#treat mold

[itsclydebitches]

Jonelias thought of the day is that Elias must come across as so stuffy and boring to those at the Institute - which, you know, very much helps hide his true nature - but as an avatar of the Eye and a man determined to avoid the End, Elias is someone whose entire being revolves around the interplay of knowledge and experiences. He's compelled to Know it all and his efforts to avoid death invite him to Experience it all too, a fascinating combination of passive observer and, by virtue of being a 200+ year-old in search of true immortality, an active participant too. This is a man whose longevity and thirst for knowledge invites an obsession with life that contradicts the 'Sits in his office doing nothing but spreadsheets all day' image he's learned to cultivate. (Though, to be clear, he does love the spreadsheets.) And I don't just mean "obsession with life" in the sense of him avoiding the finality of death, but actually loving the act of being alive.

I think a lot of what the fandom (rightly) jokes about in regards to his characterization is a reflection of that obsession. Elias has a relationship with Peter Lukas that goes far beyond the cold practicality of an alliance, hinting at a romance (if you steer towards a LonelyEyes reading), or just Elias' desire to still be able to place bets with someone while he's trying to end the world. Similarly, his powers ensure that he's never truly alone - if he dies, he takes the rest of the Archive with him - forever supplying him with a warped companionship that doesn't threaten him like he perceives he was threatened as Jonah Magnus, with his acquaintances working to complete their own rituals. In true Beholding style, he's got the heart of a fucked-up scientist who's endlessly curious about the world around him: 'Oooh what happens if I let my friend waste away in the Lonely?' He shows up at Jon's birthday party not just to secretly gloat and keep an eye on things (ha), but because he legitimately wants cake. Who wouldn't want cake? What's the point of living forever if you can't have cake?? Well, for an avatar the exquisite sweetness of fear is just as good, but my point stands. Beyond his fear of death, that enjoyment is at the heart of Elias' goal, with Jon describing his experience as the Pupil as a kind of agonized bliss and Elias confirming this by saying he was having the most wonderful dream. Morality aside, he likes interacting with the horror of the Entities, something we saw all the way back during the "[PLEASURED EXHALATION]" scene. Learning new things feels good. Experiencing news things is enjoyable. Learning and experiencing Bad Things is especially nice given his patron. Consistently, Elias' setbacks are met with interest, or a mild annoyance that then eventually settles into satisfaction because they are also new experiences for him and the Eye: going to jail, getting to psychologically torture Martin, having his own secrets exposed. There's a lot throughout the series to imply that Elias enjoys watching Jon become the Key, not just because it means he's succeeding in his goals, but because there's genuine interest and pride in seeing him "grow" by Elias' standards. The repetition of "our world," "our patron," etc. implies a connection; the intention to experience this new world with another, to enjoy it rather than simply exist in it for the mere sake of existence. Elias is a man whose entire essence boils down to, "I NEED TO KNOW ALL THE THINGS, EXPERIENCE EVERYTHING, AND LIVE FOREVER WHILE ACHIEVING THAT, TO UNDERSTAND IT ALL SO I CAN CONTROL IT ALL AND HAVE A DAMN GOOD TIME IN THE PROCESS, EVEN WHILE I SUCCUMB TO THE PRIMAL FEAR THAT DRIVES ME I WILL PARADOXICALLY EMBRACE IT, AND YEAH THAT'S LARGELY BECAUSE I SERVE THE LITERAL GOD OF JUDGY SURVEILLANCE BUT ALSO THAT'S JUST ME."

So anyway, I keep thinking about how this characterization could intersect with S1-2 Jon: prickly, awkward, semi-isolated, desperate to be recognized by someone whose authority he believes in. AKA the boss who, at an unprecedented young age, rose to the top of the Institute they both work at, perceived by those around him as far less interesting than he actually is. Parallels, anyone? Imagine Jon getting to really talk to Elias, realizing how much he has to offer after 200 years of life (though of course he doesn't know that), and just constantly being blindsided by not just the knowledge, but the enthusiasm for everything he's learned and been through - the good and the horrifyingly awful that, despite himself, Jon is equally drawn to. Elias recognizes every quote Jon drops into a conversation and has another witty line to pair it with. He doesn't just indulge his nerdy rambles, but participates in them. He's refined in all the ways that Jon expects - books, opera, music, etc. - and also casually drops in references to acid trips and fucking orgies. Imagine an early series Jon who forms a strong bond with Elias outside of the web (ha x2) he's been weaving, becoming dependent on his friendship and just a little bit completely in love. Elias is inherently fascinating, but he's also just Some Guy, and the combination of that is just perfect for a necrotic Archivist who simultaneously wants to be guided by his 'betters' and prove that he's an equal. Why Elias would be interested in turn barely needs stating: Jon is literally Elias' everything, in a horrifyingly tragic and like, Gothic Romance sense? What would that kind of relationship have changed? It would have likely made Elias' job even easier, but what about Jon?

...I'm not saying that Jon's drive to protect humanity would have been warped into something tragically dangerous if he'd first come to see his intelligent, complex, shockingly kind (from his nonexistent self-esteem POV), secretly-an-eldritch-monster boss as the epitome of humanity... but I'm also not saying it couldn't have!

[archduke-enver-gortash]

another awful gort hc. talking about his slavery. besides just being a ‘regular’ slaver i think he also has like. almost a fucked up village of sorts of only slaves he molds and shapes as he sees fit. the people’s children there are automatically born into slavery and their children as well. if they’re not up to ‘standards’ he kills them. y’know absolute horror of a guy who is not really a guy but the machine.

[silusvesuius]

[fortifice]

I was thinking about how at one point gep was excited to be part of the guard, things were simpler then, things made sense, there was no need to question the supreme guardian’s will because it was all encompassing and with it came prosperity for belobog. things become complicated when you realise that you’ve given your whole life to a set of ideals and in doing so have condemned yourself to their stringent regulations like. you will die young and it’ll be for the people and that’s what’s expected like. when I sit down and think abt how much he wants to live w the consensus that being part of the guard will always be dangerous and how being part of it restricts anywhere else he can go and anything else he can do.

[atopvisenyashill]

it is fun in a slow motion car crash way to watch cersei gleefully help the high sparrow set a trap for herself and then also step right into that trap but it’s exactly the same as theon getting reeked in that ultimately they don’t deserve what comes next, no one and nothing in the world deserves what comes next. and the so called “punishment” is so divorced from what they actually did wrong, that of course neither of them “learns a lesson” from it. theon’s torture is about like class + societal breakdown + hostage feudal system stuff, and he doesn’t actually start dwelling on, ya kno, the people he murdered and raped, until well after the physical torture has stopped. and similarly, cersei’s walk of shame is about like class + patriarchy + societal breakdown, and while it certainly beats her down for a while, all it ultimately does is remind her that she doesn’t get the dignity of death if she loses, she gets humiliated, so next time she takes her shot she has to make sure she doesn’t miss.

and you know what. she will not!!

[mydollsaregay]

a new friend!

[clnclm]

[goober-bn-saffron]

I made them.

Have a happy Halloween everyone!

[inniave]

so fucking sick of the constant misgendering. it's exhausting. even from fellow queer people??????? who know me?????????? HELLO?????????????

[thisisallthehattersfault]

Having some thoughts about Dark!Sizhui and specifically his complicated perspective on Jin Ling. You’re the reason my family died, you were a baby and had no say in what happened. Xian-ge loved you, your family orchestrated his downfall. You literally spit on his name, he would tell me to forgive you.

I’m thinking about Sizhui worming his way into Jin Ling’s good graces, seeing his loneliness and uncertainty and the desperate need for affection quietly eating away at him, and using that to mold Jin Ling into something - someone - better, because Xian-ge gave up everything just for a chance to see you, and goddamnit I’m gonna make sure you were fucking worth it.

[kittykatninja321]

Ok so the way I see it I don't think Talia would claim Jason as her son like even if the Lost Days #6 Incident (tm) is not a factor being an al Ghul is a family curse in and of itself and she cares about him enough to not drag him into that. Like I know Talia's characterization got massacred for Damien angst reasons but as of right now in either version of canon one can assume that her relationship with Jason is significantly less volatile than her relationship with her actual son. We never see them meet post-Red-Hoodification but even if they never spoke to each other again they left off on decent terms which is leagues above the whole cloning and disowning situation she has with Damien. A situation that arose because of League heir and family legacy reasons. I think Jason decidedly being Not Her Son means that they dodged several al Ghul family curse bullets

[aeternalight]

The witchcraft community is literally so mean to people with OCD. I will not elaborate but I will say, there is no right way to be into witchcraft. You can do literally whatever practice with no consequence. And the people that act like others will be smited by some all-knowing god is fucking ludicrous.

I'm literally sick and tired of people acting like witchcraft and beliefs exist in a perfect bubble/vacuum, no you dumb bitch, you're affected by other beliefs, especially the world that you grew up with. There will be no such thing as a pure belief or thoughts on spirituality. Everything becomes affected by one another.

I'm also fucking tired of people assuming that we have to dredge up things or evaluate things to be a perfect little witch. Why don't you stop putting people up to insane standards and mind your damn business. How other people's practices go is no concern of yours, its not your place to judge it.

And as far as misinformation goes, just don't get yourself hurt. If its bad for you, don't do it. But most things are on the table. Just don't do something illegal.

The witch community has a severe purity problem and most are influenced by christian beliefs without realizing it. Maybe you need to evaluate your own beliefs before you judge others.

[crescent-lockhart97]

what is up with ff7 and shitty scientist fathers with no ethics (hojo and hollander) experimenting on their sons 😬😬

[impossible-rat-babies]

.

[the-tubort]

I think we as a toku community need to celebrate the fact that Yellow Owl SHODO Super figure is a brand new mold just for him to show that he is in fact a fat man

[oatmealmika]

NEVER a proshipper or toxic fan but

being an erehisu fan in 2023?!?!?!?

embarrassinggggg…… 👀

brother pls get off of reddit

for my final aot rewatch before the last episode, i just finished season two and, if most men in the fandom are erehisu stans, then it’s safe to say men really don’t understand romance because WTF IS YUMIHISU TO YALL?!?!?!?!?!??!

i get it, you have internalized homophobia ever since your seventh grade robotics teacher told you to “stop being so close with your boy best friend, it’s weird”, but DAMN.

fuck you mean “I will always be your ally”?!?!??? not to mention, “i will always wrap your scarf around you”??!?!?!?!? yes, i’m dragging eremika into this too, cuz HUH????

reddit is the number one public enemy in the state (on oatmealmika’s blog)