#musings from the beyond

[kerstrel]

mini headcanon:

Bruce is STEM-minded. Dick does well enough in school to get by and prefers STEM, much like Bruce.

Then Jason.

Jason loves books. He loves history. Jason is as humanities-oriented as you can get in a kid. Even after he dies, his love of literature doesn't. When Dick needs to relax, he's in the gym flipping and jumping. Jason's in the garden reading.

Jason had been with Bruce for several years after adoption when he had his first public breakdown. He was at the dining table, staring at a big red F on his math exam. And he cried.

Bruce knew Jason had an inferiority complex, but to see it laid out so openly was heart-wrenching.

Tearfully, a sad Jason held up the paper and whispered, "I did my best. Dick said this class was easy. How come when you're good at English, it's only okay? How come you need to be good at math to be smart?"

And Bruce couldn't bring himself to answer.

He wanted to help Jason with math, but he was busy and Dick was busy, so Jason grit his teeth and figured it out on his own. (He barely got a C in the class.)

Later, after the resurrection, Jason is hanging around the manor when Tim rushes inside. His lip is quivering and an essay marked with a bright 63% is clutched in his hand. Instead of lording it over Tim that this one thing came easy to him, Jason sits next to him.

Jason accepts he's the English person in a room full of math geniuses. He talks Tim through the essay because he needed someone to talk him through his own school struggles.

Jason makes the decision to help his brother and Tim manages an A in the class.

And Jason is happy for him. Jason is happy for Tim in his successes and failures. He's there when Tim wins a math award, and there when Tim needs help with an essay.

Jason figured he'd be there since no one was there for him.

[dayurno]

honestly you can say anything about the ravens (and you'd be right to) but you can't say the concept of them isn't delicious. a group of collegiate athletes in their intimidating raven motifs and their black uniforms who are basically bred to become the best of the best in a bloodsport. the adrenaline rush of every game being a competition between yourself and your teammates. knowing you're not just gearing up towards court but following in the footsteps of the alumni before you. the parties and the victories and the mindless sex and the way everyone around you somehow seems to always be thinking the same thing as you are. you are never alone and you will never be again if you just do as we say. who knows the kind of relationships that can happen in a place like that?

[lgbtlunaverse]

I have been thinking on the nature of mdzs as a deliberately vague text that leaves many things up to interpretation, and how i've slowly come to understand "up for interpretation" less as "there is One True version of this story i must find" and not even as " Everyone has a different One True Version of this story inside their head be based on their interpretations and the differences don't make one wrong and the other right" but as "There is no One True Version. Even in my own subjective interpretation of the text multiple things can be true at once" specifically, in regard to Jin Guangyao and the many things which are left up in the air as to whether he did them or not, most notably killing his son.

There's evidence for this, but it's non conclusuve (jgy saying he killed him while also saying he killed Qin Su, who very much killed herself. The speculations on how he'd have killed him being sect leader yao just saying shit. ) it is, esentially, just up in the air enough that if you decisively fall on one side of the debate is probably says more about you and your general opinion of jgy than it does about the "true" events of canon.

I have, as a proud apologist, always fallen on the "he didn't kill him but felt in some way responsible for his death." Side but recently have become more okay with the interpretation that maybe he DID kill him, and that at the very least, that when he tells Qin Su their son "needed to die" he is being genuine. Which, once you look at it beyond. "Is jgy a poor lil meow meow who it is Okay to Like or an irredeemable baby murderer" becomes both INCREDIBLY tragic and deeply interesting. Because here is a man condemned for who his parents were and who wants nothing more than to live, saying that it is possible to be so cursed by your heritage that you need to die. There is no existence for you. The exact same thing that has been said to him.

Of course being born out of wedlock to a sex worker and being a product of incest are different things, but that begs the question: where is the line? What crimes of the father can mean death for the son? How cursed can you be until your existence is so incompatible with society it is you who needs to give? And if there is... where is it? Qin su clearly thought she was past it. Was his son really past it? Is he?

[athina-blaine]

His own breath ragged, Ambrosius leaned in again, just close enough for his lips to graze against Ballister's.

“Let me take care of you.”

-

Ballister loses track of the time and gets caught in the rain. Ambrosius rises to the occasion.

Rating: Explicit Relationships: Ballister Blackheart | Ballister Boldheart/Ambrosius Goldenloin Chapters: 1/1 Chapter Word Count: ~5k Additional Tags: Domestic Fluff, Light Angst, Pre-Canon, Service Top Ambrosius, Ballister Acts Like a Sad Wet Cat, Explicit Sexual Content

Inspired by @sefarlen's art here (NSFW), and a very happy Valentine's Day to you as well 😉😉😉 haha what do you mean it's apri

-

Closing the door behind him with a soft click, Ambrosius slipped off his running shoes before stepping inside the apartment. His heart still raced with exertion as he pulled down the hood of his rain-slicked jacket, sweat cooling on the back of his neck and face. The rain had brought down the temperature to a crisp, sublime briskness, and it had been perfect for his evening run (even if his hair could do without the humidity).

Hanging his jacket on the coat rack, chin bobbing to the beat of his music, his eyes passed over the row of shoes, lingering on the leftmost shelf. He paused. The black boots that usually occupied the space were still absent, the same as they were when Ambrosius had first gotten home.

It wasn’t often Ambrosius beat Ballister back at the end of the day, with Ballister usually having long since buried himself in his academy reports. Even rarer for Ambrosius to finish his run and still see that shelf empty. Perhaps he’d gotten carried away with his research project in the archives. Still, why not give Ambrosius a heads-up?

Ambrosius pushed down his growing anxiety. It’s not as if Ballister has never been this late coming home before, especially with their development reports due soon. Ambrosius would just need to call, that was all. Nothing to worry about.

But first, Ambrosius desperately needed a drink. Bending down to open the refrigerator, he retrieved his water bottle and took a slow sip, eyes surveying the inside of the fridge. His fingers tapped to the beat of his music against the fridge door. They haven’t already eaten through all of those strawberries, have they …?

Through his earbuds, he heard a muffled thud behind him. He glanced over just in time to see Ballister shuffle into the main room, his gait sluggish as he dragged his hand down his face. He didn’t seem to notice Ambrosius as he let out a tired sigh, running his hand through his hair.

Ambrosius straightened, letting the fridge door close, and Ballister’s eyes snapped upwards. When their gazes met, Ballister faltered. For a fleeting moment, Ambrosius could see him attempt to mask the fatigue in his eyes, but Ambrosius’ concern must have been obvious as he quickly gave up the charade. He raised a hand, a weary smile tugging his lips. “Sorry I didn’t call.”

[Continue on AO3]

[muninnhuginn]

li tianchen saying he hated people who pretended to be nice but were secretly jerks the most + the neighbour who saw what was going on but backed off (whether because of his own safety or because liu lan shook her head to get him to go away with the idea that it would stop further escalation). the idea that "jerk pretending to be nice" in this case is represented by an observer seeing something wrong and refusing to intervene.

looking at cheng xiaoshi's repeated interference during dives vs lu guang's mantra to keep the past as it was. to remain an observer deliberately.

[ride-a-dromedary]

Halsin drawing his parents and siblings from memory because it's the only way beyond description that he can retain a glimpse of what they looked like for others to see them that have no memory - they were not in any position or of any desire to have portraits of them commissioned or done, so none exist beyond what exists in Halsin's mind. It's another way to keep them - in a way - alive and with him in the forefront of his memory, so they won't be forgotten by the last who is left to remember them.

He's not the best of artists in regards to interpretation (anatomical sketches only take him so far), but it's something he used to like keeping in practice of. The act forces him to stop and really think about what they used to look like, and - by comparision - what they looked like through his eyes.

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

I really only like oumasai if the endless eldritch itch of understanding and triumphing over ouma drives shuichi into the sea to drown even as Kokichi pulls in and out like the tide, not sure if he wants to drown shuichi, or set him free from this madness. Not fully realizing that even if he tried to let go, shuichi never could, and they are both sinking further down. The chasing of a truth so incomprehensibly endless that it can only bring madness, not clarity.

[akkivee]

there was some display gallery showing off the various logos in hypmic and the ichikuu peeps on the tl were in shambles over both of them using halos in their mc name signatures lol

[astrxlfinale]

He must continue to milk this game dry to the point its knees start quaking.

Multiple rounds, no rest, constant back shots, frontal and reverse cowgirl. Grasping it by the hair.

You name it.

Caelus is on a mission.

[ghcstcd]

What happens if ghouls get summoned are they just in hell one moment then on earth the next?

I personally think it depends on how they're summoned. There are several rituals and spells recorded throughout history of summoning a demon/spirit/apparition.

For the purpose of this story, I believe there's still multiple ways to summon a ghoul. But the most common include someone meeting the ghoul in the middle. In a sort of limbo, the place between earth and hell. While more powerful rituals that include several people very well could tear a ghoul out of hell, and it's as unpleasant as it sounds.

Omega would describe the experience as follows: 'You feel it in your gut first. An unpleasant tug at your core. A fist wrapped around your spine, and ripping it out. When I found myself in the circle, I was whole. But I swear my very core left my being first, before the rest of me could catch up.'

[sage-nebula]

Thinking about how when baby Tails met little Sonic, and Sonic was so nice to and supportive and encouraging of him, and that was the first time in so long that anyone was nice to or actually liked Tails, and so an achievement was unlocked for Sonic: Miles Prower will now die for you.

And then a little while after that, when Tails tells Sonic that he's already got the best family, and that Sonic is his best family, and he loves and cares about Sonic more than anyone else, and so an achievement was unlocked for Tails: Sonic the Hedgehog will now die for you.

These brothers just love each other so much, I cry.

[kerstrel]

i think what's most often forgotten about Jason is that he's an imploder, not an exploder.

yeah, he's lashed out a bunch, but it's after a buildup of stress and anguish.

Jason could never afford to explode--not with the upbringing he had with his mother and father and then Bruce. No, he had to internalize everything and then when it bubbled out from pit madness, he let it go.

but Jason is always quick to remove himself from scenarios and come back later with calculated implosion-induced consenquences

[pevensiechase]

@kyeshire AND I ARE HAVING A DISAGREEMENT*

THOUGHTS ON JENSEN ACKLES' VERSION OF JASON TODD IN UNDER THE RED HOOD MOVIE

SHE THINKS HE'S WHINY

I THINK HE'S VULNERABLE AND DID GREAT

Thoughts?

Open to suggestions.

And opinions.

Edit: Please remember to be kind and show grace. It is just a silly disagreement of opinion, and I don't want to see any fighting in the tags. We're both right, and we're both wrong. This disagreement doesn't really matter. We're both just extremely passionate about the Batfam. She likes Jensen Ackles' work, she just doesn't prefer him as Jason.

*Technically this was from a few days ago, but I haven't had time to post it between auditions and my work schedule of procrastination

[blood-starved-beast]

Again these are non-canon but it's interesting that in Maria's deleted lines she tells the Hunter to run along and return to the Hunt. She abandoned the Hunt on moral principles when alive, yet she has no issue telling other people to continue on that path (if it means it keeps them from prodding into the secret she protects). Idk, I get the sense of "you may continue to debase yourselves and commit atrocities but I am much more principled and stopped" about the whole thing. Hence why I think Maria cared more about the Principle of things, and cared little for actual meaningful change. Not to say she didn't have the capacity for kindness or self-reflection, she clearly did, but she never really thought about change.

Heck, it takes her to being stuck dead in a Nightmare to actually try to make amends in a way that isn't actively harming people. And it's in a way to keep people stuck in their same shared hell (does she think the Hunter deserve it I wonder? Food for thought).

A good written Maria, therefore, acknowledges both her pride and introspection to the point of self-absorption/hypocrisy. It's from this root that her cowardice and inaction spring from and is why lacking the proper kick in the ass, she never really changed much in the end.

[niteshade925]

A long time ago, I also used to believe the lie that "Chinese culture is gone", but that simply isn't true. The thing is, a lot of older Chinese people still practice it, and it's definitely not for show. People still believe in certain things. For example when my paternal grandfather passed away, he wasn't rushed home from the hospital in time, so he died at the hospital. Seems normal for modern circumstances, right? But ever since then there's been worried talks among other family members, they said he's cursed to become a wandering lost ghost, and this is all because he died away from home. I was a little surprised to hear this, because the "general consensus", even among Chinese people in China, is that "traditional culture is gone in cities, only remnants remain in rural areas", but my entire family is made up of city-folk, and we've been city-folk for as long as the city existed (we are natives). When they told me my grandfather would become a wandering ghost, it's not a metaphor, nor is it simply a nod to the culture. They meant what they said, and they believed in what they said. The culture is alive.

Also just in this case alone, I suppose this is part of the meaning of "fallen leaves should return to the root" (落叶归根). Most (younger) people nowadays understand it by its "metaphorical" meaning, that it means we are deeply connected to where we come from, but there is so much more to this. This is a belief that concerns life after death, people believe in it because they are concerned about what their existence after death will be like, almost like how Christians are concerned about whether they will go to heaven or hell. Of course that doesn't mean the "metaphorical" meaning is a modern invention; it's only the result of a "meta" analysis of the "why" and is still rooted in traditions.

[atthe-end-ofthe-day]

The Wizard Sly's Office, Digital paint + collage

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(zoom in for details ^c^)