#lmk if i interpreted wrong!!

[evnne]

231109 (cr. dahinmaru)

[rosegoldorigins]

Lego Monkie Kid Season 5 Talk

*Spoilers*

So I watched LMK season 5 as soon as there were english subs for them... And BOY does rewatching as the English dub change the experience.

I've watched so many miraculous ladybug episodes in French and felt satisfied I wasn't missing anything extra.

Lmk tho!!!! The sound effects feel different (I don't know if they are), the words are translated different and the VOICE ACTING!!!!

Damn the power these voice actors put into the characters are INSANE!!!

I felt so immersed and excited in episode 2. The extra sounds we don't think about from falling, hitting a wall or being in pain added so much for me ^-^

Macaque felt fairly dry and silent in the English sub but cool and mysterious as he always does in the English dub. He sighed more, made considering hums and scoffed when he turned away giving him a little more life. I heard his motif at badass moments and grinned as he quipped with Wukong.

Wukong's voice actor was popping off!! I only decided to re-watch lmk because I saw the post where he's screaming for MK to stop and not sacrifice himself (I'm not at that part yet but I'm so excited for that episode now :DD)

Throughout episode two Wukong flips character so many times. He's joking, serious, tired and hurt. We get such an amazing range of emotions from him and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him on screen ^-^ <3

MK also has a surprising range because his character is going through a tired, scared and unenthused state at the moment.

I have so many posts lined up talking about lmk! :D They did such an amazing job at bringing the story to life and I'm excited to watch the other episodes!!!

I was greatly surprised at the different experience of watching sub vs dub. I can't wait to see what other differences are there!

[funkbun]

it's really disgusting how flight rising decided to associate "From the river to the sea" with phrases like "blue lives matter" and "maga"...

they claim that it's a "political slogan that can mean sooo many different things" but it's literally a call for freedom and decolonization, it's not that difficult to figure this out

if they're aware that "Free Palestine" on its own isn't political and is instead a call for freedom, why not do the same for "from the river to the sea, paletine will be free"?

[liesmyth]

my locked tomb hot take of the day is that the way Harrow’s symptoms are presented in HtN line up much more closely with religious OCD with poor insight and psychotic features than schizophrenia. She shows almost no signs of paranoia or delusions (G1deon really was trying to kill her! It’s absolutely true that the other houses would swoop in like vultures if they knew her house’s true position! Her sword and psyche were both actually haunted, to the point that Alecto could hitch a ride in her body. She is never shown in the text to hold a belief that is inconsistent with reality, IMO) and her only true psychotic symptom that we see is hallucinations, and she seems to most of the time have some idea that they aren’t real, which indicates a level of self awareness incompatible with schizophrenia. She also doesn’t seem to display many cognitive symptoms like thought block or disorganized speech and thinking. The rest of her behavior is highly obsessive (compulsive praying, wearing face paint even when nobody is around, obsessive studying, needing her food to be arranged on her plate a certain way) and is very in line with someone suffering from religious scrupulosity. As someone who has experienced both OCD and psychosis, and knows how the symptoms can overlap, this is is the hill I will die on.

I don't feel like I can contribute in any meaningful way to your points, so I'll just put this out into the world and say that I appreciate your insights!

Speaking from a #meta perspective: I know that around the time HtN came out, Tamsyn gave interviews talking about her own experiences being hospitalised for mental health reasons and implied that was what she was partly drawing on when writing HtN. I can't remember if she called Harrow schizophrenic or stated that it was her intention to write her as such, and the author is dead anyway. Plus, obviously, the fact that someone's writing was informed by irl experiences doesn't have to mean that said writing is a 1:1 parallel for those experiences, expecially in a sff setting where ghosts exists and in fact there's something that Harrow can see and nobody else can.

TO ME, the fact that people who experience psychotic episodes can recognise themselves in Harrow's internal monologue and experiences is more meaningful than whether Harrow “really” has a given specific disorder or she's just seeing ghosts. The point is that SHE feels a disconnect from reality and that she's delusional and cannot trust anything she remembers or reads. Nobody in-universe is ever going to diagnose her, you know? The series itself doesn't claim to be straight-up representation for any specific named issues — things like Cytherea's cancer or Harrow's mental state are left ambiguous and partly influenced by magic. I think the fact that readers can relate to some symptoms some characters experience is more meaningful than whether these symptoms all point to something that can be diagnosed unambiguously.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me!

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s4 episode 5 thoughts

i’m back. i’m back and i’m intrigued. because i'm reading the episode description, and if we get more mulder ex lore here, which the episode description makes it sound like we will, i am… not sure how i will feel on the subject. the term “reincarnation” makes it sound like whoever it was… died. did an ex of his die? and that is a lot of mulder marked by pain and suffering. and maybe i’m getting ahead of myself. but the writers KNOW we want our agents to smooch, so focusing on an ex might make me, the viewer, feel weird. i just need to get all these thoughts out in writing before we begin.

how is he gonna tell if someone is a reincarnated lover? or am i misunderstanding this entirely. 

only one way to find out

author’s note: oh my gosh…… nothing could have prepared me for this. at all. here i was thinking it was ex lore time, but it was past life time, and there are TEARS in my eyes.

(serious author's note: i ask for some grace in this episode recap. there may be some things i word poorly. i am familiar with the terminology used to describe DID, and did my best, but acknowledge that i may have come up short. please understand that this is intended to capture my live reactions to what i was seeing for the very first time. at times here, there are no reactions, just a sort of a nebulous recapping of what i saw because i was feeling So Many Things. so this one might be messy, and i hope that is okay. i don't understand what i am feeling, but i am feeling a Lot of it, and humbly ask for your patience in my clumsy wording as well as some helpful discussion on what just went down)

let us begin, i type as i sniff up some tears

we open with mulder in a field… is he reciting poetry? and looking very sad. 

wait, is he not actually reciting poetry and he just talks like that? while holding two pictures of old timey people. i’d guess civil war era.

okay. so now we jump right to the intro. that was quick. i’m still processing what we just saw because we were really dropped into that one with no context whatsoever.

federal agents break into a temple in tennessee. they’re looking for illegal firearms! and a guy named ephesian.

but mulder sees a window… and he is staring at it… walking out the door as if led by some sort of spiritual quest while scully yells his name and wonders wtf he’s doing. he is not responding to her at all, but she’s chasing after him because she is a good friend.

so he’s hearing things while scully is pulling her gun out, and it does appear that he found a trapdoor!

he busts in, and slaps some poison out of the hand of a woman who was taking sips, and then grabs the dude who i assume is the cult leader. whew… that was close

now they’re at some sort of meeting, listening to tapes, and skinner is here!!! hiiii skinner. everybody say hi skinner!

so, someone on the tape seems to be whistleblowing on this cult- the seven stars or something- saying that the leader is hurting children and stockpiling weapons. mulder looks incredibly pensive during all of this.

oh! someone refers to mulder as “our man spooky”, which is kind of hilarious, while complaining that the reports were weak. scully leans in and asks yeah, how did he know that? while the men are fighting.

and skinner yells KNOCK IT OFF!!!! because the folks at the compound were somehow able to hide all the evidence before they got there, and now they’re forced to hold ephesian and “his wives” on “BS charges”. so now the agents MUST find evidence of firearms and who the informant was NOW because they will try to get an arraignment fast.

woah. no pressure.

skinner comes over talk to mulder and scully- they must look into this ephesian fellow's claims of supernatural abilities. scully says he can use the book of revelations to manipulate his followers, but seems to suspect no real powers. 

they to talk to this ephesian fellow, who says he knew for 9 centuries that scully was coming, and starts going on about the bible, quoting stuff. very scary behavior.

mulder comes in with the fact check. jesus said that at smyrna, not about some church in tennessee! (his knowledge…. it always impresses me)

this dude is being super creepy, telling them to put aside their investigation “for your own souls”, because soon all unfaithful shall “be destroyed by God’s mighty men”. so this is some pretty standard cult rhetoric here. if you've studied religions, you've heard this one many times. it seems that ephesian thinks he and his people shall be the ones doing this violence. a tight zoom in on mulder’s troubled face as he quotes more scripture.

they have 6 wives to question, and mulder says to start with one in particular. interesting… i wonder why that one. is it because she was the one they caught ephesian with in the hidden area... or something more?

her name is melissa, and she says she’s 25 as she smokes a cigarette and dodges their questions. she’s been at the compound and married to ephesian for a year. 

mulder asks if it troubles her that ephesian has so many other wives, and she just recites scripture instead of answering. so scully comes in with the “i’d have a tough time if my husband had so many children with other women”. this seems to begin to get her to crack, as she tears up.

wait... it’s so wrong to hear scully call someone else, who isn't her sister, melissa :(

melissa she doesn’t have any children with ephesian yet... because he has to wait for God to tell him that the right soul is ready to be reincarnated, which is why his children are the most sacred members of the temple. naturally, of course /s

things get quiet when they ask if he had been hurting the children until melissa starts talking with a very different voice and set of mannerisms, and she no longer replies to the name melissa. so scully scrawls “multiple personality” in her loopy handwriting and passes it over to mulder. oh! is this sydney?

(at this point, i shall begin to refer to sydney with he/him pronouns, as this is what mulder does. normally i would stick to my journalistic integrity and keep reporting the things i wrote down incorrectly while watching the episode, but i'm trying to be very respectful- i hope you understand)

but mulder writes back to scully no, this is not a multiple personality case, it's a past life case! his handwriting is very blocky. to prove his point, he asks sydney who the current president is, and he responds that it is harry truman. ah. so, he's a few years off.

mulder claims that “somehow he just knew” sydney was melissa's past life, which doesn’t reveal a lot, but his eyes are very soulful and i want to hold his hand.

skinner says they need to find something to get this case moving forward, and mulder is like dude, we found sydney, the voice matched! i would agree with his judgement that this in fact a sizeable discovery.

mulder is saying that what they have seen matches the criteria of DID in the DSM4 (woah, need to look up when we switched to 5), but scully is saying that some people don’t even think it exists as a condition, and skinner thinks it could be a trap to buy more time for ephesian. so no one is in agreement here.

but mulder is going into his psychology expert mode and is making a very compelling case that this is an example of DID, particularly in the fact that sydney emerged when the topic of child abuse came up, which fulfilled the protector role. scully wants to know more before giving any sort of diagnosis, but she doesn't seem opposed to the hypothesis.

(skinner seems to fumble over which pronouns to use for each personality here)

skinner says to go ahead and take her back to the compound and see if it gets any results in prompting memories that could be useful to the investigation, but scully is mad at mulder! he didn’t even have the courage to tell skinner he thinks they're dealing with past lives here! mulder, who is usually so brave!!

he mumbles that skinner wouldn’t believe him. which is true.

woah, i don’t know how to interpret this line here, so i’ll just write it down for further analysis:

“i don’t believe that you feel responsible for those 50 lives. or melissa reidel. you are only responsible to yourself, mulder”

(is she saying he doesn’t care about those 50 people?? is she saying he has an ulterior motive? is she calling him a liar, and that he is using this case to gain support for his supernatural ideas?? is she calling him selfish? or is she trying to tell him that he can only be responsible for himself and control his own actions, that he cannot place the burden of saving everyone upon his shoulders? is she berating or reassuring him or both? does she think he isn't serious about the lives in danger?)

i can’t figure it out, but he gets up and leaves. (after watching the episode, i still can't figure it out- what did you think?)

so they take melissa back to the temple, and scully asks her to recall the painful memories so they can keep herself and others safe. it is very tense as she walks into a bedroom and sees many photos on the wall of ephesian and his wives. she knocks some of them over and starts crying.

scully still looks furious with mulder. it's as if she thinks his desire for supernatural entities to be proven comes ahead of his desire to save actual lives, and it's recalling her comparison to ahab during the conversation on the rock. she must feel that there is no time for this, that they need to get concrete answers right away or horrible things will happen; perhaps she thinks he isn't focused, is being fanciful. and i understand the pressure of a ticking clock, but after so long, this rift between them, it doesn't feel right.

oh my goodness, we see some horrific artwork on the wall by the kids at the temple. woah. shoutout to the set design team.

melissa is in the playroom sobbing, but asks why she is being called melissa. scully asks what she should call her, and that is how we meet lily. but lily isn’t there for very long before sydney comes back, saying to “leave the kid alone”. mulder says they can all be safe if they just are told where the guns are. then melissa seems to come back, and she goes back out the window where mulder was staring earlier!!! what does this window know?!?

and the score here is really pretty as she walks outside, scully following behind her. mulder is clearly unwell, though, and scully asks what is wrong, which he ignores and walks past her. typical him.

a new alter of melissa's seems to front, now with a southern accent, saying the guns are in a bunker. but… it’s the civil war she’s talking about. she was a nurse, looking for someone who was staying in tennessee. and she found that someone here, dead. then she was hidden in a bunker while the battle raged above her. it is very horrific, what she is describing.

she clarifies that she was there in november 1863, then turns to mulder and says “as were you”. he doesn’t seem shocked by this, but scully is, as this new southern belle proclaims “this is the field where i watched you die” OH!

(mulder, a confederate in a past life… this is deeply unfortunate)

mulder is trying to make a phone call to a hypnotist while they drive melissa back to the police station, but scully figures out he’s trying to do past life regression on her and says not to. and that her life is in shreds, and that is too much for her to handle. i hate to say it, but i agree with her. melissa has been through so much, and with such a tight deadline, i don't know if they have time for such a journey.

OH! mulder is angry. his voice is all growly as he yells “YOU WERE THERE, SCULLY! you saw it, you heard it, why can’t you feel it?” oh my gosh… the way he slammed his hand on the wheel... why can't she see it, it seems so obvious to him... how infuriating it must be...

scully asks why ephesian is a paranoid sociopath for claiming to be in greece years ago, but he isn’t for claiming to have died in that field……. damn…….

(idk what’s going on here between them exactly but i’m stressed. they are stressing me out)

(at this point, we begin a sequence in which i am so enraptured with what is going on, i have no reactions to all of the things i am seeing, and just recount them to you, with occasional interjections of "oh my god"- but i think if you've seen the episode, you get why it had this effect on me)

so they do get a therapist, who is talking to melissa. she begins to answer the therapist's questions about seeing anything upsetting at the compound, talking about a woman named elizabeth and her son scott, who came to live in the temple. and ephesian took the son away. but ephesian caught his mother visiting her son, and “the mighty men” beat her, which brings melissa to tears as she recounts this. and he hit the boy, calling him garbage, beating him.

scully looks very stressed in the background to hear all of this, but sydney is now fronting at this point, saying to leave melissa alone, and that the guns are in the bunkers… somewhere. where they are is a mystery, though.

scully leans down to mulder and says that maybe there is a map somewhere, but mulder says she knows where to find them. and at this she says “mulder…” in a very breathy fashion and i still can’t quite articulate what is going on between them…. but he’s going in.

he says it’s me, melissa, and asks her to go back to the field. “your eyes may have changed shade, but it cannot color the soul behind them”, she says. that they are only to meet in passing in this life. and she misses him. he just stared and stares, before his head falls into his hands

scully is trying to explain to him that this is a product of melissa's illness, and she can’t give any specifics- no names or locations, and they don’t have time to do this, because ephesian’s arraignment is in two hours.

“wouldn’t you, scully? wouldn’t anybody?” <- oh my god…. is he compelled by a terrible sense of duty or by his own curiosity? is she scared to watch him go down this path he cannot return from?

okay, so now he is going back into his past lives. this sequence is almost entirely a close up of his face, for minutes on end, which adds to the intensity. he's really panting as he remembers. “ghetto streets. shattered glass. bodies of the dead. a jewish woman. poland.” oh my god…… 

he says that he is samantha’s mother in this life; “in this life, she is my son”

his father is dead, and… HIS FATHER IS SCULLY? WHAT? i didn’t see that coming. she’s troubled by this, all of this, not just learning he believes her soul to have been his father before.

but he says that his father is waiting now for their souls to come back together, different, but always together, again and again, to learn.

and he is crying. he can’t go to his father. a gestapo man is there, and he is cancer man; “evil returns as evil, but love… souls mate eternal”. and his wife is melissa, who is taken away to the camps. and he’s crying, and scully is watching with great concern.

now, he’s rising above the field, near the bunker. and his sergeant is also dead, and “he is scully”, and we cut to her face of increasing sadness. sarah holds him, who is melissa. she is sarah kavanaugh, and he is sullivan biddle. she doesn’t know that he’s waiting for her, that they will live again. 

scully tries to ask if he sees any bunkers, but he keeps saying his soul is tired, and he wants to rest.

and this is devastating. it was if i was the one undergoing the hypnosis here. i couldn't look away, i couldn't react, i was so entirely absorbed and confused and busy feeling things.

scully is consulting a map in the town records to try and find this bunker where the weapons are stored, and then she looks up the names he mentioned. sure enough, they are in the county records. then she reaches for some photos, where she finds one of sullivan and sarah. 

a lot of things are being processed in her brain, so we might need to give her a minute. i think we can see some long-held systems of belief being challenged in her mind.

but she brings him back the photos of their past lives, even as she is telling him that ephesian is going to be released soon. why would she do this? to comfort him? to validate him without using words?

oh my god, mulder just called her “dana”. wait. hold on. oh my god, hold on.

“dana, if, um… early in the four years we’ve been working together… an event occurred that suggested or somebody told you that… we’d been friends together in other lifetimes- always- wouldn’t it have changed some of the ways we looked at one another?”

“even if i knew for certain, i wouldn’t change a day”

WAUGHHHHHHHH (ripping my clothes off in grief) WAOUGHHHHHH wouavhhhghhhh……… she wouldn’t change a day….

(and what event was it that he is referring to? is there a certain one...? am i forgetting something from early s1...? damn you, my obsessive note-taking impulses, for not kicking into gear until s2...)

“well… maybe that flukeman thing, i could have lived without that just fine” HDHJSNSME he smiles as she leaves….

(i had to google what that even was because i was like ??? but the flukeman was the season 2 sewer baby!!! for those of you who are going into this whole thing blind and also don't know what the fandom calls stuff! i think to me he was "baby sewer mermaid" or something along those lines... but now we know)

so now he and melissa are in the room together, trying to recall. she says she wants to believe (!!!), and he’s rubbing her hand, but ephesian comes in, saying it’s time to leave. so she rips the photo in half and leaves crying. 

does he know he was supposed to love her? is he mourning that he hasn't? is he wondering if he has time to?

mulder gets up, and leans his head against the wall. scully comes in to say that they are still searching for more bunkers as the temple people return to their home. there is a deep sense of grief.

ephesian seems suspicious. 

mulder is talking to skinner, saying that those in the temple believe that the FBI are the devil’s army, prophesied to be defeated by the armies of god. but ephesian must not really believe that, because he hid the weapons. mulder emphasizes that he may “deny himself”.

back at the compound, all the members are being called to worship. the music is getting scary, and guns are being pulled out. 

scully looks up some bible verses and realizes that ephesian is calling his members to the end of times, which gives skinner the go ahead to launch a raid.

back at the compound, the poison is being distributed to the members of the temple. and a few are shooting at the agents outside, and mulder and scully pull up as the sipping of the poison begins inside. 

NO! mulder puts his hands up and begins to walk into the compound!!!!! WHAT IS HE DOING!!! scully shouts out that he is dead. as we see inside there are piles and piles of bodies, including melissa.

but wait! is she still alive???? she’s getting up!!! 

but no! ephesian is still there watching her. giving her poison to take. mulder is running in as fast as he can, trying to figure out what is going on. and he finds the room full of the bodies while gregorian chanting is in the background. 

he finds melissa, with no pulse, holding onto the photo she had torn. 

scully sees him touching her arm, raising his eyes and crying. 

we end where we began, with him in the field, holding the pictures of his and melissa’s past lives. 

end episode. 

what…..

first thoughts: i don’t quite know what to make of this, but i can tell it is going to tear me apart for the rest of my life.

second and third thoughts are also variations of my first thought.

i feel so sad? to know that mulder has (or thinks he has) lived these horrific past lives, and that he is reunited with the same people over and over again, to learn and lose them. and that scully was there with all of them- but so was melissa, and he said that soulmates are eternal, so if that is true he lost his for this life. and he said he was so tired, so tired... how can he escape the eternal cycle of samsara?

and scully, watching all of this- what did she mean when she said that he wasn't responsible for anything but himself? was it an insult? was she begging him? what was she feeling when she heard him talk about her being there in his past? was she trying to hurt him in their conversation in the car? will they ever actually be able to see eye to eye? does she believe him? can she? how does hearing all of this shake her own faith?

can you have many soulmates that come with you again and again, just in different forms? so would his soulmates be scully, and his mother and father and sister, and this melissa figure? and what are the implications of losing a soulmate in this world? is that a life of feeling that something is missing, until death? do they shuffle roles, but come again and again? is that comforting or horrific? are we to believe him?

and that terrible, terrible ending, him finding the bodies... how are we supposed to interpret that? just more grief on top of already endless grief? or are we supposed to see the poetry moment as an answer to a question that provides relief, even if it is bittersweet?

why did he want to know so badly? was he driven by duty to save? duty to find the Truth? duty to protect his loved ones and seek cosmic answers? are these separate things, or are they all intertwined in him?

i'm... really going to have to think this one over. i would really appreciate hearing your thoughts, as well. i wish i had a solid interpretation. it was very serious and sad, and it was bittersweet but filled with grief. i once again echo my earlier request for fluff. but how do you go back to the way things were once he says she was with him in every life? how does scully rationalize that? what are they to each other?

i'm pondering. it feels like something has shifted. and you can't go back now, even if i can't pinpoint what it is that changed.

i want to go back to daydreaming about apple cider dates. but it feels like you can't, you know? huh.

[clarae-guns]

ppl be like "my opt fr!!!" and it's the most sibling coded duo you've ever seen. what do you mean they wouldn't leave eachothers doors open and hide their food from the other. what do you mean they would totally get together they're currently exchanging the most foul and out of pocket insults to each other and will act like nothing happened in 5 minutes. they would trade the other for a single dime without a thought more yet engage in hand to hand combat with whoever messed with them. "do you see the vision" No I do not

[ttauriontherise]

In Defense of Tyler Galpin

Or, Wednesday Did Tyler Dirty and It’s a Bit Concerning

Just finished Wednesday and aside from my ace-spectrum Wednesday head canons, there was one other thing that stood out to me: Tyler. Look, I don’t really care about romance and I really like Xavier and Wednesday as friends, so there will be no love triangle bullshit to be found here. This is about Tyler as a character. Spoilers ahead.

The Outcasts in the show are very much a stand-in for general minority groups a la the x-men. While that concept and how it may fail to represent real minorities can be debated about to hell and back, I do think that Tyler is a pretty intentional parallel to stigma surrounding mental illnesses, specifically bipolar disorder and psychopathy. Tyler even brings up the fact that his dad told him that his mom had severe bipolar disorder.

Just like real mental illnesses, the Hyde can be triggered by trauma. Psychopathy especially is often seen as inherently dangerous by many people (note: that does not mean that it is). Tyler is seen to be actively violent and lack remorse, but he is also dealing with psychological and physical abuse from Laurel Gates. This indicates to me at least that he is meant to be seen as sympathetic, and I definitely see him as such. We see flashbacks to how he had been conditioned to enjoy killing even though he felt guilt before. He also never seems to be fully conscious when he is in Hyde form. He may remember it immediately after or even while he is transformed, but he is heavily implied to have lack of control which is terrifying. Remember, Tyler is coded to be in his mid to late teens and Laurel Gates is a full grown woman about twice his age who is actively manipulating him.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I hope that the show’s next season focuses on him more in an empathetic light as he recovers. Based on all the circumstances we see, I cannot bring myself to see him as a bad guy. He’s a deeply traumatized victim of abuse that has a genetic predisposition for the show’s stand-in for mental illness. I really hope they don’t mess it up and just make him clear-cut evil. The Addams family has always been about outsiders and all I can hope is that they continue to embrace that fact with Wednesday and don’t continue to demonize a highly stigmatized group.

[fluffypotatey]

How dysfunctional would a shadowpeach be that never broke up but also never communicated their issues

you know this still works canon-wise, right?

[fellow-fandom-fruitifier]

Screaming & crying bcz I keep seeing things that portray 6EM as this dude that’s just obsessed w/ SWK. & like, I don’t wanna disrespect ppls interpretations, it’s completely valid y’know? But I get irrationally angry when I see it & need 2 just talk (AGIN NO DISRESPECT TOWARDS THE PPL WHO SEE IT LIKE THIS, THAT IS UR OPINION/INTERPRETATION & JUST BCZ I DON’T LIKE IT DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING, I AM RESPONSIBLE 4 MY OWN FANDOM EXPERIENCE, U DO U & ILL DO ME)

6EM is sort of obsessed w/ SWK but also not rlly, I think he’s struggling 2 cope with grief or guilt & he’s shoving all the blame n shit on SWK 2 cope/avoid it. Bcz w/ out that “safety net” of “everything is SWK’s fault” he has 2 face the reality of it, & that is not easy esp w/ the shit 6EM has gone thru. So is he obsessed w/ SWK? Uhm,, technically?? But it’s more like he’s “obsessed” w/ unhealthy coping mechanisms & avoiding reality

[yamiiwaii]

I found a small circle of cishet male macaque fans and their interpretations are so typical. Having your kin seen through cishet lens is annoying ngl.

i wouldnt,,,know what that means tbh ive never seen this. i usually stray away from doubles

[charrfie]

Oh I meant the ones in your discomforts!!! Sorry I should’ve specified. I just thought it may come off as intrusive / rude, I’m glad it didn’t bc it wasn’t supposed to

Thank you for specifying!! <3 I can answer, but with some I may not be able to fully go into detail for personal reasons. Since you in your first ask you specified fandoms, thats all I'll be covering!

Without getting into the details, ow*ri no ser*ph and m*stic m*ssanger (censoring not bc the name itself is a trigger but bc I don't want my blog showing up under ANY searches with this) are things my abuser really loved so I can't really bear the thought of them or see pictures from them :^/ not that there's anything wrong with either series (I don't... think? I was never too interested in finding out ANYTHING about them really) but I prefer people to not interact who enjoy them for that reason. Just. For distance's sake (distance between me and the source material that is)

Alien 9 emulators is a different story though! As you may know, I'm a HUGE fan of alien 9???? Like?? Duh??? I feel like it's all I use tumblr for sometimes, just for alien 9 content. That being said alien 9 emulators Fucking Sucks. Basically any alien 9 content that isnt the original 3 volumes/the anime sucks (like alien 9 next, etc). I wrote nearly a whole essay about it one time trying to explain my viewpoints on it so it's hard to simplify my reasons but I'll try (tw csa but I'll do my best to skim over it). Basically: I feel like it's undeniable that a large part of alien 9's story is about children becoming victims of whatever kind of abuse the adults in the series perpetuate. This *includes* csa. That is an INCREDIBLY prominent aspect in the story, and while it is most obvious in kasumi's arcs, it's present in every arc, every character. Granted, it is ALWAYS through metaphor. Leaving you to put the pieces together, as most of the series does even with other topics. So, to quote my essay: "Emulators takes all of those intricately and gently crafted metaphorical plot points and turns them on their heads." The victims break from the healing they were doing, continue the cycle to become abusers themselves, and (though a petty gripe compared to the rest) it retcons SO many things to make way for these twisted fucking metaphors and careless storytelling??? It doesn't even fucking BOTHER to provide some sorry excuse as to WHY it is doing this. THAT is why it's on that list in my carrd

Tldr: alien 9 emulators is horribly disrespectful (and arguably actively harmful) to the very people it originally wished to uplift

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

there’s a trend I’ve been seeing in my IG feed that perplexes me, so I want to consult my fellow complementarian Tumblr lads and ladies

Is a man’s family intended to support his calling, or is his calling intended to support his family?

[fawnforevergone]

The Ultimate List of Dante References in Hozier's "Unreal Unearth" !!

Hello and welcome to my new-and-updated ultimate compilation of all 'Inferno' references I found in Hozier's new album! If I think of anything else, or if anyone else suggests something, I will be sure to add it, but, for now, enjoy this ridiculously long (you've been warned) list I made!

Since I didn't wanna make a post for every individual song and spam you all, the songs are separated by their respective circles! I hope that organises stuff a bit more :]

Usual disclaimer: I could be wrong about some stuff! I've read 'Inferno' and try to stick to the objective references, but sometimes I let subjective interpretation bleed through. If anyone has any corrections for anything, just lmk!! Okay, cool <3

DESCENT:

"De Selby (Part 1)"

We start the album not in the circles, but instead at the Gates of Hell. One of the main themes of Inferno is darkness, and these first two songs are embodiments of that.

The lyrics mention the idea of this being a "new empty space", suggesting that Hozier is being introduced to the feeling of Inferno through the relationship he's singing about, and, so, we begin the descent.

"The likes of a darkness so deep that God at the start couldn't bear." God is obviously a large theme of Inferno and is, biblically, the creator of light, hence the absence of it in Inferno. In fact, the first three stanzas all reference the heavy darkness of the threshold and its estrangement from God.

The Irish/Gaeilge lyrics roughly translate to: "Although you're bright and light, you arrive to me like night fall. You and I, together. You and I, metamorphized. Although you're bright and light, you arrive to me like night fall. The art of transformation is a dark art." The imagery of light and dark mixing together mimics the idea of walking from the brightness of Earth into the darkness of Inferno.

This entire album appears to be the recounting of a relationship and how it feels like walking through Inferno. Here we see the beginning of this relationship, of Hozier losing himself to the threshold.

"De Selby (Part 2)"

Part one appeared to be the step through the gates, whereas part two seems to be Hozier being enveloped by the threshold. In 'Inferno', Dante says the entrance to Hell is a darkness that no stars could shine in. We hear this shift from Earth to Unearth through the production alone; the weightlessness of part one falling into the heavy grunge of part two.

"Your heart, love, has such darkness, I feel it in the corners of the room." The theme of dark continues, as it will through the entire album, but, this time, Hozier feels it radiating from within his lover rather than the space around them. Though, him saying his lover carries darkness is not an insult. This extra depth to his lover is something more to know, something more to love. This idea actually differs from Dante, who sees the darkness as deceitful.

"I want to be so far from sight and mind." Inferno is a lawless place. He would be far from sight due to the darkness, and far from mind due to the insanity that persists within the circles.

"Let all time slow, let all light go." This lyric shows me that he has been submerged in the threshold. Again, the lack of light, but also the slowing of time. Punishment after death is eternal, something that time has no grasp on. Hozier is willing to let these aspects take a hold of him.

"I'd still know you not being shown you, I'd only need the workin' of my hands." Christianity is a heavy theme of Inferno, and this lyric plays on the proverb 'Idle hands are the devil's workshop', a proverb Hozier also hinted at in his song "No Plan" (from 'Wasteland, Baby!') - "My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand."

Now, though, Hozier's hands aren't idle, instead the opposite, his hands are working as God intended. Drawing us back to that idea we were given at the end of part one, we get the feeling that Hozier is bringing something light/Godly to Inferno, and he and his lover are fusing the ideas of Heaven/Earth and Hell.

FIRST (LIMBO):

"First Time"

We now enter circle number one, 'Limbo'. Limbo is an uneventful circle for those not worthy of punishment but also not fit for Heaven. It is mainly for those who do not believe in God, the unbaptised.

Firstly, to get to circles, Dante and his guide, Virgil, must be chaperoned by the Greek Psychopomp Charon down the river Acheron, and we see that in Hozier's first couple stanzas.

"And the soul - if that's what you'd call it, uneasy ally of the body - felt nameless as a river, undiscovered underground." This appears to be Hozier mentioning the river Acheron, one of the five rivers of the Underworld that surround Hades, and, in 'Inferno', are used to transport the souls of the dead to their respective circles.

"The first time that you kissed me, I drank dry the river Lethe." The river Lethe is another one of the five rivers, and is one that causes anyone who drinks from it to forget everything they know. Hozier is simply saying that kissing this person wiped his mind clean, similar to the end of "De Selby (Part 1)" where he mentions partaking in a transformation.

"Some part of me died / Some part of me came alive the first time that you called me 'Baby'." Relating to the previous quote, souls that drink from the river Lethe usually do so before being reincarnated, so they forget their past life. Hozier seems to experiment with the idea of being reborn by his partner's love for him - an idea prevalent throughout his entire discography.

"To share the space with simple living things, infinitely suffering, but fighting off - like all creation - the absence of itself." This lyric tells us that we should not ignore the privilege of living just out of the fear of dying. This lyric is reminiscent of "All Things End" and the circle of Heresy. Since Limbo is home to those who don't believe in God, the theme of Heresy is a very fitting one.

SECOND (LUST):

"When I was young, I used to guess 'Are there limits to any emptiness?'" The punishment for those in Limbo is to exist eternally with the curse of a hollow, empty feeling meant to represent the lack of God in their lives. This punishment seems referenced in this lyric.

[ i ended up thinking about this song more so if you want even more "first time" content, here ya go: "first time dante references." ]

"Francesca"

Into circle number two, 'Lust', we have the story of Francesca Da Rimini, a woman Dante spoke to during his visit to circle two. Francesca fell in love with her husband's brother, Paolo, and when her husband discovered the affair he murdered them both.

Hozier seems to be singing from the perspective of Francesca/Paolo but throughout the album we see Hozier liken his lover to aspects of Inferno - darkness in "De Selby (Part 2)" or Lucifer in "Unknown / Nth" - so the story of Francesca and Paolo is fitting as another metaphor here.

"Do you think I'd give up? That this might've shook the love from me?" Even in Hell, Paolo and Francesca physically cling onto another. They do not let their death affect their love.

"My life was a storm since I was born. How could I fear any hurricane?" The punishment in Lust is an eternal storm meant to replicate the throws of passionate love - a storm also depicted in the production of the end of this song. Hozier/Francesca/Paolo says that it's impossible for them to care about this punishment when life was already as treacherous as it was.

The whole chorus emphasises the imagery of Francesca and Paolo not being able to let go of each other.

"When the heart would cease, ours never knew peace. What good what it be on the far side of things?" Francesca and Paolo lived their love secretly and anxiously, so what good would peace be in the afterlife when they've already become accustomed to difficulty?

"Heaven is not fit to house a love like you and I." In the opening songs of the album, Hozier describes his lover as darkness, akin to something God cannot bear. Due to the depth of his lover, the mix of light and dark they've made, he believes Heaven would crumble beneath the weight of their relationship. That something as corrupt as Inferno is the only place suitable for them to live.

"I, Carrion (Icarian)"

Still in circle two, Hozier plays on Dante's own metaphor. In Canto 17, Dante refers to his own dread of descending Inferno to the same dread that the 'ill-fated Icarus' must've felt on his fall from the sky.

Hozier twists this, instead comparing his love to the hope Icarus must've felt as he flew towards the sun. He said, during a live show, this song is based on the idea hat Icarus never realised he fell, and woke up dead, too clouded by joy to realise what had happened.

"If the wind turns, if i hit a squall, allow the ground to find its brutal way to me." Again, we mention the storm of circle two. Lust is also said to have treacherous terrain - sharp rocks and jagged stone - that seems to be hinted at in the second half of this lyric.

"While you're as heavy as the world that you hold your hands beneath." This imagery seems reminiscent of the Greek Titan, Atlas, who holds up the Earth on his back. Dante talks about seeing Titans and Biblical Giants at the transition point of circle eight to circle nine, 'Fraud' to 'Treachery', which makes this lyric a sad hint to where Hozier will end up finding his lover; Taking the place of Lucifer in the deepest part of Inferno.

THIRD (GLUTTONY):

"Eat Your Young"

We enter the third circle of Inferno, 'Gluttony'. There are no specific references to Inferno, but the concept of gluttony is apparent. Hozier does what he frequently does throughout this album; He refuses to see the sin as "right or wrong" as Dante so stubbornly implies.

Hozier often divulges in a grey area, a spectrum or sale of severity, when it comes to the sin. Hozier's perspective seems more nuanced than Dante's, seeing sin as layered rather than objectively bad. In this specific song, he displays the different sources of hunger in humans, and where the line should be drawn.

"I'm starvin', darlin', let me put my lips to something, let me wrap my teeth around the world." We start, and reference back to in verse two, a sexual hunger, a harmless passion between two people. This is an innocent side of the sin, not deserving of the punishment of Lust which is to be ripped apart by Cerberus (the three-headed dog from Greek mythology) for all eternity.

However, Hozier moves onto the hunger of politics.

"Pull up the ladder when the flood comes." The government refusing to help the people when the sea levels rise.

"Throw enough rope until the legs have swung." When you don't have a ladder, you use a rope. This lyric plays on the notion of when governments give the impression they are helping, but are only making things worse - a take on the saying 'Give someone enough rope and they'll hang themselves', since what else are they meant to do with it?

"Skinnin' the children for a war drum, puttin' food on the table selling bombs and guns." The hunger for power manifests in war.

"It's quicker and easier to eat your young." Here, Hozier uses the common saying in a more literal sense, saying that if these politicians are hungry enough to destroy the world, they may as well physically eat their young, since it'll have the same effect.

FOURTH (GREED):

"Damage Gets Done"

This song takes place in circle four, 'Greed'! The title of the song alone is already very meaningful. In circle four, the main punishment is that the inhabitants are split into two groups and are forever forced to charged into each other and fight. Dante describes them are being so injured and damaged that they have become 'unrecognisable'.

The song is about greed within the changing of the world. It's about growing up and losing the naivety and innocence you once had, no longer able to ignore the burden of politics and money. Hozier and Brandi sing about the excitement of being young and in love, but, with the rise of inflation, it's hard to exist like that anymore - You need greed to survive.

"Wish I had known it was just our turn being blamed for a world we had no power in." This seems to be a reference to two things. One, the idea that governments blame the people for their own poverty, and Two, the idea of arriving in circle four by no fault of your own. It's not their fault they wanted more money with the world being how it is, but, nevertheless, they're being punished for it.

"I haven't felt it since then. I don't know when the feeling ended, but I know being reckless and young is not how the damage gets done." They talk about the enjoyment of the love they're singing about fading, and how they miss that, but they know that, again, this is not their fault. They know they didn't change, the world did, and they won't take responsibility for their 'sin' when all they did was adapt.

As aforementioned, the inhabitants of the fourth circle suffer extreme injuries, so Hozier saying "I know being reckless and young is not how the damage gets done" is him saying "I know that we are not at fault for being served the punishment of Greed."

FIFTH (WRATH / ANGER):

"Who We Are"

We enter the fifth circle, 'Wrath', where the inhabitants spend their time fighting to stay at the surface of the river Styx, another one of the five rivers of the underworld.

"Falling from you drop by drop." / "To hold me like water." These lyrics obviously give the idea of water, representing the river Styx.

"Or, Christ, hold me like a knife." This lyric comes in quite loudly, Hozier's voice strengthening with it. The subtle blasphemy of "Christ" and the violent imagery of "knife" comes across as a sort of anger. Being held "like a knife" is representative of how those is Wrath must feel - like they are something particularly dangerous, but still desperate to be held.

"We're born at night, so much of our lives is just carving through the dark to get so far." Again, this theme of darkness that is so frequently displayed in Inferno is mentioned again. After this song comes "Son Of Nyx", which Hozier said was the transition into the darker half of the album, and Nyx is the Goddess of the Night. Being "born at night" would make Hozier the son of the night, the son of Nyx. This gives the impression that, if the album is following on chronologically, this is the point where the relationship portrayed in the album begins to fray as Hozier starts to be consumed by the darkness.

"And the hardest part is who we are." Those in the circle of Wrath possess a 'savage self-frustration' that Hozier seems to represent throughout this whole song - A fierce annoyance with the way he and his lover let things go: "We sacrificed, we gave our time to something undefined", "Chasing someone else's dream", Etc.

SIXTH (HERESY):

"Son Of Nyx"

We have no lyrics for this song (though you can hear him faintly saying some things, one of which is him saying "who we are...") but we know it takes place in circle six, 'Heresy'. Heresy is a belief or opinion that is contradictory to religious doctrine, especially Christianity. As aforementioned, Hozier said this track is a transition song meant to replicate a descent into the darker half of the album.

Nyx is a Greek Goddess and is often known as the personification of night. She had many children all representing different things but the title would essentially mean 'The Son Of Night', and, as dissected in the previous song, we can see that Hozier sees himself as reborn into the darkness.

Once again, darkness is a large theme of Inferno, but Hozier saying in circle six that he is the Son of Night is particularly meaningful due to the association of light with God. He has been reborn as something that could not be further from God, something that opposes the idea of God, something of a Heretic.

Nyx was feared and respected by all, including Zeus, and, though I believe there is no reference to her in Inferno, she was described as residing in the dark recesses of the Underworld, which is heavily incorporated into Inferno.

"All Things End"

This song does not have many overt references to circle six but definitely incorporates the idea of heresy. As mentioned, heresy is an idea that contradicts (especially, but not always) Christianity. In this song, Hozier talks about the ephemeral nature of all things, particularly romance.

"When people say that something is forever, either way it ends." Whether it be death or a break-up, God doesn't plan for you to be able to spend eternity with your lover.

"Movin' on in time and taking more from everything that ends." Hozier, however, argues that things still have meaning beyond their end. That, even after moving on, we will remember and learn from the things we have lost.

"Just knowin' that everything will end should not change our plans." Throws back to the idea of the second verse of "First Time". If you avoided something just because it was going to end eventually, you would never achieve anything. That's like refusing to finish a movie just because you don't want to get to the credits.

When this concept of ignoring the end comes to death, we ultimately cross the concept of God. There are many rules people follow in religion, avoiding certain things because they are against 'God's Will'. Although this practice can be kept in moderation, it can quickly become self-imprisoning.

Not living your present life out of fear for an unproven afterlife can be limiting, especially if you dictate who you love due to what supernatural punishment may or may not follow. Hozier sings that we should not let God's plan interfere with what we need from life, allowing ourselves to indulge in love even if it will end - ultimately, Heresy.

SEVENTH (VIOLENCE):

"To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe)"

This song places in circle seven, 'Violence'. Violence is split into three subcategories, or 'rings'; Violence against others, violence against self, and violence against God. I believe this song gives an overview of all three.

With this song, we recognise that the title says "To someone..." and Hozier said this song was a gift to someone who was from a geographical warm climate, but there is also a lot of heat in circle seven.

"A joy, hard learned in winter, was the warming of the bed." Throughout this song, Hozier describes himself as cold, and his lover as warm. The idea of warming the bed is a concept Hozier mentioned in his song "Nobody" (From 'Wasteland, Baby!') where he sings that, if he had a choice between the warm bed of his lover or performing on stage, he'd go home to the bed. Since this song comes after "All Things End" (the break-up song), this call back to "Nobody" could be instead referencing a permanent distance, rather than a temporary one (like the temporary distance in "Nobody").

"And, darlin', all my dreaming has only been put to shame." This could have two meanings. One, Hozier waking from a dream about his lover to find them not here. Or, two, Hozier's expectations of his lover falling short as their relationship has finally fallen through. These expectations could be a form of violence against self, the second ring, as he set himself up for heartbreak.

"And I wish that I could say that the river of my arms have found the ocean. I wish I could say the cold lake water of my heart- Christ, it's boilin' over." As mentioned, Hozier is cold, his lover is warm. His wishes he could find something to to fill the loss of his relationship, but he still feels the heat from his lover in every part of him.

"It's boilin' over." References the river of boiling blood in the first ring, violence against others, Hozier could be talking about the way his partner loved him, how that was almost an act of violence with how hard it is to now let go.

"Butchered Tongue"

This song has less references to 'Inferno', and is more of a commentary on the act of violence itself. Hozier sings of places and cultures lost to the violence of man, and he mourns this deeply.

"To say 'Appalacicola' or 'Hushpukena', like 'Gweebara'. A promise softly sung of somewhere else." This grieving for a time when native land wasn't colonised and culture wasn't violently erased is prevalent throughout the song.

In the second verse, he sings very strongly of the brutal acts inflicted upon Irish rebels by the British forces in the Wexford Rebellion of 1789. As we know, Hozier is from Ireland, and he incorporates both the Irish language and history into this album, and recounting such violent acts for this song feeds into the grieving of what has been lost: "Between what is lost forever and what can still be known."

In the context of 'Inferno', it feels as though Hozier is listing the sort of actions that would land someone within the circle of Violence whilst also appreciating the efforts those above ground take to preserve erased culture. Altogether, the song is a very moving commentary on modern violence.

EIGHTH (FRAUD):

"Anything But"

The eighth circle is 'Fraud', split into ten subcategories that are positioned around the circle in trench-like ditches, known as 'Bolgia'.

"I wanna be loud, so loud, I'm talking seismic," follows up with, "I want to be as soft as a single rock in a rain stick." Who he wants to be fluctuates between moderation and severity. He is changing, unreliable, possibly referring to bolgia one, Panders and Seducers. Seducers tend to 'lead astray', as Hozier's unreliable narration does.

The punishment of bolgia one is to be marched backwards and forwards rapidly whilst being whipped, very much evoking the imagery of a stampede: "If I were a stampede, you wouldn't get a kick." This alludes to the fact that if Hozier were sent to hell for the various sins he commits for his lover, he wouldn't resent them for it at all.

"If I was a riptide, I wouldn't take you out." The second bolgia of Fraud is for Flatterers, 'the act of giving excessive compliments, sometimes for romantic courtship'. Obviously, the song is filled with these compliments.

"I hear He touches your hand and then you fly away together. If I had his job, you'd live forever." The imagery of "fly away" gives the idea of ascending, perhaps to Heaven, as hinted at again by the idea of the longevity of living. Bolgia three is for Simoniacs, those who would sell church roles, offices, or sacred things. This seems to fit with Hozier saying that if he had a divine role, he wouldn't follow protocol, he would allow his lover immortality.

Simoniacs were sinners because they were disobeying God's trust, because the selling of divine roles would lead to corruption in the Church. Hozier is using this hyperbolically, saying that if someone were to sell him the role of God, he would most definitely be a corrupt power.

"I'd lower the world in a flood, or better yet I'd cause a drought." In bolgia four we have Sorcerers. Although Dante used this term in a more logical sense for fraudulent sorcerers - false prophets, fortune tellers, those who lied about the plans of God - Hozier uses the term in a supernatural sense. Sorcerers were punished for trying to interrupt God's prerogative, whereas Hozier is blatantly saying he would summon another flood, usurping God's plan overtly.

"I'm talking seismic." The bridge that leads to bolgia seven was collapsed by the great earthquake and, as we know, seismic activity leads to earthquakes.

"Worry the cliff side top as a wave crashing over." There happens to be a cliff near the entrance of circle eight that a large waterfall plunges over.

"Abstract (Psychopomp)"

This song appears to be the crossover point from circle eight to circle nine that I mentioned when discussing "I, Carrion (Icarian)". Before we get to that, the title itself is significant.

A psychopomp is a chaperon of death; Someone like the Grim Reaper, or Charon from "First Time", or Dante's guide through Inferno, Virgil. Here, Hozier is describing the act of hitting an animal with your car as taking on the role of a psychopomp, whilst also relating this idea to the act of letting a relationship die, leading it from life to death.

In the crossover point from eight to nine, Dante and Virgil stand and look at the large well that leads down to circle nine, 'Treachery'. The Titians and Giants burst out of the well, to big to fit, but their feet stand stubbornly in Treachery. I believe that, at this point in the album, Hozier stands here, too. He's visited all eight circles, and has one last place to go before he leaves Inferno, and ultimately his lover, behind. This song is him realising he has to let his relationship end, he has to act as a psychopomp for his love.

"Sometimes it returns like rain that you've slept through." Circle nine, 'Treachery', is a frozen over lake, aka a memory of water, similar to the residue of rain. With viewing this song as the predecessor to "Unknown / Nth", we can take this as a hint of what's to come.

"The Earth from a distance." Since Inferno is arranged in rings (like a circular staircase), Dante could feasibly look up and still see where he started his journey. The same way Hozier could look up and see where his relationship began, "De Selby (Part 1)", The Gates.

"Streetlights in the dark blue." We have the mix of light and dark again, as mentioned in the opening track, referencing back to Hozier and his partner falling in love.

"Darling, there's a part of me I'm afraid will always be trapped within an abstract of my life." Of course, Hozier is talking about the memory of the animal hit with the car here, but the way this relates to circle nine is beautiful. As we'll properly dissect with "Unknown / Nth", sat within the most central point of circle nine, the deepest part of Inferno, is Lucifer, the fallen angel. Lucifer was thrown down to Hell from Heaven, and found himself trapped in Treachery, his body too big to escape. Dante says that the more he struggles, the more stuck he becomes.

That moment he was struck down to hell is a moment he finds himself forever stuck in, just as Hozier is saying here. In the next song, Hozier relates his lover to Lucifer, but these lyrics are a gorgeous mirroring of Lucifer's experience, and another hint at the final circle we will now head to.

NINTH (TREACHERY):

"Unknown / Nth"

Okay, buckle in.

The ninth circle, 'Treachery', is also one split into subcategories, yet Hozier appears to be singing about the centre. The frozen over lake of Treachery gets more frozen the closer you get to the centre. The inhabitants start half-submerged in ice to fully plastered in it. Throughout Inferno, and the deeper we descend, a soft breeze becomes a strong wind, that, as we reach the centre, we find is caused by the violent flapping of Lucifer's wings. Here he sits, stuck and chewing on Judas, another one of God's biggest betrayers.

After "Abstract (Psychopomp)" Hozier is now exploring the final stage of his relationship. The circles of Hell had mirrored the love he once had, and Treachery is where it shall be buried. He also represents his lover as Lucifer, though not maliciously. In interviews, Hozier spoke about the song being about a heavy betrayal he suffered from someone he truly loved, and likening this to God and Lucifer is just heartbreaking.

"You know the distance never made a difference to me." The song is about knowing someone in their entirety, discovering their best and worst parts. Hozier uses Inferno to talk about the tiresome journey of finally knowing someone. He says he would've made the trip all the same, that he would've walked this far for his lover no matter what.

"I swam a lake of fire, I'd have walked across the floor of any sea." This mirrors the previous lyric, but also references specific parts of Inferno. The are many fires in Inferno, particularly in circle seven, 'Violence'. The sea floor lyric reminds me of the lake of Treachery. Though a surface, not a floor, the lake would still be below any seabed, since Inferno is geographically below the Earth.

"Funny how true colours shine in darkness and in secrecy." You guys are probably sick of hearing me say it but... Darkness is a big theme in Dante's Inferno. It is meant to represent the deceiving nature of humans when light is not being shone. Secrecy is a running thread through 'Inferno', too, as Dante finds many people he thought had done no wrong residing there. Hozier is simply saying how (sarcastically) funny it is that he only truly knows his lover in the remains of their relationship; How he only knows them after seeing them in their cruellest form.

"Where you were held frozen like an angel to me." There are many angel lyrics, but this one specifically references the ice of Treachery. The fallen angel is indicative of Hozier's experience: Seeing someone he regarded highly, even heavenly, falling from that pedestal and turning into something that couldn't be further from God's work.

"You called me angel for the first time, my heart leapt from me. You smile, now, I can see its pieces still stuck in your teeth, and, what's left of it, I listen to it tick. Every tedious beat going unknown as any angel to me." Hozier references his ex-lover chewing on his heart the way Lucifer chews on Judas. He listens to it somehow still ticking, however slowly, and at the end of the song we hear something akin to a heartbeat. The beats are "going unknown as any angel to me" since he can no longer recognise his own heartbeat after it has been mangled by another, and, since he mistook someone alike Lucifer to an angel, the idea of angels must be "unknown" to him.

"Do you know I could break beneath the weight of the goodness, love, I still carry for you? That I'd walk so far just to take the injury of finally knowing you?" We again have this imagery of walking far, referencing the journey of Inferno, and, even though he's aching with the realisation of who his lover truly is, he can't help but be grateful that he does now know them, no matter how painful that may be. That he would do this all again if it meant he at least got to the answer of who they are.

His weak heartbeat follows him through to final track as we begin the Ascent.

ASCENT:

"First Light"

The title is very meaningful for the Ascent. The song references both Dante and Virgil's ascent and the creation of light by God himself. Dante and Virgil leave Inferno through a tunnel that Lucifer left in the Earth as he was thrown down to Hell, and they emerge on the other side of the hemisphere. This song signifies Hozier stepping away from the relationship as he also makes that journey out.

"One bright morning changes all things." Dante is disorientated when he exits Inferno. He'd become so accustomed to the darkness that he asks Virgil, 'How is it that the sun progressed so rapidly from evening to day?' Hozier seems to recognise here that his relationship is no longer fit for him, that the darkness has become too encompassing, just as Dante realises on his ascent.

"The sky set to burst, the gold and the rust, the colour erupts...the sun coming up." Not only does this give the imagery of the birth of light, but it also represents Dante's view on his exit: 'Until...I saw the lovely things the sky above us bears. Now we came out, and once more saw the stars.'

"Like I lived my whole life before the first light." Hozier says that the darkness from his lover was so overbearing that it was hard to believe he'd ever felt light before - that light could not have exists with a darkness this heavy alongside it. It is a call back to "De Selby (Part 1)" - "A darkness so deep that God at the start couldn't bear."

"One bright morning comes. Darkness always finds you either way, it creeps into the corners as the moment fades." He speaks of bringing light to a moment between them, but has it quickly smothered by the darkness inherent in his partner. Another call back, this time to "De Selby (Part 2)" - "And your heart, love, has such darkness, I feel it in the corners of the room."

"After this I'm never going to be the same, and I am never going back again." This lyric is heart-breaking. Hozier states that Inferno has changed him, but he has no wishes to re-enter it. At the beginning of this album, he was begging for the likes of Inferno - "De Selby (Part 2)": "Let all time slow, let all light go." - and now he is desperate to get away from it. In "Francesca", he said, "At the end, I'd tell them, 'Put me back in it.'", yet, now, he's at the end, he's ascended, and he has no desire to go back at all.

He is letting go of his lover because he recognises that this pain was not worth it, that this love was not worth the punishment he received, so he leaves.

---

That was Hozier's Inferno !! I hope this was helpful to some people since it was very fun to make (I'm exhausted) and it's very enlightening to see how these lyrics relate to Inferno (I'm heart-broken) !! Okay, wooooo !! Enjoy !!!

[rose-tinted-kalopsia]

≡;-꒰ 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐍 ꒱₊˚ ପ⊹ I  𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝑴𝒆

╰┈➤ ❝ greyson x afab!reader | smut nsfw 18+ mdni | kinktober '24 day 5

tags : pwp (without plot), hunter!reader but NOT mc!, facesitting, oral (f rec.), couch shenanigans, dry humping, kissing, slight hair pulling, praise, use of pet names "baby" "love" "darling". lmk if i missed any tags!

wc : 1.3k

an : this was SO FUN to write, i absolutely love writing this goofball and i hope you enjoy reading this as well <3 might be a little more based on my interpretation of his character (given we know so little...), but inherently this is a gift fic for @dawnbreakersgaze my beloved wife whom i love dearly and the president and founder of greyson nation !!!!!! kay i hope that whenever you’re able to read this you can find some comfort in it hehe <3

taglist : @interstellar-inn @pixelcafe-network @hunters-association @darlingdummycassandra @milkandstarlight @thoupenguinman @valyvinny @rafayelsheart @jellyroom2 @chemiru @ywnzn @pepprrmint @angel-jupiter (SIGN UP HERE)

KINKTOBER MASTERLIST / KO-FI JAR / COMMISSIONS

You’ve been tense lately, and Greyson knows just how to help you relax.

“Oh— haah—” 

His head fell back against the couch, eyes a little hazy as you rolled your hips more insistently against his erection. “H—wai— B- baby, love… s’everything okay?”

The groans that he couldn’t seem to hold back only sent jolts straight through your body, and you almost couldn’t find it in yourself to answer him. Instead, with a quiet whine, you leaned back down against him, burying your face into his neck.

Your hips didn’t stop, rutting into him despite the frustrating barrier of clothing between you two—and his response to that was practically immediate. A shaky sigh, he rested his chin over your head, hands moving over to rub gentle circles into your back. With every grind against his bulge, you could feel him slowly apply more pressure—steady, as if guiding you, encouraging you to get your fill.

But at the sound of your whimper, he tapped on your head.

“Love… Love, nnh— look at me…”

His voice, so close to you, so deep, your favorite sound in the world—

You let out a slow breath as you raised your head, and he took the immediate opportunity to meet your lips for a kiss.

Soft. Sweet. Tender.

Greyson tended to be like that with you.

Even now, he would let you hump needily over his slacks, arousal seeping through your panties and already leaving a mess—even if you never really said why.

There was a gentle smile on his face, even as his lips parted in pants. His ears were red, the only other indication of how affected he was. But he would look into your eyes, almost as if getting lost in them, moving your hips to slide over him a little easier.

“Darling…” he mumbled against your lips. “What is this about? Did you miss me?”

Did you miss me.

He wasn’t wrong.

As fate would have it, the two of you lead busy lives. Your profession as a hunter was unpredictable at best, and missions were often assigned sporadically. A protector of the city scarcely got regular holidays.

Yet, the same could be said about him.

At certain times, your schedules never lined up—Greyson was busy with hospital work, and you knew without fail that his own profession demanded much of him.

But it wasn’t that, not really. You had come to terms with your busy schedules early on; it wasn’t something that bothered you too much.

It was only that…

You sighed into another kiss, almost never wanting to part, savoring the feeling of his lips moving against yours.

“S’been a day…”

You mumbled, voice slightly muffled.

And when he pulled back from you next, there was a glimmer of understanding in his eyes.

His hands moved from your hips, tracing up your spine before moving up to tuck your hair behind your ear.

Light touches, precise in the way he knew you liked just perfectly.

“Stressed?” he murmured.

With a pout, you could only manage to nod.

“And, you… don’t want to talk about it?”

This time, you shook your head.

Your eyes locked, blue eyes searching your own, and then your hand reached out to run through those favorite brown locks of his. “It’s not really that I have anything to talk about…” you sighed. “I just… wanna de-stress a little, that's all. Is that okay? Are you tired? I’m sorry… I know it’s been a long day for you too, and you mentioned you have a surgery tomorrow morning, and you probably want to get some sleep instead of—”

“Baby, baby.” There was a slight laugh to his voice. “That’s not it at all, you know I can never get enough of you. I’m happy you’re being needy today.”

Immediately he cupped your cheeks, forcing you to stop, forcing you to look at him—

His hips bucked up into yours, and he raised an eyebrow. The gasp that fell from your lips was enough for you to realize what he meant.

“You feel that, right? I mean… Darling, you’ve been at it for a while now, you feel so good. I want this just as much as you do.”

His gaze softened, and he leaned in for a peck on the tip of your nose.

“But… let’s not do that today.”

Immediately, your face fell.

For all the sweet words he’d just said, the end result was the same—maybe he was too tired. Maybe something like this was best reserved for another day, another time when both of you were actually free, another time when both of you had no other obligations waiting for you in the morning—

He let out a soft laugh.

“I just mean, I want to give you a treat.”

Effectively, his words made you pause.

His hand moved lower, lifting your nightgown up a little bit and caressing over the small of your back

“Grey—!”

“Listen. You like it when I go down on you, right? So…”

His smile seemed to widen as a look of both shock and embarrassment spread across your features, but before you could react further, he nuzzled against your nose and stole another quick kiss. “How about you sit on my face tonight?”

You sucked in a breath.

“But Grey, we’ve never… I’ve never…”

“I know. But I’ve eaten you out plenty of times… And this way, you get to control how you like it best. Don’t you want that?”

Tempting.

Greyson had a way with words when it counted the most, and you had to admit that the image he was painting had you leaking almost embarrassingly fast.

“You like that, right, love?” He was smiling again, like he just knew you were caving.

And how could you say no to that face?

With a relenting smile and a shake of your head, a small laugh fell from your lips. “Okay, you big teddy bear. Fine, I’ll do it. But… tell me if I’m doing too much, okay? I don’t…”

“You don’t want to hurt me.”

He finished your sentence for you, and leaned up to give you another kiss. “I know, baby. I’ll tell you, I promise.”

It was enough.

He made quick work of your panties as they slid down your thighs, neatly placed on the edge of the couch as you hovered over him.

He was right; you were too needy. Just the mere feeling of his hot breath so close to your cunt made you shiver, that it was almost too difficult for you to lower yourself onto him. He would rub his thumb over your thigh; patient, yet still wanting.

The first touch of his lips against you had you gasping.

They parted, moving mouth closer to lick a stripe up your slit. The slight action had you gripping the couch to steady yourself, thighs tensing. You felt a tap on your up, as if telling you to relax, yet he didn’t so much as relent.

It started with small, teasing licks. Tongue barely poking out, almost as if to have a little taste of you before he started… and then you felt it. The tip of his nose brushed against your clit as his head shifted slightly, and his tongue began to lick fervently at your arousal.

“G-Grey—s-s— Grey—!”

You cried out, hands falling down from the couch to root into his hair.

He smiled against you, pushing you further down onto him to bury his tongue into your pussy. That wet, slick feeling wasn’t new to you, but the position made it more intense. You tugged at his hair, gripping it tightly, and your face twisted in pure, unbridled pleasure.

“H- Holy shit!” you gasped.

Your hips rolled, putting more pressure onto his mouth, needy little humps against his face.

His nose would bump into your clit with every movement, tongue moving precisely with every thrust. His hands stayed at your hips, rubbing little circles into your skin, wordless encouragement that let you know he was enjoying it just as much as you were.

You were gone.

The grip on his hair tightened, and you nearly cried when he tilted to mouth at your clit. Trapping your sensitive nub between his lips, he sucked, teeth grazing ever so slightly, flicking it from side to side with the tip of his tongue.

And he groaned.

Ever lost in the way that you tasted, an air of desperation seemed to cloud the two of you, the haze of lust nearly making your vision go blurry.

Eyes rolling back into your head, hips moving faster, harder, more purposefully—

“M’gonna cum! Gonna—!”

One final cry, before you lurched forward to grab onto the couch, desperate to steady yourself as your toes curled and a loud, drawn-out moan escaped your lips. He lapped up every little leak, dipping his tongue into your folds to coax out more as you slowly felt yourself relax.

Panting, eyelids heavy, you slid yourself off of him to catch your breath.

“Oh my god,” you breathed out. You placed a hand to your chest and glanced beside you, eyes widening at the mere sight of him—eyes half-lidded, glistening with your slick, hair all a mess and in disarray.

He looked ruined, and you almost could have felt guilty.

Almost.

Almost.

He wiped your juices off of his mouth with the back of his hand, before leaning in for a quick peck on the lips, nearly laughing at the squeal you let out. “That was nice, right?” he mused. “You were so good for me, love…"

His gaze raked over your body all the way down to your pussy, and he smiled this cute, satisfied little smile.

“We should do that more often.”

You thought that he would truly be the death of you one day, and you glanced away from him.

“ … I think I’d allow that.”

© rose-tinted-kalopsia. all rights reserved. do not: steal, copy, repost, reupload, modify, or claim any of my works as your own, regardless of credit given. absolutely do not use my works for AI training and other related purposes.

[bugbuoyx]

This also really only happens to trans and nonbinary men. Do you see anyone (in the LGBTQ+ community) yelling at cis gay men that they can't be gnc? Drag queens are so hugely popular, hell even among straight allies gnc gay men are adored, "gay best friend" trope anyone? But once a trans or nonbinary man expresses interest and loves being a man it's all about how men are disgusting rapists who could never understand anything outside that especially being morally pure nonmen. and obviously you should've picked the correct gender of not man. Also you have to be 100% man you're not allowed bonus genders because you chose the morally impure gender.

anyway this is where “man/nonman” bullshit inevitably leads. “man” is not a gender category that is completely and totally separate from all other gender categories. men can wear whatever they want, present however they want, date whoever they want, talk about their gender however they want, and still be men.

a lot of y’all think when i say i’m a genderqueer man that either 1. i’m not a “binary man” which means i’m not really a man i’m just man adjacent, or 2. i’m a man who sometimes is feminine. both are incorrect. i am fully a man. and i am fully genderqueer. these two things are not in opposition to each other. i’m not fucking half n half. i am a man with a queer gender. i would be a man even if i wore skirts and dresses every day, and i would still be genderqueer if i wore jeans and a t-shirt every day.

there is a reason people don’t push back as much against nonbinary who have a connection to womanhood or also identify as women. there is a reason people assume nonbinary people are all sapphic. there is a reason people who are more closely connected to manhood or to mlm gay communities are seen as inherently less able to understand or perform gender nonconformity. the reason, in case you hadn’t guessed it yet, is gender essentialism. it’s that y’all are still upholding patriarchal standards of manhood.

[swarvey]

I was thinking, I just found your blog here and I often don't find things or headcanon about Sebastian😭😭

So, imagine Sebastian with a farmer who flirts with him the moment they become intimate with Sebby, like, I think with 5/6 hearts they start flirting with my favorite smoker

And many times Sebastian doesn't understand the flirtations or flirtations that the farmer gives him, Or they just don't know how to react to something so sudden

The farmer giving him 2 gifts every week without fail, being a gentleman (like, the moment they deliver the frozen tears to Sabby, the farmer changes the frozen tear and quickly takes Sebastian's hand, kissing her affectionately while looking him in the eyes with a smile and then giving him his 1st/2nd gift of the week) and at the same time having that flirty and flirtatious look, but gentle and who understands when to stop or cross Sebastian's line

(Sorry if there are some mistakes, English is not my first language😭😭 I can be the anon🦉?)

—🦉

being flirty with him | sebastian x gn!reader

summary -> after getting to know him, you realize sebastian is not very familiar with flirting. you decide to change that. warnings -> none!

a/n: decided to do some headcanons for this one!!! and don't worry owl anon i think i understood the prompt well, but pls lmk if i interpreted it wrong!! <333

sebastian

listen, i think once you and seb have been dating for a while, he's more of a smooth talker than you would think

during the beginning stages, tho? pls, spare this man

he's never really been in a romantic situation like this before, so he's flustered when you start giving him gifts every week in a timely manner

"oh, is this for me? i . . . really love this. how did you know?"

when you claim it's simply your good intuition, he laughs and pockets the frozen tear, giving you a quick hug as thanks

just when he thinks he's getting used to your demeanor, you decide to up it a notch

he pretty much factory resets the first time you take his hand and kiss the back of it, smiling at him warmly as you hand him a small box of sashimi for lunch

he doesn't take it immediately, instead looking at you with widened eyes and a flushed face

"too much? sorry, i'll stop—" "no, no! please, uh . . . don't stop."

he wants to dig himself a hole and crawl into it.

thankfully, you think his reaction is adorable and tease him about it, much to his dismay

sometimes, when you're looking at him with your mischievous gaze, he'll pretend not to see you

(even tho you can see his cheeks turning pink)

you best believe he's returning the favor when he's more comfortable

you thought you were bad? when you two are alone, he loves to sneak up behind you and give you a hug, pressing a kiss to your cheek

he rolls over laughing every time you jokingly scold him for catching you "off guard"

"now i see why you loved this so much when we first started dating."

so, in the end, your plan backfired

you can't complain, tho, not when you start every week with fresh flowers in your vase and your favorite meal waiting for you in the kitchen