#hell yeah knowledge

[kbsd]

you're gonna dance with me before this night is through

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Stop flirting and start fighting

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[shadowofthemoth]

It’s a dangerous business, angel, asking questions.

(Also I haven’t taken my pen up in forever, sorry for the quality).

[caeslxys]

I am SO fascinated to get your take on BH's reaction to Ludinus and Downfall.

*****SPOILERS FOR 102 BELOW*****

As someone who left Downfall with a very negative view of the gods, it's interesting to me that BHs (in particular Imogen) kept saying "but you're just like them" about Ludinus and then not realizing that she was saying that the gods are no better than Ludinus fucking Da'Leth. Yeah, Luda is a hyprocrite. Do you realize that the gods are no better? The GODS.

And BHs comparing themselves to the primes/betrayers as this "fucked-up family" completely ignores the power differential. "They're just little guys! We all make mistakes" but you're saying that about entities that can literally sling 9th levels every 6 seconds without using any resources.

Nothing that can feel and be motivated by loss, rage, fear, and revenge should have that much power. Respectfully.

Sorry this took me so long to answer! I’ve been letting my own thoughts simmer and rewatching the episode in pieces to grasp the Many Many different things that happened on my own because it was Quite A Lot and some of it (the delilah of it all, funnily enough) left me immediately with an overall sense of disappointment that I wanted to sift through before talking Thoughts so that I could determine analysis from bias lol. BUT. I DO HAVE THOUGHTS

Long answer under the read more, but tldr: Apart from Orym, Ashton, and Dorian (simultaneously the most and least surprising!) I don’t think we’ve gotten the full breadth of BH’s opinions at all. In part because this a topic of discussion that requires them actually, well, discussing it to form fully rounded opinions on but also, crucially, because they were expressing opinions and emotions in front of Ludinus. This is important, because Orym/Ashton/Dorian make the most sense to have no reason for holding their true thoughts back in front of either him or the party (obviously in Orym and Ashton’s case, but I’ll be honest in not considering what is now obvious—Dorian has no idea who this guy actually is! Of course he wasn’t opposed to raising his perspective!), whereas other characters—namely Imogen—have many more internal steps and hurdles to actually reaching a conclusion that must happen outside of Ludinus’ eye.

Alright. Long version.

I think it truly speaks to the characters that the ones who reacted the most immediately decisive were Orym—the one whose opinions wouldn’t have changed regardless of what was held within that orb (which. sigh)—Ashton—the punk, anti-authoritarian character who has had an established perspective of the gods and their power for quite some time, perspectives that were in many ways cemented in viewing this piece of history rather than dispelled—and Dorian—someone who, as mentioned earlier, has the least amount of context for who Ludinus is, but who also himself was raised in a comparatively high position of social power so as to understand exactly what Ludinus is saying about the gods’ misusing theirs.

And, of course, Imogen. I’ll admit: I was immediately shocked at her response, but in hindsight of course she responded the way she did. I have talked and gushed and wailed before at how deeply empathetic Imogen is, and how it is also her ultimate fatal flaw (demonstrated explicitly here), so of course her first thought was how she saw the feelings and motives behind the decisions made in downfall and not how it was also an extreme over-reach of power and influence. Of course she did. I think the only person she’s incapable of empathizing with is Delilah lmao.

And to that point: A lot of that seemed, on a rewatch and to me, posturing on her part. So much of Imogen is defined by her guilt and shame and self-loathing and its especially prevalent when she is playing leader—a role she is naturally very good at, but doubts constantly because she does not consider herself “good”. So, often, she does what she thinks others perceive as “good” and “right” and keeps her more complex thoughts to herself until she is in a safe space (often with Laudna), and projects who she thinks others need her to be in the moment.

Laudna, in the same vein, also shocked me that she didn’t push the breach of power here. But, again, she is also right next to Imogen in “bells hells characters most driven by/capable of empathy” (though hers is, unlike Imogen’s, often in conflict with her desires in really compelling ways) so on further reflection—and especially taking into consideration the massive amount of shame she is feeling from swordgate—of course she focused on the empathetic side of it all.

Ultimately we didn’t get much time at all for them to actually discuss and dissect their take-aways on all of downfall in a setting and context that would be free of bias and performance. If i’m honest, I think those conversations need to happen individually instead of in a group, though maybe Dorian’s inclusion and obvious clear decision on his stance being more in line with Ludinus’ may just be enough for Orym alone not to break the conversational thread again with his personal grief (and guilt, but that’s another post lol). I think their real opinions have yet to solidify even for themselves, and we’ll see them truly form in the coming episodes. The Delilah of it all notwithstanding.

Speaking of Orym’s refusal to think about anything—I think he and Imogen both are suffering from Predathos tunnel vision. Honestly I’d argue a good portion of fandom is as well. None of that conversation is ultimately about Predathos, it was about the gods and the role they play and the power they use or over-use or deserve. By focusing so intently on what we all already agree is the wrong and bad solution to this problem, we ignore the problem entirely. It’s one of my main issues with Orym’s stance this whole campaign. If we don’t ask what is to be done with the gods, and the campaign just wraps up with “we defeated the bad guys, yay!” well. What of the ruidusborn, who we know are treated unfairly and unkindly and who suffer through no fault of their own. What of the young vanguard members—the kids—who, also, are only guilty of caving to the idea of peace. What of Aeor, what of Ludinus—what of the cycle that birthed them both. To not engage with the questions being asked for hyperfixating on the Predathos of it all is to leave this campaign, in my opinion, on both a deeply unsatisfying but also deeply hopeless note. The cycle will continue. We may not see it—it may be another thousand, two thousand years before another Ludinus rises—but another Ludinus or Aeor or both will rise, because ultimately no change will have been implemented in the problems which resulted in them.

And—final note, promise—I was talking to a friend about this yesterday but when it comes down to acknowledging the societal implications of downfall, especially in Imogen’s case, I do think it’s going to have to be pointed out first. A lot of Bells Hells are characters who have suffered at the very hands they are trying to save, but also suffered in part and specifically due to a lack of access to knowledge about it all. It does not escape me that the very first scene of campaign three is Imogen attempting to gather knowledge on powers that have made her miserable for a decade and being unable to access them in a library due to her station. That is, to me, more and more becoming the underpinning theme of this campaign—especially as all Ludinus is doing in this moment with the Occultus Thalamus is displaying it; again, obviously Ludinus is wrong in his means (and arrogant in his assumptions that just because of his failures that no one else could find a solution) but this, specifically, the spreading of knowledge—that, I 100% find myself in agreeance with. So it’s not that they won’t understand what characters like Ashton and Dorian, both hyperaware of the implications of power here, are or will be saying. It’s that they literally do not know to think about it like that. Why would they. It has been intentionally kept from them.

Anyway I have no idea if that was uh. Sufficient Enough of an answer adksfjd at some point I just started yapping but! I’m intrigued, especially because of Dorian’s adamant belief, in what conclusions they’ll draw moving forward as the discussions truly begin! Hopefully! Hopefully they will discuss it!

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

thinking about 4halo again and dying

they just. they used to be so sweet together. and then the election arc managed to genuinely turn them against each other (and bad is still affected by being caged in the museum) and i would NOT have been surprised if a rebellion had started within the next few weeks after their last fight and. they used to be friends and then they almost destroyed each other

and then the eggs went missing

and there are so many parallels between them, but one of the biggest parallels is how they're both protectors. they both protected the eggs (and, when he became president, forever extended that protection to the other islanders) but the eggs went missing and they had to put all of that aside. Forever was quicker to put it down than Bad was (it felt like only a very temporary truce, from Bad's end), but they put their problems on hold, because their eggs. were gone.

and another parallel. the destruction. both of them with their plans to cause ruin because then, maybe, theyll get their kids back. bad caused most of the grieving arc damage directly, and got aypierre and antoine to help him. he dug holes in the ground. he placed mines everywhere and leapt into them. he started the lavacasting process of the fed building (and was interrupted by admins, so he stopped, but philza and fit were still right to laugh at him lmaoo). he drilled a hole through the side of the federation office from a huge distance away. he has chosen to hurt his friends and himself to get the eggs back. whatever the cost.

forever destroyed the island. or he planned to destroy the island. or he was interrupted just before he destroyed the island or or or. I don't know. but it was big, and it was bad. bad enough that the feds had to step in and forcefully drug him, and kickstart the happy pills arc.

and the happy pills arc..... oughghghgh as fucking awful as it was for their characters to experience i genuinely truly think that it saved them from each other. when he was first told about forever being fucked up bad was still in the "i need to kick his butt" mindset, and was all ready for an excuse to kill forever. and then he saw forever. and the first proposal happened. and bad was angry and he was sad and upset and he was careful. forever tried to kill him. bad decided to save him. forever kept trying to marry him. forever kept taking the pills. forever was so scared of his own anger and all of the damage he could and would have caused to his family that he kept taking drugs that kept him so out of his mind he hallucinated his son was just sleeping safely at his house.

and they both tried to kill each other. and they both failed.

and bad showed phil and cellbit (and tubbo) the item scanner that dapper discovered, which could destroy him, because nothing else was working. because they needed to save forever. because bad was reminded by then that forever was a victim of the federation instead of just a mouthpiece for it. and then when forever woke up he saw bad, suffering, and so excited to see him awake.

and now they're here on opposite sides again with forever projecting his protection urges onto the fed worker in bad's basement and bad frustrated that he isn't being believed and his evil plans of giving ron lemons apology brownies is being interrupted and. look at them. soft "i hate you" and the appreciation room and bad's quiet heartbreak when he learned about forever being missing and the "i miss you" book bad got mad at because it asked him not to torture fed workers. does anyone hear me im so ill about them. do you understand they care about each other so much and the happy pills arc reminded them of that. forever realized bad is colourblind and bad assumed forever was poisoning him and then forever helped bad cheat on another colourblindness test and forever was giving bad flowers and bad was accepting them and accepted that he was colourblind despite his previously constant denial and! i don't know if im being comprehensible and i dont really care i will be honest i just need you to know i am frothing at the mouth like a rabid little beast. they are a TRAGEDY of miscommunication and external pressure but they love so so much. platonic or romantic or qpp they CARE and it tears me to shreds

[well-dressed-sewer-rat]

[auroramoon-draws16]

The Apprentice: do you think he’ll like it?

The Reader: it’ll be fine, kid, knowing him, he’ll love it.

The Apprentice: really?

The Reader: really. Seriously, you should see what they usually do to him.

The Apprentice: do… should I really?

The Reader: *flashbacks to all the timelines and branching timelines they made, watching shit go down like watching a train wreck a hundred times over*

The Reader: ..yeah.. never mind, you shouldn’t.

~Beyond the Grey~

The Writers: *collective round of sneezes*

[starpirateee]

To the dear guest who requested this, thanks so much! I was personally expecting a sickfic at some point, so it's my honour!

Paul was never late. Ever. He'd basically made it part of his personality to show up to work and little events within a reasonable margin to be considered "on time".

But, somehow the luck just had to run out eventually. Like the day his car broke down and he had to catch the bus to work. that day, he was a good forty minutes late (most of which was spent on the phone to Tony Green, trying to find a time to drop his car off, and subsequently missing the bus that may have gotten him to work on time), and that was so late that he managed to walk into Ted in the hallway.

Ted was normally one to amble into work late, but this time felt a little different. The two of them shared the lift up to the right floor, and Paul couldn't help but notice the way Ted seemed to be having a little trouble staying entirely upright. He spent the few seconds that the journey took leaning against the wall, and avoiding looking at Paul and the lights above their heads.

As Paul had pretty quickly discovered, there was nothing particularly interesting about Ted's shoes.

"Uh, Ted... Are you okay?" he asked eventually, just as they reached their floor.

the lift stopped and the doors opened. Ted made quick work of exiting, mainly so he could avoid being confronted by anyone, but Paul's words drew him back. He turned around slowly, ignoring the way his head screamed it's protests, and nodded. "Yeah, 'm fine. Just hungover." He could get away with that, it was a Monday, right? People drank on a weekend...

"Ted, it's Wednesday..." Paul pointed out, in a manner that he thought was rather helpful.

Shit.

Of course it was.

Granted, Ted didn't know what day it was at the best of times, but he had been working the rest of the week, so he should've known that it wasn't a Monday. "Yeah, and? I'm... Allowed to drink on a Tuesday."

"... Okay. I mean, yeah, sure you are, but-"

the two of them walked onto the office floor, and Paul insisted on seeing Ted all the way to his door, just to really make sure.

"- y'know, not a lot of people do."

"Get off my case, Paul... I'm fine." He opened the door to his office, fumbling first to get his keys, and then again when he tried to get them in the keyhole. Paul watched the whole time, his head tilted like he was about to make some claim that Ted was lying. Ted raised an eyebrow at him. "don't you have somewhere better to be?"

That seemed to snap him out of it. He nodded and backed away to join the rest of the technical department. On the way, he shot a couple glances back at the now closed office door, knowing full well that Ted wasn't as fine as he made himself out to be.

those suspicions were only confirmed when he heard Bill sigh heavily in the next cubicle, shift in his seat, and mutter, "Jesus Christ, can't he keep that to himself?"

Paul leaned around the divider, brow furrowed. "What's the problem, Bill?"

"Can't you hear it? I mean, we all know what Spankoffski gets up to in that office of his, but he's not exactly making it subtle today..."

Initially, Paul winced in agreement. They did all know what Ted got up to when he was alone. The last time they confronted him about it, Ted only grinned and explained that the office network didn't have a blacklist put in place, so technically speaking, they had free reign to do whatever they wanted. But, he was never normally a problem about it, so reluctant as they were, they had left the matter alone and just tried not to think about it.

Paul realised there was probably a good reason why Bill could hear Ted today, and thankfully, it had nothing to do with... That. For once.

"I don't think that's what you're hearing," he hummed, shooting a quick, sympathetic glance towards the door.

"What're you saying? Bill asked. "He's clearly-"

"I know what it sounds like, but he said he was hungover when we got here, but I dunno whether I believe him..."

"It's Wednesday."

"I know. That's what I said. I don't think he's doing so hot. Uh, that is, I think he's sick."

And Paul wasn't talking about him as a person. Bill's brow creased, and he actively tried to focus. This time, both men heard what they thought was a shaky sigh, and a groan that sounded much more like a protest than a pleasure. They glanced at each other and Paul shrugged, his point having been proven.

"Yeah, no, I'm not buying it. He's not fine, and I don't care what he tries to tell me." With that, he stood up and started towards the door. Bill didn't try to stop him, but kept his eyes trained on the office as Paul approached.

He knocked first, half expecting Ted to have locked himself in.

"... 's open." Came the voice from inside, slightly more strained than it had been a few hours ago.

Oh.

Taking a quick, prepatory breath, Paul opened the door, dropping his other hand to his side. Ted was once again hunched over himself, discarding a tissue in the bin by his desk. He looked up, caught the concern so clearly written across Paul's face, and sighed. "Didn't I already tell you to get off my case, Matthews?" He asked, somewhat drily.

The only response Ted got was a nod.

"Then... What's the big idea, huh?"

"Bill thought- uh..." He glanced back, stopping himself mid sentence and deciding it wasn't worth it to follow that up. Ted probably already knew what Bill had assumed, anyway. He certainly didn't seem disappointed by being the name behind such a reputation. "You're... Not hungover, are you?"

"Good job, detective." Ted's chest heaved, and his next breath sent him into a bout of coughing. Paul noticed how raspy it was, and how rough Ted sounded when he came out of it. "It's nothing. Some... Flu or something I picked up from my brother, or one of his dorky classmates... I dunno. But I'm fine."

"Sure."

Quite surprised, Ted's eyebrows raised. "Was that sarcasm there? From you?"

Paul just shrugged. He could add sarcasm when he needed to. He totally knew the context for something like that... Thankfully, the subject was dropped before he could think about whether he'd done that intentionally or not.

"Why are you so bothered anyway?"

The fast attempt at giving an answer was broken off by another coughing fit, and in that time, Paul tried to refine his answer before realising he didn't really have a good one in the first place. He sighed. "I'm worried about you, man. You've gotten paler every time I look at you."

Ted faltered, his head lifting just enough to fully catch Paul's gaze and decipher that he did indeed look worried. He seemed sincere enough, and the thought of it- the thought of someone he didn't actually know that well, all things considered, seeming genuinely worried at his expense- made his eyes widen.

Paul picked up on the extended silence and shifted, now humouring the thought that he may have done something wrong. "What?"

"You're serious?"

"Huh? Of course I am. You need to get yourself home, you look like you're going to pass out. In fact... No, I can drive. If you want."

"You took the bus this morning," Ted reminded.

"I know. I meant your car. That way, you don't have to leave it here to forget about by tomorrow..." Paul hadn't thought this through. In his eyes, that just meant Ted wouldn't have to wake up the next morning and completely forget where his car was. Besides, it's not like he lived close...

"You're asking me for my keys? When I can just as easily drive myself home?"

"Will you make it?"

There was a silence. Ted realised pretty quickly that this was an argument he was going to lose, so he sighed as he stood up. It was fine, at least he wouldn't have to keep face here when all he wanted to do was sleep until his problems went away. "... Fine." He muttered, shoving his hand in his pocket for his keys and handing them out to Paul. "Wreck it and I kill you, 'kay?"

"Okay..."

[matthoopergay]

man, i’m not sure why i always imagined hooper lived a bit aways, but i was rewatching jaws last night and he probably just lives directly on the mainland from amity, huh?

we know he’s from “the oceanographic institute on the mainland”, and to me that phrasing implies it must be pretty close to be THE institute and not just AN institute. we also know that amity is either a smaller island right by martha’s vineyard or it just… straight up is martha’s vineyard (with a different name of course). based on this, hooper probably works for the woods hole oceanographic institute, and woods hole is directly on the mainland from martha’s vineyard! less then an hour ferry right between em! hooper could totally come down and spend weekends with the brodys and quint or he could probably even MOVE to amity and just have a moderately long commute every morning…

[haveihitanerve]

guys pls i need help

so theres this one TFF interview i remember watching a while back and i cannot for the life of me find it now

but its a couch interview- roland and curt are sitting on a couch- and roland is wearing his blue jacket and curt is wearing his brown one and at one point roland leans over to curt to like, not correct him on something but just ask if he remembers like this one portion of a story or smth i honestly dont remember but it was really cute and yeah. if you know which one im talking about please help

[preseriesdean]

We're lucky we had Dad. 1.14 'Nightmare' | 8.18 'Freaks and Geeks'

[villainsidestep]

evil beckers thought….. just how many autopsies Did they send chen ?

[woodsborostabathon]

pondering the kirsch siblings orb yet again and you really cannot convince me that quinn would not have been moving like depression era bella in new moon from the moment she even FOUND OUT richie was moving to modesto...

[tidesfate]

You cannot kill Mora. Not in any way that matters, or will stick. Even the God's themselves have been incapable of finding a way to untangle it from reality in a way that even just removing it and isolating it would not cause unraveling, even more so to actually erase this remnant of what was never supposed to be.

Mora does not have a nymic, for it is not an old spirit. It is not daedra beyond a title and necessity to pinpoint it to a group. Mora has anchors- these act as hearts, and there is an unknown number of them. More exist as Mora grows; they act as ways to stabilize its matter- a bunch of ideas, knowledge, memories, all the stuff that Mora is made of is wrapped around the more it consumes and grows. To destroy one is already difficult, to find them, and to do what is akin to removing a black hole. If one is destroyed, Mora can become destabilized- but that would recover, and you wouldn't get the chance to try again.

Even if somehow, something is managed to get rid of these and to truly erase Mora, I don't think this would stick. Mora is knowledge, it is ideas, it is concepts; and it is nothingness. There would be something missed, there would be that small scrap of something anomalous, something that should not exist floating out there. Or maybe found in something, buried in dirt waiting for pieces of itself to slowly come back together. Mora is concepts given sentience.

Maybe Mora would be given a chance to be something different. Maybe something more fortunate may spawn instead. But Mora cannot be killed, and it cannot be truly erased.

[very-uncorrect]

working on slow burn enemies to lovers romance when you have an audience is so hard because yes i draw these two kissing and holding hands and cuddling all the time but i’m not allowed to post any of it because it’s spoilers but they’re so cute and i love them bUT THE AUDIENCE THINKS THEY’RE ENEMIES

Patience is a virtue my friend, it'll all be worth it when you bring it into canon

[katyspersonal]

That one interpretation about Micolash’s fate now lives rent free in my head. I’m not opposed to the notion of him dying once and for all, and I like the irony of a scholar obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge spending his last moments in ignorance. But being forever trapped in his own mummified body seems like the perfect punishment and suits the theme of hopelessness so well. For someone who despised his humanity so much, who went above and beyond to escape the limitations of his body, being forced back into his pathetic, frail, powerless body must be pure torture. Once Micolash’s consciousness is brought back, he’ll have all eternity to ponder over the fact that his efforts were fruitless and he’s nothing but a withered corpse, a manifestation of human fragility and mortality. But in contrast to the situation with Lovecraft’s priest, there’ll be nobody around to destroy his brain and end his sufferings.

No, this is absolutely valid, and from the standpoint of a person that gives "proper" judgement to Bloodborne characters - yeah, he "deserved" it!

I just have a completely different way to look at the things, and Soulsborne games offer me the most freedom in this. Like I said, the whole theme of 'fate worse than death' applied to the war criminals we meet in these games just doesn't do anything to me. Doesn't make me mad (because, again, they probably "deserve" it) but also doesn't really excite me... The problem with Soulsborne settings is that things are so chaotic and flipped upside down that morality, principles and and judgement as we know them no longer apply in my opinion- heck, I always said I can't really guilt characters like Aldrich or Rykard for how much atrocities they've committed, because the world they're in is so fundamentally broken and doomed that in the end, what they'd have to do to escape it no longer matters...? Elden Ring didn't touch upon it well enough, and even gave us *gasp* OPTIMISM!!!!, but Dark Souls totally falls for this... mess.

On the other hand, characters like Allant or Shabriri in my interpretation I'd totally say deserved "real" judgement. And Micolash is kinda complicated... He falls exactly in the middle. Dude did quite the unthinkable things to break free from the humanity, but also his setting kinda falls for the trope of "humanity is doomed anyways" and his only fault is that he tried to escape, whatever it takes, rather than pull the whole 'I will perish but at least not lose my human decency uwu' thing. For most people, choosing the latter feels like an axiom and they don't need reasoning to why it is "the only acceptable way", but for this type of high IQ investigators not necessarily so. Because hooooow many tiiiiimes you fuckers need an evidence that huge intellect caaaaaan be as much of a cuuuuuurse.

But, again, Bloodborne setting is less obviously... that. Dark Souls IS doomed, yes. Bloodborne is, like... well, he is (presumably) stuck in the city that will wither under endless cycle of the hunt no matter what. So I speculate his problem (and many other characters') is witnessing the knowledhe humans were not meant to see - and losing the sight of worth of his humanity as a result. Again, the smarter you are - the more damaging this effect will be! More simple-minded people would be able to withstand the comprehension of futility of humanity and the cyclic trap that deems both beasthood and Kinship meaningless because "but humanity is still important just because". (Also love how Bloodborne itself addresses this complexion by the fact that the higher person's Insight level is, the stronger Frenzy damage they take!)

__________________

Basically, what I am saying is, this is a "satisfying" fate for Micolash by common logic.. But I personally would rather either let the guy die a real death, or let him be reborn into something else. His setting and the things he learned make his pursuit to transcend humanity at all cost not only fair in my eyes, but even couragerous, in a way. Actually.....

^^^ what really skewed my perspective on most of the Soulsborne's "war criminals" was Miyazaki himself perceiving Fauxsefka as a heroine xD I was instantly able to decipher it as the fact that her courage is doing a 'morally reprehensive' thing (turning people into cosmic Kin) for the greater good (so they lose any chance to become the beasts instead). Not everyone will "dirty" their own hands for some greater idea. But, yeah, Micolash is likely not 'heroic', as he simply cared for helping himself. The only other Mensis scholar we know of is Damian, who actively works against Mico's goals (which is very telling); the other participants of his ritual are prisoners (damn, Miyazaki, can we go against the dilemma of "deciding for everyone else" for ONE game??).

I am glad that you've found a resolution for Micolash's arc that is very satisfying and exciting for you, though! This sorta thing always feels cathartic!