TG: she was standing next to them, but she wasn't looking at what was going on. TG: almost like she couldn't bear to. AG: I doubt it. Kanaya's got a8out as much Emotivity as a very reclusive stone. TG: ok, i think that is bullshit but whatever. TG: she saw me standing there, but didn't say anything. she just shook her head slightly, and pointed back out into the hallway i came down.

Yep, giving them some space to grieve. Also-- gosh, shouldn’t Vrissy have the same emotive senses that Aranea implied Vriska shared with her? Kanaya isn’t that EXPRESSIVE but she’s certainly full of emotion. Also, I hope part of her not bearing to watch wasn’t lingering anger toward Jade and Rose mixing with that, but there probably was a bit of that too, though Dave being gone is so much harsher than that. --I just realized they might not have broken the news to Karkat yet, either.

AG: I guesadxcxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz TG: vrissy?

Put to sleep by someone slumping down on your phone keypad, or surprised by something about the other conversation?

Oh shit, “other conversation” reminded me I didn’t look at Tavros’s chumhandle:

glutinousGymnast [GG]

HHHHHhhhhuh. Hm... huh? hhhh. huh? what, but. Why would. ?????

I really don’t understand what that chumhandle or any of its entendres should signify in this context.

Also, this means for our new four kids we have TG, GG, AG, and ??.

> (==>)

GG: I think she might have succumbed to sleep quite suddenly,,, GG: It would explain the,,,,,, interesting messages I've been getting for a while,,, TG: hehe. TG: i guess that tracks. TG: she does that from time to time.

That’s... strange. Homestuck’s taught us to be suspicious of that.

TG: ... TG: tav? GG: Yes,,, harry anderson,,,? TG: what does it feel like to know someone who's died?

Who is Harry referring to? (EDIT: Yes I know Gamzee for Tavros, but I meant Harry talks like he's worried he'll have to feel that way soon?) Is he just kind of inferring that something bad might have happened to Uncle Dave? Got that perceptive “parents are about to tell me about a death in the family” vibe? Or did he overhear more than he let on to Vrissy?

...alright, that’s the last page of this update. Looks like this chapter is going to continue to have a good bunch of grieving, or talk around it.

---

Now for Bonus Commentary for A Threat, Sensed. For some reason I have a dim memory of like... reading this myself without commenting on it? Or skimming it? But I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that. Weird. Must have imagined doing it.

Ah, I think I saw the opening paragraph scrolling Patreon, and my mind kinda filled in the blanks, this is still looking new to me.

Okay, mostly banter and japes in the commentary here. About Dirk “throwing a huge tantrum in his philosophy cave”.

We’ve had quite a bit of speculation on whether this is “really” Andrew. To that, I think we’d say that it doesn’t “really” matter.

Really? That was speculated about? :/

Here we discover that Dirk has not, as some people have speculated, been directly intervening into the Candy timeline, or influencing it in any way. In fact, he has a very hard time seeing anything going on there at all.

Mhmm, and that was a pretty important thing to learn.

A couple of years ago I might have agreed with the take that everything happening in Candy is simply too outlandish to ever happen naturally, without direct, villainous interference, but that was before literally every fucking batshit insane thing that has happened on Real Life Earth started going down, and now I will believe literally anything.

This is a nice bit of distraction from the idea that at least the opening parts of the Candy story were written/narrated by Original, Alive Calliope over on meat side. To refresh your memory of what was pointed out to me:

ROXY: back when jade first got all effed up callie saw somethin and it made them freak out ROXY: it took me weeks to convince them that it was safe to come home ROXY: but now we got the opposite problem and they arent leavin the house at all ROXY: they stay home all day with the blinds drawn paintin some weird ass shit on the walls TEREZI: WH4T? ROXY: its not as bad as it sounds i promise ROXY: some of it is like ROXY: weird and violent?? ROXY: like lotsa nasty purple blood and um ROXY: nudity???? TEREZI: >:? ROXY: yeah yikes ROXY: but MOST of it is cute stuff like... various combos of all of us being happy and gettin married and shit ROXY: anyway thats kept callie kinda busy

Which tracks with the initial out-of-character-seemingness of almost everyone at the start of Candy, and how they kind of tried to railroad things back onto the “Happy??” track after Dirk derailed it with his weird self-accumulation suicide, along with some of the flowery-idyllic descriptions of characters seeing each other bathed in a halo of light and such.

Of course, they’re not going to out-and-out STATE that Calliope was at fault for that narration, helping the Candy story not necessarily fall out the way it did “naturally”, until we finally get a glimpse of her on the heroes’ ship in Meat probably still painting the continuing Candy events, inspiring them into the void of the singularity with her latent powers. Til then, it’s a bit of misdirection whenever the topic is to be brought up. Along with a mix of Roxy’s late-Candy point to John of more or less “why COULDN’T we have done this naturally? you don’t know”.

He might even think that he has more direct power over the narrative than Hussie does himself. Surprise, motherfucker, you are a fictional character.

I’ll quote this next part in full:

There’s been talk of whether or not this bonus was written in the two days between its release and the Yiffy reveal chapter. The answer is--no. It was written over a month ago. But I think the things it addresses were not difficult to suss out. Obviously, Dirk is highlighting the issues that the readership are having with Yiffy, in his typical Dirk fashion. If it seems a little defensive, well...I suppose it is. Yiffy is one of the two hard lines drawn in the sand, and all of us love her, and we’re hoping that everyone else will love her too. But more than that, it focuses on the fact that update culture has a rhythm to it--shock, revulsion, acceptance (or not), and then excitement (or not). Will it follow that pattern this time? Who knows. I guess we’ll find out.

Yeah, given what was going to be dropped on us I expected they would have had exactly this lined up, especially because Andrew specifically mandated Yiffy. --I wonder why they aren’t mentioning that somewhere in the commentary and only on one of their Twitters?

Also quoting this:

There’s something both incredibly “cringe” and self-indulgent, as well as philosophically intriguing, about the author arguing with his villain, especially since he’s writing both halves of the conversation himself. You are, for all intents and purposes, trying to solve a problem that you have created for yourself. You are looking an aspect of your personality in the eye and asking, hey, what the fuck, man?

But in the end, isn’t that what every story is? Trying to untie knots that you put in the rope yourself?

Since it’s part of the central struggle of this story, and kind of the question Andrew’s tried to imply with every Homestuck work about what right we have to keep these characters trapped in a story, and if they’d be better off escaping it.

I’m really trying to avoid quoting so much of this, since the commentary is paid... but I think we can make an exception here? I’ll have only quoted about half of it; just, the really plot-important half. Plus, I left out a LOOOT of japes.

Dirk has a certain idea of how stories are supposed to go. That’s pretty much what the Epilogues is about. The audience also has a certain expectation of how a story is supposed to go. In a way, the Epilogues were also about that. They were taking a story that had reached the traditionally “acceptable” happily ever after, and saying, wait, no. What happens next? Thinking past happily ever after in any story is a terrifying prospect. Once Cinderella marries the prince, what then? Sure, she got what she wanted, but who knows that it will be everything she dreamt it would? What if she changes her mind, if not today, what about ten years from now? What if the prince dies of malaria?

And I’m...

Yeah I don’t have anything else to add here, I’m kind of out of brain juice to think about this tonight. BUSY day I had. Y’all take care!

#Homestuck #hs2 #Homestuck Liveblog #upd8 #Homestuck^2 #bladekindeyewear #blastyoboots #spoiler #spoilers #Homestuck Commentary

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dailyaudiobible · 6 years ago

Text

08/06/2018 DAB Transcript

Ezra 3:1-4:24 , 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4 , Psalms 28:1-9 , Proverbs 20:24-25

Today is the 6th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I'm Brian. It's great to be here with you today. I keep thinking it's July still, even though we have almost come a week into this new month. I guess I just need to catch up with myself. I'm sure I'm not alone. It is the 6th day of August. And we're reading from the English Standard Version this week. Ezra 3:1-4:23 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So in1 Corinthians, Paul has been discussing the nonsense of the gospel starting yesterday. And he's basically saying that God planned to redeem the world and that redemption, that

plan was hidden in ancient but it was revealed in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. But only for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. Okay, so we can accept that because we know that that's Christian doctrine. That's what we believe. But if you just consider what I just said, like for your own human understanding of the world, if you have no context for your faith at all and you hear this, well then you see the rub. It makes no rational sense if you don't believe that there is more to our existence and the physical senses that we have to interpret it. But once you've felt the truth of the gospel flooding into your soul, then you can't see the world any other way. So it's difficult to describe to a person who doesn't see the world through spiritual eyes. And Paul explained it like this. The rulers of this world have not understood it. If they had, they would not have crucified the Lord. So how is it that we reconcile the disconnect between our own reason and the awareness that a spiritual reality exists that is more tangible than anything else in the world? How do we reconcile that? That's what Paul was talking about today. He said, no one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit. And no one can know God's thoughts except God's own spirit. And we have received God's spirit, not the world's spirit. So we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. People who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's spirit. It all sounds like foolishness to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. So in other words, all of our faculties, all of our human senses and our mind and our reason alone will not be able to reason the ways of God. God's ways are higher than our ways. We will not be able to figure it out. So therefore, we'll need something more than our own reason. Something beyond our own minds. And for Paul, there was only one way this would reconcile. Which brings us to one of the most quoted Scriptures in all of the Bible. 1 Corinthians 2:16. We understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. And because of that, we can look into the Spirit. We can look through the eyes of faith at what we cannot see and live within this reality.

Prayer:

Father, we want to live into this reality today. And we realize that this is absolutely true. We go in search for You, trying to use our own human ingenuity and wisdom, but there's a ceiling. We cannot go beyond it. We cannot know Your ways without You. We cannot have an understanding of the spirit without Your Holy Spirit. And so we go through our lives falsely tethered to an awareness that can be perceived by our physical senses. But we are instructed over and over and over and over and over and over in the scriptures than there is way more to the story than that. So we invite Your Holy Spirit to well up within us, to surround us, to guide us, to counsel us, to lead us into all truth, to lift our eyes to the horizon and allow us to see Your kingdom all around us, advancing forward. And we are a part of that story. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.

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And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible. This is John from Illinois. I’m a first-time collar. I’ve been with the DAB, my wife and I, for three years. I’m very grateful that a friend, Laura, invited us to this place. I’m so grateful for this family, for Brian and Jill, for what it has been, life-changing for us. I think what struck me most was not only the program and God’s word opening up for these callers, this DAB family calling in, caring and loving people they don’t know. I was listening this morning and my heart goes out to an Allen from Sydney. And the Lord told me very plainly, He says don’t doubt your faith, don’t question My faithfulness when it doesn’t turn out the way we want it to. And a lot of times in this life we have an idea or thought in our mind that we think that God wants us to do and when it doesn’t pan out then we question our own hope, our own faith, our own walk with God and that’s not at all how it is. The word says that he ever lives to make intercessions for us. And Psalm 27 clearly says wait on the Lord, be of good courage for he strengthens your heart. Wait, __. God has got a great and marvelous plan. Wait and be still. I’m just to get grateful for this family, grateful to be a part of this. God bless Brian and Jill. God bless this whole family.

Hi Daily Audio Bible. This is Lydia and Maryland. I’ve been listening for seven years and never called into the prayer line but my family has been hit with a very difficult situation. Our 17-year-old has tried to commit suicide three times and the doctors recommended a particular therapy that’s very expensive but we figure that God will provide. She doesn’t seem to be responding to the therapy very well but we are in the first few weeks of it. So, I am calling just to ask for, first and foremost prayers for her and over her life and that she hears God’s voice and knows that God loves her and has many works for her to do. I am also asking for prayer for our finances as we know we are willing to go into debt for this because we are believing that God is going to provide. But it’s $1000 per month, which is hard. So, again, please lift up our daughter Faith. And we are pastors, so, even pastors sometimes need prayer. And unfortunately, we can’t always go to our churches because this is our daughter’s story. But I love you and I thank God that I am able to reach out to a worldwide community. That is awesome…and…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Scott Santee and I am calling from sunny Havana Cuba. I hope you are all are doing well. I have called before and haven’t really told much…just like a few times. I’ve been listening for…well…since Ezekiel was born and I love it. I know everybody’s voices before they give their needs and it’s just great. I was calling to let you know that I have been here for the last three weeks installing water filters. I’m actually a full-time missionary. But it’s been so remarkable, I just wanted to share a praise report about it. We, not only are able to meet their number one physical need of clean water, but also use that as a way to meet their number one spiritual need of a relationship with Jesus Christ. And this has been amazing. We’ve seen a response rate of just over 50% of the people that we share with our coming to Christ. And I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere in the world. And this last week was pretty intense. We saw a lot of opposition and people could feel, yeah know, the spiritual forces of evil working against them. And, anyhow, the Lord still prevailed and it was great and I just thought you’d want to rejoice with that. You know, you know, hundreds of people now have clean water. They don’t have to boil their water or put Clorox in it or anything. And now, the house churches and the anchor churches are following up with all the people. The community is abuzz. They’re so happy, they’re so excited, they’re talking about Jesus. It’s just great. If you’d like to learn more you can reach me at [email protected]...

Hi. This is James Pitrineli and a day behind right now. It’s August 4th. I’m listening to the August 3rd Podcast. And funny that…Asia, in Chicago. So, we have two Asia’s now. That’s really cool, actually. I heard your call and my dad growing up is not a believer but he was verbally abusive for years on end. And I don’t know how old you are right now, if sounds like you’re an adult, or at least nearly so. That’s just really hard, first of all and think there’s a lot of people in our community who can identify. But it takes a lot of courage to admit that what’s happening is abuse and that it’s not your fault. You don’t deserve it. Even though you’re imperfect, we’re all imperfect and the Lord doesn’t abuse us. He doesn’t hurl accusations at us. That’s the enemy. In my father’s case, he had mental health issues an entire life through and the enemy will use those. And it sounds like you with your father does love the Lord, he’s got some spiritual things definitely going on. He may have some mental health things going on. But, they’re not your fault, none of them. You’re not responsible for him. Love you. Keep hanging on.

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azuresquirrel · 7 years ago

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Alright folks, here is my post of liveblog-y thoughts as I watch these new episodes of Steven Universe that are released and yet also not released at the same time (let me have this one more time: CN IS TERRIBLE). So this entire post under the cut is going to be SPOILER CENTRAL, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Yes, this will be me watching every episode as I do not want to spam people’s dashes with posts of Schrodinger’s Episodes.

I can’t believe there are six goddamn episodes put on an “app” to watch on your GODDAMN PHONE instead of 1. Aired or 2. On a streaming/ondemand service. Fuck it, one more time, I HATE CARTOON NETWORK.

Okay, finally let’s get into it.

“Dewey Wins”

Well we seem to be immediately dealing with the aftermath of the Trial/Homeworld/LARS IS A PINK ZOMBIE adventures. In which everyone looks rightfully concerned except for Steven himself who is talking like is was just another fun adventure. THIS BOY IS REPRESSED AF, SOMEONE GET HIM A THERAPIST. (I mean if he’s going to be therapist to every person in Beach City that means that PROFESSIONALLY he also should have a therapist, IT’S JUST COMMON PRACTICE).

CONNIE ADDRESSING THE EMOTIONAL FALLOUT OF THIS???? THANK YOU.

“We’re safe! Everything’s fine!” YEAH THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE MOST CONCERNED FOR STEVEN THAT I HAVE EVER BEEN. THERAPIST. NOW.

SEE, EVEN LION JUDGES YOUR LIFE CHOICES, STEVEN.

I don’t know where the rest of this episode is going, but Steven cheerfully and INSISTENTLY claiming that “it had to be done” (i.e. giving himself up to Homeworld) … it’s coming across as very Rose Quartz. AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY. Thinking that somehow just because they made the “tough choices” that means that it only affects them and not EVERYONE ELSE.

OH NO SADIE. (I mean I do believe that Lars being off on Pink Zombie Space Adventures is ultimately A GOOD THING for both Lars and Sadie but in the short term of it … oh no.)

I’M GLAD THAT SADIE ASKED IF HE TOLD LARS’S PARENTS (and that he apparently intends to do so after telling Sadie).

Aaaaand this episode just got one hundred times more topical.

IF NANEFUA DOES NOT BECOME THE MAYOR, I WILL BE EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED WITH YOU, SHOW.

I mean yeah, okay, there really isn’t anything Dewey CAN do about homeworld gems but at the same time also, fuck Dewey.

THIS “EVERYTHING IS MY FAULT” IS SOME KIND OF HORRIBLE REBECCA BUNCH-STYLE SPIRAL. WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOUR MOMS AND DAD?????

“Someone posted it on Tube-Tube.” And 12 people is HALF THE TOWN. AMAZING.

“You’re like the son I never had.” “… you have a son.” This episode is VERY self-aware.

YAY, NANEFUA IS MAYOR.

And very transparent lesson for Steven. “That’s probably how Connie feels.” NO SHIT, SHERLOCK.

… WOAH THEN.

Okay, so if I do have a complaint about this episode, it’s that I don’t think paralleling Steven with Dewey was the best way for Steven to realize that he’s been hurting people. But, I’m glad that it showed the mess that Steven arrived back to in the wake of his actions, especially with Sadie and Lars’s parents,

AND THEN IT STUCK THE LANDING.

WHEN CONNIE DIDN’T PICK UP.

Like it will probably be fixed soon but I’M GLAD IT WASN’T OVER AND DONE WITH IN ONE EPISODE. CONNIE IS RIGHT TO STICK TO HER GUNS. CONNIE FOR PRESIDENT.

“Gemcation”

GOOD, I’M GLAD CONNIE IS STILL STICKING TO HER GUNS.

“Are you good?? Are you safe?? Do you still love me??” GREG YOUR SON NEEDS SOME PROFESSIONAL HELP, JESUS CHRIST.

(yes yes, then there would be no show. THIS IS STILL GETTING TO HORRIBLE “CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND” LEVELS).

“I still have like, $9 million dollars left.” I’M GLAD THIS SHOW DOESN’T FORGET THINGS.

Steven trying to wash dishes by literally rubbing the bottle of soap against them = DEPRESSION.

Okay so 1. FAMILY VACATION IS A GOOD IDEA but also 2. BY THE AWKWARD “WOOOS” THIS IS DOOMED TO DISASTER.

I don’t know what Amethyst was doing with that egg and I don’t want to know.

GOOD JOB COACHING YOURSELF THROUGH THAT, GARNET. A+.

GREG SENDING AMETHYST TO BE FUN MOM FOR STEVEN. A+.

OMG she’s trying to give him a “Steven speech.” SHE’S TRYING HER BEST.

I WANT TO BE IN A HOT TUB WITH GARNET.

Look Steven, I want you to get help, I really do, because you need it, but I could do without YOUR PISSY ATTITUDE GETTING IN THE WAY OF POSSIBLE MORE BACKSTORY ON PINK DIAMOND K THANKS.

YAY THEY’RE ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT HOW TO BE PARENTS TO STEVEN. A+++.

Man things have gotten REALLY bad when your solution to emotional disaster is SEND IN PEARL.

Hmmm … I REALLY do not know right now what to make of Pearl saying that she WANTED Steven to see Homeworld someday WITH HER, so I’m going to leave that there and stew on it for a while.

OKAY, I LAUGHED AT ALL THE RONALDO TEXTS, I ADMIT IT.

Gee, these episodes sure would be effective if they were, I don’t know, SPACED OUT A WEEK OR SOMETHING, LIKE A NORMAL SHOW? SO WE COULD REALLY HAVE SOME TIME PASSING AND SUCH?

Hmph. This episode was good but I must admit that I’m a little frustrated that … well yes Steven would care about Connie THE MOST, that’s fine, but his complete nonchalance about Homeworld … I don’t know. As a stalling tactic to delay more information/reveals, trying to sell it as “Steven is more concerned about his friends than Homeworld stuff” is getting REALLY threadbare after that whole DIAMOND TRIAL/PINK ZOMBIE LARS business. Unless the idea is that he’s repressing the fuck out of it, it is REALLY straining my personal disbelief that Steven WOULDN’T care to know any more at this point.

But all the Greg and Gems parenting stuff was GOOD.

“Raising the Barn”

Oh look. The barn is in the title. Fancy that. I wonder what this will be about.

(CAN YOU GUESS THE THING I WAS SPOILED ABOUT AND AM REALLY REALLY UNHAPPY ABOUT????)

I am REALLY loving this whole “Connie is keeping her distance” thing but AGAIN this would be MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE if this were in a WEEKLY format. (this show doesn’t have bad pacing it has A BAD FUCKING NETWORK)

VIDTIME WITH PERIDOT. A+

LAPIS BLUSHING BECAUSE SHE “WORRIED STEVEN LOST HIS PHONE ON HOMEWORLD.” MY … HEART … .

“Tell us about space!” THIS IS WHY PERIDOT AND LAPIS ARE THE BEST. THEY CARE ABOUT WHAT I CARE ABOUT.

YAY, TRAUMA TIME WITH LAPIS. MY FAVORITE!!!!! (that is actually … both sarcastic but ALSO NOT)

“But they’re installations They need the context of the barn!” I FUCKING LOVE ART LESBIAN PERIDOT.

“There’s not need to get so emotional!” THAT’S THE OCEAN CALLING THE LAKE BLUE, LAPIS.

STRONG WATER WITCH DAUGHTER IS STRONG.

Soooo … . Lapis wants to leave. Peridot does not.

… are they going to break up my OTP?

I AM NOT PLEASED WITH THE DIRECTION THIS IS GOING IN.

ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF THAT FUCKING SPOILER I SAW.

Oh no Pumpkin is ~missing~ how very ~inconvenient~

STEVEN’S FACE IS MY FACE DURING ALL OF THIS.

Oh great. There goes my favorite character.

THAT’S NICE.

Like, obviously everything that happened was completely in-character but fuck it, I’m going to be petty as fuck about this. I AM NOT HAPPY THAT LAPIS IS GONE AND THAT SHE LEFT PERIDOT BEHIND. WHO KNOWS WHEN I’LL GET TO SEE MY WATER DAUGHTER AGAIN. THANKS A LOT, SHOW.

(I WAS SPOILED THAT SHE WOULD LEAVE!!! AND I WAS VERY PISSED!!! I’M STILL PISSED HONESTLY!!!!)

I’M GOING TO BE REAL FUCKING PETTY ABOUT THIS FOR A WHILE PROBABLY, SO HEAD’S UP ABOUT THAT.

“Back to the Kindergarden”

So the theme for this season is DEPRESSION.

PERIDOT REPRESENTS EXACTLY HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS TURN OF EVENTS.

Still, it’s sweet that Steven let her have the bathroom again.

I DON’T KNOW WHY PERIDOT DEPRESSED = COUNTRY MUSIC, BUT I FIND THAT KIND OF DELIGHTFUL.

THIS IS LITERALLY THE MOST I HAVE RELATED TO PERDIOT EVER.

Awwww, Amethyst is still happy about getting to meet all her sisters up in space. That’s sweet!

“You can make us feel dumb by telling us all the stuff we don’t know!” AMETHYST, YOU ARE A GEM IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD.

“My sector of countryside was perfect. Now it’s somewhere in space.” Even aside my own personal pissiness, re: this turn of events, PERIDOT IS STILL PAINFUL. HELP THE NERD GEM.

THE FLOWER IS A METAPHOR.

Yeah “re-gardening the kindergarden” WON’T have disastrous effects, I’m so sure.

OKAY, THEM PLANTING SUNFLOWERS IS SUPER ADORABLE.

“I’m glad I was able to fix something.” And something terrible happened to the garden in 3 … 2 … 1…

YEP.

Me: “and of course the flower was a horrible corrupted gem.” Perdiot: “OH! OF COURSE!” Aaaaah, I love the nerd gem a lot.

YAY SMOKY QUARTZ!!!!

I am … REALLY tempted to make a moodboard out of Peridot’s expression in this whole episode. For they are MY MOOD.

“Yeah. We got the subtext.” = THIS IS A GOOD EPISODE FOR AMETHYST.

Okay THIS episode I really liked. Good messaging about depression, and lots of delightful Steven + Amethyst + Peridot hangout times.

I’M STILL FUCKIGONEGIHE PISSED ABOUT LAPIS THOUGH.

FUCK IT, I WILL MAKE THAT MOODBOARD RIGHT NOW.

Yes I am fully aware of the fucking lack of self-awareness of making a moodboard of depressed/angry Peridot faces when the episode is supposed to be about moving on, I AM WELL FUCKING AWARE.

“Sadie Killer”

WELL THAT TITLE ISN’T FOREBODING AT ALL

I HOPE THIS IS THE CASE OF “MENACING-SOUNDING TITLE IS ACTUALLY FUN GOOFY EPISODE” BECAUSE FRANKLY I COULD USE SOME FUN GOOFINESS RIGHT ABOUT NOW.

Oh great. Sadie is working herself to death alone in the Big Donut. THAT’S JUST GREAT.

YOU SHOULD BE IN THIS CUTE BAND, SADIE. ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM FROM LARS.

Good, I can use some Cool Kid nonsense right now. YOU KNOW WHO ELSE COULD???? SADIE!!!!

“I just feel like this seafood festival needs to hear something challenging and provocative.” I am very happy about this.

DOO-DOO

BUTT

THE GOVERNMENT

CORRUPTS

THIS IS THE KIND OF HARD-HITTING SOCIAL COMMENTARY WE NEED IN THESE TRYING TIMES (ahhhh thank you Buck for putting a smile on my face in the midst of my LAPIS DEPRESSION-ANGER)

WHAT? KEEP AT YOUR PRACTICE SO SADIE CAN PARTICIPATE. YOU GUYS ARE BUTTS CORRUPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

Awwww, they came over to her place to jam with her! I RESCIND THE PREVIOUS ASPERSIONS ABOUT YOU GUYS BEING BUTTS.

Can the rest of this movie just be them watching crappy horror movies with Sadie? IT WOULD PLEASE ME.

CHANNELING YOUR ANGST THROUGH SPOOKY SCARY MUSIC – A+++++++++

THIS IS. MY PRECISE CONTENT.

“First, lose your youth to your boring job.” THIS EPISODE IS REAL.

And it ends with … Sadie quitting her job. Um, okay?

BUT I GOT SPOOKY SCARY SONGS WITH SADIE AND THE COOL KIDS AND THAT IS REALLY ALL I ASK FOR AT THIS POINT.

“Kevin Party”

NOT FUCKING KEVIN. REALLY?

THIS WILL ONLY BE ACCEPTABLE IF CONNIE IS IN IT.

Looks like Lion has been staying with Connie this whole time then? GOOD, SHE DESERVES A GIANT ZOMBIE LION TO BE THERE FOR HER.

Ugh, do we REALLY need Kevin to show up for every Stevonnie episode? DO WE?

YOU JERK, HE BROUGHT YOU POCKY.

LOOKS LIKE CONNIE IS DOING JUST FINE WITH HER CUTE NEW HAIRDO.

There is entirely too much Kevin in this episode for my liking.

BLAH BLAH BLAH, EMOTIONAL TALK, FRIENDS AGAIN, THE IMPORTANT THING IS THEY DITCH THE PARTY WITHOUT TURNING INTO STEVONNIE. BECAUSE FUCK KEVIN.

Okay, final thoughts:

THIS CONNIE-FIGHT/DEPRESSION ARC WOULD’VE WORKED BETTER SPREAD OUT FURTHER, BECAUSE THERE WAS JUST A LOT OF DEPRESSION.

“Dewey Wins” – really good as a follow-up episode to all the space stuff, just didn’t think Dewey was the best conduit for the message

“Gemcation” – I very much enjoyed Greg and the Gems trying to be good parents. NOT buying the whole “Steven doesn’t care about Homeworld” shit though.

“Raising the Barn” – I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.

“Back to the Kindergarden” – PERIDOT IS ME. This one might be my favorite because it had a good mix of cute stuff and funny Amethyst lines (I didn’t mention it above but “Can I bring my music?”/”NO.” was a real solid laugh from me) and depression stuff, but also, PERIDOT IS ME.

“Sadie Killer” – I hope that ending means Sadie gets a better job soon and not that she’s just … unemployed. BUT I LIKED SADIE’S ANGST THROUGH SPOOKY MUSIC, THAT WAS GOOD STUFF. The Cool Kids were some much-needed levity during this little arc.

“Kevin Party” – I GREATLY dispute the idea that we needed KEVIN to get Steven and Connie talking again, Jesus Christ.

(okay I know we’re back in the “Beach City funtimes” stuff but … Pearl and Garnet were only in ONE of these episodes? REALLY? ESPECIALLY GARNET. DESPERATELY LACKING GARNET FOR FIVE DAMN EPISODES.)

(ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU KICK OFF MY FAVORITE CHARACTER)

(SHE’S NOW IN THE “WHO KNOWS” VOID OF MY OTHER FAVES, THE ZIRCONS, SO THANKS A BUNCH FOR THAT, SUGAR WOMAN.)

I don’t know these episodes to me felt mostly … fine. The start of the season was SO FUCKING GOOD with the entire Homeworld arc, and I’m not usually so down on the Beach City episodes as most but … geez there was just a LOT of general down-ness and depression in these episodes. I hope the episodes after this have less down-ness, or not have Steven LITERALLY INTERRUPT POSSIBLE BACKSTORY BECAUSE OF HIS BAD MOOD, THANKS.

… I’M STILL SALTY ABOUT LAPIS. DON’T @ ME.

#su spoilers #steven universe spoilers

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tumblunni · 7 years ago

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Aaaand back to more Luke route from Red String of Fate! Starting off with another Actually Rather Cute Moment Of Chemistry That Isn’t Just Romance Novel Melodrama

Tho also i forgot to mention a bit of drama that worked really well! Somehow I missed taking any screenshots of it, but there’s a sweet moment of our protagonist getting depressed remembering her deceased parents and then luke brings up his ALSO deceased parents and they share a hug together. Like I know that sounds a bit weirdly coincidental, but the actual dialogue was really good! It was super sad when protagonist was like ‘I’m so grateful that i got to know my parents for a few years, poor Luke lost them when he was so small’. And then she talks about her happy memories of going to this beach with them, and how she gets panic attacks trying to return to the beach, and he offers to take photos of it for her so she can still remember it without having to be so scared. It was just very well written! And I didnt screenshot it! GAHHHH!

More stuff below!

Aaaaand then we go into dating sim cliches again, the good old ‘mistaken for cheating’ scene. But protagonist seems super jerky for getting jealous here cos SHE HASNT EVEN TOLD HIM SHE LOVES HIM and SHE KEEPS TURNING HIM DOWN BECAUSE DESTINY. But like this trope still bugs me even when there isnt all that extra stuff, its really horrible behaviour to get mad at a man for just.. having female friends?? Talking to other women ever?? I mean he could have just been asking some girl in his class what the homework was!

Also another stupid addition- ha ha gay jokes. I didn’t wanna screencap the whole set of dialogue here but basically Aaron comes along to try and distract the girl and help you out, but HA HA FUNNIE JOKE the girl mistakes him for Luke’s boyfriend. And that’s just.. the joke. the scene just ends. Okay then.

Also this makes the whole thing super dumb because why is she overreacting so much even after she realized that Luke was uncomfortable around this woman and asked protag to help get rid of her. HOW DARE YOU TALK TO HER WHEN YOU WERENT TALKING TO HER AND DIDNT WANT TO, AND ALSO WE AREN’T FUCKIN DATING, SERIOUSLY WTF

Also like.. whoa this plot is really fucked up and I feel way more sympathetic for this girl than I think i’m supposed to?? Like she was dating Luke and then Luke just suddenly broke up with her for seemingly no reason, and also CUT OFF ALL CONTACT WITH HER AND RAN OFF TO A NEW SCHOOL Seriously, this nonsense with following destinies caused him to be an ABSOLUTE ASSHOLE to her, and just make both of them miserable! Like, we don’t hear that she was happy with this other man and he was totally right, she didnt need him. We hear that she’s been desperately trying to find him again and no indication she ended up with that dude! And like she’s just NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN We just run away from her and like we get to be sad about how sad he is about her, but the conclusion isn’t that he realizes he was wrong and goes back to her, or even becomes friends again, or even explains himself to her and makes sure she’s okay... I feel so sad for her wtf... why didnt she get an epilogue in the happy ending route...

SERIOUSLY SHE WAS TRYING TO COMFORT HIM ABOUT HIS GRANDPA’S DEATH like she’s called a ‘stalker’ by the game?? but her boyfriend just fucking ran away and deleted all his contact numbers overnight?? and all we see is that she’s trying to find out if he’s okay! I’d be so terrified something had happened to him, jesus christ! This poor woman!

wy she toch me

aww noooo poor grandpa what an endearing gramp moment damn I miss grandpa too why must every character in this game be cursed with a million family deaths

Things that were intended to be romantic but ended up creepy as fuck: 2 Chocolate moans and phone whispers, yikes...

Good dialogue that makes me go daww at their actual romantic chemistry, unlike all the everything else: 4

WISH YOU’D SHOWN IT TO US TOO seriously why make it a plot point if you’re not gonna show it i was looking forward to seeing his poems, not just being told they were apparantly great, no really

YOU ARE DANGEROUSLY OBSESSED PLEASE STOP HOW IS THIS ROMANTIC ITS JUST SAD AND SCARY how many chances at happiness has she missed?? how many years has she shaved off her lifespan by treating herself like shit for the sake of some dumb thing that may never happen??

YAAAAY GRANDMA We actually get to see his grandma!! Its weird cos other minor story roles didn’t get a picture, its been literally nobody but the main three so far. Anyway I love her design and oh man she is so oddly tiny?? Cartoon grandparents are even more loveable than real ones!

I love grandma

Anyway, the plot finally rerails and like the main catalyst for the two of them falling in love is just... grandma tells them they’re in love. Magical grandma can ~sense~ it and tries to convince her to confess to her grandson.

Also somehow magical grandma knew someone else who may have had the same power, conveiniently! And okay yes PLEASE thank you, can we challenge the destiny bullshit please-

NOOOOOOOOO stop missing the point aaaaa no it just proves the soulmate shit isn’t necessary to be happy in liiiiife

WHEN WAS THIS EVER MENTIONED

Aww this cg is really cute, gotta love that classic run into arms hug~ Tho I laughed when i noticed the sparkle effects look like dandruff!

The context of this here is that Luke uses his never before mentioned riches to help her get an interview with a famous journalist, and she’s so happy she hugs him. And like.. somehow this is like... sexual tension?? They can’t hug without wanting to kiss?? like do these people not hug their platonic friends ever, geez.. Funny that the kiss part actually ruined the cuteness for me! Cos they don’t actually kiss no matter what you pick, they just break the hug and act super awkward and angry at each other and its really frustrating??

DEVOUR FACE REQUIRE SUSTINANCE TO ENGAGE ROMANCE

Accidentally creepy ‘romance’ count: 3

#bunni plays red string

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metalshea · 5 years ago

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A Perfectly Doomed Christmas Carol: A Reflection on A Perfect Circle Through Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.

Reflecting on the holiday season, I’m a little surprised at myself. Maybe it’s because the lead up to Christmas was shorter here in the United States than it usually is. The Thanksgiving holiday, our historic kick off for the Christmas season, was very late this year and so in some ways it doesn’t quite feel like Christmas time, yet. And so, I have yet to watch what is easily my favorite Christmas movie, A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are a TON of great Christmas movies: Die Hard (YES IT IS A CHRISTMAS MOVIE—I WILL FIGHT YOU!), Elf, A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, The Santa Claus, Miracle on 34th St., It’s A Wonderful Life, and, of course, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original with Boris Karloff, not that Jim Carey nonsense), but there’s something about A Christmas Carol that resonates so clearly and seems so relevant beyond the holiday season. I can’t say that about many Christmas movies.

Ok, maybe Die Hard. Yippee Kai Yay!

Maybe it’s because I share a birthday with Charles Dickens, but I really love and appreciate his writings. There is a clear moralism running his body of work that is still pertinent even today. He continuously tries to call attention to disaffected working peoples, structuralized disadvantage, and implores his readers to simultaneously feel empathy and outrage. A Christmas Carol does this as well. I won’t spend long summarizing it because, really, who hasn’t seen or read it in the English-speaking world? If you haven’t, go check out A Muppet Christmas Carol, it’s surprisingly accurate to the original text and Michael Caine plays a great Ebenezer Scrooge. Or just read the novella and prepare to be shocked at the surprisingly unsettling atmosphere of the book. What, surprised that the original is actually pretty creepy? It’s supposed to be a ghost story!

“Dude, when are you going to get to the music?”

We’re getting there, I promise!

A Christmas Carol follows Ebenezer Scrooge, a deeply flawed and emotionally insecure man who insulates himself from his insecurities by devoting himself entirely to his business. He takes an “I got mine” approach to life, disparages and ignores the outside world—often at the expense of those in his employ or influence, and in the process begins to literally damn himself. Not to mention his name is literally synonymous with miser. Scrooge’s deceased friend appears to him in spirit form and basically sets him up for a round of speed dating with 3 ghosts who show him the error of his ways by bringing him through his past, the present world around him, and the very not too distant future.

Sounds familiar, right? If you speak English, it should ring a few bells even if you haven’t read any Dickens. The literary device he uses is pretty common in Western literature because it basically invokes Dante’s Divine Comedy: the idea of a character being led by around by spirit and shown a picture of the world around them or the world that awaits them.

“Dude, now you’re shifting to Dante Alighieri?! When are you getting to the metal music??”

Right now.

Just like Dante and Dickens, Maynard James Keenan uses the same literary trope in the writing of A Perfect Circle’s, The Doomed.

Did I just blow your mind?

Before I go further, if you haven’t heard the song, you probably should. Otherwise none of this will make much sense. If you have heard it, give it another listen. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDvfbvuJtS8

When this song dropped in 2018, it immediately resonated with me because of it’s use of religious symbolism, particularly the invocation of the Beatitudes. When I started actually reading the lyrics, I realized just what Maynard did in it’s construction and started to get excited, he basically alludes not only to the Beatitudes, the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Gospels, but the narrative structure of the song alludes to Dante. This religiously-raised, English-majoring musician and metalhead in started bouncing for joy. Not only is the song pretty damn good, but it has a freaking point! Hold me, Maynard!

But it’s Christmas, dammit, so we’re going to ignore Dante for now and instead examine this through the lens of A Christmas Carol.

Truth be told, I actually think A Christmas Carol is a better lens to view the song than Dante, anyway, but I’m pretty damned sure that Maynard wasn’t even remotely considering it when he wrote The Doomed, let alone the absolutely glorious Muppet version. Alas!

Ok, let’s start with the song itself and maybe some context.

The Doomed is a damning portrayal of our current societal state. You could probably make an argument around equality or neoliberalism, Trump’s America or capitalism, or the global refugee crisis, but I don’t think it’s meant to be so narrow a commentary, and for our purposes, I’d rather focus on the religious language at play here.

The song was released in 2018 and was probably written closer to, if not in 2017. At the time there was a growing on focus on the plight of the disaffected and a growing dialogue about how people interact with others with different life experiences. There was a Huffington Post OpEd from around that time that this was likely being written titled “I Don't Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People” that sums up the broader societal dialogue quite nicely. I wonder if Maynard read it as well?

Before going too far down that particular rabbit hole, let’s actually break down the lyrics. The vocals open:

Behold a new Christ Behold the same old horde Gather at the altering New beginning, new word And the word was death And the word was without light The new beatitude "Good luck, you're on your own"

To my eyes, the song opens from the perspective of Dante’s Virgil. Or, since this is Christmas, the Ghost of Christmas Present (GCP). In my head, I picture the scene where Scrooge and the spirit stand outside the window looking into the Cratchit’s kitchen. The spirit explains to Scrooge what he is seeing, an impoverished family making the best of what they have. In Maynard’s retelling though we aren’t greeted with a touching Christmas scene, but rather a new Sermon on the Mount. In the opening lines of the song, he immediately calls to mind the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John. But it is the last two lines of the verse that are the most striking and set the tone for the rest of the song:

The new beatitude "Good luck, you're on your own"

For those who are not Christian, or for those Christians that never learned about The Beatitudes, it helps to have some extra context. The Sermon on the Mount is a scene from the Gospel of Matthew and elaborated on in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus Christ gives a lengthy sermon to a crowd and during this famous speech, he issues The Beatitudes. You can kind of think of them as the New Testament’s answer to the Old Testament’s 10 Commandments and be kind of in the right ballpark. For all the hype and focus in Western society on the 10 Commandments, the Beatitude are often overlooked by a lot of Christians. Which is kind of bonkers if you think about it and may hopefully become more apparent by the end of this article.

Christianity is big on layering imagery and call-backs to earlier Biblical writings. Seriously, Christians love that shit. It adds a feeling a depth and purpose to The Scripture. We can sort of view the weightiness of The Beatitudes through the doctrine of the Trinity. Basically the idea that The Son, The Father, and the Holy Spirit are all one in the same being. Ergo Jesus Christ is the literal physical manifestation of God. Just as God the Father literally wrote the 10 Commandments in stone, Jesus Christ, The Son, issues a new set of Commandments, The Beatitudes, in the Sermon on the Mount.

Yeah, they’re supposed to be THAT important.

Most Christians can name probably 6-7 of the 10 Commandments without too much thought, but they probably don’t know The Beatitudes, at least as a term. That being said, almost everyone would recognize them:

Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are the patient; they shall inherit the land. Blessed are those who mourn; they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful; they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart; they shall see God. Blessed are the peace-makers; they shall be counted the children of God. Blessed are those who suffer persecution in the cause of right; the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are you, when men revile you, and persecute you, and speak all manner of evil against you falsely, because of me. (Matthew 5:3-11)

The Gospel of Luke, a later chronological writing than the Gospel of Matthew, further expounds upon The Beatitudes, adding a bit more flavoring and essentially turns them into action items rather than just virtuous states of being:

27 And now I say to you who are listening to me, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who treat you insultingly. 29 If a man strikes thee on the cheek, offer him the other cheek too; if a man would take away thy cloak, do not grudge him thy coat along with it. 30 Give to every man who asks, and if a man takes what is thine, do not ask him to restore it. 31 As you would have men treat you, you are to treat them; no otherwise… 36 Be merciful, then, as your Father is merciful. 37 Judge nobody, and you will not be judged; condemn nobody, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and gifts will be yours; good measure, pressed down and shaken up and running over, will be poured into your lap; the measure you award to others is the measure that will be awarded to you. (Luke 6:27-31, 36-38)

Luke also offers a complimentary set of warnings to accompany the Beatitudes, known as the 4 Woes:

Woe upon you who are rich; you have your comfort already. Woe upon you who are filled full; you shall be hungry. Woe upon you who laugh now; you shall mourn and weep. Woe upon you, when all men speak well of you; their fathers treated the false prophets no worse. (Luke 6:24-26)

When I was growing up in a very devoutly Catholic household, I remember my mother telling me that as important as the 10 Commandments are to the foundations of what was then my faith, The Beatitudes were absolutely critical to my being a good Catholic and, what’s more, no person could ever hope to have a shot at entering heaven without ascribing to them.

Something about a rich man, a camel, the eye of a needle, and the prosperity gospel, amirite? But I digress.

It’s funny, re-reading the Sermon on the Mount and Luke 6, after I don’t know how many years, I really am struck by how the Beatitudes really are positive action items. The quotes I provided above don’t really delve too deeply into how the broader context of the Beatitudes demand positive action. This is article is going to be long enough as is without dissecting the full text of the Sermon on the Mount from both Gospels of Matthew and Luke, but they’re interesting pieces to read from a moral philosophy perspective even if you’re not religious. Where the Commandments say essentially, “Don’t do this or else”, the Beatitudes basically say: “Do these things, act this way, and you will be rewarded; don’t do them and you won’t be”. That is a MARKED difference in tone from the Commandments, and it is baffling why as a religion Christianity focuses so much on the consequences of negative behavior as opposed to the positive outcomes for good behavior.

Getting back to the song, it is through the Beatitudes that all people are called to approach and treat others with compassion and empathy. As the GCP shows us though, this is no longer the case: you are no longer expected to care for others, and you should not expect them to care about you. You’re on your own now.

As The Doomed progresses, we get a better picture of scene the GCP shows to Scrooge. The underlying music shifts to more of a march feel. There is a call-and-response at play between an unnamed preacher, the New Christ, and his followers, The Same Old Horde:

Blessed are the fornicates May we bend down to be their whores Blessed are the rich May we labor, deliver them more Blessed are the envious Bless the slothful, the wrathful, the vain Blessed are the gluttonous May they feast us to famine and war

Maynard covers a lot of ground in these two short verses. He’s alluded 3 Gospels already--2 of which we’ve dug into, I’m not getting into John here, but yeah that allusion to the Word comes from there (among other places… Christianity is big on scriptural call-backs, what can I say?)--and now he’s inverting the Beatitudes by referencing the 7 Deadly Sins and even the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Damn. Maynard’s smart.

Like the Beatitudes, the 7 Deadly Sins are familiar to most Christians, but they’re fundamentally misunderstood. They are not explicitly Biblical, and their legacy mostly comes down to us through early Christian mysticism and through the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. They are: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. What sets these apart from sin as it’s normally understood is that they are not actions. According to Aquinas, sin is a moral evil that is not in accord with reason or Divine Law and it fundamentally requires some type of decision and action. The 7 Deadly sins are more states of emotional being that lead us to moral evils. Through wrath and anger, we’re prone to violence and poor decision making. Through sloth, we’re prone to inaction in the face of evil. And so it goes.

The 7 Deadly Sins are inherently selfish mindsets. They are considered so in Western culture because allowing ourselves to fall victim to our lust or greed is the same as saying that we are sating ourselves potentially at the expense of others. Such a mindset is in direct conflict with the words of Christ vis-a-vis the Beatitudes. The contrast is so strong that, in a way, you could look at The Beatitudes and the 7 Deadly Sins as extremes on the end of a spectrum. It is the human condition to err towards the Sins, but it is imperative for all humans to move towards the Beatitudes, not only for their salvation but for the betterment of society (anybody else catching a whiff of Freud here? Id/Ego? Just me?). Maynard flips the script: the worst impulses of humanity now guide us.

The music shifts again, this time to something more innocent sounding, and we hear our Scrooge speak for the first time:

What of the pious, the pure of heart, the peaceful? What of the meek, the mourning, and the merciful?

It’s a little difficult to tell if it’s our Scrooge or GCP who utter the next two lines, I like to think it’s the latter, but the sentiment is the same either way:

All doomed All doomed

In this new world, those that embrace the values and actions embodied by the Beatitudes are left behind.

The music picks up again and the GCP again address Scrooge. The atmosphere almost feels more somber and reflective:

Behold a new Christ Behold the same old horde Gather at the altering New beginning, new word And the word was death And the word was without light The new beatitude: "Good luck"

This repetition of the earlier verse brings us back to Dickens’ scene outside the Cratchit’s: The spirt echoes the earlier words of Scrooge while Scrooge solemnly considers Tiny Tim’s health: “’If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.’”

The music shifts, again, this time back to the innocent, meek section we heard earlier in the song. Scrooge interrupts GCP:

What of the pious, the pure of heart, the peaceful? What of the meek, the mourning, and the merciful? What of the righteous? What of the charitable? What of the truthful, the dutiful, the decent?

Once again Scrooge directly references the Beatitudes, but this time he expands beyond them, alluding to people that embody other parallel virtues to those referenced in the Gospels. There’s a sense of pleading and desperation to his words as Scrooge tries to capture the gravity of the implications of GCP’s descriptions.

The music shifts again to the marching beat, with a dissonant guitar lead, purposefully played off key. GCP is becoming angry and annoyed. “You’re not getting it, stupid”. He responds through Maynard, who now sings with a clear edge to his voice:

Doomed are the poor Doomed are the peaceful Doomed are the meek Doomed are the merciful

For the word is now death And the word is now without light The new beatitude:

GCP directly calls out a number of the virtues of the Beatitudes, but this time his cynicism is crystal clear. He finally exclaims to Scrooge, anger boiling over:

Fuck the doomed! You're on your own.

Again, I’m reminded of Dickens and the final exchange between Scrooge and GCP. Scrooge laments the state and health of those whose lives he has just seen. The sprit, angry that Scrooge still seems to be missing the big picture—that Scrooge bears responsibility for their state, let alone their opinions of him—uses Scrooge’s own words to drive the point home: “’Are there no prisons?" said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "Are there no workhouses?’". It’s a final, damning rebuke for Scrooge to ponder before being confronted by the most terrifying spirit of the night. Just as we are left to ponder the implications of the “New Beatitude”.

See, I told you there was a good reason to use GCP as the narrator as opposed to Dante.

Plus, Christmas.

So there.

Some final thoughts:

I’ve been struggling how to relate the two children that accompany the GCP in A Christmas Carol, named Ignorance and Want, back to “The Doomed”. In some ways they could be tied into the 7 Deadly Sins as they are both expressions of pure human selfishness, but, you know, square peg/round hole. Still food for thought though.

Even as I have moved in my own faith journey from Catholic to absurdist (a la Albert Camus), I still refer to myself as “philosophically Catholic”, and have been known to reference Luke’s version of The Sermon on the Mount in casual conversation, specifically this gem:

By what right wilt thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me rid thy eye of that speck, when thou canst not see the beam that is in thy own? Thou hypocrite, take the beam out of thy own eye first, and so thou shalt have clear sight to rid thy brother’s of the speck. (Luke 6:42)

I love that image.

The Beatitudes, The Woes, the 7 Deadly Sins, and their larger roles as measures of personal morality are really meaningful to me. Even though I don’t consider myself Christian, I still ascribe to them. They are guideposts towards achieving The Golden Rule—if such a thing could be considered a state of virtue—and in their broader context they are calls for us to engage of certain types of action, especially considering Matthew 25:36:

I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Re-reading The Beatitudes for this post, I’ve also been so struck by how little sense of primacy there is in them compared to the Commandments. There’s no explicit demand that we follow the Christian God, but that we embrace the Beatitudes and their broader contexts as moral bedrock. Christ reflects later in the Gospel of Luke that not using them as the basis for our personal morality would be like building a house in a flood zone on dirt instead of bedrock. There’s a lot of truth to that, and that message transcends a lot of the nonsense that tends to lead people away from the religion.

I think Maynard might be coming from a similar viewpoint. The values that we are supposed to espouse and embody are outdated in this New World. Kindness is obsolete. Those that embrace virtue are kicked aside just as readily as those that we would otherwise consider to be lesser than ourselves. The Doomed urges us to reflect on this and consider how we view the people and world around us. Like Scrooge, in order for us to make a substantive change in ourselves and around us, we need to really consider what we’re seeing before us in the present moment.

And it’s not a pretty picture.

But it’s not all bleak. The last line of the song uses the conjunction and pronoun “You’re” and “your”, respectively. Both variations of “You”. We could spend hours discussing and dissecting the grammatical implications of the lyrics, but suffice it to say: as much as a condemnation as the last line is, it’s also a recognition that it’s on us to act. No one else.

I’ll end this 3500-word beast on that note.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Let’s do a little bit better every day.

Shea \m/

#a perfect circle #a christmas carol #maynard james keenan #eat the elephant #charles dickens #Christianity #sermon on the mount #beatitudes #seven deadly sins #heavy metal #metal #alternative metal #catholicism #thomas aquinas #aquina

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