#let me make a note though

[voidshrub]

"Follow me!"

[tea-cat-arts]

You know what, I've read enough fanfic. I'm confiscating Madame Yu from you guys

Free my girl- she did the things she's being accused of, but not as frequently or severely as the fandom pretends, her actions are being taken out of context, and her depth is being reduced to that of a Colleen Hoover antagonist

[my-name-is-apollo]

Why is Hera so hostile to Leto in a manner that she isn't with the other lovers of Zeus? I can't think of any other woman who was targeted so much by Hera. One could say she didn't want Leto to give birth because her children would be a competition to Hera's children, but why bother her even after she had already given birth? Is it because Leto herself is also a threat to Hera?

Sort of I guess?

I don't think Leto would ever be a threat to Hera's role as the queen of the gods but Hera might see her as a competitor for Zeus' affection, even though I think Zeus would not marry someone else and replace Hera.

The twins are definitely a big reason why Hera begrudged Leto - it is outright stated in the Callimachus Hymn to Delos that the reason Hera especially targeted Leto was because she was told that Apollo would be dearer to Zeus than Ares is. Zeus is very proud of Artemis as well. As he himself puts it, he doesn't mind facing Hera's wrath for children like her.

But the continued hatred even after the birth of the twins (like sending Tityus to rape Leto) could have been for different reasons. This wasn't like one of those affairs Zeus would have with mortal women where he'd leave them behind once the child is conceived. Neither could Hera, despite her many attempts, get rid of Leto like she did with the other lovers. Not only did Leto give Zeus children that he loves dearly, she also stayed on Olympus despite Hera's hatred towards her (which isn't directed to any of Zeus' other divine mistresses, btw). It might have also been because Leto herself is dear to Zeus, if the way she's treated on Olympus is any proof. In the Homeric hymn to Apollo, Leto stands next to Zeus - in the Olympian assembly - to welcome their son. Hera is completely absent from the scene, as if Leto had taken her place even if temporarily. Now you could say this is because Apollo himself is such a powerful and glorious son in a way that no other son of Zeus is, so of course Leto would get such an honor (the hymn itself presents it this way).

But here's another instance - in the Iliad, when Hera goes to seduce Zeus, he is obviously very smitten but before getting into the action, he lists some of his lovers (I believe these were his favorite lovers, as a lot of others are not mentioned):

"for never has such desire for goddess or mortal woman so gripped and overwhelmed my heart, not even when I was seized by love for Ixion’s wife, who gave birth to Peirithous the gods’ rival in wisdom; or for Acrisius’ daughter, slim-ankled Danaë, who bore Perseus, greatest of warriors; or for the far-famed daughter of Phoenix, who gave me Minos and godlike Rhadamanthus; or for Semele mother of Dionysus, who brings men joy; or for Alcmene at Thebes, whose son was lion-hearted Heracles; or for Demeter of the lovely tresses; or for glorious Leto; or even for you yourself, as this love and sweet desire for you grips me now.’ (Book 14, trans. A. T. Murray)

Notice how when talking about most of them, he also mentions the children they bore to him but when Demeter and Leto are mentioned, he doesn't bring up their children at all despite them being some of the most accomplished kids of his. What's more, he takes Leto's name just before Hera's. I mean, this is an interpretation but it looks like not only did Zeus love Leto the most out of all his mistresses - giving her a place second to that of his wife, but also his love for her wasn't necessarily only because she gave him two amazing children.

Nonnus does something similar in the Dionysiaca (but this time Zeus is enamored with Persephone instead of Hera) but more notably, when Typhoeus attacks Olympus and Zeus is discouraged, Nike takes the form of Leto to encourage him and it's pretty telling of what Leto meant to Zeus.

One interesting similarity between Hera and Leto is that they both had a giant try to rape them. Porphyrion tried to violate Hera (Zeus inspired him to do this) and Tityus tried to violate Leto (upon Hera's order). Though both of them were killed, only Tityus got an eternal punishment in Tartarus of having his liver/heart eaten out by vultures so Zeus seems to have taken a greater offense at Tityus trying to assault Leto.

Again, I don't think Zeus would ever take anyone other than Hera as his permanent wife - she is irreplaceable to him. There's an entire myth about Hera leaving him and Zeus winning her back. Their relationship is obviously complex and involves all kinds of emotions including love and hate. But Leto is continually dear to him as well and that's something Hera can't do much about.

[its-tortle]

truth is, maisie peters // my tears ricochet, taylor swift

[ghastlyaffairs]

for something as trivial and simple those feelings sure are hard to get rid of

also made a gif a version for fun + alt version with no tears under the cut

the gif is in very low resolution...this is a feature (i could make it bigger but that would require saving each frame individually and than glueing it all together. also i feel like low resolution suits it better. aesthetically and fits the mood)

[soup-soup-soup-soup-soup]

to everyone doing their finals right now, remember: GRADES ARE TEMPORARY, SOUP IS ETERNAL

do whatever you can and treat yourself to some soup after :)

[averlym]

fairest of the fair

[ingravinoveritas]

It never ceases to amaze me that despite everything Michael and David have been doing for the last five years and Neil himself saying they are in love, people are still assuming (or just not wanting to believe) that two middle-aged men might possibly love each other in a non-platonic way...

[iknowwhereyousnoozeatnight]

this one's for all the yuri enjoyers out there — nsft under cut

meronia event prompt(s): scar

[batwynn]

Not the Human Rights Campaign calling and asking if I could send them $1.5k again. That was from a fund raiser not my pocket money my guy. 😭

Good memories, though, from the fandom calendar charity event (shout out as always to the amazing artists who donated their time and work!) but please HRC stop asking for thousands of dollars from me, a poor queer.

[veryaren]

gosh this is a very gay aren ramble beware. for once it isn't about luchinini (it starts odd with like. a hc and then descends into nortorphrick hell)

ok so. to keep track of who went in and out of mineshafts miners would have a board set up. as well as the mining tag system. each miner had an identification tag. when in the mines you put your tag on the board and when you leave you take it off. subtle headcanon that norton, even after leaving the mines, keeps his mining tag in his pocket.

now for the faggoty part. are you ready.

it was taken as a good luck charm if you you kissed the miners tag before they went down. surely you see where I'm going w/this.

I actually wanted to make a mini comic of this. It was nortrick central but I wanted nudge orph in there too....id hope it is a little clear how much i enjoy theirstrange dynamic by now..... nortorphrick save me....

I think nortorphrick is peak because

nortpheus = understanding on a level that is almost scary. not even almost. just is scary. especially for norton (albeit Orpheus is a bit offput too. it's not everyday someone matches his freak). you would be scared if you resonated with Horror Twink on a personal level. you would.

nortrick = don't understand each other at all (largely different backgrounds, thought processes, etc etc) but gradually (VERY gradually) begin to... and are wildly fascinated with the person they find beneath it all. they can even empathize with eachother on a few certain fronts. gosh. I can't elaborate on this very well but I also love the nortrick dynamic a lot. Urg

orphrick = one sided understanding. orpheus sees him on a scale nobody ever has before. and (similarly to norton) it frightens him. but also. after feeling like all you are is a pretty face and no talent. it doesn't hurt to have someone hear you. (infact he goes to some strange places menatlly trying to get some more of that validation)

they're just so. BEAHHH. I am so insane for nortorphrick. it would be fun to write something for them I think. just something quick and easy. Orpheus endlessly confuses them both with his peculiar whims and infatuations and CRAZY plethora of problems.

[hold-him-down]

"He'd had a bad day and just needed something to make him feel better."

(for the five sentence prompt thingy for belleview)

from this ask game

“He had a bad night,” one of the volunteer nurses is telling Lincoln, “and he just needed something to make him feel a little better.”

Lincoln stands with the volunteer outside the door to River’s room. The muscles in his jaw ache from how hard he bites down, but he’s careful to keep his temper in check.

“Come on, Doc,” the volunteer is saying. River’s hands cover his face, and his body, now absent the typical barely-contained aggression, shakes with every deep, even breath he draws. He finally sleeps, over forty-eight hours after Lincoln took over this site, but it’s at a cost.

Lincoln rolls his shoulders to forcibly release some of the tension he’s holding as the nurse reviews the overnight attending’s orders. This is already done, Lincoln reminds himself. And there’s a part of him, a part of him that he’s learning to despise, that thinks maybe the attending made the right call.

[jinxed-sinner]

I 100% think Alastor's behavior is a trauma response tbh. It feels like something happened that inhibited his ability to be fully open with other people, sorta like Blitz. In fact, how about we look at differences and similarities between Blitz and Alastor, since we know Blitz's behavior is a result of trauma?

Both Alastor and Blitz take pleasure in hurting other people. With Alastor, he doesn't care who he hurts (although I 100% think he'd feel guilt for hurting Rosie), while with Blitz, he cares about hurting other people when they're close to him (most recently made clear in Full Moon and Apology Tour). Blitz enjoys hurting people as long as he's not close to then/doesn't know them, which is, in my opinion, a likely reason he started a freelance assassin business (and I actually wouldn't be surprised if it contributed to IMP changing their business from a general Hell assassin business to an assassin business that focuses on offing humans that have wronged sinners). The main difference here is that Alastor's emotional responses are muted (which is why he's significantly less likely to act out), while Blitz's resemble splitting in BPD.

Both Alastor and Blitz are reckless and impulsive. Alastor's recklessness is most clearly seen in The Show Must Go On when he fights Adam, while Blitz's recklessness is made clear throughout Helluva Boss (takes his team to the human world without proper disguises, visits a party where if anyone except Verosika and Stolas knew he was there he would be murdered for it, etc). Alastor also berated Husk on an impulse born from already being stressed out. I can't really think of any specific examples of Blitz's impulsivity and I can't decide if it's because he's so consistently impulsive or if it's because I genuinely can't think of any examples lol

Neither of these two assholes (affectionate) will open up to people unless something forces them to (and potentially not even then in Alastor's case). The only times Blitz has opened up is if he's forced to (Truth Seekers) or if circumstances lower his inhibition (emotional outbursts, Queen Bee, arguably also Truth Seekers). The closest we've gotten to Alastor "opening up" is his mental breakdown that he had when he knew he was alone.

They're both still capable of making genuine connections. Alastor is incredibly close to Rosie (something I personally think is because she has motherly tendencies), and Blitz, despite all his tendencies towards them, seems to consider Moxxie and Millie friends. They're both capable of forming genuine connections, but don't, at least not often; for Blitz, it's because he's afraid of it, and for Alastor, it's likely because he either views it as a weakness or would just rather manipulate people for his own benefit.

It feels a lot like Blitz and Alastor have similar types of trauma; their responses to that trauma are simultaneously similar enough to be comparable and on wildly different ends of the same spectrum. Blitz craves connection, so he seeks it out, then sabotages it when he thinks it's going too far. Alastor avoids connection aside from a few genuine close friendships here and there that he can count on one hand.

I don't think Alastor is incapable of forming genuine emotional bonds with other people, and Rosie and Zestial are proof of that. It comes off more like he actively avoids connection; he doesn't interact much with the hotel's staff and residents aside from Charlie and Niffty, and when everyone's partying in The Show Must Go On, he's watching from afar with Niffty. I also feel like you can easily interpret Alastor's muted emotional responses as him actively trying to mute them; he sounds like he's actively trying not to have a breakdown after he gets slashed by Adam.

He would've largely grown up probably between 1895 and 1915 (or something close to that, depending on his age when he died) as a mixed race kid in New Orleans. You absolutely can not convince me that alone did not in some way contribute to how he is now. Add in a potentially abusive dad and yeah, is it really surprising that Alastor is the way he is? It genuinely just feels like he's a product of his circumstances in childhood. This is doubly the case if the theories that 1, his first murder was that of his dad, and 2, he basically did vigilantism turn out to be true. He himself implies he finds it cathartic to kill the loan sharks in Dad Beat Dad and is pretty much content the rest of the episode after that, he doesn't even seem to care that he's sharing a space with Lucifer after that. I'd be more surprised if his killings in his human life weren't him taking out his trauma on people he thought deserved it to be completely honest.

*Also as a last minute addition, I think it's also easy to interpret Alastor's attitude towards emotions and relationships as viewing them as a weakness, something that it's very likely is also a sign of him being a product of the time period and circumstances he was raised in.

[unexpectedbrickattack]

Now hold on a gosh-diddly-darn minute, I noticed the entire time talking about a tipsy Peppino no one thought to ask this but what about tipsy GUS? I mean we saw him a li'l tipsy in the fastfood saloon escape, can I hear your thoughts about that/him please? Have they ever gotten tipsy together?

(I just like the mental image of the two alone, just being real giggly with each other (Gus just says "hey" and Peppi starts giggling which sets Gus off giggling) and being sappy goofs with each other <3)

HEEHEE u are so right and i am so sorry for withholding this information from the masses 😭

My homebrew for gnomes is that they are simultaneously hardy folk (able to eat virtually anything and immune to most poisonous creatures) AND extremely intolerant of alcohol. Theres no reason for that, i just like it alot :)

So Gus would be an extreme lightweight 😭 its SO bad; he cant speak clearly at all, he cant walk straight, he has the Worst hangovers and he wont remember anything from the previous night. The line between ‘pleasantly buzzed’ and ‘blackout drunk’ is so thin that Gus doesnt even try social drinking. If he MUST drink, it will be in the comfort of his own barebones apartment 😭 at least, until Peppino started hanging out with vigilante and his crew.

Gustavo LIKES drinking! Its just hard to find a good balance, and THATS bc he simply doesnt know how alcohol works. Peppino is like:

“Look ‘ere. All of these have a number somewhere on the bottle. Or a percentage. Lower the number, the better it is for you.”

Gustavo is like !!! Oh!!! That is very helpful! What would you recommend for me then?

“Probably…2-5%. 5-10 proof. Small 'a numbers.”

Gustavo nods, interested. He points at a bottle he recognizes from the last time he came here and got shitfaced. “That one up there; do you know how ‘a strong that one is? Or should i ask the bartender?”

Peppino squints at the company label. “45%.”

“Oh!” That makes sense. “Well what do you usually drink?”

“70%.”

“Oh!”

Peppino recommends some of the LIGHT light wines, the ones that barely have a hint of anything. Theyre sweet (which Gustavo loves so very very much) and for the first time in a very long time, he Stays buzzed instead of immediately faceplanting into being blackout drunk.

Hes very. Playful. Is what Peppino would describe a tipsy Gustavo. He hesitates to use the term ‘flirty’ because that is not whats happening. But hes like. Clearly entertaining some gruff looking men like five times his size as they ramble drunkenly about random shit like ‘waow….thasso cool…and then what happened???’

Its funny at first bc Gustavo is so fucking TINY that all you can see of him, in the group of men as they yapyapyap about some inane shit that Gustavo wont even remember, is his tiny little tail 😭 It is less funny, however, when Peppino catches himself rambling about work and Gustavo is like (ears perked; tail swaying) ‘mmhmm. wrow…thats ‘a kinda nice…what else did you do??’ Peppino is like *buffering* (‘something is happening right now that will need to be addressed at a later time. Do not forget DO NOT FORGET. URGENT!!!!’)

Otherwise Gustavo is just a silly guy. Vigilante will make a joke and he laughs so low and deep that he sounds downright villainous 😭 Peppino will point out something stupid on the TV and like hours later Gus is like ‘…heeeuehuuueee…..do u remember [insert stupid reference] and Peppino will giggle. Peppinos affinity for throwing around ilus are met with Gustavo going ‘😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊’ with absolutely no way to even pretend to mask it.

Gustavo has fun being out in the saloon but he really enjoys drinking in Peppinos house. Its not nearly as loud as the saloon and theres usually homecooked foods like breads and soups (Because Peppino stress-cooks ALL the time). Brick gets to stay indoors instead of waiting outside the saloon, so Gustavo gets to mess with his soft fur contentedly. He just gets to be cozy; its quite nice 😊

[fatuismooches]

I've been thinking about fragile reader recently and had an idea

Imagine - Dottore succeeded in curing them. For some time,maybe even a few years everything seems fine. That is, until you bith realize Reader is starting to lose their mind. They become more forgetful and hostile. Dottore may think it's because the cure stoped working and it's true to some extent. Your cure came in with a price - eventually,your body will mutate and you will lose your mind (think of Mara from HSR)

Once again Doctor has to search for cure, failing and failing all over again. He sees your slowly withering form and works 10x times harder than before, almost taking no breaks, but to no avail

Eventually, you're uncontrollable. Reader is no longer themself and will never be. As such, Dottore is forced to kill them. He spent so much time trying to save Reader, only for fate to make him kill his beloved

-🥀

When you were cured, Dottore felt relief. He could count the number of years, hours, days, and minutes he spent trying to cure you, and now, that had finally come to a close. No longer would you suffer. Even so, there was still a lurking worry of you falling ill again, so he kept a careful eye on your condition.

He was right. Although you weren't exactly sick. In fact, this was probably far worse. You were slowly losing yourself, both mind and body, and forgetting who you or he was, as an after-effect of the cure. Snapping and lashing out. This was his fault, Dottore thinks. He should have tested it more before he gave it to you. But no worry. He's saved you once. He can do it again, he thinks as he gets to work. Your suffering will not be long, he promises.

The Doctor is wrong. He cannot find any cure. The medicine doesn't work on you anymore, who has long lost your sanity and soundness of mind. For once in his life, he could not have foreseen this possibility. He could not have foreseen having to kill his beloved.

Dottore grants you a swift and painless death so you won't suffer, something he's never done before. When your eyes turn dull and you begin to fall, he catches you and your head rests against his chest. He hopes for you to regain just an ounce of clarity in your last moments, so he can see the real you, one last time. He just wants to hear his real name fall from your lips one last time. But you don't. This isn't a novel. This is reality, and reality is never kind to him. And so you lay limp in his arms, your blood coating his hands and seeping into his clothes. Dottore doesn't move from that spot for a while, contemplating the punishment he's endured for hundreds of years, and the punishment he'll now have to endure in the future.

Dottore keeps your body in a large capsule and finds himself gazing at it often. He can't stand the thought of you decomposing and rotting so still he takes care of you even after death. Yes, he truly deserves the title of mad doctor. First talking to your sleeping body, now to your corpse. The difference though, he knows for a fact you can't hear him anymore. He doesn't think he'll move on after centuries of being with you, no, not when he knows for sure now that you'll never open your eyes and smile again.

[crimeronan]

falin's harpy form is Bangin. as i'm sure everyone is already aware. i'm sure everyone who's been telling me to read dungeon meshi has been waiting with bated breath for me to discover just how bangin falin's harpy form is, so rest assured: Wowza. I'd Like To Thank The Academy,

anyway. i'm pretty sure too much plot and drama and murder-horror is gonna get in the way for this to happen, but there's a canon divergence in my head where falin and laois get into a huge shouting match not long after this high-stakes harpy fight because laois is like "if you hadn't saved me then I'D be the one with the sickass harpy form, i can't believe you let yourself get eaten and you DON'T EVEN HAVE A VORE KINK" and falin is like "......YOU ARE AN INSANE PERSON??? I'D TELL YOU TO GO TO HELL IF YOU WOULDN'T THINK IT'S HEAVEN.....??"