#dunk actually makes me feel genuinely unhinged

[secriden]

I genuinely feel like I'm losing my mind about the opening scene in THK's Episode 6. Like, look at them, just look at them!!!?

Style is all playful, anticipatory defiance at first. He's just teased Fadel about falling for his "overdramatic" antics and has been shoved back onto the bed to wait with bated breath for Fadel's response.

And rather than getting annoyed, Fadel teases him right back, takes on that same flirtatious tone and actually escalates things. This is Fadel not merely appreciating the way Style is -- the way he never quits, and the way he is always eager for more -- but welcoming it and responding in kind.

Style's gaze goes half-lidded, already tipsy-drunk on the thrumming energy between them. I won't screenshot the whole exchange, but Fadel continues the metaphor, talks about the importance of exercise, of building up stronger muscles, and Style's eyes throughout are glinting in delighted amusement.

Fadel has learned to speak the same language that Style does. This goes beyond a knowledge of mutual desire and attraction, this is them falling into patterns of communication that celebrates who Style is as a person. Fadel has come so far from the man who rolled his eyes in annoyance at Style's obnoxious flirting. Fadel would never have spoken this way before he knew Style, but here he is playing Style own game brilliantly.

Style teases Fadel more, plays coy and innocent like they don't both know this is about sex and the natural progression of the metaphorical glove Style threw first. He wants to see how far Fadel will take this, wants to see if Fadel is going to back off or if he'll really see it through.

But Fadel doesn't crack, doesn't change the topic or dismiss the moment. Instead, he turns earnest and, I think, slightly catches Style by surprise here. The words he says are still in line with the metaphor, but Fadel's eyes run over Style's face like he's taking in each precious feature and his tone is all whisper soft and warm; it’s sweetly affectionate in a way that suddenly makes this flirtatious moment feel tender and fond and soft.

And the words themselves: “you need to exercise daily" -- an unspoken commitment, the domesticity of it all, the implicit acknowledgement of belonging. The suggestion of a permanent future with Style.

God I wish I could gif this specific 1-2 seconds so badly. I don't even have the right words to describe what's going on?? It's the way Style's eyes turn molten with intent, the way he ever so slightly tips his head upwards towards Fadel, the way something about his expression is suddenly broadcasting desire for Fadel to reach out and take.

So Fadel does, but the way he does is just so delicate?? He touches his lips to Style's almost like a prayer, gaze locked to Style's before both their eyes fall shut into the kiss. This moment is so exquisitely fragile, threaded through with this sense of something like wonder.

Fadel presses his lips down, first to Style's lips and then his cheek and the vulnerable bared column of his neck; slowly draws himself closer and closer until he has his whole weight pinning Style down, skin to sun-warmed skin (and heart to heart).

And Style welcomes every moment of it; tilts his head to give Fadel more access to his neck, runs his hand up along Fadel's back to cradle his head and pull him closer as he lets Fadel settle himself more firmly between his legs because he just can't get enough.

This scene is less than 30 seconds long, but there's something about it that makes me feel insane. It didn't have any of the heated passion and ferocity of so many of their other scenes, but there was something just so tender and lovely and soft and calm and sweet about this.

I'm just-- gonna-- *buries my face into a pillow and sCREAMS*

[technofeudalism]

i'll be honest. i am feeling bitter today. wall of text coming.

i was going through the "Bernie Bro" tag earlier and sincerely thought about reblogging the most unhinged takes i could find from as far back as 2015 just to prove a point.

but after i started looking at them, i realized that almost all of the users are still active today and making pro-Joe Biden posts as early as this week and i couldn't do it. i don't want those problems.

however... i could not resist sharing a part of one. this is a post from the 2016 primaries. i am 100% not trying to dunk on anyone. i am just trying to show people who do not remember or were not around the conversations that were happening at the time. then maybe you will understand why people to the left of you get so frustrated.

this post is a total of 1,163 words. it is from a fandom blog. you may be asking: is this a story? shipping controversy? it's february 2016... perhaps an appeal on health care policy? here is the title:

and here is an excerpt:

here is the meme that caused the offense:

prefacing this by saying that Bernie has let me down greatly in the last couple of years, especially with Gaza. but that's not what this post is about. maybe another time. i have plenty of critical things to say. but this is genuinely mind blowing to me.

even putting aside the absurdity of it all - making a post about this in the middle of a presidential election where Donald Trump is running for the first time - research at the time and in recent years concluded that, while there were small groups of very online, red pill Sanders supporters that exist in almost every political space (a few of these guys later fell straight down the alt-right pipeline), they were never the majority or even close to being it.

despite the smears, this was not a real issue pervasive in Bernie's campaign. it was pointed out by a diverse group of journalists in 2016 and 2020 that it was an example of the media coaxing the middling progressive movement in the US to start knifing each other so that the Democrats could appoint their corporate-controlled candidate. they had Bill Clinton on CNN saying it!

and it worked. first it was Hillary, then it was Biden. as a bonus, it irreparably stained Bernie's reputation with some women who, understandably, were concerned about things they heard on CNN or MSNBC where this narrative was being pushed around the clock.

this post has over 1200 notes. not a ton. but i found plenty of others about other topics that had tens of thousands. most of them were also very silly. some actually had legitimate criticisms but they were few and far between. same trend i saw in 2024 after Biden dropped out. it feels like nothing has really changed in a decade. not for the better.

i am of the opinion that you cannot spend all of your time fighting ghosts while your opponent is punching you in the face. you will always lose. Bernie may have not beaten Trump - either time. but misogyny, sexism, racism and any other form of discrimination or hate will always be incompatible and will never have a place in a genuine socialist movement. you have to trust that we can hold individuals within our communities accountable for their actions and stay disciplined in our message. there is no other way out of this.

[sorcerous-caress]

Honestly your blog is the only BG3 blog I check daily. (Dam you- for having me check tumblr everyday now)

Now for an ask. What do you think Selunite!Shadowheart- Were!shadowheart, Minthara and Gale (bonus Karlach) would react to a Dark Urge Tav who has apparently an insane questionable and despicable past (regarding the in game apparent sexual relation to Orin and necrophelia unfortunately, which mind blown from a player perspective)

- undecided anon

-

This actually means a lot to me that you're interested enough in my thoughts and writing to check it out every day <3 as much as it feals like I'm yelling into the void sometimes, it's nice to remember there are actual people on the other end in the void who are silently listening.

Thank you for telling me this, words genuinely fail me when it comes to describing how these small comments make me happy.

Now, mention of dark topics below cut

Including Necrophilia, Incest, Exhibition, Gore, Murder, Torture, Body fluids, Animal abuse, and Vivisections

Durge is genuinely unhinged. Through all the flashbacks and hints we see of their past through the game, one is more horrible than the last.

They dunked their butler's head into the open bladder of the guy they were preforming a vivisection on and choked him in their piss because he made a mistake. Source from the noblestalk flashback.

The sexual implications of their relationship with Gortash, a tyrant who killed and enslaved endless people. I don't recall the Orin implications but taking your words on it, it would kind of be considered incest since she is also a bhaalspawn. She is even a product of incest herself.

They have a long history of animal abuse and mistreatment, too. They aren't below preying on souls weaker than them. The cat on the rooftop in moonrise towers who mentions how Durge kicked her a lot, also the squirrel in act 1.

What they did to Alfira too.

Shadowheart, Minthara, and maybe arguably Karlach have a dark past. All of them have murdered and tortured people in the past.

Minthara

Minthara is the most extreme out of them. Not only did she participate in the cruel nature of drow culture, but also the fact she doesn't exactly see anything wrong with it. Yes, her crimes, her own crimes, not the ones she was brainwashed to commit, pale in comparison to Durge, but it still would make any sane good person turn away from her.

She doesn't react much to Durge's cruelty through the game. If anything, she encourages it and at times turned on by it. I don't think she would encourage Necrophilia and incest but those might be her only hard no. The rest like gore and turtore is not a deal breaker to her.

Minthara is the companion that Durge could be the most free with when it comes to following their dark urges. As long as they don't hold the knife to her own throat. She does think it is freaky and weird of Durge but she is used to freaky and weird from drow culture.

Her moral compass does exist. It's mostly evil. Her only deal breakers are when you betray her own trust, if you hurt other people she doesn't care.

She used to be in love with Orin, even worshipping her. Ingame. But Orin betrayed her trust so Minthara loathed her from that day on.

Although I have a feeling that she condems needless cruelty, sure, sate your appetite, but don't let it consume you. If you can't seize control over your own urges when it matters, then how are you any different from a frenzied mutt? Control yourself and prove to her you are a sane person and she will stay with you.

Shadowheart

Back in her Sharran days, she admits to torturing and breaking prople. She lied and manipulated do many people to get her way and to serve Shar.

It would be hypocritical of her to judge you on your past, no matter how much darker it is than hers in comparison. Especially a Selunite Shadowheart who would feel like she owes her life to you interference back at the nightsong confrontation.

But a Selunite Shadowheart wouldn't indulge your dark urges, she will only forgive your past. If you still seek bloodlust then either let her help you through it, or both of you can go your separate ways.

That's only after the ending tho, during your travel days, she will turn a blind eye to your gorey displays and chalk it up to the cruel road you've faced. She will give you the benfit of the doubt until the city is saved.

Her parents still had hope in her seeing the truth one day and waking up, so she tries to extend the same courtesy to you for as much as she can.

A Werewolf Shadowheart would fall into the same category if she had ended up a Selunite. Although being a werewolf and all, she will relate to your struggle more than normal Shadowheart ever could. She also has urges that steer her to darker thoughts and desires that she battles everyday, the two of you can get through this together.

Karlach

Now her case is...very speical. Technically, she committed no sins or crimes on her own because she was enslaved during her time fighting in the demon wars. Yet still she killed many, she has never developed an appetite for blood because of it.

She doesn't shy away from killing tho, it's an average everyday thing for her now. She will kill and fight if she had to in order to survive.

But, because she has lived among demons, even got almost close to befriending one, she has seen much worse than anything Durge could've ever done.

Incest and Necrophilia barely scratch the surface of what devils get down to. Let alone the humiliation and truely sickening things they force upon their victims. Karlach bared witness to all of that.

She wants Durge to change, not to end up like these devils. She reassures them that they are better than this, that they have the strength to change and not go down this disgusting road.

She isn't phased by it like Minthara, but unlike Minthara, she never endorsed or participated in the cruelty around her.

I think she'll have a heart to heart with Durge about it. Try to get them to see people as real people with souls and emotions, not just cattle for slaughter.

A single life is very precious, especially to someone like her who was robbed of their own life. She will never forgive Durge for robbing an innocent person out of their life.

But she would definitely freak out over the Gortash relationship thing, because more of personal reasons. You fell in love with that monster as he is? The same man who robbed her of her own heart and betrayed her trust? She would genuinely break down.

Gale

He is a very very speical case.

Gale is naive in a way. Not to infantilise him, but he tends to view the world through rose colored lenses. Part to being human, another part to having lived in the lap of luxury and privilege.

Gale saw the best of what the world had to offer, Gale fell in love with a zealous benevolent goddess who's good alligned, Gale was isolated in one of the richest cities in Faerun with rich scholars for friends.

Gale thought Minthara was just misunderstood when he met her.

He is aware of good and evil, he just has such a distorted view of evil that he never recognises it when it's face to face with him. He forgets that evil people can be charming, beautiful and funny and they might just be his own friends.

In his world view, he is good, therefore anything and everything he interacts with willingly must be good.

He is delusional.

And it doesn't help that life and sheer luck only encouraged his delusions, only soldified his views that bad people can be quelled by ordering everyone a shot at the tavren and that no one truly would wish to harm someone else given the chance right?

He will make endless excuses for Durge's past. So many far-fetched justifications to fit you into the box of good people he keeps in his orbit.

That is, if Durge never confronts him with their present urges to still participate in bloodshed.

Otherwise he will just downplay your confessions of guilt and brush off your unsettling comments. Always going the extra mile to give you all the benfits to the doubt.

Unless you make him face the cold truth reality in the form of a slaughtered grove of innocent people.

Even then, while he particpated, his delusions still make excuses for you, telling him there must be a reason for all of this, he just has to have faith in you.

Ans in the aftermath when it's just him and you, kneedeep in gore at camp. He revolts at the sight of you, sneers and glares into your face. Fully blaming everything on YOU. That YOU must be corrupting him, fully driving his agenda that he is good and will always be good! It's you who is responsible for his own actions.

It's also these delusions of him being a good person that inflate his ego enough to let him persure the crown of Karsus, that makes him think he is beyond the corruption of greed while simultaneously blaming any and all of his actions that he doesn't like onto Durge and saying they must've corrupted him.

He isn't just ignorant, he is choosing to remain ignorant.

Durge can manipulate a power hungry Gale into staying with them even while they openly bathe in the remains of corpses. If they feed into his delusions.

[theelliottsmiths]

Could you please liveblog the making of Amerika?

Yes

I'm anticipating complaining about the penis zip guy already

Did you know that for a long time as a child I thought the English version was the real version? Cause I did

The bit where they're putting the paint on their faces is weirdly cute even though Richard looks kind of silly

Flake grow out your long hair pleaseee just like. A cute little bob again. I would listen to him talk for hours honestly I like the way he pronounced the words and his tone language doesn't matter

You can always tell by how he holds his face vs his eyes when he's joking "that's what this song is for: to sneak ourselves into their hearts" i feel like they have done that pretty well. For some reason it seems like most of the American fans are from the Midwest but maybe that's just coincidence

Rammstein saying they have no message except "Fleisch, Fleisch" or "ja" or "ich will" I forgot this entire thing is ceaseless dunking and sarcasm

i like the sounds he makes like the. There's a name for them what is it. The noises you make between words for emphasis etc? Those

"America was so fucking annoying we felt the need to call them out on it"

Oli talks a little like he's trying not to yawn. Them saying the war was on while they were in the practice room is strange considering how long the various wars had been going on just from like a born in the late 90s living in 2020 perspective

Ah yes you really were. So subtle. It's very. Clever many double meanings

"sehr gut, Till". :).

The sehnsucht thing tickles me so much he starts off by saying yes it's better to leave things up for interpretation and naturally my brain assumes he means the well thought out probably not true but poetic stuff, right, and then he goes on to say Americans thought sehnsucht was chainsaw and I cannot

The knife also is good.

In a way Amerika as a video is a precursor Ausländer and I like seeing how it compares because its

AS I WAS TYPING THAT OLI SAID THE WORD AUSLÄNDER

Oli does not seem happy to have his words captured At All

I wonder how many people did the Deutschland thing and went straight to saying it's racist without thinking through the reasons behind what they were doing (at least in part criticising American racism) I'm pretty sure l've seen someone complain about it somewhere like it was serious, I think on Reddit around the time the Ausländer Making of came out? Which is why I bring it up

"we wanted to make it clear that it wasn't a love song so these lyrics are perfect" Till: literally just saying this is not a love song

I would like to see them perform a cheer in proper cheerleader costumes instead of the uncomfy stickman Deutschland dance that makes me cringe my skeleton right out of my skin in 2021 please

The juxtaposition of Richards pro-america comments and flakes sarky comments about how nice the urinals are is so reminiscent of that post that's like America where freedom is the choice between thirty kinds of bread that you can't afford to buy

I was going to make a Regan's grave joke but I do prefer to keep that one for Margaret Thatchers grave

I like schneiders hair at this length

Schneiders capacity to oscillate so wildly between being a vacant dumbass and saying intelligent and thought out things is ceaselessly amazing

Saying it's hard because "it's like a punk concert for them" Jörn my guy my dude almost all of them were in punk bands I just checked and this was 2004 Feeling b only broke up in the 90s do you literally just mean Oli (I do not remember if there was any punk going on in the Inchtabokatables) or

Schneider is making it look so easy was he truly just so -_- about feeling b that he can be completely calm in the face drumming that fast? Cause we know usually his fast drumming involves screaming faces and or actual screaming I swear he does and it's just not hearable under the music sidenote he sings along sometimes and if he does it out loud I NEED to hear it

Richard when it's slowed down looks uh. Looks like he's eh. Hm. Is that the real reason people are so into guitarists?

I don't know which part of the sentence Glasses Paul says in that louder voice (schossen? Is he saying that/shot?) but I do like it if I knew more German I would take on way more Rammstein things as echoes you have no idea how much time I spend saying es reicht wenn hier so 'nen fleischfarbenen Draht lang legst which If that's wrong it's exactly what I was told he said so please correct it but it's not my fault unless you consider it my fault for not knowing enough German in which case it is my fault

But anyway yes hes Talking like its a museum tour and in his little glasses and shirt and everything he is totally playing the part of unhinged historian which is the best kind of historian honestly if you're going to be academic in nature you might as well be fucking mental

I want to know what vibes his speech gives off in German because to me he in English and German seems very theatrical in the way he talks? Including how much he rolls his rs it's very... Showy? But maybe not actually?

I forget how many videos Jörn has shot with them honestly

What do you do with this ash sand once your finished with? Some of them had kids I'd have taken it home and pretended it was real moon dust or something

They really go for it when they decide to do something like this and it really is admirable. It's rare they'll half-ass something and even when if feels like their director has they don't themselves

Richard looks very handsome in his space suit before they hang him up

Pretti

He looks like a marionette now nevermind

THIS FUCKER

I just. Do. Not. Enjoy this man I'm sorry to you and the mullet man I'm sure he's great but for fucks SAKE man he

TILL LITERALLY SAYS DONALD SUTHERLAND POINTS TO HIS DICK AND MIMES ZIPPING YOU KNOW WHAT HE'S FUCKING TALKING ABOUT SO WHY DO YOU LOOK SO CONFUSED

YOU TOLD HIM THE STORY YOU KNOW WHY HES SAYING DONALD SUTHERLAND AND POINTING TO HIS PENIS WHY ARE YOU SO GORMLESS

Look. I have nothing against Americans individually B is American Nick is American i love them dearly i know also other Americans a lot of you guys are Americans and I love you lots but here's the thing why are Americans like this

If it's not in English the brain turns off even if the context is obvious it's like when English people see Welsh/English signs and are so anti-welsh that they don't acknowledge that they're also in English and get angry that they don't know where they are

The sweetest little face though!

Softest boy ever besides Rosenrot Till

Till gets bored of the guy and decides to tell a story about a dick it's very him

This is the hair I think of when I think of Till this is the quintessential till haircut no?

God I do dislike this man

Tills voice is so so high here I adore him so completely it's so soft and high and the song is Not

If you're trying to learn how to say L sounds like a German I feel like richard is the easiest one to copy? Unless they're all weirdos and no other German says L sounds like that. Him and flake.

Flakes smile is more cheerful than Paul's there I said it

I know it's not foreshadowing but Jörn foreshadowing Ausländer

Richard talking about America's tendancy to exaggerate is really interesting since that's something the community as a whole seems to agree is a personality trait of his. They didn't fight, they almost broke up. He hates touring and yet he loves touring. Is that why he likes it there or is living there why he's like that?

Can you casually buy ten litres of orange juice? The boys are busy they cannot confirm and Google does not understand what I'm asking

Yeah Richard and Till, get closer

Knife

Schneiders handprint

I forgot about "there was a rumour in the DDR that America didn't exist" what is it with Germany and conspiracies about places not existing I'm there are tears in my eyes I genuinely I never watch this one flake is so fucking funny

Till talking pictures of the others

It's better than I give it credit for in my memory is there anything they've made that is in not a single way entertaining? I feel like no

Thank you for asking for this one it was every fun actually

[asterythm]

of delirium and dandelions // 1.1: e = mc scared

Title: Of Delirium and Dandelions Pairing: N/A Word Count: 2.5k Chapter Summary: In which a plan is proposed to an unwilling partner. General Summary: Ah -- what a shame. Patton's gotten his new apron dirty, and dried bloodstains are just so difficult to wash out, you see. Warnings: insanity, threats, blackmailing, blood, needles (the sewing kind), absolutely atrocious pacing, italics abuse

In retrospect, the signs had all been there — that is, signs that today would not be exactly like other days. They had just been too slight to notice unless one was actively looking for them.

Unfortunately for him, Logan had not been looking.

But they were undeniably there. The air had held a certain quality of heaviness so that every breath was not quite enough to satisfy. A metallic tang hung on the tail end of every word he’d exchanged with Virgil that morning. The subtlest notes of apprehension laced the walls and floor like a thread of fragile fairy lights, barely there unless you were looking for them, blinking out an unsteady tune: dot-dot-dot/dash-dash-dash/dot-dot-dot. It was almost as if the mindscape itself had known what was coming, and was trying to warn them in its own abstract way.

Alas; poor Logan hadn’t caught the hazy messages of the mindscape. One might be inclined to wonder what might have happened if he had, but the fact remained unchangeable that he simply had not. It was quite useless to cling to might-haves.

So what exactly did happen? Now that, my dear, is a fine question.

  xxx

  Logan flipped yet another page of his novel, a bored expression on his face. Although the cover had advertised a thrilling horror story, Logan had discovered rather quickly that the contents of the story did not meet his expectations. A compelling plot had been destroyed by watering it down with too many words and not nearly enough action. Logan wasn’t finding himself to be too fond of the writing.

So when he heard Patton come in, he was grateful for the distraction. Of course, he didn’t want to let it show too much — he didn’t want Patton to think that it would always be acceptable behaviour to interrupt him when he was in the midst of reading.

“Hello, Patton. Do you require something from me?” He asked, not looking up from his novel, the very definition of cool indifference. Logan assumed that Patton had finally come to ask for advice on whatever had been causing him to act so abnormally as of late. It was about time, honestly — Thomas had been experiencing heavy mood swings as a result of whatever Patton was having trouble with, and if Patton hadn’t come to find him today, Logan probably would have confronted him anyway.

“Oh, how kind of you. You’re so considerate, Logan.”

The words themselves weren’t too much out of the ordinary, but there was a hollow, unhinged quality to Patton’s voice that made Logan shudder involuntarily. He glanced up from his page.

And froze.

Morality stood with his arms twitching at his sides and his head tilted at an unnatural angle. His eyes were wild and clouded, a too-wide smile stretching from cheek to pallid cheek. The moral Side was in far, far worse shape than the last time Logan had seen him — when was the last time Logan had seen him? He hadn’t really been keeping track.

Logan was starting to regret that now.

“Patton?” he faltered. A sense of uncertainty beginning to make itself known, Logan slowly lowered the book. “Patton, are you alright? You’re… scaring me a little bit.”

“Well, I should certainly hope I am!” the other Side giggled. The face belonged to Patton. The voice did not. “So nice to hear that you do care after all.”

“Patton, what are you… what do you mean?”

The Patton-who-was-not-quite-Patton leaned in, close enough that Logan could feel warm breath tickling his ear. “You know, I was really starting to wonder if you noticed anything at all. How silly of me, right? You see everything . It’s just that you never really act. You just watch. Seems a little useless to be so observant when you never do anything.” Every syllable dripped with sour maliciousness.

Logan was starting to panic. Who was this strange imposter who had come into his room, wearing Patton’s face, carrying Patton’s voice? He opened his mouth — perhaps to cry for help, perhaps just to cry — but before he could, a feather-light finger fluttered down and came to rest on Logan’s lips. The sudden touch paralyzed him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Logan registered the similarity of his current captor’s demeanour with that of a formidable predator, perhaps a lion, playing with his food before the kill.

But the next words that came out of the wild beast’s mouth were unexpected and almost seemed to carry notes of genuine concern. “I really do love you, Logan. You love me too, don’t you?”

Logan blinked, confused, a muffled sort of hysteria growing stronger by the second. “I— yes, of course, but—”

Patton’s mirthless smile grew even wider, a feat that Logan wouldn’t have thought possible. “Oh, that just thrills me to hear! I care about you so much, Logan. I would do anything for you. You can say the same for me, right? If I asked you to do a tiny little job for me, would you do it?”

Logan’s instincts screamed at him that he shouldn’t speak — that anything he said would only end up being used against him. But this… this monster chilled him to his core in a way that he’d never known.

Logan’s breathing came quick and shallow now, unsteady gasps murmuring in-out-in-out at a pace almost matching the turmoil of thoughts swirling in and out of focus. Words were forming and bubbling in his chest, pushing up, up, up, demanding to be let out — or was that just another scream?

He needed to release the phantoms, or they’d rip their way out themselves. A raw, almost primitive, need to survive took over. He gasped out, “Yes, I’ll — I’ll do whatever you ask —” I’ll do whatever will let me live the longest, was perhaps what the logical Side meant to say, but Logan was petrified out of his mind and could hardly hear the words he was saying. The accuracy of his statement hardly mattered at this point.

Just as he’d hoped, Logan’s words seemed to placate the porcelain-doll Patton, soaking a little life into the moral Side’s freckled face and softening the harsh corners of his eyes and mouth. The slight change was enough for Logan to take a breath and allow himself to hope that perhaps Patton was satisfied, perhaps Patton would leave him alone now, perhaps —

“I’m not just asking out of curiosity, you know. There actually is something that I need your help with. I’m glad you agreed so quickly, Logan! And without even knowing what you were signing up for. It’s so great to know you trust me so much.”

Then again, perhaps not.

  xxx

  Yesterday, Logan thought in rational shades of blue. His mind was a deep, thoughtful cerulean ocean, calm and collected. Tranquil. Accustomed to clear azure skies; not a cloud in sight.

Today, Patton spoke in ragged shades of red. He spoke in jittering, glittering letters that had been dunked in crimson dye and laid out to dry in the hot scarlet sun, drip — by drip — by drip. His words were bloodred and bursting with imperfect implications.

Patton had begun by asking Logan if he’d noticed anything odd about Roman and Virgil lately. Logan had to admit that the two Sides had been butting heads even more than usual.

“They’re hurting Thomas,” Patton insisted. “All the shouting is just making Thomas feel worse. He hasn’t put out a video with us in forever. You know why? It’s ‘cause Roman has pretty much zero confidence left! And Virgil’s just getting more and more anxious. Don’t you see it too? We gotta help them, Logan.”

Drip. A red pebble quietly tossed into a deep blue sea.

Logan spoke, against his better judgement (indeed, he would come to regret having said anything at all very soon): “Well… how would we do that? Virgil and Roman are both undoubtedly stubborn. I imagine that it would have to take quite the grand gesture to move either of them.”

“Exactly!” Patton beamed. “I’m glad you get it, Logan. If we’re gonna fix Thomas, we have to do something big , or Virgil and Roman won’t change at all. You know that, right?”

Drip. A red raindrop, rippling the blue surface. And then another.

Patton continued. “Don’t worry about coming up with a plan. You already do so much thinking around here! I thought I’d spare you the trouble this time, so I came up with a plan of my own. It’ll be perfect.”

Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip…

His lips moved without giving his mind time to catch up to what he was saying. “What do you need, Patton? Just name it.”

  xxx

  Morality spoke of —

a prince, crown cracked and lopsided, pain and doubt starting to seep through the bright and happy face paint he wears. Eyelids plastered with artificial colours and flavours cannot hide the heavy bags that will not disappear no matter what he tries… so he stops trying. If sleep will continue to elude him, he might as well make the most of his time awake and churn out idea after idea after idea. Crumpled-up balls of paper litter the floor. He cannot outrun his failures; in fact, he steps on them wherever he goes — so he decides not to go anywhere at all until he’s come up with something that’s good enough. It has been six weeks, four days, and eleven hours. Nothing is good enough. The paint rubs off a little more.

Morality told tales of —

a troublemaker, good-guy/bad-guy/good-guy/bad-guy. Standing with one foot on both sides of a great ravine, unable to decide where he belongs. Begging for help, reaching out a hand with fingernails long and sharp that draw blood from the first wrist they manage to grab onto. Digging deeper. Pulling and pulling and finally pulling hard enough to swing to safety, but in doing so, pulling their saviour into the gaping maw of the canyon with barely a second thought. He is on steady ground. His helper has been thrown to the wolves and is still falling.

Morality built a world where the prince was pacified, satisfied, always smiling. He’d see to it that the smile wouldn’t slip, not even for a second. After all, if he could make the prince’s physical state reflect his mental , the prince would learn quite quickly that painful thoughts weren’t quite worth lingering on anymore.

The troublemaker would reach out and pull their hero back to the surface, and he’d never be able to hurt anyone so deeply again. It would be quite simple; all they had to do was take away his speaking privileges. Morality had already located a needle and some nice, colourful thread. The job would not be difficult.

Through it all, the logical Side sat, stock-still, silent, scarcely able to believe what Morality had said. Logan was almost able to hear the cracks running up and down his body — large, unsightly chasms made of terror and distress and revulsion. He had to hold it together or he’d break and send tiny sharp shards of himself scattering all over the hard, unforgiving floor.

A minute ticked by, then two, before he was able to find his voice. Even then, his mind ran fast and his words were stumbling and uncertain, unable to keep up.

“You want… you want me to… to help you torture Roman and Virgil,” he meant to ask. The sentence came out flattened and wilted, a period floating at the end instead of the question mark he’d intended. “You want me to aid you. In breaking Thomas’s creativity and anxiety.”

“Yes, but we’ll build them back up afterwards. They’ll be so much better in the long run,” Morality said dismissively. “You know, like that time you took apart your computer and put the pieces back together so it ran faster? It’s just like that. Same kind of concept. You’ll help me, right?”

“What?”

Patton’s careless comparison snapped Logan out of the disbelieving trance he’d been put into. He continued, speech growing steadily in volume until he was shouting:

“You’re comparing a computer, a literal machine, with Roman and Virgil? They are not the same, Patton! These are living, breathing, feeling beings that we are talking about!” A sharp, disbelieving laugh escaped from Logan’s mouth. “Yes, the circumstances between Roman and Virgil are not ideal, but that doesn’t mean that we can hurt them. This is their problem to work out! I don’t understand what’s gotten into you, Patton! You’ve been acting so strange recently, and — and now this?”

At first, Morality said nothing. The silence stretched out long enough for Logan to hope that he’d perhaps gotten through to the other Side after all.

Until he watched Morality’s shoulders begin to shake with barely contained laughter.

“Oh, Logan. You know, it would’ve been great if you’d seen reason , but… well, I was kind of hoping you’d say no.”

Behind his thick black glasses, the logical Side’s eyes widened.

“Because if you’d said yes right away, this wouldn’t have been quite as much fun.

“Y’see, Logan, you don’t actually have a choice. I just wanted to give you a chance to get on my good side before the fun begins.” A grin played on his lips. “Oh! Would you look at that! I made a pun! Get it? Get on my good side? Ha! Oh, sometimes I crack myself up, you know?”

Seeing that Logan wasn’t having any of it, Morality’s smile was suddenly gone as quickly as it had come. “Anyway, not the point. What I’m trying to say is, I’m not really asking you. You are going to help me. That’s final. Because even if you don’t, I’m going to go ahead and fix up Roman and Patton anyway, but I won’t stop there. Without your clever mind to tell me the best way to do this, I’ll have to go straight to the source and do a few touch-ups on Thomas, too.” “You wouldn’t,” Logan managed to say.

“Aw, what makes you say that, kiddo?” The once-familiar nickname tasted so unnatural in Morality’s mouth, now. “I’ve gotta fix our family somehow, but it won’t be nearly as fast without you helping me out. I want to get this done quickly though, which is why I’d need to make some minor adjustments to Thomas himself. But that’s another thing! You’re a lot less likely to make… careless mistakes than I am. If I do this myself, what if I mess up and accidentally end up causing more permanent damage than I’d accounted for?

“...Hm. I guess this means that I lied a little bit. You actually do have a choice. You can either stand by and do absolutely nothing… or you can help me out and make sure that Thomas doesn’t get hurt. Well, not any more than necessary, at least. So, what’ll it be, Logan?”

  xxx

  Today, a raging red storm came screaming in and threw the blue into a frenzied panic. Crashing waves came rolling in, slamming fiercely into one another and sending seafoam flying. The blue swells grew higher and higher, surging, frenzied, into the once-peaceful purple sky.

Ah, but despite the chaos… it was such a mesmerizing shade of purple, and Logan found that try as he might, he couldn’t look away.

  xxx

  ring around the rosie;

[secriden]

I am truly finding your descent into the utter madness that is joongdunk very entertaining. Probably because I get you. I only discovered them a few months ago and now I am swimming deep in the trenches of their lore. And I am loving every moment of it. I want to share my joy with you because you seem to be having a great time too.

I am the anon who sent you the mv and short film ask btw. I'm sorry I forgot to mention the horror aspect of the short film.

I fell in love with joongdunk dynamics, both on and off screen. On screen, I love the way they portray their characters. Off screen, I love the way they interact with each other. They are just so hilarious and wholesome. I guess my favorite part about them is how Joong feels comfortable enough to completely let go and be his most unhinged and crazy self with Dunk, and Dunk just accepts all of it without batting an eyelash. I love that while all of their antics are absolutely hilarious, you can also clearly feel the genuine love and respect they have for each other.

Sorry for the long rant, I truly am deep in my joongdunk feels lately. Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss more joongdunk. And thank you for sharing your journey.

Hello!! Its lovely to meet you and yes thank you for both feeding and empathising with my tumble into the joongdunk abyss xD

Oh no worries! I mean I figured it had to be horror themed given it was a Halloween project but I just did not expect them to go that hard with it. It has all the hallmarks I associate with the (very few) Asian horror movies I've seen in my life and there's something especially terrifying about them (vs Western horror films). Which speaks to the genuine effort that was poured into that pet project but also its nice to see them doing something outside of the college romance zone since that's all I've seen from them so far.

Ohhhh I love that insight about Joong feeling like he can be completely himself around Dunk. *O* I mean the man does seem to have the most minimal filter on the best of days and Dunk literally is never ever phased by any of it. Its amazing to watch in the best way.

Also its peak comedy when Dunk does something to make Joong speechless. Usually its also something that makes me think, "guys, you're on camera right now?? shouldn't this be in private??" like the time he got (fake?) mad about Joong sleeping over at a friend's house and got all pouty about not being informed/implied that he thought he thought Joong was only sleeping at his house. xD And Joong was left just like O 3O and not really knowing what to say. xD

I'm still very far from getting a sense of their personalties and characters. I can tell they're incredibly affectionate (as individuals) and that Joong at least is very physically expressive about it. But I want to watch some of their longer interviews to get a feel for what they're actually like, y'know?? Any recommendations?

Also omgosh please do not feel sorry, this is blanket permission to rant at me about JoongDunk and their shows and their projects or whatever else is tangentially related to them. I'm already bought in. xD I was on the fence until I watched SIMM and despite its flaws it still made me feel ALL THE FEELS and most of that was just the sheer intensity that JoongDunk brought to their on-screen moments.

[staradorned]

Alma: 5/10, listen, I’ve been waiting to blow up at her for how she’s treated her family. If I get a word in? She’s done, eviscerated even, after someone calls her out for traumatizing her family for the first time. But if she gets a word in first? Ohhh boy, I’m done. I’m crying before she gets the second word out. I thought I could call her out? Bitch I thought. More like, I’m the one who is in the wrong.

Julieta: 3/10, see the problem with Julieta is she heals my inner abused child. If I had a mother? Would love for her to be like Julieta. So I’d never want to fight her. That being said, there are a lot of cases where I wish she did more for Mirabel so if I was around when that would happen? Mayhaps a fight. Would I win? Julieta is kind enough to listen to me so I’d win by default.

Pepa: 5/10, it’s a huge toss up honestly. We both need to let out our emotions. I would either calm her down and everything would be fine or I would purposely make her more mad and would get electrocuted.

Bruno: 3/10, y’all are saying he’s scrawny and he is but this man is strong, there’s no doubt in my damn mind. He’s been climbing like 14 flights of stairs at least twice a day for 35 years and he does parkour. He could 100% beat me in a physical fight. That being said, I would cry myself from anger before I fight this man. I want to love him more than fight him. Also, 80% chance of me upsetting him mentally and then I start hating myself for hurting him and therefore I lose by default.

Agustin: 9/10, I could flick my finger and change the direction of the wind and this man would get KO’ed. He could also call me out on my bullshit and I’d be done though.

Félix: 0/10, he’d calm me down successfully the second he sees a sign of me wanting to fight.

Isabela: 1/10, if I go off on her I feel like she would get angry but just walk away because she’d want to keep it cool and “perfect”. That being said, if it turns physical then I don’t have a chance against her vines.

Dolores: 5/10, genuinely dunno about her. She’s agile and doesn’t break a sweat after sprinting like 5 miles though so she could get a hit in before I can do anything but I feel like I’m a people watcher so I would know her secrets even if I didn’t watch the movie and I could easily just whisper all her secrets so she’d feel vulnerable and I could get in a hit while she’s low.

Luisa: 2/10, like Julieta, I wouldn’t want to fight her. But if I did? If I get a word in then she’s done. But I feel like if I got angry, she’d find it cute and wrap me in a huge and I’d be KO’ed because I lost air from the hug.

Camilo: 4/10, he’d transform into some that I wouldn’t want to mess with and it’d become a problem because then I’d fight the actual person and get KO’ed by that person. Rest in pieces, me.

Mirabel: 0/10, like Bruno, I could hit it where it hurts but then I’d get upset that I upset her and lose by default. Also, did you see her during the vision? This girl has been ready to fight. She’s the definition of scrappy and unhinged, she’d get one hit in and while I’m in shock, she’d get so pumped that she got one in that she’d get a bunch more in before I’m even in tune with the fight.

Antonio: 0/10, if you think I’m going to fight a 5 year old boy then you’re wrong. But I also feel like when I get angry, he’d have a panther sit on me until I’m not angry anymore and non-condescendingly tell me to calm down and I’d feel defeated by a 5 year old who has more control of his emotions than me.

Casita: 1/10, how do you fight a magic house??? I’d get whooped by the windows, doors- the floors would bounce me in the air and the roof would slam dunk me when I’m several feet in the air. That being said, 1 point for the possibility that I might run away from its reach in time and it can’t touch me.

Rating the Madrigals on how likely I could beat them in a fight

Alma: 9/10. She’s an old woman and is very fragile, I could probably body her without hesitation. The only reason she’s not a 10/10 is because I would feel guilty about it. The reason she’s 9/10 is because I wouldn’t feel that guilty.

Pepa: 4/10. Once I land a hit I’ll probably get struck by lightning and end up fucking dead. Not a good way to go. If she didn’t have her gift I could probably get a few good hits in, but she seems pretty feral. Would try to tear my ears off.

Julieta: 7.5/10. I have fought both verbally and physically with people who love to cook on several occasions. As long as she’s not in the kitchen, I win this fight. Points taken off because if I hurt her Luisa will probably rip my spine out.

Agustín: 100/10. I swing on him. He dodges and tries to swing back. Somehow he punches a beehive instead. Victory is mine.

Félix: 5/10, he looks pretty hardy and honestly it would probably come down to who lands the first hit.

Luisa: 3/10. It’s likely that if I challenged her to a fight she’d refuse, and therefore I would win. But if I did fight her it would be over embarrassingly quick. She could tear a grown man in half, I wouldn’t stand a chance.

Dolores: 10/10. She seems like the type to try to pull hair during a fight which would leave her torso wide open, and her gift probably wouldn’t help her that much. Unless she can hear the punch coming, which I doubt. Also I could probably just yell at her and watch her crumble from how sensitive her ears are.

Isabela: 1/10. She’s definitely been waiting for a chance to go apeshit. Visualize this: I swing, I punch a cactus. Then she’s growing monkshood directly from my spinal cord.

Camilo: 5/10. Just like his father it’s likely going to come down to who lands the first punch, and if he gets like. The strength of whoever he changes into. If I land a hit before he gets to shapeshift, we’re good. But if I don’t and he turns into Luisa— welp. I’m dead.

Antonio: 1/10. I drop-kick the child and immediately get gored by a rhinoceros.

Bruno: 6/10. I wish this one was a 10/10. He looks like he weighs 100 pounds soaking wet. He looks like I should be able to hit him with the one two buckle-my-shoe and watch him go down like a sack of potatoes. But no. This motherfucker is agile, parkouring through the walls of Casita. And he was living with rats for ten years. He’d probably give me bubonic plague bc I know he’d bite me if I swung on him. Would I win? Probably, but it would be hard.

Mirabel: 3/10. I could probably very easily beat the shit out of her, but she seems like the type to never go down. She’s got endurance and is probably scrappy as all hell from growing up with no powers. Like when the person you’re roughhousing with can change shape, you fight dirty. She’d probably hit me with homemade pepper spray. She’d put a bucket on my head like I’m a Skyrim NPC then bash my kneecaps in. She’s unhinged.

Casita: 0/10. Motherfucker it’s a house??????? How do you fight a house????????????