#I might be interprenting it wrong

[saberma]

Giirl the reason Mapicc was asking if he should make his own plan is because he thought you don't wanna kill people

[nthspecialll]

Blind Man Cassidy and his fortunes

If you play red dead two, which I assume you do if you come across this post, you will without a doubt have come across Blind Man Cassidy, the blind fortune teller standing on the side of the road in the middle of shit-fuck nowhere (srs how does he get all the way out to Tumbleweed?) all acorss the map, willing to tell you a fortune for a mere dollar.

At first glance these fortunes seem pretty useless, even the protagonists brushes them off without thinking more about them, however when you know the full story they actually make quite a good amount of sense, so here are my enterpretions of them

Arthur's fortunes

"Make your final moments your best moments, sir. Know glory and forget about shame."

Living life how you wish to live. Arthur stands with a choice, on one hand he wants to rip loose from Dutch and help the Marstons but on the other hand he is scared of what Dutch thinks because that is still his father. I feel this is "know the glory of helping and forget the same your father will cast on you."

"You must decide between your past and others' future, friend. Decide, for soon it will be too late."

Arthur's past is that of crime and of loyalty, one he would likely have continued if it wasn't for the events of rdr2, however following that life of crime would have gone in the way of something else, helping John. He has to decide if he wants to continue to live the life he has always lived by Dutch's side but leaving John to his own or if he wishes to stand by John and leave Dutch.

"That which is killing you will help you, finally, to see. And see clearly, friend. See and hear."

Tuberculousis. The TB is quite literally killing him but it is also helping him realise everything that is wrong around him.

"Your father is seduced by the one with the forked tongue... it's no use hoping."

The one with the forked tongue means the snake, which in this fortune is a reference to Micah who is the liar and manipulator seducting Dutch... And it seems Cassidy knew that Dutch was lost even before Arthur did.

"Your whole life, sir, you have followed the wrong star."

Dutch has quite literally been Arthur's guiding star his entire life, he has followed his footsteps, done everything he asked, stood by his side, so on and so forth, but in the end it wasn't Dutch that Arthur should be following, he gave him nothing but hurt.

"Your whole life is one of regret... but it can end better than it began."

Arthur has regretted a lot in life, we can read that in his journal. Wishing he stood by Mary, wishing he was a better rather to Isaac, wishing he saw Dutch for who he was earlier, but as Charles said, he is lucky to know he is dying because now he can change what kind of man he is.

"You are not who you think you are, sir... which is lucky."

Arthur often says he is a bad man, that he is no good and a mere killer, but he isn't. A terrible man would never do the things he did, would never help like he did, which is good because a lot of the gang relied on Arthur to be good.

"Bad news awaits you, sir. Sadly, sooner than you think. But beyond the news, paradise awaits. Paradise..."

Bad news would in this fortune be TB, it is coming for him and there is nothing he can do, but beyond those news of terror comes something else, truth, clarity, the knowledge of what he must do and what really happened. Another interpreation of "paradise" could be death, while it would seem like bad news Arthur does mention that he has longed for death for a long time which isn't surprising considering he has been working his ass of his entire life and might just need a break, even an eternal one.

"Run from the seeker, sir. Run and keep running, or help others to run."

Dutch always sees himself as a seeker, he even says so, a seeker of truth, the seeker Arthur must run from, so either he must run (likely to Mary) or he must stay and help others, help the gang when the time comes.

"You didn’t run when last we spoke, sir. You didn’t run far enough."

- He didn't leave, he didn't go with Mary so now the choice is made for him, he must help the others.

"Keep moving, sir. Keep moving... but don’t move too fast."

I think this is a fortune everyone needs to hear, outlaw or not, 1899 or not. We all we need move forwards, we all need to keep moving, but often times while we keep moving with a certian goal in mind we forget to live. We keep running and running and at some point we forget to live in the moment, we disappear from the present, shut down until we reach a future we will disappear from when we reach. For Arthur it is even more important that he doesn't disappear from the present because he doesn't have a future.

"You keep hidden all that matters, sir. Maybe even from yourself..."

Arthur is a fairly private person, he doesn't share that much, however what matter is him, is his emotions, yet he doesn't tell them to anyone, he doesn't show himself or his feelings to anyone, particuarlly in the end he is closed off, also to himself.

"I sense great confusion in you, sir. Great confusion. Not... because you... do not know, but because you are afraid of what you know."

The great confusion comes from the fact that he knows Dutch is gone far before he is actually ready to accept it. Him and Hosea discuss it as early as chapter one, he knows Dutch is gone, but he doesn't quite accept it.

"I see the morrows and see them clearly, sir. Even when all reason is lost, and all truth has become lie, you will stand firm. For loyalty is both your saving and your curse."

Throughout the game everything Arthur believes in will be turned upside down, Marston will be good, Dutch will be bad, Hosea is gone and Micah is still there, but he doesn't waver. Arthur will stand tall, loyality has always been his thing and it will help him save others and help him keep his head clear in the end, but it will physically kill him.

"Be warned, sir, be warned. Surrounded by fields of burning fire and flesh, the devil will make his sacrifice."

I hear many say this is about Eagle Flies, however I would like to think that this is more about Dutch leaving Arthur in the middle of the chaos they have created. Everything is strange, things are off, no one trusts one another and then Dutch leaves Arthur, both emotionally and physically.

"Be warned, sir, do not slumber too deeply... for the man with no nose is coming for you."

The man with no nose is death and if Arthur relaxes too much he will die, his body will give out on him.

"Just as evil begat evil your whole life long, so good may beget good."

Arthur has done a lot of evil throughout his life and that evil came back to him, evil causes evil. However in the end when he did good, he will also get good back, it will set off a chain of good.

Marston's fortunes

"You have learned the most important lesson of all. That only one thing matters and all else is lies."

Family is the most important thing. John has gone through hell and back but the one thing it taught him was that his family was worth it.

"Embrace those who love you, not the memory of those who pretended to."

Once again this is family related, John should stop chasing and obsessing over Dutch who did nothing for him, but rather focus on those who do love him, his family.

"You remember the past at the expense of the future."

While I do think that even if he hadn't gone for Micah that he would have been found at some point, John going after Micah, remembering the future, did speed up the process that ended up killing his family.

"You’re a fool, fiend. But not so much a fool as you think, nor such a fiend. The past is done, the future is yet to come."

The past is done, 1899 is done, the future has yet to come, 1911.

"They will come for you, friend. When they do, you will not have a choice. But you have lived better than most."

When the Pinkertons come to take John's life he will have no choice, he will be trapped and he will die, but he can comfort himself on the fact that he had a loving family, a good home and people who liked him.

"Two strangers seek thee. One from this world... perhaps one from another... One brings hatred... I'm not so sure what the other brings"

One from this world, one who is human, Edgar Ross, and one who is not, The Strange Man. They know what Edgar wants, but they don't quite know what The Strange Man wants.

[windcarvedlyre]

Venti truly is the epitome of "he WOULD fucking say that, as part of his facade, but you seem to think he would mean it genuinely" the fact that interpreation of him ranges from "drunkard, weak god, doesn't care for his people" to "he lied about being the weakest, his drunkeness is a facade, he's the best archon in regards to the management of his people" and everything in between. It's amazing, what a guy of all time.

Right??

He's fascinating, because he's such a black box that there are a variety of ways to get him really wrong but there are also a variety of ways to interpret him that are reasonable. How strong is he really? How emotional? Can he form truly equal relationships with mortals (edit: at least post-becoming-a-god) or will they always feel like children to some extent to him? Are his time abilities very limited, or does he fuck around with timelines like the player navigates hangout events, or something in between? Why does he sleep? What did he do in Khaenri'ah? What the hell are his long-term goals, if any?

There's a chunk of fan interpretations where I'm like 'bro you are being played, reread the source material'. The main example is people taking the Signora cutscene at face value; it gets more obvious Venti sandbagged the more you think about it lmfao. Fanworks that hyperwoobify him or lean really really hard into him being a god and treat any humility from him as a facade also feel wrong to me.

But then there's a lot in between that I might not vibe with but are completely reasonable interpretations. And we're probably all wrong considering we're missing major parts of his backstory and have no idea what the pov of a wind-spirit-with-time-powers-turned-deity would be like.

[amazedkayou]

It's "funny" how in so much case it come down to "what do you mean (not) everyone does/feel/see that" ? What do you mean everyone see the difference between this pale pink and this kind of grey ? What do you mean nobody wheight every interpreation and connotation of what you might say before you say something ? What do you mean you don't feel pain in all your bones and joints after one hour walking in the mall ? What do you mean it's not normal to see things kinda blurry and melting together past a certain distance ? What do you mean it's not normal to have a crush on your girl friend if you're a straight girl ? What do you mean it's not normal to phase out of the present, lost in your mind every two minutes ? What do you mean ti's not pronounced the way I do ? What do you mean you're not exhausted when you wake up ? What do you mean you don't want to disappear from time to time ? *What do you mean there is a norm and I'm out of it ?* If feel like a conspiracy or you're being gaslighted and making fun of It make you doubt of everything, "Have my right been wrong the whole time ? " Or it just doesn't seem real "No, i'm just overthinking it to feel edgy and different, everyone must be feeling/doing that without telling, they're just like people who say they don't revise their lessons before the test and acing it and in fact they do revise" But sometimes it is, real, you're experience isn't the one of the majority, of the norm It can be helpful , indeed, you can now understand why what you did seemed a bit off compared to what others where doing, you can seek help, accomodation, the understanding of others but it can be also very violent , when there is a norm, they are the "normals", and that's good, but the "anormals"... eww, they're kinda weird, you don't think ?, they're wrong, they should be fixed, they can't do everything that we do...

When I was younger and researching the autism diagnosis criteria and symptoms, I thought “oh I couldn’t POSSIBLY be autistic.” Because when I read “takes everything literally” I thought it literally meant EVERYTHING and I was like “I don’t take EVERYTHING literally, just most things!” And I just realized the other day that it didn’t actually mean EVERYTHING and that was an overstatement.

[scaredandbored]

tonight i feel : like the most annoying person on earth

[marvelwitchergilmore]

Talking About It

Summary: After spending the last few years ignoring the second half of her brother's town-famous duo, Connie is more than shocked to find him at her door - on a weekend noless.

This is a Steve Harrington x OC (but feel free to interprate yourself as OC)

Pre-S4 but Post-S3

Slight warning - mentions of nightmares/terrors

Might do a Part 2? What'dya think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Connie first found out the truth about what happened to the family cat, not much shocked her.

A mall explosion that was actually due to some upside-down creature? Nothing. A kid going missing and contacting his mother through a bunch of Christmas lights? Just another Monday.

But the one thing that did shock her was a knock on her front door on Saturday evening when she wasn't expecting anyone.

Dustin's friends knew he was away for a week visiting Suzie at an anual camp get-together. Their mom was also away for a week after she won a get-away cruise at work.

So Connie was left home alone and wasn't expecting a soul.

That was only a fraction of why she was shocked though.

Taking hold of the baseball bat, she slowly made her way over to the door.

She made sure no shadow was seen under the door as she looked through the peephole but when she did, she was more shocked at what she found.

Not a dead cat. Not a D&D named creature. Not even the Pizza guy - not that she had order a second pizza.

What she found was rather the fallen King of her high school who was now the babysitter or her brother and his friends when they went in search for danger.

"Harrington?" Connie whispered, confused, under her breath before she unlocked the door and he turned back around.

"Good, you're in."

"Yes, I'm in. Dustin's not home."

"Yeah, I know."

Connie knitted her brows together. "Then what are you doing here?"

"Well, as much as Mail is so much fun, I'd rather not have to read another five page letter from your brother only to get the same words in phone call an hour later."

"What?"

Relaxing his shoulders, Steve explained. "Dustin is worried about you. He asked me to keep an eye on you."

"An eye on me? Why?"

"Well, and I'm just spitballing here so correct me if I'm wrong-"

"Happily."

"You've been having nightmares and not sleeping. Now, I'm no shrink, but I do know movies so, while you're up, you might as well watch them."

"...okay? Still doesn't explain why you're here. Why you? Dustin could have called anyone else."

"Apparently, I'm the best option since I managed to keep those shits safe for, like, three years. So? You gonna leave me standing out here freezing or are you gonna let me in?"

Connie thought on it for a moment.

Even though Steve and Dustin seemed to be inseperable, herself and Steve had never really spoken much before. They hadn't even known one another in highschool. They were never in contact. But whenever he was in school, she didn't much like him. He was an asshole after all. But Dustin always vouched for him that he had changed. And he wasn't wrong. Steve had kept Dustin and his friends safe - well, as safe as he could get them.

"Fine."

"Thank you." Steve said, raising his arms up as he held a plastic bag in each, lowering his head a little.

Moving aside, she allowed him inside, which was when he spotted her weapon of choice.

"What? You gonna attack me or something?"

"Just wasn't expecting anyone s'all."

Steve gave her a look. "Okay...?"

Connie moved back, locking the door behind him whilst he escaped into the kitchen to grab a few bowls for the snacks he'd brought. Dustin's letters were very detailed.

"So, since I'm here, you wanna talk?"

"You're not my shrink."

"Hey, I'm doing this as a favour for Henderson. And I don't really want him chasing me with a baseball bat because I didn't help his sister. So, talk."

Sliding onto one of the kitchen counter seats whilst Steve unpacked the bags, Connie folded her hands together.

"There's nothing to talk about. I've been having nightmares. End of story."

"End of story? Really?"

"Really."

"Okay, so...cold sweats, vivid images and shaking shivers are just something Dustin made up?"

"Wha..How did you-"

"His letters are very detailed."

Connie rolled her eyes. "Of course."

"So?...Look, we could go round and round in circles or you could just talk to me. I can be a good listener."

Connie kept his eye contact for a short while before sighing and giving in. "Fine."

"It's nothing major. Just my memory reminding me of things."

"Of what things?"

"Will going missing. That..thing eating the cat. The mall, Billy-"

There was a brief moment of awkward silence. "Billy and I were never close. In fact, I was ready to beat the shit out of him almost as much as you did. Maybe more. But when I saw that thing go through him...it was like it was in slow motion, you know. And it's not like it's the first death I've witnessed. You know. After all, Hawkins is becoming famous for it. Land of the dead and what-not. But it was the first that felt...real. Even if everything around us doesn't seem like it is. It was just so...real." Connie's mind seemed to wander for a moment before she finally snapped back. "I-I don't know. It was just a lot to process. I was fine for a while after - no nightmares, no nothing. But then we had fireworks at Halloween and the lights and the sounds...I guess they just brought back memories. One's I thought had gone."

"I get it."

"You do?"

Steve nodded, the pair now walking into the living room. "Sure. I kinda felt the same after those fireworks. We've all had a fair share of night terrors."

"Have they ever felt real, though? As if you're living it again. That you don't know if you have the opportunity to wake back up?"

This stunned Steve into silence. They all suffered with nightmares every now and then. Who wouldn't? People seemed to die left, right and centre when it came to the holidays. But they knew they were nightmares.

"It started with Dustin. I'd be dreaming of when we were kids with mom and dad setting off fireworks. He was only a baby, but it was one of my best memories of us. But then...I'd be back in the mall. And rather than El, it would be Dustin." Connie explained. "I knew they were nightmares then, but after that...it was like being stuck in time. I couldn't move fast enough until finally I came sliding around the corner and grabbed Max before she could go and throw herself into danger and get herself killed."

Then after a few moments of silence: "It just impaled him."

Steve didn't really know what to say. What do you say to someone when they've told you that? What do you say when you can see it in their eyes that they're reliving the moment as they talk about it? How do you make the pain go away?

So, after a long silence, Steve finally held up the movie case.

"Grease?"

"Sure."

And everything seemed to go back to a comfortable slightly new normal.

"I wouldn't have took you as a musical's guy."

"I'm not. But Dustin sent me a list he and Suzie put together. I figured we'd work from the top."

Connie gave a small smile. The first she'd done in weeks - months, maybe.

"Sounds like a plan."

[hillarysss]

RAHU IN THE HOUSES🦹🏽‍♀️

Heyy guys I’m back :)) I’ve just been focusing on myself lately. And I’ve been wanting to talk about more Vedic astrology since I know some of my followers really like Vedic! There isn’t one that is better or worse but personally do think that Vedic can be more helpful when it comes to life events and predictions. ☺️ 

RAHU PLANET COMBINATIONS

Some words associated with Rahu:  confusion, obsession, travel, diseases. 

Rahu is not a physical planet.

Rahu is a malefic planet, meaning whatever house is in even though there is houses Rahu excels in  (3rd, 6th, 10th, 11th) it still brings malefic effects, that’s what it does. 

Some of my interprations may not resonate because it depends on the whole chart. These are some general intepretations.

How to calculate my Vedic Birth-chart? 

https://vaultoftheheavens.com/ChartCreatorLahiri/Welcome.aspx << (Click North Indian, it is preferred) 

Rahu in 1st house: Such person is incredibly intelligent. But doesn’t always use it for good. They can find themselves in a lot of scandals. Loves material things and go as far as recklessly loosing money for luxury. Identity issues, needs validation. Such person has incredible good motivation to reach a higher status in life and will most likely not fail to do so. However, if Rahu is bad placed in a sign it can bring issues with the physical body and mental health. This placement is prone to be mentally ill. Goes through a bunch of obstacles in early life. If Rahu is in a good sign, wealth is a common theme for this placement.

Rahu in 2nd house: Such person is most likely attached to their family image, may know multiple languages or is interested to do so. You may have intrusive thoughts and can suffer not knowing what is the reason to keep living. Low self-esteem. If in a exalted sign could have a rich partner. Even if they are attached to family image their family probably isn’t as good as they want it to be. They care a lot about their image. Has intellect with their words and knows what to say and this will get them to such higher position in life. Speaks quite fast.

Rahu in 3rd house: This is flavorable placement for Rahu. (: Could have bad relationships with siblings or have a brother.(If Malefic, If in a good sign you have a very good relationship with your siblings.** You express your opinions openly and this can make you someone a lot of people look up to especially on the web. Most likely will go on a bunch of mini vacations. Such person has ego and loves being unique. Intelligent people. Since Rahu is associated with Illusion such people can make up fake scenarios and stories just for their own ego and validation. Type to make original stories way more dramatic to please other people. Manipulative but doesn’t get caught easily. Natural charm. 

Rahu in 4th:  From my observations, people with Rahu in 4th could have a famous family member or/and a family member that is quite wealthy. The more feminine figure (Usually the mother) plays a big role for people with Rahu in 4th. You can usually find this placement in big internet trolls as person lacks empathy to other people perspective. Impulsive. Person may move a lot. Probably doesn’t live where they were born. May have very unusual secretive hobbies. Family may not know them a lot since person can be quite secretive. Mother could’ve suffered from something and could’ve been delusional. Mother may always put pressure. Generous but with big ego. Most likely donates their money to special things. 

Rahu in 5th: Most likely wants to be famous and will go to absurd lengths to get it. Can and might as well step on others in order to get their goal. However, this placement makes someone clever and very creative! May not have any children or could damage their children. Was probably the mean popular girl. Confident but sometimes over the top. Can benefit from investments. Likes to learn new things and has a bunch of stored knowledge. Loves books. Interested in singing or any creative field.

Rahu in 6th: Persuasive individuals. Opstimistic about challenges. Most likely has very good health.  May be involved in traumatic events like kidnapping or theft. Criminal record is found in Rahu in 6th individuals. Very good with fighting. Will benefit greatly with their own bussiness. People look up to them but yet initmidated. Such individual most likely has a controversial status yet powerful. Very strategic. You can’t beat them in arguements.

Rahu in 7th: Unhappy marriage is very possible here. Has a bunch of sexual partners and most likely has a lot of relationships. Is obsessed with the idea of another being in their life. Has to be careful about what they say cause anything they say can be used very badly especially with partnerships. Info might be exposed things they only gave to their partners. Such as nudes being exposed or anything very personal. Most likely will have a bunch of achievements in life. Confusion within their own personality. Highly dominating. Will be known. Very skillful and knows how to use it to their advantange. Can be very spiritual. Can push their opinions on to others.

Rahu in 8th: A lot of physical issues is promiment. Issues with law. Will have a bunch of changes throughout their life wether they’re good or bad they will happen often. Your family may suffer with money. Could end up homeless at some point. Has very good charm with people. Deaths can be a common theme here. Good researches and can find out anything & can detect bullshit. May have thought about being a detective during their life. Interest in astrology. Wouldn’t be suprised if a lot of you guys have this lol. Extremely good intuition. Great mind for researching the occult. 

Rahu in 9th: Constantly doubts everything and everyone, may have trust issues. Stubborn minded people. Very big love on foreign lands. Good common sense and can excell in politics. May fake their background to fit in. May have a bad relationship with the father figure. Constantly wastes money. But they can also have income from many different sources. Wants the truth and only that. Interest in traveling abroad. Could be seen as mean. Will seek higher knowledge and the truth. 

Rahu in 10th: Will experience a bunch of life changing events in life. This usually brings more positive than negative here. (It depends on aspects) . Rahu in 10th is found in extremely sucessfull individuals. May change workplace quite often. Something common with this placement is rag to riches. Such person could’ve been born in a poor environment and then they rise up to fame and recognition. They succeed professionally. Could have interest in Social Work. Can use their tactics for the wrong way to get what they want. However, love life may suffer. 

Rahu in 11th: Type of person to have had interactions with people of power. Prone to miscarriages. Will succeed in Marketing. Has a bunch of dreams they wanna chase after. Friendships will help a bunch to this native this lifetime. (: Receives much love from others but may not give it back..  Always sees the good in everyone and this can set them back. Should be careful when taking advice from others. Can be extremely naive. Will use their imagination this lifetime to achieve higher power and is possible they will succeed doing so.

Rahu in 12th: Will achieve good success relating to Spiritual growth. May write books or blogs about their spiritual knowledge. Could be psychic or/and astrologer. Most likely won’t have a traditional career. Can cause trouble relating to professional life. May have long-distance partners. Could be prone to being catfished. A lot of healers have this placement. May have trouble sleeping. Very religious or can be very attached to their own beliefs. Will go to extra lengths to escape from reality. Compassionate human being.

Let me know if you guys want more Vedic content. Give some feedback  🥰

[procrastinatorproject]

Headcanon comparison time! 😁

(Note: NONE OF THIS is to say your headcanons are invalid or to start Ace Discourse! You are absolutely correct that noone can stop you, and also: I wouldn't dream of trying! I merely want to add my own perspective for a little compare and contrast, because in a twist that will be shocking to absolutely no-one, I have thoughts on this! 🤣)

Okay, so, my personal headcanon:

I'm completely with you on Seven and Elnor! I'm getting major aspec vibes from them, though, at least in the case of Seven, not necessarily sex-averse.

I think, personally, I don't see Rios as ace. Can't even say why, and it's not a hill I'd die on, but it's just not my interpretation of him. On the other hand, I do headcanon Ian (the Emergency Engineering Hologram) as ace, and in my mind, the holos all inherited a lot of their personalities from parts of Rios. So it would seem that I at least see aspec tendencies in Rios that he then passed on 🧐

I wonder about Soji. I could see it, given she's Data's "daughter", and Data was fairly clearly asexual, imo. So, this might be one of the traits that carried over through the fractal neuronic cloning process.

Then again, she was ultimately created by Altan Soong and Bruce Maddox, and those two seem like EXACTLY the kind of ignoramous/lech who would think creating a beautiful young woman who doesn't feel sexual attraction would be a tragic waste, or that sexual attraction is a fundamental part of being human. I would fully expect society as a whole to have abandoned that attitude centuries ago by the time ST:LAS startd, but I can see these two muppets sitting together over a glass of port or whatever and having philosophical discussions about how dtf their nubile creations should be 🙃 (Maybe I'm not doing them justice. Please don't come for me, Maddox-Stans and Soong-Hive 😅 But that's my read of that whole situation so far...)

So yeah, I'm not sure my headcanon of Soji is that she's aspec. But I think she's definitely questioning and when she's finally fully out from under three years of false memories and secret missions and a life controlled by Maddox, who knows where she'll end up!

Now, Agnes is... complicated. My issue with Agnes is that I identify with her SO hard, it's very difficult to tease apart "this is what I think makes sense for the character" and "this is me projecting my own aspec identity onto her" 🙈🙈🙈

I honestly couldn't tell you where I think Agnes falls. She's flirtatious, she's definitely not sex-averse... but then again, when I watched her teasing Rios about his books, I didn't realize that was flirting until someone pointed it out to me. To me, it was just her being bored and bonding with her new crew (and using the distraction to force the shunted off Horrors in her brain to be quiet for a while). So yeah, I find it difficult to make up my mind on where I see Agnes on the allo-ace-spectrum, because my own identity so heavily biases any thoughts I have on that front 😅

(Also, only semi-related: I desperately wish we had gotten to see Agnes grow and get proper therapy and support and figure out who she is now that she's living with massive PTSD, but she's no longer so alone and has found a family crew that she loves and who support her. I think her character has a ton of potential, and now that she has people (and Emergency Holograms) who care enough about her to not just let her compartmentalize her pain but to help her work through it... so many possible directions she could develop in! And similar to Soji: who knows where she'd end up when she's no longer using all her energy to fight her own brain?)

Oh, but to add to the list: in my mind, Picard is definitely ace. And in a Romulan three-person marriage with Laris and Zhaban 🤣

(And again, because it bears repeating: I'm not saying that my headcanons are in any way shape or form "correct" and yours are wrong, OP! I love that we can have multiple readings of these characters and can compare where our interpretations match up or diverge in interesting ways, because that's what fandom is all about! 😁)

I have decided that Rios, Agnes, Elnor, Soji and Seven are all on the asexual spectrum and nothing and no one can stop me

[cdroloisms]

I've been seeing comments on Dream gaslighting Sam in the prison, but... I don't think he did? Yeah, he's with-holding information and lied, but I didn't interprate anything as gaslignting? At least, the actual definition of gaslighting? Eh, I also might have forgotten or misunderstood some of the scenes but I wanted your thoughts

see, gaslighting is like. a very clearly defined thing. it's not just a shorthand for manipulation or emotional abuse - it's a specific tactic that people use where the victim is deliberately made to doubt in their own perception of reality - and there's nothing that c!dream does in these streams that i'd say specifically fits?

like, him lying about letting c!sam go without dying isn't gaslighting, it's a Lie. hell, the specific wording he uses makes even the lie muddled - the "without killing me" that c!sam says could be - because of their earlier discussions - interpreted as "without killing me permanently," which c!dream didn't do. but either way it's a lie, not gaslighting. theyre not the same thing.

him lying about not having food, again, is lying - not gaslighting. even if you consider that he's- i don't know, trying to make c!sam doubt in his own perceptions by telling him he has no food while holding steak in his hand, it'd be a very dogshit attempt at gaslighting if it was one. besides, he clarifies around it a few lines later, and he puts no real effort into telling c!sam that he's wrong, he's seeing things, dream doesn't actually have any food, etc. he just kinda fumbles around explaining the food twice and then goes onto say that it's DREAM'S food, not sam's. you could maybe consider it an attempt at gaslighting at a stretch - but i wouldn't, personally.

the time thing is a little harder to define - c!dream says "Well, it’s been— it’s been two days, but I— I was only, like— I wasn’t here for one day." because some stuff happened in the middle of the consistent streams that would've understandably delayed their plans + it SEEMS like we're meant to think that the time is defined as one stream per day, this would be the truth. dream didn't visit for that one day that sam was monologuing in the prison. HOWEVER, if he's lying here, it's still awfully little to say that he's systematically trying to make c!sam doubt in his perception of reality - especially considering this is the same stream where c!dream GIVES c!sam a clock (which can much more reliably tell time than someone's mind). that seems to suggest that he's not necessarily TRYING to make c!sam doubt in how much time is passing - if it's a lie, then it's still just that. a lie.

as for everything else, c!dream telling c!sam that he's evil isn't gaslighting, lmao. evil is subjective. c!dream considering the guy that abused and tortured him for months not the best dude isn't him GASLIGHTING c!sam. is he manipulative in the visits? yeah, absolutely! and does c!sam in a pretty vulnerable position bc of his situation while in the prison? absolutely. but in no way is this a complete role reversal between c!sam and c!dream compared to how they'd been in the prison, even if the dynamic is a match physically. and just because c!dream is being manipulative doesnt mean he's gaslighting.

[amporella]

Tbh it’s insane to me how many people in this fandom seem to think that it’s totally acceptable to weaponize canon in order to ‘correct’ headcanons that they disagree with. I don’t know what it is (maybe the specials?) but that kind of behavior seems more prevalent than ever in this fandom, and it comes off as a little weird and unnecessary at best and actively rude at worst. 

I think there are a few fundamental misunderstandings in this fandom about headcanons, some of which are:

a) People coming up with canon-contradictory headcanons don’t know what canon is. Trust me, they do. When people post about headcanons that might not be supported by canon, they aren’t denying canon itself; 90% of people in this fandom watch the show on a regular basis. Reminding them of what’s canon and what isn’t won’t make them say ‘wow, I didn’t realize that! I’ll change my headcanon immediately!’.

b) Headcanons need to be supported by canon. This just isn’t the case. It’s obviously difficult to find a concrete definition for a headcanon, but I looked it up out of curiosity to make this post, and pretty much none of the definitions I’ve found specify that headcanons must be supported by canon. In fact, most state the opposite: 

Merriam-Webster: “Headcanon generally refers to ideas held by fans of series that are not explicitly supported by sanctioned text or other media.”

Wikitionary - “Elements and interpretations of a fictional universe accepted by an individual fan, but not necessarily found within or supported by the official canon.”

Fanlore - “Headcanon is a fan’s personal, idiosyncratic interpreation of canon, such as habits of a character, the backstory of a character, or the nature of relationships within characters. The term comes from the fact that it is the canon that exists within a fan’s head.”

People who support contradictory headcanons aren’t doing fandom wrong, if that’s even something possible to do - they’re just viewing the source material in a way that’s enjoyable for them. And there’s nothing wrong with that. 

If someone’s posting negatively about a headcanon you enjoy, harassing authors and artists, etc - feel free to retort. But someone posting positively about a headcanon they enjoy isn’t a personal attack on yours, and there’s really no need to let them know they’re “wrong” because of x y and z, whether that involves making a post generally shaming that headcanon (not great), responding to a fic/post about that headcanon (worse), or sending asks to the person about how much you dislike it (worst). 

Filter out tags that you don’t like. Block users who post headcanons that diminish your fandom experience. These are all completely acceptable things to do, and I also make liberal use of both features! But this fandom’s recent (maybe not even recent, but I can’t speak for things 4+ years ago) habit of “well, actually”ing things they don’t like is really nothing but divisive and unnecessarily mean. 

[wintergrew]

Thoughts about Tricia and fandom

So I'm one of those people who LOVES using Tricia Tucker in fandom things, and a little while ago I was talking to people and reminded of how people tend to be really negative towards people using her, especially compared to other sibling characters. This is just sharing my thoughts and not meant to attack anyone, but just throwing this out there in hopes people can be kinder about egg children, but I think there's a ton of reasons for this.

Because, quite frankly, many fans are fixated on Creek or "Craig and those guys". Craig is kind of still a character that is in a ton of ships, with pairings like Crenny or Cryde or Staig having significant fanbases. So...if Craig or someone dating Craig is a main character, naturally they would likely come across his sister? A Creek story with focus on Craig's family would naturally have her front and center? If Tricia is around playing with friends maybe you might get Karen or Ike, but older siblings like Shelly or Kevin make less sense? I mean they could still be incorporated, but it is more natural than "main character's literal immediate family." Or tl;dr...Craig is often a main character in fics or a central muse in art. Of course his sister is going to get more attention than siblings of kids the creator isn't focusing on.

For fics, most stories have characters aged up. If characters are 18 and in their senior year of high school, older siblings are likely going to be away at college or not at home. Someone like Shelly isn't particularly close to her dad and brother, so it makes since she is written as being "not around". Younger siblings like Tricia, Ike, or Karen would still be living at home with their students. Even if you have the main characters in college, younger siblings would often still be in high school so a visit home or phone call is more likely to have them. Characters closer to their siblings like Kyle and Ike or Kenny and Karen are more likely to keep in contact in stories because they're all adults than siblings not shown to be as close. With Tricia it's an unknown, so it's up to the writer's interpration. But overall, it's just basic logistics in a lot of stories' settings.

Ignoring Tricia completely for this one, you DO see a lot of Karen and Kenny or Ike and Kyle in stories about htem because they have a wholesome relationship. Kevin and Kenny, especially compared to Kenny with Karen, seem to mostly ignore each other, while Stan and Shelly have primarily been openly hostile. Don't get me wrong, Shelly can be a BAMF but the way their relationship has been potrayed (mostly early on) is more than just fun bickering siblings and more her being openly violent towards him. That appeals to some people in writing, but not others, and I think people writing an older Stan being not super close to her is #valid, just as it would be that they grow up to get along.

BECAUSE Tricia and her sibling relationship with Craig is so vague it allows for open creativity. You wanna have fun writing a mini-Craig? You can do that! You wanna write her as a social butterfly who is his exact opposite? The freedom is yours! It's what makes her fun to me--I can do literally whatever I want with her without feeling any sort of restrictions. Much of the appeal of South Park fandom in general is the sandbox, free for all nature. So having a character you can do whatever with? Adds to the fun.

Related--people obsess and use one-off or minor character boys all the time. Thomas the tourettes kid has little to go off of, but he's somewhat of a fan favorite. Jason only had a few lines, yet he has his dedicated fandom and ships. Or Brimmy, or Dogpoo, or the "foreign kids", or Damien, or so many of them who have few more lines than Tricia has. Plus, there are so few developed girls, with many of them like Red also being primarily fandom dictated. I wish fandom would do this to more of the girl characters, as opposed to just Red and Tricia. If fandom can obsess and create personalities for one-off or background boys, they can do it for a minor girl character as well! Don't discourage focus on da gurlz, encourage it!

[jucomx]

The point of the response was that asking concrete questions about a philosophical interpration doesn't make sense to me. It is a coherent idea in the sense that every religion is a coherent idea, it cannot be verified or falsified. The answer to where they are located therefore can be anywhere you can't reach.

I did not properly formulate my response and I was insulting to you because of it. I'm sorry for this and i'm sorry for being way to pretentious for just a physics student. I felt the need to make a response because i am used to people online being really fucking ignorant (though i realise in this instance i was the really fucking ignorant) and i see no harm in people holding beliefs in physically grounded multiverse theories, even if the theories themselves are not verifiable. Additionally i think it might even be a way to get people to actually reflect on situations (even if under the guise of wondering about another universe) instead of just autopilotting through life. Please do correct me if i'm wrong though.

events of the day really revealing how many people think "timelines" in a "multiverse" are a coherent idea. i'll ask the same question i ask everett physicists: where are they located. when the entire universe supposedly diverges due to one instance of probability distribution collapse. where does the other portion go. where is it, physically. you can't handwave this away it is the crux of the issue, that's where all of its philosophically damaging precepts arise and that's why the interpretation doesn't work

[oraclekleo]

thank you so much for helping us with the interpreation!!! i have a competition coming up and i asked what advice the energy could give me so that i win first place (i love winning sorry) and i got the hanged man and the 4 of wands do you know what it could mean?

There's nothing wrong about being ambitious and winning. 😂 If nobody was ambitious the civilization would never advance, so don't apologize for liking winning. 😊

As for the cards you got regarding your competition, it's a very positive sign. Four of Wands denotes celebration of a success so you can hardly imagine a better card to get. However, unlike Six of Wands, which signifies gaining popularity among other people and becoming icon in a way, the Four of Wands stand more for celebrating a personal success, something that means a lot to you personally. It can mean you finally overcome some sort of block, you finally hit that high note you were aiming or that you nail the choreography that felt hard in the beginning.

The Hanged Man can mean you might need to bring some sacrifice in order to win. Which is only natural. Whenever we want to achieve something we have to put effort in, devote time and energy. You might need to practice and learn a lot. The Hanged Man speaks of certain isolation (temporary) so in order to prepare for the competition, you might need to cut meeting with friends to minimum or something like that. The Hanged Man can also mean a significant shift in life or perspective. So you might actually approach the performance for your competition in a completely original way. Or! The competition and the result can really mean a huge difference for you in life. If the thing you compete in isn't your life calling now, maybe after the competition you decide it's something you want to do on a professional level in future.

I don't know the details or background of your situation so I'm simply shooting around all possibilities and you simply pick what seems to resonate with you. 😊

And as always - follow your intuition first. 👍

Thank you for your inquiry and I hope my second opinion helps a bit.

Kleo

[nightinghoul]

Why I Don't Go To Church (But You Can Do Whatever You Want)

As I've mentioned in the past, I have OCD (This is relevant). When I was around 15, I started going to church and Bible studies, which seems fine, and I'm sure is fine for a lot of people. But I fell in with some fire and brimstone, homophobic, literal biblical interprations, "hate-the-sin-not-the-sinner" types, and that was hard on my mental state.

No matter how much I prayed, read my Bible, avoided lust (I'm ace, anyway, but it's the fact that I wasn't even sexually active, yet somehow I was disapproved of, because I attracted the gaze of men), I was never doing enough "In the eyes of God." Someone was always voicing their concern over my life choices. A major issue was my inability to memorize Bible verses. Another was that I hung out with "ungodly" folks. And, I didn't buy new clothes. All my clothing came from a friend of mine who had bought a new wardrobe, and it was all tight on me. As long as I was legal to walk down the street, I didn't see the problem but, well, it caused a stir.

I was taught, Jesus saves! But, if you're a real Christian, you follow a certain set of rules, and if you don't follow them correctly, you aren't a true believer. So, you see, my weird ass was always going to hell.

It triggered a decade of intrusive thoughts about going to Hell - a thing I had never even believed in. My life became restricted to only the most mundane. Read a book, go to work, go home. Pray. Say "Amen" 100 times. Pray for forgiveness. Pray for forgiveness after every action. Every movement, every thought, was an infraction. Non-prayers were sinful thoughts. Something bad would happen. Say Amen. Say it again. Again. Again...

I once received an email from a "friend" that God had made him feel he needed to give me a warning that I was headed down the wrong path. He knew I would know whatever terrible thing I was up to. (Flashback to my childhood, where I was gaslighted by some family and a teacher into thinking I had done something "bad", but they "didn't need to tell me", because I "already knew".)

One thing, after my sister came out as bi, a couple of people wanted me to cut ties with her. I guess their reasoning was... she was being evil? She might convince me to be bi?

Anyway. One night I had a dream. In the dream, I was standing in the kitchen, and a large hole opened in the middle of the floor, and I could see a very classic Dante's Inferno version of hell. An angel came down from above and explained to me that if I didn't give up my sister, I would go to Hell.

I said, "Fuck it. I know I'll burn forever, but that's my sister, and I'm not leaving her for anything in the world. Send me to Hell if you need to."

Then I fell in the hole, and when I got to the bottom, the Angel was there, and they said, "You chose right."

And it turned out Hell was just a collection of things religeous people were afraid of, but nothing actually bad.

That one friend once went to my mom while I wasn't around, and tried to give her an "end of life" talking-to (She was 58, and disabled, and I always thought this "talk" was some of the most offensive shit ever.) He asked her if she knew for sure she was going to go to heaven when she died.

Her answer: "I don't want to go to Heaven! All my best friends are in Hell!"

Defeated.

God, I loved my mom.

As for me, I an an Omnist, and God might be anything as far as I'm concerned. So, I'm pretty sure I'm going to Hell. See you on the flip side, Mom.

[goatmeatstew]

when someone's door is closed, and you know theyre more than likely topless from previous incidents where you didnt knock and just barged in, what do you do? do you

A) knock and wait for the person inside the room to say "come in"

or

B) knock and don't wait for a response before opening the door. Then as the shirtless person inside is desperately trying to cover themselves up and yelling at you to close the door, you just sit and stare for a few minutes before closing the door and opening it again a second later while the person is still topless and still upset with you, telling you to close the door again.

if you chose B, you might be my stepdad

and then if in response to this situation you're a third person who tells the first who was shirtless that they're making a big deal out of nothing and that they have a bad attitude and that "no one in their right mind would assume someone who has their bedroom door closed is shirtless" in the privacy of their own room, and that he was just "trying to be nice" and ask if I wanted lunch, you might just be my mom

and they're surprised as to why I'm trying to get out of there as soon as physically possible. not to mention the incident from the beginning of the month when they stole $300 from the $800 I get a month for being on disability and then tried to kick me out for being upset at them. And then to top it all off after about a week of staying at my fiancee's grandmother's home I called my mom to ask if I'm allowed to come get my stuff, because when I tried the day after I was kicked out my key had worked but they had locked the deadbolt, she was all crying and acting like I had wronged her and saying she would never kick me out and how could I think so poorly of her and she wanted me to not hate her and just come home. gee, I don't know how else someone would interpret being told to get their pet rats, clothes, and other things out of the house. she had texted me "Get these rats out of my home! Come get your clothes and your other stuff!" and expected me to not interprate that as "you're being kicked out. you're not allowed to live here anymore"

in my reply to that I asked if she was kicking me out and if so I needed it in plain words. her response included "It's time to fly baby bird." and "And yes get those rats out of here by tomorrow! Come get your stuff because I will NOT ALLOW you to be cruel & hateful to me any longer." note, shes calling me "cruel and hateful" because I finally decided enough of my parent's financially abusing me was enough and called them out on it.

and throughout the years I guess they've trained me well enough because I'm genuinely not sure if I'm in the wrong or not even though I've gotten the opinions of two other people saying that yes, this is ridiculous and that they're in the wrong. like, I genuinely don't know if I accidentally manipulated them into thinking I wasn't in the wrong. Cause what if I didn't realize I was being manipulative? am I being manipulative by posting this? am I just trying to twist the situation so I can play the victim? like I'm genuinely thinking its more likely I just interpreted the situation wrong and I'm making a big deal out of nothing and I'm being an asshole for no reason.

[iamanartichoke]

(This post was inspired by a recent post by @kayura-sanada​ that I was going to reblog, but my own addition became so long and, frankly, off-topic to the original post’s content that I figured it was fairer to create my own post. But theOP I’m referring to can be found here and is a good read.)

Okay, so: this is a wonderful analysis of Tony Stark, @kayura-sanada​, and I agree that it’s concerning seeing this written by a psychologist (although I think there has to be a little wiggle room in the fact that said psychologist is basing their diagnosis on their own interpretation, and - I would hope - it would probably change if Tony Stark were a real person who was their patient. I gotta hope that).

I agree with all of your overall points regarding Tony, but I wanted to reblog this specifically because this post is such a perfect example of a larger problem within fandom and fandom wank. The problem is that fictional characters can be interpreted any way you want, sure, but there’s a line between supporting your interpretation with evidence from the source, and supporting your interpretation with stuff you just kinda made up. There is a right and a wrong interpretation. 

Here’s what I saw happen with this post: your response to the OP is lengthy because it dissects the OP bit-by-bit; it responds to the claims made in those bits with evidence from the films that supports a completely opposite interpretation of the character. And the response you got largely ignores all of that evidence and analysis in favor of a surface-deep response about open interpretations and how it’s “all just fiction anyway.”

And I see the same pattern repeat itself over and over in fandom:

“Character A is Trait B and that’s why they do Actions C, D, and E.”

“Actually, character A is more Trait F, and examples of Trait F are shown in Action G, H, and I.”

“Okay, but when they do Action H, they’re responding to Event J, but with Actions C and E, they clearly demonstrate Trait B, along with Trait K and L.”

“Well, but, saying they are/have Trait K is kind of a reach, and when they did Action H it was out of character, because in the same situation in previous films, they responded to Event J in a different way. For example, .....” (long post)

“I’m not reading all of that, it’s open to interpretation, and it’s just fiction anyway.”

Later, rinse, repeat.

And it’s like, look, yes, you can interpret the characters however you want. Fandom is supposed to be a fun, engaging space where fans are inspired to create new works and discuss all aspects of the source. Headcanons exists because of open character interpretation. Shipping exists because of open character interpretation. Rarepairs and alternate universes and ‘there was only one bed!’ and lots of tropes exist because of open character interpretation. 

Without that open freedom to engage with the source/characters in whatever way makes you happy, fandom wouldn’t be what it is, and I would never want to discourage that. 

That all said, it is possible that someone’s interpretation is wrong. That the way they imagine the character or the way they’re interpreting the character’s words and actions is a contrast to what’s really supposed to be going on in the scene or with the overall arc. The wrongness can come from any number of things - interpreation being colored by personal experience, preferences, projection, whatever.

In the case above, the psychiatrist is viewing Tony Stark through a lens of what they already decided the character is: a case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. They took that lens and picked out (vague) examples of how the character portrays those traits.

This is fine. If that person wants to think Tony is a narcissist and that’s how they want to engage with the character and subsequent works (pretending that this was a meta post instead of a published article), then that’s their prerogative.

But upon closer analysis, the original interpretation kinda falls apart. The contrasting analysis takes a deeper look at the material and says, I don’t think what you’re saying is going on here is actually what’s going on here, and this is why.

But people don’t want to be told they’re wrong, especially in a fandom space, especially with something they hold dear to them (as interpretations can be intensely personal, and I know this). When the two interpretations clash, and one interpretation doesn’t really hold up to closer analysis, then suddenly, being critical of the source equates to disliking the source, and analysis is reduced to people just being negative and wanting to find things wrong with the source. Disagreeing with someone’s interpretation is taken as a personal attack. People get offended personally. The discussion devolves into ugly rhetoric, insults, or simply dismissiveness (”that’s nice but whatever,” “it’s just fiction,” etc).

And you might say, well, if you think someone’s interpretation is wrong, why are you trying to rain on their parade? Why are you trying to prove them wrong? Let people enjoy things! Let people fandom how they want! Let people write and create and be inspired in their own way!

To which I say, absolutely! Please, continue to enjoy the Thing and your interpretation of it. Continue to create through the lens of that interpretation. Create what makes you happy, fandom however you want to. I am a big proponent of “fandom and let fandom.” What other people like and dislike makes very little difference to me, and I’m certainly not under any illusion that everyone must see things the way that I see them or else they are Doing it Wrong. Nor do I take it personally if someone doesn’t agree with my take. 

None of that is my point. My point is that it becomes an issue that splinters and fractures fandom spaces when criticism and discussion are discouraged, when long analysis posts are mocked, when threads are hijacked, when it gets to a point where disagreeing with someone’s take on a Thing cancels them - to you - as a person. Because you miss out. You miss out on discussion, and on engaging with creative fanworks, and widening your fandom circle.

Instead, the circle just narrows, and there’s an underlying sense of hostility that colors every interaction you have. And it makes it not fun for anyone.

People need to be more open to the idea that there is, in fact, a right and a wrong side to most arguments. They need to be willing to defend their argument in a way that holds up and, if they don’t want to defend their interpretation, that’s fine - more power to you - but they need to then stop making fun of and being generally shitty to those who disagree.

People need to stop pretending that analysis and critical thinking don’t matter. They need to stop pretending that “fiction” is this vague concept that has no bearing on the real world and shouldn’t be taken seriously. Fiction shapes our world, and art imitates life. Being unable to think critically about fiction indicates a larger issue of being unable to think critically about the things that do matter in the real world, like science and poltiics. 

Just look at what this country has become. Each side believes it is the correct side, the “winning” side, but one of them is supported with verifiable facts and evidence and one isn’t, and when the one that isn’t is confronted with the fact that they are wrong, they either dismiss the argument entirely or go and find “alternative facts” from unreliable sources they can point to and say, see? A, B, C, D, and E may say I’m wrong, but F says I’m right, so fuck you.

I’m certainly not saying that fandom should be taken as seriously as politics, but I am saying that if people were more amenable to changing their minds or even just recognizing that criticism isn’t an attack and it’s not personal if someone dislikes a Thing that you feel passionate about - or vice versa - then maybe we’d have a better fandom space for all to enjoy. 

And I do try not to be a hypocrite. I am open to changing my mind on positions I’ve taken in fandom - if the analysis and the evidence convince me that there’s another way to look at it. If someone is telling me I’m wrong, and they tell me why it’s wrong (yes, in detail), then I’m more than happy to take a second look. Maybe it will change my mind; maybe it will simply be something I’m cognizant of while I continue to enjoy the material in the way that’s most fun for me. Either way, I’m not trying to hold fandom as a whole to any kind of standard I wouldn’t also expect myself to meet. 

That being said, this post is 90% me venting. Ironically, I don’t expect this to change anyone’s mind. I’m not saying there’s any one solution that will work for everybody or even that everyone sees a problem that needs solving. I’m just saying that I don’t enjoy fandom as much as I used to, and this particular pattern of "wank” (for lack of a better word) is the reason why.