#poetic it would be if you asked me

[yuzuna123]

Today was the day Kirito freed everyone from SAO :') in a year this will be the day it happened in the actual story.

[september-poetry]

all that is holy

by all that is holy

i beg you to stay

a fallen angel

his wings fall apart

as i hold him up

i capture his sacrilegious lips in mine

and in ectasy he takes my name in vain

a graveyard of eyes watch us

as we perform yet again

he grins as he takes me apart

and he knows he sins with me

but by god does he crave it

i will bring him down to earth with me

the rite of passage

let yourself fall, my love, into my arms

i will catch you before he ever could

at the altar he brings me closer

in spite of his blood, divine

the thick liquid leaves his body

replaced by mine

walk with me on consecrated ground

and bring me further

down down down we go

let me corrupt you

your touch blackened by the remnants of your past

my body covered in ash

the fire burns low

do you revel in it?

a prayer shared

and for a moment

i am all that is holy

24 / 10 / 24

prompt: congregation

week two: lights

from @lordsovorn darktober

[swampthingking]

the thought of cracking the spine of a book makes kevin nauseous. he like opens it just enough to see the words and holds the book at such uncomfortable angles to read— anything to keep the book pristine and intact. he does not let people borrow his books because he is a control freak (as a term of endearment) and does not trust them to take care of them the way he does.

and andrew is the complete opposite, cracking the spine as soon as he opens it. he annotates in pen. he dog ears the pages because who the fuck has time to find a bookmark. he throws books out of anger. he throws them at aaron for fun. he lets them get smashed and torn in his bag. he always keeps them, he just prefers them to look like they’ve been read.

[moongothic]

I know people often speculate about Crocodile and if that is his "real name", either implying he has a deadname or his name is another one of those Hidden Ds (much like Roger and Law)

And like. This is just me but personally I would prefer it if he didn't have a deadname at all. It already grinds my gears when people use Sanji's "real name" when he himself hates it and doesn't want to be called by it, and so god knows if Crocodile is trans then the fandom misgendering is going to be obnoxious enough, you don't need to add a """real name""" into that mix

So. Personally, I would prefer it if Crocodile really was his birthname. It would just help us avoid some toxicity, ya feel me? Like people can't deadname him if he has no deadname to begin with?

That said.

I do find it interesting how Crocodile never actually introduces himself during the story to like. Anyone. Like we never see him go "yes hello you may call me Sir Crocodile" or anything

In fact, like, very specifically, when we finally get Crocodile's face reveal in Chapter 155, he explicitly says

"Call me what you will"

Of course, the citizens of Nanohana had just been calling him a 'hero', 'desert king' and 'the Guardian Deity of Alabasta' in the previous page, so his comment is mostly just in reference to the various titles people were shouting out rather than his actual name

And to be fair, the dude is Extremely Famous, he doesn't have to introduce himself because everybody already knows who he is

But it's still an interesting detail, isn't it?

(Also tangentially related, but Crocodile never seems to object to people calling him by cutesy nicknames either? Like to be fair, he probably couldn't object to Ivankov calling him "Crocoboy" to begin with, but he never seemed to mind Bon-chan calling him "Zero-chan" repeatedly either, nor did he object to Buggy's "Cro-chan" 🤔)

If nothing else though, considdering even his former bounty was associated with the name we know him by, it's possible that even if he had a deadname, "Crocodile" could be his "pirate nickname" that he chose to roll with. Kind of like "Strawhat" or "Blackbeard" or "Hawkeyes" etc, a title people use so often you kind of forget the person's actual name

Or he might have that Hidden D. Which, if he did, I'd be more inclined to believe would be more like with Law (where he might've been told as a child to keep it a secret). Instead of the whole "names being merged into one to hide the D" like with Roger, since that one was a specific, intentional move from the World Government

The only thing about the Hidden D is that. I just. I think it'd be a little silly. Like. Crocodile doesn't have to be a part of the D clan in my mind. Like I don't need that twist. But to be fair, there is an argument to be made for Crocodile being a D. Like if his goal is to destroy the WG and the World Nobles (that being the reason he wanted military force and Pluton to begin with) then ARGUABLY it would be fitting for him to be a D, since the D clan are the "Natural Enemies of the Gods". Also, there's the whole trend of D clan members always dying with a smile on their face. Like sure Crocodile hasn't died (yet) but he definitely went to Impel Down (hell) with a big ol' smirk on his mugshot (chapter 413 cover), which is close enough. So there is an argument to be made for Crocodile having a fullname with a D that's been kept a secret

I dunno, these details are interesting to me

[purple-mushroom-cap]

"would you love me if i was a worm" is OUT, "would you love me if i was a symbol of your irrational fears" is IN.

would you love me even if the very sight of me terrifies you. despite trying your hardest not to, you flinch every time you see me. you KNOW its me, but the vessel i inhabit fundamentally makes you shiver. its a reflex that you'll try to train yourself out of. its engraved in you to be scared of me, but would you rewrite your bones for me. would you learn to reach for me regardless.

[thelaundrybitch]

laundry my dear i would like to pick your brain if i could. i’m having some trouble with my bay donnie playlist, there’s something missing and i’m not sure what. so can i please ask, what are your top 5 favorite songs for donnie?

Lucky!! My dear friend!

I think I have a very different take on Donnie than a lot of peeps.

So I guess that's my "fair warning" for my chosen faves 😅

So without further ado...

Love in Slow Motion - Ed Sheeran

Sunshine - One Republic

Comethru - Jeremy Zucker & Bea Miller

Hands on Me - Jason Derulo & Meghan Trainor

Fresh Eyes - Andy Grammer

2002 - Anne-Marie

I know you only asked for 5 but you got a bonus one LOL

ALSO

Death By Donnie

There's my Spotify playlist I have for him for writing purposes 💖

I feel so special that you asked for some music from me 😭🫶🏼

Also PLEASE PICK MY BRAIN! I love it!!!!

[garglyswoof]

What’s your favorite song?

In general? hell if i know. I have artists i go back to again and again, albums. i'll present you with some moments. many of these things ive mentioned on my blog before, but that's okay. they mean something. - the national boxer/high violet/alligator. so much of my life. screaming abel at the top of my lungs with the windows down as i drive up and down the main road in emerald isle nc. - cantus in memory of benjamin black. sometimes i play this in my car as loud as i can stand and just grip the wheel and feel. - pedro the lion's mind of her own because you can hear him descend into insanity and it's a STORY - the song soft shoulder by ani difranco. i cant think of anything that expresses missing someone more than this song. if i was truman showed, you'd see me listen to this in the car at night, my face going from babyfat youth to middle aged. so many car drives. - when i saw death cab for cutie play transatlanticism live and the drummer was standing up at the end slamming down on the drums and my heart thought it might break - when i saw ida play an afternoon show and they sang maybelle but one of the vocalist's mics was broken so she stood and projected as she walked across the stage while the sunlight slanted through the bar and someone washed dishes in the background - listening to elbow and jimmy eat world on my first big trip, to costa rica. my head full of dreams and these two bands the accompanists.

[longagoitwastuesday]

So so indebted to u for posting those lovely illustrations from Cyrano <333 & even more so for yr tags!! I'm completely in love w yr analysis, please feel free to ramble as long as u wish! Browsing through yr Cyrano de Bergerac tag has given me glimpses of so many adaptations & translations I'd never heard of before! I'll be watching the Solès version next, which I have only discovered today through u ^_^ As for translations, have u read many/all of them? I've only encountered the Renauld & Burgess translations in the wild, & I was curious to hear yr translation thoughts that they might guide my decision on which one I buy first (not necessarily Renauld or Burgess ofc). Have a splendid day & sorry for the likespam! 💙

Sorry for the delay. Don't mind the likespam, I'm glad you enjoyed my tags about Cyrano, and that they could contribute a bit to a further appreciation of the play. I loved it a lot, I got obsessed with it for months. It's always nice to know other people deeply love too that which is loved haha I hope you enjoy the Solès version, it may well be my favourite one!

About translations, I'm touched you're asking me, but I don't really know whether mine is the best opinion to ask. I have read... four or five English translations iirc, the ones I could find online, and I do (and especially did, back when I was reading them) have a lot of opinions about them. However, nor English nor French are my first languages (they are third and fourth respectively, so not even close). I just read and compare translations because that's one of my favourite things to do.

The fact is that no translation is perfect, of course. I barely remember Renauld's, but I think it was quite literal; that's good for understanding the basics of the text, concepts and characters, but form is subject, and there's always something that escapes too literal translations. Thomas and Guillemard's if I recall correctly is similar to Hooker's in cadence. It had some beautiful fragments, some I preferred over Hooker's, but overall I think to recall I liked Hooker's more. If memory serves, Hooker's was the most traditionally poetic and beautiful in my opinion. Burgess' is a whole different thing, with its perks and drawbacks.

Something noticeable in the other translations is that they are too... "epic". They do well the poetic, sorrowful, grief stricken, crushed by regrets aspects of Cyrano and the play in general, but they fall quite short in the funny and even pathetic aspects, and that too is key in Cyrano, both character and play. Given the characteristics of both languages, following the cadence of the French too literally, with those long verses, makes an English version sound far too solemn at times when the French text isn't. Thus Burgess changes the very cadence of the text, adapting it more to the English language. This translation is the one that best sets the different moods in the play, and as I said before form is subject, and that too is key: after all, the poetic aspect of Cyrano is as much true as his angry facet and his goofy one. If Cyrano isn't funny he isn't Cyrano, just as he wouldn't be Cyrano without his devotion to Roxane or his insecurities; Cyrano is who he is precisely because he has all these facets, because one side covers the other, because one trait is born from another, because one facet is used as weapon to protect the others, like a game of mirrors and smoke. We see them at different points through the play, often converging. Burgess' enhances that. He plays with the language itself in form and musicality, with words and absences, with truths masking other truths, with things stated but untold, much like Cyrano does. And the stage directions, poetic and with literary value in their own right in a way that reminded me of Valle Inclán and Oscar Wilde, interact with the text at times in an almost metatextual dimension that enhances that bond Cyrano has with words, giving them a sort of liminal air and strengthening that constant in the play: that words both conceal and unveil Cyrano, that in words he hides and words give him away.

But not all is good, at all. Unlike Hooker, Burgess reads to me as not entirely understanding every facet of the characters, and as if he didn't even like the play all that much, as if he had a bit of a disdainful attitude towards it, and found it too mushy. Which I can understand, but then why do you translate it? In my opinion the Burgess' translation does well bending English to transmit the different moods the French text does, and does pretty well understanding the more solemn, cool, funny, angry, poetic aspects of Cyrano, but less so his devotion, vulnerability, insecurities and his pathetism. It doesn't seem to get Roxane at all, how similar she is to Cyrano, nor why she has so many admirers. It does a very poor job at understanding Christian and his value, and writes him off as stupid imo. While I enjoyed the language aspect of the Burgess translation, I remember being quite angry at certain points reading it because of what it did to the characters and some changes he introduces. I think he did something very questionable with Le Bret and Castel-Jaloux, and I remember being incensed because of Roxane at times (for instance, she doesn't go to Arras in his version, which is a key scene to show just how much fire Roxane has, and that establishes several parallels with Cyrano, in attitude and words, but even in act since she does a bit what Cyrano later does with the nuns in the last act), and being very angry at several choices about Christian too. While not explicitly stated, I think the McAvoy production and the musical both follow this translation, because they too introduce these changes, and they make Christian as a character, and to an extent the entire play, not make sense.

For instance, once such change is that Christian is afraid that Roxane will be cultured (McAvoy's version has that infamous "shit"/"fuck" that I detest), when in the original French it's literally the opposite. He is not afraid she will be cultured, he is afraid she won't, because he does love and appreciate and admires those aspects of her, as he appreciates and admires them in Cyrano. That's key! Just as Cyrano longs to have what Christian has, Christian wants the same! That words escape him doesn't mean he doesn't understand or appreciate them. The dynamics make no sense without this aspect, and Burgess (and the productions that directly or indirectly follow him) constantly erases this core trait of Christian.

Another key moment of Christian Burgess butchers is the scene in Arras in which Christian discovers the truth. Burgess writes their discussion masterfully in form, it's both funny and poignant, but it falls short in concept: when Cyrano tells him the whole discussion about who does Roxane love and what will happen, what they'll do, is academic because they're both going to die, Christian states that dying is his role now. This destroys entirely the thing with Christian wanting Roxane to have the right to know, and the freedom to choose, or to refuse them both. As much as Cyrano proclaims his love for truth and not mincing words even in the face of authority, Cyrano is constantly drunk on lies and mirages, masks and metaphors. It's Christian who wants it all to end, the one who wants real things, the one who wants to risk his own happiness for the chance of his friend's, as well as for the woman he loves to stop living in a lie. That is a very interesting aspect of Christian, and another aspect in which he is written as both paralleling and contrasting Cyrano. It's interesting from a moral perspective and how that works with the characters, but it's also interesting from a conceptual point of view, both in text and metatextually: what they hold most dear, what they most want, what most fulfills them, what they most fear, their different approaches to life, but also metatextually another instance of that tears/blood motif and its ramifications constant through the whole text. Erasing that climatic decision and making him just simply suicidal erases those aspects of Christian and his place in the Christian/Cyrano/Roxane dynamic, all for plain superficial angst, that perhaps hits more in the moment, but holds less meaning.

Being more literal, and more solemn, Hooker's translation (or any of the others, but Hooker's seems to love the characters and understand them) doesn't make these conceptual mistakes. Now, would I not recommend reading Burgess' translation? I can't also say that. I had a lot of fun reading it, despite the occasional anger and indignation haha Would I recommend buying it? I recommend you give an eye to it first, if you're tempted and can initially only buy one.

You can read Burgess' translation entirely in archive.com. You can also find online the complete translations of Renauld, Hooker and Thomas and Guillemard. I also found a fifth one, iirc, but I can't recall it right now (I could give a look). You could read them before choosing, or read your favourite scenes and fragments in the different translations, and choose the one in which you like them better. That's often what I do.

Edit: I've checked to make sure and Roxane does appear in Arras in the translation. It's in the introduction in which it is stated that she doesn't appear in the production for which the translation was made. The conceptualisation of Roxane I criticise and that in my opinion is constant through the text does stay, though.

[queenlucythevaliant]

Hi! I was reading anthropology book and for some reason it sparked my interest in how God relates to science. I don’t think they contradict one an other but I don’t know how to describe their relationship. It’s like evolution and how it relates to the Bible. I hope that makes sense because the relationship between religion and science is interesting. Also, I hope you’re doing good!

Science and faith are lovers. They're partners in crime with different skill sets. They're dancing a beautiful ballet together, telling the story of the world.

The easiest thing to say, I think, is that science and faith/theology answer different yet complimentary questions. Theology tells us who made the world, and why, and what he thought of it when he was done. Science tells us how matter condensed to form stars and planets, how long it took for life to emerge from chemical traces to cells to organisms. They fit together like two halves of a friendship necklace.

Biology tells us why our hearts beat and theology tells us who keeps it beating. Biology shows us all that we have in common with every other living thing, and theology shows us that we are made in the image of God.

Science teaches us to ask questions, to look for answers and not to be satisfied until we find them. Faith teaches us to seek truth diligently, but equally to trust the Sovereign God and to let go when knowledge is too high for us. Both together teach us to regard truth as something vital and precious: something to spend your whole life seeking.

Both science and faith engender awe. They place us on the precipice of things that absolutely dwarf us, time and space and infinity (or near infinity) and moving shifting elegant parts, and they say "don't look away." They say, "come closer, dive deeper, taste and see."

Science without faith is inert. It gives us cells animated by simple chemistry which are nevertheless more complex than cities and asks us to believe in a world without providence. It gives us majesty and no one to praise for it. It argues that no one can rise from the grave, that sin is of no consequence, and that death has the final say.

And yet faith without science - or perhaps I should say faith that shies away from science when it is inconvenient - is brittle. It clings to dogma and doesn't inquire at the gate. It doesn't stretch to accommodate new facts. It may break, if one day you are faced with some new piece of evidence you can't reconcile. It misses opportunities for awe and rejects the promise that truth will set us free.

[javierduffy]

After they've been together for a while and Kieran's come out of his shell a bit (esp around the rest of the gang) for some reason I can imagine him just being like. Very forward. Not outright flirty but he loves Javier SO MUCH he's practically vibrating with it. It's spilling from his mouth every time he talks w/ him. Not right out of the gate, though. He starts with small comments in the morning. A compliment here, a cheesy line there. But by the end of the day if you listen closely you can hear an increasing amount of stutters from Javirr's guitar and Kieran knows he's got him when he looks away he's so flustered and the whole time Kieran's just blinking innocently and grinning like mad he's so in love UGH. If he does not kiss his bf breathless within the next 10 seconds he WILL explode

NOOO I AGREE COMPLETELYYYYY YOU GET ME YOU UNDERSTAND !!! kieran, as shy (if you want to call keeping your mouth shut to spare yourself the trouble of getting shot in the head “shy”) and awkward as he is, speaks his mind and is willing to be quite verbal about what he’s thinking ! i listened to his ambient voice lines the other day and he really is very vocal when he doesn’t feel that being the alternative would jeopardize his wellbeing, and i think the reason people don’t notice is because when he’s challenged, he’s often willing to fold on his perspective, mostly just to preserve his own safety because of his audience. i mean, he literally FORCED the vdl’s to take him in, and he often bows up at arthur and will challenge/confront him (because he’s most familiar with him). plus, he’s very openly complimentary towards mary-beth, even as early as horse-shoe. kieran duffy has little to no problems with speaking if you really listen !

so absolutely yes he does say what’s on his mind even and especially when it comes to javier. hell, i believe that kieran complimented him even before they got together, before javier even liked him (or acted like it, at least). he’s just a lover at heart ! i think that would be one of the reasons that javier becomes less hostile towards kieran to begin with- because kieran is so gentle with everyone, and initially, javier is always shocked when he isn’t the exception, even when he generally avoids him or even treats him outright poorly. kieran’s gentility isn’t a survival skill, it’s an innate part of who he is. so even before he’s especially comfortable with javier, on rare occasion, kieran would say a “you look nice today, mister !” or a “you’ve got that knife looking mighty spiffy, would love something like that for myself some day.” before he can really even think about it. it always pissed javier off, of course, because ‘that stupid pretty, sweet, charming, handsome bastard of an o’driscoll has no right to even look at him, nonetheless like him or anything he does ! and it certainly didn’t feel good to hear him say it !’.

but when they get together, kieran’s compliments change- not only because javi now knows that he means them from a full homo place, but because kieran is now able to say things that have been on his mind for months. when they’re away from camp, kieran swoons and fawns and waxes poetry as best his awkward and mildly educated self can. i really believe that it takes him no time at all (i say this, i mean a month or so) to work up to jumping into sharing his adoration when they’re alone, because when javier finally chose him back, kieran got his permission to love him, and he’d been waiting on that for ages. kieran duffy has been starving for love for all 23 years of his life, and he’s got such a craving for it that it makes him the best cook in the world because then every crumb matters. being a lover with no one to love has left kieran with a keenly honed sense of adoration- a natural skill he has sharpened to a perfect point in all of his quiet isolation. javier practically drowns in it once he’s exposed to the full capacity of it. you’re absolutely right that it isn’t too long before kieran has javier wrapped perfectly, lovingly, obediently around his finger. when kieran sits politely on the bedroll next to his beautiful musician as he plays for his usual crowd of outlaws, when he peers over at him through long brunette lashes, when javier can feel his gaze on his fingers as they pluck the strings (and some rare nights, javier knows exactly what kinds of thoughts are in kieran’s mind, which only flusters him further. especially when kieran feigns innocence if ever accused of lust, all the way up until they’re alone, in which he’s quite happy to share imagery from his vivid imagination.). usually, though, kieran wants nothing more out of it than to let javier know just how much he adores him, how pretty he thinks he is, how perfect his voice is, how every little thing about him drives kieran crazy- and it’s out of lack of recent exposure that javier’s tolerance for it all is so low. that’s what he tells himself, anyway. kieran may not be a poet, but he’s sure honest, and sometimes, that hits harder than elegant prose.

i do so love the thought of a flustered javier, especially when he’s the one who is supposedly the “romantic” of the two. man can dish it out but he can’t take it </3 kieran sparingly shares touches with him throughout the day as well, placing a hand on the back of javier’s collar when he’s leaning over his shoulder to peer at whatever javier is intending to show him (a map for a small job he’s planning, an upgrade on his revolver or knife, the poison throwing knives he’s gingerly handling as he explains to kieran how to coat them evenly for a quicker kill), hooking a finger into the waistband of javier’s pants or his suspenders as they smoke alone early in the morning by the scout campfire, touches the tips of their boots together as they both work their separate chores of cleaning saddles and sharpening knives. kieran says i love you throughout the day in a million different ways. like you said, he’s practically vibrating with it. by the end of the day, after kieran’s shared with javi how his eyes look like the perfect cup of coffee in the sun, how he’s real purdy first thing in the morning, how he missed him the other day while he was out on a job, all the while burning holes into javier’s skin with every little touch he sneaks in when they’re on the same side of camp, javier is a puddle on the ground. he’s anxiously fiddling with his guitar before playing and missing notes when he does, desperately cleaning his boots and hat more to soothe his hot gut, and taking solo fishing trips to either verbally rant his feelings out loud in spanish or rub one out because kieran is driving him absolutely insane, and they’ve not been together quite long enough for javier to justify dragging him out of camp every single day to get some privacy and/or blow off some steam (in more ways than one, depending on the day).

the longer they’re together, the more brazen he gets, absolutely. placing a hand on javier’s shoulder while he sits next to him at the campfire with other gang members, tucking javi’s hair behind his ear when it’s down and they’re chatting late at night, saying “oh, i do love you.”, “yes, sweetheart?”, “javier, my dear-“ in front of some other gang members while they’re talking or addressing each other, and it simply turns javier’s brain off. to be bravely loved is such a privilege and it almost sends a shiver down his spine every time kieran does it. to kieran, it’s almost like he can’t even help it, doesn’t even really think about it too much after a while. sure, he’s anxious at first, especially with how javier will react since he’s essentially constantly around his tough-love family who will absolutely mock him for it if he lets them, but seeing javier get so flustered because of how little he expected kieran to be so bold, it’s addicting. immensely. plus, kieran knows javier may not come back to him every time he leaves camp, and he’s lost enough in his lifetime to regret not loving javier to his full capacity. it won’t get them hurt, so he’s happy to be brave, because he’ll know that if either of them die, they will die having loved and been loved at 100%. now, he doesn’t think too hard about any of that. really, kieran just can’t help but love javier- can’t help but want to tell him that he’s the most beautiful person he’d ever met, tell him how much he matters to him, tell him how special his heart is, show him how much he loves him, indelibly, intricately, with every fiber of his being. if i don’t kiss him breathless within the next 10 seconds, i will die. he thinks after a long day of small touches and meager compliments, after a long day of javier tripping over his boots and unsatisfactorily twanging his guitar strings once or twice that evening nonetheless. and he says “if i dont kiss you within the next ten seconds, i will die.” and javier pauses, freezes, shocked, trapped in green eyes as the scout campfire lazily licks dances of light and shadows across their wrinkles and scars and features. and javier says, “well then, come here. you are too young to die.” as his heart beats louder in his chest than it ever has in a gunfight.

umm i think i got off topic but yes :3 i agree :3 kieran can be quite forward, even canonically ! they’re both loverboys in their own ways and equally as hungry for the others’ taste (figuratively and literally). sorry for the yap sesh ! thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me !!!!!!! i love thinking about them waygh ;__; i could talk about them all day

[yuzuna123]

i am so glad everyone agrees Rinko is the only sane member of the Shigemura lab.

[spookythesillyfella]

okay we can ignore the url/icon here because it’s cracking me up while i’m typing this but you know who it is and i just needed to laugh it out before getting to the rest....

i’m not sure when i’ll be sending more asks and honestly i don’t know how much longer i will be posting on ‘the blog’ before anything changes.. though i just wanted to say thank you for making 2024 not as bad as it could’ve been. i easily may have said “yeah this whole year sucked” and that simply wouldn’t be true funny enough. i got to meet some really amazing people ( including you ) and even though we haven’t known each other for long, i don’t regret it for a second it feels like the kind of friendship where i have known you forever and i don’t get that feeling with many people unless they really matter to me ?? sadly nothing lasts forever but i did just want to take a moment to appreciate even the little bits of happiness we’ve shared please take care of yourself.. i know it’s easier said than done and you’re probably tired of hearing it on repeat as you’ve got so much ahead of you. it’s hard to see it right now yet everything you’re pushing through is leading to something better... if this really is the last ask i send i'd at least want it to mean something more than the rest. chin up! (do not feel forced to answer right away or at all btw. happy holidays)

kyaaaa !! evil shrignold !! sou scary 😦😦 [/j hehe]

doll . i honestly don't know where to even begin with you ; the fact you also feel like thiz friendship . despite being rather short . iz actually meaningful – you haven't just made life easier to stomach . but you've also made it enjoyable

im gonna be honest . im alwayz hezitant when it comez to forming bondz with people . but i feel like it really can be worth taking the risk of engaging with otherz becauze of outcomez such az theze

i hope you take care of yourself az well . that you never forget about the fact there are people out there who care about you and who'll want to aid you when you're struggling . even if they're not physically there to support you ; i can't promise that the future won't be difficult to handle . but i know for a fact that we'll try our best to be here for you through it all

make sure to at least drink water daily . okay ?

[valentinos-corner]

and yet

I find him comforting

[dootznbootz]

opinions on helen of sparta being compared to prey animals? blink blink

*blink blinks back* Then immediately sits like this because of the question.

It's a good question that I'm happy to answer! It just makes me mad.... I sincerely hate the wording of "prey" being used to describe her.

SHE IS A VICTIM! THAT DOES NOT MEAN SHE IS "PREY"!

I can...see how people in ancient times may have used that word and still meant it in how she is a victim... but modern-day English-speaking people calling her that??? (considering how in different languages the word "prey" could have different meanings.) I'll just say that as someone who has been "prey" herself at one point, I REALLY hate that word as a descriptor. Just say victim or survivor. 👍

Honestly to call ANY victim "prey" is so fucked up. "Prey" to me, feels like "it's meant to happen." "Prey" are part of the food chain and so that's what happens. And to compare that to abduction and SA? Almost as if "that's our place"? It also kind of implies something being "eaten" or killed... Helen SURVIVES. She's traumatized and definitely needs healing and support but it's not like she can't find joy or peace ever again. Prey just feels so fucking gross.

Also, if someone calls victims "prey", I hope they know that Moose, Elk, Boars, Bovine, ZEBRAS, etc. are technically "prey". And these are VERY aggressive animals while still being "prey" for some other animals. And also that doesn't mean that "Oh, they're powerful! Clearly they should've been able to stop it." That's victim blaming :P

She is a clever, determined, caring woman who was ripped from her home for YEARS because Paris was a dipshit who decided he needed the prettiest woman in the world despite already having a wife. He didn't care about the fact that Helen didn't want to be there and was already married. He is so selfish that he will not let her go back even when THOUSANDS have died in the war! EVEN HIS BROTHER HECTOR AND PRIAM DO NOT BLAME HER! Granted, we do not know if Aphrodite would have let him undo their deal of "I want the prettiest woman" if he DID end up feeling bad for Helen and he wished to let her go home (I doubt it based on his personality though).

"Oh, if she is so independent/strong, then why didn't she just kill Paris and leave?"

AGAIN! Victim blaming!!! First thing, people who ask that have media literacy that is piss on the poor. You also have no idea about the political implications that would have happened if she DID kill Paris. She literally cries about staying there and argues with Aphrodite about seeing Paris, only to get strongarmed by Aphrodite as, guess what? A GODDESS WILL ALWAYS OVERPOWER A DEMIGOD. (This isn't Percy Jackson where he "killed" Ares as a 12 year old (Percy, you were my childhood, but that's bullshit.))

Even confined in Troy, she ARGUED with APHRODITE about going to see Paris! She is not some meek woman who just does as she's told with no pushback! She argued with a GODDESSS! Very few survive doing that!!!

She's not "Prey to fate", she's a "VICTIM of Fate".

[pinkytoothlesso11]

Hi Pinky

What Make Strickler So Special for you?

For me Jim and Claire what make them Special "

is the fact that Jim Show more emotion he wouldn't be afraid to shad a tear or two he is very emotional Person. as Someone who tend to show more emotion then most males i can relate to it. and i feel Like he is Very Special.

Claire is Probably the Darkness inside her heart , her Losing control over emotions and her hard time accepting reality. while also think the Worst things Possible is Something that i found really close to home.

That's a pretty good question! And I like you sharing your reasons for liking Jim and Claire, which are definitely some of mine too!

I can't limit my reasons for liking Strickler to one, so I'll give you my top five:

I like his complexity, he's never portrayed as black and white. He's morally grey, even when he reforms he doesn't have a complete personality change, he's still himself.

I love Strickler's dynamic with Jim. I love how they go from teacher and student, to enemies to reluctant allies, to mentor and student, then friends, and finally to family and father/son. I appriciate RoTT ONLY for consolidating their relationship a little more, and I have every reason to believe in the new timeline they'll only get closer then ever before.

I enjoy the development of Stricklake, even though it has its ups and downs because I am a shameless monster lover myself and support Barb 100%. I also appreciate that Barbara and Strickler have things to work through and it's not instantly fixed.

I like Strickler's stupid puns and sense of humour. He makes me laugh so much with his stupidness at times. (his accent does NOT help).

This is what really did it for me though: he has WINGS! As someone obsessed with dragons that was the icing on the cake for me lol.

[clockworkreapers]

So...is Falmea gonna lose an arm from Sauron using psionics to collapse part of a building? I also worry about how he's doing rn. Not looking so hot ngl. Say, do any of the trolls eventually resurrect into godtier mode, is godtier different in your au, or is there no godtier?

First half of the ask:

No matter what I say here it’s going to be a spoiler for the comic. She could loose her arm or a leg, or even just part of her arm or any body part. She could even be perfectly fine besides a few scratches. OR she could dead.

I know people see the ask blog from years back that’s a different timeline, so what you see there isn’t always gonna be canonical to the comic. The comic is its own lil box and there are 68 more pages of screenplay left. (Comic will probs end up being 1700-1900 pages long in the end)

Second half:

There is no Sburb in this version of Aleph Null that’s presented in the comic. So are no godtiers or anything even remotely related to Sburb in that universe. (There is a side thing I’m thinkering with just for fun though but it is in no way related to the comic, I talk about that with people on discord though. It won’t amount to anything)