#idk if this post is Anything to Anyone but god if it isn't the world to me

[viorhysealberia]

still not over how bluntly aroace euden was. no one did it like dragalia

[spicyvampire]

Man, I cannot stop thinking about Chalothorn coming to save Tharn and listening to Tharn when he asked to not kill Montree (and u know it's serious cuz i'm using his actual name)

Like that is when Tharn understood what he had to do to break the curse isn't it? Like this is when he went from grieving having to leave and accepting it because he knew what he was going to do while he was gone and he didn't know if it was going to work but he was going to try like this is a man with determination right there, like he isn't only looking at Montee he also has a goal in mind

and I feel like talking about this process Tharn went through but also just going through the trio's "character descriptions" as in Chalothorn being a fighter (maybe not talk about Chalothorn in this specific post I want to give him a whole post for himself), Wansarut/Tharn being an healer/protector (mediator?) and Sakuna/Phaya being a fighter (somewhat a little bit of a protector Wansarut/Tharn kinda rubbed off of them akasghjsgajhad like literally) and also just talk about power levels and who would match who in a fight and how that affected Tharn's decision or something idk we will see

Disclaimer : pulling all of this completely out of my ass from watching the show but it makes sense to me, might not make sense to anybody else cuz these are just raw out-of-order thoughts

I think I'll put everything under a keep reading cuz I know We about to spend an hour on this cuz this is taking too much space in my brain and I got school assignments to do so we just gonna throw it up right now

WANSARUT

Let's start with the fact that Wansarut is a healer/protector (and a mediator of some sort maybe? idk) like from the get go you got Wansarut saving Sakuna and healing him, simply because Sakuna was still alive (ep 8)

Like they are enemies at that point??? and what if Sakuna decided to kill Wansarut when he got better? And you can see that Sakuna does not understand Wansarut's actions cuz like they are enemies! That is a big risk Wansarut took simply because he was still alive, because it's not in Wansarut's nature to just sit there and watch someone die, whether they are from the enemy side or not, and Wansarut tells Sakuna to leave as soon as he feels better too, because Sakuna is clearly in Naga territory and it's dangerous for him there, and Wansarut didn't ask anything in return until Sakuna proposed it, and what Wansarut asks is just so goddamn UUUGHHHRBSGUYAHFG [tv static noise]

I literally do not know how to describe it but like Wansarut has an entire Garuda that is the literal Garuda king's brother saying he will give Wansarut anything as a favor because Wansarut saved him and Wansarut asks for peace between their people??? That's why I was like Wansarut is kinda a mediator, also later Wansarut says this

Really showing even if Wansarut would be happy with Sakuna, this situationship they got going on, Sakuna's presence in these woods, could make the war both of their people are living worst, and Wansarut do not want to cause harm, it would go against Wansarut's healer/protector nature

Also random sidenote : the way Wansarut talks the human world and about that Naga legend of a Naga turned human that wanted to be a Monk, is such a benevolent and loving god way of talking, also the fact that Wansarut is showing this whole part of Naga culture (Naga offering and breathing fire to pay respect to Buddha, on the 15th nigh of the 11th waxing moon) to Sakuna an outsider??? a literal enemy of Wansarut's people???? mind fucking blowing if you ask me

THARN

Ok enough about boyprincess time to talk about babygirl Tharn and how Wansarut's healer/protector (mediator) nature translated to him

Let me start with the fact that Tharn almost never attacks anyone first, and is always ready to put his gun down, and literally never shoot if he doesn't have to, let's just take a look at how fast he put his gun down in ep 12 and the fact that he didn't just shoot Montee goon in the back which gave him the time to disarm Tharn

Also when he could have literally shoot Narong possessed by Chalothorn back in episode 5, the coast was clear Phaya was out of the way and Narong was attacking Phaya so he had "reasonable" reason to just shoot the guy, like hell they even made eye contact and Narong (Chalothorn) just fully ignored him cuz he knew Tharn was not gonna shoot and Tharn really just didn't shoot

And don't get me started on the fact that Tharn took that stab for Phaya i'll be here till next year like!!! All that was in his mind was protecting Phaya and if he get hurt doing it so be it, which is literally exactly what his past self did, they will protect what they love, whatever the cost

Like it almost doesn't make sense that Tharn is a cop in this lifetime because of his healer/protector nature, if they still were making him a first responder, it would have made more sense if Tharn was a paramedic or something, but because his parents were killed it and he had to get justice for them he was knocked off the typical healer/protector path slightly, but he was still doing his cop job like he was a healer/protector (which is what cops should be tbh. but that's another discussion), like i wouldn't be surprised if Tharn's other reincarnations were in the medical field in some ways (but again how do you tell this story if they aren't in the same field of work? that's another problem innit)

SAKUNA

Unfortunately I gotta stop talking about babygirl Tharn and talk about our resident bird

Sakuna is fighter first and foremost like there is no questioning that, but I think he is a level lower than Chalothorn, like Sakuna is a high ranking soldier, probably his brother's right hand man but both time Sakuna tried to fight Chalothorn he lost, first time he was hurt very badly and Wansarut had to heal him, second time cost him and Wansarut's life and that's how the cycle started

And it honestly doesn't look like he match Chalothorn's powers even in garuda form, I think the garuda that would match Chalothorn would be Sakuna's brother (ep 12), unfortunately Sakuna would never get to a level where he could win since he died, and just keep dying every reincarnation after that, and I assume he just keep dying before he reach his full powers

But anyways by the end of Sakuna's life he wasn't only a fighter, you can see he genuinely was worried and wanted to protect Wansarut and he didn't care for his brother's war all that much, he did fight but that was to prove his love

And that's kinda beautiful isn't it? that's the effect Wansarut has on people Wansarut is close to and that's honestly the most powerful talent, like more powerful than the actual magic Wansarut can do

PHAYA

Phaya bird man extraodinaire is yet again a fighter (soldier) in this life, quite literally in the investigation team, but you can see that he has leadership qualities real early on (ep 2)

He is honestly a natural leader and I'm sure Sakuna was too, but on the powers side, his garuda powers like dormant/just under the surface this whole series, the best we get are little sparkles (ep 5 + ep 12)

His best qualities : his sparkles

Sidenote : let me just mention how protective Phaya is of Tharn, guy put his whole body over Tharn when there is a blast near, he is always in front of Tharn when they are fighting, not just episode 12 but simply all the time, like both time we saw his sparkles were related to protecting Tharn in some ways, like this man has a very fighter way of being a protector

But anyways my little birdy you are doing amazing tweety and I love you, but like how is he supposed to fight this fucking thing with goddamn garuda sparkles????????????

Well the answer can only be that he was never supposed to fight it. Like let's think about this for a sec, every goddamn reincarnation before phayatharn died why do you think? well idk but I can at least say for certain Sakuna and Wansarut died because Sakuna chose to fight. Literally every goddamn time this shit has always gone down south and we can assume it is because they fought Chalothorn. Fighting was literally NEVER the answer, but they kept doing it and honestly isn't insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results???? They've tried Sakuna and Chalothorn's way and the only thing it got them, is them both killed in all their past reincarnations and Chalothorn being honestly one reincarnation kill away from turning into a Naga forever

Also like sidenote : there is no sign of Tharn's Naga form, like what we got from Tharn are some somewhat powerful sparkles but you can't seriously tell me he can fight Chalothorn literal king of Nagas with that, like the sparkles were only there to protect Phaya, Tharn/Wansarut were never meant to be fighters (ep 5), like even with Phaya and Tharn's powers combined it wouldn't work tbh

Problem is, this whole situation with Tharn's parents dying and people Tharn love dying did make Tharn forget who he was, so much suffering and hurt and grief from a young age can change a soul, Tharn was looking for justice for his parents and frankly was kinda impulsive and reckless about it, and thats why the abbott's role in this show was so goddamn important, he was here to remind Tharn of who he is (the lion king simba and mufasa style REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE), and that is a healer, a protector and a mediator first and foremost, he even said this in episode 3 and he is right Kindness is Tharn's biggest weapon (and Phaya's btw because Sakuna's soul has changed a lot over the courses of reincarnations and he is such a sweetie, that is until Chalothorn walks into the room)

FINAL

bro where was I even going with this? Idk but back to Chalothorn listening to Tharn in episode 12, I think that's when Tharn got a declic as to what the abbott meant by all of his mediation and precepts stuff, Tharn understood then that first of all Chalothorn is not only a killer, the person he has known all these years that cares about him and his wellbeing is there, he literally came to Tharn's rescue twice, in ep 11 when Tharn was falling off the cliff and with Montee in episode 12, the problem is you cannot talk calmly to Chalothorn with Phaya in the room, it's just never going to end well, you put those 2 head strong (mostly) fighters in a room and all hell break lose and people literally die

So Tharn knew he had to leave, but this time, in contrary to the end of episode 11, he had a purpose, the purpose was to change Chalothorn's mind from the inside, because Chalothorn's has show signs of caring and kindness (again he probably got that from hanging out with Tharn tbh), but Tharn didn't know if that would work, he didn't know if he was going to be able to come back to Phaya, and that's why he was saying goodbye like that

That's why it felt like, contrary to episode 11, this goodbye from Tharn had an air of acceptance of his fate, because he knew it was his time to go and fight for his and Phaya's love, but this time he was going to do it his way, and that way is with kindness, love and empathy, like the healer/protector that he is

[lemedstudent2021]

Where should Jews live? Where do they belong? Where do you consider their native land to be? Honest question.

an honest question deserves an honest answer so here ya go:

Anywhere and everywhere. Jews- the followers of the Abrahamic religion Judaism- along with Muslims, Christians, Atheists, Sikhs, Vegans, and literally any human being under the sun have the right to live wherever they please (given certain criteria are met like visas and that it isnt a military station/ off limits area etc).

Yes my dear reader(s) you read that right; ones faith or lack thereof shouldnt be an obstacle in any aspect of ones life, be it medical services, education, job opportunities, so on and so forth. How novel.

That answers where they 'should' live (although I dont by any means impose anything on anyone; y'all do whatever as long as its legal and harms no one including yourself. God bless). Could is more accurate.

As for where they 'belong', this in my opinion is one of the beauties of religion: people from all walks of life can belong to a religion. Diversity lies at the heart of our existence as human beings and denying it is like denying the existence of the sun. Tolerance is a must if we are ever going to get along with each other. And this belonging isn't irrevocabley tied to geography. But I digress :)

Quick aside just so we're all on the same page: converting to a religion renders you just as valid and equal as someone born into a religion. Most if not all religions preach equality between their followers regardless of background, so i wont hear anything of 'oh theyre not real xyz' or 'they dont count' or any of that bs.

By this logic (religious demographics are, generally speaking, very diverse), there is no 'this set of people belong here, and those over there' ...and proof of that in a sense would be atheists/ agnostics; where would they 'belong'? Antarctica? Outer space? alright ill stop XD

If that were the case, most of the planet would be crammed in the Middle East lol [Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon alone are home to 34M (as of 2023), and the followers of the 3 main Abrahamic religions are an estimated 3.4B (as of 2020) globally. We wouldnt fit even if we used one of these]. Yeah nationality/ race/ ethnicity/ background influence and maybe even dictate one's religious identity, but it isn't the all or nothing we may think it to be.

Which brings us nicely to the next point, and here if you'll allow me i'd like to correct it to native land of Judaism (where it originated/ flourished/ spread whatever) as opposed to native land of Jews because as i mentioned above, a religion doesnt (or shouldnt) differentiate nor discriminate between its followers. By restricting them to one geographical location (and for some using it as an indicator of their authenticity) we do them great disservice as well as contradict the teachings themselves. A demonstration:

Im Jordanian right, (dad's maternal side are from bilad al sham; Syria) and im a born Muslim alhamdulillah. My dads Malaysian roommates from his uni days are also born Muslims (and have the best food lol, my all time favourite is lemak cili padi) and seperating us on the basis of them not being Arab or Middle Eastern is unislamic, intolerant, xenophobic, and wrong on every level. Alternatively, im just as Muslim as someone from Mecca or Medina. We're all Muslim. we are the world...

Circling back, Judaism the religion is native to the Holy land (I guess you can say it started in Egypt till it moved there but idk. Regardless), and Jews (adherants of the faith) can't in my humble opinion be fairly categorised as one monolithic unit... just like any and every other faith out there.

Another quick aside; this is merely a tumblr post that cant do the history and culture and intricacies and so much more of this matter a portion of the justice it deserves. I am but a tired medical student answering to the best of my abilities a question I was asked with my limited knowledge in theology and perspective in general, so do me a favour and keep that in mind. And to anyone reading this if you have questions or corrections or resources or anything you want to mention be my guest :)

If you're still here, I'm both grateful and amused. Here's what you probably came for, the piece de resistance if you will: 🍉israel🍉

Disclaimer: thanks for reading this far, but if you disagree in any way shape or form with any of the 30 human rights articles, you may as well stop reading and put your device through the shredder. Bigots, racists, fascists, anti vaxxers etc. dni

So far ive seen this idea, call it what you will, two times (which isnt a lot but its weird that it happened to me twice consecutively), that claims the freedom of Palestine equals a genocide of the Jews.

Er, no? No ma'am. One does not solve a genocide by comitting another genocide. What part of 'never again' are we missing here?

Before we get into politcal nominations and factions and other territories i dont plan on invading (pun intended) but might accidentally cross anyway (I forgot where i was going with this) i want to remind everyone that Judaism is not synonymous with Israel nor zionism (if u disagree with this go ahead and shred ur device too).

A refresher: Judaism is a religion, Israel is an illegal-occupying-apartheid-state, and Zionism is a movement/ ideology

So 'genocide of the Jews' is both wrong (diction) and more wrong (factually incorrect) in that the liberation of Palestine means freedom from oppression, discrimination, settler colonialism... the whole nine yards. Enough bloodshed already its been nearly 76 years.

When Netenyahu is eventually drop kicked out of office (and hopefully hung, drawn, and quartered for his plentiful warcrimes) what happens to the (illegal) citizens of Israel? Well first off, return the stolen homes and land to their rightful owners who have the keys (and documents if they werent tampered with or erased) to prove it.

As for the illegal-under-international-law settlements and new also illegal establishments; I have no idea what international laws will decree (not that I have that much faith in the judiciary system), but I assume they will be seized and evicted of the illegal tenants (how you like me now?) and given to those who have been displaced or homes ruined etc. because its theirs and theirs alone and it was unlawfully and cruelly taken away from them and not because the (remaining lol) former Israeli citizens can't or shouldn't live in palestine. they can go live somewhere where its legal. the priority is Palestinians tho.

What about the indigenous everyone else? As long as their houses aren't stolen or illegal they can should stay because its legal and its theirs and thats that. you cannot kick someone out of their home to give it to another (which was the basis of the creation of Israel.) because its ✨i l l e g a l✨

And the people who dont belong so to speak? I think this one's case by case; like I said at the very, very beginning; people have the right to live wherever as long as its legal and ok to do so regardless of faith or background, and no one should be denied their right to live in Palestine as a country like any other, but they certainly must be denied living in homes stolen and given to them because thats, say it with me now, illegal <3

[morlock-holmes]

The people you’re arguing with re: pre-modern quality of life, are all broadly rationalist-adjacent, and are therefore deeply committed to arch-Whig-History and will never concede that anything was better for anyone ever before this exact moment in time.

for what it’s worth, I get your point - comparative social status is really great, and people who had a lot of it might’ve been very unwilling to give it up in order to certain material benefits of industrial society.

For a total no-brainer post-industrial example - anyone who’d trade being a trust fund playboy in the early 20th century for being a lower income wage worker today is a fool. There is no way you could legitimately argue that the internet is better than a life of relative leisure, high status, and wealth.

the further back you go, the trickier the argument gets, due to things like antibiotics, motorized transport, etc all being pretty handy, but I absolutely would go to bat that the median Regency English gentry or noble had a better quality of life than the median lower income American, in many respects.

go back to the Iron Age, gets a little trickier, but idk, I might still say that a high status Viking leader had a better life than I do, but it’s a smaller chunk of society the further back you go. Wealthy Romans seemed to be having a pretty decent time, tbh

I do think I’m more sensitive to relative status than some people. That said, I also think a lot of the Whig History fans I’ve known were part of the current socioeconomic top 10% and just didn’t realize how much it sucks to not have that status. Especially looking at a guy like John Green going in on it, like yeah John, of course you don’t rate being nationally known and respected for making a living pursuing your life’s passion, you’re doing that now

Well, I have another side to things, though you get most of it.

I mean, I don't want to overestimate wealth here. Part of my point is *also* that, assuming what we read of Diogenes is true, he was probably more fulfilled as a human being than Elon Musk, and Elon Musk is the world's richest man in the safest and most technologically advanced time in human history while Diogenes lived in a god damn jug.

Like, people who idealize or become nostalgic about the past are very, very often asking,

"Why do I feel so [angry/tired/hopeless/trapped] despite the fact that I have easy access to [insert material comfort here]"

And the response is very often to say, "Because you are fundamentally irrational. [Insert material comfort here] is actually the most important advancement in all of human history."

Like, in that conversation one person says,

"You live better than anybody in pre-industrial times."

And when I say, "Well, I don't know, Leonard Da Vinci and Gengis Khan seemed like they did okay"

A second person comes along to say,

"Well, those are inherently scarce positional goods, you can't expect social advances to make those more prevalent, what modernity actually gives us is travel, a library, a well-stocked sewing room, a hundred paintings you painted yourself"

And when I say, "Yeah I don't have that stuff either" a third person says,

"Yeah, obviously you can't expect to get that stuff, modernity gives you flush toilets, iPads and childhood vaccines."

And first of all yeah, I know, I said that, and second:

*Boy* have these rose-y eyed optimists spent a *lot* of time telling me what sorts of human pleasures I really ought to stop expecting to have more of.

I mean "wasn't stillborn" is quite literally the *absolute bare minimum* that a person can expect out of life.

Remember how in the 50s some kid would hate peas, and his parents would force him to eat them and if he complained they'd say, "You ought to be grateful for those peas, there are starving children in Africa"?

Turns out that "You'd better learn to be thankful for this because it's all you're gonna get and you could have it a lot worse" isn't actually optimistic or empowering.

And that sentiment lurks just below the surface of a lot of these odes to modernity.

PS - If you asked that pea hating child whether he would want to trade places with that starving African child he might well say, "Well, at least *he* isn't being forced to eat these awful peas!" and I think there is some justice to that response even if it doesn't represent a literal desire to experience a famine.

[windvexer]

A) your "the gods fucking suck sometimes" post came across my dash at a really good time in my own practice, which I feel like so many of your posts do, Chicken, and thank you for that.

B) i don't really engage with the witchcraft community except for lurking, so I guess who am I to talk, but i'm really becoming frustrated with the amount of beginner-friendly stuff on this website that tells people that 'everything they've heard about witchcraft is wrong so don't worry.' I wonder whether it comes from a place of fear deep-set within witches from a, well, Christian society of being seen as something they're not - and I don't imagine it's necessarily malicious, rather it comes from a place of comfort within their craft (ah, well I haven't suffered for years, so nobody else possibly could!) and a personal effort to distance themselves from an ingrained stereotype of witchcraft, which results in downplaying a lot of the things that align with that........

Regardless of intention people learn from that, become more experienced themselves, and when that leads to dismissing the experience of your fellow practitioners/assuming your craft and aspects of it are universal that's going well overboard

A) I am glad to hear it was helpful :)

B) At this point in time I'm not even talking about like, tricksters (and when people say that, I think they just mean "liars," the trickster archetype really needs a new PR team), demonolatry, or evil gods. I'm talking about regular, normal witchcraft!

People can have beautiful, fulfilling paths that are never dangerous, and then decide to deepen their connection by entering into intense ritual work with a local spirit for a year. And that work becomes demanding, and exhausting, and they have to make sacrifices to maintain it. And sometimes they ask if it was really the right choice.

It's not just about danger! It just sucks sometimes!

I had a tumultuous few early years of witchcraft, but even now when my path is feeling so much more comfortable and fulfilling and really like my true home, I still have responsibilities. Do I want to go to sabbat every 28 days? No! I'm lazy! I want to play Sims 4!

But I can't stop going, because I need to go. Because I love my spirit family. Because it's a part of me finding my true home in this world. I need those things.

It's just also sometimes a chore. You know?

I have spells I need to upkeep for my life to go how I want it to go. I have to take care of them. It can be tedious. Sims 4 has horses now. You know? It's 110 degrees outside. I don't want to walk around the property giving myself a sinus headache from the dust, checking on wards. But what else am I gunna do?

I'm not saying that the two modes are "safe" and "dangerous." I'm just saying, witchcraft can be burdensome. And not everyone is in a position where they can "just change it."

So yeah. I'm not trying to be on a "witchcraft is hella dangerous for real" rant. My rant is more like...

If this is a genuine faith that can carry people through decades of life, and we believe we are truly interacting with entities that have their own personhood and agendas, then from time to time things are going to get hard for some people.

That from time to time, developing those relationships will be difficult and require sacrifice. If we believe this is a faith that can allow people to work to modify their lives, then at times it will be work and feel like hard work and be something that a practitioner can't wait to be done with, because not only does Sims 4 have horses, it also has llamas that you can pet.

And pretending that can't happen, or always blaming the witch when things go badly ("just change! if you don't like your path, modify it! it's anything you want it to be! such-and-such spirits are always benevolent/will never hurt you/will never mislead you!"), isn't a service to anyone.

Idk. The more I talk about this the more I feel like my entire point is "witchcraft is just kinda like real life, it has its ups and downs." Which I could have just said that one sentence this morning and not have had to type all this lmao.

[authoressofdarkness]

Summer Bingo Fill: Public Claiming @starkerfestivals

A little twist on this prompt born from seeing this idek how old post from @monster-cock69 this morning and frantically writing this in less than 30 minutes. This is completely unbetaed and straight from the dredges of my brain, fair warning.

Idk if anyone has written anything based off of it yet but still, I hope they (and all of you) enjoy it! (Mafia typical violence here, but nothing too graphic!)

~~~

Peter thanks every being in the universe that his jacket is still on as he rounds the corner, stumbling. It does nothing for the cold that seems to come from somewhere inside him right now, but there's another reason he is glad he has it, right?

He's lost a lot of blood – just enough for the world to feel fuzzy around the edges. There's a shallow slice on his throat that is weeping small tears of blood from where he very narrowly avoided having his throat cut a few minutes ago, and a split above his eyebrow from hitting his face on… something, he doesn't remember. It's all kind of a blur, now, and all he remembers is the gleam of metal, the way the turned down lights reflected off of it just right, and the punishing grip on his thighs.

He can't remember how he escaped or even how he got here, only that he'd ran and now he's here, however many blocks away from the club where he'd started and he's probably still being pursued. He needs to hide. No, he needs help.

But who would come running for someone like him? Not the police. The club hasn't stopped those people from coming in with the weapons, had escorted them to a private room, might have known–

Take this, sweetheart. Just in case.

Peter's hand goes to the breast pocket of his poor excuse for a jacket at the memory. Everyone knew who Tony Stark was. Peter isn't oblivious to who his regular customers are, though he would never dare even make eye contact with a man like that outside of work, especially not if they were a client. Rules and such.

The criminal had tucked the card in his pocket at the end of their last little tryst, and Peter had let him, though he had no intention of ever using it. But now… 

Shouting in the distance breaks through the fog making its way across Peter's brain, kicking him into action. Now isn't the time to be indecisive. And worrying about his life or his job after this was moot if he didn't survive.

He finds the nearest dumpster and crawls behind it, trying not to gag at the smell. His phone is somehow still tucked in the band of his fishnets, probably kept in place by the silky scarf tied around his hips. He pulls it out with shaking hands, retrieves Stark's card, and waits.

It cuts off after the second ring. Peter thinks he's been hung up on for a moment until a voice snaps into the silence, "Speak."

"Mr. Stark?" Oh God, he sounds like a literal child. If he even recognizes him—

"Peter?" The ice melts out of Stark's voice immediately, replaced with something like urgency. "What's wrong?"

"I–" The sob sticks in his throat, and the words stop. He can't summarize the horrors of what just happened, and the reality of how cold he is and the voices getting nearer is starting to set in. "They tried to–" His voice falters again.

Stark doesn't push him for the details. He hears the rustling on the other line, and something that might have been a door slamming. "Who?"

"I don't know– 'm cold, Mr. Stark, and I don't really remember– just ran–"

"It's okay, I'll take care of it, Peter. You did good to get away. Where are you now?"

"Dunno– went out the back door and kinda ran–"

"The back door of the club?" 

"Yeah–"

"We'll find you. Are you safe now?"

Peter stops to listen. "I'm not sure, I think someone followed me– I'm hiding, but–" 

"Stay hidden. We'll find you."

The line goes dead.

Peter stares at the phone in his hand, wondering for a second if this was even real. His vision is swimming, and the sounds of pursuit that seemed so close a minute ago are hard for him to grasp now. He looks down and realizes there's blood coming from somewhere on his torso, another wound he must not have noticed, wasn't feeling because of the adrenaline rush, but– oh, it's a lot of blood, no wonder he feels like this.

Eventually the voices get close enough that they start to penetrate the fog on his mind again, but Peter is barely holding on to consciousness and any sense of fear or urgency is not quite tangible enough to make him move.

Someone hauls him out from behind the dumpster. Peter struggles, but there's no strength left behind the movement. A kick to the ribs sends him to the ground, sprawled face down on the concrete.

Words float to him as if in a dream.

"Move, Stark, and I'll blow his brains out right in front of you."

"You and I both know you intend to kill him anyway."

"True. But you're not going to get your gun up quick enough to kill me first."

Peter raises his head a little. Mr. Stark is there, maybe twenty feet away, silhouetted by the street lights on either end of the alley like some dark angel. The man's eyes are on Peter, and his lips turn up in a little smirk.

"I don't have to. You'll never touch anything that belongs to me again."

The gunshot that follows makes Peter jump. Which is good, because if he can jump, then he's not dead, which means it wasn't directed at him. He prefers being startled any day.

"About goddamn time, Happy, what took you so long–"

"Things at the club were messy, boss, you're not gonna like this one–"

The words turn into a droning background noise when Stark appears in front of him, kneeling to his level. "Peter, focus up, doll. Are you alright?"

 Peter tries to nod, but his head just falls against Stark's foot limply. He's so tired. And cold, and–

"Peter." Stark sounds more frantic now. "Happy, find me a medic, now–"

"Everyone's a little busy right now–"

"I don't give a flying fuck– Peter, don't you dare go to sleep."

The words are directed at him. Somehow, Peter recognizes that much. Normally he wouldn't dare to disobey an order from Tony Stark, especially with that tone. But the frizzle of fear that runs down his spine isn't enough to stop him. His eyes are so heavy. He closes them before he can realize it. 

The last thing he hears is Tony Stark swearing above him.

~~~

It's also the first thing he hears when he comes to, just briefly, while they're working on him. The stinging in his side while they stitch him up – that has to be what they're doing, though the pain is dulled so much it's hard to be sure – is enough to pull him towards the surface of consciousness. 

Peter thinks he's in a vehicle, if the subtle thrum of the engine is anything to go off of. But he's laid out comfortably on something soft, and there's something warm under his head, and the hands that are prodding at him are gentle and surprisingly steady.

"He was in shock by the time you got to him. You're lucky he's alive."

Another voice, the one from the alley. Happy? "I can't believe he is. I can't believe he got away in that state."

Fingers card through his hair. Stark's voice, thoughtful, but tired, strained in a way he'd never heard it. "He was out of it, even when he called me. But he didn't say anything— nothing that indicated we were going to walk into a situation like that. He said they tried to do something to him, but couldn't tell me what. I thought someone raped him, not tried to slit his fucking throat. Nothing could have prepared me for that." 

"I wonder who orchestrated that kind of hit. It's so random…" 

"Unless they had some kind of clue…"

"Next time it won't be taken as random. We made our claim pretty clear."

The conversation devolves from there, but Stark's hand in his hair stays consistent. Peter never opens his eyes, finding them far too heavy and himself too tired to even try. The hand in his hair is just the right mix of possessive and comforting. As soon as the dull pain in his side fades, Peter is gone again, too.

~~~

The next time Peter wakes up, he's in bed. 

Well, someone else's bed. Not his.

For a moment, he wonders if everything was a dream. The card, the attack, the phone call, all of it. But then he tried to roll over and pain sparks through his side, and he realizes it was all very real.

"Take it easy, Peter."

Peter jumps a little and looks up, and yeah, that's Tony Stark on the other side of the bed. He wets his lips. "'M… sorry, Mr. Stark."

The elder man looks down at him, raising an eyebrow. "You've been awake for thirty seconds and you're already sorry for something? I just don't want you to hurt yourself more than you are, kid."

Peter flushes, mind flitting to all the other times Stark had called him kid when they were alone for just a second before reeling himself back in. "I– thank you, Mr. Stark. Not just for that, but for… saving me, and everything."

Stark turns to face him more fully. "Well, when my favorite boy calls for help, of course I'm going to be there." His fingers find Peter's hair again, and Peter tilts his head into the touch almost automatically. "It was a bit more of an undertaking than I had imagined, admittedly, but I would do it again, if you needed me to."

"I'm your favorite boy?" Peter's cheeks turn even redder as he looks up at Stark through his lashes.

"Do you think I give my personal number out to just anybody, you silly thing? Of course you're my favorite." Tony runs a thumb over Peter's bottom lip. "And you're my only, now. Would be a shame to keep you here and not utilize your services, wouldn't it?"

"You're going to keep me here?" Old fear sets in with a vengeance, but Tony grips his hair before Peter can pull away and leans over him.

"Shh, don't be like that. You don't have to be afraid." Tony sighs a little, stroking the boy's cheek. "I don't want to hurt you, sweetheart. But I made a very public claim on you by showing up last night. We killed… oh, at least eight people, and left the club in shambles. It's not going to take very long for word to spread." 

"You killed eight people? Because of me?" Peter hadn't been with it enough to have any understanding of that, but it was the logical explanation. He suddenly remembers the gunshot right above him and feels a bit queasy.

"I kill people all the time, sweetheart. Eight is nothing. Especially when they were putting their hands on my property."

My property. Peter is Tony Stark's property. A shiver goes through him.

Tony notices, and he offers him a small smile. "I killed the owner too, you know. Your handler is dead. Your contract is with me, now."

Peter swallows thickly. His contract is gone, too — but he doesn't allow himself to savor the freedom too much, not yet. "And how am I to work that off?"

Tony's eyes are bright and wicked. "I think you know, puppy."

Peter barely bites back the whimper that rises in his throat at Stark's pet name for him, and he raises his head before he's even conscious of the decision to do so, kissing him.

Mr. Stark kisses back, the hand still tight in his hair, keeping him right where he wants him as his tongue slides against Peter's, dipping into his mouth for a moment before pulling back. "Right answer," he murmurs, kissing him again, chastely this time. "But not now. You need to rest. I want you to enjoy it when I take you apart, Peter, not just be pushing through because you think you owe me."

Peter watches him sit up, breathing still a little shaky. "Don't I, though?"

"I suppose you do, but I'll take my repayment when and how I please. This isn't it." Stark stretches. "I'm going to get us some food. Stay there. Rest. I mean it."

There is nothing for Peter to do but comply.

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

woaugh a post that isn't abt wig or maxy?? crazy dude💥💥💥

i'm still here slowly adding the dst cast to the worship au that exists solely in my mind... figured WX would be fun to work on, so i designed a little somethin somethin that i'm pretty happy with.

i also developed some actual like. story based stuff but i'll put it beneath the cut bc its long as hell lol

since the timeline of worship takes place long before anything vaguely resembling modern technology, turning them into a 'robot' in the conventional sense was completely off the table. however, there exists a deity who's very eager to accept… 'donations' of the flesh, as they are Her only way of experiencing the mortal world first hand. while WX does not consider themself a loyalist to Her in the least, She was their only method of shedding their flesh… they didn't really have a choice.

that being said, they don't regret it in the least. with every body part they sacrificed to her, they carved themself replacements from foraged stones (most of them stolen from since destroyed monuments to the goddess in question. she… probably doesn't mind that). they don't know what the runes on their body mean and they also don't really care, beyond the fact that it looks epic as hell.

considering they've given up their flesh and replaced it with stone, WX's sense of touch is god awful. you could slap them on the back of the head and they wouldn't even feel it. they only experience pain if something begins to crack at the stone, and even then that pain comes from inside the stone, and not always at the exact source of the wound

... though they want everyone else to think otherwise, WX still has a major part of their flesh left behind… that being their head. it isn't actually stone, just shielded by a hollow stone helmet. any attempts to remove and replace it would lead to their death, and at this point they've since stopped attempting. though, they still sacrificed what parts of their head they could safely manage to.

they've given away one of their eyes, one of their ears, and their tongue- the latter-most being the only part they bothered to replace (with a knot of cloth, so as to keep the ability to speak). they hadn't really considered what that would do to their depth perception until after, but they still don't really regret it. even if they can't aim properly. or see anything directly to the right of them.

(i like to think they still yell despite not being a robot; half because they can't really hear, half because they need to shout through the helmet for anyone to hear them, and then a third half because they are just naturally loud and would probably still be screaming even beyond the two factors)

also i have no fucking clue how poorly this universe's wagstaff (currently undesigned) would take it. idk what he'd do. lose his mind most assuredly. which to be fair i would too if your bestie/protege started working with ancient gods to seamlessly replace their flesh with a stone imitation.

[hetalia-club]

I just have to spill my thoughts here for a second about my personal life for my own sanity. feel free to happily ignore and scroll by.

Good news everyone :D I just dumped my toxic emotionally abusive boyfriend. Terrible News everyone! :DDDD He was also my best friend and childhood best friend so isn't that great!? :)))

We were supposed to go to Sicily together in May...Why did I DO THAT!? I spent 2k on my plane ticket...the room is reserved... Do I like just not go to Italy now? Do I say F it and just go by myself? Do I try and quickly beg someone else to go with me who's okay with spending at least 2k on a plane ticket? Which would be no one in my life, maybe my parents would but idk what they got going on. I really wanted to go. Why could I have like just not waited until after that? We share a friend group and they are all more his friends than mine. So I just like isolated myself for no reason.

Sorry to dump this here and no I don't expect any of you to have the answers or do anything with this information.

These past few weeks for me have been really rough and I just made it somehow worse.

He distanced me from all my former friends who have all like moved on and have families and whatever and who I have not spoken to in five years so all I have right now is my family and work 'friends' I don't even like. I'm going to have to live with my parents for who knows how long because it was his house he had all the money in our relationship. He convinced me to quit my good desk job with benefits to work part time as a barista so I could clean his house and cook for him. But he also put up with all my weirdness and was fine with it.

Like when I say I have no idea what to do I truly mean that.

again I don't want anyone to feel responsible to do something about how I royalty screwed up my life. It's no ones fault. I shouldn't have let him isolate me so much from my friends and former life but TOO LATE NOW! I just need to stop being with men who have brown hair and brown eyes but are objectively terrible.

My only silver lining is that I was the one to end it. Which if anything am proud of myself for that because I have never broken up with anyone before and I normally just deal with whatever people do to me no matter how terrible and mean they are. I just have always forgiven him and everyone else.

But when some dude bro sits you down and asks you to "List reasons why you deserved to be loved by him" it was just too much. Like that might seem petty but I am sick of being the 'pretty girlfriend' I am so tired of having to dress to the 9s to go out and be expected to be perfect even if we're just going to a F*ng dive bar where I get stared out for dressing like I'm going to a club. Where he gets to look like a diarrhea stain who can't be bothered to wear a shirt that's not wrinkled or shave his scraggly beard. Why he thinks I should make a list of MY worth as a human being in his eyes. When he is average at best!? Like I'm not a 10 I'm not perfect I'm not delusional, I don't think I'm the hottest girl in the world or gods gift to man kind. But I'm out of his league, I do know that!

I always tend to cling to Hetalia harder when my life is falling apart around me because that's sort of just what I've done since I was a teen. I've never been in a healthy relationship with someone who actually likes me and Hetalia has always been there for me. Which is why I have been making a lot of content lately, it's been a distraction and I'm sorry if I've been bugging people with how much I've been posting. That's not been my intentions its just my coping mechanism and it's better than drinking...

This is the only social media I have that he's not on. I don't hate him enough to block him. I do still want to try and be his friend at some point if that's possible. I love his family and they love me and it's going to be so upsetting to see them again from a different perspective.

I'm okay...It's just been really rough lately...And I somehow just made it worse.(No I'm not going to hurt myself or anyone, don't even worry about that.)

[seaweedbraens]

Hold up so you're telling me that Hazel and Nico no more. Leo gone. Jason dead. Judging from the quote you posted Piper also dead. Frank probably dead too. Only Annabeth, Percy, Grover and Reyna probably left. And I am still concerned about Annabeth. And I am also curious about whether the hero of the prophecy changes or something in which case Percy is also in danger. GIRL LET ME BREATHE THIS IS TOO MUCH ANGST I LOVE YOU BUT WHAT- 😭😭

also I am curious about whether Percy will accept the offer of godhood in this au because

A) The kids of the minor god already have been accepted and given importance to. So that wish would kind of be fruitless.

B) Most of his friends and Sally is dead. So not a lot to tether him to mortal world.

C) Now that he has a free wish he could also ask the gods to idk make Annabeth a goddess as well removing his last tether to mortal world.

But if that's not the plan then I am curious about what would he do with the possibly available wish...

(yk Percy ask the gods to bring everyone who died in their name back to life :) or maybe ask them to change Vani's mind and make her bring back everyone :D)

Anyways love all your works so dam much thank you sm for giving us these gems 🩷

everyone's dead, that's the story

putting the rest under read more because it contains spoilers (but not really)

so! interesting thought and i think i address some of WHY percy's still rejecting godhood (because he is definitely still rejecting godhood) in the fic itself, but lemme hit each of your points.

a) the kids of the minor gods have been accepted by DEMIGODS, not the GODS - they don't have bunkers or anything like that dedicated to them. luke & co are still very valid in that there are still lots of demigods who havent been claimed, have never met/seen/heard from their parents. they are very much correct to be anti-god.

on the other hand, the opinion of the demigods of the bunkers (i.e annabeth & co) is that yes the gods suck, but the titans suck WORSE (lmfaoooo). they very much intend to call out the gods for being absent asf, but if the titans win, ALL demigods (including the ones in their own army) will be killed, because demigods around means the gods' blood lives on, and so do the gods (in whatever form). the titans winning means they all lose.

b) the way you've killed everyone off is sending me fdghjkzldsf but let's see!

c) i think that it just feels ooc in general for percy to accept godhood - it's an interesting concept for sure but i think his refusal of it is just. what makes percy PERCY, y'know. he isn't interested in lavish gifts or the possibility of eternal youth. in fact, i think he sees over the course of this story (and canon) that living forever can just as easily make you stagnant in your emotions and mindset, and he's never wanted that for himself (or annabeth). also, he's seen hazel suffer, and so he'd never ask for her (or anyone) to be brought back. the dead stay dead (mostly).

basically - percy is going to reject godhood because the future remains in the hands of DEMIGODS, not just the gods! i've tried to drive it home in the fic that demigods and gods need each other and it isn't a one-way street. demigods are what keeps the flame of the west burning, and percy 100% sees the value in that.

thank you for reading, and i really liked the question! i am much too set in my ways to ever change the fic, but you genuinely made a good case!!

[hermitw]

Seeing the new theories on Yuuji's domain is driving me feral bc

Once again idk what Gege is doing!!

Points are being made and it's so weird bc

My interpretation of the 1st anime opening and my prediction for Yuuji's domain are so different (and I think mine have more evidence but I also spent months collecting that so I'm biased).

Also my interpretation for the false memories around Yuuji is different (kenjaku is also Todo's parent, specifically that Coach Takagi is his other parent).

But memories being involved in Yuuji's domain along w my cryogenic prediction could fit together. It feels like the photography in Link Click, now that I think about it...?

Idk man I stand by what I said before.

But if I have to read into what happened in 264, this is my take on it [spoilers ahead]

The train station's significance....

I think of the train car with transfigured humans.

The way that Yuuji and Mahito loathed each other, and the way that Yuuji said "I'm you."

The train cars being the cryogenic chambers makes so much sense to me. He would be sending off people in the opposite way. To undo the disfigurement.

The train station was significant, it was a place of intense trauma. But I think it could also be a place of redemption. Idk if it's modeled after a specific location. BUT I know that Sukuna's domain can be translated as the place where meals are prepared for the emperor (a reference to his time spent as a slave), or as a small Buddhist shed for storing tools (I'm not sure of the way Sukuna spent his life, but considering the way that he died and some potential irl lore, I believe that Buddhism was a helpful thing for him). I think the duality of his domain is intentional, and it might be similar for Yuuji.

There's also the hand sign for Yuuji's domain, and the prioritizing others' wellbeing over his own.

Anyway, in the opening, the train seemed to he taking Yuuji to someplace he was unfamiliar with. The fish represents Junpei, the water is up to his knees but not in the palm of his hand. He's taking it too easy, u bothered and clueless. I made a post before explaining that I think water in JJK is used to represent the world of jujutsu (it's hard to put into words).

So it makes me wonder if now, this train is taking someone out of the world of jujutsu. Whether as a type of protection, or if he could pull something like Aang in ATLA stealing fire.

I've also talked & reblogged a lot about Sukuna... I really, really want him to just have his own body and autonomy and be able to live a chill life, and not be bothered by anyone as a deity or a monster to hunt or as someone to control.

Maybe we'll get a talk-no-jutsu moment and Yuuji will realize that his body was crafted to be a cage for Sukuna, that he never bothered to listen to Sukuna of all people, and maybe they can work something out. Idk what was in that book of soul stuff that he read. Idk what would happen to Sukuna without a body (maybe he'd just go back into the fingies).

To be clear I do love Yuuji and Megumi and almost all of the characters, but God, killing Sukuna isn't the answer. And to kill him would mean killing Yuuji or Megumi, anyway, (unless Yuuji's CT is going to eliminate Sukuna's life).

Idk what's going on or how coherent this is, I just needed to ramble, I'll update w links later but lmk if you're looking for anything specific and I'll prioritize it.

[go-to-the-mirror]

I really wanted to draw for this episode, but my head's been kind of messed up lately, so I'm just gonna ramble I guess. I've been so excited for this episode :3

Firstly, this is one of my absolute favourite episodes ever, and I Will Not shut up about it, because it's so good! Literal suburban hellscape!! To be honest I relate a little more to the other themes in this episode, being quiet fear, no one knowing or caring that you died in some supernatural suburban hell, and your body is just rotting there. An irrelevant name, an irrelevant face, just another victim of this place. Spooky stuff! Not too afraid of suburbs themselves lol, though I doubt many are.

This episode is SO neat! :D Right, on with the ramble/analysis because I have GREAT words for this episode.

@a-mag-a-day

Content warnings for everything in this episode + some themes of domestic violence/abuse.

Before we go ahead with the episode, here are some highlights from text conversations.

WHEN YOU CANT TRUST COMFORT!! (MAG 162, MAG 170, MAG 181, MAG 186, MAG 187 (to an extent)) MAG 150 (I love Cul-de-Sac and will never shut up about it) MAG 188 but when Jon' talking about how The Lonely is familiar to Martin and how the suburbia domains have quiet suffering (Will never be over that actually i have So Many Feelings) MAG 32 I can make a little quote thig one second actually because I have Thoughts god i'd be so cool on tumblr but i'm too anxious to post there, this is a tragedy [...] "I was going to die. I knew that now, just as she had, just as anyone else who came here had. How many corpses lay waiting behind the placid façade of this endless false suburbia?" Screaming Every time I think about cul-de-sac it becomes even more my favourite statement

(Messages to Mapleejay, 22 December, 2022)

One day I am going to write a statement and it's going to be like eye, lonely, idk, but it's definitely going to be eye and lonely and it's going to be so horrifying because combination false comfort + THAT being desperate for help people watching and laughing and judging but passing by + that line from cul-de-sac I'm obsessed with [...] Being lonely isn't just about being alone physically Being alone in an uncaring crowd [...] No one knows or cares what you're dealing with The line from cul-de-sac is "Her face was bloody but I was sure I didn't recognize her. She had a bag with her, and her ID read "Yetunde Uthman," not a name I'd ever encountered before. Just another victim of this place" but also "How many corpses lay waiting behind the placid facade of this endless false suburbia?" And "I checked to see if I could find anything out about Yetunde Uthman, and I did find a few old social media profiles, but I wasn't able to get through to any family or friends. As far as I can tell she disappeared a year ago and nobody noticed."

(Messages to Mapleejay, 29 December, 2022)

Now, onto the actual reaction, posting it on tumblr dot com because I am no longer too anxious! Hell, I might even post the previously mentioned compilation of quotes with commentary! Fun times.

You’re all alone, trying to connect with people, trying to find your place in the world, but in the end the only person you really know is yourself, and even then, not all that well. There’s plenty of things I’ve done I couldn’t explain to you.

Shout out to that time my sister tried to convince me that she knew me better than I knew myself. Not in a malicious way, mind, we were kids, and she just figured that because she could remember more of my life, she knows me more.

Yeah, I mean, I guess it's for everyone I guess, but here I am with my impulsivity and memory issues having no idea why the hell I did so many of the stupid things I've done. You whole life is just justifying to yourself the decisions you've made, so maybe I'm just not grand at that /hj.

“What an idiot! How the hell could he have done such an obviously stupid thing? How was I surprised it went so badly? What a relief I’m now so much older and wiser.” Except that last part never really turns out to be true, does it? The line of when you were your dumb younger self seems to keep moving forward with you, until each more mature and reasonable version of you eventually falls foul of it and becomes a young idiot.

A year ago, I thought I had really worked on my anger and just become an all-round nicer person to be around, and then I look back and realize that yes, my anger was still very much there, and also that I was quite... passionate? I am still, I'm pretty loud, it comes with the territory, and that can be misinterpreted as or become anger, given the right (or wrong) circumstances.

It's not really worth it, is it. I can berate myself from 4 years ago for being an angry, clingy little prick, but there's not really a point anymore. I understand them, I understand why fae was angry and clingy and sort of mean, and now I know how to not be angry and clingy and mean, and being angry at your younger self really doesn't accomplish anything. This is @ jon sims, pull yourself together man.

The thing is, when we both found ourselves in positions to be working from home, we actually thought it was going to be really good for our relationship. The two of us, spending all our time together; we reckoned it was going to be real romantic. We were real stupid back then.

If I know anything from the statistics of domestic violence in the pandemic, then yeah no. No. Not that their relationship was abusive or anything.

Also, I like how Herman goes from saying how believing you're much older and wiser is a lie, to saying that they were really stupid "back then," there's something in that. I don't know what.

Hell, technically it’s not even a suburb. It’s just a village that looks so much like a suburb that you could pull it up drop it on the edge of any dull town in England and it would look the same.

Can't believe the suburban hellscape episode isn't even set in a suburb.

Just street after street of identical, blandly pleasant houses, all winding around each other in dead ends and cul-de-sacs and one-way streets, making sure every house has plenty of inoffensive garden. I’ve never seen people happily living in a place so obviously dead.

CAN I QUICKLY TALK ABOUT GRASS?

Grass, the short lawn grass, it's not great. It is bad for the environment actually. Suburbs slash neg.

Just that last bit of that paragraph. Real.

I’d say that cheating on him was a foolish act of past me, but honestly, it’s one of the few decisions I’ve ever made that I completely understand. I didn’t even try to hide it, not really, and when he found out and it all ended, I kind of hated myself for just how relieved I was that I’d finally be able to leave that place, to get in my car and drive away from that gentle suburban nightmare.

I like that phrase, "gentle suburban nightmare."

I got a cheap apartment in Liverpool and tried to tell myself I was happier. The single life, footloose and … sitting at home binging bad TV. I tried to get back into the club scene, but honestly, I think I’m just too old now. The music was too loud, the drinks were too expensive and the sort of thing I used to take to be dancing all night now hit me with a comedown so hard that I had to write off almost the entire week.

As mentioned above, I don't really think The One Alone is only about physical isolation. It can be, sure, but I feel like it's also about the failure to connect. There are so many people and none of them see you, and you don't see them, and there's an insurmountable difference between you and them.

It didn’t help that, over the course of a ten-year relationship, “my friends” had become “our friends” and there weren’t any of them siding with me in this situation. Some would drop platitudes about maybe reconnecting after the fallout was done with, but I know when I’m being handled by people who “don’t want to create any more drama.”

✨ loosing all of your friends at once ✨

Ah... good times, good times.

It's like, not only have you lost one person, then you lose everyone, and if you had anyone left you just sort of... assume you don't. It's so easy to cut yourself off, and when you've done it once you can do it again, and again, and again, and again.

I don’t know. I was younger, then. Foolish.

There is something there!

Then Jon does a litte laugh, assuming in statement character, so I'm guessing the statement giver was laughing at himself. Neat detail.

It was late when I got to what I thought was his street, driving through the one-way signs and well-maintained gardens that bordered that snaking road. The sun had disappeared, but the sky was still fairly light, that late-summer twilight that seems to just drag on forever.

Mate, I love the aesthetic of the fog and The Lonely, but that's not really what feels lonely to me. This feels lonely, slightly humid, sun shining into your eyes, slight breeze, no one around, flat and empty.

Yes, I know I'm just describing an Ontario summer.

There was no answer at any of them. There were no lights on behind the drawn curtains, and all the house numbers were zero.

It's so freaky! The growing dread, you know this could almost be an I Do Not Know You statement, what with the things playing at being normal houses, and the tv show shown later.

I wished I hadn’t thrown away the wristwatch Alberto had given me, but it was too late for those regrets.

I may be reaching, but could this be a microcosm of Herman's regret at having thrown away him and Alberto's relationship, and seeing it as too late to salvage it. Now he's left with no way to tell the time, as it were, in a manifestation of The Lonely.

At the start, I was counting how many houses I passed, but when I got to a hundred, I stopped. It was beginning to eat away at my careful rationalisations, and I couldn’t allow that.

I'm just highlighting it because I find it interesting how his mind works. Not in a bad way or even a good way. It just is.

I marched up to a nearby front door, prepared to kick in the flimsy-looking wood, but trying the handle revealed it was unlocked. I don’t know why I picked that house. It was exactly identical to all the others, and I’ve often wondered if there was anything that drew me to it. Perhaps I was just unlucky, or perhaps there only ever was one house.

I just really like this section. "Perhaps there only ever was one house," should be up there with "the blanket never did anything," as creepy lines. The theme of inevitability. This is going to happen, there is only one possible way this can end.

It feels tired, that's the lonely to me. Just being tired. You can cry all you want, you can be afraid but... at the end you're just tired and alone and it hasn't changed a thing. Inevitability in that way.

Or maybe, inevitability that you were always going to be alone. Maybe there's just something wrong with you.

Hhhh I love this episode so so so so so much.

The lights worked, which was a relief, and the inside looked exactly how I expected it to. And I mean, exactly how I expected it to: from the blank IKEA furniture, to the subtly-patterned cream wallpaper, to the picture frames lining the wall containing what were clearly stock photos, each of a different family pantomiming a scene of domestic bliss.

Firstly, the line "pantomiming a scene of domestic bliss" is just so... I love it so much. I love this episode so much. A family home, a happy family home from the outside looking in.

Secondly:

I did find several pictures of her and her new boyfriend though, which puts my mind somewhat at ease. Well, mostly. There’s something about him that doesn’t seem quite right. Something about the smile, maybe? I mean, they’re all pictures of Sasha and Tom, as I’m told his name is, having fun together, but… it’s hard to put into words exactly, but every one of them looks somehow like a stock photo.

(MAG 57 - Personal Space)

I could point to this and say that this is an example of it potentially being The Stranger, however I'm going to use it to point out something else.

You’re thinking too literally. Examining the physical categorisation, but ignoring the meaning of the thing. What are the bones? In the Distortion, your “Michael”, the structure of a skeleton, an established reality in your mind, is twisted and warped into an impossible form. But in other cases? Are they a symbol of slaughter and butchery? Are they the familiar made wrong? Or are they simply part of the messy, physicality of flesh?

(MAG 80 - The Librarian)

What matters is what it is, in this case the stock photos, what matters is what it means, what it makes the person looking at it feel. In Tom and Not!Sasha's case, it's representing how Not!Sasha is pantomiming as a real person, everything looks like a stock photo because she isn't actually a person going on dates with her boyfriend, she's pretending to be.

The stock photos in this episode are representing the pretense of this home where atrocities are committed being a normal family home. It's set up like a little suburban home, beige walls, sofa tv, family pictures, lovely place to raze a child - sorry raise a child - just so long as you ignore the blood dripping down from upstairs!

She was talking, or at least, it sounded like she was. The cadence and the sounds were so much like English that it took me almost a full minute to realise that she wasn’t actually saying words.

I recently relistened to episode 48 - Lost in the Crowd, and it's reminded me just how much I like the little bits of it focused on language. Easy to feel alienated when you don't know what people are saying.

The Lonely and The Stranger are pretty similar - one could say that they're part of the same thing and separating them with no room for nuance was a stupid thing fictionalized Robert Smirke - but yeah I mean, it's pretty easy to feel lonely in a crowd of people you don't know. The Lukas', the crowd, these people on the TV, they're all strangers, people you don't know who you feel scared of.

It's interpretation, really.

I hit the remote again. A shopping channel. The host was a tall, clean-shaven man with close-cropped hair. He was holding a brick and talking about it in that same flow of non-words, that still had a familiar salesman’s patter. The screen scrolled the message “buy now!”, though there was neither price nor contact details, as this man, who wouldn’t look at the camera, earnestly pretended to sell me a brick.

Firstly, Spamton G. Spamton is that you? Secondly, this is so freaky, I like it a lot. Just someone really trying to sell you a brick in complete gibberish, that's just so cool! Jonny just blew it out of the water with this one (it's my favourite non-metaplot episode).

I didn’t know them, as it turned out.

OOOOH JUST! HM! Just another person, dead upstairs, unknown even in death, not missed, alone even in death.

"I didn't know them."

She had a bag with her, and her ID read ‘Yetunde Uthman’ – not a name I’d ever encountered before. Just another victim of this place.

The line "just another victim of this place" is making me so unbelievably bouncing at the walls, tearing and ripping. Just another person, one of a million, just happened to be here, just another victim of this place.

I... don't know how to describe what I'm thinking when I hear that line. Just another victim of this place, just another poor unfortunate soul (in pain, in need) who somehow stumbled upon this suburban hellscape and died for it. Just another person with no one who would miss them, no one who'd notice they were gone. Just another lonely person, one of millions.

I am so abnormal about that line.

It looked as though she had forced her head through the mirror on the dressing table, the shards cutting her face and neck to ribbons, a particularly large piece piercing her jugular, spilling blood all down the unremarkable white table and onto the light brown carpet below. I don’t think she’d been dead that long, but I’m not a doctor and I didn’t really try to check.

I like how it's noted that their blood was spilled onto another piece of set dressing for this ordinary suburban household. "Spilling blood all down the unremarkable white table and onto the light brown carpet below." Noting the how the table is "unremarkable"... I just think that's neat, you know? How her blood has shattered the illusion of a normal home, a normal family posing in the picture frames.

How many corpses lay waiting behind the placid façade of this endless false suburbia?

Quiet terror. Private terror - you can't let anyone know. Put up a united front, and let things fall apart at home. Houses so put together in the front exactly like the others, but when you get inside there is the unmistakable sent of rot.

I need to write something with this, good lord.

Also, this reminds me of a line in 188.

ARCHIVIST But if you think there’s a lack of violence or suffering, then I’m afraid you’re mistaken. There’s plenty, it’s just… hidden. Trapped behind identical doors and down silent streets of unknown neighbours. The suffering here is deep. And it’s private.

(MAG 188 - Centre of Attention)

I say this as if I did not already think this already. I was not just reminded, I think about this podded cast quite a bit.

He was calling me; I don’t know how. But the tears came even faster now, as I answered, sobbing with relief to hear him yelling at me for taking so long. Had I forgotten? Was I even planning to bother? I tried to reply, to explain, but all I could manage to say, to get through the shaking sobs, was, “I love you.”

That's just a really beautiful moment, you think you're going to die and then you remember you love someone, and then someone comes to help you, because people love each other.

It's just... I really love that the way to beat The Lonely is love. Being loved, loving, not necessarily romantically, but human connection, love from person to person, in families, romantic partners, strangers, friends.

I think it's really great, I think this moment is really great, and I know Gerry says there are no entities of hope or love but I don't think we need them, 'cause we love enough on our own.

We’re working on it, the two of us. We’re not exactly back together yet, but I think it’s going well.

Yay! Fuck yeah! They're okay, or they're getting there, and you know what, great for them, great for them. Goddamn horror podcast with hope? And love? Hhhhh /pos.

As far as I can tell, she disappeared a year ago. And nobody noticed.

I've said this before in this, and I'll say it again. That really gets to me. Just being alone there, having no one even look for you, notice that you're gone, even care.

It's... horrible.

It’s not that easy though. When everyone has so many walls, so many defences, sometimes you can feel lonely even when you’re all in the same room. But it’s better than the alternative, and at least none of us are suffering alone.

That must be so awkward, like they all have so much baggage with each other, what do they do? Play scrabble? Jenga? They can't play cards 'cause Jon would accidentally cheat - or they'd accuse Jon of accidentally cheating - which sucks, because Sevens is fun. I learned Sevens from some guy in a pub in Ireland. It was fun.

MELANIE Jon, have you got a moment? ARCHIVIST Uh, course, I was just, um, having a statement. MELANIE Oh … A-an old one? ARCHIVIST Wha— Yes, an old one! I’m not— I’m doing my best. MELANIE Sure. ARCHIVIST What do you want?

My first reaction was "there was no reason for it to get so antagonistic in five seconds, Melanie" but then I reconsidered, and I understand why Melanie would say that, but why did she though? Like, what was the reason? He's in his office? The statement's right in front of him? Why? Like, fine, whatever, I get it, I can be nice and nuanced or whatever, but sometimes I don't want to and I want to get a bit miffed at Melanie for making it an angry conversation when it didn't have to be.

MELANIE Look, I’m not going to do my job anymore. ARCHIVIST I’m not sure I follow. You know we can’t quit. We’ve all tried. MELANIE I didn’t say I was going to quit. I said I’m not going to do my job: no researching, no filing, no field trips, nothing that is going to help the Institute in any way. I’ll still be around, I just … I can’t be a part of this anymore. If I get sick, I get sick, and if I die …

I get why they were still doing their jobs, out of the fear of getting sick or dying from it.

MELANIE Because this place is evil, Jon. And so, doing this job, helping it out, even in small ways, is in some ways evil tool. Every time we try to use it to do good, it just seems to make everything worse. And … And I will not be a part of that anymore. ARCHIVIST What about the Unknowing? W-we saved the world. MELANIE Did we? I-I mean, I think it was the right thing to do, but how many people were killed to do it? W-we weren’t even a neutral party. We did it as agents of The Eye, because Elias told us to.

Yeah! Yeah it is evil! Good on Melanie, honestly, for Jon it's... less of an option, but I'm glad Melanie's doing it. Also why is she nearly spot on-

MELANIE Martin put him there. A-and he’s still doing harm! You ever think that maybe this whole ritual business is just an excuse, and that we’re all just part of some huge, miserable fear machine?

So, what if I told you-

I mean, she's not wrong. She is not wrong.

Does this count as striking? Is she striking from her evil eye job?

MELANIE Right, right, okay. I know. That is why I ruined my first four sessions and almost torpedoed the chance at a genuinely really good therapist, because I was so paranoid that she was going to turn out to be some … some thing trying to manipulate me. But no. She’s not full of spiders, or made of wax, or wearing the therapist’s skin or whatever. She’s just a well-trained professional, who I am paying to help me.

Look hm I'm just, I'm cheerleading. Go Melanie! (woo) Idk what to say. Don't really care about this post statement.

MELANIE Look, I didn’t come here for a fight. I just wanted to let you know what was going on. If you need me, I’ll be trying to get Daisy drunk.

Hey, I mean. High stress situation, they're bound to be a bit snappy. And by them I do mean both of them, whatever, my blorbo isn't infallible or something.

I don't really care about the post statement.

In conclusion, I love this statement so much. I think it's really cool, I like the themes of quiet and private terror, and love saving people. Cul-de-Sac my absolute beloved, I started this at ~4pm, it is now ~8:30pm.

[scenetocause]

Idk about you but I would sure like Norris / Fewtrell / Kodric to be given the emptyhalf words.

ok i guess

"You're unbelievable," Lando's laughing but he's like - it's the thing he does when he's actually kind of serious but he's playing it down, not his real laugh and it unnerves Max a lot.

"What do you mean?" He honestly doesn't know what he's done. Something, clearly; it's not bad enough that Lando isn't curled right up against him in Max's bed, Max's fingers threading through his hair and Lando's stupid palm tree necklace digging into Max's breastbone.

"You were flirting with Martin so much, oh my god."

Oh.

Well, guilty as charged.

"If my boyfriend didn't leave me at home all the time then maybe I wouldn't have to look at hot, uhm. Hunks." He's got past the word 'boyfriend' in his list of mental blocks but it's very hard for Max to sort of think of himself as gay beyond Lando. He's not really sure he is but then, Martin is pretty hot and so tall, too. Like Jake, who's also pretty hot and ok maybe he just... has some sort of very specific type. He should try checking out Marcus next time they're in the gym to see if it's all drivers or just specifically the idiot ones.

Lando pouts, curling more round Max. "If you'd actually ask instead of, like - you know I always want you there. Anyway, I guess Martin's kinda hot."

Oh. Oh, Lando isn't complaining, he's fantasising.

Except Max's self-esteem isn't as secure as Lando's, clearly and so what he says is. "Hotter than me?" And his voice sounds pathetically small.

"No." It's not possible to actually hear someone rolling their eyes but Max thinks he can. "You're - and mine. But y'know, for someone else he kind of is."

Lando presses an unusually tender kiss under Max's ear. "You're still my big boy."

"Jesus-" Max ineffectively swats at Lando, who's already successfully limpeted onto him and just holds Max tighter, peppering him with kisses. "Fuck off. God."

Max mumbles "I love you, Bob" into the bumps of Lando's spine when they've rearranged to big and little spoon, a few minutes later.

-

Nothing happens because why would anything happen. Martin's straight and if Max and Lando sometimes work it into their dirty talk, the idea of one of them getting fucked by Martin while the other one's watching then, well. Look. They've said that about, like - Lando has a weird crush on Niall from One Direction and sometimes it comes up, it's just a fantasy, it's fine.

Until Tom opens his stupid mouth and Max is gonna edit him for Insta again, he swears to god.

"Who'd you have in a threesome, if you could have anyone?"

"Martin," Lando says, without even looking up from his phone while he's posting some jpgs.

It's at the same time as Connor says "Dua Lipa" and Jenny hits him with a cushion but someone definitely heard because several people follow it up with what?

Lando glances round the table, unfazed. "It's be Martin, we've talked about it."

Max can feel himself turning blotchy crimson. "Mate, you can't just say things like-"

"Really?" It's only fair that Martin, himself, asks.

"Yeah," Lando is totally unbothered, tucking himself back against Max's shoulder and taking a sip of his drink, the only tell that he knows what he's doing the way he's suddenly glowing with that weird, malicious energy he gives off sometimes. "It'd be hot. Y'know, you could fuck Max or-"

Collective shouting around the table manages to preserve Max's honour and stop him having to find a way to murder the man he loves the most of anyone in the world. And that's kind of the end of it because they get into fuck, marry, kill with the characters from Friends but none of them can remember what half of them are called and shots dissolve the rest of the conversation.

Until Max is wobbling to the bathroom, a little while later and wondering where Lando's gone. He probably might have noticed Martin was gone, too, except that he's been studiously trying not to make any kind of eye contact with the bloke for several hours, so it's easier not to think.

Except that Martin is suddenly right up in his space and Max nearly trips over his own feet. "Uh - hello, what Lando said, like, just, ignore him it's-"

He's shocked by Martin shushing him. Realises Martin's shirt is unbuttoned all the way down, tries not to fixate on the trail of hair down from his belly button but looking up from that means he's staring into Martin's eyes.

"I didn't mind," Martin's accent makes it soft, voice deliberately gentle. "It's kind of cute."

Max doesn't have time to squirm, before Martin's hand is on his jaw and his sweaty palms are on Martin's chest to steady himself and the main thing he registers, when Martin kisses him, is Lando's shrieky laugh of glee much too close by.

"I knew it," there's the sound of a shutter closing, a photo that better not make it to the internet. "It is really hot."

[luna-3-clips]

BlueLockOfficial [Verified]

Hello everyone! We have decided to let you all use Instagram so you can get updated on everything that happens in the world, and we are also allowing you guys to post. - Anri

Don't take advantage of this privilege we are giving you, meaning: A) Do not post anything inappropriate B) Do not make your usernames inappropriate That is all from us, have fun you unpolished gems. - Ego

Comments:

MrMoneyBags: Hey everyone!

YoitsIsag1: Hey!

LazyGenius1234: Hey Reo..

ZantetsuTsurugi: What is this?

MyownSexysoccer: It's called Instagram you idiot

Bachirawr: What's up everyone!

Tofast4U: Hey Bachira!

Thedadofthegroup: Hey guys!

Wilddcard: Why are you here? Didn't you get kicked out?

Thedadofhtegroup: Yeah, but apparently we got added back in!

Naruhaha: Did you miss us?

KounWateru: And me?

MyownSexysoccer: No one missed you

Thatonemonk: What the hell are you even doing here?

BlueLockOfficial [Verified]: We decided to add everyone to Instagram because we wanted everyone to get to catch up with each other. - Anri

BlueLockOfficial [Verified]: It was mainly Anri-chan's idea, but I went along with it. - Ego

BigbroWanima: Does that mean...

LilbroWanima: Yep! I'm Back!

Tofast4U: Oh god.. now there's two of them..

MrMrModelMr: Now Chigiri, I'm sure they're nice

Tofast4U: They were the ones who made me injure my knee

Eyeseeall: You injured your knee?

Tofast4U: Yeah, but I don't wanna talk about it

Eyeseeall: Oh, alright

Wassup: Heeeey everyone!

Ilikewomen: Who the heck are you?

Wassup: Guess

LilGamerBoi: Shido?

ZestyFootballDemon: Nope, that's me!

SharkyBoy: Nanase?

FeelsFruity: No, that's me

TheKing: Why is that your username?

FeelsFruity: Isagi and Hiori made me

Bachirawr: Why?

FeelsFruity: I said it once after Isagi said "feels peachy"

Heeeyyyyyladies: Why'd you say that?

FeelsFruity: Idk

Wassup: Lol

Ilikewomen: Oh right, we're still trying to guess who you are. Are you... Tokimitsu?

HelllllloGuys: No, that's me

Wassup: Do you guys want a hint?

MrMoneyBags: Yes

Wassup: I'm Otoya's best friend

Ilikewomen: Ohh, Karasu, you little trickster

LilGamerBoi: Wait.. so if you're Otoya, then who's 'Heeeyyyyyladies'?

Heeeyyyyyladies: I'm Imamura

YoitsIsag1: That makes sense now

Rin4real: Why are you guys talking so much on Instagram? You all have texting apps, use those

ZestyFootballDemon: Oh, look at you, Underlashes Jr. has spoken

Rin4real: Shut up Shido

Themostglamofall: Now now you two, fighting isn't glam at all

Rin4real -Message removed: Over aggression to another user- (The message was: STAY THE FUCK OUT OF THIS ARYU)

ZestyFootballDemon: Ooh, I wonder what he said~

ItoshiiSaee [Verified]: I'll have to agree with Aryu on this one, fight in your own chat

ZestyFootballDemon: Sorry Sae~

YoitsIsag1: Wait, if he's here, who else is?

ThebestKAISER [Verified]: Boo! Did I scare ya?

Kaiseristhebest [Verified]: I'm sure they got very scared

YoitsIsag1: No, as a matter of fact I didn't

Thereisanlandana [Verified]: Kaiser, don't be mean

LilGamerBoi: Who are you?

Thereisanlandana [Verified]: Noel Noa

ZestyFootballDemon: Not to be rude, but why is that your username?

Thereisanlandana [Verified]: I made this account before I became famous

Tofast4U: Makes sense

Wilddcard: So if you're here, then is there anyone else?

TheDancer [Verified]: MEE! I'm Lavinho!

BrazilianBaller [Verified]: Me too! Dada Silva here

Speedst0r [Verified]: Julian Loki

IamnumberTWO [Verified]: The one and only, Chris Prince

BlaketheAdam [Verified]: And me

Pikachumyenemy [Verified]: Don't forget about me, I'm Pablo Cavazos!

ScionofRealMadrid [Verified]: Leonardo Luna too!

Suppeeps [Verified]: I'm here too! Shuto Sendo

Womaniiiiserr [Verified]: Oliver Aiku~

HelllllloGuys: This is so cool!

Themostglamofall: I agree, this is definitely glamorous

BlueLockOfficial [Verified]: We also have me and Anri-chan's personal accounts as well, along with the five teams you are all in. - Ego

BastardMünchenOfficial [Verified]: Hello!

ParisXGenOfficial [Verified]: Hi everyone!

ManshineCityOfficial [Verified]: Sup!

UbersOfficial [Verified]: Hi!

FCBarchaOfficial [Verified]: How are you all?

YoitsIsag1: We're amazing knowing that all the pros are here!

Bachirawr: Mhm!

MrMoneyBags: It's a pleasure getting to talk to you guys like this!

MrMrModelMr: It really is, everyone's so happy and excited

IamnumberTWO [Verified]: Hey Yukimiya! Nice to see you again!

MrMrModelMr: Hey Prince! You too!

Wassup: You guys know each other?

MrMrModelMr: Yeah, we've modeled together before

IamnumberTWO [Verified]: Yep! Yukimiya's an amazing modeling partner! We looked so amazing together!

MyownSexySoccer: I'm so jealous!

Wilddcard: I agree, you're lucky

MrMrModelMr: Thanks guys

Rin4real: Guys, go. to. bed. It's 10pm now and everyone has training in the morning I assume

ZestyFootballDemon: Don't be like the RinRin

ItoshiiSaee [Verified]: I agree, I think everyone should go to bed now

ZestyFootballDemon: Yessir! Goodnight everyone!

YoitsIsag1: What the..

Eyeseeall: That was.. odd..

GinGagamaru: I think Shido likes Sae

Bachrawr: Makes sense

Rin4real: GO TO SLEEP

Wilddcard: Geez, calm down

YoitsIsag1: Fine.. we'll sleep, night everyone

SharkyBoy: Night

Bachirawr: Goodnight!

LilGamerBoi: Sleep tight

Wassup: Don't let the bed bugs bite

Ilikewomen: What bed are you sleeping in?

Wassup: Why? Wanna sleep with me?

Ilikewomen: I meant that as in the bed bug joke

Wassup: Oh, I was joking

TheKing: Just go to sleep...

-Everyone went to sleep-

[sanstropfremir]

"like the whole bts thing as parasocial friends instead of boyfriends is genius but oh god the damage it id" can you elaborate on this? idk if i wasnt into kpop back then or what but what happened 😅

oh there wasn't actually like, an 'announcement' about it or anything lol. so basically bts' whole new marketing strategy post their failure to hit big as a hiphop group was that they were self-produced 'anti' idols with an emphasis on 'loving and accepting yourself' and 'making a supportive community'. which, on the surface, those are not bad things. kpop fan communities are often support systems for those involved, and you should try to at least be neutral about yourself. and there has been a distinct lack of community and community building in the western world + with the age of the internet and people are desperate for it, even if it's not something that people are cognizant of, so just on paper, it isn't a horrible idea. HOWEVER: when that push for community comes directly from a company, the company and the community get capitalistically intertwined and there becomes no way to separate the two. plus, it makes an extremely toxic community, as we've all seen, because the foundation of it is based on capitalism and consumption, while simultaneously hiding the fact that it's based on consumption, because fans will do overtime defending the company because the company pushes the community branding.

the other big part of this is pushing them as 'authentic' and 'real'. obvs this is straight up just not true, BUT it heavily appealed to western and intl fans who on the surface don't really understand the kpop model (it's also the western pop model but marketing™️) and who had orientalist views that kpop is 'manufactured' by the company and therefore 'not real music'. by presenting bts as these anti-idol figures that are 'fighting against the industry' (this was a big part as well), you hit a tonne of the demographics that wouldn't be caught by typical boy group marketing and it's precisely engineered to catch western fans. and a lot of those fans are not going to be familiar with how the industry works, and because bts' content is numerous and separated from the industry, it creates a closed loop where those fans never interact with any other groups' content and feed back into 'the community' perpetually.

also they pretty notably have done very little 'racy' content compared to other groups of their age. esp since they started doing their western push they've been pretty buttoned up, which i'm not gonna begrudge anyone who has personal boundaries about that kind of thing, but it IS unusual to family-friendly brand an entire group like that, which further enforces the "they're your friends" narrative.

[magnusbae]

okay but (about your tags on cuubism's post about hob not being special for being immortal) i feel like hob's optimism ISN'T super special, either. like... hate to say this but the majority of the world isn't sad all the time? at least not in my experience, i mean. like, in stories and to a lesser degree online, there's this very pessimistic outlook that's become the norm, and so when we see hob not becoming pessimistic, we think that's special, that's unique, that's surprising. but... idk, maybe i'm naive about this, but i feel like most people DON'T feel sad and bitter about life. it's not just that most people don't want to die, it's that most people find joy in things. most people can laugh. most people can be happy. hob just has the opportunity to do that on a longer scale than anyone else. he's unique for having that chance, not for taking it.

i feel like that's part of what makes hob such an interesting foil for dream. because dream is exceptional. he is special. he is everyone's dreams, everywhere; he is powerful beyond imagining. which is why i LOVE dreamling: hob is a completely normal guy who dream can look at and understand that life is good. people are happy. dream can be happy, too.

(it's dream's unique depression vs. hob's everyday positivity that gets me asldkfjhaskdjfhs)

anyway i haven't even seen the show or read the comics so like. take this with a grain of salt. but i really like the idea of hob as just a completely normal person who was lucky enough to be overheard by death at just the right time.

(Ref Post) Now see, let's start from the fact that in fanon, you're allowed to experience the ship in any way you personally enjoy. Many people genuinely love and prefer seeing Hob as absolutely normal guy versus Dream's sepernatual status.

If we discuss our philosophies in general about real people, I'd agree with you that generally on the internet, or more specifically on tumblr, a pessimistic outlook on things in the norm.

However in your example you had omitted a few key points. You've given the average person's day to day life as an example to people who are happy and generally optimistic. You do not take into account the events Hob had went through: pandemic on large and horrifying scale, battlefields, murders and starvation. Then even on a more radical scale, losing his wife and both his children, being drowned alive but unable to die from it (which is torture on a scale human's can't understand) being the only being of his kind aside from a stranger he meets once a century (alienation and loneliness) etc etc

Now those are not precisely your day to day experiences that most non-tumblr people would be cheerfully okay with, yes?

Most normally people would struggle to live with even one of those events, now, consider the fact, Hob lives with ALL of those events with little to no change to his personality, outlook on life and general functionality.

That is not your average human behaviour, simply aint.

Some people enjoy seeing Hob as 100% normal, some people like me, enjoy seeing Hob as batshit crazy too >:D

Like, yes, near Dream of the Endless, almost anyone, supernatural or not, would seem rather dull and normal, and it does not take away from the reality of things, Hob is still human, Hob is still RATHER normal near Dream.

But if you take Dream away from the equitation, and inspect Hob solely as an individual character, he is far from being normal.

By all means, he'd be considered the demigod of the story if other gods/endless were not introduced.

A character who does not age, die and who has no payment to pay for his boon, no secret Achilles' heel? Who lives century after century without allowing anything change who he is the core? (for better of worse he stays generally true to himself) like, frankly, that's not normal.

TLTR while I agree with you that tumblr's outlook on life is rather gloomy and most folk wouldn't be this blue, I would also say that most people would have severe reaction to trauma and loss, and wouldn't be able to carry repeated trauma through decades and centuries.

[slimeclimbtime]

Uriel Character Analysis Deep-Dive: Mingyu from GSM

hey yall! this is gonna start becoming a recurring thing; idk if anyone actually reads these but im starting this series so that you can check out how i meant for these characters to be portrayed, their character arcs, and so on so forth.

today's analysis is JUNG MINGYU from GOD-SHATTERING MANIA, the sequel to my infamous zoom-team centric fic FRACTALS AND DOMINOS. this was requested by @peridoughnutt, so here it is as promised (finally, lmao). THERE WILL BE HEAVY SPOILERS, PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

and of course, if you want to see my EVEN STARS DIE EVENTUALLY KAMDEN character analysis from last time, check it out here!

Mingyu's General Character Arc

Mingyu is one of the main five, and he's supposed to be the parallel to Hyunbeen — wanting to prove himself and be just as useful to the rest of the team. This ties in with his naturally-hardworking nature that we can see in BP—even though he was in on it as a joke and didn't really care for debut, he still gave it his all and tried his best to get as far as he could. His whole arc in GSM is quite similar—wanting to prove that he's able to be a useful member of the team. Unlike in BP, however, this backfires, due to the mistakes that he ends up making that end up proving fatal to his mental state.

Speaking of his mental state, he was already in a bad state of mind from the start of GSM. It's mentioned in his talk with Jihoo post-Hiroto that he never actually recovered from the trauma of Fractals and Dominos: "Honestly, I...I've always been acting like things have been okay for me since I got possessed, but they haven't. They never did. Sometimes, I feel like Mnet's...clawing its way back into me, like I'm going to spiral all over again because of what it did to me...I'll always feel like Mnet's somewhere in the back of my head, trying to corrupt me all over again." As the first district back in Fractals and Dominos, he was under Mnet's mind control the least amount of time along with Doha, making him one of the only other two aside from ZOOM team to fully remember everything that happened, with very very minimal gaps in memory. Unlike Doha, he never truly recovered from that hell, nor did he ever truly feel as if he really escaped Mnet. It's almost like he could subconsciously notice that Mnet wasn't truly gone, a backwards foreshadowing to what would come in GSM. It's why Jihoo couldn't empathize with him, because Jihoo wouldn't be able to truly understand the amount of mental trauma Mingyu was going through.

Mingyu and Hiroto

One of Mingyu's biggest mistakes, but also his saving grace, was befriending and later falling in love with alternate-universe Hiroto. He and Hiroto already shared a lot in common in both worlds, having the same part for the same song for K vs G. Despite all the warnings, Mingyu's more of a bleeding heart than anything else, and it shows in his caretaking side, which is why he ends up reaching toward an outside yet familiar face. His soft spot for Hiroto existed even before switching over to the other world. It's this kindness that he extends to Hiroto, who's never experienced that sort of hope in a long time, that causes them to get drawn to each other.

Despite their growing relationship, Mingyu already knew he was setting himself up for failure, whether or not he knew Hiroto would become a world eventually. He's already trying to hide all of the information about being from an alternate universe to Hiroto, trying to keep the fragile timeline together in order to stay undetected by Mnet (even though at that point there was no reason). Almost everyone warns Mingyu too, such as Gunwook ("I don't think you keeping this up is a good idea. Not because it's Hiroto, but because of the timeline and shit—he's not gonna be the same Hiroto when you come back, you know."), Woonggi ("Hiroto's memories won't sync up like Seowon's. I'm not gonna stop you, Mingyu, but it is a setup."), and Taerae ("Hiroto isn't going to become magically aware, like Seowon or Zihao did. He was never touched by the alternate reality back in our world, so there's no way he's going to change all of sudden."). Jihoo is the only one who doesn't say anything, but even he knew ("I know, Mingyu. But it's not our Hiroto.").

Mingyu still insists on sticking with Hiroto because he's grown too attached too quickly to the point where he ends up relying on Hiroto's existence as an anchor. Even though he's self-aware that Hiroto's memories won't sync up, or that eventually the timeline would be destroyed and Hiroto would go along with it, he wants to hang onto that brief moment of happiness and hope. In this way, he also still calls out everyone for being a mild hypocrite, with them still deciding to befriend Zihao even though his memories wouldn't sync up either (though to be fair, Zihao was possessed and later awakened). It makes Hiroto's death all the more painful and tragic, and it's why Mingyu is so devastated post-death. It takes Jihoo's comforting and words of encouragement, as well as seeing the creature that led Hiroto to his death, for Mingyu to regain his resolve: "No, I can't linger on him anymore. The only thing left to do is crush Mnet."

Mingyu's Ending

Back in the real world, Mingyu finally reunites with the original Hiroto, though this Hiroto doesn't share any of the memories that the alternate-universe Hiroto had. With Mnet's influence finally gone for good, and Mingyu still recovering from all of the long-term grieving and trauma, he's able to finally place that hope back in Hiroto again—though this time, there's no Mnet to take Hiroto away from him. Mingyu, being the hardworking person he is, has a lot of perseverance, and even when he's still in a low and trying to recover, he still decides to place his faith in something he knows is fundamentally good and he can trust—and to him, that's Hiroto. To him, Hiroto is like home, and even if that home has escaped him many times, he still tries anyway. It's a very hopeful ending, and maybe, just maybe, Mingyu will finally get the peace he deserves.

Thanks for reading this analysis! Not sure who I'll do next, but I think I'll be asking a fellow friend of mine for the next character arc :)