#but of course that was too good to last

[comradekatara]

ily king on god we’re gonna get u a razor

#id in alt text #avatar the last airbender #atla #HARU #art #mart #underrated king…. #just shave that mustache & he’s perfect #i definitely disregarded him for way too long (for unfortunate facial hair decisions i must say) #but he’s literally awesome and so cute w katara <33 and brown <33 #also yes i am now obsessed w this watercolor painting technique and i will probably draw everything in this style for the foreseeable future #until i inevitably get sick of it of course #but rn in my mind im like wow this looks sooooo good #and it’s so easy #thank u procreate pocket watercolor & calligraphy brush u guys are my best friends <3 #friendship ended w wet acrylic etc etc #anyway. i love him he’s so wretched of the earth core. literally #also his hair is so fun to draw #his beautiful luscious locks #if haru has ten fans i am one of them if haru has zero fans i am dead etc etc etc

[starry-bi-sky]

okay a few more danyal al ghul au memes because i think they're funny to make. with bonus yaelokre danyal memes!

yaelokre! danyal 🤝 threes! danyal: being five years older than damian

yaelokre danyal comes from my oneshot right here. however, i would frankly recommend reading the version i put on ao3 because it's been edited and includes more content! shout out to my boy, he's got amnesia </3

Do i think that the LOA has technology in it? Absolutely I do. LED lights but in 3000k warm white instead of the jarring bright sterile white, if they've got glass windows they're those solar panel glass panes my college natural science building uses that detects sunlight position, which in term controls the lights, which in turn saves energy. Amber lights for outside, solar panels. Just. anything environmentally sound and friendly, they've got it, they use it.

Do i think they've got computers and tvs lying around for casual recreational use? ....that i'm not so sure about. For this au? I'm gonna say nooooottt really. That stuff is typically reserved for like, mission planning, debriefing, research, etc. Frankly danny probably does know how to use a computer, however i thought it was funny if he didn't. so the meme is staying in lmao.

If they're not training, they've probably like, got a greenhouse or two somewhere on base they can help with. The LoA's whole thing is balance, harmony, restoring the natural world with extreme environmentalism. All that jazz. Probably plenty of ponds, recreational areas outside, gardens, just, stuff to do that's not technology based. My most basic understanding is that these people are the world's deadliest hippies. They can't be training all the time, that's neither good for morale nor for their bodies, so when they're not training... they're off doing shit. If Ras has kept this thing running for thousands of years then it’s gotta be pretty lit enough that nobody’s revolted lmao.

#dpxdc #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc crossover #danny fenton is not the ghost king #danyal al ghul au #danyal al ghul #amnesiac danyal al ghul au #yaelokre danyal al ghul #hey i finally came up with an au name for my main danyal al ghul au! oh man i have so many posts to reblog. its called #things in threes au #im a good mom talia truther nobody @ me. the villanization of her character stems from post 9/11 racism that's slowly being undone #and there's not enough good mom talia aus in danyal al ghul aus. not ones i've seen at least. #Ras is not an idiot if he's kept this organization running for millennia. If he wants his warriors to be in top shape they *need* breaks #they need high faith and good morale to prevent dissension. Which means good food. things to do. socialization. things to keep them *happy. #Too much exercise is just as bad as not enough and your body will forcibly shut down if you do not do it yourself. Ras can't have that. #of course there's always ruling with an ironfist and dictatorship. but the league would not have lasted as long as it has if that were the #case. #ras may be a shit grandfather in threes but its still up in the air for yaelokre #we’ll see where the wind blows for him. the au is still young

[sysig]

“It could be that the loss of her children drove the Queen deeper into her darker desires...but, I don’t believe she was fighting against them that hard before that particular tragedy. No monster does.” (Patreon)

Bonus:

Hmm, wonder what he could cover those holes with :3c

#Doodles #Handplates #UT #Fellplates #UkaGaster's answers about Toriel really interest me :3c #As evidenced by the quote caption lol - but his other ones are very interesting too! Since it sounds like she's still around! #Poor classic Handplates!Gaster believed Tori dead for such a long time while she was at the Ruins #Meanwhile Fellplates!Gaster is just like ''? I saw the Queen last week she threw me into the pricker bushes? -.ò'' lol #But anyhow lol ♪ The implications that they're still in each other's vicinity really makes me curious about their relationship! #And how Toriel might react to knowing that someone - someone other than her - is having So Much Success on one of her sore spots #Not just of having children but of the constant reminders of Gaster's success where she has to live every day with a heavy heart for her own #Being cruel to him over it - well that's just par for the course isn't it ♪ #He mentions that she's much more of an emotional sadist - insulting him and then making it Very clear that she does Not approve of the holes #''They're ugly and you should feel ashamed for drawing so much attention to something so unsightly'' #I do think that her knowing that he's so intent on being kind and merciful and then twisting the knife on how much he's hurting her- #Making him feel guilty for daring to even attempt the betterment of all - for giving pieces of himself away and try to be a good person #''If anyone will break my spirit it will be her'' :) #Although that's all assuming that Toriel even knows about the brothers! :0 When I thought about it later it'd make more sense if she doesn't #It was still too good to not do something with the idea hehe - but imagine her betrayal if/when she found out tho she'd kill him on the spot #Gosh I haven't drawn Tori in foreeeeever I can't even remember the last time #Doing a/nother study on her would probably be fun haha she's rather plain how I draw her currently #I wonder if her Fellplates version would also wear reading glasses hehe #And the bonus :3c Where are the plates featured in Fellplates? Surely it's not just called that as a reference right ♪ Hehehe

[mattodore]

delphi, bitten pack member, mate

#river dipping #delphi sol #lykos #ts4 #ts4 edit #ts4 cas #simblr #no good morning just immediately firing shots LOOK 🫵 AT HER 🫵 #GOD............................... WEREWOLF WOMAN WHO WILL TEAR INTO ME WITH HER CLAWS AND REVEL IN THE WARMTH OF BLOOD I WANT YOUUU #SHE'S SO SEXY LIKE. SAID THIS OVER ON PF ALREADY BUT I NEED TO BE FOUR FINGERS DEEP INSIDE HER ALREADY #FACE FIRST IN HER BREASTS LIKE. DYKERY IN MY MIND THE LIKES OF WHICH YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVEEEEE RN #FEMMES............. I AM YOURS ALWAYS AND FOREVER <3 #...me thinking delphi is the sexiest woman alive aside... look at her pointy wolf ears sticking out!! #and yeah... her and ria both have scars on their throats. they gave them to each other :)<3 #they're werewolf soulmates..... of course it's that intense and serious they had to wound each other #delphi's is from when ria turned her but ria's is from delphi wanting to mark ria back... normally it'd heal but :) #ria is a born wolf and delphi is their little werewolf mate... which means they don't heal like a wolf would at delphi's hands #delphi's not a born wolf tho so </3 not the same for her. but turning scars always stay with the body along with any other wounds #that were already there at the time of turning... #<- this is real lykos story lore so. don't look too closely at ria's scars from that last post. they don't actually make sense #i just thought wow... those are sexy. and put them on her kjdgfkhfn #none of the lykos ocs' scars are canon until i make them myself #but dionte's eye scar and delria's throat scars are canon!! i'll make custom ones one day but for now! i'm just rocking with what i've got

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance - Symphony of Sorcery

#kingdom hearts dream drop distance #khddd #symphony of sorcery #scenery #my gif #i originally planned on splitting this set in two and wanted to create separate posts for both sides of this world #but i was surprised that i struggled with that and many of my shots didn't feel distinct enough when i put them all together #dunno how i messed that up so bad since this world has so much going for it #so i had to scrap a good chunk of what i made but i actually think it looks better this way so maybe it's not such a bad thing #sora's side is on the left (except for the last gif) and riku's is on the right #it gives you a better feel for how varied and different these magical realms are #and yeah that's what they're called #anyways i'm so glad this world exists because it's so experimental and different #everything from the visuals to the music and how sora and riku's battle sounds are instead replaced by more music #as if they're composing it themselves #which of course ties into how they must find and collect their sound ideas #it's all so incredible and works perfectly for a game centering around dreams #i hope we can see more unique worlds like it in future games too

[catzy88]

Le Bien Qui Fait Mal

Or, Salieri's descent into bisexual crisis and BDSM madness

#mozalieri #mozart l'opera rock #mozart l'opéra rock #musicals #musicaledit #antonio salieri #wolfgang amadeus mozart #florent mothe #mikelangelo loconte #my gifs #gaaahhh this gifset was a nightmare to do #not least because this is only my second time making gifs in the first place #and the last time was over two years ago #but also because the source material this time wasn't very good quality #BUT! i managed and even if the quality of the gifs isn't superb i'm still pretty satisfied with this #and let's not forget the main thing here: i just had to gif this scene! #apparently MOR got even more suggestive~ on their 2018 shanghai tour #didn't think that was possible but here we are #i hope y'all lovely mozalieri fans out there enjoy this gifset 😘 #and everyone else too of course #i might make some more gifs later #there are far too few of them in this fandom #or then i just haven't found them which is also very possible lol #but first i need to recover from this herculean task~ 🤣

[cherry-bomb-ships]

Aaaaaah I know I've been talking abt this art for like 3 days but I FINISHED IT HEEHEE 💖💘💖💘💖💘💖 The thought behind this was Cherry was getting mugged during their walk back to her apartment cuz Townsville be like that, and this is the moment Mojo swooped in to her rescue (How did he know it was happening? He deeeefinitely wasnt spying on them lol) ANYWAYS ENJOY If you want more thoughts look at my tags!! 💖💖💖💖💖💖

[[🧡 Reblogs and comments are all seen and very appreciated!! 🥺 Tag list below the cut, check out my pinned for my taglist form! 💙]]

@absentmoon @ava-ships @bee-ships @beetleboyfriend @berryshipbasket @canongf @clawfull @cloudyvoid @derelictdumbass @dissonantyote @edencantstopfallininlove @final-catboy @flowering-darkness @gible-love-nibles @nagirans @hoppinkiss @hotrodharts @hyperionshipping @iwishihadfangs @iyamifucker @judetama @lex-n-weegie @lficanthaveloveiwantpower @little-miss-selfships @little-shiny-sharpies @loogi-selfships @mandrakebrew @mintpecks @mothfinite @mrs-kelly @nameless-self-ships @orbitingaroundyourlove @nerdstreak @paper-carnation @p-i-t-s @qilinkisser @reds-self-ships @rexscanonwife @rotten--cotton @ship-trek @spacestationstorybook @squips-ship @toogayforthistoday @winterworlds

#my art #💜: loving you's a felony #🍒🧬: emotional processing lag #self ship #oc x canon #self shipping #self ship community #self insert #fictional other #mojo jojo #okay with organization tag outta the way. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH 💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖💘💖 #GUYSSSSSSSS THIS ART WAS SO FUCKING FUN 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 #i have NEVER done lining like this before and messing with line thickness was a fucking blast!!!!! #ALSO HATCHING. FIRST TIME DOING HATCHING AND THAT WAS ALSO RLY FUN 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 #and of course oho. ohoho OHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 #ive definitely talked about it on the blog before right. the idea of him being sooooooooo protective 💀💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 #like whoever the assailant is here is DEFINITELY BOUTTA DIE LOL 💖 #i hope i did good on the expressions but i mean i rly love it!!! 😳💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 #also the way that cherry's a little roughed up. i like to think that they just tripped trying to get away 😂 #like the person mugging them had very little to do with actually causing those scuffs. doesnt change how definitely dead they boutta be 😳 #anyway whoo hooooooooo here it is i am so happy with it it was so fun and its making me so 😳😳😳 i hope yall like it too!! 🥺💖🥺💖🥺💖 #also last thing sorry for shitty hotel room lighting hrnsnzhf it was all i had to work with but I tried my best 😂💀😂💀

[hella1975]

i passed all my exams

#NO RESITS???? ON COURSE TO GRADUATING WITH EVERYONE??? NO ONE MOVE #THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE HELLO. HELLO. CAN ANYONE HEAR ME #IM SO. IM NOT EVEN HAPPY YET BC IM JUST IN A STATE OF SHOCK #ONE SEMESTER DOWN ⁉️ AND THE HARDEST ONE TOO #I want a 2:1 average from this fuckass degree which is somehow MANAGEABLE bc i got an overall 2:1 average last year #and that’ll be weighted 35% of my final mark so that’s good #then from these exams I’ve averaged 2:2 which isn’t ideal but I never do well w in person exams and im honestly surprised i even PASSED #this semester is much more coursework based esp with my dissertation and i do better with that shit #so as long as I get a decent 2:1 or even better (⁉️⁉️⁉️) this term I actually should end this degree with a 2:1 #like. i am on course for that. do you even know how mental that is #for this degree you have WATCHED me fight tooth and nail for 3 years #im acc in a state of shock rn no one blags as hard as me NO ONE #hella goes to uni

[alackofghosts]

longing for spring

#trying to figure out a good shape for him like this... #i feel like with the last two i managed to course correct somewhat because he'd been starting to look too lean lol #but he's gotta have a bit of Heft regardless of the universe #(same with ardbert lol) #warrior of light #hei muumid #speedpaint #i draw sometimes #final Fantasy XIV #i wanna figure out a good 'simple' colouring style... i miss the old brush i used to use for that but i don't miss the hand strain

[rainymoodlet]

the progress of this Damn Game™️ inspiring me to create a dynamic in wickedwhims’ settings for the first time ⛓️

#ts4 #ts4 gameplay #ts4 screenshots #ts4 legacy #;tjol+ #sim: ivory #sim: eva #|| #this is exactly how it went fhdhs #let me tell you i’m a decent ways ahead of this in-game and a ‘no jealousy’ dynamic is SO cute #they’re all so affectionate w each other it’s precious #but yeah everyone?? everyone loves cassandra #bc of course we do #ivory said HELL YEAH BITCH GET THAT ***** 🐱 #also this was 100% an excuse to show eva in various states of undress #she’s just too hot i’m 🥵 #ivory looks so good and confident in that last cap she really us embodying all the stem energy in the workd #world too** #we love that for her #GO GET THAT PILLOW PRINCESS 👑 #sim spice /

[vibingforjudaism]

I need a therapist who I can argue with and who will give me jewish advice ....a rabbi. I need a rabbi

#afakelj #seriously though #i thought my last therapist was good! #and then i tried to change some stuff and do some arguing #and the reaction was... mrrrgh #also idk. i feel like.... i don't want to have to update the therapist about what is happening in my life #which is stupid! of course i should they've got many patients #but i feel like what i just sit there talking about my week? i do that to my friends already #i'd like a situation where they knew me enough to already have a general idea of what was going on #so i could meet with them less frequently. say once a month #and then we could work on a specific problem i'm having and i could get advice on that and see how that's working out #i really think of therapy as brain and emotions doctor and where i'm at now i want...more jewish methods of dealing with life? #does this make any sense #.....a bubbe would also work in a different but similar way. i need one of them too T.T #but you see i pay the rabbi by dues to the synagogue. so i just have to find a synagogue i like (lmao just) #i have to marry someone and start raising grandchildren to pay the bubbe

[sysig]

Ooo requestober eh? Something I've been curious to see a bit more of maybe is Jake interracting with Scriabin. Edgar wondering about what the two of them talk about together alone got me curious too 👀

(Resending to the main for you :3)

Day 3 - Definitely not kissing! If that's what you think!

Meanwhile, Jake:

#My art #Requestober #Vargas #Scriabin #Edgar #Jake #Since I already got my serious ''This is what I think they might get up to'' a couple Requestobers ago I opted for silliness this time lol #Plus last time I did Before so this time how about some After! #What situation would arise that Scriabin would have a one-on-one with Jake without Edgar? Maybe Edgar had work? Had to take Todd somewhere? #Either way he's painfully jealous on all sides haha poor lad #Jake's good to them I'm sure he'll get some affection later - Scriabin'll still hold it over his head for as long as he can tho lol #Can you tell I like lipstick stains haha ♪ They're legit some of my favourites to draw! :D #I think this is my first time - at least in a long long while - drawing them digitally tho :0 Fun! #They're just jkfdlsafd they're So cute haha ♥ Evidence of attention! Incriminating in their placement <3 #Shows where someone was most focused on making them feel loved hehehe it's just so cute to me 💕 #Like that they obviously went for each other's necks - of course - but also their foreheads and Jake kissed his nose #And also missed/got a bit too rowdy and got some lipstick on his glasses lol #Tell me that's not adorable! #And in classic fashion the lover returns home and sees lipstick stains and gets envious lol #Scriabin definitely used lipstick to make out with Jake specifically to make Edgar jealous lol - he could've avoided this and chose not to #Kiss him Edgar you'll feel better #Jake just having fun not thinking about the implications haha ♪ #I may or may not have spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about how Jake interacts with each of them around kisses >.> #I mean - other than mainfic every time he shows up he ends up kissing them in some capacity! It's hard not to recognize his patterns! Lol

[daily-hanamura]

#persona 4 #p4 #persona 4 dancing all night #p4d #hanamura yosuke #yosuke hanamura #lmao yosuke did you really just call someone out for their priorities and then focus in the wrong thing yourself #having said that i think it's really funny that tamami's last appearance/conversation was her commenting that yu wasnt swooning over her #so on the one hand it's her plainly evaluating herself against yu's friend group #on the other hand its her evaluating herself against the competition for yu's attention #in which case yes OF COURSE yosuke would have to be included in it #honestly yosuke you were probably just standing too close to yu again :| probably got yourself draped all over yu's shoulders :| #dw yosuke you're the cutest one to yu #he's good with his queue

[bubblegum-and-ciggarettes]

Spoilers For Final Episodes!

Tbh I’m kinda disappointed in these last two episodes. I knew that we would end the series with Simon and Fionna learning to be happy, but I felt like it went too fast.

I’m glad my accession of how Betty sacrificing everything for Simon was something that came back, and Simon actually learned that Betty sacrificed so much for him while he just let it happen.

Very cool that we got to see Beth and Shermy again, but I’m still confused on how Shermy and Simon were both in his head? And why Simon was naked for some reason??

I am glad on the direction they decided to take Fionna’s world, in how she made a wish for it to be real or for everyone to have their wish(which is what I’m assuming is implied as she never says it). I really do wish that they let Simon put on the crown and for Fionna’s nightmare to actually become real, as I feel it would’ve made the last episodes feel more active and led to her and Simons realization in a more direct way.

I honestly don’t get why Simons voice actor said it would be heartbreaking in the 9th episode as it really wasn’t. Even in the last episode it was pretty tame and didn’t feel as bittersweet as I felt it should’ve for the topic the show decided to address.

Also really wish Betty and Simon had more than like 3 sentences said between them, as it felt like Simon and Betty really didn’t get closure. It kinda seemed like Simon decided he was worth living for when the episode really wasn’t about that? It was about how Simon loved Betty but they weren’t on equal footing in terms of commitment so Betty agreed with Simon, even if it put them both in a bad place in the end.

They didn’t even show how it would’ve been different, which you could agree is the point of “well that’s not what happened”, but it just felt lacklustre with the rest of the context.

I feel bad because I REALLY liked this show and the rest of the episodes. The end just didn’t have the right kick to it and didn’t really make sense. Like why did we have the random characters show up to live in Fionna’s world, and we didn’t even get a glimpse of Finn or Marcy in Simons ending? I was thinking they would do a montage at the end with what happened in the universes we left, but I guess it does leave it open for a season 2. I’m of course glad that Simon and Fionna were able to feel happy in their worlds again, but still.

I honestly wasn’t that stoked about a season 2 unless the ending for this season wasn’t the best, so I guess I’ll just hope season 2 gets created.

#fionna and cake #fionna the human #fionna Campbell #cake the cat #simon petrikov #adventure time #of course I’m not saying people can’t be satisfied with the ending #but imo stories about depression and shi like not knowing what to do with your life shout be bittersweet in a way #like it leaves the ending up to interpretation to whether it’ll b good or bad bc that’s how mental health works #even if you try and gain happiness again it doesn’t mean it’ll last #Simon and Finn’s mom kinda went over that but for luke one sentence #oh yeah the lich was there too ig #still don’t know who the scarabs boss is #cause it’s not Betty #prismo and scarab r kinda cute tho #prismo now has a dude to chill with and make fanfics #now that I’m thinking about it prismos arc wasn’t really solved either #kinda forgot about it but like he was depressed too

[b4kuch1n]

frog documentation. frogcumentation

I think I mentioned a while back I'd post nibling frog momence after the gift's done given. which happened on the 2nd this month I just forgot lmao. anyways we can do it now. I used the boigameista pattern scaled up to four pieces of A4 print paper and decided to double deck it to a two layer thing, not unlike a pillow, for ease of washin. because it was gonna be gifted to a one year old child

took a long time and made a number of mistakes bc hand sewing makes me worse as a person but this guy was done in time for the birthday occasion and that's what matters. chose non-fuzzy fabrics for it because we live in a dense city in the tropics and from personal experience if I hug something made of fur I would explode. the original plan included felt patterns on its back for bonus textures for baby but that wouldn't stretch well along with the rest of the thing so had to hold that back. eventually we got this

zipper across its ass, the coat type of zipper bc I miscalculated when ordering. but it did have a shape and that's all that matters to me. will be a fun game for the baby to grow up and be severely misinformed about what a frog looks like

happy extremely late birthday to this thing also

#bakuspecial #uhhhh. whats my craft tag. I forgor. update this later #frog plush babeyyyy #I want this thing to last until the heat death of the universe so I felled all the seams down. dont recommend doing this by hand #Im so stubborn lmao I refuse to get a serger I will simply get better at hand sewing instead. damn its taking kinda long #there used to be a Lot more frogs around hanoi. but the lack of clean water ponds and lakes have driven down the population #I live like right at the edge of the city rn tho (will no longer be the case in five years) so there are still a lot of aminals #house robins. skinks. fireflies (!!!!). praying mantises. tree frogs #they love to hang out at the fountain inside the complex right across the street. had to pick em up to return to the fountain #from the hot brick tiled ground a few times #theyre so small. theyre so small.... #I miss house geckos they dont show up a lot in our apartment. I wish they would they would love the cockroaches around here #and of course. bc the kind of rice we eat is more short-grained and thus usually not all the way dried like the longer-grained type we have #so many rice weevils. do u know those little fucks do not drown for a Long time #do u know they lay eggs inside the rice grains and that's how u find out ur rice about to become the weevil beverly hill #by washing the rice and seeing hollowed out grains float up. I have become an expert at this. #but I get to see skinks in random bushes so who am I to be pissed about that. skinks rule #this has been baku talks about animals for a mile of tags. thank u for listening #well. its evening and the family wants to go out so that's what we're doin. hope u have a good time too wherever u are #see u this midnight when I reblog every new posts I've made in the last week or so lmao

[sisterdivinium]

Finding "the meaning" to a show that could have had up to five or seven seasons but was cancelled after the second is somewhat like trying to understand a novel composed of seventy chapters by having read only twenty — there is a whole wealth of information which we do not possess that could alter our reading of any given element or of the entire thing in itself.

Still, there are always patterns that weave a story into a cohesive unit and they can help us to better grope in darkness towards comprehension. One such pattern in Warrior Nun appears to be how the consequences to mistakes, "sins" or evil deeds committed by characters manifest.

Basic storytelling usually requires characters to act on something so that complications or resolutions may arise from their choices and move the plot forwards. In Warrior Nun, many of these actions are quite tragic in nature: Suzanne's arrogance and pride lead to the death of her Mother Superion; Vincent's allegiance to the higher power he believed Adriel to be inspired him to kill Shannon; Ava's flight from the Cat's Cradle ends up damning Lilith as she is mortally wounded and taken away by a tarask... All of these events have negative outcomes and heavy repercussions on all characters directly or indirectly involved. Something changes permanently because of them, be it in the world around them or within the characters themselves.

And yet, it would seem that all of these dark deeds not only move the story forwards but might also have overall positive results. We would have had no protagonist without Ava — and she would arguably never have received the halo to begin with had she not been murdered. What's more, on a personal scale, the horrifying crime she suffers is, in the end, the very thing that allows her a second chance in life, a new life.

An act of outside evil permits Ava to grow and develop, shows her a path she would not otherwise have found. Without her own season in some sort of hell, Lilith would not have been able to advance towards other ways of being and understanding beyond her very strict limitations. Vincent and Suzanne would not have embarked on their own journeys of enlightenment without having caused the pain they are responsible for.

Beatrice might have been paying for someone else's mistakes, but she, too, is given the chance to grow into herself through it. The afflictions that torment these characters advance the overall plot, but they also advance them, as individuals, as long as they are willing to learn and keep going despite the calamities large and small that they are faced with. Beatrice keeps going after parental rejection, Mary keeps going after losing Shannon, Jillian keeps going after losing her son (in part through her own actions, adding insult to injury)... Trouble and the adaptation that follows it, if one is open enough to learn from the experience, motivates the characters, propels them forward, teaches them.

The problem of evil has occupied the minds of many a thinker throughout the ages, given how the very existence of it, evil, might call into question that of God (a good, omniscient, omnipotent one, anyway). A common way of justifying suffering (and also God), then, is by claiming, as Saint Augustine, that "God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not to permit any evil to exist".

Now, it would be rather ridiculous to say of Warrior Nun that it follows in Leibniz's footsteps, also because this philosopher, expanding on the augustinian concept, attempted to defend the goodness of a real God with his "best of all possible worlds" while all we have is... Well, whatever/whoever Reya is.

But there seems to be an inclination towards some sort of optimism as a worldview nonetheless.

Betrayals reveal truth and grant knowledge (Vincent's culminates with the coming of Adriel, which allows us to know of the threat of a "Holy War" and thus prepare for it; Kristian's gives Jillian much needed insight, William's lights up the fuse for the fight to be taken more seriously...), crimes committed willingly or not open the way for Ava (Suzanne's killing of her Mother Superion causes the loss of the halo, which is transferred to Shannon, whose death opens the gates for Ava to walk through after being herself murdered by sister Frances)... The magnitude of these positive outcomes is perhaps not "balanced" when compared to the evil that brings them about, but there is still something to take out of the catastrophe.

However tragic the tones of a given event, the show itself appears to shun the predetermination that makes tragedy as a genre; if everything is connected, here it at least appears to not necessarily drag everyone into their horrible dooms.

What's more is that this lurking "optimism" matches really well with our own protagonist's personality.

And it makes perfect sense that Ava would do the best she could with whatever she is given.

Life for her, in the conditions she experienced after the accident, would have been unbearable without some sort of positive outlook on life. However deadpan, the joking and the "obscene gestures" and whatever other forms of goofing around beside Diego are a way of turning a portion of the situation in her own favour. Proverbial eggs have, after all, already been broken right and left — might as well make an omelette of whatever remains.

Humour is just another way of looking at the bright side of something, or, at the every least, of mitigating the utter horror it might bring. If the show allows for moments of lightness, if it lets us laugh, if it takes us through a perilous voyage which still bears ripe, succulent fruit instead of the rot of pessimism and its necessary contempt for humanity, it is because Ava herself sees things in this way. It isn't gratuitous or naïve in this case, but a true survival strategy, especially as it is confronted with the morbidity of Catholicism.

Here is a religion that soothes its faithful with the promise of reward in the afterlife — how else does one charge into battle against the unknown, risking one's own death along with that of one's sisters, without the balm of believing that we shall all meet again eventually, "in this life or the next"? How else does one come to terms with the ugliness and the pain of this existence if not by looking forward to a paradise perfect enough to make all trials and tribulations here worth it?

True nihilism would have annihilated Ava. Her present perspective is what avoided the abyss.

And there is nothing Panglossian to her attitude or what the show might imply by giving us her view on things. This isn't about "the best of all possible worlds", but of making the best of whatever situation we're in, of taking what we have and doing something with it, something good, something of ourselves. It isn't God making good out of evil, but our choices.

Killing innocent people and feeling no remorse will never be the best someone can aspire to do. Sister Frances, cardinal William, Adriel all learn this the hard way.

Those who do their best find that, somehow, they can move on from whatever it was that paralysed them. Ava, most of all, knows what it is to be stuck, frozen in place; she can never be the character who refuses to grow, even through pain, lest she condemns her spirit to the same fate her body is all too familiarised with. Those around her wise enough to let themselves be touched by her, by the dynamic power she carries, walk forth with her and live.

It says very little about "God" that Warrior Nun should adopt its heroine's views and seem "optimistic" as it progresses — but it speaks volumes about the values it presents for pondering, of the inspiration its protagonists provide, and of the multiple reasons why this is a story unlike most others.

#warrior nun #ava silva #you know it's actually very funny to type this as someone who is very schopenhaurian with hints of nietzsche #but i AM doing the best i can too :) #again i will reiterate that i don't think this apparent optimism has anything to do with the classic theodicy #if anything i see it more as a cry in favour of antitheism -- this is YOUR life fuck god #life is shitty so carve out your own makeshift paradise out of the wreck you are given #and don't make things harder for anyone else in the process if you can avoid it #(but that might just be the luciferian in me speaking lol) #anywho this post is a translation of one i wrote not too long ago in cryptic english and a ton of tags #so if it seems familiar that's why #also i do find it rather telling that whenever i try to delve into how the show structures things i talk about ava #i don't set out to analyse her -- but in analysing the show i must analyse her as well if by the edges #which again points to how finely woven she is to the fabric of the entire thing #remember how i said ava is a representation of free will? #well this whole bringing good out of evil thing also touches upon it #saint augustine maintains that it is precisely free will that allows us to do it -- to choose good #of course he means it in a sense of being free to pursue god rather than evil but you see the parallel still works #(this is the post i mentioned in the last reblog. figured i'd go ahead and throw it in the wild since there are more brewing) #analysis and similar #exercises in observation