#but this is already so long

[finderseeker]

So, I wanted to write about 🝮 Tempus vs ⁂ Tempest, but first I think I need to talk about how Tempus is in his original canon. But when I do finish the 🝮 Tempus vs ⁂ Tempest essay, know that it’ll probably have a lot of identical parts because I’m copy-pasting some of what I already have written into this lol

Part of the reason I wanted to do a comparison is because if you’ve read The Other Side of Things, which takes place in the DDAU (which is linked to the ⁂ universe) then you’re probably more familiar with that version of human Tempus (Tempest). And he’s way more cynical and jaded than vanilla Tempus. So some of what I say here might strike you as out of character. In reality, Tempest is just a prickly little bastard.

So. Tempus in the 🝮 universe. Specifically, his relationship with WD.

Tempus is a kind soul. And a little naive, maybe. Overly trusting of strangers. He doesn’t understand why people would willingly hurt each other, or how anyone could be selfish enough to treat others like they’re tools. (Part of his misgivings with human media are that the prime conflicts are so often based in horrific violence.)

Tempus wants to love and be loved. But he’s got a case of entertainer's syndrome and/or imposter syndrome, and is afraid that everything he is amounts to nothing more than masks on top of masks on top of masks, and that underneath it all, at the core of who he is, there's just... nothing. That he's an empty shell, a marionette. He’s afraid that everything he is is an act. He's giving and considerate of the people he loves, because he wants so desperately to be loved. But at the same time, he's too afraid to look inward in case he really is empty on the inside. He wants to be loved but is afraid that there isn't anything real, anything truly “him” to love. He wants to be wanted, needed, but because he doesn’t think “he” as a concept actually exists, deep down, he’s constantly afraid that people will “find out” and leave. Because there’s no substance to him. He reasons (probably unconsciously) that if he cannot be truly wanted, and is not needed, then he will become entertainment. So it's all this confusing mess of mixed signals (to everyone, I don’t just mean romantically) because he wants to be loved but is afraid of anyone actually getting close enough to know him and see him-- because what if there's nothing there? What if he allows himself to be unmasked and unraveled, and in doing so, he ceases to be?

This is where you can see him sort of mirror WD. Both of them want to some way to be who they are, to know who they are, both of them struggle for a sense of identity, and both of them feel trapped by roles that they have carved out for themselves. The difference is that WD never allowed himself to be anything more than what he thought he had to be, and so he thinks he knows who he is, but he doesn’t (because he hasn’t allowed himself to); and Tempus is afraid that he has no “self,” but he does because he has tried so hard to— he doesn’t recognize it though because he’s striven so hard to define it that it eludes definition. (As the self often does.) In both of their cases, there’s a tiny frightened part of them hiding away deep inside that just really needs to be nurtured and cared for, like, so so badly.

Both of them are afraid. Both of them are highly intelligent, talented people with warm hearts and love for the people close to them. Both of them feel unable to define themselves except by how others perceive them. Both of them are selfish in little ways, and care more for their family/loved ones than monsterkind at large. (Examples include Tempus wanting Seeker to stay because he loves her, even if it costs everyone’s chance at freedom; WD in that he constantly scolds Tempus for being out alone in Snowdin forest in case a human comes through (the underlying message there being, “I know someone will get hurt, or be killed, but I don’t care, I want it to be someone else so that it isn’t you.”))

Tempus and WD are very close. Or, they were. They’re closest in age, both of them have something at least semi-disabling (extra long tail + cracked lip + eye injury; severely impaired vision), both of them like creating things, both of them enjoyed the same stories growing up, and so on. When they were young, and WD actually played, they were pretty much inseparable. They know each other very well. Tempus knows that WD has a secret dramatic streak and is a way better singer than he gives himself credit for, that he secretly likes the villains in cartoons, and that he’s always nervous and constantly putting a lot of pressure on himself. WD knows that Tempus has always struggled with self-image issues, that he’s much sharper than he lets on, and that he attempts to smile through pretty much every single emotion because for as much as he likes attention, he’s afraid to be vulnerable.

But you see, the thing is, time distances people. Unless you make an effort to stay close, change just happens. These two were close for as long as they can even remember being conscious, they have always always known each other and had each other, even when they weren’t together. But it’s easy to take that for granted. It’s easy to think, “Yeah, I know this person. I’ve known them my whole life! Maybe we don’t hang out as much anymore, or maybe we don’t get along as well right now, or maybe they’re closer with other people, but it will pass— it always does. We’ll always understand each other. We can always pick back up like no time has passed.”

But then one day you look at this person you’ve always known and they’re not who you remember.

The deterioration of WD and Tempus’s relationship is mostly due to WD, but they both have a role in it. The other factor is just… life. WD stopped spending time with anyone, really. Through their teen years and the end of school, WD got more and more serious, more and more intense, more and more focused, and more and more afraid. He grew more isolated, pushed others away all the more as he obsessed over his studies. Through it all, his brothers and Tempus always had his back, made sure he ate, forced him to rest, etc. Their love was a given. Their presence was guaranteed. After all, why wouldn’t it be?

Tempus saw WD’s laser focus on his studies and was, of course, disappointed they couldn’t spend as much time together, but he understood. It gave him the opportunity to focus on his own studies. And besides, he reasoned, this wouldn’t last forever. They just had to get to college.

…They just had to get through the first semester.

…They just had to get through the first year.

…They just had to get through WD’s internship.

…They just had to graduate.

…They just had to settle into their jobs.

…They just need to make time…?

We’ve already talked about how WD is. We know he’s never going to make time. The more he accomplishes, the more there is to do. Through this all, Tempus gets ever more persistent. He’s got his own stuff going on with his family and siblings, so he would really like to be with his cousin, thanks. He can’t teleport or do anything fancy like WD (and Sans and Papyrus), so he just takes the ferry to Snowdin. Most every day. He doesn’t like to go home. Even when he finally gets his own apartment in New Home, he’s constantly over at his cousins’. He never stops trying to get WD’s attention.

“Look at what I made.” “Look at this dance I learned.” “Listen to this song.” “Come watch me skate, I finally landed a spin.” “Look I made you a desk toy so you don’t forget about me while you’re working. …Oh okay well that’s fine it didn’t take me very long anyway, I’ll give it to Sans.” “…Look at what I blew up.” “Look at this mistake I made, wasn’t that stupid?” “Look at this completely pointless thing I wasted my day building.” “Hey I’m at your house even though you don’t want me here. But I brought pizza.” “Look I’m on your couch again.”

Look I’m being annoying again, look I’m bothering you, look I’m needlessly endangering myself.

You still love me, right?

Well… that’s okay. But I’m still here, right?

…Am I still real?

Predictably, being irritating on purpose and/or intentionally dense gets the most reaction from WD. He knows Tempus isn’t this stupid or incapable! What has gotten into him!?

But WD doesn’t have time to care. He doesn’t let himself. Whatever phase Tempus is going through, it will pass. They’re both adults now, with important jobs, and less time. Maybe Tempus is just having a crisis or something. Maybe he’s trying to test the limits, find out how much he can get away with.

Well, he can get away with none of it!! He needs to do his work properly, and take this seriously! Is he trying to make WD’s life harder?? And then he shows up at their house! And does nothing but make a scene! All the time!!

So, WD just gets more irritated. And more stressed. He feels that because no one— even one of the people closest to him— is taking their work seriously, all the more falls onto him. (Were this anyone but family, he’d end up resentful rather than just irritated.) And so he works all the harder to “compensate.” In turn, he’s even less available. Which makes Tempus all the more eager for his attention and consequently get more and more outrageous with his attempts. Every scrap of attention, good or bad, is something.

Except, WD’s way of saying “I love you” is the fact that he hasn’t fired Tempus. Or reported him. And the fact that even if he gets short with him, even if he snaps or gets irritated, he never allows himself to resent Tempus. His affection is more in what he doesn’t do. It’s in the exceptions he makes. Even his reliance on his brothers’ + Tempus’s care for him was his way of saying “I trust you. I appreciate you. I know you’ll put up with me.” But that’s not how other people work. Especially not Tempus.

So, by the time Seeker shows up, WD and Tempus have grown apart. They just don’t realize how much. Neither of them do. Both of them assume the other is the same as they’ve always been, that this is just a rough patch they’re going through.

Now, I’m likely going to change how things go down, because I was not in a great place when I wrote the original story. (Ahaha. Obviously.) But as it stands, this is why it hits them both so hard when they finally see the ugly sides of each other again after so many years. Tempus sees that WD is willing to let lives be lost for the sake of his job, for his reputation, even if it’s someone Tempus cares about. He sees that WD isn’t just anxious anymore, he has let himself be consumed by his fear to the point that even his morals are deferent to it. WD sees that Tempus is not as forgiving as he used to be, not as willing to wait for an explanation from someone he cares about who hurt him, and not nearly as accepting of an attempt to make up. He sees that Tempus is not simply protective of who he cares about, he’s fierce about it. He’s angry. He’s no longer willing to overlook flaws if he’s been wounded; he’s not open to reconciliation. He has a poisonous streak of what looks an awful lot like hate in him, and he carries a grudge like nobody’s business.

The irony comes into play in that both Seeker and WD have a lot of anxiety, both of them attempt to reach an impossible standard and only hurt themselves (and others) in the process, and both of them hurt Tempus. But one of them is forgiven, and one is not.

Again, I’m probably going to change stuff, so I won’t get into all the dynamics of the fallout of that. I wrote a bunch of it out but it added several more paragraphs to this already very long post, and I still don’t exactly have a way to reconcile everything anyway, so… I’ll leave it here. The point of this was about Tempus and WD anyway. They both face these issues with identity and expectations, but one allows fear to blind and consume him, and the other deliberately takes actions against being “nothing,” even when he doesn’t feel like it’s working. They both work so hard trying to find a sense of self. For all WD never cultivated a self and is shaped by external expectations, he’s so within himself. For all Tempus wants to have something on the inside and for all he covers up, he’s so outside of himself. He won’t look inward, even though that’s where he needs to, because he’s expecting confirmation from the outside. WD won’t look outside of himself, even though he doesn’t even know what he wants on the inside and he needs to focus on other people, because all of this pressure is on him from the “outside” (it’s not) and he wants to somehow find an answer on the inside. Which isn’t possible because he won’t allow anything in to feed his soul. (Metaphorically.)

Neither of them are entirely balanced. Both of them are afraid and don’t communicate like they should. One talks all the time and the other hardly says more than irritated quips, and neither of them actually say what they really feel. And it tears them apart from the inside.

Whether or not it results in the same rift as I originally had written, or whether it’s something else, and whether or not whatever it is ends with some kind of reconciliation of their relationship… well, I don’t know yet. But this is ridiculously long as it is. Whether WD ends up a doomed character or not, I have yet to decide as well, but I agree with @leucoratia that it would be nice to see him recover from his mistakes…

[incredubious]

MODERN AU ACESAN !!!! first impressions with a guy who barely passes the No Shoes No Shirt No Service rule

[sergle]

ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE, people dropping mad mad sums of money on gfms and charities and stuff are extremely impressive but that DOES NOT MEAN that putting like $5 towards someone's fund or any good cause is any less valuable, a lot of crowdfunding is about momentum and those single digits add up super fast, you do not need to be Rolling In The Dough to make someone's day!! moving the dial at all is extremely positive!!

[magentasnail]

long distance

[rapidhighway]

the thing that caused me so much grief last night but now i feel better about it fdnghgdfggd

[egophiliac]

last chance to guess what the new round of birthday outfits will be!

[jinxnvi]

1.01 / 2.09

+

[torisprlng]

bonus:

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman Go Claws Out While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[fanaticalthings]

Bruce coming home one day to find Robin Jason clinging onto a chandelier with Dick below him cheering him on.

Bruce: Jason what are you doing?

Jason: Dick said that you missed his antics after he moved out and so he’s teaching me how to be a better son

Dick: After this we’re going to drive the Batmobile into the bay :D

Jason: We’re going to what? I mean yeah! Right into the water.

Jason trying to whisper to Dick: Dick I can’t swim though

This just further fuels the chaotic dynamic of Dick and Jason during a time where Dick was still going through his teenage angst and was absolutely not a benevolent role model LMAO

I mentioned it in this post, but it's just so funny to me to imagine a Jason who grew up with an absolutely WILD Dick Grayson as an older brother, while the younger batkids grew up with a more mellowed out and mature (arguable but when measured against the other kids, he wins by a landslide) Dick Grayson.

Robin!Jason era:

Dick: You wanna go out and get high?

Jason: I can't, I have homework.

Dick, sputtering: HOMEWORK?

----

Dick, about to do an elaborate (and totally not dangerous) acrobatic move in the manor: Watch this, littlewing

Jason: You shouldn't do that, it'll make Bruce upset.

Dick, on the brink of angry tears: Why are you like this.

----

Jason, dejected: Listen, I know you don't approve of me because you think I'm not good enough as Robin, but-

Dick: Not good enough as Robin? I don't care about that, I just think you're a little bitch

----

Dick taking Jason out on a hangout for the first time: OK, looks like I got my work cut out for me. Take out a notepad and write everything down. I will NOT have my successor embarrass me like this. So what you wanna do to piss off Bruce-

---

[Years later, Jason returning to Gotham with the fury of a thousand suns and the chaos to match it]: I'm gonna make your life a living HELL, Bruce

Dick, older and relatively more chilled out: Okayyyyy, maybe let's just– calm down a lil, haha, no need for the theatrics

Jason, betrayed, observing a Dick Grayson who is teaching his new younger siblings to behave and be mature: Dick, what the FUCK

-----

Present!Dick, mentoring Tim: Make sure not to be too impulsive, don't wanna raise Bruce's blood pressure

Red Hood!Jason spying on them from afar: Who even ARE you??

-----

Jason: So you teach me ALL of that, only to turn into the ONE thing you despised so greatly all those years ago

Dick, sweating: Well-

Jason: I'm ASHAMED. How can you be worthy of being called my PREDECESSOR?

[mythicalcoolkid]

You don't wish your disability was worse or more visible, you wish your disability was taken seriously. Please stop confusing the two, I guarantee you would not get the support you need JUST by being more severe or more visible. Please listen to visibly disabled people when we tell you it isn't better on our side

[krysmcscience]

Call this the Whoopsie AU (it's barely an AU)

I mean. Narinder never explicitly SAID the Lamb would stay dead... :3c He probably should have been more specific. >:3c

Part Two:

Well. The Lamb tried, but...sorry, Nari, the crown hates you now. Shouldn't have been so quick to lend it out, I guess. :D

Aaaand Part Three:

'Isn't he just adorable?' -The Lamb, probably, while their followers smile and nod and internally scream at the brand new hellcat they now have to share living space with...

Anyway, nothing says 'Dead To Me' like following a person around to loudly remind them of how dead they are to you. Right? Right. Narinder's got this all figured out. <:]

[chloesimaginationthings]

FNAF movie Mike meets Jeremy Fitzgerald

[bloominglegumes]

i love normal guys doomed by the narrative

[improvapocalyps]

You have 90 minutes to complete. (original poem: r.a.)

In participation of the MCYT Recursive Exchange 2024 hosted by @mcytrecursive!

Inspired by know that all my love will be your breath (i will save you when your lights go out)

[text under cut]

1. Have you ever been in love? (Please circle your answer.) a. It's me and him b. Our hearts beat in sync c. Our lives intertwined

2. Do you understand what you’ve done? (Please circle your answer.) a. I couldn't do anything b. I lost my balance c. I doomed us both

3. It's been god knows how long since you felt phantom hands on your neck and there is no one in sight. If you were soul-bound to him and both of you died at the same time then why are you still waiting in the void? Please answer clearly, in full sentences. (Not a correct answer：I just wanted to see him one more time).

4. Define two (2)： Fate | The feeling of his forehead against yours Curse | The moment you realise he isn't linked to you anymore

5. True or False： i. It was your fault. ii. You wish you had met him under different circumstances. iii. You can’t regret a single moment that you had him. iv. You would do it all over again if you could. v. It ended long before either of you said anything.

thumbnails:

sketch cover thing for imgur link:

[krowbby]

Ankh-Morpork Dashboard Simulator

happy 40th anniversary everyone 🥳🥳

🌅peach-bi-street

who’s that watchman who’s kinda skrunkly

🐀↺riverrat Follow

helen. 

HELEN. ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT NOBBY NOBBS.

🌅↺peach-bi-street

oh yeah

#are you gonna look at me and tell me that im WRONG?

24 notes

🪙official-c.m.o.t.☑️☑️Sponsored with Blaze

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590 notes

🚹humantwitter Follow

4,981 notes

💌postal-service-top Follow

saw the postmaster today in his stupid gold suit. hes so hot

🌚↺lesbianbaker

i don’t get why people say this he’s the most average looking guy ever. his WIFE however

#you know that post that’s like ur at a lesbian bar and a hot older woman is smoking #and ur like. ‘can yuo put that out on me’ #yeah

120 notes

🥁evenmoremendeddrum Follow

do you guys think the patrician has a secret blog

🛤️↺makeyefret Follow

No, but I bet his secretary is on studyblr

🐶↺wufflesgirl Follow

are you kidding me the patrician is definitely on tumblr. brb committing treason so i can compliment his shoelaces

🥁↺evenmoremendeddrum Follow

peer-reviewed tags

#lord vetinari if ur reading this is legally a joke #wear an owl pin if ur one of us

🏚️↺ankhmorporkheritageposts Follow

Ankh-Morpork Heritage Post

1,074,228 notes

trainhoe-deactivated19890205

hot take but i kind of think the guild of assassins and thieves are problematic. like one of them you could ruin someone’s life and the other one you’re literally KILLING people. i know rich people are delusional but i can’t believe they literally think the best school for their kids is murder college.

🐲essential-dragons Follow

assassins got them

20,391 notes