#endless family hypocrisies

[lightdancer1]

One of the big reasons I think that it's always a bit of a bad thing to forget the Endless really aren't human:

Is because, and I admit here that this is from the POV of someone who does most, if not quite all, of my fanfics from a Death-centric perspective flip both because Gaiman did Dream well and like prequel Anakin there is only so much man pain and mangst I can take before wanting to reach through the screen and strangle the son of a bitch. Disliking Dream as a wangsty jackass who is the architect of almost all of his own problems does not mean being blind to how dysfunctional the Endless as a whole are.

Yet at the end of the day Dream is not your pantsfeels, he's the in-universe true architect of fear and maker of all nightmares, the guy who casually sends a woman to Hell because she told him no. He is inhuman and fickle and dangerous for any mortals that cross his path.......and as a being of story he is also bound by story-logic to pursue the path that makes the better story at the expense of multiple logical and even emotional reactions.

And in terms of this Dream is not really so different to the rest of the family. Even Destruction, when he walks off, very much remains an Endless and is still Destruction. He doesn't become human, he doesn't give up his powers and he goes into a long rambling set of justifications on that and believing simultaneously that the Endless interfere too much in human affairs and turns his group of friends into a minefield to ensure he stays hidden. Destruction, in short, is a flaming hypocrite at best and should not be taken as the reliable one true truth. None of the Seven Endless are that.

So what does all this have to do with Death? Simple. She will outlive the universe and Death of the Endless will be a title and a moment in time. Unlike any of the others she did outright completely quit and walked out and where Dream's captivity and Destruction's hippie moment didn't cause immediate unraveling of reality as opposed to the realm Death did. She is unlike the other six in ways that would and do contribute to why there's so much talking past each other.

The other six, even Destruction, all see their natures as intertwined with their functions, spheres, and all that go with them. Every hundred years for a day Death gives up all that power and becomes fully, truly mortal. She takes the step none of the others can bring themselves to do, and in spite of being the one that outlives the universe, she has died the most of all her kin and the DCU being what it is probably more than a few of those deaths were not pleasant ones. And this is without the equally logical assumption based on Overture that we only see the Earth mortal day, that there were and are such days on all worlds, in all forms of life.

And as I've brought this up before, too, Death's little apartment is not her realm. The realm is only glimpsed partially once, in her second miniseries and it looks every bit as dark as a realm called 'sunless lands' would. With the exception of Destruction all the other realms are seen in detail and not just a partial glimpse. Death has that detachment from that realm, which is as much a part of her as she of it.

In short, unlike the rest of her siblings I think Death is if anything in the comics the least truly focused on duty and much as I consider the 'none of them came for me' to be a good example of Dream's self-serving hypocrisy as he'd hate and scorn and react violently to anyone that actually did and Gaiman is repeatedly on record as noting that, I see the 'our purpose is our function' line as a bit of self-serving hypocrisy in the interest of cheering up her brother. Death couldn't and doesn't take dealing with her function or being an Endless well. She walked out, she keeps trying to turn herself mortal, she will one day continue to exist but no longer be an Endless.

Thus in the end, there is a great irony here. Dream is too rigidly bound by duty to ever truly entertain the idea that he could leave and figure out how to do so short of dying. Death is too frantically eager to discard her Endless status to figure out why anyone would, given the choice, choose to remain one even if it hurts them.

[merwgue]

Tamlin is one of the most misunderstood and controversial characters in the ACOTAR series, and while some of his actions—like locking Feyre up—were inherently wrong and abusive, they stem from deep-rooted trauma and manipulation, making his story much more complex than people give him credit for.

1. Trauma from Amarantha – 50 Years of Hell Tamlin spent 50 years under Amarantha’s rule, being groomed and manipulated. He was powerless to save his court and the other courts from suffering, and that burden fell squarely on his shoulders. For half a century, Tamlin lived under the constant pressure of being the one to break the curse, with everyone’s freedom hanging on him. He was traumatized, broken, and desperate, having endured endless torment. This trauma shaped his every decision when it came to Feyre, and while his actions—like locking her up—were wrong, they were driven by deep-seated fear and an overwhelming need to protect her, which he saw as his only chance at redemption.

Tamlin’s fear wasn’t just about control; it was about trying to keep Feyre safe after having lost control over everything else for decades. But, of course, that doesn’t excuse his abusive behavior. It was wrong, but it’s important to understand where that behavior came from—trauma, manipulation, and the belief that if he failed to protect her, he would fail once again.

2. Reactive Abuse in ACOWAR – Feyre Deliberately Provoking Tamlin In A Court of Wings and Ruin, Feyre plays a dangerous game of provoking Tamlin to make him react in ways that paint him as the villain. This is reactive abuse. She comes back to the Spring Court with the intention of tearing it down from the inside, manipulating Tamlin’s emotions and pushing him to his breaking point. She does things deliberately to make him angry and hurt him, knowing he will react out of frustration and heartbreak.

While Tamlin’s actions in earlier books were abusive, Feyre’s calculated manipulations in ACOWAR cannot be ignored. She deliberately enrages him, knowing exactly what buttons to push, and when he reacts, he’s painted as the bad guy. But let’s not forget: Tamlin was already mentally broken and reeling from losing Feyre, and she intentionally took advantage of that vulnerability.

3. Feyre Destroying His Court – Overkill Feyre’s decision to destroy Tamlin’s entire court is a massive overreaction. Yes, they broke up, and yes, Tamlin made mistakes, but wiping out his entire kingdom because of a failed relationship? It’s spiteful and malicious. Feyre didn’t just want to hurt him emotionally—she wanted to ruin his entire life, his legacy, and everything he had worked to protect. And for what? A breakup? The level of destruction she brings to the Spring Court is wildly disproportionate to Tamlin’s mistakes. She knowingly and willfully destroyed the home and people he loved, leaving him with nothing but ruin.

4. Tamlin Saving Rhysand’s Life in ACOWAR – And Still Getting Trashed Tamlin’s good deeds get completely overlooked in favor of villainizing him. In ACOWAR, he literally saved Rhysand’s life during the battle. Rhys was on the brink of death, and despite everything, Tamlin stepped in to rescue him. Tamlin put aside his grievances and his heartbreak to do the right thing, proving that despite his flaws, he still cared enough to save someone who had wronged him.

But instead of gratitude or any kind of recognition, Rhysand continues to trash Tamlin in ACOFAS and ACOSF. He makes snide comments, mocks him, and even invades Tamlin’s court just to taunt him. It’s infuriating when you consider that Rhys wouldn’t even be alive without Tamlin’s help. How can someone who owes his life to Tamlin continue to treat him like dirt? It’s an example of how skewed the narrative is in Rhysand’s favor.

5. Rhysand’s Hypocrisy – His Own Crimes Ignored Let’s not forget that Rhysand literally murdered Tamlin’s family. Yes, Rhysand’s family suffered a great loss, but they initiated the blood feud by attacking first. Tamlin’s family was killed in retaliation for Rhysand’s father and brothers attacking them, and yet, all the sympathy is directed at Rhysand’s loss. Tamlin’s pain and trauma from losing his entire family is brushed aside, while Rhysand’s grief is front and center, as if only his loss matters.

Rhysand is glorified, and his family’s death is framed as this great tragedy, but Tamlin’s loss? Barely a footnote. It’s a double standard, especially when you consider that Rhysand’s family brought the conflict on themselves. Tamlin’s trauma from losing his family is completely ignored in favor of building up Rhysand as the hero.

6. Rhysand Telling Tamlin to Kill Himself – Beyond Cruel Rhysand’s treatment of Tamlin post-ACOWAR is downright despicable. Tamlin is left broken, suffering from depression, having lost his court, Feyre, and his family. Instead of showing any empathy, Rhysand invades his court and tells him to kill himself. This is someone who is already at his lowest, and instead of being left in peace, Rhysand shows up just to make his suffering worse. It’s not just toxic—it’s cruel beyond measure. For someone who has supposedly suffered so much himself, Rhysand shows an astonishing lack of empathy for someone else in pain.

7. Tamlin as a Victim of Trauma – Deserving of Understanding In the end, Tamlin is a victim of years of trauma, manipulation, and immense pressure. His actions were wrong, but they were driven by fear and desperation, not malice. Tamlin suffered from Amarantha’s grooming, lost his entire family because of Rhysand’s blood feud, and had his court destroyed by Feyre’s revenge. He is not a one-dimensional villain; he’s a deeply flawed character who was broken by his circumstances.

While Tamlin’s mistakes should be acknowledged, it’s unfair to completely vilify him while Rhysand gets away with far worse. Tamlin’s trauma, pain, and losses are real, and they deserve to be treated with the same understanding and empathy that Rhysand’s story receives. At the very least, Tamlin deserves recognition for the good he has done—saving Rhysand, fighting for his court, and suffering through immense trauma without any support. Tamlin deserved better from both the narrative and the characters around him.

(This took me an hour to write I better see NO ONE discrediting me🤣)

[anshelsgendercrisis]

You condemn antisemitism at every turn, but then you turn around and fully support a colonial regime that does nothing but exterminate Muslim and Christian Arabs, or anyone from the Middle East who isn’t aligned with your agenda. They brand them as inferior, uncivilized, barbaric, and even less than human—animals. Yet, you conveniently ignore the systemic violence and ethnic cleansing being committed daily. The irony is astonishing. How do you manage to stay silent on the massacre from yesterday? People being burned alive while attached to their IV machines, hospitals bombed, children murdered in cold blood—yet you remain too afraid to call out your own soldiers, the real terrorists here, the ones whose hands are soaked in the blood of innocent civilians.

But of course, you'll find another excuse, right? Was KHHHHHamas there ? Isn't that the tired line you always use to justify these atrocities? Is that the excuse you'll use for shelling homes, schools, and hospitals too? Zionism is not just an ideology—it’s a racist and colonialist sect bent on domination and erasure. It doesn’t matter how you try to twist it; the fact remains that your system is rooted in supremacy and the subjugation of others. And don’t think we haven’t noticed the growing global awareness. The world is waking up to the truth, despite the propaganda you hide behind.

Even a survivor of Hiroshima, a man who knows what it means to witness mass death, broke down in tears over the horror happening in Gaza. The suffering of children, civilians, families—and yet, instead of empathy, Israel attacked him, proving once again that anyone who dares to question your narrative is immediately branded an enemy. Doesn’t this only solidify what we’ve been saying all along? Your ideology is rooted in racism, colonialism, and oppression, and no amount of excuses, fear-mongering, or manipulation can hide that anymore.

The hypocrisy is glaring: cry foul when it comes to your own suffering, but endorse and enable genocide when it serves your cause. You can’t have it both ways. Justice and humanity cannot be selective. The blood of Gaza’s children is on your hands, and no amount of justification will cleanse it. The world is watching, and no longer buying into the endless cycle of excuses, deflections, and lies.

sorry chief not reading all of that.

[harocat]

for the reverse unpopular opinion meme.... jiang yanli! (it's not really a challenge, i just want to hear nice things about her and i enjoy your opinions on female characters fsjfldsf)

AHHH OKAY. I don't really know how nice this is because it is sad, but it's positive because it comes from my love of the character.

I am rotating in my mind at all times the tragedy of Yanli! Not her death, though obviously that's tragic, but her lived life up to that point. There is so much focus on the way Madame Yu treats WWX and JC, and I do get that because it's much more blatant how she mistreats especially WWX. But JYL was held back as well.

Even though there are female cultivators in the series, Madame Yu included, Yanli does not seem to be given that opportunity. In the book she doesn't even get to go to Cloud Recesses with the boys. It seems like Madame Yu wants her to be a perfect wife for the marriage arrangement she set up, but then she also berates JYL when she does 'domestic things'.

JYL is so quiet, and she doesn't draw attention to herself, and yes, part of this may be cultural, but it's also because she's been beaten down by Madame Yu. It is a tragedy that she is never able to become the person she deserves to become, not just because she dies, but because of that.

This is one of the reasons I do love her relationship with WWX so much. She's scolded for her kindness, scolded for treating him as part of her family instead of like a servant, and over and over she goes against what may be considered societal norm to express how much he means to her, and how she views him as her family. She's the only one who does this, and her love for him helps her overcome her lack of assertiveness, the way she's had the dominant personalities of her other family members (okay maybe not JFM lol), sort of... drown her out up to this point. She's able to be strong when her love for her little brother, the chosen family she alone refuses to disavow, is what fuels her.

There are endless stories about romantic love between men and women that defies class, defies societal norms, etc., but with them, it’s the love between a sister and the little brother she chose to make her own.

And I think you can even link this to the corruption, hypocrisy, and classism of the cultivation world, because it is that very love, which goes against societal norms in the jianghu, that ends up causing her death (at the hands of the same cultivators that are attempting to 'protect' everyone). They are everything.

[shallowseeker]

There are a lot of nervous breakdowns in SPN that are very tied up with delayed grief reactions.

S4 Sam - Drinking demon blood is a reaction to losing Dean; to being horrified that Dean could die and having a disgust-reaction to his weakness as a way to protect himself from the emotions he has about Dean's mortality; Sam was desperate to be stronger. He couldn't unpack why.

S6 Cas - Being murdered by Heaven (Raphael), and though he returned to Heaven to be "the new sheriff," he was paranoid of even the angels close to him because of *waves at all of S4-5* That paranoia and withdrawal into himself reached into every relationship he has. He watched his loved ones suffer, so he decided to be the one to "Put a Stop to It--to All of It"

S7 Cas - Nihilism; (The endless repetition of life and deriving no meaning from it; route of flowers being a predestined plan is also a "nothing matters" nod); Feelings of guilt and the need for penance, terminating in s8 "suicide" / wanting to stay in purgatory *is* suicide btw

S8 Cas - Brainwashing redux; Guilt, lots of changes here, as a result of the brainwashing he needs space to figure out what he's feeling and who he trusts; ALSO Feeling afraid of heaven (re: The great escapist and Matatron "Heaven's powers always spill over (to the humans)" and "Who's it gonna be, Castiel, her or YOUR family (human family)?"

S8 Sam - Great big Sam nervous breakdown; totally paralyzed and running away. Even Amelia-Sam was part OF the freakout, something Amelia's father, someone that knew her well and cared about her, recognized (Amelia doesn't wanna go back to her husband, because he can *die* and maybe she's like Sam too in that she's completely allergic to grief, hey?); Sam oscillates between CHECKOUT OF REALITY and WE GOTTA STICK TO THE HUNTING CODE(TM) the same way Dean clung to the simpler hunting code at the beginning of s7; "Don't choke!" Both boys veer between all-or-nothing with regards to the hunting life

S9 Dean - Gadreel and Kevin and feeling like he was doing the wrong thing; Sam's willingness to commit suicide; Cas's symbolic suicide, then Cas falling — we see in Dean’s speech to Metatron that he was desperate to also "Put a Stop to It--to All of It" and his reasons were spelled out clearly, protecting Sam and the distress over Cas's grace/falling/being wronged BY Metatron

S10 Sam - Reacting to Dean's death AGAIN; Reacting to the terrible knowledge that everyone was always sacrificing for him and not the other way around; also a delayed grief reaction to how his family locked him up for detox; and of being an addict himself and fearing that it would end in black eyes and blood (he's not exactly wrong, either; he just went too far)

S10 Cas - Delayed reaction to Jimmy Novak's passing; meeting Claire and wanting to be "like a human"; his guilt was so overpowering; also dealing with his hypocrisy (re: Metatron) about wanting to stay on the earth

S10 Dean - Loss of free will redux, but in the disinhibited direction; dealing with feelings of shame over the loss of free will and past experiences where he also felt powerless or manipulated; he (like Claire Novak) overall tends to choose forgiveness, trying to understand and give grace to those who wronged him; also dealing with being Cole's "Azazel," the parallel to Claire dealing with her "Azazels"

S11 Cas - Delayed reaction to Dean dying in s9, reaction to his grace power reduction (he got his grace BACK and it was damaged), also feeling powerless to protect anyone; the attack dog spell etc etc; Sacrifices himself to the cause

S12 Mary - Huge breakdown because she was ripped from her life and is grieving her entire family as she knew it; feeling like she can't escape from hunting and she corrupted John and in reading his journal she empathizes with his plight while struggling with the cruelty of it; she decides if she can't escape then maybe she can "Put a Stop to It--to All of It."

S12 Cas - Still struggling with the mortality of the human fam (First Blood) and his lack of strength, See Lily Sunder and Stuck in the Middle with You as crisis points. Was enticed by Jack keeping his power because that means he'd have a fam member who could outlive him. The script taps into Cas's wants: Kelly to be at peace, Sam to be free, Dean to be *ahem* thankful, and himself to be strong. Nephilim gives him a cause to not feel guilty about being on earth because it's a Mission (TM)

Nervous breakdowns, man. I can keep going. There are so many nervous breakdowns. SO MANY. And when you look at them AS nervous breakdowns, they make more sense.

[theoutcastrogue]

Spectacles in Constantinople (other than chariot races)

[by Marcus Rautman]

Reconstruction of early Constantinople

Like any great city, Constantinople was a nexus of social space, civic ceremony, commercial entertainment, and endless diversion. Medieval observers saw a busy urban environment where streets and plazas were regularly taken over by processions, churches and monasteries were filled with clergy and worshipers, and competitive games and performances took place in the open-air hippodrome.

The unruly intensity of enthusiastic crowds could also have unforeseen consequences, and on occasion violence and riots flared. John Chrysostom and other guardians of public decorum warned that attending mass spectacles could lead to laughter, immodest and licentious behavior, impulsiveness, and loss of responsible identity. While theatrical shows were generally improvisational, their potential to critique and undermine social order was clear to officials like Justinian (527–65), who suppressed Christological mimes and withdrew funding for their public performance. Some of the most negative views came from bishops attending the late seventh-century Council in Trullo, whose canons discouraged clergy and monks from attending the hippodrome and condemned exhibitions of mimes, wild animals, and public dancing.

Yet other sources make clear that organized spectacles were inseparable from the intensity of city life, with state-sponsored processions, games, and performances growing out of playful, demonstrative interactions experienced every day in street, market, and home.

On stage

Acrobat, musician and dancer, silver cover of a bowl, 12th century (in the Hermitage)

Theatrical entertainments were another popular spectacle inherited from classical times. Roman citizens had long been in the habit of attending public performances and several open-air theaters are known in early Constantinople. Unlike classical drama, stage productions in late antiquity aimed at visual rather than literary appeal, and ranged from choreographed group performances to individual displays of acrobatic and illusionist skill. One of the most elaborate forms of stage performance was pantomime (pantomimos), a ballet-like retelling of familiar mythological tales known in the third century BC. Commanding public stage or private dining room, a single interpretive dancer assumed well-known character roles by wearing distinctive costumes and trappings. The expressive eloquence of non-verbal performance was reinforced by instrumental or sung musical accompaniment.

By contrast, the less decorous antics of mimes and mummers offered broadly comedic diversion in the tradition of burlesque and slapstick. Expressive mime (mimos) performances had an equally long history, with plots drawn from easily recognized, often transgressive aspects of everyday life: family dramas, mistaken identities, infidelities, crime, violence. Requiring no scenery and few props, mimes moved freely from stage to street corners and taverns, delivering lively action supported by flutes, pipes, lyres, singing, and drums. Acrobats and jugglers appear in different media and are mentioned by late medieval authors. The depiction of small, costumed, and sometimes nude figures on carved ivory boxes of the tenth–twelfth centuries suggests the broad parody and implicit social commentary of playful display.

Like other forms of mass entertainment the theater was viewed by authorities with suspicious tolerance. Chrysostom and others saw the manipulative inauthenticity of dramatic roleplaying (hypocrisis) as inherently blasphemous. Naturally the unpredictable and emotional response to public performance contributed to immorality and political subversion. Performers were seen as inhabiting the social margin; foreigners, slaves, and especially women were regarded as morally irresponsible, even as they were invited to play in the palace itself. Prokopios’ overheated account of Theodora’s stage career likely drew on widespread prejudices about the moral fluidity of the entertainment community as much as its enduring popular acclaim.

On the streets

Broad, porticoed streets were among Constantinople’s most characteristic urban features. While major processions stuck to these primary routes, secondary streets in peripheral quarters saw myriad local celebrations. [...]

Streets were busy throughout the day. Carts and wagons kept to the main roads, with porters carrying their loads through uneven, winding alleys. Food vendors, scribes, and moneychangers lined the porticoes, which were good places to meet people and pass time with friends. Keeping passages clear of debris and lit by torches at night was up to shopkeepers, who might briefly expand their domain by setting benches and tables for customers outside their doors. Floor mosaics, graffiti, and game boards carved into the paving of porticoes reflect the attractions of recreational leisure. Observers note the boisterous conviviality of restaurants, taverns, and baths, where acrobats, illusionists, and jugglers shared their talent at close range. Trained bears, birds, and dogs were always reliable attractions. Mime-like performers and storytellers continued to play back streets and tavernas.

— Marcus Rautman, "Entertainment" in The Cambridge companion to Constantinople / edited by Sarah Bassett. Cambridge University Press 2022

[questionsonislam]

What is intention; how should it be?

Intention reminds us of firstly five daily obligatory prayers or fasting. We ask the acceptance of God with these worships. And we beforehand voice this intention. The opposite of acceptance is hypocrisy. Acceptance is for God, but hypocrisy is for the public. In the first, divine mercy and favor are the object; in the latter, however, seeming nice to people and receiving their compliments and applauds are the object. And this is, in my opinion, another kind of begging.

It is a huge unwariness to take the way of hypocrisy and to try to make ourselves liked by others in a world in which everybody likes their own selves. However, the self craves for being deceived and enters this dead-end street consciously and willingly.

It is depended before anything else on the condition of intention for us to lead a happy life and to reach the place of bliss in our eternal travel that begins with death. Just like our intention in our worships is for the acceptance of God, so should our intention in worldly dealings be such high aims as to gain money and provide for our family legitimately, being an exemplary rich person to encourage others to work in the circle of halal-that which is legitimate- to assume responsibility in the economic growth of our country and to make our country more powerful against the enemies. The worldly workings we handle with this intention can have fruits also in the Hereafter. It is stated in the Risale-i Nur Collection, in the Fourth Word:

With the right intention, all the other acts of someone who performs the prescribed prayers become like worship.

We have recounted some of these right intentions above.

Such intentions as to be superior to others, to be famous, to make our rivals jealous, and to receive applaud and regard that the self likes leave the fruits of these workings and strains just in this world. We cannot bring with us anything to the Hereafter for all our efforts.

Bediüzzaman point out a very important point in the explanation of the verse: Worship your Lord Who created you and the ones before you so that you may achieve the rank of piety.

Man must worship his Lord firstly because He is his Lord. The ranks and favors he will reach after this worship are secondary in importance. Dont we experience a small example of this in showing respect to the elderly?

Why do we respect our father?

Because he is our father; not because he will give us presents or leave us inheritance. In the second way, there is benefit in our love and so it is muddy and not pure.

Therefore, this point is highlighted in the verse with the expression Worship your Lord instead of Worship God.

We will worship our Lord because He is our Lord. We owe endless debts of thanks to our Lord who puts the plan of our bodies into a drop of water, who shapes this drop and makes it a human being and who equips our souls with feelings. And worship is the best expression of paying this debt. A believer makes it clear that he is aware of this fact by intending the acceptance of God before worship.

In the Risale-i Nur Collection, intention is likened to soul: Intention is a soul. And the soul of this soul is sincerity. (Mesnevi-i Nuriye)

The visible parts of deeds are like body; and their aim is soul. Just as the body finds life through the soul, so do the deeds find life through intention. And the soul of intention is sincerity, i.e. performing worship only for the acceptance of God and expecting no other reward.

The one who fights in the way of God and the one who fights for loot visibly do the same thing. However, if the first one dies he becomes a martyr, or if he lives he becomes a ghazi-victorious fighter for the Islamic faith; but the latter has lost the honor of martyrdom from the beginning. There is no reward or him except the loot.

An important point:

Man can make his small deed universal with intention. We make our intentions universal by saying in the prayer: Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help. In the Risale-i Nur Collection, in this subject three communities are pointed out: While we recite this verse, we can intend all Muslims, or we can also intend all cells, all organs and feelings that function in our body, or we can intend all the creatures that perform their worships by fulfilling the duties they are given.

Another point that calls for attention in the issue of intention: Like worships, recalling the name of God and other invocations must only be for the acceptance of God. Only by this way can they bear the seal of sincerity and be accepted. If man supplicates or invokes God for the betterment of his worldly deeds, sincerity is shaken and he cannot achieve this result either.

For the benefits may not be the reason for the invocation and may not themselves be intended and sought. For they are obtained when unsought for, as a consequence of the sincere invocation, as a favor. If they are intended, it damages the sincerity to an extent. Indeed, it ceases being worship and looses all value. (The Flashes, the Seventeenth Flash, Thirteenth Note, the Second Matter)

[kerink]

i can't stop thinking about these bits from it devours

in relation to the newest episode, about the different types of science and the relationship between science and the logic of night vale

i think both nilanjana and carlos express janet lubelle's values in these scenes and give us a richer idea of what the culture of the university of what it is is like.

nilanjana spends the entirety of it devours feeling like an outsider even after living in night vale for four years. her arc is not only about learning to make a home but also about expanding her view of what science can be. she's the only member of carlos' team doing what we, the audience, would describe as real science. luisa and mark do science within the rules of the wtnv universe, things that are nonsense with no practical value or application except to be a deus ex machina later in the story. nilanjana says their type of science is what wins awards and grants, but she does her work because "She simply wanted to study the nature of the world." who does that sound like? the reason nilanjana doesn't feel at home in night vale is because she's operating on the rules of the real world rather than acclimating to the rules of night vale. carlos even tells her: "Maybe it’s not about them accepting you. Maybe you have to accept them first.”

carlos spends the story single-mindedly devoted to his experiment. carlos has a moral code that structures his work, focusing on doing good and minimizing harm. he doesn't want to kill the centipede until he feels he has to, specifically to protect his family. (it's interesting when nilanjana wants to kill it to protect the town he avoids that conversation, and it's not until janice is threatened that he changes his mind, something to consider further later.) but carlos also spends the story shifting blame around, first he blames the city then the church then the city again. it's only after everything's said and done he's able to see that it was him all along causing harm. it was him and his science that was threatening the town. but carlos is unable to see his own hypocrisy, saying of the city counsel that its "placing its secrecy above our safety, pretending it’s trying to protect us" - carlos, aren't you pretending you're trying to protect people when really you're trying to bring what's secret into the light? and who does THAT sound like? carlos believes that anything that can be studied can be fixed and anything that can be fixed can be made safe.

night vale is an "unravelable knot of mistruths and misdirection" that can never be fully understood and appreciated by people who believe "in simple scientific truths." carlos said the first step towards him accepting night vale was accepting their world view: "But it wasn’t that he didn’t see the things that I saw, he just interpreted them differently. I was afraid of him and all the people of Night Vale because of that." this is something nilanjana struggled to do and something lubelle seems uninterested in doing.

it's been said before that it's likely carlos left for night vale in the first place because he didn't fit in at the university and was open to investigating a rumor. he built his own team, and given that luisa and mark seemingly adapted easily to the rules of wtnv's universe and nilanjana eventually came around too they were also a bit atypical for university staff

however, while the team was able to adjust to the town using carlos' ethical standards as a framework, carlos isn't without his own university cultural holdover. carlos is an avid workaholic who believes in scientific import above all else. his perfect self and perfect reality as express in the condos liveshow was: "endless rows of Erlenmeyer flasks, and every one held a liquid, and all of the liquids were bubbling, and before each one was a notebook of numbers, and above was a dial with more numbers. I saw all of this, and I understood—I need to get to those flasks. Each liquid was bubbling. There were numbers. I’m going into the condo. The condo is perfect. It is perfect, and I understand." a reality in which he can endlessly do science and, most importantly, understand

carlos' value of do no harm is the only difference between him and lubelle and, ostensibly, the university as a whole. he has the same drive to study and understand that lubelle has, but stopped his experimentation once he realized he was the one destroying the town. even so, it took getting to that point for him to stop even refusing to hear nilanjana's perceptive about what science should be.

[sundaypenacony]

⋆｡°★ [5] Thoughts about the new leaks - Part 2

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ WARNING: This post will talk about a lot of story leaks and character leaks in general. This post will talk about an analysis I did before which mentions a religious cult named "The Family" by David Brandt Berg which is known for SA but besides that, it is also known for, abuse, shunning, religious discrimination, conversion therapy, ritual abuse, child abuse, etc.

Credit to StepLeaker for the leaks , the_chanels and blednay

⋆｡°★ Story Leaks

⋆｡°★ Storyleaks P1

Isn't the Trailblazer having so much fun...! As always!

I am just lost who the heck the "Clock Boy" is supposed to be... Also Watchmaker is interesting to see... I do wonder what the hell is going in this leak, I wonder if this is a kind of "dream" that is happening, because why would Sampo turn into that but also why would Sampo attack Trailblazer out of nowhere?

⋆｡°★ Dream Hotel

Also what could the Dream Hotel exactly be? Well I tried to look into on of the Relic setsnamed "Penacony, Land of the Dreams" where one of the relics is named "Penacony, Land of the Dreams" which I assume is the hotel the leaks are talking about.

Okay so, reading the description of the relic does give a little bit more information about what this hotel may be.

It is mentioned when entering the hotel the scenery gradually becomes more and more incredulous and it feels like one has been lifted by silk how other quests may even walk on walls and defy gravity. This is also mentioned in the leak, how the Trailblazer is floating. They than go on to mention things that are very different to what it is originally.

Then the most important part is mentioned: "They were never awake, but are instead witnessing Penacony's true nature in a dream - a place where time stops in a neverending dreamscape." When they enter the hotel they are under the rule of The Family and how some quests who have suffered a lot of pain come to this hotel to soothe their worries and wounds.

Afterwards, they go on to mention the past of this hotel and how "the thread that weaves the dreams comes from reality" which suggests a connection between dreams and real-life experiences and how the fabric of our dreams, the imaginative and often surreal scenarios we experience during our sleep, is influenced by the events, emotions, or situation we encounter. The dreams are shaped by our experiences in the real world.

Than something else they mention is how the Hotel used to be an IPC (Interastral Peace Corporation) prison where countless inmates were relocated to salvage the overflowing Memory Bubbles for the Garden of Recollection. "People repeated their endless toils until their bodies were as heavy as lead, but their souls became as light as bubbles. At some unknown point in time, the small cells cut off access to reality, but people's consciousnesses became linked in dreams. In the midnight bell, that shared dream seemed so real, reflecting the sheer hypocrisy of reality."

In the Link Rope (which will also be mentioned more about later), they go more into the IPC past of the big metropolis. They mention how the IPC sent a huge number of prisoners to the Asdana star System in an attempt to stop a catastrophe from spreading. There, people reclaimed memoria, gradually becoming lost between fantasy and reality. The spherical work chambers in a vacuum became an unforgettable "memory" for the prisoners. When others who regained freedom went to discover the dreamscape, the cages went along with them and they mention how they instead of trying to destroy the inescapable nightmares, they embrace it and add "colour" to this place.

Then they go on to mention how The Destruction stopped the IPC and how the Trailblaze "connected this frontier to the other stars" which probably implies how they did an expansion of exploration beyond localized area. And then The Harmony (Xipe) was the one to establish and encourage peaceful relations.

After this happened, they erected a myriad of skyscrapers and rebuilt it into a metropolis that is a new place for dreamers in search of wealth and opportunities and the best place for those who want to search for indulgence and pleasure. And the rest of the text greatly emphasises how they don't talk about the past.

We also have the Link Rope of this set named the "Penacony's Dream-Seeking Tracks" which talks about how only people who "stay and dream" are considered to have officially arrived at Penacony. Now I wonder how many people have gotten stuck there...

They talk about the Spheroids which are the main transportation in the dreamscape metropolis and guide guests around every place of the city. BUT! They also mention how the vehicles are actually imprisonment cages and how they were originally used to lock up prisoners.

Also, they start to mention some places in this metropolis named the "Moment of Daybreak", "Moment of Scorchsand" and a stadium called the "Moment of Stars".

"In the present, the fast-moving colorful Spheroids moving all over Penacony and the slight reverberations coming from within them... are all quietly hidden in the light of the dream city, blending in with the ambitions and laughter, like a land of dreams where time forever stands still."

⋆｡°★ Storyleaks P2

Well now that we know what this Hotel is and that we have more info about Penacony we can continue!! I feel like what the Trailblazer at the moment is experiencing is sort of a dream, but I do wonder how much of this is actually a dream and how much isn't.

A couple of characters are mentioned after this and for people who are unware of who they are here is a list!

⋆｡°★ Firefly / Sam

Firefly or also knows as Sam is a leaker character for Honkai Star Rail who is a Stellaron Hunter. They were the one to go with Kafka to recruit Blade and held Blade down to give Kafka the time to convince Blade and went with Blade and Kafka to recruit Silver Wolf.

In the story the will reveal they're Sam by saying:

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hide it from you, I just... I just wanted to get to know you as 'Firefly' instead of 'Sam'. Wil you forgive me? You will forgive me, right?"

It is also mentioned that she is frail girl who is searching for the meaning of life.

⋆｡°★ Archeron

In leaks it is mentioned how she comes to Penacony as a Galaxy Ranger and attend the Family's banquets. She later reveals her true identity as an Emanator of the Void. She is an IX emanator of Abundance, a "Self-Annihilator" born out of nothingness with no memory or past, wielding a sword that cuts off the path of life. (cough Sigma kinnie ok bye)

She is described as a cold and silent intergalactic ronin, an ascetic imperial maiden. She has embarked on a lonely journey for vengeance, but still seems to have goodness in her heart.

⋆｡°★ Black Swan

She is the memo keeper of the Garden of Recollection. I think her voice line leaks explain it better than what I can say really. It is mentioned how she cannot get into trailblazer memories.

⋆｡°★ Adventurine

Adventurine is an employee of the IPC Strategic Investment Department. He is a coworker of Topaz and it mentioned how Diamond (their boss) has given him a major project involving Penacony (wow how surprising IPS cannot stay away huh).

⋆｡°★ Robin

Robin: A leader of The Family - a faction aligned with the Path of Harmony on Penacony. She appears in the Dreamscape as an agent of Watchmaker - the true master of Penacony - and sends invitations to members of all the families to attend a banquet on Penacony.

She also has some insane powers that she uses to get people to join The Family, like holy macaroni see this. Also it mentioned how she wants to eliminate Watchmaker so...! Let's say she is NOT loyal to them.

⋆｡°★ Storyleaks P3

OKAY YES- Now we are back to the story leaks! Sorry, I had a lot to explain first before we could really get into it. The trailblazer is at the hotel mentioned above and is basically really experiencing all the effects of this hotel. I do wonder how Watchmaker got into this... Especially when they make such a big connection between real life and a dream and how much life influences dreams.

At the arrival of Penacony, I feel like they were getting used to the weird gravity thing in the Hotel and then meet Robin and Sunday (<333 theeeemmmm explodes). There was also another leak of voicelines between these three:

"Robin: Are you all right?

Trailblazer: I seem to be seeing hallucinations…

Robin: Haha, this is normal for people who enter "dreamland" for the first time.

Sunday: It seems that this guest isn't used to the change from reality to the dream world. Don't worry, this kind of weightlessness is common among travelers who are new to the dream world.

Sunday: Robin, please help our friend better adapt to this dream.

Robin: Leave it to me.

Robin: It's okay. Just relax. It'll be over soon.

Robin: "Breathe in." …… "Breathe out." ……

Robin: You are now in complete control of your dreams, {NICKNAME}—welcome to Penacony."

So this is the part where they get introduced to Penacony.

Now for the part where they mention Firefly having a teardrop in the corner of her eye, I feel like this is something that happens later after certain events that I cannot predict, sadly,,, Trailblazer is I think getting some kind of dream again that does resonate with reality.

And well than! Firefly and Archeron get into a fight...! GREAT! I feel like Archeron, as how is mentioned, does have a kind heart so I feel like she may be protecting the Trailblazer because they know about them being Stellaron Hunters, though I am a little unsure about this claim.

And than Black Swan just drags the Trailblazer away! GREAT! Like they aren't having enough already lol. Blackswan is the one that is the memo keeper of the Garden of Recollection. I think they do have something to do with the IPS because of the entire "prison where countless inmates were relocated to salvage the overflowing Memory Bubbles for the Garden of Recollection". Hence why Aventurine is there, who literally WORKS for IPS and got a job for the Penacony from his boss. I do feel like it has something to do with the Garden of Recollection but absolutely the past of the hotel and Penacony in general with the IPS.

THAN! Look at that! Robin's fake death! Which confirms this event all took place in World 3 where Robin performs her own death in order to force out and eliminate Watchmaker...! Dang the puzzle pieces are really connecting now...

The story feels a little chaotic at the moment and there absolutely some parts between the leaks missing.

⋆｡°★ Light Cones Leaks

Baptism, ah, here I go again back with my Christian references.

Okay, so the emphasis on cleanliness and the idea that "truth eludes impurity and can only be approached by purity" resonates with the Christian concept of moral purity and the idea of being cleansed of purified thoughts by repentance. Christianity often talks about living a righteous life, how the lightcones talk about how the idea of truth is approached through purity is probably them saying how like in the Bible maintaining moral integrity and avoiding behaviours is considered sinful. Furthermore, the concept of purity and truth is found in passages in the Bible like for example in Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God".

⋆｡°★ Chinese

I DON'T KNOW CHINESE ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO TRANSLATE THESE WELL ENOUGH BUT I DO READ SOME THINGS ABOUT PENACONT AND THE GARDEN OF RECOLLECTION SOBBING

I will try to translate these some other times and get more into it, but I cannot promise good translations because my Chinese knowledge is very very limited.

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ THANK YOU FOR READING!

[lesbianwyllravengard]

Realistically I'd hate Mother Miranda as a person, but I love her as a character, and her tragic characterisation. She's doomed for hypocrisy and failure since she began. She wants to get her daughter back by any means necessary, but she's so far gone she doesn't realise she's doing the exact same thing to Ethan what happened to her. She doesn't see how her experimenting on the Lords and the people of the village has upended their families and taken their loved ones from them prematurely. She's so absorbed in her selfish need she not only sees other people's struggles as less than her own, she doesn't even see them as genuine struggles, because to her, she has the one right to get her daughter back, and everyone else should be lining up to make sacrifices for her. Love is blind but evil is an endless narrow tunnel and she never once looked back to see she was burning everything around her just to get what she wanted. And it was her downfall

[battleangel]

Third Eye Realizations

🧿Abolitionist

🧿Liberation

🧿Justice

🧿Climate Change

🧿Protecting the Earth & the environment

🧿Socialism

🧿Community

🧿Banding together

🧿Pooling our resources

🧿End child hunger & poverty

🧿Eradicate homelessness

🧿Universal medical care

🧿Universal college & coding education

🧿Bodily Autonomy + Womens Rights

🧿Kemet

🧿Ancient Egypt

🧿Isis

🧿Decolonizing the mind

🧿End paternalism + patriarchy

🧿Toxic masculinity

🧿End corporate America

🧿Restoring communities not policing crime

🧿Legalize marijuana & psychedlics

🧿End prison sentences for non-violent crimes (exception financial manipulation where people & families lose life savings like securities fraud)

🧿End school to prison pipeline

🧿End criminalization of normal childhood behavior of black & brown boys in elementary school that leads to juvenille halls, early prison records & sets them up for a life of crime for something they should be getting detention for

🧿End overmedicalization of black women by psychiatry & disgusting abuse of power through misdiagnoses, forcible drugging & forced hospitalizations

🧿Remove Protestant work ethic from public consciousness

🧿Strengthen unions & labor laws

🧿Stop prioritizing profits over people

🧿End preventable deaths from starvation, homelessness & curable illnesses and diseases by providing a universal living (not "minimum") wage, affordable housing & medical care so people stop dying needlessly in the "richest country in the world"

🧿Remove organized religions influence from laws, education systems, public sphere & culture at large as it has caused hatred, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, racism, persecution, genocide, unjust laws, oppression, suppression, indoctrination, brainwashing, forced baptisms, trauma, upheld patriarchy & paternalism, reinforced bullshit feminine ideals, subjugation of women & their forced submission to the "head of the household", dogma, blind faith, zealotry, corruption, grift, theft, "tithes & offerings", sex abuse, emotional abuse, psychological coercion, child abuse, hypocrisies and wars.

🧿Societal realization that feminine doesnt equal women, masculine doesnt equal men, anyone can wear makeup, heels, dresses, business suits, tuxedos, grow facial hair, not shave their legs, have acrylic nails, etc. and it has nothing to do with genitalia, sex or assigned gender at birth and everything to do with Spirit (as the Native Americans know with 2 Spirit), energy and how Source has divinely chosen to manifest itself in each individual soul and that expression of Source is as unique and individual as our fingerprints and if that expression is through gender affirming transitions, surgery, medical care, facial feminization surgery, changes in physical appearance, hormones, drugs then that is how that persons soul has chosen to express themselves in this temporal, corporeal, temporary and physical plane of existence -- the soul, our energy, Source, the divine is what truly matters and noone should question anyone elses unique soul expression which can be expressed and communicated in literally millions of different ways, through body art, body modifications, tattoos, piercings, hair adornments, permanent makeup, the list is literally endless and gender identity expression and gender affirming care is just one of these millions of ways and should not be demonized, hated, feared or legislated against.

🧿Opioids like fentanyl, percoset, oxycontin, etc. are dangerous, harmful and addictive. Millions are addicted and millions have lost their lives for no reason other than to enrich pharmaceutical companies. We can be healed with plants and herbs and we can be healed with our selves and our own inner healing power. We dont need these synthetic, unnatural, harmful & deadlydrugs. They should be made illegal.

🧿Cancer is nothing but a cottage industry and a money making tool -- with all the trillions and trillions donated and decades upon decades of research, where is the cure? Same with arthritis, lupus and other autoimmune diseases. Prescription drugs exist to make pharmaceutical companies richer, thats it.

🧿Satan was made up for Christianity, which is a bastardized & stolen form of kemet, Mary is a bastardized Isis & Jesus is a bastardized & fake ass Horus. There is no hell, hell is never mentioned once in the Old Testament, it was made up later for the New Testament to control and enslave. We are in hell, thats literally where we are now, what else do you call millions of children dying every year of starvation, from homelessness, from completely preventable & curable diseases when Apple is a trillion dollar company? What do you call the Earth dying because of profit and greed and capitalism? What do you call pointless wars over inside government jobs? What do you call genocide, systems of oppression, police killing unarmed Black men with absolute impunity, prison industrial complex, military industrial complex, school to prison pipeline, corporate amerikkka working people to death into literal early graves, money being valued over living human beings with unique souls, forests being destroyed, colonialism, colonizers, government experimentation, MK Ultra, minders, greys, the Bohemian Grove...youre in hell literally now.

🧿Decolonize your mind, heal yourself, commune with nature, unplug and disconnect, exit the rat race, stop treating yourself as a machine when you are a beautiful soul, stop overworking, stop hustling, stop overeating, stop overdrinking -- ethanol is a poisonous depressant, so how do you "drink to have a good time"?, stop overspending, stop overconsuming, stop retail "therapy", tap into yourself, tap into your soul, stop endlessly scrolling and tapping your phone, tap into Source, we are all infinite beings and they treat you like you are an inconsequential cog to be replaced -- if you die today, your job will replace you tomorrow i was a corporate recruiter and saw it happen more than once, listen to ocean waves, float weightlessly in a dark pool, stop listening to 24/7 news, stop being 24/7, youre not 24/7, you have a natural circadian rhythym, replenish your depleted melatonin levels, they treat you like a 5 below knock off when you are expansive & divine, stop killing yourself to make a CEO that doesnt know who tf you are and his shareholders richer they will brush your ass out the door this fall with the estimated 2 million more people being laid off, stop making yourself a number, stop being a statistic, stop being plastic, stop playing their game, be an individual, be yourSELF, know the Self, know Self, know thy Self, cant run away from Self forever, look inside because thats where all the answers are and thats the only place they dont want you to look so you google it but baybee what did people do before google, stop shortening your attention span, you are more than a Tik Tok, read a book, fight the power, fight the machine, take a slow leisurely walk to nowhere to do nothing, stop existing and curating your entire existence for social consumption on social media, you are not a thing to be consumed, you were wonderfully made by Source, you are Source, realize who you are and open your eyes...🧿

[simplegenius042]

could i get some silva's hope pls?

Of course @sharkyboshaw!

Silva's Hope (or the Hope County Arc) is one of the main FC5 fics that is the pinnacle star of Far Cry The Silver Chronicles. It's my deputy Silva Omar's main story and (mostly) follows the events of the game up until certain points (things start to change like with her final hostile confrontation with John and when Joseph talks about his dead wife and child). This fic delves into Silva's past (the Archipelagoes, Elsa, Irene and their daughter, her father and his Congregation, Paul, his apostles, the massacre, so much more) and present (Hope County, the Resistance, the Ryes, Faith, her grief, so on), as well as her fight for the future, both her own and the county's. I've got this "thematic paralleling" going on between Silva's past and present, how it seems to be going down the same, when in actuality that's the illusion Silva is stuck in and just can't let go of. A lot of it is still under development, but with what I've written so far? I'm liking the direction its heading.

Silva's Hope tackles themes of dealing with loss, trying to find yourself again, a total deconstruction on the black-and-white moral view of the world, the importance of relationships (familial, platonic, and romantic) as well as the deception and hypocrisy that hides around every corner in both allies and enemies alike (or in this case how those two things are embodied in a single character and even a group... I'll give you a hint; it's not Joseph, nor is it Eden's Gate, but they certainly do play a part with those themes).

Silva struggles a lot... and not simply with her fight to just simply exist as she is in the face of ideals and occupations that either seek to ensure she doesn't or restrict her future to a set course. Externally and internally, from past and in present, Silva deals with demons. Which really sucks when she's putting the county's survival on top of her own shoulders, and her medication to suppress that trauma that's built up within her for years has run out and being constantly drenched in a hallucinogenic airborne drug that can project anything from a person's psyche if the local Bliss handlers aren't around to steady it sure doesn't help.

Case in point, the snippet of the closing act of an unnamed chapter below the cut:

[TW/CW: Inhalation of hallucinogenic drugs, arson, maybe attempted murder (of self?), swearing and mentions of war crimes]

With slow breathes, Silva awkwardly rolled around to face the destruction she caused.

Holding herself upright by anchoring her arms around her knees, she watched with stoned grey eyes as fire vacuumed in the green mist, consuming it like an endless fuel, dazzling with sparkles more than Gaius' clothing ever did. It was a mesmerizing sight, one that she needed to get away from, but she couldn't find the energy to do so.

A small portion of the populace in Montana needed her help, and here she was, watching a florist's conservatory crumble to the weight of itself to be consumed by flames that she had set alight.

Lindsey and Whitehorse would probably be pissed at her for destroying the laboratory, but Virgil had asked her to bring down the Bliss operations, however she pleased. She's sure this will earn at least a pleased laugh from Lader once the news reaches the woman.

Though beautiful in its own way, Silva thought she'd... feel more catharsis from burning this building down. Maybe she was just tired, but she felt disappointment that this wasn't as satisfying as seeing Zhan's Monastery burn and crumble over the cliff side.

The soft crunch of grass echoed from behind her, a mimic of the real thing she could guess, and with a heavy weight pushing against her mind, she could guess who it was behind her.

"I'm not apologizing Faith," Silva stated aloud, allowing her bluntness to carry clearly across, "You and I both knew this was an inevitability. So you can keep your holier-than-thou "these flowers bring hope" sentiment to yourself, cause I'm not in the mood for it."

No verbal answer came, only the silent treatment that Faith liked to frequently use when something displeased her.

For someone who proclaimed that Joseph freed her from herself, she certainly had a habit of keeping thoughts to herself. A difference I've noticed between Faith and Zhan... the bruja demoniaca was far more honest than the young woman she encountered now.

Silva opened her mouth to say something to Faith... but her words were lost as soon as she heard that chuckle from behind her.

A chuckle. Not a giggle, the childish, playful, frustrating, melodic giggle Faith let slip whenever she tried to bring down her guard, whenever she tried to get the deputy to open up, whenever Silva told a joke when she felt comfortable to do so. This wasn't the giggle she hated herself for finding to be nice and safe to be around.

This was a haunting chuckle that mocked her, a chuckle amongst the maniacal laughter which entrapped her within the night terrors that persisted almost every night when she could receive sleep. A chuckle, sophisticated and condescending, belonging to a young woman of high-class, shameless in her heinous immorality, an apathetic warmongering merchant who specialized in chemical warfare, producing nightmarish poisons and concoctions that resulted in the slow deaths of families and communities, horrifying the likes of Kamski to the point the older man couldn't bare the idea of facing her.

A chuckle that should never even be able to uttered again, not amongst the living. The chuckle that belong to the Apostles' proclaimed "Herald of Death"; Zhan Tiri, the only woman she would call a bastarda despite how little it emphasized the amount of blood that stained the woman's hands underneath the dark gloves.

"Such foul words Silva. And here I thought you appreciated my honesty," the wicked viper chastised from behind, giving a demeaning tsk, "You should wash out the filth in that mouth of yours with some soap... the toxins would certainly be doing you a favor."

Exhaustion forgotten, nausea forgotten, bruises forgotten as coherent thought froze and her body took action instead. Grabbing the pistol from her holster, Silva did not care for how many bullets were in the chamber, for whatever number would be good enough for her, as long as she got a good shot, like last time. But last time was with her last bullet, for the illusions wasted most of the lead.

The deputy aimed, grip shaking as she stared at the small woman, still donning her black dress, gloves and heels. A beaded head strap rested on her forehead, a purple gem in the middle. Her faded dark hair was still braided in twin buns, her face holding dark circles belonging to a chronic insomniac who voluntarily overworked herself, the smirk highlighting the black lipstick she wore. Her purple eyes still held the same hunger, the same arrogance she had until Silva put a bullet between her eyes.

Silva's wide eyes refused to blink, for even a moment to lose sight of the mistress of toxins could end in her retching up her own blood if she wasn't careful.

"You're... no, you're dead," Silva uttered, shaking her head as she took a step back from the woman who was only a head shorter than her, "I fucking killed you!"

Zhan Tiri's eyes widened her mouth agape as she feigned a gasp, gloved hand to her mouth, "Did you now?"

Zhan Tiri lips pursed and her brows furrowed as she began examining herself, hands patting down on her body and then tracing her forehead for the hole that Silva knew she fire her last bullet through.

Finding nothing, Zhan Tiri looked to Silva and gave a mocking shrug. her grin showing the fangs disguised as teeth.

"Are you so certain about that?" Zhan grinned, showing the fangs disguised as teeth.

Silva tried to control her breathing, body protesting as she remained standing, focusing her aim towards Zhan's forhead again.

Zhan Tiri took a small step closer, the vindictive grin on her face never disappearing, "Surely you have more to say to me than this? After all, Paul did say we were fami-"

Silva fired her pistol. She heard the bang. She saw the projectile hit the target.

But no body fell. No body laid on the grass at all. In fact, Zhan Tiri disappeared in a puff of green mist, unlike the grey of her Torment.

Silva glanced around for the bruja, turning to the foliage, to the road, to the burning conservatory and the Angels that laid unmoving, then back to the spot Zhan was in, only to be face to face with the woman.

Silva couldn't act fast enough before Zhan burst in a cloud of Bliss as she pushed the deputy. The push wasn't physical, so Silva wasn't effected.

However, she could not stop herself from tripping on herself when the Bliss clouded her vision, coughing as she slipped and stumbled, tumbling down the short slope til she was closer to what was one Jessop Conservatory, the surviving green mist worming its way to leech off the deputy.

Silva pushed herself up, catching sight of the deceased Apostle who stood with a haughty posture.

Silva eyed the short woman, catching breathes of Bliss as she panted, and defiantly said, "You're not real."

Zhan hummed inquisitively, "Perhaps. But I'm real enough for you, sister."

"Cut the shit, you never cared for his spiel on "family", not in life and certainly in death... you only endured it for the resources he could provide," Silva countered, one hand on her pistol, other hand reaching for her dagger.

"In some ways you are right," Zhan Tiri concured, "But in other ways... well, I guess we'll never know."

The herald looked to the Bliss spilled about, the flames ever consuming the drug, and rested her gaze on the Angels behind Silva.

"But this surely is quite the scene you've made. And what a waste for this... "Faith" girl of yours," Zhan said with a faux pout, "All that time and effort set back who knows how long. On the bright side though, her talents lives on, if only wasted for that prophet. I think I'd be a far more better mentor, wouldn't you agree?"

Silva gripped the handle of her dagger as she pulled it out, the Bliss tied around her wrist.

In her peripheral, she thought she saw movement with one of the Angel's bodied, but ignored it in favor of keeping her eyes on Zhan.

"Get out," Silva drew her dagger to sit alongside her pistol as she gritted out with venom, "Of my fucking head!"

The surrounded bodies of Angels started convulsing, muffled groaning and screaming coming from behind their masks, catching Silva's attention. Zhan Tiri smirked.

"If you can fight for it."

Silva counted the Angels rising up from the ground, the ones she swore she took out with her rifle not moments ago. Shit, SHIT, why couldn't have the explosion consumed them too?!

"This has been such a pleasant welcome back for me, Silva," Zhan told the deputy, Bliss circling around the deceased herald's heels, raising her like she was on a colossal podium, "But now?"

Silva raised a gun at the towering Zhan, the Angels standing at their full heights around the Deputy. Glancing about, aiming her weapons in defence, Silva could count three unarmed while four held an assortment of tools like rakes, shovels, pipes and a burnt picket from a broken fence.

"Shall we pick up..."

Silva noticed how a mist of Bliss started rising up and grow in size around them, closing off the sights of the conservatory and the surrounding foliage.

Turning back to her old foe, one of the leading heralds of the former Apostles alongside Paul and his other "children", now held twin balls of Bliss, and was on a higher vantage point that looked like it could move. With a grin wide with shameless maliciousness and directed at Silva, the deputy was starting to wish she was confronting Faith now.

"...where we left off?"

Despite how much her body ached, Silva couldn't back down from this, despite how much she was going to hate it. Whether this was the Bliss, her psyche, or through whatever impossible means, real... she only had one thought to encapsulate how she felt in the moment before the Angels made their first move.

Fuck my life.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

To feel envy is human, to savour schadenfreude is devilish.

- Arthur Schopenhauer

I was in the stadium with members of my family and friends watching the epic Japan vs Spain World Cup game. What an atmosphere at the end of the game when both Japanese and Spanish fans realised they were now through the group and that Germany were now knocked out of the World Cup despite their 4-2 win over Costa Rica.

Spain completely dominated the first half, but Japan overcame this to win 2-1 stunningly. Spain chose Alvaro Morata as their customary number nine, which instantly paid dividends as the Atlético Madrid player headed in the opening goal after receiving a precise cross. As Spain dominated possession and limited Japan to a few half-chances in the first half, Morata continued to provide a threat from inside the box.

After the break, Japan's high-intensity pressing punished Spain for sloppy passing by stealing the ball, which replacement Ritsu Doan skillfully finished. Almost shortly after, Japan put the ball in the back of the net once more, and a VAR review affirmed that Ao Tanaka's goal stood. Minutes before the end, Dani Olmo came within inches of winning, but Japan held on thanks to an outstanding second-half performance to win Group E. The ‘Samurai Blue’ more than deserved their draw and to go through. They were tenacious and full of self belief and energy. It was a great game.

At the end of the game Japanese fans were crying with joy and the Spaniards along with neutrals in the stands joined them. It was a cathartic moment for all football fans when it dawned on us that German were humiliated and on their way home.

In the hotel bars afterwards the drink flowed. I was with Japanese friends and Spanish friends and others as we celebrated. Never did a Suntory Yamazaki 12 Year Old single malt whisky taste so sweet. We watched around us Qataris on television having fun at the Germans’ expense.

On the eve of the World Cup the game’s governing body threatened to book players – such as the seven European captains, including Germany’s Manuel Neuer – who were planning on wearing the OneLove armbands, which promote diversity and inclusivity. Same-sex relationships and the promotion of same-sex relationships is criminalised in Qatar, a Muslim-majority country with Islam as the state religion.

In protest, the Germans had covered their mouths - a reference to being silenced by FIFA - for their pre-match photograph before the Japan game. “Human rights are non-negotiable,” the German federation said in a statement at the time. “That should be taken for granted, but it still isn’t the case. That’s why this message is so important for us. Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position.” Their conduct greatly angered the Qataris - and indeed many Arabs and other Muslims here at the World Cup. They saw double standards and starch western hypocrisy at work, and even racism.

The Germans have a point - up to a point. But so do the Qataris - it is after all their sovereign country, not ours. Qataris and others would say if you don’t speak up for the Uygher Muslim being rounded up in concentration camps in China during the last Winter Olympics, or speak up for the endless litany of human righrs violation in Putin’s Russia during the last footbal World Cup, then what leg are you standing on to speak up for others elsewhere? Why are you so selective in your activism? Activism is easy when it doesn’t cost you anything.

Much of the Western media coverage of the World Cup is so misinformed and just plain hyperbolic BS.

In any case, German had decided to focus their energies on their holier than thou woke virtue signalling at the start of this tournament rather than focus on the football.

They paid the piper.

The Japanese have a saying: “The misfortunes of others taste like honey.” The French speak of joie maligne, a diabolical delight in other people’s suffering. The Danish talk of skadefryd, and the Dutch of leedvermaak. In Hebrew enjoying other people’s catastrophes is simcha la‑ed, in Mandarin xìng‑zāi‑lè‑huò, in Serbo-Croat it is zlùradōst and in Russian zloradstvo. More than 2,000 years ago, Romans spoke of malevolentia. Earlier still, the Greeks described epichairekakia (literally epi, over, chairo, rejoice, kakia, disgrace). “To see others suffer does one good,” wrote the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. “To make others suffer even more so. This is a hard saying, but a mighty, human, all-too-human principle.”

The Germans of course call it schadenfreude. I love the German word: schadenfreude. From Schaden, meaning damage or harm, and freude, meaning joy or pleasure: damage-joy.

The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer called it “an infallible sign of a thoroughly bad heart and profound moral worthlessness,” the very worst trait in human nature. (He also said that anyone caught enjoying the suffering of others should be shunned from human society.)

I have come to believe that Schopenhauer was wrong. We might worry that a taste for other people’s misery will corrupt our souls, yet this emotion is far from simply “bad.” It touches on things that have mattered most to human societies for millennia: our instincts for fairness and hatred of hypocrisy; our love of seeing our rival suffer in the hope that we might win ourselves; our itch to measure ourselves against others and make sense of our choices when we fall short; how we bond with each other; what makes us laugh. If we peer more closely at this hidden and much-maligned emotion, liberate ourselves from its shame and secrecy, we will discover a great deal about who we really are.

It’s telling no one I’ve observed talks about LGBT rights or even migrant labour exploitation in the bars or just amongst the football gathering of fans. They just came for the football. It’s a reminder that the self-important culture wars of the West are of little importance to the wider world. They really don’t care.

Football may not bring the world together around LGBT issues but it sure can unite the world around having a laugh at Germany’s ignominious exit from the Qatar World Cup. I would call that progress.

Photo: Qatari telelvision hosts say goodbye to Germany with typical Arabic hospitality.

[greenapplebling]

I only know what's happening bc of your latest Mikayuu post, BUT EFF YEAH THAT'S HYPOCRITICAL OF THEM IF THEY DID THE SAME. And I say that as someone who doesn't read the manga and has no attachment to these characters (I don't know why I was following the Mikayuu tag, but holy carp I'm glad I did)

Hi, anon! Thank you for the ask 🫶🏻

I was genuinely confused about what post were you referring to specifically bc I haven't made a post about the manga for a year now? (and I kinda dropped it so I gotta catch up someday)

But everything about this manga is hypocritical. The narrative, the characters, the readers/fans... Everything

Not even Yuu is exempt from this and the 2 biggest examples are 1) how much he fights Mika and others to keep Mika alive (who's been ready to kick the bucket for at least a 3/4 of the story) but the moment his own life is on the line and Mika asks him, pleas him, to not throw his life away the moment he gets to, Yuu looks like a scolded child and immediately throws himself into danger (granted, you can argue Mika is being a hypocrite too but I'll get to that later)

2) there's a chapter where Yuu is asked if he's truly ready to destroy the world (or what's left of it lol) to revive the children of the orphanage he grew up in, his family, and to turn Mika a human again and Yuu answers: "I don't give a crap about the world" and 3 doritos (chapters) later, when they encounter another possessed seraph, Yuu tries to talk him out of triggering an apocalypse by talking about how humans don't deserve this ("Haven't humanity suffered enough?"). Sir, it hasn't even been a day since what you said before

While Mika has his moments of hypocrisy (mainly revolving around the point I talked about earlier and of which I could keep talking about bc I could argue he's not exactly a hypocrite about that, but it might seem like it at first glance), he's the only character who has maintained mostly consistent throughout the story (outside of the vampires who haven't changed since they were first introduced, I don't really count them). He's kept his goals, morals, flaws and virtues, which is incredibly appreciated when it comes to a story that instead of developing and letting their characters grow it changes them to fit the narrative. What I think people don't like about Mika and criticizes him for is that, despite being the second protagonist, he barely has any weight on the story (which I agree with, but haters take it a little too far sometimes). He only exists as a foil and an extension of Yuu

And I won't touch the subject of the Shinoa squad, Guren and the fans bc this will be endless lmao

[swordsandarms]

A thing that makes one of the major points used against Rhaenyra ludicrous (what she does for her children, no matter what - her motherhood experience in any form) is that is the the ONE endless defence used for Alicent instead, on the other hand.

For Rhaenyra it's - "She had children out of wedlock, she brought death on them herself. It's hypocrisy to stand up against people calling them bastards/go to war/threaten/etc."

For Alicent it's - "Aegon is a rapist but she is her baby! Aemond is a violent sadist but he is her baby! What is she to do? Of course she does unscrupulous things out of motherly love! Of course she wants a conflict if she has the slightest suspicion they can be in danger!"

There's also of course the part where motherhood in itself as a burden/trial is a contender of sympathy for Alicent but none at all for Rhaenyra. Both women have multiple almost back to back pregnancies as is their duty. Alicent receives endless sympathy, but Rhaenyra at most indifference, and in many cases even exasperation with her audacity to be shown it's a dire struggle for her as a woman, too, and that it comes with strong motherly feelings and bodily danger.

It is also the fact that even before Rhaenyra has her children to be considered liable for, Alicent's side of motherhood in offence against the 'threat' of Rhaenyra already started. The narrative paints Alicent as not even 'at fault' for their existence, due to how the relationship between her and Viserys is presented in the show (there's pushback against even moving the 'fault' to Otto, if it means being in a negative connection with Alicent's family feelings association).

So suddenly Rhaenyra has the fault of her own existence to carry then, cut short before even introducing the grace of either blameless or guilty motherly feelings in her case.

Before she does anything, she gets disqualified from any grace allowance whatsoever. For one can discuss the faults of Viserys here, but it only comes down to the fact that not only is she not given the same grace of "protective mother, even when in the wrong" that Alicent gets, she doesn't even get the allowance of the "protected child, even when in the wrong" that Alicent's children get by extension.

(And I'm not saying Viserys has any ground for the same "graces in faults" as a parent that are extended to Alicent - and yet not to Rhaenyra - but even to Otto as "acknowledged bad doer, but father").

The point I am trying to make, I guess, is that the obvious partiality is very outstanding when it comes to people raising such "graces" for Alicent.

(And, yes, I've given thought as to whether it happens in reverse when to comes to defending Rhaenyra and her children instead, but it only gets quantified: there is no excusing children making mistakes and being protected when a 6 years old Luke ends up taking Aemond's eye, but "grace" is expected when an adult Aemond actually kills Luke (we can only assume Alicent will not only forgive him but protect him from consequences - the lawful penalty for killing - instead of giving him up to be convicted for manslaughter - killing someone even if unintentional, as the show painted it - for "peace" - essentially, that she would give a son's life for a life, as she once asked for an eye and was appraised as "in the right" in commentaries); there is no "grace" expected for Rhaenyra standing by her children while having the 'fault'/'crime' of being bastards - which even if put on her is not on them - but "grace" is expected in Alicent still standing by her son while a rapist - even of her own daughter! - because of motherly feelings - which is his very own fault and crime, etc).

[zumpietoo]

I might or might not post the latest anon hate.....but suffice to say:

No shortage of hypocrisy (duh)

One recent misconstrued act by yours truly (as I'm endlessly reminded it's been 4 years) is far worse and the cause of everything, even tho, again, stalking of myself and my family, endless hate, etc....as well as announcing "set to destroy Cole" all started years beforehand....

And, ofc, endless....."SH is never getting back together, why can't you move on????"

Umm....dudes? Once again, I'm not just fine with it, I count Cole lucky for his close escape (as does he)....apparently the endless fangurling over Cari is something they struggle to grasp....just as they struggle to grasp that, once again, endlessly cosplaying/copycatting your ex, with a tacky imitation of him, entirely because the tacky imitation publicy tackily imitated him is not "moving forward". Or being over him....nor is befriending his other ex, who used to stalk and cosplay YOU.....

In any event.....the weirder part is how despite the apparent stalking of yours truly, this remains something they still can't grasp....

And, again, yes....I'm free to drag a pack of assholes for lying and criticize behavior a celebrity chooses to make public. And, again, yes, stating you're hellbent on destroying somebody, catfishing as him, sending him and his family death threats, stalking myself and my family, etc.....ARE, in fact, ninety billion times worse.

And all because he dumped your kween/I like him better than her....again, you started it. Apologize and stop lying. I certainly won't be, because I've done nothing wrong....

And nobody cares what you "hoped", but normal people would "hope" you'd grasp reality.

Yes, it's been 4 years.....and no, none of you are "moving forward".....including your kween, her Walmart Cole (for however long their maybe reconciliation lasts) and her cult....

ETA: here's the loon, under the cut (cuz already long and she cray/icky)....almost forgot.....Jeebus most assuredly wouldn't do what you do