#and there is no ultimate truth

[alteredsilicone]

ok real talk i would love a game that handles it's lore "realistically" and by that i mean:

-you have to go out of your way to look for it and different bits of lore that come together may come from unlikely places (something you find early on nets an answer via a seemingly unrelated thing later on)

-there might be contradicting accounts: history doesn't lie, historians, however...

-there are different opinions about the same thing and it's up to you to decide who you agree with (and maybe the answer is - no one!), gaining knowledge in certain ways might change your perspective on something you learned earlier on

-some things are just never fully explained, because they are lost to time either accidentally or deliberately

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Burning Rotten Bridges

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[philosophybits]

Truth has two meanings: there is truth as knowledge of reality, and truth as reality itself.

Nikolai Berdyaev, The Beginning and the End

[shadowxamyweek]

Thank you @junebalaya for showing me this meme exists <3

[trek-tracks]

Do you ever think about how Kirk had a "best friend" on the ship before Bones in Gary Mitchell, a man who:

a) deviously manipulates him into heartbreak for Mitchell's benefit,

b) shames him for not being "fun" enough when he's in a position of power,

c) openly insults intelligent and powerful women,

d) treats everyone cruelly as soon as he gets power and tries to seize everything for himself,

e) finds it fascinating that he can stop a person's heart for fun, and

f) tries to murder Kirk instead of admitting that he's a danger to the universe,

and then chooses to replace him with Bones, a man who:

a) tries to save Kirk from heartbreak at every opportunity,

b) gets him to smile and relax by being genuinely interested in how he's doing and telling him that he's great and respected just as he is,

c) openly toasts intelligent and powerful women,

d) treats everyone kindly as soon as he gets power and tries to use it to help as many people as he can,

e) cries about how people suffered when medical treatments were less advanced, and

f) says, "Jim, I can't destroy life, even if it's to save my own. I can't."

because I do

[zipstick-art]

working late at the hoover building

reference image under the cut

[opheliasam]

god he (dean) used to be so different my chest hurts

[secriden]

Going legitimately insane because all my brain has been able to chew on has been this particular callback and what it means for the headspace that Fadel is in at the end of episode 6.

It's insane that Fadel even said that to Bison in the first place because the Fadel of episode 5 knew better than to believe it was possible for anyone to truly bare themselves to another person, knew better than to want to know and be known and chosen despite it all. To the Fadel of episode 5, "laying yourself bare" was an impossibility because of how much power it gives the other person, and Fadel's mind is too practical, his circumstances too complex, his heart too fragile to ever give that to anyone ever again.

But Fadel's walls began to crack in the face of Style's honesty and the shared pain of knowing what it is to loose someone precious; cracked under the weight of Style pressing kisses to his scar and laying Fadel bare to bring him pleasure; shattered in the face of Style giving himself over to loving Fadel for a whole night -- and Fadel woke up half underneath the spread of Style's body and found himself already in love.

And do you know how I know this? Because of all the things Fadel could have said he liked about Style, he chooses this. It's not that Style is effortlessly kind and thoughtlessly generous at times. It's not that Style is hot and sexy and frankly kind of a slut (specifically for Fadel). It's not even that Style has secret, hidden depths and an unexpectedly shared pain which allows him to understand and empathise with Fadel in a way that no one but Bison has been able to for a very long time.

No, it's his cockiness. His arrogance. The way Style is unabashedly himself and makes no apologies for it. The way Style will literally dance to his own tune and sing at the top of his lungs with no care for anyone else's opinion unless it's to appreciate it. The way Style walks into the room and has the confidence to put his body on display and already know that he will be welcomed and wanted -- and this confidence meant that he assumed Fadel would find him attractive, and would not stop until Fadel eventually gave in to that attraction.

It's telling that it's these specific instances that come to mind when Fadel thinks about Style's lips. There are so many scenes and shots they could have chosen (because lbr here Dunk, and therefore Style, really does have amazing lips), so it feels very intentional that Fadel thinks firstly of the time Style refused to back off when Fadel pretended not to miss him, and then the moment when Fadel finally admitted that he did and was rewarded with Style's reassurance and reciprocated vulnerability and wholehearted embrace. Also, because this was the last episode that Style did not Know, and therefore was still being fully honest with Fadel. Both instances are Fadel appreciating in hindsight the way Style's very nature -- the way he would not give up, the way he keeps pushing and pushing even in the face of Fadel's seeming impassivity -- gives Fadel not only the opportunity but the impetus to finally let go of his control and acknowledge his feelings for Style.

It's explicit confirmation that Fadel enjoys and appreciates and has grown to love Style's personality and antics and the way he expresses himself.

So the Fadel in episode 6 dares to ask for Style's honesty and gives with it an explicit promise of trust and acceptance in return. After recognising the effort Style has had to put in to find ways to connect with Fadel (heavy metal vs pop rock), he now asks for Style to be real with him because Fadel understands himself to be ready to love, and in loving Style, is able to offer the very thing he wants the most from Style: "acceptance of who he really is".

We also see the evidence of Fadel's unspoken promise in the way that he now responds with an almost easy openness to Style's questions in stark contrast to the Fadel in the early part of the show. If he wants Style to accept him, he can't continue keeping all his secrets. So now, he gives Style pieces of himself with barely a thought, and lets Style use them to push and prod and drag to light the very things he used to keep hidden because he thought they weren't useful or helpful or worthy of being loved (see @sherrymagic's gorgeous gifset + my tags on it).

It's also in the way he now allows Style to take him outside of his comfort zone because he trusts that the private joys he's kept to himself are safe in Style's hands; that, moreover, Style will look to Fadel's happiness and not make a mockery of it.

I'm obsessed with the moment in the screenshot on the bottom right because Fadel looks so completely out of his element and almost in a state of shock. He's literally standing separated from the rest of the group in the composition of the shot, hesitation writ in every line of his body, while Style, who isn't even a fan of this band or this music, fits in with the band seamlessly.

But this hesitation isn't because of discomfort, it's nervousness and an almost joyous disbelief because Fadel could never have done this on his own, he would never have allowed himself the indulgence of actually showing his love for his favourite band if Style hadn't taken the initiative to drag him there and ask for the photo. And, oh, how wonderful it must have felt to see Style prove his own words by being right there by Fadel's side as he lets himself go, as he lets himself be himself without fear, for the first time in what must have felt like forever.

In a single, perfect night, Style has been exactly, precisely, breathtakingly everything Fadel could ever have wanted; because in a single night of Fadel finally having the courage to bare himself to another person, Style gave Fadel not only acceptance but a celebration of who Fadel is. With everything Style does that night, he ties himself to Fadel; he ties his happiness to Fadel's and his comfort to the warmth of Fadel's embrace. Style fashioned himself into exactly what Fadel wanted -- and now that Fadel has had a taste of it, how can he possibly go back?

Which is why Fadel already knows that it's too late for him, he knows that he is already in love; knows, moreover, that he has rewritten parts of himself to seek out and miss and yearn for Style; has even learned to love Style the way he understands Style wants to be loved.

So Fadel might as well keep the promise he made to Style with his lips pressed shut against the lies he didn't want to keep telling Style. He might as well give Style more days and nights and chances to spin his lies, because at least Fadel has the meager comfort of knowing he spoke the truth.

Because if Style wants to keep playing this game, if Style is able to so be so convincingly deceptive that Fadel can no longer trust himself to tell when Style is lying, then Fadel will take the punishment of choosing honesty in the face of his betrayal. Fadel will fashion himself into a heartless tool and allow himself the indulgence of playing this tantalising part -- because he may just find a way to save Bison in the process.

And to Fadel, it does not matter if his own heart gets broken along the way, because Fadel deserves the punishment of laying himself bare to the man who does not love him in return; he deserves to give Style the power of knowing the hold he has over Fadel.

But doing so is a punishment for Style, too, because if Fadel must love, then he is going to weaponise his own feelings in the fight he now thinks he has to wage against Style. Because two can play this game of cruelty, and Fadel does not care if this sword is double edged because cutting himself to pieces is a small price to pay if it means dragging Style along with him into hell.

After all, what's another crack when his whole entire world has already been so utterly and completely shattered?

[turtleblogatlast]

Leo’s love for magicians and magic shows isn’t brought up enough tbh, because it directly ties into the idea of a persona and fooling the audience’s eyes to see something that’s not actually there. This connects to his love of performance in general but also ties into why he struggled so much with his mystic powers.

Magic tricks are exactly that, tricks, a performance, masked actions hiding the truth. Meanwhile mysticism is intrinsically linked to the self and so Leo’s difficulty in even unmasking to himself is a big part of his journey that he continues to struggle with and in this essay I will-

[trnstlnticism]

liar, paramore // shawn spencer & juliet o’hara in psych 7x07 // the seven husbands of evelyn hugo, taylor jenkins reid

[little-cute-pink-horrible-being]

In the end of Wind and Truth Aux/12124 and Sigzil are both rejects, rejected by their bond partner. Sigzil by Vienta for saving her life, but also bringing her a lot of pain. Aux by Szeth for, uh, being a terrible spren. It's something very poetic that they end up traveling and trying to figure their new lives out together.

Also, why does Sig have Windrunner plate in Sunlit man? It mentions plate of two orders forming around him, but he didn't swear the fourth Windrunner ideal...

[nerdygaymormon]

“There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies

And there was a city called Berlin in a country called Germany.

It was the end of the world

And I was dancing with Sally Bowles, and we were both fast asleep...

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome

Im cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret.”

[philosophybits]

There is a tragic clash between Truth and the world. Pure undistorted truth burns up the world.

Nikolai Berdyaev, The Divine and the Human

[lesliemeyers]

y'know thats pretty goth

[peachdoxie]

The headcanon I like to follow for why Danny's ghost half was Like That after being torn from him in TUE is that the personalities of Danny's ghost and human halves are based on how he perceives them at the time of being separated. That's pretty much what happened in Identity Crisis, with Fun Danny and Super Danny reflecting the two aspects of himself that he wanted to espouse. So it makes sense to me that if Danny blamed his ghost half for his loved ones (and Lancer) dying and saw it/him as bad and dangerous, his ghost half when separated would act accordingly.

[whatevertheywant]

Get ready for MORE GELPHIE ANALYSIS because the queer audhd English major brain never rests.

We know that Glinda is trying to get the Munchkins to empathize with Elphaba even though she can't publicly defend or mourn her. But another nice touch from the brilliant mind of Stephen Schwartz is that in telling about Elphaba's childhood,she makes a point to mention Elphaba's father being appointed governor of Munchkin Land. There are LAYERS here.

We know that Glinda was from a wealthy and prominent family. She has gone through a lot of character development at this point,but she is still Glinda Upland. Status and titles mean a lot to her still. Telling everyone that Elphaba was born in Munchkin Land is supposed to humanize her and show she is literally one of them yes...BUT our girl was bragging on her girl. She was letting them KNOW Elphie ain't a common wicked bitch. She's letting them know her bestie is ALSO from a prominent family and put some fucking respect on her name. It goes over their heads,but Glinda tried so hard short of telling the truth (which would be against Elphaba's wishes) or obliterating some munchkin ASS for shit talking her baby. I know seeing her finally get to cry her eyes out about it is going to wreck me