#but that's a post for another day

[melverie]

Love how there are four main reasons why Lucifer is as avid a Demonus Connoisseur™ as we know him to be, and how all of them hurt to think about

There's the obvious, of course. All the seraphs go out drinking together. It's a little keepsake to his time as an angel, in a way. So Lucifer sits in his moonlit study down in the Devildom, only the shadows of leaves gently swaying in the wind keeping him company, pouring himself half a horn of the finest Demonus in his collection. All to honor those he once called his brothers and sisters as they fill up each other's cups and bask in the warm sunlight of the Celestial Realm

Ah, but he's not just drinking to mourn days lost to the past! He also has reason to celebrate every once in a while! Any small improvement to his and Satan's relationship is deserving of a generous reward, don't you think? See? That's a perfectly normal reason to treat yourself to a few more horns!

A couple of bottles into his system, and all the things that usually plague his mind seem so distant all of a sudden. It all turns into nothing but hazy fragments, and it's hard to piece it all back together. Although it's not like Lucifer would even want to in the first place, not when it finally makes all the things he craves to forget about slip from his mind. About the sister he failed to save. About the brothers he damned alongside him. And the crushing guilt that accompanies his every waking moment...

And then finally, there's this one glaring issue that everyone always seems to overlook when it comes to Lucifer—"his" Pride. That awful, wretched little sin, everpresent as it dictates his tone of voice, his every gesture, every word he utters, every single little facet of his personality. Lucifer—"Avatar" of Pride and the morning star himself—is nothing but a prisoner of his own mind, a mere puppet for "his" Pride to control

And so, he drinks. Drinks until even the cheapest bottles in his collection are empty. Not that it matters much to him, at least he can finally free himself from the constant pain and heartbreak that is looming over him, even if it's just for a handful of insignificant hours in this sheer endless torture that is his immortal life. After all, he can't drown in his sorrows as long as he keeps the Demonus flowing

By the time only one last bottle is left, Lucifer stares straight into the darkness of his study, his hair completely disheveled and tears cling to his face. He has long since collapsed on the ground as he brings the very last bottle of Demonus to his lips, not stopping until he has gulped down every last drop

Right now, the Avatar of Pride is nothing but a shadow of his former glory. But oh, is there a better escape from drowning in his sorrows than to keep this sweet, sweet Demonus flowing?

#THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ONE SENTENCE LONG HELP WHAT HAPPENED (<- brainrot took over. that's what happened) #i genuinely think pride is the most interesting out of the seven sins simply because the way it affects lucifer is so quiet #but that's a post for another day #ALSO the fourth reason is actually canon so that's cool :) #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me nightbringer #obey me lucifer #;mel's analyses

[supernovaa-remnant]

I know I've talked about it before but listen I'm tired and sappy so I'm gonna talk about it again

I think one of my favorite parts of the internet is just the capacity to love people who are so far away. Yes, our brains weren't really wired to exist outside of smaller communities, so we weren't really wired to know of the existence of individuals across the globe. But, like, isn't it kind of beautiful? Like, I can know individuals from all over at varying levels of closeness, but I can care about all of them. Whether I talk to them daily or we just interact with each other's posts sometimes or whatever, I can care about the life of someone so far away from me.

And I know I joke about you being the funky little people in my phone, but you're more than that. You all have such intricate lives of your own, and the fact that we're even able to brush paths in this way is amazing to me. What a privilege it is to have found this community and been made aware of all the lovely and talented and kind people that are in it.

There's a lot to be said about the internet. But it's so beautiful how it's introduced this new way of loving people. This new capacity to love people. And all this to say that I do love you and I think fondly of you and, no matter how much we've interacted, I wish you nothing but the best in your life <3

#there's something that can be said about this in terms of ccs #and maybe one day I will make a post talking abt this in regards to drm #but that's a post for another day #anyway I should probably sleep I'm very sleepy 😭 #but I'm also so full of love :( #stella rambles

[pixiatn]

Broke: The snap accidentally sends Peter to the dc universe

Woke: The snap accidentally sends Shuri to the dc universe

I just think ppl need to switch it up, Shuri's fun and I love her and I think she'd benefit from interacting with characters her age/dcs wack ass heros bc I'm pretty sure before IW/EG she never really interacted with any other heros, also all the Peter getting sent to the dcu fics are kinda repetitive

Anyway here's some nonspecific memes

#marvel x dc #bespoke: miles somehow gets sent to the dc universe #but that's a post for another day #marvel #marvel comics #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #the snap #dc #dc comics #shuri #the justice league #justice league #damien wayne #jason todd #batman #superman #infinity war #detective comics #dc crossover #marvel crossover #crossover fics

[braininatankwithalaptop]

I have torn thoughts on Red Robe's characterization in Mother of Learning.

On the surface, one can draw a parallel between his villainous motivations and those found in lazy action movies. "The bad guy is the radical extremist trying to destroy an unjust system instead of doing nothing like the good guys." But as I thought about the protagonists, Zach and Zorian, I found the parallel isn't the same. Zach and Zorian really aren't defenders of the monarchy, the noble houses, or the status quo. Zach ends the story fighting a legal battle to right a wrong done to him and Zorian ends up as the ambassador to the aranea to help them establish official diplomatic relations with Cyoria. Sure, neither character is specifically politically ambitious, but that seems to be from a sense of humility or desire for rest than actual satisfaction with the status quo. So, what is the actual foil between ZZ and Jornak?

We don't get a lot of specifics with Jornak's characterization, but two details stand out to me. 1) Jornak discovered the deepness of eldemar's/ikosian empire's corruption during a time loop that he had to cheat to retain awareness of. 2) Quatach-Ichl betrays Jornak partially by revealing his plan to hold Zorian's friends and family hostage because Jornak believes that the first ikosian emperor used the time loop to ascend to power and wants to use the same power to conquer the continent. Let's start with the first detail. Jornak discovers in his research that the injustice that happened to him was a result of systemic problems. He couldn't fix those in a month by himself in increments, which is the only time frame he had within the time loop. But he could support the invasion, he could leverage it to destroy *everything* standing in his way and be free to start over from scratch. The only way he could feel like he was making progress was by consolidating more personal power and perfecting the outcome of a horrific invasion. And he knew that the "boon" of the time loop was not designed with him in mind. It was made for Zach in mind and Jornak was terrified of being cut out of the picture and exploited like he exploited everyone else and was exploited. So he had to make a deal with Qautach-Ichl and Panaxeth, further committing him to the invasion as his only course of action. So, his actions are extreme but kind of understandable and sympathetic? But if we look at the second detail of Qautach-Ichl's worries of him we see he's making the same mistakes that he claims are the reason for the systemic injustices today. Jornak wants to "follow the cycle" as it were, and become emperor like Shutur Tanara with his boon of the time loop. He consolidated immense magical power, skill, and political/psychological insight of important actors in the world. All he had to do afterwards was become emperor and instead of being bad like him, be good. Easy, right? But for that to work he still has to conquer the continent which one can't and shouldn't do without committing so many atrocities and compromising so many morals. He may not establish the same systemic injustices but if he doesn't he will make different ones. Jornak sees the cycle of the time loop being an unfair advantage and allowing one madman to reshape the continent as they see fit and decides he's going to ensure he's the madman in hopes of making the world better. And here we see ZZ truly promising something different by not doing that. It is a repeated character motivation of Zorian's and Zach's that they wish to pay people back for the support they received in the timeloop. They consolidated power and then worked on ensuring others got the benefits of it too. The two of them aren't planning on being the singular most historically important people to culture and civilization, they want to give their own (partially) realistic contributions and help their friends do the same. Zorian isn't going to be the one that publishes revolutionary medicinal and alchemical techniques, but Kael might. Zach won't go down in history for single handedly hunting down and dismantling groups of necromancers and cultists, but Alanic and his sect of the church might. They are so committed to helping their friends, and Zorian especially seeks to achieve their goals not through dominance, but through diplomacy. Zorian and Zach's diplomacy and "political" intrigue are so integral to how they win in the end that I'm tempted to say the author read On the Origins of War: And the Preservation of Peace or something similar. Zorian secures an alliance with Spear of Resolve by proving his trust and alluding to helping a rival. Zorian gets important information out of Qautach-Ichl by making a cogent and good faith argument for him to not support the invasion. Zorian gets Oganji to flee the battle by giving up valuable artifacts in a bargain. And most importantly, the angels cut a deal with Zorian and Zach to not enforce certain clauses of the law if Zach and Zorian can skirt the letter of it.

I think if you really comb over how Zorian and Zach interact with antagonists, how others try to get what they want, and characterizations of conflicting people/organizations, politically speaking the story is about how important it is to compromise your goals in the name of results and your ethics as opposed to compromising your ethics in the name of your goals. ZZ break a cycle of exploitation by refusing to forget others and paying back debts. Jornak's bitterness and despair push him to make a deal with the "devil" (primordial) and fight for the short term, corrupt solution. I think this is the most good faith interpretation I can have about the character dynamics and themes of the book but who knows? I might be wrong due to projections.

#mother of learning #mol #red robe #zorian kazinski #zach noveda #mol spoilers #jornak dokochin #quatach-ichl #political intrigue #fantasy worldbuilding #literary analysis #I also had so many thoughts on how raynie's background and character arc parallel to this and zorian's story specifically #but that's a post for another day #I need to learn to be more succinct

[yume-fanfare]

because guys. do you understand. ever since he was a little kid, tori was harshly judged by the adults around him, to the point where he felt that he should give up in trying to live up to their expectations for it was impossible.

then, eichi tenshouin, the heir to something even bigger, decided to become an idol. and he looked so free on stage. he was shining, and tori found the ideal he needed, something to pursue. so he trained to become an idol, and he trained hard. and he started skipping lessons and stopped appearing at social gatherings and the criticism got harsher than ever, enough to cause a definitive fallout with the other kid his age, tsukasa. but he got into yumenosaki, and he passed the fine entrance test, which had been designed to be near impossible, and eichi saw in tori a determination that inspired him to not shut down the unit.

(later on, tsukasa would become an idol too, without much opposition from his family)

and in yumenosaki, tori met the amazing hibiki wataru. someone bright, loud, flashy and annoying, who was way too rough with tori. and whom eichi loved much more than he'd ever love him. and eichi had been treating him like a child who must be protected, too young to learn the reason behind the consequences he's going through. (he still does, sometimes)

but as time went on and fine grew closer, tori truly grew to love wataru, too. and so, when it seemed like wataru was going to leave, tori made, as he called it, his last selfish request, and asked him to stay, because he makes eichi happy. and that's really the summary of tori's development and growth. for all of his struggling, he wants eichi and wataru to stay together. he accepts his feelings are unrequited. and he's made a lot of friends along the way! and even managed to have a friendly rivalry with tsukasa. and really, he's grown so, so much!

#and now his little sister might get engaged to eichi #his little sister‚ who actively hates eichi #even though‚ as he himself put it‚ tori saw him first‚ #but that's a post for another day #enstars #tori himemiya #i had been looking for a post to this effect that i thought i had made but it was in my drafts lol #mar's midnight rambles

[starzie]

Watching some movies tonight. Specifically Princess Mononoke (1997)

Not sure what you call it- (motif? sound bit?) But whenever San is caught off guard, with her humanity, there's a sharp chime/ringing in the air

It's been my headcanon it has to do with her backstory.

(To recap:) Her human parents were frightened by Moro, the wolf god; And in a panic threw their baby at her feet. (Then Moro raised her as a wolf, etc.)

I imagine in the scramble to escape from the danger, a pin or something metal dropped against a stone surface; And made that sound

Now San associates it with being abandoned by her human parents

#scattered thoughts #ghibli #princess mononoke #meta #I love ghibli movies there's so much to talk about #like how Lady Eboshi wears man pants #but that's a post for another day

[pjthewitch]

also i’d like to add some clarification on why i reblogged the anti-new-age post even though i view most practices as valid.  disclaimer, these are my opinions, but i am not about to change them so go debate with someone who cares if you disagree.

i do not support

1. the appropriation of cultural practices.

as an indigenous person in canada, i often suffer from white/non-native new age folk appropriating spiritual practices and spreading misinformation, all while claiming a Native American Shaman taught them.  i can not speak on all north american indigenous tribes, but the Ojibwe, Cree, and Oneida local to my area do not have shaman.  we have medicine men/women, and having met many, i find it hard to believe that so many medicine men/women are teaching non-natives bastardized versions of our spiritual practices.  it’s almost like they’re making shit up.

2. the capitalization off of practices that are free.

the gods do not care how much money you spend on them.  full stop.  they will not be mad if you don’t buy expensive candles.  you will not be shunned for not having an ornate altar, or for not having an altar at all.  deity worship and witchcraft existed long before money.  if your offering is a cool leaf that you found on the ground for free, so be it.  lets not make worship and spiritual practice inaccessible to the impoverished.  capitalists get bent.

#new age #spirituality #witchblr #witch #witchcraft #polytheistic #polytheism #spirit worker #spiritworker #spirit work #spirit keeper #spirit keeping #indigenous #ojibwe #cree #ojicree #i am also anti-wicca just so we're clear #but that's a post for another day

[sketching-shark]

In Canon (JTTW) Wukong shows any romantic/sexual interest towards anyone?

Not Even Slightly fasfgrewdf. Going by Wu Cheng'en's version it's Zhu Bajie who's the romantic/libertine of the pilgrim group, while if memory serves correctly the main emotion Sun Wukong shows towards romance and sex is irritation. The Monkey King does have real affection for his monkey family and later on for Tang Sanzang, but it's the affection of an asexual communal grandpa lol.

That said, this characterization in Xiyouji is a big change from the monkey's presentation in the earlier play Zaju Xiyou Ji. Here, the simian in question, Sun Xingzhe, not only had a wife that he kidnapped in traditional Chinese monkey monster fashion, but apparently spends most of his time telling crude jokes, ogling other women, and acting as a rowdy clown.

I've now seen a number of pretty valid points about how it definitely pays to look outside of Wu Cheng'en's version of the westward journey to see what other people have made of it throughout its history, and I'd definitely agree that seeing what else could be considered part of JTTW "canon" in terms of the wild variety of ways people have told and retold this story is a really fascinating thing!

That said, I do think that coming at it from a western perspective one miiiiiight want to be a little more cautious of how one approaches the question of a Sun Wukong romance/sexual interest, given the long history in this part of the world of not only viewing and presenting monkeys as hyper-sexual beings/ man's poor imitation, but also using that perception to bolster a lot of horrible stereotypes against certain groups of humans, including against Chinese people. As is--and while in China itself Sun Wukong has been presented as everything from a devoted and helpful deity to a lecherous and destructive warlord--at this point there definitely does seem to be something of a preference in western depictions to emphasize the destructive and "stupid monkey" potentials of Sun Wukong's character rather than for example his love of family or his intelligence.

#anon answered #journey to the west #jttw #jttw retellings #sun wukong #monkey king #I know the anon was asking about something else #but man I am once again asking wtf is up with western creators making swk illiterate #but anyway #in regards to this swk actually seems to be something of an outlier in terms of having 0 interest in sex or romance #given what I know about stories concerning other monkey yao in Chinese folklore #& even in other versions of the monkey king #but that's a post for another day #or you could see what journeytothewestresearch has said on the subject #if memory serves correctly he's done a good summary on potential inspirations for the monkey king #including some of the more lecherous monkey monsters in Chinese folklore

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Thank you to q!Jaiden for your valiant sacrifice, it gave me the motivation to actually bust through the block I had writing this fic

#i talk #qsmp talk #Me gritting my teeth: I'll post it on Monday #So God Help Me #I'm gonna blast through the rest and call it good I GOTTA let this one run free in the wild #Or I'll keep nitpicking over it forever #also. its the perfect time to drop a bimboier fic in the tag #my gift to my starving people (fellow bimboier fans) #why did we get stuck with the dumbest ship name in existance #I say as if the pairing itself isnt inherently insane looking at it at a surface level #*surface level perspecti e #*perspective #curse you mobile #I'd love to run this past someone before posting but it's whatever at this point #actually I'd love to get another billingual spanish person to look at it since I plan on translating it to Spanish later #but that's a post for another day #that being said... if anyone is reading this deep in the tags and is interested... hit me up

[vettesebas]

ngl, i wish seb & lance had had what nando & lance have. i don't know if it's nando playing up the media, or them both having cars that don't suck so they're looser with each other, or how fundamentally different seb is from nando, but...yeah. i keep hearing how great nando has been for lance mentor-wise and it just makes me sad. then again, i don't know how seb & lance's relationship was outside of the media, which i'm pretty sure is how seb preferred it

#lance stroll #fernando alonso #sebastian vettel #aston martin f1 #there's also the 'nando sucking up to the boss's son' angle #but that's a post for another day

[lindensea]

Still thinking about The English. Unwell, honestly. There's so much to analyze and there are so many messages packed into it. But one that stood out to me was that unlike in most westerns, The English takes the time to show how the American West means something different to everyone, and that what it means depends on your background. For Eli, it's his home that he knows through his own memory and through the memories of all who came before him. His connection to the land is explored as a Native man and specifically as a Pawnee man. And then there's The English (aka all the white settlers). For Cornelia, it's a once exciting destination that now exists for her revenge and to bring back a sense of purpose to her life. For the Scotsman whose name I forget, it's the future, and if that means repeating hurts of his own past, it's worth it to forget that past. For the German Mennonites, it's a place God has given them and that's that. How could it be wrong for them to be here if God gave it to them? For Melmont, the lower class Englishman, it's freedom and anarchy -it's a place where the class structure and morals can finally be done away with. It seems very intentional that all "The English" want something from the land, while Eli simply wants the land he is owed.

#i included a whole thing about the native characters and how they each approach their lives with different survival tactics #but that's a post for another day #the english #i tell you after watching the andor finale and the english back to back i feel so spoiled with rich and nuanced stories

[myersesque]

ok so what if the writing is corny and cheesy and sometimes quite bad. no dialogue will ever make me laugh quite as hard as “swarm of bears?” “...yeah?” “herd of bears.” “...yeah, i’ve heard of bears...?”

#i also very firmly believe that supermassive's corny writing in their horror games is fully intentional #bc they're all very obviously loving satire of 80s-90s horror flicks. a la scream #but that's a post for another day #og #horror tag #the quarry #the quarry spoilers #dylan lenivy #ryan erzahler

[tired-fandom-ndn]

This might be coming out of nowhere but if I see anyone who isn't Native on my dashboard reblogging anything about Two Spirit that isn't "this is an incredibly complex identity based around community roles that cannot be explained in any simple way because it covers so many Native experiences", then that's an instant block.

Full stop.

I don't want to see opinions on Two Spirit from people who aren't Native, especially when most of those opinions are coming from transmed and terf settlers who have no idea what they're fucking talking about and just want to make up a bunch of bullshit that is easily refuted.

#native transmeds and terfs need to shut up about two spirit too (you all are embarrassing your communities and ancestors get a grip) #but that's a post for another day #i have absolutely blocked pro-ship mutuals for this don't test me #ndn tag

[lesbian-in-leather]

Top 5 ships who are together in canon, and top 5 who are not together in canon :)

Top five ships who are together in canon:

Greta Gill / Carson Shaw (A League of Their Own)

Morticia Addams / Gomez Addams (The Addams Family)

Talia Winters / Susan Ivanova (Babylon 5) (this is technically canon shush)

Catra / Adora (She-Ra and thr Princesses of Power)

Haymitch Abernathy / Effie Trinket (The Hunger Games) (the films also technically made this canon don't come for me)

Top five ships who are not together in canon:

Joan Watson / Jamie Moriarty (Elementary)

Clarissa Dovey / Leonora Lesso (School for Good and Evil) (I'm hyperfixating I'm sorry)

Zelda Spellman / Lilith (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina)

Regina Mills / Emma Swan (Once Upon A Time)

Hecate Hardbroom / Pippa Pentangle (The Worst Witch)

Ask me my "top five" anything!

#thanks for the ask!!! #i think these all reveal a bit too much about me as a person lmao #vaguely functional directions #the lesbian herself #top five asks #the only reason there aren't any non canon asoue ships here #is that as a series everything is so weird #we will never know what was and was not canon #so i choose to believe everything i ship was in fact canon #but i cannot prove it #i would like to argue the a lot of the 'non canon' ships are in fact canon #but that's a post for another day

[thenatco]

I’ve seen posts that claim episode 9 made Alicent more sympathetic, but it made her seem less so to me. I’m starting to think that she’s not mad at Rhaenyra for breaking the rules, but for not being discreet about it.

#alicent hightower #rhaenyra targaryen #house of the dragon spoilers #hot d spoilers #of course i'm aware that rhaenyra's sense of entitlement made her feel like she could break the rules and get away with it #but that's a post for another day #alicent hightower is larys strong's cam girl

[desperatepleasures]

funniest storyline in the novels is when the equestrian tribe decides adalbert is their messiah and he wasn't gonna roll with it at first but then he decides to stay with them because their food is so bad that he's like "well I guess I have to do everything around here 🙄" so he starts cooking for the entire tribe???

#kkm tag #actually so much of adalbert's story is food-adjacent and i have some Emotions about that #(specifically about him and julia bonding over sneaking into the kitchens at night) #but that's a post for another day #cool motive still treason