#I HAVE NOTHING TO ADD THIS IS PERFECT

[lycheesodas]

incoming sudden headcanon/thought :)

Beleg and Mablung have seen each other at their best, and at their worst. During the lowest moments in their lives, when tears mixed with mud, blood, and hoarse screams; emotions drove them to the edge of madness; where they showed their deepest vulnerabilities, the ugliest parts. The sun might not always shine at the end, but they embrace and forgive each other's flaws. At the end they are there for each other.

OHHHH YES THIS ABSOLUTELY.. just imagining them clinging to each other like a lifeline.... oh this hurts in the best way thank you for sending this in ; ~ ;

[bgbrry]

mcr return was not a build up to a new album but a pavlov dog esque experiment to condition a dozen tumblr users into being attracted to office spaces, cheer uniforms and medical equipment

[hurlingdown]

your newest work makes me wanna impregnate katakuri!!! look at him with that biker fit and watch those titties let out some creamy milk!!! god he'd be an amazing father, i'd fuck him every day to help with the pregnancy pains and ill eat out his loose pussy after giving birth. would he want you to use his ass because he's a little shy about his pussy after giving birth? would he want another few babies, maybe triplets like him? oh i bet he would love a nice litter of children to care and love for. maybe his pussy would be so loose that it cant hold in any cum and drips out like a creamy cake, maybe he would randomly piss himself in bed. would he grow a little pudge from taking care of his pregnancy? how hairy is he underneath there? if its trimmed or a jungle in there, im journeying the depths of a new world baby.

god he would be gorgeous bulging from his stomach, would he start wearing a shirt in public to hide his bump and his growing breasts or would he show it all proud in his usual biker outfit, tits bulging, even when he's dripping milk in public? maybe he'd just kill anyone who sees him.

id love to love a man like katakuri, id love to love katakuri.

- oath anon

holy fuck you're unlocking kinks in me i didn't know i had. pregnant! katakuri was not something i knew i needed what the hell

the way you write is so hot and that last sentence is a bangerrr.

[p---l---c]

"thank you!!"

[stormofdefiance]

True knowledge exists in knowing you know nothing || Dr. Ratio & Socrates

Okay, I legitimately laughed out loud writing that title, but listen. LISTEN.

Ratio's inspirations derive from many sources; from referencing Archimedes's brain-blast in the tub, to being doomed to have his head bonked by Newton's apple ad infinitum in his idle animation, to his ultimate line ('esse est percipi' / 'to be is to be perceived') a direct quote from Berkeley on Idealism - it's apparent that his design nods towards scholars across time periods rather than being a direct parallel to a singular academic.

Nevertheless, just for fun, I've been rotating Ratio and ancient greek philosophers around in my head and have had a great time chewing over how parallels Socrates in particular. I am in no way saying that Hoyo even thought about Socrates while they were designing Ratio, but I thought I'd share my thoughts. I think there are some worthwhile parallels to be drawn that touch on all aspects of Ratio's own philosophy regarding ignorance, the value of knowledge, and his deep appreciation of life. So, let's get into it.

Ratio is interested in humanity and curing 'ill minds with knowledge', that 'to turn a blind eye to the folly of others is not an etiquette, but a wicked worldly practice.' Ignorance is a disease - this is a concept that can be viewed through a Socratic lens. Socrates believed that that virtue and knowledge were impossible to separate from one another, and that virtue could be developed through acquiring knowledge and insight. If knowledge is virtue, then ignorance is vice. In Socrates's mind, no one would rationally choose to do something bad. People might choose to do bad things, but this is rooted in their own perception of the world - as in, someone would only choose to do something bad (for the world, or for themselves) because they believed (erroneously) that it was the right or good thing to do. To Socrates, the cure to this was knowledge: 'There are two kinds of disease of the soul, vice and ignorance.' & 'What does most harm in the world is not sinfulness but ignorance'.

To Ratio, 'If ignorance is an ailment, it is the duty of the scholars to weed it out and heal the universe'. He views his own ignorance as 'filth' that must be cleansed through methods such as reading. He also views knowledge as a method for humans to overcome their problems - 'Another day has passed. If your problem still hasn't been solved, is it possible the problem is you?' & 'You look distressed. Is something troubling you? if so, you can figure it out for yourself.' These statements sound harsh, but they also clue us into Ratio's philosophy - that through self-examination and improvement, one can overcome one's ailments.

Socrates was also known for being a trouble-maker, he was abrupt and tactless and did not care for someone's social standing nor decorum. He was also known for using what is now called the Socratic method, asking a series of questions that ultimately seek to show contradictions in the beliefs of those who posed them, and to move systematically towards a hypothesis free from contradiction. Socrates rarely made assertions himself - after all, he had no wisdom of his own. But he could interrogate others in order to expose their own foibles, much to the embarrassment and annoyance of those around him. He was once described as a 'gnat' chewing on the 'lazy horse of Athens', causing it to wake up and spring to life due to his persistent gnawing and prodding. Ratio also employs the Socratic method - 'I'm asking questions' - and also adopts sophist tactics such as playing devil's advocate and taking opposing sides (with both himself as seen a story quest, and with others as we see with his texts urging us to take up a side so he might debate us). Through questioning and interrogation, upsetting what we consider social convention and norms, we can dispel contradictions and thereby come closer to some form of truth.

To add to this - as highlighted in the replies below - Ratio’s skill ‘intellectual midwifery’ is a reference to the Socratic method. The idea being that Socrates helped those around him give birth to the knowledge that was already within them, rather than treating his students minds as empty vessels for him to fill with his own answers. Again this is beautifully echoed in Ratio - he doesn’t want to tell you how to live your life, he wants you to work out for yourself what it is you need, thus empowering oneself through self-examination and questioning.

Socrates did not believe in writing anything down. He believed that face-to-face communication was a far more effective way of communicating knowledge - which means, unfortunately, what we know of Socrates is primarily derived from secondary sources. Much of what we know about him today comes from Plato's dialogues, and Plato was known for liberally exercising artistic license.

Although Ratio is not dead, I find it interesting that his character story is told exclusively through secondary sources. To quote - '…There are no less than eight documentaries detailing his legendary exploits, and over a dozen memoirs about him. However, despite the plethora of commentaries, none of them seems to provide a compelling perspective.' It's as though there are no surviving fragments penned by Ratio's hand and all we have to go on is through the lenses of other people. This challenges us, perhaps, to try to think about our own interpretation of Ratio since secondary sources cannot be taken as a wholly unbiased account - and once again employing the Socratic method and empowering the reader to come to their own interpretation.

While Socrates left no writing behind, he was interested in spreading knowledge. Socrates spent most of his life in Athens, a city that was, during his lifetime (~470-399 BC), a hotpot of scholars, wisemen and philosophers. Athena, the Greek god of wisdom, was named after the city - her symbol the owl that is also appropriately perched on Ratio’s shoulder. Also in Athens at this time where the sophists. The sophists were a class of intellectuals who were known to teach courses in various subjects - but often for a high fee, and generally centred around the idea that persuasion and the use of knowledge as a tool was more important than wisdom or truth itself. There's some debate about whether Socrates could be characterised as a sophist himself, but, crucially, he is characterised as refusing to take payment for his teachings. He was born a plebeian (perhaps you might describe it as a mundane background.) He was known to dress in rags and go barefoot, speaking to and (often antagonising) people from all walks of life, preferring the marketplace as a center of debate than palaces or courtrooms. I can't help but think of the sophists as similar to the genius society (or at least Ratio's depiction of them in contrast to himself), cooped up in ivory towers and gatekeeping knowledge to the most privileged. He doubts if Herta's talent is always helpful to others, he compares Screwllum to a 'monarch'. Then again, the sophists may in fact be a bit of a parallel to the Intelligentsia Guild - from Ratio, 'when someone is willing to listen to knowledge that is being disseminated and circulated, a price is created'.

Socrates (or at least the Platonic depiction of Socrates) was at one time declared the wisest man in Athens by the Oracle of Delphi. Socrates balks at this assertion - how can he possibly be the wisest man in Athens when he in fact knows nothing at all? This was not a claim made of modesty - he truly believed that he had no wisdom, that he was unsure what 'wisdom' itself even was. Ultimately, Socrates concludes that the only way that the Oracle could be correct is that by actually acknowledging that he knows nothing he paradoxically is the wisest man in Athens. All wisdom, therefore, is rooted in wondering, with wondering only possible if one is open to admitting one's own ignorance.

What I love about all of this in relation to Ratio is that Ratio styles himself as a mundanite. The Intelligensia Guild advocates that 'all knowledge must be circulated like currency' and accepts 'all beings… who seek to learn'. Ratio has no time for the satisfied self-styling of intellectualism, he himself states that 'to speak knowledge, we must first make people realise their own folly.' No one is above criticism in this regard, even himself - again, to quote 'Whenever someone agrees with me, I feel like I must be wrong.' Again, I feel as though he would resonate with Socrates here: 'Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, and stupid people already have all the answers'. With Aventurine, he is quick to mock his appearance as over-the-top and vapid - once again making it clear his distate for vanity and hollow displays of showiness (albeit he may have been acting for Sunday's sake here. Also, no comment about this coming from a man who runs around in a toga, lmao) Equally, with Aventurine, it is clear that Ratio is willing to learn from him - he apologises when he offends, he abhors his methodology and yet he still relies upon it and trusts in Aventurine's plan, he is drawn to him in some ways precisely because he is so different to himself. Aventurine (at least styles himself) as impulsive to Ratio's slow and steady methodology, Aventurine whose learning has been entirely self-made vs Ratio who has spent his life in classrooms, Ratio who scoffs at Aventurine's favourite games of chance yet adds slot machines to his simulated universe. And to Socrates, the experience of aporia – in all of its discomfort and disruption – is the very catalyst of wonder, and that wonder was not just the root of wisdom but also the way to live a good and happy life. There is something beautiful in this to me, and this extends to Ratio. Ratio fundamentally cares about life. For all his brashness, his lashing out against 'idiots', his harsh demeanour - he wants people to live good lives, he wants to contribute to the good of humanity - all people, even those he is annoyed by, he cares so profoundly and absolutely about life. The entire reason why he is obsessed with wisdom and learning is not to exalt or elevate himself, not as some kind of ritualistic expression of piety towards a deity, but it is instead an expression of devotion towards life itself. Ratio has a strict work out routine not so that he can show off his body, but because living healthily is living well and working out is a component of that. Even the way he fusses and worries about Aventurine, someone he is pointedly irritated by, reveals how deeply his care runs. So so much of his character is centered on caring for life, even if it is not immediately obvious.

Finally, I'd like to highlight some ways in which Ratio is not like Socrates. First of all, Socrates was repeatedly described as 'ugly' by fellow philosophers Plato and Xenophon - this is contrast to Ratio being repeatedly described as 'handsome'. This is an interesting subversion to me (albeit likely an indulgent one) as in both cases both men attempt to distance their physical appearance from the weight of their words. Ratio wears the bust for many reasons, but way to view it is that he is attempting to stop his appearance from bearing any influence in the subject of debate.

Socrates was also said to be blessed by a divine touch, and as we know, this is something that agonises Ratio as Nous has not yet turned THEIR gaze towards him.

Lastly, Ratio has - thankfully - not yet been ordered by the state to drink hemlock for all his trouble-making and blustering. Though perhaps he may someday be put on trial by the IPC if the theories that he is working alongside Aventurine to undermine the corporation are true - we will just have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading my little ramble. I'd be super interested in anyone's thoughts if they'd like to share, but regardless, I'll leave off on some of my favourite wee quotes from the Rat man:

'Even a life marked by failure is a life worth living - it is only in moments of solitude and despair, when help is absent, that fools grasp how to pick themselves up.'

'Do stay alive. I wish you the best of luck.'

[just-null]

there wasn't a slice of life moment with these idiots so i took matters into my own hands... this is my modern au (kimetsu gakuen adjacent?) hence their designs.

[captions i was too lazy to add under the cut]

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The West Passage

medieval fantasy set in a giant crumbling palace of traditions with forgotten origin, ruled by giant eldritch Ladies

when winter weather comes in the middle of summer, and a beast below the palace begins to rise, two teens from Grey who have suddenly gained a lot of responsibilities set out on separate journeys to the other towers to find a way to stop it, and meet all sorts of strange people and creatures along the way

world where pronouns/names are based on people’s roles

tons of cool medieval-style chapter illustrations by the author

[alienssstufff]

Slimeriana make me so crazy. They’re stuck in a cycle of hurting each other BECAUSE they love each other so deeply. Mariana keeps her distance because she is scared of hurting Slime more. Which leads Slime to believe that Mariana doesn’t care about him. Slime then tries to “end” the relationship. But it’s not because he truly wants Mariana out of his life. Slime never stops thinking about his family, and it can be seen in his every action. Pushing Mariana away is his way of seeking reassurance that he’s still loved, because he wants his wife to reach out to him. Mariana becomes motivated by the fear of losing Slime forever, and tries desperately to win Slime’s heart back again. And it works. They get back together. They’re in love, and it’s beautiful, and it’s messy. It starts to seem like they might actually be able to make things work. Until Mariana inevitably hurts Slime again on accident, which reinforces her belief that she just destroys everything she touches. And the loop continues…

.

. My jaw dropped. That was fucking amazing anon can we kiss?

[lloydfrontera]

tfw when you write an entire novel with two protagonists that spent the entire plot getting closer to each other, becoming best friends and eventually both of them deciding they would rather die than allow the other to not live a long, fulfilling life, their friendship carrying most of the emotional weight of the entire plot and the emotional climax being one of them sacrificing his life so the other can live and then the other crossing literal universes to find him, a tearful smile in his face as he confesses how much he missed him. which is the scene you wanted to write and show the most because, again, this is the pay off to the slowburn you've been writing in the entire novel and what everything has been building up to since the very first chapter. and then you end the novel by having them share a smile, finally confident they'll be able to have a happy future.

but you also just gotta have one of them marry offscreen because everyone knows you can't be happy if you're not in a het marriage with kids lmao it's whatever it's okay i'm fiNE-

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

Jade: i wear a ski mask to bed so that if there's a home invasion the intruder will think i'm part of the team

[leaffiii]

Up in the air whether Toad has allowed this adventure or was just picked up and carried around

[ratatatastic]

i like how you can tell the minute sasha takes over answer duties matthew just- i think its safe to say matthew feels secure enough to turn off his brain for a bit and succumb to his inner bird if you will

as you can tell matthew was very much paying attention to whatever was being said and agrees with everything wholeheartedly and absolutely not distracted by showing off his tatas and making sure the girls have some breathing room (i wish i was lying when i said it seems like everyday he becomes more and more a caricature of himself)

the final nod at the end so everyone knows he agrees with sasha...

post practise interview | 6.23.24 (x)

[elizabeth-mitchells]

i won't shut up yet because i need all of you to watch and enjoy It's a Wonderful Knife. i seriously can't recommend it enough. the majority of the characters are gay. there's a cool lesbian aunt that we all wish we had. the main couple has great chemistry. the forehead kiss at the end killed me. find you someone that looks at you the way bernie looked at winnie the entire movie. it's great seriously. and so much fun!!! so worth it!!! please watch it!!!

[celaenaeiln]

(pops into your inbox to give you my latest brainrot)

From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes (from being Robin to being Nightwing)

I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this (literally, Dick gave his blood, sweat, and tears for others, for the hero life)

I hosted parties and starved my body (galas and I’d imagine he’d be on/was once on a semi-strict diet)

Like I'd be saved by a perfect kiss (we all know how Dick’s love life looks like)

The jokes weren't funny, I took the money (being adopted by Bruce Wayne wasn’t easy. the upperclass elders and the media were never the kindest growing up. even as an adult, how many jokes have been made about his body or his love life?)

My friends from home don't know what to say (could refer to the Haly’s Circus people seeing him years later, could refer to when Dick was Batman and how the Titans felt, maybe even S1 Young Justice gang looking at S3 Young Justice Dick)

I looked around in a blood-soaked gown (blood soaked Nightwing suit. he tries his best. he can’t save everyone.)

And I saw something they can't take away (hope. Dick Grayson has always been a symbol of hope. he is hope, he loves his friends and family, that’s something you can’t take away from him no matter what)

'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned (how many people has he lost? how many ties has been cut?)

Everything you lose is a step you take (despite everything, Dick Grayson keeps moving forward)

So make the friendship bracelets (he seems like the type to make friendship bracelets)

Take the moment and taste it (more so, he savors the time he has with his loved ones)

You've got no reason to be afraid (he’s been through worse and came put stronger than ever)

You're on your own, kid

Yeah, you can face this

You're on your own, kid

You always have been (but despite it all, despite all the friends and family members and relationships he’s acquired, he feels lonely. Dick Grayson’s pains are his alone, he would never want to burden his loved ones with all the secrets he keeps. he’s not alone but he carries his burdens and secrets alone. no one trusts a frayed net after all)

(leaves your inbox)

*SNEAKS OUT THE WINDOW TO KIDNAP YOU AND CUDDLE YOU AND STICKS ELECTRODES IN YOUR BRAIN TO HEAR MORE*

[goldensunset]

I see we’re both having Feelings about Days tonight

[jellyfitzjelly]

Hi! How about hair pulling + hellforge? I can see Dammon loving it when Zevlor pulls his hair during sex. Like he adores the feeling of Zevlor’s claws in his hair, gripping the strands for dear life as Dammon pounds the old man into the mattress

Zevlor claws at his back and pulls on his hair and Dammon LOVES it!