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lets-try-some-writing · 3 months

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Ever since I read your Innocent Abominations story I've been thinking about the Matrix going in the exact opposite direction. This ancient, sentient, vaguely eldritch relic of a demigod takes one look at the Terrans and goes "BABIES!!!". Optimus barely even glances at them during their first meeting to check it they're ok and is promptly sucker-punched by divine parental instincts. As far as the two are concerned the Terrans are their niephlings and by Primus are they going to do all they can to help these younglings with the inevitable nonsense that will come with being the children of one of the Thirteen. They are prepared to live, die and kill for these children.

We love a good ol protective Op in this house.

Original concept here.

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━

Optimus never hated sparklings or even younglings for that matter. He didn't exactly have plans to be a parent, but he'd been a mentor more than enough times to not be against the concept of potentially having progeny of his own. Of course all potential plans would come to fruition once the war was over and extinction didn't loom over his helm. At least that was what he thought.

When Bumblebee informed him of the Terrans existence, Optimus was pleased, but that was all. New Cybertronian life was always something to be cherished in a time when no newsparks had emerged since the war was at its peak. He didn't interact with the Terrans, largely for their own safety.

Then the time came, and he finally met the little ones.

The Matrix was never particularly talkative. It did not approve of war, and thus often kept quiet unless it was offering necessary wisdom and encouragement. But one glance at the Terrans proved to be enough to bring an end to its millennia long vow of silence. For the first time, Optimus heard the Matrix speak with words rather than in images or knowledge.

"Our younglings."

That was all it said, but Optimus felt it in every single fiber of his being. The Matrix had spoken, and as its vessel, Optimus obeyed. His very code shifted, command trees that he had never even known existed sprung to life, and before he knew it, he was already on a knee reaching out to shake the servos of the little ones. His finials perked up in a friendly manner, his field flared out in bursts, and his plating sat at an amicable mid flare, just enough to show trust. All this was done unconsciously as, without his knowledge, his very voice adjusted to be softer.

By the time all was said and done, the battle over, and the children safely escorted home, Optimus had never felt so alive. Megatron gave him the most disturbed look Optimus had ever witnessed, but at that moment, he didn't care. Within him the Matrix was already speaking again, offering thinly veiled orders and continuing to adjust him so that he would be better suited to the new task ahead of him.

All that kept him from hightailing it over to the Maltos every single day was Elita physically dragging him back toward wherever he was meant to be. Everyone was on edge watching Optimus fall further and further into his strangely happy daydreams. To them, it looked like what the humans called "baby fever" but on steroids. Optimus didn't even wait a week before he was obsessing over how to properly interact with the Terrans. He started making things for them and then promptly put them away since in his optics it simply wasn't good enough.

The Matrix had him on the move all the time, constantly reminding him of the little ones that were well within his reach. It had already begun all of its internal adjustments, and so all it had left to do was to make Optimus more appealing. The Matrix began the long process of hiding the outright malicious looking equipment on the Prime's frame, even softening his features somewhat so that he would come off as more peaceful. Optimus for his part didn't notice his frame bulking up in order to make him a better guardian. He most certainly wasn't aware of the way his very frame was edging into something firmer and yet less intimidating. A quiet guardian, that was what the Matrix wanted.

When all was said and done, Megatron was slightly terrified of this new and strangely cheery Optimus and Elita was no better. Both united over their shared concerns and opted to quietly watch Optimus when he finally found a decent excuse to visit the Terrans. Megatron was incredibly on edge when Optimus all but bolted toward the Maltos residence and then skidded to a perfect stop so that he could walk forward calmly as if nothing had happened. He was so focused on performing well that the battle hardened warrior all but vanished.

In his place was the dock worker from long before the war. An excitable young mech eager to help and offer what wisdom he had. The Terrans were pleasantly surprised to find that the supposedly ancient Optimus Prime was, from what they were seeing, a gentle giant. The Matrix had never been more pleased when Optimus settled down and offered to engage with the Terrans in whatever manner they found best. He spent the whole day with them, reading, telling stories, letting them beat him in mock battles, and teaching them what he could of Cybertron.

There was no violence to be seen in him as he played. Megatron was slightly terrified, but he said nothing and allowed the moment. It was only when Optimus hummed an old folk tune and wrapped the Terrans in his field that Megatron finally understood what was going on.

"You can't adopt them. They have a family here."

"We are well aware. Don't worry. We have no intention of taking them away."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"They are the offspring of our brother. They are young and must be guided by kin."

"You don't have any siblings Optimus."

"I do not, but together, WE do."

"Oh not the Prime slag again. That relic hasn't done anything during the war, so why would it act now?"

"The Matrix had no reason to act. It detests war. New life has given us something to unite over."

"So you are going to teach them?"

"Yes. We will guide and watch over them. We will not be their parents, that is not our station. But we will always be here for them... for that is the duty of a Prime."

Every moment he could spare, Optimus did everything in his power to make time for the Terrans. The Matrix sang when he visited, and despite how much it weirded out Bumblebee, the human Maltos, and Megatron, Optimus kept coming back.

Younglings born of Quintus. He never thought it would come to pass. And yet here they were, bright and full of life.

Despite his new and more docile appearance, Optimus Prime was more than ready to act when the Terrans were targeted. The Matrix abhorred war. But it was not necessarily against violence in small doses.

#transformers #maccadam #transformers earthspark #earthspark megatron #earthspark optimus #tf earthspark #the matrix of leadership #alternate universe #kinda #not really #but whatever

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yuri-is-online · 2 months

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...so you just threw this beautiful idea of Fyuuture kid, and left me with a brainrot? Especially after you answered one ask with i quote "he loves his parent so much and was really fighting it to keep it together when he saw them alive again" end of the quote. WHAT DO YOU MEAN AGAIN? WHAT? HOW?

ask 1 and ask 2

Oh 👉👈? I wasn't expecting to get an ask about this au ever again actually, but I am so glad you did, I like it a lot. I mentioned Fire Emblem Awakening in the first ask I got about it but for those of you who haven't played the game, the plot features the children of your army traveling back in time to try and prevent the end of the world. That's more or less what happened in the fyuuture kid au, at least in my first draft... I always end up associating the "future kid meets their parents" trope with either FE: Awakening or I guess Golden Sun? Which I think is the name of the jrpg where something similar happens idk I just like there being a reason for the kid to need to meet their parents.

In my original draft of the au, Yuu was told by Crowley there was no way home for them, so they settled down with Yutu's father and started building a life together. This turned out to not be true, as the Magical Marshall's office began investigating the overblots that happened while Yuu was in school and came to the conclusion Yuu had something to do with them; so they were secretly arrested, cursed to forget everything about Twisted Wonderland, and sent home. The curse was meant to trigger every time Yuu vaguely remembered their time in the otherworld, with the idea their brain would prevent them from thinking about it after a while. They would have justified it, if anyone had been there to ask, by saying Yuu wouldn't know they were missing anything and would be able to live a happy life. When Yutu was born that made that outcome impossible, but the Marshal's office didn't think to check if Yuu was pregnant...

Shortly after they did that though strange things started happening. Monster attacks got more frequent, blot levels started rising, not to extremes immediately but still enough to be concerning. Reports of a strange, abyssal magic using beast, started pouring in to S.T.Y.X. suspiciously close to Grim's description. While Yuu was busy trying to put their life back together in their world, Twisted Wonderland slowly began to fall apart drowning under an ink colored sky. The overblot phantoms they fought come back and begin hunting in their respective homelands, and rumor has it they can turn certain mages into their thralls...

The curse slowly eats away at Yuu's brain, every time they see something that reminds them of their friends, their time at NRC, every time Yutu does something that would make them think about how much he takes after his dad, they feel a great deal of physical pain and temporarily lose the ability to function. It's killing them, and no doctor or specialist can figure out the cause, so Yutu just has to sit there and watch his parent slowly die and not be able to do anything about it. I was uncertain of where exactly I wanted Yuu to die in the story, but it always was around when Yutu gets isekaid to NRC, either before and he had to leave them behind or after when they both get to go home finally! But Yuu doesn't completely make it, they're able to have one moment of peace with their son and Professor Crewel before passing on.

Yutu's dad changes depending on who you want it to be of course, as does whether they met before he and his friends decided to go back in time to prevent this version of the future from ever happening, but his feelings about Yuu never changes. Yutu really admires his parent, he did even before he learned about them facing down overblots! They were really close and the more he learned about their curse, the more responsible he felt for their death. He's very determined to keep Yuu alive and safe in Twisted Wonderland in this timeline, even if it costs him his life.

His opinion on his dad really changes depending on who it is and what he learns about them. Like can you imagine learning your dad was known for being obsessed with teeth and no he had no intention of being a dentist? Clown behavior 💀💀💀 His friends were all ocs I made but never really developed... I do remember that one was a younger sibling of Kalim's (who could be his aunt if you like Kalim and absolutely embraces that role), her retainer, Crewel's son who also sees himself as Yutu's uncle (the feeling isn't mutual) because he is old enough to sort of remember Yuu and thinks of them as a sibling, and a random oc I based off of the kid from Up for no reason other than I like the movie. They also came back in time, but only Yutu ended up in the right place, just like fire emblem awakening.

idk I should probably do something with it. like writing the reactions for the other dorms...

#<3 asks #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #future kid au #i am so sorry if you wanted more domestic moments w yuu and yutu and got a lore dump instead #if you want those feel free to ask i need a distraction from the long fic i am writing ha

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clatoera · 22 days

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Your clove and glimmer bestie hcs have prompted me to ask if u have any bro hcs for Cato and Marvel or any bestie hcs for Cashbaria before they realised they were in looove

Alright. The bro-iest of bros. These two Mfers would have a podcast if someone let them (Noone lets them). They'd have a talk show if they could. They are like..such gremlins and it comes from the fact that neither of them got to be like normal teenage boys. And so, as a result, as young adult men..they do in fact act like teenage boys.

1.Theres alway a food HC in these because food is so instrumental as a symbol in panem and amongst my writing in this au. That being said for them theres no like..meaning of like healing or anything here. Not with them. And thats because at least once (multiple times) they have definitely made dumb decisions with food. Think trying to eat as many pizzas at they can in 45 minutes. Think "think they need 100 chicken nuggets for the two of them thats a normal amount right" (wrong). Think raw cookie dough as a snack because "it's the same thing as cooked cookies, just colder (wrong). They're just over grown teenage boys.

2. On that exact same note, don't take them to the beach. Just don't. Marvel WILL get so severely sunburned he can't move. They WILL try to drown each other in the ocean by seeing who can hold their breath under water longer (Cato). They WILL chase a crab and and one of them will get pinched by it. Do not add Finnick to the mix. It does not end well. They do almost die. Every single time. They have a good time though.

3. Cato will never think anything is funnier than making fun of Marvel and what Cato imagines is a very very very very very very very boring and mediocre sex life. Enjoy it, Missionary Marvel (and he WILL thank you very much. He's HAPPY).

4. Marvel's girls, bless their hearts, are arguably the least coordinated toddlers anyone ever meets. They trip all the time. They walk into things. Cato absolutely is floored by the lack of athleticism. Eventually, they get put into little dance classes and they're fine and honestly the cutest lil dancy babies. That being said, Cato does have a son on the opposite end, EXTREME athleticism. Marvel gets to live vicariously through him. He's More athletic than Marvel. Marvel is being beat at most sports by like..an 8 year old. By the time he is twelve he is physically bigger than Marvel. Marvel almost gets a broken arm from this preteen at least once. He loves it.

5. Marvel never lets Cato know a moment of peace when he finds out he is afraid of dogs.

6. Cato does in fact threaten him in that very precarious first few years after the war, because of Glimmer and how absolutely broken she was in thirteen. The things he saw involving Glimmer actually haunt him.

7. Their messages between each other are a war crime in and of itself.

I love these two. They're just little guys. Silly little guys who have killed people, many many people!

I just posted Cashbaria HCs on the post RIGHt before this! I'll link them here but i'm gonna keep this post for the silly gooses.

#arwbfb tag #answered asks #cato tag #marvel tag #this was weirdly fun #arwbfb au #arwbfb hc

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ninicaise · 9 months

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I love your posts so much! I’m curious, what do u think would be Laurent and Damen’s thoughts on open relationships, do u think it’s something they would try?

interesting question. i've made it into a joke already in this post and also there are these fantastic tags from @/not-a-coral-snake and it's the best thing ever so true so funny so them.

it's quite evident laurent has no interest in being with anyone other than damen. furthermore we don't see damen being interested in anyone ever again after he has a night with laurent + it makes both of them very jealous when they see or think about the other with someone else. so at least in the universe they're in i doubt they'd be genuinely interested in that kind of relationship. know that if they ever tried it they'd be miserable, and in an easy happy peaceful world they wouldn't even think about it.

unfortunately these people do not live in an easy happy peaceful world. it's inevitable that they at least discuss the possibility. however the only way i could see them having an open relationship agreement is through some sort of misunderstanding of each other's needs.

there's the fact that at least akielos is a culture in which people and esp nobles are expected to have multiple lovers/a harem. laurent goes above and beyond and a bit too much when trying to compensate for something he did (trying to die for damen for example) and i think for a certain period of time he would be respectful of akielon culture to the point of being too much. forcing damen's own culture onto damen himself, kind of thing.

it's likely damen has had open relationships in the past (jokaste anyone). he knows how they work, he grew up knowing it to be a natural thing, he knows that as king he is expected to have a variety of lovers. and likely in any other circumstance he would. he just isn't interested unless laurent is involved. damen hates the idea tbh but he will give laurent what he wants bc he thinks well. maybe laurent wants to explore his sexuality a little more with more people who aren't damen after years of repressing it (he doesn't) and if he is insisting so much then he must have a good reason (objectively he doesn't).

plus, and i think this one is the most likely, laurent knows he's not exactly an easy lover. ppl overestimate the amount of both self-respect and self-confidence laurent has wayyy to often. laurent is canonically insecure about anything sex related and a future-oriented control freak, so he'd try to have control over any affair damen might have if at some point laurent stops being enough by ensuring he will be able to claim that he knew all along, that laurent was the one who allowed it, laurent was in control the whole time. kind of like with th i know who you are damianos thing. i've known all along. i know you'll get tired of how complicated i am eventually i know everything i am prepared for every possible outcome you can't catch me chaos of this world etc etc.

it's not that he can tolerate the idea of damen being w other ppl, it's just that he thinks he has to tolerate it bc 1) he doesn't deserve a say 2) the alternative (damen getting tired, feeling trapped and leaving altogether) is way worse 3) he thinks it will happen eventually anyway and this is the only way he can remain dignified. or so he thinks. lol. this mindset is of course unhealthy. so he should work on that.

#asks #laurent is that girl that says its ok if my man cheats. as long as he loves me <3 #damen is the boyfriend in theory but the horrified best friend in practice #captive prince #damen x laurent #thx for the compliment btw

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difeisheng · 8 months

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The first fic idea I ever had for MLC occurred sometime between the airing of episodes 8-14. I used it as a dialogue exercise by writing all the spoken parts first, then going back to fill in things like actions and thoughts. This never got completed as I stopped being as interested in exploring that segment of canon in writing (and I wanted to watch more of the show to ensure I got character voices right). However, I still think this concept was engaging, so here's what I did get finished before my mind wandered away.

"Would it be worse if I let Fang Duobing die in front of you, or just stole him from you?" Di Feisheng asks, stirring a bowl of soup he can't taste, and watches Li Xiangyi freeze.

He's gotten better at controlling his reactions, these last ten years. Harder to get a proper rise out of. The half-second of his entire body locking at Di Feisheng's words, though, before he drops his shoulders, forces himself to untense, is impossible to miss.

"If you can get that nuisance to stop following me around then it'll be a blessing," Li Xiangyi says, too casually, and swallows down a mouthful of wine from his bottle. "I need some peace in my house."

"Interesting." They're jammed close enough sitting together at Li Xiangyi's kitchen table that even by dim lamplight Di Feisheng can read his expression, see the urge to wander away from the topic spelled in his eyes.

"Honestly, I'd be surprised if you could make him leave me alone," Li Xiangyi continues, quick in the silence. "I've already left him by the road twice and he still manages to find me. I say, he's even more stubborn than Huli Ji—"

"Li Xiangyi. Don't pretend to be obtuse, we're both smarter than that. Or I hope you are." Di Feisheng sips at his own wine, and thinks, idly, that there are some things it's better not to sense the flavour of anymore. The smell of wine is off-putting enough; at least drinking like this is finally worth its effects. "I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you've somehow gotten more perceptive about things since Qiao-guniang."

"The past is past. Both A-Mian and I have moved on."

"Right. You've grown beyond that, or however you word what you're telling yourself. Congratulations." He raises his bottle in mockery of a toast. "So you've noticed how that boy acts around you."

Li Xiangyi sighs, lets the sound fade into the night. "He's not being subtle."

"Look at him. Have you never considered it?"

"What... have you?" Li Xiangyi frowns.

Di Feisheng lets himself smile, the one reserved for heralding challenge. "I'm more interested in whether or not you have."

"He's Shan Gudao's son."

"And that's what would hold you back? He's still his own person."

"How many years are there betwe—"

"Even if you don't know what you want, he does."

Li Xiangyi falls quiet.

"He's young. Whatever he thinks he wants, he's wrong," he says, gaze tracing the worn wood of the table. "And whatever it is, it's not really you, anyway."

"Oh, I'm well aware of that."

"Then why think of trying anything?"

"It would be amusing. Amusing," Di Feisheng says, "depending on how you answer the question you're dodging, Li Xiangyi. Was it a yes or no? How much have you thought about him?"

Li Xiangyi just eyes him before tipping his head back, pouring wine into his mouth instead.

"Although even if it's yes that doesn't amount to much, since you'll never say anything to him. He'll be left making hopeless eyes and promises at you." Di Feisheng laughs, the shadow of it wound in his voice. "That didn't change after all this time, did it? Li Xiangyi, the perfect elusive hero, forever chased after but never held. Who will ever really know his hea—"

"Fine. Yes. Once." Li Xiangyi slams his bottle down on the table. It's a proper glare he fixes Di Feisheng with now. Familiar. "Are you happy now?"

"That's all?"

"What else do you want?" He crosses his arms. "I'm not giving you details. You used to be creative, if I remember. Fill in the blanks if you care that much."

Di Feisheng scoffs. "Next question, then." He pushes aside the wine. "You wouldn't like it if I were to go have my own fun with him, would you?"

"Aren't you already enjoying yourself with all this?"

"You call watching you give up on yourself fun?" Di Feisheng snaps before thought, leaning closer, and oh, maybe he's had one sip of wine too many. "You think losing— no. This isn't fun."

Li Xiangyi stares at him. "You don't care about Fang Duobing."

"Never pretended I did, in this. The point is that you do."

#dfs mind games to get llh to acknowledge his emotions #in a horrid little way #anyways idk if character voice in this was actually right but i thought it was at the time lmao #mysterious lotus casebook #liansanjiao #fanghua #difang #feihua #di feisheng #li xiangyi #ashton writes fic #li lianhua

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mdhwrites · 6 months

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Self Defeating Endings With Grom Factor by MoringMark

A link to the comic's, Grom Factor by Moringmark, beginning.

(If you want to skip the preamble about endings and tragedies, I've bolded the start of the paragraph when I actually start talking about Grom Factor) So I don't like making this. I don't really want to comment too much on fanworks. I have no reason to shit on people who are just celebrating The Owl House. My goal is not to make people despise it, it's to analyze, process my own thoughts, and hopefully teach through sharing those thoughts.

But... I can't talk about tragedies with TOH. The VAST majority of media I consume wouldn't give me the chance and, well... Endings are important. Happy Endings actually happen the most often because they're the most safe. The most gratifying. Everything the characters worked for had the simple point of success and a better future. And, you know, I like that. Their ubiquity though makes them a common point of lazy criticism as people will try to nitpick all the things not fixed or it being so happy because, well, the story had to end eventually. It's why I've never really been like "HoW dO wE aCtUaLlY kNoW tHe IsLeS wIlL bE oKaY!?" I don't care. The show says they're happy because they got rid of the evil guy then fine. It needed to end and at least this means our characters can know peace. The only things I really interrogate about the ending is what it says about those characters and the story that was told because that is part of your ending.

But if you want to claim a more complex story, especially if your story is already ripping off so many elements from a previous one (I'm sorry but Grom Factor is just Grom+Eda's Curse but missing the emotional cores of either because we don't know these characters and there's been no real build up. Not to talk about how ripping off your own series' biggest stories is already going to tank investment), a 'tragic' ending can be a way to do that. A bittersweet ending can be a way to do that. A way to undercut the happy ending everyone expected by instead ripping out their heart.

But you run the risk of making the whole story pointless.

Most people will argue that most tragedies are pointless. Romeo and Juliet is so confident in how pointless the love story is that it tells you the two people die at the end at the BEGINNING. But... It's not. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet sticks with people and is something people want to retell because the tragedy of it all has a point. It talks of the brashness of youth, the collateral damage of endless fury, of how dangerous emotions can be, even the best of them like love. How things can be torn apart and destroyed, futures ended futilely because people will not let go of their emotions or even try to be calm when they have only ever been told to hate. Romeo's passion is both his most attractive quality but also the dooming element that makes sure he kills himself at the end, a trait that Juliet shares and both have from their families who never let people rest. Never allow there to be more than just extreme emotions and so anytime they're emotional, it's big and dangerous.

And so the ending has a point to it. It is the only one that fits the thematics and condemns properly all the damage that was done. That sweet words cannot fix an endless cycle of hate. It is an ending forced by the entire point of the story. Something is only self defeating when there isn't really a theme, core or narrative goal that requires that sort of tragedy. Or, worse yet, when the ending actively undermines all of those elements.

So let's finally talk about Grom Factor. For those who haven't read it, my description earlier is not far off. Luz and Amity's child, Ayzee, causes herself to be named as the next person who will fight Grom. She does this for the most bog standard next gen reason: Wanting to prove herself in contrast to her successful parents. To be her own person and prove that she can be great too. Meanwhile, her girlfriend Milan doesn't want this, partially due to being a healer and following the hypocratic oath, but then commits to helping her girlfriend no matter what. In this process, she gets a part of Philip's journal that shows that Grom is actually a small, scared child. So while Ayzee is preparing to fight Grom, her girlfriend prepares to try to cure Grom.

Big fight ensues, the elixir they bring (yes, just Eda's eliixir, nothing specialized or more complicated) doesn't work and Grom EXPLODES into something more dangerous than ever before. Ayzee and Milan are given a petrification glyph by Amity and Luz after showing Ayzee doesn't have magic of her own, they do a dance to get to the core of Grom to use the glyph... And Milan instead uses Lilith's spell from the end of S1 in order to split the pain of Grom and take the curse onto herself. It works but now anyone who touches Milan gets their fears shouted at them because her hair is now at least partially Grometheus. Then the two leads talk, kiss but we see in Ayzee's head that she is being tortured during the kiss with her fears of inadequacy and the idea that she will always end up hurting other people.

So there you go. A story about one person selfishly throwing themselves in danger without a care about others or the harm she may cause due to her potentially ready for this while the other lead preaches a stop to all harm and even pushes to save a monster because they're in pain too. All the while, the arc tries to sell us on the relationship and how much they theoretically care about each other, especially since this is their first arc together as a couple.

So the actual way to go for a tragic ending, that has similar results to what the comic does, is actually not that hard to see. Ayzee's fears and inadequacies, and her need to prove herself, has HER save Grom while thinking that this will fix her mistake and make her girlfriend happy because she's now taking part of her girlfriends beliefs: To let no one suffer. She could see about someone else taking the pain or not take charge in this situation her flaw, the thing that set all this up for failure which is a component of tragedies. is being unwilling to allow others to do that. To put the burden on herself. So, knowing that killing Grom would hurt someone she cares about by forcing her to take a life, but also needing to do something to set things right, especially as she sees this as her mistake through her original sin of wanting to fight Grom for glory, she sacrifices her happiness to do a selfless act and save the creature. It's bittersweet because of all the curse will do to her but it does actually resolve an arc to the episode and has something to say about how looking for danger for glory is always going to lead to more trouble than you want to have found. It has a POINT.

Instead... Milan's just such a dang good healer! It was so foolish of her to be a good doctor and not want harm upon others. If she had just been like Ayzee and focused more on herself, she might have been willing to let Grom rot and get to have anything resembling a happy life afterwards. Instead, this genuinely just good trait of this good person who did nothing wrong the entire story, means that she will NEVER have relationships again. Not just with Ayzee but ANYONE because she inherently harms people around her by mentally torturing them. By her own character motivations, this means she isn't going to be okay EVER unless this is cured.

But that doesn't track with the reveal of Grom's backstory. Because, you know, that did happen. The story ends so fast after Grom is saved and barely lets her have any time that it's almost easy to forget. But... Grom was made into what she was by cursing herself for the sake of power... To protect others. She was selfless. With it being Milan who saved her, this is meaningless. At best, it's cycles repeating. If Ayzee had, it would have been part of the point the story theoretically sets up for how one needs to do things for others, not for themselves. Instead, I guess the lesson is no good deed goes unpunished? It's not even that personal glory hurts those around you as collateral damage because that's NOT what Grom did.

And finally, there's just the last comic in general that REALLY highlights how little Milan or Grom matters here. She shrugs off the curse. She shrugs off the consequences. Her pain doesn't matter. The only pain that matters is AYZEE'S because this is still her story and NEVER was Milan's. All of this trivializes the tragedy and sacrifice Milan made, as well as the saving of Grom, because those things had nothing to do with the actual focus of the story which doesn't even payoff because the ending shot is making sure we know just how miserable Milan will make Ayzee's life.

THAT is a self defeating ending. The relationship that this arc ostensibly solidifies and sells to the audience? Dead. Ayzee's fears and worries? Made WORSE. Any themes about the need to do what is best for all instead of best for yourself? Falling on the character who already knew that OR saying that doing so always sucks for the person who actually gives a fuck. Any payoff for this? Dismissed so it can only focus on the person SPARED any consequences from her actions except tangentially. And yes, tangentially since Ayzee just needs to get over a teenage crush while Milan will never be a healthy partner to anyone.

The closest you might want to say is that because Ayzee's life did get worse, it sticks to a theme of her brash actions having consequences but then why is the ONLY person to explicitly be harmed by all of this Manila who didn't share that same flaw? At least in Romeo and Juliet, they BOTH die because they BOTH suffer from dangerous levels of brashness and passion. Not many main characters in tragedies get out unscathed for a reason. Usually even if others do get killed during their story, they still suffer just as badly, if not worse.

You can't even go with "Well, at least this version allows Ayzee to be her own person," something that would have been undercut by fusing with a creature" " which is ostensibly part of the point of this sort of next gen arc. To prove they stand alone from what came before... Except no. Ayzee's angst at the end, blaming herself for this, thinking everything she does will always end up hurting others, is literally just Luz's angst arc post Hollow Mind and just about as unreasonable for self hate as her justification. So even that theme, the most basic, number one next gen theme is pointless here, especially since it doesn't even get resolved in any way. The ending, and even the comments recognize this, reinforces that Ayzee is right: People will only ever see her like a little Luz instead of a strong witch herself.

So is there ANY point to this ending? Well... because it's a next gen retelling. Because TOH already did Grom. Already had Luz wanting to prove herself through being Grom Queen. Literally Ayzee's entire arc here is a more blatantly selfish, less interesting version of what her mom did one generation ago. The twist of Grom actually being a good person... *gestures to every character arc in TOH* so that adds literally nothing new, especially since it ends the same way as Eda's curse with the same spell. As such, if it ends happily, and with the couple okay and stronger than before... It literally is just Grom. So you have to give it a tragic ending or else there's no point to this story existing. There's nothing to say except that it's a worse version of the original and why didn't you try to shake things up at all?

It highlights the fact that yeah, this arc is just flawed from a conceptual standpoint which isn't surprising to me. This arc is much of why I made a post a couple days ago about the Isles being an objectively terrible setting for a follow up story. This story is the epitome of everything people dislike about next gen stories, even up to every change they make in a retelling being just worse than the original.

And here's the final nail in the coffin: I will never care about these characters because of this arc but especially because of this ending. We knew almost nothing about Milan before this besides her being Ayzee's girlfriend. Hell, we barely knew anything about AYZEE because we haven't gotten that many comics with her so the only trait that's really been established is that she's a gamer. And yet, in their first outing, a chance to really show who they are and to make them more distinct than Luz and Amity... Well, doing literally anything for your girlfriend and being a damn near saint is just what Amity turned into eventually and I've talked about how much the arc hammered in that Ayzee is literally just Luz all over again. It's a miracle she's not named Buz. Then the ending says screw you to any payoffs or themes for the sake of having ANYTHING to distinguish this from the original and little else. Even the idea that these characters could lead to a fun, silly extension of the show by how absolutely miserable the ending is.

So at this point... Why should I ever bother with these characters again? That seems like a self defeating goal for myself as a viewer.

======+++++======

As a note, this isn't because someone brought it to my attention. I still follow Mark and have since even before his started his final Star Versus comic story. I want to support him, I don't think he's a terrible writer and I like plenty of his comics, but it's rough when he took like two years to finally do a large arc like this again and it's just... not good. And no, I don't like A Hint of Blue either unfortunately but unless I just want to talk about how a boring romance happens, I probably won't ever do a blog like this on that.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house #Grom Factor #moringmark

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fanartfunart · 24 days

Text

The Well of Memories

Summary: post Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda thinks back on what happened, and what she can and can not remember. Link makes a connection with the feeling.

Happy 1 year anniversary to Totk! Here's a short drabble

(Totk Dragon Tears spoilers)

Zelda looked out at the endless sky, brows knit together. She tried to tease out her hazy recollection of swallowing the stone and everything after, but it refused her. Each droplet of memory felt like it was encased in a bubble too far to reach. Something that happened but never did all at once.

The edge of a cloak fluttered against her shoulder. A pair of legs slipped off the edge of the sky island next to her and settled there. A warm presence against her. Link. She slowly allowed herself to lean against him. He let her stay there, cozy and comfortable.

"Rupee for your thoughts?" Link whispered.

"...I had scars. Before. The battle with Ganon had been- I had wounds I never thought would heal." Zelda raised her hand, tilting it in the light. The skin was smooth and seamless. "They're gone. As if nothing had happened…. It disturbs me."

Link nodded softly. Zelda dropped her head against his shoulder. He hooked his chin over the top of her head.

"I know it would probably be far too much to comprehend, but I just wish I could at least recall my time as a dragon. It- it weighs in my mind as this untouchable pool, deep and mysterious."

She looked up and traced a mindless path in the sky "Continually, I ask myself: Did I help anyone for those thousands of years? Was I a symbol of Hope? Or was I a symbol of Desperation for my ancient friends? Did I do anything in the light of the first Calamity? I had to have been there. Did- did it rouse any part of my humanity when I saw it? And our own-" Zelda clutched the fabric of her pant leg. Link's soft presence was warm and far too light. She felt a need, a craving for pressure.

"I know for a fact I never saw such a dragon as you described. But- but is that because I was not ready to See? Could you have, then? Would we have known what would be if you hadn't-..." She threw her hand up and shook her head "No. I- doubt it would've been apparent regardless…"

Zelda sighed, heavily, "It just- it was such a monumental, terrifying, heartstopping decision. I- I felt as if I was to die." Zelda clutched at the stone at her collar. "I almost was, in many ways. And- I- I can't remember the last moment. I can't. I don't know if I ever felt relief. If I ever knew peace, even just once, for those thousand years."

Zelda took a breath.

Link said nothing.

It was a curious sort of nothing, because he had gotten at least slightly more talkative recently. He still took his time to consider words in situations such as this. But he was quick with a comforting hum or something to indicate the thought being made. Instead, it was a stark rigid silence. It reminded her too much of his knighthood.

She ducked her head, "Apologies, I didn't mean to overwhelm you with my thoughts. … I feel as if I'm a cacophony of emotion. I know it would be difficult to understand…"

Link was still quiet.

"Link?"

One more agonizing beat of silence, and he shook himself from it, "I know what you're talking about."

Zelda blinked. How could he possibly know? Then with sudden clarity, it clicked. A near death. A rebirth without memory. "Oh. Oh! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"

He snorted and giggled softly at her. Zelda frowned, looking at him to protest the indignity of his amusement. He soothed a thumb- his left, she noted, despite his right being the first to move- over the crease in her brow. "It's perfectly fine."

He looked to the distance of sky for a moment, the thoughtful hum settling in the breeze. "I- I think they come easier, softer, when you let yourself breathe," he said eventually, "They may never come to you. Perhaps it's a gift. To rediscover old sights as new. To live with fresh eyes and enjoy the moment." Link smiled, eyes closed, face soft with light haloed in his wind-tossed hair.

Zelda smiled, keeping her gaze to what was close. In her reach. She wrapped an arm around Link's shoulders. "We'll discover together," she said.

Link smiled softly, "Yes, together."

#tears of the kingdom #legend of zelda #fanart's fanfic #loz fanfic

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missielynne · 1 month

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CBS Ghosts Review: Isaac's Wedding

I specifically remember telling a Nonnie that I didn't think the stripper would be a big problem but turns out he wasn't NOTHING (at least in the context of Nisaac.) I love how they made him absolutely everything Isaac could want in a man INCLUDING hating Hamilton and having no sense of smell (which is why I was really rooting for him to die and become a ghost because it would have been just perfect for Isaac.)

I know Nisaac was the big point of the episode and the main gay rep for the show but I really like that Isaac was showing interest in someone else too so they didn't go through with the wedding. Was the timing perfect? No. But ever since the Christmas episode when Nigel slept with Jenkins based off like a one day estrangement and constantly let the man lurk in the background without being firm about where they were, I've soured on Nisaac at least where Nigel is concerned, so the thought that someone could be so perfect for Isaac as he is made me so happy (plus I like the idea of Isaac being willing to explore the dating pool instead of just marrying the first guy who wants to because he's afraid he'll never find anyone else.) He deserves better than that, and both he and Nigel deserve better development so they have a deeper, richer story, which is why I'm glad the writers took the chance and didn't go through with the wedding, even though it would have been good for representation. They built up a reason in the story why there shouldn't be a wedding so it wasn't just for shock value, allowing both our men to grow as people.

Now...the same cannot be said for our would-be throple: it took all of two seconds for them to put Thor and Flower back together again and I am not happy about it because the way they're writing it just allows the romance (which is written in a way that doesn't fit either Flower or Thor's characters at all and consumes them at the expense of the family and friendship connections that make both lovable and enjoyable to watch.) I can only hope that now that they've said "I love you" and seem to be on stable relationship ground, they'll start to make them more compelling.

My favorite part of the episode was definitely Pete on the island. I definitely felt the happiest I've ever felt watching him on this show so far. Donna was absolutely perfect for him: they were from around the same time, they found one another attractive, she found his goofy way of flirting ("My wife is terrible, I'm single") sweet and endearing and really got into his water-rafting role play without treating it like something silly or him like some sort of a dork and that's the kind of relationship he deserves. I was literally so sad when he started to disappear and the only way to fix it was to go back to a place where he isn't as appreciated as he should be and has to do all the work to make things peaceful and happy.

His speech at the wedding was so nice and so real, and I love that it was what made Isaac realize that there was more out there for him. No one thinks anything he says is that sort of meaningful, so that was nice...even if it did ruin things for Isaac and Nigel, but at least Nigel seems to have taken it well. (And I'm glad that even though it's weird, Baxter has Carol. He's been a third wheel in the shed for too long.)

And then we get to Patience: I love hearing Flower talking about her and how she was built up. (Also Thor and Nancy's "Just smile and nod" as she talked.) The first time I watched the episode, I didn't see the figure of Patience with her face obscured by her bonnet so that was creepy the second time around. And when she finally kidnapped Isaac, aided by the basement ghosts, that was the creepiest "God bless you" before he was grabbed that I've ever heard, but I loved Nancy's "let's not tell anyone about this: it's not a good look for us."

It's good payback for the ways Isaac's choices have affected other people and I can't wait to see what happens to him next!

Well, that's it, folks! The last review of CBS Ghosts season 3. It had highs and lows but there are definitely several eps that I will add to my rewatch list as we wait for a full season four (which I will also review when it premieres this fall.)

Cheers and happy Ghosts watching, everyone! :)

#cbs ghosts #cbs ghosts spoilers #missie's ghosts reviews

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muzzleroars · 9 months

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I imagine that V2 shuts down before Michael finally dies himself.

Here's kind of what I'm imagining:

Michael and V2 are sitting together in the middle of a lush forest. sunlight falling through the leaves gently.

V2 is resting his head on Michael's shoulder and then Michael notice that V2 starts leaning on him a bit more then usually. So Micheal nudges V2 and V2 doesn't respond. Michael connects two and two and realizes what has happened. So Micheal sighs and leans bit more towards V2 before closing his own eyes for one last time.

Raphael is the one to find them peacefully sitting in the sunlight, Michaels flowers haveing encompassed them both with the most brilliant flowers Micheal has ever had. Flowers so beautiful they rival that of Edens. But instead of immediately breaking down at this realization Raph just accepts the situation, sitting down himself so he can have a moment to process this himself before he goes to tell Gabriel Uriel and v1. Michael is no longer suffering. And Michael has become the beautiful garden he's always wanted to be.

THE WAY IM BREAKING DOWN UUUWWAHSGGHHH....to think of them getting this far, both of them likely barely able to function at that point. they move slowly when they can and spend so much of their time still in nature, in a world so many call collapsed but filled with plenty for them, a private space that seems to span infinitely. they speak so quietly now, long stretches between them where they both forget who they are, forget what they are to each other and what their lives have been, locked in silence as their minds fail. everything is deteriorating, the static is growing louder and louder, and a haze is fuzzing all their memories, yet meaning ebbs back in every now and then. they know they will go soon, go to wherever a computer and an angel can go when they die. they are threadbare in body and mind, only the love remaining as v2 finally flickers out beside michael. and he remembers, for just a moment, his days as a psychopomp. maybe if he goes right now too, if god or nature or his own body sees fit, he can meet v2 before it's too far gone from him. wait, just a moment for him. and his soul, what's left of a light that's been dying for years, burns out at that final, lucid thought. he's happy he could have it.

and i HUGELY hugely agree with raphael's reaction here - while raphael is by far the most sensitive of the bunch, the grief of michael has run its course, he knew this day would come and they had all found their peace in it. i think raphael would see the glorious flowers blooming from them and know they are somewhere, no longer suffering in their bodies but beyond to a place he doesn't know. maybe they're just in those flowers (there's so many reds and purples), in the forest around it, but they are somewhere, at least to him. he remembers speaking with michael so often in his heavenly garden, and how he once expressed his body feels as though it should be in the ground feeding these plants, like every part of him knows it is dead and it longs to go home. and so he is happy, even if he will cry eventually, right now he is happy. michael is home, and v2 is with him wherever that is. he won't disturb this place either, no caring for it or trying to preserve it - michael spoke often on how he was a part of something so much bigger than himself now, and raphael respects his place in nature. this is the end they both came to, on their own with no one else to guide them, and to try to change anything about it now would be to intrude on their final moments.

#but then all of them visiting their grave together uwaahhhh #i think gabriel would grieve most openly (angels of treachery! so sad all the time!)#uriel would want to take some clippings i think. a couple flowers they can grow #and raphael approves since he believes mike would want that too #while v1 just stares and stares and stares without saying anything #it FEELS something...but it just doesn't know what #cake answers #michael #v2 #raphael #character death cw

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ourladyofmaplemurder · 10 months

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Emily: Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?--every, every minute?

Stage Manager: No.

Pause

The saints and poets, maybe--they do some.

I'm working on an essay about Riverdale now that the finale is out...but I'd like to say a few things now.

Namely, I'd like to talk about the fact that Riverdale ending with a homage to Our Town is so painfully fitting. So, unbearably fitting.

Our Town is a story, much like Riverdale, about a town. It doesn't have the fun twists and turns, for sure, but it is about the lives of the people living in Grover's Corners. It's a love letter to simple, American living.

(And I do say "American" because Our Town is quintessentially American.)

The first time I saw Our Town, I was 14 maybe. I found it incredibly boring. It was slow with tons of boring details about people and their simple lives. I really didn't get it.

It wasn't until, years later, I was in a production of it. A very lovely production. After 55 performances, I still didn't understand it. I don't think you can that young, but I started to.

Today, I still don't understand it, but I think I'm a step closer. You really can't, I think, understand life while you're in the midst of it. As Emily says in the final act:

"They're sort of shut up in little boxes, aren't they?"

We are. We can't help it. None of us can. We're all moving too damn fast in our little lives to be anything more than troubled from sun up to sun down. We strain so much in our little lives that we have to lie down and rest every night. We can never look at everything hard enough.

In any case, Riverdale culminating in an homage to Our Town just makes so much sense. The show has mentioned the play several times over the years, for starters, but it's more than that.

It's the button on a lengthy, 137-episode conversation about American culture and the nature of life itself. Exposing the dark underbelly. Celebrating the triumphs. Life is the trauma and the healing. The epic highs and lows of high school football, of course…but life is also incredibly boring. Peace is boring. At least, it can seem so when you’re not ready for it. If you’re still fighting and eager to do so, peace feels flat and horrible.

But, for these characters, this story, that has struggled and bled for 7 long seasons, I think a peaceful ending is well-earned. I walk away deeply satisfied.

I’ll leave you with one more thing. (Again, I’m still working on a bigger essay that will be more organized.)

Riverdale is deeply haunted by its own past as much as the characters are.

It’s haunted by the Archie comics, by its own previous seasons, by Archie’s Weird Fantasy, etc. I think Riverdale ending on a peaceful, sentimental note is really beautiful.

It feels like Emily in the graveyard in act 3, learning to let go, and joining the other ghosts on the hill. We look back and remember. We grieve it and love it in kind. We live and we die. It’s all so small and yet, immeasurably huge like a starry night sky. We wish we could stay forever, but we know we can’t.

The first 6 seasons fought and bled so hard. The seventh season was a gradual slowing than settled into peace.

I could say a lot more about how healing and finding peace are not as exciting as people might like. I’m sure I will in time.

Riverdale was not a perfect show, but nothing is. I would have done things differently, but so would we all in a commentary on life.

I’m happy though.

We all have to go through our lives to appreciate them. That’s the joke. That’s the tragedy. That’s the truth. Happy/sad endings are the best, aren’t they?

Yeah. Because they’re real. They’re life.

And I can’t believe a silly little CW show handed me something so profound like that. Riverdale, I can’t believe you. You lovable scamp. You sneaky bastard.

I can’t believe a goofy Archie fanfiction had the nerve, the audacity to say something so heartbreakingly and beautifully true.

“To look life in the face. To look life in the face and to know it, and then, to put it away.” - The Hours

I’m sorry this was so disjointed. I love you all, everything.

Unrelated Notes:

-It's a love letter to American cinema and theatre, which I think is covered under "culture", but I wanted to point that out specifically.

-The final season, more than any of them, is about American theatre and poetry. Death of a Salesman. The Crucible. Howl. Langston Hughes. Our Town. (And dozens of others.)

-The only way I can categorize Riverdale, truly, is as Americana Gothic.

-I think it makes sense to return to classic Americana in the final stretch. We've riffed on horror and thrillers. Soap operas and hell, even modern marvel movies. Returning to the Golden Age for one final look, where Archie itself began, truly feels full-circle.

-Cheryl let go of her grief. She left Thornhill. She built a family. She loved and was loved. God, that makes me so immeasurably happy.

She’s doing a puzzle in the Pop’s Choklit shop in the sky right now. I wish I could tell the Cheryl of 1x13 that.

“You are loved. You are safe. You’re going to be ok.”

Ah, but she wouldn’t understand just as my younger self wouldn’t understand my silly, peaceful life now. They would both scoff and roll their eyes at me. That’s ok though. They’ll figure it out.

#Truly rambling #Riverdale #I really loved the finale #I realize I have a personal connection to Our Town that made this feel even more significant #But man #I think it was brilliant #Maple Sermons

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unluckyknight-21 · 4 months

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i've decided that the Good Place is real.

I finally know the answer to the question that has been asked since the dawn of man or at least since Greek philosophers have been making people think about stuff. ("Plato", f**king nerd).

The question in question is: "What happens when we die?".

The answer is: It's on Netflix in the form of a series called: "The Good Place".

For those who don't know, 'The Good Place' is a hit American comedy-fantasy series created by Michael Schur, It aired between 2018 to 2020 on NBC.

(⚠️SPOILER WARING⚠️: For those who haven't watched 'The Good Place')

The show revolves around 4 humans who've died and went onto the "Good Place" or so they think, they soon find out that they're actually in the "Bad Place" and they've actually been partnered together by a demon in a perfectly designed experimental 'hell' so that they can torture and make each other miserable for eternity.

But to the surprise of everyone in the Bad Place, the 4 humans actually helped each other be better than they ever were on earth, the demon in charge of them would try to wipe their memories and restart the experiment but the 4 humans would always find each other, become better by helping each other and outsmart the demons.

It became such an inconvenience that the main demon eventually gives up and teams up with the humans to try and get them into the real Good Place but then we find out that there is something wrong with the system of how people are judged when they die.

THAT'S where my religious girlfriend (God bless her or whoever is up there) got kind of sketchy about the show because her religious worldview couldn't accept that "Heaven" was flawed.

And I can understand that because most religious people, no matter what religion, would find it hard to believe that there is something wrong with the afterlife, the very thing that they've been told their entire lives they will go to after they die.

First of, the afterlife is the most mysterious thing that humans believe in because no one knows where or what it is, even Shakespeare made a whole speech thing about it because being a white guy during the 1500's he had the privilege of thinking about death while others were too busy being either poor or slaves and I have a feeling that they didn't enjoy it.

And secondly, Being humans, we couldn't handle not understanding something, so we created different versions of the afterlife using religions, but every religion had the same rules: Follow a certain way of life and be good so that when you die, you will be granted eternal happiness.

And that was the flaw in 'The Good Place', the protagonists in the show discovered that the rules to get into heaven were too broad, life on earth became too complicated because when you try to do good, you are setting off a chain of events that causes misery for others without even knowing it and that makes it impossible to earn enough "afterlife good points".

And so what do our protagonists do? They fix the afterlife, they make it so that no matter how you live your life on earth, when you die, you will get into a specifically designed hell that will test you until you become the best version of you and, only then, will you get into the 'Good Place'.

And it doesn't stop there, after you've had your eternity of fun, pleasurable bliss and you finally feel at peace, you actually have the choice to leave paradise and become one with the universe.

That to me is the definition of a perfect afterlife and is the reason why I've decided that the Good Place's version of the afterlife is what will actually happen when I die.

Now you might be thinking: "Wow, that is denial on a whole new level, I can't believe this guy is not just handsome but is he is also so scared of not knowing what happens when we die that he chooses to believe that the made up heaven of some tv show is the real heaven AND he's also handsome".

Well, I say to you, thank you, I am handsome but also, just like what my college professor told the dean why he has liking all the bikini pictures of my female classmate on Instagram: "Let me explain".

You have to remember one thing: All versions of heaven are made up.

That's the point I've been trying to make since the start, humans couldn't handle not knowing what happens when we die so we created religions, created rules into getting to heaven.

AND to a horrible extent, some of us created cults so that people will give them money to tell them that they're getting into heaven and that is simply despicable.

I'm not pointing fingers at any religion, although, when I mentioned money-grabbing cults what was the first one you thought of? And why was it 'Scientology'?

And if you're filipino, just like me, you know which one I am thinking of.

That is my problem with religion, they instill fear and guilt to their followers to keep them subservient and they wage war to anyone who thinks otherwise, but enough about christianity.

Meanwhile, in the "rules" of the Good Place, you simply need to do one thing to get into heaven: Be Good.

Be good to yourself, be good to others and put out good into the world. No subscription or body count needed.

I'm not saying that other religions scriptures/bibles/teachings tell their followers otherwise, I truly believe that they are no bad religions, just bad people. True good people, use their religion to impart good onto others and I believe that even without they're religion they will still be good. Good people are just that.

And then comes along this little comedy show, tells me that I need only to be good to get into heaven? Umm...yes please!

But if you think: "Then that means you're just being good because you want to get into heaven!", then what do you think religious people are doing? They're told to be good to get into heaven and if they don't? Eternal damnation. I don't know about you but that will definitely motivate me to be good.

But keep in mind that I don't really believe that the heaven in 'The Good Place' is real. Of course it isn't! it's just some comedy show that a white guy made, another Shakespeare situation if I ever saw one.

But I CHOOSE to believe it, just like any other religious person chose to believe their religion, because we're all scared of not knowing what will happen when we die so we cling to a belief that makes us feel safe.

Religion can be beautiful, I love seeing people become passionate about being good, I love when they dance and sing in choirs about how you should love others and spread happiness. God knows, I want to join in with Whoopi Goldberg and the other nuns in Sister Act when they were singing their hearts out, THAT is what heaven is all about.

But religion is flawed due to human error, divinity was defined by a humans a few thousand years ago and we've been suffering from it ever since. You want to tell me that God is perfect? Homer wrote in the Odyssey that Zeus turns into a swan to have sex with women. That's not perfect, that's means Homer had a furry kink.

The Good Place, isn't perfect either, especially in season 4 when some episodes definitely felt like they were just trying to run out the clock but it's message is, to not focus on what happens when we die.

My personal view on the afterlife is to not think about it too much. We spend so much of our lives trying to mold our life and our choices to align with the views of our designated religion or belief so that we get to be rewarded in the next life, when what we need to do is focus on the here and now.

To live your life on earth, the way you want it BUT also remember not to hurt others and even to put out some good out there in the world. Sounds unfair? It is.

But no matter how evil the world is, it's up to us to make it a little bit better for others and hope, just HOPE, that others will do the same thing.

And you might be saying: "Well, that's not how the world works" and the sad thing is you're right (Wow, bummer much?).

People will be bad, they will be selfish and they will choose to feel pleasure rather than suffer so that others would be happy, some greater than others, but yes, everyone will do that.

...I genuinely don't know what to write next.

I can't tell you things will be better when you do good because all of human history is against me, we try to do good, we wage wars, people die, the one's in charge learn a lesson, impose that others should be good, everyone forgets and then the cycle repeats.

"But what about technology, no more slaves and Captain Marvel movies?"

No, there's still slavery, human trafficking, sexual harassment, global warming and bad marvel movies. There will always be evil.

But there will also be good.

The cycle repeats not because people are always bad people but because there are always good people. And what 'The Good Place' also teaches us is that YOU can always be one of the good ones, as long as you try.

So why don't you get your phone (that was made by a child in some Chinese sweatshop), subscribe to Netflix (a streaming service owned by a billionaire) and watch the Good Place (a pretty forking good show) now.

#the good place #religion #the bad place #chidi anagonye #eleanor shellstrop #jason mendoza #tahani al jamil #religious beliefs #heaven and hell #theology #the meaning of life #michael schur #afterlife #the afterlife

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ultimateplaylistmaker · 7 months

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Wait, what are the four ideölogies?

Thank you for asking!

I'll divide them by Hate/Love

Hate Despair and Love Despair are the two main factions of despair. The biggest face of Hate Despair is Tsumugi and Love Despair is Mikan.

Hate Despair is totally outwards, it's not about you in any real way, it's about making everyone ELSE feel BAD just because its profitable or its kinda entertaining. It lacks as much soul but it's much more likely to get to some really questionable weird places like a fucking killing game tv show, effective, but soulless. You don't get much out of it other then the satisfaction of a job well done. Brutally effective, but much harder to sell people on acting on, thus usually falling to a handful of people who take advantage of no one else feeling they can change the system. It's pure voyeur of others suffering without much care about why they're suffering just that they are, theres no actual personal investment in it and that makes it impossible to reason with it.

Love Despair is much more inward, its not so much about other people is its about getting the believer their own catharsis. Love Despair takes thoughts like "god, why is the line so long I wish everyone here would die" and then acts on them. It's complete selfishness and a disregard for anyone else as long as you get yours. Who cares if millions die, you got that compliment from Junko! So all is okay! It's all about you! and what you want! and what you want is everyone who has ever been mean to you to die horribly! Despair brings satisfaction, pleasure, and when the high wears off and you go "oh my god what have i done" you just go do it again to get your mind off it, creating a circle of almost addiction. It's more viral, but more easy to get talked out of. It's mob mentality after all, if the mob starts to slow, so will you.

Meanwhile with Hate Hope and Love Hope the faces are Juzo and Makoto, this is a much more visible then the Despair dichotomy.

Hate Hope is all about the greater good, its again very not personal, it's about doing what will logically do the most good with the least risk. It's killing those who stand in the way because its just more efficient, it's very much a turn on your neighbor kind of hope where you report things wrong or at risk to try and maintain peace and keep people happy, its a lot less real personal moral choice about whats right and more following rules and handling things quickly. Much less room for change or progression but in a dangerous place like the tragedy, brutal efficiency very much gets the job done and protects a lot of people more effectively. Its punching a teenager in the face because even if it sends them to the hospital, if you just let them keep going they might get killed. Sometimes you have to do the wrong or cruel thing to get the best results.

Love Hope is being unable to sit still in the face of any perceived wrong doing even if its for the "best" and is thus much more volatile then Hate Hope and easily used for good and bad but when used makes much bigger splashes and can make the most changes in peoples views of the world. It's becoming a war criminal just on the chance it might be able to reform the world's most dangerous people because goddammit theyre still PEOPLE. No matter how much easier it makes things! It's passion, and moving before you think because you can't just sit idly by. Rules don't matter, hell, sometimes what the majority wants doesn't matter, what matters is doing the right goddamn thing, even if it may be more dangerous or chaotic. Its a firm belief people arent chips you can bet and exchange for something even if that something is peace! they're people! Even if its riskier if it could maybe save one more person its worth it! It's got a lot of potential for things to go wrong, it's more of a gamble, but it will alter the world forever in a way Hate Hope fucking WISHES it could.

It's all very Mind vs Heart, Logic vs Passion, Order vs Chaos, neither one is inherently better or less dangerous then the other, and for best results you want to get both to work together to balance out more, but they're also very inherently at odds in ways that constantly cause conflict throughout the series.

#ndrv3 #goodbye despair #trigger happy havoc #musings from the music manager #anon chaos #meta #tsumugi shirogane #mikan tsumiki #makoto naegi #juzo sakakura

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hanabeeri · 26 days

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another week has passed uwaaah 早いね.. its a good practice though to sit down and to really think about what happened. at least to me because i have a memory worse than a fruit fly i believe 🥹 the week isnt over and i still have sunday ahead of me, but i dont think anything major or big will happen tomorrow. i may facetime my friends to talk about a book we're reading together though, so theres that 🧸💕

what happened this week? >i turned in my japanese essay (i will rewrite it until next week though... because i couldn't come up with any culture shock i experienced and picked the one i found in an old chat with a friend. but its a topic, way too silly, to use as a basis for our oral presentation in a month) >i started reading a good girls guide to murder with my friends! i read up until chapter 5. i already have some critiques, my friends and i talked about it briefly, and i do see that i may have been to critical. i wasn't aware it was a novel for a younger audience, but i can see it now 🥹 ill keep it in mind for the overall review >on wednesday i left university earlier so i could surprise a friend together with my other friends! she moved to a new place and we prepared a small gift for her and her boyfriend for their new home. we coordinated the visit with her boyfriend so she wouldnt notice anything and it worked! she was so overwhelmed at first, but later on she was really happy 🩷💕🧸 >i met a friend two times that i haven't seen in a long time. we planned on painting together, but i ended up doodling album covers that came up on spotify instead (does that count as an activity? www can you tell that nothing much has happened?) >on thursday i finally caught up on my japanese syntax classes and today i want to do the new grammar for next weeks classes. which reminds me... i still need to ask a friend from uni to explain 'quasiphrasen' to me. i only have like two notes jotted down from last semester but i dont think i really grasped the difference between that and a proper phrase >oh and i finished fight club! good book :)) the first half was okay, you can easily breeze through it without noticing, it picks up in its second half. thats when it got really interesting! >i bought both of my parents flowers and a card!! unfortunately i forgot that fathers day was on thursday, so im giving both my papa and mama flowers today - since its mothers day tomorrow

not exactly a productive week i would say, but its okay <3 im not here to compete or do things fast, im doing things for the sake of doing them and because they make me happy 🧸💕💞🩷 a more detailed and jucier version of my week is written inside my physical diary, but that is something i doubt ill ever share with anyone. maybe a future lover 🥹💞🌸

i think for next week i would like to set a goal. nothing too big, i just want to read up on ableism. to learn its forms and how its executed in daily life. so i can learn and grow and be better to people who deserve more than what they're currently given in life. read the bible some more and find peace. have i ever talked about a few weeks ago when i felt so miserable i had the wish to die again? i prayed to God in that moment and i felt so warm afterwards. like He put His gentle hand over my heart to give me the comfort i sought.

pretty decorations by huramuna and sunfoxpixels

#20240511 #sleeeeepy #huramuna #sunfoxpixels #funnily enough i chose to wear the same dress i wore in the last weekly t update haha #its my favourite!! and i finally get to wear it because its warmer #i also have a white/red dress but its shorter :((#next week will be quite cold and rainy.. i hope i wont fall into a sad mood

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t3mpest98 · 2 months

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Hiii, I bring thee some enrichment 😌 Emoji asks for Spade, Noir and Cyra (bc they're new and must get used to their enclosures):

💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with? 🍩 DONUT - favourite sweet treat? 🌙 MOON - what is your oc's greatest wish? how far are they willing to go for it? 🪤 MOUSE TRAP - what will always lure them into certain danger? a loved one in danger? a promise of something they are always searching for? 🚆 TRAIN - what is their answer to the trolley problem?

Drink water :D

!!!!!! YESSS (also does it count if I have a lot of sweet tea? It’s vry good sweet tea)

💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

Spade

Allllll of them. He is very emotionally constipated and tries to bury any strong feeling somewhere deep down inside so it can’t hurt him or interfere with his job

Noir

Ones like empathy or compassion because no matter how much he may want to show it (he’s long since stuffed that down in a box locked tight and it rarely peaks out) it could cloud his judgement or get someone he cares about killed because one minute you think you’re dealing with someone who needs help and the next they’re taking advantage of you or are able to kill you

Cyra

Things like anger or frustration come so easy that when she feels peace or even happy it feels like something is off or that she’s letting her guard down. And the last time she felt or did that well, she gets the friendly reminder in the way of phantom pains

🍩 DONUT - favourite sweet treat?

Spade

Ice cream but the simple flavors, nothing to extrapolate or something with to many different flavors. Just seems over complicated and he can’t focus on the one specific flavor he likes

Noir

Donuts, glazed or powdered (can have cinnamon or not doesn’t matter he’ll eat it) ABSOLUTELY no sprinkles he hates them

Cyra

She reeeeally likes pastries but she’s not had one for years now. There isn’t exactly a bakery down in the lower levels of Coruscant

🌙 MOON - what is your oc's greatest wish? how far are they willing to go for it?

Spade

He doesn’t know, he’s never let himself think about anything beyond what was the next clear step. If he had to say anything it would simply be that he wished his brother would stop almost dying on him cause he may start going grey if Noir doesn’t.

Noir

For the love of everything good and holy he would wish that he could stop being in constant pain all. The. Time. So that maybe he could do more and be more useful than he thinks he is (he doesn’t even think about getting a way out of what they do now, since he’s been doing it for so long) But as to actually getting the problem solved (or at least lessened since there’s not really a cure for osteoarthritis) he can’t go far unless their medic can get the supplies they need

Cyra

To please just see the sky one more freaking time before she dies at least, even if it’s through a window or for just a few seconds. She would do near anything but she can’t without being killed

🪤 MOUSE TRAP - what will always lure them into certain danger? a loved one in danger? a promise of something they are always searching for?

(Akkdkfkgkgkg apologies these seem very similar but like, they’re all they really have and are rude or die for each other)

Spade

Well given the fact that it has happened before, Noir, Thire, or even Cyra would be reason enough for him to go in guns blazing. It if he was told that this one more mission and he wouldn’t have to watch his vod’ike starve and die down in the lower levels.

Noir

Pretty much the same as Spade except the promise, if he had the promise to go after every single person who’s ever hurt him, his brother, and Cyra without repercussions than he’s game

Cyra

There are two people she even remotely still cares about left and she’s not keen on letting anyone hurt or kill them anytime soon so the twins. But if someone were to offer her a way off Coruscant and a way to make sure no one would ever be able to track her down she would take it

🚆 TRAIN - what is their answer to the trolley problem?

Spade

It really depends on who is on the tracks but he’s probably go for the track with one person on it then try to get them off it before the train got there. Now if he did see some of the really bad people he’s met then he’d let them get run over without a care

Noir

Not sure if he could find it within himself to care much anymore, he tends to see the worst in everyone so he doesn’t care who dies as long as it’s not someone he cares about. He knows that sound cold and heartless but you do what you have to do to survive

Cyra

This one is complicated because Kassai would have tried to save as many as she could but Cyra tries look away and not care at all

#kenzi’s ocs #oc ask #oc: ct-6687 | spade #oc: ct-6799 | noir #oc: cyra/kassai #I loved these #but also I’m so sorry it took me a bit to answer 😭

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dent-de-leon · 1 year

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just some personal thoughts on Mollymauk comic and his relationships that I kinda wanted to put out there somewhere:

I don’t know. In those early days, Molly just feels so young and innocent and impressionable, and…I feel bad, because there was something kind of offputting to me about him falling for someone much older with all this worldly experience? Which I think is a shame, because she's such a fascinating character that I'd love to see more? (I also can't really tell if the relationship is intended to feel uncomfortable, or if that's just my own personal feelings on it, it might just be that.)

They're at very different stages in life though, and I wonder if the relationship is more so meant to represent Molly falling in love with life in spite of how brief and full of loss it can be. But anyway, it just struck me as heartbreaking that he immediately falls for one of the first people who was ever kind to him. Like he couldn’t help immediately latching onto her and getting so attached. Feeling so empty and craving any sense of connection and intimacy.

I wonder if he falls in love with Lestera partially because it feels like he’s experiencing life and relationships for the very first time, and to him the lines between an apprentice and student relationship and platonic love and romantic love all kind of just blur into one. And he just knows he feels very strongly for her, and longs for a sense of connection to drown out the clawing emptiness. "Bond" is one of his very first words, and he says it on the first night he meets her.

There's a sense of him kind of trailing after her like a lost puppy in the beginning. And even as he starts to regain his sense of self and finds peace and confidence in his identity, it's very clear that this feels like the first time he's ever been in love. There's very much a young foolishness to his romantic heart that just hurts--he's so optimistic and earnest in how he loves. Like he thought they would be together forever. Like she becomes this constant in his life he was once so dependent on--until he experiences his first real loss.

It hurts so much to lose her, but. At least--probably because she's lived such a full, happy life--he's not entirely consumed by that grief, and is able to celebrate the time they had together and look back on it fondly. Not the way Lucien is so broken up over Brevyn that he shuts down completely, tries so hard to forget about her and never so much as speak her name again. But Molly weaves aspects of Lestera's memory into his own identity, carries her cards and his coat and makes them both his own. Is able to still find happiness and joy even after losing someone so important in his life.

But it's nevertheless so tragic, that both Lucien and Molly are shaped by someone they loved--someone they lost. What does Mollymauk learn about love then? When he grows so dependent on someone and is willing to dedicate his whole life to them, only to have to lose them in the end? Both relationships end in Molly having to watch them die, alone and left behind.

Molly and Yasha are family, kindred spirits. Platonic soulmates. But I think there is a bit of truth to that moment early on when Molly is playfully teasing her, lets himself be a bit more honest and tries to brush it off as a joke. That moment when Yasha says she won't let him risk his life for others all alone, and he giver her a wink and says, "Suppose I could use the company. I am recently out of a relationship the hard way..."

He's teasing, smiling. But it betrays a core truth--he doesn't want to be alone. Taleisin said that Mollymauk being a romantic is an intrinsic aspect to all his lives, the one constant he always builds his identity around. It's so tragic, that Molly is perhaps the most hopeless romantic of all the Nein, and yet he's the only one aside from Caducues (who has no interest in romance and no desire for it), that never gets a happy end with a loving partner.

It's sad, seeing the Reunion, and how everyone else has found a love to build a life with, except for him. He's alone. Again. And I can't help thinking of how Molly falls fast and hard in every life. How he's swept up in his feelings for both Lestera and Brevyn so quickly. How he wakes as Kingsley and takes one look at Caleb and it's, "Oh. You're cute, Magic Man." "Magic Man--looking good." Biting his lip and fond teasing and letting his gaze linger on a someone his heart still remembers.

Thinking of Molly calling out to Yasha first when he's resurrected, to his dearest friend and the angelic soul he sees as Love--but it's still Caleb he turns to immediately after, the second person he tries to reach for. The one who fought so hard to save him in that final fight, who poured his whole heart and soul into that resurrection ritual, desperately hoping to see him again. Magician. Thinking of Lucien's last memory of his lover, and how it immediately bleeds into Molly's memory of kissing Caleb.

How he never got the chance to tell his magician how he really feels. That even in the end, he thought of him as "softness and light" and held onto the sensation of kissing him like a lifeline--knowing that their time together was very brief, but it still meant something dear to him. Like how he he still treasures his time with Lestera even after he's begun to move on.

Thinking of how Caleb still longed to save Molly throughout the entire final arc. How gutting it is that he still loses him in the end. Molly never got to say goodbye to Lestera, and when he kisses her for the last time, she's already gone. Caleb never got to say his farewell to Mollymauk either. And when all his magic and hope has failed him, when he has nothing left to give, he offers Molly one last forehead kiss, even though he's already cold and gone, lying lifeless in his arms.

And I can't help but believe that those feelings Molly carried for Caleb in multiple lives still linger, the way they did in that final episode of the campaign. And it makes me so sad--especially in light of that conversation where Orym says he doesn't have anyone--that there is no one waiting for Molly. That he falls hard and fast. Once, twice, thrice, and it ends in death every time. The fact that he never even got a chance to tell Caleb how he feels. And I just want to see a moment where Kingsley and Caleb explore those lingering feelings, where King is ready to let someone back into his heart again. Even if it's just for a moment, for one more forehead kiss. I just want this Circus man to find happiness.

#mollymauk mighty nein origins spoilers #critical role spoilers #i dont know this is just me putting this out into the void sorry

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