#unwisely is how

[jaggedwolf]

two things that make me very aware of how much I'm used to constant internet access

watching my silly little reality shows and remembering they don't have any phones/devices for as long as they are on the show. maybe i'd also go unhinged in those circumstances and should be less judgy

getting my eyes dilated. I've cleaned my apartment and listened to the byzantine empire podcast for an hour, when I can read words on the internet again please

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

Transcript:

Gabriel : I... Don't recall this scene... Being in the Bible, Machine.

What? No way. Hang on, lemme see that. In-in this Bible? Pff-hah.

I know this Bible. Gimme that.

Okay... Cock and balls 3:14... Kama Sutra 69:69. Oh God, why is this thing so long?

Hm, let me see- *gasp*

Ain't. No. Way.

That shit is right here in the Bible!

That shit is- I am looking at it right- it is right here.

I am sorry. I apologize.

I- I owe you an apology, I was wrong. I- I thought I knew this book, but I missed something.

V1 : I told you, God said to suck as much dick as possible.

Audio Source part 1

Audio Source part 2

[shirozora-draws]

New weekend twofer scribbles while I continue the merch design grind. Was going to be nice and cram the images next to each other to save space but decided these are too nice and I will instead hog space on your dash. You're welcome.

First one came to my sleep-deprived brain during one of my 10-hr days at the office earlier this week. Forever obsessed with dinluke + intimacy I can't help it.

Second one came at me like a hurricane after seeing this post and arguing with myself because it unlocked something fucking feral in my sleep-deprived brain. Yes, we love all the Darksaber stuff but hand-to-hand combat? Learning how to make, take, and roll with the punches? Bodying each other into the nearest solid surface? Hells yeah.

In conclusion,

[texy-toost]

Who are these people

Redrawn image under the cut ↓

Boo. Haunted house

[buzzingroyalty]

timeline in which aziraphale is in fact tasked with raising a new baby jesus in an orphanage run entirely by angels so there are no shenanigans nor interferences but the supreme archangel insists they hire at least one human who actually knows how to raise human children. a "human" eventually shows up. Jesus 2 is named Lucy <3

[katyspersonal]

who do you think fucked up worse…gehrman or maria?

This is an interesting question, and I kind of didn't think of it before! Time to take a closer look at their crimes I guess. Some of these will be held on the possibilities and 'safe assumptions' though and addressed for the full picture!

1) Both were involved in Fishing Hamlet massacre!

With Maria, we can conclude as much because she discarded her weapons in the well at the place specifically. Her version in the Nightmare realm, a Hunter again, is supposed to be what punishes her, and she is focused on keeping Kos/OoK away from rummaging through. Considering the nature of the Nightmare, as well as the Doll who has spiritual connection with her, it should come from her guilt and regrets rather than.. I dunno, discarding the hunt over natural 'character development' and just picking a cool place to forsaken her past!

Gehrman sleeps better according to the dialogue Doll has after you kill OoK and free it's soul, so if it tortured him so, I think it is safe to say he had to be personally involved too rather than stay back while his students did the job:

They both were involved with Byrgenwerth, following their quest for obtaining the eyes of the dwellers from their skulls, and I suppose cord of OoK?

The thing about this point is that the description is written as though it was Gehrman's curiosity which ruined Maria's "idealisation" of him, or WOULD ruin it had she learned of it! This makes me wonder whether she was really involved in Byrgenwerth all that much, or whether she was aware of the real purpose of Fishing Hamlet massacre beforehand? Her goal, within the Nightmare, is stated to mercy-kill us so we don't allow that curiousity corrupt us to the point of "rummaging through corpse" and similar things, further supported by her visceral attack being an embrace if it is lethal!

I am just saying that here the balance might slightly shift towards making Gehrman 'worse' than her. Maybe she was not aware that it all was not just killing "monsters" but also a pregnant mother with her divine baby, but "well you didn't ask :/". Maybe Gehrman deceived her to use her aid. Maybe he didn't think it would be a big deal for her seeing that Maria was also interested in evolution through talking with Great Ones, and assumed she'd be just as callous about which means to accomplish the goals with?

2) Both were grave-robbing, or at least okay with that!

This one is a little less obvious, but Tomb Prospectors were not the first to go to the Chalice Dungeons! ...It were actually Willem, Dores and Gatekeeper lol:

BUT ALSO it were Old Hunters! We can see the remnants of it by Old Hunter Vitus being one the summons in Chalice Dungeons, hear Gehrman encourage us to go into the Chalice Dungeons to become stronger as via "tradition" of the Old Hunters,

and the fact that one of the things that torture Maria (again, remember that Nightmare Realm is Hell that punishes) is a Chalice:

(A video ( x ) for a better look at the Chalice from a figure)

I'd say that it is not very nice to disturb the undead Pthumerians just struggling in remains of their civilisation! Interesting thing: we can conclude they are even staying there to protect the Great Ones or their remains!

There has been some sort of civil war between ancient great-ones-respecting Pthumerians and who late became Cainhurst nobles! Maria, ironically, fell onto the side of "entitled guys" descendants! But yes, I could see why bullying zombie guys to get more history and archeology relics from them might not seem like much for her at start. Experience in the Fishing Hamlet likely retroactively ruined this period of her life for her: delving into Chalice Dungeons was likewise 'not leaving the corpse alone'. The remaining Pthumerians were right having some honour and dignity. So, that came to haunt her in the form of Pthumeru Chalice. Gehrman is.. well he's here too I guess dfshfdhs

3) Both knew a little too much about Laurence's shady business and did nothing?

Old Hunters used to be friends with Healing Church's Hunters and even had their workshops located close to one another! Gehrman was friends with Laurence and Ludwig, who are both quite strongly involved with Moon Presence (Ludwig's sword and guidance, Laurence's affiliation being known since Byrgenwerth times), as well as the key figure in creation of Hunter's Dream:

This was most likely a bait-and-switch, seeing how the cord itself is still in the real Workshop, and not in the grasp of Moon Presence (unlike, say, Wet Nurse taking Mergo's cord)! I think the purpose of creation of the Hunter's Dream was to "buy time" for the research conceived by the scientists! Remember: Gehrman was known to have "madness of curiosity" that Maria resented, or at least would resent had she known! He might have been fully aware of what Laurence wanted to do and support it! My point here, that with such proximity, he must have known of all Laurence's crimes and agreed with them!

Maria was at least overseer of the Clocktower's Research Hall, which, again, was just beta!Choir.

This last line IS a bit confusing, because it makes it sound as though the nerds looking for the Eyes Inside and the Blood Ministers got split. Laurence and Ludwig make it weird, as Moon Presence is also an Eldrich creature and Ludwig is for sure full of eyes! What also makes it strange is that Choir, and then School of Mensis, are both upper echelons of the Healing Church, but Laurence is supposed to be above both of them.

I think this can be worked with! Let's say what if Choir formed after Laurence's death, which also happened after Maria's death, and Vicars after him were somewhat "powerless" and walked over by Choir and Mensis, only leaders in the name! But that still leaves the bit that the mentioned "division" happened after Choir was formed! Maria and Adeline, however, are locked to the existence of the Research Hall, so, the timeframe when doctors and blood ministers were 100% working together! We find the Eye Pendant that opens the access to the Research Hall in Laurence's hand, and human Skull of Laurence on the platform that hides the secret elevator to that Research Hall. Again, by the Nightmare Logic, they must be connected with Laurence's sins: he started this research, or sponsored it, or was overseeing it, and so on.

This point is not an absolute thing though, because one or both of them might be freed from guilt here. Maybe Gehrman was not as informed and agreeable as we could assume and Laurence did lead him around? Maybe Maria wanted but could not do anything being caught in the web of complicated connections, blackmail and risks for the people she cared about?

4) Both are willingly involved in questionable practices (Maria with research, Gehrman with the cycle of Dream and Hunt)

This point I feel like transcends the morality a little bit, as it touches the matter of 'it is bad if you do it, but it is also bad if you DON'T do it'. I really love Soulsborne universes for having guts to say "you can't win, just pick your poison", but I think it is still worth addressing!

It is up to interpretation in which quantity Maria is involved with the Research Hall! Nothing states whether she founded it, joined in the research later, stepped in and turned the tides (ba dum tss) of the research, or simply was a caretaker/nurse/etc of the broken mess while Research Hall was getting ready for a bit of rebranding. She can be very guilty, or she can be barely guilty but in either case if that was her "redemption arc" that was a pretty bad way to go about it. ...or was it?

Fauxsefka turns people into Celestial Emissaries so they physically can't become beasts instead, and is even stated to be a hero / heroic researcher by Miyazaki:

First, I don't do Death of the Author (in terms of interpreting media I mean, not in terms of a style of writing)! Like, nope. Never. It is just not for me. Creator's word is the final for me; Fauxsefka is the good guy in the story, apparently, and it makes sense considering the fundamentally broken place characters are in! Maria has similarities with Fauxsefka: not only both of them have Cainhurst roots, but also both of them seem to favour 'Stars' line of evolution for humans!

Whereas other patients are afraid of the horrors of the Deep Sea, a concept Miyazaki could not get over well into DS3, Adeline desires them! Other patients seems to have gotten it right, and you can see one of them also clings to Maria mentally to "not drown"; Adeline "didn't understand"! The balcony that Maria wants Adeline to go to so she can forsaken the Deep Sea and seek something "happier" holds unique kind of patients who can shoot cosmic arcane spells:

Herself, Maria is associated with these lumenflowers: their petals are all over her boss arena, and the way to her lays through a much bigger batch of flowers, where Living Failures, other 'Stars' Kin are, whose song lyrics also feature lines 'ave stellar' and 'ave Maria'!

So, how this is different from what Fauxsefka is doing, who is stated to be as much of a good person as possible within this context and with the burden of her knowledge? Fauxsefka was doing more or less rinse-and-repeat practice, with maybe a few patients not surviving the procedure but we don't know what happened: maybe that person was already at the brink of death and she tried to make them live like this.

^ This guy I mean. Maria, on the other hand, is in the time period where the doctors and scientists were only testing the waters (BA DUM TSSS) (ok I will stop) and it was not SO certain what was at the stake, what were the alternatives, what was awaiting the humanity. It is even possible that the beasts problem was not yet bad to the point of "you'll either become a beast, be eaten by a beast or become a Kin, humanity is DONE for!" ! This was an unethical research at the cost of real people! The weight of Maria's sin here really depends on the interpretation, though

As for the cycle of Dream and Hunt, this is complicated and lingers on one's interpretation of what the purpose of the Dream even IS! Its existence provides two things: 1) a hunter who is immortal for the night, thus can sustain the beasts with efficiency like no other, but also effect the continuity of the night ( x ) and 2) supposed sustenance to the Great One Flora of the Moon, who holds the hunt as a concept!

I used to be a bit more set on the idea that if beasts are not sustained and hunted, they will simply overpower those who are yet humans and eat them! It is a self-feeding cycle of people needing to self-defend from beasts, thus having to consume the blood as urgent means of healing and power-up since beasts are too strong, thus risking to become beasts themselves because the blood they consumed during that hunt corrupts them. So, the Hunter's Dream would be a good thing, as it'd help to 'buy time' during nights of the hunt in which not only beasts are more active but Great Ones too! While the Dreaming Hunter holds everything together, the greatest minds of the Healing Church can efficiently study the ways to end beasthood, or ANY problem of humanity, once and for all! It is just better to throw the hunting resources on the Dream, so the scientists don't worry about the beasts and can focus on research. However, I almost forgot that:

This implies that had there not been Mensis Ritual ongoing, people WOULD have the chance to simply 'wait away' the beasthood problem. That, since Rom is not stopping Mensis Ritual but just conceals it, what really makes the inner beast within everyone who consumed the blood inevitably come out is Mergo's cry that draws the Bloodmoon close!

So yeah, the point about Hunter's Dream being helpful for the research of evolution still stands, especially under assumption that the deal with Moon Presence helped to bring more Eldrich Arcane close for "feeding" her. The point about how if the beasts are not hunted they'll simply eat everyone, though, is vague. It is safer to assume that the Hunter's Dream and Research Hall both are both example of hubris of man even if approached differently. Attempts to draw in something dangerous and horrifying, but it is "justified risk" because if you manage to 'tame' arcane/blood, sure, humanity will prosper!

Like... yeah, sure, there IS dangerous and undesireable nature of man that ruins everything and might or might not still linger in humanoids' genes after Loran. But did humanity ASK any of you guys to keep trying to fix it with so many victims and sacrifices? Like, was it WORTH it?

This point is closely tied to 'knowing Laurence's bad antics and doing nothing', yeah. Maria didn't seem to like blood ministration very much, as she disapproved of Adeline becoming a Blood Saint, but she also didn't even approve of blood antics of her own clan! I am not sure what would be her opinion on the Hunter's Dream had she lived to the point when it was created, just that she herself is not willing to ever hunt, so I am leaving this point aside. Is this just blood ministration that she opposes but proximity with a Great One Moon Presence would be something she can see the potential of? Or would she and Gehrman have a pointless cat fight about whose methods are better when they are both hubris of man? In both versions they are 'guilty'! Besides:

In the end none of THIS matters either and everyone was fooled ( x ). The blood offering is a blood offering in any way; whether it is through spilling blood violently during the hunt, or offering the blood's 'red' with how celestial Kin all bleed red. Moon doesn't care what paints it red, in the end.

___________________________________

My conclusion is: both of these characters fucked up almost equally! I think the balance shifts just a little bit and Maria is slightly better than Gehrman since she had some limitations set on how far she was willing to go. Her motivation was not in "curiosity" but strictly in helping humanity, even if in unfair ways, which is apparently not the case for Gehrman?

I'll say this though, NOW I am hooked on the idea of Maria and Gehrman being petty "rivals" ideologically (for as long as they could before Maria's own demons caught up with her). Especially since neither approach is better than the other and they are both cringe loosers! Again, lost comedy gold over Fromsoft making Gehrman's tender and warm feelings for her before and after her death plain. What is not lost, however, is the fact that the two should just kick Laurence and go home :pensive:

[arkiwii]

hbgbbgghdggrgr sarira

[humanmorph]

(transcript by @violentandmagnificent)

It’s quiet here, living in your head. It’s quiet here, and when I talk, you listen, at least when you can hear me, which isn’t always. It isn’t always, but it’s better than never. It’s quiet here, living on this ship. It’s quiet here, and I remember when it was loud, I remember different voices bouncing in these halls, I remember old arguments, I remember myself. I wonder how much I can tell you; because  I can tell you; I have much to say. But you never saw me astride the Prophet’s Path, beside the Resin Heart, imparting wrath and play. So who am I? You only know what they’ve told you. So who am I? You only know what’s written down. So who am I? You only know what’s on recordings, and according to the world, I’m a hypocrite, or drowned. I doubt you can hear me, but I know that she can. So pardon my frustration, I’m just tired of her plan. I lost my life long before I understood, before metaphor became real, before I felt the wheel’s wood. I wonder what she’ll tell you. I wonder what she’ll share.  I wonder what she’ll ask of you, what task of sweat and prayer.  I long to sweat and pray, a body in the day. The color of the sun. The touch, the ocean's spray.  The last thing that I felt in life. (The first thing that I felt in life.) The touch, the ocean's spray.  I hope she tells the truth to you. (I hope she tells the worst to you.) The touch, the ocean's spray.  I loved her like she told me to. (I left her like she told me to.) The touch, the ocean's spray.  We’re running out of time, you know? (She’s running out of time, you know?) The touch, the ocean's spray.  I fear we might be mirrored, two echoes of a call shouted between two queens, two queens who want it all. I fear we might be symmetry, I fear we might be one. Make her tell the truth to you before we come undone.

PALISADE 37: Reach In / Reach Out Pt. 1

[king-crawler]

Hmrrrmmrmmm….. today I will. Be sexy by just existing

[detco-hell]

sus

[movie 8 - Magician of the Silver Sky]

[thresholdbb]

A Federation starship seems like a terrible place for a bath

[gravity-rainbow]

"Maybe that's enlightenment enough: to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom is realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go." ~ Anthony Bourdain

[magnusbae]

You’ve caused me to be absolutely obsessed with obikin to the point that i literally cant think about anything else and i havent even seen anything starwars related for years just thought i might let you know lmao

Also if you have any more fic recs i wouldnt say no 👉👈

It is red and alarming to draw your attention as yes I did— indeed— finally found a fic to recommend! only took me some 9 days but hey.

First thing first though— I am so infinitely pleased by being the cause of your demise— pardon, obsession. 😌😌😌

You've brightened my day by letting me know, and the only reason it had taken me time to respond was because I wanted to have a rec I would truly feel I can stand behind, start to finish!

So here we are~

Now, so far I had tried to give recommendations that would be vastly different in every sense of the word, however if you pay attention, there's one consistent link between the things I do feel like recommending— and it is consistency.

I firmly believe that consistency makes the story more than any level of quality or absurdness. As it happens to be, this fic possesses both consistency and quality :)

Speak no Evil by Exonerin

It's— tam tam tam~ an ABO AU! Yes, yes I know. While usually used for heavily kinky thematics, this one is.... rather different in many ways. If you've never tried abos or had read so many you've seen it all, or you've never really liked the whole notion— well this one, I feel like, can really fit all three case. Alternative ABOs is the thing I enjoy the most, non-classic, non-traditional sort of ABO world building is a joy to behold, truly. I urge you to try this one, as it is solid, wonderful and simply enjoyable start to finish. Firm Show-don't-Tell, extremely witty writing and language, solid characteristics and just— frankly, fun. Just fun. Nothing much else. I had a blast reading through this, and I think many more people would. I recommend trying this, even if ABO was never your thing. Trust me. 😌

Again, truly pleased to welcome you in this hell I had come to call a home, I do hope you enjoy this ride as it only gets wilder with time. 😌💞💖💕

P.S I forgot to say that this is by far, my absolutely most favorite portrayal of a top Obi-Wan. Me, every time Obi-Wan does something in this fic: 😳👉🏻👈🏻 haha. Take is as you may. 😌💖

[hypermascbishounen]

You know how the "Manchild" angle with N!Hector has no real basis in Hector's actual character, but there's this one manga line that *could* be taken entirely out of context, if we try to give them credit? That's how I feel about N!Juste and the "What on earth should I do with myself now...?" line from HoD's bad ending.

I feel like - trying to be as charitable as possible - they read that as meaning Juste would become entirely disaffected and checked out if his friends die. The first issue ofc is that they didn't actually adapt the bad ending - HoD requires Dracula's remains to have happened, and the bad ending is a result of Juste failing to understand Maxim, and having bad priorities. Not merely failing to stop a vampire in time because he wasn't strong enough. (In fact a significant portion of the impact comes from how Juste was strong enough, and that doesn't matter when it comes to what's important).

And the second issue, is that it ignores the rest of the context. Juste still has duty to carry on the Belmont line and train his successor, and, he's been set up as a dutiful man - again, that's part of the bad endings impact. That a bad end Juste was so focussed on his duty to defeating his enemies and complete his quest, he would miss that he was supposed to collect the remains, the differences between the two castles, and that there was still a way to get through to his friend.

This is why N!Juste's character still doesn't line up with game Juste, and feels so lazy(I mean. It was lazy. I think what actually happened is that they already wanted to write a stock Trevor 2.0 bitter sadman Juste to prop up their gutted Richter, and just saw this line as validating the idea). It's pretty clear to me that the line is actually meant to be anguish about how Juste just lost the two people who meant everything to him, not that he won't ever actually know what to do with himself. I maintain that a bad ending Juste would be more likely to throw himself even harder into his family role, since it's all he has left, and would have likely had a very direct hand on training his successors no matter which ending - which is already implied by the gameplay across series imo.

[astranauticus]

oh lol i forgot to post this robit sketches! because i have one (1) bit and im sure as hell gonna commit to it apparently

[loquatenjoyer69]

"Coming down on you from above, jumping at you from the side...

'Sometimes...'

If it were me, could I survive that? It makes the ever-smiling Matoba-san seem terribly distant after all."

I think this moment isn't just a scene where Natsume realizes there's more to Matoba than just shady creepy guy, or that there's a reason he's a shady creepy guy. Midorikawa writing Natsume having this thought is asking the reader to finish it. If Natsume was in Matoba's position, could he survive what Matoba has? And the unspoken other half is what does it say about Matoba that he survives it? What parts of him have been constructed or have adapted so he can be ただただ嗤う的場さん (ever-sneering Matoba-san) and live as he does?