#without the suffering the sacrifices and the lessons i would not be the person i am today that i can finally say i’m proud of

[lvstharmony]

​beyond grateful for the people that are surrounding me in my life, just as i am grateful for the people i’ve parted ways with, for without them, i would not be the person i am today.

[lua-magic]

Twelfth house and your spiritual powers.

Twelfth house is the house of "letting go", sacrifice, forgiveness, divine, charity and kindness. Wherever, your twelfth Lord goes, you can't expect anything from that house and you have to let go.

If twelfth Lord is in six, eight and twelfth, you need to get rid of all your negative thoughts, beliefs and blocks otherwise it will manifest in the form of physical and mental illness.

You must learn to forgive otherwise, you will suffer materially, mentally and physically..

You have to learn to control your mind and thoughts, otherwise you will keep creating for yourself negative circumstances and situations.

Twelfth Lord first house 🏠 you have to develop kindness and forgiveness.

If you can't forgive and sacrifice then it will become impossible for you to develop or succeed in life. First house is of personality and twelfth house is of let go, you can't be attached to someone or something, if you want to progress spiritually, physically and emotionally then you need to imbibe qualities of twelfth house in your personality like forgiveness, kindness and letting go.

Twelfth Lord in second House .

Don't accumalte things, let it go, more you focus on storing anything either, materially or emotionaly, it will trouble you.

So, detach from your material wealth and learn to give others, you will experience freedom in your life.

"Twelfth Lord in third and eleventh house" natives should not be attached to their desires.

You must learn to let go your attraction and desires.

More you obess over your attractions and desires more you feel suffocated.

Learn to "detach from your desires to manifest it."

If you have twelfth Lord in eleventh house, be mindful of your friends, make only spiritual friends, otherwise, twelfth Lord will take your friends away or push you into isolation.

Twelfth Lord in fourth House 🏠

You will suffer till you don't be spiritual, and let go things. Do meditation and involve in charity.

"Gratitude is the best Attitude" More you work on your mindset and attitude, more free and peaceful your life would become .

Twelfth Lord in fifth house 🏠

Fifth house is of knowledge, and twelfth house is of giving away.

Give your knowledge freely, more you educate, and distribute your knowledge and wisdom, more free you feel

Twelfth Lord in seventh House 🏠

Seventh house is of relationship, twelfth house is of devotion.

Be devoted to your partner, and don't expect instead give to your partner,( as twelfth house is of giving), more you develop patience in relationship, more peaceful your relationship would become.

Twelfth Lord in ninth House 🏠

More you give people, more charity you and more you follow ritousnes in your life, more "Lucky" you get in life.

Develop forgiveness, kindness and letting go, if you want your luck to be with you.

Want to be lucky?

By choosing compassion for yourself and them, you liberate yourself from the chains of resentment and open the door to healing and personal transformation. It's called the freedom of forgiveness; give yourself this precious and priceless gift.

God resides in heart of those where forgiveness resides .

"I love you, I'm sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you."

Above prayer will help you, when you want divine intervention in your life.

Twelfth lord in tenth house 🏠

Learn to work without expectations and give without expectations.

Either you go into spirituality and meditation or wherever, you work, stop expecting, work without any desires and expectations.

Free yourself from the expectations and any rewards, your tenth house will improve.

Focus in your work, and not on results or what and how much you get.

Twelfth house is of divine, when you want divine to guide you, and be with you,

Be thankful, because this pain can be the fuel that propels you toward a life better than you have ever imagined.

Be thankful to your most painful moments, without which you wouldn't have learnt lessons, and without lessons you wouldn't have grown.

Forgiveness frees you from anger and hatred that poisons your soul.

[artist-issues]

THE END of the Hunger Games is flawless.

The ending paragraph of "The Hunger Games" is so perfect. It so totally wraps up the whole point and takeaway of the books, and every character's journey, and nails it.

First off, the paragraph's context is about what you teach your children. Children, who are seen as the most precious treasure any person can handle in the book--treasures that can be turned into weapons and used against the treasurers. Children, who can bring down corrupt authority or keep it in place. So first off, a paragraph that addresses how important teaching children is is the best context for this perfect paragraph.

Second, Katniss is specifically teaching them what? "how I survive," which is her entire being. She makes every decision based on survival. She volunteers for Prim and doesn't kill Peeta in the first Games and chooses not to be with Gale and chooses to play her part against Snow all because she can't survive in a world where the alternative outcomes happen. Plus, survival is what other characters base their decisions on, too. 13 doesn't nuke the Capitol because it might ruin humanity's chances at survival. Hunger is the central plot device used to give Katniss all her skills, because without food, you don't what? Survive. Even "love" in these books is only another tool for survival; it makes suffering worthwhile, and purpose visible, and loss surmountable, and nightmares endurable, for every character. Finnick, Peeta, Katniss, Katniss' mother, even Buttercup the cat. The point of the book's lesson is "how to survive."

Third, the thing that could ruin love and pleasure's usefulness as a tool for survival is fear. But specific fear--"I'm afraid it could be taken away." It's fear that something you love, which makes survival worthwhile, could be taken away, and with it goes survival itself. The whole Hunger Games demonstrate that--"you rebelled against us? Then we're showing you that we can take away your children, the things that make survival worthwhile." And you know what? That's the dividing line between Katniss and Snow. Both Katniss and Coryo have survival as their ultimate goal, and have fear of the things they love being taken from them. For Katniss, it's the good opinion of the people of 12, it's her life with her sister and mom, it's the freedom from owing anyone anything, it's food and the ability to feed herself. For Coryo? It's his family name and reputation, his cousin and grandmother, his legacy, and his ability to never return to the cannibalism of the war. The fear of losing those things that they love is what could drive them to take no pleasure in them. To be afraid forever--and with fear comes the never-enough desire for control. To hang on to those things long after you've forgotten to take pleasure in them. Katniss almost does this with marrying Peeta or running from 12 or even becoming the Mockingjay. She's so afraid of losing what she loves that she jumps through hoops to control hanging onto them: does what Snow says, then does what Gale says, then does what Coin says. Plays a part in each of their games, to try and control the outcome. Coryo actually does do this, and for a while, has enough power to make that control almost universal. All because of fear of the things that he used to take pleasure in being taken from him.

Fourth, the alternative to focusing on the fear and the very-real danger of losing everything--is "focusing on every act of goodness I've seen someone do." This is just faith. Because it's true that the world of Panem (and the world in general) is full of people who are so afraid of losing control over what they love that they kill children and mutate nature to keep up the game, the illusion that they're in control. What you love could be taken from you. The world's full of that. But. The world also has unconditional love in it. People like Peeta, who saw that Katniss would kill him for her own survival in the first Hunger Games, but still chose to sacrifice for her anyway. People like Finnick, who loses everything including his mind, his body, and the things he loves most, but still gives Katniss the only rope he's got that's holding him together, just because he sees she needs it. Focus on that truth, instead of the simultaneous-truth that the it could all be taken away, and you'll have faith, not fear. You'll give up control and just enjoy what goodness you can. And when you do that, nobody can take it from you--not in spirit. Just like nobody could take Peeta's love for Katniss from him.

Finally, "it's like a game." To make a set of rules for yourself, a set of responses to the darkness of the world like making a list of things to focus on exclusively, is a game. It is a type of control--but it's just control of your own thoughts. Carefully using the game so that, in the arena of your brain, the love-shaped tribute is victor over the fear-shaped tribute. So that that battle stays in your head, instead of breaking out into a war that destroys what made your life worth surviving in the first place. Controlling what is your responsibility to control, instead of playing God and trying to control what's not yours. Drawing a line between what's good and what's bad, and staying firmly on one side of it without justification for crossing it.

That's why The Hunger Games is so good. Not because it has interesting dystopian settings, or because Gale and Peeta are hot and the romantic tension of the love triangle lets us self-insert ourselves. (Like other, worse YA fiction.)

No, The Hunger Games is so good because every part of it, from the characters to the setting to the symbolism to the names to the pacing to the development to the mood to the twists in the narrative, is used to uphold that main point. The main point that's so succinctly, cleanly, beautifully made in the last paragraph of the book.

[paragonrobits]

so i was reading some complaints about how Marceline is only really present in Fionna And Cake in a brief snippet and then only in AUs, and then it occured to me: Marceline not being around in an active way is necessary for the plot to happen.

Essentially, the plot of Fionna And Cake might be summarized as 'longing the magical life, Fionna and Cake flee from a Lawful Neutral cosmic killjoy and enlist the help of Simon Petrikov who agrees to become Ice King again, but is explicitly not telling them about what this is going to do to him'. The story is essentially about Simon WANTING to become Ice King while at the same time really not wanting to do that at all, pressuring himself into losing himself once more because he thinks its the only way for him to be needed by anyone anymore.

If Marceline is around, this doesn't happen. She is Simon's biggest reason for staying; she's the happiest part of his life, the most fulfilling and rewarding part of his life. It comes up, time and time again, that in the end becoming Ice King was the best thing to happen to Simon despite all its misery, suffering and tragedy because he otherwise would never have met her; he wouldn't have survived the great mushroom war, or the horrors following it, and would have died long before ever meeting her.

And the show details how INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT Simon raising her really was. The Marceline we know was shaped, by a massive degree, by Simon; his example of self-sacrifice, him letting his mind disintegrate by inches, him going out of his way to help a complete stranger and a monstrous child horrifying by the standards of the setting, all implciitly RIGHT after Marceline's mother died and Marceline had resigned herself to being a scary monster that drives everyone away. And then here came a stranger out of the blue, and spent the next few years telling her that yes, she DID matter, she was a person, and that he cared about her so much he destroyed himself so she wouldn't get hurt... or perhaps because her only means of defending herself, ripping out the souls of others, hurts who she is.

It's not a nice kind of comfort. But it still shaped her into someone willing to be a hero in her own way.

And this goes both ways; we can see that the proverbial straw for Simon is him calling Marceline and concluding that she doesn't need him anymore. It's only after this he starts trying to contact Golbetty, with the potential doom that may befall him. If Marceline doesn't need him, he seems to think, he doesn't matter. The need to be needed runs deep in Simon's character; its what draws him to help Fionna and Cake, and the worlds they visit seem to impart a lesson to him on how he matters more than he thinks he does, both by the things he's done and what he means to others; that he's not as bad a person as he thinks he is, or that Marceline would be fine without him.

So. If Marceline talks more to Simon, ESPECIALLY after he resolves to throw his progress away and let his mind be lost all over again just so he doesn't have to hurt anymore... well, his character arc in this series is about accepting that he's actually ok, the way he is, and to gain perspective on his feelings that he doesn't belong anywhere (and the answer is that he DOES, more than he knows). Marceline doesn't inhibit that, but she WOULD make it harder for it to happen, arguably at the cost of sidelining Simon's character arc here. He would pretend that okay he doesnt want to be Ice King even if he DOES still intend to go through with it, and not in the same way as when he comes to the conclusion that he ultimately does.

If Marceline is there, he doesn't think those thoughts, and he won't come to the same conclusion.

And at the same time, despite not being there, Marceline's presence hangs over the entire show in Simon's character arc. She is the best thing in his life; his greatest success, the most purely positive and happy part of his life. It can't be understated how significant Marceline is; as miserable as Ice King was, she was someone he cared about even if he didn't understand why anymore. Ice King shows a remarkable amount of restraint in context, but it becomes a lot more obvious whenever she's involved, or in danger; a care so deep and ingrained that when Ice King was often pretty callous, whenever she was upset you could see flickers on his face, genuine distress rising up from some forgotten memory or part of who he is.

Marceline pervades Simon's character and the impact he had on the world; the idea of him being able to pull through this and come back to Ooo for her feels very evident, and the impact Simon has in her in other worlds remains extremely important in all of them, sub-textually or otherwise. Sometimes, its a hint that the Winter King is far more morally ambiguous or even malicious than he lets on (the only Marceline present being an eternal child that, from context, is just a simulcrum for him to play pretend parent with) or evidence that without Simon, Marceline grows up into the monster she always feared she was (Vampire World).

She's a presence, hanging over Simon in a good way and reminding us that not only does he have somewhere to go back to, he must understand that he does belong there. And furthermore that the world of Ooo, whimsical and ultimately a better one than most of the places he visits in the miniseries, can only exist because of him.

In Winter King, we see what he could become, without his moral choices. In Vampire World, we see what happens without Simon Petrikov. And in Marceline herself, we see the surest evidence of how important he really is, even if he can't or won't acknowledge it. In his loved ones, in the family he made, even if its not the family he thought he was supposed to have.

[super-paper]

I really love your opinions and posts about toshi, so if i may, do you think toshinori will (or maybe has already) "learn the lesson" that others have been trying to show and tell him, and see worth and meaning in his life beyond All Might the hero?? Obviously it's not a behavior or mentality that one can change just like that, especially after so many years living behind that persona. But with so many characters around him telling him to keep on living, and he still in the end attempts a sacrifice, I can't help but wonder if he truly understands what everyone else has been trying to tell him and really try to live. It sounds like i'm not being fair to him, bc obviously it's an extreme situation of war and at this point, it's normal to act based on 'whatever it takes', but idk, i'm just worried about his character 😭

Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you also like Toshi.

Anyway-- I think you've already brushed against the root of the issue! Rationally speaking, Toshinori does understand that other people want him to live and he's so unbelievably, genuinely grateful each and every time someone encourages him to keep living. He's completely sincere when he says that he wants to live/is going to keep living.

That being said, I don't think it's contradictory for Toshi specifically to talk about wanting to live, fully *mean* that he wants to live, and then immediately try to blow himself up. It can be difficult for people to fully understand the insidious nature of mental illness, I feel, bc they try to rationalize something that simply isn't rational (I don't want to diminish the necessary context behind Toshibomb, either: Toshi was primarily acting out of desperation to protect Izuku from AFO-- and the narrative itself chose not to reward/validate him for this.)

Like, I totally get that some Toshi fans feel betrayed/upset because it feels like Toshi isn't taking other people's feelings seriously, or bc it feels as though he's "undoing" all his character development-- but genuinely, I don't believe his development has been undone in the slightest. Toshinori is genuinely fighting to live and for his right to keep living. Toshinori also attempted to kill himself. Both realities are equally and simultaneously true for this character, even if it seems like they're fundamentally incompatible with each other. "I want to keep living for you!" and "I would die for you without hesitation!" aren't contradictory feelings from Toshinori's perspective.

(side note: I don't want to make assumptions about the experiences and lives of other fans, so I apologize if this comes across that way! I know a lot of other fans also suffer from depression and don't mean to insinuate that they lack perspective, or anything like that.)

Personally, I don’t think Toshi’s arc is remotely finished yet-- primarily because his feelings regarding Tomura remain quite conspicuously unaddressed. Toshi still needs to admit out loud what his essence as a person (i.e. aura!might) shed tears over— that in his heart of hearts, he also wants to save that boy. Izuku, Toshinori, Bakugo, and Aizawa are the characters that Tomura found himself fixating on during Act 1 bc they all represent something that failed him terribly (Heroes - Izuku, Family - Toshinori, Society - Bakugo, His Teacher - Aizawa). So, these four are the key players who will play the biggest role in saving Tomura, I feel-- and all four characters still have some critical development that's needed before they can all be on the same page about what needs to be done, and ultimately "change fate" together:

I also feel that, if there's any lesson that Toshi does still need to learn, is that it's okay to live entirely for his own sake. He's learned that he wants to live, but he ties that desire to other people and other people have unfortunately/unintentionally reinforced this ("Izuku lives for your sake so please don't talk about dying" "You gotta keep living until the day you can hear me say 'I am here!'" "Just you being here is all the push other people need to keep going" "you can only claim the title of a hero by dedicating your life to others")-- and that's where the dissonance kicks in, where Toshi is still willing to kill himself for the sake of others because he's primarily living for the sake of others. Toshi still needs someone to tell him that it's okay to live, just because he wants to, without tying this desire to anyone else.

This is a lesson I feel he can learn through being more honest about his own feelings (which again, heavily ties to him finally processing his feelings about Tomura/Tenko and then finally acting on them!). I also feel like Bakugo and Tomura (two of the most ego-driven characters in the cast) may end up having a role to play in helping Toshinori understand that it's completely okay to live for himself.

Edit: As for Toshinori "learning that he has value outside of being All Might," I feel that he has already learned this! I'm actually writing a post about what Iron Might means for Toshinori as a person & why it's a positive development right now-- So I hope that it will address your concerns, if only a little!

[playable-elite]

Heard Ripa went down when a Human Seargent, on the verge of defeat, verbally baited him into further grandstanding. Allowing the human a swift blow that secured victory.

I think it's pretty clear from the reports of your confrontation with the Human Seargent Johnson on Delta Halo that you would never make the same misstep.

But I am curious: Does it take much effort to stay direct and focused in battle? Or is keeping your ego out of the fight not something you have to consider all that much?

It was something I had to learn.

When I was a young man in Vadam, I was taught to seek glory for myself and my House. The wiser of my uncles taught me that not all cunning was cowardice, and opportunity belongs to those who take it.

In the Covenant, I was also taught that humility before the gods and willingness to sacrifice personal glory for the Covenant as a whole, and the Prophets in specific, were acts of high honor.

They were contradictory directives, and I had to make them coexist. This was common for Sangheili. For me, I found favor with the Prophets quickly and was permitted to grow a great deal of personal pride.

Things changed very suddenly for me, after Halo. My honor was gone, and my glory meant nothing.

Reputation is not just a prize: it is a tool. I do not do these things now for my own sake. I do them because what I stand for is my people, and their place in the galaxy. To do that, I must prove the value of my word and the strength of my leadership.

I am not without pride, and I will not suffer insult quietly. But I think my answers are wiser and my priorities far better now than they once were.

Hard lessons make difficult things easy, once you understand them.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

This might be a bit odd, but do you think MXTX left the ending to be interpreted openly across adaptations re: JC and WWX? Wei Wuxian has let go of a lot of his pride and learned some hard lessons about self-sacrifice and protecting people, and the younger generation is making so much room for nuance and kindness and thereby challenging society. I personally assumed they’d have that conversation eventually, but we didn’t need to see it to assume it would happen.

However, reading your translating of the phrase kinda made sense to me as well. Not all conversations, even if's about JC sacrificing his own life to save WWX from the Wens, need to lead to a point of reconciliation. Sometimes, we can acknowledge that we've come too far to restart or rebuild. It's bittersweet but I'm feeling conflicted on either end.

I honestly don't think she left it open ended at all, for either characters.

Simply because, that conversation doesn't matter anymore, what does Jiang Cheng's sacrifice matter after the extent of what they had gone through? Jiang Cheng built up a hate against Wei Wuxian because he viewed Wei Wuxian as ungrateful, and used that idea of debts to continuously cast Wei Wuxian as selfish and a martyr to show up others. Wei Wuxian hid the truth simply to coddle Jiang Cheng's pride and let his own reputation be besmirched because as he had said, it would seem as if he was using his sacrifice as leverage to downplay his own responsibilities for his actions. What is Wei Wuxian to say that Jiang Cheng will take well, he already hates that he has Wei Wuxian's core and his own hypocrisy about his own tantrums. Wei Wuxian tells him to take it as repayment, as Jiang Cheng had insisted he was owed since Lotus Pier's attack, which only goes into the same circle that neither can think of the other without debts having forced them together as friends to begin with.

Wei Wuxian's core and that reveal didn't stop Jiang Cheng to get over his jealousy of Wei Wuxian being kind enough to give his everything to make other's life easier. He doesn't like that part of Wei Wuxian, and doesn't understand it, his own "kindness" is reserved for himself and those he does love to an extent, but he is still resentful of unconditional equality and suffering that he may have to deal with. Note that he is still harassing Wen Ning despite the former saving his life multiple times already, the lesson did not extend to leave others be aside from Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Cheng said his "good bye" by letting Wei Wuxian walk away to his own future. That's not a bad way to close a relationship, is it satisfactory? Maybe not, but when you have nothing better to say, other than letting someone go, it's not supposed to feel like a victory for you. Letting go of hate isn't always cathartic, and it's something that you don't always have the easiest time ever getting rid of. You do not change your whole self when you just can't or want to, despite letting another person make their choices without your say. Jiang Cheng doesn't expect anything more, and it's why for the first time in his life, he doesn't try to have the last word in on what Wei Wuxian is doing.

Does Jiang Cheng seem upset post-canon? No, as Lan jingyi says he is the same nasty person as ever picking fights, and that's all the confirmation that Wei Wuxian needs to know that he's living and having his own life. Those sort of relationships always feel anticlimactic with resolution, but it is what it is, especially when no one needs to feel entitled or guilted into rebuilding something that neither of you really want to when you just don't get the other anymore or, only maintained it out of obligation despite having different wants and morals.

[interlagosed]

Hibs, tell me something beautiful I'm waiting for a doctor to see me and I'm bored and tired :(

.....fuck it, here's the opening of the epilogue

Prince Sir Lando of Anglosax, First of your Name, the Moon Awax—

How to even begin this missive? Goddess keep you and preserve you. That is a good start. How to continue?

I long for you every night

My heart is empty without you

Goddess protect the next man who keeps you from me or I will

Please come back to me

Mamá and Papá send their love. Cisca has been settled into her quarters; she finds them to her liking though I suspect that would have been the case regardless. She has already begun conversing in Hiberian with the staff. She is better than you, though you will not be surprised by this. She is anxious to begin her lessons. I think she is more anxious to make friends her own age. Anita would love for Cisca to be her little shadow, but I have made it clear to her that she must allow Cisca the freedom to make her own friends. Hopefully you will agree with my decision. 

Alma is insufferable. Solstice draws closer, and she has taken it upon herself to be even more dramatic than all of you in Silverstone combined. As much as I miss her when we are in Thameside, I had not realized how much I rely on the buffer that you, George, and Alex provide. 

Perhaps I am being cruel. I am being cruel. She is to take her Oath in but a week. Who among us was not insufferable leading up to that occasion? (Excepting you, of course. I have never once had to suffer you.)

Admittedly, I have been accused of brooding in your absence, my love. And how could I not brood? The words you said to me that eve in our bed, the way you felt around me, the softness of your hair between my fingers – Goddess send that you are blushing as you read this, mi amado, for I would love to kiss each rosy cheek, hold my fingers to your heated forehead, press a cool drink against your hand and love you with my whole body. My point is this: yes, I brood, for I miss you so fucking much.

I hope your trip to the abbey was fruitful, and that Oliver fares well. I was glad to hear that George and Alex have taken it upon themselves to accompany you. I can imagine they are doing your head in, but I would rather sacrifice your sanity than countenance your loneliness. I am eager to hear more of his insights. So is Blanca. 

Charles and Pierre plan to be in Navar for Alma’s knighthood, which is quite kind of them given how much work is left to be done in Seuloger. Fernando says Seuloger looks beautiful; spare, of course, but beautiful. There is now a permanent population beyond Charles and Pierre! Over a hundred already – volunteers and Reverts alike! It is a marvel, truly. Hiberia’s gift of (many, many) saplings was well-received; Seuloger now has an industry beyond pilgrimage. I need not fear Charles' lack of governance experience. To an extent.

We must discuss what Anglosax’s gift to Seuloger must be when we are reunited. I know Father will have some thoughts, but I am indeed partial to Mother’s suggestion of donating tomes. So much knowledge lost…but my extensive review of Anglosax’s archives give me heart that we may be able to aid in replenishing Seuloger’s libraries. I have some Hiberian volumes in mind as well. Might we be able to secure such a gift from other Realms too? Perhaps we could commission some illuminators to make copies of

Look at me. Do you see why we must reunite? You are the only person who enjoys listening to me. I quite miss the attention.

I do hope this missive finds that your plans of departing from Silverstone are not interrupted. Give my best to my Lord Provost, the knight masters and scholars, and Flo, of course.

A warning: I will not be able to keep my hands off of you when you disembark. I will be waiting for you. That sounds like a threat. It is a threat – but an enjoyable one, I assure you. Try to be well-fed when you arrive, yes? I do not envision many snack breaks.

It seems I must now decide how to end. 

I cannot wait to hold you again. I cannot wait to kiss you again. I am a carnal fool, but I cannot wait to be inside you again. My heart pounds at the thought. Mi Lando. I know we will not be in Thameside, home, again for a while yet, but that does not make me ache. It is only the distance from you that makes me ache. 

Soon, I will ache no more. Goddess speed your way back to me, Lando of Anglosax. I await you.

Your Husband,

Carlos

[ichayalovesyou]

Our Life Matters (Pike Meta/Theory)

“Our life, yours and mine, it matters. Just not in the way you think.” -Admiral Pike

I have been thinking about this a lot, about Pike’s personality/worldview. Thinking about the type of causality Star Trek presents. About how no one’s life is unimportant, even if it appears to culminate in what appears to be their death.

My biggest questions are:

1) How much does Admiral Pike know about what happens to his prime timeline self after he decides to deliberately stay the course?

2) How much is his personal devastation over losing Spock and enduring a 30+ year war with the Romulans caused by what he believes a personal failure, coloring that perception?

If Admiral Pike Doesn’t Know

If he still doesn’t know what happens to him after The Accident, it could be that he says “it matters, just not in the way you think” just because he believes his life purpose is to sacrifice himself for Spock. He may be too tied up in his regrets and severe depression to see the significance of his actions prior to (or even after 👀) the incident.

He will never have lived through The Accident or have accepted it as an inevitable stage of his life. Which means he would have had no reason to move past the “holy shit I’m basically gonna die” stage of grieving for his able-bodied self. Would never have learned, let alone processed, the lesson he eventually teaches himself. Which is to embrace the time he still has, and to prepare for the difficulties of what’ll happen after The Accident. He spent the seven years after escaping his fate not worrying about it, and the rest of his life after regretting that it didn’t happen because the price was Spock.

He also wouldn’t know that sacrificing himself doesn’t actually save Spock! What it actually does is prolong the inevitable. Like his accident, Spock dying of radiation poisoning is a fixed point in the timeline. Choosing to accept The Accident still results in Spock’s death it just changes WHEN it happens. So that it will happen right in the miracle alignment of circumstances that result in Kirk era crew managing to bring him back from the dead thanks to the Genesis device. (We also have no idea how “Space Seed” would’ve gone down with La’an in play and Spock being absent).

Fate keeps bending around and pushing Spock along to survive long enough to unite Romulans and Vulcans, and it is only then Spock’s luck runs out as there’s no one left to go out of their way to protect his continued existence. Time travel is frequently used to keep people who need to do specific things alive, not just Spock. The time travel shenanigans on the NX-01 & in Trials & Tribblations are proof of that. This timeline is a delicate chain of events that keeps the Federation as we know it alive and whole.

The future Pike is going for could be thwarted by time travelers trying to kill or save him before the accident happens as well. Pike letting what was going to happen anyway happen is a crucial element of the future just as much as Spock living to see it through is.

In this Pike’s opinion, assuming he doesn’t know more about his own possible life paths, his purpose is to ensure Spock fulfills his own (not unlike a parent/mentor putting the needs of their child/ward over their own) at best. At worst it’s to suffer for the greater good, which is a rare thing, considering the vast majority of suffering has no greater purpose.

Some people might interpret all of this as Spock being more important than Chris. I don’t think that’s necessarily the takeaway though. We are all the sum of our relationships. I think that Spock meeting and befriending the people he does as a biproduct of Chris’s accident is the true cause of Spock’s ability to create lasting peace between Romulans and The Federation. It’s the torch passing that’s important, and that Spock is there to help take that torch, not just Spock as an individual.

Though Spock feels lost without Pike to guide and support him like he does in SNW, which definitely accounts for his avoidant/detached behavior in TOS. He grows and learns to accept all of who he is through the friendships he forms with Kirk and that crew in Pike’s absence. Could we say the same if the crew lineup had been the same as it is in SNW? Given the strained emotional undertones of the Balance of Timeline, I think it’s safe to say the answer is no.

That Pike’s role in the path of the timeline is somehow lesser doesn’t feel right to me. Life is full of meetings and partings, you can love people and also let them go. Especially if you are in a position of stewardship and it becomes evident there’s nothing more you can do to protect or teach someone. Which, as we see in the narrative, are among Pike’s favorite things to do, often to the detriment of his own well-being. But even that isn’t the full picture!

The point of where his story appears to end is that Spock is the student that is becoming the master when it comes to compassion. If there’s anything Chris encourages Spock to be it’s compassionate. Pike’s apparent final character arc is finally learning, finally allowing himself to be selfish for once and do something that will help him as opposed to only ever helping others. However… (time to get into hypothesis territory!)

What If Admiral Pike DOES Know?

What if he does know what happens after in the timeline that he broke, what if he knows that Spock takes him to Talos IV to live his life without being wracked with the pain of his barely held together DNA. What if he knows the whole story of how his original timeline plays out? Not just that Spock is crucial for Romulan-Federation peace?

Even if he only knows how the rest of his own life will play out. Maybe when he says “it matters, just not in the way you think.” It’s because he knows himself, not just because he is himself but that he knows that he will do a great deal of good with his remaining time, not just before but maybe even after The Accident as well?

Not only would he know that the rest of his life is still incredibly important. Even if that means a well earned retirement after The Accident and nothing more, which I’m not convinced is the case. Getting to show himself a future he knows will be destroyed by his own selfless choice provides Chris with the opportunity to change things that won’t result in The Accident not happening and Spock’s subsequent death.

For example, we pretty much know/can safely bet Una will be saved next season. Something that does not happen in the Balance of Timeline. Perhaps he can prevent (or at least help mitigate the aftermath) of what causes Ortegas to be so closed off and hostile in that timeline. Same thing goes for whatever breaks Spock’s trust enough for him to question Pike’s sanity.

Those aspects may have been subtler foreshadowing than “Una’s in jail now”. Provided it wasn’t just weird clunky writing to get the Balance of Terror dialogue to work, or could be cleverly retconned as such.

Admiral Pike may be significantly sadder, wiser, probably more self-loathing than his younger self. But he still knows himself and can count on his own personality to help what can be helped, even if that isn’t and can never be himself. He also knows that his past self is probably assuming the rest of his life will be spent in pain and with very limited recovery. If he knows that isn’t true, “not in the way you think” takes on even more meaning.

He knows he’s the right Captain for the Enterprise before his time on the Enterprise is done because he’s literally already lived it. He knows what will happen because it’s happened for him already. He knows that things might possibly turn out even better with the warnings showing himself the Balance of Timeline sent. Only he knows what the next seven years (and maybe even beyond) have in store for him.

The “maybe even beyond”, the life we don’t see after he chooses to stay on Talos IV, the “not in the way you think” is what’s got me very intrigued! I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, there’s been a running theme in SNW that thing are not always as they initially appear.

[sometimes-icanstillhear-sitboy]

ALMOST TIME FOR THE NOVEMBER INUPROMPTS SEE BELOW FOR SOME PLOT BUNNIES TO HELP YOU ALONG!

PROMPTS:

REMEMBER tag @sometimes-icanstillhear-sitboy or use hashtags #novinuprompt22 or #inu-pockylypse to get a reblog.

PLOT BUNNIES - DIRECTION:

After his mother’s demise, a small Inuyasha tries to figure out where to go from here.

Kagome wants to go home. Inuyasha leads the group in the entirely wrong direction on purpose and fools no one.

Sango gently tries to teach Kagome about North, East, South and West after an embarrassing blunder.

Miroku realizes he’s found his “true North” in Sango but still goes astray. Mainly because he doesn’t want to have Sango lose another person she loves. Shes suffered enough. And, I mean, that ass though.

Kikyo struggles with her new existence and gets lost in the process.

An old man asks a traveling Inuyasha for directions in the most annoying way possible. Trying to make Kagome proud, even though he likely would never see her again, Inuyasha tries. God, he tries but the old man is senile.

PLOT BUNNIES - SACRIFICE:

During the three year separation, Inuyasha happens upon an opportunity to perform a true act of kindness but it’s not without sacrifice. Perhaps he must give something he has left of Kagome. Maybe he misses that third day. Maybe he gets brutally tortured.

During the three year separation, the well opens for Inuyasha but he’s sent to the wrong point in time. Rather than stay, he returns to his era rather than complicate her life. Maybe Kagome has no idea who he is. Maybe she’s moved on. Maybe it’s a fever dream.

Miroku gives up his food for his wife/kids during a harsh famine but pretends he’s already eaten his fill.

Sota reflects on the loss of his sister after a particularly difficult moment in his life. He misses her so much it hurts and there are times he’s so angry. 500 years in the past Kagome is drawn to the well. A terrible feeling and a fleeting moment of regret as she worries about the family she left behind to be with the man she loves.

PLOT BUNNIES - CHILDHOOD:

The Japanese children’s game of “Kagome Kagome”.

The greatest lesson a parent ever taught their now orphaned child was…

After his wife dies in childbirth, a grieving father parentifies his young daughter and leaves the care of Kohaku primarily to her.

It was slow work but little Inuyasha manages to take his mother’s corpse to a pretty place and bury her with all the respect she deserves.

Tiny Miroku gets confused and bored at the brothels Mushin keeps dragging him to. Mushin tries to condition Miroku into being a pervert so the boy feels more comfortable fulfilling his obligation to create an heir who might defeat Naraku. Because obviously, Miroku is a lost cause and he grows up being told as much.

PLOT BUNNIES - MENTAL HEALTH:

Miroku tries to balance living life with the bloodthirsty jaws of a seemingly inescapable death.

Sango’s suicidal behavior.

Inuyasha and all the *gestures at everything*

Literally the wear on everyone’s mental well being from constant battles, horrifying backstories and juggling romance. Let them have a moment of peace and take a mental health day.

Mushin & his alcoholism. Although addiction is not technically classified as a mental illness, it is a mental disorder that often occurs in tandem with mental illness. Think about it. Canonically, Mushin was brought to the temple by Miroku’s father to care for his son. Logically, this would mean that Miroku’s father trusted Mushin. They were likely friends. Very, very good friends. Why else would Mushin agree to a lifetime commitment and de facto adoption of a child? Mushin probably watched his best friend die but never had the opportunity to grieve due to child rearing. Mushin had to have assumed he would watch the boy he raised/love would also die. Had Mushin lost all hope? Afraid to teach a young child that he was likely to survive? Join us next time for Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairytale had some messed up yet largely unspoken implications.

PLOT BUNNIES - WISH:

The jewel never grants your true wish. Inuyasha worries after Kagome admits she wished on the well to see him again. After all, the jewel literally wanted to trap her soul inside it forever and logically, the jewel’s magic probably got infused inside the well after it disappeared. #neveragain

Kagome buys some new exercise clothes on the cheap (haha get it? Because Wish?). This goes about how you’d expect.

A young Sango learns about Midoriko and asks the remnants of the legendary miko to grant a wish after her Mother dies.

Watch the 10th Kingdom intro.

The group randomly stumbles onto a lucky coin and find a lot of their secret wishes come true whenever they’re in possession of it.

Miroku isn’t seeking out the jewel to defeat Naraku . He’s hoping wishing on the jewel will mean he’ll live.

[the-nysh]

People are talking about how garou still needs to face punishment for his actions I think the perfect karma will be that when he becomes a hero part of association he fails to save tare and he ends up dying in front of him with garou being forced to live with the knowledge

Hard No; that's disgusting, anon. In fact I think any types of those sadistic, non-empathetic takes in bad faith against Garou, wishing for some kind of karmic, personally vindictive revenge fantasy on him to be particularly off-putting (and rather self-incriminating from those who suggest them.) For vouching that locking the bullied victim to suffer into a cycle of punitive injustice and emotional trauma is ever a better and ~deserved~ thing (or even a 'good' healthy message from ONE, which is why the route of Saitama carelessly punching him as 'punishment' was 'bad' by allowing their world's personification of True Evil to spread over hands joined in sympathy or kindness instead; the difference is glaringly clear), rather than paving the way towards restorative true justice and positive change instead. When Garou, as himself - a far better awakened hero than many, has already shown he'd choose without hesitation to sacrifice his life in the face of god to ensure that Tareo (and the future) would live.

But here you're actually wishing that Tareo, an innocent child, deserves to permanently die? D: AGAIN? (As if ONE would commit to that without an 'undo.') As the flippant 'cost' of life just to disproportionately 'get back' at Garou (for what - 'sparring' and beating up heroes, even in his survival vs those who deliberately aimed to kill him too? now you want to kill a kid - his closest emotional anchor even, as the revolving-door of violence and 'punishment' for that?) to want to see Garou permanently traumatized and unable to heal for life (wow~), or render him suicidal with guilt? Cause he already was. :'))) The manga already went thru this! Congrats and yikes on becoming the figurative monster~ (I'd sooner think you'd be fair enough to want Genos to stay permanently dead along with the doomed ending too, just to make Saitama continually suffer 'karma' - no matter if it's 'justified' or not, alone forever with the lasting 'lesson' too, good lord. Can we not be this disturbingly grimdark thankfully opm isn't that type of story and complicit in evil. Dx)

[blissfulalchemist]

🖊🖊🖊 + anyverse!stasia, 🖊🖊🖊+ anyverse!carly xx

I had a feeling you would inquire about them!

🖊 I don't remember if I discussed this on here at one point but the biggest flaw that Stasia has in her og universe is that she's very traditionalist when it comes to magic. She hardly every took from other regions that weren’t European or the very least Western society as she felt that she knew everything and no one else really had anything else to offer her that she didn’t already have. This even translated into how she was with her bloodline. Men were never taught magic in her family traditionally, only the oldest and youngest female, as they didn’t see men as caring enough to fully grasp magic and the heart of it as they were a line of healers. While the art was lost to many those that were her direct descendents still kept up with teaching their children and primarily their daughters....until Conner’s mom kept with her rebel aesthetic and taught him from the get go and had no other children. Not only was this male being taught their family’s traditions he also had the gall to have a warlock as a father! The last bit of rubbing salt in the wound is that Conner’s mom was named after her twin but simply said a Z is cooler than an S, but still Stasia hates it. It took her so long to find him and his mom due to the fact that they weren’t as traditional and took magic from everywhere getting creative in combining different aspects to suit their needs. So this woman would much rather see her bloodline end than have it suffer any more scandal.

Spoiler warning potential under the cut

🖊 While FF!Stasia has a power that no one has really seen in a long long time she still took the route of learning magic the hard way to supplement the natural affinity, though it still has its source as creation magics like her father and mentor. This woman though also likes to plan for various worst cases and also took lessons in the blade, it just wasn't the sword. She will have a dagger upon her for the close combat and ending lives very personally, but her weapon of choice when having to go into battle is a lance. This becomes pretty vital in the Final Days as her magic now is a high risk situation. It is in no one's best interest for her help to also make the problem worse by just a simple protective wall spell turning into the very monster you wanted to sheild away from. Yes there becomes a silent competition between her and Estinien on who's better and who ends the most monsters.

🖊 In the FF universe Stasia doesn’t actually know if she’s truly immortal or incapable of aging past a certain point and she doesn’t really want to put it to the test out of fear that she’ll die before she wants to. To combat this fear she partakes in the darker side of magic and every decade or so she sacrifices a few people to keep herself looking young and adding years to her life. In all reality she can manipulate her body to look however she wants, but she cannot transfer herself into a new one. Stasia is immortal but will age and can still be killed much easier than other Ascians. She is though able to travel between reflections without having to switch to a whole new body unlike her counter parts, a big reason as to why her father was very adament to strengthening her power before she was even double digits in age. 

🖊 In og verse Carly is about late 30′s to early 40′s when she finally kills her mother, however FF!Carly is about 15 when she commits matricide and runs away. However, given the ages of when this even occured there is a distinct difference in just how these acts looked. In the og it was much slower, much more tortureous, and you can tell she made that woman suffer every second of it, in FF it was a much more impulsive looking kill despite the planning she put into it. The dancer blades helped in making the cuts clean, but there was much more blood and a very hasty clean up/presentation of the body for others to find.

🖊 FF!Carly is a few years older than Zenos but looks younger due to the fact that she took up Stasia’s offer to give a little extra life. This is something that does surprise those that find out as many like to assume she’s younger than Zenos by about 5 years when its the oppisite. 

🖊 In the same vein as OG!Carly in that almost everyone is Jack, FF!Carly gives everyone a nickname and the farther it is from your actual name the less respect she has for you. The current list is as follows:

Thancred - Boy Toy

Urianger - Shade

Y’shtola - Miss Sassy

Alisaie - Sassy Jr.

Alphinaud - Not Sassy Jr or Shortie

Estinien - Scowly or Dragon Boy (Toy)

G’raha - Crystalline or Fluffy

Emet-Selch - Emmie

Tataru - Who? and then Secretary

[sashimiyas]

I think mother-daughter tension is a hallmark of many first gen family dynamics! It took me many years to even begin picking apart the tangles in my relationship with my mother and I'm still working on it. Thank you for your kind offer.

I think the vibe is not just this feeling of tension in the interpersonal relationships that is familiar in your writing. It's the way love is stored in the kitchen, and how there's a lot of intention in the relationships you write. I learned about stories through east asian media when I was a teenager and sometimes pick up on others who did too. For those people, longing even between people who are already close seems to be a common thread. Those media are also clearly deal with situations where duty and obligation must be dealt with before directly addressing interpersonal relationships, because outside situations affect those relationships.

I don't know if you also grew up stateside, but if you grow up in an individualistic cultures, that clash between parents and close family of older generations telling us to put obligations first and society saying to take care of what you want and need first and foremost (including parts of relationships) seems to emerge in a certain way among writers.

I have only read the Burden of Being and a few of your specials, but I felt that balance in Burden of Being especially. It had already been a hard week, but reading that sincerely made me tear up more than once because the main character's way of dealing with stress was and grief was so familiar. It was incredibly cathartic to see her emerge from that with the knowledge of her own resilience but also to have the chance at love returning.

Although it may not exactly explain the vibe, there was certainly something about it....

(sorry this is so long, but I love that piece and appreciated your reply. If you have any book recommendations I would love some!)

you clocked me so well. like i’m getting heebie jeebies (pos) bc i kinda feel naked rn lol. just bc i’m baffled you were able to get that from a couple of things i’ve written. hope you don’t mind me contributing more length with some of my thoughts

the collectivist and individualist clashing ideals is so true! one of the reasons why i love reading books by asian authors and specifically, asian immigrant authors is because of that conflict of identity. to be borne from a love that’s usually in tandem with guilt, obligation, and suffering but a desire for a sense of self is so conflicting on its own.

and i feel like you find that most in asian mother-daughter relationships. being a woman by itself requires sacrifice just by societal definition alone. and for asian women, a daughter is a mirror to their younger self, the idealized vision who can pursue all a mother’s dreamed of without the sacrifices she had to make.

and for you to find familiarity in the main character of the burden of being simply swells my heart. that fic was untouched for a very long time and part of that reason was because i didn’t know how to tackle her journey through grief. a lot of fics that i admire are able to send messages of growth and healing through therapy and i wanted to do that too. but it felt like a lie bc in my personal experience, it is not that easy to seek help in healthier ways.

i was afraid that by being honest, by showing this reader go through relapse after relapse and drink her troubles away, i’d be sending the wrong message and promoting poor habits. but i’m glad i did and that by finally telling a truth that i see often, i was able to finish the fic. and it makes me think i made the right choice when people tell me they were able to relate to it! learning lesson indeed on that one.

i forgot my password to my goodreads account so my recs list might be basic because i’m pulling them off the top of my head but!

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee literally changed my life and i always recommend it. It explores family dynamics across generations.

Crying in H Mart, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, and The Joy Luck Club are obvious contenders.

Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina is an autobiography. It’s the author’s first published book I think so while I do find flaws like the lack of complexity in her storytelling/sentence structure, I found it still enjoyable to read.

The Girl With Seven Names: A North Korea Defector’s Story is an autobio that read more like a thriller with complex mother-daughter relationships.

[fantasyinvader]

I think if you actually look at TloU2 Joel comes across better than Abby and her father.

The game tries to use “Abby saves Lev and Yara” to make the audience think she's a good person. However, she herself admits she returned for them because of the guilt she felt for leaving them after they had saved her life. Abby isn't doing it out of selflessness, she's ultimately getting something out of it even if it's just lightening her burden. However, Joel saved her life as well which she repaid by blowing out his knee with a shotgun, torturing him before caving his skull in with a golf club. Sure, Abby looked conflicted about it for a moment when she discovered who Joel was, but she still repaid his acts in such a way. And then when Ellie tells her why Joel killed her father, to save Ellie, Abby's response is to point a loaded gun at Ellie after she had disarmed herself and start trying to claim moral superiority because “You killed my friends. We let you live and you wasted it.”

And this just feels like a connection to Marlene's comment to Joel about not wasting the gift he's given. Full context of that was Joel found the Fireflies after traveling across the country looking for them to bring them Ellie, was knocked out, the Fireflies wanted to kill Joel while he was out despite him bringing them Ellie, and Marlene convinced them to spare him because she wanted him to give her absolution over sacrificing Ellie. He didn't, and she ordered him out of the base without his supplies, making out sparing him a “gift” when they were originally going to kill him despite him doing a job for them. Need more proof the Fireflies simply use people?

Joel saved Ellie and Abby, the latter when he had nothing to gain from it, and it ultimately led to his death. Yet the game tries to use Abby saving Lev and Yara, repaying a debt and making her feel better about herself, to make her out to be a good person.

Likewise, Joel saved Ellie because he saw her as his daughter and knew that her survivor guilt would push her to agreeing to sacrifice herself. He saw that as wrong, so he saved her. He didn't buy into the idea that Ellie's immunity and all the death they saw on their journey had to mean something at the end. But you compare this to Jerry, who pushed for sacrificing Ellie because they had suffered so many losses over the years and wanted them to all be worth it in the end. When Marlene pushed him about what he'd do if it was his daughter on the table, he couldn't answer but Abby said she'd WANT him to sacrifice her. Keep in mind, Jerry has been giving Abby lessons like “do whatever it takes to accomplish your goals” and she is a child soldier under his command. The game even has a note where an Ex-Firefly talks about being encouraged by their leaders to give up their moralty and do messed up things under the justification “it'll be worth it in the end.” In all likelihood, Jerry indoctrinated Abby into being willing to sacrifice herself, for it to be worth it in the end after all that they've lost over the years.

Abby was his flesh and blood daughter, Ellie Joel's adopted. Kinda messed up, especially when you take those lessons into consideration and compare them to Joel teaching Ellie to swim, play guitar, and taking an interest in what she likes. Abby used her memories of Jerry to power through killing the man who just saved her life, Ellie's memories of Joel caused her to spare Abby. Joel is the better father here. The better person, and that's not even going into how Abby uses torturing people to make herself feel better. Joel would torture if he had to in order to get information, Abby did it to work off some stress.

But then people say Joel is the monster and Abby's good because she gets a happy ending by returning to the terrorist organization who raised her bringing Lev, a fucking child, with her. A terrorist organzation who blows up civilians in order to protect themselves, and started their fight because (checks notes) they were against moving into quarantine zones from the getgo and instead wanted to fight the infection rather than giving up their old ways of life.

There's a quote that's supposedly from a Japanese review of the game, “It's a story about right and wrong by people who always believe they are right.” The morality the game tries to present is bizarre to say the least, out of touch yet people keep defending it.

[tarothouselattier]

Guys, this is my pile as well. Come talk to me however you want.

Do u feel part of this cycle of caring so much for others, them not recognising it, but since u love them alot generally ur parents u don't do wht you want also circumstances point out that not following ur true desire if better as of now for everyone but then for that same misery of others not recognising ur efforts make you blame higher powers or ur luck for making ur life tough. I feel it is easy to say do what you want, live for urself but sometimes u have to go with the situation for everyone's betterment becoz u r not selfish( I k self love is not selfish but when u see ur action has impact on others then u compromise somehow and hope universe will serve u justice)

I hope I made sense

Hello.

I have gone through the same way of thinking when I was younger. I believed it was for the greater good if I sacrificed myself for others and hid that behind kindness. I never wanted anything in return, I didn’t blame people, but at the same time I was wondering “when is it my turn to be happy”.

I don’t know what exact choices you have to make, weather they have serious effect on others or it’s just day-to-day things, but believe me when I tell you — YOU are the most important person in your life. That is how it should be, and if you don’t treat yourself that way, you will continue to suffer. You’ll never stop being a victim of your own self and will always have lived your life for others.

I know it is hard to learn from people’s words, but I hope that someday you will find the strength to learn this lesson. If not YOU take care of yourself then no one will. Not that your loved ones don’t care about you, they’re just not gonnna chose you in the way you can choose yourself. How can you expect someone or the to do something you desire for you or the Universe to reward you if you can’t even do it yourself. Trust me, putting yourself first, before anyone is THE BEST thing you can do for others in your circle. You may sacrifice yourself constantly on this small scale forever, or you may refuse, fill your own cup and do things for others out of love and because you actually have what to give and want to give without sacrifice. Otherwise, you’ll be bitter till the very end.

Trust me. Also, I had a friend that had the same exact mentality as you. He believed he couldn’t not live the way his mother wanted him(in the way she saw fit, desired, the way that benefited her) or not do things for other people even if he didn’t want to. He was VERY bitter. Extremely. He told me he was always hoping for something back. It has been HIS WHOLE LIFE of hoping and NOTHING. Just bitterness. You know what I told him — I told him to stop hoping. Because it will never ever happen.

You either sacrifice yourself and box yourself in this story where you are the martyr for the rest of your life, or you will leave this paradigm behind and realise if you didn’t take care of people by sacrifice they would still take care of themselves without you. The choice is yours.

You are spiritual, from what I understand, so I hope this lesson finds you too.

I mean all of this with absolute love for you, and I mean what I said. The right time will never come. There will never be the right circumstances. There are only the ones you create for yourself.

Thank you so much for writing how you feel. I greatly appreciate it.

[crowleys-scarf]

The Book of Job

Okay so since Job is so important to Good Omens I think I’m going to lay out what’s so important about Job as a book in the Bible (credentials: I went to Christian high school and had to read and analyze Job for two separate classes in college)

First off, Job is considered ‘wisdom literature’ so it’s meant to be understood as more of a folklore-esque story that serves to teach the audience a lesson, rather than an actual historical account (obviously in GO it IS treated as something that actually happened, but bear with me)

Why does God love Job in the first place?

Job is a righteous man, he gives great sacrifices, he’s not even an Israelite(God’s chosen people), but he follows all of God’s laws, so God blesses Job with wealth, livestock, and children

The Bet

Satan suggests that Job only continues to worship God because he’s been blessed so much and if God stopped blessing him and let bad things happen to Job, then Job would curse God. So, God lets Satan destroy everything, initially just his livestock and house, then his children (and other stuff), Job’s wife tells Job to “curse God and die” but Job refuses.

The Debate

Job is visited by three friends who all claim that Job must have done something wrong to piss off God and that’s why he’s being punished because God doesn’t do things without reason, but Job over and over again asserts that he did nothing wrong.

God Speaks

Job demands an audience with God to plead his case, or to at least be told why he is being punished. God answers him and doesn’t explain anything, but says a lot about how God created everything and God’s plan is more than humans can ever possibly understand. Humans are playing checkers, God is playing chess (or poker in a dark room, if you will). I think GO sums this up very well with “if you want answers come back when you can make a whale”. Job is rendered speechless because how tf do you respond to that and thus ends their conversation.

The Blessings

Because Job never cursed God he is rewarded with new livestock and children, both more and better than he had before.

The Message

The baseline, as I understand it, is ‘sometimes bad things happen to good people, but that doesn’t mean God has abandoned you or is punishing you for something you did, sometimes bad things just happen to good people for no discernible reason’ (or rather, everything happens for a reason, but that reason isn’t always a direct result of your personal actions, sometimes it’s to win a bet with Satan)

What’s important is that Job although Job never renounced God, he does question God a lot. He demands to know the reason for his suffering because he knows that he had done nothing to deserve it. During their conversation God calls out Job’s friends for insisting that God always works in the same ways, always rewards good and punishes evil and speaks through dream, etc.

Final Note

the bet wasn’t just for funsies(even if it got a bit carried away) it was to prove Job’s faith and loyalty to God. Because having a relationship with God isn’t just about doing the right things and getting rewarded it’s about the relationship. And like any other relationship if they only like you because you give them stuff then that’s kinda toxic.