#given responsibility and dont have much experience to make the best decisions

[entropy-sea-system]

spoilers for pacific rim: uprising, character death mentions

I feel like the two major deaths were rather unnecessary.. Mako Mori dies so early on that we hardly know anything abt her??? And Cadet Suresh (like.. the cadets are older teenagers at most too..) too??

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

Greetings everyone! It is 4am and you know what that means. Thats right, its time to read ACOMAF :) chapters 41 this time. enjoy

Chapter 41

What we're just smashcutting straight to Velaris?? we're not gonna see Feyre talk about all the shit the mortal queens just said with her sisters??

ugh dont remind me of the fact that amren drinks blood but only animal blood because human blood is too watery or whatever. she couldve been my vampire girlie in this a/b/o world but instead shes just a lame disappointment in a lame disappointment world. that also doubles as an a/b/o world, lest we forget that

ughhhhh dont remind me of the fae not being affected by iron

Okay, i have to admit this line kinda slaps: "Maybe then Elain would get an engagement ring that wasn't forged out of hatred and fear."

Yeah Feyre, I hate to say it but you failed HARD as an ambassador, you are so bad at politics, but technically this was all Rhysands idea so I'd say it was his responsibility to make sure youre not bad at politics, so Im blaming him for all this

I made a joke in my last post about how the night court is really US governmentcore and now Cassian is like "we could just kill the current queens and put queens in place thatll cooperate with us" and the only reason Rhys doesnt wanna do it is because it would take too long and because they dont know what effect this will have on the book, not because, i dont know, he'd be interfering with foreign affairs and robbing all of humanity of their agency. I mean, its a monarchy so i guess humanity didnt have too much of a choice when they ascended to the throne, but atleast those queens have their best interests at heart and dont cooperate with former slave-owners

Why does Feyre care so muh about Mor potentially hurting Azriels feelings, is he not acting like Tamlin at the start of ACOMAF where he was all like "no Feyre, you cant go to the sper dangerous place, its dangerous"

Okay so, the oldest queen is the queen of The Black Land, which is a very vaguely africa-coded place, where humans were born slaves to the fae, unlike everyone else where I guess humans had to get captured by the fae to be enslaved OBVIOUSLY she doesnt wanna cooperate with fae, shes even more justified in her decision in my eyes

But then Im thinking, why can she even decide what happens with that little piece of land, Im guessing thats not part of the black land so would that not fall under the jurisdiction of one of the other queens? Honestly, they shouldve just spoken to each queen alone, I get that theyre strapped for time but im sure they couldve forged atleast one alliance without the oldest queen speaking for all of them there. Also, from a doylist perspective, it wouldve been good padding since sjm insists on making her books stupidly long and it wouldve probably given us a more functional government structure because right now it just seems like these queens who allegedly each have a kingdom to run are just hanging out in the same palace all making collectively decisions for the entire continent, which is stupid

What is it with Sarah J Maas and portraying freedom fighters being very dedicated to their cause as a bad thing, sepcifically because its not very condusive to a romantic relationship? Like, in Crescent City Hunt was a rebel and he was in love with the leader of the rebellion before she was killed and he enslaved and its very tragic and he cant love anyone but her, but then he manages to move on and fall in love with Bryce and it turns out to be a better experience for him. Specifically, theres this one scene where he buys her this jade egg or maybe she buys him one i dont remember, and he reflects on how if he had given that kind of gift to his former lover she wouldve appreciated it for one second and then just let it rot on some shelf because she just had other things on her mind, and I thought that was an interesting perspective for their relationship, but now that we're getting a similar thing with Jurian and Miriam except Jurian isnt the love interest of the MC so hes more likely to get demonized it seems kinda weird innit

Oh boy we're gonna get the UTM reeanactment soon arent we. sighhhhhh

Btw what the hell is up with Mors truth powers. Apparently a lot of people in her bloodline have them?? What makes Mor so special then, i thought the reason she was special was because her power was unique. I guess its just uniquely strong then (FOR A WOMAN) but thats just lame and also weird imo

Oh the Hewn City is called 'Höhlenstadt' ['Cave City'] in german and I think that sounds pretty bad ngl. rare Alexandra Ernst L

Feyre keeps going about how Rhys is gonna risk everything for the sake of stopping the war and its like, girlie if you keep jacking him so hard youre gonna rip his dick off, but also, hes not gonna tell anyone where Velaris is right?? Like, it'll still be hidden and safe behind that force field, people are just gonna know of its existence now. And even if Veritas shows the queens Velaris by starting off with a birdseye view of Prythian and then zooming in, that wouldnt be enough for the mortal queens to figure out Prythians geography to the point where they could actually tell where it is, not the mention that Velaris is positioned in a way that makes any attacks, but especially attacks from the mortal land, extremely difficult

Feyre talking about the repressed desire she felt when she say Rhys all naked and vulnerable when he woke up from that nightmare is very inappropriate when you consider that he was dreaming about his rapist, but is also surprisingly relatable because I too like my men best when theyre submissive and crying. its a crime rhysand never ended up getting pegged tbh

Rhysand talking about how he cant bear the thought of Feyre mentally returning to UTM when she just barely managed to leave it behind is funny cuz its like, whos idea is it gonna be to dress Feyre up like she was when you were assaulting her UTM. i dont think its her

I dont know what it is but Im already so over this stupid plotline with Mor and Eris, maybe Im just tired cuz its early but god, i dont ever wanna hear about it again

[acti-veg]

Hello Acti-veg! Im a big fan of ur blog. Ik ur no Vegan prophet/guru or anything, but i could really use another vegan to talk to. I'm vegan and also I have been trying to live as low waste a lifestyle as possible. Growing my own food included. My mom, despite my best efforts, refuses to go vegan. In fact she is a staunch Anti-vegan. Her doctor told her to go plant-based, her health is failing bc of her diet, and refused to change. But she's a stubborn until proven wrong type.

She made a huge fuss about how useless growing our own food was, but through ignoring her and making an effort, and successfully harvesting, I convinced her that growing food was a good idea, and have slowIy started including more vegetables and water into her diet. She expressed interest in backyard hen keeping. I always wanted to adopt rescue chickens, I could give them a good life, spay them so they dont have to be egg machines, and the manure/ free roaming habits for eating bugs could help around the garden and give them enrichment, and I briefly considered the option. But I know that Veganism is about harm reduction, condemning, and reducing the reliance on animal exploitation as far as possible of Human and Non-human animals.

I thought that by eating yard eggs as opposed to grocery store eggs I could explain the conditions of factory farm animals, and then teach her about the impact it causes on animals even locally, and then spay the hens properly. But it still feels shitty on the end of the hens..

I feel like by trying to get my mom to slowly transition to veganism full stop, I would be making non-vegan decisions along the way, but if I do nothing, I would have wasted the opportunity to make another activist and save more animals in the longterm, i was wondering what ur thoughts on it may be? Or anyone in the comments

I can totally appreciate the dilemma here, but honestly I think you may be taking on the responsibility of her choices a little too much. I could be wrong, but it sounds like you're taking her failure to reduce her harm as a personal failure, and therefore determining that it's up to you to directly change her behaviour.

I think that is probably how you have arrived at this dilemma - you are wanting to reduce her harm to the extent that you're willing to put yourself through something you'd not only find uncomfortable, but would actively go against your own ethics. You can advocate, you can provide opportunities for her to do better, but it's really not up to you to provide her with less harmful animal products.

Besides, I think it's an assumption that her having backyard hens would be more likely to lead her to veganism - in my experience, welfarism is not on the same continuum as abolitionism, one doesn't lead to the other. She will still think of animals as essentially there to provide things for her benefit, she will just also think they should be treated well while doing so, which she probably already believes.

I share that impulse to try to help those around you see the truth you have arrived at, and to some extent that is our duty as vegans and activists. However, you can't take on the burden of their choices as your own, and you shouldn't compromise your own principles to lessen someone else's harm.

Personally I'd take a third option - tell her you'd like backyard hens too, you think it'd be great to save some battery hens, but you'll be looking after their health by preventing them from laying, because that is the responsible thing to do given the health impact. You coul still educate her if she chooses to go down this route. See where she lands on that, but either way, I really don't think it's on you to try to make the animal products she consumes more ethical - that way you really would be making her choices your own.

If you'd like to chat this through more with another vegan then please feel free to message me - my inbox is always open.

[omegasmileyface]

Don't kids have privilege though? Like up there with white or straight privilege

if you mean that kids can generally get away with more things than that is somewhat true, but unlike the groups you listed which are given purposeless advantages, kids have more leeway because they are less capable of understanding situations and theyre consequences. theyre still learning, and the expectation is that when they grow older and gain experience, that extra leeway will go away because they can be expected to have a better understanding of their actions

its like being a student! if youre in a driver's ed class and you speed a little or miss a stop sign, your instructor will go "hey, you missed that. please pay more attention next time, ok?" rather than getting a ticket like you would if you were a licensed driver, since driving is a very difficult activity requiring you to get a lot of practicebwith a lot of new inputs. yes, even in a driver's ed class a mistake like that COULD have dire consequences, but (a) there are signals in place for other drivers to understand that this driver isnt as practiced in the rules of the road as they are (in this scenario, its "student driver" markers. for kids, its recognizing what kids look like) and (b) we expect people with a driver's license to know the rules better because they were able to get that license, which requires testing. we expect adults to know the rules of life better because they made the decision for themself, typically, to interact with others. children dont get to make that decision for themselves, so it wasnt them saying "yes, im ready for this" like an adult or a licensed driver. not my best analogy, but...

really, it's less of a "privilege", which implies an unfair advantage that others in your situation aren't getting because of systemic inequality. it is more of... an adjustment? it's like... oh my god whats the word. i forgot the word but those changes that are made available to disabled people so they can experience situations equitably with abled people. those. the same way someone might be more lenient with a person with narcolepsy for not being able to make a prior appointment because they were less able than an abled person to predict their ability to get there, someone might be more lenient with a 13 year old for lashing out during a social event because they were less able than an adult to regulate their emotions and judge their options. and they are less able! their hormones are working differently than an adult's, their brain is working differently, they have less practice with existing in the outside world. theyre a student; theyre new.

and then, similarly, a narcoleptic person may not be able to get a driver's license (woo back to driver's licenses lets go) because the same thing that gave them more leniency earlier makes them less able to hold responsibility over controlling a car. its unfortunate, but thats why we accomodate (thats the word!!) people when they just cant hold the same responsibilities because differences in their bodies (and brains, which are part of bodies) make it so they cant do the necessary tasks reliably. we try to give them other options. similarly, a child's natural issues with emotional regulation and decision making, discussed above, would give them *less* leeway in something like holding a political position or owning a credit card.

its not like racism or sexism where people say "oh, [marginalized group] is uncapable of being responsible, so we wont let them have any positions of power! [group that we prefer] will be able to do whatever they want." we're talking actual, scientific "their frontal cortexes aren't functioning the same way we expect participants in the adult social world to", and then saying "so let's provide equity however we can"

and you know what! kids (and very much, disabled people too) dont get nearly enough say in their lives in our current society! theyre not the ones saying "im not responsible enough to drive", its other people (who dont trust them to be responsible enough to make that decision) saying it for them. and its ALSO not them saying "well, i cant be trusted to know how to act in social situations, so you have to be softer on me." Its adults making THAT choice too.

long story short, kids, while being the same species as adults, and while we never truly stop maturing and we cant put hard lines on when agency and accountability come in full force, they CANNOT be expected to have the same mental patterns as adults. an 8 year old DOES NOT have as much practice with life and expectation and consequence and the world outside them as a 16 year old, and the 16 year old doesnt have as much as a 24 year old, etc. our hard lines on accountability and agency coming at the age of 18 are arbitrary, but someone playing their third game of basketball can't be expected to have all the rules memorized, and someone reading a book for the third time can't be expected to know how to pronounce all the words, and a kid going to the grocery store for the third time can't be expected to know that you have to pay for something before taking it. children come into this world without any preparation or being asked, and the best they can do is be a kid. thesis here bc im too wordy: punishing them for not knowing how to be an adult doesnt help anyone involved, so we try not to. its not a privilege to account for someone's uncontrollable lack of preparation for existing in the world. yknow?

anyway all that said i think youre responding to the post that said "hating humans who havent been alive for as long as you on principle isnt a good habit", and i feel like even if kids DID have some unfair advantage in life compared to older kids (sorry. i mean adults.) that shouldnt be an excuse to hate them? theyre literally just adults that havent been at it as long and thus have less practice and more hornones lol

[sadistic-softie]

My guilt is kind of "at odds"-ish with my stepmoms guilt. HUGE VENT (ignore if it bothers you)

my stepmom disagrees that i should cut contact and she keeps really pushing for me to see my mom and it literally makes my body involuntarily shake and twitch with stress because I'm trying so hard toe explain why I don't want to and she keeps playing advocate and it's playing into my self doubt and guilt complex bs i've got going on

and i feel bad because im secretly angry that she keeps comparing my suidical response to my mother to things like not liking a job, unfulfilled dreams, etc, because i was feeling suicidal because I felt helpless, trapped, exhausted, and like there was no way out, but she insisted on telling me to take my mom out of the equation and think about how im gonna be suicidal another time in my life too as if i don't know that.

She was saying that because she wants me to not be surprised by being suicidal later on and end up commiting and i had to reassure her i wouldn't commit but the reason i even bring it up in the first place is because it's not normal for a specific person to make you feel suicidal every day but she has so much of her own guilt and empathy about my mother that she's deadset on defending her in any any everyway possible and is all but saying that im making the wrong choice by going no contact and keeps insisting im gonna regret it in the future and insisting that i need to be friends with her as an adult

and getting visibly frutrated with me when i explain why I feel like that would be a bad idea for everyone involved and that I gave her so so so many chances but she feels like ive given my mom no chance but I know what it's like not to get a second chance. ajsdbbkskejnf I know i know shes telling me these things because she cares and loves me and wants me to have all the options so i can make the best decision but her opinion is very clear. I know shes only thinking this way and saying these things because she wants whats best for me and doesnt want me to have regrets later in life

and she keeps reiterating that she doesnt wanna step on my moms feet due to the nature of her role as a step parent and also that she understands that because she wasnt there, she doesn't know what it was like or how i felt. but...It all just makes me feel like she doesn't believe me. Like she thinks im exaggerating. she even asked me if it could maybe be that "Im being to hard on my mom" and that it "wasn't as bad as it seemed" and kept making me look back in retrospect to "find out" if it wasn't so bad or i was being "to hard on her" because of her experience with her sensitive son who gets his feelings hurt very easily.

"im not saying you can't handle it, but (son) can't handle it with me...hes too hard on me and im just wondering if maybe it's a similar thing with you ad your mom" I try to explain myself and i did tell her word for word, "I could sit here and tell you the way i feel over and over but it would never really convey the experience and the way I felt" i know she means well and her response is her way of kind of defending/helping the future me but god it's so complicated. AS IF i dont already constantly guilt and doubt myself and worry im being too sensitive and dramatic about it all.

This conversation keep happening and its gotten to the point where its so often i can already recognize it coming by the look on her face beforehand. That sad pitying smile. It makes me feel like such an asshole because i know that there's a huge chance that in her head im just being a stubborn cunt who can't see the way. the conversation gives my body the same involuntary response as it gets from standing out in the cold for too long.

I LITERALLY SHIVER WITH STRESS. I DONT FUCKING EVER DO THAT UNLESS SOMETHING ABOUT MY MOM COMES UP. DOES THAT MEAN NOTHING?? IS THAT INDICITIVE OF NOTHING??? like, im sorry, i love my mom to death. i used to put her on a pedestal. she was always right to me. i defended her tooth and nail because she was everything to me and i all but worshiped her until i realized how fucking unhealthy that was and how shit it made me feel and how shit it made my life in general.

holy shit. Like, fuck. I just need to know if I'm still making the right decision. That's all I ever wanted in my life was to just do the right things the right way to be a decent person and it seems like I never fucking can. To clarify, im not mad at her, im just mad in general because this whole situation is so FUCKING COMPLICATED

im trying to hard not to guilt myself for wanting to cut ties with the person who made me want to kms because i know i didn't do anything wrong but this kind of stuff makes it so fucking hard and frustrating. Im just lucky she talks about it like a civil fucking human being instead of shitting on me like the person she feels so bad for. I just hate being looked at with that forced fucking pity smile like im pretending and making this shit up because im being silly and don't know no better

God, i fucking hate it i hate it i hate it i know i seem fucking nuts but im telling ths truth and im not a fucking idiot!

[g-r-a-v-e-y-a-r-d]

hey could you elaborate on your tags on the post about explaining communism? Im pretty ideologically immature when it comes to leftism but im curious what you meant? also feel free to ignore this if u dont wanna talk about politics stuff

so, to start, you should know my specific biases: i am an anarchist who's politically formative years were spent around Marxist-Leninists. this may color my critique, but i hope to remain as impartial as possible.

So, to start, an often heard response by many Marxist-Leninists (who i will be referring to as ML's) to criticisms of communist projects are frequently "America did it worse". This criticism is materially true in almost all cases. Even the depths of ruination that the USSR reached at it's worst were never quite so bad as what happens in America to this day. Gulags were never so harsh and bleak as the American prison labor system, nor so numerous. the problem is that there were gulags, but there still are prisons. breadlines and starving peasantry existed in the USSR, yes. And they exist in America today. Russia used inefficient and unscientific crop-growing methods that starved millions, true. so did America though, if you remember anything about the Dust Bowl. Surveillance was given too much power in the USSR, yes, and they spied on their own citizens, over-policing them to the point of permanent paranoia. However, in capitalist America the very device you are holding and the device i am using to communicate are tapped. we just accept this as neutral because it is so pervaisive. as for over-policing in America, it is primarily done to minority classes to make white proletarians feel like we are separate, to make us feel like different things entirely to people who should be our comrades in arms.

the trouble people stuck in a Neoliberal mindset are having with previous socialist experiments is that no matter how bad the capitalist country they live in, they fail to realize that at its best its never better than socialist countries when they failed.

but. they did fail. there were famines. there was overpolicing. there were prisons. there was career politicians. and we dont want that. what is best for humankind is for us to value eachother first. to not except supreme rulers who can make decisions on such a grand scale that thousands could die, be tortured, be terrorized, genocided, packed away in tiny cells or lose their homes.

the problem is that someone who has nothing to do with us can decide our fate. and thats why i chose anarchism.

[low-budget-korra]

Lets talk about Korra (again)

i already made this analysis, and it was well received but i dont know, i wanna do it again. Why not right? My english is better now than was when i made that analysis so i think  this one will be better written

What a way to introduce a protagonist. This line and this scene tell us everything we need to know about Korra at that time and everything she knew about herself.

In book one Korra is a 17′s old teenager who have no idea how the world, how life is outside the training center she grew up in and had been locked up since ever. So she is not only naive but have lack of social skills

Oh, and not everyone who lack’s social skills will act like Zuko and Azula okay? Korra can be confident, expressive and outgoing and still have problems when it comes to social skills.One thing dont exclude the other.

“I’m the Avatar and you gotta deal with it” did you guys notice that only for that line we can see the entire opposite on how she treat her role as avatar in comparisson with Aang? And im not here to judge because is two very different contexts.

As far as we know, Korra grew up without friends or romantic partners. Of course, she had her training partners but i believe that they are just that. 

So her entarely perception of herself was around her duty as Avatar, she didnt have personal life, she barely was Korra...She was The avatar and thats that.

So she came to Republic City, it was a mess. 

Its funny to see that she have no touch when it comes to simply talk to people, i guess when you grew up away from society, this happens. And yes, she is cocky and had to learn that people arent there to somewhat please her, and she learned that quicky. 

Thats why the Pro Bending was important for her character, not only for training but also as means of socilization.

Now lets talk about the villains: Amon and Tarrlok

The two of them represents two differents threats to Korra. Amon represents a threat to her duty as Avatar while Tarrlok represents a threat to Korra as a person.

In episode 4 we have what i still thinks is the darker episode from TLOK. In this episode Amon ambushes Korra in the final moments... Even knowing that they did their best to make Amon’s power and control be non-sexualized as possible still...He have her down on her knews, totally helpless and he even invades Korra’s personal space by touching in her face forcing her to look at him. He didn't have to sexually touch her to violate her.

And right after, the fear in Tenzin voice when asking what happened after seeing her laying in the ground like that, and how Korra is sobing in his arms teeling him how powerless and helpless she felt. I mean...Oh, and she keeps terryfied by him until he takes her bending.

Tarrlok in the  other hand doesnt do much different from his brother and started to harass Korra because he cant take ‘no’ as a answer when Korra didnt wanted to join his task force.

Whats interesting is that if it wasnt for Tarrlok harassement and maniputation, Korra wouldnt have joined his task force and wouldnt have confronted Amon and wouldn't have gone through that terrible encounter.

The thing is that Korra is caught right in the middle of a politcal power dispute over the city, something that she for sure wasnt prepare for it. And both Amon and Tarrlok woud hurt or kill her without think twice about it if that means gain  power. And that was exacly what happened

Tarrlok tried to manipulate her and keep her on leash where he could, and when his tatics didnt worked anymore he alreay had a plan B. Yes that whole metal box in that cabin in the middle of nowhere was made especifically for her and maybe Tenzin if he also get in his way.

In the end Korra lost the physical battle against both but won the ethical battle also against both. She was the responsable for expose both of them as corrupted and hypocrites. But at what price? Amon was able to remove the bends of the Avatar. And without them, how could she be the Avatar?

Remember that her entirely conception of herself was built around her duty as Avatar, be the avatar. After all, everything she was, everything she'd trained so hard for, had been destroyed in minutes. Thats why i still strongly believe that she was thinking about killing herself at the end, nobodys goes all sad and crying to in front of a clifft without thinking about jumping from it. 

But she, i think given up the idea and just sit and started to crying when Aang appeared and help her, giving her bendings back in one of the best scenes of the show. So after have everything solve and still managed to get the boy she was in love with, things where great and she “move on”

In that first half, Korra is unbearable. Everything she learned in Book 1 how to be more mature, less spoiled and all, was thrown in the trash and she was the same "child" of the book one only worse.

Until I stopped and realized that I was also unbearable and childish like this when I had my bad phases of anxiety and depression, as defense mechanism and keep people away. Returning to Korra, and if this way of acting of her was nothing more than this defense mechanism?

Because guess what, i dont think she “move on” from all that happened in Book One that fast, and for add more drama she discovered that was her father idea of keeping her locked up training in that training center we saw in book one and not traveling like avatars before her. No wonder she felt betrayed. And for adding even more drama, people still keep treating her like child, so she was despered for some validation. Something that she found in her uncles arms but she was betrayed by him after.

In the end, Korra again goes through a traumatic experience when she has her connection with past lives destroyed. We see how it affected her when she apologizes to Tenzin, through tears. And Tenzin, as the excellent master he is, tries to motivate her to face Vaatu again (now merged with Unalaq, her uncle) and again she saves the day even after go throught a traumatic event

In the final moments, we see the innocent decision to reconnect the world of spirits and the world of men. And we also see Korra and Mako permanently end their turbulent relationship.

Book 3 begins in a more mature, we see all the characters being presented in a more mature way and it seems that Korra now has overcome everything that has passed. We have the relationship between Korra and Asami deepening as well

In Book 3, called "Change" we have a great sacrifice from Korra. Her life goes down a notch when she decides to save the new airbenders from Zaheer and the Red Lotus, the only villain until now that really threat her life since their sole goal was to kill the avatar.

Korra won again but this time victory costed way too much. Yes she save the day again but now she was  physically and psychologically defeated. It was too much, she broke.

Book 4 begins and we only saw Korra in the final minutes and she is unrecognizable. We see that, once proud and courageous avatar, in someone depressed and cowerd. We never have saw Korra like that, even when she was afraid of Amon she wasnt like that.

Korra is afraid of being the Avatar again and her fight against PTSD is still one of the most sensitive, responsable and honest representation of Mentall Issues that i saw, and it was before this subject gain more space on media. It was before people started to give attention to this

I also think that she was having flashs from her other fights and not only the one against Zaheer.

Another thing I think is worth mention is that Korra took 3 years to feel safer and re-embrace her duties as Avatar. It was not 3 weeks or 3 months, it was 3 years. And anyone who suffers from some mental illness knows very well the stigma that is, the fight that is, because everyone wants you to be well faster as possible  when the truth is that many times you spend years fighting against this.  And this is a pressure that falls on you.Imagine, seeing all your friends moving forward while you continue "stock in the same place"?

Only after Korra confronts Zaheer, I think that was a way to show her coping with the trauma, she improves to the point of returning to be the great Avatar we know. I personally still struggles with this scene because put the victim in front of her agressor may not be the best idea but i understand that she needed to see that he was just a man and not the invencible monster her mind was telling her

One of the lines that stuck with me the most was in the TLOK version of the ember island players, the one that made a recap of the show before the finale. When Korra said “I was so naive” just before we watch her narration of her journey, we can feel pain, sadness and strenght. Janet was amazing in the way the delivered this line.

And this fucking quote i saw here on tumblr still is the goat: “The Last Airbender is a story of a boy who becomes a god. The Legend of Korra is the story of a goddess who becomes a girl "

And I still get really pissed when someone comes to talk shit about  Korra because she is such an incredible heroine and her journey is also so incredible.

The story of how life can be hard and unfair, how it can hurt and paralyze, but there is always a reason to move on. We should always move on.

Korra is definitely not weak, quite the opposite, she is one of the if not the strongest heroine I have ever seen. Korra inspires overcoming 

[creacherkeeper]

Hi Luka! I wanted to ask what your experience as a social worker has been? I'm thinking of applying for a MSW but also feel like I'm in the middle of an existential crisis?? I am a confused mess but want to learn more about this field. If you have any advice I would love to hear! Thank you so much in advance!!

hello nonny!

so first off, exciting times??? existential crises are rarely fun when theyre happening but sometimes they can spur us into action and thats not anything to sniff at. i hope you are able to weather this one as best you can and get something from it in the end, no matter what that decision ends up being

secondly, i definitely came into social work a little sideways so my experience may not be exactly the same as many others. i work as a disability coach, who does end up handling many many things besides direct disability topics (from career coaching to education support to many pretty heavy therapy-leaning sessions) but i got the position im in now due to my extensive knowledge of neurodivergence, trauma-informed care, and my 7 years of autism advocacy experience for many state-level organizations. there was a very intensive 5 step interview process for my position, where my now-boss tested my knowledge, ability to think on my feet, gave me many scenarios and had me give game plans for treatment, and we discussed disability philosophies and schools of thought. then during my training period he made sure we were on the same page with the goals of the program and we had many more discussions on disability until he thought i was ready to start taking clients. we now meet every other week to discuss my clients and session notes and i can ask him any time for resources or advice, and i also create resources for my clients and for the organization to use

all that said ... i really love my job and feel that im very well suited for it. and i think that someone who was not well suited for it would be very quickly miserable, frustrated, and burnt out. doing social work is very much scratching an itch for me, and thats why it works. i love discussing disability, i love educating people, i love helping people, i love giving advice, im very patient, i have much practical knowledge from the batshit insane life that ive led thats given me a lot of experience with a lot of things, and on top of that im very social so getting to talk to multiple people every day actually makes me more happy and energetic. obviously i need breaks every once in a while, and there are for sure days where i feel sick or run down and dont enjoy it as much. but at the end of the day helping clients makes me feel better and i dont think thats bad-selfish to say because if it didnt i wouldnt last in this field long and its important im bringing my best self to my clients. there are definitely social workers out there who are not bringing their best selves and that can be detrimental to the people theyre supposed to be serving

i think both the scariest thing about social work but also the most rewarding and fulfilling is that you do genuinely have a hand in peoples lives. people do look to you to help and guide them, and thats a very big responsibility, but you can also make genuine change that way. small changes, mostly, on an individual level, but those are the changes i most like to make. sometimes i have a hard talk with a client and we really dig into whats going on with them and where some of their challenges are coming from, and then they come back the next week like "so i had a heart to heart with X, and we made X changes, and i think things are going to be better now" and youre just like. yeah. this is why im here and doing this. i like working with people and i like helping and i like solving problems, and sometimes you get to help people by solving problems and it just makes everything feel right. and i just know that if i wasnt doing this professionally id still be peddling my wares to all the little mutuals on the internet so like. might as well do it professionally too because with my personality im just not going to stop

social work jobs can definitely be very different, and there are a lot of specialties and places you can end up. even if you decide social work is right for you, you have to find a niche within that that works for you too. working in disability is my niche, but yours might be very different. if you want to talk to someone who went the MSW route and just landed her first post-licensure social work job, i definitely recommend talking to @agentcalliope who is amazing and wonderful and very friendly. she can definitely tell you more about the schooling side of things (not that i didnt hear all of it while it was happening ;) ) which might be some helpful info before you decide on a path

i hope that was helpful nonny! if you had any more specific questions feel free to stop back by. my dms are open for you as well <3

[reyeslonestar]

Question what are some things you wanna see in season 3 of lone star? Character development, plots, anything

I want to see Tonya Kong write every episode. that's all. thanks for asking!

-

sadfkja I joke, I do have other ideas, but that is definitely high on my wish list! i'm gonna go through by character and talk about what I'd like to see for them, so this is gonna get quite long whoops...

the main thing that I'd like to see overall, though, would be evidence of an overarching season plan or arc - it doesnt necessarily have to be a plot that stretches through all the episodes or anything major, but I'd love them to have plotted out the season before they start. from watching this season and then reading interviews after the finale, they dont appear to plan many things from the start and end up throwing in ideas as they go along. if they plan it from the start they can foresee how theyre going to affect character development more, and they can have a bit more balance in the types of episodes they have, so that the season is less insane and more naturally ebb-and-flow with a few light episodes to break up the drama.

okay, onto the characters! just going to do this in billing order for simplicity's sake. customary reminder that these are just my own opinions and thoughts, and this is more of a wish list than a realistic expectation.

if you want to search for a specific character, ctrl F for one of these terms including the dash at the start:

-Owen

-Tommy

-TK

-Grace

-Judd

-Marjan

-Paul

-Carlos

-Mateo

-Nancy

press “j” to skip the whole post.

-Owen

okay so I'd love to see them actually develop his character. Owen has been given a lot of backstory with lots to play with development-wise, but to me it feels like the show never goes anywhere with it. he's got a lot going on what with 9/11, feeling responsible for the fates of his fellow firefighters, the codependence of his relationships etc. I'd like to see him go to therapy and see him grow some self awareness and seek to manage himself better, rather than all his screentime devoted to him being a hero when other characters have the situation handled. it would really show him as a good leader if he drew on the skills that his team has and refer to them for advice/ideas. realistically he is the main character, so I'd like them to develop him like one.

also, I kind of love the chief role for him? I think it would suit him really well. but it would drag him away from the 126 and split up the dynamics too much so it would make for bad tv and I wouldnt actually want to see that. good for his character though.

-Tommy

I love Tommy :) just wanted to say that.

so obviously Tommy's got a lot of grief to handle next season, and I don't want them to shy away from that. I want it acknowledged and processed. (I'd also like a little bit of seeing the twins' grief too, because they're also suffering a massive loss). maybe something with Judd helping Tommy learn to manage her grief with his own experience of losing the original 126, encourage her to go to therapy, plus Tommy, Grace and Judd all feeling the loss of Charles together. after all, Grace and Judd were his friends and they will be grieving too.

I'd also kind of like to see Tommy have something outside being a working mother. obviously we're going to need to deal with that a lot especially now that Charles is gone, but I feel like she's been assigned the Character TraitTM of being the working mum and I'd like to see them give her a hobby or something. idk. and give her a night off with Grace or something. give her something just for her.

-TK

okay so I think theres a fair likelihood that theyre going to return to looking at TK's addiction next season which im not averse to. I think him struggling with his sobriety would be worthwhile to see for his character and to show that its not a straightforward path, plus it makes sense with all the insane stuff they've thrown at them in s2. however, Id like to see it in the context of his friends and family rallying around to help and support him and show him that he's got people to rely on, and that he's allowed to rely on them, plus the support of his AA meetings and therapy. I also need them to lay the groundwork for him struggling, so putting in signs of him deteriorating so the situation makes sense. this storyline doesn't need surprises to be interesting or good, and frankly it shouldn't have any.

as for him and Carlos, I definitely want to see them househunting! I'd like to see the combination of househunting/Carlos with Tommy's kids/Grace and Judd having their baby have an impact on their perspectives regarding their future and spark that conversation (like, looking at houses with more rooms and thinking about kids, future, marriage etc). I think that maybe one of them, probably TK, or maybe both of them those boys have way too many parent issues having anxieties about being a dad could be an interesting way to add tension without being too drastic, and then that can be resolved in a way that reassures them of their relationship and reaffirms their strength as a couple. the talk about the future would also lay the groundwork towards a proposal at the end of s3.

-Grace

grace :) my love :)

I could watch episode after episode of Grace kicking ass and saving people over the phone. I'd love to see an episode set there? like, some kind of story within the call centre with all the handlers having to resolve that between them, but also tie in the first responders, so we see the fire team, the paramedics and Carlos all working but we only see the bits that Grace and the other call handlers hear, if that makes sense? also an actual Grace/Carlos team up where they are coming in from the different angles with different amounts of evidence and figuring out the best way to solve something together. plus I'd like to see her maybe get some recognition for being awesome at her job, maybe another handler coming to her for advice on how to solve something.

of course we've got the baby Ryder on the way, and I want that to go comfortably and smoothly for her. she deserves that. lots of wholesome excitement for her and Judd from the whole extended firefam, baby shower, gifts, the full works. pamper grace please.

-Judd

judd4captain2k22. please.

yeah I know its not gonna happen, but I loved judd stepping in as captain this season and I'd love to see that continued with him taking more leadership, and Owen deferring to him for advice/council in a work environment rather than personal life. maybe set up a long term idea about judd being a captain someday.

he's gonna be a dad :') so what are his anxieties about that? why were they putting it off before? was it related to his PTSD? he's got lots of people relying on him now, how does that make him feel? what if his kid loses him? id like to see him still using therapy as a tool to help himself deal with everything. lots of meaty questions to dig into there :D

-Marjan

I'd quite like to see more of her balancing her daredevil nature with the impact of that and realising how much danger she puts herself in sometimes. or on the flip side, maybe the team is dealing with a really dangerous situation and they utilise her fearlessness to save people. her relationship with social media could also come back? but bring in the development they gave her this season, and her Firefox presence is more serious, less flippant?

I think that theres now a space for her to explore her sexuality/romantic experience now that she hasn't got her engagement with Salim as a kind of failsafe. maybe she wants to put herself out there and date, but thats really daunting as shes never really had to do that before? personally I think this could tie in really well with a self discovery/exploration regarding her sexual orientation, but I doubt they’d go there with her, so thats just my headcanon.

-Paul

I want them to draw on Paul’s observational skills and perceptiveness more, especially on calls and in emergencies. I remember someone (sorry I cant remember who) pointed out that he would have been a great character to centre the arsonist plot around in terms of noticing the clues etc, so id love a storyline that revolves around him dealing with an emergency like that. I also really want a Carlos and Paul friendship so maybe them collaborating on a call to solve something, that’d be cool.

can we give Paul a girlfriend please. if im not complely insane, there was a reference to someone in like,, 2x04?? someone who put mayo in his sandwich? idk I havent checked (edit: it was aioli in his banh mi! thank you @meneatyoghurt), but if there is someone can we show him having a fun and loving relationship please. I dont need there to be any drama. just them having fun on a date or something.

-Carlos

so I know that some people are keen to see him in his police role more but I really don't need much of that. on calls with the 126 I'd like to see him be the officer in charge more, but I don't need police-exclusive storylines. I've talked about it here if you want to know why.

the only area that I'd like to see would be in the direction of reform/addressing the flaws of the system, and I think they can do that on a personal level for him, because he and Mitchell need a chat. if they'd gone with her decision in 2x08, he, Mitchell and the bank robber would all be dead, and I think thats gotta have some impact. also the fact that he was suspended for trying to preserve life. theres a lot they could work with there and maybe have him thinking about how he can do good and how he can effectively protect and serve. not to mention, the opportunity that would provide in terms of addressing his relationship with his dad and how he maybe sought approval by pursuing a police career?

also I’d like him to learn that he doesnt need to accept blame/preemptively put blame on himself and that he doesnt need to apologise when someone else hurt him. kind of want to send him to therapy. kind of want to send all the characters to therapy. but yeah, him learning that he can accept apologies and understand that he doesnt have to make people feel better for hurting him. hes allowed to be hurt and feel pained about it. and that can tie into his relationships with Mitchell, with TK and with his parents.

I think I mentioned most of the tarlos stuff in TK’s section, but I wouldn't mind at least one instance for them where we see it all from his perspective instead of TK’s.

finally ive mentioned above how i’d like a team up with Paul on a scene and both of them figuring it out together. I'd also like them having a friendship outside work, just the two of them, bonding over books and being relatively sane people compared to the rest of their friends.

-Mateo

Mateo is so sweet. I loved 2x14 and the recognition he got, more of that please! also theres still so much I want to know - one of the more consistent things they set up for him in s2 was his faith, so I want to know more about that. what's his relationship with religion and God? he's pretty isolated from his family so how does he feel about that? is his religion something that helps him feel connected to them? maybe the church helped him find a community when he first came to the states, before he got settled with the 126, and he finds reassurance in faith that God is looking after his family while he cant be there? I think maybe there's scope for a conversation between Marjan and Mateo about that, about that distance and caring for their families through faith and prayer.

also, if he's still with the horrible firehouse, I'd like to see the other firefighters being won round by his resilience and stepping up to look out for him, and someone backing him up against the captain. Mateo is used as the butt of the joke most of the time, but I'd also like to see a bit more acknowledgement of things like losing his house and the bullying hes going to get more of from this firehouse.

-Nancy

I think that her speech to Tommy in 2x14 was really telling, and I'd love to see them expand on that a bit more. first on the loss and fear of losing her friends and coworkers, but then also on her hopes and aspirations - she said she wants to be a paramedic captain so lets see her working to take her exams and qualifications, and showing initiative on scenes etc.

id like to see more of her being integrated into the 126 group. she and marjan turned up to the hangout together, so lets develop that relationship more. I would love it to be romantic but I'd also love to see that as a friendship. but also her forming bonds with others in the group as well as more of her and TK being a chaos duo. I love that they stole the ambulance, more of that insanity please!

-

I think thats it? if youre still reading, youre insane and I appreciate you a lot! honestly im open to all sorts of things in s3, this isnt a prediction or anything, its just stuff I think would be interesting based on where the characters are now. 

[dumblemonchickenwing]

You did my art request before and I appreciate it so much! I want to thank you for taking your time to draw these requests for other people as well 🤍 So question from me, may I ask what have you learnt a LOT from each art request you’ve done?

I appreciate your time given to me, and I thank you for taking your time to stop by. That's okay, btw its okay to focus on yourself, you don't have to take responsibility for others' stuff.

That's very unique and nice of you. Let's see..

I suppose drawing requests mainly teaches me to be more systematic in drawing, bc im mostly driven by what i feel rather than conscious decisions and thoughts (when i draw). Also its a nice practice for drawing colored drawings with lineart, bc usually I don't make lineart and full color; also the thing with me, is that I mainly learn to draw a character from practice. (by that i mean, in order to draw a character okayly, i have to draw them several times, sometimes many times through years.., to "feel" their design i suppose). This is parts why I draw same characters from the same fandoms over and over again, bc my hand is used to them (and i dont really want to try new ones bc i realize id have to draw them many times again to get good at drawing them)

Requests are nice in such sense that.. they are like an insentive (or a kick) to start drawing someone new and to understand how they should look like; like a learning experience. I guess the reason why the requests that i've done look stiff and kinda dry is because i lose confidence, get too worried about messing up and end up restraining myself which affects the result. I guess I just want to deliver a very good result to one who requested from me, but end up with a drawing - lesser - than what i wanted to deliver. I want someone's oc look very cool because i believe they deserve the best, and then i feel like what i drew isnt as good as i wanted it to be . I understand that people are so nice that they are happy with what came out anyway, cause...well.. people uhh.. they are good and they are so grateful that they are happy with even a small drawing .. but cannot help but feel bummed at my result.

Or maybe because I get kind of lazy or impatient, I have hard time telling what is the exact reason behind the volatility in my quality

Also requests are nice in a sense that I dont have to come up with what to draw, - the requester does the job for me. 

Thank you for your kindness and your question

[camelely]

Good Trouble Finale...

Okay I liked that episode. It had all the elements to make a good finale, it fit the tone of the show, and it got us ready for the next season. It wasn't the best but I did really appreciate it. Anyone else think they did multiple cliffhangers so they could gage how the audience would want to see these plots end before actually writing an end lol?

First things first the Callie plot

Judge Wilson!!!! I'm so glad they brought him back to call out Callie in the dream sequence in the courtroom. It was so good. His speech. Roger Bart's delivery. The emotional impact and Maia's performance. It was a great scene and the perfect scene for both characters.

On to her actual plot. Why didn't they tell us the verdict? This whole season has been building on this case. If one thing needed to be resolved by the finale it should have been this. Also they brought up Jerrod but once again provided us with no updates!

It's interesting how all of Jamie's character development has been off screen. Like is it too much to ask for some of it to happen in front of us? It doesn't even need to be in front of Callie? Like we can just see him doing something or learning something outside the courtroom.

If all this is building to Jamie and Callie starting a firm together I would be here for it. But only if Callie takes in the message of actually listening to other people sometimes. It is important to fight but if you dont hear what others are saying how can you fight?

Callie needs to learn not every case is some big fight to change the system case. The justice system works best when both sides have decent legal representation and yes we live in a world where that rarely happens. And juries are rarely actually impartial. But Callie is a lawyer. She's not a politician and she's not a judge. She thinks she is morally superior to everyone around her and I'm so tired of it. I really hope the dream sequence finally pushes her into some character growth.

As for her and Gael I've always disliked them as a couple. In every season before this she has treated him like a second choice and never given him the support he deserved. Everytime she went to him it was because of a fight she had with Jamie or Mariana. It kinda felt like he was finally just returning the favor this season lol. Also like I said before I actually kinda like Isabella and I'm excited to see where Gael goes when he isn't attached to a bad love triangle plot.

TBH at this point I'd rather see Jamie and Gael be happy then actually try to work things out with Callie lol. They both seem to be in better places without her and she needs sometime without a guy.

The Mariana plot

Okay I hate it here. I know the message is friendships come first but like wtf the girls were really horrible to Mariana. It's really shitty that lady... jackie? stole the app idea and idk what I wanted from this plot but the fight club girls deciding to be friends with Mariana again just wasnt it. They treated her like shit all season. Also there were more of them at the start of the season lol. Also Jackie and Evan working together like wtf. Evan was a decent guy nothing in his character makes me think he would be the type of person to be vindictive after a break-up... this feels all sorts of weird and unnecessary. Even if they end it with him choosing to help Mariana I can't see this plot actually doing anything exciting tbh. Mariana is my favorite character and this plot is already exhausting, I have a feeling it's only going to get worse from here. Overall this was the worst plot of the season and I'm not happy to continue it into next season. I just want Mariana to be happy lol.

The Dennis plot

I love it. The truck connecting back to his past trauma and healing process is 10/10. The way he is finding a passion is 10/10. Overall 10/10 lol.

The Davia plot

Also mostly good. Again they chose a cliffhanger when in reality they didn't need to? I think if you dedicate an entire season of a show to a question and have the character (or a jury lol) come to decision in the finale and then choose to not tell the audience it cheapens the whole experience and drags a plot passed its expiration date. If you want a plot to end in a cliffhanger thats fine but this isn't a cliffhanger... this is just cutting out audio that should naturally be there... for the sake of creating fake tension. Doing it once is bad enough but twice in the same episode felt personal lol.

The Malika plot

Ah Malika and the only cliffhanger that actually works. Isaac. I love Isaac. Like he's amazing and I love him so much. I really liked how their plot was focused on Malika exploring how a Poly relationship could be/is right for her. The whole plot is really well done. If she decides she wants to be monogamous with Isaac I'd be okay with that as long as it is a well written thing focusing on her choices and not his. I also wouldnt mind if Isaac and her get closure and he moves on. I think him deciding to be poly could work but I also think he made it clear that isn't really what he is looking for. Maybe an open relationship or something like that could work for them? Idk exactly but I'm very excited to see where this all goes and I'm confident the writers will do right by these characters.

More exciting is her work/activism plot. It's clearly going to cause problems with her and Dyonte but honestly Dyonte and his personality is my least favorite part of the Malika plot lol. He reminds me of Speech from the band Arrested Development. That probably isn't a fair comparison and probably makes no sense but it's the vibe I get. I like Angelica and I hope her ex/friend is a good person. I have high hopes for this plot and I really hope GT doesn't let me down. Lol watch this be the worst plot next season and Mariana be the best just because I predicted the opposite.

The Alice plot

This was the one with the most consistent writing IMO. It wasn't perfect. They had some weird character choices/build with Alice's comedy group And honestly they could have cut the program down to like four finalists. All of them started to blend together anyway. I think bringing a few into the spotlight a little more would have helped balance the character choices and if one of them was to betray Alice it would have been more emotional if we actually knew them. I liked the choice to quit but it was a lot of money and a great opportunity too. It was a truly wild way to end the plot lol. As for her and Sumi... Okay so Sumi was my least favorite Alice LI, but over this last season she really grew on me and I'd be okay if they eventually found their way back to each other. For now I'm glad they are making the more responsible choice and staying friends.

Overall this finale was very much in keeping with the themes and choices the show tends to make. But it was 90 minutes long and didn't answer any of the big season long questions. It was a really well made episode though and I liked watching it.

[rainbowsky]

Final round-up of fan fic asks

I've gotten a few more interesting responses to the fan fic discussion so I'm going to round them all up here. This will be my final post on the topic until/unless there's a dramatic new development, or a particularly notable response I want to highlight. Thanks to everyone who brought their thoughts and experiences to the topic. I hope everyone at least feels heard.

The biggest piece of advice that I would like to offer is for everyone to focus on what they love rather than what they hate. If we all did that, the world would be a better place. Alongside that, I'd like to remind everyone to please support authors whose work you like. It's so important. Give them a kudos, give them a nice comment, recommend their work to others. You never know what kind of grief and harassment they are dealing with to bring you these great stories, and our support means a lot.

This is in reference to previous posts here and here.

Anonymous asked:

With regard to fandom and fan fic issue, my years of experience being part of very large fandoms has led me to believe that big accounts are v important in facilitating and enforcing the general consensus of the whole fandom. Unless there will be big accs who'll remind everyone of being respectful & just not being a dick over other's preferences, nothing will change.

This is also the reason why I think certain solo fandoms have adapted weird and twisted narratives as their general fandom story because no big acc has tried to police them & and say hey pls be rational. Whether we like it or not, in a place where how far voices, ideas, tweets, posts get heard is based on the number of followers you have, big accs will have the power and influence in creating/curating/shifting the narratives.

So, if you want to know why your/our fandom thinks like this in general, look at what big accs are tweeting/posting, look at what ideas & values they follow, look at their preferences or how strongly they react to certain situations. it's taxing and toxic for big accs given the nature of social media these days, but it's also the reality of system, the more followers/audience you have, the more influence you will have.

So to anyone reading this I hope we all practice more restraint and reflection before we post anything. Remember that words, no matter what medium you write it in, will always carry weight.

So true. It is easy - even for myself who spends a fair chunk of time answering people's asks - to forget that people can sometimes be impressionable and what we say can influence people whether that's our intent or not. I get used to thinking of myself as a regular guy just doing my own thing when sometimes my thoughts and words go well beyond where I initially posted them.

I think it's important for us to be careful what we say, and it's equally important to be careful what we take from what other people say. Especially when it comes to big claims. Always get a second, third, fourth opinion and don't be afraid to ask for clarification if something doesn't sit right or sounds confusing.

It's also important to reflect on how our words and actions might affect other people's experience of fandom, and err on the side of 'live and let live' wherever possible. It's great to have our own preferences and to champion them, but we should try to do so in a way that leaves space for other people and perspectives.

The more unique perspectives and the more friendly, open dialog there is, the healthier the community will be as a whole.

There's nothing wrong with encouraging and guiding growth in the particular areas we are interested in, as long as it doesn't step on, oppress or attack those who are peacefully enjoying something different.

Anonymous 2 asked: bjyx fans attacking gdgdbaby for including zsww/lsfy dynamics in an event named bjyx then turning right around and attacking the zsww/lsfy event organizer for excluding bjyx? god, can you hear my facepalm and sigh of resignation and incredulity from over there? im genuinely not surprised that they're trying to drive an entire part of the fandom out by disgusting them (and me) with these immature tactics. i believe what im about to say next will sound quite bait-y and i respect your decision 1/?

should you choose not to post this. but i do know that it is not only me, in fact there are many out there, that is of this opinion. we just dont talk about it on twitter to avoid the potential mess it will bring lol. okay, here goes nothing. (do note that im talking about the majority here, not every single person is like this) so bjyx fans tend to be cishet females whereas zsww/lsfy fans are more diverse in terms of age and gender, and most of them are part of the queer community too 2/?

i would like to clarify that most of these zsww/lsfy fans are not dynamic exclusive (in the sense that they are friendly and interact with all ggdd fans) they just prefer to "identify" themselves as zsww/lsfy fans (on twitter specifically) just to form a distinction from bjyx fans who mostly are dynamic exclusive (as in; they do not consume non-bjyx content, and straightup refuse to interact with non-bjyx fans, often blocking them). as a result, id say that the zsww/lsfy communiy is way more 3/?

mature and respectful (after all, they're mostly queer people talking about a queer ship) whereas many problems in this fandom, such as the homophobia, adamantly insisting on "drawing lines" between dynamics, stem from the bjyx exclusive fans, comprised of cishet females who "may not know better". so, it is of no surprise to me that they're resorting to these immature tactics of calling gg unsavory names, and organizing retaliatory events with controversial topics in an attempt to "purify". 4/4

I trust that you have arrived at that theory through your own experience and observation. I haven't personally spent much time immersed in this stuff so I can't claim to have any real insight or expertise. If you say that's your experience of it, then at the very least that's how you've seen things up to this point.

I just want to say that I think we should always be careful about making assumptions about people's age, gender/gender identity, etc.

There are plenty of good reasons to avoid doing that; because those assumptions could be very wrong, because those assumptions are often laced with ageism, sexism, etc., because those assumptions - even when correct - might not be an accurate basis for the conclusions we draw.

But the primary reason I recommend avoiding those type of assumptions is because anything that enables us to clump a group of people together in our minds like that will tend to make them easier to demonize and dehumanize. They are no longer individuals who are each responsible for their own unique perspectives, they are now 'the X group' who is known for 'A B C series of easily attackable ideas or behaviors'.

If we attribute undesirable traits and behaviors to a group of people we feel opposed to in some way, that makes us feel more righteous and justified in behaving unfairly toward them, dismissing their humanity and warring with them. It's just risky behavior to engage in, even when it's well-intentioned.

There might actually be some truth to what you're saying. It could very well be that most of these people are young, inexperienced, heteronormative, etc. but if that's the case then we should try to use those traits to better understand and empathize rather than to better dismiss and discredit.

Just my two cents on that.

It can be really frustrating dealing with what feels like other people attacking us, trying to oppress us, etc. - especially when there are more of them than there are of us. In my experience the best solutions to that sort of problem are generally the ones that focus on what we are doing and want to do rather than what they are doing that we don't want them to do.

As I am always preaching, we can't control what other people say, do or think. The only thing we have any control over is what we say, do and think (and how we respond to what they say, do and think).

I have found in my experience that the moment I step out of a conflict mindset and instead step into a problem-solving mindset, everything starts to come together. I feel better, my outlook is more positive, I can begin to see solutions and allies rather than problems and enemies, and most of all, I become more focused on what I am doing than what others are doing.

So I would recommend everyone who is invested in resolving these conflicts focus on that. "How can we best showcase and encourage the types of stories we enjoy?" instead of "How can we stop these other people from doing things we dislike?"

Anonymous 3 asked:

Hello again! It’s anon #3 from the fanfic post. I really do appreciate reading your thoughts on various issues like this, so thank you for always taking time to write in depth. As for supporting without going to war, the simplest way has always been to just show appreciation for the creators, hype them up. Kudos are the easiest way on ao3 but comments in addition are great. This goes for all content—art, fics, vids..etc. Creators love to see and read how people react to their content. Sharing is also great, fic recs are very helpful, just be cautious with art and reposting though. Hope this helps a bit!

Thanks so much, Anon. I think this is excellent advice. And it's true that appreciation is great, but helping to expand the audience is also great. Recommending stories, pointing people to the pages/websites of artists we like (as opposed to reposting), sharing our own ideas and approaches, encouraging people to try new things... all of this helps build healthier communities.

And here's another one: WRITE! DRAW! CREATE!

I urge anyone with creative interests or talents to bring their voices to the community because we all can benefit from hearing from you.

Thanks again everyone for sharing your thoughts on this issue. I hope that over time we can all work in positive ways to improve the situation.

I think this subject has been well-covered now so I'm going to retire it for the time being. If anyone still feels they want to discuss it further please feel free to message me privately. Thanks.

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

i have to ask because im lost asf i just started playing ikem vamp and its been like two months and a half? i guess and i want to know whos faust, vlad and charles please enlighten me bc i see people talking about them and i feel so left out since looking through all the characters i dont see them or those names on display?

No worries at all, friend! I hope this reply is informative without being too confusing 💕💕💕

Your bewilderment is perfectly understandable, given the three characters you mentioned: Vlad, Faust, and Charles, were all released exactly one year ago for the second anniversary of the Japanese game's release! (The Japanese Version of Ikevamp is about 2 entire years worth of content ahead of the English version. For example, in the Japanese app it is currently the third anniversary of the game's release--not the first.) As such, those three characters are temporarily exclusive to the Japanese version--they won’t be appearing in the English version for another year, at least!

More details about who they are beneath the cut (I’ll be doing my best to minimize spoilers, but talking about them usually necessitates some level of spoiling future content): 

That being said, that doesn't clarify who they are, yeah? Let me get into that! In several routes there are allusions to an unnamed antagonist; somebody who is turning people from the past and causing the residents of the mansion a great deal of distress as a result. For instance, in Mozart's route, we run into the famous Antonio Salieri; Mozart's historical rival in composing music (and esteemed colleague). There is no explanation in regards to his origins (and we know Comte didn't turn him), and he leaves peacefully with no larger conflict in the end of the main story.

This, however, is not the case in every route. Resurrected historical rivals/acquaintances range from seeking reconciliation to deranged with vengeance. When the more violent/desperate characters come into play (as with Isaac or Jeanne’s route), questions arise as to who is targeting the residents of the mansion (who other than Jeanne would recognize Gilles de Rais? and who turned him if it wasn’t Comte?) This unnamed pureblood who is turning human beings from the past is revealed right before the release of Shakespeare's main story--largely because he starts to play a more major villainous role in the routes that come after. His name is Vlad--or as he's more colloquially known;Vlad the Impaler, Vladislav II of Wallachia, the Romanian legend of vampire mythology.

We learn Vlad's larger motivations in Comte's route, and he essentially has two discrete goals that we can identify as of now:

1. Finding the secret of immortality in order to turn humans into pureblood vampires (lesser vampires are only partial immortals; they can survive for hundreds of years, but eventually die--purebloods cannot die no matter how many years pass). Reason why? Because pureblood loneliness go brrrr

2. Ruling humanity via unilateral despotism, more or less (he loves humanity in a...weird way....). He says to Comte that he wishes to turn/use the talented men of history in order to sway humanity into eternal nonviolence. Essentially, he wants an international state of surveillance that all leads back to him to create world peace. He develops this aspiration after seeing a devastated future in the time-traveling door (he made the one in the mansion with Comte, and he made another one when they parted ways in his castle disguised as a cathedral). He believes that control is the only true method that will save humanity from itself, and will preserve the beauty of the world he loves so much (once again, he’s;;;;;; really weird..........it’s like how White Men^TM believe Lord of the Flies is the Ultimate Truth in regards to how society “inevitably” functions when like...society has constructs which are technically malleable if the people making decisions give enough of a fuck? Anyway ignore me, I just can’t help it Vlad is such an incel clown sometimes jklghdd)

Now then, Faust and Charles are two lesser vampires from the past who were turned by Vlad. They seek to further Vlad's goals and are at least partially under his control (he is able to manipulate people's perceptions/thoughts/dreams via a kind of telepathy). They often act in Vlad's stead and spy on the residents of the mansion. Faust is a pastor/doctor who is doing research to accomplish the immortality Vlad is seeking for humanity. There are only allusions made to it, but he experiments often on the vampires Vlad has created (including Vlad, and probably Shakespeare too given his...affiliation) to achieve this end when he’s not fronting their cathedral. (If this sounds mafia-like to you, congratulations! You get a cookie!) He is presumably the German alchemist Johann Georg Faust noted in historical records, though given the game’s writing it is highly possible elements of his personality are somewhat intermixed with the literary figure “Faust.” 

Charles is based on the historical figure Charles-Henri Sanson, who was the royal executioner for Louis XVI and High Executioner for the First French Republic. (Essentially, he was tasked with killing enemies of the crown and the newly founded government before and after the transition period of the French Revolution. The man saw rivers of blood, one can only imagine...) He is our genki French guillotine baby who just wants everyone to get along really, really badly. Problem is Comte = k n i f e at Vlad and seeks to protect his children, so Vlad’s castle remains a dumpsterfire danger zone where three vampires + 1 insurgent live in absolute chaos. If Comte is the sweet, responsible father of the game Vlad is basically like...that single mother who has children she does not properly supervise/feed and the neighbors are always inches from calling Child Services.

Bonus: In case you were wondering what they looked like, you can see them integrated into the Japanese game’s intro screen with their respective character summaries. They are listed in the following order: Vlad, Faust, and Charles.

[noassallclass]

So are we ready to talk about how the representation is CR is largely performative?

Disclaimer I am white, and I hope I am not speaking out of turn here. But I feel like a lot more backlash comes up when lesbians get done dirty. But poc have been done dirty this entire time.

CR has constantly been putting whitewashed art of their characters in not only their art reel but in their posters and their art books. Sometimes even racist caricatures (theres art in the art book where Beau just straight up has yellow skin. Like primary colour yellow). It is unrelenting and I don't think there has been any big move to try and combat this behaviour on the part of the CR company.

You can't tote representation and then not put in the proper time and care. You've given yourselves the obligation and responsibility of representing people with more respect.

Again, I am white, and the whole cast is white, so we will never fully understand the lives and experiences of bipoc, but we can also was do our best to listen to, respect, and uplift people of colours voices. And they are simply not doing that, no matter how many people of colour they have in their official art.

Honestly it must be exhausting being a bipoc fan of CR, being disappointed again and again. Though I guess many of those fans expect this especially when there are no bipoc that are part of the main show runners.

Like making Scanlan have the darkest skin of vox machina with their funko pops was not thought out past the point of it being more representation. There are certain implications of making your deadbeat dad druglord character the dark skinned one of the group. Those are things that should have been thought about in the decision making process.

Am I saying that all these characters should be white then? No! In fact, if they had more bipoc that actually lessens the problem, it lessens the sense of tokenism, and takes off the pressure of making sure that one character is the bastion of representation and you're not misrepresenting a whole group of people. Because all people are multifaceted and flawed and that should be explored of all types of people. When you only got one and that ones a druglord it implies that's the one thing they can be, but when there are a multitude of bipoc then it shows that they can be a multitude of things.

At the very least they could think more about the implications.

Now let's look at the LGBTQ representation. We have two canonical lesbian PCs that have firmly presented their sexuality and are varied and flawed and different from one another which is great to see we love that. I wont go into too much detail about some underlying issues I have in regards to that representation because that's been covered enough.

But honestly at this point the players not establishing their characters sexuality is getting tiresome. "Oh but we aren't obligated to know the characters sexuality, what if they dont want to put a label on it" and like do you know how refreshing it is when shows actually say the name of their character's sexuality, a lot of people feel heard when people talk about sexual orientation in media.

The nudging wink wink say no more say no more is getting old. We have moved past the point of making jokes or dropping hints that only the gays will get and wont upset the straights.

We are no longer in the Hays code era. CR doesnt have producers breathing down their neck or over seas markets to worry about something being too overtly gay to be marketable. They are one of the shows in the best position to state sexual orientation and gender identity outright. Just look at TAZ they said Lup was trans outright, there was nothing to read into. It was right there in the text.

I just want them to say things out right, during the shows runtime and not in some post mortem comment where they can be like "yes it's been there the whole time, and I cant do anything now if you dont like how I presented it because it's all over now." That's like the easiest way to give yourself representation points.

Basically, if you're selling a shirt with all the pride flags on them with the phrase "dont forget to love each other" maybe you should also say their names?

[zuzuslastbraincell]

Ty lee (i feel like i havent seen many of you ty lee thots)

honestly love her!! tbh i don’t have many that others haven’t said more clearly and more interestingly

Why I like them

she’s a character with lots of hidden motives, depths, and complexity, who guards her true thoughts and opinions quite closely, but simultaneously *is* what she advertises herself as: a happy-go-lucky girl. like i don’t think her cheerfulness and her enthusiasm for auras and spirituality is entirely inauthentic - it’s just that she’s adept at using her own enthusiasm to mask her real feelings and thoughts. like there’s a lot to her there.

Why I don’t

i mean, she props up an imperialist coup of ba sing se by stealing the disguises of warriors who honour the avatar. objectively not good. 

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

oh, the beach, hands down. we finally get to see a glimpse of what troubles and upsets ty lee, and how she struggles. we also get to see her angry, instead of hiding negative emotions through evasion.

Favorite season/movie

book two. oh sure book three adds depth and complexity but we barely see her. book two just has so many good lines and moments - the clumps or tufts debate, the first time we see how devastating chi blocking is, the match against the kyoshi warriors (underrated), all the stuff with the drill... classic honestly.

Favorite line

okay if i’m honest “you’re not prettier than us!” at the kyoshi warriors cracks me up. i know it’s a line that is almost definitely written by misogynists who believe beauty/prettiness is central to girls/women and how they see themselves and how they should see themselves, but when you remove that context it’s just so jarring and it screams baby gay to me, or some kind of issues that need to be sorted out.

Favourite outfit

oh she looks great as a kyoshi warrior! love her there :)

OTP

okay i love mailee and tysuki equally for different reasons.

mailee i love because the whole concept of love being about communication and building your own language and finding ways to speak only to each other is key to it, especially given the toxic environment they are in s2-3 with azula, they’re incapable of being honest with words and have to communicate in other ways. but also i think there’s a lot of good angst potential. as well as hiding it from azula, they have so little time to themselves, and are so often surveilled, that it is difficult to ascertain each other’s feelings. they’re not sure of whether they can trust *each other*, and there’s a sense of them wanting to reach out and confirm but not being able to... this is complicated further by mai’s relationship to zuko, which does ty lee read as genuine or as one of azula’s manipulations? when mai betrays azula for zuko, does ty lee ever expect to be loved back? the idea of them together is super sweet like goth/pink gfs rights but there’s depth there... complexity

as for tysuki, it’s like... this is very much an *interpretation* of how it could go down, but i love the idea that ty lee is able to find a sense of home and belonging and identity and selfhood in the kyoshi warriors, to build roots, to not just find herself but build herself, despite her expectations that it’d last six months to a year. and i love the idea of suki having an equal, who can take her in a fight, who can help her shoulder the difficulty of teaching and organising but brings some levity and mischief and fun back, after it feels like the war has sapped it out of them with responsibility after responsibility. i think suki’s groundedness could be exactly what ty lee needs and i think suki could do with a partner who can pull her own weight but also, make her smile. i like the idea too of ty lee really finding a place to call her home after all of the mess in the fire nation between her family and azula, away from all of that... it’s a little idyllic, but it’s what she needs. 

Brotp

oh ty lee & zuko!! there’s potential here, for sure. like zuko would need to see ty lee as more than ‘azula’s friend’, but they’re both emotional people who are outspoken about how they feel - it’s just zuko’s earnest and honest and wears his heart on his sleeve, whereas ty lee uses her reputation of ‘wearing her heart on her sleeve’ to hide it, & similar to how i think zuko’s inability to lie/emotional honesty is a big comfort and help to mai, i think it would similarly help ty lee. i really love the idea of these two in particular being able to talk about being hurt by azula together and help each other heal. but also i just like the ‘unlikely friendship’ dynamic of these two, and the possibility of zuko being able to overlook ty lee’s reputation to get to know her for real. they’ve both been overlooked/undervalued in their respective families, and both left the fire nation because of it (albeit in very different circumstance), are both well travelled and very independent for their respective ages, there’s definitely ‘on the road’ stories they could share, and both have struggled to find themselves in different ways. there’s a lot of common threads.

also i think ty lee & aang would be wonderful as well :) i think a lot of aang’s initial gaang - zuko, katara, and sokka - would probably want to head home after their adventures in the war, and i imagine aang ends up finding new companions to travel with. i like the idea of ty lee, after the kyoshi warriors, being one of these.

Head Canon

she’s a lesbian! :^)

just based off ‘the beach’ episode mainly, and how reluctant she seems around boys in that.

Unpopular opinion

hmmm i don’t think i have any?

A wish

asides from being happy and contented in general? would love to see her join aang’s second group of companions. i think toph, ty lee, aang, & potentially two new characters would be a really fun (and chaotic) little crew :^). also would just love her to realise the brotp potential with aang and zuko as outlined above, and get to date a nice girl of some kind.

OH I would also love more family background on her & exploration of the possible air nomad heritage ty lee theory, i’d love to see some of that. would make aang’s relationship even more meaningful (but potentially, complicated! having heritage doesn’t necessarily mean you’re part of that group).

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

being azula’s designated healer and makes-her-redemption-arc happen. i already outlined today why that’d be bad for zuko and i think, while their relationship is different, it would be a negative experience for ty lee as well. azula is her peer, a peer who has hurt her quite deeply through the manipulation she pulled to get ty lee to give up her dreams and come along and uses manipulation as a primary way of interacting with people (even if like, i think they might have had a genuine friendship as kids, that poisons a relationship quickly), then tried to kill mai when turned against her... like, ty lee has good reasons to want to stay away from her, and honestly ty lee needs to heal as well, needs time and space. she should not be responsible for her well being full stop, but especially in this situation. i’m not ruling out the possibility of reconciliation but ty lee and azula would need to ‘hard reset’ their relationship and that would mean plenty of time apart, azula coming forward with apologies, azula making amends, and slowly, over time, building up trust. but honestly, even if azula is genuine in wanting to make amends, i’m not sure risking her wellbeing for that process would be best for ty lee anyway - i’ve personally cut people off in my life for my own wellbeing for less (although really what decision is best depends on your personality outlook how comfortable you feel your support network etc. a multitude of factors). regardless of your interpretation of their dynamic, ty lee does not exist for azula, and should not exist to further her character development but also as a character in her own right at this point.

5 words to best describe them

cheerful, chaotic, complex, perceptive, pink! 

My nickname for them

“prettier than you <3” (after the kyoshi warriors line, but with a pink heart emoji because of course she would, but also because it’s just funny, lol. ty lee has a mean streak)

[lemongogo]

hey im the anon abt gyutaro/ume and i dont remember what happens to demons after they die ?? did i miss smth ? regardless i wanna ask what do you think their fate should be ? cause on one hand i think they're just victims of a cruel world who took the first way out they could find but on the other hand it doesnt rlly justify all the slaughter, and i also think abt the demon slayers who also suffered horrible fates and used it to fuel their determination to save other people from that pain

hi !! i don’t think kny ever explicitly mentions what happens to demons after they die (as in we never have concrete evidence of where they go or how their lives after are spent), but i think the general consensus is that the demons go to hell. 

in some cases, the family can decide to go with them (ex: rui and i think akaza? if i remember correctly?) but their fate is pretty much sealed from that point forward i believe. 

heres a pic of gyuutarou and ume, actually, in chapter 97 !!

but yeah !! thats something i think about a lot tbh. as you mentioned, many of the demons we’ve seen have either been groomed into demonhood (rui, ume, susamaru, etc.) or had their pain and suffering exploited (akaza, gyuutarou) for the sake of advancing other demons’ plans (muzan, douma, etc). so i agree ! a lot of these characters are unfortunate victims in themselves and its impossible to view their stories without incorporating the struggles they’ve had to face as both humans AND demons. especially considering that lots of these individuals experience muzan’s abuse regardless of their status relative to him (such as with the upper and lower moons). i think this is best explained through akaza’s relationship with muzan,

(ch. 67)

(ch.156)

and further explored though tanjiro’s observation of rui’s death. he notes that being a demon, for most, is an existence punctuated by extreme grief and despair, and that’s equally supported, i think, by the humanization of these demons following death. that their original conscious is restored (albeit with knowledge of everything they’ve done) and are oftentimes plagued by the guilt of what’s happened.

(ch.43)

what he says here is probably what sums it up for me. that while it’s important to condemn these demons and hold them accountable for the truly awful things they’ve done, it’s also important to consider the suffering they've experienced through existence alone. its so !! complex !! and thats what i love about kny. i love how .. you have some demons who are entirely despicable and bask in the carnage they create, but you also have some for whom demonhood was simply what appeared to be the only answer towards living a healthier life or righting the wrongs that’ve been done to them (usually with false promises and manipulation unbeknownst to them). and .. its so hard to figure out where to.. draw that line. or view these characters at least. because you sympathize with their pain, but you also realize that their actions have caused endless pain for many hundreds of people. tanjiro losing his entire family, giyuu losing his. shinobu watching her sister die before her very eyes, and kanao the same. the ubuyashiki family’s curse or the slaughter of himejima’s children. you look at characters like sanemi, shinobu, or giyuu and understand that you cannot invalidate their view of demons either. while kanae and tanjiro may find hope and humanity in demons, they exist as monsters who feast on pain to everyone else. its important not to discredit their perspective when making a personal choice to observe the demons’ hardships yknow. shinobu’s anger is just as warranted as tanjiro’s optimism and that neither are wrong for how they personally feel demons should be handled after death. 

im like. AAAAAAAA theres so much to it , its really hard for me to condense into a few sentences AHAHA im so sry for making u read this if u still are. but . i guess i’m not too sure. i think maybe, had i experienced the same pain as those above, it would be easy for me to say the demons deserve to go to the worst hell imaginable regardless of what they’ve gone through because that history isn’t accessible to everyone like it has been the audience (or that they’ve seemingly made the conscious decision to cause harm w/o understanding the ways in which demonhood obscures their original conscious/morality). but at the same time, you have those like tanjiro whose world view is shaped by positive encounters with demons like nezuko, tamayo, yushirou, etc. where it seems very evident that . theres more to it than what meets the eye. 

one of my friends ive talked to about this had a rly good perspective on it thats kinda stuck with me since !! she said she likes to view their conclusion as some . separation of identity?? if that makes sense?? that the demon side of them goes to hell while their human form goes to heaven (or division into whichever afterlife). and !! i think thats a really neat interpretation because there’s obvious descrepancy between demon personas and human personas. that the demon personas are like. exaggerations of their flaws, almost (akaza becoming hellbent on battle spirits and physical victories when hajuki’s fury & determination was fueled by love in a sense) while their human personas are the truest sense of self. and depending on which influence there is (muzan vs the appearance of loved ones), their identity changes accordingly. so ! idk ! thats one nice way of looking at it. holding their demon personas accountable while also recognizing that many of these characters deserve some form of healing after many hundreds of years of abuse. its hard because ofc i don’t want to negate the harms they’ve caused but its also? not cut and dry given the environment they were placed in and the fact that muzan’s blood essentially removes their humanity against their will you know. so in this way at least you have both forms of self receiving the proper conclusion. 

whwhwhw so im. !!!!!!!!!!!! ah !! i can’t say i have a definite answer but i think the one above is smth thats comforting to me. i think the story settles with sending them to hell once they’ve regained their past self but also .. “softens” it by providing them company by their loved ones who are willing to go w them?? so thats rly cool to look at too. because it holds them accountable for all that’s happened but also.. recognizes that they’re not wholly responsible for it either and that .. even in hell they’re able to keep their connections and human emotions/experiences . its tragic yet oddly. fitting, i think, of the kny narrative. while i like the aforementioned interpretation, i also really.. appreciate the way its set up in canon too. like yeah i want the best for them but also. it fits in with the tragic nature of demonhood and what it meant for them all. oddly enough. 

u make a good point too !! about demon slayers experiencing the same hardships but using their pain to help others. i think a lot of it is plainly chalked up to luck in terms of.. what they were exposed to following tragedy. how shinobu and kanae were saved by himejima, tanjiro saved by giyuu, kanao picked up by shinobu and kanae, sanemi given the guidance of kagaya while akaza was killed by muzan during his lowest moment, ume and gyuutarou were cornered by douma, rui misled by muzan, etc. i think circumstance is definitely a large factor in determining the paths that were taken. such as sanemi’s anger being validated and heard by ubuyashiki vs, say, akaza’s same anger being intentionally exploited for muzan’s gain.

aaa anyways. theres a lot 2 be said about this. like. SO much on my mind and obviously the extent of muzan’s abuse goes far deeper than what’s briefly mentioned here but.  i love talking about the complexities of kny . and how i view the demons vs the corps and how each of them have grown into their respective stories . AA but ill end it here THNK U >> also so sry for making u read thru all of this i get so excited i could talk abt kny all day long if i had the chance AAA