#clear belle

[c-kiddo]

thinking abt this .. the panic :( the way he just holds onto himself :( just tells himself theres work to do : (

also look at the little beetle carapace belle left for him :(((((

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

the conflict, the drama, the angst, catch it all next time on CR

[fashionsfromhistory]

Boots

1880s

Italian

The MET (Accession Number: C.I.42.24.4)

[acespeon]

say what you will about Dipper and Ford being the smart twins, but Dipper's first instinct at the beginning of the apocalypse was to punch Bill in the eye

he didn't get that from Ford he got that from Stan

[revvethasmythh]

may you always have a friend like travis at your table, who will whoop with utter joy when you commit to making an objectively bad decision

[liz-wes]

Holy hell... we're in trouble. So much trouble.

THE ARTFUL DODGER, 1.06 "Bully in the Alley"

[spidey-official]

guys im like insanely single. stop asking about deadpool and torch and daredevil and whoever the fuck else you guys think i have a thing with. i do not. i, instead, have this very cool thing called a civilian identity. who is so, insanely not interested in revealing himself to the general public, which also means keeping work and play separate. calm down and leave me alone about it

[carouselunique]

Introducing the one taking the place of Sunburst in the AU: Bon Bon! She still thinks about her old friend Lyra and hopes she's alright...

[abitcaughtinthemiddle]

Listen- do these BH/M9/VM mission preparing episodes feel like fan service? Yes, yes absolutely.

But I am a fan and I am being serviced

[24-jay-42]

Ashton is not contradicting himself, in fact he is being incredibly consistent.

Ashton is a punk. Now we all have preconceived and general ideas about punk and what it means, But Taliesin has stated multiple times that punk in Exandra is different then punk in our world as The injustices in Exandra are different to the injustices in our world, at least where it concerns Ashton. Taliesin Has described punk in Exandra as quote:

“Life’s not fair. And either you believe that life’s not fair because life is chaos or you believe life’s not fair because there’s a bunch of interventionist assholes above you who have decided you don’t get to be a winner, for whatever reason.— Is it a world Where there are winners and Losers or is this a world where there are Interventionist gods who are like ‘You.’ ‘Not you’"

This is doubled down with the fact that there is seemingly no clear reasoning as to why the gods choose who they like and don’t choose who they like. At least not in any reasoning common folk know of and understand. 

Ashton also has always somewhat respected the Matron of Ravens, Because she is the only god that always keeps her promises and because she is the only goddess who will have to face every single mortal at some point while the other gods get to play favourites. 

Doesn’t help the fact that despite begging a god for help throughout almost all their life, the only time Ashton has actually witnessed divine intervention was when an angel was sent to smite him and his friends down for removing a colonial unwanted ministry from a Village. Of course that would fuel the perspective that the gods are self-serving and only interested in their own gain. 

Which is fair. Why is one person who cries out in pain granted divine repreval and guidance while someone else experiencing the same pain is left to fend for themselves? Why do the gods get to have it both ways where they can plead non-intervention in some cases but intervening in others when it serves them. 

This isn’t about being ‘Deities Specialist Boy’ This is about "Why do you get to decide who is somebody and who is nobody? Why do you decide who is ‘Special’ and who is not with seemingly no reasoning as to why? (other than self interest)."

Ashton literally said himself, to paraphrase: “The gods never chose me so i am not going to choose them. I will Listen which is more than They ever did”

Which he’s been true to. He’s listened to both the Arch Heart and the Raven Queen. The gods that approached him and the rest of the bells Hell and directly to ask for their help.

Which moves onto my next point: The Gods have No checks and Balances. So the gods are free to do whatever they like with no one able to stop them.

As we saw in downfall, and to quote Brennan Lee Mulligan “The Lord of the Hells and the Dawnfather have more love between them then either of them has for [Mortals]” and if you’re a mortal that is horrifying. Because no matter how much suffering they cause, no matter how much love the primes have for mortality, the Prime deities will never put a permanent end to the betrayer gods. They will always live another day to cause misery because the primes don’t have the heart to stop them.

And no one can do anything about that fact.

The Last beings that dared challenge the Gods, the Primordial Titans who were Exandra's original inhabitants and had much of a right to be there and have a say in what’s happening as the primes, Got smited into oblivion. There are no living Primordial Titans anymore. And why is that? Because When the primordials took issue with the gods giving the mortals that inhabited their planet magic and tried to do something about it and take back what was originally theirs, the primes buried them. 

Is there more nuance to it than that? Absolutely. But that is not a stretch of a viewpoint to come to. 

Of course Ashton is going to be attracted to these grand powers that are separate from the Gods, that the gods fear. The Primordials, The Luxon. Because these are the few things that might be able to keep the gods in check, because they sure as hell aren’t doing it themselves. 

And just to address one more thing before I Finish this post. I’ve seen a few post along the lines of “The Gods don’t owe Anyone anything/Don’t have to do anything for anyone”...

Then What’s the Point of having them?

[wildwren]

my hot take is that i actually believe this is true. not necessarily in the sense that jack loves her less -- he's obviously unhinged about it -- but in the sense that belle just has so much more access to love than he does. she can admit her own feelings to herself, she can say what she wants much more easily than he can. and this certainly comes in part from her bravery and emotional vulnerability, but like so many other things, it also comes from her privilege -- the privilege of having been loved without ever having been abandoned. even in the power of their love, they are unequal, even in this she benefits. their honest, true, and mutual love saves her life; it ruins his. nothing about them can ever be neutral.

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

Okay listen, I'm real tired of seeing that post that's like "actually bell hooks was talking about how we raise boys" and other miscontrusions of what it is that The Will to Change is about.

So directly from the source, from bell hooks herself in the preface:

"The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love is about our need to live in a world where women and men can belong together. Looking at the reasons patriarchy has maintained its power over men and their lives, I urge us to reclaim feminism for men, showing why feminist thinking and practice are the only way we can truly address the crisis of masculinity today. In these chapters I repeat many points so that each chapter alone will convey the most significant ideas of the whole. Men cannot change if there are no blueprints for change. Men cannot love if they are not taught the art of loving.

It is not true that men are unwilling to change. It is true that many men are afraid to change. It is true that masses of men have not even begun to look at the ways that patriarchy keeps them from knowing themselves, from being in touch with their feelings, from loving. To know love, men must be able to let go the will to dominate. They must be able to choose life over death. They must be willing to change."

I ain't wading headfirst into the discourse here. This isn't to state some opinion, but to correct the record about what bell hooks was talking about.

No one is saying you have to agree with her, but don't misconstrue what it is she wrote about to make it look like she agreed with you. The Will to Change is not solely about how we raise boys; it is also about men and the will of men to change.

[song-of-baldy-ron]

I feel like it’s getting missed among everything but let’s be clear: the #1 reason Laudna tried to steal the sword was to claim its power

She rationalized it with another true statement that the sword was a symbol of what they faced with Otohan and that Orym shouldn’t have claimed it without speaking to the group first, but her goal was to absorb it and give it to Delilah

She is great at choosing her words carefully

[roguedemonwatcher]

Gosh, the parallels between Lilliana and Laudna - delicious. Like both are aiding powers they claim to hate, trying to keep them at bay in their own way, and clinging to this idea that they don’t have a choice in the matter. Both necessary tools in Ludinus and Delilah’s schemes (that both Ludinus and Delilah resent on some level), both drawing power and respect from them, and both telling themselves this is the best way forward, that THEY are the ones using the other to protect those they hold dear. 

And what’s even MORE fascinating is that Imogen finally has seen this bullshit for what it is in Lilliana, even if she understands her mother loves her, but is still afraid to confront it in Laudna. Imogen is still her mother’s daughter and has that same naivety of thinking she can navigate through it all - the naive promise of a happy ending somewhere down the line.

[revvethasmythh]

sam romancing himself as a one man show is. it really is. this is something else, man

[quipxotic]

On the one hand Ashton hates and distrusts authority figures because most of the ones he’s known (with a handful of notable exceptions since meeting Bell’s Hells) have been assholes who have used and/or hurt them.

On the other hand, down deep (or maybe not so deep, really) Ashton is still the orphaned child constantly searching for a parent’s love and approval.

If the Bright Queen ever figures that out, she’s going to be able to manipulate them into doing whatever she wants. Forget having to have Chet or a bounty hunter deliver Ash to her, he’ll walk into that gilded cage willingly. Add into the bargain the chance to understand themselves better and no longer be a risk to the people he cares about? They’d be lost before they even realized they’d given away their freedom.

Assuming they all survive the upcoming missions, Bell’s Hells should start working on their rescue plans asap. Luckily, they’re about to meet a crew of adventurers who might have some useful advice for them.