andonika

[andonika]

❤️ Mis Viejitos y Viejitas

[andonika]

⋅˚₊‧ ♡ he did it and you can too ♡ ‧₊˚ ⋅

[andonika]

RoomTemperatureFoodFanatic: Hello everyone

thecolortaupe: Good evening

late2businessmeeting1: Hello

brokenZune: Afternoon

RoomTemperatureFoodFanatic: Heading off to work

ICollectStamps69: Glad to hear it

[andonika]

jesus christ. fine. ill say it. im sleepy. im sleepy, okay? do you know what being sleepy does to a person? to their spirit? i should be pitied.

[andonika]

[andonika]

[andonika]

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian are perfect foils of each other.

Jiang Cheng is not a righteous person. He is a person who has let the Three Poisons of Buddhism overwhelm him almost completely, using them as weapons to wield - to the point that his title is “Sandu Shengshou”, the skilled user of the Three Poisons. Yet he is praised and honored by the jianghu, because he is the son of the Jiang Clan

Zidian’s emblem is a snake - the very symbol of hatred, which, to cultivators, who have to deal with RESENTFUL energy on a daily basis, would be the worst of them all

But there’s deeper symbolism to this, because in terms of action - each Jiang, save for JC and WWX, would naturally represent a different poison

- Jiang Fengmian, so attached to Wei Wuxian that he neglected his own son, and in the process, enraged his wife. So attached to the memory of Wei Changze that he didn’t even bestow the name Jiang upon his son, thereby othering him from the “rightful” members of the Jiang sect. Is it any wonder that the jianghu only ever saw him as a servant ?

- Yu Ziyuan, so consumed with her resentment and hate of Wei Wuxian and Cangse Sanren that she inadvertently used the son she claimed to love as a weapon against WWX, hurting both in the process

Remember, Zidian - the whip of hate- was hers first, before it passed on to Jiang Cheng, as he grew resentful of the very person she had always despised, inheriting her hate

- And finally, and most painfully, Yanli is ignorance, or indifference. Ignorant of the way her husband’s sect plotted against Wei Wuxian. Ignorant of her brothers’ suffering, both of them

Ignorant of the injustice of her mother’s actions or at least indifferent towards them

It’s notable that she died of being on a battlefield without adequate preparation- of ignorance

And in a way, Jiang Cheng inherited all these qualities from his family - he grows so attached to Wei Wuxian that he refuses to let him go, he grows so resentful of him that he hunts down anyone who so much as uses his style of cultivation for thirteen years after his death, and, of course, he is ignorant to the truth behind his own core

He truly is Sandu Shengshou - skilled wielder of the three poisons

(Side note : The Venerated Triad could also represent the Three Poisons - Xichen being ignorance, Guangyao being attachment ( towards his father’s sect, his own pride) and Mingue being hatred)

[andonika]

Madoka Magica is a modern Buddhist folktale

With the new film coming soon I was going to talk about one of the most neglected aspects of Madoka Magica in the English fandom. It’s very explicit use of Buddhism which is often discussed by Japanese critics.

The show is Buddhist in two primary ways

The wish system is based on the first two Noble truths

Madoka is the story of a young girl choosing to become a Bodhisattva, specifically Madoka’s story is a retelling of the popular Buddhist figure Kannon in a modern setting.

Both of these are done in a way that would be very obvious to a Japanese audience. While the show has a reputation in the west as dark or subversive I’m going to argue that it’s not out of line with common Buddhist themes.

(As a note, There is controversy that “suffering” is too strong a translation but since the show uses despair I’ll keep it.)

First the wish system and Despair. Though many see the show as dark and nihilistic, in Buddhism suffering is considered an inevitable and unavoidable part of life. Suffering is inherent in Buddhism because we desire and cling to things but nothing is permanent, everything is in a state of mutual dependence and change flowing forever.

We might achieve happiness, success, our goals but these are temporary. We age, we lose the people we love, the world we are born into changes around us, our relationships change. Even in minor ways the happiness of achieving what we want is not permanent. Consider any major goals you have accomplished in your lives, was that happiness itself totally permanent and unchanging and enough to carry you through for the rest of your life? Notably in Goethe's Faust, Mephistopheles offer’s Faust only one perfect moment for his soul.

So while the discourse has always been on if the wishes were selfish or not the real issue is that no wish other than those that threaten the wish system could ever work.

Sayaka wishes to help her childhood friend and crush. She thinks she’ll never regret the wish until she discovers the true cost. Hitomi and Kyosuke start a relationship none the wiser to what Sayaka has done and she can do nothing as her lifelong friends move on from her. She tries to throw herself into the magical girl role only to find out the people she protects are sometimes unsavory. Sayaka was attached to a naive view of the world that changed while she bore the cost.

Kyoko wished people would attend her fathers ministry to help her family. For a time this worked but her father discovered magic was involved and she lost everything in a night.

Mami wished to live after a car accident, she was left alive but lonely and without a family. This loneliness was so deep and crushing when she was given the chance to no longer bear it she became careless, got herself killed and dragged her friends into her dark world.

In the other timelines Madoka wished to save someone else. In every single one she was either killed or fell into despair when the threat was eliminated but the costs were made clear.

All the wishes provided real happiness to the wisher but when that wore off and the cost remained the girls either fell into despair or were left alone to fend for themselves. Only Homera’s wish and Madoka’s final wish, wishes that threatened the system, avoided this.

When despair becomes too great a magical girl dies and is reborn as a witch. Witches have motifs based on the magical girl's thoughts, a death echoing some Buddhist beliefs . While these witches share continuity with their magical girls they cannot be reached even by people they knew in life, in line with Buddhist rebirth. Becoming a witch is like being reborn into a hell realm of which there is no going back.

Now it’s necessary to compare Madoka to Kannon.

Kannon is a Bodhisattva and extremely popular in Japan. Bodhisattva is someone who can achieve enlightenment but vows to forgo it to help all sapient beings achieve it.

Her Chinese counterpart Guanyin is described as a woman in white robes like ultimate Madoka.

To become a Bodhisattva one must have good karma from many lifetimes. Homura provides this as Madoka’s kindness inspires Homura to loop time over and over again. Kyubey explicitly confirms that Madoka is the center of Karma of many timelines.

Kannon saw the suffering of different beings and released her good Karma to either purify a hell realm or create a pure land for those suffering to go and achieve enlightenment. Madoka uses her karma to create a mysterious realm for magical girls she rescues.

Kannon is said to rescue those who are in their last moments who cry out for her help and save them from a negative rebirth. Madoka rescues magical girls in their last moments before they can become a witch.

Both Kannon and Madoka cleanse the Karma of those they help.

Kannon works tirelessly for others' salvation, Madoka assures magical girls that she is always fighting for them.

Madoka has a similar origin to Kannon and other Buddhist figures in general terms. She is relatively sheltered and privileged, unaware of the full extent of the suffering of the world. She still however suffers and has little sense of worth but great compassion for others. She wants to help but is ineffective until enlightenment.

Madoka after rescuing all magical girls past present and future achieves Nirvana. She describes Ego death with her consciousness spreading through the cosmos.

edit: corrected error

[andonika]

Turn my haters to consumers / I make vets feel like they juniors 📿⛪️🕯️

[andonika]

id actually kill myself if i dimension hopped and saw Myself married to the worst guy i’ve ever met. guy who i spent years trying to earn the approval of yet being presented with abuse in return instead. guy who threw me into literal hell. AND NOW YOU SEE THAT. AND YOU’RE 12 AGAIN. TRYING TO FIGURE OUT ALL OVER AGAIN WHAT EXACTLY /YOU/ DID WRONG. IT’S CLEARLY THE SAME GUY. HOW COME HE’S SO KIND TO THIS OTHER VERSION OF YOU? WHAT MAKES THIS VERSION OF YOU SO DIFFERENT? HOW DID YOU MESS UP SO BAD? WHAT /WAS/ IT? you tried SO hard. and STILL didn’t get it right. you didn’t HAVE to be abused, you could have done better. but you just can’t figure out HOW.

and all this time u don’t even KNOW that the guy isn’t actually the same guy who made u suffer at all. he’s possessed by some fuck ass nerd. and u don’t even KNOW that. you don’t even KNOW that it’s not YOU that’s different, that’s better, but the GUY!!!!

being luo bingge is hard as hell. would not recommend.

[andonika]

POV: you just joined the greatest sect and got chosen by the scholarly peak master and just handed him tea for the acceptance ceremony

[andonika]

We're on a long car ride, so here are mine and @being-lion-hearted 's headcanons on how the Conclave characters would drive a car:

Bellini: The safest, most rule-observant driver you could ask for. Still could recite the 300-page manual for his driver's license he read 40 years ago. Hasn't gotten a single speeding ticket in his life. Never drives, though, because he's terrified of Italian traffic and too anxious to cause an accident. Excellent passenger.

Lawrence: The worst driver you could ask for. Forgets that in Italy, you don't drive on the left side of the road. Panics when he has to cross an intersection. Ran over a tourist once and isn't allowed to drive since. Would need drivers lessons in St. Peter's Square, with Aldo and Ray playing traffic cones.

Tremblay: Takes an uber.

Benítez: Drives like he is still in a war zone. Speed limits are recommendations for him. Will go 100 in a zone 30. Car rides with him are pure insanity and being in his passenger seat will turn you from an atheist to a devout believer in a matter of minutes. Never caused an accident, though, an absolute safe bet to go with if you need to divide GoogleMaps' calculated time by three.

Tedesco: Can't usually drive a car in Venice, when he's out of his city, you better watch out. Doesn't brake for tourists (his bumper sticker also says so). Has a notebook in which he keeps track of the number of accidents he caused (in his opinion, none of them were his fault (they all were)).

O'Malley: Like Aldo, but with confidence, and actually drives. Has snacks, drinks, a blanket and two replacement tires in his trunk.

Sabbadin: Barely sees the road through the cigarette smoke. Got pulled over once because a patrol of Carabinieri thought his car was on fire.

Sister Agnes: Doesn't have a license but somehow is a better driver than almost all of them.

Adeyemi: Lost a bet and has to drive around with a children's seat in the back of his car ever since the Conclave. Solid driver, but always confuses left and right, which can be inconvenient if you need to go anywhere fast. You get to see sides of the city you never saw before, though.

[andonika]

whats with these homies dissing my joe

[andonika]

Lucian Msamati as Joshua Adeyemi Conclave (2024)

[andonika]

Here are some shitty memes made with love <3

Parts: [2]

[andonika]

The Vanity of Regalia

Can you imagine His Holiness stunting for a new Vanity Fair cover? 😩😩😩ohhh thankfully being THIS beautiful is not a sin 🙏

[andonika]

Sybauclave