#I can't deal with the mandatory aspect

[shitty-check-please-aus]

see this is why I can’t do tiktok, I need to be able to freely say that my immune system is going to murder my thyroid eventually, I can’t switch to “unalive” or clinical terminology

[exhausted-archivist]

In regard to my last reblog, I kinda want to expand on it.

The novels are 100% optional flavour text. They aren't required for you to really understand what is happening in the world. With the exception of Asunder, that one for me is a bit of a grey area but that is only because it covers aspects of two companions (Cole and Vivienne) that are glossed over and is rehashed entirely in an aspect by another companion's personal quest (Cassandra's).

Not even World of Thedas, the lore books are required because a big chunk of them are put in the game as codices. And the character stuff that's not? That's also flavour text and the fact that Leliana doesn't share background reports on your companions or you can't find them is a missed opportunity in utilizing Leliana. The whole "Game" aspect of Orlesian politics could have also been better incorporated through Josephine and Vivienne.

This is long so... cut.

But TLDR: Nothing is mandatory. World of Thedas, Asunder, and Masked Empire are just under utilized flavour text. They better not do the same or worse with Tevinter Nights.

We know they cut Cole from having Evangelina and Rhys appear for his personal quest and instead we got that weird thing with Varric and Solas being disagreeing dads on nature vs nurture. Rhys and Evangeline, but more so Rhys, are so important to Cole's background that I feel they could have brought them on with a little codex or preamble and it would have worked fine. They could have touched more on Cole's fear of becoming a demon again, his sense of identity and self, and even explored his whole concept of "helping" and his unique brand of compassion - because really Cole's form of compassion is a little off the beaten path.

But, that isn't because Asunder is mandatory, but because Cole isn't well anchored to begin with. They don't really explore him as a spirit/demon, they mostly use him as a way to tell you about other characters, and he's really wishy washy on even establishing what happened at the White Spire or with Seeker Lambert and just gives these sort of teasing/tantalizing starting points.

Which leads into a weak point with Vivienne. She has issue with how the war started. She has issue with the vote. She has issue with everything that happened with the White Spire. Which again, isn't explored and is just flippantly mentioned in banter with Cole or when she's snarking at Fiona.

We know she has issue with the vote because it was made when everyone was already dealing with Circles falling and templars killing people and extremist mages were killing other mages that opposed them. The vote was made not by people who were elected by the Circles - not entirely. They were made by whoever happened to get to Andoral's Reach and it was very much an emergency vote. She wasn't there for the vote and that's the start of the issue for her. Which, understandably this was written before Vivienne even existed, but with that they never resolve why she wasn't there for the vote or even aware of the chaos of the Circles. You kind of guess it's because of Bastien's health but yeah not really clear.

Both Cole and Vivienne's stories would be better anchored as well as give the Mage Templar war and the factions with in it more nuance if they even tried to incorporate the cliff notes of Asunder. It would also make it more of a flavour text and less of this murky grey area.

Which to make it even more murky and grey, Cassandra's whole plot of discovering the reversal to tranquility? Yeah that was discovered by a tranquil mage at the request of Divine Justinia. Literally every circle mage and Chantry person (of a certain rank) knows of its existence. Which they cheekily hide in ambient dialogue between Mother Giselle and another cameo character from Cassandra's past, Avexis. An elven mage who was turned tranquil because of the danger from her abilities to not only control small creatures but dragons.

That story Cassandra is known for? The dragons attacking the Grand Cathedral? Avexis was involved with that. Whole big thing in Dawn of the Seeker. But I digress.

Mother Giselle and Avexis talk about the reversal to tranquility in Haven. Everyone already knows but Cassandra's personal quest misleads you cause she's so pikachu-faced about discovering that there was a reversal and the Seeker's knew about it. Only half of the information should be new to her, the rest everyone knew about for a year and could have been beautifully folded into her story as to not only her mixed feelings on how she didn't feel as close to Justinia as Leliana was - because Leliana was in on it and Cassandra wasn't even aware that the Divine requested this happen behind the Seeker's back in 9:35 Dragon.

It would have been a great point to fold into the story to not only give more context to Cassandra questioning the Order but also feeling out of control and lost. Honesty would have been a good point in tension for her and Leliana to have.

But instead Cole goes largely explained, Vivienne is under explored and barely connected to the Mage Templar War conflict, and Cassandra is a (in my opinion) much less interesting rehash of something most people connected to the Chantry and Circles already knew for the most part.

Asunder is less required reading and more of discarded world building that amounts to a lot of missed opportunities.

Something I think that Tevinter Nights is at risk of if not worse. Either under utilized world building or they go full tilt in the wrong direction and it becomes the first required reading.

Specifically reading, because the first required additional media is the Legacy DLC of which they yoinked Corypheus and the whole start of the red templars from. And then again with Tresspasser which establishes and reveals so much vital information for the next game. Both DLCs, I think should have/be updated to free. Especially since it's been so long and they are required for the story now. And any "well players had to pay for them previously" is bs because new players can get the whole trilogy on sale for like 15USD. Deluxe editions included so they come with the DLCs - except for DA2.

Asunder and DLCs aside, lemme now circle back to the whole World of Thedas/Leliana and co thing.

The thing that grinds my gears about the World of Thedas bits is that a large part of them... are written to Leliana as reports. In game Leliana talks about doing background checks - how she isn't thorough enough with Solas because there wasn't enough time and more pressing things were coming. He slipped through the cracks. But everyone else? She got dirt on. Sera included. Leliana could have been a great vector to not only divulge more flavour text lore of our companions, but it could have also given us more aspects of conversation. How do they feel knowing Leliana gave us reports? Is sera annoyed because of the questions you can now ask? Is Blackwall sweaty because you might know details he doesn't? Does Iron Bull want to compare notes and see how good Leliana's network is?

There was so much they could have done with Leliana to not only make her more involved but made us more involved with the characters. It would have lead to more interactive story telling and folded in making the meta knowledge less meta as our Inquisitor actually used the resources of our spymaster.

Still, not required reading, but a way to fold in all the world building you've done to make the characters feel more real and give us a chance to bond with them. Even if we can't talk to them about it because "leaving it open ended for headcanons".

This also goes into how "The Game" is under utilized in Inquisition. So much of Inquisition is telling vs showing us or letting us experience something. Having more scenes where we walk in on Josephine dealing with combative knowledge, using our origins and background perks to play the game introduces us to the concept of Orlesian politics and perhaps we get perks - more soldiers, resources, gold, higher starting approval at the Winter Palace. Something that has more relevance to us and folds in this supposed system all of Orlais is beholden to.

A similar system could have also been used with Vivienne. Whether she was hosting nobles or if she wanted to gossip with you over a letter she received that she thinks could be of use to you if you know how to properly use The Game. It would have also been interesting if it impacted the noble npcs hanging out in the hall, if it became weighted depending on just how good you were. Less Orlesians meaning less support from Orlais and more reliance on other nations to legitimize the Inquisition. More Orlesians? A stronger army, more standing with the court and the Chantry, more ammunition for when you're dealing with Celene and Gaspard in the Winter Palace. Things like that. Simple story threads that didn't really need to go anywhere but perhaps impacted the ambient state.

It would have helped tie in Masked Empire and give it more weight (and also make Michel de Chevin be more than the rando the Imshael maybe killed).

Just saying... It's just under utilized world building in an interactive media.

[lover-of-mine]

You don't have to answer this question at all if it's too personal . I won't feel bad. I'm just trying to get an idea of what to expect. I'm agnostic and wasn't raised in any religion. I don't even know really anyone who practices Catholicism. The only thing I can interpret from my friends who are Christian is its definitely, harsher??? Values ingrained in them. I was wondering if you were raised religious and had to battle being queer vs any pre conceived notions you held or your family may have. I swear you said something once about Nuns crossing themselves when they passed you for having colored hair? Sorry if I'm wrong on that. I just feel like if they are doing this they are really doing it and what a story of deconstructing yourself might look like.

Okay, this is a complicated question. I was raised religious and for all intents and purposes, I still am, but while I am christian, I was never catholic. I was raised with spiritism as a belief and they are a lot more open to stuff than different churches. The experience I had with catholic people telling me stuff like being queer is wrong was in school, because my city is very catholic and because we had a religious study class that was mandatory and the teacher was very Sunday school type vibes even though it wasn't supposed to be a catholic leaning class, but at that point I was old enough to push back, so I was constantly fighting my teacher. I'm not out to my family because while my parents never had a problem with queer people, my dad has made some comments about bisexual people that make me scared even tho they weren't fully bigoted, it's just boomer talk, being ignorant, and, honestly, I think he knows and he's waiting for me to say something because there was a situation with one of my cousins a few years back that got me really heated because her side of the family is very religious, and she's some shade of queer and people kept using religion against her, and my dad suddenly started talking about acceptance and stuff like that while supporting how frustrated I was with my uncle, but honestly, at this point I'm kinda settled into only coming out to them if there's a girl I want them to meet. I did go to university in a very religious city and I had to deal with multiple people commenting on my appearance, specifically colorful hair, the nun thing did happen, I had blue hair and I was wearing a shirt that had a cross made of skulls, they didn't like that, but I've had people tell I'm not getting into heaven and my sin was pink hair. I can't really help with this particular aspect because my struggle with being bi was never about someone telling me that loving women is wrong, it was always I do like men, so I just thought people felt that way about everybody. I fully kissed another girl and didn't accept I was bi until like, 3 years later lol. I will say that catholicism as a whole is very engrained into latino culture, and I did experience that adjacently, the whole being gay is a sin thing, but since in my house I didn't have that, I pushed back, I pushed back enough that my whole school believed I was a lesbian by the time I hit highschool (I grew up in a small town, everyone knows everyone)

Now, applying the whole thing to Eddie, I think with the way that Eddie talks about religious pressure defining some steps he took with his life, deconstructing his relationship with religion and the concept of God would be important for him to fully accept himself if that's where they're going. Mostly because I think he needs to confront the way he views the works and when you grow up religious, it does affect the way you look at things even if you don't believe that religion anymore. But I don't think I can give anything more insightful given the way I don't know how it feels like to experience catholicism the way Eddie does. I do believe that Eddie finding himself does mean Eddie accepting he is some shade of queer, and since they touched on the whole catholic guilt last season, that's a good way to force him to accept that there's nothing wrong with him, but it's more about the way I watched people go through similar stuff, not any personal experience.

[psi-scribe]

The Infinite and Divine, Review

So it took me about 3 days of reading on and off but I finished reading The Infinite and The Divine! Let's get an important question out of the way first, does it live up to the hype? Honestly? It does, it really does. I understand now, all the memes about Trazyn and Orikan, my mind eye's is open.

10/10 would recommend this to anyone looking to tip their toes into necrons or just looking for a sincerely fun book full of thrills and angsty moments.

I would like to remind everyone that the characters in question are older than the Emperor by a long freaking time, millions of years.

And they act like this, consistently. Truly "growing old is mandatory by growing up is optional".

As always spoiler filled rambling under the read-more (though I will be avoiding parts of the plot because no, you really do need to read this on your own.)

But of course, now I shall begin reading Renegades: Lord of Excess~

Ok so I really do need to touch on the humor first because this book is hilarious, in so many ways. From the back-and-forward banter between Trazyn and Orikan, their actions in general (more so on Trazyn's part) and their remarks to the other necrons. Someone tells Trazyn "you can't drink wine??" because he has a wine cellar and doesn't want to move it, Trazyn replies that of course he doesn't drink it! That would be a waste! Rather than the fact that he...literally can't drink. At another point a necron lady named Phillias (hey I love her too) basically called them idiots and Trazyn said "yeah you are too."

Also-

THE MEMES WEREN'T A LIE! THEY REALLY WERE THE TWO MUPPETS AT THE THEATER, THEY DID THAT! I HAD TEARS IN MY EYES!!

Ok but onto the more serious aspects of the book. I really enjoyed just how well we get to see how immortal beings deal with time. Orikan spends decades, centuries even studying just one subject, a necron court trial (yes, that's not a joke there was a lawsuit) takes years just to gather evidence and decide on a mediator. Hell, later on even more time passes, we see the rise and fall of several civilizations just on one planet. And this matters so little to the necrons.

Trazyn even remarks that the worst enemy for an immortal is boredom, that's just a good insight.

And as a brief side note, remember what happens in the beginning and hang onto it, trust me.

There's also so much lore about the necrons back when they were the necrontyr and the culture they had. Despite everything there was a culture, they had smoking pipes, gods before the C'tan, they had plays and music, all of this made despite all they were afflicted with. This is something that that both Trazyn and Orikan remark that they had in come with humanity; they lived shortly but managed to seize control of the galaxy despite it.

Ah Orikan, what a bastard (as Trazyn also calls him, lmao they really do curse a lot in this book) but he's so interesting? He warned all the necrontyr about what would happen with the biotransference, he was dragged unwilling into the forge. He doesn't understand why Trazyn would be mad about him breaking his (Trazyn's) old cane, why he collects everything he does. Orikan wants to ascend further now, leaving behind his metal body to become energy.

Man I would love to see him and Szeras interact given that Szeras was so involved with biotransference and wants to become a god.

Another part, despite their arrogance the necrons have their doubts, worries, regrets and fears. They are terrified of the flayer virus and the virus that creates the destroyers. And, here's a real kick in the gut, the C'tan messed with their memories to the point they can't really recall their own pasts, just fragments and pieces, what's there might be false too. Man the C'tan suck.

I have so many emotions due to reading this book. More parts related to the plot buutt I can't spoil it, I really can't.

Love Executioner Phillias, remember that too.

[dearweirdme]

Saw this comment under a message I sent a few days ago. "'What does he do that they don't think a gay man would do? I'm genuinely curious because I don't get it.' Is anon being serious right now ? So according to anon gay men in 2023 sing about loving women and having sex with women everyday ? And according to anon gay men also flirt seriously with women, speak with sexual innuendos to women and try to get the attention of beautiful women on them ? Either anon is blind or anon has never met a gay man in her life." Yes I'm being serious, is this commenter serious? In 2023 the vast majority of queer people globally remain closeted. In 2023 there are queer people who pretend to be straight, who have to pretend to avoid negative repercussions and I can't believe they think that this wouldn't apply to a K-pop idol. Especially one who has the entire world's eyes on him right now and who has not yet completed his mandatory service in a country that upheld its draconian sodomy laws for the military just a couple of weeks ago. What kind of privileged bubble do you have to live in to think closeting is no longer a necessity at all? Because that is what is being suggested here so are they not aware that its not just careers at stake over this? To say something like this seriously this person has to believe that if any of them are gay they would be open about that which I'm sorry is an absolutely insane take. We're going to keep having this conversation over and over again as long as the world is not safe for all queer people to be open about it and people have the nerve to go into queer spaces every day to try to gaslight people into thinking that is no longer the case. LOTS of gay men have sung songs about women, lots of very famous gay men have sung songs about women. Where has commenter seen him flirt "seriously" with anyone????? How are Taekookers called delusional by people who in the same breathe talk about musical performances and mvs like they're reality, and take his flirty banter with fans is "seriously"? Is that what they're talking about??? Commenter, I'm a queer person myself, I know and love lots of others and it is YOU who are blind to the struggles queer people go through every day. Yes even in 2023 and guess what, it will sadly be like that in 2024 and beyond.

Hi anon!

Yes, thank you for this! That comment bothered me to no end. That person has a very biased and factually wrong view of the world. They may think artists are beyond harm due to being queer, bit that is simply not true. Sure artists come out these days, but how many wait until after the peak of their career, how many may still be closeted (anon does not know that)? In a country like SK, where there’s actual laws against queer people.. without even knowing the number, you can bet there’s many people not out.

Just a few facts:

This is a map of the countries in which being queer is punishable.. in some cases even with the death penalty. The world is bigger than America and Europe, and being artists.. they need to be safe everywhere, because they travel to and through those countries to perform. Jk went to Dubai to perform..

For some reason I’m unable to post links atm, but the site is mentioned in the bottom here.

Only five countries have equal rights for queer people and non queer people. There’s many many countries in which the equality is barely in sight.

South Korea is not great, this only just happened, and it’s not like men have an option to opt out of military service… so they’re stuck.

And that’s only part of the legal consequences queer people have to deal with.. the social aspect of being queer is in many many countries harsh. Queer people everywhere get harassed, attacked, abused, ostracized, just for being queer and loving who they love.

That comment was super ignorant and blatantly diminished all the struggles queer people still have these days. Great that the person posting that comment feels so free.. but it would suit them to open up their thoughts to places where people aren’t that lucky.

[respectthepetty]

Hello. This might seem like a silly question but it's on my mind. What's the deal with the whole "we're talking on a mobile but let's show the characters in the same room" thing. The first time I saw I think it was Gen Y with Mark and Kit even before the whole separation thing. Then it appeared in MSP. And now in A Boss and a babe. And I'm sure I've seen it somewhere else but I can't recall now. To be honest I don't know if I like it or I hate it but for some reason it's nagging at me that it seemed like it came out if nowhere. Again sorry if it's a silly thing .

Also, love your blog, love the color commentary and I too think it's all on purpose and meaningful.

Hiya, Anon! Thanks for the appreciation! Also, I've written this before, but let me repeat it here - There are no silly questions on Tumblr! People created an entire fake movie, and somehow the BL folks convinced others that KinnPorsche was the Thai remake of it.

Now to your not-a-silly question! First, let me list the shows from the past few years that I can remember doing what you are writing about:

I don't file this in my mind's storage room, so if I miss any, someone shout it out.

See You After Quarantine? - Sato x Bo Chun

Hello, Stranger - Mico x Xavier

Gen Y - Mark x Kit

Fish Upon the Sky - Mork x Pi

GAP - Sam x Mon

HIStory 5: Love in the Future - Hai Yi x Johnny

My School President - Tinn x Gun

A Boss & A Babe - Gun x Cher

Bed Friend - King x Uea

I'm going to make an educated guess.

Looking at the timeline, this didn't come out of nowhere, but came out of necessity - a pandemic!

Gameboys - Gav x Cairo

There was a two-year+ period where many of the globe couldn't touch their loved one. The only way to "see" some family was through calls, so I think directors are making a conscious choice to show people in the same space after many years of that not being a realistic possibility.

I'm sure this technique has been used before 2019, but I think it's more of a sentimental choice to reinforce the narrative - people want to be around their loved ones. Technology is great, but it doesn't replace the feel of people sharing the same space and after having to deal with that for the past few years, we want to see people sharing the same space even if they aren't.

I, personally, like it. In HIStory 5: Love in the Future, Hai Yi was in mandatory quarantine when he spoke to Johnny on the phone, and they had several scenes on the phone where they would appear in the same room, yet when Johnny finally saw Hai Yi in person, he was left in awe.

Both were instantly attracted to each other, and it was believable because even though they were just talking on the phone, we saw them interacting.

Another educated guess is these shows are telling us that meeting and talking through the use of technology doesn't dilute the connection between the two people, but makes it stronger. The physical aspect is pushed aside and the emotional connection is front-and-center. King in Bed Friend is showing Uea that he doesn't just want his body, but he wants his presence. Mork in Fish Upon the Sky wanted Pi to know that he had always valued him as a person regardless of how Pi felt about himself. In Hello Stranger, Xavier and Mico would have NEVER gotten to know each other the way they did without the help of technology. Who knows how @dribs-and-drabbles and I would interact in real life, but in these tags, I'm trying my damndest to get in an ethical non-monogamous situationship, and know that my mama didn't raise no quitter.

TLDR: Technology brings people together, and putting them in the same room reinforces that.

[plusvanity]

Weird question, but do you have any life advice? Shit can be kinda tough, and I just want to get away, or find a way to deal with it I guess. Lol

Also, your art is fucking amazing, I truly love your style:)

Thank you, man! <3 kinda general question, so I'll try to give wider advice, but if you have a specific situation that you would like to discuss, you can always dm me, bro.

The first thing that comes to my mind is self-acceptance. There are things that just can not be changed. I'm not talking only about 'the past is the past and what's done is already done'. Some aspects of ourselves can't be escaped no matter what. It can be undesired physical features, personality characteristics, etc, and the best thing you can do (in healing yourself) is to slowly begin the process of self-acceptance. It may take months, years even but this is the only way of making peace with your inner self and spiritually move on.

Another thing that's important in 'dealing with it' is emotional freedom.

Allow yourself to grief, to cry, to be angry, to ride all of the emotions that comes to you in both bad and good scenarios. Every feeling has a beginning, a high peak and an ending. Don't restrain yourself from the natural intensity of your emotions, they will only bubble up and lash out on other people later on.

If the place that you're in right now is not a favourable one, let the negative energy out so you can think clearer about what you have to do after. Also, be patient with yourself.

Now, talking about how to 'get away', I'd suggest you make a practical plan to follow.

If you're still in school (stuck in your hometown) you know that your priorities are to graduate and catch an opportunity to leave. Or, if you're already working, you gotta strike higher (a promotion or even another job), something that will allow you to leave your unfavourable place behind.

This is practical advice. Although not necessarily easy to implement it, it's mandatory in order to escape a seemingly 'dead-end'.

Keeping a journal to track your progress in the plan you stated can be very helpful to keep yourself motivated and on the right track.

You may have heard all the thing I've mentioned here before, but they work. Patience, self-acceptance, allowing yourself to feel the moment, and building up a plan to physically move away are some of the most important steps you need to make in order to regain control over your life.

I hope my words come in hand, anon <3

Things come and go, everything shall pass.

[oraclekleo]

And I also pulled some cards for you this time! The interpretation might not be the most professional, but I gave it my best 🤭

What does Kleo give to the world?

IX of Swords, The Sun, 7 of Cups

So, as I was mixing the cards, a card suddenly was all alone at the corner, away from the pile. I flipped it over and it was the IX of swords. I kept mixing the cards, and then the sun violently flipped over. Then, I thought two cards is kind of a weird pull, so I mixed them again to see if I should get another one, and the VII of Cups flipped over. I usually mix the cards for a while and then form them into deck shape again to pull the cards, so it was odd that I didn't get to do that with any of the pulls this time 😂

Not going to lie, at first I was confused about the cards... Like, "Kleo gives the world anxiety" definitely doesn't sound right 💀

But seeing all the cards together I thought about you giving people advice. I think, because you're such a pragmatic person, you might be really good at giving people different perspectives when facing an issue, and making them think about it. Sure, seeing things as they are might definitely stress people out, especially if they've been avoidant about the situation, but it's necessary to wake up and look around us so we can work things out, right? And when we look around we can see all the different possibilities and opportunities that we might've been ignoring or not realising they were there. The VI of Cups is the card I pulled when I interviewed my deck and asked about the readings that suit it best, and since then I associate it with guidance a lot. Finally, The Sun makes me think that, through giving people good advice you might be a source of positivity for the ones around you. Sure, your approach could be a little tough and no-nonsense, but sometimes that's exactly what people need, even if they don't want it. This is a personal impression but you also seem like a cool and fun person, in a mature, grounded way... Even if you don't feel like you're a "Sun" kind of person, that doesn't mean others can't find warmth in you, right? After all, it's all about perspective.

(side note, but when I saw the sun card I immediately thought about Dachi and Easy. It's not exactly related to the reading as a whole? but I felt so warm, like "oh, they must definitely think Kleo is their Sun lol")

That's it! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do a reading today it felt so fun 🤭

Also PLEASE don't feel forced to write more if you pull a card for me... Like I got carried away and pulled more cards, but also I'm a chronic yapper and can't summarise for the life of me 🙏

I always appreciate your readings 💕

Hello!

Thank you so much for participating in my tiny game!

OMG!!

Thank you so much for the reading! 💖💖💖💖💖

"Kleo gives the world anxiety" YES! Yes! That's true! 🤣 I mean... I'm kinda a no-sugarcoating person so it's true people sometimes think I'm pretty harsh with my inputs. And I can break hearts with it. When people try to deal with something, they might ignore some significant aspects, the uncomfortable ones and I have the habit of bringing those unpleasant things to the light because... ignoring a problem won't make it go away, right? But yeah, there are things I say that can be really hard to digest and give people anxiety. I try to be softer now. Probably reflects in the more emotional 7 of Cups, I try to highligh both the troubling but also positive aspects now. For better balance. 😁 LOL! I probably am a Sun for my dogs. I mean, I keep them warm, happy and fed. I'm basically their deity. 🤣

I love your interpretation. And I'm really happy you gave it a try and I'm proud of your results. ✨

Now! To your shorter reading! 😂

Question: What do you give to the world?

Deck: Everyday Witch Tarot

Card: 5 of Cups

(Feedback is highly appreciated but not mandatory)

When others only see the negatives, you look around and see all the blessings. Sure, sometimes things go the wrong way, shit happens, plans get ruined and tears flow. That's not a reason to lose hope for you. You know very well that if your plan doesn't work out, it probably wasn't a good plan in the first place. You make new better plan, you try again, you push through, you focus on the prize. You know spilling a glass doesn't ruin the feast. There's still plenty to delight. Obstacles, challenges and setbacks are not the end of the world for you. They are simply there to empower you, to teach you new skills and lessons, to help you grow as a person. You might be standing on a top of a shit pile but you are still on top and closer to sky, right? 😉

[psychelis-new]

Lys, can I ask what made you decide to develop your spiritual gifts? (even despite being among people that shun it😢)

I’ve found out not recently that I have gifts that let me know more about my future. Two tarot readers (through personal readings) had said that I should develop them. But I’m not sure whether I want to..

It’s nice to be aware of the consequences of my decisions, but they made me feel over-conscious and over-anxious..

I’m sure my Guides and Angels meant well. Perhaps they want to ease my path. But I can’t see the light in these gifts yet :(

Hey, sure!

Let me tell you something first. You know, I think it all comes down to realizing what you really want out of your life and who you want to be and what you want to do with those gifts (and if you think they can be part of your life and how/when).

It's not an ease and immediate decision: many people also decide to close off from their gifts for any reason, maybe they also don't feel ready or okay with them (maybe don't don't fully understand them nor want to) and rather have a different type of life which ofc is valid as long as they decide with a light heart about it. Another reason could be because of the fear of being judged (which btw is not on them but depends on issues and fears that belongs solely to the person judging them and how "scared" they are of the subject, since we're speaking about spirituality rn. it depends on the environment they grew up in and again their own triggers, not on the gifted/judged person). But ofc it's not easy to deal with this anyway, it requires time whatever the decision is.

Your premonitory gifts do carry a lot with them, maybe not just as for what concern your life (Idk). And you have to take time to realize the conditions under which you want (if you even want, ofc) to develop them and understand them. It's a lot, and nobody should blame you if you don't feel ready (which doesn't mean you won't in the future: you can wait for a better moment if you feel safer to not navigate that world right now). You can take your time to heal yourself first, and see where this anxiety/fear related with your gifts come from (fear of not being able to "possess" them, not being enough, being judged and left out....) and try to take care of you now, no matter if you one day will embark on a deeper journey with them or not. You said it too, you can't see the light in those gifts now and that's totally fine. Don't pressure yourself. I think at times we do get messages and realize something also about our future but it's never to scare us or pressure us into doing that specific thing. I think now it was just time to let you know about this chance, so that you can work on also what's related with your gifts to make your life better (whether you'll use them or not). You're still in charge of your life, you're not obliged to do anything (as when you read pacs and you don't resonate/agree with some messages). There's just this chance, and it doesn't mean that if you don't accept it now it will disappear: we're also talking about your gifts, so they will stay with you anyway. Take a breath and just let things happen as they are supposed to. Always follow yourself and what you feel is right for you at any given time.

For me I think it was different (everyone has their story, we can't compare). I always had clairs since when I was a kid, but never really knew what it was about. I never really paid too much attention to spirituality (cause here it's not supported), just did my mandatory religious stuff as my parents wanted me to, and it all stopped there. Never really practiced much until a time I started to get a little closer again to what's above (especially after a huge loss). I have always been interested in astrology though cause I found it fascinating. Never digged too much into it but the basic synastry aspects were an occasional hobby of mine. I am generally a very curious person tbh and I think my 8th house stellium + some scorpio placements always pushed me towards "the darker side" as well. And probably also my Guides did, even if I wasn't aware of them. But I got more into spirituality by chance and suddenly. I started learning more also here on tumblr, joining free games/readings (also for fun), trying to understand... it felt like fated. And very natural too. I started to practice more and try out more divinations methods (as I felt too) and grow more in contact with my Guiudes. I didn't really made a decision, it just happened. And despite I had to take some breaks cause of my healing journey (and huge tower moment connected with this long eclipse period of the last 2 years) I always had the need to come back and try to get better and help more people. So yeah, I just felt it was right for me, it was what I always wanted to do. When I was a child my dream was to save lives. I couldn't become a doctor nor a vet, it wasn't my real call (I was/am also too sensitive for that probably). I turned onto something else, leaning onto nature and art. I learned one can save lives in many different ways, and I think that also trying to lend a hand to people and helping them back up from the ground by offering support and guidance (to a certain limit ofc as at a certain point you need to ask a professional/medical figure), but also relief, chill/fun and understanding, can be one of them. I have also got readings (well, happened to read readings) in which I was told that what I had experienced in my life was also to help me understand others' lives and try to help them out. So I'm just trying to follow what has always been my call, no matter the triggers about it (those are just up to me and my own personal life which I am responsible to heal).

Hope this somewhat helps you. Again, do not feel pressured in doing anything you don't feel okay doing. Not just in your everyday life, but also in your spiritual one. Take your time to understand it all (and yourself) and take care<3

[tilosecretbirb]

The 'oh crap' about me section

Hi. Hello. Welcome.

I've been role-playing forever. Since like 2010? Earlier than that but 2010 on grumblr tumblr. I've been here awhile. Too long. Dashcon era.

I'm just here for lowkey low activity fun.

Nothing pressing nothing too aggressive. Just here to vibe. Have a good time. Make life a little easier to deal with. Shipping is NOT mandatory. I love friendships I love family bonds I love nemesis writing you get the deal.

I read the hobbit as a wee lass in 2001 and watched LOTR obsessively in college. But I haven't been back to this arena in 7 years so my lore is rusty.

My folk lore knowledge is lit and a deep passion and a source of a lot of my own personal headcanons and lore. Including character creation and lore. Most of my ocs even the human ones are based on folklore entities of some aspect. (Ie Eir is based on a tincture of selkies and swan maidens)

I cant afford the big books and collectives so I'm slowly scraping my lore together from podcasts and youtube.

That being said things will be wrong things will be missing things will be inaccurate inaccurate I can't apologize because it's impossible for my disabled broke ass to get everything all at once.

This blog is a work in progress and like in life one must be patient as things grow. I'm fine with my lore being inaccurate I can only wish to attract those who are just as flexible and understanding.

I'm a professional (31 year old) and work a full time incredibly emotionally laborious job so this blog will be low activity (or high if someone is threading and available).

I do not have a mun name at this time. I just haven't decided my pronouns are she/he. My sexuality and gender identity are private and only discussed with mutuals

I am overwhelmed so much by discord I can only offer my tumblr at this time.

My computer is broken and I am too poor to replace it so I am.mobile bound.

I also have a neurological disability that can impact my writing so please have patience and understanding with that.

If you'd like writing samples I can link you my AO3!

I've been publishing fics in the hobbit Fandom since February and I've been having a great time!

[dumbassseagull]

Sometimes I think about some society-related topics and today is ethics. Especially medical ethics. I kinda reflected upon my experience at the anatomy class and also discussed this with my roomie who's a psychology student and understood a weird aspect of med education (but in a bad way). It's that medical ethics class is not being taught at the beginning of the med studies.

Med students go studying bodies 3 weeks into their 1st year. The general attitude of the teachers is that it's fun. Human bodies are fun to study. They're bodies, not people, thus playing with muscles while doing the task is considered fun. Teachers joke about nothing being left from the body after med students do their assignments.

Today I also laughed at the jokes about bones. They weren't that morbid, more like after you grow up your bones don't lengthen, you only grow in width. It was weird holding a cranium and thinking that it was a person. I also have to note that I'm a pharmaceutical student. I'm not going to be a doctor. But even though we have less anatomy to study, pharmacy studies belong to the med school of our uni and pharmacists are only a step away from the doctors.

I think that the result of the majority of the students finding fiddling with the bodies as fun is them not considering their patients as people. Thus we have cynicism and a general bad attitude of the doctors being cultivated from the very start of their studies. It doesn't surprise me anymore that some of the doctors I had viewed me as a case, not a person. This image of the doctors was effectively portrayed in literature for centuries.

Ofc doctors deal with lots of shit and staying personal leads to burnout and mental damage. You can't get attached to the person and treat them effectively at the same time. That's why according to medical ethics, you can't treat your own family members and other close people if it isn't an absolute emergency. Medical ethics is actually a whole mandatory class for doctors... but not in the 1st year (probably because these students aren't actually familiar with the way of things in medicine). But I find that not teaching students how to deal with being acquainted with DEAD HUMAN BODIES for the FIRST TIME is a flaw in education.

I don't know what my reaction will be after visiting the morgue for the first time, since I found the bones fun to study and hold. Maybe my transformation already began and I'll be the one telling my horrified parents about all the funny muscles and stuff. Maybe I'll have an existential crisis after the first time or straight up vomit/pass out. I don't know. And nobody will prepare me for it.

[deepwaterministries]

I found some old Q&As in my notes so here they are:

If God is so good, why does he send us to Hell?

He doesn't. That's just where we go when we don't choose to go to Heaven.

Why doesn't he stop this from happening?

He does. It's called salvation.

Why doesn't he make it easier?

It's already super easy. You accept Jesus, son of God as your personal Lord and savior, and you are saved.

Why did God make a bad afterlife?

It was never made for humans to exist in. It was for demons.

Humans are supposed to go to Heaven.

Why doesn't God just dismantle Hell?

Because then it can't serve it's intended purpose.

Why doesn't God show himself and make it obvious that he exists?

Humans can't comprehend God's natural form. It would useless, counterproductive.

Why doesn't God show himself in a way that humans can comprehend?

He does. It's called Everything. God is revealed in a way humans can understand in every aspect of our living, breathing, humming world.

What about the supernatural? Why do we never see stuff like that anymore?

We do. We've just become so callous to it that we ignore it, fear it, disregard it, leave it on a subreddit or as a legend. Druid here, I can assure you the supernatural is alive and well.

Why are Christians so mean/bigoted/not good then? They're not drawing people closer to the Lord.

Because we've drifted away from the truth as well. It will take us healing our own pride, callous, abuse, and brainwash-ness before we are whole enough to be truly helpful.

If the Church were functioning exactly as God intended, salvation would be obviously the best option to everyone, just by looking at it.

We're human, we make mistakes, but we as Christians, we as the Church, have gone beyond that in our faults.

TL;DR, the Church is broken. We as the church fucked up royally, and continue to do so regularly. To be what we're supposed to be we have to stop. Do not remove the speck from your brother's eye before you remove the plank from your own (or.. vice versa, I can never remember which way it goes but either way, we can't really help people if we aren't fixing ourselves).

And these two are stuff that came to me as I worked:

Why does God let bad things happen to good people?

We could ask ourselves the same questions, why do we let bad things happen to good people. I know ofc that's not the whole answer, since no human is actively giving another human dementia, but if we pulled our shit together and stopped hurting each other, then dealing with things that aren't anybody's fault would be a lot easier.

Why does God let humans go to Hell? Why doesn't he prevent us from dooming ourselves there?

Because that would take away our free will. That's a big part of salvation, is that we freely choose it. If it was mandatory it would lose meaning. Faith without works is dead.

Now clearly this isn't a catch-all by a long shot, nor is it a compendius faq, but hopefully it helps at least a bit.

[the-firebird69]

Here's the deal here in punta Gorda

*they already announced a mandatory evacuation and its Governor DeSantis and he did it because he's an evil person the storm has not even changed to direction of this peninsula it's still going Northwest not North Northwest and they're lying online so we can't do lawsuits anymore we need to go after them with actions can we start telling them no you're lying this is what this is you're filing this treaty and that's what we're going to say. But he's in a red zone okay and that's a mandatory of actual evacuations on they say and they posted on the website what they mean to do is try and grab him and he's Tommy f and Mac has his own crew trying John remillard and company has their crew and a bunch of miscellaneous jackasses like Stan

*the second aspect of it is they're threatening to get rid of their own people and they believe they're doing it and that their stuff works and we don't want them walking around thinking that they're very stupid and they're very sick and they should have been hauled out today like I ordered and putting it up again and our son says very simply put your not putting yourself in my shoes imagine being here with these untamed sick animals like the dogs from resident evil they are not in control of themselves and I pushed around and they're all these rogue people every single one of them almost. Plus they command large armies in the state of sickness that's unacceptable and we're not controlling the situation not suitably and his forces are stretched to the limit and we're not hiring hours fast enough and he's ordered us to do it at the end of it and I got to tell you something you need to be horrified into doing it and he's right I have to be cruel to be kind and mine will have to back me up he says and his people who are out already and we know what's going on Nevada Ariana too.

*we have to do this it's a matter of life or death and there's several reasons the flooding could be intense and we can't afford it he can't afford to move he doesn't have any money to he can't afford to stay somewhere temporarily and the threatening every aspect of his life and he has no backup his credit cards are down and they took forever to get a new one going and still in the mail it's ridiculous in a hand delivered ourselves and I'm going to start pushing to do that this is stupid Matt can't do it so we have to

*every time I need help he's here handing me help and ideas that work I don't want to ask him anymore but he says you have to it's going to help get what I need and he knows it he's been grumpy lately because he's not getting assistance I don't want him grumpy because everybody there is a s******* and we're not taking care of them I want people to take care of these enemies of ours that we've hated for so long and I want people to step forward who want to do it if you want to take care of these people I need you to it's been a long long time coming and now is the day so that or our forces in his usually go out and get rid of them and we need you to do it it's it's healing and we're in the way and we just can't get out of the way because we have to stay on it 100% understand this is an intense place what he says is I don't care if you come in here and give it 50% because you don't know what's going on your presence is going to help us boost us to 100% 120% effectiveness and you'll catch up but you just have to make it here and he's right you just have to get here and you have to put people on permanent assignment nobody rotates out unless they rotate someone in from now on and I was writing it now and it's going to be an edict and it's going in and it's for every area

*was going to put an end to all this abuses getting everybody here thinks that they're The Man of la mancha and the perfect Satanist and everyone's helping and rewarding them it's just a scam and there's too stupid to get it throwing people are scamming them and what our friend says is oh well father and mother is to go through them using it and that's what we're going to do you think we're nice people and we're helping you we're going to be pretend to your people scamming you and you're thinking everybody for it and you're the hero of the day and you fell for it and your own people have been telling you no no we're taking your stuff right now it's kind of a scam what they say it differently and we're going to start saying it a little bit and it's going to be all over the place and you idiots probably just keep going cuz you think you have the peace to resistance and you don't have anything

*we're using all of your insults and threats to take you down and I'm doubling up on it I want everyone else do too if you were there and his shoes you would punch them out I don't want to hear any of this hissing and talk from them blaring it right at them I don't care why they're doing it Tommy f is falling and the idiots have no excuse I also don't want the storm to go near him I don't even want it to turn north it doesn't have to we don't need this storm we got one coming as a matter of fact if they double up he's in a lot of trouble it's going to flood anyways I'm sending orders for it to be shut down

*I don't want one single person of theirs to be singled out by a huge group of clones because nobody's controlling this peninsula and start bearing our son and not understand what they're doing if you see someone getting buried like that I want you to stop it. They already see what's going on in there attacking them and for crying out loud their clothes are pouring out we have to stop them and I heard it too we have to take the tunnels we can't have them down there it's kind of getting ridiculous okay I set up SOP and order so we didn't have to order all the stuff done to happen and someone's in charge of this area what happened they pushed through using other areas we were notified I see that and it is true so we didn't do the other side and that's our failing and you tried to do it didn't work so now we've got something that we have to do and I know where and it's not New Zealand or Australia and it's not Russia it is Europe and it is the Middle East and he says it's time for them to be introduced to more of the obelisk and that will handle a lot of it and we have to infiltrate at the same time to control it so we're going to do it tonight there's several key places that the obelisk would be very helpful in but usually we have to put them in remote areas of people completely panic even the people who built it actually has a very rare reaction actual fear is back and it's against me and they organize huge parties to go after and we want them and we want them bad. So that's the order of the day

Thor Freya

We need to put stuff that's more succinct here like we just did and he's trying to correct people every time and he keeps doing it and doing it like we do and finally people are listening he doesn't have time he's got stupid things to do all day that they've made him do and he's got bigger things now that are big problems that we have to help handle or he's going to be out of commission and I was starting to put my two cents in now we have to get going on this the storm is a huge pain in the ass everybody's watching it and hoping it goes right at him he says he wants all of those people brought in there's no use there's no point to them keeping them here us keeping them here either there's no point to their existence they don't have any stake in the game they're out and I agree

Nuada Arrianna

[crucipuzzled]

About Psychiatry stuff in SPYxFAMILY. Part 1

Part 2 here / Part 3 here / Part 4 here

I'm a dumb and I just realized that ch. 29 of the manga will be animated, since Fiona appears for the 1st time in that chapter and she's in the key visual for the 2nd cour.

I'm aware this isn't the first analysis made on this chapter but so far I haven't seen anyone from the Psy world speaking about this. I'm a Clinical Psychologist grounded on Freudian-Lacanian Psychoanalitic theory and I think I can share some knowledge over several aspects of Psychiatry that are depicted in the manga. I've worked with Psychiatrists in the past, albeit for a short amount of time, in a public healthcare institution, so I have a notion of what Psychiatrists do in a public setting like a Hospital.

If there's a Psychiatrist out there who wants to refute this analysis, PLEASE DO SO. I'm more than pleased to learn and have a nice debate.

This is one of the most hilarious chapters in the whole SxF series, so if you don't want the fun to be spoiled, please skip this post!

Let's begin. 1. Working in a Hospital

I'm not sure if this is universal, as healthcare systems around the world differ in several aspects, but the consensus is that a Hospital, which is a public healthcare institution, is specialized in the treatment of the most complex diseases.

In Psychiatry, this usually means dealing with psychosis, drug intoxication, major depressive episodes with suicide attempts and serious personality disorders. Most of these conditions require hospitalization, as the risk of giving just ambulatory care is not enough to guarantee the patient's safety or that of the others's.

There are Hospitals that provide ambulatory care though. Again, it varies from where in the world you are. In my country (Chile) you usually go to the Hospital when your life is at risk, but if you are suffering from a less serious condition (for example, dealing with panic attacks), you'll be transferred to a primary healthcare institution. Unless you live in a rural area.

Indeed, working in a healthcare institution means gaining access to any patient's clinical record. But for the objective of Operation Strix, and Loid being a Psychiatrist, I don't think that's of much use, for reasons that I'll cover in Point 3.

2. Specialty in Psychiatry

Psychiatry has several subspecialties, like any other healthcare career. You have Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Adult Psychiatry (I believe these two are mandatory to become a Psychiatrist but I can't say it for sure), Addictions, Forensics, Emergencies... Loid said that he wants to help people affected by the war, veterans specially, so it's a polite guess to say that he's an Adult Psychiatrist. Then again, we have this panel:

The sand box is a diagnostic tool used for children. It's mostly used by Psychologists, as they have more time per session to analyze it. I'll cover the sand box in more detail in Part 4 of this series of analysis, but for now let's say that analyzing it consumes a lot of time that Psychiatrists, in a Hospital, usually don't have.

This panel suggests that Loid has worked with children before as a Psychiatrist, and we see him later in chapter 67 with a child (although it's not clear if the child is his patient), so here are another 2 polite guesses:

-Loid's a General Psychiatrist -Berlint General Hospital's Psychiatric Ward is understaffed and they put their Psychiatrists to do whatever is needed at the moment, regardless of their specialties. It sure doesn't look that poor of a Hospital to me, but who knows... My bet is option 1. Poor guy.

3. Donovan Desmond as a potential psychiatric patient

In the first chapter of the manga, Donovan is described as a hikikomori, meaning someone who withdraws from social interaction. This word also describes a psychopathological condition of japanese young lads that spend months, even years, holled up in their homes without interacting with anybody aside from their families (if they have). The word itself doesn't have a pathological connotation tough. In English, the closest concept to "hikikomori" as a psychpathological meaning would be Autism, which isn't equivalent at all. And, when a person is so reclused, we tend to pair it with paranoia, as it often leads to social withdrawal as well. The important thing here is, as you probably are thinking right now, the reason fo such decision. And this reason is always given by the symptoms. Paranoia is a type of psychosis in which a person suffers from delirium and hallucinations related to being endangered or threatened by something. Of course, a proof of reality is useless for these patients, as their perception of reality itself is disturbed. An UFO is watching over you at all times? I can't precisely prove that it's false, as I lack proof of the very existence of UFO, and even if I have it, the delirium would probably shift to attack me as I turn into a conspirator against the patient's truth.

Not that we clinicians waste time trying to do so, though. In these cases, the Psychiatrist kicks in and administers a dose of antipsychotic drugs. Psychotic paranoia often needs hospitalization and a strong compromise from the patient's family to constantly supervise him/her. After that, comes a long process of social rehab. A very characteristic feat of paranoid people is that THEY NEVER SEEK FOR PROFESSIONAL MENTAL HEALTH CARE HELP BY THEMSELVES. Paranoids often arrive to a Psychiatric Emergency Room dragged by a third party due to bizarre behaviour, self-aggression and/or attempts to hurt others.

There are people that is not psychotic and suffer from this kind of fear of pretty much everything as well, but it's hard to determine if they really aren't psychotics, as their reasons to recluse themselves strongly resemble a delirium. The key that helps to discern if it's a psychotic paranoia or not is finding the hole in which a patient allows himself to doubt. In paranoid psychosis there's absolute certainty, while in neurosis there is room for doubt.

These "neurotic paranoids", as we'll call them for now (it doesn't exist as a nosograhical entity anywhere; please don't waste your time looking it up in the DSM xD), tend to abandon therapy pretty soon, as they fight for sticking with their motives to recluse themselves. They don't want to realize what drive them to behave like that. Patients suffering from obsessions will probably act this way, as well as some hypochondriac and anorexic patients. Bear in mind that this is not a norm; everything depends on the symptoms.

All of this begs the question: Would Donovan Desmond ever need Psychiatric help from Dr. Loid Forger?

His interaction with Loid in chapter 38 suggests that he's not reclusive for a mental condition, but he does have a certain level of "neurotic paranoia", as he can't bring himself to really trust any other person much. If nobody is truly sympathetic to each other, they could pose a threat at any moment, right? Since he's clearly not psychotic, because he can hold an interaction with Loid in the same shared reality (not a dellirium, I mean), one can safely assume that he does trust someone, at least one single person. When a psychotic person suffers from paranoia, there's not a single hole in their life that is not filled with suspicions of others being dangerous. This isn't the case for Donovan.

We see him walking with a lot of guards, so he must trusts them. And he seems to be closer to Demetrius as he goes with him to the Imperial Scholar get-togethers, so that also counts. He even takes a detour to meet Damian. Seems like he can trust his family members, and that alone could be a measure of love, albeit in a really weird scale.

Tsundere? That aside, given the social status of the Desmonds, if they ever need psychiatric help, they probably would consult a private clinic instead of going to a public hospital. Unless they find themselves in a reeeeaaaally desperate situation. So, the answer is no... for the most part. Good try, though, Twilight.

I'll cover more stuff in the next part. This one turned out unexpectedly long. It's been fun ruining the fun for those who don't know about mental health though.

[betty-bourgeoisie]

40 , 41 , and 44 for emil , please !! <3

40) How misanthropic are they?

I think all nations have a strong love for their own people and Emil is no exception. In fact, I think he really benefits from having such a small population because it means he's able to involve himself in the day-to-day lives of his people in a way that bigger nations simply can't. He regularly volunteers to read kids' story time at local libraries and will volunteer at senior homes so he can play board games and chat with his older citizens. He frequents local markets and churches and just generally likes to hang out in community spaces as a way to check in on his people. He's been able to build real relationships with a lot of his citizens this way and he feels very lucky to have done so since that's not the experience most nations get to have with the people they represent.

When it comes to interacting with other nations it's a bit more complicated. Idk that Emil necessarily dislikes interacting with the other nations but he's in a position where, outside of the other Nordics, most of his interactions with other nations take the form of mandatory but infrequent diplomatic meetings.

And the thing is, Emil has to put a good face on it. His nation has no military and very limited natural resources so at least in a professional setting Emil has to be likable, cooperative, and diplomatic as a survival strategy. And he is good at it, but at the end of the day, it's just an act. It's very hard for him to build personal connections with other nations because being his strange and prickly authentic self is not a good way to get trade deals or smooth over international relations. Most of the other nations aren't willing to travel all the way to his country just for social time, so work is when he sees them, and work is not a place where simply being himself is an option.

41) Hobbies?

I think a lot of what would be considered Emil's "hobbies" were once survival skills. Like he knits, he spins wool, he keeps horses and sheep - but none of these really started out as hobbies, they were more about participating in the local economy. He does enjoy them though, and now that these skills are less necessary in his day to day life he still does them for pleasure.

I think since the 40's he has picked up some new hobbies. Baking is something that he's always enjoyed but wasn't able to do regularly until recently (I'll spare you the ramble on why shipping grains to different latitudes is such a god damn ordeal but believe me when I say that flour was in very short supply in Iceland for a long time). He enjoys video games and tabletop gaming. I also think it would be very funny if he transferred his knowledge of fiber arts and fishing net repairs into macramé in the 70's, like this ancient 18 year old boy just has all the ugliest, dustiest macramé in the world decorating his house and he is so proud of it.

44) Superstitions or views on the occult?

I headcanon Emil as being Asatru (or rather a Lutheran-Asatru christo-pagan if you want to get bogged down in specifics, but I think his Christianity is more cultural at this point than anything else) so he definitely does believe in the occult.

I am always a little torn on his worship practices because American Norse Paganism and Icelandic Norse Paganism are very different animals and I really only know that subculture from a U.S. perspective. Like one place I'm never sure about is worship of Loki - because on the one hand, Loki has strong association with fire and earthquakes, and I think it would make sense for Emil, representing a nation made out of volcanos, to work with that deity aspect. And on the other hand, it's my understanding that Loki worship is really not a thing that happens much in European Asatru circles and it might not make sense for him to do that- like, to my knowledge Loki worship is a mostly North American thing so idk!

In terms of superstitions and magic - Obviously, if he's Asatru, he does participate in rituals like the Blot and Sumbel which do involve some magic. I also agree with canon on the idea that Emil can see all the same magical creatures Norway can, but I don't think he considers them to be especially spooky or mystical. Emil treats the spirits and magical creatures that exist in his orbit a lot like pesky neighbors - like he's not going to get scared or ward them away or anything but he Really Wishes They Would Stop Snooping Around The Hedges Thank You. He is skeptical, but still mostly accepting of common superstitions - like he's not gonna freak out if he accidentally picks the wrong flower or something but he's certainly not going to do it on purpose.

[quinnfebrey]

i think hating on the boys and s2 is the most chronically online take on media i've seen recently... people (on twitter especially) have started seeing media as pure comfort or something that should be completely tailored for them instead of letting it go in different directions than expected and challenge them. like if you can't accept the fact that not everything is always going to be exactly how you want it at least have the decency to leave media like the wilds and its fandom alone and go read fanfiction

yup. one of the reasons i love writing and reading fanfic is bc it allows me to essentially explore whatever i want

a potential post island where dot and fatin move in together? there’s a fic for that! a pre island where shelby and dot were secretly best friends? there’s a fic for that! a total au where toni is a lawyer and shelby was accused of murder? there’s a fic for that! fic is awesome bc it allows you to look at characters you love in various scenarios or alternate universes, and you can essentially make them say and do whatever you want

but fanfic is still just fanfic. the real show is going to be different, for better or worse, and just because it’s not fulfilling your specific expectations doesn’t mean it’s bad work

i think it’s so important for people to remember that sarah and amy didn’t pull the wilds out of their asses one day and get an amazon deal. they know how to write characters and plot and build a world that’s sustainable and purposeful. we would all love to see our dreams for the characters and show come true, but the truth is it would likely be lacking in a lot of technical writing aspects, plot cohesion, and overall arc. they have the vision they do for a reason

they have, what, four seasons planned? and they’ve had the other island in mind since season 1? to act as though bringing in the other island as a concept is bad writing or bad creative choices when you actually have NO idea what their end goal is is presumptuous, rude, and quite frankly just naive. i don’t know how many times i’m going to say it, but any kind of media making comments on feminism and the patriarchy without purposeful and comparable male characters WILL fall short

it must be so frustrating for sarah and amy to see one of their most successful works torn apart by random people on the internet that have probably never taken a non-mandatory writing class in their life.

to be clear, criticism is always valid. if the boys island ends up being pointless, and s2 ends up being a disaster, and there are actual things to criticize regarding character choices, plot holes, etc., i have no issues with people disliking that. for example, i AM worried about how they plan to fit everything into s2, especially considering even within s1 there was a lot more development i thought was missing. but im not going around saying that it WILL be lacking in season 2 because... it hasn’t even come out yet

there is a difference between expressing concerns and actively degrading something that barely even exists yet. all the criticism coming from nothing other than the fact that s2 isnt going to be every single thing you want to see just comes across as entitled and naive