#Inner torment

[allasticus]

The Vessel

The chains dug cruelly into his wrists and ankles, rubbed raw and unhealing. He was stripped bare—not just of clothing, but of identity, of dignity, of anything that once made him him. If it were the world watching, he might have welcomed it. Might have rejoiced. Because that would mean he wasn’t alone. That he was still seen.

But there was no world here. Only blackness. And the endless, echoing silence of his own mind.

The void was his only companion now. A vast and unfeeling emptiness that devoured all sense of time. He didn’t know how many days—or years—had passed. He couldn’t remember the taste of bread, the warmth of sunlight, the softness of another’s hand. Those things had become foreign concepts. Ghosts he could no longer touch.

It had done this to him. The thing that lurked in the dark.

It tormented him, dancing just out of reach, weaving hope and cruelty together into a noose. Sometimes it showed him glimpses—of the world, of freedom, of before. And just as quickly, it yanked them away. Smiling. Always smiling.

His hatred for it was all that kept his blood from freezing. The only fire left in him. But he had no weapon to raise, no strength to wield one. Even if a sword lay across his lap, he doubted he could lift it. His muscles had forgotten their purpose. His will was brittle.

So he closed his eyes.

And when he opened them again... nothing had changed.

There was no escape. Not from this place. Not from the creature. Not from himself.

He tried to hold on to something—anything. He raked through his memories, searching for the fragments that made him human.

…a door opened in welcome. …a voice that spoke his name with warmth. …the feeling of being safe, without needing to deserve it.

They were fading. He could feel it—how close they were to slipping forever out of reach. And he knew that if he lost them, he would lose himself.

Then— A breath. A break in the dark.

A presence.

Another world, another face. A woman.

He recognized her. Perhaps more prominently than he expected as the implied betrayal stung. Anger and desperation rose within him as his feeble hand reached towards her, his words pleading. "Why are you doing this?" She stared back, offering nothing more than a mirror of his pain.

“I do this for you…”

And then… she was gone. The darkness returned. Colder than before. Sharper. Whatever peace had come with her presence was ripped away.

Perhaps she was real. Perhaps she was just another cruelty conjured by it. Or maybe the madness had finally laid its roots too deep.

He collapsed back into himself. The chains rattled softly, mockingly. He drew his knees to his chest and curled into the smallest shape he could. There was nothing left to offer this endless dark.

Nothing but the tears that traced silent rivers down his hollow cheeks.

@eluviannaa for the brief mention

[gothicseverance]

The protagonist is trapped, tormented, uncertain, tortured. This is the chaos in which we perceive ourselves to be enmeshed in the twenty-first century, haunted by the past, contending with monsters, tending toward apocalypse.

—Gothic Things

[chocostrwberry]

Luka and Chloe shenanigans!!

[rowanintheriver]

crazy bcs you KNOW if jason had a diary it would consist of the singlehandedly most unhinged concerning shit ever. phrased like he’s a tormented poet or fuckin. he goes out has a fun day with his friends, literally everything is completely normal and then he’ll ponder for three minutes before writing in slanted cursive like. july 5. the thought of my mother still plagues me. someone you never knew can sometimes become all you know. perhaps a thought is just a memory if it changes you enough. close book goodnight

[significant-narratives]

quinn has a libra sun / sagittarius moon which is honestly a very sweet whimsical combo that makes him a natural leader with a lot of optimisim and drive and then you look down his chart and it's [glass smashing] mercury in scorpio [horn blaring] venus in virgo [tires screeching] mars in sagittarius

[greenqueenhightower]

This show has made/will make Alicent go through every torment known to (wo)man:

Orphaned by her mother-- ✅ 

Grew up far away from home with a longing to belong-- ✅ 

Domineered and dictated by her father to the expense of her own interests-- ✅ 

Haunted by life-long catholic guilt as a response to trauma-- ✅ 

Dermatillomaniac-- ✅ 

Passed off as a child-bride-- ✅ 

Forced to dress in her mother's or Aemma's clothes to be desired by Viserys-- ✅ 

R*ped throughout her marriage-- ✅ 

Gave birth as a result of r*pe-- ✅  ✅  ✅  ✅ 

Betrayed by her best friend-- ✅ 

SA'd by Larys-- ✅ 

Threatened by and lived in fear because of Larys-- ✅ 

Forced to accept her son's maiming with no justice served-- ✅

Obliged to nurse a living corpse-- ✅ 

Left to deal with Viserys' mess regarding the succession-- ✅

Used as a pawn by the Greens-- ✅ 

Sidelined, discarded, and disregarded by the Greens-- pending

Watched her children and grandchildren suffer and die-- pending

And now the show wants to make the only joy they eventually give her, a consensual relationship with a man she trusts and apparently loves, another source of anguish, pain, guilt, self-disgust, and misery, by pairing it with the most horrendous of tragedies that befall her family.

Honestly, dracarys on the producers and the writers if to further victimize, wh!re-ify, and capitalize on the exploitation of Alicent's suffering they make her have sex with Criston during Blood & Cheese.

[emmangst]

CW: EYESTRAIN

This will be the last time he ever smiles in October.

don't worry Emmet, you'll be Fine™ in my hands this October

★

added bonus : flipped image looking way better

My thumb is dead

[delicate1dove]

No because seriously why does every single love song make me think about you?

[cool-thymus]

[morning, Sunshine 🌤 the stormcloud is still asleep]

[dracoj]

society if these lines were in arcane

[gothicseverance]

Inner torment is expressed in displays of “madness.”

—Key Elements of Gothic Literature & Film

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

Brief intermission from the jcs. (Which I did watch half of earlier today) to listen to my other favorite musical, Jekyll and Hyde, bc I thought about confrontation today and I need to feel those shrimp emotions

[baymaxmuses]

@wishfulmuses (Blaze) (x)

That wasn't necessarily the response that Knuckles was hoping for, but their circumstances might be a bit different. Regardless, it only earned a heavy, tired sigh from the other guardian. She was correct about the Master Emerald causing untold problems should it fall into the wrong hands, but... wasn't the hands that brought it to Angel Island technically the wrong hands in the first place?

"Home is... hard, to imagine. I guess the reason I ask this question is because my 'home' is silent, without people... dead. I've been guarding the Master Emerald for so long, on a quiet island, floating out in the middle of nowhere, that I've wondered what it's all for."

His eyes drift northward towards the sky, in heavy contemplation, remembering how his tribe's entire lineage was built on war, violence... destruction. The conquest that had felled them, to seize the Master Emerald originally, had been their undoing.

It made the echidna wonder often, alone, if this 'destiny' of his, wasn't simply punishment for a crime committed by his father, his people, their hubris. He wondered if he wasn't meant to simply pay for their mistakes on their behalf.

"Guardian feels like the only title I hold, and will hold for all time. Guardian of a stone that was brought to the Island I protect by ancient hubris. What I'm trying to say is that I guess I'm starting to feel a little..."

There were a million words he could say here, but he could think of only one that wouldn't immediately cause some unfounded concern. He didn't want people to be concerned about him.

"Fatigued."

[smitethestate]

The ironic thing is that I'm writing a whole trilogy in which I spend a lot of time on the characters to get you attached to them and then do horrible things to them.

[antimonys-stuff]

YEAHHHHH U GET IT U GET IT I actually never thought abt ororon feeling guilty everytime someone permanently dies due to the abyss but thats such a tasty thought...thinking about how emotionally loaded this aq was for citlali and ororon like it was actually never addressed if ororon stopped feeling guilt for what happened when he was a child. He will probably just continue to feel like he's responsible for Natlans safety in some shape or form for the rest of his life and that haunts me...

Ororon colluding with someone like the first Harbinger, even though the Fatui have had notorious reputations throughout Teyvat, especially in times of crisis just because he saw hope for Natlan in Capitano's plan (and also bc he didn't want the Captain to talk to Citlali) speaks to me like an atonement for the failed ritual which he considers himself guilty for. Even Citlali reasons so! And lets him do his thing, even though she's pissed off about it. Have your chance at catharsis lad, you will soon also have a chance at my shoe, ykwim?

Have you finished AQ4? Because the next thing i'd like to say involves spoilers from AQ4 (i think?? I do not remember. but asking just to be safe)

[jadeofblades]

Me: aw man gonta's birthday is soon but idk what to make for him ......

The horrendously angsty fic in my wips: