#why go to church?

[fischiee]

omega when he’s implanted in tex: you should give into your rage and abandon those you might love to fulfill the urge to find revenge for all those who hurt you. kill your daughter in cold blood while she is incapacitated with agony at even the mention of your name

omega when he’s with the reds and blues: muahahaha 😈😈!!!!1!!! !!! im eevviilllll and im going to blow up the whole! WORLD! !1! 😈😈😈 !!!

[agentark]

see you around, rvb

[simplydnp]

the caricature moment is wild, they really went oh we should do the CUSTOM COUPLES CARICATURE phil they would put you in my dimple WOULDNT THEY? but i think its wilder that they are still calling each other friend and buddy like

if there is one thing dan and phil do it's commit to the bit. if there's two things dan and phil do it's insert themselves into couples scenarios.

[mormonculturememes]

sweet salt model miku. special musical number miku. service project activity miku

[ectonurites]

i do sometimes wish i knew less about comics so i could just be happy when announcements drop instead of getting all nitpicky

[salty-an-disco]

Contrarian is that kid who was forced to go to church all their childhood and as soon as they hit adulthood and gained more freedom, refused to step foot on there again and now has a knee-jerk disgusted/fearful reaction to anything that reminds them of church

[royalarchivist]

Tazercraft and Richarlyson: [ Talking about the butterfly effect that led to Cellbit and Roier getting married ]

Richarlyson: The real cupid is pa Mike.

Pac: If Mike was unintentionally the reason why Richas died*, and that caused Roier and Cellbit to— Wait, you're saying I'm single because you died?! Oh what the hell. No, it's fine, that's fine, that's fine, it's fine, I stayed on the ground so that others could fly, it's fine.

Richarlyson: KKKKKKK Pa, you misunderstood me 0_0

[hotmessmaxpress]

vale is a god that marc was raised to worship. raised to be devout, spending long weekends on pilgrimages. his mother touches his cheeks gently when he tells her about god, about reverence. she blesses him until he's old enough to bless her, and he gently wipes away her tears of joy.

marc is a shining star of the religious order. as he grows older and travels more, spreading the word of god, he becomes more recognizable. he's charismatic and personable and people love him.

so he meets God.

God seeks him out, greets him when marc is alone. he's kneeling in the church, surrounded by a comforting blanket of incense and candle smoke, when the feet appear in front of him. when he looks up, God is standing before the altar. marc is terrified and awed and madly in love with the man before him.

he has spent so many hours in adoration, speaking to God like they're friends, and now God is in front of him, speaking back.

God continues to talk to marc, appearing when marc kneels for adoration. for their first few meetings he stands in front of him, talking while marc stares with starry eyes and sore knees. eventually he sits beside him, and they talk like friends. it never becomes less intense for marc, who always shakes slightly for hours afterward.

marc loves him. marc loves him with his entire heart and soul.

marc starts talking to others about his experiences. telling the world how he talks to God, what he's really like. he's as popular as ever, and people beg to meet him and to learn what insights and wisdom he's gained from his meetings with God. people flock to hear his sermons, to receive blessings from the man who is so connected to God. the man who is so holy by association.

and God doesn't like it.

how dare marc become so popular using his name? vale is God, and marc is only a man. how could the world treat marc with reverence when it should belong to Him?

and God spits snakes the next time he talks to marc. marc begs, explaining that the reverence the people have for marc is only because marc brings them closer to God. marc would never try and take the love that belongs to vale. he wouldn't. and isn't God the one who made marc this way? charismatic and popular? how could God be angry at marc for bringing people to the light?

but God doesn't see it. He doesn't understand.

he sneers at marc, no longer sitting with him. he casts glares down at marc while marc kneels, begging. marc spends hours wanting desperately to feel vale's love.

it never comes.

and then the church burns.

alex drags marc out of the building while marc sobs, palms burned and dirty with ash. he screams and sobs and people watch on. people know, somehow, that it was God himself who burnt the church. they know that marc is cast out, no longer holy. how dare he claim to be loved by God, when God would go so far as to burn his temple?

so marc goes into exile, with his patient brother for companionship.

the worst part, though, is that marc never stops praying. he never stops dropping to his knees to speak to God. even if God has abandoned him, marc can't help but pray.

[ink-blot-thoughts]

It is so eternally funny to me that the Fatui have acquired every single gnosis peacefully... except for Venti.

Zhongli had his contract, Yae Miko traded Ei's, Nahida also traded hers and Ei's, and Neuvilette just gave that shit away. Like we're introduced to them as stealing all the Gnoses and then they drop that shit immediately.

Even worse, they steal it from Venti. Fucking Venti. Mr Had a 500 Year Nap. Mr Tells His City To Be Free and Fucks Off. Mr Steals Wine For Himself. That dude. That's the one it was necessary to dropkick.

Like Signora could have sauntered up with an apple in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other and Venti would have given up his gnosis faster than you can say 'Freedom'.

And even if we go with the theory that Venti knows much more than he let's on, he would've have probably given it away anyway considering what we know now about the third Descender and all.

Like Signora had zero need for the bitchslap-dropkick-combo but she needed the Fatui to have a girl boss reputation so she did anyway. Rate. We stan a proactive Queen ig.

[ofindigoskies]

this is what happens when you don't get therapy

[trensu]

Have an itty bitty tiny piece of stasis in darkness, just so you all have an idea of where the story is going after the godly reveal. and also have proof that i am, in fact, still toiling away at this (as well as hawkins halfway house.)

A week and a half later, Steve entered a town he’d never seen before. He wore simple traveling clothes and carried no weapons aside from a couple of carefully hidden knives. He’d left his armor and shield behind. His satchel held only the essentials one needed for travel and a single stone as large as his fist. The stone was wrapped in layers of cloth to keep it safe during the journey. 

I need you to find someone. 

He felt very bare but he hadn’t been given much of a choice. Speed was of the essence for his quest, and little no-name towns tended to be wary of strangers in plain clothes, even more so around strangers decked out for battle. Steve wasn’t sure this place could be called a town. It was so small it hadn’t been on any official map. It didn’t even have an inn. Hopefully, Steve wouldn’t be needing an inn once he found who he was looking for.

He’s too far from me to reach.

He asked around, laying on the charm generously. He explained he had been a friend of a friend and had been trusted to deliver something. Eventually, he was told where to go. The house he found far beyond the village’s boundary was small. It looked like it had once been well cared for but it was old and had fallen to disrepair. Steve took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

A sallow old man opened the door. He was bald but had some scruff on his face still. His shoulders, stooped from age, trembled. His eyes were bloodshot. He looked so tired.

He’s my very last worshiper in all the world.

“Wayne Munson?” Steve asked.

“Who wants to know?” The man’s voice was phlegmy and rough. He coughed into the crook of his elbow almost before he could finish speaking. 

“I’m Steve. Ser Steve Harrington, pledged to the Lord of Night.”

Wayne’s eyes widened. His grip on the open door weakened and slipped. Steve caught the door before it could hit Wayne.

“He sent me to you,” Steve explained. “May I come in?”

yep, that's it for now. i told you it was small. i'm not even gonna bother with a read-more here.

[vanessakimballs]

restoration is good (TO ME) because after 12 years we finally get to see carolina gather the clarity to understanding tex. just as carolina was beaten down, when we don't have sarge or wash to guide us, it happens.

tex saves us. the woman who failed defies fate and saves the day.

[ectonurites]

CISSIE AND MIA MENTION IN SOLICITS! MY GIRLS… WILL MEET…

[high-voltage-rat]

Actually I'm still thinking about it. Another interesting way in which RvB is anti-war is the way that the Director fills the role of a villain and antagonist (especially in the Recollections trilogy, where he's a faceless villain we never see but is responsible for everything that happens).

In his memos to the Chairman, the Director emphasizes his sense of duty and obligation to the military- he becomes irate for the first time when he feels that it's being implied that he was derelict in his duty... or that the work he did out of that duty is being criticized for being against the military's interests. He also talks about Allison's death in a way I find... interesting.

"You see; I never had the chance to serve in battle. Nor did fate provide me the opportunity to sacrifice myself for humanity as it did for so many others in the Great War. Someone extremely dear to me was lost very early in my life. My mind has always plagued me with the question: If the choice had been placed in my hands, could I have saved her? [...] But, given the events of these past few weeks, I feel confident that had I been given the chance, I would have made those sacrifices myself... Had I only the chance."

The idea of sacrifice is central to the way he talks about his wife's loss, to the way he talks about the war in general. He talks of sacrifice with a sense of veneration- that it's something he aspires to do, that he longs for. There's a few ways we can interpret "I would have made those sacrifices myself"...

-That in Allison's place, he thinks he would have laid down his life too.

-That if given the chance, he would have given his life to save hers.

But most interestingly...

-That he would have sacrificed Allison's life for the continued survival of humanity, if that was what duty called for.

...And personally, I think all 3 are true.

In most war media, the Director's perspective on sacrifice is very common. Sacrifice is glorious and heroic- to die in battle is an honour- and it's the only way to ensure the group you serve survives. This is a tool of propaganda- nobody wants to go to war just for the sake of it, you have to give them a reason that the risk of dying or being permanently disabled isn't just acceptable, but desirable. Beyond that, most people don't want to do things they think are immoral- you have to convince them it's important, a necessary lesser evil. You teach them to sacrifice their morals, too.

The way they train soldiers to follow orders and to kill, is to convince them that they, and the people around them, and the people they care about, will all die if they don't. It's drilled into your head from day one. It's the way they ensure their commanding officers won't shy away from sending their men off to die. The message is constant- sacrifice is your duty, and duty ensures your people's survival.

In the Director's eyes, the damage Project Freelancer caused was his sacrifice. He never got the opportunity to sacrifice himself during the war- so he sacrificed others, as military brass do. The Freelancers- including his daughter. The countless sim troopers. Any people he considered "collateral damage" on missions. And when the opportunity to do so presented itself, he sacrificed a copy of himself- Alpha- and he sacrificed a copy of Allison- Tex.

The very thing that derailed his life- the loss of his wife- he made it happen again. He put her copy in dangerous situations, let her exist in the position of constant repeated failure, created the circumstances that would eventually lead to her death. He put their daughter in deadly situations that nearly killed her repeatedly, provided her with impossible expectations leading to self-destructive behaviours in the name of duty, implanted her with two AI knowing they could cause her permanent harm. He was confident he "would have made those sacrifices himself" because he did.

The Director is the embodiment of the military war machine. As an antagonist, he is a warning against buying into the glorification of sacrifice. He's a condemnation of the idea that one should be willing to do anything to win a war- that duty to the military is the thing that ensures survival... All the messages that are pushed to ensure recruitment and obedience of soldiers.

He's a reminder that swallowing the propaganda leads to you doing terrible things... and in the end, you're a broken man left mourning the losses that you suffered even as you repeated them, convinced that it was all necessary.

[zeebreezin]

What do you mean they baptized him…?

[sindar-princeling]

since the pride flag on my icon is apparently not clear enough: please for the love of god don't follow me if you treat gayness as some sort of leprosy that makes you feel the need to use tags like "caution: lgbt content on op's blog" when you reblog things. for fuck's sake