#Distorted self-image

[mde-creative-video]

People can deceive themselves

[roboyomo]

non-canonical kenix anatomy because Sure

[labefactation]

@ssunspotted On the contrary--I think that I am hardening, and that the process is slowly killing me.

[shadowsofcontrol]

Narcissistic abusers carefully craft and project an image of perfection, competence, and respectability to the outside world, meticulously controlling how others perceive them. 🎭 They go to great lengths to appear flawless, confident, and in control, masking any signs of insecurity or inadequacy. This facade is maintained through manipulation and charm, allowing them to dominate their environment while hiding their vulnerabilities and fears. By promoting this idealized image, they not only deceive others but also reinforce their own distorted self-perception, ensuring that their weaknesses remain hidden.

[desolades]

leonard cohen always singing about how ugly he is is so tommy core. which is why there's so much leonard cohen on his playlist always

[red-moon-at-night]

Survivor.

kind of a 'then vs now' comparison (idolhood vs living through everything post-idolhood) but in the same outfit.

the urge to quote "despite everything, it's still you" is very strong right now.

[sanyu-thewitch05]

I just want to acknowledge the goalposts being moved whenever we say biracials/mixed people are not black and therefore shouldn’t be representing black girls and women in media.

First it was: You’re denying their blackness! Black comes in all shades and colors!

Now it’s: Black people come in all races and

Black people are beginning to forget what black girls and women look like. That’s sad. How do we as a community forget what we look like and just start saying that mixed and straight up non-black girls look like us?

And this happens a lot more often when you point out that Black people don’t tend to have blonde hair. Without doubt, they’ll be pulling these Melanesian kids:

In their attempt to say that Black people can have blonde hair as if it’s a common phenomenon but not realizing the kids in the pictures are from people who migrated from Africa 50,000 years ago. Not only that, but the gene that makes their blonde is unique to them and isn’t the one that make Europeans have blonde hair. They are also more related to Asians than Black(African) people(Obviously, since they were one of the first groups to leave Africa). And don’t get me started when they use people with albinism to say black people can have blonde hair and blue eyes.

@thisismisogynoir

[lildarcy]

Omg this hits hard

Don't worry, no one in our family is [REDACTED]

[blackvahana]

Honestly, and I know this is because I came up against what I'd called the Gatekeeper before of Lev, the under-all(most)-masks inner consciousness body of his though we all theoretically have one, where his emotions and conscious mind are just manifestations and translations of an internal sleeping lake.. Yeah, no, it was another mask. Anyway. The topic

Honestly... Im thinking about my connection to dogs briefly. Saw a post and have seen posts lately from therians talking about how their animal part or more animal self interacts with reality, for example talking about how they're a dog in the playful puppy way or as a guard dog or whathaveyou. Not a therian to be clear, it's a different thing, but doghood is always a mask of wolfhood for me, it's the "I have become, through forces that made this into an animal-and-master situation, something forced to be palatable"... It's generally complicated, there's elements of "the mother wolf becomes a dog so her children recognise her, she's older than their species but they only know their own species, so she puts on the dog body to play with them", there's elements of "I was forced into this form, taught that I have to yip and bow instead of growling and showing teeth", and so on and so forth. Not really the point, it's too complicated to summarise why I'm a wolf and why that gets represented and expressed as a dog - especially because ultimately wolf is a representation and expression of something else in turn

Point is when Lev stares right through the dog me because he knows I'm putting on a mask he just sees myself staring, cryptid-ass liminal shit lmfao. Actually. Not sure what the connecting logic is between the Gatekeepers thing and this. Probably just Lev encouraging my own to go play with his

Fascinating as fuck honestly finally seeing the Gatekeeper of Lev's crumble into being yet another mask. I've been waiting for that for a while now lmfao. It's probably partly to do with the fact that Lev said earlier he wanted to help me wake up more parts of myself that are sleeping, parts beyond the conscious minds... Man I am so fuckin tired

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC My Brother in the Mirror

Damian doesn't like mirrors.

He never mentioned the fact to other members of the family, but they are detectives and vigilantes, it's their job to be observant. Which, after so many years, becomes a habit.

Damian doesn't actively avoid the mirrors - he has a mirror in his bathroom, he didn't express any discomfort over going into a mirror labyrinth at some carnival they've attended (he expressed disgust over taking part in something so stupid, in his words, but that's a whole another story), and he actually spent a few minutes in front of the funhouse mirrors when no one was looking, watching his own reflection distort in various ways. He also has no problems with his self-image - he doesn't mind pictures of him taken at any time (unless it's Tim, but that's, again, a whole another story), he's drawn a few self-portraits that were rather accurate and he liked them.

He just doesn't like mirrors. For some reason.

His family, both close and extended, never questioned it. They did some gentle research to see if the dislike was caused by some kind of problem Damian was experiencing without telling anyone, but when they found no proof of that, they've just decided it was some quirk of his. Everyone has quirks. Dick doesn't like eating cereal like a normal person, Tim despises sleep, Steph is at war with any color other than purple.

That is, until one day, Tim witnesses Damian sitting in front of a mirror.

He is not even aware of it - the whole family is having a game night, and through some arguments and rearrangements on the couch, Damian ends up sitting on the left side of it, where his back is turned to one of the three mirrors in the room. Tim, who's lost the last round, is slumping in an armchair nearby, pointedly looking away from the screen where Damian and Jason are enthusiastically competing over the first place in Mario Cart. Of course, Tim can't just not watch it since he needs to know their strategies. But turning back around would also be admitting defeat.

The solution? Easy, watch the screen through the mirror.

Which is when he notices it.

Damian in the mirror doesn't act the same as Damian in the room. Out of the corner of his eye, Tim can see the real Damian moving around, shoving Jason with his elbow, fully concentrated on the game, and yelling something. Damian-in-the-mirror is sitting unnaturally still, the back of his head over the couch unmoving.

Tim forgets all about the game when Damian's reflection starts to turn around. Slowly and carefully, eerie in the way the horror movies are, the boy in the mirror turns his head around like an owl, his neck twisting inhumanely.

His eyes are green. Green like the toxic waste, like Jason's madness, like acid in cartoons, like the Waters of Lazarus.

Damian in the mirror smiles, his unblinking, gliwing eyes fixed on Tim, and his teeth are sharp and pointy, and there are too many of them, humans can't smile this wide.

"-im? Tim!" A hand nudges him in the shoulder, and Tim looks away from the mirror, finding Dick standing over him. The noise of the game room returns all at once, and, wait, when did it become quiet for Tim?.. He must have a strange expression on his face because Dick's easy smile falls slightly, and he frowns, "Is everything okay?"

Tim looks back to the mirror, but the green-eyed boy in the mirror is gone, and the mirror only reflects Damian as he is: sitting on the couch.

"Yeah," Tim shakes his head and forces a smile on his lips, "I just zoned out."

"Okay," Dick pats him on the shoulder and gives him the controller, "It's your turn now."

Tim takes the controller and turns around, facing the screen. Tim throws a quick glance at Damian, who had slid down on the couch so his head would not be in the reflection anymore. Tim sees the cold, warning hint to his eye, a clear do not speak of it message.

Tim doesn't like that the mirror is now behind him.

[justsomestuffreally]

I think the Batkids reaction to a Bruce who isn't de-aged to 8 but rather 29 (pre-Jason death, post his adoption) would be fascinating. 

Their reaction would vary wildly:

Dick: Oh. Bruce is soft again. Bruce calls them ‘chum’ and ‘buddy’ and gives head pats for no reason. He still isn’t perfect, his communication skills are still a work in progress, but compared to his future self? Without actively dying Dick is hugged plenty. Bruce asks him to go to the zoo, unrelated to any case, just to spend time together. Dick is hit with more nostalgia and longing for the past than he knows what to do with.

Also notable: his dad is younger than him. That is something. Second, holy existential crisis Batman, his dad is younger than him and already one adult and one teenage kid??? Dick is not ready to feel this old yet. Third, Dick has absolutely no idea how Bruce managed to stay patient through his no-pants years. He is going to thank reason every day from now on that Damian wears full protection.

Jason: After his death and League he clung to an image of Bruce. One many tried to beat out of him, but he still kept it somewhere close to his heart, buried deep enough even he couldn’t see it. When he came back Bruce wasn’t like this idea of him. How stupid of him to believe the mind of a traumatized kid. Trying to create one good thing before the kid drew his last breath. Making up memories that never even existed.

But they did. Every smile and hug and even his words reflect the image tugged safely against his still-beating heart. His dad very clearly, very deeply loves him. Which is so much worse. Because he can understand why a Bruce, who never cared, didn’t kill the Joker. But he cares. So why the fuck did he not kill the Joker?

Tim: The reason he joined the family, the reason why he became Robin in the first place was because he saw a problem when Bruce started self-destructing and thought ‘Someone needs to fix that!’. Therefore he went and collected Dick, who didn’t seem keen on fixing it. So, the job fell to him to fix it.

He thought he did a good job, he thought he fixed the problem. Except now he sees who Bruce was, and he knows he failed. Their Bruce is less soft, less affectionate, less like he was before. Batman needs a Robin and Tim didn’t manage to be good enough of one to save him. 

[Or: Tim has a guilt complex a hundred miles wide and blames himself for things that aren’t his fault part 52]

Steph: Jason and she are very similar. Both come from the Narrows, both have a mother addicted to drugs and a shitty father. The differences start when Steph keeps waiting on the roof of their apartment for Batman to whisk her away, while Jason tries to steal the tires of the Batmobile and is taken in.

When Steph started out as Spoiler Bruce tried to keep her off the field, and obviously this one would too (even if he would probably be less paranoid about it), but she knows this Bruce would have also taken her in. This Bruce would be the father she always wished for when she sat on their roof and couldn’t see any stars. 

And she didn’t get to have this because Jason went ahead and died. (Of course, she knows she isn’t fair to the guy. Dying isn’t fun… And she knows the only reason she lived is because he died. When Batman rescued her from Black Mask she was in such terrible shape that Leslie managed to convince the World’s Greatest Detective that she died. If Jason hadn’t died Bruce wouldn’t have been as paranoid, wouldn’t have noticed her missing so soon, wouldn’t have been as urgent in his response. Would have been just a minute slower, a minute which would have killed her. Just as it had Jason.)

For her, this Bruce is a distorted mirror into a past which never was. 

Cass: This Bruce and B are not the same person. They don’t move the same. In a fight, this Bruce is younger, faster, stronger. Doesn’t compensate for a previously broken spine. Less experienced. Still one of the most experienced she knows, but less. 

He still moves differently, outside a fight, less pain. More likely to engage in physical affection, more likely to hug and pat and talk. He talks more than B. B knows what she means without words. This Bruce doesn’t.

She likes this Bruce, warmth, and softness. But not as much as B. He knows what she means, when she wants a hug, when she tells him ‘I love you’ without words. B doesn’t need words. This Bruce doesn’t know her, doesn’t communicate like her. She wants B back.

Damian: At first, when this version of his father seemed uncanny and oddly familiar, he assumed it to be due to the stories of his mother. After all, she always told him tales about his father. He simply did not have the frame of reference to understand the kindness she spoke of. Clearly, the clash between the ideals of the League and the ones of his father causes these feelings, just as they did when he first entered the manor.

He presumed this to be the case until one day on patrol Batman laid a hand on his shoulder and told him he did a good job after no particularly impressive fight and he nearly called him ‘Grayson’. Because the stories of his mother may have painted the picture of this version of his father, however, it wasn’t what made it familiar; no, he knew this kindness. These hugs and compliments one would bestow upon a child. Compliments which, despite the indignity, still warm him. Because Grayson learned how to be a… caregiver from his father.

His father used to be like Grayson, used to be until his grief hardened him. Damian could have had this. Damian could have a brother and father who would- But he doesn’t because of Todd. He loathes Todd. Loathes him for ruining the life he could have had.

Why did he die anyway? Damian certainly wouldn’t have a problem escaping bonds created by the Joker, Damian would have disarmed the bomb in time, Damian would have never thrown this life away like he did.

[Or: Damian is a child who was raised by assassins and has unreasonable standards for fighting abilities and also is a child who needs to focus his rage on someone.]

Duke: He was neither there before Jason died nor in the aftermath [according to my math he was around 4 when Jason died] he joined the family when Jason was already back for 4 years or so. He mostly skipped all the drama. For him, Bruce is the way Bruce is because he is Bruce. It’s weird to see him so different, to see how grief shaped parts of Bruce which Duke assumed were just Bruce things.

He’s glad this Bruce is brighter, or not because it just highlights how much that light will dim? Who knows, certainly not him. 

What he does know is that, with their Bruce, he has a distance which, with his parents still alive, he appreciates. With this Bruce, he can understand why Dick struggled so much whether he wants to be his ward or son, how he doesn’t want to replace his parents but still have this Bruce as a dad. It definitely explained the ted talk Dick tried to give him after Bruce officially took him in as a ward.

He likes this Bruce well enough, but he doesn’t necessarily want him to stay this way. Yes, their Bruce is less happy, less open but he did heal, he did grow. Duke met a Bruce who tried to learn from his mistakes, learned to communicate better, and learned when to pull and when to push. For Tim, Damian, Dick, and certainly Jason there is too much baggage, too much history in their relationships, it’s difficult for them to ever move past- anything really.

Sure, when Dick and Bruce are on the same page they are essentially invincible but then the past catches up again and they don’t talk to each other for months. And honestly? Apart from Cass, Duke’s pretty sure he has one of the best relationships with Bruce simply because he got to know him at a better time.

Duke doesn’t mind this Bruce. But their Bruce loved Jason, cared for him so deeply the scars still show to this day. And he still chooses to open up again even if just a bit by bit. Even if just Duke can see it. He is used to being the only one that can see.

And maybe knowing this care extends to him, this love even grief can’t shake? Maybe it makes him feel just a little bit safer, a little bit warmer, a little bit brighter.

[e-vasong]

something something devils minion works in general but especially in the show because daniel is the only person who is uninterested in Armand, The Performance. Armand, who grew up a slave, who has spent his entire afterlife since shaping himself in whatever image will protect him best, who dons the demeanor that will ensure that he is Kept. Daniel, who couldn't care less about the act, who is disgusted by the deception for the simple fact that it is deception, one of the only beacons of truth in a show that is about distortion. who looks at Armand, The Person, in all his awfulness and cruelty and monstrous vulnerability, and says i knew it, there you fucking are. and he does this after having been on the wrong side of armands real self more than once. there can be no more pretense between them. its just that daniel loves him anyway. this is because daniel, too, is a nasty little freak--

[lightningant]

Haven't been able to stop thinking about how I'd design the Marauders era characters so I went and did it

Reasoning for bigger deviations under the cut:

REGULUS: "[…] though he was smaller, slighter, and rather less handsome than Sirius had been." Regulus is clearly framed as emasculated by Sirius, who is handsome and popular, whereas Regulus is not. Timothy Chalomet is the only fancast where I reflexively go "well that's just not correct".

REMUS: The entire premise of Remus is that he reduces himself as penance for being a werewolf. There is a deep catastrophizing anxiety and self-loathing within him that would make him avoid Harry, jeapordize the safety of the students by hiding the animagus situation, and abandon his child, so I want him to be visibly tepid. I know he canonically doesn't have visible scars let me have this

PETER: The most emasculated character in the series. Intriguing he kidnapped Bertha Jorkins by successfully pulling her, implying he once had some level of charisma and/or hotness. Sirius makes fun of him for kissing James' ass in SWM, but he does come off as a likeable guy who enjoys being a powerful man's scheming eunuch.

LILY: 1. She doesn't look like Ginny. Come on, guys. 2. Give her some 1970s kick

BARTY: Barty is described as having straw-coloured hair and freckles. The point of Barty being outed as a death eater was that it shook the pristine image Barty Crouch maintained. I got the impression he had a Dorian Grey-esque (or rather, Tom Riddle-esque) boyish innocence to him. There's an underlying intensity in his customer service smile his daddy trained into him. Ravenclaw to separate him from everyone else.

PANDORA: People love Luna so much they want her twice. AND YET. Xenophilius is obviously the space-case and the reason Luna's personality is so bizarre; one of the only things we know about Pandora was that she was the one tidying her child's appearance. I think she likes to dote on someone with psychological problems

MULCIBER: Conceiving Mulciber as an older boy who attracted younger followers, a role Lucius also performed. This Mulciber-Malfoy paternalism unit would be a recreation of their father's role in the Walpurgis era (thing I made up), which makes Snape a much more charged figure in their gang.

EVAN: Really really like the idea of Evan being the closest to a normal friend Snape has in Slytherin and him also being a gawky loser taken in by the careful hand of the older boys, but treated MUCH differently as the pureblood son of an OG Death Eater.

MARLENE & DORCUS: Marlene and Dorcus are never given ages. It's a little silly to assume Dumbledore is gung-ho about mass-hiring child soldiers for the frontlines and I think the adults with more responsibility would have been the first to go. Using their Pottermore designs because they contrast really nicely.

MARLENE: I figured Marlene is around Arthur/Molly's age. I envision her as a family woman who kept the morale up, a role Molly takes up in the second war.

DORCAS: Voldemort personally executing Dorcus is likely because she held political importance (just like Amelia Bones), so it makes more sense she's older (his generation or close). I do believe this makes Dorlene go crazy.

VOLDEMORT: There's countless indications that Voldemort's appearance was already distorted since he came back to Britain. Voldemort is very queer-coded, so let's just double down. I like to imagine he'd later lose his femme playfulness as the DE 1st gen died out and he became the new patriarch. What are we doing to our beautiful queens

BELLA: Went full 80s starlet since she already has the hair. Mildly resembles his mother, which could mean nothing.

[wendysastro]

𝑨𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝑠 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒖𝒏! 💌🌻

DISCLAIMER: These are extremely light hearted and just based on the people I know. Not a lot of thought went into this 😬 Please take as it resonates and have fun reading 😊

✿  Saturn in Gemini may constantly worry about the diversity of their own talents. They may feel their talents are completely unrelated or difficult to meld and manage together in reality.

✿  Jupiter in 2nd house people somehow always seem to have money popping up from somewhere. Like people may think they have a hidden stash.

✿  Uranus in 2nd house people are the friends who you're not sure whether or when they'll have money or not. One day they're spending like they come from generational wealth, next day they're acting broke af

✿  The more someone’s Saturn has hard aspects to personal planets (i.e squares, oppositions, sometimes conjunctions), the more they may deal with anxiety. They may constantly feel the weight of something looming over their mind/heart.

✿  Sun opposition the Ascendant may feel fundamentally misunderstood by people. Like the very thing that makes them who they are constantly goes unseen, or is taken a different way.

✿  Earth moons (especially Capricorn) people may rarely seem to others to actually get overwhelmed by situations/phases. Despite whatever they may go through, there oftentimes seems to be an ability to get on with the show and move. Basically, the steady drive of the earth is in them. Better balanced if coupled with water placements.

✿  Whichever house Neptune falls in your chart would make that area feel unclear. Neptune acts like a pebble dropped into a lake, creating ripples and distortions in the image shown in water. For example, Neptune in 1st house would create some identity/self image related issues. You may constantly wonder what you stand for as a person. The way you see yourself may be very unsteady/susceptible to a lot of change. Neptune in 5th house may cause one to question what their actual likes and passions are in life. A Neptune in 10th house may create an unstable career path, where one may imagine or project one career for themselves and end up switching to another seemingly unrelated or unplanned one.

✿  Mercury in 2nd house can be good business people. They may be skilled at handling negotiations dealing with money/finances.

🌻💌 Thank you lovely souls for reading and have a nice day/night!

Edit: I have also just created a buy me a coffee account so if you liked this post you can support me there! Thank you <3

[brittanyearnestauthor]

How to Write Toxic Characters Effectively

Writing toxic characters can be challenging because we often avoid these personality types in real life—they’re socially draining and cause harm wherever they go. However, toxic characters can serve an important purpose in storytelling, adding depth, conflict, and drama to a narrative.

This post was inspired by a personal experience of being falsely accused of creating fake accounts to contact someone who pretended to be a friend. While the accusations are completely untrue and unfounded, I wanted to turn this negativity into positivity by sharing writing tips for creating compelling toxic characters.

Toxic Character Traits

Here are some common traits of toxic people that you can incorporate into your characters:

- Playing the Victim: They act as if they’ve done nothing wrong, blaming others for their problems while refusing to take accountability.

- Accusing Others: They enjoy accusing others of things, whether those accusations are true, fabricated, or even projections of their own actions.

- Talking Behind People’s Backs: Gossip and spreading lies are their forte—they share secrets or fabricate stories about others to create drama.

- Telling Lies: They thrive on creating falsehoods to draw people to their side and control the narrative.

- Playing a Fake Version of Themselves: They avoid authenticity, crafting a persona to alienate others and boost their fragile sense of self-worth.

- Turning People Against Each Other: They manipulate conversations, taking words out of context to sow discord between friends or allies.

- Twisting the Truth: They distort reality to craft harmful narratives that suit their agenda.

- Making Themselves Look Better: Toxic characters fabricate achievements or victim stories to elevate themselves and deceive those around them.

- Refusing Responsibility and Accountability: They refuse to accept their wrongdoings, often shifting blame to maintain their self-image.

Conclusion

Toxic characters can play crucial roles in storytelling, serving as instigators of conflict or catalysts for growth in other characters. While they can be exhausting to write, they offer valuable lessons about the consequences of toxic behavior and its impact on those around them.

However, I recommend using these characters sparingly, unless your story revolves around the specific theme of toxicity and its repercussions. When approached thoughtfully, toxic characters can add depth and complexity to your narrative.

Happy writing!

[vaguely-concerned]

I understand and agree with a lot of the frustrations about the shortcomings of Inquisition as a story. but sometimes when I hear people complain about the chosen one narrative in it I do want to just be like... you know it's a deconstruction of the concept more than anything, right. the inquisitor isn't actually chosen by anything except stumbling into the wrong (right?) room at the right (wrong?) time because they like, heard a noise or whatever. or if you think they are chosen, as many do in-universe, that's something you have to take on faith, the maker-or-whoever moves in mysterious ways indeed-style. the Inquisitor isn't actually a Destined Chosen One, they're a Just Some Guy in a fancy hat, self-delusions of grandeur to taste as you'd prefer.

a running thread that goes through all of the personal quests of the companions is the concept of a comforting lie vs. an uncomfortable truth, upholding old corrupt structures vs. disrupting them, and the role of faith in navigating that. (blackwall the warden vs. thom rainier the liar and murderer. hissrad vs. the iron bull, or is that the other way around? cassandra and the seekers -- do we tell the truth about what we find, even if it means dismantling the old order of the world? and so on.) and your inquisitor IS at the same time a comforting lie (a necessary one, in dark times? the game seems to ask) and an uncomfortable truth (we are the result of random fickle chance, no protective hand is held over the universe, it's on us to make a better world because the maker sure as hell won't lift a divine finger to help anyone, should he against all odds exist). faith wielded for political power... where's the point that it crosses the line into ugliness? is it before it even begins? what's the alternative? will anyone listen to the truth, if you tell it?

interesting how you also get a mix of companion agency in this -- you have characters like dorian who ALWAYS choose one side of the comforting lie vs. uncomfortable truth dichotomy. he will always make up his own mind to go back to tevinter and try to dismantle the corruption of the old system no matter what you say, or how you try to influence him. meanwhile iron bull is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum -- so psychologically trapped and mangled, caught in an impossible spiritual catch-22, that his sense of identity is left entirely to you and your mercy. you cannot change dorian in any way that matters; you can be his friend or not, support him or not, but he is whole no matter what. you are given incredible and potentially destructive-to-him power over bull's soul. it's really cool (and heartbreaking) to think about.

this is a game about how history will eat you even while you're still alive, and shape you into whatever image it pleases to serve it, and for all your incredible power right now you are powerless in the face of the gravitational force of time -- of more than time, of History. you won't recognize yourself in what History will make of you, because you belong to it now. you don't belong to yourself anymore and you never will again. the further you were from what it needs from you to begin with, the more you will find yourself distorted in its funhouse mirror. (why hello there inquisitor ameridan, same hat!)

and to me this is so much the core of what Dragon Age is about right from the Origins days -- how and by whom history gets written, the inherent unreliable narration of it all. I hope you like stories, Inquisitor. You are one now.

I do think it's probably still the weakest of the games narratively, and it's hampered by its structure and bloated systems. but I also find it disingenous to say that there's nothing deeper or actually interesting going on with it, thematically. if you're willing to engage with it there is Some Real Shit going on under the high fantasy-tinted surface.