#analyzing things

[daisywrites-stuff]

currently reading 'carrie' (stephen king) and honestly she's slaying this feminine rage. you go girl.

[shamelessmultishipper]

So I know this is kind of late but I've been thinking about Amity's hair and I noticed something

We know that Amity dying her hair symbolized that she was finally shrugging off Odalia's for nfluence, and unapologetically becoming her own person. But I think that the choice of the color purple is more specific than that. I don't know if this was purposeful but I was looking at the color wheel the other day and noticed

Green and purple are on opposite sides of the color wheel.

Amity dyed her hair in a shade that was the exact opposite of her old hair color. My girl chose the opposite of her mom's natural hair color. This symbolizes that Amity has chosen not to follow in her mother's footsteps. she's accepted that they're not the same, and that it's ok to be who she is. She's decided that she won't make her mother's same mistakes, and she won't be afraid to become her own person. Plus, the original mean-girl Amity and the cotton-candy haired goddess we ended up with are basically opposites of each other. Amity's change in hair color directly reflects her own self-discovery, and I think that's pretty cool.

[wordpress-blaze-243800539]

Peaceful Practices: Just a Stone Throw Away

Peaceful Practices: Just a Stone Throw Away

"One of the bravest and toughest things is to let go of that which you can't control. The only thing you can control is how gracefully you let go."

Lori Schaefer

As a child, my family would head north to New Hampshire during the summer to our small trailer, located on a river not too far from the White Mountains. The river was swift, and deep, and not especially broad, at least in the area my family resided. My grandfather taught me a technique of how to hold a stone and throw it in a way that would make it skip across the water. I was never especially good at this, but I did get better with practice. The angle of release, the position of the stone in my hand, and the fluidity of the throw itself all made a difference, resulting in vastly improving results. It is rewarding to see progress that sprouts from our hard work and determination, but what is truly engrained in my mind from this time in my life, is the peace and calm that such an activity brought. The sound of the stone skimming and eventually breaking the surface tension of the water. The ripples left in its wake, and the desire to pry another small stone from the sandy earth and try again. This experience has laid the foundation for my next peaceful practice that I will be sharing with you, entitled "Just a Stone Throw Away."

So much of our lives are out of our control, and the idea that lack the power to dictate our circumstance, can feel overwhelming at times. However, you have much more influence over your present reality and mindset than you realize.

"You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength." Marcus Aurelius

You are in control how you respond to people's words, their actions, and the challenges that you face in life. We often hang on to difficult memories, hurtful words heard and spoken and worries during our day that take away from the peace and joy of just being alive and present. My peaceful practice, "Just a Stone Throw Away" is meant to help you process and let go of such things and focus on moving forwards. See the downloaded activity below and enjoy!

Peaceful Practices_ Just a Stone Throw AwayDownload

I hope you have enjoyed this peaceful practice. Please check out related content at manwithaplan.org and check me out on YouTube at @manwitaplan117. Please leave a comment below with your thoughts, your experiences, and feedback! Take care and good luck with finding your inner ALPHA!

Written by: Manwithaplan aka Jeffrey Kalinoski

Source: Peaceful Practices: Just a Stone Throw Away

[maidenvault]

Not “Only my reading of canon is correct” or “Interpretations are subjective and all valid” but a secret third thing, “More than one interpretation can be valid but there’s a reason your English teacher had you cite quotes and examples in your papers, you have to have a strong argument that your interpretation is actually supported by the text or it is just wrong and I’m fine with telling you it’s wrong, actually.”

[devilledminion]

What is the key to enjoying life? (x)

[secretmellowblog]

People who try to analyze what happened on Tumblr on November 5th, 2020, often really overstate how much it was actually “about” Supernatural. As someone who has never been in the supernatural fandom ever but dID join in on the hysterical destielposting—it was really more about the stress of the pandemic and the 2020 presidential election.

The two biggest Youtubers I’ve seen try to dissect “what happened that November 5th” in video essays both weren’t American—- and I think that explains why they both tried to explain the hysteria primarily via analyzing the Supernatural fandom/the original show, rather than through the lens of the election. And while those videos are cool, valid, informational, and make lots of really well-considered interesting points— I can tell you that me and almost all my mutuals had literally no knowledge or interest in the fact that “oh supernatural had made nods at the ship in the past but the creators were adamant that I wouldn’t be canon” or etc etc etc etc. the first time I learned about any of that context was way later, watching videos where people claimed that fandom history context (that I did not know anything about) was the actual reason for the hysteria.

But the reality is that people latched on to the Destiel stuff because it was a piece of big useless inane zero-stakes fandom news in a time when we were desperately waiting for serious high stakes election news. We were latching onto a “positive “ piece of inane stupid fandom news in a time of great stress, with all the desperation of a drowning man who latches onto whatever piece of wood will keep him afloat.

The core of the hysteria was that Americans (who make up a huge chunk of tumblr’s userbase) were currently glued to their laptops watching the live presidential election vote counts come in. These vote counts were taking an extended amount of time due to the pandemic causing high numbers of mail-in ballots, resulting in a constant state of Election Day Stress for multiple days straight.

This was also during the height of the Pandemic. People had predicted Trump’s presidency would be bad; no one had predicted it would be this apocalyptically bad. No one had predicted pandemics and lockdowns and hospitals overflowing with bodybags. remember Trump spreading Covid lies and conspiracies?? There were so many Qanon conspiracies about democrats being Satanic child traffickers who had to be put to death, and coup threats were mounting from the right wing side. It seemed like this election was a choice between ‘centrist democrat’ and “apocalyptic right wing conspiracy theory authoritarianism,” in the midst of pandemic conditions that people feared would never ever improve— and it seemed like a close election.

Another major point was that Trump voters were more likely to be antimaskers/Covid deniers, while Biden voters were more likely to take the pandemic seriously— so Biden voters were more likely to send in mail-in ballots instead of risking the in-person voting crowds, which meant their ballots would take much longer to count. And so, in many state electoral vote counts, it would initially seem like Trump was very far in the lead— only for Biden to slooooowly build up an agonizingly small lead as the mail in ballots came in, and then defeat Trump at the very end.

So you’re just watching these news sites giving live election updates, refreshing the page every 2 minutes to see if you’re going to live under a spineless centrist democrat or a literal Qanon Dictatorship. And then you go on tumblr to distract yourself, and there’s more election posting, and more agonizing over the votes, and more stress and despair—-

And then it’s been days and we’re right at the crucial tipping point where it’s anyone’s game and the next few hours will determine whether Trump will win, so you need to keep your eye on the vote count, because the next hours will determine the future of the pandemic and your country and your plans for your entire life—

And then stupid Destiel becomes canon! And it becomes canon in the silliest way possible!

If Destiel had become canon at any other time, it would have been a big goofy tumblr celebration? But we wouldn’t have gotten the insane explosion of hysterical interaction.

The entire core of it was the contrast between the inane meaningless stupidity of fandom news vs the actual stressful election news you wanted to hear! It really is best conveyed in that meme where Castiel says “I love you” and Dean indifferently responds with a piece of important election news.

It’s about the contrast between the low-stakes inanity of fandom and the massive life-destroying stakes of a terrifying election. There really was no reason it had be Supernatural specifically, except that Supernatural was a thing everyone knew basic things about from dashboard osmosis— it could’ve been any other equally huge silly fandom ship news about a ship everyone *knew of* but might not necessarily be invested in (ex. Stucky becoming canon, Johnlock becoming canon, Kirk/Spock becoming more canon somehow, etc etc etc.)

I think it’s true that people who weren’t paying agonizingly close attention to the American election news got swept up in it, and that non American Supernatural fans also were extremely excited for purely fandom reasons — but the entire reason it blew up to an unprecedented degree was because of that core of stressed out terrified Americans glued to their computers watching election results and suddenly receiving stupid fandom news instead, and deciding to just hysterically parodically hyper-celebrate this absurd useless zero-stakes news.

I think it was also all elevated by the fact that, as I said before, this happened at the crucial “tipping point” of the election where the next few hours would determine the winner. The fact that Biden began to slowly develop a lead in the hours after made it feel, hysterically, as if the hours after Destiel became canon was somehow the turning point where he began to win; so celebrating Destiel felt like celebrating that slow turn towards victory.

The tl,dr is that it’s so important to Remember the Fifth of November …..in preparation the inevitable hysteria that will happen in the presidential election on November 5th of next year. XD. Personally I’m rooting for Johnlock or Frodo/Sam to somehow become canon in the eleventh hour right before the democrats win

[australet789]

Some assholes on Instagram saying that Epic fans are "gaslighting" themselves about Odysseus being faithful to Penelope because of the Circe part and being pretentious about it and how we are stupid for considering The Odyssey romantic

Motherfucker

1. The Odyssey is an epic poem we all fucking know that? That it's a tragedy, technically comedy (comedy in ancient literature used to mean "happy ending", not funny stuff)

2. The Circe bit can be interpreted in different ways, as if it was fully consensual or not or just a transaction. There was still a difference in power dynamics, which was 100% mentioned by Calypso in the beginning, but if you choose to ignore that part if the same as saying some of Zeus' kids were ok to be conceived because the women agreeded to what A GOD wanted.

3. Obviously Epic!Odysseus is differente from Homer!Odysseus, but trying to say Homer! Odysseus is a horrible person that fully wanted to cheat on Penelope just because you want to defend ALEXANDER HAMILTON, i have bad news about you.

4. "The crew had to beg to go back!" I read the Odyssey too. As a child and a few days ago. They stayed on Circe's island to rest so Odysseus job as a captain was literally wait until his crew told him they were ready to leave, specially after what they have lived. Odysseus didnt force anyone to stay in that island, when the crew went "oh, sir, we miss our families, please lets go back now, yes?" Odysseus immediately said "ok". It literally felt like a father waiting for the kids to stop playing in the playground.

5. Homer!Odysseus is not perfect, at all (man killed his disloyal maids because he didnt want to deal with shit anymore, even if they also were coerced/raped by the suitors), but come with a better gotcha than Circe. You are just fixiated on the Telegony and it shows.

6. Idk what to tell you, but if you think renouncing a life with two inmortal godesses (one of whom offered you immortality), traveling for 10 years defying a God's rage, killing 108 men who wanted to marry your wife (and ruined your house), almost killed yourself when said wife rejected you only for her to go "haha i was just testing you, silly :)", have your literally marriage have a word created for you two specifically is not romantic... Idk go read Bridgerton

[birdy-babe]

This is my favorite scene and NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT

Them, being SO ADORABLE, being my NEW FAVORITE DUO EVER

Blitzo admitting to her that the “I want to fuck everyone, and only fuck them, because emotions and caring for people is dangerous” persona he has is not true, that it’s falling apart. This seems like such a silly line but I think it goes so deep.

Blitzo’s always been wanted for sex and sex only, which is why I think he might have looked up at Millie like that after he admitted he doesn’t actually want to fuck her. He’s scared that if his one good use is gone, then people won’t want him anymore.

Luckily this is Millie, and this whole episode is the beginning of putting that insecurity to bed. So he feels more comfortable admitting this to her

This part is really showing his growth. His maturity in his relationship- knowing that if he really cares about someone he can’t sleep around. His maturity with his friends- leaving their relationship be and no longer pushing and crossing boundaries. He’s letting go of that persona, the one that in his eyes has kept him safe. He realizing he needs to be someone else to be happy.

And of course,

Blitzo admitting just how much he loves and cares about Stolas- TO SOMEONE ELSE. This is HUGE for him- he doesn’t do the feelings talk, not even with the people he has feelings for, let alone bystanders.

He’s realizing that he doesn’t want to be with anyone else- that Stolas is the only one. He really understands (you can hear it in his voice and see it in his face) how much he fucked up, which is also how much he will need to fix to get it back.

This scene was the perfect way to end this episode and I just think it’s absolute perfection

[buggachat]

honestly just in general it's very exhausting to try to analyze media that is literally meant to be analyzed, only for the replies to be filled with people arguing not against your analysis, but against the premise that the media can be analyzed at all.

i don't even know what to say about it without starting to really betray my frustration, so i'll just settle with— just don't engage with analysis posts? I'm serious. if you're typing a response to a media analysis post, reread what you've written and ask yourself "is this comment/response against the very concept of analyzing the media at all?" and if the answer is yes then delete it all and go sit in the shame corner. throw your curtains away if you want to so bad and stop telling me that I'm not allowed to hum and haw at the fact mine are blue

[nyancrimew]

i am genuinely so confused like why would you edit your photo to look like you don't have clavicles? there's literally a straight line going from your neck to your arms there's no shoulder joint. is this a meme I am not getting or a beauty standard i'm unaware of?

it's just a low quality webcam photo from a weird angle at a low resolution and im wearing an overaized shirt, that's all

[daisywrites-stuff]

Apologies in Writing

I love noticing the way characters apologize in writing. I've just written an apology scene and wanted to talk about it.

Apologies can show a lot about a character, and when you can show your character through their apology, it makes both the apology and the character so much better. For example, it can show how a character feels about why they're apologizing. If your character doesn't understand what they've done wrong, then they'll apologize differently than a character that is overcome with guilt.

An apology can also show their background or backstory. If your character has had everything in their life handed to them, they'll apologize differently than someone who's had to work for what they have. Apologies can also give information on a characters motives! A person that has nothing to lose will apologize differently (or maybe not apologize at all!) than one who has everything on the line. It can also show what kind of character they are. Do they avoid conflict? Are they only doing it to get something? Do they grovel? Or act nonchalant?

An example of apologies (or non apologies!) showing character is in the song "Betty" by Taylor Swift (I'm a swiftie, if there are any other swifties here pls come ily). The song is about a boy, James, apologizing to his girlfriend because of a summer fling he had while they were still dating.

He begins his apology by saying,

"You heard the rumors from Inez You can't believe a word she says Most times, but this time it was true"

He begins by blaming another person, Inez. He deflects the blame, avoiding the apology. Already you can tell that he's not one for conflict and he doesn't want to take responsibility for his actions.

The next part of his apology is,

"But if I just showed up at your party Would you have me? Would you want me? Would you tell me to go f--- [censored for tumblr because idk the rules] myself? Or lead me to the garden? In the garden would you trust me If I told you it was just a summer thing? I'm only seventeen, I don't know anything But I know I miss you"

He blames his age and he never actually apologizes. He also says that his fling didn't mean anything to him, showing that he doesn't value Augustine (his summer fling). Does this mean he values Betty? By the way he's avoiding apologizing, it doesn't seem like it. The rest of the song showcases him not saying "I'm sorry" once.

This is a prime example of apologies showing character. It's amazing and such a smart way add depth to your characters.

Some things that helped me put character into my apologies is think about their background, how they view the situation, the actual situation, and their traits.

In my book, the characters are both apologizing to each other. The first character, Christabel has never really had to apologize. She grew up in an environment where she never had to be wrong. She also doesn't believe that she's done anything wrong, she did, in fact, indirectly participate in events leading up to what happened, but she was not the sole person at fault. Because of the way she views the situation, this leads her to believe that she has no need to apologize. But, she's also a very caring and loving person. She genuinely cares for the other character and doesn't want conflict between them.

The other character, Elisabeth grew up the exact opposite of Christabel. While Christabel had whatever she wanted whenever she wanted, Elisabeth didn't have that kind of luxury. She grew up in a poor area and had to work for everything she earned, which made her a very hard worker and very conscious of both her and others actions, but she also had to miss out on a lot of things. Elisabeth felt like she had been wronged, she didn't have anyone to blame so she blamed Christabel, who at the time she believed was at fault. Some time passed between their incident and the apology, and in that apology, Elisabeth realized that Christabel wasn't totally at fault, though her anger is still justified because of the role Christabel played.

Elisabeth knows that Christabel is not totally at fault and it wasn't right to blame everything on her. So she apologizes for that, for blaming her. She was justified in some (maybe even a lot) of her anger because Christabel did play a role so she won't fully apologize for blaming her. She says it straight out, saying the words "I'm sorry." On the other hand, Christabel never apologizes. Her actions and the way she talks shows she's sorry, but she never actually says the words.

I think this is a super interesting way to show a character's traits and backgrounds, so even though this is crazy long I wanted to share it.

[detectiveposting]

my stages of watching columbo

1: hahah hes just a silly detective ;)

2: columbo is actually a cunning manipulative liar that hides his true persona behind the facade of a slow and clumsy middle class detective

3: hahah hes just a silly detective ;)

[loganslowdown4]

One puppet episode later—

I’ve been here *counts* 6? YEARS??

[bylerist]

genuinely what did the duffers put in byler because why do they still occupy at least 70% of my brain over 1000 days after vol2. they take up so much of my brain every day i wake up and one of my first thoughts is just byler. byler byler. byler. i cant listen to music without thinking of them. i will see someone wearing blue and yellow and im like oh this 70 year old man ships byler sooooo bad. i will see two rocks on the side of the road and im like. byler. will is the smaller one

[chandralia]

I love being delusional with my ships it’s so much fun, I love making shit up and defending it, I’m committed to the bit because it pisses people off. character A puts on a jacket that happens to be character B’s color? yeah, because they’re in love! both characters quickly hide behind a corner in a chase? to kiss obviously duh! ​character A thinks of character B right before he dies? because that’s his boyfriend ummm??? I’m connecting dots that aren’t even known to the author and that’s what life’s allll about babeyy

[screwpinecaprice]

Alternate timeline where she didn't meet Steven. I may be exaggerating lmao

Yapping under the cut because I'm waiting on a line rn

Okey, so. Entertaining the thought: An introverted feral kid and a girl who gets a sort of high off adrenaline; but was taught to be polite and proper. You know, all that perfect girl stuff. We would also consider how her empathy level is questionable, based on how she just casually suggested cutting off his arm when it got stuck. (Still not sure if immediately being excited seeing swords is just amazement or 'OOH How convenient!') So perhaps she would learn to understand empathy in a practical (not sure if that's the word I'm looking for) way rather than in an emotional way.

Thankfully she was coaxed out of her shell and she had outlet early on. Also, to have genuinely learned friendship power! 😊

But what if she never got that outlet. 🤔 I mean, she could have gotten out of her shell in a different way. But, like. Imagine if she had to bottle it up all these years. It could go south or she'll be able to manage it because it ain't as bad. Just fun to think about the former.

She would be like: This thing I'm reading is SO morbidly interesting! I wonder what it feels like in a personal level though? Could I do it? Could I do it better now that I have the knowledge of foresight? But what if I still mess up? I can't have a negative record! And the curiosity and the adrenaline just mixes up together. Lol

Haha I'm not really seriously headcanoning that is exactly what's gonna happen. I mean at least not to an intense extent. It's so fun to think about.

[ideologyofone]

I’m still obsessed with how Ekko isn’t really shocked when he sees Jinx’s reflection after waking up in the alternative universe, if anything he looks annoyed that she’s there (probably bc she blew him up a week ago idk can’t say for sure though)

Like oh yes of course Jinx is here, likely place for her to be- on the frayed thread I’ve been hanging on by

It’s only when he realizes the reflection is actually Powder that he freaks out

Like he’s completely lost in a shop he recognizes but hasn’t seen in years, in a body that’s his but isn’t, and for a split second thinks okay well Jinx is here so maybe I’m not completely crazy- NOT JINX !!