#pets experience grief like any human

[imagoddamnonionmason]

I’m sat here cuddling my little dog and I’m pretty sure I’m healing her as much as she’s healing me. She misses her brother so much and if I could I’d take away her sadness man. I bear to think she’s upset 😭

[curio-queries]

Are You Sure?!

Episodes 5 & 6 Notes

It was very fortuitous that I've been so busy over the last couple of weeks as I really needed both of these episodes together to make sense of my thoughts. This post is definitely far more conceptual than my last ones so if you're up for it, click on though the cut!

AYS's Main Character?

I would like to propose that AYS has a main character OTHER than the individual humans we're following along on screen. (I warned you, this post was going to be conceptual.) And the main character is the relationship itself, how each of the members relate to one another.

Here's Google's AI overview on what this concept means:

A story can center on the relationship between characters as the primary protagonist, with the dynamic and evolution of that connection acting as the main driving force of the narrative, rather than the individual characters themselves.

Key points to consider:

Relationship-centric stories: Many genres, particularly romance, often focus heavily on the relationship between the main characters, exploring its complexities, challenges, and growth throughout the story.

No single protagonist: In such cases, the "character" is the bond between the individuals, not just one person's perspective or journey.

Exploring the dynamic: The narrative would then focus on how the relationship changes, adapts, and reacts to external situations or internal conflicts.

Examples:

"Before Sunrise": The entire plot revolves around the single night encounter between two strangers, with the developing connection being the central focus.

"Brokeback Mountain": The story primarily explores the forbidden love between two cowboys, highlighting the complexities of their relationship in a restrictive environment.

"Steel Magnolias ": A group of girls in a small town in Louisiana experience grief together, including weddings, fatal illnesses, and the loss of loved ones.

Now before anyone comes for me saying I'm just pitching an argument for xyz fanwar, please note that I included the above just to illustrate the concept of a non-person main character rather than stating any of the above are comparisons to the individual member's relationships. We're talking about a show that was produced and distributed for entertainment, nothing further.

Episode 5

My main feeling after finally being able to watch episode 5 was overall unsettled. There was something sticking with me about that episode and I could NOT figure out what it was.

I knew I was feeling like the entire episode was stretched well beyond what the footage wanted for a complete episode. I'm all for getting to spend more time with our fellas but the Jeju trip would have benefited from being cut down to 2 episodes rather than 3, in my opinion.

There was just a whole lotta nothing happening. The guys eat, travel around a little bit, and eat some more. I had some vague thoughts about how I could quantify some data for y'all to explain this point but then it was time for the next episode...

vs. Episode 6

And what an absolutely lovely breath of fresh air this episode was. I know there have been some Run eps that I review with a smile on my face throughout the whole episode but AYS6?? That was 73 minutes of pure bliss.

So I started thinking about what must be different between the two eps. The guys eat, travel around a little bit, and eat some more...wait, that's exactly what I said about ep 5! Lol

But I think the main difference between the two is episode 6's plot points continually focus on the relationships between the members, while 5 falls a little stagnant.

Some examples:

JM/cat & JK/dog. I'm ALWAYS down for more footage of BTS with pets but this is frankly too much time spent on these scenes. It's honestly footage I would have expected in the bonus content instead of the main product. It's not just an establishing beat or a setup for a callback, this is supposed to be a scene but since it doesn't contribute to the journey of the main character aka the relationships. It could maaaybe work if they'd cut it to highlight the juxtaposition of how JM is calm with the cat vs JKs energy with the dog but that would have shortened the time it occupied and they were clearly trying to keep absolutely everything in that would lengthen the episode.

JKs stew. The ONLY thing that ties this plot point into the narrative of this show (other than it happening while he's in Jeju and Jimin is nearby) is the offhand comment he made that Jimin would like it while he was in NY. I'm going to talk more about this footage below but this was absolutely crucial for this whole beat making it into the episode. This is also why the footage of JM eating it and randomly taking off his shirt was kept in. The cut they chose is actually pretty bad story-wise but they used it anyway. We hear JM saying how much he loves it and how glad he is that JK is a good cook. It ties all of this time we spent watching JK do something alone back into the real main character of the show (the members' relationships between eachother in different circumstances).

Anyway, I won't belabour the point any further. With Tae constantly disappearing from scenes and the slightly diminished lack of focus on the member's relationships, episode 5 left me on an odd note.

A Little Production Note

I was completely thrown by the footage of JK in NY that we got this episode. But not for the reasons you may be thinking. (I do wonder if the anon that was sending in asks about the financing behind the documentaries is still around because we're getting into some of tidbits finally.)

So, all along we've been trying to sus out as much as we can, just a few details about how AYS came to be. We've had some hints but the inclusion of this footage may be another indicator.

The facts as we know them:

AYS is distributed by Disney.

Jungkook's documentary is being distributed by Trafalgar Releasing NOT Disney (at least not now, maybe it'll make it onto streaming after cinematic release but who knows?)

Questions due to the footage of JK in NY:

Was this footage captured as part of JKs documentary?

If so, when was it pulled to be utilized for AYS? Did the editors find it or were the writers involved?

We know that HYBE gathers behind-the-scene content without always having a full plan of how it will be used. But there are times where it did seem intentional for a specific purpose. Where did JKs Golden footage fall in?

Once upon a time, production houses would make deals with distributors about quantities of projects that would be delivered. Was that the case with the Disney deal or has every single project been negotiated separately and we only heard about it once there was a confirmed quantity. Somewhere in the middle perhaps?

And that's all I've got to say for now. I do have some more thoughts about things I've gleaned during these last couple of episodes but it'll likely keep until the end.

Anyway, this footage bumped me because it broke the rules of cross-project production. They got away with it for JKs SEVEN footage in ep 1 because they likely were using the same production crew since it was literally the same day so it doesnt feel like they're'breaking the wall'. But the NY-Jeju crews could have been completely different.

Editing to add further clarification to this point in this ask.

On a sidenote, do y'all remember the last time we got footage of jikook in a hotspring?? I'll jog your memory if not, it was in BV:4 and they 'washed each other's faces'. I can't even imagine what we're about to see in episode 7.

Link to my AYS MasterList

[lackadaisycats]

Hi Tracy, i wanted to ask a somewhat personal question. How do you deal with losing beloved pet? I recently lost my 9-year-old tortie a month ago to kidney failure and GDV and even though i still got three other babies to dote for (and they're all lovely), it's really hard to feel as much love as i did with my tortie. She was my first cat and was incredibly loving and patient with, helped me immensely while grieving for my father's passing a few years ago.

With her gone, it really does feel like a lot of me also went with her. It makes living very hard. I made tiny sculpture and wood soldering in her memory but i don't really know how to deal with the actual emptiness inside me. Sorry for the word vomit but i figured since you also lost a precious cat before, you might have insight for this situation

I'm so sorry for the loss of your beloved tortie.

I don't have any special skills for dealing with death, really, but I suppose I can speak a bit about personal experience.

I think it's natural to feel a yawning emptiness when something so intimately intertwined in your life - a constant companion, a source of joy, something around which your daily schedule is structured - is suddenly gone. It can be a very lonely sort of grief too, as the loss of a pet doesn't generally come with the same community and ritual that human death does. To others, your dear companion was perhaps just an animal. Not to equate it with human death in the broader scheme, exactly, but it can mean personal devastation, compounded by being alone in coping with it. Societally, we probably do ourselves some significant harm believing we must rapidly "get over" losses like this.

There's no getting-over-it that I know of, anyway, but there is the knowledge that the nature of grief changes over time (it sounds like you're no stranger to that). The stormy waves that knock you about with the immensity of the loss gradually give way to more placid waters. The sadness remains, but grows gentler and maybe sweeter even, because it creates a quiet space to reflect on the pet that enriched and graced a chapter of your life with their presence.

In the meantime, while awaiting some peace, I personally find there's an analgesic effect to making the feelings of grief actionable. The meditative nature of art and the act of memorializing a companion animal won't fill in that void, but it can help you start to process and accept it, to find a way to transmogrify it into a repository for your feelings and memories of love. I'd say keep making sculptures, make a scrapbook, draw a picture of her - anything, if it puts you in a different state of mind as you're doing it.

Looking after animals that are in need of care and attention in the moment, even if you feel emotionally distant, might help you regain some footing too. Setting up shelters for feral cats and fostering rescues are some things I like to do. There's a sort of grounding, self-rescue interwoven in focusing some energy on the living.

Most of all, grant yourself time. Do yourself the kindness of not feeling bad about feeling bad. Mourn without believing you must rush to find a cure for the sadness.

If, however, you are suffering or finding it impossible to function day to day, please do reach out to seek qualified counseling.

[decarabiandivorce]

📓??

nameless bard wakes up in modern mondstadt during the windblume festival- but is IMMEDIALTLY pelted with pollen. His poor lungs can't take it. He cant even get a word in about whats going on before he sneeze 😔 <- has lived his entire life in a place with practically no wildlife

Its all fun and games until every citizen in mond can feel the winds. Stop.

"Huh? What's going on? Is Barbatos okay??? Is it another stormterror thing?" No one can blow dandelions :(. But the winds suddenly pick up again, just at a slower pace. They weave around NB, careful to make sure no pollen drags down his experiance.

NB is taking this as a sign of ??? as he tries to gain more and more info- but then animals start to chase him! Cats and birds are wanting pets from him. He tries to calm them down, but they all look at him like he is made of catnip.

NB runs into a nearby store, and is informed that someone paid for his meal. "What the fuck??" NB thinks, but isn't one to refuse a gift <- hasn't eaten anything for so long

basically NB being beloved by all the creatures and winds of mondstadt, as a gift from Venti. NB has no clue what is going on, but he feels happy? He has learned that its the future and is pushing all that grief to the side (for now), and is wondering where his little friend could be? Wispi would be immortal, right? Perhaps there are some records by the Gunnhildrs that would know?

As NB walks up to the church, practically all of the decorations fall on him. a faint "oh Shoot! Too much wind." is faintly heard, but NB gets covered in decorations. He looks like a very very very grumpy disney princess, and from the way a banner falls on his head - resembles Barbatos a Lot.

"is that our god in human form???" "I heard that the anemo archon sometimes disguises himself.... so maybe..."

"Look! He is wondering where he can perchase a lyre- but he is wearing olde bard clothings! That proves he is a bard from long ago! And we all know the church has Barbatos's lyre! Thus! This olde lyre-less bard must be the archon incognito!!!"

The sisters are *squinting* at this strange bard who speaks like he is from another time, and Rosaria is like "you know what would be funny?"

"Do not hand a STRANGER the HOLY LYRE"

"...."

Anyways NB, so confused, is like "hm... if I win these people's trust with a song, then perhaps I can get some info about my wispi???"

So after 1 song, NB looks around and is the MOST disney princess looking bard in the history of mondstadt. You know how birds fly in Venti's TCG art? Yeah that. The archon may or may not have asked a couple creatures to watch his friend, and the flowers now in NB's hair is not doing him any favors. There are butterflies and crystalflies and NB is so >:/. He is in awe, but he senses something is off.

Then this strange new Mondstadt is like "okay so you are our god. Cool. We can keep that a secret :)"

"Huh????" ":)"

[lost-girl-2021]

Metkayina Headcanons (pt 3 kinda)

This is from the same idea as the last part (where the Metkayina thing Spider's a lot younger than he actually is, because surely the humans grow more than that, right? Not that they have a lot of experience up-close).

I think when Spider finally finds out they think he’s a child, it would be accidentally. Like, what if Jake (after a while of getting caught up in his grief and worries about the RDA) comes to Tonowari and thanks him for taking care of Spider, but explains that the humans will come to take him back in a few days, when they come for a supply run. Spider over hears this and assumes he really has just be a glorified prisoner or something and he’s about to get sent back to High Camp and all of the humans twenty-plus years older than him. Sure, he misses Norm and Max and the forest itself, but days stuck in the lab were draining, boring. Still, he resigns himself to his fate, not wanting to be a burden on the Metkayina for any longer. (None of the adults know that he heard them and he left before he could hear his not-parents response).

He ends up leaving the village (he’d spent the day with Tsireya weaving by the water and had been about to go join Ronal in making dinner in their marui when he overheard everything). Night falls and Spider is in the woods beyond the village. He climbs a tree and settles in to sleep there, deciding it would be better for him to just leave on his own, rather than get forced to leave.

When he wakes up, people are shouting his name. I think Lo’ak would be the one to find him, actually, because he grew up with Spider and knows how skilled the other boy is when it comes to climbing and that he usually hides up high when he’s scared. Tsireya is with him, while the others are diving and looking around for him. Lo’ak eventually spots him up a tree and just climbs up after him.

“Dude, what happened?” Lo’ak asked breathlessly. “We’ve been looking for you half the night! It’s not like back home, you can’t just pull your disappearing act anymore.”

“Well, you’ve seen me. I’m fine.” He grumbled, pulling away when the other boy reached for him.

“Are you?”

“Just leave me alone, Lo’ak.”

“Are you kidding me? I just walked, like, miles to find you.”

“Cool. Now, leave. I’m not going back.”

His friend (were they still friends?) frowned at him. “Spider. Now is not the time to sulk. Everyone’s been worried— “

“Yeah, worried I wouldn’t be back in time for them to send me back.”

Turns out they (shockingly) weren’t about to send Spider away. There ends up being a big conversation and it’s explained to Spider that no, they aren’t sending him away. If he had came to them the night before or just asked, they could have told him that they had no intentions of ever getting rid of him.

They also mention that he’s too young to be wandering around by himself anyways, which makes Spider very confused.

“I’m as old as Aounung, though?”

Everyone’s very confused. Eventually, it gets explained (with some help from a very worried Jake) that Spider was sixteen, not ten or whatever. And that, back in the forest, he was allowed to hunt and fish and forage from a young age.

“Yeah, I’ve been wandering the forest alone since I was, like, six.” He added with a shrug. “It’s not a big deal.”

“You— what?” Jake blinked at the teen, eyebrow raised. “You were definitely not allowed to go in the woods by yourself before you turned nine.”

“How do you think I got to the village all the time? The scientists were boring, so I left.”

All the adults have something to say about that, but it’s been a long night/day and at the end of the day, Ronal and Tonowari are just glad Spider’s okay. Even if he is a few years older than they thought he was. I think they’d probably still treat him like he was young, but in the way they still treat their other children. Like, a ‘you’re never too old for your mom to braid your hair for you’ kind of thing. And Spider, who was treated more like a stray pet than anything else as a kid, soaks it up. Sure, sometimes it’s annoying when they keep an extra close eye on him or when one of his siblings tracks him down and insists he take a break, because too much sun isn’t good for anyone, but humans especially. But, he has people to go home to and talk to and that kind of makes up for it. It makes the overprotectiveness and Tsireya’s insistence that she’s the older sibling worth it.

IDK if I'd ever end up actually writing this as a fic, because I suck at writing stuff with real hurt/comfort or fix-it-fics, but if someone wants to write this or knows a fic that's kind of like this, please lmk.

[harrowharks-iliac-crest]

Fuck. Yeah, let's talk about grief.

Have you ever lost someone close enough in such a way that you would, if given half the chance, lobotomise yourself to dull the pain even a little bit?

I have. And I was twenty-six, nearly a full decade older than Harrow.

Really, when you take a little step back, this book is all about grief. About how grief can drive you to do horrible, awful things.

Not just what Harrow did - erasing Gideon from her existence entirely - or at least trying to; though this is probably the most obvious example.

(I kinda can't believe that when I first realised Harrow's memories were all skewed, my literal first theory was "Harrow couldn't deal with the grief and fucked herself up so she could go on not feeling it".)

But also God - in his grief for the whole world, resurrecting it - resurrecting his love, his friends - and then having to deal with the consequences.

But also Mercymorn and Augustine - ten thousand years later still driven to murder by their grief - justifiably, to be honest.

It comes though in Gideon's narration - her grief for her mother, her grief for Jeannemary, her grief for herself! -

It's an undercurrent in the entire book, more present than the River.

If you lost someone that close to you, wouldn't you also fuck yourself up so you wouldn't have to remember?

I remember when I first learned that my best friend had died, suddenly -

Just having to sit there, as the world came crashing down around me -

And just not knowing how to deal with it. at ALL.

I still don't know, to be honest. It's been years.

There's something about the unrelenting cruelty of, of having to get up, having to go on. Having to eat dinner (or at least unenthusiastically pick at it), having to go to bed, try to sleep, having to get up, and go to work in the morning.

Maybe not right away. But whether you like it or not, the world just fucking keeps on turning. It's unrelenting, uncaring almost. How can everything just keep going when your world has just been shattered?

I don't blame Harrow. I don't blame John, or the Lyctors - I don't blame any of them.

I don't blame any of them.

What do you do??? What do you even do?????

And it makes me angry -

It makes me so, so angry, that it's so, so difficult to talk about it.

Grief is one of the most universal human experiences. It is. None of us will go through life without losing someone close to us. If we do, it's only cus we die young enough to become that someone to the people around us.

And how do we deal with it??? In the culture that I grew up in and live in, it's just not really talked about. You talk about it maybe, when it happens, briefly, you maybe mention going to a funeral. You hear awkwardly, sorry for your loss, condolences, I don't know what to say.

I don't know what to say. No one does, ever. It's a problem. It's a problem.

You might bring it up on anniversaries or if something reminds you of them. You might swallow it because you don't wanna bring the mood down. You might not even know how to talk about it yourself.

I don't. Not really.

I really feel like grief is the big elephant in the room in western societies, largely ignored, yet always present. Aren't we all grieving in some way? It doesn't even have to be for a person - a relationship or the climate or a place you've had to move away from - a place you remember being different to how it is now - a time you can never go back to. A pet. Your health. There are so many things you can lose forever.

Aren't we all grieving in some way?

I guess finishing this book has brought a lot of mine up to the surface, quite suddenly. I didn't expect that. But like a kaleidoscope, grief reflects in many colours. I like it when books can play on my emotions like harp strings - and this book has definitely done that; it held up a mirror, and it said:

If you had the power to erase your pain, wouldn't you?

And if you're itching now, as an older, wiser version of yourself, to tell Harrow - tell her that grief isn't easily escapable like that - tell her that those memories are precious, don't you get it - tell her that it will hurt worse, in the long run -

How would you feel? How did you feel, back then, when the wound was still so fresh and raw? When you were younger, more desperate, with fewer options?

Wouldn't you also have chosen to live in a world where your pain was overwritten?

[halfmoth-halfman]

i got an ask about advice for writing when you're discouraged, so i thought i'd make a post addressing some of the points because i think this is something that everyone has gone through and can relate to. most of this is just what's helped me/what i'd tell myself in the past, but if anyone has advice to add on please feel free! i hope this helps at least a little bit, anon!

"I’m not good at (dialogue/atmosphere/prose/etc)."

write it anyways! one of the best ways to build a skill is to keep doing it. even if you don't ever post it, or only share it with a few friends, or just read it to your pets, or whatever you choose to do, it's better to write something "badly" than to not write at all. or even asking for help on how to improve from other writers. i struggle a lot with atmosphere and scenery, and something that helped me a lot was talking to other writers whose fics i really enjoy and inspire me. i know it may seem intimidating, but there are plenty of writers on tumblr that would love to talk about how they compose their scenes, their dialogue, anything and everything if someone asks.

"I can’t make moodboards/headers/aesthetic posts."

the good news is, you don't have to! fics don't have to have anything other than the fic itself. i can't speak for everyone, but while aesthetics may get my attention, it's the person behind the blog that i stay for. if you want your blog or your fics to have a pretty aesthetic, it shouldn't be because you feel forced to but because you want to do it. if you don't find making moodboards or headers or aesthetic posts fun, then you don't have to do them. and if you want to, but don't know how, there are a ton of resources, links, and blogs dedicated to helping on tumblr.

"I’m not at (insert someone else)’s writing level."

and you might never be, and that's okay! every writer is different - they have different styles, write at different paces, perceive their skill differently. basing your progress on someone else's isn't going to help because you're not them. you have your own time, energy, ability, and ideas, you'll grow and improve at your own pace, just like they did. don't force yourself to try and follow the same timeline of someone else, and don't put yourself down because you're getting better - and you are getting better - at your own pace.

"I can’t find the motivation to write."

honestly same. i think it's a pretty universal experience to lose motivation for something you were excited about at one point. sometimes the vibes aren't it and the story doesn't want to story, but that's alright. it can be hard to stay motivated, and what gets someone inspired again is different everyone. i can't give advice for anything outside of what's helped me, but a few ways i've re-motivated myself to write something are: making a fic playlist, stepping away from the fic for a day or two, giving it to a friend to read, re-watching/reading the source material, doodling fic ideas, and skipping to a different part of the story.

"I can’t write fast enough."

unless it's for something like work where you have a fixed deadline, there is no "fast enough" in writing. don't let anyone tell you otherwise. when i first started writing, in the very early days of ao3 and tumblr, fic updates could takes months or even more than a year and that was fine! one of my favorite fics took a six year hiatus, and that didn't diminish any of the enjoyment i had when it came back. you are not a machine, you're a human being with needs outside of writing. it's always okay if you need to take a break, if there's a long wait between chapters, or if you want to stop a project altogether and come back to it six years later. if someone gives you grief because you can't write within their time-frame then they're not worth having as a reader - do not overwork yourself for the sake of finishing a fic.

"It’s hard to stick to one idea at a time."

then don't! write all the ideas. write every single one. working on a project and you have a drabble that you just keep thinking about? write it. you get a sudden idea for a one-shot in a different fandom? write it. woke up in the mood to start a new five-chapter fic? write it. you can start or stop writing about anything at any time. there is no rule that you have to stick to one idea and finish it before you can write anything else, don't make yourself stick to something if it's not what you want to write, and don't punish yourself if you need to take a break from your current project.

"Maybe I’m not made for writing on tumblr."

tumblr is a shitposting website that barely works at the best of times. half of my drafts get deleted every other week for no reason - there is no way to be "made for writing on tumblr"! but tumblr is huge, there's a bajillion communities on here that would be so excited to have another writer, and a ton that are solely dedicated to helping writers and providing different resources. i guarantee there is someone on this website that will love and adore your writing.

"The things I read are better than anything I can write/comparing myself to other writers."

i don't have the cake picture saved, but we all know the gist of it: the audience (generally) isn't going to care about how decorated your cake is compared to another, they're just happy to get two cakes. and that's really all it is. your fic might not be the same preferred flavor as the audience of other writers, but there is someone out there who's going to enjoy it. i won't tell you to just not compare yourself to others, i know that's not how it works, but what has helped me is changing the way i view other fics. instead of thinking "i wish i could write like this person", i look at like "this inspires me to improve my writing". and don't get me wrong, i still have moments of doubt about my writing compared to some of the people i read, i don't think that will ever really stop, but the best thing you can do is not let yourself give in to that feeling. try and stop that train of thought before it leaves the station. no one else can write the way you can. no one else can tell your stories the way you can. no one else has the same voice as you do. if everyone wrote the same way, everything would be boring. the heart of a fic is seeing the author's personality shine through it. if you see someone write a good fic, that doesn't mean yours won't be. you have to give yourself a chance even when you feel like your writing won't be as good as someone else's. you have to bake your cake anyway.

"How do I find joy in something I know I’ll never be good at?"

you won't. full stop. if you keep telling yourself you'll never be good at something, you'll never improve, there's no point in trying, then you'll never enjoy it. i know it's easier said than done, but you have to have some level of confidence in yourself and in your writing. not only will you not enjoy it, other people will see the lack of enjoyment, the "i wrote this and it sucks" comments, the self-degradation, and they won't enjoy it either - no one feels good about a fic the author clearly didn't want to write. and, if you try everything you possibly can and still can't find any joy in writing, then maybe writing isn't the hobby for you. and that's perfectly okay! i tried quilting and glassblowing several times before i realized i just didn't like it the same way i liked writing. you owe it to yourself to find something that's fun, that makes you smile, that you're excited to do. there's a million hobbies out there, i promise you'll find something that brings you joy.

[theoi-crow]

Hey there, hope you're doing well! This may be a little bit of a sensitive ask (tw pet death) so please feel free to ignore it, but I was wondering if there were any myths about what happens to our pets when they pass, and/or how to honor them. I was thinking of having a little mini altar for my dog, and to give dog treats as offerings, but I wasn't sure if that was proper. Thanks in advance!!

I'm so sorry for your loss…

The ancient Greeks and Romans loved their dogs a lot and although there aren't a lot of stories about dogs in ancient mythology, we've found a lot of graves and epithets written by grieving owners who had to bury their dogs. Here's an example of one:

"I am in tears, while carrying you to your last resting place as much as I rejoiced when bringing you home in my own hands fifteen years ago."

Here are the rest: (LINK)

Here's a bit more on how the ancient Greeks cherished and loved their dogs. Plato even called them the greatest philosophers because they knew the difference between good and bad people: (LINK)

"The dog was a companion, protector, and hunter for the Greeks and the spiked collar…was invented by the Greeks to protect the necks of their canine friends from wolves." Source: (LINK)

So as you can see, dogs were very important to the ancient Greeks and they memorialized their dogs too so it's okay to put him on your altar. It won't be disrespectful and the gods will understand.

Here are examples of what they'd often look like:

To talk a bit more about my own grieving experience as a Hellenic polytheist and grieving my dog I hope it's okay if I tell you a bit about my own little dog who I lost this past March:

Mourning a dog is so hard because their love for us is so sincere and pure. They love fiercely and protect us as much as they can even when they're so much smaller than whoever they are challenging (my dog was a tiny Maltese Poodle but boy did that dog loved to bark and try to protect me.)

His death came a lot earlier than we expected, he got early onset doggy dementia also known as canine cognitive decline, which is very similar to human dementia.

He began to forget who we were and his health took a nosedive a few months before he passed. We chose to put him down before he got to the final stage (seizures) because as someone who grew up taking care of someone with seizures, I knew he was going to be in excruciating pain. But because he also had dementia he didn't know who we were so I knew he'd be very scared and in excruciating pain with less than a year to live.

Two weeks before his final appointment he lived like a king. He ate all his favorite foods and treats, watched Hamilton everyday (his favorite character was George Washington) and we had the vet come to our apartment so he would be very comfortable since he hated going to the vet.

The Aftermath:

Mourning the loss of a loved one is hard and although we're all familiar with feeling sadness when we grieve, no one ever talks about the guilt and rage that might come over you during your grieving process.

I was angry at my gods

I didn't even know why, I just was. I was mad at them, myself, my spouse, my school, my neighbors, I just wanted to be left alone. But because I was angry at my gods, my Catholic guilt kicked in and I felt guilty for being angry with my gods. I was spiraling because I was trying not to be angry and trying so hard to be sad instead.

But that's when Apollo showed up and I had an honest conversation with him about the guilt behind how I was grieving:

He told me that anger is a natural part of the mourning period. Not everyone will grieve the same but being angry with your gods is normal because when we lose someone who we loved so much there will be a flood of emotions that we didn't know we would feel and forcing them to express in only a sad way keeps you from truly processing your grief. My anger was a part of my grieving process, and so was my confusion and denial of having lost my dog. This was all normal.

I was so overwhelmed with my feelings of rage, guilt, and shame that we left home for a week so I could be away from my altar, my gods and from finding the many dog bones my dog hid before passing.

I desperately needed a break from my gods and they understood.

They weren't upset with me. They knew how much my dog meant to me and how much I loved him, so we left and I was able to process my emotions outside of my home. Prior to this I never understood why people in shows and movies needed to go on a trip when they suffered a loss but after my dog passed I was overwhelmed with the desire to be in nature. To be with Gaia, to be with Demeter. (Two gods I don't normally work with but I desperately needed)

It's okay to go through your own grieving process as it comes. To accept your feelings as they are.

It's okay to feel angry when you're grieving. It's also okay to be angry at your gods because they understand you're grieving. And finally, it's okay to memorialize your dog in whatever way brings you the most comfort.

My dog's little box sits on my altar. He gets his treats and has an electric candle we make sure never turns off. I often mentally see him sitting on Ares' lap or playing fetch with Hermes. He hangs out with my gods and I know my gods don't hold my grieving process against me. They know losing a dog was hard for the ancient Greeks and it's still hard for their modern followers because losing someone who loves you so unconditionally and accepts you for who you truly are without judgment is the hardest thing to do. I wanted to share this with you so you can grieve freely and honor your dog in whatever form brings you the most comfort. The gods understand and they will grieve with you & be there for you.

I personally believe all dogs go straight to the Elysian Fields because dogs are our greatest heroes.

[belovedstill]

emoji writing prompts

(inspired by this post)

96 prompts up to your interpretation. take literally, reverse, mix and match! (works well with taking ask suggestions, using random number generators, or rolling dice)

1-6 genre or tone:

🥰 fluff

💔 angst | sad ending | angst with a happy ending

🔞 smut | explicit | suggestive

🔍 mystery

🎃 spooky | horror

😎 crack | humor | meme inspired

+ 1-90 prompts:

🌸 hanahaki | pining | mutual pining

⌛ time travel | reincarnation | time loop | time is running out | immortality | time hijinks | this time they will do it right (do they?)

✉ epistolary | chat fic | letters | postservice au

🧙‍♂️ magic | urban magic | fantasy | be careful what you wish for

☕ coffee shop | restaurant | food industry

🩹 hurt/comfort | fix-it fic

💭 mind-melt | mind-reading | telepathy

🏳‍🌈 queer | queerer | unique queer experience relevant to exactly one person

🌊 merfolk au | stranded on an abandoned island | pirates

🍀 everything goes right | luck doesn't exist but somebody really does make it seem like it does

🥀 unrequited love | dealing with loss | grief

📆 slice of life

📦 delivery | package sent to the wrong address | swapped luggage/suitcase | there's some kind of mix-up happening | move in

🎬 celebrity | actor | PR hell | youtuber | streamer au

💻 internet | social media | bloggers | fandom au | two customers with radically different reviews on a product and they take it personally

🔪 revenge | murder | assassin

📞 wrong number | wrong address | wrong person | customer service | tech support | long distance

🩺 doctor | sick fic

⚽ sports | team | competition | challenge | dare

💍 engagement | marriage | arranged marriage | marriage of convenience | accidentally married | poorly-timed proposal

💋 first kiss | first relationship | first romantic experience | teaching one another how to Romance

👑 royalty | nobility | servant | butler | unequal power dynamic | undying loyalty

🎨 any artist au

🎁 gifts | surprise | keepsake | christmas | holiday | birthday

🤰 pregnancy | mpreg | alternative offspring acquisition options

👶 baby | kidfic | de-aged | age regression | accidental kid acquisition | single parent(s)

👥 resurrection | came back wrong | dark alternate character | came back right but everything else is changed

🦋 butterfly effect - change a seemingly insignificant detail in source material and write how it affects the story

🐾 pet au | animal transformation | pet acquisition | animal-to-human transformation | object-to-human transformation | object-to-animal transformation (you get the drift)

👻 ghost | afterlife | paranormal | supernatural | modern supernatural | mixed supernatural genes

😈 demon | a different kind of hell | pact | soul as acceptable transaction payment | the villain's in charge now

🤡 idiots in love | platonic buffoons | only one brain cell among them | they're so stupid

🏳️ surrender | hope | bargaining

❔ oblivious | didn't know they were dating | mistaken identity | amnesia | nobody remembers them

🛡️ protect | guardian | bodyguard | rescue

💼 office | workplace

✂️ separation, chosen or forced | abandoned | cutting ties

🎓 school | university | academic professions | mentor

🏠 domestic | roommates | neighbours

🧩 soulmates (ideas) | platonic soulmates | destined to be enemies | 3+ soulmates

🏖️ beach episode | change of scenery | more than 'a lot' self-indulgent

🏩 pwp | escort | sex worker | stripper | sugar relationship

🤝 found family | putting differences aside to work together

🧬 appearance/body/behaviour modification | shrunk down | made bigger

💾 found a lost disc/usb drive/notebook/diary | lost phone | decades-old journal/letters found among the belongings of a person who's no longer there

⚖️ getting justice, one way or another | rebellion | protest | doing the dirty work so others can thrive | balance | lawyers au

⚙️ android | futuristic | science fiction | physical workers | making it work

👁 obsession | abduction | kept captive | hostage | stalker | drugged | private detective au

⚠️ make it as messed up as you want | forbidden | taboo

🕳️ something is missing | unsettling | out of the corner of the eye | nearly, almost, not quite | not enough

🤞 must pretend | spy | secret identity | identity reveal | undercover | fake dating | secret relationship | fake-married | fake [insert role] | essentially, they must pretend to be somebody they're not/to be in a dynamic they're not

✨ under a spell | truth compulsion | forced to say the opposite of what they mean | a curse made them do x

🐌 slowburn | sped-up slow burn | over the years

🧸 childhood friends (to a dynamic of choice) | separated in childhood, reunited in adulthood

⚔ enemies (to a dynamic of choice) | meddling enemies | rivals (to a dynamic of choice)

🔁 transmigration | isekai | swapped places | role reversal | body swap

🔀 crossover | fusion | characters from X piece of media put in the world of the last piece of media you've enjoyed | make it your favourite piece of media from your childhood

⁉ miscommunication | misunderstanding | wrong place, wrong time

🔆 harem | reverse harem | poly relationship

🛏 bedsharing | accidentally falling asleep on one another | passing out | dream-sharing | invite to stay over

🔮 fairytale | mythology | folklore | legend | prophecy

😶 love triangle | two-person relationship/love triangle (they know each other as two people) | one-night stand turns out to be the new boss/professor/awkward dynamic

🔒 forced proximity | locked in a room | trapped together | handcuffed together | snowed in

🤲 huddling for warmth | sharing body heat | touch starved

💬 rumours | lies | misconceptions and dealing with them

💥 set off the (conflict) bomb | right before the blow-up | argument | fight | pranks

✊ superheroes and supervillains | superpowers | the chosen one(s) | deemed to be the cursed/unlucky one

🔥 rebirth | sacrifice | sacrifice of something other than their life | destruction | letting go | ritual | change

💁‍♀️ spite fic (write literally anything you like that fandom/somebody else complained about that you disagree with) aka "they're wrong and i'm going to keep having fun"

#️⃣ love at second/third/nth sight | meet ugly | annoyed at first sight | reluctant

🖤 blind date goes right | blind date goes wrong | stood up | matchmaker

🚗 travelling together | commute | road trip | hitchiking

❕ confession | interrupted confession | confessing when it doesn't matter anymore

🚫 getting what they want but not in the way they want it | not like this

🖊 doomed from the start | it was always going to end like this | it didn't have to end this way

🐱‍👤 did a crime on accident | did a crime very much not on accident

👭 doppelgangers, lookalikes | twins | they meet their alternate self from an alternate word/different time

👂 as they go through their day, they hear a voice and it's strangely familiar (oh no) | the voice in their head actually has their best interest in mind | two souls trapped in one body fighting for control

❌ the plot is trying to incite an event for them but they refuse to have any part in it and they will outrun it

🍸 alcohol/substance use | in vino veritas | choices were made and all that's left is regrets | choices were made and there are some gains actually | remembers nothing of what they did while drunk (others may be kind enough to spare no detail)

👍 support group | dealing with issues | compromise

82. 👪 meet the family | meet the friends 83. 💰 CEO | rich x ordinary | two different worlds collide 84. 🌠 rarepair! | rarer! | unlikely friends 85. ⚡ The Realisation | oh moment | oh no moment | learning something crucial yet horrifying they wish they could forget | the antagonist was right after all 86. 0️⃣ last day alive | apocalypse | they truly only have each other left 87. ✔ it was somebody's plan all along | they sure were aware the whole time it was somebody's plan all along | scheme | trap | gotcha | test 88. 🎲 choose an action for character to take and roll d20 - that's how well it goes, write it 89. ➕ anything at all inspired by an emoji not from this list sent in an ask or randomly generated 90. ® get a string of 3+ random emojis from an emoji generator (e.g. this one or this one or any other) and write a story based on them

if you're disappointed that a prompt you wanted to find isn't on the list, take it as a sign to write it 👀

and if none of these spark creativity, check out Hatch's Plot Bank with 2300+ plot ideas

screenshots of the emojis under the cut

[chillingxy]

Trick or Treat! -@antimony-medusa

This is my dog Blade (Named after Technoblade, yes<3) and he was my best friend. He recently came to visit us from the afterlife and played with his siblings at home, had his favorite meal and made us company for a day. Let me tell you about día de los muertos or day of the death.

TLDR: One of many versions of the myth of day of the death, what it often means and why it's cool.

ALSO! I'm (unfortunately) not a historian. I just got mexica/aztec history, mythology and cosmovision as special interests of mine since my senior year or highschool so most of my knowledge is for classes, asking my teachers, studying for exams and researching on my own. There's a lot of myths and legends about this beautiful tradition and this is just the one I know, so if you're interested, please feel free to be curious and do the same!

Back when the Aztecs were the biggest empire in America, whenever a person died by natural causes, it was said their souls were going to travel to the Mictlán (Nahuatl for place of the death), which is similar to hell but not as such as Hell, since Mictlán is the death new home, rather than a punishment. And it too has 9 different levels with 9 different tests by the god mictlantecuhtli and his wife mictecacíhuatl (god and goddess of the place of the death, respectively) for the souls to reach eternal rest.

(This is the place where most people would go, but there's, if I remember correctly, around 3, maybe 4 afterlife places souls would go, but that's a ramble for another time.)

The very entrance of the Mictlán is a river that souls need to cross in order to get in. Here, xoloitzcuintles (xolotl means monster/weird thing and itzcuintle means dog, so literally translating it means weird dog or dog monster. As a fun fact, axolotl literally translates to water monster since it has -xolotl) would help them to get across, but only and ONLY IF souls, when alive, were kind to animals. Thus Aztecas having xoloitzcuintles as lower deities.

But the 9 trials were tough, and mictlantecuhtli didn't know what to do to motivate souls to get through all of them. So then he allowed for them to go back to the world two days a year. November 1st is the day for the children to go visit their parents and siblings. November 2nd is the adult's turn to go visit their families. Aztecs were pleased by this and started making their favorite dishes to help them recharge<3

Apparently, it was the people around 2019 who decided that it was pets' turn to come and visit us October 27th, and we all embraced it. A lot of people's first experience with grief was with pets, and I think they deserve the same treatment. Like with humans, a candle is lit to light their way home along with cempasuchil flowers to trace their path. They're all welcomed with their favorite meals, water, and in some cases toys or their favorite things when they were alive.

As a kid I never had a reason to celebrate día de muertos, but now I do. And rather than that being sad, I took the opportunities to reflect about life, death, afterlife and memories. As long as we remember them, they won't ever die. They'll always live with us, in our hearts and the happy memories we shared with them. Grief is the price to pay for loving in life, and I think every second of pain I've ever experienced, was worth the smiles my loved ones drew in my face when they could.

I encourage anyone of any nationality who feels curiosity to research and put together an ofrenda, share memories about your loved ones and remember how happy you were. Tysm for reading<3

[dcwnthercbbithcle]

Hot take/bingo for Philip and Sally? I wish to know the takes. Give them!!!

Shipping Hottake Meme || OPEN AND ACCEPTING

ASDASDASD PIGEON YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE ASKING FOR. Mentally? I need you to know I'm doing the disappointed teacher coming back from a sick day pose. Sitting in the turned around chair, fingers steepled, head down. I have OPINIONS.

Sally/Philip, we meet again... I can understand the ship, not to say I ship it, but from an outside stance, I can get it. Sally and Philip fill a lot of the same archetypes in Dead By Daylight in a way that's complimentary.

Sally is often associated with angel imagery or death, all black or white, flowing sort of dresses and Phil is the opposite, he has a deathly look, covered in black and soot, coming with a sound and disappearing again. They're both 'banshee's at least in the sense the Devs intended for them to fill the niche. They both have stories that follow long periods of exploitation and, ultimately, good people who are made accessories to crime until killing seemed like the only escape or means for redemption. They're both TRAGEDIES, I get it.

BUT THIS IS WHERE IS LOSES ME. They are united in the tragedy of their stories, but like, what else is there? Seriously, the Devs clearly ship it, but what is the substance? I don't think Sally/Phil is a ship that's doomed out of the gate. You just have to work for it and the devs aren't willing to do that, and a lot of the time, the fandom it seems doesn't do that either. Not just for Phil, who I've found often is subject to fandom racial caricaturing in the worst sort of way, but Sally too.

Sally, often, from my experience in ships with Phil is treated almost like a pet and given very little humanity or even development and it's not fair to her, her character or her personality. I won't go on a grand standing rant, but like, it's upsetting. It's really upsetting. Sally is a very important character to me, her grief and her rage ARE important and she deserves the respect of being given humanity more than the tiny dancer to Phil.

IT'S LIKE, THE POTENTIAL FOR INTEREST *IS* THERE, it could be GREAT! I would kill to see someone approach Sally and Philip in a way that touches on the night and day perspectives that shape each of them.

Phil is a character that doesn't see the world or humanity as this inherent evil, the evil however comes in the fact that no matter what he does, tragedy drags him back into the circle and cycle of war and suffering. Phil isn't ready to write the world off as 'evil', he needs to attach it to people, he needs to embody it. Sally meanwhile, she really has come to view civilization, at least to the parts that she's experienced (Sally is first to admit she hasn't seen the full world, only her part of the world) as evil. She doesn't see the people themselves as evil exactly, but it's the hivemind, it's the culture, its the way things are structured. To torture her patients, to leave women like her in the position of being exploited, to leave people unable to climb higher. Sally sees it, and she hates it. She thinks humans are capable of good, she sees innocence and love in the eyes of people, but, put too many people together, the love and innocence fades, it stops being individualistic, it becomes 'the greater good' and just !!!!! she hates it, she's not against organization, she's against capitalism, she's against the dissolution of the individual for a uniform, soulless idea of an ideal existence and an ideal humanity.

LIKE COMING TO A HEAD, TO MEET EACH OTHER, FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO DISAGREE AND COME TO AN UNDERSTANDING OR HATRED OR W/E. THATS WHAT I WANT!!!! THE DEPTH!!!

But people aren't ready to give Sally and Phil that depth, the devs certainly aren't even ready to give Sally the respect of a respectful treatment of her story, let alone any identity beyond the small petite lady for big tall phil to swing around. And for that, Sally and Phil, I don't see it, it's not a notp, but you'll have to work hard for it and to redeem it from the treatment I've seen it get, both in the fandom, official material and like, in my heart!

[lucky-guess]

Mikey was angry.

Breaths wracked his body, forcibly coming out in pants. His teeth groaned at the pressure of being pressed together so hard for so long.

It was all Raph could do to stand tall and take the anger. He only winced at Mikey’s punches, targeted at the weaker spots in his brothers chest plate. He bit his tongue as the venom coming out of the orange turtles mouth was spat all over his insecurities. He could take it.

It took a while for the younger brother to crack.

“Why,” was all he said, fists clenched and tense against Raph’s shoulders after a particularly hard punch. “You didn’t warn me. Didn’t even ask. Why?”

Mikey’s shoulders shook with betrayal, grief, and fatigue. Raph slowly wrapped his arms around his younger brother. His poor younger brother who truly believed that being human would fix their issues. His painfully hopeful, optimistic younger brother.

“I’m sorry.”

The red turtle never used that word lightly. If it was said, it would be because of a near death experience or when he feels as if he really, truly messed up.

The two stayed like that for a while. “Why do you want to be a human?”

Mikey thought about Raph’s question, slowly relaxing his fists and shoulders. “I would be accepted. No one would be scared of me. I’d be able to get pizza whenever I wanted too.” Mikey laughed, delirious in emotion and lost in want. “I could go to April’s whenever I wanted. I could go to school, be a normal teenager. I could go out and eat whatever I wanted. I could go to work! Maybe I would be able to really, truly fall in love and be loved in return. I could be normal. I want to do that, Raph. I want to go to playgrounds and pet stores. I want the pain of having homework and the joys of getting A’s. I want to sunbathe on the beach and skateboard with random strangers in the park. I want to mess up so badly that it kills me inside and then I want to learn from it and grow as a person but not through situations that risk any lives. I want five fingers on each hand and I want vulnerable skin with marks and scars. I want to be normal.” A shaky breath released in tandem with those long pent up yearnings.

Mikey looked up. Up into the eyes of his brother. The brother who looked for all the world like he understood. Of course he would. Raph wanted that too. The only difference was that he wanted the small things. He wants to learn hokey from Casey. He wants to be able to handle cameras and help April with her news casting job that he still doesn’t fully understand. He wants to go out with his brothers in the daytime with no fear or screams in which followed them. He wanted peace for his family.

Mikey saw all of his wants and gave him a crooked sad smiled filled with understanding. “As a human,” he started. “Life would be a dream.”

Green eyes looked away from the blue ones first. Raph pulled Mikey into him, holding him closer and tighter than before as if it would hide him from the danger and hatred that followed them due to their form. Yet all he could do was say one word. One word which he knew could convey the apologies, understandings, and the complicated emotions threatening to tear him apart to his younger brother.

“Shaboom.”

- 🦝

(Get it?? Life could be a dream! Shaboom!)

(… I’m so funny. But I did it! Hoping to read your recommended fic soon btw!)

(Oh also- I’m back!)

Loved it! Also hope you enjoy that fic, though I know Mikey content isn't truly your cup of tea.

[fallen-gravity]

Broken Hearts Club

Maybe Luz should just leave him be. Maybe she should just wait until he’s ready to come to her and the others instead of prying.

But she recognizes grief when she sees it in others, and she knows perfectly well from personal experience just how hard it is to come forward to tell others that you’re hurting.

Notes: **THIS FIC CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR S3E1 THANKS TO THEM. PROCEED WITH CAUTION AND READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**

AO3

From the little time Luz has gotten to know Hunter on friendly terms, she learned very quickly that subtlety is not his strong suit. Everything he does at any given moment has to be done with a dramatic flair, like he’s convinced that if he goes to eleven on absolutely everything then he’s going to be showered in rewards and praise, even if it’s just for something like holding the door open for someone else. 

If Luz had to guess, she’d chalk that sort of behavior up to all the time he spent in the Emperor’s Coven. If anything was less than perfect he’d be severely punished in more ways than one, which meant there was absolutely no room for error or for letting one’s guard down. Which, okay, that part Luz understands, but it soon became very clear that that way of thinking was so thoroughly drilled into his core values that it affected his very personality. Every single emotion he had was so loud and outward that sometimes it almost seemed like he exaggerated them on purpose. When he was anxious, he’d have a panic attack so great it literally shook him to his very core. When he was happy, he’d practically have a skip in his step, and you couldn’t wipe that beaming smile off of his face no matter how hard you tried. During one of their group movie nights in the human realm, Luz had discovered that when he was sad, not only was he an ugly crier, but a loud one at that, too. At first Luz had been convinced he’d been exaggerating his sobs to catch Willow’s attention, but Luz learned pretty quickly how false that assumption was, as even when Willow stepped out of the room to refill their bowl of popcorn he still didn’t stop bawling his eyes out over something that happened in the movie.

Hunter exaggerates everything he does. It’s in his nature. If she were to look up “overdramatic” in the dictionary, Luz is convinced that all she would find is a picture of his face. 

Which is why…Luz is so concerned about how quiet he’s been since he was told the news about Flapjack’s sacrifice. The bird palisman had willingly given his own life to save Hunter’s, and for that Luz knew Hunter was grateful, but he’d taken the news…a lot gentler than she’d expected. Flapjack was Hunter’s best friend; the first one he ever made, the first person or creature or thing to ever really understand and connect with him, and with a blink of the eye, he was just…gone, and Hunter wasn’t even conscious to see it happen.

Anyone else and they would’ve broken down sobbing. Luz can’t even begin to imagine how devastated the others would’ve been if they lost their palismen. She was there when they were paired up together; they’re practically their pets, if not something even deeper, so she can’t imagine any of them being able to accept things and move on as quickly as Hunter seemingly did. It’s not like it’s because they were in any crucial hurry, either; Luz knows that all the others would’ve agreed to prioritizing Hunter’s feelings over chasing after Belos, but before any of them even had time to ask Hunter if he wanted to take a break he was already marching towards the portal door himself.

Maybe Luz should just leave him be. Maybe she should just wait until he’s ready to come to her and the others instead of prying.

But she recognizes grief when she sees it in others, and she knows perfectly well from personal experience just how hard it is to come forward to tell others that you’re hurting. 

They’re all walking through the dark woods of the Boiling Isles. Unsurprisingly, they lost track of Belos almost immediately after entering the portal door, and while they were all huddled together trying to decide which way they should go, Luz’s mom pitched the idea of setting up camp, because wandering aimlessly isn’t going to do them any good if they don’t get any sleep first. Everyone figured it’d be easier to look for Belos in the daylight and none of them wanted to say no to Camila’s stern motherly glare, so they all agreed to look for somewhere safe to sleep for the night instead of continuing the pursuit.

At a first glance, nothing seems off about Hunter's stance. But as Luz looks closer, she can tell without a doubt that there’s something off about it. His posture is so perfectly straight that it’s bordering on stiff, his shoulders are hitched so tightly upwards they’re practically touching his ears, and he hasn’t let go of the tight grip on his shirt since they stepped through the portal door.

“Hey,” Luz whispers as she approaches him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Hunter practically jumps a mile out of his skin at the gentle gesture, which only makes Luz feel even sadder for him. “Do you want to talk?” 

“No!” he snaps, his voice cracking with emotion as he yanks his shoulder away from her affectionate gesture. His whole posture slumps at the question, which Luz takes as a good sign. At least he’s not pretending all is peachy keen anymore. “I mean, uh,” his cheeks flush in embarrassment. “What is there to talk about, anyway? I already told you I know what happened. I don’t need one of your everything is going to be okay through the power of magic and friendship speeches right now, okay? Leave me alone.” Hunter picks up his pace so he’s not walking beside her anymore, but Luz isn’t willing to let go that easily. Frowning, she jogs forward until she’s beside him again. 

“Hunter, no, that’s not what I meant. I’m not here to give you some big motivational speech about how you should be all grand and dandy right now. I don’t think any of us are okay” 

He stops in his tracks. “Then what is there to talk about?” he laughs bitterly, and when he finally turns to meet Luz’s gaze there are tears building in his eyes. “If you don’t even have anything encouraging to say, then what’s the point? Are you trying to make me feel worse?” he snaps, and covers his mouth with his hands upon realizing he’d yelled. There are tears building in his eyes again, but this time he makes no effort to wipe them away. “I…” he whispers, voice wavering heavily with emotion. “I’m sorry, I just…I don’t think you understand what I’m going through”

Luz doesn’t hesitate for a moment before she pulls him into a tight hug. She doesn’t say a word, not yet, and it’s not long before he’s tightly squeezing her back, sobbing and hiccupping into her shoulder the same way he’d done the first time she called him her family. Luz never had any siblings growing up, so she’s not entirely sure on how the whole comforting them thing is supposed to go, but if there’s anything she does know it’s how much it hurts to lose someone that you love.

“But I do know, Hunter” she whispers, and momentarily turns her gaze forward to the group ahead of them. Thankfully they all stopped walking when Luz and Hunter did, but none of them are making an effort to step towards them. Luz makes accidental eye contact with her mom, who frowns sympathetically when Luz gestures silently towards Hunter. “I might not know exactly what it feels like to lose Flapjack, but I do know what you’re going through.”

Hunter hums into her shoulder, and Luz isn’t sure whether it’s a sign he’s still listening or if he doesn’t believe a word she’s saying. Luz frowns, and directs her gaze to the forest floor. “I bet…” she begins, doing her best to ignore the twisting in her chest. “I bet it feels like the worst day of your entire life. Like….no matter what, things are never gonna be okay again, and that even when things are okay, it feels fake, like someone’s playing tricks on you, and…” Luz blinks, her vision blurring with tears. “You feel selfish, because you see all these other people acting like everything’s fine, or you see someone else having a good day, and there’s a tiny part of you that secretly wishes they were having a bad day too, because…you can’t imagine what it’s like to feel happy right now. You feel like…once he’s gone, that’s it, and he’s taken all of your happiness with you” 

Hunter pulls away from the hug, messily wiping at his eyes with his wrists. “H-how do you know?” 

Luz forces a smile on her face, and gently punches Hunter in the shoulder. “Well I didn’t read your mind or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking. Humans aren’t as capable as Gus likes to think we are.” The fake smile on her face wavers, and she wraps her arms around her own shoulders to hug herself. “All jokes aside, I, uh…” Luz squeezes her eyes shut, and forces herself to think of how supportive Amity was when she told her the news. “...I lost my dad a few years back. He got really sick, and our family kept moving around because he kept being transferred to new hospitals. We had so much hope when we moved to Gravesfield, because we heard that they had some of the best doctors on the East Coast working at their hospital. And for a while things were looking great, and it seemed like he was gonna be able to come home for good, but…” her voice lowers to barely above a whisper. “...he never did.”

Luz finally succumbs to the tears in her eyes, and hugs herself even tighter to prevent her shoulders from trembling. She’s about to apologize, but much to her surprise, Hunter places a comforting hand on her shoulder, the same way she’d done to him earlier. “Luz, I…” he begins, his voice shaking. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

She giggles wetly, and socks him in the shoulder. “No, no, I’m sorry for making this about me.” She takes a deep breath, and waves her hands in front of her eyes in an attempt to dry her tears. “The point I was trying to make is that you’re not alone in all of this. I know how much it hurts.”

There’s a heavy pause of silence as Hunter mirrors her earlier gesture of wrapping his arms around himself in a tight hug, taking note of the fresh scars etched into his arms and hands. “When…” his voice cracks, turning his gaze away from her. “When does it stop hurting?” 

Luz momentarily casts her gaze downwards. “To be honest, it doesn’t, not really, but…” she pauses upon noticing Hunter flinching backwards at the statement like it physically wounded him, and takes a slow, subtle step towards him. “It gets so much easier”

“I-it does?” Hunter’s reply is barely above a whisper. “How could this…” he tightly grips at his shirt, “this…weight on my chest possibly get any easier?”

“That’s just the thing,” Luz smiles shyly, “As time goes on, that weight is gonna feel a lot lighter. It may feel like your entire world is crashing down on you right now, but I promise, Hunter, as someone who’s been through the same process, things do heal with time. And like, of course nothing’s ever gonna go away completely, like, you still might feel sad when you think about Flapjack, or when you remember everything you’d do together, just the two of you, but just…not as much as it does right now, you know? ‘cause it won’t be so raw. Like…” her cheeks flush, “...every year on the anniversary of my dad’s passing, it feels like the worst day of my life all over again. But…it doesn't feel like that every day, you know?”

“But…how do you deal with it when it feels like everything is crashing down?” Hunter’s voice cracks again, and even in the dark of night Luz can see Hunter’s eyes are shining with tears. “What do you do when you just feel like giving up because it just doesn’t feel…worth it anymore without him?”

“Well, believe it or not, there’s a secret for that too,” Luz hums, and doesn’t miss a beat before she winds an arm around him in a side-hug. “All of those world-ending thoughts and feelings are gonna go away if you just talk. I know how much easier it just seems to push it down, and how much less painful it feels to talk about literally anything else, but the only thing isolating yourself is gonna do is make you feel worse.” 

Luz moves to stand directly in front of him, and squishes his cheeks in her hands to force him to look at her. “People care about you, Hunter. We care about you. I dunno if anyone in that dumb Emperor’s Coven ever had the decency to tell you, but we love you, Hunter. You’re one of us now. Someone I really look up to once told me that us weirdos have to stick together. And like it or not, you’re a weirdo now too, Hunter, and that means we’re all here for you.” She lets go of his face to pull him into another tight hug. “We all loved Flapjack too,” she whispers, “if you need to talk about him, we’d understand.” 

Hunter crumbles into her arms. Though his arms tremble as he returns the hug, he squeezes her so tightly that he practically knocks the wind out of her. His sobs are so big that he’s practically soaking her shoulder, and he’s so overwhelmed by his own emotions that he’s hyperventilating. Luz doesn’t say a word for a few moments, just closes her eyes and allows Hunter to just grieve for a little while, and she doesn’t even dare to open her mouth to speak again until Hunter’s grip on her lightens up. 

“And if you ever need to talk with someone who really knows what you’re going through, you can always turn to me or Mamí” Luz smiles, and for the first time all evening Luz can honestly say it’s a genuine one. “After all, it’s just like I said. We’re family now, and us Nocedas have a bond tighter than anything Belos could throw at us” 

Hunter hums, and pulls away from the hug as he wipes at his eyes, a shy smile tugging at his lips. “Thank you,” he whispers. “I, uh, really needed to hear that.”

[witchofthesouls]

As much as I love the raunchy mikoscreen content, it would be such an upgrade to go from "fuckbudies that are kind of friends" to "oh shit, I think I catched the feelings...I like LIKE him/her" + raunchy hc (maybe some holoform interactions)

Also, idk why, but I also see Jack doing this kind of "secret relationship" too, but maybe not with a bot (I know that some ship him with arcee, and idk what are your opinions on that). Maybe he's with a human, the least human you could ever imagine him with.....

Any hc, opinions?

Personally, I’m not a fan of Jack x Arcee. I view their dynamic as the “reluctant partnership that grew into a mutual bond of camaraderie.” I think part of it is how I interpret her age as someone in her 30s along with her long experience with warfare. Arcee has underlying trauma from grief and loss beneath her hard exterior and sass and salt. (Honestly, nearly the entire cast of them does. At the very beginning of the series with Cliffjumper’s memorial, Optimus basically said they were the only Autobots left on Earth. That leaves many questions on how many were there before. Did they go down with the Ark? Separation? Break off?)

Smokescreen, on the other hand, strikes me as someone as not even 20 years old. This greenhorn is like a 17-19 years-old in my eyes. He’s got heart. He’s got guts. And he’s doesn’t have a bad mind when he actually uses it. I mean, come on, remember the little dance he did before a mission? That psych-up of excitement with little jumps? Sonnova, I was dying.

(To anyone who wants to see it, I present the Youtube link. Go to 2:43. Arcee gives Bulkhead a heads-up on “Destiny’s Child” and both of them look over to see Smokey’s little hype.)

As for Jack with a secret relationship, I’ve toyed with some ideas of an outsider’s perspective that’s in a romantic relationship. Very AU, though. Like an Other!Jack and an Other!OC: both in the know but OC is firmly on the Other side of the Veil or deep inside the Foundation. 

I don’t have a strong preference for Jack in a romantic relationship with anyone else. (Platonic and parental relationships are a different story!)

Tbh, you’re not far off how I view the progression of Mikoscreen’s relationship. From Miko’s point of view. Smokescreen realized early on he was in for the long haul when he decided to stay on Earth after Cybertron was restored.

Smokescreen doesn’t yearn for Cybertron as the other Autobots had. He doesn’t have memories of the Crystal Palace Botanical Gardens, the vibrant murals within Iacon’s artisanal caste, the Festivals of the Thirteen… 

He onlined at the late stage of the War upon Cybertron’s surface: the bombardment of Iacon’s shields, packed barracks full of raw trainees and quiet veterans, the vast emptiness of the Iacon Database when he was pulled and reassigned to Alpha Trion…

Earth was his crucible and it feels strange to leave it behind after everything that went down.

In the aftermath of their heavy-petting and makeout in the desert, there was a little active part of his self-preservation that went Wait a klick, mech… 

While a big part had stemmed from Wrecker retaliation on poaching their own, he’s also thinking of the various health modules the barracks had to go through.

He’s nervous about anything more and so many questions circle his mind: Is he too big? Is it even safe? What happens if he hurts her from ‘facing? What happens if he accidentally reverts his default size?

Miko decided to attend university in the United States, so she and Smokescreen can disappear into the vast wilderness for him to stretch out his legs. Plus, it’s easier to get into contact with Ratchet who also stayed on Earth.

The trio is still in contact with one another. Jack is also attending college and she stops by with Smokey to race and give him a break. Raf followed Ratchet’s steps to track Energon growth and Unicron’s effect on Earth.

Miko makes money under the table from tutoring Americans the Japanese language, raw manga into English translations, and helping out Ratcet as an extra pair of hands with the Apex Armor.

For the longest time, as in several years, the most they’ll do is map out each other bodies and figure out what they like.

Deep kisses and trailing their fingers over flesh or mesh. Miko is absolutely fascinated by the thrumming cables and flexing plates of protoform, by the intensity of biolights flashing bright, and how warm Smokescreen can get. Smokey is similarly fascinated by how soft and small Miko’s body is compared to a Cybertronian, even when mass-displaced, the buzzing of her chaotic biochemistry as he circles her, the way she’s comfortable being so exposed without any armor, the flexibility of her body.

With the Decepticons gone, the discovered raw Energon is theirs now. Smokescreen could indefinitely use his holomatter if he chose to do so, they’re swimming in fuel at this point.

Smokescreen finds out that his holomatter is very ticklish when she digs her fingers across his ribs and sides and he disappears in an electronic shower of sparks.

Miko figures out that Smokey is physically affectionate. He likes touching her or having her touch him. His holomatter’s arm around her while they’re shopping, brushing her hair back or casually redoing it, kisses to her cheek or forehead whenever “Sawyer” sees Miko. Smokescreen carrying her in his servo or on his shoulder, Miko perched on his thigh when they take a break in the middle of nowhere to watch the sky and stars.

She thinks it’s absolutely unfair that not only Smokescreen can manipulate his neural net in his frame, but he could also control sensation in his holomatter. No more surprise tickle attacks.

The first time they do penetrative sex, it’s in the shared apartment between her and Jack. They’re on the bed and watching Red 2, Smokescreen is playing with the ribbon of her shorts. They already talked about and he’s sufficiently fueled and far more experienced with his holomatter. Of course, she croons into his ear, smiling wide. “Show me something, Hot Wheels…”

Miko wouldn’t even realize it until years down the line when Jack pops the question about her and Smokescreen making it official as they can, even Raf even gently reminds her that Smokescreen has painted light brown accents on his frame.

Painting another mecha’s colors onto yourself, Raf explained, was a Declaration of Intent. Usually, it was also followed by incorporating a piece of the other mecha’s armature into their own.

Her space-boy painted the shade of her eyes on himself...

After that revelation, Miko schedules a hair appointment and brings a picture to the stylist for an ombre effect of his specific shade of blue and bright red tips.

"Don't cry on me, space-boy." "I'm not!"

He totally did.

[aliveandrestless5]

Is love what makes us human?

This might read as just the incoherent ramblings of a sleep deprived mad man, but stay with me.

As someone who is autistic and on the ace spectrum (asexual/some form of aromantic idk still working it out) I spend a lot of time listening to people talk about love and empathy, and the their amounts and lack of each. There are people who say that “love is what makes us human!” And there are others, typically those on the ace or autistic spectrum such as myself, who disagree, and argue “being human is what makes us human, love has nothing to do with it.”

I personally think, that in a lot of cases, when these two perspectives are arguing with one another, both are misunderstanding what it means to love, and to have love for others.

Before you can argue about whether or not you can be human without feeling love, you should first decide what you mean by love, exactly. Are you talking about a specific form of love? Romantic love? Sexual love? Because you can definitely be human without experiencing those. Or do you just mean “love” in general?

“Love” is not one thing. I truly hate the fact that the English language only has one word for love, because it does such a shit job at encompassing such a giant range of feelings and emotions. The Greeks did a better job, with their seven words for love, but even that doesn’t feel like enough. Love is a hundred different things! Love can be shown and felt in a hundred different ways!

In media, love is so often portrayed through such a narrow lens. It is either romantic between partners, or platonic through friends or family, and that is usually it. But those are only a teeny tiny fraction of the ways humans feel and experience love. There are so many more. To simply say that love is just one thing, and that it can only be shown in one specific way is! Insanity!

Furthermore: most people seem to be able to grasp the idea that you can feel love for someone without feeling sexual attraction to them, but they do not understand that the same concept applies to every single form of love. You can feel one form of love, any form of love, without feeling the others, and guess what! It’s still love!

You can love a person (or a thing! Or an animal! Or a concept! Literally anything!) without without ever being attracted to them romantically, physically, or sexually! You can love someone without ever being able to feel empathy for them! Even if you are someone who cannot feel any sort of romantic or sexual love, and also cannot feel empathy/are low empathy, to say that you have never felt love, ever, is an absolutely ludicrous statement to me.

Because, in my mind, I see love as something so much bigger than the three simple categories (love for friends and or family, love for romantic partners, love for sexual partners) it’s most often divided into. There so so so so so many other ways people experience and display love in the world, and it’s really sad to be that there are people who do these things without ever realizing that they are just. Other forms of love.

Caring for a pet. Moving a plant to a windowsill so it can get more light. Carving your name into the side of your favorite tree to let others know that it was yours. Leaving food out for stray animals. Collecting. Bird-watching. Devotion to a god/religion. Playing a game of jump rope, singing the same rhyme children have sung for decades. Keeping the same stuffed animal you’ve had since you were a little kid. Picking up litter off of the side of the road. Getting out of bed on days where just that simple act is hard. Letting yourself rest on days where it is impossible. Self-care. Going to therapy. Feeling grief after loss. Painting, writing, simply creating something you feel good about. Admiring an old painting. Reading a book over and over until you know the entire thing by heart. Mourning the death of a fictional character. Repairing a hole in your favorite pair of jeans so you can keep wearing them. Restoring an old house. Rescuing an old desk from the side of the road. Eagerly learning a new skill. Working out to improve your health. Getting a tattoo. Dying your hair to boost your confidence. Wanting to learn everything there is to know about a given topic. Devoting your life to pursuing a career or passion. Staring in wonder at something, the night sky, an insect, a math problem, a painting. Feeling in awe over anything at all.

All of these things, every single one, is something I consider an act of love. If you read through this list and nothing resonates with you… then yeah. I might be questioning your humanity a little bit, I won’t lie.

Even if it’s not for another human being. Even if it’s for a subject, a cause, something your passionate about, the Planet, an inanimate object, or just for yourself. It’s still love, even if it’s in a form most don’t recognize. It still counts.

“But matches,” I hear you asking, “how does it count if it’s not between two people? If it doesn’t benefit anyone, or only benefits me, then how can it be an act of love?”

Love has a way of spreading, I think. It’ll bleed out, touch other people. Something you create for your love of creating might bring joy to someone else down the road, even if that wasn’t your original intention. And even if it does only affect you, if it’s an act that only you are benefiting from, then so what? You are still a person. You are worthy of experiencing the love you give to the world around you. That doesn’t make it any less real or important. If it makes you feel good in some way, and is not hurting anyone else, then why shouldn’t it count?

I may not feel sexual attraction, and my own feelings of romantic attraction are too complex for me to put into words without writing another essay, but to tell me that I don’t experience love? That the awe I feel looking up at the night sky, the pure joy and wonder I get from diving headfirst into the ocean, the passion and drive I have for art and writing, isn’t love? Absolute insanity.

Now, circling back to the original point of this post: do I believe love is the thing that makes us human?

In short: Yes. I do.

This is because I believe that simply being alive is an act of love, in of itself.

Just by being here, by interacting with the world around you, wether you realize it or not, you are committing acts of love in a hundred different ways. The passion, the wonder, that need to know instinct that’s inside each and every one of us, pushing us forwards. The curiosity that defines us as a species. To me? That is love, as well.

The universe loves you, dear reader, because you are love.

[prettyboykatsuki]

I'm not rec Stephen King but just to add on like the horror genre is so diverse too. Like I read pet sematary as a teenager and I was like it's good but not scary but rereading it now, I couldn't even finish because the themes of grief, going about death, aging, how humans are in general, loss, like it was HEAVY

It's also why I like to reread books often, even fics too. You can just come to understand something more than you thought you could, especially when you get older.

this is so real. i was going through some books i read when i was like a wee kid like the popular y.a. like the hunger games. i was too young to rlly pick up on any of the nuances within the writing but reading it as an adult i was like blown away by what it was like and what resonated w me now vs then

i really like that i can do that with fics too. i change so much every year that i can read things semi recent and still be kind of like woaaah. its a fun experience