#honestly this is just a rant with very little logical flow

[baejax-the-great]

One of the things missing in Veilguard is any sort of meaningful power struggle. By keeping to the poorer parts of the city-settings, we don't really deal with corrupt or powerful nobles. By defanging the Crows, an organization who famously has lethal squabbles between factions, they turned them into some weird, benevolent family organization. Even the assassin trying to make "evil" power plays doesn't actually manage to kill any of his targets, and his ruthless relatives? Also don't kill him in revenge. In the end, the status quo is maintained. Nothing has changed.

In Tevinter, we have the Threads, an organized crime unit who we know runs "protection" rackets on the locals and is involved in some kind of smuggling (it's Tevinter--so presumably this would involve slavery and dangerous artifacts, but it's Veilguard, so I guess not). Instead of them beefing with the Shadow Dragons, who presumably ruin some of their deals with their pesky "freeing the slaves" thing, and instead of their main issue being with any sort of law enforcement, something which doesn't exist in Veilguard beyond one singular templar who does all of jack shit the entire game, their main power struggle is with the Venatori, who are evil just to be evil.

And instead of the Veilguard siding with law enforcement or the threads and enlisting their help to, idk, unseat the corrupt head of the templars or otherwise deal with the venatori shit, the threads are highly favored by the storyline, and in the end the only real choice is to make Neve a thread or to make her... idk, the same Neve? The game calls her an "inspiration", but it's not like she's part of any organization, so we can't call her a figurehead. It's just like, see that random citizen right there? She rules. And I don't really see how that increases the power of the rule of law, because even if one good person is working within rule of law to get things done, she's not part of the system, and everyone already know the system is corrupt in Minrathous. Random citizens in fucking Ferelden know the system is corrupt in Minrathous, or they would if they weren't all dead. Neve is now just playing on hard mode to appear righteous, which, good for her, but I'm sorry, won't inspire all that many people who are still paying "protection" money to the local mafia.

(Putting Neve in charge of the Threads is an absolutely whackadoodle decision by the devs that I don't even know how to respond to. She has a single Thread contact. Presumably the Threads have a hierarchy. She has never demonstrated interest in being a smuggler. Being a detective really has no overlap with being a crime boss. Telling a group of criminals that they are all detective's helpers now is sure to go over like a lead balloon. What the fuck was that. Why did that happen.)

Maevaris and Dorian arguing came out of nowhere and lasted a fairly long time, which was interesting, but after the most recent election in the states, Maevaris's position sounds unbearably naive and trite, and this hardly counts as a power struggle as they both say they will support the other depending on what some random outsider thinks should happen. (That is soooo not a basis for a system of government. Why would Maevaris OR Dorian cede their power to Rook, someone they don't know and who doesn't matter)

The power struggle within the Wardens is also very stupid and easily solved. The First Warden is a moron. He dies (kind of). For some reason the extremely hot and competent couple who we first encounter in the middle of nowhere are next in command, so, phew. Problem solved there. A question of what the Wardens will do now that the Blights are over would have been interesting. Do they keep recruiting lest the Blight somehow reoccur and nobody remembers the Warden secrets? Or do they disband? Do they set themselves to seeking a cure and nothing else?

The closest you get to that is deciding what the griffons will do, which, again, why the fuck is Rook deciding that, but also there are 13 of them, in two or three more generations they will be dead unless a lot of mages bone up on genetics real fast.

Who is left? We have Rivain, which is just pointless in this game. I played as a Lord of Fortune, but you could drop that faction and not a single thing changes in the game. Pirates who don't loot valuable artifacts because they are elvhen? Give me a fucking break.

Same for the Mourn Watch. There is pretty much nothing going on in that region. You could excise it from the game and nothing changes in the slightest. There is not a single excuse for them not using the Eluvians to help the Veilguard earlier in the game, given just how little they have going on.

The Veiljumpers are just missed opportunities all over the place. They could have had factions debating whether to join the god of vengeance in fucking up the human civilizations as payback for, you know, everything. They could have had people joining Cyrion in thinking that a Forgotten One might be the best way to face down the gods, given they'd done it before. There could have been a HUGE cultural impact on "what do we do now that we know our gods are evil fuckfaces--what do we keep and what do we throw away," but Veilguard ain't that deep. They could have had knowledge of a super-weapon or some elvhen bullshit that would help the Veilguard fight the gods... but nah.

In DAO, your decisions not only affected the political futures of the various regions, but they decided who would help you and how. Did the dwarves have golems? Did you have templars or mages? That whole wolf thing with the Dalish that I no longer remember that well? And the Dalish deciding to help changed how they were viewed in Ferelden. The mages helping you meant the monarch would treat them favorably. It fucking mattered.

In Veilguard, the only situation remotely close to that is the dragon decision at the beginning, which was one of the fucking dumbest plot points in a video game I have ever played. It was the first thing that made me set my controller down and go... what? What the fuck? The idea that Rook, a nobody, is the only person singularly capable of driving back a dragon in the entire north is laughable. What the fuck was Dorian up to that day? How is Rook more capable than every single Crow? How is it the two companions you sent to the other city were absolutely useless? If Lucanis/Neve + two companions were unable to drive a dragon away, what makes them think Rook would be the deciding factor? What makes them blame Rook when they themselves couldn't fucking do it? Neve in particular was a big part of fucking up that ritual and releasing the gods, so why is Rook taking all the fire for this?

AND WHY IS THEIR RESPONSE TO A BLIGHT TO FIND A SINGLE DRAGON HUNTER? HEY DIPSHITS, THE DRAGON IS HUNTING YOU. YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THAT PART. YOU NEED AN ARMY.

But Treviso or Minrathous being spared doesn't change the global political situation at all. It would have been really interesting if it did. Tevinter hobbled? How many kingdoms would be salivating to take a bite out of their territory? With the trade princes of Antiva being absolutely fucked over by the Blight, who is taking over that trade? Who is getting rich?

Nobody, I guess, because why would Rook know or care about that, because, as previously mentioned, they are a nobody who doesn't matter and honestly shouldn't be listened to.

The stakes in this game are nothing because the bad guys are all so obviously bad that you know, as a video game player, that you are going to defeat them. Oh, the Antaam are just mindless, faceless brutes fucking up Treviso? Okay, let's kill them. Venatori again? I'm pretty sure they aren't the heroes of this game. There's no power struggle, and in the end all we've done is revert to the status quo, (except i guess Treviso is no longer occupied).

Except for the south. The south is dead. but we didn't have anything to do with that for some reason. Couldn't even be bothered to house some refugees in our safehouse that was built specifically to house refugees. The Inquisitor, who has access to the eluvians, couldn't figure out how to get other people through them or something so... sorry, every single Orlesian, Fereldan, and Marcher.

[ciaossu-imagines]

I hope the rest of your day goes much better. Can you answer the ‘What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?’ prompt

C

Thank you so much! Work was…well, brutal and war-like is the best way to describe it right up until the end today. Not only did we have the higher ups in the building today so we had to carefully follow every protocol to the letter, but the whole week has been insane when it came to customers. I swear people honestly do go crazy around the full moon! Everyone wants everything within minutes, we’ve had a surge of prescriptions (the filling queue was still over 100 when I left, meaning that I was leaving one person and one pharmacist to take new prescriptions, handle customers, and still fill those 100 prescriptions), and today was just balls to the wall crazy. One customer is demanding a refund on all her prescriptions for a particular medicine she takes for the last year because our new supplier for that medication is now cheaper than our old supplier so she’s pissed off that she was paying more for the same medication with our past supplier. We had a cluster of teenagers loiter outside today harassing customers, swearing at them and just being a pain and then a customer called in to complain about them with some very colourful language and some threats, we have had issues with a system update, and for some reason, my feet just hurt more than normal this weekend. By the time I got home today, my feet were swollen and it honestly hurts to stand on them. But I am now home, I have the weekend off, I’m writing, and, after a good night’s sleep, I’m sure I’ll be rested and fully happy again.

Now that I’ve ranted and vented and gone on a big, long paragraph, I’m going to smile, appreciate you sending in this ask, feel super flattered these are things you’re interested in learning about me, and try my best to answer this question! It’s actually a really hard question for me; I’m not going to lie. It’s not that it’s hard because there aren’t any places, lines, scenes or things along those lines that made me laugh, chuckle, giggle, grin like an idiot while writing them. The truth is that there’s simply too many of them. I could give whole lists.

The hard truth for me to accept, though, is that I think a lot of those scenes, lines, dialogues, and such that have always made me giggle as the writer or that cause me a ton of joy don’t really hit the readers the same way or are easily overlooked a lot of the time in my fics, original works, and all the little drabbles and headcanons I write on here. If I’m being honest, there’s probably something in everything I post that made me at least smile in delight and I’d say at least one out of every five times there’s a line or something that made me at least stifle back a little chuckle. The problem, I think, is that a lot of my humour, both in writing and just in general as a person is kind of more on the subtle side. It’s a mix of absurd humour, dark humour, self-deprecation, and sarcasm that doesn’t always translate well when writing to anyone but me I think. For example, there’s a story where there’s a throw away line about the character listening to Elvis sing Despacito on the radio and it was just the mental image and hearing the sound of it that struck me as stupidly absurd and somehow hilarious.

I don’t often write plain out and outright comedy very often. I’ve only done so once – a fic written as pure satire and it was really well-received, got put up on tvtropes fic-rec page for the fandom, but overall, I like adding little bits and pieces of subtle humour into everything I write. It’s how it flows the most naturally to me. There’s normally at least a throw-away line in even the most angsty of fics, a little piece of dialogue or a description somewhere in even the fluffiest of fics, a slightly absurd bit of logic or situation, wherever I can put it. Even if I am the only one who notices it, even if I’m the only one who laughs at it, while writing and then again while rereading, I’m happy with it and satisfied.

[multifunctionalnitroglycerin]

Th Sting of Victory / Fallen Gods Series Thoughts

The Sting of Victory/ Fallen Gods Series Thoughts

So I might or might not have binge-read through the entire series – or at least the published books in it - in the five days since my exam period was concluded. And honestly I am surprised these books don’t have a bigger following. Horror and moral decay aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, that’s for certain, but they are a well written bunch that play at well liked themes, like the “villain” per say doing absolutely everything they can to save their loved one. And I do mean in a “I’ll let the world burn for you, and if I have to I’ll be the one starting the fire” scale. And they have good ratings, so I am quite surprised there is next to nothing to find online about them.

I’ll try to keep this one spoiler free as much as possible and will rant about the characters and the plot in another post, but generally I did enjoy reading this book series. I couldn’t wait between finishing one book and starting the other, though I will admit I was more worried about the world-building and the world-wide implications of the main character’s actions and less about Flowridia herself. The writing is concise and simple enough, and the books are easy to read. There is a flow in them, y’ know? The descriptions are rather lively and certainly an extra point in my book, and the characters we meet all have the chance to evolve as the series continue, or at least we get to see various aspects of their personalities and form more well educated opinions on them.

Now, I must admit that I don’t really read horror. Or moral decay, or sapphics that much to be honest. And the hardest part of going through those books for me was the moral decay. I still enjoyed them - as much as I can when I viscerally disagree with all the decisions the main character makes, though that too has it’s charm- but it was a bit more in a gut wrenching toe curling, page clenching way (no books were harmed in the reading of this series or the writing of this review).

What’s kind of funny is that simultaneously, the part that created so much conflict within me was the really charming and compelling part about the books. They are a prime example of what I have many times seen in this site that the main character is not necessarily the hero, just the person whose POV we follow. (Idk how people equate protagonist and hero, but well… these books make it very very obvious, or rather… not. I do encourage you to find out for yourselves)

And the antagonists. Oh my lord, I do like them a lot more than the main pair that’s for certain, and I really love the way they are written as well. The Demoni are probably the most straightforward and simultaneously the most deceitful race and its a really compelling combination. I feel like Khastra and Casvir are probably the most steadfast characters in the entire series in what they want, what their morality is and the roads they’ll use to achieve their goals. They are consistent in their moral compass and mostly logical detachment from everyone and everything.

And speaking of moral compasses. Another thing that gives the books a point for me is that the relationships are really fleshed out, and the characters are so...human. They each have their own morality and conscience and try to make the best decisions not so much or not only for the greater good, but for what matters to them. Like we would do. There are little to no characters overcoming their sense of self in order to service the ultimate good or evil. There are fleshed out complicated characters struggling to make do with the cards fate dealt them, while trying to adhere to their sense of right and wrong, good and bad decisions.

Again moral decay is really not my thing, and Flowridia infuriated me to degrees I didn’t think possible when I had started reading the series, but they are a solid and enjoyable read. Now that I have time, I might slow down and read them again at a more human pace, but I’d definitely suggest you try them out at least. Especially if sapphics that would destroy the world for each other is your thing. Or sapphics that try to save it.

See y’all soon.

Stay hydrated and take care of yourselves!!!

[loki-who-remains]

I honestly thought that alligator is a Loki who was transformed into one by Odin, maybe not when found in Jotunheim but later in life. Since Crocoloki is sensitive like the rest and sticks with Loki gang, I’d suppose he has some human-like consciousness

Regarding Kang variants, I’ve read some interview mentioning Kang as a very special kind of villain whose opponents are not just heroes but also himself. Speculation time. Probably I’ve read too deep into that, but I thought that aside from Council of Kangs and variants who don’t support Conqueror’s ideas it would be cool to see him questioning some parts of himself, struggle with his vulnerability and weaknesses, even he conquered all the Multiverse and lived on a million of timelines. That would make him truly multidimensional, cool villain whom viewers would kinda miss because of what heroes had to do to defeat him.

If the TVA is the only one, which is, aside from my ramblings, logically and most probably true then they have a lot, like A LOT of responsibility. And it’s kinda too much? It means that the Sacred timeline considers the base timelines for multiple universes and maybe excludes some universes entirely (?)

Quantum realm TVA would make sense and explain why time flows differently or why people don’t age (Janet van Dyne aged in quantum realm though). But minutemen don’t have to use Pym particles. Which would mean that time doors do the same thing but in a different way. (The time door animation in s2e2 when Sylvie follows Loki and Mobius to Dox’s base reminded me of Ant-Man’s transformations, too)

I’m also a bit concerned of where all of this is going. Of course, the big guns are for feature films and we can’t expect major movements in regards of key characters (i.e. bad guys are to be defeated by good guys, and Loki is not a hero or he has to sacrifice himself in order to save someone). But this series is still a big part of big MCU canon and it has to affect the future plot

(Allow me a little rant here. Wanda in WandaVision was established and presented really well, you could understand she’s a deeply traumatised and tired woman. In the Multiverse of Madness, despite it being a direct consequence of WandaVision’s finale, she’s unrecognisable. She was villainised just so the movie had a villain and Dr Strange had an opponent)

Disclaimer: A rather lengthy ramble about quantum mechanics, Kangs and Loki meta which ends with how special Lokis are. Mostly for myself because I’m obsessed with real and fictional laws of time and space but struggle to understand some things

There’s Feynman’s sum-over-paths description of quantum mechanics. In normal Newtonian way you just calculate and take the shortest path from A to B, simple. But in Feynman’s you take into account ALL of the paths including the ones that occasionally bring you to your neighbours or Mars or even back in time. You add up all the paths, even the most crazy ones and then you have the probability of getting from A to B. It just so happens that the shortest path has the biggest probability. But it also means that all the crazy things can exist too, however low is their probability.

Basically, it’s hard to imagine there are only evil Kangs. There should be a couple of pure-of-heart ones as well as a small bunch of HWR-scientists who took their experiments too far. Although HWR mentioned that Sacred timeline is the only possible way for him to stop the Multiversal war (which actually mirrors Dr Strange’s prediction about Thanos which is unnecessarily dramatic and a bit weird to me because of sum-over-paths), there is a possibility he didn’t meet those variants of him who stopped their research or hid or changed names or temporal aura (if possible) or uploaded their minds into an android so they wouldn’t be extracted via Temporal Loom.

Back to Feynman’s logic. If it’s the whole universe that makes its path from A to B then there is ours which may or may not be the most probable, and others like ours or different or crazy. Combined, they are the Multiverse.

So could there be other TVAs? The TVA city (?) looks very much like Chronopolis from Quatumania. Give Kang enough time, he’ll build you an infinite folded city structure outside of time and space. Call today and get a discount! So there are already two separate empire-like establishments.

I think there’s one thing that I struggle with in regard of MCU: where is the line between timelines and multiverse? People who belong to the same universe but exist on different timelines are variants of the same person making a different choice at some point in time (Loki who went to Asgard and continued in Dark World and Loki who fled with the tesseract.) This actually coincides with how quantum probability would work in our universe if we could observe it. People who belong to entirely different universes are also variants, but they can make same choices and have similar experiences like Sylvie, Lokis is the void and Spider-peeps. And this is the quantum probability of how could Multiverse exist (still, if we could observe it)

I understand why TVA would prune the branches of universe 616, it’s the base for the Sacred timeline. But why would it bother with multiversal variants? Classic, Kid and President could be probable past and future Loki, but Sylvie, Boastful Loki and CrocoLoki are not the variants of the universe 616.

So, does it mean that somewhere out there, beyond universe 616, there might be a Kang who also isolated a timeline in his universe, and created another TVA?

Will tackling the mess in the TVA/its destruction actually solve the problem? Or make Loki and Co travel around multiverse and do the same thing again and again with all other existing TVAs?

Was Brad telling the truth about Lokis being the actual problem? Kinda contradicts his other statement, ‘you think you’re special, but you’re not’, because if Lokis bring so much chaos that all of them have to follow a straight path or be pruned, they are very special.

[cinnamontrashcrunch]

Until Day Breaks

Dead leaves flowed in the chilly wind; the valley filled the sounds of arguing.

That’s all it’s been all day. Just arguing about one thing or another, that’s just how things were between the cookie and the dragon. Ananas Dragon Cookie was many things, greedy, prideful, arrogant, rude, had a massive god-complex, the list goes on. They were BEYOND unhappy when they were assigned their “Relay partner” Strawberry Tart Cookie. A cookie for a relay partner?! Are those mortals assuming that they’ll need a COOKIE to help them? Hrrmph, she’s lucky to be in their presence…but this girl…she’s just so….

Sassy! Aggravating! Enchanting- wait no!

The attitude this insolent cookie has! They’ve never felt so disrespected before! She questioned, fought, and argued with every decision they made! Every time they were made to work together it was always something!

“We should camp for the night.” She stated.

“No, we’rrre moving forrrwarrrd.” Ananas Replied.

Strawberry Tart’s expression hardened a little “No, we should camp here for the night. I know this area; the temperature drops severely when the sun does this time of year and I don’t think your lizard brain is all to a fan of the cold.”

Ananas didn’t bother hiding their snarl but she was unfortunately correct. Their kind didn’t do well in the cold unless one had ice related abilities, even that failure of a dragon Pitaya had their limits. Their face twisted with anger as their pride didn’t want to give in, but the logic of the situation eventually won over.

“Very well little cookie, but only because I know YOU wouldn’t be able to handle it.” They retorted, a tad bit defensively to which the girl rolled her eyes at their attempt to save face.

Taking cover in a small cave the two beings stared at the fire created as what Strawberry Tart said came true. Even with the flames providing warmth Ananas still shivered and appeared to be a bit more huddled than normal. Red eyes gazing at them the mighty dragon remained separate from her, they REFUSE to accept her help of any kind!

“In the name of the Baker will you shut off your pride for one damn moment? If you’re cold just come closer.”

“WHAT?! Neverrr! As if I would everrr degrrrade myself and get close to a lowly creaturrre such as yourrrself!” They growled aggressively, that’s it, she’s had enough.

The next thing Ananas knew she grabbed them by the winged crest and pulled hard, they were about to snap at her before she interrupted.

“Listen here, I’ve had enough of this! Ever since I got assigned to being your relay it’s been NOTHING but hell! You think you know better just because you’re a dragon, you don’t listen to stuff I KNOW ABOUT and insist you’re right! Look at us right now! The one time you actually listened to me benefited us! If we had kept going BOTH of us would’ve been frozen berries right about now! I’ve endured this for as long as I was able, I’ve been TRYING to be cooperative and help you but you dig your heels in more than me!!”

Ananas snarled “How DARRRE you-“ They were cut off again.

“No! How about YOU get off your high horse for FIVE MINUTES and accept that you’ve needed my help! Cause the MOMENT this mission is over and we’re back at the guild I’m switching partners! If I wanted to deal with an angry piece of sugar all day I would’ve teamed with Purple Yam Cookie! So, hush up and stay near me if you want to be warmer! Or don’t, honestly, I don’t care anymore!”

With that, the rant ended and she let go of them. Ananas was in stunned silence, she…she just talked to THEM like that. The Great Golden Dragon, they WANTED to tear her throat out for such audacity but they just…couldn’t. She just…fully took control, exerted her own power over them like it was nothing and they couldn’t do anything. Their eyes wide, mouth slightly agape before closing it.

The cookies had stopped looking at them but her ears didn’t miss the sound of the scaley beast scooching closer. She felt their presence loom over her side but she didn’t meet their eyes again, no point, she said what she needed to say. Both cookie and dragon remained silent but there seemed to be SOME communication in the quiet. As it got late Strawberry Tart Cookie laid on the softer materials that was packed for this job, as she was nodding off, she felt a warmness envelope her. Scaley arms wrapped her smaller body in a surprisingly gentle embrace as she realized Ananas was…cuddling her?

“What are you-?”

“Hush. Don’t think deeply into this cookie, I am only blessing you with my hold because of the chill.” They insisted.

Truly, Strawberry Tart didn’t have the energy to argue…and it DID feel a little nice. It was quiet aside from the crackle of wood and howling of the wind. Not a single word uttered from the two, but neither seemed to be trying for sleep. The girl simply couldn’t sleep, neither could the dragon, the situation just felt…interesting.

A clawed hand moved lower to her belly and pulled her closer, a thick tail also finding its way to wrap around her. Ananas thanked the great flames she wasn’t facing them, because even they themselves didn’t want to acknowledge the light-yellow blush that had dusted their cheeks. They…never wanted to admit that such an audacious cookie had…found her way…perhaps a bit closer to their heart than others.

They didn’t want to admit that what she yelled at them actually hurt with the burning truth behind her words. They didn’t want to acknowledge the fear that she’d replace them and become another’s relay partner. They gulped, swallowing down all of their pride and said just two words.

-

When the sun came up, Strawberry Tart was the first to pack up and actually had to shake Ananas awake. Surprisingly, they didn’t bite back with venom filled words but just the typical glare you’d expect to see on a kid when waking them on a Saturday morning. With the usual huff and slight strut in their step the duo headed off.

There was no arguing this time, just the silence that remained from last night. Hesitantly, Ananas reached and held her hand with their free one. She gave them a slightly incredulous look.

“Don’t think into it, this is simply to keep you frrrom getting lost little cookie.” They said with a slight growl, but their eyes remained averted in almost a shy manner.

Strawberry Tart sighed but held their hand in return.

 “Whatever.”

[minghaocouture]

Pairing: Lee Jihoon x Fem!Reader Genre: Collage AU, Fluff, the tiniest angst Warning: Minor self esteem issues (from reader), Language WC: 2.9K

A/N: @woozisnoots​​ my sweetie baby! This is your Holiday gift from me!! I wub yoooou and i hope you like this <333 The song mentioned in the fic is Tell me you love me by Bolbbalgan4 and i actually just kept listening to it on repeat while writing this lol, it’s such a cute song, and all the italic words are song lyrics (the english translations)! Also yes i shamelessly name dropped our friend group in this, don’t judge me

“You don’t accept my hi as usual I know you’re popular and handsome  but you’ve always given the cold shoulder Only to me.” 

The lyrics flowed easily from your lips and into the microphone, eyes closed as you felt the vibes of the chorus and attempted to put the right layers of emotion into the song as you did so. The instrumental paused just as the chorus ended you heard the familiar sound of your partner through the headphones.

“Can you run that one more time. Hold that last note a bit longer, and make the staccato in the first beginning a bit sharper.” On the other side of the glass sat Lee Jihoon, and the brains behind the operation despite this being a partnered project. At the beginning of this, you never would have thought that the two of you would have been working together so well. Not with how the project began. 

You gave him an affirmation of your understanding and he began from the end of the pre-chorus, letting the melody and his test vocals fill your ears just before you began again.

When you had first been assigned partners, you were less than enthused. Sure, you had a major crush on Jihoon, his passion for music inspired you and you always loved watching him in class when he would perform. But, he was notoriously a rather critical partner. During the last partnered project in class a close friend of yours, Binu, had been assigned to work with him. She ended up confessing that she didn’t really get too much of a say on anything and that Jihoon did the project mostly by himself. Needless to say, she was much happier with this project being partnered with your mutual friend Mar. 

The recording session wrapped up nicely and you began packing your things as you realized how late it was in the evening and your friends would start to get concerned if they didn’t hear back from you. So you pulled your phone from your bag and quickly messaged your group chat to let them know the situation. As you went to place your bag over your shoulder you heard the familiar sound of a stomach growling.

Your eyes quickly scanned the room and watched Jihoon sigh and sit back down at the recording booth, his laptop still open but he didn’t look like he had any intention of leaving to get sustenance. Much to your own surprise you decided to speak up.

“Hey, I was planning on grabbing some dinner. Did...you wanna come too? We’ve been here for a while and we could probably use some food.” You suggested, an inviting smile plastered itself onto your face. You hoped it didn’t seem fake, after all you had invited Jihoon to eat before and he had always denied the offer. 

Much like all previous times, you saw his rather small head shake in denial.

“Nah, I’ve got some stuff to finish up here. I’ll probably grab something before heading back to my dorms...or maybe I’ll ask Mingyu to pick me up some dinner.” You’d heard about Mingyu before, his roommate who he says he tolerates but you can tell that he does really care about the guy from how he talks about it. 

Most people say that Jihoon is hard to read and closed off, but you know they’re wrong. He just...emotes differently, he has his own ways of showing affection and you can see it in his eyes and the little things he does and says. Being around him like this has honestly only made your crush worse. 

“Well, alright, but you better eat something and go home tonight. I don’t wanna come back here tomorrow and see you in this same outfit cause you haven’t gone home.” Which...had happened on more than one occasion during this project.

He shrugged, not turning back to face you.

“I brought extra clothes this time.”

***

“Seriously? I can’t believe he said no again! Ugh, I hate him and you deserve better than to pine after that short stack!” Rolling your eyes as you listened to Krys ranting once again. 

Since Jihoon refuted your invitation you decided to invite out your best friends. The 5 of you heading to a nearby fried chicken place, crowding into the booth that your friend group had basically claimed (when it was available at least) 

“It’s fine Krys, he’s just really into his work. He’s probably going to be in the studio editing until all hours of the morning.” You explained before shoving some of the complimentary salad into your mouth as you took a break from the chicken itself. “I might even take him some food before I head back to the dorms.”

“Nu-uh! I’m not letting you! That boy doesn’t even talk to you outside of class, he doesn’t deserve your time or your energy!” Krys exclaimed.

“I mean, he kinda does. Talk to her, I mean he waved at her last week.” Maya brought up in between her unsuccessful attempts at stealing the rest of the table’s pickled radish. “We were walking to the lounge and she saw him and waved at him, and he finally waved back.”

“Oh what, after ignoring her for a whole semester? Real nice of him. My best friend deserves better!” She declared, aggressively taking another bite of her chicken before continuing. “If I weren’t already dating the best man in the whole world, I would just date you myself.”

This brought the rest of the table another fit of laughter. It was never a dull moment in your friend group and you were always grateful that you had them in your life. 

“This just in, Krys won’t leave big dick Wonwoo so her best friend can have a good relationship.” Mar joked, cackling at the thought. The laughter seemed to get worse when she realized that Wonwoo himself had just walked up to the table to set down a drink refill for Binu. The male’s face was flushed red, obviously having heard the conversation. Which prompted another round of joyful laughter from the group.

It was a good night, but your mind still drifted back to Jihoon, who was most likely still sitting alone in the studio, hungry yet still hard at work. As the conversation drifted away from you finally, you got Wonwoo’s attention and ordered a small meal for take out with a plan to deliver the food before returning home. Even if Krys would give you shit for it.

***

“Jihoon, it’s me” You knocked on the studio door as you entered, assuming you wouldn’t be interrupting anything since you saw the light on but heard now sounds from inside. Surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly, you got no response as you entered. Simply making your way in despite any acknowledgement.

The more surprising thing was what you found once you entered. There, still sitting in the rolly chair with his head firmly planted on the desk in front of his work laptop was Lee Jihoon. Fast asleep, small snores leaving his frame as he dreamed. It would honestly be pretty cute if it weren’t for the fact that you knew this was probably happening because of how much he overworked himself. 

You let out a small sigh, placing the bag on the small coffee table in the room (you didn’t want to set it on the desk with all the equipment) and grabbed his jacket that he had tossed onto the nearby sofa before draping it over his shoulders. You couldn’t really do much more for him without lifting the male up and transferring him to the couch, and you were pretty sure he would wake up if you even attempted that. 

“Night Jihoon.” With that final goodbye you exited the room and returned back to your dorm to get some homework done for a few of your other classes.

It was about 2:30 the next morning when your phone vibrated, indicating a message. Sparing a glance to the device you read the familiar name ‘Lee Jihoon’ as the sender. The message was no more than a simple “Thank you.” but that was good enough for you.

***

As you expected, even being the harmony vocals for the song Jihoon’s talent far outshined your main vocals. You weren’t upset or anything, but you were definitely starting to regret letting him talk you into the main vocal position for this project. You didn’t even really have any commentary to or feedback to give him. His voice fit the song perfectly and you could feel the emotion in his words as he sang. 

When he exited the booth and took a seat on the sofa to take a break you spoke up.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t be the one leading the song?” You questioned, head tilted to the side a bit as you watched him gulp down a bottle of water. Your words took him off guard and he fixed you with a rather confused look, so you continued. “I mean, you have such a great voice and I really think you capture the emotion in the song better than I do. So like…”

“What are you talking about?” He cut off your ramblings before you could continue, his eyes staring intently into your own. “You have an amazing voice, I’m literally blown away anytime you step into the booth. It’s part of the reason I was glad we got partnered for this project.”

It was almost as if your brain had short circuited, you didn’t know what to say. He had never spoken about your singing like that before, much less admit that he was...glad you were his partner. A part of you worried that he was lying just to spare your feelings, but the logical part knew that Jihoon wasn’t someone who would waste the energy to do that. 

“Let me put it this way,” he began again. “If I didn’t think you were doing a good job, if i thought your vocals would get us points docked off, then I wouldn’t have let you sing the Main. Got it?” His gaze seemed to pierce right to your very soul and you couldn’t find it in yourself to argue back and decided to just take his word for it. So you simply nodded a response.

It seemed that Jihoon wasn’t done surprising you tonight, as a smile so tender made its way onto his face. Your heart skipped a beat as you looked into his eyes, you could feel the heat rushing to your face and you prayed that he couldn’t hear the loud throbbing of your heart as he watched you. 

The moment was soon broken by the loud blaring of a familiar pop song, Jihoon’s face dropping at the sound. He quickly grabbed his phone off of the coffee table and put it up to his ear. You decided to be polite and at least try not to listen in, pulling out your own phone and messaging the group chat to see what was up.

“What do you want, Mingyu?” He began, definitely sounding more irritated than before he had taken the call. You couldn’t hear the voice on the other end but from the gumbling that left Jihoon’s lips you wouldn’t have been surprised if his roommate was pushing his buttons for whatever reason.

“No. I’m not and you need to stop asking. I’m working right now.” He paused for a moment, his voice lowering to almost a whisper as if that would make you unable to hear him. “Yes, she’s here too, so stop asking. Mingy-” He groaned as the male on the other end seemed to cut him off, you weren’t too sure with what but now you could vaguely hear the loud voice of his roommate on the line and couldn’t help laughing softly. The sound causing Jihoon’s eyes to flicker over to you, causing your heart to skip a beat as you quickly tried to make it seem like you were just laughing at something on your phone. 

“Shut it. We’ll talk when I get home...yes i’m coming back tonight!” With an irritated sigh, Jihoon ended the call. You weren’t sure he gave Mingyu any time to give a farewell but if you were being honest the conversation had been pretty amusing. 

Setting his phone down on the couch, Jihoon let out a sigh and ran a hand through his thick black locks. A silence falling over the two of you as you typed away on your phone, trying not to make eye contact again. You were so engrossed with your act you didn’t even hear when Jihoon stood from the couch and made his way over to the chair you were currently occupying. 

“Before we call it, could you re-record from the bridge to the end. When I was editing it last night there was some feedback so I wanted to get a better recording.”

“Oh, um yeah sure!” You weren’t sure why he hadn’t mentioned that before, and you didn’t recall hearing any feedback from your vocals when he was recording. But still, you took him at his word and entered the small recording booth once again. 

“I’ll start from just before the bridge.” He said over the speakers once your headphones were pulled snuggly over your ears. You cleared your throat and took a deep breath before nodding and signaling him to start.

“I really like you a lot But do you think we can’t be together? I feel small in my school uniform skirt Looking big on me, Yeah The tall, pretty girls are all around you.  Oh whoa~”

Getting through the bridge you poured your emotions into it. Thinking about your feelings for Jihoon and the longing for him to feel the same for you. Honestly, through this whole process the song the two of you had written was so...cathartic for you. Expressing things you never verbalized, how despite your attempts Jihoon never really spoke to you outside of class but he always seemed so kind when you were working. Or how, because of his looks and his talent he seemed to be surrounded by girls who thought he was wonderful. 

“If you like me, or you love me Just say yes, yes, yes And then I’m your girlfriend And your my boyfriend Tell me you like me.”

The last few chords streamed through your headphones and a silence fell over the room. Just as you were about to take the headphones off you heard a voice come through, the familiar voice of your partner and crush.

“I like you...a lot.” 

You froze like a deer in headlights, almost positive that you had misheard him. Eyes quickly landing on him, watching him through the glass. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but through the tint you could see the soft pink dusting his cheeks and the tips of his ears as his eyes stared down at the desk.

“Don’t say anything. I just...wanted to let you know. The reason I didn’t want to sing the main vocals is because I was worried you would be able to tell.” He continued, eyes still not lifting from the table to meet your gaze. “All of the lyrics I added were about you. I just...changed the pronouns.” 

It was unbelievable to think that Lee Jihoon could possibly love you back. He was too...wonderful, and the fact that the both of you had used this song to express those feelings was almost unreal. 

Thinking back on it, on all the interactions you had attempted to have with him outside of class. You realized that he wasn’t ignoring you, his eyes had always met your own but he was just uncertain.  He had lacked the confidence to speak to you despite your obvious interest in him. It made your pinning seem silly now. 

You still honored his wishes and said nothing, simply taking the headphones off and draping them onto the music stand before exiting the booth. Stopping right next to the object of your affections.

“Jihoon, look at me? Please?” Hesitantly, his gaze turned to you and he looked flustered, more flustered than you had ever seen him. “I like you too, a whole lot.” 

Your words had his eyes lighting up, a look of disbelief crossing his face as you continued.

“Could I...would it be alright if I kiss you?” Before today, you had only ever imagined kissing Jihoon. What it would be like had been nothing more than a small fantasy that you thought about, but seeing him nod looking away still flustered, it almost seemed to good to be anything more than a dream. 

Hesitantly, you reached out a hand to caress his cheek, your heart speeding up as he lifted a hand to press over your own. When your lips met, it was like the stars had aligned. 

It wasn’t a perfect kiss, it was shy and soft but the emotion you felt simply from his lips pressing back against your own was enough to cause your heart to soar. It was like two puzzle pieces finding one another how well his lips felt against your own. You decided in that moment that he would get to hear everyday how much you absolutely loved him, he would never need to ask or hesitate again. Cause that’s what kind of love you wanted to give him, and all you needed to do was say it. 

[displacedcreativity]

When I was little, I used to love Barney, like most kids in the early 90′s. At one point, I even had a stuffed Barney that was very close to the design of the toy in the show. I knew mine would never come to life, but the extra detail made it feel so magical and for a variety of reasons, it was very sentimental and I loved it dearly. I often played alone so obviously toys and stuffed animals played a big part in my imaginary adventures and this stuffed Barney was no exception.  And then while at preschool. In between arriving and naptime. Someone stole it. And I never saw it again. I was devastated, to say the least.  My grandmother got me a new one, but it wasn’t the same. Literally and figuratively. The new one was wearing a shirt for some odd reason, and it’s mouth was sewn shut and overall it looked very odd. There was no charm, no magic. By second grade, I loathed Barney. Between losing the stuffed toy and having one of the lessons I had learned from the show backfire in a painful way, I wanted nothing more to do with it.  I carried that hate for years, and eventually it turned into a neutral feeling to hardly ever thinking about it. Obviously, I knew all the words to the mean version of the ending song from the show...the “I hate you, you hate me, let’s team up and kill Barney.”  I think that’s still a thing that people start singing when they hit a certain age.  I sang it so much I actually forgot the words to the actual song. Regardless, Barney! Not something I’ve really put much thought into lately. And lately, I’ve been burned out - prior to Covid, though Covid definitely didn’t help. And while burned out I was crushed in all the worst ways possible and if I were the Doctor I would’ve died and struggled to regenerate.  Whatever spark or light I had been holding onto prior to recent events is snuffed out, gone, and it would take an impossible miracle to get it back or at least a similar spark back. Like. That person is *gone* I might as well change my name and face at this point.  Needless to say, my dreams have been various flavors of awful, and while that’s not unusual they’ve definitely ramped up in the awfulness more recently.  Last night was no exception, but the ending took a bit of a turn. I was at a school, like a mix of schools I’ve been to or seen and weird stuff was going on and I’m not sure how old everyone was? Like we were all kids, teenagers and adults all at the same time cause you know. dream logic. But then for a moment, Barney was there. Which is a first, I think. I genuinely don’t remember any dreams with Barney in it before. But. He was there! But then he wasn’t. Turns out the only people who could see him were people who still believed in the power of the Imagination. (Very Hook).  And of course, I stood there in disbelief that I couldn’t see him because  I write and draw characters all the time and imagine things, I love imagining stories and dreaming and this was even MY dream why could I NOT see him? I was kind of insulted and spent the rest of the dream trying to prove to myself and everyone that there was nothing wrong with my imagination.  Except that there was, or, is. As I was saying, that sparks been pretty much gone. The skill to create hasn’t vanished, and when I have the energy I can still make the art and write. But that spark that makes me enjoy what I made or gets the creative juices flowing. That’s gone. It’s all ash, there’s no re-igniting that flame. When I realized that in the dream I was instantly upset because it meant that I’ve failed my inner child, if I even still had one, and myself and everyone there because it meant that I couldn’t see Barney even though I knew he was there. I even went on a rant about how growing up doesn’t equate losing your imagination, losing that spark, and adults aren’t crazy for wanting to play with their imagination as a way to have fun and relax.  But everyone nodded and agreed with me, I hadn’t made any sort of realization I didn’t already know or at least, deeply understand. Like, I was right but it wasn’t what my subconscious was trying to process and deal with. And someone, I don’t know who, asked me if I loved my imagination. As it’s something that has actually plagued me many, many times and well I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve pretty much got 0 self love.  I think I said yes, or that I wanted it back, I’m not entirely sure. But it was this general acceptance that one of my strengths has always been the ability to see the magic in the mundane and to share that magic with others by creating something, be it art or a story or whatever I think is the best medium for the magic. I often squish this down in an attempt to fit in or to not look weird, but.  It doesn’t stop at stories, because I was also thinking how in general I see the potential in things, in people, in stories.  And yeah, that magic can often backfire, and it can hurt, and it can make you feel completely, totally alone when no one else see’s what you do. But that’s what I needed to say. That I can see the magic in the mundane and the potential in every person. Even though I’m burnt out and the spark is gone and I have no real creative juices and no real self love and honestly every year I survive is honestly a surprise and I still can’t promise I’ll make it to 34 for a variety of reasons, (my physical health is rubbish and yadda yadda tomorrow is never guaranteed) but. That’s part of who I am. I see the magic. I see the potential for good, and the potential for bad. And there will be people who will never see what I do, and there will be people who will! And there will be people who don’t see it, but they will believe me - some may see what I do eventually, and there will be those that will never see it even if it’s slapping them in the face and they will take that out on me in negative, awful ways and it will hurt every time. But that’s okay. And it’s okay to be hurt, and it’s okay to lose that spark because the spark is just an energy source. When the batteries die for good you don’t recharge them you throw them out and get new ones! Hell, even dead batteries that are kept in for too long can still explode acid everywhere and eat away at the insides.  So yeah, my batteries are dead, and have exploded acid everywhere, and it will take a long time to pry them out, clean up and repair the damage and get fresh batteries. And it’s always possible that I’ll never make it that far.  But when I realized this, in the dream. Magic from the mundane and the batteries...Barney popped up again. Though more of a strange dream version of Barney this time, and actually to be completely honest I couldn’t see the face because it was taller than me so all I could really see was a colorful torso but REGARDLESS.  I hugged the dream dino and for the first time in YEARS. I remembered the actual lyrics to the ending song from the show. “I love you, you love me. We’re a happy family. With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won’t you say you love me too!” What a thing to forget.  And I realized, that that’s generally my response to when something I love ends up hurting me in someway shape or form. Ever since I was a small child that’s how I learned to react to a lot of my trauma. The logic of...”It can’t hurt me if I hate it.”  Like I’ve known for a while that I’ll avoid something if there’s too much negativity attached to it, and obviously there are lines that will always need to be drawn but. Love won’t always make  you feel good, and that’s okay. But replacing love with hate isn’t always what you should do, and hate with always make you feel like crap.  Anyways, I’m kind of losing my train of thought but ultimately. I woke up feeling... lighter, in a way. There’s still a lot of bad and I’m stull hurting and broken, etc etc etc but I woke up with no hatred for Barney or sour neutrality and generally my feelings for the show (I’m assuming it’s still on) is that I think it’s a great show that encourages kids to be imaginative and to be loving.  And my inability to remember the original lyrics of the song has been replaced with me genuinely struggling to remember the mean lyrics, and I don’t even feel bothered to look them up, because why? Why waste energy I don’t have hating something for unintentionally hurting me, especially when it was something I loved so much and helped me get through other dark, traumatic events that I was exposed to at a very young age? I mean, I’m not about to go out and start buying a whole bunch of Barney merchandise and start watching show, but I can allow myself to enjoy my memories of it from when I was a kid and also forgive myself for hating something just because I was a kid in pain who wanted to protect themselves when no one else would.  This sort of thing is more complicated when it comes to people, but, baring exceptions, it’s okay to love the good memories. It’s okay to still love a place, or a thing, or a food you enjoyed alongside a toxic ex, and it’s okay if you can’t do that.  It’s okay to never want them in your life ever again, and it’s okay to hope that things can heal and mend and the two of you can reconnect in a healthy manner and the second time around is positive and healthy.  It’s okay to grieve a death for as long as you need to, and it’s okay to move on and find love again.

But whenever possible, chose love. Because love will let you know when to change your batteries, hate will make you keep those dead batteries till they explode acid everywhere and corrode you from the inside out because you hate being alone, afraid, or whatever negative thing is eating away at you but I can garuntee it’s not love that’s making you keep the dead batteries, it’s the deep desire to avoid something negative you hate or are afraid of and that’s perfectly understandable and a reasonable response and everyone works at their own paces.  And if you think it will help, write a sticky note that says “change the batteries” or whatever and stick it somewhere you can look whenever you need a reminder. Start with small things! Or don’t! It’s completely up to you! Just whenever you can, remember to chose love, and look for the magic in the mundane and the potential in people. Love can take you everywhere, hate will get you nowhere. 

[atomicfilm]

What are some potential pitfalls in an ISTJ parent - INTP child relationship?

 I don’t have a lot of personal experience with ISTJs and ESTJs, as I don’t naturally gravitate towards them, but I’ll try my best! 

(I’m assuming you’re the ISTJ parent.)

TL:DR Biggest issues: emotional distance, discipline, authoritarianism, stubbornness from both parties. 

 ISTJ is The “Man”, INTP is The Rebel. 

 Please continue to read, because I do, in fact, offer suggestions. 

General

   First off, parent-child relationships can have a lot of turmoil regardless of type. If your child is older, particularly in middle school and high school and you feel like they’re acting out, really the best thing you can do is be open and honest with them. Tell them that you love them and you’re having a difficult time understanding their behavior. Don’t blame anyone when you say this. Don’t criticize them. At all. Or you will shut them out more. Communication is at the heart of every relationship. It’s quite possible that if this is your situation that they are upset and don’t know how to come to you with problems. I was so moody in middle school and my mom sometimes drags me for it, but it was because I was being bullied, anxious, and coming to terms with my identity. I didn’t know how to talk to my mom about basic things and that was because she never offered to talk nor did she ever talk to her mom herself. 

   Now we have a much healthier relationship and it’s because we started talking to each other about what we expect from one another and started sharing our more personal stories. I’m so thankful for that change, even if at first it did involve some yelling. (Hopefully, other people can avoid that.) 

  Accept them. Allow them to talk. Don’t scold them when they come to you. Ask them questions and if they don’t want to answer then wait for them to be ready to come to you. It’s better that they’re being honest and seeking help. 

 Also, provide them with what they need. Whether that’s tampons, birth control, therapy, whatever it is that could affect their health. If there are fiscal issues, look for solutions together. 

INTP specific

Overview: 

  J vs. P: Ahh! Judgers, in general, don’t like Perceivers because our style of approaching problems is so different. Where a Judger might try to come up with a bulleted list of how to proceed, Perceivers usually look for a starting point and the rest of the plan is flexible. Judger’s also tend to be less spontaneous and more precise. My best friend is an ISFJ and my boyfriend is an INTJ, they both like to complain about how I’m easily distracted, distracting, and always jumping from one thing to the next. But what I really love about Judger’s is that they’re grounding. They have a certain intensity to them that helps me to focus. They’re usually also great at explaining things thoroughly, whereas, I tend to not follow a linear train of thought, even if I’m giving an in-depth explanation. I’m not a detail-oriented person and sometimes I think people get weighed down by them, but I still think it can be a beautiful trait to have as well.  

  We have our differences! They work great together if you recognize that and don’t put too much pressure on them to change. Your INTP might need you to tell them to remind them about their homework that’s due every once in a while (but don’t be a helicopter parent, please). They might need you to walk them through a math problem or get them a tutor. Don’t ignore that. But also, embrace it when they don’t want to stay on schedule (life might be more fun) and if you’re trying to solve something, their Ti-Ne will generate many logical solvencies, they just need you to help eliminate some. Essentially, don’t pressure them, do guide them. Both of you should be mature and understand what you want. If they complain, listen. If they don’t listen when you complain, ask them politely. 

 My mom was always like “eh, you have A’s, you don’t need help from me”. I struggled so, so much with stress and being the “ideal child”. It’s too late now (I’m accepted into college), but I wish she would have asked me if I was having trouble at school, rather than completely ignore me because I’m smart. We did recently have a conversation about how I needed to skip a day of school for my mental health and she was very accepting of that. I was having a really difficult time because of personal issues that  I won’t disclose but little things mean so much to INTPs. 

  Your kid is going to do things one way or another if they have a lot of willpower. The only thing you can truly control is whether or not they resent you. But for certain things, like arguing against them becoming substance abusers, you have science on your side and it’s no secret that INTPs love science. 

S vs. N: 

 ISTJs are usually much more traditional than INTPs. INTPs are very specific to themselves, so much so that saying they’re “unconventional” is an injustice. They’re on a scale of their own. Sorry in advance, but you are raising a baby alien. And they probably feel like that too. Intuitives are stereotypically visionaries, sensors are stereotypically conservative (with the exception of xSxPs). Honestly, I don’t think it matters at all that you’re a sensor. Just try not to bog them down with too many details, again, or force them into doing things your way all the time. 

  INTPs are so independent, I really can’t imagine that bossing them around will work in your favor. I’m lucky because my mom’s an INFP and she likes me to lead, but ISTJs tend to be leaders too, so there could be a lot of clashing in terms of power. My best advice is to let them do their own thing as much as possible without trying to fit them into a mold. If you need to discipline them, try to use positive affirmations if they respond to them. 

 My mom jokes that my ISTJ grandma is afraid of me because I’m the only person she’s ever met who won’t obey her. Yelling doesn’t work on me. 

  Also, don’t ask them to make too many of your decisions for you either. Not to be emo, but we want to be loners. My issue with my own mother is that she expects me to do things like work out the legalities of her land deeds and do her taxes. I’m 17! I don’t want to think about those things until I’m a little older. But if an INTP sees you struggling, we’re softies who love to help, so our nature will likely kick in anyways. 

Cognitive Functions:

INTP - Ti-Ne-Si-Fe

ISTJ - Si-Te-Fi-Ne

We share introverted sensing and extraverted intuition! A great start. 

 Si: ISTJs have it as their primary function. Having sensing first is fantastic if you love to socialize. INTPs tend to be antisocial (whoops) at least with people they don’t know well. This could be a conflict if you expect them to go to a lot of events like work parties that they don’t want to attend. They’ll probably throw a fit if you press them enough. However, since you’re both introverts, you probably understand that they want to crawl into a small, dark space by themselves for a while instead. If they don’t want to go to your events, tell them to invite a close friend over instead. Maybe once a week. They do need to socialize, even if they don’t want to. Just expect their threshold to be lower than yours. 

  What’s good about it? We both like to compare/contrast our memories with current events. We both remember a lot of details about people/things we find significant. We both need a routine (but try to mix it up slightly for INTPs because we need stimulation as much as we like comfort). We both are practical and fact-oriented. 

  Your INTP probably highly respects you. That’s the most important part. I find Si to be overwhelming if someone only talks about other people and their experience with them. Simply because I don’t care enough what Sally did on June 15, 1983 if it’s not immediately relevant. 

 INTPs hate small talk. With a burning passion. When I meet people I immediately talk to them about their hopes, dreams, theories, favorite historical periods, inside jokes, ect. Not about what they ate for breakfast. We have high standards for entertainment. 

Ti vs Te: 

  Ti is like “let’s interpret what’s happening internally”. Te is more like “hey, let’s categorize what’s happening externally as objectively as possible”. INTPs are heavily invested in fixing themselves if you haven’t heard. They want to be the ultimate human and then inspire people from that point. Te users tend to be obsessed with fixing the world first. That’s not to say INTPs and ISTJs won’t share common ground, however. We can definitely rant to you about why that bike rack should be in a different place or how the political system is corrupt. 

  However, first and foremost, we’ll silently be analyzing all of our own issues and try to solve them. On our own. This is our fatal flaw and best asset. You probably only see it as their best asset. It only works for so long before we become so stressed we may combust. Your INTP may be deeply insecure, even if they come off as confident. So remind them frequently that you admire them and it’s okay for them to ask you for help. 

  We’re perfectionists. Try to discourage that early on. No one needs to be perfect. That’s way too much pressure to put on anybody. 

 Ti is very critical and reflective, making it really good for debate and self-improvement. But it’s soul-crushing if it’s turned too far towards inwards. 

Think of Ti as having anxiety. When it’s negative, you think about everything you’ve ever done wrong, over and over, until you have a solution. On the flip side, Ti users ponder proactively a lot too and come up with creative theories.

 So going off of that, your INTP may be feeling so insecure or confused that they take it out on you. Talk to them. Work out what’s going on in their head externally. It may prove helpful. 

  Te-users are also sometimes more managerial. Let your INTP go with the flow.

   And finally, Te-users can be on the colder side with their affections. If you think parents shouldn’t shower their children with affection, throw that thought away. Tell your kid you think they’re smart and you love them. Give them a hug if that’s something they’re comfortable with. Like everyone deep down, we need affirmation!

Fi vs. Fe:

YIKES. Fi is the killer of INTPs everywhere. 

Well, ISTJs don’t emote too much. Which is both good and bad. It’s good because INTPs don’t respect emotional people very often. It’s bad because you’re a parent and a human, not a robot. 

  What I’ve noticed is that ISTJs typically yell when they’re upset but are less giving when it comes to affection. That’s obviously not a good combination. 

   Don’t practice tough love. That’s garbage. Absolute garbage. If you find yourself saying frequently “they’ll thank me later” you probably are just trying to justify doing something harmful. Children need to be nurtured! Not pushed around. Sometimes they do need more discipline but INTPs don’t respond well to authority, so again, you’ll probably hurt your relationship more than you’ll gain anything else. 

  Try to avoid escalating arguments into spitting matches. If you’re feeling hot-headed, leave the conversation. I bet your INTP already did. Then come back later and try to resolve it when you’re less angry. This overlaps with the difference between Te-Ti a bit too. 

  INTPs bottle their emotions for prolonged periods and then spill them all at once. Encourage them to share with you or another trusted figure more often. Otherwise, you’ll see the worst side of your INTP much more than you need to. 

   INTP’s Fe means that we want to please you. We want a harmonious environment. If we can’t figure out how to get it, we’ll look for a new environment. We usually try to understand your emotions even if they’re kind of foreign to us. Fi from our perspective is like “LOOK AT ME I’M SAD LOOK AT ME RIGHT NOW SEE ME CRY HELLO PAY ATTENTION TO ME”. Yes, that was exaggerated. But that’s what it looks like to us. It appears selfish and explosive. Do what you can to tone it down.

 You’ll win us over with compelling logic, not necessarily pathos. 

Ne: Ne is the best. Hands down. Ne is my favorite thing ever. It’s how I communicate on a daily basis. It’s unfortunate that it’s so low in the ISTJ stack because I rarely see it. But honestly, it saves the relationship in my opinion. I have very little in common with that ISTJ grandmother I mentioned but what do we have in common? She watches a lot of movies and I’m going to be a film major. 

 So instead of using that Ne to generate a lot of small talk and gossip, which is one of my largest problems with ISTJs, use it to generate conversations about your common interests. 

 Afterword: 

  Your INTP is likely going to be nothing like you and that’s okay. It’s amazing that you’ve raised an entire human being and even more beautiful that they’re not a mass-produced model of their parents. It will likely be a rocky road but I’m sure they love you so much. They just might not feel safe in expressing it. Which is sad, yes, but not a reason to give up. 

 I’d like to add that I actually really like my ISTJ grandmother (my mother does not, because she had to be raised by her and my grandmother is very domineering to most people). 

 Here are some reasons why I love her:

- She’s so good with physical projects. She loves to bake, she loves to scrapbook, she loves to knit. In that regard, she’s awesome! She’s the ideal grandma and she has a lot to teach me. I’m not a physical person at all and she’s helped to balance me out a bit. I can’t knit, but I can cook, and I definitely didn’t learn that from anyone else. 

- She’s funny! She has an amazing sense of humor and her eyes get all bright and shiny when she’s happy. 

- We have similar political beliefs even if she’s much more traditional than I am. She’s actually the only person in my family I like to talk to about current events. She’s lived through so many and she actually pays attention. In this case, being detailed-oriented helps her a lot. 

- She’s good at decision-making and I can be indecisive. 

- She’s very honest to me at least. I like to ask her about family history and her own beliefs and that’s interesting. She’s the only person who cares about genealogy and the only person who knows anything about my great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents. 

- She loves me.

 You will be fine. Just don’t be judgy and bossy. 

I hope this helps! Feel free to ask me for more advice. 

[square-enix-headcanons]

Vexen, Xaldin, Xigbar, and Lexaeus (dad squad lol) crushing on on someone who is their opposite and not knowing what to do? Lol!

Opposite as in, opposite character? That’s gonna be fun :D (General FYI, if I get Nobody names, I’ll do the Nobodies, and if I get Somebody names, I’ll do the Somebodies. If I get both I’ll do both ^^)

And since it’s long I’ll put most of it under a read more :)

Xigbar

You’re the newest member of the Organization, and right from the start there’s something Xigbar just finds intriguing about you

So when you’re both in the Grey Area, he goes to chat with you for a bit

It goes well enough, but you instantly tell him off when he uses a nickname for you. You already have a name

Xigbar’s taken aback, but when you’re insistent, he does drop the nicknames - For this conversation. It takes him a while longer to stop using them with you at all. Larxene ended up shocking him when he did it with her

On missions, Xigbar may not slack off, but he does like to take some time to fool around. You do not.

All right, fine; then Xigbar will be a little bit more serious, too

Honestly, Xigbar himself doesn’t even notice he’s got a crush on you until someone else, maybe Larxene, makes a comment in passing

Something like “Aw, someone’s managed to put our Number Two on a leash!”. Cause, you know, Xigbar isn’t normally stopped from nicknaming or fooling around

At first he tries to shrug the comment off, but he does pay a bit more attention to his behaviour afterwards, and, well…

Obviously he still messes around every now and then, and occasionally calls you buy something else than your name, but far more rarely, and usually all it takes is an annoyed look or a sharp comment from you, and he stops or at least tones it down

Huh. Dammit.

Xigbar did not plan on getting attached to anyone, especially not like this

But, well, what happens, happens

But how is he supposed to go from here?

His first thought is some dumb, grandiose gesture he’d have a lot of fun doing, but he doubts you’d appreciate that

He could just tell you, but for once, he feels almost shy

Xigbar’s not used to being vulnerable; he tries to find a way to let you know without making himself vulnerable, but that’s easier said than done

Thinking about that obviously distracts him from his missions, and when you’re fighting dangerous Heartless, distraction just might be problematic

You’re fighting a pretty big one together when Xigbar doesn’t notice an attack in time and gets knocked out

He wakes up to you kneeling over you, the Heartless gone

And, still being a little bit dizzy, he blurts out something like, “You managed to get the thing down all on your own? Damn, no wonder I fell for you.”

Oh. Oh! Whoops. Welp, now you know

“Meanwhile, I’m almost wondering why I fell for you, Sweetie.” You wink at him before helping him up (Hey, maybe it’s not the best nickname, but you aren’t used to this!)

Still stunned, Xigbar lets you pull him back to his feet, before a grin spreads on his face and he gives you a quick kiss

(Nicknames are still reserved for special occasions only though)

Xaldin

While Xaldin is usually very stoic, you’re just the opposite, wearing your emotions on your sleeve. Crying when you’re upset, shouting when you’re angry…

He at first just feels a bit intrigued because he just doesn’t get it

Of course there’s the problem that he shouldn’t have any emotions, but he also behaved like this when he still had them

He doesn’t understand how someone can grow up to be an adult and still be this open; doesn’t it only lead to pain and suffering? Who’d choose that willingly?

Soon enough he’s utterly fascinated

And confused because his silver tongue just… Doesn’t work. He tries to sow doubts into your Heart, but you just go to your friends to confirm, because you trust them

More than once do other member have to fetch him from your world; if he’s fascinated like this, it’s easy for him to forget the time

Of course, he can’t be feeling anything but fascination now, can he?

Lexaeus suggests it might be something else - after all, he’s seen a lovestruck Dilan before, and this looks awfully similar - but Xaldin blows him off

But, well, his heart does flutter a bit when he sees you… And there is something about how open you are…

You’ll have to do the first step to make him figure it all out; good thing you’re so open all the time!

Xaldin hasn’t blushed in ages, but hearing you tell him you like him, that you’re in love with him, just… takes him off guard

He needs some more time to accept that that’s what’s happening; not only is he a Nobody, he also vowed to never love someone again

And yet… And yet…

He disappears for a few days, but (after a bit of pushing from Lexaeus), he decides to go back, considering how much he misses you

Basically sweeps you up to give you a kiss as soon as he finds you

Vexen

You and Vexen are both members of the Organization, and as such, you sometimes either have to spend time together, or it just happens if you’re both in the Grey Area

Other than that, you don’t really spend much time together; unlike Vexen, you don’t have that drive to pick apart e v e r y t h i n g, and to him, people who can’t share his enthusiasm for experiments are just. Boring.

But… He has to admit that there’s something about the simplicity of accepting things just as they are

He notices it most when you’re doing missions together, particularly in worlds like San Fransokyo. You’d point out something that caught your eye, and Vexen either starts lecturing you about how it works, or starts making plans how to find out how it works

You usually stop him at that point. “Vexen, all I wanted was show you this cool thing.”

He tends to sneer at that, but your approach does have merits - Vexen sometimes gets so lost in the details of some clues during a recon mission, he misses the obvious thing

Another difference between you two: You don’t make him feel like the dumbest man alive when you point this stuff out

With both those differences and the fact that he’s a Nobody, falling for you defies logic in every way

But when he catches himself smile as he thinks about you… Or when he has to go on missions with someone else and misses out on the things you’d have shown him…

He’s super aware that he’s falling for you, and he absolutely hates it

Not just because he’s never seen himself with someone like you (He hasn’t given romance much of a thought until now, to be honest), but also because he’s acutely aware of all the differences, all the times he’s been mean to you, and thus he’s sure you’d never reciprocate his feelings

He tries to push them down. Ignore it, keep working, hope the feelings fade

Yeah… Nope.

Pretty much the opposite, to be honest.

It annoys the hell out of him (How is he supposed to do the mission when your smile takes his breath away like this?! How is he supposed to focus when his thoughts keep drifting to you?!), but at the same time, he kind of likes this feeling

At some point during a mission, you find a single red rose and point it out to him

And for one time in his life, Vexen manages to not go into a rant, and instead just answers with “Yes, it’s… Beautiful.”

“Vexen, are you all right? Are you feeling okay?”

Sure, it’s kinda nice that he for once just appreciates it, but it’s also just weird

It’s rare to see Vexen at a loss for words, but that’s what just happened

“Well, I merely though you would appreciate it if I… tried seeing things your way.” He was this close to saying something mean again but he caught it in time

“Vexen, I like you for being you.”

????????

Vexen.exe has stopped working

For a little bit he just. Stares at you. Before he manages to ask, “You like me?”

He doesn’t notice but he’s totally blushing

You gently cup his cheek with your hand. “Yes, Vexen, I like you. A lot.”

When he doesn’t pull back, you slowly lean in for a kiss, and Vexen closes the little bit of distance remaining between you

Lexaeus

Lexaeus may be known as the silent hero, but you’re everything but that, able to talk like a waterfall

And while he’s pretty calm and collected, it sometimes feels to him like you’re bouncing all around the place

He first ran into you during a mission; he went to the world early to scout it out a little, but that meant he’d have to wait a while before he could begin

He was about to return to the Castle, but well, then you came along and started talking to him, and he decided he might as well listen

You talked about everything and nothing, while he mostly just nodded - But he was listening to every word you said

Near the start of his mission, he waits for a short break in your word flow and tells you he’ll need to leave

“Oh, okay. will you come back later? I love chatting with you.”

He’s surprised at first, since he’s not exactly known as a great conversationalist, so he just answers “maybe”

It takes a while until you two meet again, but once more, Lexaeus is perfectly willing to just listen to you for a while

Soon enough, he finds himself coming to your world just a little bit earlier, or lingering after missions just a little bit longer, to get a chance to speak to you

He doesn’t get chatty, but after a while, he does respond a little bit more than just with nods or short one-syllable answers; still, he much prefers listening to you

Lexaeus is very aware that he’s starting to fall for you. He knows it shouldn’t be possible, but he also knows that this isn’t just the memory of love

He wants to tell you, but he hesitates. What if you don’t feel the same and stop talking to him because it’d make you uncomfortable?

So for a while, Lexaeus contemplates remaining silent - after all, he’s got practice with that - so that he won’t lose you companionship

But… On the other hand, he does want you to know. So in the end, he decides to tell you.

He’s a man of few words, but he can and usually will say what matters to him straightforward

So when he meets you again, he holds up a hand to stop you from talking so he can say what’s on his officially non-existant heart

“I know we haven’t known each other for long, but I believe I’ve fallen for you. If you don’t feel the same, I’m more than willing to remain your friend, but–”

He doesn’t get much further because you wrap your arms around him and give him a kiss

[ocean-butch]

How is cas different from ur other girlfriends

akcjwjxia i had to wait like SIX HOURS to answer this bc of a goddamn test i had bUT OH BOY ANON AM I GONNA LOVE DOING IT alfjadjsk i just love talking about my gf i love her so much i wanna gush about her 25/8

the short answer would be basically in every way bUt imma do it part by part.

okay so, in a simplified version i’ve had relationships with people whose personalities worked well with me but who were shitty girlfriends or a good girlfriend who just didnt really fit with my personality. i’ve actually given that so much thought even before i met cass, but the point is that i met her and she was just perfect for me in both ways (technically its more complicated bc theres a bunch of logic into this that im not explaining bc my mind is weird and it would be Way too long but anyways). but ok let get into How she fits me perfectly.

first of all literally no one ever in my entire life has made me laugh as easily and genuinely as she does. im not even exaggerating, like laughing was never really A Thing for me to look for in girls bc it just never happened???? like i had fun conversations and stuff but there was never anyone that made me go “holy shit i have never laughed this much with anyone else” and we have So many inside jokes, which is a thing that i almost never have????? and i always used to wish i did bc everyone would talk about it and i’d feel like i just wasnt funny and That was the problem. and also this is really important bc its one of the things that made me realize that i liked (and eventually, came to love) her. bUT its not the only one so theres also like all these things that we like and we can talk about for HOURS like i remember when i watched infinity war and the first thing i did when i got home was call her and we talked about it for like 2 hours idek but it was great. the point is, we have a bunch of shared interests (which isnt like 100% necessary but its still really nice), wHICH LEADS ME TO: her music taste is amazing and i love that so much bc i love music With My Entire Soul and its the best thing in the fucking world (after cass & my friends and tied with the ocean) but yeah thats great too. AND i think more importantly than the last 2 things is that she is literally so fucking easy to talk to. like ever since the beginning we didnt really have that awkward phase where we run out of things to talk about and the conversation keeps dying like we never had that it just flowed so well and that was such a good feeling. another thing is also how comfortable i feel talking to her.

like i have never felt this way with any of my girlfriends bc i was always scared that i was gonna be annoying or say something Wrong and they’d start to realize i sucked and then break up with me, but shes just so kind and idk she just has this way about her that makes me feel at home and its always been there like i dont believe in love at first sight or anything like that but i swear to god the day after i met her i already felt like i could tell her anything and that was such a comforting thing and i needed that so badly at the time. i dont feel like i was able to describe this aspect very well tbh like im not doing it justice. like, she makes me feel like im not annoying at all, and like i could just randomly start ranting about anything and she would be like super invested in it, and just literally so comfortable in every sense of the word. she is my home, no ifs ands or buts, i just feel it every single time that we talk or that i simply think about her, and i have never felt this so clearly with anyone. and i think this comfort i feel with her is kinda connected with how she has always made me felt so appreciated, in a way that no one has ever done. like, i had like 2 tags about my wants and needs in a relationship, there was “my dream girl” to remind me that i shouldnt settle for anyone after i got out of a rlly bad relationship, and there was “things i wish someone would tell me” after my “first” relationship (i dont really count it bc Officially™ we only dated for a week) because my gf at the time would almost never be affectionate with me and it made me really insecure so i started that tag as a way to vent kinda. anyways my point is that i made those tags bc i would always feel super anxious in my relationships bc i never really felt loved or even wanted (aka the good personalities awful gfs relationships) i just felt like a burden and it was such a big thing for me.

okay now i’ll say that there Kinda was an exception to this before cass, because it would be unfair to say that that relationship was detrimental to my mental health, but it was still different. like, that ex did make me feel wanted most times, but not only did i still have A Lot of insecurities about the whole thing bc of some things she would say and do or not say and not do and i’d get like super uncomfortable or just sad really but also bc whenever the conversation would start to die out i was Absolutely Certain that she was gonna break up with me. it was pretty bad im not even joking. and like ofc my anxiety isnt her fault OR responsibility and like sure i still get anxious about cass sometimes but its not like that its basically just when she doesnt answer for a long time i think that something bad might have happened but even when my rude ass brain does try to tell me that she doesnt love me i KNOW that its not true, and that is a kind of peace that i have never ever had before. but anyways, so that was the good gf whose personality didnt fit mine and its weird now bc that is so obvious but i really didnt wanna believe it at the time even though i knew it wasnt gonna work out, but now its just really weird ngl (but i wont get into the why).

and now cass. wow okay let me tell you about cass. she is perfection. she is literally everything i have ever wanted AND things i didnt even know i wanted. she is everything no one else ever was and i just remembered that when we started dating in may i said that exact same sentence to abby. its just so true, she really is everything that no one else could be. because theyre not her. i’ve said this a lot of times but i really dont see how i could ever love anyone else after loving her, it just doesnt make sense to me because she really is like,, as good as it gets. there is no one better than her for me. we’re literally meant to be i s2g like when we broke up for a while i would tell everyone i wasnt really trying to move on at all bc i just hoped she would come back to me and i couldnt miss that chance. i knew she was my soulmate, although at some points i lost almost all hope (but never all) and i started thinking that maybe she was the love of my life but i wasnt the love of hers. and thats bc she really is everything ive ever dreamed of like she has all these little things that she does or say that sometimes wouldnt even mean anything to other people but to me they are So important bc theyre things ive dreamed about while my ex girlfriends ignored me akcjsjxn like, i was talking about how comfortable she feels to me and a big part of that comes from little things like the fact that even when we were just friends she would spam me when i was gone for a long time and that not only made me feel missed and appreciated but also it meant i could do that to her and it wouldnt be annoying bc she felt the same!! like, she missed me too! and me knowing that she actually Wanted to talk to me and the fact that she actually showed me she cared was super great when we started dating bc it made me feel like if i was feeling sad or insecure, i could literally just ask her to be a little more affectionate and it wouldnt feel fake bc i actually knew she cared. and you have No idea how much that meant to me bc i literally didnt know it was possible for me to feel that way. like honestly i thought it was an innate aspect of who i am that like if i asked for affection it would be meaningless? bc i’d be lowkey forcing the person to say something? but with her it felt different bc we had enough intimacy for me to feel comfortable enough to do that.

HOWEVER i never actually Had to do that bc i got insecure exactly once (1) on the first night we started dating back in may bc i didnt know how much she liked me and i was like in love with her so i thought she would think i was too much and then i told her i was sad and that i was gonna sleep and the next day when i woke up she said something along the lines of “how are you babe bc i remember you said you were sad last night and i couldnt stop thinking about it bc i want you to feel good all the time” and thats something so small but wow it just meant so much to me bc i would cry and beg any fucking force in the universe to make my last ex do Anything At All to try to make me Not Sad and it would be awful and i would feel so so unloved and then cass just said that and something clicked in me and i never doubted her feelings to an actual Meaningful extent while we’ve been together anymore (like ofc i get insecure sometimes and especially when we broke up, but while we have been dating ive never gotten like actually Sad™ specifically bc i wasnt sure she liked me) but it gets even better because some of the things she does are so so special that i never even imagined them like shes literally unreal, i literally never thought someone like her existed and its just so wild to me that i get to be with her.

and i know im saying a bunch of cliches but i mean it all so much like i remember when i was dating one of my exes i was learning her first language but she didnt try to learn mine and i really wished she would bc i just always loved the idea that someone would do that for me?? (and she was like the good gf so yknow,, just how that relationship literally did Not even compare to cass) and guess what yes cass is learning portuguese and its the cutest thing ever btw bUt the point is she does all the little things ive ever wanted in a partner (i literally have a post with a list of things i appreciate in a partner and she does all of them!! well, the ones that arent like irl or smth) also i literally have a draft in this blog that is a list of cute things cass has done/said that means a lot to me personally but i didnt post it yet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and like theres just so so many things that i havent talked about, like how im not even sure if i was ever in love with anyone of them anymore because what i feel for cass is just so different and so much more, or like how cass actually makes me want to try to get better, which ive never actually wanted before bc it always seemed to scary, like she literally makes me wanna be not only alive but also happy bc she makes me feel like i deserve it. she has been such a good influence on me and my mental health and thats so important and its the first time someone has been this good for me.

but anyways the point is that cass is right for me in every single way like she really is my other half she literally just is everything that she is and thats how shes different from my ex girlfriends.

[theneircarebear]

My Infinity War Rant (And MCU Rant, by Extension)

Spoiler-free TL;DR: I’d give Infinity War a 4/10. Pretty action movie with some fun humour, but plot was executed poorly and the current state of the MCU is so annoyingly amatonormative, that I was honestly annoyed and bored throughout Infinity War and unfortunately likely will be for future films.

Some spoilers and expansion on my ideas under the cut. Please note that I am not an MCU expert (I have not seen every single title, nor have I read Marvel comics).

Avengers: Infinity War Critique

Too many characters and, by extension, too many storylines plagued this film. I suspected that this would happen, but hoped for some coherence anyway. Viewers were granted little. I think that a big fault of this film was that the writers/director tried to cram too much into one film. I found a few of the individual plots really interesting (e.g., Gamora and Thanos’ storyline, the execution of the Asgardians and Thor’s mourning over his people and his brother AND ALSO the fancy axe weapon that was not given nearly enough explanation, why exactly Scarlet Witch is powerful enough to destroy the Infinity Stones but no one else), and I would have loved separate movies that addressed these. Because they were crammed into one film, though, they seemed rushed. Loki’s death was sad, but I found that I didn’t really care all that much because Thor was given a five-second sad scene about it and then proceeded to be reserved for the rest of the film. Gamora and Thanos’ relationship was well-explored, and I remember that part of the film best; but I found that the cuts to the other superheroes and their storylines took away from that main story and just made me wait longer to watch the storyline I actually liked. Also, the end of it where Gamora was sacrificed (out of love) was really cheesy and stereotypical. I think that this film could have been decent even with all of the characters still in it, but the problem I had was that too many of the characters got Center Stage. I think that the film would have flowed better and been more coherent if many of these characters took supporting roles instead of being explored just as much as the main ones. Alternatively, since I know that many superheroes owned the Infinity Stones that were crucial to the plot and therefore had to be Center Stage at some point, concentration on those characters and cutting unnecessary other characters would have worked well. Did we really need so much focus on Ironman (and, by extension, Pepper)? No, not really, in my opinion. Did we need to bring Black Panther into the fray when the whole plan of Shuri taking out Vision’s Infinity Stone ended up being a waste of time anyway? No, I don’t really think so. Little scenes that detracted from the overall plot plagued this movie and just made it more incoherent.

The message of this film was not readily apparent to viewers. This is a consequence of cramming so much into one film, I think. I noticed that the ending of the film confused everyone in my theatre. Spoiler alert: half of the superheroes disappear into dust (i.e., Thanos wins). The obvious message here is that not everyone wins all the time (and that includes superheroes). I don’t take issue with this message necessarily, because I think it can be good to remind people to be realistic, but I do think that it was an odd direction to take for a movie of the superhero genre, and in the Avengers titles in particular. Superhero movies are meant to be escapist, and people go to watch them to see the hero win through some fantastic fireworks. “Well then obviously this film was meant to counter expectations and subvert the genre, so it’s Art,” you might say. If this was the goal, though, then I think it was executed poorly and with the wrong franchise. The Avengers titles are big frontrunners in the superhero boom of the present. When the average movie-watcher wants to see a typical superhero movie they will probably go to a popular one like the Avengers. You don’t have the art-appreciating people go to these films. Those people go see indie films or films that they already know exist to subvert the superhero genre (the Deadpool films come to mind here - so if the MCU already has a “genre-subverting” franchise, then why would they do that again with something very popular that was never designed to stray so much from genre norms?). I think that Infinity War could have still gotten the “not everybody wins all the time” message across in the film pretty well while still sticking to the superhero formula by having a conclusion beyond the one that we saw. Audience members might believe that Thanos smugly watching the sunset is the end of the movie but SURPRISE, one last battle fixes things or something. That’s something that many other superhero movies make use of and I think is effective. You can still convey the idea that battles are sometimes lost, but the point of superhero movies is to show that, no matter what, the war will be won. OK, so if that was the message the director wanted to go with, I think it was poorly executed mainly because of the ending. But I also think it was poorly executed in its writing and flow of other parts of the plot. I could tell that there was an attempt to focus on relationships between the supers: romantic plots, getting over rivalry (between Captain America and Ironman after Civil War’s happenings, for example), learning to team up with new and foreign supers, etc. Those attempts were all right, but could have been way better if, again, there weren’t so many of these subplots happening at the same time. They also distracted from the main message. Captain America and Ironman got over their differences pretty quickly and with no confrontation, which I thought was strange, even in the “ignore our grievances for the greater good” scenario. Wakanda was very quick to open itself up to participate in a war, considering its history and general distrust of others, honestly. The first thing Wakanda did after opening itself up publicly was fight, which is the absolute last thing anyone wanted to do. Because the film flip-flopped between so many ideas and morals, I found myself getting annoyed or confused or bored with the film because not much progress was being made with the main plot and I didn’t really get what the main message of the film was supposed to be. Every scene in a film should have a purpose, and there were many scenes I watched that honestly didn’t seem to have one except to appeal to niche viewers (that, again, probably weren’t the majority of the population watching this movie).

This brings me to my issue with the MCU in general, and with much of other media (it wouldn’t be fair to say only superhero movies have this problem): unnecessary romantic subplots and pretend feminism. Man, was I completely bored with Scarlet Witch and Vision’s relationship. Man, was I so annoyed that nearly every single main female superhero was paired off at some point in the MCU. Black Widow had a completely unnecessary stint with the Hulk. Scarlet Witch pretty quickly shifted from mourning her own brother to pursuing a romance with an AI. The idea that every female needs to have a romantic relationship is annoying and, frankly, unrealistic. As someone who identifies as aromantic, as well, I am so tired of seeing many of the superheroines I admire be forced into random relationships. This idea is harmful even for romantic people: romance is not the be-all-end-all of life. I didn’t take issue with Wonder Woman’s pursuance of romance. It was realistic and made sense for her character, and it was also not her character’s defining role in the story. It was also afforded a lot of development relative to the random romances we have seen in Marvel’s titles, namely the Avengers ones. I’m tired of films bowing to amatonormativity, and giving characters love interests when there aren’t any coherent logical bases for them. Individual superhero movies (like the Ironman titles, for example) can [more] successfully develop relationships, but in action-centered titles with a tonne of characters (like Avengers), there isn’t the time or place to be dealing with such things. Scarlet Witch and Vision’s relationship (as much as I hated it existing in the first place) felt incredibly rushed in the film. Ironman’s random kissing scene with Pepper was not important to the film at all - Pepper made little to no further appearance in the film later on. Her concern over the phone was enough to let us know that Ironman’s superheroing bothered her and put strain on their relationship. We didn’t need an additional scene to reaffirm their relationship, or establish it because, let’s be honest, Infinity War was not made to cater to audiences that hadn’t seen any of the previous films. Now the pretend feminism. Giving every female up to romance is one way the MCU perpetuates stereotypes that every girl wants to be in a relationship. But another big thing I have seen in many recent Marvel films (and other superhero films or just films where women are fighting anything) is that women are almost always and exclusively paired up to fight other women. The main villains are predominantly male, and the male superheroes get to fight them. One particular scene in Infinity War comes to mind that really gets at this well. Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, and Okoye are all fighting a female baddie. Just before this fight sequence, Scarlet Witch got to show off her incredible power by wiping out a large portion of the enemy horde sprinting into Wakanda. Okoye’s comment about Scarlet Witch’s power made me think that now that she’s on the field, the lads can have her help to take everyone down. But she doesn’t do that. Instead, she’s made to fight the female antagonist. If Scarlet Witch had such power, why wasn’t she on the team to go fight Thanos? Especially if she has enough power to destroy the Infinity Stones. I suspect it has something to do with the relationship she has with Vision and wanting to stay near him, which I think is a mightily convenient excuse and kind of boils her character down to one that will put romance above everything else in her life. This fight scene isn’t the only time Marvel (and many other films) does this female vs. female thing. I find that while these films claim to be feminist because they have literally super strong female characters, they very quickly send the women away to fight other baddies while the men get to deal with the main threat. I still see women being saved by men way more often than I see the other way around in these films. It’s like, women’s strength is being acknowledged but still laid inferior to men’s.

Something more subtle that I noticed (that is unconfirmed, btw) was in the post-credits scene Marvel always does. Audiences saw the Captain Marvel symbol flash on the screen, likely signalling that Captain Marvel will fix the whole situation. I had a few issues with this. 1. I thought that including some sort of hope like that would have better fit in the movie proper, but 2. I recognize that only non-casual Marvel fans (i.e., people who know the comics) would even recognize that symbol anyway. And also, 3. When I looked up Captain Marvel to see how the character could possibly fix the wacked up situation Thanos caused, the most popular result was the female Captain Marvel (Ms. Marvel) and she does not seem to have any sort of powers that I can imagine would fix everything. But, upon further reading, I found out that there is another version of Captain Marvel (male) who fixes the Thanos problem in the comics by essentially turning back time to before Thanos caused everything to go to shit. That’s great! And apparently there’s a Captain Marvel movie in the works (keeping Captain Marvel female, instead of making her male like the alternate comic version... right?). However, with this, the MCU is adding another character to the already confusing mix. We’ll have to watch her movie to understand her. This is a money grab. I know that it’s always been a money grab, but this is a little silly.

There were many points in Infinity War where the protagonists almost defeated Thanos, but were deterred because of too-convenient reasons (Starlord, I’m looking at you). There were many points in Infinity War where I or my friend sitting next to me thought of a much easier way to solve the problem and defeat the baddie than the characters did. As a result, I felt more and more disconnected from the characters, because so much of what they were doing wasn’t logical and I wasn’t entertained. Doing illogical things for the flashiness is fine, but in moderation. There was unnecessary drama in the fight sequences, and also not enough drama from other parts of the movie, to the point where I was so incredibly bored unless I was watching an action scene, which never really delivered completely because most of them were failures. I felt like I was watching amateurs, not seasoned superheroes.

The film started off decently, and it did have some good scenes, but I was overwhelmed by unnecessary plotlines and scenes, too many characters, and constant failure to really enjoy the movie past the first 45 minutes. I love action and superhero movies, but this one was one of the worst I’ve seen in recent years. You could have done better, Marvel.

[sins-of-the-sea]

hriobzagelthewanderer​:

Instead of immediately answering the culinary-focused duo, the Host seems to forget himself with a dry, acerbic laugh that felt more like a bark of derision than anything cheerful, rolling his eyes and shaking his head as a small rant emanates from his lips for a short minute.

“…I honestly had to expect something like that, but Really? He calls himself ‘the Master’ and doesn’t think the name is a little overbearing in its desperation? I mean, his other names at least had some class - Miguel Aguinaldo at least flows off the tongue easier. Next thing you know he’ll call himself the ‘Supreme Ocean Ruler’ or something even more basic and pretentious. Hmph. I change names to make myself more approachable and he just can’t resist doing the exact opposite…“

Remembering himself, the Host sighs with much the same exasperation, tinged with apology, he gave his own response to the two- while refilling his own mug once more: “…I wish it wasn’t that problematic, but… well, I should have expected something like that from the likes of him, so I apologize in advance. If only to make up for that as best I can, I still encourage you to enjoy yourselves for now. Spirits are much like people in that regard, they vary wildly and greatly not only in ability, but in personality and temperament. Your… well I really don’t want to acknowledge his poor taste in names but you know who I mean- I’ve always known him to be crafty, cunning, and resourceful, which I can appreciate, but it is his selfishness, insecure need to dominate, and juvenile enjoyment of pointless cruelty that irk me… that and the inability to stop lying: I take honesty very seriously, thank you.”

The Host again sighs, this time a little more self-reproachful as he hands Gio a plate… and Rashid a much larger one. “…But if nothing else, remember that He has motive to keep you away from other Spirits - after all, he is a ‘Master of Sin’, but that means he has to have it himself, Envy included. You cannot command what you cannot comprehend, and you cannot comprehend what you cannot relate to or identify with - that own logic is a large part of why I… try to be more human, at least as much as I can be without losing my identity along the way.”

If nothing else, though, that childlike sense of cheer and energy returned full-force the moment food was mentioned: a grateful, gentle smile returning to the Fae’s face as he regarded Gio with an air of appreciation.

“The pork roast, the chicken roast, the turkey, every single bit of gingerbread and fondant, and every single drink here, made it all myself from scratch! Might have had to cheat a bit with magic to make sure I had the time to cook everything without anything spoiling, but when it comes to the preparation itself I remain something of a purist- or perhaps a traditionalist. Comes with being a Fae not of the two infamous Courts; the Seelie would just use illusions on something truly inedible or dangerous and call it ‘beautiful’ without considering the issues therein, and the Unseelie… well they’d probably feed you the same without the illusions because they are all that breed of sadistic vermin. But my legacy extends back a long ways, and one of my more favored moments of my past incarnations was teaching the peoples near my mountain home how to bake and brew, to use fermentation to prepare food and drink. In this life, at least, I do my best to keep honoring that part of myself… as well as for other reasons…”

“…After all… is it not a form of greed to want others to be happy in your presence, or gluttony to encourage others to partake in decadence with you? I am not a being of ‘Good’ or ‘Evil’, I see what you call ‘Sin’ through other eyes… and what you claim for yourselves as Titles are not things I find ‘wrong’, just aspects of Life. That, I will not judge you for, as others might.”

Giovanni drops his fork.

"Y-You know about the Miguel Aguinaldo alias!! No one nowadays knows about this!!" He truly is omniscient! Though as Rashid remains awestruck with Hriob's display of knowledge, Giovanni feels compelled to... defend his Master. He glances towards the Sin of Gluttony for a moment to make sure he can't see his face as long as they are facing the same direction. He can not.

"The Master doesn't bother with any title. Anything someone claims him to be--el Diablo, Maginoo Kataw, Davy Jones, Iblis, or whatnot--he doesn't correct anyone because he'll just take anything anyone calls him. Or her. Or it. We default to calling the Master 'him' because the languages used to describe him tend to be gendered masculine, such as Spanish or Portuguese. And even then, 'The Master' is what WE call him. We have no other name to go by."

Rashid would nod with Giovanni... then gaze in awe at the brazen talking down of the Master. Amazing. The Crew would never be bold enough to point out his cruelty and dishonesty--because doing so would just result in more pain. But then again... they are dealing with another spirit. One on the same level as the Master. Within Rashid, a smile and a glint of light appears in his eyes... but not in Giovanni. Instead, Giovanni glowers. But Rashid does not see this.

And it's a good thing too because Giovanni is trying his damnest not to express his fury over Hriob's nonchalant production of food. Nevermind this anger is hypocritical because Giovanni also uses magic when he makes his meals--or more correctly, how he stores them.

"It seems the magic of the Fae is not all that different from mine, as I too can create illusions. Though the purpose and tangibility of mine differ. I will admit, I am unfamiliar with the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, though that simply comes with the territory of not being able to stay among the Germanic lands long enough for me to learn more in-depth.

"What do you think, Giovanni? Isn't this all fasc-"

That’s it. That’s his response.

"....Right." Siiiipppp. "We appreciate your restraint on not judging us, Reverent Spirit. Unfortunately, the titles are deserved--but I am certain you know this already. We are friendly now, but our hands can be forced. That is not to say our actions should not be held accountable or that we didn't have a choice. It is just-

".....Please do not be surprised or disappointed if we cannot uphold Life either."

"......"

[passive-duck]

I hope you all will excuse me, but I’m gonna go on a little rant right quick. Post-Modern philosophy is absolutely idiotic. It is entirely based on the idea that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Truth is all entirely relative and subjective based on you and your experiences. It is out of this vein of philosophy that you get such beliefs as: morality is a social construct, gender is a social construct, you are a social construct, everything is a social construct. It entirely overlooks the fact that it is inherently self-contradictory. The statement that “there is no absolute truth” IS an absolute truth. It defeats itself. Moreover the large majority of the various veins of thought that flow from post-modernism either contradict themselves or are entirely moot points. The idea that morality is a social construct is one such moot point that for some reason is often used against Christians. Often times we will get blasted with the idea that we cannot dictate our own morality on others because morality is subjective and not everyone believes in it. What might be easy to miss is that that very statement is an attempt to enact a moral standard. If there is no such thing as moral standards, then there is no reason to enforce the idea that forcing your own morality on someone is wrong, because that would be enforcing a moral standard, which they just claimed didn’t exist. No matter what you do in government you are enforcing a moral standard, even if that standard is “tolerance.” This leads me to another faulty idea of post-modernism. Some post-modernists have come to the conclusion that humanity cannot have free will to make decision, and then have proceeded to write to convince others that they do not have free will. Even ignoring the fact that concluding you don’t have free will is an act of free will, this argument defeats itself. These people are still trying to argue to convince others. In a world without free will attempting to convince others through logic has about as much purpose as banging your head against a brick wall (which might honestly explain the shocking lack of logic in post-modern thought). The very act of convincing someone would be an exertion of free will. If somebody decides that you are right based on your argument, they are making a choice, and therefore using free will. The very existence of a movement to disprove the existence of free will proves its existence.  That was kinda of long, but my point is this: never mistake your feelings for an argument. Feelings have no concept of self-contradiction. Really think about something before you decide to throw out thousands of years of thought for an idea that was invented 10 or even 50 years ago. Past humans thought the ways they did for reasons. True they were fallible, but so are you.

[hriobzagelthewanderer]

sins-of-the-sea​:

“W-We- …. We will not act violently unless provoked, Reverent Spirit. Rashid and I are sent instead of the usual scouts for our dispositions.” That, and the usual scouts are undergoing emotional distress. “We assure you, we will not-

”…Y-you know the Master?!“

*Cough!!*

"Well, now. As much as that shouldn’t be a surprise, it somehow is. We never thought the Master would have any sort of relationship with another Spirit, let alone be known at all.”

“Indeed. He’s… incredibly aloof. He never says anything about himself, even to dissuade falsehoods. And every time the notion of another spirit existing comes up, we are ordered or warned to stay away. If the Master knew we were visiting you-”

“Well, he’d at least know we’d pick up your…. ‘stench’, in his words.” Rashid sighs as he puts down some pastries on his plate. “We apologize on his behalf, Reverent Hriob. We wish we wouldn’t have to, but we represent him, whether we like to or not.”

“Y-yes. We truly are thankful of your hospitality. Though if we may be honest, we are fearful of the consequences of consociating with another spirit–even if to discuss some other threat. The Master may spin this as-…”

“<Perish any thoughts of consequences for being here, Giovanni. We are guests. Let us focus on saving face,>” Rashid says to Giovanni in Portuguese, as to communicate with him while in Hriob’s presence without being so rude as to request a moment of privacy.

“Well, we are certainly enjoying your company, Reverent Hriob–we are unaccustomed to any sort of spirit so friendly and welcoming.” He empties his tankard and helps himself to another helping.

“Indeed,” Giovanni states as he finally gets the courage to sample a bit of the pork roast. “Did you prepare this all by yourself?”

Instead of immediately answering the culinary-focused duo, the Host seems to forget himself with a dry, acerbic laugh that felt more like a bark of derision than anything cheerful, rolling his eyes and shaking his head as a small rant emanates from his lips for a short minute.

“...I honestly had to expect something like that, but Really? He calls himself ‘the Master’ and doesn’t think the name is a little overbearing in its desperation? I mean, his other names at least had some class - Miguel Aguinaldo at least flows off the tongue easier. Next thing you know he’ll call himself the ‘Supreme Ocean Ruler’ or something even more basic and pretentious. Hmph. I change names to make myself more approachable and he just can’t resist doing the exact opposite...“

Remembering himself, the Host sighs with much the same exasperation, tinged with apology, he gave his own response to the two- while refilling his own mug once more: “...I wish it wasn’t that problematic, but... well, I should have expected something like that from the likes of him, so I apologize in advance. If only to make up for that as best I can, I still encourage you to enjoy yourselves for now. Spirits are much like people in that regard, they vary wildly and greatly not only in ability, but in personality and temperament. Your... well I really don’t want to acknowledge his poor taste in names but you know who I mean- I’ve always known him to be crafty, cunning, and resourceful, which I can appreciate, but it is his selfishness, insecure need to dominate, and juvenile enjoyment of pointless cruelty that irk me... that and the inability to stop lying: I take honesty very seriously, thank you.”

The Host again sighs, this time a little more self-reproachful as he hands Gio a plate... and Rashid a much larger one. “...But if nothing else, remember that He has motive to keep you away from other Spirits - after all, he is a ‘Master of Sin’, but that means he has to have it himself, Envy included. You cannot command what you cannot comprehend, and you cannot comprehend what you cannot relate to or identify with - that own logic is a large part of why I... try to be more human, at least as much as I can be without losing my identity along the way.”

If nothing else, though, that childlike sense of cheer and energy returned full-force the moment food was mentioned: a grateful, gentle smile returning to the Fae’s face as he regarded Gio with an air of appreciation.

“The pork roast, the chicken roast, the turkey, every single bit of gingerbread and fondant, and every single drink here, made it all myself from scratch! Might have had to cheat a bit with magic to make sure I had the time to cook everything without anything spoiling, but when it comes to the preparation itself I remain something of a purist- or perhaps a traditionalist. Comes with being a Fae not of the two infamous Courts; the Seelie would just use illusions on something truly inedible or dangerous and call it ‘beautiful’ without considering the issues therein, and the Unseelie... well they’d probably feed you the same without the illusions because they are all that breed of sadistic vermin. But my legacy extends back a long ways, and one of my more favored moments of my past incarnations was teaching the peoples near my mountain home how to bake and brew, to use fermentation to prepare food and drink. In this life, at least, I do my best to keep honoring that part of myself... as well as for other reasons...”

“...After all... is it not a form of greed to want others to be happy in your presence, or gluttony to encourage others to partake in decadence with you? I am not a being of ‘Good’ or ‘Evil’, I see what you call ‘Sin’ through other eyes... and what you claim for yourselves as Titles are not things I find ‘wrong’, just aspects of Life. That, I will not judge you for, as others might.”