#How else may I reach you?

[the-unseen1]

6. Let us walk our highest path

The Seeker and the mysterious Stranger (Part 6 of 7)

6. Let us walk our highest path

“Are you truly walking on your highest path?” the mysterious stranger asks the Seeker.

The Seeker sighs tiredly.

“Well... Obviously not, as I am still sitting here on the bench with you... Still waiting for someone competent to arrive...”

The Seeker raises their head towards the sky as they feel a drop of rain falling on their skin.

“Why do you need someone else to guide you?” the mysterious stranger questions. “What hinders you from getting up and following your path?”

“For a start...," the Seeker responds, covering their head from the incoming rain. "I don't want to get lost in this dense forest. Someone experienced should go ahead.”

The mysterious stranger smirks

“Tell me, my dear friend, can someone else ever lead you towards your highest path? No, only you alone can find your highest path. Only you can walk it. If you follow someone else, it's their path and not yours. No, your highest path is unique to you.

One may assist you, during your walk. One may walk with you, side by side. Searching and finding together. But as soon as there is power involved, authority of words, thoughts and ideas, you will always get lost. Dependency hinders all progress. Attachment slows you down. Be free and follow your own highest path. Be a light to...”

Suddenly the rain begins pouring down in streams.

“Okay... wait a minute...” the Seeker interrupts.

“Slow down! Before you go on with another long-winded monologue... Can you first of all explain, what exactly you mean by 'highest path'?”

The mysterious stranger, strokes his chin, whilst contemplating a metaphor.

“Hmm... Do you enjoy playing Video games?”

The surprised Seeker gasps:

“Uh... Perhaps...? I did not expect video games to be a topic here...”

Neither did the reader. The rain is slowing down.

The mysterious stranger clears his throat:

“In some video games there are certain story-related decisions you can make, that will affect the ending of the game. Depending on your previous choices made throughout the game, you might get the best ending or the worst ending. Tell me Seeker, if Reality were a game wouldn't you prefer the best ending? Don't you want the coolest cutscene after you finished off the final boss?

This is what I refer to, by the 'highest path'. If life were a story, than the 'highest path' is the greatest story that you can experience in your individual lifetime.”

The Seeker is shocked in disbelief.

“Are you... Are you telling me...?”

Suddenly the rain stops entirely.

“Yes,” the mysterious stranger confirms with a grin on his face. His voice, full of exitement.

“We are going all in for the platinum trophy. Let us break the high-score. Let us end this game with 100 % completion. Let us achieve the best ending.”

The dark clouds above are lifting up. As they vanish, the bright rays of the sun are shining through the sky, illuminating their park bench.

For the first time, since the mad stranger sat himself on the bench next to them, the Seeker is speechless. They are overwhelmed by an emotion they haven't felt since childhood. A sense of innocent joy and wonder.

“You can't be serious. Do you... Do you actually believe, that this is possible?”

“Yes,” the Stranger smiles, his voice full of determination.

“We will find a way. All of us. Not just You individually. No, as a species, we will go for the best ending. And together, we shall write the greatest of all stories. Our own story. We are humanity, my friend.

Listen closely: If the individual follows their own highest path, the direction of the path of humanity will change as well. And as more people find their truest path, experience their greatest story, the timeline of our reality will shift as well.

You say, we are indifferent to the cosmos? You say, everything we do here on earth is meaningless in the grand scheme of things? You say, humanity is a parasite and our extinction is unavoidable? Let the heavens be my witness, I will prove you wrong!

We are the authors of the story of humanity and together we shall write a story that will echo through the cosmos. The melody of our song will reach the furthest stars, never to be forgotten. We will show the universe, that we are not meaningless, that we do have a purpose. We will prove our right to existence. Prove, that we are more than these selfish, violent, power-hungry monkeys. Whoever says, this can't be achieved, we will prove them wrong!

Let us face the challenge head-on, without any regrets. If we fail, then not without trying. If we die, then with a smile on our face. Together we will find a path of joy and laughter. A path of love and wisdom. A path of unity and freedom. ”

A rainbow appears in the sky, as the sun illuminates the forest, clearing all rain clouds.

“I- I don't believe you,” the Seeker stutters. “What you are suggesting is impossible. You are just a crazy mad man.”

“You are saying it's impossible, without even trying it,” the Stranger laughs frantically.

“Can't you see, that this limiting belief slows you down? Why are you so afraid to make a simple step? Will you continue to sit on this bench for all of eternity, waiting for someone who will never come?

Listen closely: The highest path, is the path with the ALL. This is the path, where each of your decisions will have the greatest good for ALL in mind. For humanity, for nature, for the earth, the universe and for you as individual, because you as well, are part of the ALL.

Walking the highest path, won't be easy. Life will challenge you with trials. You will need to prove yourself worthy. But fear not, you won't be alone. We will walk this path together. Up here and down there. Side by Side, as old friends. Are you ready to embark with me on this journey?”

The Seeker breathes heavily:

“Honestly... what you are telling me sounds really nice. And for some reason... I can't explain how... But... I had been thinking about some of the stuff, that you were telling me, already before... However, it just seems so difficult, so unfathomable... Like an unreachable goal. Do you seriously believe, that we are capable of this? Do you seriously have that much faith in humanity?”

A sudden, strong gust of wind, reaches the Seeker and the mysterious stranger on their bench. With closed eyes, the Stranger enjoys the wind brushing over his face. He breathes in the fresh air. His face turns into a big smile, as he opens his eyes.

“We will find a way,” the voice of the mysterious stranger thunders full of determination.

“No matter how, far off we have drifted off. No matter, how lost we are. No matter, how desperate our situation is. No matter how difficult, how painful, how frightening the path ahead may seem; remember this: We will always find a way. This is the strength of humanity, to always find the way. To face every challenge and emerge victorious. And if the path seems out of reach, if there's no way at all, we create our own way. We will do it. We will make it. For we are humanity.”

For a moment there is a uncomfortable silence between the two. The Seeker doesn't respond. Even the crickets are silent. Tumbleweed is being pushed by the wind, rolling in front of the bench.

The stranger takes a deep breath:“Let me ask you a different question, dear Seeker. Do you remember the promise?”

TO BE CONTINUED

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: dismemberment / ]

I think a lot about how Leo’s rescue could have easily ended in him losing a leg as the portal snaps shut on the Krang still clutching the limb, or, alternatively, only having Leo’s right arm make it out, still held dearly in his brother’s hand as the rest of Leo is left behind. (The latter hits even harder, as it directly parallels his future self in the worst of ways.)

I think a lot about how so many things could have gone wrong during the course of the movie with even a little bit of a change, but it really is harrowing how much of a coin-flip the entirety of the Prison Dimension rescue was.

[margoshrmargoshing]

Too tired for words

Waaagh sniffs sobs hhh.... cries sniffles sniff... wahh... starts rolling on the floor crying...... wahgh

[shewhoeatssand]

they are similar

[mihrsuri]

I keep trying to write an update and then being embarrassed about it and feeling like I’m trauma dumping on people by updating and I just..I know it’s on me to manage my crap, I know. I am trying (not very well but I’m trying) and it’s just…I don’t know. I don’t even know.

[antirepurp]

kieran over the course of indigo disk: it's not fair that Player gets everything and i get nothing after i've tried and worked so hard to get somewhere, i want to have something this once

kieran at the end: no it's ok Player can have the legendary pokemon it's okay they have everything i want to have and i get nothing like im some kind of npc or something

[detectiveneve]

why do I even have you here

[unloneliest]

the problem of the matter is i did internalize so much of what ex friend believed about me. even though i knew he was wrong and knew what was happening and tried to stop it and if i took more action to stop it would have been abusing power i held in a way i couldn't live with myself for.

[triglycercule]

i want to headcanon the mtt having absolutely terrible hygiene and struggling to keep themselves clean (this MAY... just QUITE POSSIBLY.... only in the SLIGHTEST bit be projection) but i think it would be too gross and man EVEN I dont wanna think about that

also killer canonically smells good and i actually really LIKE that idea so oh shit there goes that idea out the window. horror and dust youre my only hope please let me make you smell bad for reasons you won't understand

[robotsafari]

im gonna feel bad for all the kh fans who followed me once i hyperfixate on something elsWRONG!! ONLY THE STRONGEST FOLLOWERS SURVIVE !!!!!!

[gothmileena]

its so late but im like. ive been thinking for Three Days Straight about how much i love mileena lmao like okay. okay. she's a fucking construct basically made to be kitana's 'better' replacement & Made To Order to suit her father's purposes, except she's kinda put in this weird position where despite being told she's the rightful heir etc etc, she's also constantly reminded of the fact that she's not the original, that she's a clone at Best. & her tarkatan side is so very off-putting to people around her, she's feared and that gains her some respect but also she's never actually been loved, so there's something she's missing out on and i think honestly on a very deep subconscious level, that's exactly the type of connection she's craving. i don't even know if she would organically want to be khan, or if she just had it drilled into her that it was 1. the only path for her to take and 2. the only way she would ever find any sort of acceptance from anyone, even it was was forced.

i think there's a part of her that really does want a real connection with her sister but because she has no real way of knowing how to build that (not like kitana is interested in the first place lmao) it just manifests in hostility. idk maybe it's just projecting but i read a lot of her lashing out & anger as a cover for a deeper hurt & feeling of isolation. it's very clear that no one is really accepting her for Her nor are they interested in doing so, and i have to believe it's affected her emotional development. i could also just be reading too much into her teddy bear tea party, but there was something i found to be really just... sad almost? about the jade and kitana bears. like yes it's silly or whatever but c'mon. i think it's very much implied that there's some jealousy towards their friendship, and i think that there was a time she would have loved to be included in it but just couldn't break in. i maintain she doesn't actually hate kitana & what we see is a mixture of shao khan's influence + repeated rejection.

i'm not saying that love can 'fix' her or whatever, but i think a genuine friend who was in her corner and just wanted to be around her without fear-based coercion would make a huge impact in her life.

[guhhhhhhhhhhh]

I have to put fresh sheets on my bed and make it but I've just been sitting on my bare mattress for the last 20 mins ranting to myself about this damn show

[peridots-pixiwolf]

yknow I play a lot of hard games but usually not "took 73 days to beat" hard

[wibble-wobbegong]

tag rant 👍

[elegyofthemoon]

In the cool, plush core of the moon sleeps a mouse as we speak, dreaming of a world lush and green, then golden and undulating, then chopping and churning, a world of many surfaces with skies of many moods.

When it awakes, it will poke its tiny head out of a crater and bask in your glow as it does every morning. Here, all is still and silent. On that sparkling planet in the deep black distance, the sun seems capricious. But the mouse lives in the abyss of the body and therefore with a unique perspective on its essence. The mouse sees what other life does not see.

One needn't worry about unbecoming for the sake of containing a sun. Clouds may blanket the atmosphere of a planet, but still there burns a sun. The spots on the sun's surface may grow and shrink and shift, but still there it burns. And if one decides to cool it down like a waning flame or expand it in a cataclysmic supernova, still there it burns, and one has the right to revoke the state of their existence and become new.

Because perhaps the truth is you are not the sun--not alone--but it is rather a part of you. Your body is the solar system, each planet a world within the body, and each knows this glow in different ways. Some are nurtured by its warmth, others by its distance. Regardless of the sun's changes, they stay the course encircling it.

The universe cannot be held back, harnessed, fully comprehended. It pulls at the seams of solar systems as it pulls on its own seams. In that unstoppable shifting, we stumble. Sometimes it feels like our love and light slips from our fingers, shattering irrevocably in our falls. But what makes us cannot be seperated from us, even in times where our essence is obscured.

There is always another life to appreciate your life, no matter what happens. And in the least, there is always a little mouse in you that understands you in telescopic clarity and offers forgiveness for every change--no matter what, right into the end of time.

❤

[tariah23]

What’s with folks saying that they don’t “get,” Maki’s character and that it seems like she doesn’t care about anything/ anyone anymore or have any goals. That she’s just a muscle head who’s creeping towards being power hungry? Have we not been reading the same manga all this time or not-