unknought:

the-lost-alchemist:

worldsworstfather:

me n my angel gf

me, bleeding from my eyes nose and ears: bb ur hand is so…….so……….uh,

her: Ḓ̬̱͘͢ͅO̸͉̳̖͉̙ ͔͜N͓̮̦̱͝O̧͇̙̲̜͔T͇̯̮̦̖̖ ͙͇͇̖̝̹͜B̧҉͍͈̭̭̰̳͙ͅE̴̗̱̫ ̛̞͞ͅA̶̡͙̞̪̞̻̰̬̦F̛̗͙̗̲̦͕̟̙́R̶͍͉̠̖͖̮̀́A̦̠̮̜̺͟I͓̻͢͞Ḓ̹͇̮̬͈

Okay, I want to break down what’s going on in these posts, at least for me.

The aesthetic being invoked here is of what Tumblr calls “eldritch angels”. “Eldritch”, in turn, calls to mind H. P. Lovecraft, who really liked the word and prior to whom I think “eldritch” was basically a synonym of eerie. But now the word invokes something vast and strange and terrifying, such that the mere perception or understanding of it is dangerous to one’s body or mind.

Lovecraft’s eldritch horrors are representative of an uncaring universe. On the scale of the cosmos, humans don’t matter, goodness doesn’t matter, nothing matters. The universe is huge and amoral and ruled by a blind idiot god.

Eldritch angels, on the other hand, say there is an ultimate and objective source of goodness, that there is a divine plan, but it’s one that’s vaster and stranger than you can understand. It’s not an uncaring universe, but it’s one that cares a lot less about you than you might have hoped. A lot of what’s truly, objectively good is barely recognizable as such or beyond your comprehension entirely.

So in this context, the “angel gf” fantasy does a couple things. First, it flips the script. Yes, you’re a microscopic part of an incomprehensible cosmic plan, but also the angel gf cares about you specifically. You (in particular) matter (cosmically) because you matter to her.

Second, romance is, to a significant degree, about letting in the Other. There’s someone who cares about different things than you, does different things, has a whole life separate from yours… and then all of that comes to be a part of your life too. Like, forget the mysteries of the cosmos, I’m not sure the human mind is capable of truly, fully comprehending the idea of a whole entire life separate from one’s own. The draw of the numinous and the draw of romance are both about taking something outside yourself, greater and more important than you can fully understand, and drawing it close to your heart and understanding it as much as you can.

Tags:

#interesting #meta #angels #this probably deserves some warning tag but I am not sure what