#and understand what they are and how to utilise them

[crowtobio]

in a perpetual state of insane over kagehina

[theclaravoyant]

look aziraphale giving Everything to stop crowley being forcibly ascended though . like . he only ever meant it as an offering . now that he knows it’s like a lance through his heart instead you best believe he’ll do anything in his power to stop anyone coming near crowley with it

[salemlunaa]

∘˚꥟ BE A GOD ꥟˚∘

start demanding stop asking and waiting

whether you’re religious or not picture this:

let me ask you a question, when god wanted light did He go “let me see if i can make light and if i can’t i’ll just go ask for advice”, “i’ll try but just incase it doesn’t work”? no, He didn’t. He didn’t sit around scripting how the world would look with light. He had a vision what He wanted to do, He said “let there be light”, and there was light. That was it. He spoke it into fruition and it came and that was it. There was no “maybe it will happen tonight idk” No he wanted it he demanded it and it happened.

You need to realise that, you are the god in your world. You need to start affirming. and taking your demand for certain.

According to AI, “In terms of manifestation, affirming is something that is to be declared CONFIDENTLY as FACT”

are you stating the fact that you induce pure consciousness as fact or is it a maybe.

are you stating that you are “I AM” or is it just so that you can maybe induce pure consciousness that night.

are you stating that you have your desires as fact or is it, im just affirming so maybe ill get it.

You’re a god, start acting like it. stop leaving it up to chance, you don’t do maybes or ifs it’s always an absolute, always a fact

A god speaks something into fruition as soon as they want something. They understand the power of their subconscious mind and utilise it properly. They don’t care what the 3D is showing them because they know that it has to reflect the 4D. no matter what. Idc if the 3D is repeatedly slapping you in the face, idc if you’re staring your 3D in the face right now. A real god knows that circumstances aren’t real, that the reality that they accept is the only thing true because they’re gods and can simply decide that.

Be a god, not a beggar. Be a god, not just anyone who just happened to find out about manifestation.

Be a god. and stop with the “what if it doesn’t work”, you speak something into existence it happens, you want something? cool, it’s already here.

Be a god and stop with the chance and “just incase”

🍯🫐 stop with the maybe, like seriously.

[fishnapple]

Your successful qualities

Let's find out what qualities do you possess that can make you successful on your chosen path ✨️

This is a general reading meant for multiple people. Take only what resonates and leave out the rest.

Your feedback is much appreciated. If you find the reading resonated with you, leave a comment, I’d love to know 🎐

About me | Masterpost Book a reading with me - KO-FI (→ personal reading)

YELLOW

You have qualities that would make you a person of the people. You have a high level of emotional intelligence and charm that make it easy for you to dive into people's hearts. The chief element that will contribute to your success is how you connect with people. You know how to express your feelings in a calm and soothing way, people feel accepted and nurtured through the interactions with you and your presence. You care a lot about other's comfort. You intuitively understand what the other person wants without them having to voice it out. This is especially helpful when you are assigned a task or when you assign a task to other people. You know how to complete the task in the way that the other person wants and you also know what the other person is capable of, what is their working style, so you can give them suitable task and instruction. You also have the ability to pacify and harmonise difficult situations. Which are qualities that are very much needed when dealing with customers or working in employee relations. But if you're not careful, people's dependency and over demanding could be a problem. Dealing constantly with people's problems can drain your energy really fast. Also, when there are many people expecting something from you, a desire to please, to be helpful and perfect in your job, can become a burden for you. The downside of being in tune with others is that you're entangled with them, it would be hard to act independently.

What makes you popular with people is not just your aura or your caring and pleasant nature. It's also your communication skills. You have the gift of the gab, striking a balance between being funny and wise. Your humour can diffuse tense situations and your knowledge and wisdom can guide you through the intricate system of socialising, never appearing too jesting nor too serious. You can grasp abstract concepts easily and then explain them back in a simple to understand way, this ability will make you a great teacher or a supervisor or someone who needs to present their ideas to a mass. You also can turn those ideas into reality, ideas don't just stay in your head, you pull them out and mould them into solid existences. When you encounter new information or foreign topics, you don't shy away from them but revel in the process of analysing, understanding and absorbing that information. So new job, new position, new opportunities don't faze you, your adaptability is one of your biggest talents.

What can make you successful is your drive for success, it's very simple. As long as you have the desire to succeed in anything you do, you can achieve it, with patience, diligence but also a flash of genius. You are an innovative pioneer, you follow your own rules, and this will attract people and opportunities to you.

BLACK

This may sound corny but it's your heart and passion. As you can see in the picture above, the "heart" bead landed right next to the "sun" bead at the centre. It's just that simple. Your heart shines so brightly that it can attract success. The more you're in alignment with yourself, the better the chance for you to shine and soar. Self alignment can mean various things, self awareness, self compassion, self expansion, all the things that make you become clearer about yourself. In doing so, you can understand your strengths and weaknesses with an objective lens, develop a healthy ego to navigate the world and stand up for yourself, utilise your potentials fully and have a better vision of what you want out of your life (this sounds like an ad for self improvement program)

You being you, truthfully, unapologetically, without any shadow nor hiding, will make everything you strive for easier to grasp. Right now, you might have some fears about expressing yourself fully, showing your creative side, which is precious and a huge treasure. You don't want to be an outcast, being labelled as weird or individualistic. You might have a perfectionist living inside you, constantly criticising and questioning your every move and attempt at doing something creative. Maybe you don't feel confident enough, still thinking that you lack skills or you look at other people and see them getting busy and successful, you begin to doubt your resolution and your ability, no amount of practice is enough in your eyes. This line of thinking is really detrimental to your growth. Looking at other people for inspiration is fine but it can become an obsession, taking other's success as goals to achieve, while ignoring your own brilliance. There's something you need to know, that you don't have to be applauded by a crowd to prove that you're talented and worthy. You will find that, by being yourself and sharing your creativity, slowly and surely, there will be people who appreciate your work, even if they are not the mainstream crowd.

On the subject of the crowd, this group has a bit of similarity with the first group, in the ability to connect with people. But unlike group one, who uses their charm and verbal ability to harmonise and attract people, yours is more about your ability to get into the hearts of other people, through your sensitivity and kindness. This group's soul is like one of the artists. Beauty moves your heart, you see beauty in everything, down to their core, this kind of ardent appreciation will spread to your surroundings, the people around you. It's like you have a subconscious ability to beautify everything, making things softer, more tender, more kind. Don't hide this part of yours, the more you're willing to be transparent and spiritually "naked", the more joy and success will come into your life, for you will be the pure vessel that the universe will pour into endlessly.

GREEN

The quality that stands out the most is your ability to accept and commit to changes, whether those changes are about yourself, your environment, or other outside factors. It's not that you actively seek chaos or transformation just for the sake of shaking things up, but when changes come to you, you don't cower and complain, you accept them and try to find the best possible solution to deal with them, no matter how scared and uncomfortable you feel inside. It's this kind of courage that will help you sail through the ups and downs in life without being sunken and defeated by them.

When you feel afraid or anxious, uneasy in your mind, you actively try to find a solution, a different route of thinking to get out of that unproductive thinking mode. Sometimes you would even seek the very things that make you afraid, to learn more about them, to gain an understanding and to broaden your perspective. When your heart feels weak, you still believe in a better future. In doing so, you attract luck to your side. You would find that whenever you're in a difficult situation, if you keep your faith and your mind open, new understanding and support will come your way, helping you regain stability and inner peace again. Your heart is resilient, even though it might have suffered painful wounds in the past, it still remains optimistic and tries to break away from the clutch of the past. So you don't easily give up when there are hardship and setbacks in your endeavour. Your mind also can think up really out of the box ideas, great innovative ideas that can bring changes to the community, and the society you're in, as long as you give your mind total freedom.

With your resilient heart, your outward aura is very stable and solid, very sure of yourself. You have good self-control, from your body to your mind and your heart. Dark thoughts won't be able to stay in your mind for long, you exercise firm authority on them, not allowing them to sabotage you. Sometimes you can be in a melancholic mood, feeling hopeless or too weary, but you know how to get out of it, centering yourself to the physical reality around you, taking care of yourself and reaffirming your core values. You know how to offset the dark with light, the cold with warmth. When you're stressed, you might choose to do something physical or appreciate the beauty around you, bringing you back to simple happiness. This again points to the sturdiness of your core. You don't seek external validations or nourishment from others, you nourish yourself and shine your own light, you're not the moon waiting for other light to illuminate you and reflecting back that light, you are the sun that give out your light and illuminate others. This self containment, or independence will make you a great leader, or someone who can work independently, actually, any positive won't be daunting to you at all. You can take on lots of stress, not to say that you should, but when working or doing something under pressure, you can still manage the load and work efficiently.

BLUE

Life seems like a never-ending adventure to you. You're not meant to stay in one place, be contented with "normal" life, "normal" means what everyone thinks how life should be, not for you, you're a traveller, a seafarer, constantly following the flow of life. The fluidity of your energy enables you to navigate life situations with grace and ease, not that you're trouble-free or everything is smooth sailing all the time, but you don't get stuck. If you ever find yourself in a predicament, you don't sit and complain, asking why misfortune befell you, you try to find all the information you can get, the lesson you can learn, the most positive outcome and the most opportune moment to turn misfortune into your advantage, rising again, stronger and wiser. You have keen eyes that can notice opportunities from miles away and an open heart that can welcome those opportunities, which makes you seem like a very lucky person to the onlookers.

Your mind is your greatest asset that can make you rise in this world. You don't let valuable information slip through your mind, you examine it with curiosity and intense focus, extract from it the essence that can be used for the future. Your mind is not just geared with sheer laser focus, but also an ability for intuitive abstract thinking, it reminds me of genius, how it can weave all the bits of information into a fantastical picture. If something captured your attention, you would dive deeply into it, try to understand its core. This makes you an excellent researcher or someone who can do works that require focus and resilience. You can also read people accurately right from the first few exchanges and can adjust your approach accordingly. It's not about people pleasing, charming people to get your way, it's tact and understanding, thesr traits will make you greatly attractive, not just on one on one level but also on a bigger scale, in a professional environment or when you need to address a crowd.

Your energy is very balanced between masculine and feminine energy. It's both nurturing and authoritative. Drive and intuition, active and passive, strong yet soft. You shine but you also let others shine too, you don't steal other's light, if anything, you help them shine even brighter. Being with you makes people feel safe, at ease. You allow people to be themselves without ridicule or judgement. But you can also firmly lead people, giving them guidance and security. You can be serious but not rigid and cold, you can be chatty without being superficial, charming without hidden motives. These traits would develop gradually over the years, you will find that as you get older, you'll be more sure of yourself and more confident in front of people, stepping into your authority more, like growing a tree for many years and finally you can enjoy the sweet fruits.

WHITE

Right of the bat, the word "refreshing" came to my mind. You have a unique take on everything, from the most trivial matters to the worldly philosophical thoughts that you have, everything is different from the usual way many people are used to. People would definitely want to come to you when they're stuck in a problem and uninspired, they know that you will always have something unique to say to them, making them more aware of hidden aspects at play and a fresh solution. Problem solving could be one of your greatest skills. But it's not the logical, factual thinking that is usually associated with problem solving, it's highly intuitive. Your mind hovers between the collective thinking and the individual paths each person can have, you can synthesise those two worlds into an abstract thinking system that can get hold of information seemingly out of thin air and mix and match them together flexibly. You instinctively understand what people want and you deliver it, with a new twist. Your ideas are the road to manifest whatever your wishes are.

Not just mentally, but emotionally, you also express yourself truthfully, without trivialise other's emotions or making them feel ignored. You respect emotions, both of yourself and of others, creating an emotionally safe space that can foster trust. Commerce and sales might be the areas where you can express that strong point. Your emotional intelligence also adds charm to your physical appeal. You know how people always praise the eyes that are full of emotions and light? When you're in touch with emotions, your eyes show, and they beckon people to them. Your manner, your aura shows a charm that is real and earthy, nothing elusive or deceptive about it, like walking in an actual orchard instead of looking at it from a picture. You can see, touch, smell, hear all the things happening around you.

You also rarely judge people, if you do, it's not harsh or too triggering. You adopt the mentality of going with the flow, live and let live. You don't demand from people, other than respect for your boundaries and privacy, which you value above all else. Other than those, you let people live their way without imposing your beliefs on them. This open-minded attitude is very important when you're working in a team, you provide ideas, but you likely don't want to control and lead people. Though you could find yourself in the leader position often simply because the one with the good ideas usually is nominated to be the leader. You're fine working for others. But if you're in a leadership, you lead with leniency, allowing enough rooms for individuality to shine.

This might be a bit random, but you can be a good cook or a good decorator. If you're tasked with decorating an event or a living space, or just making anything aesthetically pleasing, you'll be surprised how positive people's receptions are. If this is not something you're aware of about yourself, you should pay more attention to it and develop it, it can open new career opportunities for you.

RED

There's a method to your madness, not that I'm saying you're mad or crazy, but you can think up some outlandish and original ideas, a little bit "out there". What people don't understand is that behind all those seemingly random and genius ideas is a very disciplined spirit. There's logic and sound reasons behind your every action. What people perceived were just the puppets playing on the stage, they didn't see the puppeteer controlling the puppets. Every action and word require fine skill, but you have the ability to make them seem effortless. Your mind is like the sky during a thunderstorm, thoughts and ideas zigzagging, making flashes that blind the eyes. What you say can be very spontaneous or somewhat irrelevant at first glance, but thinking deeper, people can't help but marvel. You might also have a knack of predicting the trends, always one step ahead. Creative careers of course would be very suitable for you, but you can also find success in predictive analytics or education. Your words need to be delivered to the world, they're your greatest contributions.

You have an air of feeling at ease with wherever places you're. You might be someone doing an independent freelance job, but then if suddenly, you're to be placed in the position of leadership or a completely different job, you wouldn't be fazed by it, you go into it as if it's the most natural thing to do, as if you've done this a million times. This air of confidence and ease makes people want to give you opportunities, to trust you with important tasks and jobs.

When you're faced with an unfamiliar subject, you would patiently deconstruct it into an understandable structure. There's an intense focus being put on it, not just to understand it but to master it. To be the object of your focus would akin to being scrutinised and studied by a scientist. You can be a quite obsessive and hyper focused when you're interested in something. Especially when you want to achieve a goal or possess something, you go with all your might, there's no fear, no hang-up involved, because you're not afraid to be judged. Your inner drive roots in the ideal vision you seek, not in simple egotistical desires like wanting to be recognised or praised. You might actually shun publicity or attention, because attention can curb your freedom, which is what you seek and value the most. So you're fine with working behind the screen, as long as you can achieve your goals, and those goals are usually about advancement and improvement of something that can benefit the collective.

[princessbrunette]

https://x.com/horridprincess/status/1774386674979557801?s=46

how do you think rafe would react to catching bunny reader doing this?

✧˖°. ໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა ✧˖°.

he simply follows the sound.

he’d know your moans anywhere — licking over his lips with a frown, mumbling a ‘the fuck?’ to himself as he draws closer to the bathroom. shrill mewls and whines echo through the bathroom — greeting him through a wall of steam as he walks in. the first thing he see’s are your legs dangling over the edge of the pristine marble.

his expression doesn’t change as he steps closer to you, but his pants certainly tighten at the sight he is met with. you lay on your back in shallow depth, body glistening with water, wriggling your hips as the running tap pounds down on your clit. you’re greedy, rubbing yourself despite the stimulation — panting toward the sky.

“you havin’ fun? huh?” rafe has the awful habit of managing to sound unimpressed, even when his cock was actively hardening. you’re in a daze, not at all alarmed by rafes presence. your sticky eyes blink open, residue of mascara smeared beneath them as you gaze at his impending silhouette.

“mm, mhm.” is all you manage, sucking on your bottom lip as you use him as visual porn, eyes locking in on the heavy bulge in his dress pants — letting out a loud and careless moan.

“would you like some help?” he asks slowly, like you might not understand. as you concentrate on your pleasure, you’re quick to shake your head no.

“mm-mm.” you answer and he squints at you, clearly offended.

“no? huh?” he starts to unbuckle his belt anyway. “get up. c’mon.” he commands under his breath, never needing to utilise a louder volume to get you to abide by him.

you groan, displeased — but cling to the edge of the bath anyway, opening your mouth and sticking out your wet, pink tongue before he’d even pulled his dick out. he hums out a low chuckle, stroking a thumb roughly over your wet cheek as he pulls you closer— slapping his tip on your tongue.

“know just what to do, that right?”

✧˖°. ໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა ✧˖°.

[sweet-as-an-angel]

Things Simon Loves About You

Warnings: Fluff <3, Cosy Headcanons, Simon Being a Hypothetical Animal Crossing Enthusiast, Jealous! Simon :3, Simon Being the Best Boyfriend, Spoilers for Simon’s Backstory, No Pronouns Used For Reader Except ‘You’.

He’s secretly enamoured with the way you’ll gently pluck a fallen eyelash from his face and tell him to make a wish on it. The first time it happened, you had to explain to him what this odd ritual meant, what it entailed. You shushed him before he tried to make his wish out loud, telling him with haste that it won’t come true if he told you what it was. When he blew the eyelash from your fingertip, all he could do was look at you and think: ‘but it already came true’.

Though it initially worried him, he loves that you go to sleep late — especially when he finds you zonked out on the sofa, TV on, remnants of your midnight snack escapade scattered across the coffee table. It means he has an excuse to pick you up and bring you to bed, holding you close to him all the while. Most nights, he just stares at you, watching you, wondering how he got so lucky to even have someone exist in the same house with, never mind you.

Nobody likes arguments — especially Simon. Having grown up in an abusive household, they were commonplace in some form or another. But, when he argues with you, he knows that it can easily be fixed. Especially if it’s over something minimal like laundry or cleaning — it gives him the excuse to seek you out and utilise his ultimate love languages: gift-giving and physical touch. Sure, he’ll give you a quiet, verbal apology, too, but his efforts shine through in the way he opens himself up to you, pulling you into a warm hug and not letting you go for as long as you’ll let him.

He loves the nicknames you give him: especially the funny ones. You’ve called him Semen Demon before now — completely unprompted. He couldn’t help but give a deep chuckle, saying “What are you like,” before turning back to what he was doing. This worked a competition between the two of you to see who could create the most cursed nickname for the other.

It’s still going on ‘til this day.

He lives for the inside jokes the two of you have, like a dialect only you know. It makes him feel like he’s truly part of something… normal. Sure, he has the 141, by they are bound in the blood of their profession, not by the sanctity of love. Not the kind of love you two have. He loves it even more when everyone else looks confused when you mark a reference onto you two understand; it makes him feel like you’re talking to him and only him. For the first time, he feels like someone sees him.

He loves when you listen to his music suggestions. It makes him feel like his opinion matters — like what he says matters.

He loves the music you listen to, too. Not even because he likes the songs themselves, but because he knows, somewhere between their instruments and vocals, you have found enjoyment, like a coveted treasure. And that's what brings him enjoyment when listening to them.

Simon’s always been a light sleeper. A trick he learned in childhood. So when you prod him awake to spill your thoughts to him, he’s immediately all ears. And he loves everything you say, no matter how banal or nonsensical. Even when you tell him your worries, his heart swells with the fact that you trust him enough with your perils. That you think, even for a second, that maybe he can fix them.

And he would. Before time can catch him, he’ll do whatever it takes to ease your worries, to destroy them.

He loves that he gets to show you off to the 141 — like a child with an arts and crafts project. He’s a secretive man, but he won’t hesitate to make light of the fact that his partner is absolutely stunning, intelligent, hilarious, loyal, understanding—

You see where this is going.

He even loves how jealous they all look when they see you wearing one of his shirts in all your unfiltered glory, wishing them a good night while you bid Simon his own – a special one. A kiss. Just on the forehead. But a kiss all the same.

He’s dazed for the rest of the evening, trying to hurry his friends uut the door so he can come to bed and see you.

Lazy morning cuddles !!!!!

He’s recently gotten into video games because of you, too.

Secretly a big fan of Animal Crossing. He absolutely would have been one of those people to try and buy Raymond from anyone willing to sell him back in 2020 .

Likes any games that are life simulators. Simple ones — free of life’s stresses.

Loves Harvest Moon. And the Sims (Sims 2 is his favourite).

Although, when he found out you can romance other characters, he felt a bit bad because he felt like it would be cheating on you. Until he found out that you were already leading many a double life on those same games. The moment he found out you’d been romancing a collection of pixels and shapes, he picked you up, slung you over his shoulder and dragged you to the bedroom to “Teach you a lesson.”

All in all, domestic life with you is better than anything Simon could have hoped for. So long as you’re with him, he’s living a life he’s only ever dreamt of. And so help the person who tries to wake him.

Reblog for more content like this! It helps creators like myself tremendously and it is greatly appreciated :-)

Masterlist Masterlist [Continued] Masterpost Modern Warfare AI Masterlist

AO3 Wattpad Tumblr Backup Account

[sapphos-maiden]

THE INNER CIRCLE CIRCUS

(Can someone please hand me some wine because this is gonna be long...)

Inner Circle Circus stans are you guys okay cuz you're telling me that a bunch of drunkards and clowns are canonically the heads of an entire court???

• Let us start with RhySAnd

The "most powerful high lord" is clearly not the smartest because which person in power in his right mind would have such an unstable court? This man has 2/3rds of his court living in misery and only utilising them when it suits his needs. The Hewn City has been given free rein to mistreat and abuse the women population as and when they like and RhySAnd as a ruler should have implemented laws long ago! Laws are the basis of social change!! And then we have the Illyrians whom Cas*ian himself considers to be expendable pawns and the inner circle even thinks they should be wiped off the face of the earth because they couldn't be courageous enough to actively try and educate them or set laws. I mean ofc if a community that has backward tradItions and doesn't comply with you... Means that they should go through ethnic cleansing, right?

• Amren

The four-foot, possibly a felon, grandma hobbit with a bob cut who can only be mean and tyrannical is the second-in-command? She literally suggested that RhySAnd be the High King and exploit the Archeron sisters by using their powers just because all of them ended up in the Night Court. Do you hear yourself oldie??? Calling someone "girl" or "child" clearly doesn't prove that she's mature even though she might have lived for over a century.

• Morrigan

Wtf is THE MORRIGAN YALL. TRUTH TELLER FROM WHAT ANGLE😃��️ this bit*h was giving Nesta sh*t and telling her that she should be thrown into Hewn City or Human Lands all because she was drinking and sleeping around? HMMM I WONDER WHAT MORRIGAN DOES IN HER FREE TIME. BECAUSE IT SURE AS HELL ISN'T ACTIVE WORK TO HELP THE HEWN CITY, WHICH SHE IS THE INCHARGE OF. She herself is drinking and sleeping around but once Nesta does it as a coping mechanism, it isn't classy anymore? She just shows up to Hewn City in fancy and scanty clothing every now and then just to glare at them. I wonder what the women who are still going through torture must think of her. "The Morrigan" who could have maybe helped them.

• Cassian

SJM made him Nesta's mate when he really should have been RhySAnd's. Have you seen how that man tries to defend RhySAnd. And then uses his trauma to justify each one of his wrong doings and petty acts just because Nesta asked him to respect her boundaries. Literally threw a tantrum and then stalked her like a creep. Overgrown manchild istg.

• Azriel

I don't have much to say about him because he just seems like a victim of manipulation to me tbh. I wonder if he'll actually have the guts to stand up against RhySAnd's manipulation, something which Cassian seems to treat as his religion. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt though I clearly don't understand how someone can be quiet all the time and actively ignore every wrongdoing.

• Feyre

The moment she learns to read... Voila! We've got a new high lady!!! Girl please get off your ass and try and help your people in the slums of Velaris who are going through the same sh*t that you once endured. Go help the Illyrian women who can never fly but whose wings you flaunt. But no she gotta paint, build her fifth mansion and then make Nesta earn her love and be redeemed so that she can live freely.

Phew- that was long. I gotta go on a vacation and revive my mental peace after reading the bs in ACOTAR.

[shibaincubus]

How to stop being a doormat.-

-> . . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ [By a healed people pleaser] ࿐ྂ

Being nice to others is not a bad trait, but becoming THE NICE GIRL is.

Excessive people pleasing brings you nowhere and makes you vulnerable to becoming a doormat, disrespect, and sacrificing yourself.

People pleasing isn’t just about being nice to everyone all the time; it actually messes with your head and how you think about yourself deep down. 

We can look at people pleasing from an conscious and subconscious side.

Conscious People pleasing

This is what we typically associate with people pleasing:

You can't say no: Every request feels like an obligation.

You prioritize others over yourself: Your needs take a backseat.

You apologize for everything: Even when it’s unnecessary.

You avoid conflicts: Peace at any cost, right?

You make yourself small: Shrinking your presence to fit in.

Subconscious people pleasing

This is the impact people pleasing has on your mindset and behaviours

While breaking people pleasing one should focus here more

Servant mindset -> catering to others drains your energy.

Emulating others ->  You lose sight of who you truly are.

Seeking validation: "I need to be ... to get validation 'love' from others

Ignoring your feelings: Suppressing your emotions to keep the peace.

Feeling judged: Worrying about what others think of you.

Anxiousness about acceptance: "Do they really like me?"

The Why of People pleasing

The first step in breaking free is understanding why you engage in people pleasing.

Here are some common reasons:

You might be people pleasing because of...

Anxiety: fear of disappointing others or rejection

Low self esteem: "pleasing others is the only way to get acceptance and love"

Past trauma: can link others' needs to safety and affection

Cultural or family expectations: Pressure from those around you.

Perfectionism:  The need to be flawless in the eyes of others.

Insecurity: Doubting your own worthiness.

Avoidance of Conflict: Preferring peace over confrontation.

To get the exact cause you should also utilise journaling.

Use 15 min. for three or more of these journaling prompts each

Does People pleasing really help me? How do I feel when I please people? Happy or drained?

Do I get something back by pleasing people. Is it one sided?

What is my earliest memory of people pleasing? Why did I decide to please people at that time?

How do I perceive the people that I please in reality? Do I even like them.

What is the thing I really want in this situation that I might feel too scared, vulnerable, or ashamed to ask for?

What is one thing that I'm scared people will think of me, and how is this actually true and useful for me?

What do I want to change about my people pleasing habit

This reflection makes it clear why we do it and what caused people pleasing to be ingrained in us in the first place.

Recovering from People pleasing

Start small.-

Begin by setting boundaries in low stakes situations

declining invitations to events etc.

declining requests that you don't have time or desire to do

Gradually work yourself up to more significant situations practicing assertiveness along the way.

Learn to tolerate discomfort

Recognise that asserting yourself and setting boundaries may initially feel uncomfortable or cause anxiety

Embrace the discomfort as a sign of growth and remind yourself that it's necessary to prioritize your own well being.

Strengthen your sense of self

When we are people pleasing we are placing our self worth on another person

With journaling, self care, setting personal goals and new hobbies, you can construct and identity independent of others opinions.

The Intention Interrogation

Ask yourself a specific question before agreeing to a request:

"Am I doing this because I genuinely want to, or because I'm afraid of potential consequences?" 

This can delay automatic people pleasing reflexes

Cut toxic people off

If someone is using you for their gain, it’s time to create distance.

Limit your availability and emotional investment

Create space between yourself and toxic relationships

And Trust your instincts

The 24-Hour Rule

Make it a commitment to not immediately respond to requests.

Give yourself a full day and then decide if you actually want to do this.

Get therapy

If people pleasing has a deep impact socially or otherwise on you consider therapy

It's really helpful against people pleasing if nothing else helps

That's it lovelies

People pleasing is a destructive social mechanism of ours that we developed in young years.

Unfolding these behaviours and taking a stance against pleasing others frees ourself for positive change and levelling ourselves up

[shiongenkai]

Taiga, Romeo, and Gluttony

NOTE: This post contains spoilers for the entirety of the recently released Auction chapter. Read at your own risk.

So the recent chapter was everything to me. It was the shortest, but in my opinion it showed us a lot about Taiga and Romeo and their relationship to one another, and it also helped me refine a specific thought I had about Taiga and his whole deal he has going on.

To put it shortly; I think Taiga has a gluttony curse, and I think it functions as a mirror to that of Romeo's stigma, and is part of why they had a falling out, and why they can't seem to get away from each other.

To put it horrifically, horribly long....

So what do I mean when I say Taiga is cursed? Well, exactly that. I believe he's cursed in a similar way Rui or the MC are; he has an insatiable need to eat anomalies. I believe that this grants certain side effects like the MC and Rui's curse, and that one of them is a sixth sense for anomalies and anomalous circumstances.

I want to explain this before the Romeo part, because it's the basis for my analysis and thoughts on the two of them.

To start from the very beginning; I think Taiga, during one of his missions, was cursed by something like a jikininki as punishment for his 'gluttony' — the rapid rate at which he completed missions in his first year. This left him with his insatiable need to eat anomalies, but more specifically, is the reason he doesn't seem to want to eat them.

While I'm not certain the anomaly is for certain a jikininki, especially because there's certainly other similar folk legends out there, I chose that one specifically because they are noted for their sharp teeth and for not liking the insatiable need to eat corpses.

Now, what does this mean for Taiga? I think he's stuck between being a ghoul and being a jikininki, or whatever anomaly it ends up being, and I think this has given him a sixth sense that messes with his perception of time, self, and memory. But why would it do that?

Jikininki are immortal creatures, and wish to be freed from the torment they're in for the most part. If one was cursed to be part Jikininki, it would make sense for their existence to be similarly excruciating, with a difference being a lack of full immortality.

Remember the Mortkranken chapter, with the failed mermaid flesh? How their bodies continued even as their minds didn't? Taiga has multiple lines detailing how his 'body' remembers, even if his mind doesn't. Yuri and Jiro also explain that part of the side effects of the reaction are rapid mental deterioration. If Taiga had gone through a similar deterioration, it would explain his seemingly sporadic memory loss (not total blackouts like Jiro, nor specific category based amnesia either, just like. Random shit) and the fact that he doesn't have a concrete sense of identity (showcased through his constantly shifting first-person pronoun choice in Japanese). His cells of his body are reverting to their pre-aged self, and his mind is attempting to do that too, but it's imperfect and messy.

The key to the idea of the sixth sense comes from the fact that he's specifically cursed for anomalous gluttony. I think that he can sense anomalous material or anomalies themselves, and as demonstrated from Ed, this includes some sort of future sense. While we don't know the full specifics of what a sixth sense grants, we can see him utilise it in multiple different places. It's also, in my opinion, why he was sent on the Prologue mission.

Some examples of his supposed sixth sense are how he intuitively understood the anomalous dealer's entire thing, the scenes where he knows the Like Dove will appear before it does, when he senses Romeo approaching (Romeo is carrying an anomaly: his artifact), how he understands the auction is an anomaly, when he gets the mask under unknown circumstances, when he directly knows there's no anomalies... the list honestly could go on forever.

There's one other fact that I personally believe sealed this theory for me; his association with Haku.

In the recent chapter, when the MC is thinking about who to talk to about curses, Taiga instantly knows who we're thinking of, and rejects it on the basis that '[He] can't get rid of curses unless the anomaly that did the deed's right in front of him.' and that he's a 'Simp for the rules anyway.'

... Which is interesting, since it seems like Taiga has tried to ask him about this before. But if you think of this as Haku's stigma, and imagine Taiga trying to get his curse cleansed before, it makes sense! It would also be a good reason to put Haku and Taiga together in the prologue; Taiga can track the anomaly with his sense, and Haku can cleanse whatever curse it gives so long as Taiga manages to capture it or subdue it for long enough.

(Which, side note, is so tragic for the MC...)

Okay, now that the basis of 'Taiga is cursed' is out of the way, how on earth does this relate to Romeo?

Simple. I think Taiga's curse directly mirror's Romeo's stigma, and it's what caused their rift.

Romeo's stigma, as we learn in the new chapter as well, is dependent on his attachment to the items he throws. This, thematically, works with Romeo, who is known to be greedy. Everything he does is motivated by a profit of some kind, whether that profit is social or monetary or whatever. He wants special privileges so he does special missions. He wants money so he raises fees and coerces people to gamble. He wants popularity so he dresses nicely and pampers himself. It doesn't always mean he is money grubbing and stingy (because we see he's willing to spend lavishly on grooming and decor!) but it means that he's attached to what he has. His stigma requires him to give up that attachment. It is a punishment, a sacrifice, as a result of the pact. Similar to how Luca lost his brother (and gained a protective stigma), Romeo has to lose what he feels is worth something in order to fully utilise his ability. Call it a sort of pride.

I think, on the other hand, Taiga's curse is one of envy. He has a desire to eat anomalies, yes, but the desire becomes stronger the more attached someone else is to the anomaly. He doesn't need any interest in it, really. If someone else likes it he will need to eat it.

Taiga covets Haru's Peekaboo to eat instead of the wild one that we also know is in Jabberwock. He's composed about the Like Dove (barely, but he restrains himself!) until Romeo wants it. He steals the plants from Rui's BAR, not the ones in the garden outside (both are Rui's, but his bar is arguably the more loved thing of his since it was fully his choice). He covets Mortkranken's anomalies, and becomes mildly obsessed with the immortal one as soon as it becomes a major research subject. He's also completely fine holding and handling the mask, presumably for a long time, up until Romeo sees it as valuable and worthy.

Now, this doesn't necessarily make them instantly incompatible. But when you take one of Romeo's core traits being 'Greed towards anomalies' (He wants to collect them and frequently complains that other houses are 'stealing' them from under him; he sells them; he gets missions from Hyde to get them; etc), it becomes evidently clear that Taiga's curse is directly oppositional to it.

I think it's pretty obvious by now that Taiga and Romeo have a pretty turbulent relationship now, but were extremely close in the past. Multiple characters state that it would be nice to see them on good terms again, and it's certainly worth mentioning that Romeo is one of the few people Taiga consistently remembers. They both know each other exceptionally well, too. Taiga knows how to get under Romeo's skin and Romeo knows Taiga's habits.

Going back to the idea of this curse causing their rift, if Romeo was constantly on the verge of an important capture, or even if there was just one mission that was important, and Taiga ruined it by eating the anomaly, I doubt Romeo would easily forgive and forget. I think it could very easily cause a massive rift that just kept growing with each new snack Taiga picked up.

I think a moment that gets its nuance overlooked a lot is the scene just before Taiga eats the dove. The Japanese line emphasises that Taiga is referring to HIS heart, that Romeo could shoot through HIS heart, not just a general appraisal of sharpshooting. He even points directly to his heart as he says this, and it makes Romeo hesitate. They're BOTH in pain in this scene. They're both conflicted; this is their ex-partner (which I don't mean in the romantic sense, just in the general sense) who they were very, very close with, and who is now literally at arms length with a loaded gun. Romeo could just shoot him. Romeo could put an end to all of this supposed pain. And Taiga might even let him. And wouldn't that be karma for all he's done? But he can't. He hesitates.

And you know what appears after that? The dove.

This dove that symbolises both general desire (flies over peoples' heads when they're thought about) and Romeo's desire. His desire to escape probation. His desire to make money. His desire to capture, not kill. His desire to reconcile instead of fight. His desire to shoot.

And Taiga kills it. Eats it.

I think this is the most tragic scene between the two of them. This is the crux of it; they both want to reconcile. They want to be friends, to be close, to stop the war raging between the two of them that has done nothing but hurt them both AND hurt the wellbeing of Sinostra, but they can't, because Romeo will ALWAYS desire, and Taiga will ALWAYS take that from him.

It's a cycle they can't escape. The auction chapter shows it too. Taiga is almost disappointed at Romeo's greed. He seems jaded by it, and seems proud and happy when Romeo gives it up for once. Romeo is happy too; MC goes out of her way to say that Taiga handing him the mask makes him look more peaceful than he ever has before. It is quite literally a perfect ending for the two of them and a perfect way to reconcile.

And then Taiga eats it! Again! But I think the most horrifying part of it is that he tries to warn Romeo.

The comic doesn't translate or even transcribe it, so it's so, so easy to miss, especially if you don't speak Japanese, but Taiga grunts out the words 'I', 'Eat', and 'Next' as he approaches Romeo and the mask, and it's the direct reason why Romeo is able to realise that Taiga is about to eat it before it actually happens. He basically just grunts out 'I'm gonna eat that next' as he's fighting against it! But inevitably, neither of them can stop it. The cycle continues.

As long as Romeo is greedy, and as long as Taiga is gluttonous, they will never be able to fully reconcile, no matter how much they both want it. Both of them have to change, but I want to point out that at this moment Romeo is the bigger active obstacle between the two of them. Romeo can't let things go, he holds onto everything and lets it build until it explodes in one way or another. Tiris, his stigma, is symbolic in that sense, that he has to learn to let things go, because if he lets it build too much it will explode spectacularly.

(All of the ghouls have this sort of symbolism with their stigma, so it's not just a Romeo thing, but it's definitely important to his character.)

But Romeo can't get over it yet. He can't get over his greed, he can't let go of things he can't achieve (like getting Kaito's necklace), he can't get over past betrayals (Taiga, what happened with his family, etc)... He's too stuck and stubborn, and his refusal to budge has therefore lead to Taiga's refusal to push. Taiga has stopped caring about getting on good terms because he knows it won't turn out well. He's given up and become cynical, which in turn means that IF Romeo were to change, Taiga... still probably wouldn't. They're cyclical again. Always, always missing each other. So close and yet so far.

I hope the MC can be the catalyst for this cycle to end. Or Ritsu, who is a good equalizer to the two of them. But until she learns to see her own worth in the Academy, and until Ritsu accepts that sometimes he's wrong / he doesn't always know the most out of everyone in the room, I'm afraid Romeo and Taiga will remain stuck in this loop forever...

[thewalrusespublicist]

Hello! Love your blog and your takes, objective and sane and well researched chefs kiss! I had a blast scrolling through it like it was my feed yesterday lol can you elaborate on klaus and Paul if possible? People mostly talk about them like it’s already understood but I don’t understand 😭 I’m kinda lost on their (all of them, including stu) dynamic during the hamburg years specifically when it comes to Paul

Aww thank you anon! Tbh I was starting to feel a bit down about my blog and what I was putting out ( the eternal crisis on how to give full answers and opinions without being stupid, boring and annoying lol). So I really, really needed this. :)

Oh Paul vs/and the Exsis, it's quite a long one so buckle up.

Disclaimer: all of the people involved are essentially art kids/young adults who are famously the most exhausting people on the planet. Do not blame them for being dramatic, it's their natural state of being.

If we want to go into Paul and Klaus, we have to kind of start with the John, Paul and Stu. Now these three are a mess that's too big to go into here (though I have THOUGHTS about how Stu is utilised in the Beatles narrative that I'm more than happy to share if asked lmaooo). But in short(ish):

John and Paul had had an intense year and a bit of closeness. Then John meets Stu at art college.

John and Stu become c l o s e for many reasons (being peers, living together, similar artistic leanings + ego, Stu being a gentle guide to John, sharing art projects/poetry/long letters and feelings etc.) They became 'closer than two men' a friend had seen (remind us of anyone gang?). Most importantly, John could be open about his feelings with Stu in letters. If John had BPD which I subscribe too, I think Stu was his 'favourite person' and as Aunt Mimi said his 'special' and 'closest friend' from this period up until his death (though imho the transference back to Paul was starting prior to his death).

It's not clear what exactly happens as there's differing accounts but Stu uses his money to buy a new bass as John wants him to come to Scotland then Hamburg and play bass as he will 'look good'.

Paul doesen't like being relegated to the seat behind John and Stu when he used to sit next to John. He also isn't thrilled when he gets to Hamburg and not only does he get to sleep in the other room with just Pete but Stu cannot be arsed to play because he's hanging out with his hot new girlfriend Astrid (more on her in a sec). Our boy has spent a lot of money he doesen't have and given up on further education to be here and is jealous and annoyed.

Paul and Stu probably were friends and I think their mutual antipathy is overegged. HOWEVER, can't be denied that Paul is jealous of Stu and Stu is jealous of Paul (and getting flare-ups from increasing brain damage). John and Stu tease Paul and steal his money, Paul is mean to Stu (as are the others encouraged by John). Do I think John was playing games with both of them? Yup. They end up scuffling onstage because Paul said something about Astrid (not clear what, one account is that Paul said that Stu could borrow money off Astrid if he needed it which isn't really that bad a dig but who knows Yoko??).

Why is this dynamic important? Because it directly impacts the 'Exsis' (Klaus, Jurgen and Astrid's) group's relationship with Paul:

The Exsis were young artists living in Hamburg. They were artistic, cool, interesting and edgy. They were paramount in introducing the Beatles to cool new concepts, aesthetics and ideas. They also took themselves VERY seriously ie pretentious as all hell.

Astrid met Stu at Kaiserkeller and hit it off. They embarked on an all-consuming romance.

Letter from Stu to Astrid, c.1961

I've seen people say they were the proto-John and Yoko in terms of making their romance the whole world and influencing John years down the line and I can see that. With Astrid and Stu it's far more endearing though because they ARE young and the right age to have a relationship like that. Stu is popular with the Exsis in general and brings them into the Beatles group.

The Exsis didn't like or trust Paul. Astrid said later it was because Paul was 'too nice' which she herself admits is a ridiculous reason. The others also thought he was a bit of a show-off. It makes sense though if you're cool and edgy and want to stick it to the world to be sus about a guy being friendly show-off with seemingly no inner world. The other problem was a perfectly reasonable one imo, you're not going to like your friends frenemy who you don't connect with. Compound that with Paul not taking drugs as much as George or John and being in the other room and you begin to have a division.

Paul had been popular his whole life, like from what we know since-primary-school-popular. He had never been in this position before, let alone in a foreign country. I believe it became a bit of a brutal feedback loop. Paul's response to this type of behaviour consistently it to go more surface level, snide and passive aggressive. The natural response of any group with a designated 'ugh' person is to become more shady and exclusionary. The cycle continues and gets worse. Stu letters back home at this time says that in a shocking turn of events Paul is hated by everyone but Stu 'just feels sorry for him' (lmao OF COURSE you do Stu, its giving 'loathing' from Wicked lol). Klaus drew a lot of artwork of the early Hamburg Beatles that includes this highly unpleasant picture of Paul in 1961 which I think says a lot:

Klaus is also a musician and fancies himself a place on bass. When Stu leaves to pursue art, Klaus asks John if he could take over but John says that he thinks Paul is going to do it.

Klaus has later gone on to say that he thinks he was a better bass player for the Beatles' sound at the start and then Paul developed into being better for the group. It's one of those I cannot believe those words actually left your mouth and you are not deeply embarrased moments. But it's important to keep this desire and viewpoint in mind.

Klaus stays in touch with all of them and close to John and George, George especially. They visit Klaus on holiday in tenerife in early 60s and Klaus later draws the Revolver artwork.

This whole context of how they met and Hamburg is crucial and has to be taken into account when hearing Klaus' statements. Klaus and Paul started off with a lack of connection and with Paul on the outs, the Exsis got an incomplete view of Paul and an inaccurate snapshot of the Beatles dynamic overall. This is why when Klaus says 'Paul was always slightly apart from the others' and that 'divorce was inevitable' from early 60s we should remember that that is what Klaus is expecting to see as that's what he saw in Hamburg.

Klaus wanted to be the bass player (and was holding out hope to join a band with George and John in the 70s), was really close with George and suffers as many did with 'John Lennon aspiring boy bestie syndrome' (JABBS). Paul had what Klaus wanted and from the Hamburg experience, you could see why Klaus thought he might have an in and may have been jealous of this 'shallow' Paul of all people having the connection that he felt he should/could have with John and George. As with most sufferers of JABBS, he took John's side with everything, always refused to say any regrets about his involvement in How do you Sleep and thought Paul was fine with the song because 'he was even closer to John than [he] was. (Again Klaus to put yourself in that level of closeness with John that it's comparable to Paul is ???.) JABBS and its secondary condition PMIETGSH (Paul McCartney isn't even that good shut up) are virulent diseases that incapacitate sufferers objectivity and judgement, so it's fair to say that Klaus is a source you have to take with a pinch of salt on the early 70s period.

It seems that Klaus and Paul did get on a lot better the older they got (probably without the jealousy complication of George and John) and developed a sweet friendship. Here is Klaus' tribute to Paul for his 80th:

Here is the jam session he's talking about:

He now wants Paul to live in his house lmao so things have gotten warmer. But Klaus and Paul's dynamic is a great example of how and why natural bias, little jealousies and spats can consciously or subconsciously influence our internal narrative and why we need to be so careful about not taking one perspective as gospel.

[nsuyeula]

Been reading a lot of posts being like "how could any of them forget the truth of what happened in the wilderness like that?" - so once again I'm gonna offer my two cents as someone with a dissociative disorder ✌️

First off you need to understand there are not one, but two defining traumatic events for the surviving Yellowjackets:

Crashing and Surviving in the Wilderness.

Coming home and the Tabloid Frenzy.

Since we have only seen the wilderness part so far, it's easy to forget that coming home, readjusting while also under scrutiny of the entire world through the tabloids would have been equally as traumatising to their brains.

There is also no real end point to the latter event. It's something that follows them for the entirety of their lives. We see it most evidently with Tai because of her run for senator, but it's still an active, persisting trauma that all the girls are forced to band together to try and get through. Their lives are ruled by keeping up the collective narrative they've created, ruled by the fear of the truth coming out.

In terms of a trauma event perspective, the wilderness has a defined start and end - the moment they crash to the moment they are rescued.

Now onto the dissociation from their trauma.

To understand the fundamental core of dissociation, you need to get your head around the idea that dissociation is a tool the brain uses to protect itself / a person. Dissociation itself is not inherently bad, in fact it is utilised by trained therapist to help with things like PTSD (e.g EMDR Therapy which is used to severe the link between emotions and memories).

What makes someone have a dissociative disorder is the inability to control what they dissociate from.

In the case with all the survivors - minus Tai bc her dissociation is a lot more complex because of other Tai - they are suffering from Selective Amnesia, which is when a person can recall only small parts of events that took place in a defined period of time. 

People who develop dissociative amnesia often will not even realise that they have gaps in their memory, and as with most dissociative disorders, it will affect your ability to sense and process emotions attached to those memories.

Personal example - I have no emotional link to anything that happened before the age of 14 due to dissociation. My memories are like a series of photographs that someone else took, I can look at them and see the events but feel nothing.

So with the yellowjackets, not only are they suppressing the worst of the memories but also the worst / complexities of the emotions attached to those memories. So the girls might know they were afraid of Shauna, but not the specifics as to why nor still feel that fear at all for her.

Now, I'm going back to the two traumatic events. Like I said earlier, dissociation is the brains way of protecting its owner. It would have found itself with two things it classified as dangerous, and that their person needed to be protected from. One with a defined start and end and another that is ongoing. It can't suppress or forget the memories related to returning home and the tabloids because that would put their person in more danger because that is a continuous issue, still ongoing. While with the wilderness, that's over. They're not in that situation anymore. It's also impacting their ability to deal with the second trauma. So, of course, the brain would choose to suppress the memories of the wilderness, thinking that was for the best.

Obviously each member of the Yellowjackets would vary in how successful their dissociation would be.

Nat, I would say, is the least affected, her life and being entirely ruled by the horrors of what they had done. Her dissociation wasn't particularly strong, so she was forced to have sex, do drugs etc to cover what the dissociation didn't do.

On the other side of the scale - those with existing mental health illnesses like Lottie, Shauna and Tai seem to have had the most successfully suppressed, which makes sense as dissociation is often a symtom of many mental illnesses along with being it's own disorder.

People who are confused as to how you can get from S3 teen Shauna to S1 adult Shauna, the answer is most likely dissociation amnesia combined with the trauma that came from going home.

By the end of S3, every single surviving member of the team has regained partial to all of the truth of the memories they suppressed, which is very much possible. Shauna has partially uncovered it, but only the version that fits the established narrative of her postpartum psychosis, while Misty and Tai have regained all of their memories and no longer are dealing with altered or fuzzy versions of them.

[beifong-brainrot]

Zuko's blue spirit persona parallels Toph's Blind Bandit/Runaway personas more than it does Katara's Painted Lady and I'm, frankly, so exhausted of hearing this comparison. Like I understand why those wires would get crossed. The Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady are both spirits in Fire Nation mythology -though the Blue Spirit seems to have some symbollic connection to the Water Tribe, (perhaps for propaganda reasons, as it appears as a villain in Love Amongst Dragons), as well as having its masks common around the Earth Kingdom to some degree, and enabled Zuko and Katara to work towards their goals in secrecy.

But that's really where their similarities end, in my eyes. Because the aforementioned goals are what sets them apart. Katara seeks to use the visage of the Painted Lady in order to help people, even if they are on the opposite side of a war. It serves as another way for Katara to connect 'across the isle'. Many have pointed out that Katara's Painted Lady parallels Aang's Kuzon, and I tend to agree.

But I want to focus on Zuko and Toph's parallels here.

The Blue Spirit was a tool for Zuko to further his own goals or support himself and Iroh. Yes, the Blue Spirit is introduced to us as Aang's rescuer, but let's remember that it was only to stop Zhao from turning Aang in, bacause Zuko has to be the one to do it in order to regain his honour.

The Blue Spirit is deeply tied, in my opinion, with self preservation, and going further, Zuko compromising his morals in order to achieve his goals. Say what you will about Zuko's morals, but he has that fixation on the concept of honour, which certain other Fire Nation citizens seem to share. He stands up to the war council when they come up with a ploy to sacrifice their soldiers, he keeps his word in the South Pole and he is explicitly presented as more honourable than Zhao.

Iroh: No, Prince Zuko. Do not taint your victory. [Turns to face Zhao. Condescending.] So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat? [Close-up of Zhao lying on the floor.] Disgraceful. [Cut back to a closer shot of Zuko and Iroh.] Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you.

However, as the Blue Spirit, Zuko utilises trickery and subterfuge, often attacking from the shadows when his enemies turn their back to him. His first appearance as the Blue Spirit is him literally acting against the best interest of the nation he loves.

Now, Toph's Blind Bandit is a much milder case, as it doesn't involve literal treason. However, she is, like Zuko, concealing her identity to act in ways that her background would hate her engaging in.

As Toph shed the role of the perfect lady her parents wanted her to be when she fought in the ring, so Zuko shed the role of honourable prince when he donned the blue mask.

Toph and Zuko seem to be the characters with the most rigorous roles imposed on them when they were growing up. Even Aang was afforded a little leeway with his identity as Avatar being concealed until he turned 12.

Of course, Zuko's upbringing was cruel, an abusive father moulding him into a prince of a genocidal nation. The noble, royal ideals ingrained in him were, to him, intrinsic to his naive, idealised view of the Fire Nation. Which is why he had to don the disguise of a theatre villain to commit acts that go against those ideals.

Toph, once again, was not in such horrific conditions, however, I believe a good case can be made for the awful effect her upbringing had on her. She was isolated and forced into the role of a calm, polite, obedient young lady. The persona of the Blind Bandit was the natural pendulum swing in the other direction, crafted, most likely, from watching other fighters trashtalk each other.

Some may argue that Toph didn't care for her parents' opinions as much as Zuko wanted to honour his nation, but I disagree wholeheartedly with that notion. Toph wanted her parents' approval more than anything, it's the reason she lived a double life, hiding her true desires and personality.

An interesting time for both these personas is when they're both 'on the run', Zuko hunted by the Fire Nation alongside Iroh, while Toph joins the Gaang.

The Blue Spirit becomes a bona-fide bandit, stealing to survive. And while Toph is free to be herself for a bit, eventually the Blind Bandit is rechristened into the Runaway.

This is where the Blue Spirit serves the other reason for its existence- self preservation. And that of Iroh. Similarly, Toph earns money for the Gaang's spending, albeit through scams.

Aang: [While holding up a silver piece.] So, guys. What are we gonna get with our last silver piece? Toph: [Stops walking.] We can get more money. [They both look back at her.] Right there.

However, both go astray a little, Zuko taking far more than needed, and Toph getting overly cocky with her scams. The youngins love comitting crimes ig.

I'd say that the definitive end to both these personas comes with some kind of personal reckoning.

For Toph, it's a moment of weakness, when she admits that she misses her parents, after which she asks Katara to help her pen a letter to her mother. It's an issue we've seen Toph repressing essentially since she left her family and what fueled Toph's feuds with Katara in the Chase and the Runaway. The Runaway, as much as people like to focus on Katara's 'motherly behaviours', I think it mainly portrays Toph's own struggle with her perceptions of freedom and parental or authority figures.

Now, Zuko is much more dramatic, as is often the case. The Blue Spirit's last mission is very similar to his first. A rescue mission (this time of Appa) fueled by personal gain. But this time, Zuko has uncle Iroh to ask them hard hitting questions. Zuko is going through a very hard time at that moment. As the Fire Nation fully rejected him, his life essentially became pointless, and he had no idea how to go forward.

Both Zuko and Toph have to acknowledge some hard truths, truths that had gotten attached to the very alter egos they once used for their own gain.

And once they do, they let go of their alter egos.

An additional interesting tidbit is how Zuko's mask is inspired by Nuo masks in Chinese theatre, and Toph's headband also seems to be lifted from Chinese theatre (note the characteristic 'pompoms')

[elicathebunny]

How to utilise the holidays/term breaks well for a successful academic year

Do you need to catch up on revising the things you didn't pay attention to in class or maybe you just need to put in some extra effort to up a grade? I'm going to walk you through my personal tips for revising efficiently throughout the holidays and term breaks without disrupting your freedom away from learning too much.

I. The Defining Phase

First, you need to figure out what you need to study the most. You should figure this out by knowing what subjects you need to spend a little bit more time on than others and revising what you already know well from time to time to keep the information fresh. Make sure you don't spend too much time on the topics you know very well, I know it's tempting and easier but you are not learning anything new or prioritising the subjects you do need to work on. The more you practice in the difficult areas, the more easier they will become too.

II. The Planning Phase

Now you know what you need to revise/study. You can make a schedule around your free days. Obviously don't force yourself to study or revise when you are enjoying your holidays off from education, so you need to work out days that you can dedicate to your learning.

To make things easier for yourself, gather the resources you need (physical or online) and make them easily available to you to get rid of the faf when starting to revise. If you know you may need extra help, utilise the online teachers and AI chatbots.

-> Don't cheat with them, these are helpful ways to check your answers and to understand the questions that you wouldn't have gotten with step-by-step help

Make sure to schedule days that you can rest and enjoy your break from school. Please don't overload yourself with lots of study days because you will burn out and miss out on your holiday. Instead make a doable schedule based on your lifestyle and what's going on in your week, dedicating just 20-60 mins is enough for a day to get all the information in your head.

Allow yourself to have breaks in between study sessions so you can reset your brain before continuing to learn.

for example: for every 1hr 30 mins studying, take a 15 min break for every 1hr studying, take a 10 min break for every 30 minutes studying, take a 5 min break [every 30 mins = 5 mins break]

if you do anything below or above the times I gave, then round it up to the nearest 30 minutes and calculate the break you should have.

III. Avoiding procrastination

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS !!

Put your study equipment on your desk, organised and ready for you to begin your session. Keep all distractions you know will interrupt your studying away from your space. Put your phone away and keep it away from your desk, turn it on do not disturb until you have finished your session. Make sure your space is clean and organised, clear space = clear mind.

Play some ambient music in the background if you need something to break the silence. Preferably choose a background sound with no lyrics or a beat to distract you. The music will keep you focused if you need it.

a. how to stop relying on motivation purely.

Motivation often comes in short bursts and fades away, leaving you less determined to pursue your goals. Relying solely on motivation means you only act when you feel like it. Sometimes, we need to do things that benefit us even when we don’t feel like it. That's why motivation isn’t reliable in the long run. Instead, we need to develop discipline. Discipline helps you push through when you don’t feel like doing something, focusing on the long-term benefits rather than your current feelings. Doing something over and over again builds a habit, this will make it easier to get up and get it done without a fuss.

xoxo

E.B

[salemlunaa]

✮GET EXCITED, YOUR SUCCESS IS INEVITABLE✮

No matter how much shit you’re going through, trust me you’re going to make it out….

You’re going to get out of here, you and I both know that. don’t stress, no matter what you’re going through, it isn’t permanent and that’s because you decide everything, because you are everything.

You’re going to make it out, you’re going to get out of here, you’re going to succeed, you’re gonna make it. it’s all gonna be okay because you have everything in the palm of your hand. Whatever the 3d is showing you isn’t real, because it doesn’t have to be.

You’re going to get your dream, no matter what. breathe and understand that manifestation and inducing the void is one of the easiest things you can do, like breathing. You can have everything at the snap of a finger, so guess what, you’re going to be okay. You might feel paralysed watching those who came after you succeed first, you may feel paralysed, procrastinating the inducing process, waiting it off until the last moment, but remind yourself why you’re doing all this, remind yourself about the shitty life you’re experiencing in the 3d.

Get excited for everything you’re going to experience when you get out of this shithole. You deserve the best after the shit you’ve been through, stop pushing back. Once you stop holding it off and really see how easy it is, you’re going to get out of here. Keep telling yourself that in the face of doubt, procrastination and fear. I promise that you will make it out of here.

There are people who go to sleep in apartments and wake up in mansions, people who go to sleep hating their face and body and wake up with new ones. There are people who went to sleep not satisfied with their wallet, their family and friends and woke up with all of that changed. How? They realised that the constant fear and laziness was keeping them from everything that was right infront of them and decided to utilise the knowledge they’ve gained. They decided to apply that knowledge and actually try. They decided that as a god, as an operant power they can do everything.

There is no trial and error for a god, you just do, you just be. You’re scared that you will fail, so you put the void off, you put manifesting off. But, let me tell you, there is no such thing as failure for you and you will make it out of here and you will do so effortlessly. So effortlessly that you will be kicking yourself asking why you didn’t lock in sooner.

I don’t don’t care how you’re feeling in this very moment, just know that it will pass and that you’re going to make it out, alive, happy, beautiful and with everything you have ever dreamed of.

I love the saying “what you don’t change you choose” don’t choose this shithole of a life, go get up and do something!! Your success is inevitable so why make yourself wait with procrastination?

YOU’RE MAKING IT OUT OF THE TRENCHES, DONT WORRY DARLING 💋🫂

[lesbiansforboromir]

Here's a more compact review of the War of the Rohirrim film for anyone interested! SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Positives;

The backgrounds were all very beautifully painted and the lighting really elevated the character design and smoothed over the janky animation. Where other aspects of the film fall off, often the background artistry and lighting over all of it still manages to convey a very dramatic and immersive moment to the viewer. It's probably the best part of the film.

The part where Helm's ice-ghost phase is teased was really cool and atmospheric and I got a little thrill of what I'd kind of always been wanting from this film.

Frealaf was pretty lovely (what little we got of him) and I appreciated that his darker skin tone was implicitely associated with his Gondorian heritage. I THINK I appreciate the idea that Frealaf's father was Gondorian, though I wish it had been better utilised.

I also really liked the moment where Helm is about to fight Freca and he gives his crown, signet ring and mantle over to Frealaf in this like... symbolic giving up of his Kingship in this moment where his actions are about to make him unworthy of it.

I appreciated Olwyn existing as an older female character in a purely action based roll.

Helm's voice actor and design were pretty cool, I came around to enjoying how much effort they put into making him extremely imposing.

Hama being a twink who was born to be a bard but forced to be a heroic second prince was a nice touch.

General Targg of Dunland might have been my favourite character, inspite of the fact that I am really curious to know where this organised military of Dunland is for him to reach the rank of 'General' in.

Negatives;

Gurl the racism. See here for more details.

The overall narrative seems to me direly lacking in like... basis. I am lead to believe Hera's journey is about her reclaiming her right to choose her own life for herself. But she is never actually pressured into any choice, nor does it appear that her father ever restricted her freedom in any way. So I don't really see where her choices were actually removed to such a degree. If her desire is to see her choices respected by the men in her life, well that never happens for either Helm nor Wulf, who force her to let them die or to kill them, respectively. It feels like in their rush to censor any negative aspects of Helm they kind of removed the reason Hera is frustrated in the first place, he cant be TOO much of a misogynist etc etc.

This is twisted up within 'gurl the racism' but Wulf's manner and presentation make me FEEL like he is a villain we are supposed to mildly feel for? We see him as a child, we see him struggle with what he's doing, we see his clear desperation and despair and hear him talk about loneliness and suffering... but at the end of the day in the way that it is presented Wulf is fundamentally foul and deluding himself and all his problems appear to be of his own making. In general it is extremely uncomfortable for the 'obsessive stalker' villain to also every now and then say 'I am devastated because of how my dunlending blood has been prejudiced against all my life by your family and the wider rohir society' like... by only him mentioning it but it never being actually acknowledged by anyone else it just comes across so shallow and unsettling.

This is a review from my book-biased perspective so understand it within that lense but still gurl... the lore. What the hell do you mean the eagles speak a language only a wizard can understand? No they can just speak! What do you mean there is A watcher in the water in some undisclosed lake in Rohan somewhere? There is one Watcher and it's name is very specific to the doomed Moria expedition! At least give this new squid fellow a rohir name. Speaking of!!

IS IT SO HARD TO NAME ROHIR CHARACTERS IN..... ROHIRRIC?? OLD ENGLISH IS RIGHT THERE... HERA HAS NO MEANING... THERE ARE SO MANY COOL HISTORICAL ANGLO SAXON PRINCESSES YOU COULD CHOOSE FROM...

Included in the 'gurl, the lore' segment but in need of it's own post so I will try to be brief; (Theoden voice) where was Gondor... when a herd of Mumakil were marched by Haradrim mercenaries across the Anduin, up through the Pelennor, across Calenadhon and over Rohan's southern border... did they sneak by... were they stealth Mumakil, did they have elven cloaks too.

But also Where Was Gondor just in general. Like to the detriment of the actual narrative, opening up plot holes that didn't even need to be there, the fact that Gondor is ALSO supposed to be at war right now is completely ignored and discarded.

THE BATTLE OF EDORAS... TF ARE YOU ALL DOING! Like I know it is kind of hypocritical of me to request sensible war tactics when we're adapting Tolkien, he did not give a good example, but like... where were the horse archers, why are you charging down an infantry-only army, why even be on a horse if you aren't going to use greater mobility to your advantage, this isn't a siege, this is YOUR territory this is an open field!! Come on! AND ANOTHER THING, did we really have to make the victory of the Dunlendings over Edoras so disconnected from their own effort? Like betrayal is fine, but this was also a well supplied and competant force, and that was a major part of their victory. These were matched combatants! Just kind of another way in which the dunlendings were robbed of any cohesive motive, narrative or skill.

To my admittedly untrained eye... the animation sucks? Like it's clunky and janky and you can see the frames transitioning between each other, the movements often feel awkward and a lot of the drawings are just bad! The Eagles are SO stiff, as are the horses which seems like a cardinal sin in the Horse Lord Film. And then I couple that with the multiple completely unnecessary spinning camera shots Hera gets which are annoying, superfluous and a bizarre thing to spend time on when the rest of the film needs so much more care and attention. In general the GULF of difference between how beautiful the backgrounds are vs how bland the character art is is kind of jarring.

Hera's design.... I hate it. Look I know it's anime but DID Hera have to have thigh high boots... did she really... Why is she so pale if she's supposedly riding sleeveless across the vast countryside everyday? Can a single supposedly feminist film about a 'wild' female protagonist let that woman be like... dirty, or not so agonisingly thin, or give her messy or god forbid short hair. At one point when she is grabbed by a troll and hung in the air they linger uncomfortably long on her ass which her costume design is specifically designed to allow for maximum viewing detail.

The designs of the Dunlendings, Haradrim and especially the Mumakil are all so grim. Like I liked Freca's design to a degree, it was more potent with symbolism and patterning and such, but the rest of it is just SO FUCKIN- well they're ugly! and therefore evil! Do you get it? The ugly grey animalistic people are evil! The Mumakil have literal red snake eyes just so you know they're 'evil animals'. I can't take it anymore, at one point the guy who Eomer throws a spear at in the trilogy just... turns up, like it's literally just him down to the facepaint. And speaking of...

SHUT UP ABOUT THE PJ TRILOGY, SHUT UP AB- besties this film's intro plays alongside the ring theme... THE RING MUSICAL THEME!!!!?? Lines from the films are reused so often and so WILDLY outside of their actual context and meaning that it makes me flinch.

There is a plump little fellow called Leif who is the royal Page I think and everytime someone called Freca fat in such a vitriolic way I was like wow... I mean Leif is right there guys!

Overall a 4/10 from me, it is a watcheable but shallow film that I suspect was more of a cynical attempt by Warner Bros to keep their death grip on the rights to the books, since I think they would have expired if they didn't do something with them soon.

[edeneow]

An analysis of Michael Kaiser-why he is the way he is and his idea of humanity

When we are first introduced to Kaiser, he is presented as confident and cocky, a person who thrives on dominating others and overthrowing them. We see thus with Isagi,when he blocks his shot in the scene they’re introduced, plus, the various scenes we see of him either utilising or disgarding Ness at his will. Kaiser does this because to him, football-or any talent he has-is the only way he can feel recognised, and to Kaiser to be recognised is to be loved, and to posses and manipulate is to be human (making the contrary inhuman).

This is crucial to him because of what he desires most: recognition of humanity. This is evident as it's never stated that he's passionate for football like Isagi or Rin, but that he plays it to take "great pleasure in eroding others' hearts and living inside them as a scar,” he lives simply to be what he classifies as human: to overpower others.

His philosophy of what is/isnt human was developed at a young age when still in an abusive household with his father.

Inhumanity:

During his entire duration under his father's roof, kaiser was deemed inhuman by both himself and his father. He was constantly used and abused both emotionally and physically, as well as repeatedly told he's not worth a thing and is below an animal in value. Despite unbearable treatment he stayed, stole, and provided. When Kaiser first got his ball he was proud to be the owner of something that was his possesion, that could do what he wanted, would always come back to him, and that was permanent.

However, Kaiser didn't look down on his new possesion; to him they were one in the same, he vowed to one day escape from possesion with the ball and to be loved, and hence human. The fact he saw his possesion as pathetic as it's inhuman, however, still cared for it and found comfort in it says a lot about how he views himself. Kaiser still had his own wants and desires (human traits) whilst he classified himself as an object; however what Kaiser takes from this is that he's even more inhuman due to still being used and an object while having the potential/capability to posses human traits.

A huge part of what he deemed inhuman was that he still provided for his Dad and was somewhat selfless.

I think this warped his ideas of what it is to be human even more and as his view of his past self as a whole is inhuman one, he associates traits that he used to have as inhumane too. This likely effected now he views other traits such as empathy, sympathy and care too, which could explain why he presents contrasting traits like savagery and cruelty-the qualities which make him more human in his eyes.

To summarise Kaiser's perception of his younger self, from both his past and present (chapter 294), he saw himself as pathetic and helpless to the extent of associating his worth to that of a football - "we'll be free", "let's be human" - he refers to it as his kin. To overcome this he eventually comes to the conclusion that to be human is to posses power over others, like his dad did with him, and that to be an object is to co-operate and not think for yourself-which is how he gains humanity at Bastard München according to his philosophy: He doesn't interact with others if they aren't what he considers his possesion.

He thinks "I don’t know now to accept goodwill, it's way easier to live as a target of malice."; it's easier for Kaiser to experience actions he deems as human, which are malicious actions. This could be due to nim not understanding why someone would be generous without an alterior motive to conquer the other. He doesn't understand why people would willingly take the place of an object so it's easier for him to project malice unto people and make himself a target to the other person. It's easier because he's only ever experienced battles of malice, and knows now to win as a target of one. These ideas formed from a young age are carried into adulthood and largely shape Kaiser’s character.