#but that doesn't mean that those things aren't scaring the living shit out of me lol

[elektroyu]

This may sound a little esoteric, but sometimes I really wonder what my higher purpose in life is. By now I think I have a pretty good idea of which (overall) direction I need to go (= art stuff in the widest sense). This is exclusively because that's what feels right to me and seems to be what I always come back to in some way.

But beyond that? I'm not sure how I'm going to pay for living (literally living, like eating and housing, let alone pets orz). Are these things supposed to be connected? Or am I supposed to find another way to get income, somehow despite my health condition?

What am I supposed to do for other people so that I can get income of my own*? What is it that I can GIVE others? Where is the thing that I can do that can provide others with a high enough value?

I have no fucking clue at all, and that's scary as hell.

*at least I'd like to have an income of my own that I basically earn myself with some kind of work. Not at all looking forward to end up depending on benefits for the rest of my life

[decolonize-the-everything]

I saw your post about the leopards eating faces and democrats and if you think the us is bad under biden have a good look through project 2025 and please fucking realize that queer people, those that can get pregnant, and people of color are going to be absolutely fucked if trump wins in November.

Sigh

If you ACTUALLY read it then you'd know Biden is ALREADY carrying out the goals outlined in project2025. You'd also know that his administration is even using the SAME exact language that's found in the Mandate for Leadership. Such as "protecting the freedom of navigation in the Suez Canal"

I literally have a post floating around somewhere where I said he was gonna escalate the genocide and smoke out all the rebel groups because guess what? Project2025 outlined that too. Literally listed them as targets that the administration should focus on.

Another part of it says they should continue to protect and support Israel's "right to defend itself" at any cost.

So yeah that thing you're afraid of? It's here. And it's here because you thought the fascist with a blue tie was less scary than a fascist than a red tie so you stopped paying attention when Blue Tie Man was around. And that blue Fascism that's allowing book bans and abortion bans and making trans people illegal is going to stay here and grow because you don't fucking care to address it unless the tie is red.

Maybe fucking read the thing you're trying to fearmonger me about because I guarantee I've read more of it than you.

And it's not that I find the realities in it less scary, it's that I'm not such a privileged shithead that I would prioritize my own comfort over lives being lost in a literal fucking genocide.

Yeah shit sucks for queer people and trans people and trust me, I know that, but we aren't being killed in broad fucking daylight and having people go into denial about it so maybe instead of barking up MY blog about how fucked up everything is you go and send the DNC and your representatives some emails and tell them to give Democrats a candidate that doesnt commit genocide?

How about instead of yelling at me to lower my standards cuz things MIGHT get scarier for you if Blue Tie Man doesn't beat trump (and he won't) you ACCEPT that reality and DO SOMETHING USEFUL about it. How about you and your party just BE BETTER????

There's seven months before the elections and Biden is tanking every poll and Democrats are voting uncommited in swing states and what's Biden doing? Doubling down on every single policy that he's losing voters over (like supporting Israel). If he loses that's not my fault or anyone else's.

Maybe stop asking people to vote for a warmongering white supremacist.

"think of the queers and pregnant people and PoC"

I Am.

They live in Palestine and Sudan and the DRC.

Or did you mean I should prioritize different queers and pregnant people and PoC?

Don't be shy. Did you mean I should prioritize you?

Cuz yeah. Fuck that.

(white) USamerican citizens prioritizing ourselves over everyone else is exactly how the world got so fucked up.

I'm NOT voting for Biden under any fucking circumstances, don't waste my time with another bullshit uninformed scare mongering ask like this again just cuz YOU lack the solidarity to care about any community but your own.

The fuck?

Do you think the queer community only counts Americans? What an ignorant thing to say. "Think of minority communites but only from this specific part of the world"

You wouldn't know community if it hit you in the fucking face.

[ineffably-human]

It's completely okay they had sex. There is nothing wrong with it and it isn't what temporarily broke them up.

They are both grown-ass men who've had sex with other people before (for various reasons and with various results). The seriousness of their relationship doesn't rise or fall on whether they've had sex because despite social mores, those two things aren't intrinsically linked. Sex is part of how people process complicated feelings all the time (see: funerals, near-death situations), and if both parties are clearly consenting then that isn't necessarily a bad thing or something that ruins a relationship.

Ed wakes up and gets rid of a tangible part of a persona he's wanted to shed for a long time. He makes his lover breakfast in bed. He's not rattled by Izzy coming in to tease them, if anything he's calmer than Stede is (which makes sense as the partner who has actually been with a man/had sex he enjoyed before).

They have a very happy date where Stede's new celebrity status doesn't bother him at all. Ed getting rid of the Blackbeard leathers 'felt good.' More gentle ribbing about sex with Stede gets a smile from Ed.

(They could have chosen to talk about Ned Lowe that morning, by the way, or at some other time that day, or literally whenever they both felt ready to do it. I don't think they did and I think they really should, but they by no means had to process every bit of it five whole seconds after it happened.)

There is no awkwardness, distance, or upset between Ed and Stede until it becomes clear just how much Stede is blowing up as a newly successful pirate, and just how much Ed is thinking about retiring. His conversation with Jackie highlights just how much those are incongruous things. That's when he freaks out and leaves. That's when he starts picking a fight - about how they're moving too fast, about how Stede isn't instantly supportive of his plan to drop everything and run off to a new career, about how fishermen and pirates are fundamentally different or whatever shit he says in the moment.

Because Stede is 100% correct about what Ed is doing - he's blowing it up. Ed is looking for the barest hint of conflict anywhere he can to turn into a bigger fight, and then using that as an excuse to leave before Stede can do it first. And Stede may think that's a fear of commitment or intimacy or something, since he doesn't have the full context, but it absolutely is a cowardly move.

I've seen posts saying Ed is clearly communicating his needs and I feel like I'm living on another planet. Did he ever say 'I'm scared we want fundamentally different lives and that means we can't be together'? Or 'I'm worried the life you want to embrace is the life I need to drop, because it's toxic for me'? Because until he says that, he hasn't told Stede anything.

And nothing about those very real fears has anything to do with sex.

[wizardpink]

Hi! Random question, but do you think the show will have Daniel call Armand "boss" now that the Maître thing happened? I know it's very prevalent in the books, but it might have different and/or interesting Implications™ in the show.

This question reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of the It's Always Sunny podcast. Stay with me here because we are going on a journey.

If there's any journalist in the world, living right now, who doesn't have a boss, it's Daniel Molloy.

There was a post recently that said something about how the point in the story where the timeline shifts the most dramatically from the books to the show is in the early 80s, when Armand DOESN'T turn Daniel into a vampire. I think that is a major part of why the Devil's Minion storyline in the show scared and angered so many fans in the finale. It's so different from the story we fell in love with! But we were so focused on Armand being different (possibly turning Daniel out of spite) that we forgot that Daniel is the one who is really different, in a really genius and wonderful departure from the books.

In the books we know human Daniel primarily as a man in his early 20s through his early 30s, but who he is in his early 30s is extremely heavily influenced by all the things that happened to him in that previous decade. Meeting Louis, meeting Armand, being pursued by Armand, and finally becoming Armand's lover.

But show Daniel had a great big reset button pressed on his life either at the end of the interview or at the end of his and Armand's romance, and he got to experience a life that book Daniel never did, and as a result it shaped him into a man that I think book Daniel always would have become, until he got derailed. And it's fascinating how BOTH paths make perfect sense even though they start at the same pivotal point!

Book Daniel meets vampires and then immediately is sucked into their world permanently. It becomes his realm as well. And in that realm are hierarchies and power dynamics that he has to exist within. He becomes subservient in ways to Armand, to Marius, etc etc. I could go on but you know what I mean.

Show Daniel however! Show Daniel meets vampires and gets pushed OUT of their world back into the world of humanity. And yes, in that realm are hierarchies and power dynamics that he has to exist within. But they're upheld by human beings! People who are no better than Daniel himself, and certainly no more frightening than the shit he's already been through whether he can remember it or not. Show Daniel pursues any story, any lead he wants no matter how dangerous or powerful the subject matter may be. He writes what he wants when he wants, and it works because he's fucking good at it. And it doesn't always work out for him! He says he's been fired and rehired, he's been nearly killed when an interview subject gets skittish or tired of his bullshit. But the point is, he went out and he made his own damn rules. He's brash and opinionated and has zero filter. He'll say whatever he wants to anyone, demand answers and truth from anyone. And no one is gonna tell him he can't. They're gonna have to drag him out of here or kill him to shut him up.

Armand and Daniel's maker/fledgling, devil/minion dynamic is going to be SO DIFFERENT from the books and yet JUST as juicy because the important things -- the love, the longing, the passion, the understanding, the recognition -- that is all still there. But I don't see 69 year old Daniel Molloy falling over himself to worship and cowtow to Armand. My DREAM is we see BOTH dynamics just to juxtapose the two, and the strife it creates as two people who once loved each other try to get back to that place now that they aren't those people anymore.

So tl;dr, yes and no. If he says it, it's going to be like, one time and so dripping with sarcasm Armand will be fighting his fangs again. If we get an earnest pet name it'll be very private I feel (as opposed to Armand who would call Daniel his beloved in line at the post office).

Also on a personal note, "boss" is so deeply unsexy. Goons and henchmen call the Joker boss, I don't want that haha. Oh and also I have like zero recollection of him calling Armand "boss" in the books, that's a detail that my brain mulched up and ate years ago I guess. So I was the wrong person to ask this. Thanks for reading though! 😂

[gayofthefae]

The pause after that first "I love you". The repetition of "Do you hear me, El? I love you."

He thought that would work. That's why it doesn't build. He thought that would be enough. He didn't have anything else prepared.

40 second compilation of silence during his speech

(elaboration and monologue rewrite under the cut)

That's why everything else is stuttered. It wasn't something he had to get off his chest. It was panicked improv. That's also way he says "I love you" so many times. He doesn't have content. He had one plan and now he's just reusing it when he runs out of things to say. He did what he thought he needed to then floundered when it didn't work and just talked until it seemed to be working some. Notice how he stopped as soon as it did. Funny how he had exactly the amount of thoughts on it as needed.

If "fight" hadn't worked, he would have kept going. Because this was for her. Only for her. He built all his courage for the "I love you," we saw it in his face. Then he waited for reaction. None. So he kept going. Went through the bullet list of the conversation he was rebutting.

That speech wasn't "I love you and I've loved you since the day we met, I can't live without you you're my meaning, my purpose, because you're amazing and anyone would love you, please, I need you alive, I've never loved someone as much as you don't die on me now,"

It was "I love you.....I said I LOVE you. Did you not hear me? Okay, um. (maybe she doesn't believe me?) Maybe you don't believe me because I don't say it a lot but it's still true. Uhh...You said that I didn't love you, but that's wrong...Oh! You also said that I'm scared of you. Also wrong. (Maybe you need an explanation why?) I'm scared of losing you thought, that's why I couldn't tell you before. (Okay, shit, maybe not romantic enough?). I fell in love with you from the first moment I saw you and have been madly in love with you ever since. (getting off track now, get back to the point) Please just be alive. Come back to me and stay alive. I know you can do it, you're the strongest person I know. Just come back to me, alright?"

It's a bulleted list. There aren't strong connections or flow between thoughts. He's just slapping together a bunch of different ways of convincing her he loves her, trying them once, then switching if they don't work. When he runs out of tactics, he goes to the truth. He wants her alive.

He literally gave himself notes and adjusting. You can hear the pauses where he's doing it - brainstorming new tactics since all he has for feedback is that the lights haven't started flashing harder yet, she still looks in pain, and she's still in her trance. He says it once, doesn't know why it's not working, then spends the rest of the speech trying different ways of convincing her that it's really actually true (something liars do, might I add, accommodate for the assumption that they're not believed. Something he has a history of doing as well)

People say this monologue is beautifully performed and Finn always looks a little awkward about it. It IS beautifully performed. But he and we know that it isn't if you're trying to execute genuine romance like those people want him to be.

[batboyblog]

Seeing the post about Jasmine, I can literally feel an ulcer grow within me. Are people actually this fucking stupid? Spreading VERY blatant and easily debunakable misinformation? Are they MALICIOUSLY trying to sabotage shit? Also the antisemitism only grows stronger. You literally have spoken in support of Palestine multiple times and yet these people start to froth at the mouth when they find out you're Jewish, these people have the reading comprehension of a fucking brick!!! And seeing the quote by Malcom X... Literally that's the most disgusting shit to act like you're a white liberal when Jews are not seen as white, are seen as lesser than white, the lack of self-awareness this person has is stunning. Sorry to make such a long post but what the fuck, seriously what the fuck is people's problem.

what the fuck is people's problem is a great question that I really wish I had an answer for.

I mean on the antisemitism front I suspect that the thrill of bullying transcends ideological views, just because you say you're a socialist doesn't mean you're also a good person. Just means you have justify your behavior through a new lens, so its fine to accuse Pete Buttigieg of being a sexual pervert like some conservative Catholic, if you're doing it as a "joke" because he's "Neo-liberal" or whatever, or post snakes at Elizabeth Warren, or or etc etc as long as you come up with an excuse its fine to be horrible as long as you do in the name of leftism! or whatever.

as to the wider question? why blow up chances to make progressive change by supporting nonsense candidates who are just unfunny versions of Vermin Supreme? hm I don't know, but I suspect that for a lot of them, politics aren't really real to them. It's like ideological football for them, the most important thing is to "be right" and "win the argument" over in reality, we have to sometimes work with people we loath, sometimes we have to put up with shitty things to get what we really want, and always always always its slow work. Listen, in 1912 Teddy Roosevelt put forward the idea of a national health service, over 100 years later we're still fighting for universal health care. Now we've made important steps, everyone over 65 those who need it most, have health coverage through Medicare, others have been added to Medicare, we have Obamacare which regulates the health markets and helps people get affordable coverage and more people are covered now than every before. But people like we're talking about would rather than was Nothing for anyone, that everyone was not covered at all, than take an answer that helps people but isn't perfect.

Just isn't my style really, idk I just can't help but think about all the people whose lives got saved by Obamacare and just, what we should have let them die? progress builds it doesn't just appear nothing just happens, so each term you move closer, but each time a Republican gets it, they undermine, undo, go backward. I mean for example, Trump literally wants to get rid of the job in government that advices all the many federal departs on how to be greener and replace it with a guy who's job it'll be to push departments to use more oil and gas.... literally thats a thing, what a perfect example of what a Republican Presidency is about, going backward. Then when we have a Democrat rather than making progress they have to undo all the damage to get to baseline and then start improving.

I also think there's a small group of cynical grifters, when Democrats/liberals/people on the left whatever we want to call them, are scared and frustrated and upset, ie when a Republican is in power and elections are years away, they invest, money, time, energy into things to try to feel like they're making a difference or that they're heard, or validated. Left wing podcasts boom, left wing groups that are good at social media boom, people can become kinda stars and make money. Now many of those people drift off to normal life when there's a safe Democrat not doing horrifying shit every day, the money dries up. So the cynical crowd 1. tries to undermine Democrats to keep that feeling of frustrated hopelessness alive in listeners so they keep toning in and 2. they want Republicans to win! of course! its good for them!

[angryschnauzer]

I realised two months have gone by since i last updated you all, i'm not even sure if anyone is interested anymore. I know i haven't been on much, perhaps sporadically coming on and mindlessly reblogging Henry stuff just for a little escape, but its intermittent at best. I had hoped to be back to writing by now, but life is still a huge pile of shit.

I'm run ragged trying to pay the bills. My wedding decorations business is halfway between slow and dead; the cost of living crisis means weddings aren't really happening, and if they are most of the items i do people are making themselves. My side gig in ebay flipping is quiet too but at least its trickling by. I don't mention this much as people get a lot of abuse over 'thrift store flippers' (Charity Shop resellers here in the UK), but right now its what's keeping my family fed. I buy clothing for £1 from the stinky dregs bin in a charity shop, wash it, mend it, resell it for £4. I'm not making millions or even thousands. I'm lucky if i'm bringing in £150 a week which barely covers our weekly food shop. Its draining that when i do eventually mention this to my friends they immediately start moaning at me that i'm the one 'ruining' charity shops and why its pushing the prices up. But when i calmly tell them its that or i don't eat they go quiet. I'm not the one pushing a 2nd hand coat for £25 which was only £20 brand new which most high street charity shops are doing. Do i like doing this? No. Do i have to? Yes. Because i sure as ain't cute enough for onlyfans.

But the majority of my time over the last couple of months has been spent caring for our son. He's 8 and has type 1 diabetes, and since school started back in September one little shit in his class has spent every waking moment bullying him. This little shit has been stabbing my son with pencils, poking him in the kidneys with whatever he has to hand, laughing and sneering at him at every opportunity even when he's just walking past. Having the adrenaline and cortisol in my son's bloodstream affects how his insulin works, and he builds up an insulin resistance because of all the other hormones in his bloodstream. I've had so many meetings with the school, and have had to get the board of governors involved because when your 8 year old kid says quietly to you "It would be better if i wasn't alive as then *Little Shit* wouldn't be able to bully me" your heart breaks into pieces.

He needs my support more than anything, so every single other thing has been put by the wayside. And its tough. He acts out at home, messes around with his dinner because he feels he needs to be able to control something, but that in turn messes up insulin dosing so i'm spending half the night dealing with highs and lows for his blood sugars. I get at most 5 hours sleep a night.

I have no more energy left. I'm not eating, because i just can't stomach it. I'm 43 and hitting menopause, but my doctor doesn't want to know because "You just need to loose some weight" (don't get be started on fat bias from the NHS).

So i'm filling my time with volunteering at school so i can be 'around' for my Little Dude. He knows that if he's having an awful day, he will find me in the office sorting through paperwork for our next fundraiser. Its not what i want to be doing, but its what i need to be doing.

One day i hope to get back to my writing. I miss being creative and i hate that i have so many stories part written/published. As the months tick by i actually end up seeing stories written by others that have the same characters/plotlines. This is no-ones fault that two stories exist on the same synopsis, it would just seem that they and I have taken the same inspiration from media at some point. But it makes me scared that if i now publish a story i started 2 years ago, i'll be accused of stealing an idea. I don't know what to do. So i just leave my WIP folder abandoned.

For everyone that has stayed with me thank you. For those that have moved onto pastures new, i wish you well and hold no malice.

I do love you all

Mama Schnauz

x

[system-of-a-feather]

For realsie though, I really wish I could look at the people who are diagnosed with DID and get upset at people "making it look like a fun disorder to have" with some level of sympathy or empathy, but I really honestly think that rhetoric is really honestly destructive as a means for self soothing and one I really just can't stand personally.

Like this disorder sucks ass and the reason it happened sucks ass and recovering with it sucks ass, but I don't see that rhetoric as any better than stating that "anyone who went through that could NEVER recover or live happy".

And I get where that comes from, I do, but at a certain point in trauma processing, stabilization and recovery, things start to click that trauma is over and PTSD inherently is referencing an event that has already passed. Trauma sucks. Severe chronic trauma SUCKS, but that's the past and - while its a LOT more difficult than it is to just say - that past REALLY doesn't have to define the present even a quarter as much as trauma makes it feel.

Of course, I understand and get those who feel like DID is horrible and a hell disorder - I 10000% understand that and its a valid feeling / opinion / statement to make, but to claim that it is impossible to have fun, be happy, and make casual content and just genuinely make the best out of a shit situation; or to claim that anyone with DID would be totally dysfunctional and miserable and unable to do XYZ - it's just... really self depricating and a huge negative self fulfilling prophecy don't you think? Also not to mention a LOT of projecting?

Other people don't deserve you forcing your self loathing and pain onto them. You are allowed to hate your situation, you are allowed to hate your disorder, you are allowed to feel and think and experience your experiences however you want, but a line is drawn when it comes to displacing that hatred, those feelings, those thoughts, and those experiences onto others and demand that they should meet your standards of misery.

I apologize, but I'm not going to pretend like DID stresses me out when I'm really not stressed by it anymore because most of our regular parts are actually decently connected and coordinated with one another. I'm not scared of them and they aren't scared of me. I'm not fighting them and they aren't fighting me. We got trauma but we also got, ya know, a life going and the trauma gets less and less prevalent and intrusive as time goes on so, life's honestly pretty lit and I really love to see other systems heading in that direction.

I think everyone should aim to be happy and at peace with their disorder. I don't understand, empathize, or support the idea that someone had to meet a standard of misery to be "real".

(TW: suicidal ideation and physical abuse mention)

If I take medication that makes it so I don't scrub my hands raw and have panic attacks over having not eaten a salad "recently" thus meaning I am going to rot from the inside out and die, does that mean I am faking having OCD? If I take medication and improve my life so that I only pluck my hair once a month, is my Trichitillomania faked? If I stop having suicidal ideation, does that mean I was faking being suicidal the whole time? If I stop having bruises, does that mean I faked being beaten as a kid?

(TW cleared)

Recovery and peace should and does not ever invalidate the truth of the pain suffered and the struggle overcome. Happiness and joy can co-exist with the truth of hurt, pain and suffering.

Trying to hold the two as mutually exclusive is a huge part of why a lot of people get stuck being miserable. If misery is vital for honoring your pain as real, it is very hard to let that go and let yourself be happy again, because if you are happy, what will attest to give your pain justice? But pain, justice, misery, and happiness - they can all co-exist and honestly, that's a really important thing to learn and understand in my healing journey as it really opens up doors to letting trauma go.

Your pain doesn't define your truth.

Your truth is your truth.

It will stay true regardless of if the pain persists or leaves.

[raayllum]

it’s high key really annoying the attention toh gets on this website while no one acknowledges tdp exists

Yeah, sometimes I wish TDP got more recognition and appreciation in a fandom space for its storytelling (the parallels, the worldbuilding, the mature theme explorations) simply because we haven't had a western kids' show go this hard since TLOK (even if I think Korra stumbles in a lot of ways) and arguably ATLA in its explorations of war and morality, two things that TDP is obsessed with, as well as a sometimes overwhelming discussion of Grief.

However, to be frank, while many teen and adult fans of kids cartoons say that they want darker themes and storylines, what that usually means, I think, is more akin to something like TOH or She Ra, in which you know 1) your favourite characters will always typically survive with maybe one or two minor parental or villainous exceptions, and 2) one or two characters in an otherwise fairly cookie cutter 'good guy' cast will have a redemption arc or be quirky morally dubious in a way that's played for comedy, and there will be a handful of significantly "Oh Shit!" darker or creepier moments. The characters are mostly teenagers, the heavier plot stuff is regulated to a few standout episodes, with most of the other conflicts being things like figuring out how to make friends or struggling with not fitting in or deciding what you want to do with your life. And those are all good explorations, and it's not as though TDP doesn't touch on some of that (Callum is finding his place in the world, Rayla is 'changing careers', Ez struggles with his new responsibilities and not fitting in, Soren - like Hunter - leaves an emotionally abusive relationship with a parental figure).

But I think it's TDP's attachment of all of those things to morality that makes the emotional stakes higher and less comforting and/or comfortable for people who are, likely, going to fiction for escapism rather than exploration. (To be clear: one is not better than the other, I just know what my personal preferences are.) Rayla's 'career/schooling' change is whether she's going to kill people for a living; Callum deciding what sort of mage he's going to be is rooted in deciding how much he's willing to either slowly destroy himself or take on the impossible, both with some dire consequences; Ezran not fitting is is also tied to having mysterious, unknown magical powers the story still hasn't fully explained the root cause of. Yes, the three main kids are typically good people who want to do the right thing, but that's much easier said than done (Ezran burning the monster soldiers, Callum's ruthlessness, Rayla's self sacrificial tendencies manifesting in destructive ways). TDP is never going to have an episode of "I lied to my friends because I wanted them to think I was cool or not a nerd" or "I'm scared of them preferring someone else over me" or "I need to learn how to be a good friend" (hi TOH with like 5 episodes and She Ra).

Like Rayla lies to the boys, but that's because she isn't sure how to tell them that her father murdered theirs and made them orphans, and she's worried it will accordingly be a wedge between them.

Like, there's hardly any episodes of TDP that don't talk about grief or death or both in some manner. The show consistently explores unreliable narrators across all sides of its ethical spectrum(s). S4 has a subplot regarding religious traditions and the ethics of the death penalty. Most of Arc 1 and now into Arc 2 sees good people with good intentions or understandable motivations doing pretty terrible things to either themselves, the people around them, or both. The death and body horror imagery aren't one offs, but consistent series defining elements that are always treated seriously. Villains aren't people who don't love their families (or anyone) and good guys aren't good because they're good friends to one another. It's more complicated than that, from the body swap and discussions of the soul in S1, to the cycle of violence laid out explicitly in S2, to explorations of punishment and exile in S3.

Overall, I'm fine with the success and appreciation that TDP gets; some of my students watch it, actually, which makes it useful in some of our lesson discussions. Because TDP is a good show for kids, yes, but it certainly never pulls its punches in forcing all of its ensemble cast through the wringer.

TLDR; due to age demographics and tonal differences, particularly in character conflicts, themes, and amount of Lore, I'm not surprised at all that TDP is pretty underrated on tumblr. Again, doesn't mean these elements of 'maturity' make it Better (although I do think it's written more cohesively than She Ra and more consistently than TOH in its set up and payoff), I just know where my (and many other's) preferences lay accordingly, and am not surprised at the split.

[julietasgf]

first of all I love long answers, so no apologies in fact I'll apologize because I plan to ramble on.

I also love the movie but I have so many problems with how little we were given of the Plinth family, that they didn't fully exploit Marcus and Sejanus relationship and the sandwich scene (no ironically I have so much to say about that I may do another post explaining in depth why I hate how they executed that scene) so I feel you buddy

Yes I also think it was a bit of an unnecessary change in that regard, I'm not complaining at all about a scene of Coriolanus crying while looking at a picture of him and Sejanus together, it's cute to see him that pathetic crying and my heart was broken bc we could see again that Coriolanus means the world to Sejanus and yet that happen, but still I think it's more interesting, dramatic and hilarious to witness Coriolanus frustration at seeing that there's a picture of Marcus, of all the people.

Is someone else and NOT HIM, THE ONE THAT INSPIRE SEJANUS. Like as a snowjanus fan Im more into that shit of Coryo in denial screaming and thwroing bc ITS NOT HIM. But thats probably only me /j

You summarized very well many of the aspects in Marcus and Sejanus relationship that drive me crazy. I also belive they had such an unique relationship in the saga, Im so angry bc the movie dont fucking explore them in depth.

AND I AGREED WITH EVERY WORD YOU SAID ABOUT SEJANUS, THAT MOMENT OF KIDNESS IN THE END IT DEFINED HIS CORE, YEARS LATER HE MADE THE CONSCIOUS DECISION TO BE GUIDED BY THE ONE MOMENT WHEN A STRANGER OFFERED HIM HELP AND COMFORT OUT OF COMMUNITY AND EMPATHY.

Yeah it's obvious that much of his character is ultimately shaped by his mother, but he makes a very conscious decision to live by that interaction, to decide that if no one else is willing to make that selfless gesture, he'll be the one to take care of it. Even if the world tells him he's crazy and wrong for going in that direction.

About Marcus I agree that he probably thought that and it makes me so sad because I can't help but wonder what it was like for him, again I know in the book they mention they were more classmates than friends but I don't know, childhood in itself seems to me a stage where you tend to connect deeply with others as you are not yet fully aware of the barriers, and while I can see some classmates already having reservations towards Sejanus because of what Strabo had done and what their parents told lf Plinth family, it seems to me it shows that Marcus was not one of those kids.

So I like to think he thought in his own way about Sejanus. About how nice he was despite the nasty reputation that was forming of his family until finally Sejanus moves in and people tell Marcus that the Plinth's are traitors and other terrible things.

How to reconcile that image with that of the scared little boy he helped and thanked him deeply for it? I think it takes years (and the games ultimately help deepen the rift because Sejanus is safe and they in the district aren't) for him to come to that conclusion.

Then Marcus is reaping and it must have been painful and horrible to see Sejanus standing behind a fence, in an expensive and extravagant uniform, trying to offer him a very hearty sandwich. We know it is a gesture of help and comes from a place of compassion but god I can also see how it is at the same time a kind of cruel mockery.

Because Marcus is going to die and he doesn't need a sandwich, or an apology, he needs to be taken out of there, he needs to do not be killed and forced to kill others. So it makes sense his resentfulness will grow, also the image of Sejanus in his memory as his classmate who did wear a nice suit more expensive than others yes but still was from district 2, still live and suffer the war with them, was destroyed, now he can only think of this Sejanus totally capitol from his eyes, a fucking traitor in a red like blood uniform.

Marcus must have been totally hopeless... We know the people in the capitol saw him as a possible winner but I don't think this was his vision. Like the rest he was a scared kid, probably resigned to his death.

He could not give in to ask for Sejanus' help, to take his hand because what would that mean? That he too would become a traitor, that he was not loyal enough to his family and community? He did not want to die with that weight on his conscience and also facing Sejanus sounds anything but helpful.

He doesn't even know from the sandwich act if Sejanus is the same. He already looks different. What if he turned into one of those whimsical, conceited children? Will he be able to stand talking to him? And what could Plinth do for him? Give him a better weapon? Give him a fucking cake?

There was no point in saying anything. Nor to do it.

I believe the bombing and when he sees a way out is the only time Marcus regains hope and we know what happens to him because of that...

I love recommending caifanes songs that reminds me of Sejanus too much what can I say... And I love even more that you listen to them and see the vision. Im out of caifanes songs for now but if you can handle the trigger warning of spain spanish I can give you:

From the treasure planet the spanish dubb version of Im still here / Estoy aquí by Alex ubago. Its so Sejanus CODED. I choose the spanish version bc its a more youthful voice than the original.

I always apologize for answering too long answers, I genuinely fear being annoying for it 😭

yessss!!! in the movie, I have the feeling that excluding so much of the plinths didn't really show the impact of how fucked up it was what coriolanus did by the end. he stole a boy's whole life. he knew his parents, he knew his mother, and still, he got him killed and stole his life anyway. it's so disturbing when you stop to think about it, but since we don't really see much from the plinths in the movie, I feel like it weights much less than it should (ALSO, YES, THE SANDWICH SCENE WAS A CRIME, it was really poorly executed and another point where it seems to make coryo better imo)

it's so funny to me that scene in the book bc coriolanus says with all his chest that it shows "where sejanus' loyalty laid with". bro really came to the conclusion JUST NOW that maybe, and just maybe, he isn't the center of the world and neither is the capitol 😭 while reading I though of him turning to the camera like a the office episode plssssss (and I absolutely AGREE HELPP, coriolanus screaming crying throwing up because sejanus has a pic of MARCUS, of ALL PEOPLE)

the movie had so much potential to explore their relationship in a more visual way. I absolutely understand why storytelling-wise they would rather to explore of sejanus and coriolanus' relationship.... but marcus and sejanus are so important and interesting and UGHHHHH (and plus, they remind me so much of katniss and peeta, I've seen some parallels that DRIVE ME INSANE and I would actually kill for a 4 hour cut with scenes of them together)

AND YESSSS!!! everything regarding the districts in tbosas, everytime we see something about their lifestyle, is about community. marcus and sejanus were not even friends in his words, they were classmates, and marcus went and helped a child that was probably left out and despised by most of his classmates, and he didn't want anything in return (another thing that drives me insane is how coriolanus is quite the reverse of this; he helped sejanus out of interest, pure interest, and how this is pure capitol, while marcus is pure district).

at that point of the rebellion, the plinths were probably so despised at D2, because the way sejanus cherishes that memory is just so important to me. it's the kind of thing you'd probably forget, but he remembered marcus' name, he kept his pic and everything, and he probably talked about it at home enough for his father to know about marcus and. yk. do what he did at the games to "teach sejanus a lesson". marcus' kindness was THAT remarkable. another thing that I think abt 24/7: what was marcus thinking all this time? we never even see him talking. what were his thoughts? I would actually pay suzanne collins just to KNOW.

during the zoo scene, I felt physical pain because I could only think about how OFFENDED marcus probably felt. because, in his place, I at least would feel extremely offended. because let me get this straight: after your father betrays our district, you leave for this fancy town, with fancy clothing, and now I'm about to die, and then you come here offering me a sandwich? (also, this sets another interesting thing about marcus, he's so proud, and I'm just mentioning it bc it seems like a common trait between people from D2 in the future) and plus, he probably saw coriolanus going to talk to lucy gray for the first time at the train. okay that coriolanus' intentions weren't pure, but how marcus felt that sejanus actually KNEW HIM and didn't go to see him, but this boy who never met this girl actually went to the train station? and then his first interaction with sejanus is him offering him food as if he's an animal?

one thing I read once, and I really can't recall from where, was an interpretation that marcus never even spoke to sejanus (not even to curse him or tell him to fuck off) because it was much better to die with the little boy he knew still on his mind, kind and gentle, than to talk to the boy he doesn't know and discover how he actually changed into something marcus despised.

I also do think marcus was resigned to his death. the way he doesn't even try says a lot, even though everyone agreed that he was the tribute with the most chances. D2 is big, it's not like D12, which is smaller. what would it mean for marcus to return after accepting help from a plinth? what would it mean for him to return after 23 another children getting killed just so he could get out alive?

also, in some form, I think marcus and sejanus' dynamic as tribute and mentor as some sort of anti-lucy gray and coriolanus. they're the reverse of each other.

it's so tragic, really, that he had hope for the first time just to end tragically like that. now, I'm going to punch a wall and cry for at least two days in a corner, because marcus is genuinely one of the most interesting tributes and he didn't even got to fight in the games to be this interesting.

(suzanne collins really went HARD on creating characters this time, not that in thg she didn't, but how is almost every character in tbosas is special and iconic to me?)

and I love getting recommended songs!!! ☝️ NOT THE SPAIN SPANISH TRIGGER WARNING (spain spanish and portugal portuguese are really cousins, it seems) ☠️ first, omg, I was just today thinking abt the characters as disney songs, I'm kinda screaming that you sent me this!!! specially bc as a kid my hobby was listening to different versions of the same disney song, and I RECOGNIZED IT, but I never actually stopped to pay attention to the lyrics and YOU'RE SO RIGHT, I get amazed bc every single song you recommend I stop and stare at the wall thinking of how, actually, it makes total sense 😭

[twstmagica]

Fetch Quest part 2

When Deuce steps into the mine he's struck by how old it must have been. Long ago the whole place was flush with magistones. For it to be so empty now means people have been mining here for centuries. As they move deeper Deuce starts to make out figures ahead, but something about them seems off. 

“Are there other people here?” Deuce realizes he's wrong as soon as the question leaves his mouth. People normally aren't made of dark fog. 

“Fgyah! They're creeping me out!” Deuce has to agree with Grim. As the fog people walked forward their limbs stretched with every movement. Despite this none of them made a sound.

“I think these are wraiths, but it's weird.” Yuu sounds concerned. “They need constant negative energy from living people. An abandoned place shouldn't be able to sustain this many.”

“Who cares why they're here. Those things are getting closer!”

Ace was right, some of the wraiths were trying to reach out from the cave’s shadows and towards the group. But Deuce wasn't gonna get scared off by some spirits!

“So what? We’ll just have to push our way through!” With that Deuce rushes forward. Except not really because Yuu blocks him.

“Holy shit no! Bad idea. Don't let them touch you.” Yuu’s eyes are wide as he grips Deuce. 

“Stick to purely ranged magic attacks.”Yuu demonstrates with a flick of his wand and takes out the nearest wraiths with ease. 

“Close contact lets them drain your energy, and their touch will cause your skin to rot.”

Oh.

The group keeps moving forward while occasionally sending blasts towards the shadows

Grim: “Mya. Compared to the dorm monster these guys are easy.”

Ace:  “The dorm what? Are there more monsters at school!?”

“Grim and I were meant to sleep over at the old Ramshackle dorm, but turns out there was a monster hiding out in the basement. We teamed up with the dorm’s ghosts to beat it but –– wait. Everyone stop.”

Despite the low volume their voices had been echoing through the cave. Between that and the group blasting at wraiths Deuce had a hard time listening for anything else.

“...iiivvv... ...oooouuu...”

Oh. Now he can hear it.

“...neeevvvaaa... ...iiivvv... ...ooouuu...”

“Wh-what’s that?”

A malicious energy approaches from ahead.

“Stooonesss... Stooonesss aaare miiiiine!”

The source of the creepy noise made itself known. The monster wore a tattered red cloak over a huge body made of oozing tar, and where a head should be was a cracked ink bottle. One hand carried a lit iron lantern and the other had a giant pickaxe. Wraths were swirling around the ink monster, like wasps protecting their hive.

“Guess that explains the wraiths.”

Yuu lets out a sweep of butterflies that disperse the shadowy figures, but they retreat to the ink creature and quickly reform. Deuce watches Yuu rush forward and bash the monster. He keeps it up

“Woah, Yuu went straight at it!”  

Ace suddenly shouts “Hey look! Behind the monster! There's something sparkling in the mineshaft!”

“Huh?” What's behind where? Deuce doesn't understand at first but following Ace’s pointed finger his gaze catches something shining from behind the fighters.

“Oh!”

“That must be a magic stone!” They found it! “I’m going for it!”

The others shout at Deuce to wait but there's no way he’s stopping now. Once they gets the stone Deuce won't have to worry about making his mom

“Ack!” Deuce shouts in pain.

While Deuce was distracted a wraith got close enough to lash out at him. Its hit wasn't forceful, but the skin where it touched him burned like the time he fell in a nettle bush. Deuce realizes with horror that the feeling was spreading out beyond the spot where he was hit.

The rest of the swarm takes advantage of the opening and presses forward. But he's so close! Deuce can't give up now!

*FWOOSH*

Grim and Ace simultaneously send fire/wind blasts at the wraiths piling up. The resulting fireball takes out the wraiths, and also singes Deuce.

“Get it together Juice!”

“My name is Deuce! With a D!”

It isn't that hard! 

“We’re leaving!”

But he’s so close! They can't give up now! Unfortunately the rest don't agree with this and Deuce is dragged away.

The monsters stopped chasing them halfway to the entrance, but the group didn't stop until they reached the forest. As they catch their breath Yuu helps Deuce sit on the ground and lean against a tree. It doesn't make sense, his grades might not always be the best, but Deuce always maintained good fitness, so what gives.

Yuu zeros in on Deuces injury

Deuce tries to wave Yuu off but can only wheeze in response. The feeling had spread throughout the rest of his arm and started creeping to the rest of his body. When did it get so bad?

Yuu starts freaking out and pushes Deuce so he's laying on the grass. His shirt is removed and the full extent of the injury is shown.

The area where Deuce had been hit had turned black, with gray spreading out. The skin was dry and to his horror Deuce could see cracks forming.

“Ugh!” Ace takes a step back.

Grim: “What's wrong with him?”

Yuu: “The ink fiend super-charged the wraiths attacks”

Yuu holds the scepter over Deuce and chants

“Dreamers Aid: Healing Light”

The injury was gone, but Deuce still had to lay down.

Ace throws up his hands, “Forget this! No school is worth getting eaten.”

No! He can't afford to go back empty handed! “We can't just run away! If we don't come back with a magestone by morning, we'll all be expelled!”

A“Are you outta your mind?! Those things nearly killed us and you're still worried about that!”

Okay, so Ace kinda has a point, but this isn't just about Deuce. His mom has been so happy ever since he started taking school seriously. She was so excited when Deuce’s letter came in. Oh seven, her face when he stepped into the carriage… 

No! Death is preferable to making mom cry again! Deuce tries to keep arguing but is interrupted.

“...Ace is right.”

Even Yuu?!

“This has gotten bigger than just a stone. There shouldn't be this many wraiths in such an isolated area. That monster is empowering them somehow. But I've never seen a fiend like that before.”

“So let's go back and tell the school. Then it's their problem!”

No! He can't return without the magestone! Deuce tries to protest but his stupid body was still recovering!

Y: “No. Now that they've been discovered the fiends won't wait for us to get backup. It needs to be stopped now before they can get out and start hurting people.”

“Still not our problem!”

Yuu carries on as if Ace hadn’t spoken. “I’m sorry. I wasn't taking this as seriously as I should have and you guys nearly died. Wait here and I’ll beat the fiends. Afterwards you can get the stone and we can report back together.”

Deuce realizes what he’s saying.  “Wait, are you planning to take them all on your own?”

A:“Are you crazy?”

Y: “I can't wait. We don't know how quickly this’ll grow… ”

Yuu raises his wand and shouts, “Hope’s Guiding Light, Ardent Dream, Awaken!”

He conjures a swarm of butterflies that completely envelopes him.

“Woah!”

“What the hell!”

There's a blinding pink flash as the butterflies burst away to reveal Yuu, but now wearing a fancy outfit. A really pink one with gold trim and a cape.

Grim seems to recognize it, “This outfit again?”

“You put on a costume? How is that supposed to help?!” Ace shouts.

“It's not a costume!” Damn, this is the first time Yuu actually sounded offended, ”This is my uniform! And it doubles as armor.”

“Oh fuck you really are crazy!” Ace exclaimed before pointing back at the cave. “Hows some fancy threads gonna help against all that!”

Deuce was also confused about how a costu– that is, how Yuu’s uniform could protect him from the monsters.

“Ugh, just wait here. I’m going in.”

.............................................................................................................................

Gonna be real with you all, I got distracted by a new fixation but felt bad about leaving this for so long. I'm still working on the magica au, just not feeling it right now I guess.

[lheslie]

You're my first boyfriend Taehoon

Accepting Taehoon as your boyfriend was the hardest decision you had to make. It wasn't because you didn't like him.

It's because you've never experienced having a boyfriend and you were absolutely scared of the consequences of having one.

Taehoon was your friend. He was your friend for a long time. Although he is a like a hard headed thug you saw the kindess in his heart through a microscope.

You always thought he was like a tsundere, which you found very adorable.

You were very picky when making friends due to your past being betrayed by your friends.

So you wanted your friendship with Taehoon to last. So you made sure you were open with him. You made sure to understand him and for him to understand you.

He got to know you more because you were like an open book. And you even opened yourself too much to him.

You respected his decisions, and he respected yours.

Of course just because you were friends doesn't mean you were exempted to the teasing treatment he gives away.

He also doesn't value personal space most of the time and you also don't mind because you had nothing to hide to him anymore.

You even met his father several times and he even met yours too.

Taehoon's father. Hansu never thought he'd have a friend like you.

You were like an Innocent angel in his fathers eyes. Even though you weren't. You did some mischief in your life too. But of course those were secrets.

You liked the friendship you had with Taehoon and you would be absolutely be upset if your friendship suddenly disappears.

So you had a hard time deciding if it's worth the risk accepting.

You told yourself. 'If I accept we become something more than friends. If I reject I lose a friend and a chance to be with Taehoon...'

Of course you took the latter. You liked Taehoon. But you never really made any initiative as you didn't want to lose your only friend.

He knew you liked him, again. You were like an open book to him.

The two of you didn't do anything big after being together.

You still did what you both did normally everyday.

Except you were together. Which makes you flustered if he ever talks to you closely, if he ever held your hand.

You liked the feeling, but you weren't used to it. And he kept teasing you about it.

"Ya look like a tomato"

"Don't be shy, it's just me."

"Wanna keep looking?"

These remarks made your heart burst out from your chest.

You wanted to ask him out on a date. Like an actual date.

Right now you were in front of him shaking sweating.

"Ya look like yer being held like a hostage. What is it"

"L-lets go out" There, you said it. You can feel your stomach is being ripped off your body.

"Aren't we going out right now?" He replied.

"No, like an actual date. Somewhere we've never been before.." You said.

"Yeah, sure." He replied as you exhale.

"Ya always act like I'm about to kill you" He said.

"I-it's just because you're my first boyfriend Taehoon... And I don't wanna screw things up."

After saying that Taehoon dragged you to the Amusement Park, The Mall, The Taekwondo centre, The arcade, his house, your house, he even took you to the beach.

"This shits weird, I ain't repeating shit. So you better fucking listen." he said "Just because we're couples now doesn't mean our daily lives need to change we're just gonna spend it together now." he continued as you could see him flustered which made you flustered and your heart beat fast.

"Tell this to anyone and yer fucking dead." He said walking away. And you followed behind.

"Yer fucking cringe" He kicks you.

"Fuck you, for making me cringe"

"this shits stupid"

"I'll cripple you if I ever hear you laugh"

"Yer lucky I tolerate you. If not you'd be 6ft underground."

[uncanny-tranny]

How do you stop caring about what transphobes think? I've never encountered any kind of transphobia irl (other than the typical misgendering and occasional ignorant comment) but every time I see hateful posts online I get scared. Are they going to come after me, next?

Honestly, it comes with experience, I think. I know it's scary, you're right, and there's no reason to be ashamed of being scared.

However, if what you want is to make your online experiences positive, you have to prioritize yourself. I used to be one of those people who almost bragged about "never blocking people," and now I have a block list a mile long because the block function is a tool, not a moral indication of being a Good Internet Person. Blacklist words, block accounts, go on private accounts, unfollow people if they stop sparking joy, and your internet experience will feel less like you're walking a tightrope and more like a positive interaction.

Additionally, I really encourage anybody ymto invest in themselves outside of anything else. What I mean by that is that it is so much easier to devalue trabsphobes when you feel at peace with yourself. Whenever I find myself overwhelmed by transphobia or whatever, the first thing I do is take a step back and do what I can to remove myself from that interaction. I've picked up a ton of hobbies, for instance, that make me feel fulfilled when I engage with them. I'll pluck my bass, or read a non-fictiob book, or play a video game, or play with my cat. Evaluate what in your life makes you feel fulfilled. Experiment with them, and go to them as a way to cleanse your soul. It won't fix everything, yes, but it can help you feel as though you have control, because you do.

Honour the way you feel, anon. You don't need to feel belittled - it sucks to see so much shit. However, you don't need to keep others in mind when you're living. You weren't made to kow tow to every little request.

Basically, my advice is:

Not to entertain people who aren't interested in seeing your humanity

Find a way to fulfill yourself. This could look like a hobby, or a field of study, or anything, so long as it makes you feel fulfilled.

Don't downplay your own emotions. Let yourself be angry, upset, sad, and whatever other emotion you have. Emotions are not bad, there are no such thing as "bad emotions". Give yourself the space to express those emotions in a way that's healthiest to you

This takes time. It's okay to not be at that point where it doesn't affect you strongly. Please reach out to people - friends, family, whomever you feel safe with. Community is important, you are not an island. You aren't alone.

I'm wishing you well, anon. I hope you are treated well

[skayafair]

I love that Lizzy is capable AND she still has regular nasty breakdowns.

At first I really didn't like her. As I later realized, because of how uncomfortably she reminded me of my own petsonality sides I'd rather choose to forget. Or maybe how people who didn't like me wanted me to see myself and I adopted this view, I don't know. The point is, there are enough similarities, so I disliked Elizabeth for some time while trying to stay objective, and later came to really respect her.

The feeling of constant anxiety while you simultaneously try to make things right and do what's right, for example. And that nothing ever goes your way, even when in the beginning it may seem otherwise.

When Lizzy took charge, it was both a surprise and the most logical thing ever. When she couldn't convince anyone to perceive her as a leader - I mean truly, and the fact that the team doesn't really need a formal leader all that much didn't help, - I wasn't surprised at all. How familiar. This is why I hate to be in charge: go out of your way to do everything properly and consider everyone and everything, but all you get in the end is the responsibility. No perks, you're just kept accountable for all this mess both in front of the higher-ups and yourself. If the teammates are kind enough, that is. Being the leader when you aren't a people person (doesn't matter if you want to be one, people just categorized you as an outlier ever since you can remember yourself) is very difficult.

It's hard not to grow bitter with all this.

And the leader has no right to fail. The failures don't ask if you have this right or not though, they just happen. And you still can't just give in. You have the responsibility.

I honestly expected Cassius to dig their heels in and bear with this because they ARE charismatic, everyone warms up to them instantly, and they seem very responsible and resilient, stubborn. It was a surprise to me they gave up, but a welcomed one: it wasn't out of blue and I'm glad the show lays out all the reasoning so well. It really helped me understand the character more.

Lizzy doesn't give up though. She takes all the hits and jabs in, all the failures and pain, gets poisoned by them, but keeps going. Maybe because it's familiar anyway: yes everyone hates you (oh for goodness sake, they hated you anyway, says a little nasty voice in the back of your mind) but at least you're still doing what you must, keeping at least the ones you could keep alive - well, as safe as possible. Doing what's right in your mind with all you've got, so there's some small mercy in that.

You can't give up.

Except everything has a limit.

And I admire the fact that Elizabeth gets hysterical, picks fights, screams and cries and keeps going. She was entrusted with the responsibility and isn't going to give it up just because she can't bear the weight. Maybe it's an autistic thing - she really feels autistic to me and I guess I'm on the spectrum as well, and the thing is we often don't know how much is too much. It's like with the pain: we can often withstand a pretty severe one without showing as much discomfort as a neurotypical person would because we never know if it's considered bad enough and we're used to masking our whole lives. That episode with her hand made me properly remember for the first time how my right wrist got broken into several shards and the doctors asked if I want a local anesthesia or a general one to rearrange them. I was alone in a big city and there was no one to take care of me, so I couldn't lose consciousness, I had to be in control. No one told me people are usually sedated for such procedures. I don't think I ever screamed like back then because local anesthesia didn't do shit. I felt everything. I avoided remembering those minutes for years. That episode when Lizzy screamed led me through them again and I think I'm not as scared of them anymore. We often think in absolutes. Lizzy even said it herself: how her aunt taught her to help until it hurts bit didn't teach when to stop.

I used to keep going until I dropped. Often literally. My ex girlfriend was the one who got very angry at me for that, and this annoyed me af: why do you think you have a right to tell me what to do, it's my wellbeing, I choose what to do on my own! But even so I listened to her, at first begrudgingly, and unlearned this habit little by little. Looks like there was no one to help Lizzy with that. So she would stretch herself thin and then some more, until she can't function at all. Or at least that's my guess.

So this is what I admire: she still lets herself break down without giving up. I think it should help her take some tension off. She still allows herself to be human, a person, not only a function. It's... such a strength to me honestly. I think it should also make her more... approachable? available for human connections? You show human emotions in a situation when they are honestly expected, so that probably makes you look more "normal".

She's a mess, but what a beautiful one.

[duckielover151]

Some OPLA Thoughts: Episode 5

Wow.

My post about the last episode started off with how Zoro's backstory (the portrayal of Kuina particularly) was the first thing in this adaptation to seriously disappoint me... Only to immediately follow that up with the best episode so far. I don't think I have anything negative to say about this one.

We've finally started to see that other side to Garp that I was worried had been edited out of the live action completely. That wilder, goofier side when confronted with his grandson as a pirate for the first time. That grayer portrayal of morality in this universe, when he and Koby talk about the Warlords.

I found it really interesting that Koby was so betrayed by the concept of the Warlords. I mean, I also think that's the right response, but it really hasn't been made clear yet in the live action that the World Government is super corrupt. Honestly-- I'm pretty sure I mentioned this in my post about the first or second episode-- they even toned down how much of a tyrant Morgan was. The anime made it really clear that the people of the town were just as scared of Morgan as they were of any potential pirates his unit was supposed to be protecting them from. In the live action, it could be read that Helmeppo was just an errant bad apple.

And speaking of! He's finally starting to come around. It's a prickly sort of friendship that he's building with Koby... but they are noticeably talking more-- and saying more. Those conversations aren't all insults and then stalking away in a huff like they have been up to this point. I didn't mention it in my last post, but Helmeppo had a line that really stuck out to me in episode four. It's still all argument about how they should be handling their duties in Syrup Village, but he's let his guard down enough to admit that he is jealous of the shine Garp's taken to Koby.

What stood out in this episode was his line about how Koby doesn't know shit about how the world works-- in reference to his disbelief about how the Government handles the Warlords. I was kind of ridiculing that... and kind of not. My immediate, knee-jerk reaction was along the lines of, "Really? Pampered, spoiled Helmeppo is going to lecture the boy who spent his childhood enslaved on a pirate ship about the harsh realities of the world?" But you know... That is a really interesting angle to take. That being the son of a high-ranking Navy captain, maybe Helmeppo has seen some of the injustices of how the World Government runs first-hand, and it would be great if that's what these two bond over in the live action.

Sanji's introduction has been great so far-- his fight scene looked fantastic-- and we haven't even gotten into the really hard-hitting stuff with his backstory with Zeff yet.

There were some interesting changes... but nothing that left me feeling uneasy about how it might impact the story as whole. I really hope they leave the whole issue with Don Krieg as the abridged version that it is right now. Honestly, that whole ordeal was really tedious to me in the original. I love that Nami was around for Zoro's duel in this version. (Though maybe a little disappointed that Sanji wasn't. I felt like witnessing that was a pretty major moment in him starting to understand what this insane crew is really all about.)

And Mihawk... Steven John Ward's portrayal of Mihawk is everything I was promised it would be. Really stole the show this episode.

The fight with Zoro was amazing. But also just his overall demeanor... and they gave him the best lines! Like, obviously the "I don't hunt rabbits with a cannon" one comes to mind-- in regards to only using that tiny knife against Zoro. But also, I loved his interaction with Luffy. The little, "Though I do like your hat" was such a great nod to his friendship(?) with Shanks... All of his moments were just so good.

I saw an interview with his actor where he talked about the secrecy behind the audition process-- how he didn't even know what role he was auditioning for until he got it. And how his response was to immediately call up his friends who are anime fans and ask them just how bad it would be if he fucked this up. XD

Which is exactly the response I would want. Any time I've had concerns about this show, it's always been about the writing. (And nothing too major has been messed up yet.) I've got no complaints about the acting. Everyone has killed their roles so far and brought exactly the energy to the table necessary to make this something special.

[viktoriathewitch]

⋆˖☽magical protection☾˖⋆

(se você fala portugues BR, sinta-se livre para enviar DM ou pedir tradução de um post. boa parte vai estar em inglês, para facilitar minha vida e atingir mais pesoas.)

(these tips are based on my experience and current knowledge, better read on desktop)

🕯️INTRO🕯️

Magical protection is something that every practitioner should know about, since the more you practice, the more you "appear" to beings of all kinds who exist in the spiritual realm and wander in ours. The thing about this is that not every being wants to be your friend, and in the community, some people go out of their way to harm others by sending negative energy and even hexing. However, even those who aren't part of the craft/community can still protect themselves through magic for their own reasons.

🕯️TIPS, DO'S AND DONT'S PART 1🕯️

The amount of protection should be at least equal to the dangers you put yourself in. But let's get to the good juice! ⸸ Protection starts on the 3D, so, make sure you assert boundaries with those around you and cut things that are pulling your energy away. I know this might not be easy for some people, like asserting boundaries with toxic parents who live with you, or when you have a very hard time doing it in general, but it's important to do it until it becomes a habit. This also counts for cutting habits that put you down. ⸸ Ask your guides/spiritual team/higherself for protection. Yes, I know that they already do that, but a little extra doesn't hurt, right? Well, it might hurt if they conclude you need some decluttering in your life. ⸸ Don't do things that are out of your ability. If you're a baby witch, well, a fetus witch especially, you in no way shape, or form should be chit-chatting with spirits you don't know, performing hexes, astral traveling, entering different dimensions, and so on. Learn about the dangers of whatever you want to do. Wanna talk to spirits? Work on your intuition, work on your psychic abilities, ward the shit out of your house/bedroom, search hell and heaven for info on those damn spirits, and don't ever go out alone. Wanna astral travel? The same things stated before, but also learn about astral fire, and astral worms, don't ever give your real name, not even your birthdate (never do this), learn about how to break from astral attacks, know what astral attacks are, etc. See? That's a shit ton of stuff, and you've got to practice all that. ⸸ Use and abuse of energetic shields, which are made when you visualize a shield over you/covering your body, kinda like an aura. The aspect of the shield and its fuel should be according to your intention and situation. So, let's say you're going back home from work and it's late at night and you don't want to be noticed (especially by men if you get what I mean). With that in mind, you can imagine a veil/cape that covers all of you, making you "invisible" and fueling it with quietness of mind. But! It's important to keep visualizing it while you want to use it, and yes, it's a bit difficult in the beginning, but the more you do, the easier it gets. They work similarly to charms, but it's a bit different since shields are for protection. Another example, it's when you find yourself in a situation that makes you feel afraid and you wanna scare off whatever makes you feel such a way. I personally like to imagine fire around me and its fuel being anger.

part 1/2, part 2/2 here