elytrafemme · 1 year ago
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things i need to research someday when i’m mentally able to spend hours straight deep-diving google scholar: 
- the overlaps between bpd and dissociative disorders/symptoms
- the similarities & differences between bpd and autism
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faithfromanewperspective · 2 months ago
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’why is taylor friends with the mahomes when brittany isn’t nice to her and also they support trump’ she knows that. both of these things. she’s just not letting the bully her out of their group of friends that’s also hers and actually existing around people who see politics differently to you is the most effective way to help them soften towards seeing things another way when they realise you’re just as human too
#of course it doesn’t mean you have to put yourself through spending time with shitty people#but I’m seeing people say she doesn’t know what brittany tweets and I highly doubt that#girlie knows how to play the high school social systems and unfortunately when you’re famous being in your 30s is still Like That#and also for a billionaire to support people who don’t build their policies on protecting your privilege? ik we don’t like billionaires but#just think for a moment what it must look like to see if you’re also a billionaire because some of them are gonna think she’s insane for it#either way hanging out in the same circles with someone doesn’t mean you condone everything they do#and in the event where she’s oblivious and thinks they’re genuinely friends or a number of other scenarios?#she’s still a grown woman who can make her own decisions and does have people around her should a backstabbing event occur#but I want to reiterate my last point again. the only reason people are so right wing is because they don’t ever meet normal people#and consider the needs of like. most of the population#so anyone who can stand to break into their bubble and stay themselves is actually doing more good than we realise#and there’s more to be said about *other causes* but just like her post was targeted at potential swing voters#the reason she knows these people so well to be able ro target rhem is that she does have some overlapping circles with them#and weeding that out does more of a disservice to activism. no comment on the impact on her (or your) mental health#but keep that in mind when you don’t know whether the people you hang out with are good people all the time#taylor swift#brittany mahomes#patrick mahomes#usamerican politics#anti purity culture
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lavenderprose · 6 months ago
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The fact that I can use the reanimated corpse of my old Levi/Erwin fics as the basis for EdIzzy fics (Or at least EdIzzy scenes in greater Steddyhands fics) makes me feel like a fucking ouroboros. How did I do this to myself TWICE.
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jovialbasementmusic · 1 year ago
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What do you do with a brainwashed army of cult survivors?
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At the end of Heart Part 2, Etheria still has a population of thousands of Horde Prime’s clones. This is going to be, putting it mildly, a Problem for the Etherians. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen what happens to a cult follower when they are faced with conclusive evidence that their entire worldview was false, but you probably have some intuitive idea. Imagine if you said to a young-Earth creationist “Hey, here are multiple overlapping lines of evidence proving beyond reasonable doubt that life on Earth evolved over hundreds of millions of years,” or to a Scientologist, “Check out this evidence that L. Ron Hubbard was a fraudster who started a cult as a money-making racket!” You can probably guess that in each of those cases, the response is unlikely to be, “Goodness, I have been mistaken all my life! Thank you, kind friend, for relieving me of my false beliefs.”
As someone who’s left a cult, let me tell you, the clones are not all gonna react like Hordak or Wrong Hordak.
You might have heard of cognitive dissonance theory, but most people misuse the term, so I’ll quickly explain it. When humans encounter information which contradicts or disproves their deeply held beliefs, they experience psychological discomfort. This feeling sucks, and people will go to great lengths not to experience it. But when those beliefs are central to your identity and your place in the world, letting go of those beliefs also sucks, and people will go to even greater lengths not to do it. So they resolve the cognitive dissonance however they can. They might decide the person who gave them this information is an evil liar and lash out at them. They might find a way to convince themselves the information is in fact compatible with their beliefs after all, and then try not to think too hard about whatever mangled assemblage of the facts they have settled on, in case it falls apart under closer examination. They might modify their beliefs slightly to fit the facts ("Prime always said he would go away for a while before returning in triumph!"), and then maintain that this is what they thought all along.
As an aside, one of the landmark texts on cognitive dissonance theory is When Prophecy Fails, which tracks the actions of a doomsday cult after the world failed to end on their predicted date. Sure enough, the acolytes of this cult did not abandon their beliefs despite this pretty concrete evidence that they had been wrong. Instead, they started recruiting new followers as hard as possible. They tried to get social reinforcement for their beliefs (“This must be true—look how many people believe it!”) to help them cope with the empirical disconfirmation they’d just lived through. So yeah, this theory is highly applicable to cult behaviour. And Prime’s clones are quite definitely a cult.
So it’s fair to say that just because the Hive Mind is down and She-Ra has just kicked Prime’s ass into oblivion, the clones are not all gonna just accept that Prime is gone and his mission is over. Some of them are going to continue fighting, convinced that Prime is not really gone. Some will insist that their connection to the Hive Mind is still intact, and deliver messages as the word of Prime. At least one clone is going to claim to be the reincarnation of Prime himself, and begin recruiting followers. More likely, several clones will attempt this gambit, creating factions with names like The True Followers of Prime and The Glorious Servants of Prime. These factions will go to war with each other in service of their Prime (honourable, redeeming) against the enemy’s Prime (evil, destructive). As time goes on, these factions’ ideas about Prime’s teachings will diverge, providing new opportunities for conflict. If they’re allowed to go on long enough, probably some benign and progressive versions of Prime’s cult will emerge, teaching that Prime in fact existed to bring peace and freedom to the Universe, and that those warlike factions have strayed from the true path of Prime.
All of this gives the people in charge of Etheria a headache. Etheria doesn’t believe in retributive justice, and as brainwashed cult members, the clones have diminished responsibility for war crimes they committed while Prime was alive. So it’s fair to say they can’t kill them. But they also can’t just ship them all off to live unsupervised in a colony somewhere in case they radicalise each other and start another war. Sure, some of them will follow Wrong Hordak into accepting that Prime lied to them, and they will find meaning by travelling the universe, attempting to restore planets Prime destroyed. Some, like Hordak, will give themselves names and begin the agonising process of creating an identity for themselves outside of everything they ever thought was true. But what of the rest of them? They’re essentially adult children, ignorant of everything Prime did not want them to know. They also trigger PTSD flashbacks in a great many citizens of Etheria, who cannot look at them without remembering what they suffered under the Horde.
What do you do with that many brainwashed survivors? What does compassion and restorative justice demand? I don’t know if I’ll get around to writing this as a fic or not, so here’s the setup and you can let your imaginations take it where you like. I’m new to tumblr and to the spop fandom, so if you read this far I’d really appreciate a reblog. And if anyone else has already had similar ideas, I’d really like to read them.
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inexplicifics · 7 months ago
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Hi the fashion designer in training again, you posted my og ask and it got me thinking about it again (as if i ever stop) and I was thinking about how different monsters would be categorized and how that might change the fashion sense of things too. For example, theres humanoids, animal adjacent, insect adjacent (broadly), and plant adjacent.
Humanoids, to me, would be creatures/monsters that have little to no animal, insect, or plant otherness, such as trolls, drowners, bruxa, even sirens (even though they overlap into animal). Witchers obviously have magical uses from their kills but from a fashion/mundane perspective a lot of what these creatures provide would be equivalent to that of what a human might. Now, there is a lot of real world history that is sensitive and triggering about the use of human remains, especially in recent times of widespread slavery that has a lot of themes of cannibalism, farming practices, and lack of humanity even after death, such as leather tanning for clothes, the use of human remains in parchment (as parchment is made from animal remains and not wood or plants, that’s what differentiates it from paper), and more. This is why anything that leans more human than monster (such as a bruxa, vampire, succubus, etc) I don’t think I’ll touch with a ten foot pole unless it is to deal with their unique remains. Creatures that lean more monster such as trolls get thrown through the wringer though.
Trolls specifically have really thick skin, which in a tanning process would take… forever to turn into leather but the results would be potentially amazing. Thick strong leather would last for centuries if treated right, I have no doubt in my mind that troll leather would make fantastic saddles, boots, furniture — awful clothes but the other implications mean a lot to me because it might just make excellent armor.
Sirens, as the middleman between humanoids and animal adjacent, would be excellent to discuss scales. There is a company that currently helps with fish scale waste and uses them to make clothes that are naturally soft and have added benefits of being moisture managing (helps with retaining moisture in skin in dry environments) and also is naturally anti-odor! This is incredibly cool for the fashion world and I could see it being a real thing for the witcher world… if they had the time to do it, as I fear modern technology would need to be replaced with magic and I’m not sure mages, researcher included, would be interested in going out of their way to collect siren scales to create fabric (unless they could imbue it with magic? 🤔 A potential concept to long lasting charmed clothes) So very interesting but not as plausible in a fantasy world.
But! Reptilian scales are highly sought after in fashion designs and are not as wasteful as fish scales. The Witcher basilisk is reptilian in nature, which would make for excellent clothes, anything in fashion you can think of in scales you can bet it exists. Scales are widely loved and used even today, so basilisk skin? Oh yeah, it’s up there for fashion. Even says so in various wikis 😉.
Animal adjacent clothing will look a lot like what we have for animals now, adjusted as needed. Basilisks are large so their hides would be easy to convert to many items, whereas snake skin is small and you would need several to make a significant piece of cloth. This would make it far more valuable. Not to mention the claws, claws which are used in various forms. From clasps on just about everything, to jewelry, to decor, to piercings, I know a basilisk claw would be on a noble’s cloak or belt, I just know it.
This translates to, as mentioned before, wargs and other furred animals. The larger, the better, the more you can take, the better, the more *dangerous* to prove your worth, the better. A bear claw is nothing compared to a warg fang, and so on and so forth. I haven’t even gotten started on the length of griffin feathers and what that would do for fashion. No one understands what length in natural materials means to me except for other people who’s special interests are fashion, fantasy worlds, and survival skills. I cannot explain *length of feathers* in gowns. In cloaks. In *jewelry.* But that’s a post for a little old me who isn’t up at 1am on a school night.
Enjoy my midnight ramblings, I realize that this got out of hand and is uh… not really well connected in terms of thoughts but I hope it made sense to people who aren’t deep in the trenches like me lmao
Please imagine me sitting here with my chin on my hands, staring at you with hearts in my eyes as I listen to your interesting and informative midnight ramblings.
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period-of-nocturne · 19 days ago
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I've been thinking a lot about how Niigo would react to Mizuki's secret. Ever since I knew how worried Mizuki was about it.
Kanade Yoisaki doesn't have a mean bone in her. If she grew one, it would be do heavy that her body would break to it's weight. Girl isn't made to handle strong negative feelings. Kanade exist with the will to save and protect and love people. Even confused, she'll try her best to understand.
Mafuyu "I break down when I'm called good girl" Asahina. Mafuyu "I keep my hair long but doesn't take care of them. It's highly likely I just keep them because mom said so." Asahina. Mafuyu "I want to be a nurse (fem job to society's eyes) but my Mom insists I become a doctor (masc job to society's eyes)" Asahina. Mafuyu "I don't know who I am or what I want" Asahina.
Mafuyu is the personifications of identity issues. It obviously overlap and cross paths with gender issues. That doesn't necessarily both came as a package deal, just that the themes treated by both issues are often very similar. The like between both themes is blurry, and it's why Trans Mafuyu is such a huge headcannon. The fandom. No matter if you HC them as transfem or transmac.
Mafuyu can only be extremely confused by the concept, because... It's Mafuyu, you know. Or instinctively understand it, because of how relatable the struggle of wanting to be yourself is to her.
Ena... I don't know. But I trust she'll understand, no matter her first reaction. She's in no way a bad person. She's Momoi Airi's friend. Momoi "You're a girl, in every sense of the word." Airi. Come on.
Airi is the second character with a strong link to gender identity in the game. I have no doubts Ena is aware of it. And Ena being Ena, I also have no doubts she stranded up against anyone tried to mess with Airi on the topic, if she ever witnessed it happens.
Shinonome Ena always stands up to defend her friends and I want to trust she'll do it once again. Roast that Student A, girl. Tell them to shut their little mouth. You can do it. I believe in you.
I haven't read Mizuki5. I don't know what's going on. Maybe I'm totally off the mark. Maybe y'all already know Niigo's reaction while I'm here speculating.
But I want to tell to Mizuki Akiyama that she can trust her friends. That it will be okay. No matter how scared she is right now. Things will work out.
Unfortunately I can't go through the screen so I can only scream it in the void, shaking my phone while asking Hatsune Miku to let me in---
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ntls-24722 · 1 month ago
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👏 Fellas,
We ALL like a Man in uniform. But is your Man safe in his uniform?
I present to you: Personal protective equipment for construction specialized for the Man of enlightened individuals: Music Man.
the PPE was specifically for construction because construction has the inherently sexiest PPE.
Music Men come in a lot of shapes and sizes and their needs and restrictions change with all of their forms. However, there are many overlaps:
Hard hats: All of the Music Men wear hats. Stupid dinky little clown hats, that is! Their hats couldn't protect their view from sunlight, let alone falling debris. I highly doubt the Music Men actually have any important components inside their heads specifically, but it stands to be protected.
Long sleeved, fitted shirts: All of the music men have exposed arm joints, exposed joints that shrapnel, debris, dirt, rocks - just about anything! - would love to get into and completely lock up your Music Man's limb. To prevent this, although usually OSHA can give leeway with short-sleeved shirts, long sleeved shirts are always recommended and I feel like in this case it is mandatory.
Hi-Vis Vest: 2 of the 395 Music Men are very large. However, ALL Music Men, due to their horror game heritage, are very sneaky, and to counter this, their dress code mandates a hi-vis vest, ESPECIALLY to the 393 "wind up" individuals who, due to their stature, are not very visible.
Safety Gloves: All music men have gloves, and while unlike fanon they all seem to be rubber or some kind of latex that could be protective, their designs were primarily decorative and to be safe, their gloves have padded undersides in order to reduce cuts.
Without further Ado, here are the music men's PPE particularities.
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Homo Sapiens' societal courtesies have instructed us to look towards the face of a subject, and when you did, you may have noticed that Music Man has his cameras visible, like a whore.
Much like the situation with the gloves, the safetiness-level of likely decorative aspects of the Music Man's design is ambiguous, and to prevent ambiguity, Music Man and DJ Music Man have replaced their tinted-black eye-lenses with clear, polycarbonate lenses in order to withstand possible debris flying into them. Creepy, but doesn't it make that just make it easier to gaze into his eyes?
Music man, unfortunately, lacks child-bearing hips, and the reason why this comes up is that the lack of a hip makes it hard to put pants on. Pants that are all too needed for an individual whom most of his debris-philic joints are below the shoulders. To combat this, I have given him and the Wind-Up Music Men 8-legged overalls.
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Finally, Safety Socks. To be frank with you, this isn't entirely for protection, Music Man's plunger feet would likely take the impact of a vehicle running over them just fine (though the socks would help), the socks are primarily to discourage climbing on his own.
Music Man (Homo Mousike) is a species of animatronic spider that evolved from a basal vent-climbing species, and while he does still have the adaptations for climbing, they have evolved towards more terrestrial adaptations that might endanger Music Man should he fall; Music Man is listed as a Heavy Animatronic and would be in great danger if he were to climb on his own, for if he fell, he would probably implode. If the situation does call for him to climb, Music Man can wear a harness and be hooked up to a fall arrest system just like the rest of us.
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I don't care about the infinitely diverse levels of facial injury that the Wind-Up Music Men can have. All of you wear a full-cover helmet, now.
The Wind-Up Music Men were all chucked into a fire and it has absolutely ruined all of their faces: their carapaces or/and internal mechanisms have faced some level of either being melted, torn off, or both, which is why I am not letting any of you motherfuckers have a bare face.
Along with a hi-vis vest, I feel like it's in their best interest to extenuate their visibility with a removable, dinky little flag on their hard hats. It can be plastic or fabric, depending on what level of fire or electrical hazard their work entails. However due to trauma I think it's a good guess they won't be working with fire anytime soon.
The Wind-Up Music Men actually retain the privilege to be able to climb freely, without the need of a safety harness. They seem to be able to withstand falling/landing from incredibly high heights without taking much damage at all, like how you can chuck a squirrel from the empire state building and it'll probably live.
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Finally, DJ Music Man. Yes, he still has to wear a vest even though he's the most visible thing on the site.
He has a face mask! DJ Music Man's default mouth position is with his teeth open, and due to the size of his mouth, it is very easy for shrapnel to get in and lodge itself right into the LED display inside his mouth. To prevent this from happening, I gave him a muzzle.
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DJ Music Man is completely prohibited from climbing any sort of structure for any reason whatsoever. His habitat inside of the Pizzaplex was built to facilitate his arboreal lifestyle, but construction projects were not, especially not when the structure in question isn't even finished!
I don't know if there's a million tiny little hairs on the bottom of DJMM's gloves that facilitate his climbing, but I still replaced them with safety gloves to discourage this.
Finally, headphones. Every Music Man could change their internal microphone sensitivity, and even if they couldn't, prolonged loud noises are harmful and annoying only to the original Music Man. DJMM just wears them to have a sense of style.
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imagionationstation · 7 months ago
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so I would like more ideas on the whole “2012 Donnie ends up in prison dimension” au thing.
if you don’t have any it’s completely okay!
just maybe…how are the 2012 turtles (and Splinter) holding up? And how would the 2018 turtles react when 2012 Donnie has to go back home? Does he? Or does he stay? I think it’d be fun if their were two alt endings. One where 2012 Donnie stays in the rise universe and one where he doesn’t. Idk
Srry I’m yappin’ lol
Oh, don’t worry. I’ve been poking at this AU all day.
I have, like, five scenes overlapping each other. Because I’m normal.
*ahem*
“So what if instead of merely erasing him, she decided to put him somewhere that no one could ever reach him? A dimension from where things are known never to return? A place where April could never get him back without her assistance?”
Lil’ miss overpowered demon would have wanted April to know that she shipped Donnie off somewhere instead of outright murder. Then, she could hold it over her head you need me to get him back to prevent her from ever shattering the Crystal. But considering that’s blackmail and April knew that the longer that freak was in her brain, the more likely it was that she’d obliterate New York- well, she was determined to find Donnie back without her help.
And so April assures that brothers that he’s alive. And they immediately begin a search ✨
I’m sure that there would be a lot of tension, fear, and worry, but they KNOW he’s alive out there somewhere, (probably suffering if Za-Naron’s vague taunts were true), so they’re going to get him back, and the sooner the better. *Insert car chase music*
And the best part is that the 2012brothers have never actually been separated for more than a few hours. Like, in any episode.
Imagine days apart not knowing if Donnie is even alive.
At least they have each other. Donnie, on the other hand…
I think how the Risebrothers react to their arrival to bring Donnie home would depend highly on how long Donnie remains with them. However, it’s not through an “we adopted him” standpoint.
Remember, Leon and Donnie were stuck in a crippled dimension for weeks. They were barely surviving, avoiding Krang at every turn, convinced that they’d never see their families again. Leon would have told Donnie about the prison dimension’s purpose and how no one could ever risk coming. How his family had to see to it that no one ever came through for the sake of everyone in his dimension.
They had to live with that knowledge for a time period that probably felt like an eternity.
A seed of doubt was planted and they coped in different ways.
Donnie, keeping them both alive and his flickering hope burning through each passing moment, holds to the stubborn belief that if they wants to make it out, he only needs to, “Try harder.”
And Leon, willing to fight for Donnie but unwilling to surrender to the pipe dream of getting freed, assists the fight with a timid, but unbudging, “It’s not about me.”
Then, when they get out, their perspectives will be entirely different.
Leon will be home, but a part of him, the part that was counting down the minutes ‘till he dies, will still be in the prison dimension.
Donnie will be safe, but everything in him, every minuscule cell in his being that prayed for release, will be yearning for home.
So, we have two options. And no, I do not believe one of them involves him permanently living in the Rise verse. (Many apologies.)
Option one: Angst ending (They find him fast.)
Okay, so, if the 2012brothers were to arrive within days of Donnie getting free, I have no doubt that a desperate Donnie would go home without a second of hesitation and Leon would lose his anchor. He’d be stricken at the thought, aware of how much Donnie needs to leave, crippled under the looming weight of that sacrifice. He only suffered lived so Donnie wouldn’t be alone in that hellhole nightmare, and now Donnie is abandoning him leaving.
He’d be stiff, silent, barely managing a weak “okay” when Donnie shares the news. The conversation distracts anyone from really noticing his state of mind. It’s only once the 2012 gang leave the room that Raphael makes the mistake of touching his shoulder. After they barely calm a flash-back induced panic attack that leaves him wheezing and pale, crying and bleeding on the floor where he’d attempt to flee from them, the Risebrothers decide that they can’t let Donnie walk out. Raphael and Michael are torn, because Donnie needs the familiar sights of home as much as Leon needs Donnie, but Don has no such limitations. I almost want to say the same for Lou. He sacrificed the world for his kids. This is nothing.
As you can imagine, family fights for custody never go well.
Option two: Happy Ending (Finding him takes time)
If the brothers were to arrive several weeks/month or so into the future, long enough for Leon to readjust to society and no longer need Donnie as a reminder that he’s home and not completely delulu in the brain, it would go much smoother. Obviously, Donnie would be more desperate than ever to get home. The kind of desperate that leaves him broken in their arms when they finally appear, promising through sobs that he tried so hard to get back to them he did he swears he never stopped he tried-
And considering the Risebrothers don’t have a single cruel bone in their body, they wouldn’t hesitate to let him go home. He’s welcome any time, of course, and Leo makes him promise to find a way back during one, big goodbye squeeze, but they accept that right now, he needs to go. Donnie kept their brother alive and helped truly bring his scattered brain home. Why shouldn’t they return the favor?
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thebibutterflyao3 · 11 months ago
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Day 16 - Prompt: Eyes Closed @jegulus-microfic
December Daily Series - 498 words
<<<Previous Part OR Start Here
Regulus pressed his head against the stacked stone retaining wall with his eyes closed. The calming, ambient sound of the waves lapping on the shore was slowly unwinding the tension that held his shoulders at his ears for the last hour. The brisk sea air filled his lungs with every breath as he forcefully cleared his mind and absorbed the peaceful atmosphere surrounding him.
The only thoughts remaining were of James’s whispered pleas. Soft, straining voices overlapping each other as Regulus relived what was easily the sexiest moment in his life.
Just tell me what to do. Please, show me.
It worked too, for all of ten minutes. Then, his mind was once again flooded with worry and frustration. He should be used to this endless stream of anxiety by now. He tapped his head lightly against the wall and groaned. The tension bloomed anew along his shoulders and up the back of his neck.
“Fuck, I was so bloody close,” he muttered to himself, rolling his head from side to side. “Nearly kissed him.”
Regulus wasn’t done with James, not by a long shot, but he had to be careful. If Sirius knew what actually happened in that room, he’d have run out screaming rather than stand there in a towel to scold. A reluctant smile crept over his face at the image of James on the floor, head thrown back in helpless laughter.
“He’s such a twit,” Regulus sighed, rubbing his temple. “A clever, clumsy, confident twit. Why do I like that about him?”
“Because he’s fit.”
He glanced up to find a man smirking down at him. Given the height of the wall, this bloke had to be absurdly tall to lean over it like he was. Regulus doubted that even James could manage it.
“You’re not wrong,” he agreed miserably.
The bloke propped his arms on the wall and nodded. “Yep, I know the feeling. All of that, really.”
“I hope you’re not talking about my twit.”
“Highly unlikely.”
“How can you be so sure?” Regulus checked.
The man’s smirk grew as he pointed at the small snake tattoo coiling up the inside Regulus’s wrist. “I thought you were him until I saw this instead of paw-prints. Dubbed him, ‘Puppy.’”
“Oh good, another fan of my brother,” Regulus huffed and shook his head. “Just what he needs, another git to inflate his ego.”
“Your description still fits though.”
“They’re a matched set, to be fair.”
The bloke chuckled as he reached down to flick Regulus’s hair. “So, who is your twit?”
“His best friend. If you’ve seen my brother, you can’t have missed James.”
“Ah, yes. I’ve dubbed him ‘Muscles.’”
Regulus grinned. “Apt moniker.”
“I thought so too. Want to know yours?”
“Mine?”
“Mm-hmm,” he hummed.
“Go on.”
The man gave him a long once-over and winked. “Twinkerbell.”
Regulus snorted hard enough to hurt. He covered his face, giving in to the laughter that he’d held back earlier. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Remus, actually. Remus Lupin.”
Next Part>>>
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vexingwoman · 9 months ago
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do you ever have those moments of guilt for what you believe in? I was crypto until someone outed me in real life, and the way I’m completely shunned is making rethink everything I thought was true. I can’t tell anymore if I really am just a common bigot or if everyone’s gone insane. I wish there were more resources for “terfs” who have been outed against their will. It’s scary, and the community *never* talks about what to do.
It seems pretty stupid to feel like a bigot for believing in sexual dimorphism but hey. If someone said the sky was green and berates you for thinking otherwise….wouldn’t you just start thinking the sky is green. Or at least wanting to.
Yes, in the beginning stages of my peak, watching women who I considered highly intelligent defending this sexist nonsense constantly made me doubt myself. I used to contact some of these women with my ideological concerns and ask for their input, because back then I was still convinced there was surely something I just wasn’t getting. I still had hope that someone could offer something other than circular definitions or uselessly obscure non-answers, but they never did. Every single person I attempted to have this conversation with simply stopped replying when I rejected their sophism and pressed for actual clarifications.
There was this one non-binary female I was debating who said, “No matter what you think, we will always continue to exist” which was so contrived I could only roll my eyes. But then I kept thinking about that statement and why it didn’t sit right with me. I realized it was because despite how much the TQ+ community declares that gender is a social construct, they fail to see their gender identities as something contingent on that social construct. 
They depict their gender identities as something innate, something they are born with, something comparable to being black, disabled, homosexual, or any other demographic that would continue to exist independently of social constructs. That could be why you’re so doubtful; you’re being made to believe that rejecting trans ideology is the same as being racist, ableist, and homophobic, when in reality it’s more similar to rejecting religion, conservatism, conspiracy theories, etc. You are not rejecting a person, you are rejecting an idea—a regressive and harmful idea at that. 
I also think it’s objectively observable that trans ideology has far more overlaps with homophobia and misogyny than radical feminism does. Ie., trans ideology asserts that if you’re feminine, you must be a woman. Homophobes and misogynists assert that if you’re a woman, you must be feminine. Both of these groups are upholding the same sexist stereotypes, just in reversed ways.
On the other hand, radical feminists don’t believe femininity has anything to do with being a woman at all. Anyone who is intellectually honest can tell who the real bigots are. Unfortunately, trans ideology is anything but intellectually honest. It relies on deceit through word-play, circular definitions, and sophism because intellectual honesty would reveal how unsound, sexist, homophobic, and regressive this ideology actually is.
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chirpsythismorning · 2 years ago
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Will Won't Believe Mike Has Feelings For Him, Until Mike Unpacks EVERYTHING!
In season 2, almost every touch between byler was initiated by Mike. Literally two episodes in a row at the start of that season, the camera focuses on Mike wrapping his arm around Will's shoulder warmly, only for us to never see this gesture from Mike again until s4, except this time it's with El (feat. Will in the background).
This is important because it means Mike went from initiating touch with Will in the earlier seasons, to not initiating it in the later ones, and conveniently right after he started having a relationship with El.
After holding back from initiating any contact with Will all of s3 (the same season almost all contact between them was initiated by Will for the first time), it's not until the end of the season that Mike lets go of his ih right as Will is about to leave for California, falling into his arms.
And then it takes the literal apocalypse, at the very end of s4, for Mike to wholeheartedly initiate contact with Will again (after yet another season of Will initiating most).
And so it makes sense why Will would be confused.
Because at the end of s3, Mike gives him the impression that he didn't want Will to join another party, with Will basically admitting that was the whole point of him donating the dnd game, because joining another party would literally be impossible for him, so like what's the point?
Will's feelings aren't going away. Whether or not Mike feels the same, is beside the point. Will still wants to be in Mike's life as his friend and he would be ecstatic to be best friends like they used to, entirely platonically.
After all, Will used to attribute Mike's behavior in earlier seasons as platonic, whereas bylers arguably viewed it as romantic. So Will's idea of romantic vs. platonic may very well be different than Mike's (and perhaps ours).
We tend to view those gestures as romantic, especially because Mike went from being able to do them nonchalantly, to now looking like a deer in headlights any time Will so much as slightly grazes his arm.
This is why I think Mike and Will's personal experiences with ih intersect and overlap. It affects them both differently, and that's probably because they had their realizations at different times, but it’s also probably because it started in environments that don’t resemble the exact same circumstances and experiences.
I do think because of Lonnie and because of Will's experiences growing up being bullied, he is understandably scared of being a target and that will never go away, it never does for queer people. That trauma is deep for Will and it's why he can't stand up for El in s4 when it comes to the bullies. It's why he freezes. And yet, even still, he seems a lot more comfortable in being who he is in a way that I just don't think Mike is, at least not fully or to the extent Will is (yet).
And it's because they are at totally different stages of their journey, journeys that are going to look totally different even side by side, but still qualify as both being worthy enough for acknowledgment in the end.
I hate the whole excuse regarding the girl in Will's class, because we don't really get much context there. But I'm guessing that Will obviously knew this girl sort of well. They're sitting next to each other in class, and he's been going to this school for about 6 months, so I highly doubt they are strangers.
I also am assuming they talked enough that this girl felt compelled to flirt by playing footsy, as opposed to her just being attracted to him and doing it on a whim. That obviously doesn't excuse her touching him without his consent, but what I'm trying to say is that there are girls that have liked Will for who he is, after getting to know him, who want to get to know him more romantically and he's just.... not having it.
And so if Will was craving normalcy to the point where he wanted to appear straight, dating a girl that is fully interested in him is obviously one of the popular options a person might consider in that situation. And Will's had this opportunity. This was just one of at least 3 in canon occurrences where a girl implied, 'Hey. I'm interested' towards Will. Which means all he would have to do is play along and he could keep his sexuality locked down and ignore his true feelings, by pretending to be happy in a heterosexual relationship.
We even have an unnamed fourth girl in the mix, who Will doesn't even know exists. This girl exists solely to make Mike insecure about his and Will's relationship. Because in contrast to Will, and most people that don't have extreme cases of ih, Mike views romantic relationships as shutting out everyone else, and he's scared that now that Will might be interested in a girl and moving towards a romantic relationship, he's going to shut Mike out and he'll lose him for good.
But Will doesn't have that same level of denial or self-hatred that might lead one to pursue or even simply draw out an unromantic relationship, at least not anymore. You could try to argue that in s2 Will did because he gave in and danced with the girl (at Mike's insistence), but since then, nothing.
Will is the kind of person that is comfortable enough in his sexuality to literally be single for the rest of his life, contentedly, because that would mean he doesn't have to pretend to be someone he's not to fit society's expectations. He's not scared enough about the implications of not having a gf and what people would think of him as a result. He is who he is and he's accepted that part of himself.
Mike on the other hand, has lots of expectations of himself, that he's sort of forcing himself to obey and follow. And he's also well aware of the implications of everything he does, especially when it relates to Will. He hyper-focuses on his actions and it's why he can't be fully honest about how he feels, and this is because how he has been acting as of late, is mostly an act in and of itself. An act that protects him from exploring the truth about his sexuality. An act that allows him to ignore it all together.
Every time Will has confronted Mike about his inability to be a good friend like he used to be, it's literally coming from a platonic place, not from a place of Will expecting Mike to return his love.
That's the thing, he doesn't think Mike could ever love him because he thinks Mike is straight. But he also (unlike Mike) doesn't have fears about Mike viewing his behavior as romantic, he just has fears that Mike doesn't want him as a friend anymore.
And I think that's the difference between Will's ih and Mike's.
Because Mike's ih is attributed to how he's been taught to believe he must grow up and be a certain way, according to bs media propaganda and from his family, along with how all of those ideas impacted him internally, since he has no one to really talk about it with.
And while Will has experienced some heinous shit in regards to his perceived sexuality at an extremely young age (a lot of which Mike witnessed right beside him or experienced himself firsthand) he doesn't apply those insecurities to his relationship with Mike. Even though Lonnie and those bullies and the scum of town broke him down, his mother loves him and his brother loves him and his best friend said asking him to be his best friend was the best thing he's ever done.
Mike doesn't have that kind of support going on for him when it comes to accepting his sexuality. He's scared, and understandably so.
This contrast between their characters is obvious in the way they go about their relationship, specifically in s4.
For example, Will doesn't view Mike not sending him letters as Mike turning him down romantically, he views it as Mike not caring about him at all, even as a friend.
And that's the main thing that made me have this realization about Mike's behavior in s4, and over the seasons in general because, to Mike, writing a letter to Will had romantic implications.
He sent letters to El and literally couldn't give in to send not even one letter to Will, and it's because, well, it would be too obvious (gay).
I imagine it's possible Will called Mike after they were settled in Cali, because he was still fairly certain they were on good terms considering how they left things (he has no idea Mike is spiraling over being recommitted to El again). Will had little reason to be insecure that Mike wouldn't want to talk to him, so I imagine that initially, things were at least fine.
But then it's been about a week and the Byers get a couple of letters in the mail, one for El and one for Jonathan, and... I can't even imagine what Will might have been feeling in that moment.
And then it happens again. And again. And Will is confused, because he thought they resolved things in their last conversation. He thought that they hugged and they were back to the way things used to be.
We even get this moment where Max is writing letters to everyone, EVERYONE, which makes me think Will did get letters from his other friends after the move, from Dustin, Lucas and even Max. And I think this can also be supported by a few other details. Bc if the phone line was busy, I don’t think any of the other friends would have a problem with writing Will a letter to reach him instead. And so by Dustin complaining about Mike was always whining about the Byers line being busy is an interesting choice bc, why wouldn't Dustin also complain? Wouldn't he want to call to talk to Will too.... Unless, Dustin is fully capable of getting his platonic Will fix via letters, EVEN probably ending them with love Dustin. (Will also knew what Lucas’ hair looked like in s4, which he would only really know if he got a picture of Lucas sent to him in the mail, most likely accompanied by a letter catching up).
I'm honestly guessing, that the only person who didn't write Will, not even once, was Mike.
It makes sense that in the time between s3-s4, Will attributed this behavior from Mike as him just reverting back to his s3 ways. He stopped focusing on Will and put all of his energy into worrying about El (again).
And so although Will doesn't make the effort to reach out to Mike as much as he could have, it's not because he's scared Mike will realize his feelings for him if he 'goes too far' or something. It's because he just genuinely thinks that Mike doesn't want to be his friend anymore.
And then the couple other times Mike himself calls the Byers over those 6 months, it's incredibly awkward. Something is off and Will doesn't know what it is or if it's his fault.
And this is why he puts his heart and soul into that painting.
The party was the last thing they talked about when they last saw each other. And that painting and what it represents reminds Will of a time when they were younger, when they could be themselves. Or more specifically when Mike could be himself and show how much he cared about Will, something he has been incapable of doing to the extent he would like to, for quite some time now. Will's holding onto this small ounce of hope that he just needs to prove to Mike that their friendship can still be what it used to be, if that's what Mike wants of course. And he's not scared that Mike is going to see this as romantic, or he's at least not worried about it. Why else would he put a heart on his shield and plan on giving it to him in front of everyone, in public?
Over the next few months, letters to El (from Mike), are arriving less and less over time, but they're still semi consistent. And all the while Will's just working on his painting with the purest and kindest of intentions.
Then, the day of their reunion finally comes and Will is so excited to hug Mike and give him the painting, but then suddenly, Mike is rejecting him. Instead of going in for a hug like he did at the end of s3, Mike makes his way towards Will, only to pull himself back and tap him on the shoulder instead before they can even hug properly.
Will looked very happy to see Mike, just like Mike did initially. However, in contrast, Will didn't hold himself back from the embrace at all, not until he saw Mike doing it.
Meaning ih wasn't in the way of Will in this moment, but it was in the way for Mike.
Mike's inability to simply hug him back like a friend hugs a friend, is when Will thinks, 'okay. so this painting is probably not the best idea.'
And then all day long, Will is moping, not even thinking about the implications of what it could look like. He doesn't care if he looks like a sad gay boy, because he is a sad gay boy.
Meanwhile Mike is smiling (painfully) most of the day, though we know because Mike lets it slip later, that he was too distracted by Will's moping to even enjoy himself. It was all an act. He was internalizing everything he was truly feeling and thinking in those moments.
Again we're seeing Will being quite capable of showing a full range of emotions, without him worrying about the implications that may come with it, whereas the implications of anything and everything Mike does (or even wears) is a guiding factor for why he is behaving the way that he is.
And then at Rink-O-Mania, Will says, 'what about us' and the entire byler community is gasping.. bc i mean, the guts?? the confidence? the self assurance that he must have had to say something so bold such as, 'what about us??', all while Mike is looking back at him fucking starstruck, wishing he had the balls to say something like that intentionally and not by accident.
Mike has started to be extremely careful about what he says, and in turn Will is having no choice but to do the same.
At this moment, Mike is still reeling from admitting to paying more attention to Will's mood than El who was lying straight to his face, and now Will is suddenly revealing to Mike that he missed him a lot and he was sad that Mike didn't call more...
But instead of Mike being like BRO I called. I called you every day for almost a year... he keeps his mouth shut.
This is the moment we finally see Mike's mask start to crack, because in this moment he reveals that he couldn't write to him because, "She's my girlfriend Will!" and "We're friends. We're friends.".
All of which are things Will never disputed as being basic facts.
The reality is Will isn't upset here because Mike doesn't want to do romantic coded things with him, he's upset because things that used to be platonic for them, that are platonic for most best friends, Mike is suddenly viewing as romantic now.
"But we used to be best friends," drives home this fact that Will's insecurities about their relationship are tied to Mike's behavior.
And then Mike's ih and 'detouring back into the closet' tendencies are back in full force, and it's causing Will to also cut himself short. Instead of being honest like he always is, he's stopping himself, because Mike is starting to change his tune.
It's why he walked away after the rain fight, and it's why he keeps his mouth shut instead of defending himself. Because this isn't how things used to be between them.
And that's what I find kind of tragic about their slow-burn, and I haven't seen anyone talk about this, which is that I think their experiences overlap.
I think that Mike's ih is starting to impact Will in a negative way. While Will has been learning to accept himself over the seasons, Mike's been learning to hide.
We've seen them go from a relationship early on where Mike was the reason Will accepted himself, to now being the reason he has to give him a veiled love confession, because at this point, Will has little reason to believe Mike could love him back based on his actions and his behavior.
At the end of s3, right before they hug, Will kind of just stands there waiting for Mike to hug him, like he's down to hug Mike, but only if that's what he wants. Will's ih is only starting to kick in at all now because Mike's has went from nonexistent, to value infinity. After a season of initiating all contact, Will is skeptical Mike even wants to hug him. But then Mike is falling into his arms and it's such a pure moment, because now Will is thinking, albeit bittersweetly, that things can go back to normal for them.
But they don't, with s4 essentially starting out as a repeat of s3.
Will is back to this trend of initiating all their physical contact again. First going in for a hug at the airport brightly (only to be shot down). Poking Mike in the chest at Rink-O-Mania when they're arguing. Grazing Mike's arm in the van when he gives him the painting. Reaching out to tap his shoulder during his monologue. Hugging Lucas with him. Elbowing him subtly to ask about how things are with El. These are all subtle moments where Will goes out his way to initiate touch with Mike, things that arguably Mike used to do with Will, but now only does extremely rarely, and most notably at the last second at the end of the season, after holding himself back the first 8 or so episodes.
I think what's so important about the way they approached this, is that in order for Will to truly accept and love himself, Mike has to accept himself too.
Without even realizing it, a long time ago, Mike made Will accept himself. Will was arguably experiencing a lot of ih in the first two seasons, but then suddenly it flipped, and now it's the other way around, with Will just being confused like I thought you cured me of this bro? wtf??
Will literally poured his heart out to Mike with that painting. He told Mike how he felt. He even spent the last year or so being fairly honest about how he viewed their friendship and about how he feels about him. And while Mike always makes the effort to correct things with Will, a lot faster than he does with anyone else, he's still leaving Will in the dark here.
Because while most bylers are fully convinced s4 ended things in a way that proves Mike is ready to be with Will once that opportunity arises, that doesn't mean Will is going to believe him.
Will doesn't end the season thinking Mike loves him, he ends it thinking the exact opposite.
It doesn't matter that Mike is finally reaching out to him again or that he's even standing right beside him at the end, because Will has already been through this with Mike.
He's already gotten hope that they could go back to how they were.
And even though their reconciliation in s4 seemed to resolve things, things still ended in a similar way to s3, only this time in a more grand way, with Mike telling El he loved her 9 times, and the added bonus that he apparently felt like his life started that day they found her in the woods (the same day Will went missing).
And so somethings gotta give. We cant just have a repeat of s3 and s4.
I think it's going to take A LOT for Will to even consider Mike could not only see him truly as a best friend again, but that he also returns his feelings romantically.
Sadly, despite all the beauty that is byler when it comes to them voicing how much they care about each other, Mike's inability to even want a platonic relationship is why they are in this situation in the first place. Because I honestly think Will is capable of a platonic relationship with Mike, whereas I do no think Mike is capable of having a platonic relationship with Will. And his attempts to hide his feelings have caused Will to be insecure about where their friendship lies.
And so it's going to require Will getting an explanation as to why Mike has been acting this way for so long.
Mike's not going to be able to end things with El and then manage to convince Will that its him who he loves.
This is where I think the letter comes in. I think that Will pouring his heart out in that painting, explaining all the ways Mike makes him feel like he's not a mistake, needs to be reciprocated in a similar way from Mike's end.
After the past few years of him making Will question everything he ever thought about their relationship, both Will and Mike deserve the closure that comes with acknowledging what the hell happened between them.
And I think the best way to do that is for Will to understand why Mike did what he did, because Will didn't personally have ih that gave him the urge to seek out, nor stay in unhappy relationships. Like I'm sure Will's fairly convinced that having a girlfriend is strictly straight behavior, as are most (uninformed) people.
If Mike wants to be with Will, he needs to give Will closure about why they went from best friends to strangers. And that is going to require Mike unpacking his ih in a way that Will is going to understand, once Mike finally acknowledges it instead of beating around the bush. Will is going to be able to be the thing that makes Mike accept himself, and vice versa.
And the way I think Mike is going to do that is IN A LETER (especially after convincing himself letters are romantic? boy! you better prove it!)
Once they finally do that, once they both speak to each other in their own personal love language (Will with his art and Mike with his writing), they'll finally understand each other and where they were both coming from.
And that's when they'll realize that they can overcome all these fears they've had growing up, everything that caused them this big mess in the first place, because they'll be able to get through it together.
And it's going to be so heartbreakingly beautiful and real that not even the ga is going to be able to be mad.
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2-59-amwater · 3 months ago
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Camp Jupiter knew about Camp Half-Blood -to an extent
so I was thinking- canonically part of WWII was a fight between the big 3 (with Zeus and Poseidon vs Hades if I'm not mistaken) and here's the thing. WWII was global and I refuse to believe it was only the Greek pantheon at war. And considering how close Camp Jupiter/the Romans are to Camp Halfblood/the Greeks I find it improbable that they didn't meet/overlap if not actively fight against or with one another.
I will say considering Rome's attitude towards Neptune they may have been less involved seeing as how I doubt Neptune would have many kids if they were going to face discrimination (consider the fact that despite there being no pact Neptune has no kids in CJ, but Jupiter, and Pluto to an extent, do)
And considering that CJ has elder demigods and descendants it's likely they heard stories of Greeks from old war tales. But CHB with no older demigods to pass on stories would be completely unaware of the Romans.
Obviously we know Chiron is aware of CJ but swore not to speak of them. But since CJ doesn't have an immortal it charge to the degree of Chiron (Termius only guards the city, he doesn't run the military) they likely didn't have as much suppression on the topic as the Greeks did. Furthermore Greece and Greek Mythology is inherently tied to Rome but Rome has little influence on Greece chronologically. So even if it was highly discouraged to talk about Greeks or the stories faded to nothing the Romans would still have some knowledge of Greek Pantheons.
I could very much see CJ knowing abt CHB but only key figures. For instance it would make since for the prateors to know abt CHB (a potential enemy). This especially intrigues me bc this suggests that Jason might have already known abt CHB before the whole Hera/Juno incident. (and adds another layer to Octavian gunning for the position) We already know Reyan is well aware of the Greeks. And we also see that the Amazons sometimes collaborate with the Hunters or send possible recruits their way.
I just think all this is interesting bc it's really made me re-examine the relations and connections between various pantheons. Ik some of Ricks later books expanded on this slightly as well but I haven't read them in a while. It's also important to note that in the scenario(s) I described above CHB would be at a distinct disadvantage because of they're cut-off from knowing abt Rome as much as CJ knows about Greece. It also begs the question if the older a pantheon is the more isolated it is and the newer a pantheon is the more connected it is.
TDLR: I believe that CJ might have known abt CHB from WWII war stories. This means CHB would be at a disadvantage and changes the way pantheons are connected in-universe.
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sophieinwonderland · 3 months ago
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How my pinned links work... because apparently this is something I need to clarify for some people...
I found this on an r/systemscringe post about The Plurality of Blue... Beetle.
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I legitimately can't fathom where they got the idea that this is in a list of "professional resources on DID."
Since there seems to be some confusion though, I thought I'd clarify the different categories in my pinned and what they mean.
First, we have my chatbots, which are external links leading to Character.AI.
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Then, the next big section is "Signature Posts"
Signature posts are posts that I deem important for some reason, and want people who are new to my blog to be able to find easily, rather than being lost to time and Tumblr's terrible search engine.
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The Studies and Research page is the first link. It's a list of academic sources regarding endogenic plurality and related phenomena for people who are interested in studying the science of such things.
This is intended to be the first thing you see, and doesn't need a subcategory of its own.
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The "My Resources" category is things I made to help new systems. The "How to know if your imaginary friend is sentient," is an article meant to help systems struggling with doubt. The next two are things to help build an inner world and to learn to switch respectively.
I'm... not actually sure why I put the polls here. But knowledge is a resources of sorts. 🤷‍♀️
Look, the polls are new and there wasn't a better place to put them!
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These are for any theories of plurality I've made, or terms I've coined. These are posts I want to be able to easily access since future theories and explanations of plurality tend to build on previous ones, and I tend to refer back to them often.
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Then we come to the Plurality of... section.
These articles are my outreach. They're posts about plural characters in different media. Because the biggest problem for plurals are a lack of awareness.
There are too many plural systems out there who spend years not knowing what they are or having words to describe it.
These articles are how I introduce plurality to a larger audience. They allow me to explain plural concepts to people who haven't otherwise heard of it, using characters that they're familiar with as examples.
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This is a small section that I believe is most useful for those looking to write or analyze fictional plural characters. One is my host's advice for writing child systems, and the second discusses hiveminds in fiction and their overlap with plurality.
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Finally, we come to a bunch of syscourse posts I thought were important to preserve.
A lot of these do link to academic sources, but they tend to be much more than that.
(Also, I'd highly advise checking out my Endogenic Syscourse Primer.)
By and large though, my signature posts aren't professional sources, and have never once claimed to be. And I legitimately can't fathom what could have led you to that conclusion.
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alliluyevas · 3 months ago
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hello American Girl and/or Mormon history aficionados!! After some of the questions you guys have been sending me/my own personal ruminations, I want to share some of the ideas I have for if AG was going to create a historical Mormon character. (Though, for reasons outlined when I responded to the previous ask about a hypothetical Mormon pioneer doll, I highly doubt AG would go that route and I think there are plenty of valid reasons why they possibly shouldn't.)
That being said, if they did, here are some ideas I think would be interesting or cool. First of all, time frame. I answered the previous anon's question with the assumption that "Mormon pioneer" meant an early Utah settler with a storyline set in the late 1840s or early 1850s. I would actually prefer a slightly later era, and I think that might avoid some of the concerns about two much overlap with Kirsten's era. It also would help fill the forty-year gap between Addy and Samantha's storylines. In terms of narrative gaps, I also think there's a bit of a gap with not having a character whose story is set "out west" in the 19th century. (Kirsten's storyline addresses some issues of westward expansion, but she's really Midwestern, and while Josefina is in a modern-day Southwestern state, in her era that region is not under US political control, which makes for a slightly different narrative.)
Part of the reason why I think not having anything between 1864 and 1904 is such a misstep is that there was so much rapid technological development, population growth, and political/social change during those decades and I feel like we get to see the very beginning of a process with Addy and then we pick up with Samantha when so much change has already happened. I'd like to see a bit of a mid-point, and I think a Western state would be a really interesting place to do that. (Side note: if I wasn't a Mormon history nerd, and if AG didn't already have TWO different 20th century historical characters who live in California, I would say California would be the best setting for an "Old West" character. Utah has a really fascinating history in its own right but is in many ways not particularly representative of the West as a region because the population that settled it was so unique.)
One time period that would be interesting for a Mormon Historical Doll would be the late 1860s. This is still pretty close to Addy's time, but the character would be very regionally and demographically different, of course. A really big element of the technological development in the late 19th century was the expansion of railroad networks, including the Transcontinental Railroad, which was completed in Utah in 1869. It might be really cool to do something with this! Utah Mormons approached the new railroad with both excitement about economic opportunity and some sense of threat to their way of life, which had been shaped by previous geographic isolation from mainstream (and non-Mormon) America. How would a child approach this?
I also think a doll set in the 1880s would be really interesting. This was a really fraught time in Utah history, and the most intense period of anti-polygamy legislation and prosecutions (you'll sometimes hear people call this the Mormon Underground era because so many prominent men went "on the underground" to avoid arrest). In terms of technological and social changes, the advent of the railroad did change Utah society a lot, in part because it enabled a lot more non-Mormons to move to Utah. While still a majority especially outside of Salt Lake City, Mormons were no longer an overwhelming majority and also no longer were able to completely control state politics (partially because the new residents were voting as well, but also because there was a long-term effort by the federal government to install appointed officials to try and break the political power of the church.) So you are looking at a more religiously diverse Utah, a shifting balance of power, and a lot of federal policies viewed by Mormons as oppressive, and corresponding political backlash.
(Note: I would find an 1880s era Mormon doll absolutely fascinating, but it would be likely way more controversial even than the earlier pioneer doll would be, because modern LDS people would be way less enthusiastic about it. The pioneer doll would be from a period of their history that is really culturally glorified whereas a doll from the 1880s would be addressing a period of their history that most everyday non-historian LDS folks often find deeply uncomfortable. The 1860s doll might sort of split the difference, because conflict with the federal government over polygamy would be a more central issue than for an earlier doll but less than for an 1880s doll).
I'm just going to post this for now, but I'll reblog with some further ideas about possible storyline/theme/character choices they could make. I'm trying to clean my apartment lol.
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moonstone-reading-nook · 1 month ago
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The Stormlight Archives: The Way of Kings
While I commonly engage in literature of all genres, there are few who hold as special a place in my heart as fantasy. There is something about a fictional world of great scope and scale, built meticulously to feel both lived in and varied as our own, that deeply intrigues me. Several months ago, I completed my read through of the highly regarded Wheel of Time series by beloved fantasy author Robert Jordan. That is what introduced me to Brandon Sanderson, who completed the final three novels in the series following Jordan's passing. While not able to entirely recapture the Jordan's uniquely thorough writing style, I believe Sanderson to have done an outstanding job in wrapping of the story based off of Jordan's extensive notes, putting the pieces together in a final novel that exceeded my expectations in every regard.
I have read several books in the time since; several non-fiction psychology books, as I've been struggling with my mental health, as well as addressing some classics I have yet to read: most notably The Catcher in the Rye. However, my mind was continuously drawn back to Sanderson. After the year it took to read through all 14 novels and the prequel of Wheel of Time, I had made myself hunger for another meaty fantasy series I could bite into. So I decided to read Sanderson's largest series, The Stormlight Archive, a series planned to be 10 novels with the 5th to be published in December. My plan going forward would be to read one novel of the Stormlight Archive, then read a classic or two before I returned to the series, which I'd repeat until I caught up. And so, having completed the first entry, I wish to put my thoughts to (digital) paper. These are my thoughts, opinions, and analysis of The Way of Kings.
The story of The Way of Kings is divided into three major plotlines, jumping between them while sprinkling in occasional smaller POVs across the world. One plotline follows Kaladin, former soldier turned slave, desperate to save the slaves he as been placed with to serve as manual labor and distractions against enemy forces. Closely tied is Dallinar's story, following the brother of a murdered king whose death started the war Kaladin is now trapped in. He struggles with a commitment to follow the Words of book named blasphemous that his late brother told him to him to read in his final words. Teachings that draw him much ire from the competing lords as he finds himself more and more determined to end the war quickly. The final one follows Shallan. More disconnected from the other two, Shallan serves as a ward under Dallinar's niece Jasnah, planning to steal her magic catalyst, a fabrial, for her own gain, but finds herself conflicted, as she realizes she truly wants to be a scholar alongside Jasnah.
All three plotlines have unique themes, as well as overlapping ones. A major overarching theme is commitment and doubt. All three characters struggle to fullfil to promises they made to themselves due to increased doubt surrounding viability, morality, and hope. Kaladin begins to doubt his own philosophy, that those who take lives to protect lives are different from those who simply take, and his ability to save his fellow slaves as he subjects himself and his men to harsher conditions as he tries to build hope. Dallinar doubts his own sanity as visions of the past appear before him, urging him to follow the Words that even his son begins to believe are acts of mental instability, and Shallan waffles from her goal as she grows attached to her Master, though begins to doubt her morality. All eventually choose to commit with varying results. I believe this goes beyond typical character conflict that all great characters must face, or overcoming the lie they believe, because they all revolve around their commitment. Kaladin has sworn to protect time and time again, but has consistently failed to do so. Dallinar has committed to doing as his visions have told him: uniting the Alethi, a goal that seems increasingly impossible. Shallan has committed herself to her family, to steal Jasnah's fabrial to save them from financial ruin. It is these promises they have made that drive their turmoil, but they do not serve as mere falsehoods. They serve as tests of conviction, and demonstrate how difficult even goals believed to be noble can be to uphold.
Other themes I found were the co-existing value and naïvety of trust and honor, as well as how the world has been twisted by a lack thereof, by an egotistical philosophy. Dallinar upholds himself as a man and his men as people of honor, as compared to the effective yet cruel rival Brightlord Sadeas. While doubtful, Dallinar chooses to trust those around him as much as he believes is safe, despite this leading him into incredibly dangerous positions. Additionally, Kaladin's honor is initially mocked by his fellow bridgemen, but it slowly turns into a beacon of hope to follow, even as their accomplishments only gain them severe punishments. The bridgemen are treated as subhuman, property able to be bought and sold for a set price, and easily thrown away, though fighting against this all seems futile, as this is simply how the world is, and those in power see no reason to change it.
Additionally, mental health seems to be central to the series as a whole. Kaladin evidently suffers from intense PTSD and depression, with Dallinar likely harboring that same depression. While only hinted at in this novel, I have been told that Shallan also has DID, which is, unlike usual, presented very well. The disorder are all treated accurately and with respect, and show those weighed down by them still managing to push on and build something for themselves.
Most central though seems to be the idea that a single human life has infinite value, humans have also made the world a cruel and terrible place by prioritizing themselves over others at all costs. The only way forward is to take the first the first step with morality and honor, even with it's terrible consequences in the world we have created, because if no one starts, there can be no one to follow.
My thoughts on the novel are overall very positive. I found myself very emotionally attached to the characters, particularly Kaladin, and several moments hit me like an emotional freight train. The world and magic system are both astonishingly unique and endlessly interesting. I find the world holding to be some of the best I've seen in fantasy novels. That being said, I'm not particularly fond of Sanderson's writing style. I find it at times to be overly simplistic, simply stating what is happening without any notable flourishes in style. I found some of that to be the same in his first Wheel of Time novel, but by the time I reached the final installment, he had found a wonderful balance of his own while recapturing some of Jordan's. I should not have expected that style here, especially as this novel was written 4 years before A Memory of Light, and yet I still found myself a small bit disappointed. That being said, I don't find the style egregious, just mediocre. The world, characters, themes and conveyance of emotion more than make up for it, and I look forward to the next novel with great anticipation.
Next, I plan to read 1984, a novel I am shocked I have yet to read, as it aligns well with my interests and I previously greatly enjoyed Orwell's Animal Farm. It's far shorter than Stormlight Archive novels, so it should not take me nearly as long. I am busy enough to not have too much time for reading anymore, but I am making an effort to carve out time. I hope to be posting again soon.
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ezdotjpg · 8 months ago
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I know this isn't really a bonus links ask but the recent update with all the triforce stuff has got me thinking about the links meet au I'm writing (although "thinking about writing" would be more accurate to say), and while I highly doubt it'll be in the story the same way it is in mine, I think the similarities right now are really funny (because bonus links was one of the inspirations for me to start mine)
WAUGHHH very honored to hear bonus links is an inspiration 🥺 we’re all working with the same source material, there’s bound to be overlap!
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