#df victims

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Children that would have been: Pineshade & Owlfang

Pineshade had been Rainstar's apprentice, and Owlfang his younger brother.

The two had found the dynamic hilarious. More often than not, Pinepaw would 'rat out' Rainbur's 'very unfair' punishments to Owlpaw, who would then try to scold the warrior. Sometimes he was serious, sometimes he found it too funny and could hardly get a word in. If Rainbur wasn't in a bad mood or the reason for Pinepaw's punishment wasn't too bad, he would cave in, if only to humour them.

The two had been best friends basically all their life, but they had only been mates for one moon before Owlfang asked about kits. Pineshade was nervous at first, unsure what kind of mother she would make.

But if she hadn't disappeared, she would have come around to the idea and the two would have a single, beautiful daughter.

Owlfang wouldn't have blamed himself for making her run away with his kit questions--something the whole Clan believed for a long time, thanks to Myrtlewing's 'StarClan visits' that told a story of Pineshade leaving to become a kittypet.

Owlfang would have been celebrating the news of becoming a father, instead of searching the maze of the Twolegplace, ready to beg Pineshade to come back and losing hope every day he failed to find her.

They would have been thinking up names for their future little ones. Owlfang wouldn't have had his neck split open by a broken nail board while looking through yet more gardens, and Pineshade would have been a little anxious for the arrival of their kits instead of watching as her mate searched endlessly for someone that wasn't there, for someone who was dead, and her heart would have been bursting with joy instead of shattering over and over again.

Kit name: ?? (what do you think it would be?)

Parents:

I will make a post talking more about their relationship, because it's never been explored before!

Bases:

F2U Shorthaired Cat Base by Turukhan on DeviantArt

f2u kitten bases by supurrnovae on DeviantArt

Free cat lineart by Chaseya on DeviantArt

[moonkissedvisions]

Pick a card: Messages from the Divine Feminine within you

The Divine Feminine explained

Consider:

This is a general reading. Take what resonates and leave the rest.

Tarot readings don´t replace professional advice.

English is not my first language.

To choose a pile, ask yourself: What do I need to know from the DF?

Pile one

Cards: The Devil, 3 of Pentacles, The Chariot, Page of Wands, 9 of Pentacles, 7 of Pentacles.

Power

Pile 1, the DF is asking you to take your power back, to remember how powerful you are and how YOU are the only one who has control over your choices. No one but you has control over your desires, responsibilities, and decisions. There is something that may be trapping you, draining you, or making you feel like you lost your power and have no control over your life. This could be an obsession or addiction, a strong sexual desire, overspending, codependency, unhealthy habits, negative thoughts, an internal or external narrative that you are hanging on, overindulgence, etc. It could be anything that is potentially hindering your spiritual growth and responsibilities. You have to remember now what you came here for and what truly and wholy fulfills you, instead of seeking a quick dopamine hit. You must look at your environment and see where the negative influences are, but you also must see inside yourself and meet your shadow.

You need to know that you are not the victim, that you are not helpless, that you are in fact responsible and FREE, and that you have a lot of power and control on your hands. Get out of your own way now. Accept your darkness, and then redirect your attention to your light. Make good choices by practicing mindfulness. Shadow work is particularly beneficial if you have these struggles. You can ask yourself what's holding you back or why are you running away from your path. When you check in your environment, consciously remove any energy that may be negatively affecting you. Start to be aware of the stories that you tell yourself, but also the ones that you find in your environment, in social media, in the social groups you are in, at work, school or home, within a relationship.  You can also ask yourself: Am I afraid of my creative power? Is that why I give it up or waste it in short-term pleasures? Learn how to discern passion from agression, when to apply each, and when not to.

Connections

Another message from the DF is to seek collaboration and support from others. At this time, your knowledge and experiences are especially valued and recognized when you share and distribute them with others than when you work by yourself, and you'll find better results by combining your capacities with those of others and work together as a team. Each person contributes with their skills to get greater success and more time for you to rest and practice self-care. Don't be afraid to share your work with others if it´s too much to do alone. People will be happy to help you achieve common goals. At first, your progress may seem small, but if you all apply a good organization, planification and work distribution, you will be getting there soon! If you are someone used to working alone, this is the time to try something new.  

Success

You are in your success era, achieving your goals, traveling, moving, learning a lot of new things, going to a bunch of new places. You have to keep trusting your vision, embodying your success, and holding on to the feeling of being capable of reaching your goals, every of them. Love your life, rejoice in victorious/winner energy by looking how far you've come and remembering your endless possibilities! This will have you attracting more and more. It's the time to enjoy your secure, abundant life. Delight in your comfort. See how your abundance benefits your spiritual and personal development and relish. Some of you may be obtaining a higher social status or receiving surprising news. Keep your choices intentional and aware but permit yourself to enjoy comfort, rest, and a relaxing time in nature. Invest your money in yourself, in beauty and pleasure. Allow yourself to eat the fruits of your labor.

Excitement 

You have curiosity and enthusiasm. The energy from this pile is so exciting and youthful. There can be a new opportunity to learn about your path, yourself, or something new that catches your attention. Perhaps you were just going to start a new creative project or try something again but with a different mindset and fewer inhibitions. You could explore a more optimistic attitude. There is also a possibility of a new journey or some sort of spiritual renewal happening. Whatever it is, I hope it's true for every one of you because it sounds amazing, Pile one. There are lots of confirmations that you are on the right path. If you were being restricted by limiting beliefs, or maybe a know-it-all mindset was stopping you from learning new things, this is your sign to start again and to unleash your inner child. Unleash what makes you young and that which has not yet matured in your life. 

song: aguardiente y limón by Kali Uchis. so on point lol

If it's true life is what you make it. All the seeds that I planted will grow, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow. I just want to savor the fruits of my labor.

Pile two

Cards: The Empress, Justice, Queen of Swords, The Hierophant, King of Cups, Strength.

Divine, royal spirit

The DF is giving you a lot of words of affirmation, Pile two. Your self-awareness is perfect. You have a fair, logical, rational and realistic mind that's perfectly combined with an empathetic, optimistic, intuitive, and emotionally intelligent mind. You are honest AND considerate. Your intuition is HIGH. You help people with your unmatched advice, vast knowledge, unbiased perspectives, and your clever ideas and thoughts. All of your mental abilities are on point. You have an open heart, but not a naive one at all. You know how to discern reality from illusion, and how to get the best of each. It's giving queen/king energy. You are romantizing your life INTELLIGENTLY, with meaning, reason, and intention. You value both internal and external beauty. You are your own empire, your own sacred temple, your own altar. If you are not already embodying this energy you need to start ASAP. This is such a powerful pile. You are truly embodying your Divine Feminine energy: creative, kind, intuitive, emotionally intelligent, dedicated, beautiful, loving, mindful, balanced, empowering, respectful, wholesomely feminine. You are an example of feminine integrity. If you have been shamed for your feminine power, for your sexuality, for your mystery, for your magic or any aspect of your femininity completely disregard it. Keep embracing the feminine arts. You are learning to be emotionally vulnerable when is proper, and how to express your emotions with self-respect. You understand others's emotions and you know the importance of emotional health. You support others´s in their emotional expression. At the same time, you value facts and evidence. You are an independent thinker. You are sincere. You are real. You are connected to your cycle and those of life and nature. You are connected to the invisible, you are one step forward. You may trigger some people with your truth, but you need to know that you are doing the right thing. You are speaking facts people need to hear. You are taking care of your health, your appearance, your community, you are blooming. You are a legacy, you are ROYALTY. You recognize the worth in yourself and others. If you don't feel like this, unless you chose the wrong Pile, the DF is trying to tell you that you have the potential to be all of it. Follow your feminine wisdom. There is a lot of abundance coming towards you and you deserve it all. If this is what you want, you are attracting someone who matches your energy, your divine counterpart. You are magnetic to all blessings. You are blessed.

Strength

You have the capacity to use your mind in your favor, to focus on what you desire, to give energy to what you want to grow in your life, and to be patient with yourself and what you do. Your high determination and control over your thoughts will take you far, and you'll attract what you want if you keep yourself calm and collected. You need to be aware of your thoughts, habits, and beliefs and take conscious control, but just surrender to the rest. Don't forget to be compassionate towards yourself and others. Keep reminding yourself of your inner power and capacity. Carry on having the control over your impulses and you'll attract all the solutions that you need. You are strong! 

Ritual

With The Hierophant card, your DF messages are about ritual, tradition, religion, and family. You could connect or reconnect to your traditions, start or continue practicing your rituals, and strengthen your faith. If you belong to a religion or a religious practice, it will be beneficial to attend its ceremonies, social events, and to visit temples/churches. You could also benefit from praying, giving offerings, reading sacred scriptures/books, whatever you resonate with. If you don't belong to a religion but you recently became interested in doing so, this could be a sign to do it. If you don't belong to any, and not interested in religion, this is just that rituals/ritualization of what you do is beneficial for you at this time. You could start a new ritual/tradition that will help you feel more connected to yourself and the DF. For some of you, you could reconnect to your family, a parent, someone familiar, or find a new meaning to the concept of "family". Marriages are possible too. There is someone with high morals, great wisdom, someone who answers questions or gives advice, a teacher, a family-oriented person who values tradition, a serious person with their priorities in order. Whether is you or someone in your life, this energy will be favourable for your spiritual growth. Try new things, find new patterns, reevaluate your beliefs.

song: The Girl With A Tattoo enter.lewd by Miguel

Those innocent eyes. That smile on your face. Makes it easy to trust you.

Pile three

Cards: The Devil, Page of Cups, 5 of Wands, Queen of Pentacles, 3 of Cups

Creative new start

The energy of this pile is very similar to Pile 1. Something is holding you back, but in this pile it´s more of an emotional problem. Your DF message suggests that the thing that's holding you back has a lot to do with how you emotionally respond to situations and how you deal with lower passions, temptation, dark thoughts. For some of you, it's your own emotional baggage and negative self talk that's hindering your creativity and growth. For others is a relationship. For maybe a small portion of you, it's a drinking or addiction problem rooted in emotional disorders, escapism, and avoidance. Know that choosing to let go and break free from these habits will give you a fresh start emotionally and creatively, and you are able to choose. When you do, new doors will open for you, and you'll have the possibility to fulfill your dreams and satisfy your emotional needs in more healthy and creative ways. You may also find a way to channel your darkness/shadow in creative ways that will bring more light as a result, or maybe you recently started doing that, and that is your message. In the first pile, there was some possible new spiritual journey or learning path. Here it's more about your creativity, relationships, and emotions. Express yourself, seek love and support, let things flow and unapologetically open your heart. Stop taking yourself and life very seriously. Be more silly is what your DF is saying lol. Your dreams may be getting prophetic too or you are seeing a lot of signs from the Universe. Good news from family, like a marriage, or family getting bigger.

Resolution

If you were looking for a conflict resolution, this is a confirmation that it's coming. Your DF suggests to have a healthy approach to the conflict, put your ego aside and listen to others without competing for who is in the right. There may be different opinions, conflicting thoughts/feelings or people trying to push their own agenda, even someone willing to manipulate or deceive others. A lot of egos fighting and trying to impose themselves. You just need to be empathetic and compassionate, use your intuition, and don´t judge anyone personally. Be brave. Listen and consider all different points of view and encourage the rest to do the same. Don´t be afraid to say what you think. Be aware of selfishness and apathy and don´t tolerate it. This could also be a sign that you'll have to face conflict soon, and you need to be cautious with how you handle the situation. If you handle conflict with acceptance and compassion, you will definitely gain new and favorable connections, collaboration, and material success. You may also get a lot of recognition for how you handle conflict and for your ability to relate to different people with a variety of backgrounds, knowledge, and talents. 

Prosperity 

You may be a practical person and that´s why you like to show affection and love in practical ways. I see you being a homemaker, enjoying cooking and cleaning, creating your business, baking, creating a nice environment, tending to people, and bringing pleasure into the mundane. You are a self-sufficient person with endless energy and dedication. If you don't already, you'll have extra money to share and spoil yourself and your loved ones soon. Prosperity and material success are coming for you. You have everything you need to be successful and independent. You are worthy of everything in the material world. Make the best of your material world. Your needs and those of your family are taken care of. Don´t be afraid of receiving/making money and living a comfortable life. Make the best out of your prosperity and all the opportunities that you have to be prosperous.

Unconditional support

You probably have a nice and loving group of friends, Pile 3. Friendships and social connections are so important for you at this moment, especially female ones. You are giving and receiving a lot of love and support from people. You are being invited to visit new places, hang out, attend parties and events. Say yes to all you desire without feeling guilty. Celebrate without having a big motive. Your ability to socialize is high, and you'll be receiving multiple friendly offerings. You could join a joyful creative group or receive support for your creative ideas. If you keep your creativity a secret, this may be the sign to share it with others and find other creative people who can inspire and encourage you. This is mutual and reciprocal energy. Appreciate your female friends, celebrate the friendships in your life and keep back and forth communication between you and them. Give them your time and let them give you theirs. This will strengthen your connection with your DF.  

song: Material Girl by Madonna.

Experience has made me rich. And now they´re after me.

Thank you for reading and supporting my Tarot readings. ily <3

[yuikomorii]

Do you like Cordelia or Christa more?

// Does ‘none’ work as an answer too?

On a more serious note, this is a tricky question. That said, I guess I do prefer Cordelia over Christa. Don’t get me wrong, Cordelia is a TERRIBLE mother and unarguably the worst of the three. But, despite her actions, she's an incredibly interesting character and does a fantastic job playing the role of the villainess. I love her interactions with Yui and Ayato in DF, and what I find particularly fascinating is how that route didn’t try to portray Cordelia as a good person. Instead, it helped the audience empathize with her. Even after she comes back to life, there's no apology or remorse for what she did to the triplets, yet we get to see the reasons behind her actions as well as a chatty and funny side to her, without automatically redeeming her as a person. Cordelia is unapologetically a bitch and she's honest about it.

As for Christa, I simply don’t really like her—neither as a person nor as a character. What annoys me the most is how 99% of the fandom sees her as this docile, weak-looking lady when she’s actually a completely CRAZY woman. Sure, it’s normal to feel bad for her, I do too, but I don't understand why so many people excuse her behavior by saying that “she’s mentally ill 🥺,” when literally all the characters are mentally ill. Why does she get a free pass for being awful? I get that what Karlheinz did to her is disgusting and that she’s his victim, but so is everyone else. On top of that, I’m not fond of her role in the story. The reason she was so admired in the Demon World was because of her purity (in the virgin sense), and then she starts blaming Subaru for ruining that purity—? Losing her title drove her to madness, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I understand she didn’t want to get pregnant, but she was in love with Karlheinz and wanted to marry him, so she should take some responsibility as well instead of blaming her son, who had nothing to do with it. It's nice that she had a loving side, but her constant back-and-forth—"Subaru, you filthy monster! Kill me! Kill him! He loves me the most! I hate you!"—is so exhausting and confusing. I especially remember a scene where Subaru tried to defend Christa from Karlheinz, but Christa got mad, slapped him, and was like “HOW DARE YOU SPEAK LIKE THAT TO YOUR FATHER!?". She’s not even meant to be a villainess, yet her unpredictability makes her dangerous. I was hoping Subaru’s DF route would make her a more entertaining character, but she actually felt like a downgrade compared to the previous games.

[bbcphile]

Mysterious Lotus Casebook and Complex PTSD Representations: Part I

One of my favorite things about Mysterious Lotus Casebook is how surprisingly nuanced and unusual its portrayal of complex PTSD is. So many shows either introduce character trauma to make the character Sad and Brooding, Angry and Violent (if they’re a villain) or Hesitant to Start a Relationship (if it’s a romance), and that’s usually as in-depth as it gets. If they address the unique after effects of child abuse that lead to complex PTSD at all, it’s usually either explain why a character is a homicidal monster (which is all sorts of problematic) or it’s limited to a single phobia, which can be overcome by the Power of Love, or it’s just something that crops up occasionally for Plot and then forgotten about the rest of the time. 

Mysterious Lotus Casebook gives us two deeply traumatized characters–Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng–who each have clear symptoms of complex PTSD, and yet, their cPTSD manifests completely differently because of the types of traumas that caused it and their relationships to the people causing the traumas. And their manifestations of cPTSD affect just about every level of their being, including their sense of self, their decision-making, and their relationships with others, and it includes some of the incredibly important manifestations of cPTSD that are almost never shown in media while avoiding the most insulting stereotypes! 

PTSD vs cPTSD

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder caused by experiencing a single (or short lived) traumatic event (an accident, assault, medical emergency, fighting in a war, etc), where the symptoms last for longer than a month. Symptoms include things like reexperiencing the event (flashbacks), avoidance (of things related to the event), changes in mood (depression, anger, fear, etc), and issues with emotional regulation (hypervigilance–being constantly on the lookout for threats–irritability/angry outbursts, etc.).

Complex PTSD happens if someone has experienced long term, chronic/repeated trauma that induces hopelessness and no chance of escape (survivors of extended child abuse, human trafficking, domestic violence, prisoners of war, slavery, etc.). It’s also often interpersonal in ways a car crash or medical emergency is not, and is particularly linked with chronic trauma during childhood: chronic stress hormones introduce literal physical changes in a growing brain, particularly the amygdala (which processes fear), hippocampus (which is responsible for learning/memory), and the prefrontal cortex (which is responsible for executive function), so it can affect every aspect of life and also affect a child’s progression through developmental stages. In addition to these physical changes to the brain, the prolonged trauma–particularly the helplessness–distorts a child’s sense of self, the perpetrator, and the world in ways that alter their decision making, their memory, and their future relationships. 

For instance, whereas a traumatic event that caused PTSD might make you depressed or not trust the person who harmed you (or to fear driving), the trauma from cPTSD might make you suicidal, blame yourself for your victimization, decide to isolate to avoid interpersonal relationships to keep from getting hurt, or become obsessed with never being harmed again.

Basically, cPTSD has the core symptoms from PTSD with some extra challenges, including issues with emotional regulation, self-concept, interruptions in consciousness, difficulties with relationships, perceptions of the perpetrator, and systems of meaning.

DFS and LLH: CPTSD Symptoms

There’s so much more to say about this than I can cover in this superficial introduction, so this will be the first of a series of metas; I’m hoping to go into more depth about some of these categories in future posts (the DFS and emotional regulation/violence one is already drafted, so stay tuned). 

Difficulties with Relationships (problems with trust, communication, missing red flags): Both DFS and LLH have a history of trusting the wrong people and not trusting the right people, both in the past and in the present of the show: in the past, LLH missed the fact that SGD hated him and DFS missed the fact that JLQ was obsessed with him, and as a result, both sects were destroyed, many people died, and the two almost destroyed each other. If they had communicated with each other instead of fighting at the donghai battle, they might have realized they were being set up and could have worked together, but their difficulties with trust after perceived betrayal made that impossible for them. They both have a history of overlooking red flags in the present–DFS in particular, keeping the red-flag-personified-JLQ around despite her history of poisoning people, including himself–and they both tend to struggle with relationships in the present: LLH runs away from and/or drugs the people who care about him, and DFS sends endless mixed messages by not telling Li Lianhua most of his plans to help him. 

Self-Concept (Self-hatred and self-fragmentation): Li Lianhua is basically the poster child for having a negative self concept: he has an overdeveloped sense of self-blame and responsibility, even believing he deserves to die for leading his men to their deaths, and once he learns he was manipulated and SGD was behind it all, he seems to think it’s his own fault that he was manipulated, lied to, and abused. His self-loathing is so extreme that he imagines his earlier self, Li Xiangyi, to have died, and tries as much as possible to be nothing like that earlier persona. His repeated insistence that Li Xiangyi and Li Lianhua are NOT the same person is reminiscent of the fragmentary sense of self that comes with more extreme trauma, like Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or Other-Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD), where traumatic experiences are so painful that people form different alters, or differentiated self-states, that can have different names and skills and memories and identities. 

Di Feisheng doesn’t have the self-hatred or guilt that LLH does, and it seems like he tries to skip over questions of self worth, blame, or hatred by focusing exclusively on staying true to his code of ethics he’s developed for himself and focusing on gaining the strength necessary to fight for his freedom from mind control and the Di Fortress. But even though he’s kept his Di name, kept his goals the same since escaping Di Fortress, and hasn’t tried to separate himself from his trauma the way LLH did with LXY, he’s even more willing than LLH to take on different identities: it’s literally one of his martial arts skills. The Bone Constriction Skill lets him become someone else for a time, whether that’s a child or Shi Hun. It fits well with his willingness to be whoever he needs to be to accomplish his goals: he’s perfectly willing to be seen as a heartless villain if it lets him protect LLH, and he’s willing to flirt with and pretend to be jealous of JLQ to get information from her, and he’s willing to be LLH’s a-Fei, both with and without his memories.

Interruptions in Consciousness (Amnesia and nightmares for Everyone): LLH and DFS both have nightmares and flashbacks/memories of traumatic events, and as mentioned above, both have interesting hints of having fragmented/fluid senses of self. They both also dissociate, or separate themselves from the present when dealing with traumatic things:  LLH spaces out and gets stuck in his past memories about SGD when talking to FDB after burying SGD, and DFS dissociates from physical pain so as not to make noise both after he’s been stabbed and poisoned with Wuxin Huai and again when JLQ is torturing him in her water dungeon.

They both also have dissociative amnesia that takes away trauma memories, although one is from a poisonous incense plus the magic of qi macgyvering:  LLH forgot the existence of his older brother who died in front of him, and DFS as a-Fei had just about all of his memories (except a few of killing as a child) taken away. Amnesia is a huge part of cPTSD, because it’s the brain’s way of trying to protect you from truths that you might not survive. It can manifest as blocking out one single traumatic event, a bunch of thematically or temporally linked traumatic events, a skill set related to the trauma, or, in the case of something like DID or OSDD, just about everything. It’s endlessly fascinating to me that the show gives us one example of definite traumatic amnesia through LLH, and then seems to almost transform the experience of having DID and being a new part and finding yourself with a new name and very little else into an exaggerated fantasy setting (interestingly, people often report experiencing debilitating headaches when they try to regain memories behind the amnesia barrier). I doubt this is what they were actually going for, since DID is almost universally portrayed incorrectly and offensively in media (one of the alters is almost always portrayed as a serial killer, but that’s a rant for another day), but the different names and the presence of amnesia with LLH made it a fascinating enough parallel that I had to mention it.

 Problems with Emotional Regulation (Lashing in vs. lashing out): Li Xiangyi and Di Feisheng are polar opposites when it comes to struggles with emotional regulation: whereas LXY turns his anger inward, directing it all toward self-hate in what’s often called a “toxic shame spiral,” both after the donghai battle and after he finds out about SGD’s role in his shifu’s death, DFS lashes out physically at those who have harmed him, usually via choking people, although he is usually exerting an impressive amount of control over his emotions and strength. To put in perspective just how different their emotional strategies are and how much effort DFS puts into emotional regulation, compare how much more calm he is than LLH during any revelation of past betrayal or painful information, any scene where they confront the people who have abused them, or any scene where they learn they’ve been wrong about something big; LLH is most likely having an emotional flashback (re-experiencing the emotions from the earlier traumas) and DFS is probably compartmentalizing them or dissociating from them to process later/never so he can stay semi-functional and not show a potential opponent a weak spot. 

NOTE: This means that DFS is loooong overdue for a very dramatic breakdown when it eventually all catches up to him and he can’t distract himself from it anymore.

Perceptions of Perpetrators: In this way only, Di Feisheng has one advantage: he knows the head of Di Fortress is a cruel, abusive tyrant. While he clearly still fears him, even as a physically strong adult (he has nightmares, flashbacks, and dedicates his life to being free from him, which means he still to some extent feels young, small, and helpless when he thinks of him), DFS knows that he hates him and wants to be free of him. This is probably part of why he’s spared some of the self-hatred LLH experiences: he knows he didn’t deserve the abuse because seeing it happen to other children means he knows the abuse wasn’t a personal reflection on him. It does, however, motivate him to want to be stronger and invulnerable so as to never be helpless again, and that obsession is what drives him to have a single-minded focus on reaching the pinnacle of the jianghu.  

It’s so much more complicated for Li Lianhua (and for a more detailed analysis, check out this meta): the childhood perpetrators were manifold–a slew of bandits, whichever children and adults on the street would abuse him for existing and being poor–it probably felt like life itself was to blame. It’s no wonder that when his shifu and shiniang took him in, they were the ultimate rescuers whom he hero-worshipped, so when he felt he made a mistake and his life fell apart, he blamed himself: at least there would be someone to blame that way and something he could do about it (try to kill his past self and hate everything about him). It’s also very telling that LLH doesn’t blame JLQ or YBQ all that much when he learns they poisoned him, and that he’s more angry that SGD murdered their shifu than he is that SGD set him up, hated him, and was the real mastermind behind everything he had blamed himself for; he struggles to stay angry at people who harm him, and would rather blame and hate himself for being tricked than hate the person who tricked him. So, whereas DFS tries to destroy the people who abused him, LLH tries to destroy himself.

If you read this far, thanks! I’m probably going to be posting the DFS and emotional regulation/violence against perpetrator meta next, because it’s drafted, but if there are any of these you desperately want me to talk about more sooner rather than later, let me know! :D 

[spacelazarwolf]

(to your knowledge) are there any genuinely trans affirming versions of ra/di/cal feminism? I've seen a few people here and there on the internet saying Their version of it is trans inclusive but I haven't had the time to do any extensive research..

imo no. ra/di/cal feminism relies on the idea that there is a Victim Group and an Oppressor Group. for traditional ra/df/ems, those groups are based on agab. "females" are victims and "males" are oppressors, and these are immutable categories. if you are female, you are and will always be a victim and nothing you can ever do will change that. if you are a male, you are and always will be an oppressor and nothing you can ever do will change that.

for neo ra/df/ems (tirfs, whatever you want to call them), those immutable categories are "man" and "woman", or sometimes "man" and "nonman." if you are a woman or "nonman", you are and will always be a victim and nothing you can ever do will change that. if you are a man, you are and always will be an oppressor and nothing you can ever do will change that. this ideology appeals to a lot of groups like trans and queer people who were afab that don't align with manhood and also to trans women and trans femmes, because those are groups who understandably have a lot of resentment toward the patriarchy for the trauma it's caused them.

but when you look at the other side of the constructed binary, you have a lot of trans and intersex people (whether that's trans men, trans people who pursue masculinizing transition, trans people who align with manhood regardless of agab, intersex people who choose to align with manhood or are forcibly aligned with manhood because of their intersex traits that are perceived as "male", or trans people who were amab that are forcibly aligned with manhood because of the way they present) who simply do not hold any societal power and are in fact profoundly oppressed under the patriarchy who are now being labeled as oppressors simply because of the way they identify or they way they're forcibly aligned. this can be particularly traumatizing for trans people like me who have a lot of deep trauma from the several decades being perceived as and treated as a woman/"female", because our trauma is usually dismissed as "misdirected" or "not as bad." this incongruence between lived experiences of oppression and perceived status as oppressor further marginalizes these groups; they continue to experience oppression in general society because of their status as "other", but are also turned away from safe spaces because of their perceived status as oppressors, and this leads to high levels of isolation, depression and anxiety, violence, and suicide.

ra/di/cal feminism also holds the idea that misogyny is the one true/most important form of oppression. it asserts that all other forms of bigotry stem from misogyny, so the priority should be to overthrow the patriarchy. which sounds like a noble goal in theory, but in practice what it really looks like is a lot of white women wanting to flip patriarchy on its head so they're the ones in charge instead of white men. and historically white women have had an integral role in maintaining white supremacy, so it's understandable why a lot of people of color, including women of color, reject ra/di/cal feminism.

this presents itself in neo ra/di/cal feminism as well when discussions surrounding gender based oppression and transphobia fail to take race into account. trans men are perceived as transitioning into an Oppressor Group, therefore they must be transitioning into an easier and more privileged life. but black and brown trans men report experiencing more violence after they transition. white trans women's voices are prioritized over trans men of color because one is seen as the Victim and the other as the Oppressor, which results in white voices and narratives being prioritized in trans discussions, and does not take into account the way white women have historically used their whiteness as a weapon against black and brown men.

so in conclusion of this mini essay, i argue that there can never be a form of ra/di/cal feminism that is truly accepting of all trans people because the mandatory binary way of thinking is incompatible with queer and trans existence, and because it is not structured to take race and ethnicity into account which makes it inaccessible to racial and ethnic minorities. intersectional feminism that challenges binaries and targets the system instead of individuals or groups of people will always be more inclusive and successful.

[ravenmccookies]

I wanna ask more about the vampire Springtraps, both aus are wonderful! So with differences between the Springtraps, how would they go about getting their blood needs met? Would they kidnap people, hunt for people, find willing thralls? Would they keep their preferred blood donors/victims alive? How would that work? Also kinda wanna willingly give them my blood if they wanna take care of me too. Also can either one turn people into vampires? Also if for some reason the two of them met, au shenanigans, would they get along or fight?

Mf vamptrap would just go around the woods and bite the first person he sees, meanwhile DF vamptrap has options. He's probably had a thrall or two in the past, but his main source is from hunting or from the blood stored in his cellar (tho there is a certain self insert who's blood he prefers over all else ;3)(also nobody knows where he gets his cellar blood lmao)

If you were to offer your blood to either one of them, DF vamptrap wouldn't immediately be all affectionate and caring. It'd take more than one feeding to win him over. MF vamptrap is desperate for any positive interactions and would shower ya with kisses and such

Mf vamptrap is more artificial and such and can't turn ppl into vampires, but DF vamp can

And if the two met? Lot's of chaos and fighting. DF would see his counterpart as competition and MF would be scared shitless

[callmeklair]

I read your post about Ayato overhype and I 200% agree with you and appreciate you for writing it. I also read that other person's Ayato analysis and I just gotta say that that cursed fig defense is so dumb. First off that shit wasn't a thing when More Blood came out. It's not mentioned or referenced even once in any route. Because why would it be? It wasn't even thought of when the first games came out. Second even if it were a thing and Ayato truly was cursed, then why doesn't he experience the effects of the curse in any routes apart from his More Blood one (and, according to this particular Ayato stan, Ruki's)? Why doesn't he go crazy from thirst in Kou's route? Or in Subaru's? Or in Shuu's? etc etc. Also, if the curse is truly that excrutiating and debilitating then shouldn't Ayato be a complete and utter mess in the other characters Dark Fate, Lost Eden etc. routes? But he's not. He's totally fine. Because the stupid curse isn't canon to the games and you can not and should not use it to explain or justify his awful behavior in Ruki's MB route.

I'm sorry this got kind of long but I just needed to get this off my chest because it bothers me so much when toxic Ayato stans insist he is oh so pure of heart, an innocent victim and that he unlike the other characters can't be held accountable for his abusive acts 😑

(feel free to vent out in my ask box I don't mind. and sorry for the late reply, life is hectic)

the curse thing is such a loop/plot hole because in more blood EVERY diaboy gets thirsty after starting to have feelings for Yui, so yeah that curse thing isn't canon. and exactly! if that's the case, why isn't ayato suffering from thirst in other's route. okay let's not include MB considering the argument "they weren't close enough" but by the DF, all Sakamaki and Mukami boys warmed up to Yui, so Ayato should be suffering from thirst/curse in other's route????

I liked ayato, but after youngblood when I saw some people(not targeting to anyone, and I'm not just talking about Tumblr), not liking other people shipping Yui with any other boy because "they are not canon" made me slowly detach from AyaYui. otherwise they were in my top 5 a few years ago.

youngblood was just a fanservice. it was good for Ayato fans but Rejet messed it up. first the curse thing then the degrading of Shu and Subaru's character by making them "betray" ayato. which irks me because we all have read flashback scenes of these two from the VERY FIRST GAME, and we are completely aware with how sweet and gentle they were in childhood.

In CL, in Shu's route, it was shown how much he deeply cares about his brothers despite not showing it. so does it go for Subaru in Carla's route. you hear it? not in his OWN route but Carla's route.

the only difference is, because of trauma they weren't sure how to express it and always doubted/hesitated to trust or show true feelings to each other because of what happened to them. they all went through different experiences.

Ayato is Ruki's rival, just like how Subaru is for Kou, and Shu for Yuma. Ayato just came to take away Yui as a prey. "his thirst wasn't controllable and was locked in a dungeon. it was definitely the curse."

the curse didn't even exist at that time. it was just Rejet's plot to progress Ruki's route because if we remember, Ruki asked Ayato, before he took away Yui, if he had feelings for her and ayato replied with, feelings??? that's nonsense, the only value she has is her blood. It was a scene of confirmation to make Ruki realise his feelings and stop thinking "Adam is what she needs and not a snake" so that he can finally betray Karlheinz for Yui and run away with her, free her from this hell.

in conclusion, we have seen every diaboy saying how unique and special Yui's blood is, also a very rare thing (i guess?) so because of instincts as a vampire, Ayato only wanted to find Yui to drink her special blood.

the curse thing can never be canon because everyone gets thirsty in their route, EVEN SHIN in his BRUTE ending in DF. so are they cursed too??? no they aren't 😭

some actions can never be justifiable, I'll even say that about my own fav characters like Shin, Subaru, Carla, Reiji, etc.

[wc-confessions]

Man its like.. maybe I AM reading too much into it. But I've been thinking, is Ivypool a grooming victim? like the darkforest did do that to her and.. well every other DF trainy. I feel like Im reaching with this and I probably am tbh ToT

.

[nettleclanstale]

Looks at ShadowKit. Looks at HazelNutCase, looks back at innocent kit.

If this is Grooming victim 3 then you get EXTRA fire ants in DF

Sorry I wanted to draw something silly

[artaintfartwarriors]

GHOST DESIGNS

REGULAR

Gray Outline

All original colors at 80% opacity

Floating orbs surrounding them in the color of their sclera (100% opacity)

- orbs mimic the dark puddles & starry flames of the df and starclan cats

THE BROKEN CODE VICTIMS

All same EXCEPT the entirety of the eyes are the same purple as the Dark Forest puddles

- they were described to be “black as holes” on the 3rd page of Ch 17 in Darkness Within!

- DF color guide here

*These guys don’t have a fun color scheme because they’re simply in between worlds and slowly fading out, unlike starclan or DF guys who have a place to reside in

[lemonhemlock]

I hate how people say Alicent “seduces” Visery’s who is grieving. Like for starters Visery’s is an older man, an adult, therefore if he was to go along with her “seduction” he’s the one that would be held accountable normally but because it’s Alicent and TB supporters really df with her then it’s obviously her taking advantage of him grieving. Also TB seems to also forget that Alicent lost her mother recently before the show starts, we know this because Daemon says “Your lady wife passed recently, did she not?” Or smth like that, I don’t think anyone who recently lost their mother would have the emotional stability to “Seduce” someone let alone an older man who is the father of your best friend. Another thing people say is that she did this because she wanted her blood on the throne but they all, yet again, ignore the fact the Alicent stood up for Rhaenyra position as heir for years and even got her fathers position taken from him because she believed in Rhaenyra that much.

yeah, it's the classic victim blaming of girls/women and the refusal to lay any blame at the feet of a man that's inherent in the patriarchy

alicent is not the only character on whom you'll find this noxious misogynistic attitude projected and unfortunately it's prevalent in real life, where the crux of the issue is, thus affecting flesh-and-blood actual humans

[butteronpancakes]

My take on the Dan Feng is or isn't Dan Heng debate is that it's a nature vs. nurture sort of deal. Dan Heng is Dan Feng if he was raised in the same restrictive environment where the sacred duties of being the High Elder created a superiority complex as he was consistently dehumanised by everyone but his friends. Whereas, Dan Feng is Dan Heng if he too was forced to suffer the consequences of a previous incarnation and chose to follow a path of exploration and freedom.

I just think that Dan Heng = Dan Feng isn't a definite yes or no answer because while I understand Dan Heng's entire character arc is about forging your own path and letting of the past, the content we've gotten so far is really pushing the notion that you can't simply run away from it but rather have confront it and make amends. I agree it's unfair and DH is a victim of circumstances beyond his control, but it's important to acknowledge so was DF with his position as HE, hence the whole "nobody so him as a person" narrative alongside cultural concept of karmatic debt. I also think HYV specifically keeps stating that DF went to a molting rebirth rather than a hatching one to both reinforce these point and depict the controlling nature of the preceptors.

It's interesting how both DH and Blade were born and 'raised' to be living embodiments of their previous lives' actions, yet reacted in opposite ways. Dan Heng took his traumatic experience from the shackling prison and completely detach himself from Dan Feng's sins while Blade's 'training' from Jing Liu made him into a living weapon to exact retribution with his end goal to bring the manifestations their mistakes (DH and himself) to rest.

[yuikomorii]

Now that I think about Richter helping Ayato with king duties, it makes me wonder if Cordelia really loved her children. My opinion is more towards no but I would like to see your take.

// No, I strongly doubt she ever loved any of her children. This comes from someone who actually likes Cordelia and LOVES her conversations with Yui in DF.

Cordelia is ‘redeemed’ in Ayato's DF route, but not because she felt sorry for what she did; rather, for the reason that we were able to see a more vulnerable side of Cordelia and the motivations behind her actions.

Even if she started being nice towards Yui and Ayato, keep in mind that she literally never apologized. She just claimed that she began torturing the triplets to get Karl's attention. Nonetheless, Cordelia was never depicted regretting any of her deeds, given that Karlheinz was the only person she ever cared for.

I'm certainly not the only one who disliked the LE flashback scene, in which Cordelia asked Richter to be Ayato's mentor once he became king. What irritated me even more was Yui's attempt to convince Ayato that Cordelia cared about him, despite the fact that she was clearly using him to show off in front of others. If she truly cared about Ayato, she would not have tortured him or forced him to study and give up his childhood for the kingship when he was not even the family's eldest son to begin with. Furthermore, expecting an abuse victim to react positively when you tell them that the person who ruined his life “cared” for him is completely wrong. 😭😭

[peppermintbarrk]

As the #1 ivypool enjoyer I am the first to admit that she is a truly Awful sister to Dovewing and mentor to Twigbranch... but consider that these things make her a More Interesting character...

She's not this untouchable, perfect "not like other girls" girlboss that so many people want her to be... she is Deeply insecure, traumatized, and projects her insecurities onto both her sister and apprentice, and suffers the consequences for it by pushing her sister away to the point where the two will most likely never have a relationship again.

I LOVE Ivypool, and I love Dovewing too. Dovewing is a victim of StarClan and Ivypool is a victim of the Dark Forest. Dovewing had no choice in the matter and while everyone likes to scream that Ivypool CHOSE to train the DF (which she did, initially), y'all forget that she was essentially groomed by Hawkfrost and once she was in, she felt stuck and also watched anyone who dared question Hawkfrost or the DF in general get slaughtered.

Ivypool was insecure to begin with. The DF and Hawkfrost used her insecurity and by the time OOtS and AVoS roll around, she hasn't worked through her trauma. She projects ALL of her insecurities onto Dove and Twig, is generally an awful sister and mentor, and pushes them both away. She is her own worst enemy.

She's not a bad character, or even a bad cat, like half the fandom wants her to be. She's incredibly flawed, and this makes her far more interesting than the 'girlboss' the other half of the fandom wants her to be.

Ugh I just love Ivypool and Dovewing and their tragic relationship

[spacelazarwolf]

If you consent to having sex with me, I'm gonna take a shit in your mouth and you can't blame me because that's how I have sex, so that's what you consented to. Kill yourself. Actually kill yourself. You're not doing anything good with your presence.

this is what happens when u threaten a ra/df/em’s victim complex ig.

[jordynbreeloa777]

What did you do to fix you self concept?

Hello anon! What I did was take a break and mental reset from manifesting! I feel like a good sc is vital in order to manifest even though some say you may not need a sc when in reality I think it matters and is the most important thing in manifesting. Without a good faithful sc, you are a victim, think the 3D controls you ect. For example say I’m manifesting my desired face without a strong sc, (which I highly recommend to work on, even I sometimes find myself falling back into my old victim story) so say Pasley is listening to subliminals to get her df and the second she goes in the mirror and doesn’t see it spirals, quits, and gives up. See, a person with a good SC would know that they have results no matter what the 3D shows and for this because you don’t have a good SC you find your self in a constant loop of being a victim! So what I recommend is to get off tumblr sorry but sometimes this community can be toxic for new people who don’t have a good self concept and isn’t aware of the law well, but to study Neville Godard books!! (There is many free ones online that if you want I can give you a link!) He is such a good teacher as well as some law of assumption coaches that I TRUST AND PROMISE YOU WILL GUIDE YOU TO THE RIGHT PATH! Even me, a “master manifestator” sometimes my faith gets shaky and that’s PERFECTLY OKAY! As long as you get back on your feet, you are 100% fine! If you have any further questions please dm/ask/inbox me to go more in depth! Hope this answers your question anon!~ Happy Manifesting!💝💝