#Man Up Reframe

[audaciousevolution]

Man Up Reframe – Episode 22: You Are More Than What You Do

We often introduce ourselves by our job titles, measure progress by productivity and tie self-worth to how much we achieve. But here’s the truth: you are not your role, your income, or your output.

This episode is a powerful reminder that you are valuable simply because you exist.

Whether you’re between jobs, switching roles, or just tired of the grind, this one’s for you.

✅ Your presence matters

✅ Your identity isn’t tied to your title

✅ You deserve respect, even when you're resting

Watch now and let’s shift the conversation around identity, self-worth, and what it really means to “man up.”

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

“I wake with your memory over me, that’s a real fucking legacy” after all the nothingburger discourse yesterday is pretty damn funny when you think about it 👀😂

[ipcearn]

The Ocean Saga has been my favorite ever since it released but the Thunder Saga literally came and drop kicked it out of the way

[idontmindifuforgetme]

the era of instant gratification constantly has us feeling like we have to do things right in this moment. we have to be on our phones right now; we have to skip out on this workout day bc we don’t want to do it today; we have to respond immediately bc otherwise the time will just pass us. none of that is true. we are not shackled by the instant need to do anything. the phone can wait. it will be there after a week. disconnecting for a week does not mean our phone will magically malfunction, or the apps will magically disappear, or we will be missing out on anything worthwhile. it will be there tomorrow, in three days, in a week. disconnecting from our phones for a little while is okay. so is disconnecting from anything we’re trying to cut down on & which isn’t serving us right now. it will all be there tomorrow.

so once i was at a friendsgiving and one of my friends was complaining to her boyfriend about the fact that he has more self-control when it comes to food compared to her. and his response was just “food can wait. i know it’ll be there tomorrow, so i don’t feel pressed to have it right now.” this has literally rewired my brain ever since—not only w respect to food, but w literally anything and everything that we cannot say no to in the moment. anything that we struggle to deny due to our instant gratification. genuinely anything

[audaciousevolution]

Man Up Reframe: Episode 21 - Healing Is Not Linear

We’ve been taught to treat healing like a finish line. As if you do the “right” things and suddenly you’re fixed. But the truth? Healing is a journey - with highs, lows, rest stops and reroutes.

This episode is a reminder that progress isn’t always visible. Some days you’ll move forward. Others, you’ll stumble. And both are part of the process.

Inside this episode:

– Why your healing doesn’t have to be perfect

– How to honour slow progress

– Why grace and self-compassion matter more than pressure

Watch now on YouTube and tag someone who needs this message today.

[oathed-milk]

Yeah the romance in Warframe 1999 is great and all but fuck have you considered the lore we are getting? And I by that I mean, actually having character motivations and exploration centre stage and explored in depth, followed by total fucking clownery tidbits. The absolute bullshit and shenanigans we are getting alongside some of the most heart wrenching reframings of the Drifter’s trauma and experiences?

Albrecht dragged an 8 foot tall bird into the future just to dip it in hell, also the Drifter thinks everyone loves the Operator more than them. Lotus, Ordis, fuck maybe that’s the only reason Teshin ever trained them?

Lettie named her nice rats after beloved friends, and her naughty rat after an ancient war god, and also Drifter hasn’t left 1999. It’s implied they could. They choose to stay because they don’t feel they belong back in the Origin System and never did.

Despite struggles with isolation and depression, Eleanor strives even to see the upsides of being infested every day, such as being able to jerk off with her tongue. Drifter grew up alongside Dominus Thrax and their friends in Duviri, playing every day, but then they grew up, and one day, probably after a slow and torturous build up, Thrax finally killed them for the first of countless times.

Quincy still has his dick, thank god for him. Drifter made the same choice as the Operator, to take the Man in the Wall’s hand, but instead it abandoned Drifter and merely saved, “them,” all the other Tenno, just as it said. Condemned to solitude through an unknowable entity’s arbitrary fucking games and wordplay. On a child.

We thought we’d be trauma healing the Hex this update but no actually, this is just Drifter’s first chance to talk to someone that isn’t their ~10 year old self and their mother about this.

[polaritydisturbed]

I’ve seen some posts floating around saying things like, “Belinda was always a mom, the Doctor just corrected the timeline,” and I genuinely cannot stress enough how little that addresses the core issues people have with how her story was handled.

First of all, if that was the intention—if the idea was that Belinda was always meant to be a mother and the timeline just needed to be “set right”—they did a poor job of executing it. A twist that major, one that fundamentally alters a character’s identity or arc, requires setup. Foreshadowing. Emotional groundwork. You can’t just spring something that massive on the audience in the last five minutes and expect it to feel meaningful instead of disorienting.

And here’s the thing: Doctor Who has done that kind of plot before—successfully. A great comparison is Amy and Rory. The show literally did the “someone you love was erased from time and the universe needs to be corrected to bring them back” storyline already. And while I’ve got my own qualms with how Amy’s arc was handled overall, that particular beat actually worked.

Why? Because there were signs. The cracks in time. The missing memories. A sense of loss Amy couldn’t place. Little inconsistencies that made the audience lean forward and feel that something was wrong. Not to mention: Rory was introduced before he disappeared. We knew him. We saw his dynamic with Amy. We cared about him. We barely see Poppy in these two episodes, other than "child missing bad" we really have no attachment to her.

Now imagine if we never met Rory. If Amy had been introduced as a fierce, independent woman with no attachments, someone whose refusal to be tied down was a defining trait—and then the show suddenly revealed, in the finale, that actually she was about to get married the whole time to a man we’d never seen, and now she’s a devoted wife. No buildup. No context. Just surprise! emotional transformation. That would feel bizarre, right?

That’s exactly what happened with Belinda.

The final minutes of the finale reframe her not just as someone who once had a child, but as someone whose true self is supposedly defined by that role—and we’re meant to believe that this identity has now been “restored” to her, and we’re told it’s been restored to her as a reward. But it doesn’t feel like a revelation. It feels like a contradiction.

It’s like they wanted to write her as fierce and independent, but didn’t also want to imply that she wanted kids or thought about kids—because society still tends to associate maternal longing or caretaking instincts with weakness, or with not being a “strong” woman. So instead of exploring that complexity, they just didn’t. They wrote her as a fully autonomous character, with no visible yearning or absence, and then stapled a child onto her arc at the end.

And just to be absolutely clear: the problem is not that Belinda is a mother. You can write a fierce, independent, female-presenting character who’s also a parent. Those things are not mutually exclusive. The problem is that the story didn’t earn it.

Writers often avoid giving powerful women maternal traits because they assume femininity and strength can’t coexist—but that’s a separate conversation. The real issue here is that the show never showed us that this part of Belinda was missing. It never laid the groundwork for that emotional restoration to resonate. It didn’t feel like they revealed who she truly was—it felt like they replaced her with someone else.

It’s not that you can’t tell a story where a forgotten child or a missing family is recovered from a broken timeline. That kind of emotional twist can be powerful. But if that’s the story you want to tell, you have to earn it. You have to make the absence felt before you try to fill it. You have to let us sense the missing piece and ache for its return. Without that, it doesn’t feel like a twist—it feels like a contradiction.

And no, Poppy showing up once in The Story & the Engine is not proper setup. If this was truly the intended arc from the beginning, then it needed clues. Give us subtle signs. Let Belinda hesitate when asked simple questions. Let her glance at a photo and seem unsettled. Let her correct someone’s memory and then immediately second-guess herself. Plant a sense of wrongness in her own life that even she can’t quite name.

There’s even a interview with RTD about reshooting the beginning of The Robot Revolution to give Belinda roommates, because he thought no one would buy her owning an entire house by herself.

But if this twist with Poppy was truly planned from the start? Then leave her in that big, echoing house. Let it be part of the unease. Let there be a child’s toy tucked into the back of a drawer she doesn’t remember buying. A room she avoids, too pristine and untouched. A lullaby she hums under her breath without knowing where she learned it. Give us texture. Give us silence that feels too quiet.

Let us feel the shape of what’s missing before you tell us what it was.

That’s how you write a twist that resonates—by trusting your audience to notice the gaps, to feel the ache, and to recognize the truth when it finally appears. Not by pulling a rabbit out of a hat and calling it destiny.

[weirdmageddon]

i was thinking about this since i posted earlier about us needing to address the trend of gen z men being pulled into alt-right pipelines might have contributed to the outcome of this election.

i think contrapoints is really smart, and from what i’ve seen, has been way more effective at getting people out of harmful ideological pipelines than i’ve seen from the majority of leftists online who instead berate and drive a greater wedge of antipathy (though i understand why! and it can be very hard to have empathy for the people who see you as a threat). that antipathy makes the right more radicalized because they don’t feel like they can talk about anything without the “crazy lefties” who won’t even engage with them. where did these issues come from?

what i’ve noticed, and i’m even guilty of this, is that people don’t interact with groups of people whom they refuse talk to, which makes realities more hypothetical in the minds of their opponent since they aren’t open to seeing reality from their perspective. this is true on both sides. from what i’ve observed, it seems to originate from hypothetical perception of the opponent, but when people treat those perceptions as though they are real, it becomes real with their actions, which then makes the antipathy justified to someone. again, on both sides.

what makes contrapoints so successful at breaking this down is that is that she creates these socratic dialogue skits that represent real people and ideologies, has a sense of humor, isn’t afraid to discuss these things, reframes how we see these things by introducing nuance to both sides. she’s a leftist, but she also knows how to engage without ripening division, of meeting someone halfway and being completely humble about it. she is able to soften extremes.

she is able to get into the mind of people who aren’t aligned with her views, understand the nuance and rationales from a realistic perspective, breaking down a big block of “this is all bad” into “ok, some of this makes sense…”, what this does is create a space for self-reflection that doesn’t feel ham-fisted (which could otherwise cause people to double down on their beliefs instead of opening up to other perspectives outside of their bubble). while also being entertaining and well-produced on top of it.

what she is doing is creating these scenarios and socratic discussions that SHOULD be happening in real life but aren’t in this polarized social climate.

i graduated from new college of florida this spring, the small liberal arts college that was in headlines across the country for ron desantis’s board of trustees hostile takeover and exodus of professors.

new students and student athletes from conservative walks of life were being basically incentivized to go there who were taught to fear the lgbt boogeyman growing up in their conservative communities. but once they actually interacted with lgbt students there, many of them they felt like they understood them, and they weren’t as bad as they were told they would be. new college of florida was also famous for getting derek black (child of the man who created stormfront, and godchild of the kkk grand wizard david duke) out of white nationalism. their peers at NCF called them out but also interacted with them, invited them to dinner. black wrote a book about it.

now of course some people are too far gone and you shouldn’t waste your time with them, like derek’s family for example. but i also think a lot of people who voted for trump are not informed, are operating off of emotion and knee-jerk mentality because it’s easier than thinking, and they are not seeing the discussions that need to be had to change their mind because fuckin…nobody is doing them.

and we feel this visceral disgust to people of the opposing party because of its associations. i just want to know how it happened and how we got to be like this. i think social media is partly to blame and also the algorithms that take people down dangerous pipelines and sharpen them, insulate them.

i myself understand the vitriol you might have for anyone that voted for trump. i feel so disappointed that half the people of this country voted against our collective benefit. and i’ve seen a lot of sentiment from the left today saying “every single person who voted for trump is dead to me. i disowned you”.

you can see the reality of trump’s demagoguery, and it’s so obvious, but what i want to know is: what do they see? why did they vote for him? emotion and entertainment travel faster and have more reach than reason. and it’s that’s why i think contrapoints’s videos are exemplary at tackling this ideological divide. this is something i’ve been thinking about for months before today and i thought now was a better time than ever to give my two cents on it.

[mirror-to-the-past]

#real talk the Rapunzel and Elsa storylines in KH3 really fucked me up bc Rapunzel is who Sora was before he failed to gain the power of waking and Elsa is everything (he feels like) he has failed at (bc he can't save her/reach her/fix her problems)

^^ Previous tags because I really appreciate this reading and viewed it the same way.

And it fits, too- when you hold up the different story arcs to each other. Rapunzel is a joyful story of someone's life beginning and departing from chains- a more straightforward departure of the hero onto their journey. Whilst Elsa starts with a fall from grace to reach her truest self. And even then, after her song and transformation about "Letting it go," she still isolates. She's not entirely free yet, despite her grab at it. It's complex, she doesn't have a clear cut journey all the way until the end where she realizes she's never going to start healing until she allows herself to love and receive love.

And that's not *been* Sora's journey, so seeing Elsa's arc from the outside looking in, he only sees the damage she does to herself. He doesn't realize why someone would deny themselves love and happiness because he's the Anna-type, the Rapunzel-type, the go getter, the person who desires connection and open communication. He doesn't see the internal conflict that makes up 90% of the journey of the Elsa types. The voices that say someone is a monster, undeserving of love and support, the constant scrambling for self sufficiency, the fear of rejection and misunderstanding. The belief that goes something like "if they knew what I really was, they'd change their tune. They'd drop me like it's nothing."

Anyway yeah, the Elsa/Riku parallels were so tight, holy cow. There's a reason why Sora seemed to imprint so heavily upon Elsa as soon as he meets her, and if you didn't get it at first, they hammer it in later by just having Sora do KH1 flashbacks for the player. The ice wall... the closed door to Kingdom Hearts... ooo. Frozen world was not the funnest to play in, but oooo, if it didn't have some lovely summation and foreshadowing of Riku's journey. And Larxene's comments reflecting her initial appearance in CoM (which, mind you, consisted of Sora going to Castle Oblivion to find Riku, only to have his memories twisted into thinking he was there to save Naminé):

CoM: Larxene: "Must you insist on playing the hero?"

KH3: Larxene: (In response to "I just wanted to know why she was so sad.") "And how is it any of your business? Read the room, kiddo."

And...

Sora: "I won't let [Elsa's] heart fall to darkness!"

Larxene: "It's her choice to make, not yours. I'm starting to understand why she gave you the cold shoulder. You wanna help her? Then stop trying to be her hero! Let her figure out things her own way!"

She plays the same role in both games: to essentially paint Sora as a clingy loser who rubs his nose into the business of others he doesn't understand. So, you can kind of put the rest together in how it also reflects Sora's KHCoM-KH2 journey of following Riku around despite the latter's insistence on pulling away.

Oh, and if you want more cool parallels with Arendelle stuff and Riku, check out the weirdly dramatic cutscene of post-final boss, where the boss gathers into this swirling explosion of darkness and Marshmallow steps in front of Sora and shields him from the onslaught, framed in a silhouette of light at he does so before getting swept away. Sound familiar to any pivotal KH3 cutscene near its climax? I obviously only noticed it in retrospect, but was still like "ok... that was weirdly cinematic" when I played through KH3 for the first time. There might have been a reason for that!

In KH2, Sora learns Riku tends to self-isolate and try to deal with his pain on his own... KH3 revisits this, even highlights it by paralleling Elsa the queen of self-isolation with Riku… then Riku self-isolates again when he realizes Kairi is gonna shoot her shot with Sora. Sora notices Riku’s behavior and naturally thinks something might be wrong/Riku’s hiding pain from him, not buying that Riku’s fine or should be left alone here… But Sora doesn’t know WHY Riku is in pain. He’s staring at Riku, wondering what it could be, why Riku wants to be alone again now. Sora can’t figure it out… And it’s because . Riku is in love with him. But Riku thinks Sora is in love with Kairi, and he just wants Sora to be happy. So Riku will keep this to himself forever. He will suffer in silence forever as long as Sora is happy. But Sora’s not happy if Riku’s not happy. But Riku can’t tell him

[ibikus]

... on elon

as a german, let me say this: the man knew what he was doing. this salute? can rightfully get you locked up in jail here, even more so considering he did it on the current biggest political stage in the world. this is sedition, this is openly reproducing a gesture that he, as a political adviser, must be expected to know and can be held responsible for. even WORSE if he truly did not know what he was doing but i highly, highly doubt it considering his current agenda.

what he did is not just a dog whistle, it's a whole dog orchestra. i don't know if you really understand the gravity of this gesture and its historical weight, if not, please do some research. last week the man held a talk with alice weidel, the top politician of the extreme right in my country who is running for chancellor in which, among other things, she claimed that hitler was a communist – historical revisionism and purposful re-framing of the past to deny and downplay the horrors of nazism, a tactic as old as time. currently her party is trying to do this on the big scale and his influence helps them do it. he gave her this platform, supports anti-democratic parties all over europe with similar goals, and now he does this.

do NOT buy into his infantilization.

even in the very best case in which he didn't know what he was doing (again, i doubt it) he still used a fascist gesture on the world's biggest stage, hours after a neo-fascist government got installed in the most influential country in the world. if we allow them to reframe and belittle something like this now, even if it's just out of sheer stupidity, it's the beginning of a nightmare. don't fall for it. they know what they're doing and they're doing it on purpose.

[the-most-humble-blog]

🛐 HOBBIT INTEL REPORT — ADDENDUM: WHEN FRODO HEARD THE CALL, HE DIDN’T HESITATE.

Let me make something brutally clear while I still got breath in my lungs and this vision of Frodo pacing the damn horizon stuck in my frontal cortex like a flashbang flashback:

You still don’t get it.

Y’all keep reducing Middle-Earth’s most efficient kill squad to tea drinkers and pipe-hitters in waistcoats.

“Oh but they had Gandalf the White—”

Shut up.

That wizard was the alarm clock. The Hobbits were the goddamn fire.

⚔️ Sauron Didn’t Avoid the Shire Because It Was "Too Cute" — He Avoided It Because Even Evil Knows Better.

You think orcs ever invaded the Shire? No.

They redirected. They took the long way. They looked at that quiet little farmland full of laughing curly-haired midgets and said,

“Nah. That’s a trap. That’s death by teacup.”

And they were right.

💣 Sauron was waiting until he hit 100% power just to think about pulling up.

Because deep down he knew…

“If I step into that high-grass paradise before I’m fully charged, I’m not coming back. I’ll end up flipping omelets for Rosie Cotton’s daycare while Frodo critiques my seasoning.”

🔥 Frodo didn’t "accept the mission." He saw the smoke and got his walking stick.

No briefing. No rousing speech. No PowerPoint from Elrond.

Just:

“Sam. Grab the pans. Get the rope. We march at dawn. We’ll be back by the harvest.”

That wasn’t a quest. That was a cleanup job.

🧠 You want to understand Hobbit psychology?

They didn’t fear Mordor. They didn’t respect Mordor. They just clocked it in, like an unpaid internship from hell.

“What’s the mission?” “Escort Satan’s wedding ring into his house and toss it in his fireplace.” “Cool. Pack a lunch.”

🩸 Y’all keep forgetting Frodo wasn’t alone.

There were hundreds of them back in the Shire. Hundreds of stone-faced tea-guzzling assassins who could’ve taken his place.

Every Bilbo was just a Frodo in retirement. Every Frodo was just a Sam in waiting. Every Sam was just a Rosé-holding, full-strength tank with a trowel and trauma-based loyalty issues.

🧤 They didn’t need Gandalf to lead.

They let him think he was leading. Let the tall folks feel important. All the while knowing:

“He’s useful. But if he falls, we keep walking. The job’s the job.”

🏔️ And when Frodo said “Mount Doom,” Sam didn’t ask “why?” — he asked, “when?”

No knightly codes. No sacred scrolls. Just:

“I made bread. I packed extra. Let's go.”

🧬 Here’s the truth:

Hobbits didn’t win because they were brave.

They won because they were unbothered. Unimpressed. Undeterrable.

You ever try to tempt a man who already had everything he wanted before the journey began? That’s who Frodo was. That’s who Sam was.

The Shire wasn’t just their home. It was their origin point. Their why. Their endgame.

That’s why they were dangerous. Because they weren’t chasing glory. They were just out handling problems so the party back home wouldn’t get delayed.

🛑 BOTTOM LINE:

You can mock their size. Laugh at the cloaks. Disrespect the bare feet.

But if one ever steps toward you with purpose in his eyes?

It’s already too late.

🍷 FIELD-TOAST STATUS: RAISED

To Frodo, who walked into Hell with a limp and a lantern. To Sam, who would’ve carried the mountain if he had to. To the Shire, where legends are born barefoot and return home full.

To the Hobbits. The smallest gods Middle-Earth ever feared.

⚔️ CALL TO ACTION:

🔁 Reblog this if your soul answers to old magic and small warriors.

🧠 Save it if you know true strength walks quietly.

📜 Send this to someone who still underestimates the soft-spoken.

Or simply:

🩸 Reblog to confirm you would’ve followed Frodo into the fire too.

⚖️ LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This is not satire. This is not fanfiction. This is Blacksite Literature™: Weaponized cadence. Mythopoeic trauma therapy. Historical reframing through blood-soaked reverence.

If you're confused: You weren’t meant to survive this post.

Check out the below record-breaking post for more:

🛐 SHOUT OUT TO THE HOBBITS, YO

[gay-dorito-dust]

Can I request headcanons for Sunday, Welt, Gallagher, Blade, and Dan Heng react to his shy gn s/o asking to kiss him on the lips?

Blade: finds it adorable. Absolutely adorable when you finally mustered up the courage to ask for what you want.

‘So you do have a voice?’ And or ‘the mouse has finally squeaked.’ Is what he would say with a smirk as he’d watch you get flustered and embarrassed under his gaze.

As much as he teases you for your shyness, he can’t help but feel a sense of pride for you when you took the first step in speaking your mind.

It was nice to know his lessons weren’t going to waste but then again Blade wasn’t one to hold your innate shyness against you, he just wants you to feel as though you could ask him anything without feeling bad about it.

He’s a dick but he’s instantly melting upon feeling your hands cup his face and is in utter bliss when you finally draw him in for a tender, warm kiss. It’s his one slice of heavenly reprieve that he never, ever wants to be deprived of, ever.

God forbid you stop after one kiss, this man will grow lowly and drag you back himself for more because how dare you tempt him with a mere peck, give him at least a hundred more for fuck sake.

Welt: praises you for your bravery in asking as he knows that it’s not exactly an easy thing to do when you’re naturally shy and prone to giving up before you even try.

‘I’d be more than willing to fulfil your wish to the best of my abilities.’

He’s such a gentleman who’s not afraid of going slow just for your comfort if he see you getting overwhelmed by the mere thought of having to take charge when kissing.

You did ask but Welt was more than ready to step in when it was all becoming too much and guides you through it with a soft, low voice and gentle reminders of hand placement and breathing.

He doesn’t want you passing out on him now.

And besides he’s not the type to do anything to you without your permission.

Sunday: raises his brows in amusement.

‘Oh? How bold of you to ask such a thing my dearest.’ Is his response.

It’s like a predatory watching his prey when it comes to Sunday that you were prone to reframe from speaking upon your desires because it always felt as though the Halovian could see through you. Literally.

It triggers your fight of flight response real quick but you have to remind yourself that you were safe with Sunday. (Or are you?)

He’s got that face that told you that he knew what you were going to ask him before you say anything. Whether or not it’s under unsettling is up to you.

He can obviously see that your nervous and stressed about the whole thing and will try to reassure you that neither of you were going anywhere and that you could take your time, he’ll be there whenever you felt comfortable.

He’s in no rush to be anywhere, not when you’re concerned.

Gallagher: originally thinks something is wrong when he saw you stood there unresponsive for a good few minutes, only to blurt out not even a second later, ‘can I kiss you on the lips?’

His worries fade and a smile graced his lips as he chuckled.

‘You almost had me worried there sweetheart but are you sure you want me to kiss you? What if I decide to bite?’ He’d say cheekily and never had he seen you look more flustered than anything. It’s too cute!

You’re giving this man too much power but also making him weak in the knees and want to kneel at your feet and pledge eternal loyalty to you at the same time.

However whatever you want, Gallagher will provide and if you wanted to give him a kiss, then who was he to say no to such a sweet ask?

‘Please.’ You’d add on and Gallagher could swear he melted right then and there. The magic word worked wonders in your favour as he has you sat on his lap, his big hands holding your waist steady as he waits patiently for his kiss, whsilt you felt your face burn all the way up to your ears.

However beware that one kiss becomes a million kisses with this guy as he loves the feel of your lips against his that sometimes he forgets that you both need oxygen to breathe.

Dan Heng: is equally as flustered and embarrassed as you when you asked.

His face is beat red and his eyes were practically bulging out of his head as he then looks away elsewhere and covers the lower half of his face with a hand. Curse you for being so fucking cute and polite!

He’s swears you’ll be the death of him but then again he’s not complaining.

‘Make it quick.’ He’d say but never in a mean way, he’s just genuinely about to combust if you don’t kiss him now and when you do give him a kiss so soft against his lips, you’ll have to shove his face into an ice bath or something with how unnaturally red it is.

You’re both awkward and new at this but that’s what makes every kiss you share afterwards so special and unique.

I wouldn’t put it past Dan Heng is he goes in for another kiss, he’s unabashedly become addicted to the taste of your lips.

[coalballbaby]

One thing I've noticed when people talk about Prowl is that they tend to have a very black-and-white attitude towards liking him. The most common two things I've seen are either a) people feel too guilty about actually enjoying the character that they shy away from going beyond summaries of his actions + a vague feeling of treating him as just a morally-corrupt-character-they-enjoy, or b) they really, publicly like him, but tend to make extremely individualistic takes that reduce his character from a nuanced part of a larger narrative to a guy misunderstood by the cast around him. Of course, I'm not saying individualistic takes are inherently bad-- it can be fun and thought-provoking to think about the more personal elements of character, what they believe, why they might do it-- but it's easy to come up with excuses for a character this way.

I think it's important to consider that Prowl's just... not written as a likeable, glup-shitto-ifiable way. He's not meant to be taken that way, and he does genuinely shitty things to innocent people while wrangling his own sense of responsibility for the future of all things Cybertron. Of all depictions of Prowl, IDW's version is the clearest criticism of the police force and how easily power can be misused under beliefs of serving a "greater good"-- I'm not saying that you can't like him because of this, (for one it be massively hypocritical, as I am. a notorious and huge Prowl enjoyer), but I am saying that this is something important to keep in mind when engaging with the character critically, especially if you're going to talk about him publicly. Prowl isn’t just morally gray or "misunderstood", he’s a deliberate allegory for institutional rot, for what happens when someone fully buys into the idea that the ends justify the means, that it may be necessary to endanger innocent people if it preserves a controlled future. His actions aren’t accidents or unfortunate side effects of good intentions; they're the result of a belief system that values control, hierarchy, and long-term strategy over individual lives. When people detach Prowl from that context-- when they talk about him purely as a burdened tactician doing his best-- they risk replicating the same logic that real-world systems use to excuse harm. I know saying this kind of sounds insane from a Transformers IDW standpoint, but IDW itself is a very political story, and sometimes, well. I like to think about it. (I also realize that I'm taking a lot from specifically Roberts, Roche's, and Barber's interps, which are a lot more focused on this morally complicated Prowl-- but those just happen to be my favorite takes on him, and I tend to focus on those a lot more. Personal bias, I know, but I do have thoughts on the many other Prowl portrayals in the IDW run.)

Okay er. I'm getting distracted. Liking a character like Prowl doesn’t mean you have to soften his worst actions or reframe his motivations into something more sympathetic. He isn’t compelling in spite of being deeply flawed, he’s compelling because the narrative doesn’t let that shit slide lmao. Things/people bite him in the ass for it and that's awesome. He's boiling in his own sweat and fear and anger after putting the onus on himself to make a thousand contingency plans with him in control, because he's a deeply paranoid man who tends to use others' inaction as an excuse. We can all hold hands and think about it... promise?

[audaciousevolution]

Article of the Day: The Myth of the Stoic Man - Why Bottling Up Isn’t Strength

For too long, Caribbean boys have been taught to "man up," to stay quiet, to bury emotions and keep moving. But silence isn't strength; it’s survival. And it’s costing us.

Emotional suppression can lead to stress, burnout, broken relationships and mental health struggles.

True strength?

✅ Naming what you feel.

✅ Asking for support.

✅ Choosing vulnerability over avoidance.

This article explores how to break the myth of stoicism and reclaim a healthier definition of masculinity; one rooted in honesty, emotional intelligence and self-trust.

Read now and join the movement to redefine what it really means to be strong.

[i-am-countess-olivia]

This isn't some novel thought, but for me Fitzier begins in ep2, when Silna's father is brought onto Erebus

(a long-ish, GIF-heavy scene breakdown follows)

I won't cover the violations of Silna's beliefs, feelings and bodily autonomy which happen in these moments - they are of course terrible and very important. Instead, I want to focus on how the scene kicks off a new dynamic between Francis and James, how it lays a foundation for their subsequent closeness and how it changes our view of who James might be as a person.

Let’s begin.

Sir John and James arrive in the sick bay to join Stanley and Goodsir. Stanley says: "nope, not touching this one". Goodsir asks for leave to save the shaman's life. Franklin, already looking deeply disturbed by what's happening, hesitantly agrees.

Francis arrives. The operating table divides him from Franklin, Stanley and James — he is literally not on their side. All three men glare up at him as one: How is this maudlin MF going to make this horrible situation worse for us?

But while the three of them just stand there, Francis puts himself in charge. With a bit of help from McDonald, he takes hold of a distraught Silna and tries to explain what is happening, who they are, that they're not trying to do harm. It is in this moment that James becomes the only one on the opposite side of the table to step forward (to help Francis control the situation or at least to do something). He looks compelled to action but cannot act.

Okay... so here we see that maybe this guy isn't just Franklin's poodle (we saw a bit of that earlier in the episode - more on that later).

Meanwhile Franklin, as soon as Francis takes control, BUGGERS OFF. Of course this can be justified by him already having given his orders and no longer needing to be involved, but we know that a) he sneaks off when the situation is clearly fraught and Francis is clearly better suited to handle it, knowing Inuktitut among other things and b) he actually ends up hiding out in his cabin, freaking out while listening to the howls of the dying man. This is too strange, too awful for him. Not to mention: oh god, I'm stuck in the ice, I've just lost a lieutenant, I keep losing men, what are they going to think of me?

While Sir John is off having a lil meltdown.... James' eyes are firmly on Francis.

We don't even see him acknowledge his captain's departure.

But why is James there? The obvious answer is: to report back to Sir John, to make sure things don't get weird and that Francis doesn't do anything stupid on THEIR ship. After all, let's remember the last scene before this one where James is focused on Francis:

Here he was describing Francis as if he's got him pegged: he's a disappointed man, Sir John, he was no one's first choice etc etc.

I know what he is. Do you now, James?

(interesting framing the above scene, btw - James standing, active, Sir John focused on his creature comfort, the pipe, and questioning himself. James speaking in firm tones to his commander: "I will not allow..." — James is literally being reframed as a leader.)

Anyway, back to where we were.

While Goodsir sets about trying to remove the shot, we get a little glimpse of James: he looks frozen, uneasy, swaying in to stare at the wound (Oh Tobias, the actor that you are). Can we say flashbacks to the Chinese sniper? This must be seriously triggering for him. Something is shifting.

(Another aside: James is standing next to Stanley, the man who dug out the shot when he was hit by the sniper. That same man is now refusing to help. Hm.)

Next, Goodsir says: I can't save this man. Here something important happens: James and Francis share a look.

This is Francis, for the first time, acknowledging not just James still being in the bay at all — but that the two of them are in this moment together! Francis' eyes saying to James: I'm about to tell this woman her father is going to die and James acknowledging in return how awful that is. He presses his mouth, drops his eyes.

The little flash of connection doesn't last. When Silna starts to plead with her dying father, James once again reaches out across the table to Francis: what is she saying? But it's maybe too pushy, too "I need to be told what's going on" so Francis ignores him and it's McDonald who answers.

Next, Silna launches herself at her dying father. Here, once again, James tries to take an active role, to "help" by following Francis' cues on what to do.

James has been watching, learning, asking questions and now looks desperate to be part of the solution to this awful situation: to be in this with Francis. Look how similar their gestures are, how James looks to Francis for direction.

---

STOP - DOOM HAMMER TIME

The VERY first scene in which Francis and James become partners, take action together to keep something from happening, they effectively set in motion one of the biggest causes of their doom: Silna's father doesn't die as he should, Tuunbaq is not bound to anyone. Oh man. That's a whole other essay.

---

(Back to the scene....)

While they're wrestling with Silna, James, clearly emotional and upset by what is taking place, reaches out again, perhaps this time more sincerely: Look at me, Francis, I'm trying to help, at least tell me what's happening? This time Francis acknowledges him — actually SPEAKS to him for the first time.

In response, James looks particularly vulnerable and distraught.

Silna's father dies. We see how different James' reaction is to Francis'. Poor James. Maybe he wants a little bit more from Francis in that moment, one more shared look. Francis doesn't give it to him.

Aaaaaand here we are, it's almost over. Franklin swans in, the really bad, bloody stuff having already been dealt with. He re-asserts his command by giving an order to James to escort Silna off the ship. James… doesn't exactly spring into action. In fact, he doesn't even acknowledge the order verbally, unlike Stanley. What's going on in his head? What does he think about Francis in that moment?

Anyway, let's wrap up.

So much of this scene is about the shift in James’ perception of Francis. He suddenly sees a man who is hands-on, who can take charge, who doesn't walk away from a terrible and unusual situation, even when it's clear there's no good outcome. And of course he knows Sir John skipped off at first opportunity.

Francis, meanwhile, only briefly appears to acknowledge James —but only as far as we can see. Francis of course knows that James was there, that he stayed behind, that he tried to help, that he tried to understand.

This knowledge and this changed dynamic become apparent immediately, in the very next scene.

LOOK HOW THEY ARE FRAMED!!!

Sir John is already receding into the background. James and Francis sit — still opposite sides of a table but in essentially the same pose. They are partners, mirrors, leaning into each other. The few glances here, small as they are, are NOT at Sir John, but between James and Francis.

Anyway, here you go, that's me done. I fucking love this show.

[jakeswifeyyy]

10:40𝒑𝒎

Part 1 here

✯Warning: Contains sexual content ahead(dry humping and making out only for now) ,use of pet names(cutie,sweetheart,baby)MDNI!

✯Pairings:Bsfjake!x virginreader!(fem bodied)

☞︎︎︎Part 2 here

☞︎︎︎Part 3 here

♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ���︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎

You were having a sleepover at your bestfriend's house as his parents were out of town that weekend .

You were currently seated at the sofa with Jake as you talked about random stuff ,when suddenly he brought up his previous date ,Jake was a really outgoing guy,and a major extrovert at that so sharing the details was not a big deal to him not at all in the slightest,"Yeah basicaly after the date she wanted to go for a drive to the beach,like late night beach drive I guess,then we ended up making out in my car ,she started feeling me up and i just gave in,but if I'd rate that fuck,honestly she's a plain 4,didn"t make me feel all that you know...."

You were just listening to him yapping keenly with your hand resting on the back of the sofa,supporting your head while you were facng him,you found it cute how he used little gestures while talking,staring into nothingness while he talked while once in a while looking over to confirm you were following along while you just nodded for him to be assured,smiling to assure him some more,before you realised it you were so preoccupied that you didn't realise all his attention was now on you,he was done talking,"What about you y/n ,anything interesting happened to you?- y/n,y/n!-" jolting awake realizing he was snapping his fingers in front of your face,blinking rapidly shaking your head to clear your thoughts,"Oh yes yes Jakey what were you saying,ventured off for a bit there..." chuckling awkwardly at the end and looking at your nails ,which was an immediately alerting to him,you only did that when you were nervous,holding your hand for you to stop looking at your nails,lifting your face up to look at him,"Hey it's ok please you can tell me,was i talking too much?" Your eyes widening immediately shaking your head,"No NO it's not you please I love when you tell me your stories trust me," He nodded at you smiling a bit,"I do trust you y/n never doubt that,but what is it?What's running through this mind of yours hm?" you sighed defeatedly before deciding to tell him the truth,"I was just noting some habits of yours which i find really adorable," He chuckled at your words and cooed,"If you find me adorable then your cuteness is indescribable y/nnie," he said pinching your cheek lightly as you turned red,hitting him playfully,being bestfriends with this man meant adapting to his flirty persona and oh did it leave you feeling butterflies but you had something that had been bugging you for a while now and you wanted his help,"Uhm Jakey i wanna as you something okay? Please dont think I'm weird," he turned around completely facing you showing that all his attention span was on you,"Go on y/nnie ,you know I'd never judge you,"Taking a deep breathe you finally let it out,"AmIweirdforbeinganinexperienced virginandI'malreadyincollege," You spoke out all of it quickly,looking away not wanting to see his reaction,"Uhm y/nnie you spoke too fast could you please repeat that," he said brows furrowed actually confused he hadn't caught on to what you said," taking a deep breathe you decided to just reframe your statement,"Uhm Jakey you know,since you're very experienced ,could you teach me some stuff,I know it's weird cause you're my best friend and-" he shushed you placing a finger on your lips as you looked up at him,"Hey calm down I'm right here and it's not weird I will help you if that's what you want ok?"You nodded meekly looking down,before he lifted your chin again,"If we're gonna do this no need to be shy with me sweetheart ,okay?" Heart jumping at the nickname you nodded,not thinking much of it ,he was a flirty guy,you knew that,he had the looks,he could charm any girl,smile that could make hearts do backflips,Jake was the epitome of perfection,"So tell me exactly what it is that you need me to teach you y/nnie,"you coudn't decide,"Just teach me what you can Jakey,"he though for a moment,"Have you ever kissed somone ?" thinking about it a bit you responded,"I have but like just a peck kind of kiss not really like makeout,"he though for a minute,"How about I teach you that first right now ok?" you nodded,"Alright I'm gonna need you to sit on my lap for this one ok?" he pulled you onto his lap ,hand on your lower back to support you as yours came around his neck,this felt so foreign to you,but his lap felt so good you didn't think you'd ever rather sit anywhere else,"You read books right? you have the idea?"Nodding slightly he mumed a 'good' before leaning in your foreheads touching,eyes flickering down to your lips as you did the same,his plump lips looking so kissable at the moment,"Follow my lead and do what i do ok?" nodding as he attached his lips to yours.

Reveling in the feeling of his plump lips against yours,slowly shutting you eyes as he pulled you closer on his lap ,hand on your lower back moving inside your shirt feeling your bare back,shuddering at the contact,as you instinctively felt yourself pull him closer,he twisted his head ,lips engulfing your lower ones,sucking on it making you let out a moan and you felt like you regretted it instantly,you thought he'd be weirded out but instead he groaned into the kiss,"Fuck baby,such pretty sounds wanna hear more,"Grabbing your hips slowly moving you ,to test the waters, back and forth on his hardened growing bulge which you soon realised after being lost in pleasure for a bit ,before feeling him attach his lips to your jawline kissing his way down to your neck before sucking on a particular spot that had you rocking your hips faster,"Anyone ever given you a hickey before baby?" he mumbled against your skin,"N-no fuck so good....."let me try giving you some Jakey," how could he say no to that,you lowered your head level with his neck,before reinacting his movements,kissing across his jaw and down his neck before sucking on his fair skin which had him groaning,bucking his his up into you and that's when you felt a sensation similar to that of a knot being untied in your core,"J-jake i feel something ngh-" he rub his hands on your sides,as you lay your head on his chest," What about you jakey did you manage to finish?" he shook his head,"No but I'll take care of it sweetheart,today is about you?This was just an overview of what is in store cutie,you let me know what more we can teach you okay?"you nodded and didn't even realise but you slowly fell asleep ,Jake chuckling at the effect an orgasm had on you,taking a wet cloth and cleaning you before kissing your crown and falling asleep beside you on the couch.

♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎ ♫︎

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just a drabble,comments and reposts highly appreciated:)

part 2?