#past does not define you

[pvpcivilization]

ok im going to bed bc its late as hell here but i wanted to doodle parkciv finally

[read-write-thrive]

platonic and romantic are not some sort of binary that relationships have to be divided into. they’re not even two ends of a linear spectrum. they’re fully just abstract concepts made up of culturally-dependant social behaviour and expectations that are continually forced upon people to reinforce religious, legal, and broader societal/cultural norms, often and repeatedly to the detriment of non-normative groups including, but not limited to, the queer community. and I am sick and tired of those norms being replicated in fucking fandom discourse, of all places

[fastidious-and-a-mess]

guys can we PLEASE stop shipping riz w people. honestly at this point i kind of don’t even care if you yourself are also acespec/arospec/aspec.

yes, aspec people can be in relationships, etc etc, but riz specifically has expressed over and over and over again that that is something he personally has absolutely zero interest in.

he’s not just canonically aroace, he also canonically does not want a relationship.

“aroace people can be happy in romantic/sexual/queerplatonic relationships” is a true statement. “people who do not want to be in any kind of monogamous committed relationship can be happy in a monogamous committed relationship” is quite a bit harder to argue.

i’m just so sick of it. i’m glad we all understand that there’s nuance to aspec identities, and everyone’s expressions of and experiences with their own aspec identities are going to be different and personal.

like, it’s not even just about the asexual/aromantic aspect anymore. it’s also just refusing to let him not want to be in a relationship. why are so many people so resistant to the idea that he does not want to be in a relationship. like genuinely, why can you not accept that there are people who just don’t want that. who would just be unhappy in a relationship. why can’t you wrap your head around the idea that wanting a relationship is not a thing that everyone secretly wants. like, No, he hasn’t just not “met the right person” yet. because there is no right person. because he’s simply not interested.

this post is kind of rambly and not as effectively phrased as it could be i think but idc.

TL;DR: riz being aroace is not the only reason to not ship him. he also, explicitly and repeatedly, has stated he does not want to be in a relationship. “aspec people can be in relationships” is completely irrelevant because regardless riz simply does not want a relationship. please just respect thag.

edit: plz don’t like this is u wont rb. i won’t guilt you into rbing, it’s ur blog i’m not ur dad do what u want etc etc. it’s just irritating for me personally to see ppl interacting w this but not willing to actually put it on their blogs.

[gabriestat]

true detective: the long bright dark / disco elysium: jamais vu (derealization)

[vaguely-concerned]

I don't know what I love more, the fact that as rook you can make a statement in NO uncertain terms that you are NOT responsible one way or the other for the theological implications of the shit you're discovering in the 'regrets of the dread wolf' memories. not my jurisdiction. quite simply none of my business. not my chantry circus not my chantry monkeys. irrelevant to the matter at hand here we'll kill that god if we get to him he can get in line. or if the best thing about it is seeing the lone little 'lucanis approves' that pops up right after choosing it. corvid with a knife about to commit deicide keeping it real and sensibly, pragmatically, wilfully agnostic with me here in this magical lighthouse today

[pwurrz]

being obsessed with yakumo is a job and baby i’ve never called in a sick day!!!!!

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

“because he never accepts that it's never been about righteousness--it's about repentance.” except javert killing himself IS repentance.

well, it’s like 12 different things, because bro had gone days without sleeping and very little food and water and he already had low self-worth and kept asking the amis to kill him and just assumed he was going to die AND THEN valjean upended his understanding of the world and morality. he was really going through it & there are a lot of overlapping reasons for why he jumps into the seine.

but javert is like Number One Most Responsible guy in the whole story. taking responsibility is his Thing (forever bitter the musical doesn’t include the punish me monsieur le maire scene). how else, in his derailment, could he atone for his conceived misdeeds other than by handing in his resignation to god? in the brick he had already left a note urging his superiors to treat convicts at toulon better, which is another step in his repentance (and another crime the musical commits by not including it). jumping into the seine was another step.

honestly a lot of ppl who like the book think the musical was dead wrong to exclude him from the big heaven group sing, because it COMPLETELY undermines the themes of forgiveness and compassion threaded throughout les mis. like the musical was simply wrong lol.

This is helpful context! I am still finishing the brick, although I have fully read the abridged version, and that detail about the letter wasn't included, so I didn't know that occurred! (And thank you for the message--this is a long response but I'd love to hear more of your thoughts!)

I agree that Javert is certainly deeply distraught and remorseful; like you mentioned, his worldview is literally falling apart, and his actions reflect his mental state. But his death isn't really repentance--in the sense that it's not what God would have wanted. To me it reads like a Judas situation: a desperate realization of a huge mistake, and doing the only thing you think can make it right, namely, ending it all. That's the just punishment for someone so wrong, isn't it?

But true repentance, meaning the repentance that the Lord desires, is about changing your ways, not "paying a price." Had Javert really understood the beauty of Valjean's mercy (an image of Christ's, just as the bishop's undeserved mercy was to Valjean himself), rather than killing himself, he would have lived to also become "an honest man"--in heart. One who could forgive and understand forgiveness, for himself as well as others. One who could recognize that he is not The Law, that he can fall, but that he can also be "brought to the light." One who could accept that men like Valjean, and men like himself, CAN change, and be changed.

It's tragic to me because so much of "Stars," and his character in the book as well as the musical, is about wanting to be righteous, to rise above his birth and the sinfulness he associates it with. It's about wanting to please the Lord by his actions. But in his end, he shows he never understood what God really wanted from him, and that's where my original phrase comes in: not righteousness, but repentance. To live, and face the man you were, knowing it's no longer the man you are. That it's never been about what you've done or can do, but about what's been done for you. That's the Gospel that he could never fully accept.

To use another example you mentioned, that misunderstanding drives why he asks the Mayor (Valjean) to punish him--in his worldview, mercy is unjust, or at the very least, unfair. Evil must be punished; "those who fall like Lucifer fell" receive "the sword." But "as it is written," God "desires mercy, not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13). God would have wanted Javert to live, and Javert couldn't see that, and that's why it's devastating to me. In his misunderstanding of the heart of God, he misses what would have set him free from the chains of sin he's always been trying to escape.

That's why he's contrasted with Valjean, who (though he carries guilt about his past till the end of his life) is eventually able to face it and confess what he had done to those he loves. He knew there was mercy to be found, if only it was asked for. Javert was too blinded by pride and shame to realize it, and so, while broken, he never was able to truly repent.

For that, you must go on.

[theramblingvoid]

I think the biggest thing about Sunless Skies that gives it a different feel than Fallen London (other than the obvious gameplay differences) is the position of your player in the universe. In Flondon, your character is important and singular. The storyline is oriented around mastery and influence: starting from the bottom and climbing to the top, gaining recognition and reach as you unravel the world's secrets. While social play is encouraged, there are few in-game characters comparable to the PC, and in many plotlines the idea of being the only or the first one to accomplish a certain thing is specifically emphasized. The story is about what path you take to Make Your Name.

In Sskies, that goal is not absent, but there's a sense of...fleetingness, that never quite leaves you. There are many others like you. You see their entries in the cache logs, they are mentioned in the ports and pubs, you find their frozen bodies littering the open void like stones. It is the very first thing you know when you start: you are a Captain filling the shoes of a predecessor, and in all likelihood simply keeping them warm for the next to come after you, and the next. Your time is limited. Your significance to the wild, vast, ancient skies is negligible. The drive in the story comes from this: Your space in this universe is small and hard fought. Make it count.

[dearjewels22]

my favorite movie.

Anastasia.

[welcometoteyvat]

i already malded but sethoscara... hmm... (moderate haterisms below)

generally i find cyno and sethos more interesting, and not just as a ship i swear, bc like. ok i understand sethos story 2. "busy little bee" vs "bow down worm". the whole "you're not just a normal guy, aren't you?" exchange and how wanderer seems to have met the one (not so) normal human who might be able to level with him without knowing anything about his past. yeah thats a cool dynamic and all

but based on flat material, sethos is introduced in cyno's sq2, has two stories mentioning him—they seem to have gotten closer post story quest, gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

why do i not see more sethos and cyno posts focusing on them and them alone pls.... the most popular or frequent depictions as of now are sethos as a 5th (?) wheel to cynonari and haikaveh. i understand ppl not wanting to take apart their ships and whatever, but oh my god. their visual designs, the entire thing that happened when sethos and cyno were children, how they grew up, how that ties into the separation between the rainforest and desert, etc. also sethos's story 5 is lit like '[Sethos] couldn't tell you exactly what he'd forgotten. Perhaps his birth parents, or the faces of his childhood friends. Fortunately, with the exception of Cyno, all of his childhood friends lived at the Temple of Silence, so learning what they looked like again wasn't difficult.' helloooooooooo baggage? sethos picking up hearsay abt cyno's past and maybe glimpsing him in passing in sumeru, while cyno knows nothing about him??? they both knew each other once, and then forgot, and then sethos/bamoun engineered it so they'd meet again.... like bro

i have a bunch of other gripes about sethoscara from scara's POV and the thoughts he'd have in canon (eg why does the current fandom portrayal seem to skew towards fluff and cuddling where sethos is golden retriever maxxing and scara's a tsundere) but yadda yadda ships are people's sandbox for potential so i'll try not to yap about that... basically: what im saying is please give me at least one [fan creation in any medium] exploring sethos cyno's past please. LISTENNN the bamoun cyrus sethos cyno storyline was underutilized in his quest they need expansion i'm begging

ok why did i bring sethoscara into this? bc fandom has the tendency to have ship tunnel vision, and this could be doomposting, but i generally find that when there's one dominant ship for a character (especially if they're a 4* lol 💀) creations/thoughts/posts about the rest of their relationships start dying out one by one :\\\\ ok yapping done good night everyone

[lover-of-mine]

I just had SUDDEN VISION of how they could introduce Eddie having feelings for Buck!!

pls picture we are at the Madney wedding. they are stood at the altar, Maddie’s wedding party is Buck as best man then maybe people from dispatch like May and Josh, Chim’s wedding party is Hen as maid of honour and Eddie and Bobby as groomsmen. Maddie and Chim are exchanging vows. the camera pans over Buck, May and Josh, they’re all smiling at Madney, Buck is probably crying lol. the camera then pans over Hen and Bobby who are also smiling at Madney, but when it gets to Eddie, he is staring, smiling, but a little bit past the happy couple. cut to Buck still smiling at Maddie, unaware. cut back to Eddie still staring at Buck, but then he glances away to the crowd where we see Natalia. cut back to Eddie, where he glances over at Buck one more time and then drops his gaze, maybe looking a little defeated, shaking himself out of slightly, etc.

they don’t have to do anything over the top, they don’t have to get Eddie to say out loud etc. but it would be very clear to even casual viewers that Eddie feels something towards Buck but is holding back because Buck is still with Natalia

ALTERNATIVELY!! this whole vibe and camera direction/editing but it’s after the ceremony, when they’re all dancing. the cuts are between Eddie sat alone at a table staring wistfully out at the dancefloor… and Buck dancing happily with Natalia…

I LOVE the idea of madney's wedding including something, and while I personally don't think Natalia will last enough to be in the wedding unless the wedding ends up being the 100th epísode, I like where you're going, like, legit OBSESSED with the idea of Eddie looking all upset while watching Buck at the wedding, even more considering Eddie's reaction to the ring and his whole loneliness thing at the end of the season there. But the thing is, unless they make Eddie say it, they can take it back. There is no explanation for the way Eddie was acting during the poker games that's not "I'm in love with this man", anyone can see this, someone who only watched mixed feelings would believe Buck and Eddie are a thing or are on the way to being a thing, but then they introduced Natalia and Eddie is dating other people and the casual viewer switches back to "oh, it was just a fluke" and Eddie has been doing the whole just watching Buck for a WHILE, I can argue shit all the way back to stuck but season 6 makes things really painfully obvious, so just the looks are not cutting it anymore, someone needs to say the words. It doesn't even have to be Eddie, or it doesn't even have to be like "I like him", "I love him", "I'm in love with him," "it's just a crush" or whatever, someone coming up to him while he's watching Buck and going "you're staring" and him going like "I can't stop" while looking all defeated. At this point, the looks can't just be looks anymore, they need words because it's getting ridiculous. But I'm absolutely crazy about situations unfolding like this, Eddie watching Buck during the whole wedding while Buck is with Natalia, and then at the end there, he talks to someone about it. But we deserve words oskaoskaoskasa

[akkivee]

i’m pretty sure the reason we got nagosaka’s second round of solos mimicking the og album art was bc kr was making a concerted effort to bridge the gap between the amount of music the ogs and nagosaka have lol

but those first solos for the og divisions were their beginnings as characters so maybe we can pretend round two solos for nagosaka is their true beginning lol

[softranswolves]

Multiamory May (with ships from a generator):

The boys who carry guilt and love equally

[positivelyghostlycomic]

Happy Monday!! 😋

So I think we can all relate to how our past demons can sneak up on us seemingly out of nowhere. 👀👀👀

Sometimes it’s good memories…but sometimes not, and that can lead to a self-confidence killer. WHOMP! 😓

I think the key is to stay positive and learn from our past to move forward. 💪➡️➡️➡️

I hope everyone has a good day and week! And if your past demon sneaks up on you, maybe greet it with a smile and leave it where it is…IN THE PAST! 😎👹🪦

Love you all my friends! Thank you for stopping by and reading Positively Ghostly, and THANK YOU for being you! ❤️

[foxgonyoom]

Lessons we learned in LMK Season 4:

Episode 1:

Be afraid.

Episode 2:

If your friends get sucked into a nightmare scroll, you should jump in it too.

Episode 3:

If there’s a ghost, don’t fight him. Words are much more effective at making him cry.

Episode 4:

Feeding customers is more important than escaping an angry mob.

Episode 5:

“What are you Thor, the God of Hammers?!”

Episode 6:

Cats are more reliable for bringing your friend back to their senses than motivational speeches.

Episode 7:

We’re pretty good at faking it til we making it so you better start TAKING IT SON!

Episode 8:

Shit’s complicated

Episode 9:

Fuck up that lion man!

Episode 10:

When all else fails, return to monke.

[hotniatheron]

silver's entire character is simply, why does it matter WHAT happened. all that matters is that it did.