#Inflexible asshole

[sur-un-fil]

Ink demonth 2022 - Prison

How did Joey deal with the problem of Sammy being corrupted by the ink?

Chapter 11: 1946

"Sammy?"

The iron curtain remained closed and all Joey could hear was the thick, vaguely threatening silence that reigned in the deserted recording room. He sighed.

"I know you're here. I want to help you. "

He found it a little difficult to keep a calm tone, as this sudden burst of murderous madness could have had disastrous consequences at a time when the Studio was going through a slightly complicated period. Fortunately, he'd realised this early the next day, as he often hired as early as six in the morning to work quietly, so he'd been able to deal with the problem before anyone came across the bodies. He would have to silence the few witnesses who had managed to escape, yes, but one thing at time.

"Please, Sammy. I'd like us to talk about this. Will you let me in?"

But the musician was playing dead. 'Probably he really is now,' Joey thought absently as he continued to pound on the door of his sanctuary, calling out to him in a voice that sounded worried. Contact with the ink was deadly. The musician - who would never play music again - had been the only one exposed to it without first being sacrificed and then subjected to the machine. He had probably been slowly eaten alive, limb by limb, seeing himself changed in horror without knowing how to stop the corruption. As well as losing his mind, and begun to worship Bendy to the point of sacrificing people to him as some believers sacrifice sheep.

After two minutes, he began to toy with the idea of asking Caym to force his way in, pressed for time, when the curtain finally rose with a sound of crumpling metal. Joey was safe, and he already knew what he looked like from the surveillance tapes, yet he flinched slightly as Sammy emerged from the entrance full of musical instruments. He pursed his lips in disgust at the mess. Since his disappearance, Sammy had had to continue consuming ink and he had ended up completely transformed by it. He was unrecognizable now, without his fine features, his clear eyes and his blond hair. All that remained of him was an inky black body, with stained clothes and a smooth face. Unfortunately, it was impossible to save him. Joey had done enough research to know that the ravages of the ink were permanent. So because of a silly accident, he was losing an excellent department head, as well as having another problem.

"Back off, Joey! You mustn't come near me. I... I don't know how long I'll be conscious. The Voice..."

'A flash of insight? Good.'

"It's all right, Sammy. I'm here to help you. We're going to fix it."

The ink man shook his head.

"I don't think we can fix anything. I've... God, I killed people yesterday."

"I know. But I cleaned it up myself, no one will find out."

"You clea... You took that risk?"

"It seems to surprise you, but yes, of course. How long have we known each other? Fifteen years? I know you're not a killer. I had to help you, that's what friends are for, right?"

Yes, he'd known that from the start. Sammy didn't have broad enough shoulders to accept getting his hands dirty like he did, and the fact that he was freaking out like this only reinforced his point. It was a good thing he hadn't included him in his grand plan, and he'd never told him what he was really doing with the machine and all those donors that had to be replaced all the time.

"Come on. You're probably scared, but trust me. I know how to heal you. Everything will go back to the way it was. You can forget this nightmare and go back to your music, we just have to go together to the ink machine."

'To Caym's summoning pentacle, to be precise.'

"Yes, I wish... I wish it would stop. I don't want to hear the Voice in my head anymore, Joey! And I don't ever want to have to do what it tells me to do."

"Follow me, and you'll be free of it, I promise," he replied, holding back a skeptical grimace. How easy it was to blame someone else, imaginary or not, for the horror of some of our actions. Sammy probably didn't want to face what he had done.

They almost ran to the locked shed that contained the ink machine, while Sammy cried, his hand crushed over his lipless mouth. Joey was too busy making sure they didn't meet anyone to really pay attention, and he didn't see him as a man anymore anyway. What he was dragging around by the wrist was no longer the quiet, loyal supporter who had listened to him so often, nor the talented composer he had trusted. He was just a shadow, an imprint. One more donor to the machine.

Joey unlocked the heavy wooden door, the one to which only he and Thomas had the key, and pushed Sammy inside. He stepped in behind him, and relaxed as soon as the door was closed.

Ignoring his worried questions, he walked over to the machine. Beneath it, invisible to the others, was drawn in animal blood the great summoning circle that linked Caym to this dimension. This was the easiest place to make contact with him and the place where the demon had the most power. Joey placed his hand on the cold metal of the machine, and immediately felt a small shock in his chest. He didn't need to call out to know that Caym was paying attention. He addressed him in a loud voice.

"Get rid of him. He is no use to me anymore."

The answer crept painfully into his head like the start of a migraine.

'I can lock him in the Studio, and make sure no one knows he's there. He won't be seen or heard. But on one condition.'

Joey hadn't expected the demon to do him a favor without taking advantage of it. He lifted his chin.

"What's that?"

'You'll keep hearing his screams.'

Joey shrugged without glancing at Sammy, whose black tear-filled eye sockets had widened.

"Okay."

The machine turned on of its own accord, and a thick spurt of ink shot out of the big main pipe, forming a shimmering wave as tall as a man that shot past Joey and towards Sammy. The ex-musician shrieked in terror, holding his hands out in front of him to protect himself, and begged for help. Joey stood still and watched as the wave washed over Sammy and engulfed him in an instant, cutting off his voice. The silence fell abruptly. The wave reformed and slowly returned to the machine with the caution of a sated boa. Then it crashed into the metal and disappeared as if it had never existed. Joey sighed. Problem solved.

"Now, let's see what we can do with the witnesses..."

NEXT

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[ctrl-esc]

from the bottom of my fucking heart if you are a parent and have an only child go and have another one. i don’t care if you need to kidnap one off the streets get them another human being to interact with so they don’t end up being a psychopath with no concept of flexibility or compromise!!!

[naritaren]

lmao my other instructor is like "You will have to participate in a discussion every week and post your thoughts by Thursday and reply to classmates by Sunday". The classes are on Tuesday evenings. She's expecting me to be able to rewatch a lecture, do any homework, and post this bullshit in a days time? Guess who has an accommodation to allow 3 additional days on any assignment, provided I inform the instructor prior to the due date? This bitch right here. Guess who just emailed the instructor and went "I will be using this accommodation afforded to me for each and every discussion." And I had to preface with "I have memory issues and I will forget. And I cannot set alarms to remind me because if I did, I'd have alarms going off all day for every little thing I might forget. 3 day extension. I'm using it."

[gabrielsbubblegumbitch]

DROP YOUR DX FOR VOX !!!!! Please and thank you.

I would like to preface all my posts on headcanons related to psychology and mental illness with a disclaimer: diagnosing mental conditions, especially personality disorders, can be extremely challenging. It's a complicated process that relies heavily on a psychologist's interpretation of facts, making it susceptible to biases. Personality disorders cannot be diagnosed based on surface-level observations and are not just labels that we can assign to people like in the case of MBTI. Additionally, I am not a clinician with any expertise in diagnosing people. Therefore, the following post should not be taken as a reliable professional opinion. It's simply my interpretation of the internal mechanisms that may be responsible for the behavior of certain characters in my fan fiction. Furthermore, I want to make it clear that I have no intention of stigmatizing people with personality disorders by associating them with villains. A personality disorder does not determine someone's character or make them a bad person. Some characters may be evil because of the choices they make, not as a result of their mental conditions.

(I've already posted some stuff here so I'm not going to repeat myself.)

Okay, so, Vox has Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). It's crucial to distinguish this from "common narcissism" (people often described as "narcissists" by others just because they are egotist assholes; kinda ableist, you shouldn't do it because it's extremely stigmatizing towards people suffering with actual NPD) . While those individuals typically function well, those with NPD exhibit all the traits – grandiosity, egocentrism, attention-seeking, intense power fantasies – but as it's a disorder, these traits lead to inflexible and maladaptive patterns of behavior and cognition.

NPD has its roots in intense feelings of shame, low self-compassion, and self-loathing. In my interpretation, Vox has always felt inadequate. His father inherited an enormous amount of money, establishing a media conglomerate in the 20's. Vox's mother, captivated by the world of movies, used them to escape her reality as a trophy wife. Despite her dreams of becoming an actress, Vox's father, possessive and protective, prevented her entry into the entertainment industry. As a compromise, he made their son a child actor, with the condition that it would be temporary. When Vox grew older, he was expected to transition to learning business and other skills, ultimately to take over the family's empire.

So, Vox was never enough for either of his parents. His father thought of him as annoying and unserious due to his talkativeness and exaggerated behaviors, attributing it to growing up surrounded by actors. As for his mother... Vox turned out to be a terrible actor, struggling to convey emotions that weren't bombastic and over-the-top. Being a teenager is humiliating enough, but imagine being a teenager bad at something and forced to do it for a worldwide audience, when the whole production crew is annoyed with you. Fortunately, he grew up to be devilishly handsome (not to be a simp, I just believe someone must be handsome to endure the ethereal punishment of having their face swapped for a TV screen) and entertaining, leading them to make him a TV host and media personality.

Anyway, NPD is all about creating a perfect self and projecting it to the world when you're deeply ashamed of your true self. It means that, no matter what you're doing, you're constantly concerned about how it looks to other people. You constantly play an exhausting game, trying to win gold stars of social admiration for every-fucking-thing, guided by superficial ideals of wealth, perfection, beauty, and, above all, power. One reason Alastor's existence bothers Vox so much is the fact that he cannot comprehend the idea of someone choosing radio over his "objectively better and correct" medium. Vox lacks the ability to understand nuanced sentiments, which ironically makes him thrive in Hell. In this anarchocapitalist, lawless society, survival of the fittest prevails, and this is a game he excels at playing.

Generally, the best approach for individuals with NPD is to pull them out of delusional thinking by confronting their beliefs about the world and themselves with reality (it should be performed by qualified therapist, especially when someone hasn't completed any kind of therapeutic process yet). However, in Hell, Vox's behavior was no longer in violation of social norms; on the contrary, it was highly rewarded. Consequently, he completely lost his shit, became unhinged, and began acting on all his previously suppressed urges. He finally fulfilled all narcissistic power fantasies and became (almost) untouchable. Now, he's ready to kill anyone who questions him, seeing it as threatening to his fragile image of the perfect self.

He exhibits strong bipolar tendencies. Most of the time, he's power-tripping in a semi-maniacal state. Periodically, he undergoes deep, depressive episodes, locking himself up in his apartment and avoiding interaction.

Constantly guarding this fragile image of the perfect self that he built is exhausting. The bigger this image gets, the more fragile it becomes, like a house of cards. And guarding it becomes more and more exhausting. But there's nothing scarier than the idea of the facade falling apart and people seeing him as he is: imperfect and vulnerable, damaged and ashamed, rotten and evil. Deep down, he knows he's unlovable, and it hurts. He knows that true love exists; he craves this ultimate form of admiration and devotion, but it requires vulnerability and honesty, which he's not capable of. He's only vulnerable with Valentino, and only occasionally when he's intoxicated or when Val fucks every last thought out of his body. He's very much a controlling top insecure about his masculinity, so the latter happens rarely.

Also, drugs. Oh, do this man enjoy some coke. Other drugs and booze, not so much; they make him feel less in control. But getting coked up, going out, causing a scene, killing some poor souls, and relishing this feeling of being completely untouchable? Feels so good.

When it comes to Alastor, he hates him because he's jealous. Despite all his efforts—building a perfect persona, a perfect company, perfect entertainment—this stinky, outdated, and boring radio demon gets so much attention and admiration that should be his. Moreover, he feels that Alastor can see right through his bullshit. He's so paranoid about it that he's almost certain Alastor knows about his childhood traumas, about his death, about all his truths, and could one day broadcast it for all people of Hell to hear. So, he needs him dead.

Note: these headcanons (especially Vox's past) are very important part of my fanfiction. Please feel free to use them in your fics but I'll appreciate if you tag me 🩷

Velvette hc | Valentino hc | Vees + Angel hc | VoxVal hc

[gffa]

Cass:  Scared that Batman will lock her away because of all the terrible things she’d done, all the terrible things that had been done to her, all the people dead because of her. Bruce:  Doesn’t even ask if anyone is going to hug this child and adopt her, he’s already got his arms around her and drawing up papers. Anyway, Bruce absolutely is an asshole sometimes and his hard lines in the sand can be really inflexible and he makes so many mistakes, but at his heart he cares about these kids so damn much, what he’s doing is centered around traumatized kids needing someone to reach out a hand to them, to understand the darkness in them and how to channel it into a better route, a better life. This is why, as many mistakes as Bruce makes, I will always defend that he’s trying to do right by these kids, and the darkness in him that makes him such an asshole sometimes is a huge part of the reason why his reaching out to them is so important, because more than anyone, Bruce Wayne knows what it’s like to live with trauma.

[queerasaurus-rexx]

the most frustrating thing about the 'emotionless low empathy autistic asshole' trope is like

even low empathy autistics show elevated levels of sympathy

studies show autistic people are significantly less likely to partake in actions like theft on the basis of the harm it causes others! this 'moral inflexibility' was derided by scientists in the past because we aren't likely to be pushed to exploit others for capitalism!

low empathy does not mean a person is an emotionless, uncaring asshole.

[valenteal]

Kunikida is an asshole tho right? I’m not the only one who genuinely doesn’t like him right? Dazai brush it off and makes it seem like playful banter but the way Kunikida treats him is abusive and unlike pretty much every other instance of abuse in this series it’s happened in a legitimate business that actually try’s to be moral. It isn’t the norm or what’s expected. It is not ok to strangle your co-worker just because they’re being annoying. And the show actually said the bandage squandering machine comment actually hurt Dazai. Not to mention the way he responded to Atsushi’s kidnapping or just Kyouka in general. He has good intentions and he’s a good person but he’s inflexible in the worst way. In his attempt to balance his idealism and his pragmatism he created rigid conditions to determine when a situation was worth his time or attention. Because he acknowledges that he can’t help everybody he decided to do his absolute best at the agency and to help people only if it’s for the agency. He doesn’t do things for people. He does them for his ideals. He didn’t want to help when Atsushi was kidnapped, he wasn’t willing to help Kyouka, and he didn’t join the others in avenging the coffee man. He has little to no loyalty to anyone else, his loyalty is to his ideals and thus to himself.

The thing that really made me realize how bad he is is a scene from 55 minutes that no one seems to talk about. Right after Dazai literally dies and is brought back to life only through a lot of luck and planning this happens:

“‘… Now I’ll have to come up with a new plan to kill myself. But—’

‘DAZAAAAAAI’

‘Oof?!’

Kunikida drop-kicked Dazai from the side, nearly breaking him in two and sending him flying to the ground.

‘HOW… MANY TIMES… ARE YOU GOING TO… SCREW UP THE JOB… BECAUSE YOU CAN’T SIT STILL?!?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH… WE HAD TO GO THROUGH… TO BRING YOU BACK TO LIFE…?!?!’

‘Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Kunikida, please stop kicking and choking and yelling at me!’

‘The hell are you talking about?! ‘Finally managed to die’? You’re no longer human! You don’t deserve that right! If you really want to die that much, I’ll kill you myself!…’”

See this really pisses me off. Dazai was stabbed and he bled out. He died. Yosano was only able to save him when he was in a limbo between life and death, during the half a second between his heart starting again and his blood actually reaching his brain. Her ability, despite what some people seem to think, isn’t perfect. It isn’t a magical cure all in an instant. She has to work at it, use it multiple times. She used her ability on Junichiro 4 times. She could only heal Dazai for a fraction of a second. He wasn’t better. He was just not actively dying. And Kunikida goes and beats him up. Dazai actually asked him to stop. He doesn’t usually do that. He was actually in pain and making truly concerning remarks about his suicidal ideation. And the no longer human comment? Saying Dazai doesn’t deserve to feel the way he does? That’s one of Dazai’s deepest insecurities and Kunikida says it like it’s nothing. That’s a really shitty thing to do.

And considering previous things in the book, we do know that Kunikida isn’t happy with Dazai. This isn’t just worry manifesting in anger. He was mad at Dazai before this happened. He was forcibly reminded of Dazai’s history and his willingness to do terrible things.

“‘You’re a demon in human skin. You know that?’ expressed Kunikida in utter disgust…”

Now, I’m not defending Dazai or saying that Kunikida is wrong to be upset, but he is using language that he knows will get to Dazai. He isn’t saying Dazai is doing terrible things, he’s saying he’s a demon, that he’s not human. He’s dehumanizing and abusing a co-worker, he’s lashing out with the most hurtful things he can. And the worst part is that his behavior is so normalized that everyone brushes it off or interprets it as his way of showing affection. They think it’s a weird friendship, that Dazai and Kunikida balance each other. They don’t, not outside a fight. The dynamic they have is seriously fucked up. Our introduction to them is literally Dazai trying to kill himself to get away from Kunikida, okay? That’s a red flag. Kunikida is a major asshole. And I think we need to acknowledge that, just like we all agree that Dazai is also a major asshole.

[christinesficrecs]

Hello! Do you have any !AU recommendation where in Stiles liked Derek first and Derek is kinda aloof with Stiles until he falls in love with him?

I think these ones. Maybe. Possibly.

The Curve of Your Clavicle by WhoNatural | 6.2K

Derek isn’t an uptight person - seriously, for an alpha, he’s downright laid-back - but something about Stilinski makes him want to bare his teeth and grasp him by the scruff and bite.

No, not bite. That would be incredibly inappropriate, of course - and Derek plus the legal department are aware of that. Anyway, the point is, Stilinski needs to be kept in line.

Or, wherein Derek's office rival might be the same person keeping him sane at night when the loneliness hits.

A Life Less Ordinary by Jebiwonkenobi | 19.2K

It takes a few years but eventually they manage to agree on something; Derek Hale is an asshole, and Stiles Stilinski is in love with him.

A Wild Heart's Desire by mikkimouse | 13.4K

If there's one thing Stiles Stilinski knows, it's that Deputy Derek Hale absolutely Does Not Like him. The only reason Derek even tolerates him is because their kids are worryingly codependent.

So Stiles is understandably confused when a very feral Derek shows up in his backyard after a call gone wrong and proceeds to move in with him.

Fireman Derek's Crazy Pie [Cheeseburger Baby] by owlpostagain | 17.6K

“He can't blame me for the fact that I live in a building full of people united in the singular effort to ogle Hot Fireman as often as humanly possible."

Laura laughs, loud and echoing in the empty restaurant.

"Hot firemen can make a girl do crazy things," she agrees, nodding towards her brother's name on the menu. "Derek won't let me date anyone from his company, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the eye candy."

"Send them my way," Stiles suggests, finally loading up a forkful of pie. "Apparently I'm incompetent enough that I need to be babysat at all times, because it would be cheaper than dispatching a truck every time I try to use a kitchen appliance."

maybe then a witch could believe in the moon by kellifer_fic | 10.7K

Okay, I get it. You were just asserting dominance. I can relate to that. I do know Derek.

A Blossoming Romance by Trelkez | 7.5K

Stiles will just have to try harder next time. No one can ignore him forever.

Glazed and Confused by wishingonalightningbolt | 13.7K | Explicit

Stiles is a forensic tech with the San Diego FBI. He thinks he's been fairly lucky, since he's never had his life threatened, sustained few injuries, and only has to work with his least favorite agent every once in a while.

And then all of that changes.

Flexible, Friendly, and Adaptable by MsCee | 16.2K | Mature

As a tour guide, Stiles liked to think that he embodied his company’s motto of being flexible, friendly, and adaptable. As a teacher chaperone, Derek Hale’s ethos seemed more along the lines of ‘inflexible, unfriendly, and rigid as hell’. Clearly, they were going to get along swimmingly.

The Not So Beauty to Your Not So Beast by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) | 64.4K | Mature

“Mieczyslaw Stilinski?”

All eyes instantly turned to Stiles and he felt his stomach drop. They’d taken his dad. They’d actually taken his dad and were here to tell him so.

“Yeah?” he asked in a small voice, feeling ready to be sick.

The second he spoke, two of the four regular guards moved through the rows, the lead guard speaking.

“By order of his Grace Peter Hale, you have been selected to begin your employ under the royal house of Hale.”

Wait.

What?

Every Step You Take by Nokomis | 49.3K | Mature

Stiles accidentally ends up magically bound to Derek. It’s super.

[olderthannetfic]

I don't often complain about fandom specific nonsense, because often the problems of one fandom in specific are unrelatable to those outside it, but I need to scream a bit, here. A huge swath of Across the Spiderverse fans who headcanon Miles 1610 as one identity and Miles 42 as another get screamed at online because "they're the same person, they'd be the same orientation/gender!" but like... are we actually sure gender and orientation are that inflexible? As in, is there any scientific proof that your gender and orientation are unfixed, unchanging points you are born with that can't ever possibly differ from your DNA-assigned identity? Because that would be the only way for "Miles 1610 and Miles 42 have to have the same gender and orientation as one another" to make sense.

And while I know I'm young and my experience with the queer community is limited, my experience is that I know a lot of people whose labels have changed, or who don't have labels, or who have very complicated internal lives that they can't convey without a long explanation so they pick an umbrella term that doesn't quite fit and there are other terms that might work just as well.

Additionally, the argument I keep seeing is that "they're like twins!" but Google alone shows me lots of examples of identical twins who do not have the same gender identity or romantic/sexual orientation. I cannot find any proof that your orientation and gender is coded into your DNA from birth and that it would therefore be transphobic, enbyphobic or homophobic to have one "twin" be different than the other.

I'm aware that gender and sexuality are not a choice. I'm not arguing that they are. But I don't think that they're hardwired into your DNA in such a way that every person with that DNA is automatically the same. I think it's totally plausible for one "twin" to be 1610 Miles who's bi and cisgender and Miles 42 who's unlabeled and agender. I genuinely do not see what the problem is. I think that's what bothers me about this, that people want who you are to be so set in stone that it's DNA-encoded, mandatory, unchanging. It's like they're saying that any variation from your "twin" is wrong, as if you can only be queer if it's genetic and you can only be that one flavor of queer your "twin" is.

It feels like gatekeeping the concept of how queerness works. It's gross. And I genuinely, truly do not understand why people are doing it.

You're twice my age and six times as smart. Can you explain what the fuck is going on here?

--

It's only complicated because you're trying to make it make sense.

People are assholes who want to impose their own interpretation on other fans. That's it. That's all it is.

[angyo]

It's funny there seems to be people who think that Muu is a makima-esque master manipulator based on the information we have. Bro have you see her trying to manipulate? Her most effective move is just crying but half the time that one just feels unintentional. When it's up to her to actually use her charisma she blunders so hard. Sure she can read people very well, but her best attempt at getting her way when someone isn't laying down for her is to just say the information she has as if just saying it is how it goes.

Sure cliques are gonna be filled with blunt passive aggressive assholes, but she also doesn't seem to distinguish friend from foe and cliques don't generally like when people can't play the mind games. It may be me projecting a bit, but she seems to picture relationships as a little bit TOO transactional, her sheer inflexibility feels a bit autistic. She's got a script and she freaks out when people go off of it.

No fucking way she got those friends through sheer charisma, I'm betting they were all just sucking up to the rich kid for cash. Meaning that whatever dirt rei had on her, it managed to turn people who had already decided to put up with the rich girl. I'm leaning toward at least some of it being gay shit, like even if muu doesn't realize it she pedestalizes rei a lot for someone who thinks their revenge was justified.

But if it was just rei giving proof of muu liking girls I'd think the bullying would be more directly homophobic, so she probably had a few kinds of dirt on her.

She also seems dangerously out of touch with her emotions, while also being out of touch with other people's. People say her mvs are just straightforward but they seem to be affected by her inner turmoil she doesn't wanna think about. It's hard to verbalize but the words she says often contrast the video. In after pain she has a lot more doubt, while still not accepting any fault she thinks about it despite the info we get being the bullying she endured. Then in inmf, she sounds so sure of everything while also imagining herself as an insect and her victim as normal. She is not as confident as she tries to seem

Really she just seems like a teen who's been allowed or even encouraged to stay emotionally immature getting herself into something she can't escape. Yeah she did all that mean shit, but she also got sucked into the cycle. She shouldn't have killed rei but she was clearly losing it. Murder wasn't justified but things happen in the heat of the moment, especially if you're completely emotionally unstable and in denial of it. She wasn't lying about having a clique but she also wasn't lying about feeling suicidal.

She and haruka are perfectly matched to bring out the worst in each other. Unfortunately for her ratings, she's got an offensive mental illness. probably one of those where it's like "bad person disorder: you are a terrible shitty person and it will never change. Also you're banned from 30 countries now :)". Which is also unfortunate for haruka since he's got self loathing issues, and while audiences handle those a little better it's not enough to overpower hating a self aggrandizing girl.

Hope someone stops him. For character development i think it'd be cool for muu to panic and do it, but idk if she's aware enough of her emotions to realize she'd miss him. Tbh also worried if they're gonna use haruka as a red herring, he's acting off enough to attract attention but muu also has a history of suicidality.

Prisoners not in the know are already getting suspicious of haruka, which best case means they catch him in time. If the writers wanna be cruel it also means muu can just decide to kill herself split second if the decision hurts enough and no one will suspect her

[enderwoah]

CLASSPECTING DOUBLE LIFE

i've finally got it. a complete, comprehensive, optimised list of classpects and lunar sways for all of the double life members (and a couple of others). by "complete and optimised," of course, i mean it's a complete list of my opinions! if you disagree, nifty! there are too many class/aspect/lunar sway combos for everyone to come to an agreement, this is just the result of my (and some lovely tumblr users) character analysis!

not only is this a list, it's also explanations for each choice i made, so this is going to be long as hell. hopefully it's a bit easier to understand for people that don't know tooooo much about homestuck (or maybe just not knowing too much about classpects bc lets be real that stuff is CONFUSING).

the little (+) and (-) at the end of each class is simply to mark it as an active (+) or passive (-) class. personally, i don't put too much weight into it, but some people might vibe w/ it idk. the other aspect at the end of each aspect is it's opposite.

unlike the twelve classes and aspects, prospit vs derse is a very black and white classification, making it difficult to fit every character perfectly in one slot. as such, you may notice that some people don't fully fit in their assigned dream moon! which is fine—that just means i feel as if they fit more in one over the other. derse and prospit were also said by Hussie to sort of indicate a player's active/passive role in the game, respectively. if someone has a passive class but are a derse dreamer, that probably means that they're utilising the qualities of their passive class in a very distinct and active way—same goes for the opposite. this is not always the case, however, because i honestly forgot about derse and prospit being active/passive until way after i was done slotting them all in. if it works, it works!

as there are fourteen double life members, expect a few characters to have the same class or aspect as someone else! that's just how the cookie crumbles.

hope ur ready. im not.

[disclaimer: technically, these in-depth analyses could be considered SPOILERS for the comic, as they're not fully explained until act six. there are no actual plot spoilers, though, so do what you would like!]

-

DREAM MOONS

Prospit - Flexibly optimistic, Prospit Dreamers are reactive and intuitive. They exist in the present, rather than looking to the future or obsessing over the past, and when making decisions they tend to rely on gut instincts and whatever they're feeling int he moment to guide them. They are quick to act and reliable in crisis, but they have difficulties thinking things through and are often seen as flighty. They are less rebellious than they are adaptable, instead finding away to coexist with authority than fight against it. They are naturally trusting and often project a self into the world that isn't necessarily them. ("-")

Derse - Derse Dreamers are marked by a distinct and restless skepticism. Rebellion is in their blood, and they are prone to fight against everything that moves, regardless of perceived importance to other people. They are cerebral and self-aware, and as such their identities are built on the control they have over their surroundings. They are often inflexible and pessimistic, but they are great problem solvers that face conflict with shrewd, calculating minds. They find sincere vulnerability difficult and often keep people at an arm's length. Living in the moment is hard for a Derse Dreamer; they look towards the future and analyze the past. ("+")

[adapted from the official extended zodiac page.]

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CLASSPECTS

[all aspect descriptions were stolen from dahni, who probably has the best homestuck class/aspect analysis in the fandom. several of the descriptions of powers were stolen from kess, who probably makes the best descriptions of classpect-specific powers in the fandom. they also do lands and fraymotifs. check both of them out for all your classpecting needs!]

[if i call anyone an asshole or a dickhead, please understand that i am referring to them in a /rp sense. i am well aware that they're all lovely people irl! ^^]

Grian - Derse - Witch of Time

Witch - Starts off by breaking the rules and boundaries of their aspect, pushing and manipulating it to its limits at their whim. Must learn when use/manipulation of their aspect is really needed and when it isn't; self-regulation/control. (+)

Time - Repetition, mechanical. Destruction, endings. Precision, impatience, choice. Movement, velocity, music. Literal time. (Space)

Time players are very "fuck the system, fight everything" types of people. They're defensive, impulsive, empathetic and determined problem solvers. They're constantly in motion and it physically pains them to take things as they come, even when doing so may be the safest option. So basically, every iteration of Grian ever falls under Time.

Even if we ignore his current "literally interacting with a rift in space-time that drags things into my base from alternate timelines" lore on Hermitcraft, he's generally that sort of restlessly active, "doesn't know when to stop" kind of person. Goal-focused, values the destination over the journey...he checks all the boxes.

Witches also have that "does things for shits and giggles" swag, and they start of their journey very carefree and shirk responsibility in favour for messing around. Being a Time player, though that quality would probably get sucker punched out of him once their timeline spirals into a doomed timeline and he has to fix that.

In terms of powers, Witches can Manipulate their aspect—being a Time player, that is ridiculously powerful. When fighting an enemy, he could manipulate the timeline of their life—i.e., age them until they're nothing but dust or crank it back until they're a squealing infant (or just plain doesn't exist). All Time players can also time travel, so hopping from timeline to timeline would be absolutely no problem.

Scar - Prospit - Heir of Life

Heir - Starts off with an abundance of their aspect, basically inheriting it and having a natural proficiency regarding it. Must learn how to properly embrace their aspect and learn to manipulate that abundance of it to aide themselves and others. (-)

Life - Healing, positivity, energy. Growing, increasing/raising. Authority/power, luxury, wealth. Rebellion, recklessness, liberation. Literal life, plants, animals, food, youth. (Doom)

I feel like in every bit of content I have ever seen Scar in, he's always got some aspect of Life or another surrounding him. He's been the mayor, he's a savvy businessman, both of which fulfill luxury, authority/power, and wealth requirement. He's apparently a "luscious elf" in HCS9, whatever that means, and his base was a giant tree and he made cookies—plants and food. He's generally just an energetic, happy dude that dies laughing time and time again, always coming back with a grin and that same pep in his step that he always has.

Given these circumstances, I felt as if the Heir of Life was a title that suit him! He just radiates the energy of Life everywhere he goes, and it would make sense for him to need to learn how to wrangle in that innate recklessness that gets him killed over and over—you never know when the death might matter a bit too much and you don't respawn.

Power-wise, Heirs have full agency with their aspect and can sometimes literally become it—while I don't think it would be especially helpful to become a tree, it would make sense for Scar to be able to eventually control plants or even grant them their own agency to help him. Another idea is that he always magically takes on a form to help him just before he dies—i.e., growing gills right before drowning, boosting strength when he desperately needs it, which all might develop into him being able to properly shapeshift into any animal (eventually).

Scott - Derse - Prince of Mind

Prince - Often starts off ghosting their opposite aspect, but not always. They have a tendency to reject their aspect and actively work to fully destroy it within themselves and their surroundings. Must learn to harness their destructive tendencies and utilise them, either to systematically and purposefully destroy their aspect or to destroy using their aspect. (+)

Mind - Rationality, rational decisions, reason, logic, unbiased, impersonal. Apathetic, indifference, equal possibility. Disguises, blending in, perceptions, worldviews. Literal minds, brains, thoughts, memories. (Heart)

Princes are often assholes! Moving on.

In all seriousness, though, Scott gives hella Mind player vibes. He's probably one of the most analytically minded members of this entire group, to a point where it's kind of freaky in comparison to everyone else, but he does kind of do the whole "ghosting their opposite aspect" thing in a sense that he throws the impartiality aspect of Mind out of the window. He'll root himself in stubbornness based on one happenstance, he'll go through ridiculous lengths to maintain a partnership he has (even if it may not be the most beneficial thing in the world), and he's a serial, chronic flirt.

He's also a liar, manipulator, and he does it to benefit himself and his very close teammates. Princes destroy their aspect, and fucking with people's minds and gaslighting them sounds pretty damn similar.

Powers for a Prince of Mind are fucking raw. Destroying someone's mind could literally mean driving them to insanity, and destroying someone's perceptions could mean making them go blind or deaf. He could probably also destroy people's memories, making them an amnesiac in a particular place of his choice (think making them a full amnesiac vs making them forget how to fight). Destroying with Mind gives vibes of sending terrible images into someone's mind, or just plain Mind Spike-ing using telepathy and making people go into shock. Crazy ass mf.

Pearl - Derse - Mage of Blood

Mage - Starts off immensely suffering because of their aspect, be it an overabundance of it, a lack of it, or something in between. Must learn how to overcome that suffering and use the knowledge obtained from it to help themselves and guide others. (+)

Blood - Unity, connection, interpersonal bonds. Commitment, attachment, obligation, promises. Responsibility, dependence. Inflexibility, material, tangible. Literal blood. (Breath)

This one is pretty simple. Pearl has really had the ups and downs of Blood—and in terms of Double Life, it's mostly the downs. Being rejected by not only her soulmate, but also both members of her former team...ouch. Fans of the three Gs wept.

Throughout DL, she tried for alliances time and time again and failed basically every single time, but instead of being destroyed by it—or, at least, instead of being completely destroyed by it—she harnessed her loneliness and channeled it into strength and spite and won the entire game for herself. Suffering because of bonds, unity, connections, and overcoming that suffering to do herself some good? Very Mage of Blood, through and through.

Powers are vague, since Mages are probably the most elusive of the classes we know about, but something like being able to make Literal blood contracts that the game itself wouldn't allow you to break without severe repercussions sounds about right. Probably able to immediately point out what matters to a person most (be it a person, place, or thing), could also very possibly actually be able to see soulmate strings.

Tango - Derse - Heir of Rage

Heir - Starts off with an abundance of their aspect, basically inheriting it and having a natural proficiency regarding it. Must learn how to properly embrace their aspect and learn to manipulate that abundance of it to aide themselves and others. (-)

Rage - Unconditional anger, hate, fear. Refusal, defiance, rejection, skepticism, doubt. Negativity, despair, denial. (Hope)

Another decently cut-and-dry one, Heir of Rage Tango. A very, very fucking dangerous classpect.

As Heirs have an inherent abundance of their aspect, and Rage is, well...Rage, you can easily see what I was going for and why it fits Tango. The man is perfectly amicable sometimes but is prone to flying off the ragehandle and going absolutely off the shits when it comes to bad things happening to him and his allies/friends. He constantly has that bubble of anger underneath his skin that may or may not be be especially useful when it's out of control. Heirs need to learn when to and specifically when not to embrace their aspect in a crucial moment, but I think Tango's probably got it down pat.

That being said, it wouldn't be a good thing for him to smother all of that, either—inverting to a Hope player would do nobody any sort of good, mostly because he would be bad at it and probably bring Down the Hope by forcing himself into apathy. There is a healthy middle! This is why Jimmy and Tango are moirails.

In terms of powers...Jesus Christ. And I really do mean Holy Fuck. As previously stated, Heirs can often turn into their aspect—I would like for you to sit down and imagine what someone turning into the physical embodiment of rage, anger, fury, and every negative thought and feeling you can think of would look like...and then imagine the destruction they could unleash on an entire army of enemies. He would also be able to inspire Rage in others and manipulate it, cranking it up for his teammates to give that boost of righteous justice or cranking it all the way down for enemies, leaving them either hollow and useless or friendly and unnervingly pleasant towards them. He could project his own negative emotions onto others, so if he felt even the smidgen of fear his enemies would feel a horrible anxiousness and terror. Heirs are incredibly versatile, I could make a whole post taking about how fucking wild these powers would be, but one thing is for sure—be very afraid.

Jimmy - Prospit - Page of Doom

Page - Starts off with a lack of their aspect/lack of control of their aspect/at the mercy of their aspect. Must learn how to tap into their full hidden potential with their aspect and provide it to others. Once that full potential is released, they are one of the strongest players in the game. (-)

Doom - Harm, negativity. Caution, control/limits, necessity. Acceptance, withdrawal, equality/wisdom. Things decreasing/lowering. Literal doom, death, technology. (Life)

Pages! Pages are very odd in a sense that "having a deficiency in their aspect" is not exactly the most specific thing ever. It can range from someone with the "freedom, movement" aspect being literally crippled to someone with the "beliefs, optimism" aspect being actually pretty happy and joyful but a complete fucking moron at the same time and overcompensating.

Which basically means I can do whatever the fuck I want lmfao.

We all know about Jimmy's "canary curse," and a curse (or a virus COUGH) sounds like a very Doom-y thing to me—especially considering this curse literally makes him die, or at least become a catalyst for horrible things to happen in the Homestuck sense. He brings about Doom onto himself and others, a Page vibe through and through.

It would make sense to assume, then, that if Jimmy managed to get a handle on this curse, to tap into that inherent aura of destruction and death that he has within himself and simply can't control, he could be pretty fuckin' scary...if it ever happens. There is no guarantee that he will.

Aside from the death part of Doom, he's pretty garbage at all the other parts, too—caution (no), control/limits (no), necessity (no), equality/wisdom (no)—seriously, limits? Rules? The man tried to team with everything that breathed on Double Life, whether they had wronged him or not, and then turned around and remembered "oh yeah, this person wronged us!" and would start working to mess with them. Sir. Please.

Pages are very funny in a sense that they start off as the weakest class that is the least in-touch with their aspect, but as soon as they grasp that spark and utilise it, they are described as one of the most powerful classes. Period. Doom is a very versatile aspect, ranging from literal death to destruction to explosions to corrosion to coding and technology (including the coding and tech of the game itself). Because of this, the powers of a Page of Doom would be pretty nuts—basically being able to harness any sort of destructive, corrosive energy you can think of to fight, and also benefit other teammates with that (think making his teammates' weapons do more damage or deal corrosive damage). He could also somehow manage to exploit loopholes in the game or break shit to make the game skewed towards his favour, but that is DEFINITELY a very high-level thing and doesn't even need to be considered.

We're still talking about Jimmy, here.

Ren - Derse - Sylph of Space

Sylph - Starts off intensely meddling with their aspect, getting into other people's business with it (that is to say, about it and using it), never shutting up about it, forcing their ideas/ideals about it onto other people, and interfering and trying to help others with it in a way that often hurts more than helps. Must learn how to utilise their knowledge and abundance of their aspect in a way that actually helps and heals people and helps and heals their aspect. (-)

Space - Biology, beginnings, creation. Destiny, fate. Variation, ambiguity, patience. Creativity, big picture, literal space, physics. (Time)

Ren is such a good vibes guy, I just had to give him a good vibes Class. And his Aspect is easily the most important one, so the guy is particularly special when it comes to his session! Sylphs have a tendency to go on tangents about their aspect and basically shove it into everyone's faces, and I sort of just connected the fact that Ren is incredibly dramatic and wrangles people into his eccentric bits all the time to his inherent kindness and healer vibes. By "healer vibes" I mean the cool kind of healer, the kind of healer that would heal you and then whirl around with a sword and slice an enemy in half behind them. He gives those vibes.

Also, the canon description of Space players says that "[they understand] that sometimes you have to let something burn to the ground in order to build it back better and stronger than before" and that just reminded me of the whole "Rentheking" thing going on in Hermitcraft. They are endlessly creative and innovative, and they are focused on the big picture rather than the fussy little details...which sometimes makes them a bit vague and hard to pin down, but it's certainly not intolerable in Ren's case.

In terms of powers, Space players obviously have the whole "space, physics" thing going on for them, but a Sylph of Space would be able to do all of that whilst maintaining the least damage to Space itself. They could easily teleport and mend tears in space while also being able to create pocket dimensions if they so pleased. They could heal people by binding shit back together at the molecular level and also probably create healing-based objects.

BigB - Prospit - Rogue of Void

Rogue - Starts off with a feeling of awkwardness surrounding their aspect, believing that they aren't fit for it or it isn't suited for them or believing that it would be better off with someone else. Must learn to embrace their aspect, as it is a part of them, and trust their instincts regarding it and further their innate understanding of its applications so they can take it and redistribute it to help their team. (-)

Void - Secrets, doubt, confusion. Irrelevance, infinite possibilities, indifference. Literal void, lack-of-something, darkness. (Light)

Unfortunately, I cannot say I know too much about Bigb, but from what I can see he seems like a very nice, genuine dude with a penchant for generally being kind. On that same note, I don't think his little "secret soulmates" thing with Grian was born out of maliciousness—becoming "secret soulmates" with someone only to like gossip and trade items and give each other cookies and not actually have it be a substantial secret gives Rogue of Void vibes, especially considering how he seemed to let Grian initiate most of their "secret" interactions.

Ultimately, one could say his unfortunate demise came from him being too active, both as a passive class and as a Void player. Him rushing into a fight in broad daylight with Ren is pretty unbecoming of a Void player, and a bit of irony might be the fact that a) it was Ren died and not him, and nobody really saw him when he died because he was trailing behind and b) it was his "secret soulmate" that did the deed.

In terms of playing the game, I'd probably say that Bigb would have to fall back on and trust that aspect of being low-key that he has, as it will most likely end up being very beneficial for everyone considering a Rogue of Void's skillset!

A Rogue of Void would be able to Steal Nothingness in order to aide others. To steal the absence of something would be Making something, so he can just...create items. Very important items, if need be. Stealing secrecy and darkness and applying it to himself or others implies being able to turn himself and his teammates invisible or something along those lines, also possibly being able to travel through shadows like those mfs from the Princess and the Frog.

Bdubs - Prospit - Seer of Hope

Seer - Starts off passively observing and recording their aspect, forming their own stubborn opinions surrounding it. Must learn to be more open-minded to be able to learn every possible aspect of their aspect and use that knowledge to aide others and guide them into making the right choices. (-)

Hope - Unconditional love, trust, belief, literal hope. Confirmation, acceptance. Optimism, naïve optimism, positivity, euphoria. (Rage)

Hope—beliefs, optimism, trust, literal hope—plus a Seer—knows too much about and doesn't shut up about their aspect—equals someone really good to talk to about your problems and get advice from.

Bdubs simply has that Hope player swag, and he's got big eyes so he's a Seer move on. No, but seriously, he's very thoughtful and cunning sometimes, and I'd say that he often has pretty good plans and definitely has that "relentless fountain of knowledge" vibe that Seers do, especially considering the...[glances at bdubs and hermittwt] recent developments.

In terms of powers, Seers don't really have too much going for them. A Seer of Hope would most likely be able to see people's beliefs, people's loves (take that as you will), and most helpfully, people's intentions. If this was honed to a fine point, it could make him a literal PVP god, but he would probably do best working as a strategist or even a mole/spy. He could also possibly See the happiness level of someone, perhaps having a mood bar over the people he meets (just because it sounds funny). He could most likely also see the most Hopeful outcome in a situation/for one specific persona and guide that situation/person to the best possible outcome. As is a Seer's job!

Impulse - Prospit - Bard of Blood

Bard - Often starts off ghosting their opposite aspect, but not always. They often passively (accidentally/unknowingly/unintentionally) get rid of their aspect in some way or another before having something akin to a reckoning moment where they violently snap back to their aspect and use it to destroy. Must get a firm grip on their destructive tendencies and act more like a catalyst for the destruction of their aspect or destruction through their aspect. (-)

Blood - Unity, connection, interpersonal bonds. Commitment, attachment, obligation, promises. Responsibility, dependence. Inflexibility, material, tangible. Literal blood. (Breath)

Impulse's classpecting is probably one of the more tragic ones on here.

As stated, Bards often inadvertently destroy their aspect in some way or another, and Impulse certainly is no exception. In both 3rd Life and Last Life, Impulse basically got kicked in the ass by/because of his connections, attachments, and bonds—3rd Life being him getting betrayed by Bdubs for one (1) singular clock and Last Life being him being the last member of the Southlands that stuck with Grian and then dying in their wither fight.

Fortunately for Impulse, he's learned from the past two times—now that he is legally obligated to be paired with someone, he's sort of had his "aren't you tired of being nice" moment and proceeded to work with Bdubs, his own bond, to destroy other people's bonds—using Blood to destroy Blood. The man has gone for it both ways. All of this gives hella Bard of Blood vibes, and it's nice to see a Bard not being a complete and total dickhead for once!

Powers are sort of vague, as it is with Blood, but it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that while Pearl is able to create blood contracts that people are inclined to uphold because of a threat of something terrible, Impulse would be able to make contracts that are Made To Be Broken. Devil's deal type beat, I would recommend not shaking his hand because one way or another, you're going to fail to uphold your end of the deal...and it will not be pretty for you when you don't. Being able to destroy blood in a literal sense certainly makes one think of several violent things that I probably shouldn't type out—you can get the picture. Destroying connections and unity and bonds gives vibes of someone just making things go wrong around him—machinery and electronics simply stop working, and eventually his very presence could make an entire society break down. Rebel leader Impulse and Oh My Fucking God I just remembered his whole "I'm tired of being nice" thing on HCS9 GUYSSSSS THIS IS GENIUS

Etho - Prospit - Thief of Breath

Thief - Starts off rather selfish and/or self-absorbed, literally or figuratively stealing their aspect from people to benefit themselves without much of a second thought for who they're disservicing. Honestly, they don't really change that—they mostly have to learn how to not be a complete douche with it and grow and further their abilities to become the strongest they can be. (+)

Breath - Freedom, disconnection, detachment. Apathy, indifference. Independence, flexibility, options, liberties. Movement, separation. Literal air/breath, ethereality, intangibility. (Blood)

Etho simply gives vibes of a Breath player. A true Hermit that really gives no shits and teams with who he wants to team with and avoids who he wants to avoid and everyone just sort of has to deal with him or get fucking destroyed by him and Joel. You might even get destroyed by him and Joel while actively trying to appeal to them. Who the hell knows?

Big Thief vibes in him not caring about who he affects and even exploiting it sometimes, and I wouldn't say that he's necessarily selfish, but he certainly doesn't just give things away if it's not going to benefit him in return. Would probably make a pun about himself being "breathtaking."

Obviously, a Thief of Breath could literally steal someone's breath away—manipulating the air in their lungs to come Out of their lungs and making sure none goes back In. Breath also represents freedom and movement, so he could possibly magically slow people down to speed himself up like some sort of fucked up Sonic that actually makes the world around him slow down while he's moving super fast. He could probably eventually lock people in place and use the movement from them to boost himself—if he freezes six people, he can move with the combined speed of all six people. He can probably flash step, the fucking weeb, and can probably dash through the air like the Hollow Knight mc. Stealing using wind and breath, however, gives him more of a stealth aspect—he could move quieter than the breeze, his steps are light as a feather, you wouldn't be able to hear him if you were breathing, etc, etc. He could probably manipulate wind to steal items from people, maybe even doing a windy thing that takes stuff directly out of someone's sylladex (inventory).

Joel - Prospit - Maid of Rage

Maid - Starts off relying on others for advice regarding/for their aspect and having little to no agency surrounding it themselves. Must learn to seek it out on their own and create it where there is none, utilising it for their own needs whilst serving it for others in turn. (+)

Rage - Unconditional anger, hate, fear. Refusal, defiance, rejection, skepticism, doubt. Negativity, despair, denial. Physical pain, suffering. (Hope)

I think out of everyone listed, Joel already had his arc regarding his classpect the longest time ago. He's been acting out the vibe of a Maid of Rage probably ever since Last Life, or even before—I can't say I watched his POV or any surrounding POVs for him during 3rd Life, but I distinctly remember him just Having A Bunch Of Wolves by the end and going apeshit with that.

If Joel does anything at all, it's Creating Rage within himself and within other people. The man went red in session two of Last Life and was a menace until the very end—he stayed alive until the very end after being the first to go red. Rage is Anger, yes, but it's also Conviction and Strength, both things Joel has in pleasant abundance.

Maids make sure their aspect gets the furthest reach possible, which means a Maid of Rage would be spreading hatred, anger, and fear anywhere they can. Sounds Joelish (/mostly joking). He would most likely be able to make enemies feel fear, doubts, regrets, etc. He could amplify pure suffering in people, basically creating pain inside of them, eventually possibly being able to straight up make someone have a heart attack or go into shock from all of that raw pain. He could possibly be able to bring to life people's greatest nightmares and drive people a bit bonkers with that. He could probably root someone to the spot with mere eye contact, and he probably has endless strength and passion or something and simply never gets tired.

Cleo - Derse - Thief of Light

Thief - Starts off rather selfish and/or self-absorbed, literally or figuratively stealing their aspect from people to benefit themselves without much of a second thought for who they're disserving. Honestly, they don't really change that—they mostly have to learn how to not be a complete douche with it and grow and further their abilities to become the strongest they can be.

Light - Reality, awareness, perception, information, knowledge. Illumination, literal light. Luck, probability. (Void)

Thieves are often assholes! Moving on.

Okay, fine. Why, pray tell, did I give Cleo the classpect of one of the most hated character in the series? Well, you see.

She's manipulative. She lies. She hides things. She obfuscates. She's got the bluntness of a Light player and the knack for fucking with people (and proceeding to get away with it) of a Thief. Her constant tendency of blatantly lying to people's faces is, to put it in a metaphorical way, pulling the wool over someone's eyes. Shrouding them in darkness, the lack of knowledge of her shenanigans with Scott and what she's doing to people. Fucking with people's realities, awareness, perception...gaslighting...yeah. Thief of Light.

Powers for a Thief of Light basically had only one aspect of them explored in the comic despite being The Most Prominently Featured God Tier...which is the manipulation of luck. Cleo could steal the luck of other people to increase her luck, which, to put in video game terms, means that she'd boost her chances of getting eight critical hits in a row whilst simultaneously making it so her enemies have a much higher chance of missing eight times in a row. She could literally steal light, probably being able to grant herself night vision of sorts (and, if she felt like it, blinding everyone else in the room). Actually, blinding people would probably be another power, as would stealing knowledge from people, being able to make them useless in battle or even literal babies in terms of brainpower.

Great, that's two people that can basically remove the brains of anyone they come across and make them go blind. This really bodes well for this session. /s

Martyn - Derse - Knight of Heart

Knight - Starts off with a decent grasp on their aspect but a crippling lack of self-confidence in regards to it (also in general, sometimes). Must learn to trust themselves and their instincts in regards to their aspect and protect it/use it to protect others. (+)

Heart - Emotions, feelings. Personality, bias. Passion, impulses, instincts. (Mind)

Martyn, I feel, is one of the most passionate members of the Life series in general. He basically has a casting type of being a protector/defender and has ever since 3rd Life, where he was Ren's right hand. His passion and his handle on his instincts in a skilled manner really portrays how Knights use their aspect as a weapon: Martyn fights with his whole being and soul behind what he believes in, and he protects anything he's passionate about defending with just a bit more oomph than anyone else could.

Of course, being a Knight, they feel as if they have some sort of deficiency in their aspect despite them just...not. His relationship with Cleo in Double Life could be a good example: his stubbornness to change his mind about his actions in session one being helpful is Heartish, but the inherent confusion that came with Cleo not immediately changing her mind is sort of Knightish. His increasingly desperate attempts to "get her back" (including that horrendous red...box) all the while trying to maintain that idea of him being in the right when it's becoming more and more obvious that he very much might not have been actually gives vibes of a Knight who's powering through his Knight Arc (or whatever) and putting his foot down and trusting his gut about the matter. And lo and behold, even while he was blatantly refusing to accept responsibility, he and Cleo still managed to become acquaintances faster than Scott and Pearl did.

Him managing to pull that off just shows how good of a handle on his aspect he has, especially when he absolutely refuses to waver on it like he may have done in the past. I think after the situation with Cleo, he would learn that he has his own agency to make his own decisions about who and what he wants to protect instead of only relying on others for it like in the past. That isn't to say he can't latch himself to people and groups like he did before—it is in his nature after all—but post-this arc, I belive he would realise that he's down to break away from those or start his own shit at any moment he wants.

Powers for a Knight of Heart most obviously includes soul weapons. He left his sword at home and forgot to put it back in his strife specibus Oh No He Didn't. That Is A Glowing Sword Come Out Of His Chest. It could change into any style of weapon he wants, and once it becomes easier to maintain, he could probably just make any necessary tools or weapons he can think of. Heart players have this silly ability to splinter, which is basically fracturing their soul to make manifestations of themselves. Eventually, Martyn could possibly be able to summon a shitton of those guys with all their own strengths and weaknesses and individual prowesses. He would probably get a really sick boost of strength when defending himself and his friends.

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BONUS (SPRITES):

Mumbo - Prospit - Knight of Mind

Knight - Starts off with a decent grasp on their aspect but a crippling lack of self-confidence in regards to it (also in general, sometimes). Must learn to trust themselves and their instincts in regards to their aspect and protect it/use it to protect others. (+)

Mind - Rationality, rational decisions, reason, logic, unbiased, impersonal. Apathetic, indifference, equal possibility. Disguises, blending in, perceptions, worldviews. Literal minds, brains, thoughts, memories. (Heart)

Mumbo is sooo Knight-coded it's insane. Yes you little skroinkle bimble-doo you are so good at everything you set your mind to and you do it with ease but you will never acknowledge it will you. You are so silly and Knightish. (<- going insane. this is the last analysis i have to do.)

This isn't to say that Mumbo has low self-esteem or anything, he's just fucking brilliant and he really never seems to embrace it or say anything about it. The guy is smart, maybe not necessarily clever, but certainly smart, and he's decently rational when you compare him to the rest of the Hermits. He could probably out-logic anyone that decided to try and argue logic with him, but as soon as someone like Grian comes in with his nonsensical roundabout reasoning, I'd suspect that Mumbo would crumple like a tin can.

Unfortunately, for this type of Knight, I can't really say "HE PULLS A BLADE OUT OF XYZ," but I will say that he'd most likely have some sort of mind control/brainwashing nonsense he could implement in people. His brain would process things like a supercomputer, and while Mumbo seems like he would be a pretty passive player, if it came down to it in a fight, he'd be able to analyse the enemy's fighting style like fucking JARVIS or basically slow-mo an attack in his mind to figure out how to expertly dodge bullets.

Lizzie - Derse - Witch of Light

Witch - Starts off by breaking the rules and boundaries of their aspect, pushing and manipulating it to its limits at their whim. Must learn when use/manipulation of their aspect is really needed and when it isn't; self-regulation/control. (+)

Light - Reality, awareness, perception, information, knowledge. Illumination, literal light. Luck, probability. (Void)

Okay to be completely real I don't have an in-depth explanation for this one with examples and everything you're just going to have to trust me alright.

Lizzie individually has the swag of both a Witch and a Light player, and together it forms a person who's as clever as they are vaguely ditzy. That is to say, she could outsmart your ass at any given time of day, but once the knowledge that would allow her to do that is deemed irrelevant, it's basically forgotten until an "oh shit, I forgot about that" moment happens.

Witches are generally friendly people that really enjoy messing around with their aspect towards the beginning of the game. As Light deals with knowledge and whatnot, this classpect implies dicking around with people (but not in a particularly malicious way, Unlike Some Other Light Players I Know) and knowledge and information, and having some sort of connection with light and manipulating attention. Bright pink hair and also fairy vibes, anyone?

Powers for a Witch of Light vary as much as the aspect does, but the first think I can think of is the fact that Lizzie can literally deal radiant damage. She could make lazerbeams of pure light or open up the colour spectrum to things Humans Shouldn't Be Able To See. She could also manipulate luck, which is hilarious—"hey, Lizzie, what are the chances of a comically oversized anvil dropping on this hoarde of imps in front of us rn?" "uh...id give it a good 100%" [CLANG]

Skizz - Derse - Knight of Blood

Knight - Starts off with a decent grasp on their aspect but a crippling lack of self-confidence in regards to it (also in general, sometimes). Must learn to trust themselves and their instincts in regards to their aspect and protect it/use it to protect others. (+)

Blood - Unity, connection, interpersonal bonds. Commitment, attachment, obligation, promises. Responsibility, dependence. Inflexibility, material, tangible. Literal blood. (Breath)

I watched two hours of Skizz content (a few eps. of his Last Life POV) to formulate this so kindly forgive me if it is inaccurate.

In the context of Last Life (as that is basically the only frame of reference I have), he assigned himself to the position of leader of BEST and took it incredibly seriously, dedicating valuable time to setting up plans, maps, and failsafes for the team—i.e., the secret respawn room in the bunker. He prided himself on making sure the team was a completely well-oiled machine that would stay functioning and stay together no matter what happened.

It did happen once or twice where he'd pushed the team a little harder than necessary in a very "just in case," "this needs to be perfect" kind of way, especially considering the practice regarding the TNT cannon. There were also moments when a team leader probably would have been most fit to step up and help the members sort through something (especially regarding interpersonal ordeals) and he did little to nothing at all, sitting back and letting Bdubs or Etho take care of it.

Overcompensating for and underestimating their ability to handle their aspect is a very Knightish thing, and as had been made clear, he was a very team-oriented guy. I mean, the man was such a good leader that the BEST team even managed to fully maintain itself while he was red and actively against them, and only started falling apart after he fully lost all of his lives, and even while he was red, he said himself that he couldn't bring himself to really hurt his team—his brothers—and still wanted to see them succeed.

So many damn Blood players...why did I repeat the aspect that we know basically NOTHING ABOUT.

As Knights weaponise their aspect, Skizz having a similar thing to Martyn would make sense, except instead of being able to draw weapons from his soul like a goddamn Crystal Gem, he could manipulate his own blood to turn into cool weapons instead. Alternatively, if the mental image of giving yourself a wound to make a weapon isn't your cup of tea, I could also potentially see him getting a specific weapon based on who it is he's fighting alongside. Hemokinesis is an obvious one, which can be used in several versatile ways—from healing to straight up bloodbending.

Skizz is a sprite because the universe had to fucking NERF HIM

-

CONCLUSION

This session is fucking doomed.

There are two Thieves. Two Active Rage players. A Thief and a Prince in an alliance. A Bard of Blood. A Page of Doom that's probably cursed/virused to Doom whatever session he's a part of or something like that.

The members of the team that would probably benefit their more unstable participants are all sprites.

Yeah, no. They all die at the end.

Thank you for reading!

-

CREDITS

Scar's Class - @sincerely-unidentified

Bigb, Bdubs, Implulse, and Cleo's Classes - @caubool

Reading Homestuck and Dragging Me Back Into this Hellscape - @chrisrin

[blow-me-a-kis]

Just found your blog and as a fellow autistic POC and Izzy fan you’re so right about him. The autistic Izzy post especially, completely agree. I relate to him so much as someone with autism and anxiety and the pure terror that comes off as aggression when it feels like everyone around you suddenly changed the rules on a whim and you’re the only one trying to keep things like they should be and somehow you’re the asshole.

I especially relate to Izzy in that autistic vibe where its like you're the only person seeing sense/being reasonable, and how that inflexibility isolates him. Like the "only human on a ship full of muppets". Its like everyone has a script to do the right song and dance and you're just standing there feeling lost.

Autistic ppl are often made the butt of the joke and left to ourselves because we can't perform likability. Izzy's whole story thus far is really tragic when you look at it as an autistic queer little guy who is doing his best with the tools he has to keep himself, his men, and the man he loves alive.

Even the way he speaks cruelly I relate to, because I know when Im heated and I'm trying to make a point, I can have a serpent's tongue. I know exactly the right buttons to push, because I know the buttons other ppl don't push. And its something I'm working on as I've gotten older, because I've only ever been filled with regret following saying some nasty (but true) shit. And I think we can take it from Izzy experiences similar regret, since that first little blow up in episode four and the way he apologizes to Ed later that maybe if Ed hadn't turned Kraken, another apology would have been waiting for him in Izzy.

[atheostic]

I'm interested to hear how educated you are on the differences between judaism and christianity, especially how their value systems, i saw your conversation with rose and it was nice to see someone questioning theism without being condescending and acting like theists are bad people

Hey, sorry for taking a while to respond.

I'll readily admit that I'm way more familiar with how atheist Jews view the differences between the two religions than I am with how theist Jews view it. I consciously seek out atheist Jews' interpretations and views of Judaism and Judaism vs, Christianity partly because, as an atheist myself, I want to hear what other atheists have to say. The other part is that I find that atheists in general don’t have hangups about calling out the bad stuff in their past culture/religion so you get to actually hear about the problems (which every religion without exception has – just like they all have good parts too).

I know that Christianity started out as a denomination of Judaism (there were heated discussions in the early days of Christianity over whether one had to convert to Judaism before being considered a Christian). I know that if Bible!Jesus is an accurate portrayal of a real historical figure he didn’t intend to create a new religion but rather to reform Judaism. That being said, I also know that, much like how language dialects eventually become distinct enough to be separate languages, it has been a VERY long time since Christianity was part of Judaism. It has some aspects that are similar, but for the most part it’s now its own thing (kind of like how all Great Apes share similarities but are clearly different species).

I know (thanks to Karyn Glasser) that the main similarity between Christianity and Judaism is that the Old Testament and the Torah are mostly the same text when compared side by side, with the biggest difference being how some stuff is organized. That being said, in theology you’re supposed to treat each religion’s text as unique even if they’re literally word-for-word identical, which is why I always explicitly refer to the two texts as being separate.

I know that, while part of their holy texts are virtually identical, how Christianity vs Judaism approaches their holy texts is very very different. Traditionally in Judaism, the Torah is meant to be a living text, which means that things being open to interpretation was a feature, not a bug. As far as ancient Israelites were concerned, if there was no new meaning to be found in the text then the text was dead and useless. Christianity, on the other hand, likes to view their holy text as a lot more cemented (“my way or the highway” if you will)... though it doesn’t keep people from interpreting it six ways from Sunday anyway. The inflexibility in Christianity is likely part of why violence and animosity between denominations seems to be much higher than in Judaism.

I also know that how most Jews view God is very different from how most Christians view God; Jews aren’t typically afraid to be like “Yeah, that thing he did was an asshole move, God’s a dick sometimes” whereas most Christians consider God to be all-good and perfect and above reproach, so to say he did something bad breaks their brain. I remember seeing this post once where a Jewish person was basically like “whether good or bad, since everything happens according to God’s will I hold him responsible for what happens in my life”. Jews also don’t typically have a hangup about arguing with god (which makes for a much healthier dynamic in my opinion).

From my personal experience, it seems that Jews tend to be a lot more relaxed and have a more playful attitude toward religion that white North American* Christians. Jews, for example, will get into fun friendly debates over whether it’d be kosher for a vampire to drink pig’s blood if it was to avoid drinking from a human (if memory serves about that post someone asked their rabbi and they said yes) or whether it’d be okay for a dragon to light the shammash using their breath. North American Christians, on the other hand, tend to be way more serious when it comes to how they approach theology in general.

That being said, of course there are exceptions in both cases, as no group is monolithic and people are hella complicated. From what I’ve read and from what I’ve heard from Jews on Tumblr, Orthodox Jews tend to be more Christian-y in how they approach the Torah in that compared to other denominations they tend to take things a lot more literally. I remember reading an article once about how some bigwig in the Canadian Orthodox Jewish community had suggested not taking Genesis too literally and it was a big scandal.

And because no group is monolithic, it’s worth emphacizing that what I know about Jewish culture is primarily from a North American viewpoint (and mostly American at that), and therefore what I know isn’t applicable to all Jews as a whole (I recently got s book for the school library I work at all about how Passover is celebrated differently around the world, so it’d be silly for me to think that how Jews approach Judaism would be monolithic).

And all this is, of course, when talking about theist Jews. Because since Judaism is an ethnoreligion it’s possible to be both an atheist and a Jew at the same time. And how atheist Jews approach Judaism as a religion varies wildly (not surprising, since getting atheists of any kind to agree on anything beyond the nonbelief in any deities is like herding cats). Some, like the previously-mentioned Karyn Glasser, sometimes go to worship services as a way to connect with their culture and ancestors. One of my colleagues sometimes goes to the synagogue if there’s a party going on because “who doesn’t love a good party?”. Others, like an Israeli  caller to the Atheist Experience a while ago, think that atheist Jews should be referred to by a different word than theist Jews because their perspective regarding the religion is so different (his suggestion was for atheist Jews to be known as “Hebrews”). Others don’t care about the religion aspect at all but still celebrate the holidays as a tie to their culture. Yet others aren’t tied to their culture or religion at all. 

* No topic is taboo about being made fun of in Brazilian culture, so how Brazilian Christians approach religion is very different and much closer to how I’ve seen Jews approach religion.

[anghraine]

#personally I headcanon Darcy as being demi or grey-ace #he doesn't seem to feel physical attraction to Lizzy until her personality captures him #which may help to explain his confusion over Bingley's falling for Jane #he can aesthetically appreciate she's the prettiest girl in the room #but intellectually that means nothing to him #insert Cronk gif #by all accounts it doesn't make sense (via @kungfunurse)

That’s also my headcanon, haha. /fistbump

My very long ramblings about grey-romantic grey-ace Darcy under the cut:

I think that initially, Darcy understands beauty a) aesthetically and b) as a status symbol. So he can see that Jane is the most beautiful woman in the room, and is kind of insulted that Bingley dances with her while trying to fob Darcy off on a less good-looking woman, but Darcy himself is not attracted to anyone at that point. He makes zero attempt to dance with Jane at the assembly, or indeed, ever. After the assembly, his only takeaway from her is that she’s pretty but smiles too much.

It could just be that she’s not his type or whatever, but the fact that he does specifically mention Jane’s beauty while evidently feeling zero attraction to it (sorry, Mary Russell Mitford!) seems more customary for him. This seems to be more or less Mr Bennet’s read on him, incidentally. One of the reasons he (Mr Bennet) finds Mr Collins’s letter about Darcy so funny is because he thinks Darcy “never looks at any woman but to see a blemish.”

And it’s true that Darcy’s earliest response to Elizabeth’s figure is like “hmm. asymmetrical.” Yeah, maybe he’s just an overly critical asshole, but my headcanon is that he’s genuinely disinterested most of the time and that he’s inhaled enough patriarchy that it’s easier for him to attribute this to other people’s physical appearances than his own nature. (So, still an overly critical asshole, but for somewhat more complicated reasons.)

And even once Darcy does begin to feel attracted to Elizabeth, his response is to just hover nearby and listen to her talk to other people in order to work himself up to talking to her himself. She finds this distinctly weird. Maybe he’s just that awkward, but given that he’s at least twenty-seven at that point and doesn’t seem to know how to handle the earliest stages of a crush, I think grey-ace is a very valid reading.

He also firmly asserts that he never dances with anyone, anywhere, if he can avoid it, and in literally the same conversation, is willing to dance with Elizabeth. So again, there’s the possibility that this whole experience is actually pretty exceptional for him.

It’s still fairly early on when she shows up at Netherfield and blindsides him, and in the Netherfield scenes he’s already like I have NEVER been so bewitched by a woman before, wtf. So he’s been ... slightly bewitched by a woman/women before, presumably, but given that this is still far short of where he’s at by the time he proposes, it seems to have been pretty minimal (and I suspect infrequent) before Elizabeth. Still easy to read as grey-ace.

He makes a remark about admiring Caroline’s and Elizabeth’s figures, but the context is that Darcy is reading while Caroline keeps trying to attract him. She starts walking around to show off her very good figure, but Darcy remains “inflexibly studious,” so in desperation, she gets Elizabeth to join her in order to draw his attention. She succeeds in that goal, but both Darcy and Elizabeth find the whole thing deeply suspicious, and Darcy is mostly just being snide about Caroline’s motives + not quite rude enough to say that he’s only interested in Elizabeth’s figure (though this is clearly the case in the larger scene).

Darcy does worry that, by arguing with Elizabeth a few times, he’s leading her on and thus goes out of his way to ignore her. There are multiple ways to explain his thought process here, but I think the combination of his arrogance, his principles, his poor judgment of others’ emotions, and his relative inexperience with what he’s feeling all contribute. He’s never been this attracted before and he still has a long way to go.

Although the miscommunication goes both ways in Kent, I think it’s fair to say that he continues to handle the situation fairly poorly. Again there are multiple reasons, but one of them is that he doesn’t seem to know exactly what he’s doing or planning until fairly late, and he thinks what he feels by the time he proposes is the “utmost force of passion” and that he can struggle against it no longer. It obviously turns out that he can, since the proposals are like six months apart, but at the time, it feels overwhelming to him, well beyond where he was at Netherfield, when it was more then he’d ever felt in his life.

ALSO he makes a kind of intriguing remark about Bingley in the letter. He says that he didn’t really take Bingley’s interest in Jane seriously until he(Darcy) was explicitly told that everyone expected an engagement, because “I had often seen him in love before.” There are also a lot of ways to read this, depending on how sympathetic you are to Darcy or Bingley.

I personally find it very believable that Bingley has had a lot of shallow infatuations and every time the girl in question is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen blah blah blah. Even Elizabeth refers to Jane’s beauty reanimating Bingley’s affections late in the novel (but I think it’s Elizabeth’s POV and not an omniscient statement). In any case, maybe it doesn’t take that much for him to fall in love, for a certain value of “love” (this is possibly backed up by Colonel Fitzwilliam’s opinion, though that may be filtered through Darcy).

But it’s interesting that someone as usually precise as Darcy would refer to those kinds of entanglements as being in love, even though it’s clear that these previous romances are distinct from Bingley’s considerably deeper feelings for Jane. It’s also interesting that, through the rest of the novel, Elizabeth very consistently and emphatically characterizes Darcy’s feelings for her at this point as love and Darcy nowhere suggests that he did not truly love her then. In fact, the phrasing of his second proposal suggests the opposite, that his affection for her has not changed since the first proposal.

My point here is that I’m not saying that Darcy proposes only because of his overwhelming sexual attraction to Elizabeth, which in this interpretation is felt all the more strongly because it’s rare for him to feel at all and unprecedented for him to feel to this extent. The novel is pretty insistent that he did love her then, and despite his anger and bitterness in the letter, by the end it’s clear that his love for her is overriding them. Nevertheless, it’s important to note that his conduct in this scene is ... let’s say, not particularly loving, even though we don’t “hear” the bulk of the proposal, and even though it’s possible that Elizabeth takes it in the worst possible light.

I think that, while Darcy’s society and background give him at least a vocabulary of sorts for sexual attraction, his concept of romantic love seems ... off. He associates romantic love with poetry, bewitchment, captivation, Bingley’s polite infatuations. It’s all kind of unreal. My reading of him at this point is that he is genuinely in love with Elizabeth, but also that he doesn’t fully understand what romantic love is except in a kind of abstract, courtly-literary way that doesn’t accurately represent what he’s feeling.

Part of that may be his social circle, in which more or less arranged marriages are still a thing (I’ve never cared for the fanon that his parents married for love and he’s holding out for it from the outset, both bc it’s not the vibe I get from the Darcy-Fitzwilliam-de Bourgh dynamic in general, and bc I think it undercuts some of his character arc). But I can imagine him thinking, well, of course I’ll marry a woman of appropriate background and connections and political affiliations and beauty and personal refinement and so forth, at some point, eventually. But he seems to feel no particular urgency, and my headcanon is that he’s just not that into it in general until Elizabeth.

Again, this is not the only way to read him, but I do think it’s a very possible reading. I see him as someone who doesn’t fully understand the power of either attraction or romantic love, whose understanding of both is fairly abstracted, and who would never have imagined that they could affect him in the way they end up doing.

[tbhimnoteasyonmyself]

In Defence of 4/4 EP.12

(from someone who didn't like it very much)

I've made an entirely different post about people's reactions to the ending so I won't address any of that here, if you want that post. Bang! Here. But this is not what this post is about. This post is about recognizing the good in something I personally would've preferred had gone a different route. So let's get into it.

(long post, guys, Imma spare you, people who wanna scroll past 😉)

1st things 1st: yes. I know. The narrative about growth and adapting and change would've been so great had Day not gotten the transplant. It would've paid off so well for the main couple and all the other characters too. And it would send out such a nice message about how disabled people are whole, despite their disabilities. How happiness is possible for everyone, without restraints, no matter their body or mind. BUT that's not what we got. And that can be upsetting, I know I'm a little upset myself, but, and considering the ongoing fandom discussion, is it all that bad that we got something different? For once, I do not think so.

I think the very first thing that needs to be addressed is what is said by @daymork in this post:

"the hardships, the journey, even all the good that happened during allllll that still matters after recovery"

Or: just because Day gets his sight back, that doesn't mean the story being told is suddenly useless. Because a story about how people are flawed and scarred and they need to grow past certain issues to enjoy life again or they need to gain new perspectives is never useless. Society keeps showing us that assholes who cannot see past their own belly button or that people who are restrained by their traumas are still out there, so how could a narrative about growth ever be pointless?

Futhermore, it is a crucial part of the characters' arcs, even past Day's blindless being involved. Day ties his self-worth to being capable and always doing what he is supposed to. Night is careless and doesn't like abiding by the rules, even when it inconveniences others. Their mom has a bad case of "mama knows best", she's inflexible, what she wants, she gets. Mhok is traumatized by his sister's death and he can't move on, can't let go. (and so on, but I think you get the point) Regardless of the challenges that come with adjusting to Day's disability, all of them were already facing challenges that made their lives harder. Because, sure, we don't see it, but everyone always has a struggle. They sure had too.

And now you say, well, Dante, doesn't that make Day's blindness a plot device used just to make these characters better and then discarded when no longer needed? And sure, yeah, I think that argument can definitely be made and it is solid, I won't deny that. But I also think that the way you read it depends on what you believe this story is about. Because, if you think this story is about Day's struggle with blindness, then sure, yeah. But you can also see it as a story about maturing and overcoming hardships or a love story about two people who, like everyone else, have to adjust to learn how to adjust with each other. Or a story about different types of love and how they connect and overlap or change. Or a story about perspectives and points of view and how every single person is gonna look at the same things with different eyes and what that means for the way people live and how they relate to one another. Or a story about what makes a person and about how, no matter the way people see you, you are still a person and you can make your own choices, despite everything. Or something else, even, Idk. I'm not the owner of opinions and I'm not trying to be. My point is: it's all about individual perception and understanding.

Regardless, even if you do see that particular part as ableist, does it erase all the other stuff the series does? Does it erase the point is makes about not babyfying disabled people? Does it erase the point it makes about seeing disabled people as people who deserve no other feeling but pity? Does it erase the point it makes that Day was living well, even without Mhok or his sight? I don't think so. It might undermine it but it does not erase it.

And I think that leads us to the most important part of this discussion, actually: maybe the point was, all along that, in order for Day to be able to be able to get his transplant (narratively, of course) he needed not to need it. He needed to be able to be okay with not having it. He needed to learn to live without it and be happy. Because, in the end, what problems were actually solved by the transplant, really? None, I would argue.

Day and his mom, Day and Night, Night and their mom, Night and Porjai, Mhok and Rhamon, Mhok and Rung, Mhok and Day... As well as their internal conflicts (Mhok was a successful chef, Rhamon a good mother, Night a good husband, Day a librarian, etc...), all that was solved before that. The transplant truly didn't change anything besides what it changed: that Day now has the physical ability to see again. "No, Dante, it allowed him to go to the mountain again!", I hear you say. And sure, it did, but that wasn't new: he'd been there before when he was 100% blind. And it's not more magical when he can see than when he cannot. In fact, I would argue it is the other way around.

The 2nd time they're there they don't even care that much about the mountain or the sunset. They care about their relationship and what it means to be together again and they care about the journey. That's what they talk about. "Oh, but Mhok talks about how him there at the mountain is no longer the last image Day is gonna see". Yeah. But that, I would say, is more about how that is the case because Mhok is now there to stay (he even says so himself) rather than the fact Day can physically see him.

So, what purpose does it serve in the narrative? Is it just a "and now he can see because, sure, let him have it, it's the end, idc"? Could be, I mean, yeah, I think you can make a strong argument that this is just an ableist way of a "happy ending" but I also want to point out that that might not necessarily be the case (other than what I'm gonna explain next, even so, because, as @e-lisard pointed in this post - among others that I've seen do so but I only remember faer, some disabled people prefer stories where there is a cure for all or some of their disabilities). But also because, if nothing changes for Day (except he can play Badminton again, which, as someone who loves Badminton myself, like yeah, pretty big thing) then maybe that's the point being made: that, in the end, the thing that Day so desperately wanted in the beginning of the story has become almost meaningless now because he already had everything before. And that his happiness, unlike what he and everyone around him had previously thought, was not all dependent on his physical ability to see, but rather on his (and everyone else's) psychological/emotional ability to see. And once they unlocked that, nothing else was really all that relevant.

So, of course, you can have whatever opinion you want and I still stand by the fact that I'd rather not have him recover his sight because I like the implications of that better but, I think, the ending we were given is not all bad and some good things can be taken from it, especially if you see it as a comparison made to highlight the fact that Day's physical ability to see was not at all relevant to his happiness and that the story was really all about the journey.

If you want to add or disagree (politely) or something feel free to use this post. Comment or reblog or whatever. I'll be happy to keep this discussion going just as long as we can all be respectful.

Other than that I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you have a great day!! All the love 💜💜💜

PS: People I tagged, if you'd like not to be tagged pls tell me, I just did so because I didn't want credit for things that I did not think of or state myself. Cheers! <3

[guess-my-next-obsession]

The Pedro Boys™️ and the star signs I’ve decided they embody as an astrology bitch part 2/4 — The Fire Signs:

Javier Peña — Aries ♈️

Strengths: Courageous, determined, confident, honest, passionate

Weaknesses: Impatient, moody, short-tempered, impulsive

Javier embodies the image of the ram so well—taking charge and feeling the need to be in control in all aspects of his life. He’s a focused and determined guy, but also known for his short-temper when it comes to meaningless shit.

As an Aries, Javi would probably find a soulmate in either a Scorpio, or (if you’re looking for a lot of passion) a Leo or Sagittarius. Signs he would likely not vibe super well with would be Aquarius (sad face bc me) and Taurus (butting heads—literally).

Max Phillips — Leo ♌️

Strengths: Creative, passionate, generous, warm-hearted, cheerful, humorous

Weaknesses: Arrogant, stubborn, self-centered, lazy, inflexible

As a Leo, this man is here for three things: a party, attention, and himself. Though he can come across as vain and a bit of an asshole, he’s always gonna be there to try to make you laugh on a hard day. You’d be hard pressed to find a more passionate and fun-loving partner—just try not to let his ego bother you.

Signs well suited for our Leo Max—Aquarians. Hands down. No competition. It’s one of the most well-accepted pairings in astrology. As for his enemies? The “party poopers”—Taurus and Scorpio. The man needs to have his fun, and they’d likely not be so down for a little vampire action.

Ezra — Sagittarius ♐️

Strengths: Generous, idealistic, great sense of humor

Weaknesses: Promises more than can they deliver, very impatient, will say literally anything no matter how undiplomatic

My paramour, Ezra. As a Sag, Ezra loves being on the move, finding adventure. He thrives in the outdoors, and willingly or not finds himself as an extrovert. His faults lie in his hot-and-cold instability—but seeing as he’s barely holding on, we’ll allow it.

Fellow fire sign, Aries, would have a very passionate and equally yoked relationship—the two signs balancing each other out in the most chaotic of ways. The sign that may not click so well with our Sag might be Pisces, their love for sitting around and daydreaming conflicting with the fire sign’s need for adventure and travel.

next up — the earth signs

part one — the water signs