#preservation and so maybe

[anna-scribbles]

if the agrestes weren't rich i think that gabriel would be the normal one. like gabe's problem is that he stopped running into natural limits due to absurd wealth and his obsessive nature led him to develop some kind of god complex where he won't accept that anything is out of his control. I think that if gabe was broke again and just simply couldn't afford to go on an international goose chase for ancient magic artifacts of untold power, if he had to work a 9-5 to live and couldn't just disappear into his basement lair to commit domestic terrorism and say evil monologues to himself, then he would be way more normal. he'd just be some guy. he might even let himself have a mowhawk again. but I think that emilie would be way LESS normal if they weren't rich. like emilie needs so many people to be obsessed with her so much all the time in order for her to function. and gabe would still have his toxic codependent obsession with her, sure, but that wouldn't be nearly enough. emilie has to be at the center of the world's spotlight at all times because she doesn't know how to exist if she's not performing. anyway all this to say I am so certain that if the agrestes were not disgustingly wealthy, emilie agreste would one million percent be running a massive family vlogger youtube channel

[alicornze7]

Silly guys goin' on silly adventures:]

@rorydrawsandwrites's puppeteer au but the only difference is that jax gives consent

My contribution to this wonderful au has been long overdue:')

Rambling in tags ehe (cw: ribbun:p)

Well maybe it's not the only difference

[canisalbus]

My auntie keeps Golden Guernsey goats on our island, like many of our local unique breeds of livestock they nearly went extinct in the starving during ww2 occupation surviving by only one smuggled flock. They're super friendly and energetic and their colouration might be of interest :eyes:

Oh OH these are very pretty

[gottaread2]

It means so much to me that Ed Nygma once described himself like a butterfly and later on Oswald saw a butterfly encased in ice and decided that was how he was going to deal with Ed.

[pseudophan]

Dan has been more touchy with Phil since their comeback, but I specifically feel like in the last few videos he’s been EXTREMELY touchy! The door is opening more and more🚪👀

yeah........ dan is soooo calculated is the thing. phil is more likely to be touchy without thinking about it too much, but dan is like... he's so hyper aware. when he's getting extra touchy you know it's on purpose, it's deliberate, they are Up To Something

[neversetyoufree]

I've been thinking lately about Vanitas and Noé's first "what is salvation" fight at the bal masqué and what it means about their individual definitions of the concept, and I've realized something about Vanitas.

Noé's definition of salvation is the obvious one. It feels natural. To save someone is to keep them from dying. But in a way, his understanding of salvation is also almost selfish. Noé's foundational trauma is the constant loss of his loved ones. He is the eternal sole survivor. So of course he wants to keep people alive—he wants to "save" the people he cares about in the way that keeps them by his side this time.

It's not wrong to want that, of course. I don't mean "selfish" as a condemnation. It's just that the definition of salvation that Noé starts the series with is inarguably the one that best serves his own happiness.

And it's the same with Vanitas.

When Vanitas kills the little girl Catherine by restoring her true name, he tells Noé he doesn't know what salvation is. He might be lying there, or he might be telling the truth in that he's never put his definition of salvation into words or acknowledged it on a conscious level. Either way, though, I do think he has a definition of salvation somewhere in his mind, and it's a very personal one.

Vanitas sees salvation as the preservation or restoration of one's true self. You're saved so long as you can preserve your essential self, uncorrupted by outside forces. Even if the price of that selfness is death.

While Noé's foundational trauma that informs his worldview is the loss of his loved ones, one of Vanitas's foundational traumas is the loss of his bodily autonomy. Through Moreau's experiments and Luna's mark/bite, he has been transformed into something no longer fully human, and he hates it. From the moment Luna told him he was dying, he said he wanted to die as himself rather than live as their kin, and he has been denied that opportunity.

Nothing is more important for Vanitas than being able to dictate the destiny of his own body, and malnomen are the ultimate corruption of bodily autonomy and selfness. Altering one's true name warps not only their physical body, but their very being on a metaphysical level. The curse takes everything a vampire is and changes it, and doing that to an unwilling victim is the ultimate horror for Vanitas.

Given that context, of course Vanitas thinks that killing a child to restore her true name counts as saving her. He's restoring her essential self and un-corrupting her body and being, and even if her self is only returned for an instant before she dies, it's preferable to living on as something warped by an outside force.

Vanitas absolutely starts the series with a definition of salvation, and like Noé, it's the one that best serves his own happiness. He wants to be saved. He wants to be returned to his human self, and failing that (since he knows it's impossible), he wants to wipe out all traces of the force that changed him and then die without going any further down the path of inhumanity.

Vanitas might not be able to admit that definition out loud (or even to himself directly), but it's there, and it guides him early in the series as much as Noé's own definition of salvation guides him in turn.

[fisheito]

theyre touching tails and looking at ducks together now. tomorrow they'll braid each other's hair and decorate it with kelp ribbons

[platoapproved]

After the first night, I thought I would die of this thirst. After the second, I thought I would perish screaming. After the third, I only dreamed of it in weeping and in desperation, licking at my own blood tears on my fingertips. After six nights of this when I could bear the thirst no longer, they brought a struggling victim to me.

At the end of seven more nights, when I was starved to the point where even the scent of the blood didn't rouse me, they laid the victim-a small boy child of the streets crying for pity-directly in my arms.

Some twenty weeks were passed in this misery. I didn't even believe anymore that the bright and fantastical world of Venice had ever existed. And I knew my Master was dead. I knew it. I knew that all I loved was dead. I was dead.

2X08 "AND THAT'S THE END OF IT. THERE'S NOTHING ELSE." || The Vampire Armand

[dr-mothman]

I think not a lot of people talk about AM's self-esteem issues and self-destructive tendencies and it makes me sad.

[uncanny-tranny]

Being uncompromising on your boundaries doesn't make you the spawn of satan. It makes you a normal person, and anybody who makes you feel horrible about not compromising on your boundaries should perhaps be a yellow, if not red, flag, at least.

[tardxsblues]

Seriously? Oh, Doctor. To save her soul? But who, my dear, will save yours?

[bonefall]

which cats would you say are good references for bb clan gender roles? from what i parse bb goldenflower and mousefur seem to be ‘stereotypical’ mollies, and you’ve talked about dustpelt being gender non comforming as a molly-like tom.

For the ideal molly by Clan Culture standards, look no further than Speckletail. Her aggression, boldness, and dedication to her legacy at all costs are above and beyond the basic expectations of yaow-assigned warriors. Even her LEGENDARY death in defense of the camp in BB!TNP is part of that. It's hard to get more femme than Speckletail in the eyes of Clan cats!

She was a VERY traditional person. It's why her kittens are also all good examples of their genders. You clocked Golfy, but her sister Mistleclaw was also a good one (died young of plague). Lionheart is also a great example of a tom.

In fact most of the toms of that era are good examples. Lionheart, Whitestorm... and Tigerclaw most of all. Tigerclaw was perfect as far as toms are concerned.

Until it was known what he'd done to Redtail, his grace and passivity to his Clan was admired. His contributions to Clan arguments were level-headed and measured, unlike the ferocity with which he leveraged against outsiders. He was a wonderful mate to Golfy and a beloved father to Swiftpaw and Lynxkit.

Some folks ask me about Thistleclaw specifically because he's so aggressive, but he's also a decent example of a ssuf-gender cat! Defending BORDERS violently is expected, being xenophobic in the way he is was what was expected. The constant arguing with authority (Bluestar, Redtail) was not-- but his friends would say that's just THEIR problem. After all, whaddaboutsnowfur.

(Whitestorm also has opinions. But he's too mild and passive to enter this discussion.)

I feel like Oakheart is also a REALLY good example, especially after the Forget-me-nots sadly drift apart. Incredible dad, surrounded by friends, fantastic fighter. I imagine it makes it ESPECIALLY hard whenever he has to fight Bluestar because this is incredibly attractive.

(I kinda want Oakheart to accidentally take one of her lives, because they're in the middle of a battle over Sunningrocks and they're suddenly drawn into a battle SO intense and SO passionate that the entire world around them becomes a blur. And then he launches her into orbit and she falls into the swollen river. OOPS. SORRY!!!! Goddamn himbo)

Gib, or meewa-gender, is definitely the most broad. It's about wisdom, foresight, and blessedness by StarClan. There are cats who are assigned meewa at birth, but most discover it in their kithoods.

Duckfur for example has always been sharp as a tack, and when xeir eye started to drift, that was taken as a bit of a sign. They sort of "grew into it" in adulthood, after Mistystar assumed power over RiverClan and suddenly xey were being rewarded for foresight.

Blackstar is actually a FANTASTIC example, with how his lives were given one at a time and he started thinking about the future of his Clan with his bog project. Assigned meewa at birth because of his extra toe, it kinda "went away" as his kithood wasn't consistent with the gender, and now it's back.

Wisdom, intelligence, and foresight are kind of "loose" so the matching third gender is loose as well, if that makes sense.

[tierras]

Oh dear, why are you quitting ?

mostly because my manager is severely unstable and toxic :(

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

(end of bad’s Acceptance vod, about 1:48:30)

no but im never going to be normal again. LOOK at this. look. IMMEDIATELY before this he gave a whole miserable speech at the graveyard about how much he misses the kids and how he wants them to come home. He was grieving so hard it started to rain. He cried while he sang to them. It was the perfect end to 5 days of grieving- and then he does this.

and the rain isnt about grief anymore- the thunder isnt a peaceful background to a heartbreaking scene. It is rage. the whole context changes. The storm raged on while he grieved like he raged during the Everything Else that happened (“there are a lot of federation workers on today. I need to interrogate them about some things” he said while he was following forever ALONE to distract him. he knew forever was fucked up and about to put more marriage pressure on him and for anyone else that would have been Terrifying. how could you focus on anything but that? but. bad was thinking about tormenting more federation workers)

i just!!!! its so good. its SO good its so scary its so good. bad hasnt accepted the loss of his children but he has accepted how far he will go to get them back. (he will do anything)

[ottiliere]

haiiii ^w^ do u take commissions

I think it would depend... I have a full-time job and my income is steady but I'd consider it. feel free to dm me!

[maybemewlyn]

Love is to die, why did you not die?