The Superhero's Parallel To The Hero's Journey Is One Of An Almost Unbreakable Curse: Someone Is Harmed

the superhero's parallel to the hero's journey is one of an almost unbreakable curse: someone is harmed or killed while you are unable to stop it. you spend the next part of your life learning how to stop exactly that, promising yourself it won't happen again. you think to yourself, "if only I had been more prepared the first time, then I could have stopped it."

except defusing bombs isn't the issue. the person planting them is.

betrayal can't be anticipated: that's what makes it a betrayal.

and it's impossible to predict every single time someone will need life saving medical care.

still, you fantasize, "if I had the knowledge I have now, things would be different." and you save others from the same situation. time and time again. but still you ache. you didn't do it all those years ago. it haunts your every triumph.

it's not until you look in from the outside. the exact same thing happens to someone else this time, and you weren't able to stop it.

as you're beating yourself up for it and desperately trying to control the damage that's been done, you see someone sitting off to the side. they are alone and wrapped in a blanket. when you talk to them, you are shocked to hear that they blame themselves.

"What?!" you exclaim, "it wasn't your responsibility to stop this- you couldn't have known! it's on the shoulders of the perpetrators and people like me, who couldn't make it in time."

they are inconsolable. "from now on," they say, "I won't be so naive, and I will do everything I can to stop this from happening again."

you know when a battle is lost, so all you can do is nod and step away. back to your own business.

but it makes you terribly sad for someone to lose their innocence in such a way. to blame themselves for the consequences of someone else's evil. to never again see the world as a hopeful place: just a mosaic of fulfilled and missed opportunities.

and your story, the hero's story, will be tragic as long as you continue without looking inward.

it is only by considering your own beliefs that you are free of the vicious cycle:

sometimes, there is no happy ending, no clever way out. sometimes, awful things happen and there is nothing we can do about it. all we can do is pick ourselves off the ground, movement by excruciating movement, and hold our heads high. we continue. because it is worth it. not because you can "fix" things now. not because you will do things "right" this time. but because you deserve a good life. a life after the bad things. a joyful life.

this is when when you, the hero, finally realize that you're living a triumph. that even after something tragic happens, your life is not a tragedy.

yes yes billford is like huffing toxins that make you see pretty colors but will kill you quickly, while fiddauthor is the rush of your hands touching because both of you reach out at the same time

im going fucking Crazy about the themes of autonomy and consent and need vs want in the billfiddauthor situation.

like. bill does NOT care about fords autonomy. for a second. he gets one yes and after that fords free will is out of the question. he will cage him torture him use him puppet him until he remembers that.

but fiddleford has every chance and justification to ignore his autonomy. he never does. he can wipe his mind he can pin him down he can stop him. he never considers it. its not a thought in his mind..

and bill and ford need each other, for a time. bill needs him to get out and ford needs his affection. and it Fucking Kills Them. bills absence feels like physical pain to ford. fords escape feels like an attack to bill.

but.. ford and fiddleford want each other.they want each others company and touch and kindness. they dont need to need each other. they cant want each other and its ok.

okay I made the sideblog and reblogged all my gf things from this acct. will also add this acct to my pinned post and make myself a pseud on ao3 for this shit. god what has this show done to my life

ok that's it I'm making a gravity falls sideblog I can't keep doing this without one

fuck now I have to write this. FUCK

Yknow that one au

*smashes through your door* FORD PROBABLY SMOKED CIGARETTES BC HE'S DUMB LIKE THAT AND ONLY HAD TO QUIT WHEN HE GOT PUSHED THROUGH THE PORTAL SO IN YET ANOTHER WAY (OTHER THAN FINALLY DEFEATING BILL) STANLEY SAVED FORD'S LIFE BY FORCING HIM TO QUIT

oh to be Dan Mora, paid to be drawing Bruce and Clark in canon comics, unstoppable as he adds a little bit of yaoi longing to a panel. as a treat.