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chut-je-dors · 1 year

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Now I'm curious cause of your tag. What did Swedish media say about the eurovision thing?

Oof yeah, here's a post detailing it ... here another... Basically they've absolutely flipped over the fact that Finnish public didn't give Loreen points at all (which I find absolutely hilarious) and suddenly started wielding such rhetoric as "the former eastern part of our kingdom" referring to Finland, which is???? like??? do I even need to say how Not Okay that is?

It might seem to some that the Finnish people are reacting to Sweden's (unfair) win and them being sore winners (which, points to them, I didn't know was possible!) with too much drama, but it's all tied to our history together. Finland has traditionally seen itself, and has been seen by other countries (Sweden included) as the sort of "little brother" to the more advanced, better-faring, glorious Sweden. While Sweden to my knowledge doesn't much care about what Finland gets up to (perhaps overlooking/ignoring us and our merits), Finland is always comparing itself to Sweden and trying to live up to it. It's a very common rhetoric and sort of, the atmosphere over here. We know more about Sweden than Sweden knows about us; we're constantly conscious that Sweden exists. Sweden gets talked about in international news; Finland, if mentioned, is often tied to - you guessed it - being Sweden's neighboring country.

We used to be part of Sweden for 600 years. During that time, Swedish was implemented as the language of the culture and the "civilised" whereas the finns living in the eAstErn pArT oF tHe kiNgDoM were seen as "wild" and "uncivilised" and just, generally a lesser people to the Swedish speaking population. We haven't been under Sweden's rule for some 200 years and STILL we can't seem to shake their influence on us. Swedish is still a mandatory language to learn at school (and I have many opinions on that, but that'd be another post). Finnish as a language has been disregarded for its whole existence. Our leading national thinkers and poets in the 19th century, who were the first ones to really push for the Finnish identity instead of us seeing ourselves as part of Sweden or Russia, wrote in Swedish. The first novel in Finnish was published in 1870.

So this is monumental to us, to have the whole word watching Finland and not Sweden. Finland has a lot of merits, especially considering how small a people we are (just 5,5mil). To have a song in our language, in Finnish be this popular, is something we couldn't have imagined. We as a people are humble to the extreme, so much that we might easily scorn anyone who is too successful (not a good thing!), and this is the first time in my life that I'm seeing the whole country rally behind someone like this. When we say "Our Jere" we mean it with our whole hearts. We're so so proud of him, everyone is, and for once Finnish people seem to think in unison that someone deserves all the praise and the success.

SO, to have Sweden in this UNIQUE moment of Finland raising its head and being "we're so amazing", with the rest of Europe going "yes you're so amazing!!", spew rhetoric like this, is just, unbelievable to me. Like I can't just believe that in the 21st century there are people in Sweden who hold up 200 year old thought patterns of our country. It's been shocking 'cos though there's always been rivalry, it's felt more... tongue in cheek. We "love to hate" Sweden over here. It's been "I hate Sweden (affectionate)". But now we find this unbelievably condescending and belittling attitude towards us raising its head, and we wonder, we thought we two were okay?? But have they always held these beliefs???

So there's a sense of betrayal in the air as well. And just, full on disbelief. And maybe we're starting to see that it has been like this all along, but we've decided to turn a blind eye to it? True colours shining through? Perhaps not... but yeah.

Sweden not looking good here!

(here's one more post that says the same that i did but was better at making it SHORT oops)

#eurovision #finland #sweden #käärijä #loreen #look i have nothing against loreen or individual swedish people #i don't believe most swedes would think like this!#still to have something like this in a piece of media over there is... wild #and somewhat telling?#welp #bit of a long answer but there's more to this mess than just what's happening now #it's 800 years of shared history that we understand without it needing to be said #at least i think so!#if anyone has anything to add/discuss please go ahead!#anonymous #answered #the finnish people have a forever inferior complex when it comes to sweden and now the one time the world actually sees us sweden's like #'such dumb people :( we won look at our trophy. stop celebrating the circus act'#they're just jealous we have the crazy we have the party #:) <3 i wrote this cos i'm hiding from work heheh #esc23 #suomi

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coquelicoq · 6 months

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what i love about the Famous Actor Natori Shuuichi of it all is that...it's not just that he's famous and therefore widely recognizable wherever he goes. like yes that is very funny because he was an exorcist before he became a famous actor, which means he CHOSE, on purpose, a day job that would make it harder to hide his double life/secret identity from the hordes of his adoring public, but it's more than that. it's not just that he's famous, it's that he's famous specifically for being an ACTOR, aka a person whose job it is to dissimulate, to make believe, to inhabit roles and emotions other than his own. like he decided he was going to become as visible as possible (which again was literally not necessary! he could have gone into any other career for his day job!!) but in such a way that everyone would see him but no one would see him - they would just see his various made-up personas, including the Famous Actor Natori Shuuichi persona. i can't decide if he's a genius or if he just made so many absurd decisions that they canceled each other out and circled back around to working out. he's either playing 9-dimensional chess or he's eating the pieces. too soon to say.

#the other thing i love about it is that in a very real sense it's his actor day job that is his alter ego #being an exorcist is his normie job. he's just a famous celebrity on the side #which isn't that uncommon in secret identity setups but it's still very funny #natsume's book of friends #natsume yuujinchou #natori shuuichi #natsuyuu meta #my posts #f #i think probably the actual answer is that acting was a very natural career choice because he already masks so extensively #both to hide that he can see things other people can't (and that youkai exist and that he exorcises them)#and to hide what he's really feeling so that no one can use it against him #so if it's already something he has to do & he's good at it...why not have someone tell him exactly how to do it & get paid for it?#and the other part of the answer is that most ppl don't go into acting assuming they'll get famous. the fame was a side effect #so each decision as it was being made probably made perfect sense. but put them all together #and you have this hilarious assortment of elements that seem to directly contradict each other #okay also i would be remiss if i didn't mention the other possible answer which is that the attention came first and was unavoidable #and the acting developed from the need to protect himself from the attention that he was going to be attracting no matter what he did #because he's so beautiful. and (in the exorcist world specifically) because he's the last of the natori #the more i talk about it the more i'm like no becoming a famous actor was the only path that made any sense for him lol #1) he's gonna be watched no matter what bc he's him -> gotta figure out how to hide his secrets -> learn to act as self-defense #or 2) he's got secrets -> he's gotten a lot of practice hiding them -> hey you could make a career out of this!#all roads lead to actor natori shuuichi. and since he's beautiful...all roads lead to FAMOUS actor natori shuuichi #i love it when i ramble so much in the tags that i end up contradicting my own post lol #he's neither thinking ten steps ahead nor is he irrational. he's simply making sensible individual decisions #that follow logically from what is available to him and what his priorities are

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ahkaraii · 1 year

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Five [Kakashi fancomic, 72/?]

(Previous) (Next)

(Index)

#five comic #karaii art #i might go back and reorder this strip once i draw more sakumo anbu parts #but i've been wanting to draw sasori for ages so i rushed ahead :3 #komushi is an anime-only character who was sasori's apparent best friend #though sasori was presumably using him the fact that he stayed alive for so long tells me sasori was fond of him. in his own way #for the purposes of five comic i'm having sasori komushi and yoshino be childhood friends #i figured komushi's nonstop cheer is what most prepared sasori to calmly deal with deidara's exuberance HAHA #anyway #i'll probably get into it further on so i won't spoil much but #sasori had A Complexly Traumatic Childhood that led him to develop into a very particular brand of sociopath #who immortalizes his hurts like puppets....

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goldkirk · 2 months

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I opened Pinterest for the first time in months.

That made me realize a lot about how bad I was actually doing and how much of a Waffle House Index use of Pinterest is for adult me, apparently.

I hadn’t realized it had grown that foundational to me in a healthy-brain-exercise-and-hobby-joy way. Nice to know moving forward! It’s another sign I can keep track of and use to spot correlation/indicator patterns earlier my behavior.

I love this kind of thing, it makes me so excited!

#personal data hacking is my passion #someday I’ll tell a story about the most notable times I tracked things or hacked my own mental processes from childhood to now #including the fear of spiders and bed wetting and behavior changes and posture and heart rate and cursive and putting kitchen items and #trash away as soon as I’m finished using them instead of never ever or ages and ages later #I’m so proud of that #you have to give it time and still commit. chaining thoughts and routines and behaviors really works #we are not separate brains and bodies and external environments #anyway I’m gonna go haha I used up he last of my energy burst on Discord and here and I need to go rest and lie on the floor and probly doze #love you all be back soon bye mwah!#add to journal #trauma evolution #my Waffle House index #this is going to be a fun new tag I’m so going to have fun with this and I bet it’ll be a helpful example reference for other people too #more than just for future me!#so excited so proud of myself so happy so grateful for hope about me really trusting that my ability and my behavior and my performance #are able to and going to yes keep getting better #long many-milestone path-journeys of potential #like when I was a little 6-7 year old kid-team athlete looking ahead at a concept of a future with me over time getting #stronger and cleverer and faster and slicker and calmer and even happier and more and more capable and able to accomplish!#a gift. all this time I didn’t think I’d have and have been living anyway is such a gift.#knowing that I truly have future time to grow and explore and change and improve in even though I still can’t FEEL or IMAGINE that future #time yet. also a gift.#the time I will one day realize I can imagine a future and imagine myself alive? will be a gift.#breath is a gift. experiencing life is a gift. other life is a gift. rhythm is a gift. motion is a gift. awake is a gift. color is a gift.#such a great expanse. all of it new. all of it eternal. all of it me. all of it nothing I’ve ever known before. all of it all of it #all of it. gifts.#gonna go have floor time now. this would be such a nice time to re-re-regain my ability to cry!#mwah I love you future me. take care of your hand and thank u for writing all this down 💛#hey little star whatcha gonna queue?#my poetry

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sisterdivinium · 1 year

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Finding "the meaning" to a show that could have had up to five or seven seasons but was cancelled after the second is somewhat like trying to understand a novel composed of seventy chapters by having read only twenty — there is a whole wealth of information which we do not possess that could alter our reading of any given element or of the entire thing in itself.

Still, there are always patterns that weave a story into a cohesive unit and they can help us to better grope in darkness towards comprehension. One such pattern in Warrior Nun appears to be how the consequences to mistakes, "sins" or evil deeds committed by characters manifest.

Basic storytelling usually requires characters to act on something so that complications or resolutions may arise from their choices and move the plot forwards. In Warrior Nun, many of these actions are quite tragic in nature: Suzanne's arrogance and pride lead to the death of her Mother Superion; Vincent's allegiance to the higher power he believed Adriel to be inspired him to kill Shannon; Ava's flight from the Cat's Cradle ends up damning Lilith as she is mortally wounded and taken away by a tarask... All of these events have negative outcomes and heavy repercussions on all characters directly or indirectly involved. Something changes permanently because of them, be it in the world around them or within the characters themselves.

And yet, it would seem that all of these dark deeds not only move the story forwards but might also have overall positive results. We would have had no protagonist without Ava — and she would arguably never have received the halo to begin with had she not been murdered. What's more, on a personal scale, the horrifying crime she suffers is, in the end, the very thing that allows her a second chance in life, a new life.

An act of outside evil permits Ava to grow and develop, shows her a path she would not otherwise have found. Without her own season in some sort of hell, Lilith would not have been able to advance towards other ways of being and understanding beyond her very strict limitations. Vincent and Suzanne would not have embarked on their own journeys of enlightenment without having caused the pain they are responsible for.

Beatrice might have been paying for someone else's mistakes, but she, too, is given the chance to grow into herself through it. The afflictions that torment these characters advance the overall plot, but they also advance them, as individuals, as long as they are willing to learn and keep going despite the calamities large and small that they are faced with. Beatrice keeps going after parental rejection, Mary keeps going after losing Shannon, Jillian keeps going after losing her son (in part through her own actions, adding insult to injury)... Trouble and the adaptation that follows it, if one is open enough to learn from the experience, motivates the characters, propels them forward, teaches them.

The problem of evil has occupied the minds of many a thinker throughout the ages, given how the very existence of it, evil, might call into question that of God (a good, omniscient, omnipotent one, anyway). A common way of justifying suffering (and also God), then, is by claiming, as Saint Augustine, that "God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not to permit any evil to exist".

Now, it would be rather ridiculous to say of Warrior Nun that it follows in Leibniz's footsteps, also because this philosopher, expanding on the augustinian concept, attempted to defend the goodness of a real God with his "best of all possible worlds" while all we have is... Well, whatever/whoever Reya is.

But there seems to be an inclination towards some sort of optimism as a worldview nonetheless.

Betrayals reveal truth and grant knowledge (Vincent's culminates with the coming of Adriel, which allows us to know of the threat of a "Holy War" and thus prepare for it; Kristian's gives Jillian much needed insight, William's lights up the fuse for the fight to be taken more seriously...), crimes committed willingly or not open the way for Ava (Suzanne's killing of her Mother Superion causes the loss of the halo, which is transferred to Shannon, whose death opens the gates for Ava to walk through after being herself murdered by sister Frances)... The magnitude of these positive outcomes is perhaps not "balanced" when compared to the evil that brings them about, but there is still something to take out of the catastrophe.

However tragic the tones of a given event, the show itself appears to shun the predetermination that makes tragedy as a genre; if everything is connected, here it at least appears to not necessarily drag everyone into their horrible dooms.

What's more is that this lurking "optimism" matches really well with our own protagonist's personality.

And it makes perfect sense that Ava would do the best she could with whatever she is given.

Life for her, in the conditions she experienced after the accident, would have been unbearable without some sort of positive outlook on life. However deadpan, the joking and the "obscene gestures" and whatever other forms of goofing around beside Diego are a way of turning a portion of the situation in her own favour. Proverbial eggs have, after all, already been broken right and left — might as well make an omelette of whatever remains.

Humour is just another way of looking at the bright side of something, or, at the every least, of mitigating the utter horror it might bring. If the show allows for moments of lightness, if it lets us laugh, if it takes us through a perilous voyage which still bears ripe, succulent fruit instead of the rot of pessimism and its necessary contempt for humanity, it is because Ava herself sees things in this way. It isn't gratuitous or naïve in this case, but a true survival strategy, especially as it is confronted with the morbidity of Catholicism.

Here is a religion that soothes its faithful with the promise of reward in the afterlife — how else does one charge into battle against the unknown, risking one's own death along with that of one's sisters, without the balm of believing that we shall all meet again eventually, "in this life or the next"? How else does one come to terms with the ugliness and the pain of this existence if not by looking forward to a paradise perfect enough to make all trials and tribulations here worth it?

True nihilism would have annihilated Ava. Her present perspective is what avoided the abyss.

And there is nothing Panglossian to her attitude or what the show might imply by giving us her view on things. This isn't about "the best of all possible worlds", but of making the best of whatever situation we're in, of taking what we have and doing something with it, something good, something of ourselves. It isn't God making good out of evil, but our choices.

Killing innocent people and feeling no remorse will never be the best someone can aspire to do. Sister Frances, cardinal William, Adriel all learn this the hard way.

Those who do their best find that, somehow, they can move on from whatever it was that paralysed them. Ava, most of all, knows what it is to be stuck, frozen in place; she can never be the character who refuses to grow, even through pain, lest she condemns her spirit to the same fate her body is all too familiarised with. Those around her wise enough to let themselves be touched by her, by the dynamic power she carries, walk forth with her and live.

It says very little about "God" that Warrior Nun should adopt its heroine's views and seem "optimistic" as it progresses — but it speaks volumes about the values it presents for pondering, of the inspiration its protagonists provide, and of the multiple reasons why this is a story unlike most others.

#warrior nun #ava silva #you know it's actually very funny to type this as someone who is very schopenhaurian with hints of nietzsche #but i AM doing the best i can too :)#again i will reiterate that i don't think this apparent optimism has anything to do with the classic theodicy #if anything i see it more as a cry in favour of antitheism -- this is YOUR life fuck god #life is shitty so carve out your own makeshift paradise out of the wreck you are given #and don't make things harder for anyone else in the process if you can avoid it #(but that might just be the luciferian in me speaking lol)#anywho this post is a translation of one i wrote not too long ago in cryptic english and a ton of tags #so if it seems familiar that's why #also i do find it rather telling that whenever i try to delve into how the show structures things i talk about ava #i don't set out to analyse her -- but in analysing the show i must analyse her as well if by the edges #which again points to how finely woven she is to the fabric of the entire thing #remember how i said ava is a representation of free will?#well this whole bringing good out of evil thing also touches upon it #saint augustine maintains that it is precisely free will that allows us to do it -- to choose good #of course he means it in a sense of being free to pursue god rather than evil but you see the parallel still works #(this is the post i mentioned in the last reblog. figured i'd go ahead and throw it in the wild since there are more brewing)#analysis and similar #exercises in observation

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mel-loly · 11 months

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-“Just a flower, in the middle of the field at night, a light is turned on and reveals.. A day arriving with confident hope and silent happiness!”🌹🐝

#for those who didn't get it.. today is my birthday! and so tomorrow is really the day of the party and etc..#that's why I put “arriving” because tomorrow is a really special and very important event in my life akzbskhzjsb #and yes. I'm cosplaying as princess bela. she's one of my favorite characters and her dress.. It's literally a dream come true for me!#because I'm really going to use one similar to this one tomorrow irl and-#I won't tell you guys more details because it's personal things but- well. that's a little explain of what the art is about!#I really feel very happy.. and I admit. I don't even know how to explain my happiness but.. well...#I feel special. surrounded by people who *really* love me and show true affection for me and..#that I just have to thank. for everything. I have gratitude for all of you! like- thank you very much. really. for everything..#I can't even express in words how grateful I am for each of you #know that I love and appreciate everyone who is still with me on this journey called life!#and of course- I couldn't forget to talk about him lol. thanks to mike!#I don't know what would have become of me if I hadn't met someone as friendly and good-hearted as him #he was always by my side and made me feel more special in every day. in a unique way and one of the most important to me..#I love him very much/p. and I hope that our friendship will be forever happy and respectful the way it already is!#(of course. this also works for the other friends I made here too- please don't get mad or jealous! I love you all. okay??)#and well.. that's it.#I hope I still stay here. that I enjoy my day and face any fear or harm that I might have ahead of me and..#that I just hope for the best. I put everything in God's hands and I feel confident that things will work out no matter what the cost!#thank you guys again for everything and happy birthday to me lol-💛#happy birthday to me #it's my birthday #mel creator #mel loly #cosplaying of beauty and the beast #i'm mel and this is my blog✌️#my art blog #art mel #art #my art #my oc character

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theygender · 2 months

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The management at my old apartment stole my fucking bike

#apparently theyve been mass 'confiscating' bikes off peoples porches without telling anyone that theyre taking them #i dont know how long mine has been gone bc i didnt notice it was missing until i went to load it into my car to move it #but if its been more than (i think) 30 days then it would be considered forfeit and they would have already sold/claimed/trashed it by now #my gf and i saw a whole pile of 20+ confiscated bikes near the maintenance building but it doesnt look like mine was in it #i called them today to ask about it and they told me that for them to look for it i would need to provide a photo to prove its mine??#its MY bike! you stole it off my porch. how tf was i supposed to know that i needed to take a picture of it beforehand #they told us we can go check out the pile so me and my gf are gonna go look more thoroughly now that we're officially allowed #but if its IN the maintenance building we wont be able to find it #and if they already sold it or took it home with them or threw it away then it also wont be there #and i cant even ask them to confirm when they took it / if its already gone #bc it looks like theyve been doing this with dozens of bikes over the past few months so how would they even remember one specific one #what the fuck #rambling #also to be clear: they arent being confiscated BECAUSE theyre on the porches #the bikes are supposed to be under the stairwell and thats where mine was #my neighbors who leave their kids bikes piled on their side in the yard got to keep theirs #theyve been doing unscheduled porch painting without any sort of warning or notice on and off since like december tho #so my only guess is that they decided since they werent giving us any notice to move our stuff off the porch ahead of time #they decided to just move straight into confiscating everything off of the porches and hoping no one would call them out on it #which is fucking bullshit

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milkweedman · 9 months

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I am sorry you've been harrassed by terfs, but the way you are currently trying to weed them out seems a bit misguided. As in, the vast majority of terfs are in fact ok with big hairy CIS men. The so-called men they are actively hating are trans women/transfem people. So by acting like you proclaiming your love to big hairy dudes is the best terf-repellant you seem to be missing the point at best.

i'd love to actually respond to your concerns or whatever the hell it was that you were trying to convey with this ask, but it has almost no basis in reality so i literally cant.

thats the one statement on how effective i think the banners are that has left my queue so far. which is: i hope it works but also have literally 2 other backup plans already in case it does not. i dont know why youre calling that "acting like [me] proclaiming [my] love to big hairy dudes is the best terf-repellant", because thats wildly off target from what i have actually said at any point. everything else youve said is also pretty much either dead wrong or ignorant, so im getting the feeling that you not reading has been a problem for a while.

(ive also not mentioned terfs this entire time--ive been talking about radfems and using the word radfems. they're not the same thing although there's large overlap. so like. thats strike two for zero reading comprehension, buddy. cause you are literally not talking about the group im talking about and youre also inventing whole new sentences that i didnt say.)

#obviously reading ability does not equal intelligence. more about the wild overconfidence of someone who didnt bother to check if they #even read a statement correctly #i misread things all the time which is why i also dont barge into strangers inboxes to insult THEIR intelligence #because i know theres always a chance im completely wrong and i dont want to be an asshole #anon you could give that a try #like what am i even supposed to say to this ? i dont think its the best terf repellant and have never said that ?#but if you know so much about them go ahead and tell us your suggestions for how to get rid of them #im skeptical that they will make any sense at all but im always open to new ideas #(feels nice to be condescended to doesnt it ? i assume thats why you were condescending to me so im returning the favor <3)#anyway other than this fool thank you all for the supportive asks im glad youre enjoying the banners ! so am i :D #way too soon to tell if theyre working (no radfems yet but i usually get a wave of them every couple months so i wont jump to conclusions)#but just as blog decor theyre already great #there are many many asks though and i dont enjoy when this blog is less fiber craft than other stuff #so im reading each one and appreciating them but please dont be upset that im not responding to them or posting them #i have the first 2 i got in my queue and then i got like 20 more so

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simptasia · 9 months

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my mum has stage four cancer

#we found out a week ago #august 4th - the worst day of my life #so there were a bunch of tests that mum hated so her team of doctors could have all the info they needed #but the last few days we've been out of hospital and. adjusting to life back at home #i've become a decent nurse #i lost feeling in my nose for four days due to intense crying #there are. no words for how devastating this has been #mums been sick a while. but neither of us could have predicted it was something so serious #and it's. very serious. i was in hysterical denial at first but #while i do believe theres a chance she'll live. that a miracle will happen #its very likely my mum. my wonderful mum will die #its not the ending she deserves. she deserved to have decades more. to hold her grandchildren #but it may not be #we have no idea how long until. nobody does. could be weeks. could be years. i'll take care of her #and she's on heavy painkillers around the clock so whatever happens? she won't go out suffering #i wasn't looking forward to telling y'all because. i knew it'd make me cry again #but i feel like using tumblr again. so i felt i should say something #i have been open about this to my close friends tho to be clear. i havent been bottled up. but yeah #ahead of time i say: thank you

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brittlebutch · 4 months

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soo fascinating how Spock's World novel repeatedly depicts argument as borderline-flirting on Vulcan; so much potential for the spones dynamic

#N posts stuff #i loved this whole novel and its depiction of Vulcan culture as a whole but also #the part where one vulcan reflects that she Has to go ahead with an arranged bonding Just so that she can get into more #easily accessible arguments with her intended and also that part where Sarek describes Amanda's use of angry idioms as #'refreshing as it was annoying' when they get into arguments where Sarek knows he's right and Amanda can tell he's being smug #about it -- absolutely Delightful; no notes #i still haven't seen more than like. ten episodes; i know that the books are considered Dubious in terms of canon but they are so.#the ones that i've read so far are So good i can't put them down long enough to watch any actual show episodes lmfao #st: the original series

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proserpine-in-phases · 6 months

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I hate how every job says they're looking for a person like this because I am none of those things? Where are the jobs willing to pay top dollar for an unmotivated unprofessional cold unpersonable non starter who is disorganized and pays very little attention to detail?

#also i wish my guidance counselor in high school had sat me down and said dont go to college without a career plan #instead of what he did do which was tell me my grades are so good i absolutely should go to college #wish he had said at least make sure you get an aa in like accounting or something to fall back on #am i bitter about never finding a job that uses my degree that wouldnt also include needing grad school?#kinda #capitalism makes fools of us all #crap #its shut down week at the ethanol plant that does nothing with my english or fine art degrees #and also nothing with my 15 years of retail and customer service experience either lmao #i fucking hate shut down so much it is inevitable i start thinking of quitting even tho i am making more money than i have in my life #how fucking insane is it that jobs that require a masters degree will pay 15 an hour and yet this job that requires a ged at most starts at #like 25 and this plant actually starts low judging by what other plants are offering like damn #every job ive ever had needed no degree at all how much farther ahead would i be if id just gone straight to work?#like i fucking loved the college experience but it didnt do a fucking thing for me other than saddle me with life crushing debt

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randomwriteronline · 11 months

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In another life, Volo smiles in a way that gives his eyes a strange shape and says: “Don’t worry about tomorrow.”

Ingo looks up at him, piercing him with his blank gaze: “I’m afraid that mentioning something I should not worry about whilst not specifying what exactly that will be is bound to have the opposite effect on my peace of mind.”

Volo laughs softly, face turning genuine: “Something frightening will happen.”

“Ah. It is simply another part of the plan, I assume?”

“Very much so.”

“Thank you for warning me in advance.”

The merchant shakes a hand back and forth as if to say it’s nothing, index and middle finger raised. It looks like he’s giving him a holy blessing of sorts.

“If all goes well, you’ll even be home early!”

When the sky turns green and red, Ingo breathes evenly, and waits.

In another life, Ingo’s breath hitches in the night.

His hands are red and cold and he keeps repeating to himself, like a mantra, the instructions for covering one’s tracks in the snow while hunting or retreating as he follows them to the letter, just like the clan taught him, and thinking of the kind people makes his guilt jut a spike right through his chest, and he bites his lip and tries to ignore it.

The Lord sleeps with a quiet rumble that turns into a howling whistle as he exhales, the ice in his breath freezing Ingo all the way down to the marrow in his trembling bones. At least, it means he won’t wake up anytime soon.

He searches the enormous body feverishly, its every crack and nook. He peers into the dark maws as they open slightly: nothing. Until...

Overcome by such relief that he almost cries, he reaches out, at once careful and deliriously frantic, until his almost frostbitten grasp clenches around the stone. Maybe it’s his diminished sense of touch, but something about it feels completely alien in a manner he can’t understand, at once both above and below nature itself.

The Lord does not stir; Ingo rushes away, plate tight against his chest, masking his passage to pretend nothing happened tonight, absolutely nothing, while shame shrieks in his head unheard in the cold air about the assassination of trust he’s just tainted his hands with.

The Pearl Clan already has a home, whether a piece of the Original One is held in their possession or not.

He just wants to have a home again, too.

Ingo hopes they’ll understand.

In another life, the Survey Corps kid returns to Jubilife confused.

Pompous words echo in their mind: “If you’re talking about that pesky thing, it’s been dealt with. And it didn’t even leave a feather for all the trouble it caused!”

“Excuse me,” a voice that is outside their head snaps them back to reality.

Ingo, who barely talks to them outside of battles, greets them with a polite nod and his usual frown that reminds them in a way of Captain Cyllene’s.

“I hadn’t heard you had planned a detour to Mount Coronet tonight,” he starts off. “I suppose you too had been told of the commotion around Moonview Arena - I left for the Highlands just this morning to deal with it myself. I would have gladly spared you the trip.”

He produces a dark slab from one of his pockets and simply hands it to them.

They stare at it.

Neither makes a move for the next few seconds.

“I imagine this might be something of interest for you,” he says halfway between a question, an affirmation, and an encouragement.

The kid snaps out of their momentary stupor; they take it from his kind grip without much fanfare, mumbling their thanks as a quiet blush dusts their cheeks. They didn’t mean to just stand around like that - they feel terribly silly. He doesn’t seem to mind, thankfully.

Just as he turns to make his way back to the dojo with a quick tilt of his cap to bid his goodbyes, their voice rises again to catch his attention: “Did Sneasler give you one, too? A plate, I mean? Like this one?”

He follows their finger as it points to the object.

“The other Nobles gave me one,” they clarify sheepishly, ashamed of their forwardness: “Except Electrode and Avalugg. So I thought, maybe...”

The man hums as he considers their reasoning: “I wasn’t aware of such a thing before I was told. Perhaps she does still have it, unless she has shared it with someone else. I can inquire for Electrode as well once I return to the Highlands, though Avalugg is out of my jurisdiction, so - I’m afraid I cannot help with that. Gaeric always striked me as a helpful fellow, though; perhaps he’ll be able to lend you a hand.”

They smile brightly at him: “Thank you.”

They bow slightly before setting off for the next plate, and miss the unspoken lies the warden carefully tiptoes around telling them.

In another life, Volo’s eyes glimmer as they settle on the teen.

“You’ve been called here,” he proceeds, bout of loquaciousness still not extinguished, “You’ve been chosen, that’s plain to see. A grateful, merciful god doesn’t abandon its chosens - is it wrong to assume you’ll be granted a return from whence you came once your duty is done?”

His head tilts slightly to the side.

The kid can almost see his other eye behind golden hair.

“It must be an act of plain cruelty,” he says: “To be left in a time and place you don’t belong to, with no certainty you’ll go back.”

He smiles a little wider.

“Wouldn’t you agree?”

In another life, Volo finds the way that lost fool believes so blindly in his every word so pathetically amusing that he has to hold himself back from laughing in his face each time he crosses that look of wholehearted trust.

In another life, Volo slots a hopeless man’s only hope onto his back, together with the end of Cogita’s heartbroken grieving and his tremendous desire to do good, pure good, and his knees tremble a bit more under the expectations.

In another life, Ingo spends days in a cell torturing the wrist now forcibly freed of the warden bracelet to give himself some peace of mind, pacing back and forth, thinking furiously, to ignore the slight chill seeping into his undershirt from beneath his coat.

For an hour, he despairs about his predicament, about being betrayed, left like that; for another he berates himself for having believed so readily, for having given up community in exchange for myths and fairytales and empty promises; for another, he hates himself as much as the clan despises him, for the same reasons as them; for another, he hates the man in whose hands he so stupidly agreed to put his life.

After some time he stops thinking and only cries, cries, cries.

In another life, the kid gawks dumbly at the five missing plates as Volo carefully hides them back with a slight of hand that makes them disappear in mid-air, not expecting to have been beaten to them, not knowing two were stolen, two were given, and one was caught.

He smiles at them with an indecipherable expression. His free fingers extend, demandingly.

“Hand them over,” he orders, his voice like an airy laugh and his teeth as white as marble, as bleached and polished bone: “There’s a score I have been waiting far too long to settle with Arceus.”

“No!” they manage to blurt out amidst their state of shock, and though they gasp for breath no other words come out of their lips.

Volo smiles a little wider, looking past them.

“Please,” a voice that really does sound like it’s begging them rises from behind their back; Ingo stands, slouched but tense, and looks at them in the eyes. “I would advise complying with Volo’s request.”

The sentence stumbles out of their mouth: “What are you doing here?”

“I must catch a coincidence,” the man replies, unblinking, still as a statue: “My train departs from here, as soon as you kindly provide us with the plates.”

Confusion makes their brain swim as though they’d gotten a concussion.

They look back at the merchant. No explanation: his eyes have gotten narrower, more sinister as the setting sun dies into a halo behind blonde hair and casts a long, terrible shadow on the familiar face, turning it dark, grey, supernatural.

They look back at the warden. No explanation: his throat constricts as he gulps down a dry breath, his frame sways ever so slightly in an antsy worried uncertainty, his teeth catch a portion of his lip to bite and easy his anxiety.

Their gaze divided between the two, vocal chords fail them. Their head shakes, movement growing harsher as their footing turns steadier.

Ingo fetches a Pokéball out of his coat.

He waits for them to get one of their own to defend themselves with after fumbling a little for the surprise and fear, and swallows another breath.

His tone cracks under the terrible burden of plain, candid honesty: “I apologize,” he says, and his chest recoils into his shoulders like it really, really does hurt to force their hand like this, “It’s the only way I can go home.”

The apricorn ball leaves his hand: the Alpha Probopass once blessed to guard the Stone Plate roars above Spear Pillar.

In another life, Ingo listens carefully to the professor as he recounts the fight just a stairwell away from the sky (where he was supposed to be, had Kamado not requested he remain in the Village the whole day) as the kid beloved by Arceus told it.

“Ah,” he says once the other man finishes, pale beyond belief, looking almost sick: “Thank goodness he was stopped.”

He spends half of the night biting into his arm to muffle his cries of despair. He leaves the village during the other half, uncaring of any Pokémon or people who might encounter him, heading to the Cobalt Coastlands: his hands bleed and the soles of his shoes crack as he scales the seaside cliffs until he’s finally reached the top of the tower of rock overgrown with moss, shivering as his muscles scream, and he enters the cave the uncatious scientist revealed to him as the hiding place of the terrible creature who might be his last chance at returning from where he came.

In another life, Volo breathes slowly as the dark coat falls further and further down the side of the mountain, following the itinerary of a smaller body.

His palms sweat. He dries them on the marble.

Casualties weren’t planned.

Grabbing the Sky Flute for himself, mind numbed by the sight of two people careening down the mountain at his hands, some part of him soothes him.

He’ll fix that too, along with everything else, in just a moment.

In another life, the man looks at him like he’s out of his mind.

Volo laughs gently: “I don’t blame your disbelief.”

“It’s not-” the other tries to excuse himself, “I just - you - how can you be so certain that it was-?”

“-The work of Arceus?” he finishes. “I doubt it could be anybody else’s. Few beings could harness a power to cause your situation, and it’s not like Its children of Space and Time to cause such misfortunes in Its stead - no, they’ve had an example of what punishment could be for them far too long ago, with their sibling’s banishment.”

“Their sibling’s?”

Volo’s finger wags in the air as his tone turns paradoxically excited in the span of a second, clashing with the tense atmosphere: “Yes, a third god of reality directly descended from the Original One! Most information about it has been lost to time, but it was a truly sad creature, doomed from its birth. Could you believe it, that it was purposefully made to oppose its Parent, and as soon as it followed the very nature instilled into it the Creator banished it into a world opposite ours? Would you consider such behaviour befitting of a kind God?”

The man shakes his head, dismayed.

“Is it hard to believe it would allow such a terrible thing to happen to you, then?”

“How - how did you know, about... That god?”

Ah. A fair question, all things considered - though it is awfully rude to ignore the one asked first.

The merchant tilts his head in a playfully conspiratorial manner: “I’m a bit of a scholar, though I may not look it,” he reveals: “Old myths, ancient buildings, half-buried artifacts, nearly lost religions - with how much I travel the region I was bound to get curious about its history, no? And snooping around enough, I’ve collected quite a bit of knowledge. That’s why I made my proposal to you.”

He pulls back away from the poor lost fellow: “You didn’t believe me to be a charlatan, I hope!” he exclaims suddenly, visible eye theatrically wide.

The sheepish look he gets back is expected, and tears a chuckle out of him.

“I did not mean to offend,” the man apologizes.

“Be not afraid! You’ve done no harm. I’m used to being considered peculiar among my peers, not sure if you’re familiar.”

“Ah - yes, I would be.”

A slightly more relaxed feeling oozes through the air between them. His pitch continues, flowing smoother out of his lips: “You needn’t worry either way,” he grins kindly, “I wouldn’t make an offer like that without being able to properly back up my claim.”

He explains it all, or at least as much as is necessary to convince him, skirting around finer details that might scare him into thinking Volo utterly insane and send him running back with his tail between his legs to the clan he barely knows but already seems ready to latch onto with the ferocity of a Shinx ambushing a Wurmple and refusing to let its bite go even while the Bug wriggles disgustingly in its mouth. He speaks of his studies, his ambition, of how despite being so unfathomable a God can still be battled and rendered submissive - how that is the only way to get anything out of one; he speaks of how he hates the helplessness of humanity against the terrible things that are simply allowed to befall the world, and how he wants to stop that.

He can see a particular light in the white eyes, a glimmer of interest and hope nudging the lost soul closer to Volo; but the dark clad arms are still held tight to his chest, and there’s uncertainty in the clouds his breaths make.

“Is it truly the only way?” he asks.

Ah - a pacifist. Didn’t strike him as one, used to battling as he is, but he has seen things change enough with the centuries for this to make sense.

“Believe it or not, it’s the least tedious one,” Volo answers. His finger rests in the air, only a few inches away from the pale straight nose, as if chiding his naivety: “Otherwise you’d need his children, the gods of Space and Time; but you’ll be hard pressed to find a member of each clan even simply keen on recognizing the other’s Sinnoh as equal to their own.”

He can see how he understands immediately. It’s common knowledge, after all.

Volo smiles; his grey eye squints a little.

His voice is sweet as honey as he speaks: “Besides, I’ve done most of the work already. All that’s left to do is collecting the plates.”

Before he can be questioned about them he produces a dusty purplish slab seemingly from nowhere. Its mere presence is enough to make the air itself feel different, caught in invisible wisps of ghastly tendrils, tasting on the tongue like dried blood, gaining the unreal scent of an abandoned abode being unsealed for the first time after ages of disuse.

He can feel it though his fingertips, the droning, dormant power held within. He can feel Giratina’s long body wrap around his arm to nibble at the piece of its Parent, seeiking revenge, seeking redemption, seeking affection.

The gaze staring confusedly at it is nonetheless equally mesmerized.

“Pieces of the Original One,” he mutters, “Carved by Its legendary hero, no less. One for each type, scattered across the entirety of Hisui. Once all are gathered, one may reach Its realm and challenge It.”

The man eyes it quietly for a little, before asking: “Where have you found this?”

“In a place of worship long forgotten,” he replies with a smile. “Though I’m certain the old hero hid some in easier places to find, maybe even with his trusted Pokémon, who passed them down through the generations. Those should be much less of a hassle to get, don’t you think?”

The other hums thoughtfully.

He fiddles with his hands, trying to decide. What is there to mull over, Volo wonders? He’s made himself plenty clear: he understands how awful the situation must be for him; he sympathizes with his desire to return where he belongs; he wants to help him achieve just that; he has the knowledge and means to do so.

He’s his best chance.

His only chance.

A breath shivers into dead pale lips.

“Are you certain?” the man insists: “That I would not be a bother to you?”

Volo’s laugh is airy, kind: “You’re a victim of cosmic injustice,” he replies: “I cannot stand to see your suffering. It would be my honor to lend you a hand.”

A bout of silence; then the clear eyes turn bright, the slouched stance straightens slightly, the tone of his words becomes emphatic: “Allow me to repay you by helping, then - since you’ve done so much already. I don’t know how effective I will be, but if I can shorten the time for your plan to come into fruition even by a minute I’ll be gladly to assist you any way I can. As a token of my gratitude, for your kindness.”

Another chuckle breaks the cold air between them into fine shards. Blonde hair sways in the cold: “Who am I to deny such a passionate request?”

They shake hands, their pact sealed.

#pokémon #pokemon legends arceus #pokemon volo #submas ingo #random writing #au where ingo is in cahoots with volo :)#feat a bunch of different ways this can go #its a fun au bc depending on how you want to characterize volo and ingo it can go in all sorts of directions #does volo honestly want to help or does he want someone he can use more directly to achieve his goal?#is ingo holding onto some sense of morality or so despearate that he discards it all?#the possibilities are endless! and if u wanna write em go ahead #but also if u do pls tell me bc im curious of how it goes in yalls version #anyways HAVE AT THEE (hurls this at your face)

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