#possibly able to take over

[hergan416]

Albert (mtp) with #16

16. Path of Enlightenment

YOU FEED ME anon. THANK YOU

Albert glanced around the hidden library, eyes wide in awe. So many ancient books, so little time. He pulled one from its spot at random, cracking its spine to begin eagerly absorbing its knowledge. Cainite lore, a prized find, and here was an entire library full of it.

He began to read eagerly.

The book was strange. Albert knew that Caine was salvation, the pinnacle of all things. Albert knew that to become close to Caine was to achieve salvation. Albert knew that he had been cursed just as Caine had, been abandoned by God, and that avoiding his nature, fighting the curse, was immoral. To be anything less than he was was akin to crime.

Yet Caine had placed this book in his hand.

It preached not of Caine, but of God. It said that God had a plan for the kindred. That all was not lost. That undeath was an opportunity to learn, and that the beast could be quelled with inner strength, courage, and self-control.

It was entirely opposite of everything he had been taught since his embrace. Something deep within Albert awakened as he read the heretical text.

There was a quiet noise, and Albert turned towards it. He saw nothing, but knew something was likely still there. He'd learned by now to trust the hair standing up on the back of his neck.

Sure enough, something fast and strong grabbed him. Albert's eyes focused on the individual he dealt with. He was around Albert's height, had perfectly slicked back hair, cold, black, dead eyes, and wore a classic tuxedo. And, he was playing no games.

Even though it might have made sense, Albert did not use his disciplines to fight back. Instead, he simply pulled his finger from the book and slid it back on the shelf. He didn't want whatever would happen next to damage it.

"Interesting," he commented on the book, ignoring the other vampire altogether. "If I'm going to be killed for learning that, I suppose it might have been worth it. To know that there are Cainites that believe the opposite of what I have been taught."

He turned his eyes up into the man's. "Is that your plan? Because I will accept your judgement."

He was appraised with cold eyes, then let go.

"One must not be too hasty," he spoke, and the voice that escaped sounded ancient to Albert's ears.

Caine would want him to defeat this man, to drink his blood, to steal his secrets. This man would bring him closer to Caine.

Albert no longer wanted to. He felt tired.

He didn't want to have been abandoned by God.

"Please," Albert said aloud, although he didn't know what he was asking for. Just that his soul was splintering, that all the work he had put in to destroy his own humanity was coming undone. That he was sinking in sin, and didn't know how to make it stop.

His mind was a mess, and the beast roared in the background.

Ride the wave. But today he did not want to ride the wave. He did not want the beast to win. He did not want his beast at all.

He could use the beast. Could use the beast to lash out at this information, at its guardian. It was what he was supposed to do.

The man could see him crumbling. Could do something. But instead his eyes flit back and forth like he was looking at something that didn't exist.

Finally, as Albert began hyperventilating, each effort to suppress the beast within him drawing it closer to the surface, did the man do something. He picked him up like he was a doll, and whisked him away, throwing him in a locked cell.

"I will teach you," the man said from the other side of the door. "I will teach you, but first we have to undo what they did to you."

[silusvesuius]

nnnnnnnnnnnnno maa'am

[nerdy-hyperfixations]

Thinking about how if Shermy Pines. And like, if he is the baby, he’d be born in the 1970s and be 40 by 2012 and he’s already a grandad. He had to be a teen dad in the 80s (after a severe economic recession) and then his kid ended up being a teen parent by 1999 (Which is 8 years before ANOTHER SEVERE ECONOMIC RECESSION LOL)

Also he was born into a pretty broken family, probably rarely if ever saw his brothers. Do you think he ever saw Stanley before he had to start pretending to be Ford? Do you think Ford visited from college??? Because he didn’t seem confident facing his father until he made millions, so like???

And, like, do you think Filbrick and Caryn changed as parents by the time they raised Shermy? Because it seems like a trend that as parents get older they mellow out a bit, so Shermy probably has a completely different experience with their parents then Stan and Ford, and talking to them is just “is this seriously the same parents???” (Imagine the silent resentment that’d cause 😭😭😭)

Personally I headcannon that Shermy had a daughter (Mabel and Dipper’s mom) and not a son like it says on the wiki because c’mon. Can he just have a daughter. Idk why this is important to me but… c’mon. Can he just have a daughter. It just feels right to me.

[fruityumbrella]

maybe im stupid but while i definitely agree that luffy would have complex feelings and be upset or perhaps briefly guilty over what really went down at thriller bark, i really dont think he would feel that way about the death pact thing like. that one isnt about him.

thriller bark was obviously self sacrifice and taking away the crew's agency in who dies for them and whatever else, but the death pact is about sanji. its an absolute last resort and its trusting zoro to do what the others would not be able to do, after every possible attempt to save him has been exhausted.

sanji knows that his crew wont let him go without a fight, he finally is secure in the knowledge that he is loved and valued, and he trusts that they will do everything possible to help him if he did ever succumb to the germa enhancements.

but he knows it might not be possible. and he knows zoro will know the line as well, and will stop sanji doing something unforgivable.

obviously theres still glaring issues of his self sacrificial streak and his belief that if anyone should suffer it should be him, and all of that, of course. but its not quite the same, right?

i just dont think luffy would presume autonomy over anyone like that to say no youre not Allowed to do this, or like this is a Betrayal of my captaincy bc you didnt tell me. his crew are all free people, luffys problem has always been when they do things they dont want bc they think they have no other choice. the death pact is about when there truly IS no other choice.

does that make sense

[deoidesign]

.

[ganondoodle]

been sitting at my desk for 3 hours just trying to decide if it would be better to draw or to write on the totk rant document, not doing either

[angelnumber27]

violently forcing myself to have better days

[possamble]

AHA thank u i was mostly just. frantically pulling the "no hetero" card bc farcille is super super always endgame for me and the "marcille has two hands" thing is absolutely not for me and my personal characterization of marcille

i like. can't find it anymore for some reason but there was a farcille fic set just after the shuro confrontation where laios reaches over to hold marcille's hand and ask her if she likes him or if she's just tolerating him too and it was so. the vulnerability. the puppyness.

that safety and security he must feel in knowing that she wears her heart on her sleeve and he will always know when she's unhappy with him because she will absolutely let it be known. the way that falin's first revival was the turning point for the way he felt about her because, for the first time in his life, protecting falin wasn't something he had to shoulder alone. there was finally someone else who cared about her as much as he did (in his eyes, resenting his parents for failing to protect her) and would stop at nothing to save her. the way it must have been proof for him that, not only was falin not alone anymore, he wasn't alone anymore.

idk why i like rather than dislike the fact that his only framework for parsing how he feels about "the first girl other than his sister that he's ever cared this much about" is a comphet romantic lens. like he would have the autism moment of fully assuming that he's in love with her for a while and just like. not? doing anything about it? because he doesn't feel the urge to, nor is he sad that he knows marcille would mostly likely never "feel the same way" about him?

like. he "figures out" that he's "in love with marcille" with all the passion of printing out a label and sticking it onto a favourite scrapbook for organizational purposes. he's equally happy to be her husband or brother-in-law so long as it means she stays close and is part of his family.

i know logically i should hate it but it's sooo crunchy to me. my comphet besties ever. designated plus one and dance partner to all fancy and formal occasions. having actual real chemistry but the "romantic" part of it is some weird shapeshifter smokescreen. augh

[spotaus]

Late Night quick thing (New Age Sillies)

Bad news: That joke post about including Reset + Orchid is definitely not canon. (I legit got sad thinking about Reset being in a universe where Orchid isn't- because their stories are so so intertwined- but Nightmare 100% would NOT risk the whole twins exploding Error's soul thing.)

Good news: This means I COULD include Kane (Reset's older brother who usually dies in timelines where Reset is born) and use it to develope his character a bit more! Also! Perhaps a Blue × Dream kiddo is finally in the stars for me to design?

[icewindandboringhorror]

... why he sit like this

[huldrabitch]

Everytime I see anything about ozempics I think about the superior iron man comic where evil capitalist Tony releases extremis disguised as an app to make people healthy/beautiful, only to add a 100 dollars subscription fee per day making him even richer and also turning millions of people addicts desperate for money to keep the app.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Something that occurred to me this time…

… Is that Eliot deliberately brings Hardison w/ him to confront Moreau the first time. He tells Nate that he and Hardison will do it (don't worry, I also Love Hardison taking the moment to be like 'hey, are you okay?' bc those two usually express themselves through bickering so much that it clearly telegraphs just how off Eliot is being that Hardison is dropping the usual banter to be serious).

Which for one thing, says something about Eliot's confidence in Hardison in general, but also, like… Yes, Parker's probably not the choice for that introduction, it's not her style, but Nate or Sophie could also have played the part. He could have tried to go alone. But he pulls Hardison.

Obviously he's not trying to put Hardison in danger, he makes it quite clear in all other scenarios that he does not tolerate Hardison in danger (visual cues in The Gone Fishin' Job my beloveds), the others are well aware of the fact that he's Done Some Shit and are equally unaware of his connection to Moreau. And to be honest, I can't pinpoint an exact reason why I think he might have done it, chosen Hardison to be the one who finds out first. Maybe he suspected Moreau would underestimate Hardison, making him safer (relatively, if course), then someone like Nate or Sophie. Maybe he thought it would be best to have Hardison's tech skills as back up. Maybe he thought Hardison would roll w/ the punches the best. Maybe he just wanted Hardison there for morale.

I don't know, but it's a moment that didn't really occur to me the first time, but I think is actually quite meaningful in a more emotional way.

[florenceisfalling]

the woes are upon me and i know there are bigger priorities in the world atm but if anybody wants to just toss a coin to their little loser and add a character name with it i'll make you some of my geometric ms paint art like this 👍 no pressure

[notmoreflippingelves]

🔥Hot take: Anna is the true heroine of Frozen and was done dirty by the creators and is still mistreated by the fanbase too. She deserved more screentime and to be her own person instead of always running after Elsa, she also should have been the 5th element (ice makes no sense!!). Elsa is more selfish/self-centered and co-dependant of the two

Strongly agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly disagree

So I agree in part with this, but I also disagree significantly so it makes sense to split my answer down the middle. I agree that Anna is significantly underrated and underutilized by both the fandom and the creators. I would also agree that Anna is more of the actual protagonist than Elsa, though I'm not sure I would go so far as say one of them is a "true" heroine while the other isn't. (Elsa was narratively an antihero/antivillain in the first movie but her intentions were heroic (if misguided) enough that I don't feel comfortable saying only Anna is "truly" a heroic character).

I also agree that "Elsa (ice) as the fifth element" was monumentally stupid, and it would've been more interesting if Anna had turned out to have powers of her own. (Though not necessarily in the "elements" plot as is). But then again, I think pretty much everything about Frozen 2 is monumentally stupid (though not irredeemably stupid in the way Toy Story 4 is. Frozen 3, you can fix this mess. I believe in you!)

The thing that drives me absolutely off the wall is that the thesis that orients Frozen 2 is the antithesis of that of Frozen 1. (Frozen 1 is oriented around Elsa and Anna learning that they can rely on each other and not be afraid to be part of each other's lives. They don't have to be alone and in fact, can never be alone because they have each other. Frozen 2 is like... "um actually... Elsa is just 'too different' to stay in Anna's life permanently, even if that's what they both want. It's more important for her to be special and magical in isolation. She doesn't have a choice; it's her destiny even though Elsa feeling different and alone for so long is what has historically caused pretty much every problem for both her and Anna in the past. Support systems are for wusses; real peeps embrace rugged individualism." Thanks I hate it.)

Where I disagree with you is that I think you are being a bit unfair in your characterization of Elsa. (Although I will admit to being far more of an Elsa fan than an Anna one...but I do love both, I promise). Elsa is a character that I would describe as being "selfless to the point of selfishness." She has been conditioned into believing that her emotions--and by extension, herself--is always the problem. It's her fault; it's her responsibility. She's trained to see herself as the "most important" but only in the sense that she's the most "dangerous to herself and others."

And while she categorically does not want that, she inevitably ends up centering herself in everything so that she can protect everyone around her. She's probably aware that keeping away from Anna during their childhood hurt them both, but she's been raised to believe that Anna's safety is THE most important thing and therefore, she'll have to do whatever she has to do to maintain it.

I think it's important to remember that Anna's initial accident happened, while she and Elsa were playing and were happy. It's not just anger or sorrow or fear that impacts her powers. It's any and every strong emotion. Elsa believes that the only way to avoid hurting anyone is to keep her emotions as small, concealed and mild as possible. Is it unfair that Anna did not get a say in any of this? Absolutely. She is the one who should've gotten to decide whether staying close to Elsa was "worth the risk." But again, that is the parents' fault just as much as it is Elsa's.

Send me your fandom hot take and I will say what I think about it!

[spitblaze]

peoples attention spans are not getting shorter! people are not addicted to instant gratification! capitalists and ad agencies are abusing human psychology and physiology to squeeze every last ounce of our time and attention out of us and im exhausted!!!

[big-golyat]

FINALLY.

She's done. After weeks of trying and failing, I finally managed to get a single win in a sea of losses.

With this, I've collected every base game remembrance at RL1.

...so, what should I try next?