#it was not all misery etc.

[intheholler]

I'm a many-many-generations-Appalachian, and when I was a teenager, everyone assumed I'd leave, so I thought I should. And then when I did leave, someone called my mama and told her I was the most homesick child they'd seen in decades, that she should come get me. She didn't, because she wanted me to succeed that badly, but I got myself back to Appalachia PDQ. And then I never left again, because Appalachia is where I belong.

I know the stereotypes, but we can be happy here, too. I've got a good life, with a well-paying job I love, a silver anniversary spouse, wonderful children, and a nice house. My mama lives with us and that's just how we like it. Our quietly queer little family is proud to be Appalachian, and our children learn our history, like the recorded story from their great-grandfather who saw the Baldwin-Felts get off the train in Matewan.

Are there problems in Appalachia? Sure. But that doesn't mean we are all living in misery. Appalachian lives are more than poverty porn and strip mines and drugs and Dew mouth. We have our own festivals and music and art and foods and books to celebrate our shared heritage. We have our own holidays, too, like the first day of deer season. There can be a lot of joy in our Appalachian lives, if we let it.

And of course, we can all join together to remind folks that #heaintfromaroundhere ;)

.

[saints-who-never-existed]

Today I'm thinking about the degree to which a person is responsible for the loyalty they inspire in others.

To be more specific, I'm continuing my rewatch and thinking about the degree to which Franklin is responsible for the loyalty he has inspired in poor wee David Young.

-

Young's death is a foregone conclusion, one that's been years in the making to the point where he thinks nothing of his gruesome symptoms, yes. But his lionisation of Franklin is also a not-insignificant factor in Young neglecting to speak up about his failing health.

"I didn't want to disappoint Sir John..."

Then, as he continues to decline, Young relinquishes any semblance of bodily autonomy he ever had. He's terrified at the thought of being cut open and examined, begs for Goodsir to promise to refrain from doing so. But again, his loyalty to Franklin wins out - he trusts completely that whatever Franklin orders must be for the good of the crew.

"If Sir John orders it I will do it..."

And even as death rapidly approaches, Young isn't entirely free in his own mind either. He's an extremely vulnerable young man, little more than a child really. He's 3000 miles from home. He's dying and there isn't a thing anyone can do to stop it. He's even separated from his fellow Terrors now, friends who clearly cared for his well-being and could have been at least a small comfort to him as he passed.

Young is so so frightened and he can't even fully admit to and confront that fact because of Franklin.

"And don't tell Sir John I was afraid..."

-

I'm not sure yet what my point is really.

Young's loyalty and devotion to Franklin serves to make his death just that more desperate and traumatic than it otherwise would have been and it just feels like there ought to be consequences for that somehow. It feels like someone ought to pay for the tragedy of it all...

[ruvviks]

All That's Left follows two journalists and their friends in post-apocalyptic United States as they travel from the fallen east coast megalopolis Opportunity back to Los Angeles, crossing through a harsh wasteland overrun with zombies— only to find out that there is a lot more life left than what the protected cities want them to believe. On their journey they meet dozens of people living their lives as peaceful as possible away from military forces, corporations, and corrupt governments; and they learn that the same mutated ghouls that took down Opportunity are spreading rapidly through the country, destroying everything in their path. Will this finally be the end of the world as we know it?

taglist (opt in/out)

@shellibisshe, @florbelles, @ncytiri, @hibernationsuit, @stars-of-the-heart;

@vvanessaives, @katsigian, @radioactiveshitstorm, @estevnys, @adelaidedrubman;

@celticwoman, @rindemption, @carlosoliveiraa, @noirapocalypto, @dickytwister;

@killerspinal, @euryalex, @ri-a-rose, @velocitic, @thedeadthree

[prismit]

THE BEHEADED VRCHAT AVATAR IS NOW COMPLETE AND AVAILABLE ON ALL PLATFORMS!

now features a friend! :)

link is in the replies!

[teakoodrawz]

" I'm a Psycho, loving it~ "

[winepresswrath]

i am going to wind up on team #justiceforarmand but it's going to be so situational. justice for armand specifically during the period of time louis is all "oooh who needs labels." a very different kind of justice for armand on matters pertaining to claudia.

[vickyvicarious]

God preserve my sanity, for to this I am reduced. Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past. Whilst I live on here there is but one thing to hope for, that I may not go mad, if, indeed, I be not mad already. [...] for now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock had come which must end in its undoing, I turn to my diary for repose. The habit of entering accurately must help to soothe me.

Jonathan feels he has nothing left but his sanity. And even that is far from assured. He doesn't have hope for his own safety anymore. He doesn't have hope for comfort (twice now, he's sought it only to be betrayed). And the importance of his diary is greatly increased, because now that his sanity is all he really feels he can hope to keep, his diary is the way to do so. Both by the contents (proof, detailed and exact proof again and again to provide evidence that backs up his memories) and simply the act of writing (being able to be honest, to express his fears and distress in the way he cannot ever do out loud, finding comfort in the act of doing so). His diary is so key to his mental state.

He still has to restrain himself when writing, of course. If he gives full vent to his panic and distress and unsubstantiated (or at least, not substantiated enough) fears it will lose its reliability as a proof of sanity. And it might lose some of it's ability to soothe and calm him as well, if he did so. Who knows how big his notebook is and much space he has left to write, or what things will happen over the course of the month(?) he has left here (if he's ever able to leave) - he should make sure not to run out of space. He won't want to linger uselessly on things that are distressing but not new in any way - both because it would be depressing, and because he wants this to be useful as well, if he ever does get some chance to escape or share it with others. But still, even with all of that, this diary is the only place he is safe in the castle. Dracula can come into his rooms whenever he wants. The vampire ladies are in the places Dracula has forbidden to him. All four of them can maybe travel through windows or walls, for all he knows - there's no location that is safe. And Dracula is the closest thing to a safe person here, the very idea of which is a horrorshow all on its own. Jonathan is going to have to play along even more than before, with higher stakes than ever (they want to bite him, to drink his blood, he's been promised to them when Dracula is finished with him whatever that means). He has no freedom to speak or act the way he wants, except in what he writes here.

His diary is so, so, incredibly important to him. I can only imagine his utter panic in the moments between when he realized Dracula had undressed him and when he found it still hidden in his pocket.

[unganseylike]

can we talk about this cursed wretched chicken my mom refuses to get rid of? please im dying to talk about that cursed wretched chicken my mom refuses to get rid of

[moonchild-in-blue]

Oh.

[seilon]

I wish I could tell every young person with a uterus (especially with bad cramps and/or dysphoria and/or depression, etc) that there is a decent chance they just straight up don’t need to live with that. don’t let the stigma surrounding contraceptives and the expectation that you should just ride it out and suffer win. for the love of god if there’s a chance you can lighten or even stop your period and it’s symptoms all-together, unless there’s a legit health concern, your doctor should at least make you aware of that option. I want every young person to know that “birth control” is not just for birth control and it has the potential to make your life infinitely easier to live. do not give in to anti-pill propaganda im serious

[deathlonging]

whoever decided to add the sentient whales to dishonored is owed my life

[theflyingfeeling]

yes it's just me whining about the same thing for the billionth time, pls just scroll past nothing new to see here 👋

[faaun]

the forest looks like heaven today i woke up feeling the heaviest weight at the top of my heart

[mieczyhale]

"considering mattel is pro-israel i don't think they mind the genocidal barbie look"

y'all just be saying anything these days

[bunabi]

Every month someone has a messy breakup in my apartment complex and I'm starting to think something's in the water

[vickyvicarious]

So Jonathan CAN still write diary entries, but he no longer can send letters? The things that were stolen were paper and envelopes he had brought with him to write to Mina and his boss during his travel?

Yes! Along with his letter of credit (functionally credit card, so thus his money), his information about trains and such (thus his ability to plan any kind of travel), and basically all of his other loose papers. And his travel clothes.

Jonathan still has his diary, because he always keeps it on his person. He also still has access to writing tools since he's used them to write this entry, just not other paper. It's less clear on this case whether Dracula stole all his pens and whatnot, and he only still can write because he keeps some on his person as well (I can't imagine he doesn't, given the various places/times he writes in his diary) or if the Count left him the ability to write but nothing to write on (a nice taunt but it would still let Jonathan write on other paper he finds outside his own room, so it kinda depends on how safe you think he'd want to play it).

Regardless, Jonathan definitely still can write in his diary. But as far as Dracula is concerned, he's taken away Jonathan's ability to write any sort of letter (or get very far if he tries to leave).