#It's like... They're reflections... but parts of them... reversed?

[kevin-winfield]

Neil Josten & Seth Gordon - Mirror Image?

EC, Nora Sakavic// Blue Iris, Mary Oliver// The Moon in the Well, Sylwia Górak// Blessing, Mia Bergeron// The Illusion Of Calm, Derek Hare//Hydrangeas, Susan Ashworth// moony moonless sky’s ‘i am an observer, but not by choice’, fatima aamer bilal//The Foxhole Court//Sunlight Breaking Through, Christopher Osborne// The Sirens, John Langstaff// Sydney Mortimer Laurence// ‘i am your mould, but the shape of you is true absence, leaving me purposeless.’ fatima aamer bilal

[swappedandtrapped]

Swapping Research - Part 1

Starting to try and use AI for translations to English. I don't like it, but writing in English is exhausting.

Part 2 here Part 3 here

Marcus Chen gripped the bathroom sink, staring at his reflection in the fluorescent-lit mirror. "Trapezium, trapezoid, scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform…" The naming of hand bones did little to slow his racing heart. Organic chemistry in thirty minutes. Dr. Zhang's infamous molecular mechanisms exam.

The bathroom door banged open. Tyler Reeves filled the doorframe, six-foot-three of basketball glory in team outfit, a crumpled paper in his hand.

"Thought I'd find you in here." Tyler's voice echoed against the tiles. "Pre-exam ritual?"

"I was trying to make sure I remember everything for the exam," Marcus said, straightening and adjusting his wire-rimmed glasses. "Some of us can't coast through life on jump shots."

Tyler's smile disappeared. He held out the paper: a formal notice from the university. "They said I'm on academic probation. One semester to get my GPA above a 2.0 or I lose my scholarship."

Marcus scanned the notice. "I told you to drop Evolutionary Biology. You needed to start with—"

"Not the point, Marcus." Tyler ran a hand through his too-long hair, his usual confidence replaced by a mild sense of desperation. "I need help. Not tutoring. Something… different."

"I have an exam in 30 minutes, and my med school interview next week. Whatever this is—"

"My cousin Alex," Tyler interrupted, lowering his voice as someone entered a bathroom stall behind them. "She's doing this neuroscience PhD thing. Consciousness… transfer. Temporarily."

Marcus stared at him. "You're describing science fiction."

"It's real. She's been mapping neural pathways, testing it on rats. They're… they're switching brains, Marcus. She needs human subjects." Tyler leaned closer, voice urgent. "Twenty-four hours. That's all. I just need to know what it feels like."

"What what feels like?"

"To have a brain that works right." The words tumbled out, raw and unfiltered. Tyler glanced around, then continued quieter: "I don't really like to talk about it. I'm dyslexic. Bad. Words swim around, flip backwards. Dad refused to get me tested.

Marcus remembered high school, Tyler recording lectures instead of taking notes, always asking to study together but never reading aloud. The pieces clicked into place.

"Tyler, I'm sorry, but consciousness transfer? It's just not possible."

"It's real. She's proven it. Just twenty-four hours in your body. To read and prepare without feeling like drowning, so I can maybe actually get something into this thick skull" Tyler's eyes held a desperation Marcus had never seen. "Please. I'm out of options."

Marcus thought of his carefully planned week, his interview preparation, his parents' expectations. "This is insane."

"One day. Then everything goes back to normal. I promise.

---

Alex Nguyen's "lab" was a repurposed storage room in the neuroscience department basement, filled with humming equipment that looked cobbled together from different decades. Monitors displayed brain scans in pulsing colors..

"The procedure is non-invasive," Alex explained, her undercut hairstyle severe under the fluorescent lighting. She adjusted electrodes on a strange helmet apparatus. "Consciousness mapping uses quantum entanglement principles to create a temporary neural signature exchange."

Marcus eyed the setup skeptically. "This can't possibly have IRB approval."

Alex's eyes flicked to Tyler, then back to Marcus. "We're in the theoretical testing phase."

"She means 'no,'" Tyler translated.

"The risks are minimal," Alex continued, typing rapidly on a keyboard. "Temporary disorientation, mild synesthesia, possible dream disturbances. The transfer nullifies and reverses naturally after approximately twenty-four hours."

"Has anyone done this before? Human subjects?" Marcus asked.

Alex's slight hesitation told him everything. "You'd be the first complete transfer. But the animal studies are promising. Rats with trained maze behaviors maintained those memories in their new bodies."

"This is crazy," Marcus muttered, but didn't leave. Something in Tyler's desperation had touched him. The vulnerability beneath the confident facade.

"Please. I wouldn't ask if there was another way." Tyler said quietly.

Marcus thought of their childhood: Tyler defending him from bullies in elementary school, the effortless way he navigated social situations that left Marcus paralyzed with anxiety. Maybe he owed him this.

"Twenty-four hours," Marcus said firmly. "Then we switch back, no matter what. I have that interview next week."

Alex gestured them toward two reclined chairs. "You'll be unconscious for approximately thirty minutes during the transfer. When you wake, you'll be in each other's bodies."

As Alex attached electrodes to his temples, Marcus felt panic rising. "Wait. How will we prove this actually worked? That it's not suggestion or—"

"Tell me something only you would know," Alex suggested. "Something you can repeat back afterward."

Marcus thought for a moment, then leaned over to Alex and whispered, "I secretly watch 'RuPaul' when I'm stressed."

Alex grinned. "The drag show? Seriously?"

"Don't judge. Tyler, it's your turn."

Tyler hesitated, then whispered something that made Alex's eyebrows rise.

"Didn't expect that," Alex said. "Ok, now that that's done, are you Ready?" Alex asked, hovering by the switch.

"No," Marcus admitted.

"Do it anyway," Tyler said.

The electricity began as a gentle hum at the base of Marcus's skull, spreading outward. Panic fluttered in his chest as the room blurred. His last thought was a desperate recitation—trapezium, trapezoid, scaphoid, lunate—before darkness pulled him under.

---

Marcues' consciousness returning felt like being yanked from deep water. He gasped, his body feeling impossibly wrong: longer limbs, different center of gravity, a dull ache in the right knee. His stomach heaved, and he barely managed to turn before vomiting on the floor.

"Easy," came Alex's voice. "Disorientation is normal."

Marcus looked up, vision swimming, and felt a primal horror unlike anything he'd experienced. Across the room, his own body was sitting up, looking at its hands with wonder. His face, but not his expressions, not his movements.

"Holy shit," his voice said from his body, Tyler's inflections all wrong in Marcus's mouth. "It worked. It actually worked."

Marcus tried to stand and staggered, unfamiliar muscles responding differently than expected. He reached up to adjust glasses that weren't there, fingers touching unfamiliar features. Tyler's features. His new nose, his soft lips, his beard scruff…

The violation went deeper than he'd imagined. Not just wearing someone else's skin, but inhabiting their flesh completely, feeling their physical pain, seeing through their eyes.

"Twenty-four hours," he managed to say, Tyler's voice emerging from his throat. "Not a minute more."

His own face looked back at him, wearing Tyler's crooked smile. It was real. Marcus wasn't in his own body anymore. And the raw, visceral wrongness of that fact threatened to drown him completely.

[tinytarotandtea]

「 ✦ PICK A CARD✦ 」

A Soft Message From Your Inner Child

Masterlist GET YOUR PERSONAL PAID READING HERE <33

Credits: divider by @/strangergraphics Directions: Take a moment to breathe, calm down and focus as you choose a picture from above. From left to right is pile 1, 2 and 3. Then Scroll down to your pile! Please remember to only take what resonates with you and leave the rest 🫶

Pile One -

Cards Pulled - The High Priestess • Page of Swords reversed • King of cups.

Hello my sweet Pile one! Today, your inner child wants you to know that you're wiser and more emotionally aware than you realise, and they're so proud of how far you've come! As am I!

The Hight Priestess is reflecting your inner knowing. Your inner child is gently reminding you that you've always been intuitive, even back then. You felt things others missed, and that sensitivity is a gift, not a flaw.

The Page of Swords Reversed shows that part of you is still curious and eager to learn. Though, you might be overwhelmed by doubts or mental clutter. Your inner child encourages you to let go of the need to always have the right answer, and to instead turn to wonder. You don't have to be perfect. It's okay to ask questions. It's okay to not know everything yet.

The King of Cups comes in as your emotional anchor. Your inner child sees the emotional maturity you've cultivated. They want you to give that same compassion and steadiness to yourself. You know how to hold space for others, now it's time to hold space for the younger parts of you too.

So, Pile One, my dears — the message from your inner child is to trust what you feel. You've always known more than they gave you credit for. Keep asking questions, stay curious, and hold yourself gently. They see you trying, and they love you for it.

Pile Two -

Cards Pulled - Ten of Cups reversed • Ten of Swords • Two of Cups reversed.

Pile Two, my dears. This one is deep. Your inner child is reaching out with a message that acknowledges pain, disappointment and the longing to truly feel connected and safe. This isn't an easy pile, but it's very meaningful.

The Ten of Cups shows a yearning for emotional security and belonging that might not have been fully met. Especially in the early stages of a relationship or family dynamics. Your inner child might be saying, "I didn't always feel safe or like I belonged." The comfort here is in recognising that those feelings were real, and that you are allowed to grieve what you didn't receive.

The Ten of Swords speaks to deep emotional exhaustion and perhaps betrayal and burnout. Your inner child is gently requesting you to acknowledge the hurt without brushing past it. But they're also reminding you that this is the end of the cycle. The worst is behind you now. There's nowhere to go but upwards. Healing from what you've been through is not only possible, but it's already beginning.

The Two of Cups here points to misalignment in relationships, especially with your self. Your inner child wants you to repair your bond with them. They want you to reconnect with your younger self in a way that is gentle, kind and affirming. You're perhaps pouring love into others, but forgetting to offer it inward. The comfort needed is reunion with your own heart.

Your inner child wants you to know that they know things didn't always feel safe or fair, but they're still here. They're still here waiting to be held by you. You don't need to be perfect. Just be with them. That's all they've ever wanted.

Pile Three

Cards Pulled - Four of Pentacles • Four of Wands • The Star Reversed

Hello Pile Three, my darlings! Today, your inner child asks for safety, celebration, and permission to hope again. Even if all such feels a little far away right now.

The Four of Pentacles here shows that your inner child has learned to protect themselves. Perhaps a bit too tightly. They've held onto what feels safe, even when it meant closing off parts of their heart. Their message to you is that you are safe now. You don't need to hold everything in so tightly. They want you to know that it is okay to soften. And it's okay to let go of some of that guardedness once you're ready.

The Four of Wands speaks of a longing you may have got joy, connection and a sense of 'home'. Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. Your inner child wants to remind you that it's okay to celebrate yourself, even for the little things. They want you to create moments of joy and comfort. Build spaces that feel like home.

The Star Reversed suggests that your hope might feel dimmed. Perhaps you've been through disappointment, or your dreams have felt too distant. But your inner child is still holding a flicker of belief for you. Their message is, "Please don't stop wishing." Even when things begin to feel uncertain, even when you're tired — they want you to know that the healing is still ongoing, even in the background.

Pile Three, the message here from your inner child is that you don't have to do it all alone. You're allowed to soften, to celebrate, and to believe in magic again. Even if it's just a little bit at a time.

[sha-brytols]

and the thing is i've said so many wildly conflicting things about how flawed solas' character portrayal was in veilguard but like. i unironically do believe they're All True and like i think i can kind of(?) articulate why

like solas in veilguard to me was a pretty perfect example on how clear it is that dragon age has suddenly and drastically regressed from being an exploration into moral ambiguity and that fine smudged line between "hero" and "villain" to a sudden inexplicable refusal to allow any sort of grey area in character motivations in favor of forcing them into a binary box like its a dnd alignment. and i think this specifically because there is literally No Way to write solas in a morally uncomplicated manner while still maintaining anything that makes him an interesting character.

people who hate solas hate veilguard because it removed literally any nuance to his character and repeatedly paints him as a poor mistreated victim whose only crime is that he was Forced to do things He Didnt Want to by a significantly underwritten and highly anticipated female character, and his regrets are all varying degrees of "it's my fault because i was right and they didn't listen to me :(" and no actual agency in his own decision making. his romance with a lavellan is literally front and center in the game and the only one that even gets more than a passing letter or (in dorian's case) like. two full lines of dialogue. the narrative does everything to silently paint him as the misunderstood tragic hero that no one truly appreciates and even rewrites the inquisitor so they always want to redeem him regardless of their previous disposition

people who love solas hate veilguard because it somehow managed to simultaneously do the same thing in reverse. solas has no genuine regrets or sense of guilt or actual reflection about his past behavior in the entire game. he kills his best friend and the game makes sure to zoom in on his face as varric is falling down just so you can see the sneer of contempt. the war table finebros react segments where its literally just the writers unapologetically utilizing the companions as mouthpieces for their personal opinions makes sure to tell the player that solas is unforgivable and a hypocrite and a coward for his actions. they even like. rewrote an entire part of his character specifically to remove that layer of complexity and dumb it down to the Lying Liar Who Lies. where the narrative silently wants you to sympathize with him, the characters LOUDLY want you to condemn him. your most sympathetic dialogue choices are lukewarm "well... i GUESS i understand why..." delivered in a consistent tone of disapproving resignment.

people who are neutral to solas? you're not ALLOWED to be. here you go. Dragon Age: Solas. everything is about solas. you have to make all your choices based around solas. we've written an entire game to revolve around solas. we rewrote like 4 characters to make sure that you are forced into one of the two extremes.

and it's all because you have a game that physically cannot help itself but to make you make the Good Decision and so they can't decide which decision is good and which is bad so they wrote two completely conflicting stories about him at the same time. he is the best boy. he is the worst. it genuinely feels like the writing team was actively wrestling with each other behind the scenes over whether or not solas is a Bad Guy and thus their only means of compromise was writing him as though he was dr jekyll and mr hyde without any transition or consistency. he is a villain. he is a hero. you are a bad person for not seeing his point of view. you are a good person for peacefully redeeming him. and i know there's people who think this is some sort of ingenius character study but none of this is intentional. he isn't like loghain who commits bad acts in service to a greater good. he's the prideful god who lied to the inquisitor about wanting to free the elves and instead his goal has been about his own personal ego all along. he isn't like flemeth, who does good by people and manipulates the story in your favor all for the sake of her own mysterious ends. he isn't even like the architect who lies and murders and manipulates the warden all in the service of his own deluded vision. he's the guy who wants to destroy the world because his abusive ex is forcing him to. but also he's the guy who wants to destroy the world because he thinks mortal life is insignificant and he should be in control because hes The Best.

all complexity of what was previously a deeply nuanced character has been removed, and it's because he used to be so complex that it's so disjointed and bad because they refuse to actually commit to any one direction because in that case they'd might as well make another character. but they can't. they have to make it solas. because solas is their cash cow and their baby.

they want to make a perfect solavellan happy ending because they want to please the people who love their baby but they're so fundamentally divorced from what their audience wants for solas that they ended up writing a caricaturized ai-generated romance novel for teenagers.

they want to make a cathartic fight scene where you beat the bad man because they want to please the people that hate their villain but they have such blatant contempt for criticism of their precious little baby that they make sure to infantilize and misrepresent his flaws as much as they can so he can be the sad little elf boy that you need to hug.

and despite all of this they ALSO wanted so desperately to avoid making you sympathize too much with the antagonist they were building up to that they had to make sure he acted in the most unforgivably evil ways that they could think of just so players knew this is the Bad Guy and you're the Good Guy and don't you forget it.

it's just constant self contradictory writing. it is so blatant that it's genuinely hard for me to even see veilguard's solas as being the same character. i find myself nodding my head in agreement to his most ardent haters because yeah you're right. they did spend an insane amount of time forcing you to see just how innocent and well-intentioned and pure this egotistical mass-murderer was. and i also find myself nodding in agreement with his biggest fans because yeah. you're right. they did randomly turn this character into a moustache-twirling villain who does everything short of tying rook to railroad tracks and cackling as he runs away to tear down the veil. and all this because they couldn't stand to not have him be in the game in the biggest and most impactful way. they literally could not have a story without solas.

[fluffyk97]

Sonic 3 spoiler rambling about Sonic and Shadow under cut !

Y'know something that I feel might go lil under-appreciated is how well they made Sonic and Shadow mirror each other in the movie.

Like something that always can easily irk me are people boasting one of the two over the other because from the very beginning of his introduction to the series, Shadow's character is meant to reflect Sonic. They're meant to be equals that are so similar and complete opposites at the same time.

With the movie, I honestly wasn't expecting it that much. Sonic actually has a backstory that is just like Shadow's: powerful little hedgehog that is wanted for his power, so the one he's known his whole small life that he loves sacrifices herself to save him.

I fr fully expected Sonic to learn about Maria and be like "I lost Longclaw, I know you're pain, but-" blah blah blah- BUT they don't do that??

Of course, we have Commander Walters first telling Sonic that Shadow's story is a lot like his but wasn't able to find family and friends, and Sonic does find Shadow had a family from finding a picture of him and Maria together. He never gets told what happened exactly though, although it wouldn't make too much of a difference with the fact they did change up Shadow losing Maria just a little bit.

Since they didn't live up in space, Maria didn't have a capsule to send Shadow off with sacrificing herself and instead they made it an accident. WHICH- can be understandable if people don't like that, however personally I don't mind it that much because honestly the intent to shoot Maria was there, but she ended up being lost from an accident caused by Walters.

Which, ties in to Shadow hurting Tom...

Walters in trying to help save Maria's, Shadow's and Gerald's lives unfortunately led to Maria's death and watching Shadow be put in stasis for 50 years where all he thinks about is that painful memory burned fresh in his head. So of course when Shadow sees Tom disguised as Walters, he takes his anger out on him by hurting him while also stealing the key for the ARK. Leading to unfortunately another scenario of where the intent of harm is there, but someone still got hurt from an accident because Shadow never really meant to hurt Tom. But he does anyway..

Which of course in turn, makes Sonic mad just like Shadow was 50 years ago. Only difference is Sonic doesn't get immediately captured by GUN and forced into stasis. Letting him able to go straight to Shadow afterwards for hurting his family.

We have Shadow take note of all of that himself, telling Sonic he's feeling exactly the pain he felt and Sonic being the one to say "I'm nothing like you!". Just like how I thought Sonic would tell Shadow about Longclaw in hopes of redeeming him, but reversed and both sides full of anger and grief.

One awesome super fight later though, we come to the talk on the moon. Probably my favorite part in the whole movie. outside of the super fights and Live and Learn playing lol

After mentioning Tom and getting uppercutted straight to the moon by Sonic, Shadow loses his super form, leaving him vulnerable, easy for Sonic to take his revenge on him. Only for all of that to be stopped because of Shadow pointing at his own chest which reminds Sonic what Tom told him at the beginning of the movie and calm down.

"You didn't let pain change who you are."

This completely baffles Shadow, with him actually wanting Sonic to finish it, but of course Sonic just refuses saying "No one wins with revenge". It just leaves silence between them, finally giving Shadow his own moment of remembering Maria outside of her death by looking at the stars he used to gaze upon with her.

He mentions it to Sonic how all he knew and felt was just the pain, and now finally- FINALLY, Sonic mentions how he shares that feeling of loss from Longclaw. Not in a moment of trying to just redeem Shadow without the full weight of it, but in a moment of understanding.

A strong moment of these two looking at each other in a mirror, eye to eye. Sonic, who was allowed to grieve all those years ago after losing Longclaw, telling Shadow the pain of loss will never go away, but the love will always remain.

"The light shines, even though the star is gone."

And through that shared pain and loss, now coupled with empathy and understanding one another through it. They truly connect.

Sonic and Shadow's dynamic was just done SO WELL in the movie and I couldn't be happier with it...

[syscest]

hi im assuming the us vs them post is about a specific term, which one would that be?

so the sysmed out-group term being referenced in the joke post was (as the reblogs guessed) "endogenic", and I'll lay our thoughts out straight just once to avoid being potentially taken the wrong way

I've got two angles here, existential theological linguistic bullshit, and harm-reduction. stay with me here because even if you're not on board with the first thing you'll want to see the second.

so "traumagenic vs endogenic" is a false dichotomy, and I don't just mean "there's a secret third thing", I mean both classifications are fundamentally not real.

personally? we haven't the foggiest idea why we're a system. but the thing is, I don't think anybody else does either - I think it's genuinely impossible to know why your own consciousness is behind your own eyes and controlling your own body, why you *experience* existing in first-person at all. Like shit, lots of singlets believe it's because a soul has been created or introduced to their flesh, and a bunch of others think that's a load of crap and the chemicals just *do this* on their own. Singlets get this unalienable right to believe whatever the hell they want about why they're experiencing being themselves all the damn time, and I refuse to believe that systems are uniquely special in a way that singlets are not such that anyone can fucking flawlessly divine the cause of our consciousness all of a sudden. These are existential-tier questions and to deny their impossible complexity and the right to self-belief over them is, in my eyes, to deny systems something many singlets feel is part of what makes them human.

You can believe all sorts of stuff about the nature of your own systemhood just like how you can believe all sorts of stuff about the nature of your own existence - that doesn't make you definitively right, it's just a meaningful mechanism through which you understand your own experiences that other people should respect - it's like any faith, go figure.

Frustratingly, these words - traumagenic, endogenic - they're not talking about belief, they're objective buckets actively being used for exclusion. So every time we use the term "traumagenic systems", in saying "systems that objectively exist because of trauma" we are saying, loudly, "it is possible to know why a system exists". and frankly? no the fuck it isn't.

Anyway that's airy bullshit and reflects very idealised interactions so - practical, realist opinions, and harm reduction:

Saying "I'm pro-endo" is a net good, though I think "I support all systems" is probably marginally better because it doesn't perpetuate categories pushed by sysmeds for exclusionary reasons as being essential to defining systemhood - as we joked about.

Contrastingly, self-declaring "traumagenic" or "endogenic" in a bio is a net bad. Saying "I'm a traumagenic system" also says "Hello sysmeds, I believe in your dichotomy and I'm one of the good ones" (great way to get sysmed followers), and that factor doesn't go away if you go on to say that you support all systems - you've already thrown away your opportunity to shield more vulnerable systems from harassment through making who sysmeds need to target more obscure.

In fact, regardless of whether your bio says to sysmeds "I am a target" or "I'm not a target", by saying it explicitly, you're pressuring other, more vulnerable systems to similarly self-declare. It's like cis people putting pronouns in their bio to shield trans people from harassment through obscurity and embarrassment, but in reverse - if you shut up about it, and *just* call yourself a plural system, even if you do believe in their categorisations, you stop the propogation of the self-labelling and exclusionists are forced to make themselves look like idiots because most of their harassment would have to be done at random. It's basically herd immunity - nobody talks, everybody walks.

anyway yeah there's context for future, though honestly the section in plural respect is a lot more succinct lmao

[nonuniverse-tarot]

How Does Your Person View You?

This reading is the subjective point of view from your person. It might be or might not be true.

Pile 1. Pile 2. Pile 3.

Pile 1:

You're always on the move and not very emotional. You go and get what you want and aren't afraid to fight for it. You defend your point of view/ believes , but you don't go out of your way to start conflicts. If you're being attacked, then obviously you'll defend yourself.

They see you're up in your head a lot. Very dreamy, imaginative, full of ambition. A little stubborn at times, but with reason. To them, you're standing on stable ground and have valid reasons to be stubborn.

They see you as a knowledgeable person and that you have so many opportunities to succeed in whatever you put your energy in (however they view success).

They don't see you as an emotional person because you haven't really let them see that part of you. When things are getting too personal, you might change the topic and revert back to the composed you.

They admire you. They see you so high up and that you are capable of achieving anything and everything. For most of you, your person has seen you evolve into this 'new' you. They want to know you better, including your emotional side.

Songs: More Than A Friend - girli | Washing Machine Heart (Speed) - Mitski | Two - Sleeping At Last

Pile 2:

An old soul. You're not new in this world let alone, in this universe. They feel like you've gone through so much, but that you've learned from that and continued your path. You're not living in the past. You reflect a lot, but they see you applying what you have learned, into the present.

They think you're a bit lonely, even misunderstood, for some of you. You're so in tune with nature/universe/spirit - what that might look like for your person. You know what you're feeling, why you're feeling it, and what you'll do about it. They see you as a calm collected person.

There's this fear of getting close to you because they don't feel that they're at your level. They view you as knowledgeable in regards to spiritual topics and your person thinks they aren't so spiritual. They are open to it, but there's this irrational fear of you looking down on them for not knowing much.

Regardless of gender, they view you as a masculine person. You make decisions and act upon them. They're amazed by you and they think that you don't think very highly of them. You might have a bit of a resting bitch face without knowing.

Songs: She Likes A Boy - Nxdia | Miss You - Louis Tomlinson | Magia Blanca - Hermanos Carrion

Pile 3:

You limit yourself a lot but they also see you so free, flowing, and in tune with yourself, but for some reason, you limit yourself so much. Your person is frustrated. They don't know what they can do to help you realize this.

"Why do they stop themselves so much? Why do they hold themselves back so much? Why do they hide so much? Why aren't they showing their authentic self, their talents, their light to the world?"

From their point of view, there's nothing holding you back from doing anything. The Devil and 10 of Swords are in reverse - meaning you are free to do what you wish, but you think so low of yourself for a reason they don't understand or see, causing all those opportunities and freedom from happening.

It seems that you're open and trust your person, that's why they see all these amazing things about you. They have strong feelings towards you, but they feel that if they let you know, you'll reject them because of your poor self-esteem.

You think you're the worst being in the world, but they don't understand why you would think such a thing. They see you as the brightest light. The brightest of them all.

"Why are they looking for a devil that isn't there?"

Songs: I Really F**ked It Up - girli | Chance With You - mehiro | Drinking With Cupid - VOILÀ

~*~*~*~

I hope you liked the reading! Thank you for being here!

[tremendouscreationperson]

Logan x Reader pt.7

Not this chapter distracting me at work

I hope you can't tell that I'm really not American in this 🤣

<< Part 6 Part 8 >> Masterlist

“James Logan Howlett!” 

Shit. 

He jumped up from lazing on the bed - he'd need to buy a new mattress due to claw marks, you'd both got pretty carried away - and peaked his head into the bathroom. 

You were standing there, gloriously naked, staring at your reflection in the mirror. If there was a god he thanked them. You had to have been handcrafted. 

“Baby?” 

Your eyes met his through the mirror and you gestured to your neck. “What is this?!” 

He wanted to sass you by explaining what a neck was and that it held your esophagus but he didn't. His urge to claim you might've been dialled too high. Your neck and chest were marred with darker splotches, a reverse vitiligo. “I didn't hear you complaining at the time.” 

You humphed and prodded the marks. “I don't own enough clothes to hide these.” 

“You can wear mine.” He was sure there was a hoodie somewhere in his closet you could use.

“Lo, this is like hardcore shit.” You tried to reason with him. “They're gonna think you abuse me.” 

“Sorry.” He offered, really not sorry at all. Logan took a step into the bathroom and settled himself behind you, hands grazing your hips.

You huffed a laugh and rolled your eyes, head falling back onto his chest. “No you're not.” 

“No, I'm not.” He pecked your head. 

“Keep your lips away.” Swatting at him as you pulled back. 

Logan laughed at you but let you slip out of his grasp. You swivelled and leaned against the counter, folding your arms. “Very intimidating.” 

“Fuck off.” Eyes squinting. “But-” You sighed. “I may have to venture out and actually purchase some clothes. Hopefully I don't go crazy again.” You extenuated that with wavy hands and a funny voice.

Logan's eyes softened. “You're not crazy.” 

You shrugged, casually. “Eh, maybe a little.” 

He fixed a piece of hair that was more wild than the others and let his hand fall to your shoulder. His thumb rubbed a little circle. “We'll go together.” 

“Okay.” You smirked up to him, clasping his forearm. In a not so subtle move, you pulled his hand to your neck. “Maybe in a couple hours?” 

Logan's palm nestled on your neck, squeezing lightly. “I thought you were worried they'd assume I abuse you.” 

You mock-thought and then answered with, “You're allowed to abuse certain parts of me.” 

The twinkle in his eye and twitch of his jaw went straight to your core. Logan flexed his fingers then resettled them and pulled you in for a kiss. 

He made quick work of plucking you up from the floor and nestling you on the counter top. Your hands explored his chest, pulling at the hair. Logan purred into the kiss as your hands trailed down to his half hard dick. 

“Hmm,” You panted, “I want that in my mouth.”

Logan’s smile could be felt against your cheek as he nibbled at your earlobe. “Maybe later.” 

You humphed biting him back. Logan's whole body shuddered as you sucked his neck. Lapping up the bruised flesh before biting down again. 

He was quick to raise your legs, pushing your knees to your shoulders, and laid you onto your spine. The counter was cold and thankfully the side you were pretzeled on was bare of necessities. 

Logan had been fucking you all night, you didn't need to be 'wined and dined' before he fucked you but he still played with your folds. Teasing you by tracing a line from your clit to your entrance, he played with your slick and slid back upwards to the bud. He noted the marks on your thighs as he watched your hole clench around nothing, your chest rising and falling with every hitch. 

He loved watching your neck extend as you threw your head back, he could see his marks, see who owned you. Who fucked you right. Who kept you safe. He could - had - watch you in the throes of pleasure all night, he loved working you up. Having you spasm under him, shaking until you begged for more. 

You'd mumbled the words ‘fuck me’ a few times but they hadn't registered, he'd been too preoccupied with watching your pussy gush. It was so wet it practically dripped onto the countertop. 

“Lo-gan.” You whimpered. “Logan fuck me. Fill me. Use me. Just st-stop teasing me.” 

The position he had you in wasn't the comfiest but when he rubbed his dick between your folds you were too blissed out to care. He thrust into you and immediately bottomed out. 

“How are you still so tight?” His tongue caught between his teeth in a smirk. 

You groaned out a response but neither knew what it was. 

He was slow with his thrusts, drawing out your pleasure as one of his hands wrapped around your leg and began playing with your clit. 

His slow motion meant you felt everything, every ridge, every vibration, every circle of your clit, every hitch of his breath. Everything. And he loved giving you it all. Your brows were pulled upwards, eyes crossing and your mouth was hanging open in a silent moan. It was so good it silenced you. 

He noticed the slick he had used on your clit was drying so he angled himself and slowly spat onto it. And fuck me that was hot. 

He swirled his spit coated thumb and you felt your body convulse with the biggest orgasm of the night. 

You clamped down so hard he couldn't move, your hands flung to clutch his biceps and you stuttered out a moan. 

Logan smiled genuinely at your blissed out face and almost forgot he was inside of you. Once your pussy had released his dick he picked up the pace. He pounded into you with abandon, his thumb vibrating against your clit. You shook your head, still unable to form a sentence, and tried to get him to stop. It was too much. Too good. You were so overstimulated. 

“I can't-” The words were mushed into one singular noise.

“Yes, you can.” He itched to bite you, his jaw clamped to hold himself back. 

“Too much.” 

“No it's not.” 

“P-ple-” You cut yourself off with a yelp. Your body cumming again. 

“There we go baby.” He kissed your crown, finally releasing your bud.

Your brain completely short circuited and when you returned to your body you were nestled in bed, still panting. 

“Lo?” Your eyes scanned the empty room. 

He wasn't here. Where did he go? You should probably check but you physically couldn't move. 

You closed your eyes and sighed into the pillow. He'd come back and if this was fake - if you were still in the Void - you were okay with it. Cassandra might be the one fucking you but god it was good. 

“Baby?” Logan's voice made your eyes open, they were heavy but you forced them. “Drink this.” 

You frowned at the offered glass but did open your mouth. He tipped the water and watched you swallow, a droplet sliding passed your lips. He pulled back and placed the glass on your bedside table, wiping your chin with his thumb.

This was the Logan you remembered. Your Logan’s love language was acts of service. He’d help with taking your makeup off, carrying you to bed when you fell asleep on the sofa, saving you a plate and forcing you to eat properly, making you little whittled figures of birds for your desk. 

You missed him. You really did. 

“I ‘ove you.” You mumbled into the pillow. You did. You know he's not your Logan but he is your Logan. 

“I love you, too.” He spoke from behind you, his arm wrapping around your stomach as he kissed your cheek. 

~~

Clothes shopping was okay. It wasn't quite as intense as food shopping because despite there being just as much - maybe more - choice, you could immediately see what you liked and what you didn't. 

You'd brought a whole wardrobes worth of  clothes. Picked up a couple of oversized shirts - one with the scooby gang on - and a few ‘cycling’ shorts. There were a few pairs of jeans in your basket and some vest tops with Hawaiian-style shirts and co-ord sets - You only picked these up because the mannequins pulled them off, you had no sense of style after all these years - you'd grabbed two nighties and one pj set as well as underwear. 

Logan was happy to watch your little fashion shows in the dressing room. You, Laura and El had awkwardly displayed each outfit - you refusing to remove the scarf he had let you borrow - to him nodding or wide-eyed nodding. The latter meant he didn't like it but was supporting. 

"Is this nice enough for Wade's party?" You exited the changing room, fighting with the curtain and deciding to leave it closed.

You were wearing a simple, lilac dress. There were no patterns, no frills, nothing but a comfortable fabric.

Logan whistled lowly. "You look beautiful."

El stopped complaining about women's sizings being different depending on the store and popped her head out of her curtain. "Oh, you do!"

You thanked the two and retreated back into the curtain.

"Wait come out again." Laura's voice stopped you from pulling the fabric over your head.

You replaced the dress and stepped out again.

Laura was standing in black shorts that met her thighs and a Metallica shirt. She observed your outfit, her eyes scanning your body, and nodded. "I was going to wear this but you look nicer. Lighter colours."

"There is no dress code. Just wear what makes you feel good."

She considered. "I like the dress. The colour is nice against your skin and hair."

El picked up jeans and some ‘gym-wear’ as she had discovered one down the road and was now a full time member. She, and the others, seemed remarkably well adjusted. In fact, you know Blade had gone on a hunt! A real-life Vampire hunt. 

Gambit had discovered the Playstation and was enjoying his time with Wade playing online. 

Laura had taken up art, she'd drew with you in the Void and her attempts were better than yours but now she was really starting to show potential. 

“She has colours on her fingers.” Laura commented about the cashier; a young woman with piercings and dyed hair. 

“That's called nail varnish.” You supplied, swiping your card. 

The lady glanced between you two but didn't comment, instead telling you she had them done at the shop on the upper level in the mall. ‘Kole’s Nails’.

You thanked her for your items and the information, leaving to meet Logan and El. 

“I am starving.” Elektra told the group. 

“I guess we’re heading to the food hall?” You raised a brow and the group all agreed. The four of you headed west, staying on the ground floor, and found yourselves at the food hall. 

There was ‘McDonalds’ - burgers - ‘KFC’ - chicken - ‘Burger King' - more burgers - ‘Eds Diner' - hotdogs - ‘Chipotle’ - burritos - ‘Five Guys’ - even more burgers - ‘Panda Express’ - Chinese food. 

“We can go further in, find a restaurant.” Logan suggested. 

“I'm alright here.” You shrugged, plonking your bags down on a table. “Right here to be precise.” 

He shook his head. “What do you want? I'll get it while you wait with your bags.” 

“Oh.” You scanned the options again. “Just a burger.” 

“From where?” 

“Any of them. Just a cheeseburger meal, fries, a coke?” 

He could see you were becoming a little overwhelmed so gave you a big smile and nod. “One burger meal coming up, Laura, are you staying with Y/N?”

She glanced at you. “I can.” 

“Guys, I'm fine, go and get your food. Leave all your stuff here. I'm going to be really social and be on my phone the whole time you're away.” 

It took another ‘go’ for Logan to leave but he did and you made good on your promise. Your phone entertained you as you waited. 

Wade had taught you what mobile data was. It was internet but everywhere. 

You opened Instagram - which was basically Facebook but the younger kids used it - and scrolled mindlessly through before closing it and pulling Facebook up.

You had been fighting with yourself for a while. 

Did you search for your mother? Was that allowed? Would the illuminati know? 

You typed and deleted her name twice before pressing search. 

There were a few other people with her name but you scrolled down and found her, she was the seventh person. 

Her profile picture was her smiling with a man, you assumed her partner, and her cover picture was a pink building. It had a sign on i-it was a bakery. 

There was a linked page revealing that she owned the bakery. Your mother owned a bakery? 

Yeah, she dabbled and more often than once you had a cake to take into school but once your mutation started revealing itself you didn't see her bake. She worried more. She was stressed. She only seemed relieved when you were sent to Xavier's. 

Your mom wasn't prejudiced. She loved you despite the mutation but she was terrified. You could be attacked or sold or worse. 

To see her with this man and this job was surreal.

She had a good life. 

One free of issues. 

One free of you. 

“One burger meal, madam!” Logan set the tray in front of you and you quickly locked the phone, tucking it away.

“Thank you, sir.” You mocked his voice and stole a fry. 

Elektra and Laura were still waiting to collect their food at Chipotle as you and Logan munched. 

“You alright?” He asked, not looking at you. 

You stopped mid fry. “Yeah…? You?” 

His eyes flickered to your face, picking up his drink. “How you feeling about tomorrow?” He sucked the straw. 

Ah. Tomorrow. Therapy. Your scheduled therapy session. It was crazy to think you'd already been in this universe a week and a half but the majority of that was you recovering in Logan's bed.

“I think it'll be okay.” You said diplomatically causing him to quirked a brow so you added, “everyone else seems more adjusted than me.” 

“Don't be worried. You’re coping well.” He vowed. 

Letting that sink in you took a sip of your drink. "Do we need to look around the mall for a mattress store?"

"No, I ordered one online." You indicated for him to continue by making a face. "It isn't the first time I've destroyed a mattress." Your mind went to hot steamy sex and he could clearly see it in your eyes. "Less fucking, more PTSD."

Your cheeks were warm and, thankfully, you didn't have to respond because the girls returned. El placed the bag on the table and ripped it to reveal two burritos. 

She ripped the foil and sniffed. “It's been so long since I've had one.” You laughed at her, watching as she chomped. “Oh m-god, it's beautiful.” She spoke with a mouth full.

Laura watched the display and copied El’s movements, less dramatically, nodding in approval as she chewed. 

“What have you got?” You questioned. 

Laura quickly swallowed, listing the ingredients. “Chicken, coriander rice, pinto beans, cheese, guacamole. There's salad too. 

Your eyes flicked to Elektra. “Beef, tomato rice, salsa, guac.” 

The four of you ate and finished your food, sitting and chatting idly. There was nothing important or life threatening so you could. You didn't think you'd ever get over that, how you could do things because you wanted to now. 

It was easy living. 

“I think we're all done, right?” Elektra counted the shopping bags. 

“Yeah.” But then you recalled. “Oh, Laura and I were going to check our Koles nails.” 

Logan's brows rose as he collected the rubbish. “Koles nails?” 

“The lady had colours on her fingers.” Laura explained.

El glanced at her hands, she kept her nails neat and tidy. Fresh water was rare in the Void and now she had access she went overboard on cleanliness. “I wouldn't mind getting my nails done.”

So it was decided and you all meandered up to the upper level, consorting the map and finding Koles Nails. 

It was a small shop but had more than enough chairs. 

The noises and smells were intense but you pushed through. “Any space for three?” 

The man at the desk flicked through a book and then - in a language you didn't understand - called over his shoulder. Once he had a response he agreed. “Plenty space.”

He handed over a plastic box full of circles of nails, each of which had different shades of one colour. 

El pointed at a few reds and Laura nodded, showing the black glitters. You handed a few discs to Logan, telling him to pick a colour. You didn't have any preferences, anything would do, in fact you didn't really care for nail polish, only here for Laura's sake. 

“First person.” The man gestured behind his shoulder at the empty chair. 

Laura subtly shook her head. 

“I'll go.” Elektra spared her.  

El placed her bags by the waiting chair, then weaved her way through and sitting down.

“It's okay.” You encouraged Laura. 

“It's loud.” She placed the disc into the storage box. “What are they doing?” She tiptoed to see the closest nail tech using a Dremel to file. 

“They file the nail down.” You explain. “It doesn't hurt.” 

Maybe this wasn't the best move. What if they hurt her by mistake and her claws come out? 

“Purple.” Logan finally decided, it was a bit of a cop out because purple was your super suit colour but the shade he picked was pastel. It was very subtle almost nude. “I'm not even sure they can file her nails.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“The healing factor.” He dropped the discs into the box. 

That was something to consider. 

“Next person.”

Laura was still indecisive so you went next. You placed your bags next to El’s and worked your way through, the ammonia hitting you in the face as you walked further in.

El was sitting two spaces from you. The couple in between were cute, one girl was finished and waiting for the other. Both of them had very adventurous nails in length and colour. One was navy and lime green and the other was pink with little chains. The chains were setting under the UV light. 

You smiled politely at your nail tech and, after a brief glance, asked for ‘coffin’ shape. The lady nodded and began her work, cutting and filing your nails. 

The lady - Liu - was very professional and asked you casual questions as she went. 

“Hey, bub.” Logan sat down next to you, in the now empty chair, the women had left hand in hand and giggling. Laura sat next to him. 

You were confused, “Hi, love.” 

“The only way Laura’d get her nails done.” He heaved a sigh but his eyes were soft.

“Oh.” You chuckled. “What colour are you going for?” 

“She picked yellow and blue.” He shrugged. “My colours.” 

You smirked. “Good job Laura!” 

The girl shyly smiled as she presented her hands

~~

Wade was furious.

You don't think he's ever been this angry.

“Are you fuck knuckles serious?” He yelled. It was a little funny because he was wearing Hello Kitty pjs whilst fully screaming at you.

“Calm down.” Elektra ordered using her ‘mom voice’.

Behind Wade you could see the front door open and Blade slide in, the commotion drawing his attention.

The ‘mom voice’ worked because Wade’s voice was lower but the anger was still behind his eyes. “I cannot believe you four would betray me like this.”

“C’mon.” You tried. “It was a spur of the moment thing. We didn't plan it.”

“Somehow that makes it worse.”

All this was happening because Laura excitedly showed Wade a photo of the group's nails. She had everyone put one hand - Logan had to put both - doing a ‘peace’ sign to create a star. The picture was very creative and showed off your nails.

“Will you calm the fuck down?” Logan spat. “It was a good day out and your bitching and whining is gonna ruin it.”

“Says the almighty wolverine.” Wade flailed his arms. “You aren't the one with crusty dusty nails.”

“This is why no one likes talking with you.” Logan's voice was low but you still heard. “You overreact.”

“People love talking with me.” Wade argued. “I was on the phone with a telemarketer for two hours earlier!” Logan huffed. "Well, Lo' remember this little family of yours only exists because of me. Because of my movies doing well. Yours were alright but you were dead. I brought you back. I'm the reason your life is bearable."

You had placed a hand on Logan's arm as a precaution. Slightly, pulling him as you stepped a fraction forward. “Look, Wade, I am very sorry that we didn't realise this would hurt your feelings. Rest assured, next time you will be called and you better be present.”

It was hard to tell because of the scarring but you're sure he flexed his jaw in deliberation. It didn't take much time before he relented with an “Okay.”

“And you don't overreact that much.” You winked. “I swear Spidey loved it. Maybe you should find him in this universe.”

Wade's eyes left you briefly to glance at his fuzzy slippers. “I'll frequent more rooftops.”

~~

The therapist was a middle aged black man. He was from Ghana and had moved to New York when he was twenty. He was sweet enough, with a kind face and cheeky smile.

His name was Dave.

He was easy to talk to.

Easier than you imagined.

“So, how have you been adjusting?”

You were standing by the window. He'd offered a seat but you were too nervous to be still. “I think okay.” A father pushed his child's stroller, your eyes followed them until they were out of sight. Dave hadn't said anything else. The room was quiet. “I had a... wobble.” You filled the silence.

“A wobble?” His eyes flickered from the notebook as you turned to face him, perching on the lip of the wall.

“Yeah.” You shrugged. “I dunno what else to call it. Loga-Wolverine said it was a panic attack. I'm not saying he's wrong but is he right?”

“What happened?”

The room was very brown, reminding you of the TVA, it definitely hadn't been redecorated since the eighties. “I was shopping and it was a lot. Noises, smells, sights.” You tucked your hands into your jean pockets. “It was just too much, I found a corner and hunched over.” By the end of the sentence you realised how serious it was. “It's lucky I didn't create any forcefields. Imagine that? Me stuck without help because I'm forcing them away.”

He made a note and then asked, “Do you often push people away?”

Well, fuck me Dave. That was an accusation. “Uh, I don't know. I don't think so?” You didn't. In the Void you accepted anyone with open arms, most of the time to your detriment.

“Hmm.”

“What's 'hmm' mean?” You spoke casually, wanting to play it cool despite the intense need to know what he was thinking. What he was writing about you.

Dave sighed and scratched his chin. “I think you close yourself off.”

“Do I?”

“I think you aren't ready to accept that you are here. In this reality.” He turned his head to the side, pondering his next words. “I think you believe this is too good to be true. That this isn't real. That you have to keep that wall up in case. So the disappointment isn't as bad.”

Shit.

You'd met the fella less than thirty minutes ago and he had you pinned.

“I guess I am worried.” Your fingers strum along your thighs as he made eye contact. “But I'd rather prepare for disappointment and it not happen, than not and it does.”

“But if you do that, in both scenarios, you are disappointed. Either by your own mind or circumstance.”

He wasn't incorrect. But he hadn't lived the life you had. “Your world is different from mine.” You spoke after a few beats.

“I know your time in the Voi-”

“No. Your world.” You gestured all around you. “Mine was colder. Harsher. Mutants were lesser beings, we were beaten in the streets, used as slaves, sold. Mocked. W-we weren't even second class citizens, we were third or fourth. I was lucky enough to have a place at Xavier's institute. Lucky enough to be an X-Man. To fight for what's right. Jean-my friend was consumed by darkness and then the TVA came and I was flung into the Void. I've been fighting all my life, so if being disappointed is the worst this universe can give me. That's fucking brilliant.”

Dave was quiet except for the scribbling of his pen. Clearly hadn't been briefed on your world. TVA, tick. The Void, tick. Being an X-Man, half tick. Being a Mutant, tick. Being a Mutant in your world, nope.

“There is a lot that we will have to work through.”

“Yeah.” You had assumed he'd say something along those lines.

He finally put the pen down again and completely changed the subject. “Let’s talk about your mother.”

“My mother?”

“You've been researching her.” He informed.

Fucking Illuminati. “I was curious, sue me.”

He was slow as he did it but took a sip from his teacup. “How did it make you feel once you found her?”

You didn't really feel anything. Well, you had but you didn't now. How did you feel? “She has a bakery.”

“Did she have a bakery in your world?”

You scoffed. “No, she had debt and stress and a freak child.”

He hummed, swirling the contents of the cup. You'd been offered tea as well as your seat but refused both. “Were you jealous?”

“Jealous?”

“She has made something that isn't you. Did you feel jealous?”

Did you? No, not really. It's just something that happened. Just what your mother had done with her life. “I don't think so. Confused is more the word I'd say.”

“Did you see any children?” He took a final sip.

“No, she has a partner, though. They seem happy.”

Dave put the cup down and licked his lips, tongue just brushing his moustache. “She didn't have you which had led her to a thriving business and a loving relationship.”

Lay it on thick. “Well, I didn't say thriving.”

“You use humour to cover your emotions.” He commented before once again staying silent. Giving you the floor. It was your turn to defend yourself. Your turn to answer him.

You considered your options. Fight the therapist and get put in whatever prison the illuminati owned or just go with it for a couple months. You'd been honest pretty much the entire time anyway.

“I suppose it hurts? It's a little sore knowing that maybe she could've been happy in my world. If she didn't have me.”

“Why worry about things that could be?”

“We established that I like disappointment.”

“Yes. You do.” He said it so matter of factly that it took you aback. “It's been a companion all your life and you are loath to be rid of it. It's a safety net.” He elaborated.

“Right.”

Were therapists meant to goad you like this? Didn't they just sit and let you talk? Was this some sort of special treatment? Was he trained to break you down? Make you feel like shit just to see if you'd break?

“You do seem fairly well adjusted.” He allowed. “There's a few topics I would like to circle back on. We will tackle them.”

“Okay.” You agreed. Was that it? “Are we finished?”

“You have five minutes left, the majority of our session was spent in silence. The window drew your attention more than I.”

“Sorry.” You hadn't realised that, that was rude. So much for first impressions. “Thank you. I'll see you next month?”

“No, I'd like to do weekly sessions with you.” He heaved himself up, plodding over to a set of wooden drawers. He plucked his planner and scanned the days. “How are Thursdays? I can do 12 or 2.30.”

You refrained from making a dentist joke. “12 sounds alright.”

“See you next week.”

Part 8

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[l-in-the-light]

Luffy vs Katakuri. Fighting Oneself on the Other Side of the Mirror (1/2)

This post about Luffy's and Katakuri's similarities was requested by @mewiyev, I hope you will enjoy it! Also, there will be a part 2 coming up :D

I often mention that Whole Cake Island is our Alice in Wonderland arc of One Piece. Strawhats explore the Mysterious Forest and find their own dopelgangers that look like their own reflections in the mirror. That theme is especially important for Luffy and Katakuri's fight.

The mirror and its reflective world are symbolic of transition, transformation, identity, and perception. Mirrors can also reveal the future.

Right at the beginning of the arc, Luffy finds his doubleganger. It serves as foreshadowing to his fight with Katakuri of course, but also introduces us to the oddities of this new adventure. Strawhats enter a fantastical world (mysterious forest, but also Whole Cake Island in general) where the laws of physics and logic do not apply.

To move forward you need to go backwards, when you want to rush, you need to walk slowly, everything is reversed, like in a mirror.

Resting and relaxing before a battle? That's not how world works according to Luffy! Doing a stealth mission instead of beating up the emperor? Unheard of!

A cooking Luffy?! Welcome to Luffy in the Wonderland adventure! Mirrors often show us also "the opposite of what is normal or expected".

There's even someone taking over Sunny and attemping to steal Luffy's position as the captain of the Strawhats! Even later trying to recruit Luffy as his own underling, turning the familiar hierarchy completely upside down.

And that person is suspiciously similar to Luffy, especially in his powers, but also his personality, code of honor and strength of will.

They even mention that it feels like fighting oneself.

Except the tiny fact that Katakuri is "slightly" better than Luffy.

His techniques are better versions of Luffy's.

Mochi, despite being quite elastic and stretching, is a bit different from rubber, it's sticky and you can eat it, and it definitely doesn't bounce. That's why despite the similarities, Katakuri and Luffy are also different people when they start this fight.

The obvious difference between them would be the mastery of observation haki.

Now, there's no denying that Katakuri's observation haki is very impressive, but, as we learn later, it's less about developing the skill and more about "how he uses it".

You can fool your opponent thanks to it. We know from Pekoms that Big Mom's strength lies in her ability to acquire information. That's her biggest power. Katakuri knowing what Gear 4 or elephant gun attack is, doesn't have to be the result of his observation haki, but cleverly faking it and adjusting it, based on all the intel he acquired about his opponent beforehand. That's how he makes his powers seem even more terrifying. Because like Bege said: "looking into the future doesn't make Katakuri more special", but overwhelming his opponent into believing that it makes him invincible is definitely working in his favour.

He's the strongest General Officer in Big Mom's empire and Strawhats declared war on her all the way back in Fishman Island arc. Katakuri had plenty of time and reason to do his research for his future potential opponent.

Katakuri sees right through Luffy's attack and understands his intentions like they're transparent. That's because he would probably do exactly the same in this situation: take the blow on himself to prevent anyone else from getting harmed.

Katakuri as a child would never accept people laughing at him, but he learned his lesson thanks to Brulee getting hurt. The same way Luffy learned his lesson from Shanks, who ended up losing an arm as the result.

They both want to defeat each other at their best.

They both rely on imagination in the fight, adapting new techniques quickly. Katakuri was so delighted with the donuts he made them into his new attack. At the end of this fight Luffy gets inspired by Katakuri and exploits the future sight's weakness by adapting unpredictability (like in his fight with Enel) and as the result his Snakeman is born. It's the first time Luffy's attacks don't follow any laws of physics, instead they mimick Katakuri's mochi qualities!

And meat is source of strength for Luffy.

They're on the same page. They want one on one fight with no one disturbing them. Katakuri even brought Brulee here, like he was hoping Luffy's actions would lead to this outcome. They're almost guessing each other's thoughts here. Is that observation haki, or is that them just being so similar to each other? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Katakuri criticizing Strawhats for being overly emotional, despite being worried about his own brother as well. He keeps his calm no matter what, but he doesn't do it for himself, he does it for the people he still needs to protect. Luffy also demonstrates it when he tells everyone to not waste Pedro's sacrifice and escape.

But just like rubber and mochi can be similar but aren't identical, Luffy and Katakuri also have some important differences.

Katakuri is quite considerate, but also peculiar about his sweets. It's kinda reversed for Luffy who can eat just about anything and won't complain (despite his preference for meat), but will often behave in inconsiderate ways, especially when he eats all the food by himself and won't leave anything for others.

Luffy also is clearly more chaotic and crazy than Katakuri, if Brulee's reaction is anything to go by. And she probably knows Katakuri the best out of everyone ;)

Katakuri has a reputation to uphold which is vastly different from Luffy's: the walking chaos. Katakuri is the perfectionist on the surface, but...

It turns out even Katakuri isn't perfect and can also lose his calm. He has his weakness, he hates when others see how he looks when he eats and would avoid it at all costs. It didn't use to be this way, it's the result of his past, he decided to "change his nature" (carefree, earnest, soft) for the sake of others, literally and figuratively hiding it from other people's perception.

Mirrors are said to have the power to deeply disclose who we truly are. That's not a coincidence that Luffy and Katakuri's fight takes places in the mirror world of all places.

But Luffy, after catching up on Katakuri's true nature and seeing through him, knows that Katakuri isn't that stoic perfectionist that we were led to believe. Luffy is honest with him here, telling him he needs extra time to recover, not hiding anything. Katakuri reacts with "I'm not so soft to let you get away like that!", but he actually is. After Luffy miraculously escapes, Katakuri just sits and waits for him to return, despite the fact he says he half-expected Luffy to escape and not come back.

As the battle goes on, differences between Luffy and Katakuri dimnish further, they start to reflect each other more and more. Even the thing Katakuri couldn't comprehend: Luffy's neverending determination to stand back up despite falling to the ground over and over again in shame of defeat.

Luffy tells him. "It just feels much better that way". Being able to just freely voice his thoughts, to complain when he feels pain or hunger, to thank his opponent when he feels grateful to him, to fall to the ground when his opponent's attack is stronger and better. Live earnestly, embrace everything that is thrown at you, just do your best the way you are, not by trying to be something or someone you're not. Be free.

And at the very end of their battle, Katakuri does the same, for the first time in decades, erasing the last difference between Luffy and himself: he also falls on his back. Luffy placing the hat on his face is the sign of respect, but if you think about it, it erases the whole point Luffy was trying to make, doesn't it? It's like telling Katakuri to still hide his weakness. But Luffy never meant to undermine Katakuri's resolve. He just tried to show him that he can be free while also respecting the vow he made to himself long time ago. One doesn't exclude the other, if that's what you choose for yourself, by yourself.

That's what changed for Katakuri and it stays true later on. Katakuri is still hiding his face, as we are shown through Egghead arc. And that is not a contradiction. The vow he made in his childhood never stopped being important to him, after all, and we will explore the reason for it.

But what changed for Luffy? Alice in the Wonderland is said to be a tale about Alice maturing. So does Luffy change or learn lessons from this adventure or does he just become better at haki and that's it? We will take a closer look at it in part 2. Edit: part 2 is done! https://www.tumblr.com/l-in-the-light/763644921544638464

(yes I run out of pictures per post space again)

[judasrpc]

THE MAJOR ARCANA, REVERSED

a collection of character development questions based on the arcana and their themes !! this is part of a collection of tarot-themed asks. if multi, please specify which muse(s) the question is directed toward !!

[THE FOOL] - Do you consider them naive, or disconnected from the world aronud them? If so, what do they need to step back and reflect on to get them "in the zone"?

[THE MAGICIAN] - Do they self-sabatoge, or do they sabatoge others in their lives? If so, how?

[THE HIGH PRIESTESS] - Do they easily trust others, or do they listen to their gut more? Are they distrusting?

[THE EMPRESS] - What economic background did they grow up in, or are a part of now? Has their situation gotten better or worse?

[THE EMPEROR] - Where do they stand in the social hierarchy of their group (e.g., are they at the top of the chain, or are they subservient to those around them?)

[THE HIEROPHANT] - Do they often abide by social norms, or do they reject institutional values in favor of flexibility/independence?

[THE LOVERS] - Are they a good communicator, or do they tend to crack under pressure?

[THE CHARIOT] - Do they feel like they belong anywhere, or do they feel outcast in comparison to their peers?

[STRENGTH] - Are they jealous/envious? If so, what makes them jealous/envious of those around them?

[THE HERMIT] - Is solitude a good or bad thing for them? Do they like being alone, or do they have no choice?

[WHEEL OF FORTUNE] - Are they lucky, or does misfortune tend to follow them wherever they go?

[JUSTICE] - What do they need to be held accountable for? What actions, if any, do they deny responsibility for?

[THE HANGED MAN] - Do they feel "stuck" in any aspects, or as if they're falling behind their goals?

[DEATH] - What are they holding onto, and are they refusing to let this go?

[TEMPERANCE] - Do they tend to think in a polarized manner, or do they attempt to navigate the nuance of whatever troubles them?

[THE DEVIL] - What is their go-to recovery plan? Do they take time for themselves, or do they jump back into action without a second thought?

[THE TOWER] - What is the most disastrous thing that could happen to them? How would they navigate that situation/event?

[THE STAR] - Are they faithful? If so, to who/to what, and how do they show it?

[THE MOON] - What is one question they would do anything to get an answer to, no matter the cost?

[THE SUN] - Is it hard for them to stay positive? If so, why is that?

[JUDGMENT] - What is one thing they harshly judge themselves for? What creates doubt and self-loathing for them?

[THE WORLD] - What are they missing in life? What one thing, if anything, is the "key" to their success?

[thatgirlsworld36]

Kylian Mbappe NSFW alphabet

(minors DNI!!!)

TW: NSFW themes; read it only if you feel comfortable. English is not my first language. 

Enjoy!

A= Aftercare(what they're after sex)

Kylian is deeply attentive in aftercare, often offering a soothing rub on your back while sharing soft, reassuring words. He believes that the moments after intimacy are just as important as the act itself. He will cuddle you until you fall asleep in his arms, offering you soft touches creating a safe space for both of you to unwind and connect emotionally.

B= Body part(their favorite body part and also their partner's)

Kylian takes pride in his powerful legs, which reflect his athletic prowess and speed on the field.(and we all know he is the flash himself) He also love his smile. You always tell him how it can light up a room and bring joy to the people around him. So you are the culprit who made him love his smile so much. 

He likes your ass. He loves to squeeze, slap and bite it. He also loves laying on it(or on your chest so he can listen to your heartbeat). Buuuut he also is drawn to your hands, admiring their grace and how they convey affection through touch, often finding them irresistible when intertwined with his.

C= Cum(anything to do with cum basically)

With a cheeky grin, Kylian approaches this topic with humor, often joking about how it symbolizes their shared passion. He sees it as an intimate act that solidifies their connection, enjoying the playful banter that comes with discussing desires. So he always and I mean ALWAYS cum inside of you. The only expectation is when you are giving him a blow job and you two are somewhere where he can’t stop it mid doing it and come in you.

D= Dirty secret(pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret they desire)

He wants to do a sex tape. Just so you two can watch it when the other is not around but he is too scared to do so. He doesn’t want it somehow to get leaked on the internet. You two actually were sooo close to do it but he refused at the last moment.

E= Experience(how experience are they?)

Kylian may be still young, but he exudes a natural charm and curiosity in the bedroom. He’s eager to learn what pleases his partner, often asking for feedback and showing a genuine interest in their desires, making each encounter a collaborative adventure. So yeah, he knows what to do with you. (that’s random but i think he want you also to know what you're doing, like he don’t like virgins(HELP ME, WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE😭😭))

F= Favorite position(again, pretty self explanatory)

Doggy style. As I said he have something about your ass. So he loves watching it bounce and slap at him. It's the same as reverse cowgirl.  

But if he is in a more clingy, affectionate mood Kylian enjoys the intimacy of spooning during it. He appreciates the closeness it brings, allowing for whispered sweet nothings and lingering kisses.

G= Goffy (are they more serious in the moment? do they joke during it?)

Kylian’s playful nature shines through during intimacy. He often breaks the tension with silly faces or light teasing, making you laugh and ensuring that the atmosphere remains fun and relaxed, turning every moment into a joyful experience.

H= Hair(how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc)

 Kylian keeps his hair stylish and well-groomed, often experimenting with different looks that showcase his personality. He pays attention to detail, ensuring that he looks attractive. His private area does not make expectations. He keep it neat but nothing too special.

I think he doesn’t care if you are groomed or not. I mean yeah, you should have personal hygiene(like please😭🙏🏼), buut he wouldn’t mind if there are any hair.

I= intimacy(how intimate are they during it?)

Kylian places a high value on emotional connection, often engaging in deep conversations before and after sex. The eye contact he hold with you during it(and not only there) is on another level. He also always have his hands on you somewhere.

J= Jack off(masturbation headcanon)

He views self-exploration as an important aspect of his sexuality, often using this time to understand his body better. Kylian finds it liberating and enjoys experimenting with different fantasies, which enriches his intimate relationships. So yeah, he doesn’t find it as such a big problem when he is away for a game(but it should not be for too long because the moment he can finally put his hands on you…wish you luck)

K= Kink(one or more of their kinks)

Kylian has a fascination with playful role-play, enjoying the chance to step into different personas and explore various dynamics.

He also has breeding kink. (Like, have you ever seen him with children?) I think he wants to have several in the future. And the idea that you will be their mother makes him crazy.

Okay, I'm not sure if I should or should not say that… Fuck it im gonna say it anyway! As I said he LOVES your ass. No, love is not strong enough…he mmm *word stronger than love😆* your ass. So he may or may not have something for anal sex(HERE, I SAID IT!)

But let's not forget he won’t do anything that would make you uncomfortable.

L= Location(favorite place to do it)

While he loves the comfort of home, Kylian also enjoys the thrill of having sex in more adventurous spots, like a secluded beach or a cozy cabin in the woods. 

Buuut he is a little paranoid that someone can record you and put you on the internet(as I said before) so when he is in this “mood” he will choose the comfort of your home. Like the kitchen cabinet, the dining table or like the bathroom floor(??)

M= Motivation(what turns them on?)

Kylian is particularly turned on when you  do something spontaneously. He loves when you surprise him with playful gestures(like putting your hand on his upper tigh during family diner) or unexpected flirtation, finding that these moments of unpredictability heighten his desire.

N= No(something they wouldn't do, turn offs)

He has a strong aversion to anything that involves degradation or humiliation. Kylian believes that intimacy should be uplifting and enjoyable, where both partners feel respected and valued. So no no no.(also if you compare him to one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . HAD TO SAY IT SORRY(i'm not sorry, dying out of laughter rn))

O= Oral( preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc..)

Kylian enjoys both giving and receiving oral, approaching this part of intimacy with enthusiasm. He takes pride in his skills, often striving to please you and make you feel adored. This man eats you like he has been starved ALL HIS LIFE. So yeah he prefers giving.

When the tables turn around he absolutely wouldn't refuse when you give him head. He love how good you take him in your mouth… he also have good view of your ass.

P= Pace(are they fast and rough? slow and sensual?)

Fast. And furious. That's it. We all have seen this man's energy. The only time he MAY(still not 100% sure) that he may go slower is if he is REALLY REALLY  sad after a bad loss or something like that.

Q= Quickie(their opinions on quckies, how often etc..)

 He finds quickies to be a thrilling way to spice up their intimacy, particularly when time is limited. Kylian enjoys the adrenaline rush of a spontaneous encounter, viewing it as an exciting opportunity to connect in a different way. SO yeah, he will be fucking you before his game. Or the middle of it. Or when the game ends before he take you home and…. I will let you guess.

R= Risk(do they take risk? How far are they ready to go?)

 Kylian is adventurous and enjoys taking risks, particularly in trying out new experiences that challenge their comfort zones. But if he want to do something new in the bedroom but he is not 100% sure he will think really hard about it. And probably wont do it… until he remember about it. And start rethinking it again.

S= Stamina(how many rounds can they go? how long do they last?)

Kylian has impressive stamina, often surprising you with how long he can go. He enjoys taking his time, ensuring that every moment is savored, and he can last longer than most, keeping the passion alive. He can go for many rounds without taking breaks, but he will take them if you need it.

T= Toys(do they own toys? do they use them?)

He is open to the idea of incorporating toys into your sex experiences, seeing them as a fun way to enhance pleasure and explore new sensations. I think that he may have one vibrator and plug he uses on you sometimes. And if you have some sex toys he will be more than happy to use them. (or if you don’t you two can look at them online and to a little “shopping spree”)

U= Unfair(how much they like to tease?)

Kylian loves to tease his partner, often building anticipation with playful touches and lingering glances before finally giving in to your desire. He can tease you for hours, driving you to the edge, only to not let you come. He loves to watch you beg him to let you cum.

V= Volume(how loud they are during it?)

Kylian can be quite expressive during it, often voicing his pleasure with soft moans and encouraging words. His vocalizations help create an intimate atmosphere, making you feel appreciated and desired.

X= X-Ray(let's see what's going on under those clothes)

He is big. But not that big. Like he is more thick. He can touch every right spot to make you go crazy.

Y= Yearning(how high is their sex drive?)

Kylian has a strong sex drive, often feeling a deep desire for connection and intimacy.  But sometimes it can be pushed aside because he wants to be the best on that field.

Z= Zzz(how quickly they fall asleep afterwards?)

 After you two are done, Kylian tends to fall asleep quickly, often wrapping his arms around you, drifting off with a content smile, feeling grateful for the connection you two shared.

my masterlist

[cyborg-squid]

Slept and reflected on my Canto 7 thoughts some more and stumbled some themes regarding the original Don Quixote and the themes of parent and child they have with Sancho and the Family; this was sparked by DQs panic effect which was something like 'Duty/Responsibility to the Family' (can't find the exact text).

And, while this might not be something I personally agree with, there's this idea and trope that parents, when they have a family, have to give up some of their hobbies or aspirations or the like; we can see that, by the end of DQs story, he has accepted that he has to give up his heroic dreams in order to take care of his Family, believing now that the two can no longer coexist. And knowing, rather accurately, that it was his dream that put his Family in this position to begin with; at the start, his Family didn't really believe in his dreams of human and Bloodfiend coexistence and heroic Fixers, but they were willing to go along with it because they love their Father.

It's a little painful to type this, but the assessment of his dream as being naive is pretty accurate, at least in it's manifestation via La Manchaland, because while he has been able to maintain strong self-discipline in refusing to drink from humans, his Children didn't have that same quality and didn't fully know what they were getting into with being a part of La Manchaland, and the deprivation they would end up being subjected to, all for a cause and dream they didn't truly believe. It's no surprise, then, that they ended up breaking. The Children, even though they're not being forced per se, go along with it in order to make their Father happy, without fully knowing what it would entail.

And by the time of the final boss fight, DQ knows this, sees the suffering his childish dream has wrought upon his family, and is now ready to bear the responsibility of taking care of them, as well as the responsibility for their sins, which (in his eyes) means the final abandonment of his long held dream. Our Don Quixote has most often been depicted as a childish one, but it is La Manchaland's Don Quixote that now has an arc depicting a reaching of maturity, albeit a stunted sort. Like I said earlier, the idea that being a parent, starting a family, means letting go of your past dreams...

...but he really didn't need to. Because DQ's dream of peace, tomorrow, and of Fixers, which he first inherited from Bari, were successfully passed on to Sancho, even if she didn't recognize it at first. It's not something that grew naturally in her, it seems, as she ended up being the more 'realist' one than DQ in the past (in the present Canto these positions are reversed), but they're present nonetheless, and that belief is stronger in her than it is in others of the Family, likely because she was the one with a stronger bond to their Father Don Quixote, as well as becoming closer to Bari, the originator of said dream.

Because with Sancho, the belief in the dream isn't innate or 'natural' to her, we see that the world of the City is not an easy place for dreams of peace and justice to exist in, but she believes in and loves her Father (and dear friend Bari), who believed in that dream, and thus she will continue on that adventure in his stead. Because there is also this idea of parents living vicariously through their children, or children carrying on the legacy of their parents. La Manchaland's Don Quixote, as shackled, by duty and responsibility, to the past as he now is, is unable to move forward as he once could, but Sancho, our Don Quixote, is still able to, thanks in large part to the gifts and dreams he gave her (as well as the aid of the Sinners, in helping her realize that the dream is not yet ended), and will now move forward in his stead.

[popcultureoverdosed]

Reverse 1999- The Avant-Garde Rpg

R1999 is in many regards an Avant-Garde take on the gacha game genre. Everything from it's presentation to story telling is in stark contrast to its comptemporaries. Like many other fans, my first introduction to the game was the iconic trailer that came out prior to the global release. I was watching a random YouTube video when suddenly an ad pops up. I normally skip ads as soon as possible, but this one caught my attention immediately. All the R1999 trailers have a bombastic cinematic style that makes viewers feel like they're watching movie. Hearing Vertin talk cryptically about " the storm" while dramatic music played in the background made me curious just what exactly this game was about. Interlaced with all of that were images of a little girl in a tattered red dress sadistically shooting people and... a talking red apple? I knew right then that this game was something else.

When first playing the game, players slowly start to learn about an apocalyptic event refered to as the storm which erases entire eras of history. Those caught in the storm are wiped from existence. Humanity's only hope is the St Pavlov Foundation and their Arcanist agents. Opposing them is a group of Arcanist terrorists called Manus Vindictae who wish to use the Storm to serve their agenda. It takes a while for the story to build up steam.

The beginning of the story is hard to follow due to how vague and cryptically it's told.  A lot of terminology is used that players won't understand until later. Once the plot begins the thicken, players are presented with a surealist supernatural mystery conspiracy thriller unlike anything you've seen before. The story is intricately written and brings up a lot of historical and scientific concepts along the way. It's not the kind of story you can just speedrun through to get to the gameplay. Each chapter segment is fairly long and dense with information. It's honestly like playing a visual novel rather than an rpg. I'm not complaining though. I've been gripped by the lore since day one and I never know what these writers are cooking up next.

The best part of the game for me is the character roster. It's can't be exaggerated just how unique the characters are. What other game has living scarecrows, a mini UFO, a girl who hiccups balloons and a sapient piece of glass as playable characters? Its clear that just about anything can be an Arcanist in this world. I thought having inanimate objects be characters was weird at first, but I soon grew to love the idea. It was just too ludicrous not to enjoy. I also love how tastefully the female characters are drawn. Everyone either wears time period appropriate casual clothes or the most ornate pimped out dresses you've ever seen. The character designs are conservative yet stylish, creating incredibly rememberable units. These beautiful appearances are complimented by eccentric personalities. All Arcanists have their little quirks that make them endearing. They're strange people living in an even stranger world.

The true cherry on top on all of this is the stellar voice acting. The cast is composed of characters from all over the world and the voice cast reflects this. Most of the voice actors share the same nationality/ethnicity as their character which gives their performance an authentic edge. The large variety of accents makes the world feel alive with personality. In a market where usually only the most high profile gacha games bother with English dubs, it's refreshing to see the producers put so much passion into the voice overs.

In terms of art and presentation, R1999 knocks it out of the park once again. The insight 2 character portraits are immaculately drawn and bursting with details. The background art for the story section is also drawn with enough depth to get players immersed in the setting. The live 2d models help spice things up a bit instead of having to look at a still image the entire time.

Reverse 1999 isn't just some game to pass the time with. it's a clear labor of love for everyone who worked on it. It's always a pleasure to play a game where the devs are passionate about their creation.

[glendasguidance-inactive]

Pick a Card:

Full Moon in Gemini

how to pick a card and disclaimers

Here are some messages for you this full moon <3

Pile 1 / Pile 2 / Pile 3

spread: Biddy Tarot Full Moon spread and ritual // decks: Rider Waite tarot, Find Your Purpose by Jess Sanders

Pile 1

What have you created and manifested since the new moon? High Priestess - You've finally decided to listen to yourself. Hooray! You've decided it's better to trust yourself and clean up any mistakes you might make, rather than using other people's opinions to make decisions about your life. And you're absolutely right! The world will not crack in 2 when you make a mistake, and you are perfectly capable of righting them when they happen. This is important because it gives your power back to yourself, and people can't take advantage of you. Annnnnd, I got a feeling you've been dealing with some fuck ass bullshit lately. That bullshit will no longer impact you the same way, because you set boundaries. I just want to give you a around of applause for that. It's hard to do, but makes life way easier. You've found peace and confidence. Where are you now? 6 of Pentacles - You're a generous person, and you've been giving back what you've received from the good nature of others. These people you're grateful for could have been online creators or people from your real life. Express your gratitude to them, because what goes around comes around. You're in a great energy for volunteering, so I highly recommend you join a mutual aid group, get more involved in yours, or help start one (no matter how small - a group of 4-5 people supporting each other is stronger than 1!). Whatever kind of help you're inspired to give, give it. Also, read the strawberry chapter of Braiding Sweetgrass. What is coming into your conscious awareness? Ace of Swords - With the peace you now have, you finally have clarity of mind. Anxiety, stress, and worry literally makes us sick. I feel like you had a head injury, or a bad case of brain fog (from hormonal imbalance, long covid, or something else). Sure, you'll start to get new ideas and breakthroughs. But the most exciting part is the feeling like your brain is finally working again! Keep up the meditation, journaling, exercise (make it fun), and good nights sleep - your new neurological results will be able to become your new normal. What is no longer serving you? 3 of Cups Reversed - I got a feeling you've had a lot of awful people around you who say some of the nastiest gossip about you and each other. While I believe you've set boundaries, I don't think you've cut things off. This is just a general reading, trust your judgement before my own. For most people reading this: these people add nothing but misery to your life, they're toxic and poison the good around you. Leave them. Leave the group chat. Report and block them. Their attacks are just DARVO. Grey rock them whenever you have to interact. Giving them nothing will make them eventually leave you alone. Cut. Them. Off. <- If that felt like a relief to hear, do that. If that doesn't feel right to you, then start learning how to set stronger boundaries, and prepare yourself for when you will need to set them. How can you release and let go of those energies? 7 of Pentacles - Journal and reflect on the good times with these people. What made them good? What was fun? What brought you joy? What made you confident? Give thanks to those moments. The moments taught you what to seek in new relationships, as you meet healthy people. Sometimes a healthy person doesn't have the sense of humor you like, or interests, or habits. And that's okay! You can now make a list of what to seek in relationships beyond "trust, honesty, kindness, loyalty" (aka, the bare minimums for any functional relationship). I heard the phrase in my mind "don't let sour fruits spoil what you've gained". I haven't heard that before, but maybe you have? I think it means a couple things. 1.) let the negativity stay in the past, don't bring it in your present 2.) you can remember the lessons without ruminating on your pain 3.) do NOT let these people destroy your new found confidence, peace, and empowerment.

What additional sources are available to you as you let go? Judgement Reversed - YYou're either open to or actively seeking spiritual guidance right now. Make sure you learn about how to protect yourself from cults / high control groups (these can form outside of religion too btw) before you embark on this journey. Trust yourself, and also learn to protect yourself. Anyway, I personally think you'd resonate and connect with someone like Jiddu Krishnamurti. His most famous quote is: In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself. There are videos of his talks he gave in the 1980's available on YouTube, and he also wrote books.

Quote The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. - Amelia Earhart Affirmation I am unafraid to take action. Journal What is one thing that I can do today that I have been putting off?

🦢 ♥︎ much love - Glenda ♥︎ 🦢

if this reading helped you, here's more on what I offer if you'd like to support my work you can buy me a coffee or reblog check out my USA Election Aftercare reading here!

Pile 2

What have you created and manifested since the new moon? Chariot Reversed - You've been "spinning your wheels in the mud" going no where and getting very tired doing it. Out of this frustration, you're forced to stop hyper focusing on the details, and see the forest for the trees. You're now looking at the whole situation, not just the frustrating thing. This is giving you an opportunity to realize solutions to try. The main lesson you've manifested right now is learning you can't force a solution to work. It kinda sucks to learn, but also not really. Now you'll no longer exhaust yourself. Hell yeah! You're not stuck, there's another way. Instead of punishing yourself for what you think are failures, pat yourself on the back for your efforts.

Where are you now? 3 of Wands Reversed - Ultimately, you've been feeling lost, small, and unqualified. But are those facts, or feelings? When you reflect on this, put yourself in the 3rd person. This helps stop shitty beliefs from impacting our reflection. No matter what, you wouldn't have accomplished what you've done if that were true. If there's an area you're weak in, you can learn and strengthen it. This isn't the end, and don't go back to where you came from. Find a mentor, and break down your goals into the tiniest of baby steps possible. In this moment, in this process, you're learning and growing so much.

What is coming into your conscious awareness? 4 of Swords - You're learning that you've been pushing yourself too hard for too long, and you need a good night's sleep. You need deep rest and relaxation. It will clear your mind and help you accomplish your goals. But don't rest for your goals. Rest for you. You need to disengage from the constant music, podcasts, audiobooks, and noise machines. Let go of social media for a while (like, 2 weeks minimum), scrolling is not rest. Pause gaming. Start slow in your restful silence journey. On day 1, sit with yourself, doing nothing for 1 minute. Day 2 = 2 minutes, Day 3 = 3 min. Day 4 could be 4 min or 8 min. Day 10 could be 10 min or 20 min. You'll be shocked at how much this gives you. Don't record yourself in this silence, don't do it for social media. This is your time for you, it's sacred. This practice will help you evaluate how to bring balance into your life, so you can do what you want.

What is no longer serving you? 4 of Cups - You've been ignoring your needs as you ruminate and hyper focus. You need to eat! Go piss girl! Drink water! Take your meds and supplements! Take breaks from your work, it doesn't need your 24hr attention! Stop shutting people out because you feel overwhelmed, it's actually making things worse - you don't have to have long conversations, just send 1 text, send something. Let them know you care, they might be feeling like you don't. Let go of your apathy, disillusionment, and disappointment with the life - you think know everything is bad and awful. All you're basing that off if is what you see - but you see only a fraction of the whole. Learn a new, HEALTHY coping mechanism. Face your responsibilities head on once you let all this go. You'll finally feel momentum and progress. You'll feel more alive, and maybe like you're flying.

How can you release and let go of those energies? Knight of Cups Reversed - Reign your emotions back in from the maladaptive daydreams you keep floating off into. What you're imagining isn't real, but your emotions are, and so are the physiological effects of those emotions. And so are the impacts this has on your life. Escapism is so so addictive, and it's time to learn what healthy daydreaming looks like. You also have a tendency to put very high expectations on the things that you want, and when they don't exist in the way that you hoped, the come-down from that high feels like everything is crashing and burning. Good news is, it's not crashing and burning! It's just not what you imagined. Sometimes a thing being different doesn't mean it's worse or better - it just is. So let it be and give it a chance. I also think you've been guilt tripping yourself over all the things you haven't accomplished yet. That guilt isn't helping you get anywhere, that bitch is your opp. It's okay that you feel guilt (we all do), but like every emotion, we have to let it flow though us. Don't hold onto it because you feel like you need it in order to do better. Punishment never helped anyone grow.

What resources are available to you as you let go? King of Cups Reversed - Look for leaders in the fields of psychology and trauma healing, so you can learn to give yourself compassion as you heal. Dr. Gabor Mate could be very helpful to you. Learn about how to find self help books that are actually helpful. There are a lot of self help scammers out there, so be mindful of that. Also, fuck Better Help. If you're looking for a therapist, or have one already, ask them what they know about Compassionate Inquiry.

Quote Don't give into your fears. If you do, you won't be able to talk to your heart. - Paulo Coelho Affirmation I listen when my heart guides me. Journal When have I listened to my fears over my heart? What can I learn from those experiences?

🦢 ♥︎ much love - Glenda ♥︎ 🦢

if this reading helped you, here's more on what I offer if you'd like to support my work you can buy me a coffee or reblog check out my USA Election Aftercare reading here!

Pile 3

What have you created and manifested since the new moon? 10 of Wands Reversed - You have finally released burdens that are not yours to carry. You now know that you are not the only one who can carry that load (even though you can, it was never your responsibility). The people around you you've been supporting can, and should take care of their responsibilities - it's the only way they're gonna grow. You feel lighter, like a free bird. Exhale and fly. Where are you now? The Devil - Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? asked Black Phillip, and you said Yes! You are indulging in the things you have long denied yourself. You're eating good, having fun, surrounded by luxuries, and having great sex. Be careful not to go too far into your hedonism though. Breaking the bank, accidentally starting a new addiction, avoiding all of your responsibilities, and putting your health at risk aren't fun. Don't let the pendulum swing all the way to the other side just because you finally released the extreme restraint you've been putting on yourself. The opposite side also has a loss of agency (as we see with Thomasin in the VVitch - driven to either die for reasons she didn't cause, or live without a soul, she chose to live. But she doesn't chose to fly in the end, she's pulled into the sky. She can't fly because she doesn't have agency over her life anymore). With your new boundaries, there will always be time for fun. And don't worry that you're putting your needs to the side again when you go back to tending to your responsibilites - they actually let you keep your agency and freedom. Anyway, go back to having fun and defying gravity. What is coming into your conscious awareness? Page of Cups - You're realizing your emotional needs, your inner child, and your sense of silliness and fun. Life is so much better this way. You're new to this, and it'll be a journey to ease into this. Give yourself that chance. Whenever you feel too old to try something, or not cool enough, that's when you gotta triple dog dare yourself into trying it just once. Also, our values don’t have to be burdensome. Some people value hard work, but often times in the way that’s like a punishment because they’ve been conditioned to hate themselves. Having fun is a legitimate value. What is no longer serving you? Strength - You don't have to be strong for others. The only thing you "have" to do is show others how to be strong. Be their teacher. They can't learn if you're doing it for them. Give yourself the gift of inner strength so you can have patience with these people throughout this transition process. Also allow for a little impulsivity in your routines, maybe they don't have to be so strict to achieve the same goal. How can you release and let go of those energies? 6 of Cups Reversed - You've been living in the past, in the sense that you think the beliefs you were taught growing up are universal truths (even if you know they're not, you're operating like they are). They're just what you were taught back then, that's all. Ask in the present moment: what reality are these beliefs creating? Is it the reality you want? Is it a reality that brings you joy, peace, a lightness of spirit, and laughter? If it feels right to, try forgiving those who taught you these beliefs - if it feels harmful to yourself to forgive them, then do radical acceptance instead. And, you don't need to keep revisiting the same painful moments you ruminate on - you already know what's there. Now, go play. I'm serious, go do something silly and fun. We're all gonna die anyway, give life a chance to be fun. Give yourself a chance to be fun.

What resources are available to you as you let go? The World - I don't know if it's because the Wicked soundtrack is so deeply stuck in my head as I write this, but I see a stage. I think you should audition for theater, do a recital, play in a concert, or even just do karaoke. Get on stage, feel the magic of performing, and soak in the applause. I googled a quote because I really wasn't sure if this vision in my head was actually a message for you, or because I wasn't focused. I found this quote is from Shakespeare (the stage imagery makes more sense now): All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, [...]

Quote Ask yourself what is really important and then have the courage to build your life around your answer. Affirmation I am guided by what I value most. Journal What are my top five values?

🦢 ♥︎ much love - Glenda ♥︎ 🦢

if this reading helped you, here's more on what I offer if you'd like to support my work you can buy me a coffee or reblog check out my USA Election Aftercare reading here!

[bodybeyondstories]

Story prompt: a guy asks his ex to meet him to talk about the end of their relationship (the person who asked the date was cheated on by him and wants revenge), before asking for the meeting he cast a curse on him, every time he says the word "ego" his dick and balls will swell, the goal is to make him become a human parade balloon. ;)

If I were a better writer, I would've worked in a runaway growth scene triggered by someone blasting a mashup of Ego (Beyoncé) and Alter Ego (Doechii). Alas!

And PSA: Please try and talk things through with your significant other before resorting to chaos magic. You will be held responsible by municipal services.

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"Look, I know endless apologizing and groveling won't make things right, but I'm here to listen and put aside my ego-ooof..."

"Hm? Your what?"

"Sorry, I'm just really...um...uncomfortable, in these--"

"I'd be uncomfortable too, trying to set aside an ego that big."

"I--aughhh--meant these pants. They're really--don't give me that look."

"Oh don't worry, everyone in the park has seen how great your legs are. You got your daily ego massage."

"That's not fair. What's that supposed to...to...mean...sorry is it hotter out here? It's hotter, right? I feel very..."

"Stuffy?"

"Stuffed. Look, I'm really trying to be present, but I have a little bit of a...situation developing."

"Yet another 'situation,' of course. My mistake to take up a whole five minutes of your time. I thought you were putting down the ego--"

"Ego, ego ego! Yes, I am, I just mean--AUGHHH!"

"Shit, are you okay?! What's...what's that sound."

"I think it's my zipper."

"Your...oh wow, that's a lot to stuff."

"It won't...stop...growing. I don't know what's going on."

"A lot more..."

"I feel like my pants are about to bur--wait, what?"

"...A lot more than I expected..."

"You've got to be kidding me. You did this didn't you?"

"It--it was just supposed to be a small hex."

"This doesn't look very small."

"I mean it was just supposed to manifest by a certain percentage when activated by the trigger word. So whenever someone says--"

"Don't."

"--ego."

"Fuck! There goes the zipper. Was the goal to get me in trouble for public indecency? My briefs don't have much longer, and they're already soaked through. Was that also part of the curse?"

"Not even a full curse! Just a hex. A small hex. I wanted to teach you a lesson and make your most prized possession reflect your ego."

"Fuck, that was a big one. These pants are done for, they're in tatters."

"You know I'm still learning spell craft. I just maybe got the order of operations wrong."

"Yeah, maybe. Jesus, this thing's huge. It's not even fully hard and it's pulling my underwear apart. Can you please pause whatever this is? I can't even wear normal clothes at this point."

"Ok, um, maybe I can fix this. I just updated my spellbook app, there should be a straightforward reversal incantation. What's the opposite of ego? Oh shit."

"Ughhhh. It's...it's so big...it's not stopping."

"Are you actually getting hard?"

"I can't help it. It feels so good. It reaches up to my lips, that's so hot. I wonder what I taste like."

"You actually found a way to flip this in your favor."

"I'm already a freak, thanks to you. Just let me enjoy this."

"It's...just...massive..."

"Maybe the biggest cock ever. And it's all mine."

"A little egotistical, don't you think?"

"Wait, please, stop!"

"Whoa, it's past your head now."

"I noticed. It's not...it's not stopping. Why is it not stopping?"

"I don't know! I didn't say ego--"

"Fuck, that was the biggest spurt yet. My dick is about to rival my entire body, we have to hide somewhere until I can get this down."

"I don't think we're going anywhere. Look at your balls."

"Why? I can't even see them. Help me up--oof!"

"Careful, careful, they're weighing you down. They're already the size of beanbag chairs."

"Please, babe, you have to reverse this. I don't think it's stopping!"

"Okay, okay, I'm checking the app and...well there may be not be an easy fix."

"Are you fucking kidding me?! You're always doing reckless shit like this. Always half assing, not thinking anything through."

"Oh so now it's about me?"

"Yes, per usual, you have successfully managed to make it about you. Congratulations, yet again."

"God, you were always so insufferable, what was I ever thinking falling in love with a massive, throbbing--"

"Do not say it--"

"Ego!"

"Oof, I'm pinned to the ground. This thing's taller than me. This is messy even by your standards. I can feel it pulsing, it feels so good, so full."

"Messy?! I think it was pretty messy to hook up with your boyfriend's coworker at the holiday party!"

"Look, please, it was just the one time, there was the mistletoe over the doorway and we were being cute--"

"You should see how cute he is now. I don't think he'll be able to fit those cheeks through a typical doorway ever again. Oh, did that turn you on? You'll drown in your own precum, it's like a broken faucet up there. Maybe your boy toy around the corner can help clean up?"

"Please, that was just a fling, I made a mistake, I thought we already worked through that."

"Or the hunk from the moving company can help ferry you around with those balls."

"C'mon, were we even exclusive at that point?"

"Actually, they might soon be bigger than his truck. Looks like you're really enjoying this, huh? I can almost hear the eruption building."

"I, I, I can't help it. It's...too much...my dick is a monstrosity, just like my actions, I think you've made your point. C'mon, it's the size of a flagpole."

"Not quite, but almost! Maybe we can rush things a bit since you keep trying to rush closure. Maybe the whole world should see the manifestation of your egocentric--"

'Wait, no!"

"Egotistical,"

"Can we please just talk about this--"

"Ego--um--ist behavior!"

"Ooo I can feel it stretching, my balls are churning they're so full. It's...it's too much, I can't think, I'm...I'm losing control."

"Now you know how it feels. Your cockhead can probably be seen across half the city, and these balls are the size of SUVs. You want to be community dick, go ahead and flood the neighborhood with jizz."

"Can't, can't move. Gonna...cum..."

"I can already hear sirens a few blocks away. And looks like some news trucks beat them to it. We're gonna put on a show. So everyone can see how big that ego really is."

[linkspooky]

Hi I really love ur metas your jjk ones really made me appreciate the story even more. I was curious about ur analysis on why Gojo is important to Geto.

It's obvious as to why Geto is important to Gojo and how Geto effected him but I don't think it's talked about enough of the reversal

That's a good observation anon, the story makes it less obvious what Geto needs Gojo for, while spending a long time lingering on the tragedy of Geto's loss and what the loss of his only real friend meant for Gojo.

I think part of this is because Geto is a character of deep self-reflection so a lot of his internal narration is about his feelings towards his self and thinking through his own ideals and what that means. Whereas Gojo doesn't really self reflect but he does observe other people. We don't know what Gojo's opinions on a lot of things are, but we know what Geto meant to him because he's much clearer on how he felt towards Geto. Geto's staring into himself trying to figure what he feels personally, Gojo is always staring at other people trying to figure out what they feel.

As for why Gojo means so much to Geto, it's important to remember that they are a duo. They're the same idiot in different fonts. Geto's a much more human character and we are inside his head more often so it's easy to forget that when they were young Geto had the same kind of god / superiority complex that Gojo did.

Geto is associated with religious imagery over and over again, the same way that Gojo is associated with budhist ideals of enlightenment and escaping karma. They are both people who were in their teenage years more powerful than everyone around them, and because of that looked down on everyone.

Even Geto's stated ideals of "protecting the weak" come from a place of superiority. He still divides people mentally into the weak and the strong. The special ones and the common rabble. He sees people the same way Gojo does, he just believes that the strong like him and Gojo have a moral obligation to use their powers responsibly in service of others.

Geto's not more humble than Gojo. Their moral disagreement comes from how they should use the power they've been given, but they both feel that the power they have puts them in a position above other people.

All of this to illustrate the fact that if Gojo felt isolated as a teenager because all the power he had made him feel lonely and unable to connect with others, then so Geto probably felt isolated in the same way too. They each found in each other someone they could finally call their equal. Because of it they gained someone they could be vulnerable around and someone they could trust to watch their back.

The things Geto does for Gojo (check on his feelings when no one else would, go out of his way to reassure him), Gojo does for Geto in return. It's not Geto always taking care of Goo it's a partnership between the two of them where they lean on each other.

When Kuroi is kindapped and Geto immediately falls into a funk and starts to blame himself for his mistake, it's Gojo who reassures him by hurrying him along and telling him they need to focus on planning what they should do next. Gojo knows Geto well enough to know his tendency to get trapped in his own thoughts and gives him the kick in the pants he needs.

In the same scene where Geto checks on Gojo's well-being to make sure he's not overusing his power, Gojo returns the sentiment by reassuring Geto not to worry about him because he won't push himself too hard and that he's not in this alone Geto's here too.

That's probably a big part of it for Geto. Yes, Geto tends to naturally slide into the caretaker role, watching out for Gojo and checking in on him but at the same time Geto probably likes that there is someone who needs him in that way. If Gojo's defined by his lack of connection with other people, Geto's defined by the way he goes out to make connections. It's nice to be needed as they say. The fact that someone as seemingly self-sufficient as Gojo not only relies on Geto a great deal, but lets Geto take care of him is probably a big part of their bond.

Which is probably why Gojo's awakening post Toji is a big part in why they started to grow apart from each other. If Geto likes to live in service to other people, and defines himself by his connection to others he probably interpreted Gojo no longer needing his support on missions and suddenly doing everything by himself as Gojo pulling away from him.

I think a big part in Geto's downfall was the hit he took when one he was defeated by Toji someone without Jujutsu and too, Gojo suddenly became out of his reach. Gojo himself never said that they were no longer the strongest duo, or that they were no longer the strongest together it's all Geto. As I said Geto has as much of a god complex as Gojo does.

He thought they were on the top together, and not only is he suddenly confronted with his own weakness at the exact same time Gojo's become so strong it appears on the surface that he no longer needs anyone's support, especially not Geto's.

Nanami says it out loud, but Geto probably echoes the sentiment. If Gojo is now strong enough to handle every mission on his own then what need does he have for other sorcerers - and Geto in particular? Geto goes from feeling needed in a lot of ways by Gojo who was just as important a friend to him as he was to Gojo to watch Gojo suddenly handle everything alone. In a lot of ways it probably felt like Geto lost Gojo far before the KFC breakup and his defection from Jujutsu High. From Geto's perspective their relationship was over, their partnership broken and Gojo just did not realize it until after the village massacre.

At first Geto had as big of an ego with Gojo, and connected in a special way with him because the two of them were on top together. However, he came to believe that the only reason their partnerhsip worked was because they were both the strongest. When Gojo became the strongest alone Geto believed incorrectly that what they once had was lost and Gojo no longer needed him when Gojo's emotional reaction to Geto's defection shows that's anything but true.

In Geto's mind it is though because he's kind of got the same messed up way of dividing people into strong and weak that Gojo does, he probably just realized that he was one of the weak ones and feared Gojo thinking the same way.

During Geto and Gojo's final confrontation he almost has an inferiority complex about it when he talks about how if he had the limitless he'd easily be able to accomplish what he set out to do.

Until that moment Geto always thought they were equals, but now Geto's suddenly talking like he covets Gojo's power. He suddenly wants to be Gojo, probably because he incorrectly believes that their partnership is base don being equals in power when it's really just a normal friendship.

Which is why the loss of Gojo's friendship affects Geto just as badly as the other way around. Everyone wants to be equals with their friends, especially to a friend as important as Gojo was to Geto.

There's almost a tragic irony in how when speaking of his friendship to Nanako and Mimiko, Geto acts like their friendship ended when Gojo left Jujutsu High. It's their in his death scene too, Geto is surprised by the fact that Gojo has any feelings left for him.

Geto's so insecure over his connection to Gojo he didn't understand that in Gojo's mind they were still friends right up until the very end, and perhaps if he were just a bit more secure they would have been able to reach one another instead of falling apart.