#/ feeling like their life was going nowhere also developed deep obsessive complex relationships with a blonde (jackie is a blonde idc)

[merevide]

they are sooo similar it’s crazy (doesn’t elaborate. iykyk)

[mfkinanaa]

SUN IN SCORPIO.

Scorpio: Fixed Water     

Ruler: Mars

Keywords: Transformation, Intensity, Purification, Power

Positive Expression: Creativity, healing, transformation, regeneration, loyal, focussed, pure, intimate, erotic

Negative Expression: Destructive, annihilation, cruel, seductive, manipulative, controlling, betrayal, possessiveness.

A Deeper View.

When the Sun is found in the mysterious sign of Scorpio, the emphasis is on the subtle and profound. Motivated by a need for emotional closeness, Scorpios seek connection and truth. Those born with the Sun in Scorpio often have much to learn about the nature of intimacy and power.

Scorpio is a complex sign with many dimensions of expression. This complexity is traditionally described by the three symbols which are associated with the sign – The Scorpion, The Eagle and The Phoenix. Each symbol reveals something about what motivates the Scorpio individual, and so what their purpose in life might be. With the Sun in Scorpio, strong intuitive abilities help them penetrate to the essence of reality, to see things and others as they truly are.

Ruled by the Water element, Scorpios are sensitive individuals. They have an almost compulsive need to face the truth about themselves and the people in their lives.

Scorpio is associated with desire, sexuality and release. It also relates to the psychological motivations which underpin human behaviour. Through confrontation with their own and other people’s true nature, those with the Sun in Scorpio tend to experience life lessons that acquaint them with the depth of what it means to be human. This insight gives them the opportunity to offer a truly compassionate understanding of human nature to those who can benefit from it most.

Scorpio also governs matters to do with life, death, transformation, intimacy, relationships, destruction, renewal and regeneration. This sign rules crisis situations, life and death decisions and emergency services.

Scorpio also has a financial emphasis, meaning that there can be a talent for managing other people’s resources. Accordingly, Scorpio is connected with stocks, bonds, investments and strategic decision-making.

This sign is also associated with hidden matters such as magic and the occult, as well as depth psychology, forensics, criminology, mafia and any study of unconscious forces. Those born with the Sun in Scorpio often have an uncanny knack for sensing the subtle or hidden undercurrents in a situations. They respond in ways that bring hidden dimensions to light.

Scorpios can excel in any circumstance that calls for reconstruction, renewal and reform. Usually those born wth the Sun in Scorpio will be drawn to at least one of these areas of experience. They have a flair for confronting issues head-on.

Finding the Truth.

This capacity to perceive the core of what drives other people means that Scorpios are unlikely to mince words. In negotiations and discussions, they have the ability to put their finger on exactly what is happening, or needs to be said in a given moment, in order to bring about change.

This ability to “call a spade a spade” means they can be very effective in all forms of analysis, strategic planning or conflict resolution. They can also be especially useful in any activity that requires the removal of obstacles from a given path.

They can make excellent healers, counsellors and psychotherapists because of this capacity to uncover the truth. By sensing their way down to the foundations of psyche, they gain the perspective to look at things realistically and assess what is truly going on.

This need to get to the essence of things comes from a powerful urge to face truth. Scorpio is a sensitive and subtle sign. Whilst the may appear calm and controlled, they are easily hurt and need time to learn to trust. Once their trust is given, it is unflinching and loyal.

Because they are so sensitive, they know when something untoward is afoot. They quickly sense when others are keeping the truth from them, and this feeling will make them hold themselves back.

They often prefer to sit back to assess others first, watching what they are doing, how and with whom before deciding who it is they can trust. Scorpios tend to be very private people, and even the most extroverted Scorpio will keep certain things strictly to themselves.

It takes time for them to open up and share. They tend to value privacy and personal space. When feelings of trust and intimacy do develop, then they can be the most caring and generous of lovers or friends. For Scorpio, intimacy is a precious thing that cannot be given and must be earned.

Their sensitivity however makes them vulnerable, and they seek to protect this vulnerability by confronting the source of whatever is challenging them or causing them concern. By facing problems at their source, they hope to disarm an enemy or a situation before it has the opportunity to overpower them.

Their best offense is defense, and they do this with lethal precision. They will confront the truth about themselves, as well as other people, if it will bring them closer to their goal. This need to face what is going on can come across as provocative or confrontational. Scorpios can appear controversial – even threatening – simply because they are seeking to expose the truth.

With the Sun in Scorpio, the ability to uncover hidden matters means they can see through any facade, and pick up on any attempt at deception. It is very difficult for anyone to pull the wool over Scorpio eyes. They use this uncanny sensitivity to protect their vulnerable feelings, and seek out those they can fully trust.

Finding The Light Within The Dark.

As much as Scorpios are famed for their intensity, they are also famed for their sting.

Learning to recognize and deal with the negative or toxic parts of their own nature is an essential part of the journey toward truth. There is an “all-or-nothing” quality about this sign that must be handled with care.

When they love someone, they do so completely. They can be especially devoted, caring and committed. But when they feel threatened or uncomfortable, they may show a more destructive side which can be the source of much heartache and regret.

Because Scorpios deal in power and truth, they know the impact their words can have. They also know that words and truthfulness can be used to harm others as much as they can be used to heal.

Those Scorpios who have not learnt to refine their personalities can use a well-aimed remark to destroy another, attacking them at their weakest and most vulnerable point. A certain amount of power is gained from this ability to find another’s weakness, but this power is something they must wield with care.

The toxic, unconscious and non-regenerative aspects of their own nature will make them strike out defensively, preemptively wounding others to keep them at bay. This then poisons potential relationships, and destroys what might otherwise be healed.

It is very human to blame others for the faults we also carry ourselves. Scorpios need to recognize when this shadow is operating so that it can be redeemed and brought into the light.

This requires absolutely honesty, firstly with themselves. Once they see themselves more clearly, they are in a much better position to recognize when they need to keep clear of someone, and who it is they can really trust.

Consequently, it is important for Scorpio’s to become aware of their own faults before they can comfortably deal with others. This sign requires that they examine their own emotional natures, in order to grow and evolve.

It is important that they learn to spend time alone, and get to the bottom of what they are feeling and why. As a Water sign, they may experience intense emotional needs and desires. These desires demand satisfaction, and can lead to obsessive states of mind.

Becoming obsessed about an outcome or a person is a strong signal that something else is going on. Often, Scorpios carry deep desires to posses or control another person as a way to conquer some undisclosed aspect of themselves. The other person represents a part of themselves they are unconsciously trying to bring into the light.

Finding and refining these undercurrents will lead to a purification of their sense of self and their relationships.

Once Scorpio has embraced transformation they can operate as a powerful force for change. Not only does their own life improve , but they become adept at helping others to improve themselves.

Scorpios are often privy to the secrets of others. Because they value privacy they recognize the value of what others share with them. Scorpios can act like vaults, holding the difficult truths people need to share about themselves when they have nowhere else to turn.

Scorpios know the power of secrecy, and will keep a confidence with great loyalty. This sign is also connected with catharsis, and by letting others confide in them, those with the Sun in Scorpio have a way of helping them let go of whatever is holding them back. By facing emotional truths honestly, they help themselves and others change.

Resource Management.

A further aspect of the Scorpio nature involves the management of other people’s resources.

This is a very financial sign, and Scorpios often have special talents in dealing with finance and resource management. They excel at strategic planning and having an intuitive awareness around when to go forward and when to pull back.

Their sense of timing is often excellent, as they can read the subtle energies pooling in the moment. Scorpio can patiently wait for exactly the right moment to act. Their success comes from having the tenacity to hold onto momentum when other, less resolute individuals have lost focus or let opportunities dissipate.

Scorpios have an intimate understanding of power and its potential. So they know how to use it to maximum efficiency. Thus, they can be naturally attuned to work in government, financial and property markets, where the ability to see the true value of something or wield power from behind the scenes is a real asset.

Sun in Scorpio: Your Solar Journey.

Born with the Sun in Scorpio, your journey is likely to involve learning through transformation and change. You are here to experience power and see how power operates through life. You may see this process in yourself or other people, and can develop great strength through constant cycles of crisis and regeneration. Over time, you gain inner wisdom through confronting your own inner demons and desires.

In essence, your journey is one toward greater levels of intimacy both with yourself and other people. You are likely to seek deep, one-on-one encounters with others where you can explore the depths of your emotional nature. From intimacy comes real growth, as well as a unique perspective on the mysteries of human life. To attain this level of illumination, you must always be truthful with yourself.

[conflictedmess95]

My take over what I think about NaruHina. (This will be long as I've been a passionate supporter of NaruHina since elementary and have gotten back into the show recently, so apologies in advance.)

I used to think the comment in The Last about Naruto not telling the difference between love for ramen and love for another was pretty dumb and meant so little. It rubbed me the wrong way. But then I watched the movie in a more forgiving light and remembered that ramen is practically the center of Naruto's universe. He would've married a cup of ramen if he had no love interests. Naruto eats it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; he's a frequent customer at Ichiraku because of his obsession. It's almost obvious Naruto attaches friendly and familial bonds to ramen because Teuchi fed him since he was practically a toddler. Ramen is Naruto's first connection to (and subconcious awareness of) love in his life.

For Naruto to equate his strong feelings towards someone to his love for ramen can make sense; it has less to do with him being dense and more to do with how he views strong feelings towards someone. Not once does Naruto come out and say he outright loves Iruka or Teuchi and Ayame or anybody he has deep feelings for who has taken care of him. But it's very obvious he does love them all. Even though I did think the "one-upping Sasuke" thing was odd, the ramen thing does symbolize his "love" for Sakura was superficial. (Personally, I always thought NaruSaku was played for laughs and never taken seriously by Kishimoto, but that's my opinion 🤷🏽‍♀️)

Sakura, in canon but in the novel, said Naruto and Hinata hung out together constantly after the war. Naruto's feelings probably started right after the war, but we never get to see that. Saying Naruto had no development with Hinata simply because we don't see the two years they spent together is like saying Naruto didn't train with Jiraiya in those 2 ½ years away from the village. And maybe saying Naruto's confession came from nowhere (no matter how much this confession leaves a bad taste in my mouth) is like saying Naruto's new jutsus after coming back to the Leaf came out of nowhere. Maybe there was supposed to be development before the events of the movie.

Back to my original point about the ramen, Naruto was around Hinata constantly after the war. He thought Hinata thought of him as a friend but her feelings were more genuine and he subconsciously picks up on that, driving him closer to her (after the war). He himself couldn't answer her confession (because it would've been too soon in the first place so they gave him two whole freaking years to confess) and couldn't realize what he felt for her during these two years. Instead, he equated his feelings to ramen which he has such an obsession over. Was he equating Hinata's feelings to ramen? I don't think so. With Naruto's heavy insecurities (I mean, they show up all throughout the show and make sense with how he grew up), he probably thought Hinata really did only love him as a friend should.

But regardless of how Hinata actually felt, he still got closer to her. Naruto, over the years, learned what it meant to be loved by friends and people he saw as family. Slowly but surely he understood what it meant to love his friends because they loved him back (almost all of them loved him as no more than a friend). Naruto gravitated to Hinata, despite thinking her love was platonic (as almost all the relationships he had), because her love was somehow "different" to him. All he knew was that he "obsessed" over her in the way he obsessed over ramen; he continued to see her after the war. More so than he did before the war. The movie focused more on the end result rather than the necessary buildup over the two years where he most likely developed his romantic feelings for Hinata. This part of their relationship is left to the imagination.

Let me move to the original series leading up to the movie to further explain where I'm getting at:

Should we question why Hinata never did anything and needed to confess again like her confession before meant nothing to Naruto? Yes, we should. Because it leads us to the answer that Naruto couldn't interpret someone having actual feelings for him (whether people hate that answer or not). It's one thing to see Sakura pour her heart over Sasuke, and another thing to see a good friend genuinely confess to him. Wanting to die to protect Naruto? Isn't that enough to prove love? Neji also sacrificed himself. Many people in the village sacrificed themselves during the Pein invasion and during the war; Hinata sacrificing herself for him made him think her confession was platonic. No one had ever said those words to him before and that threw him into a rage when Pein seemingly killed her. I don't think this was romantic, per se, but it showed he cared deeply for someone many anti-NaruHina people consider to be just a side character (as IF Shino or Tenten would spark this rage; people only say this because they think Hinata had absolutely no impact on Naruto). I mean, Naruto came to the battlefield finding out Kakashi was dead and didn't fly into a rage about it. Out of all the possible characters, Kishimoto chose Hinata to make Naruto go off the rails. Sakura had a better chance against Pein, but Kishimoto had her stay put, perhaps for medical reasons — but she could've left that to Katsuyu to go help a friend that she was secretly in love with (according to NaruSaku fans).

This began as a much clearer sign that NaruHina was coming to fruition even if much of it was ignored afterwards (and disappointed a lot of NaruHina fans). Why? Because literally only 32 chapters later when Sakura confesses, he blushes for a little but immediately became furious with her confession. Hinata, he accepted as a genuine confession of love (even if he thought it was platonic) but Sakura, he completely discounted. Saying he hates people who lie to themselves. And it was then that his crush on Sakura was barely noticeable for the rest of the series. His interest in Hinata started growing during the war as they mutually respected and backed each other; both of them giving each other the support they needed, though both of them have been doing this since early in the series. His inferiority complex would show up around Sakura and almost all other characters (except for Iruka), but he never put on a show in front of Hinata.

People have brought up a moment when Minato, upon seeing Naruto and Sakura, thought Sakura was Naruto's girlfriend. Naruto playfully acts as if it's true, and people make it seem as though the crush was still real. Later on, when his father is leaving, he brings up all the stuff his mother would've wanted him to do and that he did. One of the last things Naruto brings up is that his mother wanted him to find someone like her to marry. That someone like her would've been someone like Sakura. And Naruto dismisses it, saying that he couldn't do everything his mother asked him to do. It was a clear sign he didn't care for Sakura despite the war happening in much less than a week. But he didn't say anything about finding love either, so it's left open that he either didn't have feelings for Hinata or was unaware of them (because obviously he ain't, given the movie). Naruto was just aware Sakura wasn't the one.

After all of this, Naruto's relationship with Hinata before the start of the movie but after the war is where they had Naruto attach himself to Hinata as his emotional crutch. From what I remember, Hinata gave Naruto more emotional support than Sakura. Hinata would've been there if she knew about Jiraiya's death when Naruto was depressed, shy or not; Sakura knew but it was Iruka and Shikamaru (both of whom were unaware at first) who helped to snap him out of his depression.

Also let me add: I'm tired of people calling Hinata a stalker; she's rarely around Naruto and only had "stalker" moments in the academy where she was understandably always around her crush (they're in the same class and on the same school grounds, she'd bump into him and hide on multiple occasions). After the academy, this habit obviously stopped. And it's clear she gives Naruto his own space as she continues to train (which is evident in that she's much stronger from Part 1 to Part 2; as well as from the Invasion to the Ninja War; and from the Ninja War to the events of the movie). All we see is her interest in Naruto but what we don't see is her growing confidence and strength. And by that, I mean it ain't shown to us in front of our eyes. Her development is 80% off screen. So people dismissing her as nothing more than a stalker is ridiculous.

Anyhoo, that's the end of my understanding of Naruto and Hinata's relationship. I'm wondering how much I left out though lol. But I've written too much 😅

[silver-wield]

tbh after playing the remake, I get the appeal of CA, because it's a familiar manic pixie dream girlfriend type love story. It even plays into the tragic boy loses girl trope which helps frame it as some grand romantic story. and yeah they're cute, and they definitely have a special connection. I think I could ship it if not for the whole rest of the story. It's a relationship that has the potential to become romantic, but it doesn't exist in a vacuum. 1/5

The remake is doing a great job on untangling a lot of the ambiguity the OG left us with. Yes, Cloud could develop feelings for Aerith and vice versa, but the remake is planting so many seeds that confirm he currently has feelings for Tifa (which she reciprocates) and I don't think it's possible for any feelings he might develop for Aerith to overcome these feelings he has harboured since childhood. 2/5

Unfortunately those feelings are something he cannot fully understand because of his comprimised mental state. But you can clearly see that his deep affections for Tifa and desire to protect her stay with him despite that (as can Aerith). The problem with the OG (other than having to potray this incredibly complex subversive nuanced story through text and polygons) is that the LS scene recontextualize so much of who Cloud is, but by that time people had already made their conclusions. 3/5

With the remake you can see them trying to fix this by having a constant thread of romantic undertones to all of cloti's interactions. The CA relationship meanwhile is potrayed with these moments that play into romantic tropes and expectations. The bridge scene is flashy and grand and draws the attention, but it doesn't carry the substance that a single hand-clech does. 4/5

It's meant to be a smokescreen to the real story - just as Cloud is not the hero you think he is, the love story is also not the one you think it is. And that's what makes FF7 so great. It's all about the subversions of what you expect - it's about the truth underneath these grand and compelling illusions that is complicated and real but still just as beautiful. 5/5

Okay, first off I don’t see how anyone can play Remake with Cloud being biggest mood around Aerith and find that appealing. Personally I think it’s the most toxic and harmful behaviour in the entire game when he’s alone with her and she’s literally trying to force him to act like her dead boyfriend. There is zero appeal in that and it’s not cute how she behaves, it’s arrogant and self serving. Like I said in a different post (or maybe a tweet) both Sephiroth and Aerith use Cloud to fulfill their own selfish desires. Sephiroth needs Cloud to destroy the planet by getting him the black materia, and Aerith wants Cloud to emulate Zack so she can fool herself into believing he didn’t die. In both cases what Cloud wants doesn’t even factor into things. That harmful dynamic doesn’t give them a special relationship. It mirrors Cloud’s relationship with Sephiroth in that it hurts him. Aerith and Sephiroth are two sides of a coin and the whole isn’t anything that benefits Cloud. Even after they’re both dead they continue to harm him through their obsession with him. It’s only at the end of AC when they’re both truly gone from his life completely that he’s able to smile and be at peace. He has no stalkers in DC and that’s why he’s so cheerful. He gets to live happily with Tifa and not worry about ghosts coming after him. It has zero potential to become anything because to make that a thing, you need to totally destroy everything else about the story and characters themselves. You have to take away Zack being Cloud’s best friend and saviour, at which point he’s just dead. You have to take away Tifa being his motivation to become a soldier, at which point he’s dead cause Sephiroth still comes to Nibelheim and burns it. Point is, there is no way that dumdum dinghy is possible without removing Cloud and most of his personality from FF7, at which point he’s just a pretty face, so people should just go write AU fanfiction and admit they wanna bang the pretty boy and not deal with his canon personality and story. 

There wasn’t any ambiguity in OG because 7R is FF7 and the devs have said multiple times the story is the same as before. The problem back then was a poor translation, bad advertising and people refusing to follow the narrative to its proper conclusion. Cloud at no point in OG or any of the compilation could develop feelings because it’s shown in the entire compilation that he has always and will always love Tifa. Before Crisis he loves Tifa. Crisis Core he loves Tifa. OG he loves Tifa. AC he loves Tifa. DC he loves Tifa and Remake he loves Tifa. There’s zero room for anything with Aerith because his entire character arc is consumed with his desire for Tifa. It’s literally shown in the damn game that he’s in love with her. So, no, there never was any chance for Aerith, and I’m tired of people trying to entertain one by saying “if she lived”. Sorry, not sorry, if she lived Cloud is still in love with Tifa, so he never would, could or want to develop any feelings for Aerith. 

Cloud loves Tifa. It’s the goddamn plot. 

There isn’t any problem with the lifestream scene being the big reveal at that point in that game. The problem, again, is that people refused to follow the narrative to its logical conclusion and got hung up on their dumbass headcanon about Aerith. The entire premise of the game is built on illusion vs reality and yet some people still refuse to wake up and see reality. The game spells it out for everyone. They got so triggered over her dying that they acted like the game ended at that point instead of it carrying on and reaching the actual true culminating arc where we find out Cloud wasn’t himself this entire time. People seem to think Aerith dying is the plot and that she’s the main character or something. It’s Cloud’s game. The plot revolves around him. That’s why the lifestream scene is the apex of it. 

It’s Cloud’s story, not Aerith’s. 

I’ve pointed out several times how Aerith’s optional scenes in Remake show that Cloud is barely even a fixture. Her language of flowers you barely have Cloud in shot while she’s doing all that talking. She’s basically talking to the player. Her optional dress scenes show the illusion for what it is. That bridge is tiny and yet in the red dress is looks like this massive structure. I laughed my ass off when I spotted it. The pink dresses perspective shortens drastically for each one, with the funeral dress having Cloud standing nearest to Aerith, so that one’s probably closer to reality than that ott scene with random fireworks and fans popping up from nowhere. Not to mention the fact Aerith’s entire figure is padded out to fill that dress and she’s got hair extensions in and a ton of make up and the ost is actually called a mess of makeup or something like that and not a certain gaudiness. I mean, Madam M tried to turn Aerith into Tifa to win the bride contest and beat Sam. The game makes things very clear that the illusion is Aerith and the reality is Tifa, and players can’t turn Aerith into Tifa to make Cloud notice her no matter how hard they wanna believe they can. Her resolution literally has her repeating her OG lines from the GS about how Cloud isn’t himself, but she also arrogantly assumes he fell in love with her or would because she’s arrogant. It’s a character trait that again mirrors Sephiroth’s arrogance. It’s what gets them both killed in the end. Aerith underestimates Sephiroth and Sephiroth underestimates Cloud. 

And we already saw what Cloud had to say about her declaration cause he only ever refers to her as a friend and didn’t show any romantic behaviour when he rescued her. Unless “Yep” is the height of romance now. It’s not that the romance isn’t the one you think it is. It’s that it’s the one you ignored and acted like wasn’t important because you hate the heroine. Tifa and Cloud are together from start to finish, but because people decided the pink girl was more important they acted like Tifa had no right to what was hers from the beginning. She didn’t get between Cloud and Aerith. There never was any Cloud and Aerith. It was always Tifa. She just took what was always hers and kept it. 

Anyone who doesn’t understand that should try playing the game cause it’s clear they didn’t.

[joshwrites]

Be Greater

Spider-Man PS4 is a great game. The webswinging and combat were as fluid, frantic and polished as I would expect from the developers of Ratchet and Clank and Sunset Overdrive. I didn’t know what to expect going into the game’s story, though. Since story was never Insomniac Games’s strong suit and the IP they were adapting couldn’t be more..hit or miss in that regard. I came away pleasantly surprised, though. 

The story begins with Peter Parker in a different point in his life than most recent Spider-Man media, and it’s a little more interesting for it. Peter is fresh out of college with many of his iconic stories behind him. He’s entering the adult world now and struggling the way through with that typical Parker Luck biting at his heels. This place in the timeline isn't just a novelty and turns out to be key to the story’s. For Peter and his peers the last few training wheels are coming off and with that transition brings ugly truths. Solid ground and stability becomes harder to find and idols are taken off of their pedestals as people with all of their vulnerabilities and vices exposed. Spider-Man has always preached themes of responsibility and this game embodies that better than any book, show, and comic I've seen in a long time. Peter Parker’s personal life is constantly strained by the vigilantism, but he can’t resist the pull of helping others. His ideology of sacrificing himself for others is instilled in him, and it’s this core ideology that defines his entire character. It also undoes him, as the various mentors in his life he thought embodied that reveal their selfish natures.

The first thing I want to give this game credit for is how it handles Peter’s origin. Uncle Ben’s death isn't drawn out and replayed for players because of the reasonable assumption that we’ve all at least seen a Spider-Man movie. His presence, impact, and the hole he leaves in his absence are all tangible and felt throughout the game. From wistful conversations with Aunt May to Peter’s musings when you come across certain collectables that paint a picture of this take on the character’s history, the absence of Uncle Ben’s guidance is felt. Peter is entering a new stage of his life just a bit aimless, and it becomes key in his eagerness to embrace a new mentor figure in the form of Dr Octavius. Their relationship forms the backbone of the game’s story.

Despite the shakey payment, Peter ultimately takes a job with Octavius because he looks up to him. Otto has dedicated himself to fully functional prosthetics for people who've lost their limbs. It's a perfect marriage of Peter’s love of science and devotion to helping others. A dream job. Of course, the job itself turns out to be pretty thankless as Otto struggles to maintain funding for his work and Peter struggles to keep the landlord off his back. The classic relatable struggle to stay afloat that rung more true to me now than ever. Peter continues to reaffirm that it's all worth it, though. The two’s devotion to eachother is rife with tension to anyone who knows these characters though. It was hard to say whether this partnership was just one of many changes made to the universe that would stick or if the game was just waiting to drop the other shoe.

Otto eventually embraces his role in the Spider-Man universe, though. The catalyst wasn’t as simple as “he’s crazy” either. Peter learns partway through that his mentor is affected with a sickness that will destroy his motor functions. His obsession with mechanical limbs has gained a tragic edge: he’s ultimately doing it all to save himself, despite how justified his feelings are. This one little detail makes his spiral just a little more interesting: How long did he know about his disease? How much was his research into his field driven by survivor instinct versus selflessness? Dr. Octavius ends up being one of the most complex characters in the game. He is driven by a mix of a desire to prove his ambitions that have gotten him to nowhere but dead ends are worthwhile before he dies and getting revenge on the man who ruined him: Norman Osborne.

Martin Li has a similar arc. A recent character in comparison to the others in this game, there’s a lot more freedom when there’s less of a legacy to uphold. The team ends up positioning him as another higher authority figure Peter respects with his work running a homeless shelter that Aunt May works for with Peter frequently volunteering. He is essentially a selfless, hardworking man, but he carries a deep darkness inside of him that manifests itself as literal destructive energy that has the power to corrupt others around him. It’s a bit on the nose, but it works as far as the theme of upholding your responsibilities to others. Martin Li genuinely loves the work he does for the city, but the temptation of revenge over tragedy of his parents death consumes him. Martin Li and Otto Octavius are very different characters, but the thing they have in common is that they let the people who look up to them down hard when they give into their hubris and rage.

This is all for revenge against Norman Osborn, and while it may seem like with the trail of blood and rage he’s left in his wake seeking “Devil’s Breath” that he might be a bit of a bastard, one of the game’s most satisfying reveals turns out to paint him in a different light. The “trip” to europe that has kept frequent Spider-Man mainstay Harry Osborn out of the game outside of a series of voice messages seems a bit suspicious from the jump, but most might write it off as a sequel hook and keep playing with it burned far in back of their mind. Harry turns out to be lethally ill, and his “Europe” trip turns out to be a lengthy and so far unsuccessful series of treatments Norman is conducting to save his son’s life. “Devil’s Breath” is so saught after by Norman because it is a failed attempt at a cure he has yet to perfect. For his many, many faults Norman Osborn may ironically be one of the only mentor like figures in this story who is doing his best for his charge. This doesn’t even get into how much of a predominant force Oscorp’s technology is in the city. Ultimate monetary goal or not, Oscorp’s technology redefined several key aspect of New York’s systematic structure in this city. It’s essential, so Norman and Li’s attempts to undercut his influence only really end up harming civilians in the long run. What could be considered Spider-Man’s greatest nemesis comes out of this game pretty clean.

Some of this game’s emotional highs come from the heartbreak Peter experiences when he finds out Osborn and Li’s true natures. One of the hardest hitting moments in the game comes from the rage Peter feels when Octavius knew he was Spider-Man all along. The lethal battles that defined the entire game’s second half all get recontextualized as Peter realizes that even he was disposable if it meant Octavius could achieve his goals. Octavius’s mind is supposedly being manipulated by the tentacles at this point but his plan has been so far reaching and so well thought out that it’d had to have been at least formulating before that point. To put it simply: Otto was always a bit of a bastard. The arms just exaggerated what was ultimately already there.

This is why Aunt May’s place in the game is so important, and her death even more significant to the game’s themes. She remains Peter’s rock: a remarkable, near flawless influence of a good, hardworking person who helps others no matter the cost. When Peter loses his apartment, Aunt May immediately gives him space in her office, and her generosity doesn’t just end at family. She takes full control of the homeless shelter and continues to help others even as things become grim in New York. FEAST becomes a safe haven for not just Peter, but many of the lost and injured in the wake of the destructive egoes of the game’s antagonists. That’s why it’s all the more impactful and important that she ultimately dies as a result of her actions. She gets infected with Devil’s Breath while helping to treat those inflicted. In the most painful moments of the game’s surprisingly dark story, Peter must choose the rest of New York over her. It’s what Aunt May would want, and what she was doing all along, but Peter having to make that sacrifice in such a brutal way outlines one of the classic Spider-Man morals perfectly. To take some choice words from Peter himself here: “Doing the right thing, even when it hurts like hell.”

With Aunt May gone and his other mentors fallen Peter has completed his transition to adulthood. There’s simply no one left for him to look up to for guidance. He can only move forward with what they’ve given him and try to be the best person he can be. The whole point of the subplot with Miles is to set up Peter with his own charge: someone lost that looks up to him for guidance. Even Peter notices how similar their situations are and offers to take him under his wing himself. The credits sequence where the two find kindred spirits in eachother over their Spider-Powers is heartwarming, and I’m guessing the sequel will explore this game’s themes further through this dynamics. Peter Parker isn’t above falling short or making the wrong choices, so it’ll be interesting to see how those decisions influence Miles in later parts of the story. Time will tell if Peter can help Miles turn his pain into empathy. The future looks bright for now, but things never go quite so smoothly in the world of the wall-crawler

It goes without saying at this point, but Spider-Man PS4’s story is about being good not just for it’s own sake, but for the sake of others that need that guidance or even just a shoulder to lean on. It’s about sharing your strengths with others. It’s about resisting the temptation to lash your pain out on the world. It’s the time old “With great power, comes great responsibility” personified. Most importantly though, it’s about how instilling this lesson into the next generation is important. Superheroes, at their core, were about entertaining young, impressionable audiences. It also doesn’t hurt to have some words of wisdom for them. Be greater.

[icameheretowinry]

Ed for character ask, if you want! Have a nice day ❤️

If I want? If I want??? If I want?!?!?! OF COURSE I WANT TO. Ed ruined my life in the best possible way and I will ramble about him forever. LET’S. DO. THIS. 

How I feel about this character:

Obviously, you guys know that Edward Elric is not only my favorite character in the fma universe, but probably my favorite character in general. He’s excellently written, deeply representative of the nature of humanity, and endures beautifully subtle development over the course of his story. I’ve done several character analyses of Ed, but I tend to ramble. Here, I really want to take my time, and talk about specific aspects of his character I think are the most worthy of note. This might get l o n g, so grab some snacks and settle in. Let’s talk about the Fullmetal Alchemist!

One of most defining and well-written characteristics of Ed is his tragic backstory. The consequences of attempting to revive their mother follow Ed and Al years after it occurs, and forms one the main backbone of their story. While the immediate aftermath tends to define a large part of Ed’s personality in the beginning, what makes him so fascinating is that he eventually learns that using his personal tragedies as an excuse for his shortcomings with get him nowhere. Instead, he learns to use his suffering as a springboard to make sure no one else ever has to feel the way he and his brother did. The awful things that happen to Nina are a major setback, but instead of collapsing further in on himself, Ed, mostly thanks to Al, realizes that not only is it ok to start by trying to save himself, but with that effort, he can become stronger, and by extension, do more to help others. So, instead of using tragedy as an excuse for his weaknesses, Ed faces them to make himself stronger, and throughout his journey, use them as markers of his progress, or as checks to his humility. 

Ed is also incredibly well-written to reflect his age. Sure, your average twelve-year-old is not an alchemic prodigy serving in the military, but I’m talking about how Ed reacts to his circumstances as a boy who’s just trying to piece he and his brother’s lives back together. Ed can play up the adult facade as much as he wants, but Arakawa also wrote him to be what he is; a kid. In the early stages of his story, Ed reacts to many inconveniences with fits of frustration, triumphs with unabashed cockiness, and authority or criticism with an upturned nose. Most of these immature reactions lessen or die out as his story progresses, as it does when someone starts to grow up. I can say that after living with a younger brother at ages 12, 13, 14, etc., Arakawa did a spectacular job of not only capturing those years with deadly accuracy, but applying them to an extraordinary individual like Ed in a way that felt effortless. While on a quest that eventually would determine the fate of the world as they knew it, he also gets nervous over a crush, and deals with the ups and downs of teenage friendships. (I mean, 99.9% of people’s best friends in high school don’t give up control of their body to an immortal being but there’s a metaphor I’m getting at here.) 

Another super interesting aspect of Ed’s character is his guilt complex. For someone who so acts his age, he still takes on blame for many things that legitimately weren’t his fault. He blames himself for the loss of Al’s body, though there was no way he could’ve know what Truth would’ve taken from him, or that Truth would’ve intervened at all. He chastises himself for not being useful in dire situations when Winry stepped up to deliver Dominic’s grandchild in Rush Valley. It wasn’t his area of expertise, while Winry, he acknowledges, grew up with doctors for parents and reading medical textbooks. He feels helpless, but how could he know he would find himself in such a situation? He even holds himself responsible as a culprit in Hughes’ death for getting him involved in their research of philosophers’ stones. What Hughes discovered about the nationwide transmutation circle was, ultimately, his own doing. In addition, besides blaming himself for the loss of Al’s body, a guilt that Ed carries to the end of his story was his inability to save Nina. Just because he was the first person to put all the pieces together, he thought that if he realized Shou Tucker’s true intentions that much sooner, she would still be alive. Yet, realistically, no one else had figured it out either. He was just in the wrong place at the right(?) time. Yet, all of this being said, the moments during which Ed overcomes some of his guilt are some of the most powerful in the entire story. (Learning that Al didn’t blame him for the loss of his body is a prime example.)

As I’ve mentioned in other recent character analyses, a complex personality is key to a strong and likable character, and my god, does Ed have one. Ed has many traits that make him just fascinating to watch. While his early cynicism of humanity fades away, he remains cocky, stubborn, abrasive, short-tempered, sarcastic, occasionally hostile to figures of authority, and not one above stroking his own ego. Yet, a lot of those aspects of his personality veer towards superficial. He views every human life (in all forms) as sacred, and something he is painfully reluctantly to use to further his own goals. To those who earn his respect, he is endlessly loyal, selfless, and fights for those who can’t fight for themselves. His personality also takes on a different tint (like a real person) when he interacts with different people. He fights to see the Ling within Greed, but ultimately respects Greed as a member of his team. He’s in awe, yet honest with Riza. He’s sarcastic with Roy, but when in danger, is his greatest ally. He’s level-headed, firm, and forgiving with Al. He’s uniquely gentle and compassionate to Winry. In short, he’s beautifully and painfully human. 

Finally, Ed is an excellent foil to the character of Father. While the latter tried to make himself a perfect being by ridding himself of humanity’s seven deadly sins (an idea I remember someone, though I can’t remember who, likening his goal to the idea of Nietzsche’s “Übermensch,” which is basically a form of superior man who could rise above traditional Christian values to impose his own. That sounds pretty accurate to me, but I’m no expert in this corner of philosophy.), Ed actively embraced all of his flaws, guilt, and well, sins, to ultimately become a more compassionate individual who is able to ultimately triumph over evil. (As a side note, Greed’s aid in this final battle really adds extra emphasis to his earlier explanation to Ed that “everyone wants something they cannot have.” The fact that Greed sacrifices himself in this moment to assure Father’s defeat proves that point several times over, which just makes those final sequences of the battle that much cooler [and heartbreaking]). The fact that Ed, who is riddled with what Father considers the ultimate faults of humanity, still overcomes him, proves that the rejection of own’s own humanity is a greater evil than the sum of it’s parts. As a huge characterization nerd, that’s pretty freaking cool. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Edwin is easily one of my top five OTPs, and I honestly don’t see shipping Ed with anyone else. Like Roy and Riza, Ed and Winry’s relationship is built on years of trust, respect, friendship, and tragedy. While they sometimes struggle with communicating their feelings, whether its about each other or the circumstances they’re facing, they always manage to get their feelings across when the moment demands it. It seems that their respective obsessions confuse or annoy each other, yet, they each possess huge admiration for the other’s accomplishments and passions. They understand the harsh burden of losing their parents, and Winry never judges Ed for attempting to revive his mother, likely because she had the same kind of longing. In addition, each of them are deeply concerned for the safety of the other, with Ed especially going to great lengths to ensure Winry is unaffected with his involvement in the military. Sadness of one pains the other, and they’re both hellbent on making sure the other is, in the end, happy. Talk about the makings of a great relationship! Also, at the most basic level, they’re SO DAMN ADORABLE.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: 

I have to go with Al here. (Also apparently this got too long to add more gifs so rip to that idea…) These two have been through so much together, balance the weight of their varying personalities, and as a result, are the ultimate allies. Besides the deep care these brothers share, the most interesting aspect about them is how their personalities contrast and support one another. Ed is typically hot-headed and impulsive. Al is calmer and leans more towards logic. Ed has a big ego and is sarcastic. While Al has his moments, he’s unflinchingly kindhearted. However, their mutual passion for alchemy, humanity, and completing their quest are unmatched. The story is about brotherhood, and these two are the ultimate protagonists. Al’s superior battle sense, levelheadedness, and gentle personality are the perfect balance to Ed. He brings him back down to earth, yet encourages him to race to the ends of it. They joke and argue, but you know they would sacrifice everything for the other. 

My unpopular opinion about this character:

*sigh* The Ed being really short joke did eventually get old… 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

As is the case with many fma characters in my book, I want to see more! Knowing Ed, there’s no way this kid would peak at 18. I want to see his adventures after the promised day. I want to see him with Winry and his kids, being a great father, but I also want to see him traveling, discovering, and maybe getting himself into a bit of trouble here and there! At the end of years of struggling and hardship, I want to see the next crazy step in his journey. There’s no way he’d sit still for long. The sky’s barely the limit for Ed, and i want to see how far he flies. 

Send me a character, if you dare. 

[aion-rsa]

How Clarice Continues Agent Starling’s Story

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In 1991 The Silence of the Lambs became a phenomenon; cleaning up at the box office, winning all five major Academy Awards (Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Actress, and Actor) and turning both of its lead characters into overnight icons. But while antagonist Hannibal Lecter has scarcely been away from our screens, the steely yet vulnerable hero of the film, Clarice Starling, only reappeared in the poorly received 2001 sequel Hannibal. Even Bryan Fuller’s cult classic TV adaptation of Thomas Harris’ source material novels couldn’t use Clarice due to complicated divisions of the rights.

But now Clarice is back, headlining a new CBS drama that picks up where The Silence of the Lambs left off and charts the next stages of the young agent’s career. For fans of the film it’s an enticing proposition, albeit one that has to contend with the inverse of the rights situation that plagued Fuller’s show; Clarice can use any character that originated in The Silence of the Lambs, but none from the rest of Harris’ works, meaning that Hannibal Lecter is nowhere to be seen. 

In some ways this is a blessing in disguise, allowing Clarice to chart its own path. The early episodes of the show demonstrate a commitment to Clarice’s point of view, paying tribute to what came before but never losing sight of whose story this is. We sat down with showrunner Elizabeth Klaviter to explore the genesis of the show, how she interpreted Thomas Harris’ world and characters, the challenges of reimagining a beloved icon, and what the series has in store going forward. 

Den of Geek: Seeing Clarice Starling back on screen is a real thrill. Can you talk us through the genesis and development of the series? 

Elizabeth Klaviter: Creators Alex Kurzman and Jenny Lumet both started asking themselves the question, “Where’s Clarice Starling now? What happened to her after The Silence of the Lambs when she was no longer in Quantico? And how did she deal with the trauma of Buffalo Bill’s basement while she was still a cadet?” Jenny is the most obsessed, amazing Thomas Harris fan and has an encyclopedic knowledge of all of his books completely available to her at any moment, just through her brain. It’s incredible. She was like, “I want to know what it looks like if Clarice and Ardelia live together? I want to know if they share shoes? Who does Clarice love? What does that look like? What does she eat for breakfast? How does she go through the world being Clarice Starling?”

So the two of them were really asking themselves that question in a deep and rich way. And then we were in the middle of a feminist revolution with the #MeToo movement and those things intersected. When Jodie Foster talks about reading the script and deciding to take the role, she has said “this is the story of a woman who is saving a woman in a well.” And that was revolutionary. That is revolutionary. It goes against the stories that we’ve heard since the dawn of time, since human beings were telling stories to each other. 

It seemed like the cable space would be the most logical place for the advancement of Clarice’s journey, but David Nevins at CBS was really interested in putting it on network television, where it could shine and be unique. And he said, “if you will be our partner in putting this on network television then we’ll give you guys creative freedom.” And that has definitely been true. They’ve been our true partner; incredibly collaborative, incredibly generous, and really supportive of Alex and Jenny’s vision of the show moving forward.

Outside of The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice has previously only reappeared in the novel/film Hannibal, which is largely built around her getting kicked down again and again. How important was it to you guys to see Clarice have some genuine successes?

One of the most fascinating junctures in a person’s life, but especially a woman’s life, is moving forward from being in school to being a professional. What does that look like? How do you carry yourself? How do you answer the questions of your childhood? How do they inform who you are? And then you get pushback to be maybe a different kind of person, to work harder, or to make sacrifices that maybe you don’t want to make as a professional, let alone an FBI agent who is constantly dealing with morality, ethics, and justice. So, I think that’s a particularly exciting time for a woman’s life.

It translates to the year that we set the show in, in 1993, but also really to today, particularly as it affects both our Clarice storyline, but also Ardelia’s storyline, which grows and becomes much more significant, both in relation to Clarice and also in her own right as the series progresses. In The Silence of the Lambs Clarice was still a student, still studying; she was close to graduation, but she wasn’t there yet. And this is the first time we’re really getting to see the beginning of who she is as an FBI agent. 

This is the second TV adaptation of Thomas Harris’s properties, and Hannibal did garner quite an intense cult following. Did you feel any pressure following not only that series, but also being a direct sequel to one of the greatest films of all time?

Thomas Harris created amazing characters who are complex, who have a variety of drives and nuanced motivations. So I feel like anybody who gets to play in the Thomas Harris sandbox has to A) be a fan, and B) feel the pressure and the responsibility that brings. But there’s another thing that it brings, which is pure joy and delight. 

Read more

TV

Clarice: How Does The Show Compare to Hannibal?

By Gabriel Bergmoser

Everybody who is involved in this show on every level, from our costume designer to our production designer, have all studied in the library of Thomas Harris. And also Jonathan Demme and his extraordinary visuals and filmic language. We really wanted to bring to life all of the textures of Thomas Harris’s work; the opulence, the extraordinary lavish visuals of his imagination, and most importantly, I think, the characters.

On that, let’s talk about Paul Krendler. In the source material Krendler is a lot more overtly slimy and antagonistic towards Clarice, particularly in the novel Hannibal. At least in the first three episodes of the show, he comes off more as a tough but fair boss who Clarice is slowly warming towards. Can you talk a little bit about the change to his character from the text to the show and what the impetus for that was?

I think a lot of it had to do with the question of who we’re spending time with. Certainly fans know where Krendler ends up; we all know his outcome in Hannibal, that his character gets progressively more awful and he ends up having a fitting demise. So we’re putting together this team on the show and have to ask if we want this awful, badly intended character in such close proximity to Clarice while she’s fighting monsters. 

We honor his history having been in the Department of Justice, but now we’ve brought him back to the FBI and given him a backstory that he was formally in that FBI before he went to the DOJ. Then we explored “what drives this man? When is he wrong-headed? And when is he right-headed?” And the answer that we all really enjoyed is, this is a man who is trying to keep his unit safe, who wants everybody to come home tonight. 

That means that Clarice can’t explore this case in the way that she wants to; to just run off and use her intellect to solve the crime and get an audience with the bad guy in a potentially unsafe way. Now she’s in the bigger world, and she’s having to learn what the rules are and how she has to function within them. Now when we talk about Krendler and his future, we’re not certain where we’re going. We don’t know who he will become in seven seasons because we have seven years until he ends up being the man in Hannibal.

So, in the minds of the writers’ room, are the events of Hannibal still off in the future, or is this potentially a re-imagining of where Clarice might have gone next after The Silence of the Lambs?

We don’t have the answer to that question yet. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility right now. We definitely are going to honor Thomas Harris, look at the path and see how it goes. I mean, Ardelia is in the book Hannibal, and there are some really interesting details. She and Clarice end up living together in that book, or not living together, but owning condos that are like a duplex together. And so there are definitely moments of characterization that we draw from, from that book. Then we’ll see where we get. And we should be so lucky that we have seven seasons to fully answer that question.

The show so far moves between more a traditional case of the week stories and this overarching conspiracy plot. How do you work in the writers’ room to balance that? 

It’s my favorite kind of storytelling to have a balance between those two things. I’m a huge X-Files fan, and they definitely had their overarching serialized plot. But the episodes I always responded to the most were the monsters of the week. I’m a sucker for a good monster of the week story. I’m also obsessed with, not just seasons, but series-long arcs for characters; with personal growth and character relationship growth. So, putting those two things together is my personal sweet spot. I feel like as long as the story that you’re telling for your case of the week is truly compelling and you’re honoring where the character journey is, you can organically bring the audience on a journey that includes both. It just takes some attention.

Rebecca Breeds does such a fantastic job as Clarice. Her work feels of a piece with what Jodie Foster did, but also very distinct. Was there a lot of discussion about where the line should be drawn between impersonating Foster but doing something new as well? 

Rebecca had her finger on the pulse of that from, really, her audition. She was stunning. I think it was a last-minute decision for her to add an Appalachian accent. She added the accent and then she said, “I just found Clarice.” And for all of us, the reason why we’re all showing up to work every day is because we’re incredible fans of Thomas Harris’s universe. His novels, yes, but also the movie. Jodie Foster is an incredible actor who gave an incredible performance and really embodied this character. So, honoring Jodie and her performance has always been paramount in all of our minds and yet we need to move forward and fully embrace Clarice as our own. And for us; for Alex, Jenny, myself, and Rebecca, the answer to that question has always been a truthfulness in writing and then a truthfulness in acting. That if the moments are real and genuine and fully present for all of us, then it becomes its own thing. It takes on its own life.

Due to the rights situation Hannibal Lecter is a notable absence, but in some ways a bigger one is Jack Crawford, who fulfilled the mentor role to Clarice in The Silence of the Lambs. Did you feel in any way limited by not being able to use him?

It’s interesting to look at the events of The Silence of the Lambs and the relationship with Crawford purely from Clarice’s point of view. For me, that relationship became caught up in the trauma. I feel like we are honoring his presence in her life, but in a very unpredictable way. When she went to see Hannibal, I feel like she was being given, yes, one of the most exciting opportunities of her life, but also being thrown into the deep end of the pool. And that’s part of what she carries with her. One of the definitions of trauma is “too much too fast”.

Clarice got too much, too fast, and now she’s unraveling that. So to my mind Crawford is a part of that. And that is how we’re paying tribute to him in our show. That’s how we’re thinking of him. And then to your point earlier, I feel some of the more mentor pieces of Crawford have become part of the Krendler character and will grow their relationship. It’ll have a lot of ups and downs, of course. But I think there are pieces of him in her relationship with Krendler.

One of the complex things about the relationship with Crawford is the fact that it is inherently built on an act of manipulation. He sends her in without giving her an agenda so that he can try to coax information out of Lecter. 

And later when she needs back up they’re all the way across the nation. To me, that’s also part of the male gaze. They asked her to go do this thing and then they didn’t listen to her. They just missed a lot of it. The way that has translated into our world is in the exploration of bosses asking young women to do things, and then maybe not listening to all of the answers or the pieces of the answers that are inconvenient for them even though they’re honest and truthful. It’s definitely something that we explore in the series.

Something that’s refreshing about the show is the fact that it’s a period piece but never feels like it’s hitting you over the head with the 90s setting. What kind of discussions did you have about engaging with the time period? 

We talk about it quite a bit. And of course there are all the practical conversations about making sure that the items that we’re using are accurate and the cars for those periods are correct. As we’re moving forward, there are more details that we’re drawing specifically from the FBI in 1993. We talk a lot about how our world view has and hasn’t shifted since 1993. An example would be how does the Waco siege inform the standoff at Novak’s in episode two. Who are these FBI agents, were they at Waco, were their friends at Waco, were they heard at Waco? What were their feelings from there and how did those attitudes inform this? 

Read more

Movies

The Silence of the Lambs and Clarice’s Lifelong Battle Against the Male Gaze

By David Crow

Movies

Hannibal: Did Author Thomas Harris Try to Destroy Dr. Lecter?

By Don Kaye

In the world of the show Ruth Martin is the first female Attorney General, and that creates more pressure for her. And the FBI has a legacy that was started with J. Edgar Hoover, which is filled with white supremacy. It’s hard to succeed there if you aren’t a white man. So, those are ways that it informs it. Lucca De Oliveira (Tomas Esquivel) showed up on-set one day and he called me and he’s looking around and seeing all of our extras being white and said; “it makes me feel so other”. Those are the ways that we started really exploring what it means to be in 1993. And we’re shooting those from the perspective of the non-white characters.

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Going forward, what can fans expect to see from the show? 

We will watch all of our characters get to know each other better and get to know themselves much better, particularly Clarice. Clarice goes on quite a turbulent journey of self-discovery. We really enter very deeply into Clarice’s relationship with Ardelia and what the differences in their worlds are as they’re learning. What it means to be a Black female agent, and what it means to be a white female agent, and how those two things are very different. We get to meet some more monsters and some of those monsters are vanquished quickly within an episode, and some of them will be around with us for the entire season.

The post How Clarice Continues Agent Starling’s Story appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[researching01]

How To Overcome Anxiety and Feel More at Ease (Part 1)

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How To Overcome Anxiety and Feel More at Ease (Part 1)

Anxiety ailments are the most prevalent mental health challenge we face. Globally, an estimated 275 million people, or 4 % of the population, were affected in 2016. (( Our World in Data: Anxiety Disorders )) In the U.S ., 18.1% of the adult population suffers every year and 30% of people will experience nervousnes at some phase .(( Anxiety And Depression Association of America: Facts& Statistics )) Anxiety ailments touch 25.1% of children between 13 and 18 years old and women are almost twice as likely to experience anxiety ailments than males.

So if you’re feeling anxious or suffering from anxiety, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Not merely is anxiety highly common, it is also highly treatable. Yet less than half of people suffering seek treatment.

Having been there myself, I know it is scary, confusing, frustrating and difficult. At periods, it feels like it’s going to suffocate you or swallow you whole; and you fear you’ll never feel like yourself again.

I recollect a day when I stands at the front door sobbing because I didn’t want my husband to leave for work in the morning. It was not me. I have always been laid back, easygoing and fearless. And all of a sudden I was anxious, scared and full of fear.

What attained it even worse was feeling scared I would feel that way forever. I remember calling a good friend on my route home one day from therapy. She’d suffered from anxiety too. I’ll never forget it what she told me. It was a turning point in my healing. “It WILL get better; you won’t always feel like this. I know it feels like it now, but you won’t. I promise, you will get better”. Those terms resonated profoundly and stuck with me through the toughest of periods. I desperately needed to know there was hope.

Everyone I’ve spoken to who’s suffered from anxiety says something similar. I thought it would never end. I supposed I was going to have to live like that forever( and I knew I couldn’t ). I has no such idea how I was going to get out of it. But they all been through this it.

In this article, I’ll share real tales and recommendations from those who have been through anxiety, as well as tips-off and strategies from mental health professionals.

All of them share one common sentiment: anxiety is common and can be treated. If you can summon up the strength and gallantry to take a few steps out of the darkness, you will find light.

So if you’re out there wondering if you will EVER get through this, wondering if you will EVER feel like yourself again, wondering if this will EVER end…It CAN and it WILL.

For those of you facing anxiety on any level, my hope is that you find at least one of these stories, strategies or resources helpful and supportive in running through your own process and journey.

What Is Anxiety? People use the term’ anxiety’ to describe everything from a stressful impression or situation to a severe feeling of anxiety, and even anxiety assaults which can come out of nowhere and closely mimic the same symptoms of a heart attack.

According to David Carbonell, PhD .( The Anxiety Coach ): “Anxiety is a set of feelings, thinks, and physical sensations typically centered on some dread about a future event or potential instance. Anxiety is an ordinary emotion which is part of life. We would have trouble functioning without it.

An anxiety ailment, on the other hand, is a condition in which a person has literally become afraid of their experiences of nervousnes and tries to resist and avoid those experiences in ways that attain the problem worse rather than better. People develop an nervousnes disorder for various reasons. It seems clear that there are genetic predispositions to develop them. People who score high on a measure of’ anxiety sensitivity’ are more prone to develop one.” There are several major nervousnes ailments including Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and specific phobias of all kinds. When talking about overcoming anxiety, since there are such differing levels and degrees of what that means, there are also varying levels of treatment and supporting .(( Anxiety and Depression Association of America: Understand the Facts ))

What Causes Anxiety? Here’s the technical answer from Jennie Morton: “The experience of anxiety has emerged from a cascade of events that are triggered in the body by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system( or battle/ flight mechanism) in response to a threat. This is a very natural reaction that is designed to ensure our survival when under assault from a predator. An area of our brain called the amygdala acts as a kind of’ smoke detector’ for environmental menaces and plays a key role in triggering the fight or flight response.

The amygdala (( Science Daily: Amygdala )) is also involved in emotional learning and, based on our experiences from childhood onward, will label certain places, people, situations, etc. as either safe or unsafe.

So while for many the experience of nervousnes may seem irrational or illogical, there will be a reason why the amygdala has chosen to spark this sensation. Somewhere along the line it put a red flag warning on an event or even just a particular aspect of a threatening situation which it is then conditioned to repeat.” In my experience, if you’re suffering from anxiety, something bigger is going on. Anxiety is not the problem. Anxiety is a symptom of something.

There are many complex and varying causes for anxiety, including;

Life experiences and events( including trauma)

Genetics and upbringing

Brain chemistry

Medical conditions( including blood sugar imbalance, thyroid dysfunction and gut imbalance/ food sensitivities ), and

Forms of stress including unhealthy relationships, demanding tasks, and financial obligations.

More often than not, anxiety is a sign you are out of alignment or out of balance in some way shape or kind- mentally, emotionally, physically or even spiritually.

It’s your body’s way of telling you something isn’t’ functioning. Something is not right. Our bodies are quite amazing. They have a way of telling us to slow down, do something different, pay attention or make a change. And if we don’t listen, guess what? They scream louder. And often, they speak the language of nervousnes. Remember, anxiety is a message. To honor this message, seem deeper into what may be out of balance in your body, as well as your life. This may feel scary at first, but remember, the life you want is on the other side of dread! — Dr. Kelly Brogan How to Heal Your Anxiety I’d like to introduce Erica Phillipson. Erica is a Graphic Artist, Yoga Instructor& Retreat Facilitator( and former Club DJ& Radio Show Host ).

Here, she shares her personal narrative and recommendations for overcoming anxiety:

At the height of my anxiety, I thought I would never get through it. I didn’t simply have anxiety, I had Panic Disorder. On bad days, I would have 6 or 7 panic attack. They would sometimes last for over an hour and often it would take me a few hours to recover. The trauma I experienced took a toll on me both physically and psychologically. Eventually, everything became too much for me. I didn’t want to get too excited/ nervous/ scared, I didn’t want to set myself in any situation that could trigger my anxiety, I didn’t want to leave the house. I felt like I had short-circuited. I even got to a phase where I would worry that merely thinking about a panic attack was going to bring one on.

I thought it would never objective. But it did. It may have lasted 6 years, but I haven’t had a panic attack for over 6 years now!

Having Panic Disorder pushed me to work through so much’ stuff’. It forced me to really go deep within myself. Seeming back at how much I evolved during that time, I can frankly say that my Panic Disorder has been one of my life’s greatest gifts. Without it, I would have stayed in a career that was not working for me; I would not have found balance in my life; I would still be saying yes when the answer in my heart is no. I would probably not be as grateful for the little things that induce our lives so beautiful; I would not be the person I am today.

I know who I am. I know what I want. I know what I am willing- and not willing- to put up with. I am glad! If I can get through it, you can, too.

This anxiety you are facing is a tool for growth, but you need to be willing to work with it. Your body has given you nervousnes because it is trying to tell you something but you have not been listening. It’s time to listen.

As I went through my healing process, I tried every type of therapy out there, including: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Tapping, Vitamins, Homeopathy, Yoga, Hypnosis, Art procedures, kundalini, Breathwork and drug( for a few months ).

I’m said he hopes that the knowledge I is obtained from these therapies will help you to heal quicker than it took me.

The biggest thing I want you to know is that no one can heal you but you.

Here are my recommendations: 1. Know your triggers. Get to the root issue of what’s not working and what’s causing anxiety.

For me, there were a few triggers. I was working too much , not sleeping, traveling every week and stressed out. I was afraid of flying( from a past experience as a child ), so having to perform in a new city every week became a massive trigger for me.

Living on my own became a trigger because I would arrive home in the early hours of the morning when no one was around( in one of the most dangerous cities in the world, Johannesburg ).

My radio indicate also became a trigger because it was naturally nerve-wracking for me. DJing at clubs became a trigger for me because it’s stressful having to keep a dance floor full and happy.

Compounding these triggers resulted in the perfect recipe for Panic Disorder.

I also use coping mechanisms to keep me running. I would get ready to DJ a present by drinking Coke and a shot of tequila so that I was’ awake and smiling’. Now this may sound extreme, but my guess is many of you have your own versions of this- taking medication for that headache every day, having one too many glasses of wine every night, taking sleeping capsule so you can sleep or drinking style too much coffee to get through the next hour of run. All of those things are masking something that’s not working.

Find out what they are and eliminate those things from your life. Make the changes step by step, and eventually you will begin to understand your anxiety and get what your body is trying to tell you.

It’s not going to be easy, but it’s going to be a heck of a lot easier than living the style you are right now. 2. Find what brings you JOY and add more of that to your life. Discovery what brings you balance, makes you feel good, or brings positivity.

Do what you love. Find things that are aligned with your heart, your soul, your purpose. 3. Surround yourself with people that’ get you’. Unless you’ve had anxiety, you can’t truly understand better how it feels. Not many people got what I was going through.

So many times I suffered panic attacks’ in broad daylight’. I would be hosting my show, DJing to a thousand people, at a fundraiser for the “South African Depression and Anxiety Group”( ironic !), and wouldn’t tell a spirit.

Others would try and help by telling me’ it was going to be ok’ or’ I must think about something else’, but they had NO idea how dark it was. I guessed I was going to die. I guessed I was going to lose my mind and never come back.

It’s important to find your people. Maybe they have gone through it themselves, maybe they just know how to support you unconditionally, perhaps it’s a therapist who can support and normalize what you’re facing.

My husband was my rock, his love helped me mend. My best friend was incredible, she took my panic attack seriously and that meant the world to me. I also determined immense convenience in my puppy, Nala. She genuinely was my emotional support dog. 4. Take care of your body. Eat healthy foods, practise yoga, journal, exercise, breathwork, sleep … These were critical in my healing. 5. Acceptance. When I stopped opposing my panic attacks and faced them, they moved through me much more quickly.

Being aware of what has triggered you and how you are feeling will help you to gain perspective and slowly. But, surely you will understand that you are safe and nothing is going to happen to you. 6. Get to know yourself. This was the single most important factor of my healing. So much of my nervousnes was caused from being out of alignment with who I was, I had to get REAL.

I procured myself in a life that was NOT working for me. I was in a job that wasn’t me. It was glamorous, fun and astonishing from the outside; it looked like the dreaming task. But it wasn’t me. It wasn’t what I wanted to do or how I wanted to do it.

I had to look at who I was, what I wanted in life and what genuinely made me happy. I had to dig into my faiths, values, and moral compass.

Please, as you go through this, don’t be so hard on yourself. Be gentle and nurturing. This is a process and takes time. There is no one way to heal from nervousnes. The root cause is different for different people and the solution will be as well. Try everything. Note what works and let go of what doesn’t.

Lastly, consider that the universe might just be giving you a gift. Maybe say to yourself: “Here’s a gift. It’s called anxiety. Let’s insure what it brings me”. I hope I had that perspective and I hope it helps you.” Conclusion I love Erica’s incredible story and am so thankful she’s shared it with us. It’s a poignant reminder that there’s a reason you have anxiety and that there are things you can do to overcome it.

Personally, I addressed my anxiety from an integrative, holistic approach as well. I stepped back and assessed my life and looked at what needed to happen mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I went to therapy, worked with a coach, made some important life changes, got bodywork, read books, did yoga, and practiced meditation.

I learned grounding techniques. I changed my eating. I cut out alcohol, caffeine and artificial sweeteners. I tried everything I could get my hands on. I maintained what worked for me and let go of what didn’t.

I was able to work through my nervousnes too…and though I can’t pinpoint exactly what helped the most, I know it was this integrative, multi-faceted approach that made a difference.

Today, I wouldn’t say I’m back to my old self. I’d say I’m happy to be my new ego.

As Nietzsche so wisely said many years ago, “That which does not kill me induces me stronger”.

It’s true. My experience with nervousnes has helped me evolve into the more conscious, thoughtful, connected and compassionate person I am today.

For those of you facing anxiety on different levels, my hope is that these stories and suggestions are supportive in helping you work through your own process so you can move forward and uncover that ‘gift’ Erica spoke about.

Your next step? Take a step forward — any step. That may entail trying one of the techniques you’ve read here or reaching out for help. There are many forms of fantastic therapies that can help – but they can only work if you do.

Don’t miss PART 2 of the Anxiety Series which includes additional stories and lots of great strategies from mental health professionals and experts.

And below are some additional resources to support you in your healing. Resources and Websites Therapists If you’re experiencing persistent and excessive levels of anxiety, I highly recommend you reach out to your doctor, therapist or specialist for support.

To find a therapist near you, reach out to someone you trust who can make a recommendation, contact one of our professionals above or find someone here:

Anxiety Disorders Association of America

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies

Additional Websites

Anxiety and Depression Association of America

The Anxiety Coach

MarisaPeer.com

Kelly Brogan

Best Anxiety Blog 2019

National Institute of Mental Health

Read more: lifehack.org