#for the most part though it's just the Horrors

[crimson-and-clover-1717]

‘Stede is Fearless’

This comment made by Rhys Darby at the con just won’t leave me.

It was something he stated quite emphatically, but then didn’t get the time to follow up properly. It was in response to an audience question about when Stede realises the man in his closet is actually Blackbeard, he isn’t afraid. I think that question is easy to answer because all Stede can ever see is Ed. But Rhys’ response was about the wider characterisation of Stede ‘…you have to remember, Stede is fearless’. It affected me so much I blogged in real-time.

So, Rhys played Stede with that in mind. And it’s an odd thing because Stede is often very, very afraid. Quaking-in-his-boots, crying-his-eyes-out afraid. But being ‘fearless’ isn’t the absence of fear. It’s living your life, your truth, in spite of it.

Here is my non-exhaustive ‘Stede is Fearless’ list:

Stede is fearless when he leaves his dead marriage (despite the circumstances in which he does so)

Stede is fearless when he decides to captain a pirate crew and ship without any previous experience of the ocean

Stede is fearless when he believes he can change the culture of piracy to one of kindness

Stede is fearless when he announces himself ‘The Gentleman Pirate’

Stede is fearless when he meets Ed which is why he cannot see ‘Blackbeard’

Stede is fearless when he learns history’s greatest pirate was going to murder him, and then offers the hand of friendship

Stede is fearless when he duels Izzy - I mean what the actual fuck was Stede thinking here?

Stede is fearless when he takes history’s most brilliant tactician on a treasure hunt with a fake map

Stede is fearless when he stands apart from everyone in his disdain of Calico Jack, and is proven right

Stede is fearless when he takes care of the crew’s emotions over his own broken heart when Ed leaves with CJ

Stede is fearless when he takes responsibility for Nigel’s murder

Stede is fearless when he tells Ed he doesn’t have to sign the Act of Grace to save him

Stede is fearless when he repeatedly asks Ed what the plan is for escape

And yes, Stede is fearless when he realises he cannot go through with the China plan, and returns home to face what he believes is the horror of who he is

He is fearless (eventually) in putting to rights the mess he left behind in Bridgetown

…in returning to find Ed even though he has doubts about his own adequacy

…in rescuing the crew from the Red Flag as Ed lies dead

…in loving Ed back to life

…in following Ed in his banishment

…in finding a way back with the crew for Ed

…in offering Izzy an olive branch and validation

…in respecting Ed’s autonomy in their relationship

…in dealing with Ned Low himself to protect Ed and the crew

…in taking the initiative in consummating his and Ed’s relationship

…in standing up to Zheng

…in offering unconditional love when Ed returns

Is he clumsy, sometimes wrong or misguided? Definitely. Part of Stede’s beauty is his messiness.

But Stede is terrified throughout most of his actions, and bloody does it anyway.

Because Stede is fearless.

[sparkle-b00mb0y]

The Accident/ Katsuki bakugo accidentally hits you and you come home to him crying 😢

The argument had spiraled out of control. You and Bakugo had been yelling for what felt like hours, the tension in the room thick and suffocating. He was pacing back and forth, his frustration written all over his face, his hands gesturing wildly as he spoke.

“Why can’t you just let this go?!” he shouted, his voice echoing through the room.

“Because you’re not even trying to understand where I’m coming from!” you shot back, standing your ground.

“I am trying, damn it! But all you ever do is—” His hand flew out in an exasperated motion, and before either of you realized what was happening, his palm brushed against your cheek—not hard, but enough to make your head turn slightly.

The room went silent.

Your eyes widened as the shock of what had just happened sank in. It wasn’t intentional, but it didn’t matter. The sting on your skin wasn’t what hurt the most—it was the look of anger still etched on his face, quickly replaced by horror when he realized what he’d done.

“Shit,” he breathed, his hands dropping to his sides. “I didn’t mean—”

Tears welled up in your eyes, and you stepped back instinctively, your heart aching in a way you hadn’t expected. “You… you hit me,” you whispered, your voice trembling.

“I didn’t—It wasn’t on purpose!” Bakugo stammered, his voice panicked now. “I was just—”

But you didn’t wait to hear the rest. The pain in your chest was too much, and the tears spilling down your face made it hard to see clearly. You turned and grabbed your coat, rushing out of the apartment without another word.

Hours passed as you wandered aimlessly, trying to make sense of everything. You knew Bakugo hadn’t meant to hit you, but it didn’t erase the hurt or the shock of it. The memory replayed in your mind over and over, making the ache in your chest worse.

Finally, when the cold night air began to bite at your skin, you made your way back to his apartment. Part of you wasn’t sure what you’d find when you opened the door, but nothing could have prepared you for the sight that greeted you.

Bakugo was sitting on the floor, his head in his hands. His broad shoulders were shaking, and muffled, broken sobs filled the quiet room.

“Katsuki…” you said softly, your voice barely above a whisper.

His head snapped up, his red, tear-streaked eyes locking onto yours. For a moment, neither of you moved, and then he scrambled to his feet, stumbling toward you.

“You’re back,” he choked out, his voice hoarse. “I—I thought you weren’t going to come back.”

The sight of him—so raw and vulnerable—made your chest tighten. “I just needed some time,” you admitted, your voice wavering. “I didn’t know how to feel about what happened.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice breaking again. “I swear I didn’t mean to. I’d never hurt you on purpose. I—I was so mad, and I wasn’t thinking, and—” He stopped, his hands clenching into fists at his sides as his tears continued to fall. “I’m so sorry.”

You stepped closer, your own tears spilling over as you reached out to him. His breath hitched as you placed a hand on his arm, grounding him.

“I know you didn’t mean to,” you said softly. “But it still hurt, Katsuki. It scared me.”

His expression crumpled at your words, and he fell to his knees, gripping your hands tightly. “I’m the one who’s supposed to protect you,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “And I messed that up. I don’t know how to make it right.”

You knelt down with him, squeezing his hands. “We’ll figure it out,” you said gently. “But we need to talk about this. We can’t just let it go.”

He nodded, his grip on your hands tightening as though he was afraid you’d disappear again. “I’ll do whatever it takes,” he promised, his voice steady despite the tears. “I just… I can’t lose you.”

“You’re not going to lose me,” you said, pulling him into a hug. He clung to you like his life depended on it, burying his face in your shoulder as the weight of the moment settled between you.

In that embrace, you both silently vowed to work through the pain together, to rebuild the trust shaken by that one fleeting moment.

[demon-country]

The fact that I have already seen a good number of people complaining about how mean Stolas was supposedly being to Blitz in his song and thinking that he legitimately believes that Bliz is a wretched little worm that he owns is just. Utterly baffling. I'm genuinely unsure how anyone could miss the fact that it was an act. It was all a ruse he threw together on the fly in an effort to protect Blitz, wherein he pretended to be a big, bad, masterclass manipulator who was just using Blitz as his pawn.

For anyone who doubts it, here's the truth straight from the song writer's mouth:

This is literally the same exact ploy he pulled in Truth Seekers. He came in at the last minute and put on a big show to convince the people threatening Blitz and the rest of I.M.P that he was a big, scary demon who was so much more powerful than them (which he is) and practically owned them as his minions used to carry out his evil deeds (which he doesn't).

Though, perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised, since pretty much everyone I've seen talk about that scene fails to realize that that and his "who dares threaten my impish little plaything?" and "what's the matter, demon hunter? Never seen a real demon before?" comments were nothing but an act and he didn't actually believe any of it, too.

In Mastermind, he was trying to make sure that all of the blame would be put on himself, so that, as shown above, they would give Blitz the same treatment the others got when Blitz claimed they had nothing to do with it and were just following his orders.

In Truth Seekers, he was trying to intimidate the humans and make them so scared he wouldn't need to resort to violence to stop them. Why else would he put on that whole horror movie display and announce himself and his relationship with Blitz at all, if his entire goal was anything other than to incapacitate them with fear? If all he wanted was to get I.M.P out, he could have quickly and easily killed them without saying a word. Calling Blitz his plaything and saying that he was a real demon served to a) establish that he was the kind of person who had playthings, because that's the kind of cruel, domineering creature that most humans expect demons to be, and b) further intimidate them by implying that he was exponentially more powerful than the demons who just decimated their whole entire team.

He didn't mean any of it either time (except for when he called Blitz an idiot, maybe); those weren't things he actually believed. Why would he legitimately think of Blitz as his plaything and someone he owns when in both cases it was far enough in the timeline that he was already in love with Blitz and wanted a real, genuine romantic relationship with him and not just the fleeting taste of one he got while restrained by the full moon deal?

Those were classist/racist things to say, of course, and that was the point. That was language he deliberately used because it fit the persona he was using to appear villainous. Where he went wrong the first time and how his actual internalized racism came into play was in how he didn't for even one single second think about how those statements would look to the members of I.M.P, because he'd never once had to think about the fact they must get those kinds of demeaning comments all the time and had no way of knowing that he was faking. Calling them "little creatures" while he was scolding them probably wasn't part of the act though, and he didn't realize that it was classist/racist to say those things at all, regardless of intent, so he never apologized or reassured them that he didn't actually believe Blitz was his plaything or that they weren't real demons.

But with the power of hindsight and a more omniscient view of the characters that we get later on, it's so clear to see that all of these comments were only said as part of his theatrical portrayals of a villain, rather than things he truly believes, because he doesn't talk like that after Ozzie's when he realized just how much he had unintentionally been hurting Blitz. Don't fall for his ruse, guys, especially not when it's as blatantly obvious as it was in Mastermind.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

going anon bc idk how safe this space is: I heavily dislike bad sans poly, for a multitude of reasons

- most of it would be abusive as all hell (horror would despise them all and be as petty and cruel as he can, murder would be neglectful in the relationship and hateful, killer would struggle to build a bond to anyone because he knows if nightmare loses the need of them, they're dead, and anyone else would really be the same)

- I never... understood/dislike poly stuff all together, no offense.

I’d say it’s safe, a lot of us seem to know how to agree to disagree around here. I don’t know how’d it be if posts ever accidentally left the circle though.

But yeah I agree. Maybe not exactly for the reasons you give, mostly because I don’t feel familiar with horror and dust quite yet to say, but because I hate nightmare and the thought of him being able to bag any hoes—let alone three baddies—is sickening. He don’t deserve them ong.

And also I hate the way killer is depicted in almost all interpretations, most people only tend to focus on pairs than the whole, and honestly it’s kinda overrrated and convoluted to me.

And also I hate shipping Nightmare with the person he’s at least canonically abused and used and dehumanized and terrorized the hell out of. Killer will always have to carry a reputation out into the Multiverse exactly because of Nightmare. He will always be isolated. Viewed as a threat, a snake in the grass just waiting to strike.

People would never trust him. They’d look at him with disgust and anger and fear. Some would even try to kill and hurt or control him or “fix” him. They’d want to lock him up or even kill him because of what he had to do under Nightmare.

No one was going to save him. He’s lucky three people even tried and offered to help. He could’ve died under Nightmare and people would’ve cheered. All because of how Nightmare used him for his own ends.

Edit: I did not read the last part. Deep sigh..

[seraphsfire]

///ARCANE s2 finale SPOILERS ///

LONG POST

SO. THAT VIKTOR ARCANE LEAGUEOFLEGENDS GUY HUH.

some observations that are my personal opinion and/or interpretation of viktor's transformation and physical state. (my screenshots, idc if u repost them or whatever just don't say they're yours, etc)

minor edit: added a sentence i could've sworn i'd written that i hadn't and so my paragraph made no sense lol

love love love the aspects of body horror and character design going on with viktor's post-sourdough-starter cyborg body here, so i was trying to get a better look at it to maybe sort of figure out how his body was transformed, and what it's made of now (metal, magic, a third secret thing, idk)

so it looks like, in general, his skeletal structure and the metal parts in his back brace and his leg brace were fused together and then fused *into* his musculoskeletal structure, not just sort of copied by the hexcore. You can see here he has actual bolts in his spine before he got robot-ified, and to me it seems like this could have been a way for his brace to hook or snap onto his spine more securely to give him extra support.

I think the circles in the middle of the brace over his sternum might have also snapped into bolts in his chest, and you can see them better here

the cloth and leather parts of the brace have either dissolved or been turned into metal.

--I just want to take a side note here to note what im sure other ppl have mentioned but I haven't seen talked much about at least recently, is that viktor's disability wasn't just his mobility issues and bad respiratory health, that he must have been in terrible pain to have a procedure as extreme as bolts being put into his spine and/or chest deemed necessary / beneficial to his quality of life.

In the scene where he tries to destroy the hexcore, he can barely push himself up, and it takes all of his strength to lift a stool over his head that's only a few pounds :(

He later asks jayce to destroy the hexcore because he can't, and ive seen most people interpret that as him not wanting to destroy his life's work, but i always viewed it as him not physically being able to--the hexcore was too strong, and it snapped out at him and knocked him over just at the threat of him destroying it.

That circles over to another thing i thought was interesting, is that when he comes out of the goop he still seems very weak and unstable, even though he now has his back brace and leg brace fused to his skeleton. He still has to use his crutch to walk toward jayce and make effort to straighten his legs, because they're still twisted. It makes me wonder if the hexcore didn't so much heal him as dull his sense of pain so he couldn't feel it, and its energy forced him to move.

That's something i thought was interesting, and it made me think of his line about not feeling cold--he then says he feels something that is exactly how I'd describe coldness to somebody who's never felt it before, it just seems like now, his nervous system doesn't process it in the same way as he used to recognize the sensation of coldness. Interestingly, he still describes it as "unpleasant"

back to the design of viktor's body: what exactly is it made of? Here's where the body horror aspect of it comes in, because i think there's a possibility that's still mostly his body and what we're seeing here is exposed, preserved muscle fiber, because the hexcore either burned or melted off his skin or it literally rotted away while he was in the goop. There's a few artsy little flourishes from the hexcore magic peeking through, but except for the slightly darker color, it looks eerily like how muscle fiber on preserved cadavers looks, down to the way the little filamenty veins are. Granted it could just be a metallic structure the hexcore created, visually mimicking human muscle structure. Or the sourdough starter could have been something super gross like magic sentient cosmic energy formaldehyde--that also makes sense to me because of how when his hair grew out some of the tips had lost color, like they'd been bleached.

anyway the visual aspect of his resurrected hexcore appearance that makes me think of a reanimated cadaver most was how strange and unsettling i found it that he's completely gray and glowing with purple sparks, is that for some reason he's still got a bellybutton and almost a normal skin-like surace to that part of his stomach.

On the other hand, his hip socket and the rest of his pelvis is bony and skeletal. You can kind of see his pelvis not being attached with muscle fiber to his hip socket in that lower corner, it looks the same atp as when he's in his cosmic form.

the jokes about "jayce hugged him with his whole ______ out!!!!" just make me sad bc obviously any extraneous soft tissue was completely obliterated, (I say obviously but idk how many ppl literally believe they were censoring human body parts here.)

Like, he doesn't even have fingernails anymore. The only reason he has a stomach still is because abdominal muscles are a skeletal support structure.

That gives the he heebie jeebies so good, honestly, and what an fascinating choice by the design team instead of giving him idk, age of ultron steel robot shaped abs, which i've seen a lot in like human--robot transformations, he's this horrifying mix of petrified/preserved cadaver tissue, magic metal, and sentient cosmic energy. (Even more tragic and sad if you think about it that way and that jayce might have been hugging his dead friend's preserved, skinned corpse)

the "reanimated corpse" idea fits into the interpretation that viktor's emotions and thoughts are still his, but they've been very dulled by the power of the hexcore, because a reanimated cadaver body isn't going to be able to work as effeciently that way anymore.

or idk maybe the idea that he was still sort-of there, faintly is one i like because it makes me feel better, i can at least pretend some part of him felt comforted being held in such a horrific situation. had to post this screenshot bc that sad little face when hes getting hugged is destroying me

Anyway. many thoughts, many feelings, many possibilities and interpretations. Do with this what you will. I, for instance, will be walking into the sea and never returning probably

[vaquerobuckaroo]

My Last Boy Mission: Thoughts

[Warning: Spoilers, disjointed and unedited thoughts]

Watching the My Last Boy mission where the gang helps Eagle Flies and tribe storm the oil refinery

The horror, the absolute horror. Dutch walks away from Arthur as he's close to having his neck stabbed and gaslights him when Arthur confronts him about it. It seems apparent that though Dutch has formed a "family" in the gang, it doesn't seem so much important anymore when you disagree with him. Though I could see he was far gone in the head, I didn't expect this level of animosity and cold, unfeeling attitude. I can tell it will only get worse.

And for Eagle Flies, a third party (to the gang), to come save Arthur instead is both surprising and elating. Though both Dutch and Eagle Flies are frenzied and passionate, Eagle Flies is far more grounded and sane, enough to remember and repay Arthur for the times he's been helped.

The pause on Arthur's face right after he had been gaslit by Dutch is heartbreaking to see. You can almost see the "after all I did for you, this is how I'm treated? After all this time of running with you and doing what you asked of me, this is how you treat me? You leave me to die? What about family? Is money more important to you than lives?" look on his face.

In an odd way, this reminds me of my own dad, a part of him is, unfortunately, like this: valuing material possessions and principle over human feelings. A sort of "My way or the highway" mentality. Dutch exhibits this. There is a very fine line between authority and coercion. What Dutch exhibits isn't authority as a good leader but coercion as a boss. He doesn't care about anyone's feelings but his own, and cares none for anyone's benefit but his own. He is no different from the politicians, capitalists, and the government that he himself goes against, and has turned into what he despised the most.

I don't seem to understand what Dutch means to do with the money. I'm sure he can see the rift forming in the gang. When everyone either leaves or dies as a consequence of his actions, there'll be only a handful to be by his side in Australia or Tahiti or wherever. What then if it happens? They will be caught anyway, if not now, then later. Their sins will always catch up to them and all this will be for naught. As Charles said, "all this killing just to get some money to leave?" (paraphrase).

Dutch's idealistic views will not come to pass. It's a bit ironic that he has such dreamy, colourful ideals in this grimy world. What can one man and his tiny gang achieve? Why doesn't he realise that he is outnumbered against the world?

Arthur has tried his hardest to step into Hosea's shoes of the gang consiglieri, to try to take off the leader's rose-coloured lenses and see the world for what it really is, but it was only met with reproach and replacement by Micah, who encourages Dutch.

Rains Fall's words to his son, "Don't die for pride" ring true. Dutch kills for pride, and he will die for it too. And we all know he does, to the bitter end in RDR1, still clinging on to the age of outlaws that would long pass away. It's not to be wondered at. He was the one to say "you can't resist change" and ironically resists it and dies doing so.

Eagle Flies dies, yet another unfortunate pawn in Dutch's grand scheme of things. The poor man's ambition and frenzy for justice was used ill, only leading to his demise. In the end, what does it say about Rains Fall and Eagle Flies? The one who lives is Rains Fall, the very one to discourage the attack. The young might have energy, but pair it with the wisdom of the elderly, and everyone benefits from it.

All that aside, in a way, Dutch's ability to last so long in his profession is admirable. He knows it's a "survival of the fittest" world and he uses his fitness to its fullest extent, his right arm being manipulation. The saying rings true: Beware the old man in a profession where men die young.

But it makes me wonder... are we seeing a god complex in Dutch?

[y-rhywbeth2]

@chexala Astarion and Shadowheart both seem very disconnected from the arts (probably because of the Trauma) and it makes me wonder which (if any) they were into Before, and which (if any) they might get into After. Maybe this is also why they are both into personal aesthetics, since it's basically the only "art" they had any access to or control over during their Ordeals.

Sharran doctrine isn't big on creation or positive self-expression, and the depressing horrors of living as a vampire's slave would also put a dampener on creativity and joy, yes. Especially because the whole thing with elves prizing art is about how it's an expression of life and being alive, which both the religion and undead would take issue with.

Elves' most valued artforms in order from most to least: Magic -> Music -> Poetry and Literature -> Sculpture ('Shaping' if you're an elf) -> Tattooing -> Cooking (Those are the big ones. Theatre, philosophy, engineering and textiles is also fine, as is any self-improvement or skill you commit yourself to. No arts except song and dance have been cited in courtship though. Painting doesn't count as an artform itself).

Astarion does have some creative hobbies that he's into: tailoring and embroidery, literature and, going off of EA, he possibly writes poetry (might be quoting). Going off of his playing with human organs as props and dramatically re-enacting Poe, he might be a theatre nerd. As an elf he should probably be able to pick up singing naturally. He also likes playing with knives in a flashy manner, and that's... technically an art. While I'm not entirely sure how this stuff is handled by elven diaspora (although he references Evereska, so I'm not sure the degree to which that applies to him): As a 30-something, Astarion would only 'recently' be at an age in elven society where he'd be expected to start a formal education ('magistrate' is not a career in Baldur's Gate, it's more jury duty for high society, so it's not an indication he had a job or commitments or even a formal legal education), and (particularly as at least half-silver elf) probably have been left to his own devices to play around with hobbies and skills and work out what he enjoys. He also complains about art and artists at any opportunity, but these tend to be in response to paintings and painters, which he probably associates with Cazador and paintings don't count as real art by elven standards anyway.

Shadowheart was only a child before she was kidnapped, so her 'before' was probably drawing, exploring creative hobbies, and gardening and singing with her parents (music and caring for houseplants being important elfy things to impress on one's children. She does like her potted plants that she drags to all our camps. Maybe she enjoys bonsai and landscaping (or will, if she has the opportunity.)) She likes books. As a priestess who would be singing hymns, and one who voices horror upon realising that she was likely sent undercover as a bard and forced to sing, Shadowheart can sing she just doesn't want to. Dancing is part of Shar's image/thing, so I'd imagine there's some dancing in her faith too. But I don't think singing and dancing outside of specific forms and times meant to honour Shar were on the table. Arnell is excited to try and catch up on all the parenting opportunities he missed over the last 40 years, like dad jokes, I can imagine him also reintroducing her to elven culture and trying to teach her some songs, which Shadowheart will probably be happy to humour. Her mother is also teaching her recipes, so experimenting with cuisine is on the table as well.

I think song and dance are 'loud' expressions that are a bit too flashy and personal for either to be comfortable with. I think, if they're in a good moon, they might humour dancing, in private. Trying to serenade them if you romanced them will likely earn you a playful mocking. Selûnite Shadowheart might try singing for fun, later in life. Astarion has one line where he's humming something in the middle of combat, which is probably the closest you're getting to hearing him sing.

They'd be big on aesthetics regardless of trauma, since it's an elf thing. Personal aesthetics as a form of self-expression are also particularly important to moon elves. I imagine that side of them might actually get more focus in the future, assuming Shadowheart doesn't stay with Shar, considering reclaiming autonomy is a big part of both their arcs.

...it had never ceased to amaze Araevin that [his fiancée's] heart had turned to him. He had no gift for songs of love or dances beneath the stars, not compared to a dozen other noble-born lords and princes who had wooed her...

The traditional elven courtship of dancing and composing songs that has already been mentioned: if you can't dance, and worse, can't sing, your dating pool shrinks significantly.

But also in light of my realisation that elves have a lot in common with birds, I'm now thinking of birds with their courtship songs and even more specifically, dancing. On one end is like swans and seabirds who do their dancing as courtship and as greetings between mates (which makes sense for elves who spend a lot of time apart the same way some seabirds do: Araevin up there hasn't seen Ilsevele for almost a year. This is normal, although intermittent check-ins are at least appreciated.)

But on the other hand of bird dances as courtship: elves doing bird of paradise type nonsense. Build me a stage and do a funny little dance with your brightly coloured feathers in funny shapes, or I shan't be impressed.

[beatingdrumspouringwine]

Dionysos Loves His Mom(s), a very long essay

Going to just preface this by saying that I may/may not have gone a bit overboard, but I hope everyone enjoys reading my rambles on how amazing it is that we still have this message even through to day, how important this is for our understanding of Dionysos, and also just a little bit of (what I hope will come across as) Semele appreciation :) Also, I did write this during finals week, so if it seems rambly, please bear with me ;-;

And for clarification, I'll be referring to Semele with capitalized pronouns because even though She was human, mythologically, while carrying Dionysos, She was also deified by Him after He brought Her up from the Underworld.

The first interesting thing is that we get our description of Dionysos, as well as the love he shows for His Mother, in Greek mythology. While myths are usually pretty good resources for understanding the Gods, they are also usually written by the people who are in power at the time - which would be specifically older men who were not slaves. Because of this, a lot of myths tend to trend towards the "male" perspective of the Athenians. Also because of this, women are frequently represented in a very negative light, or at least as being relatively unimportant.

There are no Gods who have quite a relationship with Their Mothers like Dionysos has of His. Some of the Gods technically have no mother, like Aphrodite and Athena, and others just... don't seem to have much of a relationship at all. And this isn't necessarily to say that the Gods that we worship don't love Their Mothers, but more that the popular attitude of Greek society was simply to push women off to the side, and let the men take the glory.

And then, strangely, we have Dionysos, He Who Takes No Shit When It Comes to Women, as well as Him Who Has Two Moms. He's already something of an anti-Athena in Greek mythology, for while She was born of Zeus's head, and Metis was a sort of mother-base, Dionysos was born of two mothers, and from Zeus, in a way that echoes an intimate, "maternal" sort of birth, instead of the detached birth of Athena. And we know full well that Dionysos did not forget about either of His first two mothers. Persephone and Him famously get along well enough that they shared a rite in the form of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and it is to Persephone that initiates go, telling Her that the Bakkhic One Himself has freed us!

And we haven't even touched on Semele! It's one thing to have a divine Mother to welcome us to the afterlife. It's another thing to have a once-human-become-Goddess Mother in the form of Semele-Thyone. And Dionysos loves Her as well, very much so as well! Even though He never met Her as a child, He still very clearly has a lot of love for Her. At the start of the Bacchae, when Dionysos first arrives in Thebes, you will notice that one of the very first things He mentions in His monologue is that His mother is being disrespected by King Pentheus, and that this disrespect is part of the reason why He has driven the women of the city mad, as well as the sisters of Semele, who also were disrespecting Her.

This loyalty is only further emphasized by the fact that even though Semele is dead at the time of the Bacchae (and obviously after it as well, as the myth of Dionysos traveling to the underworld is an entirely separate story). And yet we must once again emphasize that this was written in a time where mothers were so often thrown under the bus (or horse-drawn chariot), and all of these myths were notably written by men, as far as we know. It seems that there is an inherent thread which ties Dionysos to the world of women, or at least has Him incredibly sympathetic to it, and one which could not be broken with all of the hyper-patriarchal nonsense that was woven deep into the cultural fabric of ancient Greece, especially Athens.

And to finish this fun little rant off, I want to offer two significantly longer ideas than the initial thing that I wrote! One for reflection on how we relate to Dionysos (and how He relates to us), and another as a reflection on Semele-Thyone and how She relates to us, and how we should relate to Her.

To start, this sympathy that Dionysos shows with women does, in some ways, hits culturally closer to a sisterhood than to the way that a man would have been encouraged to act towards women in ancient Greece. Dionysos as God understands His band of madwomen's own self-worth, and does not question their autonomy. Instead, he seems to encourage it, especially with all of the sassing he gives Pentheus while being grilled by him. This is such a good thing for all of us. Not only is Dionysos a friend of humanity, but He is specifically a friend for the marginalized. Whoever finds themselves marginalized in society will be His "favorites", so to speak, because that is where He truly finds His followers. It's almost as if He naturally finds where there is a power imbalance, and jumps on the other side to even things out, even if it is a little bit. I also think that this same "purposeful marginalization" is something which adds further theological credence to Dionysos being also validly a trans woman and nonbinary, as He does not sit within a patriarchal "Him"-ness, but rather within a "Him"-ness that refers to a more equal world.

Moving on to Semele-Thyone, we have a wonderful ally in a divine woman, sympathetic to humans, who knows full well not only the sufferings of humanity, and the pain in disrespect, but also the importance of kindness and respect towards others. In Greek mythological and religious canon, Semele-Thyone became the Goddess of the Bacchic revel, which, if you really think about it, isn't just about the Bacchic revel (it's never "just about the Bacchic revels"). This also tells us that Thyone, like Her Son, is also a God of the marginalized. Like Dionysos, She oversees the safety and wellbeing of the community which Her Son has founded. In some way, Thyone has become a Mom to all of us, through Her assistance with the divine inspiration that strikes frenzied devotees. It's a caring thing, too!

Anyways, the long and short of this is - Dionysos loves His Mom, Semele-Thyone is an incredibly underrated Goddess, and Mother's Day was yesterday. So hug your mom if you've got a good relationship with her, and if not, we can all borrow Dionysos' Mom :)

[triglycercule]

sometimes i like to think that horror comes to dust's room late at night just to talk to phantom papyrus. no he doesn't wanna talk to dust. horror probably doesn't even CARE if dust's awake at the asscrack of dawn or rambling off to the hallucination too loudly this late at night because he just wants to talk to phantom papyrus

horror's not delusional enough to believe that phantom paps is actually real and his own papyrus like dust does but sometimes he really wants to,,,, so just for these short moments between them he wants to pretend that the hallucination is his papyrus. that he gets to talk to his own brother before everything went to shit and before he ruined his brother's life. yeah sure phantom paps kinda says some crazy stuff that horror's papyrus never would back then but so what?? dust's papyrus is the closest thing he's got and at least he doesn't have to deal with the guilt at even LOOKING at his brother's face (the sunken eyesockets,,,, the uneven teeth,,,,, yeah no) because there's nothing there. horror doesn't have to do anything but keep his back turned to dust and just talk to papyrus through him

they both keep their backs turned to eachother when they do this because neither of them can stand looking at eachother. dust especially because hearing horror sound so much like how he was before. horror sounds so lighthearted and relaxed and just,,,,, normal that it almost reminds dust of himself. maybe if he closed his eyes and tuned out his own voice he could just imagine the moment being a conversation between himself and paps back then before he had to kill him over and over. dust doesn't want to have to look back and see horror's mutilated skull and his permanently replaced eye. he doesn't want the fake scenario he's choosing to indulge in right now to be broken

and then i think they talk like that for a long time; because horror has a lot to say to paps about himself and what he regrets and dust has a lot of reminiscing to do on the good old days before he lost himself :3

[todayisafridaynight]

what makes minedai even sadder is that we never rlly see daigo try to build a bond with anyone else like he did with mine it rlly shows how badly it effected him like yeah he reached out to shinada in y5 but that’s rlly it and he probably would wanna leave him alone after that and not involve him in any yakuza stuff so i don’t think they would’ve hung out or anything like that afterwards. All he rlly had were saejima and majima but they were more like babysitters than anything, wish we saw more of their dynamic tho like we did with majima and daigo in dead souls since that was fun and we were lowkey robbed but in canon he’s just as lonely as he was before majimas promise to kiryu. And mine is the only person he really had a meaningful relationship with romantic or not they were still really close and we don’t see that again with daigo ever (from what i recall after y3) ok sorry for rambling LMFAO

even with shinada, he reached out to him more so out of 'duty' and trying to make up for the misfortune that befell him because of yakuza than wanting to rekindle any kind of friendship they might have had in high school (though it sounds more like they were just acquaintances if shinada needing a second to remember who daigo was is anything), so yah i doubt they really had any kind of bond afterwards

dead souls really was the only time after Y3 where we got to see daigo be more sociable with someone, but its as you say majima and saejima are more like retainers than close friends

[definitelynotshouting]

Can I ask, since you mentioned agreeing 'even if under duress' - how did the Watchers convince Player Grian to join them in hunger au?

So take this with the specific grain of salt that ive never watched Evo directly (but have friends who have ((thank you wren)), so i know tidbits via osmosis from them), but my thought has always been that the riddles the Watchers gave the Evo Players were all tests used to measure cleverness and intelligence-- the whole point of them attempting to copy the mind of a Player into a Watcher larva in the first place was to try and avoid the insanely high infant mortality rate their typical juveniles go through, bc they dont understand their own limits enough to even know they have them yet. So they needed a Player they knew they could instruct and who would listen to them, and, well. Grian, for all he was rebellious and outright defiant of the Watchers, still solved their puzzles and only had to be punished once before he stopped trying to mess with them

What ive always pictured is after the dragon fight the two main elders of the Watcher colony finally revealed themselves to Grian properly-- i have this crystal clear image of the two of them hovering above and next to the central end island, looming over Grian, and like, these guys are big. HUGE. A good 5x bigger than the ender dragon itself, at LEAST. It would be hard not to feel insanely intimidated by that, honestly, especially when there are two of them side by side, blocking your entire view of the End from that direction.

Anyway picture that with the context of these two giant floating winged worms youve never seen before, who have demonstrated their powerful ability to manipulate code in a way you cant.... telling you that they have chosen you to become one of them. Thats an immense amount of pressure, both from flattery and fear, especially considering theyve punished you before for defying them. I like to think even then, Grian balked a bit, and while i dont have exact dialogue beats here, i know the Watchers continued putting that pressure on him (likely while leveraging his friendships too-- like ive always said, if Grian hadnt been chosen, BigB wouldve been, and i can absolutely see the Watchers offering to take him in Grian's stead) until he finally caved and accepted their "offer" of joining them.

Unfortunately, he didnt find out exactly what that entailed until it was far too late.

[pyomatic]

*twirls hair around fingers* so there's this demon bear on the show about doomed 19th century sailors

[littleshopofhorrors-confessions]

Too afraid to admit this in public but dentorin is overrated and tbh, Arthur doesn’t really add much in general.

He’s just a joke. Literally. Why is there so much fuss over him? The only reason people like him is because he’s associated with Orin.

---

[silverselfshippingchaos]

i really wanna post about how nice his hands are... but the only moments where we get a good look at his hands are

(j.udgment spoilers)

A) when he got shot by a literal fucking serial killer chasing him through an empty hospital

or B) three seconds before he started sobbing his eyes out because his big sister was murdered in cold blood and he can't do anything about it

[ilovebeingaturtle]

OKAY SO-

the rise fam in the aatmnt au have mystics/ninpo, BUT!

in canon rise it shows that you dont have to be blood related to share the magic family ninpo stuff, as long as you are considered family (read: rise!april).

does that mean in the aatmnt au, would 03!don and MAYBE 03!mike be able to turn into magic fucking dragons?? like they did in canon 03 for that brief period of time?

(i remember 03!mikey being rise!donnie's weird uncle who tags along on cases but i cant rememember how close they are)

these are my silly thoughts, thank you for listening

I know this isn’t what you meant but this ask immediately made me want to draw thIS AHA

[quietwingsinthesky]

@notfredj I need you to know that you are picking up the clues exactly right about that fic. I wrote it on purpose to be ambiguously either “actual Midam daughter who Michael named after his brother because he has so many issues” and also “Lucifer got her grace torn out and is being raised by Midam as their daughter and this is Not Going Well”