#god of cruelty

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"God works in mysterious, inefficient, and breathtakingly cruel ways."

-- Penn Jillette

[phayz]

friend said "im on some kinda wave tonight" and sent this screenshot that is obliterating my attention span

[alluralater]

was being edged by a girl earlier today and she goes, “have i ever told you how pretty your pussy is?” and i literally fucking whined, like yes i know but hearing people say it just does something to me and i get fucking dumb in the brain. she continued. “it’s so pretty. it takes my fingers so well” and i said yes, because i’m trying to behave and be good for her and respond as best i can. she laughs and says “no no, darling. i don’t understand you, not unless you speak in full sentences. tell me what i want to hear.” “yes. yes yes yes my pretty pussy looks so good taking your fingers.” “good girl. now, who are you talking to? say it again. say my name.”

[shorthaltsjester]

if i keep seeing so many people refer to ayden as an indication of an unknown softness in pelor i will start setting things on fire. just because YOU cannot handle nuance does not mean the story of exandria has not contained it and done so consistently. in fact the first in depth interaction that any party had with pelor (vex becoming his champion) was a portrayal of him that was explicit in his complexity. taken straight from the transcript for 1x104 elysium, “[vex you] spin and look, whereas there once was a burning star-- and to the rest of [vox machina], you see the painful, endless light that averts your gaze-- it doesn't hurt your eyes as much, and you can see the faint features, the soft cheeks, the hairless head, and the bright warm eyes of he who brings the dawn. And you can see the smile there, behind the light. “there is hope.”” sunlight can warm you and burn you in equal measure.

that burning image of the sun has much in common with a teenage boy who steps into a dark room, and reminds the dm that it’s not dark. the same way that a teenage boy who stands by as a woman who will not give up her worship of pelor is punished because he has more important responsibilities he must honour has much in common with a seemingly benevolent lord of the dawn might respond harshly to a cleric who asks if he is worth saving while he is trying to find a way to survive so he might keep helping to provide light. the gods aren’t simple and they never have been. i am as psyched about the particular angle that downfall is taking as anybody but it is already frustrating watching people act like the gods are suddenly more nuanced because they’re in literally mortal bodies when the entire Point of the gods in exandria in the various stories we’ve seen so far is that the only difference they have with mortals is the bounds of their power. they carry all the same flaws and the same profundity. just because so much of the fandom has reduced that to black and white flatness or faulty mapping onto real world religions (or the various traumas those might have caused individuals) doesn’t mean that complexity has been missing at all from the story.

[vaguely-concerned]

sometimes I think of all the on-the-surface warm, well-meaning but deeply ineffectual advice and attention john gives harrow through harrow the ninth (make some soup and get some sleep! get a hobby! don't be so hard on yourself! self care harrow! as long as I need take no actual responsibility in this relationship whatsoever I would have loved to be your dad!) set up against the stark truth that with his other hand he has been staging her attempted horrific murder again and again and again like a living nightmare on the logic that it will 'put her down or fix her'. and then I find that I wish there is a hell. a special hell where twitch streamers turned necromantic death emperors go

[ofswordsandpens]

thinking about how the (greek) big three swore to never sire any more demigod children because those children are just too powerful (dangerous) and also thinking about how the characters that, arguably, seem to have the greatest proclivity for cruelty in the name of justice or vengeance are also the (greek) big three children... there's something there, a connection to be made I'm sure of it

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

That final scene with the gods discussing the future of the Divine Gate was incredible - everyone was at the top of their game!

A huge reason for why I found it especially good, was watching Tal as Melora bare her teeth and refuse to indulge the others' idea of leaving Exandria. She helped lead the pantheon to this rock of elemental chaos, she bound herself to the natural world, she is as much a part of Exandria as the titans had been

But now she's being confronted with a future where she must leave it behind for the sake of the little creatures that inhabit her world. And sure, she made the world liveable for them, but she also made it liveable for her family - of course she wants to stay!

The thing, though, is that we know they leave. In the present day, the Wildmother is tucked behind the Divine Gate where she and her kin cannot physically interfere with their creations. But after learning what we have during these three weeks of Downfall? That feels so much more tragic

Melora has chosen to sever a large part of her connection to Exandria, her home, for everyone's sake but her own

[pokimoko]

The fact that Main-verse Ooo is as good and as kind as it is (relative to the other universes shown so far, at least, it's obviously not perfect) all because of the same character that starts off as the OG series' antagonist, the person we were made to see as the bad guy (albeit an often ineffectual one) for several seasons, is making me lose my mind.

Imagine finding out the guy you spent your childhood beating up and saving princesses from is in fact a driving catalyst behind you being able to exist, and not only exist but also live in a world that knows what kindness is. All because that man, the same man who you've witnessed do terrible things, once met a little girl and taught her how to be good.

Simon's story really shows us that even if you lose your way and forget how it is to be good yourself, the world keeps the memory for you. That act of love Simon showed Marcy by protecting her and seeing her as more than the monster she thought herself to be created ripples upon ripples, small at first but eventually enough to help give their wreckage of a world—a world that easily could have been forsaken, its goodness overlooked because of its inhospitable remains—a chance to grow into something beautiful. Because of those very same ripples Simon created, the people of Ooo grew up in a world where they know enough about kindness that they were able and willing to spare the 'bad guy' some, to see beyond the wreckage and allow him to grow too.

In saving Marceline, Simon helped to not only to save the world, but also himself.

[pocketwei]

six feet deep below the street the sky came crashing down

second piece for @opdoffyzine, this one was for the nsfw add-on, Heavenly Pleasure, and also in collaboration with my dearest @hazeism who wrote hawser's smolder (rated E, 1k8 words) THE most banger fic ever for me to illustrate <33 I'll never not be obsessed with Loguetown dfwn so. enjoy....

[laniidae-passerine]

I am so not immune to a Medea moment. my beloved has left me. we had a life and a love and a child. my beloved has left me for another. I have lost my life and my love. I still have my child. my beloved deserves to pay. all he has ever really loved is our child. here is a stage. here is a role. here is the chorus to sing my sins. here is my beloved with his horrified gaze, fixed on me. here is my beautiful daughter. here I am, in her countenance, her phrasing, her cruelty and her mirth, mother that I am. punishing him. letting the light in. letting my daughter burn. and here I am, in those beautiful eyes of the girl I helped raise, the very last thing she ever sees before she dies. I am her and she is me; and all that is left of us both is utter agony

[mintchocolateleaves]

Part of the tragedy of Epic is the fact that Odysseus’ crew put him on a pedestal after the battle of Troy, in which not a single one of his men died, and the moment he made a mistake with the Cyclops and showed he was just a man like the rest of them, they started losing trust in him, bit by bit, leading Odysseus’ descent into a monster. In this essay, I will—

[blazingstar24]

I hope the BH communes with the Wildmother and Dorian calls her ass out for what happened with Opal.

Like get your gentle breeze shit out of here when not 3 days ago, your champion (which she only got by holding Opal’s fate over Fy’ra’s head) was begging you for help and she said sorry the evil lady tearing apart your sister’s soul is my sister so gonna give her a pass.

Dorian should get to ask her what was different about helping Laudna get rid of the evil lady controlling her and helping Opal get rid of the evil lady controlling her? What was so different that she had to go “sorry I can’t help…..unless you choose to give yourself over to me fully”

Ashton can also back Dorian up and prove that he’s right about the Gods playing favorites because funny how when Orym, someone who isn’t even her follower, needs a boon, she shows up. But Fy’ra, a devout follower, begs for help, asks for some other way, she says no, you haven’t done enough for me yet.

Fy’ra herself fully admits that she know that nature isn’t fair but that the Wildmother would never let abominations and aberrations come to pass. And the Wildmother straight up goes…yeah but that’s my sis so free pass for today. Nature isn’t fair or good but Melora had set rules for her followers which she didn’t even uphold.

So I hope they speak with Melora and Dorian and Ashton get to demand they do better. And not just her, the Raven Queen too. The whole Pantheon actually.

[fuckmeyer]

Jasper as a character is so interesting because he ends up a Confederate because he can't actually empathise with the slaves and because he simply accepts cruelty around him, and then when he becomes a vampire he literally can't ignore others suffering because it hurts him, but even decades after he becomes a Vegetarian he still can't get a hang of it partially because he still can't see humans as *people*. Idk there's smth to be said about him becoming a vampire because of his own cruelty and then being eternally in horrific pain because of said cruelty that fucks.

Jasper's whole life is a curse & i love to see it

here we have a Confederate supposedly so empathetic that he acquired a "gift"... yet not so empathetic as to recognize he was fighting for the enslavement of an entire race. despite seeing the consequences of slavery literally every day. now, the man who spent his last human days denying the humanity in others is forced to spend his immortal life being slapped in the face with their emotions. forever. hueeueueueu-

yeah, i would call that "gift" a curse, actually.

if Twilight weren't a horror story, we might see a discussion between Jasper/Bella about how immortality forces you to confront the darker side of your nature (e.g. "there will come a day when the societal beliefs imbued unto you leaves you standing on the wrong side of history"), & Jasper's journey with finding love & humanity. OR, y'know, he could've just had ONE (1) line where he says "yeah i'm not proud of my service." simply, if Twilight weren't a horror, Jasper could see the error of his ways & change for the better.

HOWEVER. Twilight vampires are "mentally frozen" when they turn, so Jasper is likely still a racist who does not regret his service. no matter how many times he is confronted with his cruelty, he won't change. meaning whatever life he chooses, his gift dooms him.

wow! eternal curse!

we see evidence of this frozen mental state in his decision to go vegetarian. he doesn't switch bc he feels bad about killing humans:

"I could feel everything my prey was feeling. And I lived their emotions as I killed them. [...] You've experienced the way I can manipulate the emotions around myself, Bella, but I wonder if you realize how the feelings in a room affect me." (Eclipse, Ch 13)

note the dehumanizing term "prey" & the focus on himself. he laments not that the human lives he's taking have value but that their dying moments harsh his vibe.

the irony! trapped as an empath while never possessing the ability to be an empath! CURSE CURSE C-

herein lies a bigger, juicier curse: Jasper is, himself, (hot take) enslaved in the sense that he will never know freedom, philosophically speaking, due to the choices he made in life. the series tries to paint him as a master tactician & competent leader; fanon often paints him as a free-thinking amoral black sheep. in reality, he simply obeys the commands of higher authorities & abides by their worldview regardless of how toxic it is to himself or others.

in the beginning, he had María.

he entered the Southern Vampire Wars not by his own volition but stayed because he was content not having a choice. however one feels about María, the fact of the matter is 1) as a newborn he was stronger, bigger, & faster than her & could have run away or overpowered her, 2) had the "gift" to identify emotions & could KNOW when/if she was malicious or manipulating him, & 3) could have escaped by influencing her emotions to make her disinterested in him. at any time in the 100 years they were together, he could have left. he talks about never knowing a life outside the war & discovering "options I'd never dreamed I had." ok???? run 100 miles in any direction & you would have seen a life outside of war. BOI-

instead, he took comfort in being submissive & adopting someone else's ideology. not only did it remind him of his past, but it meant he had no need to reflect on his actions or beliefs. he prefers others dictate his worldview & order him around even if it means being unhappy. he only left because he was going to be assassinated, & even then, it wasn't until someone else told him another life was possible that he "realized" another life was possible.

notably, the period where he's most free— living with Peter & Charlotte— is his rock-bottom where "the depression got worse." but, again, not because he realized the value of human life: "I was so wearied by killing [...] even mere humans."

then he meets Alice.

Alice, who has visions of being vegetarian & converts him so they can live with the Cullens. Alice, who dictates how her family should live their lives to the point where she manipulates them. Alice, who goes so far as to dress the Cullens, who orders Jasper to wait in the car while she & Bella go shopping, who Jasper refers to as "truly [...] one frightening little monster" because for all his experience she can still beat him in combat.

his eternal soulmate is authority.

despite being unhappy with his vegetarian life, as it makes him feel weak & coddled & a liability to everyone around him, he follows the lifestyle because Alice tells him to.

then there's the Volturi, another authoritative body. "We owe the Volturi for our present way of life," says acclaimed bootlicker Jasper Hale, who in the same moment shudders at the atrocities they committed, yet strangely sees no other way for a governing body to keep the peace... so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

but, since Carlisle outranks the Volturi as an authoritative figure in that he more closely aligns with Jasper's new worldview, Jasper sees no problem deposing the vampiric governing body if it means his sister-in-law of like 2 months can keep her demonic spawn. so i guess we don't really owe the Volturi that much

to his credit, we see glimmers of him questioning his leaders: 1) his decision to leave Maria, 2) his considering switching diets to defeat Victoria, & 3) going against the Volturi. but, again, these decisions are all just a result of his self-preservation & submitting to the higher authority du jour.

in the end, he has the perfect storm of conditions that would allow him to escape the prison he's created, to find freedom & to love humanity unconditionally... but he won't. Jasper's ultimate curse is that regardless of whether he realizes the enslavement of his own self, he will never leave his cage because it's cozy & easy & allows him to never think for himself.

AAAANYWAY Jasper's life sucks & he's trapped in an eternal prison of his own making. lol

[majosullivan]

I was feeling a underlying grossness with the clear implications that the flyfin created their own prophecy last episode, but actually reading it…it just makes my skin crawl. The absolute dehumanization of Kappa for their plan. The way they view his free will. How this connects to the way Fizz treated Siren. An absolute spit in the face to all the clear discomfort Kappa has shown to his role as the beacon even in the short time he’s known them, to the vulnerability Kappa showed in front of them when he admitted he didn’t care if he died when he tried to swim for surface, feelings that were a result of his life as the beacon. Seeing all the small bits of manipulative language they used going back…I don’t think I have the right words to describe just how gross Fizz’s words made me feel. There is something truly disturbed about him. The way his siblings are just behind him hollowly. They’re just as bad as him. Part of me has been wondering about the possibility that the flyfin had something to do with the whale’s past illness, as some form of attempt to wake them up that backfired. After this episode, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case

[jeyneofpoole]

A modern AU where Theon creates prank content which is wildly disliked and everything things is ragebait but he's actually doing it sincerely he's just a dick about it, fuelled by Robb laughing at one of his videos when Robb was like 13 but he now also think it's cringe but Theon won't stop and he's gets popular with it even though 90% of his engagement is just people hating on him. Kyra breaks up with him because he won't stop filming in private, and eventually Theon takes up an anonymous creator's offer to team up for a prank series, but it's actually Ramsay, and Theon gets dragged into being a part of a snuff film and goes missing for like six months and send!

thank you for making my posts for me

[lucradiss]

His only crime was loving the stars :(