#how to deal with failure

[uisceb]

Endlessly baffled every time I see people water down Glinda’s actions in Defying Gravity to “oh she was too cowardly or too selfish to stand by Elphaba,” as if she didn’t spend that entire sequence from Chistery’s transformation onward doing everything in her very limited power to keep Elphaba safe.

Like the second things start going wrong, Glinda’s entire focus switches to “keep Elphaba safe at all costs.” This girl does not have any magic. She does not have any physical survival skills. She probably has no idea how to throw a punch. She can barely run in those heels. Her one power is her charm and her ability to work a crowd. She is desperately trying to get Elphaba to come back with her not because she agrees with what the Wizard and Morrible are doing, but because she thinks maybe if she can just smooth things over, Elphaba will be forgiven, and she’ll be safe. 

In that regard, there’s a very obvious selfishness to Glinda’s actions - she lacks perspective; she lacks scope; she prioritizes Elphaba over what we as the audience would understand as the “Greater Good” and over her own morals about what’s going on with the Wizard’s agenda; she’s visibly horrified by what happens to Chistery but her first instinct is to comfort Elphaba above all else, despite having no understanding of what's happening.

I am the last person who’s ever going to argue that Glinda isn’t selfish, because she very clearly is, it’s one of her defining characteristics, and it’s one of the main things she has to learn to overcome in order to actually become “Glinda the Good.” This is in no way me trying absolve my very selfish girl who very much made the wrong decision.

But it does kinda boggle my mind when I see the argument that Glinda betrayed Elphaba or is a “fake friend.” Especially because ultimately she comes to the conclusion that the best thing she can do for Elphaba in this moment is to let her go. She knows she would only hinder Elphaba if she were to go with her, she knows there’s no happy ending for them if she tries to run away with her (I think in that moment she might even suspect there’s no happy ending at all). Elphaba is going through her own personal revelation which is beautiful in its own right, but it’s also impulsive, and there’s a certain level of unsustainable grandiose fantasy to it. Glinda almost lets herself be swept up in it for a moment, but her rational side kicks in, because, of the main trio, Glinda really is the most grounded in reality.

I’ve seen a lot of weirdly smug people out there proudly saying if Fiyero was there he definitely would’ve gotten on the broom with Elphaba - and honestly, I think they’re probably right. But it’s not because he’s somehow morally superior to Glinda, or that his love for Elphaba is more pure. Our boy is depressed, he’s nihilistic, he’s lost, and truly doesn’t have any attachments to anyone.

He was genuinely moved by Elphaba’s fearless convictions and he fell hard and fast for her, so I agree he’d be on that broom in a heartbeat, he quite literally has nothing to lose, and everything to gain. He’s found himself wanting to believe in something for the first time because Elphaba brought that out in him, his whole world revolves around her. And that’s very romantic, but because of that, the stakes are much lower. For him, leaving everything behind wouldn’t be a sacrifice, it would be freedom.

Glinda’s gone through the world much differently, much more carefully. She doesn’t have Fiyero’s sense of nihilism or detachment, she’s lashed herself tight to the reality of the world around her. Where Fiyero has been regularly kicked out of schools and freely wandered from place to place experiencing new things and getting into trouble on purpose, Glinda has never stepped outside the predictable comfort and safety of her bubble until meeting Elphaba. She lives in constant fear of failure and being looked down on. She is forever clinging to this persona she’s created because she’s terrified of what will happen if she’s anything less than perfect.

She has constructed her entire existence around being an icon rather than a person - in the beginning, she literally doesn’t know how to be her own self, she’s just barely learning, because of Elphaba. And it scares the shit out of her. 

Fiyero would likely play action hero if he was there for Defying Gravity, and that’s great, but Glinda is weighing a million things in her head, not least of which is “holy shit the person I love most in the world is in imminent danger and I have no magic and no strength to keep her safe, so I will beg and plead and insult and fight her tooth and nail to keep her with me inside my privileged bubble because maybe I can smooth this over, maybe everything will be okay if I just do what I always do and use my privilege to get my way.” She understands the rules of her world, so she’s going to play by those rules because that’s how you win the game.

Elphaba, of course, refuses to play a corrupt game at all, and Glinda gets angry - she lashes out at Elphaba because Elphaba has just put herself in such a dangerous situation, and Glinda is completely powerless to change it. Every little bit of control Glinda is used to having is obliterated.

Her “Maybe you’re not as powerful as you think you are” when Elphaba doesn’t grow wings is so desperate - the words border on cruel, but her tone is both painfully apologetic and above all filled with RELIEF because while her heart hurts for Elphaba, she’s terrified that Elphaba would hurt herself the way Chistery was hurt, and she’s cleaving to the hope that maybe if Elphaba isn’t as powerful as she thinks she is, Glinda stands a chance at undoing the damage, and protecting her. 

Glinda’s selfishness is just so fascinating to me because it’s so rich and so contradictory - she loves Elphaba so deeply and destructively that she fully paralyzes herself when the chips are down and it breaks them both. She fails to be what Elphaba wants her to be, and she fails to be a good person, but there’s no “fake friend” about her actions - she is acting on pure desperation to keep this person she loves safe in literally the only way she knows how, at the cost of everything else, including what’s right, which is something Elphaba could never abide by. Elphaba would never compromise her own morals, but at this point in the story Glinda is willing to compromise everything as long as Elphaba is tucked away in her bubble with her, and that difference in values is irreconcilable to both of them. 

So, realizing this, Glinda does the one last thing she can think of to protect her at this point, and wraps a cloak around her shoulders to keep her warm. That’s all that’s left.

She’s selfish and she’s cowardly and she’s brave and she’s loving and she fails Elphaba and she fails herself and she regrets her decision for the rest of her life and yes I am writing all this with glass under my tongue and between my teeth, she makes me insane.

[shyflowerhologram]

Kakashi treats Sasuke's curse mark same way he treats his trauma: seal away and ignore forever

(even though it kept interfering with Sasuke's chakra use and make him unable to fight normally)

[coolnonsenseworld]

A little promo with my little obsession on the side...........

Reminder all items are shipped from Poland - for details on shipping times check out FAQ or send me a private message!

 mmezzy.bigcartel.com

[brandirecognition]

#1 evil villians*

(gift drawing for my sister of our sonic ocs)

*they learned everything from a book called Villiany for Dummies, which was immediately recalled for copious errors & misinformation.

[gumy-shark]

thinking about religion is a fun part of character analysis and development i think. like obviously it’s not a requirement, but also religion has been a HUGE part of civilization and how we see and interact with the world ever since it first started, and i think that what a character believes spiritually and how they interact and grapple with that can be important to explore (even necessary for some stories!)

[coldgoldlazarus]

Been really immersing myself in the Shadow lore (with a brief detour through finally watching the Snapcube Fandubs lol) and now watching the Sonic X Shadow Dark Beginnings miniseries. (can't wait for Part III!) And something really interesting that it sorta winds up emphasizing through all these flashbacks in the first episode, is this pervading sense of failure.

Even before all his subsequent trauma, Shadow felt like a failure for not being the miracle cure he was meant to be, that Maria was still sickly and dying.

And then there's the (utterly incredible) fight with that yellow combat robot thing. (This is a bit of Sonic lore I still don't know, unless this is a new inclusion, but in any case damn was that thing badass) Shadow was able to successfully save Gerald, at least, but it's not dwelled upon as the scene shifts away immediately after he won that fight. What does get a lot more attention was the level of destruction the robot wrought upon the Ark, with who knows how many other implied casualties as consequence of that, until he was finally able to catch up to it, and the fear that Maria could so easily wind up as one of them. That entire sequence was incredible, but also deeply stressful.

Then of course the arrival of the GUN fleet, and immediately the prior victory is undone with Gerald's imprisonment and execution. (And I really love how that sequence leaned into the nightmare fuel fever dream vibes) And after that... well, we all know what happened to Maria.

And it's just interesting how like, it was literally Shadow's purpose to save lives, and yet for all his incredible strength and power, he still feels like he failed to where it counted, in the past. Which of course Sonic x Shadow Generations is delving back into.

In the present/more recent past, his arc was about confronting the conflict of purposes laid out for him -to save lives, to take revenge, to be an instrument of destruction, to be a weapon against Black Doom- and ultimately attaining a sort of self-actualization by choosing to find his own purpose outside of others' directives for him, and kicking Black Doom to the curb while he's at it.

But since then, at least as I understand it, he's been left in a sort of limbo, and just more-or-less vibing in the background while Sonic as a franchise has been trying to figure itself out. Present, sometimes even having major roles, but not really a focus, until they're finally getting back to him now.

SxSG is obviously partially a recap/nostalgia trip from a meta standpoint, but also feels in a way like a reopening of Shadow's story. Saying that despite his 'vibing' status in the past several games, it's not that easy to reject and ignore his past, it is still a core part of him.

But what I'm left kinda thinking about is his future. Because while the movie and SxSG are part of a "Year of Shadow", implying this is probably going to be a one-off, I hope it won't be. I hope it's genuinely reopening his story going forward, because it isn't really over yet. In StH, he rejected being a tool for others' agendas alongside his past as a whole, but that doesn't really answer the question of what his own goals are now, or any of the stuff around that.

Which kinda brings me back around to Dark Beginnings and the feeling of failure. This is a nightmare that seems to be at least partially externally-imposed by the Time Eater or Black Doom or some combination thereof, but I think it's still telling of Shadow's own values and priorities through what it focuses on. Not just the obvious trauma, but that connecting theme of failure - failure to save lives. Not because of Gerald's original goals for him, but because of Shadow's own intentions.

The second episode spells it out more clearly through Maria, too. He's not great at expressing himself, he may not always even be aware of his own feelings, but he does care deep down. He cares so goddamn much.

He wants to help save people.

But first he needs to figure that out.

And then, he needs to figure out how to do that going forward.

[narfin-frood]

What would the shorts be in your AU? I think it be a live demonstration of how someone (Mr meteor) is integrated into the hivemind and how it's "safe" and "the right thing to do"- basically propaganda. but things keep messing up

wander's not like. super public with the cult the way hater is with his empire in the show, so i don't know whether he'd be airing something like that across the galaxy. hater's got like. totally negative charisma, especially when he's being recorded, and yet he continues recording himself, and i think that's a trait meteor would still share with him. mr meteor is very much like metroman of megamind to me, also, where he quits his life of fame & glory to become a nobody, but he still has that streak of like. craving the kind of attention a rockstar gets as opposed to the superhero/king treatment.

so i imagine the shorts would be like. meteor's vlogs on his youtube or something. and he's starting a series called Inside Planet Yonder or whatever where he sets up a camera in an unassuming place and does little dances for the camera until he gets caught. like a prank show or something, but very benign and mildly annoying as opposed to antagonistic. this does require the shorts to take place before wander is redeemed, but honestly, the timeline in this au is so scrambled when you try to put it up against the show itself (which is already crammed into two very short seasons) anyway

[afterthelambs]

"Silco didn't create Jinx, you did" lives in my mind rent free because throughout season 1, Vi has been convincing herself that Silco is the obstacle preventing her from getting Powder back. She's traumatized and guilt-ridden. When Vi is traumatized, she simplifies things as a response. She has to believe that getting her sister back is that simple. But when Silco is finally dead, Powder doesn't come back to her. In fact Silco's death is what solidifies Jinx's decision to be Jinx (the complete Jinx aka Jinx + Powder, not the broken version of her that she tried to erase Powder from).

And that's likely why Vi switches on her so quickly. By the time season 2 starts she's fully on board with Piltover wanting to kill Jinx and when she confronts her in ep.3 she says Powder is dead and they're not sisters anymore. Which is wild considering just a few days ago she was reassuring her that they'll always be sisters.

I think Vi meant all of it. At the time she really did want Caitlyn and the enforcers to kill Jinx. But that's because she's still just as traumatized and guilt-ridden as she was before. She can't deal with the fact that Jinx herself is the real reason she can never get Powder back. And as I said, Vi simplifies things as a trauma response. However if they had actually succeeded in killing Jinx, I think Vi would live in regret and self-hatred forever. What someone wants when they're traumatized and hurt is not what they want forever, and Vi does love her sister.

[orangedogsquad]

.

[pergaminaa]

Modern au

One major point of difference between Aelin and Manon is how how they deal with success.

Aelin loves it and loves the sense of accomplishment that she gets every time she does something that gets her a lot of praise. She’s cocky and loves for that kind of joy. She picks these things because she knows the end result and she just loves being the center of attention because she’s Aelin.

Manon is also very successful but she doesn’t deal with it the same way. She doesn’t feel any sense of accomplishment, it’s just one thing that’s causing her a lot of anxiety off of her shoulders and she’s relieved that it’s over more than anything else. She certainly doesn’t await anyone’s praise. She’s also lowkey competitive so anything less than perfect results is a fluke in her eyes. (For example in school or in any competition she’s either at the number one spot or she’s has brought shame and disgrace to both herself and her name). So to Manon, there is no joy in these things; there is only stress and pressure and nothing else matters.

[localguy2]

Having read through the Ghost Ao3 tag for a while now, I've come to a conclusion:

I don't like post Canon Ghost being baby whatsoever :/

I need to see them genuinely struggle being anything but a fighter with the weight of the entire world on their shoulders, I wanna see them be emotionally and mentally lost and unsure of what to do at all times

I need to see them try to deal with the aftermath and try to salvage what little is left of the Kingdom (preferably post Dream No More for me), because anyone with the right mind can tell this kingdom is beyond repair

I need to see them struggling to have a somewhat decent relationship with Hornet, who herself is already struggling with her own turmoil and emotions, most importantly in my head her Mother's full death, which may lead her to hold some irrational resentment against Ghost even if she knew it was ultimately for the greater good for hue kingdom and probably mother as well

I wanna see them try to fit into a world that never accepted them, a world that begrudgingly lets them exist, a world they never thought they could live in

TL;DR I wanna see Ghost suffer because ✨Life✨ happend

[obscure-moon]

When Will Toledo screams TAKE OFF THE HANDS OF MY NECK AND HOLD ONTO THE GHOST OF YOUR BODY, but I'm holding no one's neck and there's no ill-fated lover to remind me that I can text them when punching mattresses gets old

[chryblossomjjk]

genuine question how have you guys coped with losing a dog

[only-here-for-ski-jumping]

Not me having to tell my friend to chill out a bit because he's so eager to meet his favs in Willingen. Like bro, being overly excited is MY job 😭

I get it though. He became a fan this season and is going to a comp for the first time. And don't get me wrong, it's great to be excited to meet your favs BUT I've told him not to take it too seriously. Like, your fav could have a bad day, not make the 2nd round and run right past everyone (which is valid ofc, they don’t owe anyone their time). Or you get distracted and miss the right moment (could not be me lmao). Or some dude aggressively pulls you away from the fence and you don't even get a chance (yeah that happened to me in 2023 🤡🤡).

Just saying that so much can happen. And IMO it's better to hope for the best but not expect that it all goes to plan. That's my experience at least.

[chronurgy]

Okay sorry the longer I think about it the more bizzare this trailer becomes to me? This is your reveal trailer for a game that people have been anticipating for nigh on a decade? A meet the gang trailer with not a single piece of information about the world of your ROLE PLAYING GAME???? What??? It's an rpg, of course there's gonna be a gang. But why??? WHY is there a gang? What is going on in the world that requires a gang?? Why would that not be the first piece of information you'd want to get out there? Why do I still not know the basic premise of this role playing game??

[goddessofroyalty]

The other day i was think about what could happend to Marcus to make him change his mind about Zaun and stop being a bigot basically. I took in consideration the ask that says it gets worse before it gets better, his relationship with his daughter and your Vanco Au. That being said, i present you this idea:

Marcus tries to find a way to bring down Silco when he meets a Piltite that promise something too good to be true. By the moment he realizes he is so deep in this shit and has to protect his daughter.

Him appearing at the last drop after hours with Ren because he know Silco is the only one that can help him.

Silco wants to make fun of him at first until he sees him, sees the state he is in and what could have happend to him. Specially if this in the omegaverse and both are omegas.

"I didn’t know where else to go"

He is desperate.

They are not friends, they don't like eachother, but they are fathers. Traumabonding.

Marcus slowly changing his mind because in his darkest moment the people he hated are the ones helping him.

As a note to start with I do want to point out that, both in the canon and in the Zaun Family au (although I still haven't figured out what exactly it is Zaun Family) "Got promised something too good to be true by someone, got in over his head, and then got stuck under their boot" is exactly Marcus' relationship to Silco himself. Yes he didn't have a particularly high opinion about people from the Undercity to begin with but the fact that he's being actively blackmailed by one of them really isn't helping his opinion.

Saying that there's definitively a devil you know kind of situation going on here. There's going to be a price to this Marcus knows, there always is with Silco. But, if the threats are becoming more personal and targeted to the fact Marcus is an omega (that Marcus has a child), then, well, he knows there's some lines Silco at least won't cross (may turn a blind eye to but won't cross).

Silco's first instinct is to turn Marcus away. Especially seeing he probably strongly suspects how Marcus got entangled with the Piltite was in one of his ploys to try and get out from under Silco's control and get rid of Silco. But, well, whoever the person is that has Marcus (Piltover's Deputy Sheriff here) scared is not someone to just be ignored, and Marcus is ultimately useful to Silco even if he is infuriating a lot of the time. So, yes, he will help him but Marcus had better remember this next time Silco needs a favor from him.

It's not going to be Silco that gets Marcus to warm a little up to people from the Undercity. More likely to be Vander. Vander who Marcus had time and time again tried to put pressure on to get him to fold on Silco (and each time was told to fuck off and any evidence he waved in Vander's face destroyed in front of his) telling him it's water under the bridge while he makes some sweet-drink for Ren. They were both just protecting their families yeah. Just like they're doing now as well.

And also the fact that it's a Piltite that did it to him. It's less him realising that the people in Zaun aren't as bad as he thought but rather that the people in Piltover can be just as a bad. Turns out you can't judge whether the person will be cruel or kind based on what side of the river they come from.