#write another paragraph

[bookshelf-in-progress]

To prove that I am trying to write a retelling, here's a failed opening paragraph to a "King Thrushbeard" retelling that I'm never going to write.

Our first year of marriage, my husband and I lived in a hovel. It was a tiny, damp, dim little room, with a dirt floor, a straw roof, and a chimney that always smoked. It sat a mile from the nearest village, abandoned by a farmer who had failed. It sat on the banks of a tiny creek, and at sunrise I would leave the dim confines of the house to wade in the shallows and watch the water ripple over stones, watch the sun flash on the water, watch the birds dive for bugs and sing their praises to the living God who'd given them another day. Sometimes I dream of returning there—the creek would be the same, I think, even so many years later. Of course, at the time, I was miserable.

[zuzu-draws]

Yuuji's ''I'm going to die with him'' from the start of the series to ''Sukuna, Come back and live with me '' at the end is, honestly, very beautiful.

"Let's try again one more time Sukuna, but this time, without cursing anyone. Even if no one else accepts you, I'll live with you" do you understand what's going on here? This is Yuuji attempting to connect with Sukuna, to show a certain compassion that is entirely alien to Sukuna. To the way he delicately lifts Sukuna's remains, with such carefulness, as if holding the remains of a precious loved one, Yuuji tries to show Sukuna "love". The same "love" that has been teased to us this entire series, that who is it that will show it to Sukuna, teach him of it.

This is the same Yuuji, who, at the beginning of the series held absolute disdain towards Sukuna, and always looked at him with much accusatory contempt and mistrust. At that point, He truly did think of Sukuna as nothing more than a "curse". The same "curse" Sukuna calls himself one last time as the last embers of his soul fade in Yuuji's hands.

But this time, Yuuji has a troubled look in his eyes.

As if he disagreed with him.

This is the look of someone, who is looking at the Humanity Sukuna does not believe exists within himself.

Humanity that Sukuna denies himself.

That Sukuna is not a curse, but a human that has been cursed.

[gingerswagfreckles]

Gentiles will see a post where someone justifies murdering a 4 year old Jewish child for liking Batman under the argument that it is "cop propaganda" and write a paragraph about why Batman isn't cop propaganda instead of why murdering Jewish 4 year olds for any reason is bad.

[psychotic-nonsense]

"I'm sorry."

It's the first thing Steve says after everything.

After getting Vecna Cursed. After nearly dying. After a hallucination of Eddie saved him. After running through a looped forest. After finding sanctuary in Steve's memory of that Starcourt bathroom. After Eddie reveals himself as Eddie.

It's the only thing he can think of. It's not big enough to fit everything, but it's the only thing that fits in his mouth.

"Don't be."

Maybe that's the only thing Eddie can think of too. The only thing Eddie can bear to say.

Because don't be can't stop Steve's eyes from watering when he sees the vest in his closet. Don't be can't stop Steve's feet from dragging him to the cemetery every evening to clean Eddie's graffiti-covered tombstone. Don't be can't stop Steve from sitting beside Wayne and listening to him talk about the Eddie he remembers. Don't be can't stop Eddie's body from showing up in Steve's dreams, nor Eddie's corpse from his nightmares. Don't be couldn't keep the pain away enough, didn't stop Vecna from latching onto it while Steve was walking alone in the woods.

Don't be isn't enough for what Steve wants to hear. But even stuck here waiting, hoping, for someone to get Steve out, there just isn't enough time.

"I miss you."

"...Why?"

Eddie says it back so quickly, so quietly, like it's just unfathomable to him. Maybe it is, considering their last memories. But their eyes meet and he looks just as sad, just as longing, as Steve.

"You were my friend."

Steve can't help but say it like that. Like they were friends for years instead of days. Like Eddie was that important to him in their final moments. Like his heart really aches for Eddie every second of the apocalypse.

Can't help but say it like he means it.

"I wish we could've had more time..."

Steve's voice cracks a little there as he turns away, hiding. It's all he wants. It's all Vecna used to entice him with. It's all that's keeping him going, to finally fulfill the last request Eddie made. It's all he has left to feel close to Eddie.

The Eddie that's sitting right next to him, silent, his sight weighing on Steve's skin. Conscious and aware and the real Eddie. Trapped in Vecna's head as a backup power source, yet who still risked everything to come save Steve. Who Steve will never see again because killing Vecna means killing Eddie for good, and his heart doesn't want it, is begging for another solution...

But for once, his broken head overpowers his shattered heart.

"Maybe we did."

Eddie takes Steve's hand. Meets Steve's surprised look with his own small smile of hope. They're both suddenly tearing up, eyes glistening with life in this gray stall.

"Maybe in another world, we got a second first chance. A first second chance. Maybe even a third, or fourth. Maybe in a different life, we had everything we wanted. Because you, Steve Harrington, are too good for me to be doomed to meet just once."

And for a moment, Steve sees it. Feels it. Versions of them connected through the universe.

Little kids playing in the lake. One with bruised skin and shaved hair, loud but unfathomably lonely. One with a bruised heart and soft eyes, timid but stubbornly hopeful.

A rockstar with glittering chains, center stage in the spotlight. A set of eyes in the crowd or behind the curtain, watching only him.

A werewolf and a vampire, two cryptids of horror, meeting in the dead of a full moon night to feel safe with the only other one who understands.

A future where they won, where the only death was the one that mattered. A process of healing and learning, coming home to a family every single day.

A world without pain, without their hell, where two high schoolers found freedom from their shackles and company in each other. Hiding away together in the dark corners of the town.

Steve even sees other versions of them. Versions that he knows were originally never supposed to meet, yet forces so much greater than them pulled them together.

A metalhead drug dealer, constantly getting into trouble with one nail-bat-weilding cop.

A criminal's fugitive nature leading him to a rugged trailer park, and the dangerous owner within one such home.

An eccentric king in an old coliseum, always choosing one particular warrior as his champion.

A young programmer being pulled away from his work by sobs above his apartment, running upstairs to check on the law student that recently moved in.

Two actors, finding an easy friendship in the months of filming one season of a show that would change their lives.

In that moment, Steve's overwhelmed by the closeness he suddenly feels with the soul beside him. Falling into tears, he pulls Eddie into a tight hug, holding him so so close to convey everything he can't say. Feeling Eddie hold him back, hearing everything Eddie can't say in return.

Familiar music comes on outside the stall. Robin's voice calls out to him, telling him to come home.

And when he does leave, Steve hopes that someone out there will understand that he never can. Because here in Eddie's arms is the only place that will ever truly feel like home.

"Thank you... for everything, Eddie."

Thank you, Steve. For everything and more..."

--------------------

- List of AUs, in order, after, "Versions of them connected through the universe": Childhood Friends / Rockstar!Eddie / Werewolf!Steve & Vampire!Eddie / Eddie Survives / No Upside Down & High School

- List of Multiverse Steddie AUs, in order, after, "...yet forces so much greater than them pulled them together": Eddie x Gator / Baron x Michael / Geta x Sean / Keys x Eric / Quinn and Keery

[dmbakura]

woke up and first thing i do is be insane about white rabbit again. anyways here's another thread about him, focusing on his fatalistic views and relationship with the makaians he experimented on (this was formatted for bsky so i didnt go into as much detail as i wanted due to character limit and im too lazy to write more so)

white rabbit is a death seeker. like bro wants to die, plain and simple. he's on borrowed time with his artificial demon heart sustaining him. whatever freedom he hopes makaians will gain from bringing down sparda's wall, he knows he's probably going to expire before seeing it

it's pretty obvious with how he interacts with dante and lady. it's not just about killing them (he honestly seems pretty reluctant to kill lady in particular, perhaps thinking death is too good for her/wanting to thoroughly make her suffer first) it's about making them understand him

a lot of his decisions come across as reckless and kind of careless but i think it's by design. he shows a lot of himself to dante and lady, especially by leading them to his room. he wants to be "caught" in a sense. and it also explains why he doesnt just fall back and regroup when it's obvious he has no shot of winning against dante after his army gets decimated. he doesn't have the time or resources to try again (always running out of time!) and figures one last hail mary. and he does succeed! for a moment anyway

all of this is probably why he doesnt even sound particularly bothered when dante kills him, just leaves him with spiteful words about how this world fucking despises orphans and he has no place in it (holy projection batman!) he's completely resigned, and narratively, he's right.

another moment i keep thinking about is when he pulls himself from the river and finds bloodstryke (his last demon soldier). he doesn't look crazed or elated that he still has a shot or anything like that. he looks resigned and sad and empty. even regretful.

and bloodstryke, for a moment, actually looks happy to see him! which makes me think that it's very likely a lot of the makaians he augmented/experimented on were probably completely willing to donate themselves to the cause. why wouldnt they be? they have just as much a reason to fight.

idk we don't actually get too much follow up or fleshing out of his current relationship with the makaians, but to me it reads less like "mad scientist" and more like a weirdly twisted way of "caring" for them. it's not like white rabbit isn't also experimenting on himself and pushing his own body to its absolute limit. he knows what's at stake here.

i dont have a good way to end this thread im just thinking real hard about a lot of areas in the plot that season 1 didn't really have time to linger on (8 episodes is really damn short) and im hoping we see some sort of follow up on these plot threads (even flashbacks or whatever) in season 2 because i just love wrabbit so much and there's a lot of backstory they can utilize with him.

[honkceasar]

Thinking about riptide 86 again. Shocker to absolutely no one

[airenyah]

Episode 6: FadelStyle vs. Beginnings and Endings

In the past one and a half-ish weeks we've discussed at length just how good the last scene at the diner is and how Style drawing tears on Fadel at the rock concert was foreshadowing to Fadel ending the episode crying real tears. What I haven't seen discussed yet, however, is how that ending scene is actually a counterpart to Fadel and Style's conversation after the rock concert. And I think that makes the scene in the diner even more poignant. And it also makes the scene at the rock pub even more painful as well. Because they are basically the same scenes, just flipped. And I desperately need to talk about it or else I'll explode.

Part 1: "Tonight I am very happy"

In this scene Style knows something that Fadel doesn't: This will most likely be their last chance to be happy together like this. Tomorrow Fadel will go on his mission where the police will be waiting and then Fadel will be taken away from him.

But Style already loves Fadel, he is already worried about him and he really does not want to lose him. So he keeps trying to subtly talk Fadel into staying home from the mission and spilling the beans about the mission so he can explicitly ask Fadel not to go. But Fadel keeps his mouth shut. And as happy as Style is together with Fadel this evening, he is also very upset. He doesn't want the night to end, but there's no way around it. For Style this is a goodbye.

And for Fadel? Fadel went from I'll tell her this will be your last job to Ruerat is the last jerk we have to kill. After that, we can live however we want. Even in this episode, right before he goes to the concert with Style, Fadel tells Bison "Once we're done with Ruerat, I'll talk to Mother again", when Bison says it's time for them to quit. Fadel is on the same page as Bison now. Ruerat is their last victim and after that Fadel wants out. For Fadel, this is the last night where he's still stuck in his hitman life, but once he is done with his mission the weight will be off his shoulders and he can finally truly be with Style. For Fadel this is the opposite of a goodbye.

In the words of my mother: For Style, when the night is over life will end. For Fadel, when the night is over life will begin. Style is ending something and Fadel wants to begin something.

And another thing my mom pointed out is how they're standing in front of a pink sky:

And at what time of the day is the sky pink? Either at dawn or at dusk. The beginning of the day or the end of the day. And for Fadel this scene is only the beginning of the day while for Style this scene is the end of the day.

Part 2: "I think I already love you"

In this scene Fadel knows something that Style doesn't: Style has played him, has made him lower his protective walls, has made him fall for him only to turn around and betray him.

Style told Fadel he hoped that Fadel wouldn't get any more scars and yet here Style is, stabbing Fadel right in the heart and jeopardizing his life. Here Style is, bursting Fadel's bubble that he's finally started daring to dream about, a dream of a future where he wasn't lonely, a future where he was happy and himself with someone, Style, by his side. But Style is a danger to him. Style can't stay. As happy as Fadel has been together with Style, he needs to let go of him. For Fadel this is a goodbye.

And for Style? He has just spent a full week worrying sick about Fadel after his mission went wrong and went completely MIA. Style has likely (definitely) spent a week checking the restaurant every single day for any sign of Fadel's return, not giving up hope of seeing him again. And then Fadel is back. Style is overjoyed. The heavy metal concert wasn't their last day together, Fadel is pulling through on his promise to have many more nights like that with each other. The concert may have been the end of the day, but now against all odds a new day has come. For Style this is the opposite of a goodbye.

And so we're left with the exact opposite situation from what we had at the concert: Fadel is ending something and Style wants to begin something.

Conclusion

These two scenes go together, they're flipped parallels of each other.

At the concert, Style is internally saying goodbye to Fadel because he thinks their relationship will be over when Fadel gets arrested at the mission and the police take him away. At the diner, Fadel is internally saying goodbye to Style because he thinks their relationship is over now that he "knows" that none of it was real on Style's part since in reality he was working with said police.

At the concert Fadel is truly happy, because once his mission is over he'll talk to mother and when he's managed to convince her that him and Bison will be out, then Fadel can go and start a new life, a new future with Style. At the diner, Style is overjoyed because he thought he was about to lose Fadel, but Fadel has come back and now Style gets a second chance at a future with Fadel.

At the concert, Fadel is happy and he can tell something is kinda off about Style ("What's wrong? You act like we're not going to see each other again."), but he has absolutely no idea that Style is in the process of bidding him farewell. At the diner, Style is happy and he can tell something is kinda off about Fadel ("You were just calling me out for being affectionate. Now you wanna be romantic?"), but he has absolutely no idea that Fadel is in the process of bidding him farewell.

It's brilliant writing, really. And both scenes were flawlessly performed by both boys.

[balkanlila]

an arrangement between effects of the light and the flesh of the city

My Brilliant Friend (TV) // L'amica geniale, Elena Ferrante // excerpts from my diary

I am perpetually fascinated by the landmark qualities behind Enzo's physicality in a world plagued by disintegration. I especially enjoy how it compliments Lila's outwardly signatures, such as nervousness and a body that is often described as fragile and betraying, all characteristics that are in tune with dissolving boundaries as a concept. There are two spheres this relationship inhabits narratively: one of the cyclical, historical and architectural Naples and one of the confined area that is a room and I am restless in my curiosity when it comes to those spaces interacting and what that means for these characters.

[5mary5]

I have this little headcanon cause i was reading the comic of obey me and we as mc have been given the neutral name zephyr in the very early chapters since we are a sheep and all and they want to make it inclusive since the name itself is gender neutral but I was thinking that let's say one day the curse is solved and sheep!mc gets their body back but the characters continue calling mc zephyr, what if one day someone (probably a side or secondary character) brings up the fact that "hey you know what? Your face doesn't really scream zephyr" and mc is like "yeah that's because that is not my actual given name, my actual name is ________" and the characters are like "😱😱😱" I mean they did know that this wasn't their real name since they gave it to them cause they can't just call them human and all but it's still shocking to hear it coming out of their own mouth, they would also probably coo when mc tells them their birth name because it means they learn more about their favorite person, well I mean they would coo at everything mc does regardless so-

[sunshades]

Kind of a dumb thought but something just hit me: What if Heathcliff got a bit of Book!Cathy's personality? Book!Heathcliff wasn't really very violent or temperamental but *Catherine* in the books was. Do you think that's true?

I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BEFORE TOO!

i remember laughing my ass off back in part 1 when hindley talks about losing the manor to her because that was like. wait. she wasn't lying she really is heathcliff 😭... then we find out it was Literally Heathcliff who physically ran that con, but it felt purposeful to have catherine be the one behind it, even if it was with nelly and n corp.'s help. book!cathy is impulsive, gets carried off by her feelings, while game!cathy has a much cooler and more calculating demeanor, even when literally getting overwhelmed by the despair of countless lifetimes (very heathcliff!). the way she explicitly sees the marriage as a means to an end in particular to me reads as closer to book!heathcliff's own view than to her book counterpart, who is instead the coping and suppressing queen 🔥

ON the other hand those traits fit heathcliff much more, i think particularly the way the reasoning behind it- cathy's is a reflection of how hindley has raised her, used to seeing that violence, always on edge and ready to snap at the slightest provocation. that's incredibly close to game!heathcliff, where a lot of the violence seems to come specifically from being insulted or looked down upon (hi S.E.A). it's a very different brand from book!heathcliff who, while also violent, is much more calculating about when and how to use it, working in tandem with his status to force others to respect his superior role as the patriarch. we see this trait in the erlking instead, the whole system of "whoever i kill belongs to me" which is cool as fuck btw.

also (<- guy who always has to make it about how theyre gen2) it's fun because some of these traits are then shared by the gen2 characters theyre based on too- catherine's more gloomy personality, the kind of fatalistic way of talking is in line with book!heathcliff but with catherine linton as well, with both of them getting described in mythical terms as a way to insult them (heathcliff is called a vampire at various points, cathy l. is called a witch) which checks out with game!cathy being described as frightening.

on the other side heathcliff's short fuse is close to book!cathy, but also to hareton, and both of them are also very empathetic (yeah even cathy. the if she made you cry she'd keep you company (and cry as well) from the early chapters as well as the whole each of his miseries speech) in a way that heathcliff shares, but not his book self. which is also a fun thought because book-wise heathcliff seeing catherine in her daughter is very obvious, but he also absolutely sees her in hareton which is so interesting.

there's also the factor of the post canto vi identities which is really huge. the narrative focusing on that theme of an empty life really connects heathcliff back to the catherine from the book- the repression of her feelings for heathcliff, the attempt to fit into a life she admits is not right for her, the idea that just forgetting about him would allow her to be happy. all ideas that both game and book nelly strongly believes in! and the outcome is SO similar to what happens to the heathcliffs of those worlds where she doesn't exist anymore. denying those feelings never truly allows either of them to actually suppress them. he ends up much like cathy falling into her delirium- asking whether he's going to come back for her, seeing him in the shadows, knowing something is wrong and something is missing even if you can't put a name to it.

ofc then their feelings corresponding and overlapping is part of the plot and the big reveals of the canto, but when comparing them to the book selves it definitely feels like the switching around of many elements of their characters was purposeful. as the spread of the traits they share and the points where they differ was really well balanced, the outcome is a dynamic that's fresh while still being recognizable! very tasty!

[stuckinthisdamnhellsite]

he couldn't tell her. wouldn't tell her. wouldn't be yet another voice of cynicism against her optimism. but he also wouldn't high five her again either. too jaded, too tired, too many years spent doing this to waste time on celebrating when there's always more work to be done.

but one thing he was not, was callous. he would not let her crying go ignored. get swallowed up by all the other wails around him. this, he could help with. this pain he could lessen. and so he did. the best he could. no high fives, no hugs, no pats on the back. just words. as comforting as he could make them.

this job is tough, but so are you. and showing emotion is not the same as showing weakness. you being here is helping, you are making a difference.

he stopped there. he could have continued but again, he didn't want to kill her optimism. didn't want to make her as jaded as he was. even though he could see her future so clearly. couldn't see any other way she wouldn't turn out just like him. but he wouldn't be the one to tell her. not now. not like this.

not when she is currently so little like him. has such a bright outlook and genuine excitement. when he first met her, it took him off guard. pulled the rug out from under him. and any other cliche phrases he could think of. so far removed was he from feeling like that, he couldn't even think of how he was when he first started. was he like that too? did he have that sort of unquestionable hopefulness? how did it all turn around, turn him into this?

as he walked away he couldn't help but think that one day, one day she'd get it. one day she'd be as tired and as frustrated as he was and it would all make sense. but then maybe, just maybe, she'd have someone, the exact opposite to how she was, show her that maybe it doesn't have to be that way. and she'd have a moment like this too, to be able to see that there just might be another way to be. another way to look at things. that maybe, hope might still be possible.

[fantastic-nonsense]

hmmm have I been working to build out the Cass-Damian Gates of Gotham-era conversation in my Cass character study WIP out of sheer spite for the nonsense I dealt with yesterday? maybe. is my fic also officially above 5k now because of it? also yes!

for fun, a sneak peek:

The Girl Who Became Cassandra found The Bat and a voice and the love of the arts. She wonders what Damian will find, if he looks down into himself. “Being the Bat….” She struggles to articulate her feelings to him, this child who does not understand the enormity of his words, “…it’s all I ever wanted. It’s my hope. What I see in my future. But it doesn’t have to be in yours.” He wants to argue, she can tell. He wants to spit denials and rant about how wrong she is about him. But for reasons she can't fathom he stays quiet instead, and silence descends once more. One day, Damian will discover that the “R” on his chest is to him what the Bat is to her, and he will finally understand what she was trying to tell him, in this quiet moment atop Wayne Tower. But in this moment, Cassandra and Damian understand each other as only children born to kill can do: the shame of their pasts. The commitment to being better. The desire to rise above what they were forced to become. And the burning loyalty to people who believe they are better than their worst sins.

[egginfroggin]

Brainworms are at it again.

His nephew is the first person to greet him before the funeral, followed quickly by Shermie, and then the two five-year-old children who anyone can see will be extremely hard-pressed to sit still for any length of time. “Greetings” for the twins means that Mabel – just as loud as she was when she was a baby, he notes – throws herself at his legs and does her level best to climb him like a tree while dragging Mason along for the ride. He has a moment to regret not reaching out earlier before tossing dirt over the thought in favor of trying to stop Mabel from worming her way under his jacket. Results are debatable. The struggle ends with her slung over his arm like a folded dishrag, giggling away, while Mason – or Dipper, as he apparently likes to go by now – holds onto two of his six fingers on his free hand. Ford has no idea where their parents went, and Shermie is trying and failing to stifle laughter, having been absolutely no help whatsoever.

“What kinds of creatures are there in these woods?” Dipper asks one day, standing on tiptoe beside Ford at the stove. Mabel stands on a stool a handful of paces over, whisking pancake batter with utter abandon. “Squirrels. Bears. Cougars. Opossums. Raccoons. Several species of mice.” Ford could go on, but he reaches over Dipper’s head to steady Mabel when she almost topples over reaching for the chocolate chips on the counter. Stars, these children are short. Were he and Stanley that short at their age? “That’s not what I meant,” Dipper sighs. “I mean like….” He trails off, biting his lip. “Anything spooky!” Mabel says, grinning wide and bright. There’s already a smear of chocolate in her teeth, the bag of sugary chips open and invaded within seconds of her grabbing it. “Orrrrrr, y’know… magical? In a big, mysterious forest like this? I'll bet Bigfoot would love it here.” Ah. That’s not good. “I’d consider rabies to be plenty ‘spooky,’ considering its similarities to a stereotypical zombie bite,” he says flatly, tossing a pat of butter into a skillet. “Or prions.” Mabel makes a face, and Dipper shakes his head again. “Also not what we mean,” the boy says, and, okay, time to nip this in the bud. “I’m sure there are plenty of things in these woods that have yet to be documented,” he says, holding a hand out for the bowl of batter. Dipper smacks the ladle into his broad palm, and, okay, close enough. “You are not the ones to document them. Matter of fact, consider them all a reason to stay out of the woods.” “But –” “No buts,” he cuts in, fixing them both with a stern stare. “You know the rules.” Mabel slides the bowl over, lips fixed in a slight pout, and he takes it. “And believe me,” he says, more gently now, “the squirrels are problematic enough.” That gets a small smile out of them, and he breathes a silent breath of relief.

(There’s a whisper in the back of his mind, the same one that likes to wake up when he doesn’t sleep, telling him that they don’t trust him, that they’re plotting something, that maybe he shouldn’t trust them, either) (He swiftly silences it and shoves it in a box to drown in sheer, unadulterated fondness for Dipper and Mabel) “If you’re sure,” he says, and Mabel gives him a hug around the middle. He smiles and pats her hair before picking up his mug of coffee. “If you ever need to talk about anything, you know I’m here, yes?” They exchange a look – guilty? Worried? It’s gone too fast for him to decipher, and then they’re nodding and saying that right now they’re just hungry and want some lunch and can they please have some ice cream for lunch pretty please? He huffs and tells them no, and they pout and huff right back. Ford is done with the first mug of coffee when a wave of sleepiness comes over him like a sneak attack from the twins. He doesn’t even manage to set the next one to brew before he winds up on the floor, and ah, he thinks on the way down, that was definitely guilt they were feeling.

“Did you kill him?” It’s the middle of summer, and everything is wrong.

[gossippool]

i was gonna make a personal poolverine headcanons list because other people were doing it too but i realised my fics already have most of them so. here are some of my headcanons in fic snippet form. some contradict with others and some i don't even think are necessarily true but it's fun to experiment

people have said this before but logan fights wade because he sees himself in him (or because he realises that he actually doesn't and he hates that)

wade knows about and feels the (emotional and psychological) effects of all his other variant selves (and everything else if he tries)

logan's heightened senses gives him synesthesia

logan doesn't actually like violence/fighting/blood during sex or like ever. it's just an unhealthy addiction that started from him killing all those people that he snuffed with alcohol but revived with wade, and a way to take his anger out on (someone like) himself

with regard to wade's chronic pain slight p pressure on his skin hurts more and in a worse way than sharp pains like getting stabbed

[toadletthethird]

It's actually ironic how far away Skeptic is from the skepticism of Hellenistic period (aka the canonical one)

He fully applies to the first part of definition given by Sextus Empiricus: "Scepticism is an ability, or mental attitude, which opposes appearances to judgements in any way whatsoever..." - and he too distinguishes the appearance of real perceived objects, that shouldn't be denied, and the subjective judgement about it, which should. As his character is built after a betrayal of subjectivity (distrust to the narrator and the princess), he clings to the objectiveness as something understandable enough to rely on. Oh and also σκέψις can be translated as examination so it's a funny little throwback to being-locked-in-chains situation

BUT he completely misses out the second, perhaps the most important part: "...with the result that, owing to the equipollence of the objects and reasons thus opposed, we are brought firstly to a state of mental suspense and next to a state of 'unperturbedness' or quietude"

The antic skepticism is about finding serenity in detachment after seeing the ungraspable multiplicity of truth. As opposed, our Skeptic tries to find ease in a single understandable system....which doesn't exist. So he constantly stuck in attempts to solve the unsolvable rather than accept things how they are.

If we're being honest, Cage is more canonically skeptic than Skeptic.

The closest he was to this ideal is MOC. But y'know, he wasn't quite at peace there. Which says a lot.

(Oh and there's the story of how Pirrho saw his teacher drowning in a swamp and walked by without helping, feeling nothing because of how cool his skepticism was - remember the grey and the den, huh?)

Saw a beautiful take somewhere here about how every voice is built with a little unfinished piece. When Opportunist will end up at the top, what's then? When Stubborn's toughest fight will end, what's then? All their worldviews are driven by some inner need, but it often looks like they never could satisfy it, or if they did, their existence would become meaningless. And maybe it's what it is for Skeptic. When he reaches the truth in all its greatness, will he be able to let go? Can he stop constantly craving for a deeper meaning? Will he understand that everything at once in its summation is the truth, controversial as it is? Can he believe?

[paulic]

happy birdyyyyyyyy to this one <3