#i will probably make separate posts for certain topics

[stellifystari]

ASTRO NOTES: 001

These are more accurate in sidereal in my opinion

#1 — Scorpio and sagittarius energy in sidereal is such a good combination in my opinion. Most people go by compatible elements when it comes to compatibility but I feel like that’s a very outdated and textbook type of concept that just never seems to be accurate. I don’t think only “air and fire” or only “water and earth” are compatible. I do think most signs are compatible with most of their own elements signs though. Gemetria is something I’ve noticed is more accurate when it comes to finding the signs compatibility. I first saw people discussing it on twitter and it really resonated with me more than the traditional textbook astrology compatibility stuff. Might have to make a separate post on this topic.

#2 — Mercury in the 5th house can indicate having twins since mercury’s symbol is the twins and the 5th house is the house of children/fertility. If not twins though these people still do often have multiple children unless something in their chart conflicts this energy.

#3 — Virgo moons have to be one of the most anxious placements I’ve ever encountered. They constantly are apologizing out of fear that they’ve said the wrong thing, they’re always worried about things that probably would never even happen, and they seem to be super awkward due to social anxiety at times. I feel so bad for them.

#4 — Moon square venus people often care too much about their appearance and can become very emotional when anyone comments on it. Some people care more about people saying things about their personality but these people tend to take things more to heart when their appearance is attacked rather than their character. They also tend to feel as though their day is ruined when they don’t feel pretty. Often this is due to their upbringing. Someone from their childhood whether it was a parent or a bully may have made them feel judged a lot for how they look and made them feel like their appearance is the biggest part of what gives them their worth in life.

#5 — Venus square mars people can have a battle with differentiating love and lust at times. They may also be indecisive about ever taking action in relationships or knowing what exactly they want when it comes to multiple topics involving romance.

#6 — Uranus in the 10th house people often are the leaders of their friend group I’ve noticed. They’re usually close friends with everyone in their friend group and often will get dragged into fights and be asked to choose sides or be fought over by other people in their friend groups because of this. They sometimes have to be the balance of the group and try to keep things under control too.

#7 — The north node at 22° can indicate your main purpose is to build others up in life. This could be in multiple different ways it just depends on the rest of your chart. For example if you had a 3rd house and 22 degree north node you could build people up with things related to the voice or literature such as music, motivational speaking, writing, social media, and more.

#8 — Saturn at 16° indicates lots of karmic lessons in your life will be surrounding the ego and spirituality. In past lives you may have been manipulative or very egotistical and abused your power in life. It’s important to embrace spiritual growth and have more self awareness in this life.

#9 — Venus at 9°/18°/27° indicates a person cares a lot about their partners looks and can be superficial at times when it comes to love. They don’t tend to go for anyone that isn’t considered attractive to a lot of people. This is only because these degrees indicate insecurity meaning they can be extra insecure in this area of life when judged by anyone for who they’re dating.

#10 — I don’t believe in a “worst sign” however I do believe there’s naturally going to be certain energies that don’t work with our own. That doesn’t mean that entire group of people with that sign are just a bad person though which people fail to understand. I also think astrology is something that’s meant to show our positive and negative tendencies but often people want to ignore the negative or hate on people for talking about it when it’s very evident that it exists. That doesn’t mean we can’t learn from this challenging energy though. I just think majority of humanity does lack the self control to want to change and avoid these negative desires to put an end to their bad behaviors or actions.

#11 — Midpoints are so underrated in astrology. They’re often very accurate for me. I’ll definitely be making posts about them.

#12 — Having your 12th house ruler in the 3rd house can indicate experiencing lots of loneliness in life and not being able to make many friends as a kid. You’re more likely to find the right people in adulthood. This will turn you into someone who’s very sensitive to others emotions and selfless though because it allows you to experience what it’s like to feel alone and gain more empathy for others. This is a spiritual lesson you must learn.

#13 — Capricorn risings always have such a unique sense of humor and make everyone laugh. Definitely an underrated placement when it comes to being comedic.

ⓘ Stellify Stari Astrology

[maaymooniexox]

hal jordan gender can be anything but i personally like to think he’s ftm whos like 1000% dedicated to come across as the most manliest man to ever which leads to this toxic masculinity thing he only has for himself. and this goes on for a WHILE until post-spectre he like, feels things about his gender again and at this point in his life he has no time to dwell on it bc GL things and his stupid planet is being invaded for the umpteenth time this year. but anyways whenever he has those moments where he feels conflicted in his own body, he gets this feeling of pure guilt and hatred and he’s like ‘nope i’m a guy, i’ve figured this out fully. i’m not going back on my decision’ and slowly overtime he js stops feeling bad abt his fucking emotions (let’s be honest he probably got life changing advice from a stranger 30 fucking billion light years away or someone he knew js lamely threw out a comment on a completely separate topic and he like had an epiphany on a random thursday).

BUT once he’s finally reached inner peace, hal begins to do certain things he thought would make ppl question whether he was a guy. his hair is like number one on this list, i fully fucking believe hal has been rocking the same hairstyle since the air force since it was how a “proper man” styles and grooms himself but now that he’s not trying to conform to stupid gender norms he lets himself grow his hair out and he js has fun with it. but like my point here is that after after everything this man goes through he probably js comes off as gnc and it pleases him. and yh that’s my take on hal gender

[bonesandpoemsandflowers]

omg now that you've mentioned it, please tell us everything about rusts watch 🙏🙏

I got two separate asks about this. you're all such nerds and I love you. <3 <3

I'll answer this one here and answer the other one for the night crowd.

but fundamentally, this one is a lot easier to answer! there is an official answer from an interview with the prop master, because the freakiest freaks from the tangential every day carry communities are the watch guys. the watch guys are VERY serious about identifying watches.

pulling some quotes from the link and then I will translate for the non watch people in the audience.

If you are a fan of the first season of True Detective, you might be aware of the immense interest in McConaughey's watch on the show. I recall getting pretty deep into the watch forums myself on this topic at the time the show was on (circa 2014). Some people thought it was a vintage Seiko diver, but the crown was at three 'o clock – so that was out. Others swore it was a Citizen, others still were adamant it was a Rolex. The only certainty was the strap – a black rubber diving strap with a wind velocity indication chart. Needless to say, this was one of the burning questions I had lined up for Lynda.

The Rolex idea isn't as out of character as it probably sounds, because there was an era of Rolex where certain models--mostly the ones originally built for diving--were considered solid working man watches. But it is still, imo, out of character for a guy like Rust in the 90s. The working man era of Rolex is like, 1970s. Watch guys are just obsessed with Rolex.

Seiko and Citizen are are very well known brands but neither have the insane luxury item status or price of Rolex, and tbh, I also assumed he was wearing a vintage Seiko with a Citizen strap. I mean, I watched the show like two months ago so my "also thought" was short lived, but nonetheless. It seemed reasonable. Dive watches in general are over engineered to be tougher than normal watches, so my immediate thought was that, of course, Rust isn't a dress watch guy. Diver + rubber strap means you can shower with that thing on and not have to ever think about the on/off.

but no, Citizen? Seiko? Our man isn't that mainstream. Per the propmaster:

"Actually, the watch he wears is a Lorus Tidal, and it was from my personal kit. I picked that watch because it had a look of something he would have had for quite some time. I think part of the early backstory was that maybe he had a military background, but also maybe he had done other stuff in his past that we didn't know about. I felt the look of the watch was very simple – very classic, but very masculine. Even though it's not the most expensive watch in the world, it's also not the cheapest version of that style of watch. I mean, you can get a Timex from the same era that has almost the identical look to it with the bezel and everything else."

But of course, as mentioned, he's not JUST wearing some period appropriate utilitarian quartz run watch. He has...a fucking wind velocity conversion chart strap on there for some reason instead of the standard stainless steel bracelet. Rubber strap strikes me as reasonable: easier to adjust, more hard wearing than people think, tremendously practical all around. But the wind chart?! He's wearing a fucking wind chart?

WHY. this fascinates me. WHY DOES HE HAVE THAT. if it was a post 2012 watch only, you could argue: crab boat. maybe? maybe crab boat. although, like. unless he's fucking driving the thing, why does it matter? I think rubber strap vs metal strap makes sense, in the same way a quartz/battery run watch makes more sense than some fancy mechanical watch. Rust is a practical guy, at least in the sense of not being fussed about his gear. but a wind velocity conversion chart on his wrist at all times? whatdoesitmean.jpg.

but applying a similar kind of pragmatic reasoning, it might not mean anything at all and this motherfucker just picked the first watch and first rubber strap he found. may I also suggest: he just fucking steals shit occasionally. I have no in story justification for this. It's just a fun way to explain away a lack of curation on an otherwise very precise seeming character. Although I think that's part of the core appeal of Rust: ramshackle and exact at once, in different ways, or maybe just never as put together as he seems. See also: messy ass notebook and his handwriting fucking sucks.

And it is definitely part of Rust's appeal that he leans monastic and ascetic, so I like that none of his gear is too fancy. I like that he can't be fucked about it.

Here's a tidy little top comment on the same article, to emphasize how Watch Guys are about this kind of thing but also to nicely summarize:

I liked a lot, on True Detective season 1, how Rust never changes his watch, the watch works, does what he needs, and nothing more and he doesn't need anything else, while Martin keeps adding pieces to his collection as he moves up in the world, in line with both characters. What I disliked terribly, was that one scene where Rust silences a Casio alarm on his Lorus Tidal, ugh.

A casio alarm. How could they?

But spot on comment from that guy there. Ascetic, like I said: the watch does what Rust needs and nothing more. And yes, Marty's gear upgrades as the show goes on and that's a fun contrast, too. 

final note--it is almost impossible to find this exact model of Lorus Tidal (Lorus RXN53BX8) for a reasonable price now, because the watch guys bought them all in 2014. If you get into an ebay war about this in the next year or so, it's probably with me.

And here's the watch as standard + how Rust actually wears it so we can end this post gazing upon both 95 Rust and 2012 Rust.

[bridgetoesoteria]

🌛Empowering Messages From Hecate🌜

(top to bottom)

I have been wanting to post a spirit guide messages reading for awhile, but this idea really clicked for me.

For those of you not familiar with the goddess Hecate, she is one of the bad ass goddesses. She has a really interesting story for anyone that is into greek mythology.

Pile 1

You have more options than you realize. You are more powerful that you allow yourself to be. Some of you may have a domineering figure in your life that you are trying to separate from. I think you will probably know who or what this is, because it is a chapter you know you need to close out. If you have been fighting some kind of uphill battle it is okay to walk away. There are good things waiting on the other side of this decision. Amazing things that you deserve. There's nothing wrong with being your own person. Sometimes you will have to go it alone.

Affirmation Card: Today I am resourceful; Today I will turn anything into an opportunity.

Pile 2

You should stand in your power fully. I'm not sure what that means but the vibe I am getting is that you have a lot of internal strength you can rely on. I think right now would be a good time to manifest some bigger things, because I keep hearing "ask and it is given". For some of you, this could be you milking a certain situation and getting what you can out of it. For example, your job didn't appreciate you much before, but now you have another offer from a different company. The ball is in your court now. If you wanted to stay at your current job, you could ask for anything you want and probably get most of it. So, I think this kind of energy is surrounding you at this time. This could honestly be your energy in general but you don't tap into it often enough. Start using your gifts and connections to benefit you!

Affirmation Card: Today I am adventurous; Today I will get out of my comfort zone and try something I've never tried before.

Pile 3

All piles kind of had a theme of "standing in your power", but I guess that makes sense given the topic. This pile seems to have more fear. Fear of letting go. Some of you want a divorce or to back out of a wedding? That is what the imagery looks like. For others of you it's like someone is coming back around, trying to make you second guess leaving them behind? You are being encouraged to remember who you are, and who you are becoming. Don't regress to past versions of yourself or let the pain of the past keep you chained up. If there is happiness and ease entering your life, embrace it. It doesn't mean something is wrong, it means things are going right! Finally, you don't owe anyone shit. You have new, amazing things to look forward to. You have every right to move on.

Affirmation Card: Today I am brave; Today I will step up to every challenge with courage. (Accidentally pulled two cards! I confused myself). Today I live in the present; Today I will start with a smile. I am in control of my attitude

I hope you enjoyed your reading! If you would like a personal reading, check the pinned post for info.

~ K

[touchlikethesun]

TW: sa. Hi! I hope it's okay to talk about it but about your tags in that post about SVSSS and SA being a recurring theme, I agree with a lot of it. I would say that even Bingge can be argued to be have some trauma since his first time was coerced. Someone pointed out Bingge could've become hypersexual as a result of that trauma and that it made me see the whole harem thing in a new light (but it doesn't make him innocent since he forced himself on a bunch of wives). It really is such a recurring theme it's hinted for Shen Jiu and for Su Xiyan and Binghe with the Old Palace Master. Su Xiyan's story is even the catalyst for Binghe's tragic backstory... You made a very good observation OP!

hey anon, yeah it's alright to talk about! i do appreciate you including a tw, but this is a topic i find really interesting, i actually opened my laptop back up to answer you lol

as for luo bingge, i didn't get into it in my tags bc… lowkey didn't expect ppl to read them lol (ty for doing so tho xx) and also he's quite a complicated case. we obviously can't say for certain since we see so little of him and what we do know is told to us thru multiple layers of unreliable narration, but i do think there is enough to suggest many of luo bingge's early sexual experiences were probably coerced or non-consensual, leading to trauma-induced hypersexual behavior. (edit: i am adding this parenthetical a few hours later after writing the rest of this and i didn't know how to fit it in otherwise so apologies, but i think it's worth pointing out that luo binghe - both bingmei and bingge, so i think we can consider it to be a core trait - do naturally have a much higher libido than most people. with bingmei we see how this causes issues for him in his relationship with shen qingqiu, but it's managed with kindness because sqq loves him and is patient enough to teach him boundaries and managed by binghe himself who loves and doesn't want to hurt sqq and who has been taught consent and respect from a younger age. when it comes to bingge, who lacks the sort of safe space provided by sqq and has no education in the matter, i think it's easy to see how he would have a much harder time understanding and managing his libido - again it isn't an excuse for SA, but this is just another convention of the genre that were it to be realised has horrible implications and consequences.)

but also, luo bingge lives in a world where healthy consensual sexual dynamics are so rarely modeled for him (the aforementioned coercive sex, but also constantly being gifted wives by other men, and the normalisation of rape in a world with sex pollen (sorry ik i already said that but like really it is so incredibly fucked up if you think about the implications of sex pollen in a real world)), and where he is being taught that the only way to be safe is to have physical power over others - of course we the reader know this is because it's being written as a venting male fantasy revenge story with a target audience of incels, but concretely this is bad for luo bingge's psyche, and you know, also leads him to do horrible things in retaliation and hurt and innombrable amount of people

and again, i don't know how much of this was really intentional on mxtx's part and how much i am reading into it, but svsss is about making one-dimensional smut novel characters into fully realised people and extrapolating out the implications for what it would mean for that world to be a real one. like, shanq qinghua and especially shen qingqiu have to learn that the people they live with are not as simple as they might have appeared on the screen of the webnovel. and part of the extrapolating, from my read of svsss, involves interrogating the ways characters have and have had their agency infringed upon in the original pidw and finding ways to return their agency to them in svsss. this is perhaps most clearly seen in the way all the "wife" characters in svsss are allowed to be their own people separate from binghe, with different passions and drives and again, agency to direct their own lives, contrary to sqq's expectations of them. however this also involves bringing to light just how pervasive and damaging the sexual violence in the original story really is, by showing the abuse that su xiyan suffered, by showing how binghe is negatively affected by xin mo and the other coercive elements of this world, by subverting expectations with shen jiu and showing how he was also a victim, and by making the only truly irredeemably evil character the old palace master, a disgusting old pervert and sexual harasser.

anyways yeah i think it's a really interesting aspect of svsss, and while i can understand why it might not be at the forefront of everyone's mind (good lord is it a BUMMER to think about), it would be a disservice to the narrative to forget it entirely.

[follows-the-bees]

I started writing these in the tags of this post but it got long and a little off topic from the original post so I'm making a separate meta.

We talk about Stede being Consent King all the time but it's more than that. I want to add self autonomy into the mix.

He offers everyone around him the autonomy he never had. He followed along the path set out for him: Got married, produced an heir, etc. He did not choose for himself until the night he left for the ship.

And with this newfound freedom, he gets to have self autonomy, gets to choose what he wants to do.

And he offers this to all those around him, his crew and especially Ed. Ed for the first time in probably decades, starts to relax and decide for himself too. It's not until the end of season two that they both get to fully enact it though, still pushed back into a facade from societal pressures and traumas.

Stede is consent king because he always asks, never takes, he makes sure Ed is comfortable. And this is more than just with sexual/intimate things: the handholding, the kiss during Calypso's Birthday.

This is in every gesture, like the bathtub scene. Stede breaks his way into the room to check on Ed but he doesn't crowd his space. He stays back physically and once asking if Ed is okay, offers his ears. He lets Ed take the wheel: self autonomy. And only at the end, does Stede offer physical comfort, a hand on Ed's shoulder, which Ed immediately accepts and places his head on Stede's hand.

Ed and Stede immediately connect because they have been pressured in society the same way. They had to act a certain way. But together, they get to decide what they want without pressure to conform to the other. This is the heart of self autonomy, and it's at the very base of their friendship and relationship.

[coffee-in-rain]

there is no better feeling than getting kudos from my tumblr moots & tumblr followers on my second AO3 account designated for my dark fics. i wanna wail "omg hi, guys, i'm so glad you enjoy my darker fics, too!"

unfortunately, some people are very much against dark fics to the point they harass writers of dark content, so i keep those fics separate from my main account, but please know ily and am kissing you all on the forehead whenever i see you've left a kudo or a comment. people who can enjoy very different flavors of writing are blessings in fandom. <3

maybe one day, i'll post the link here if y'all are interested in reading them! feels a bit daunting tbh. fandom spaces have changed so much since i was a kid and the rise in purity culture / want for censorship on fanfic (literal fiction; nothing real at all) is something i never thought was necessary even as a kid when i found ff.net and then AO3 years later as a young teenager. i remember reading my first dark fic on AO3 when i was like fifteen.

i never assumed or thought the author condoned what they'd written. (that is literal common sense); do authors of published books / screenwriters of movies or shows condone the dark things they write? most certainly not; it's written because every aspect of human life is interesting to explore; even the ugly / taboo parts of humanity; take, for example, horror movies where characters are murdered in brutal ways, like "sinister" (2012); or movies that portray someone being sexually assaulted; or movies / tv shows based on published books, like 'flowers in the attic' & 'game of thrones' / 'a song of ice and fire'; those contain dark fictional explorations, and mainstream media doesn't think those writers condone what they've created because we understand it's only a work of fiction and an exploration of how people have behaved all throughout history, even if it is uncomfortable to read or watch; taboo topics are interesting to write about because it is so far removed from what we're taught is an acceptable way to behave in society; writers of dark fanfic don't condone what we write about; it's a simple exploration of a topic, and if certain people cannot differentiate fanfiction from reality, then they probably shouldn't be reading fanfic at all; especially if they're going to harass writers who write about topics they don't agree with being written, because it is entirely fictional and not a condoning of those behaviors; there are tags and warnings on AO3 for a reason and people pushing for censorship are doing more harm than good. most young people nowadays weren't in the trenches on ff.net being blindsided by shocking turns of events like non-con, assault, etc. (which couldn't be tagged because there is simply not an ability to do that on ff.net), so they don't realize what a blessing AO3's tagging / warning system is. they just see content they don't like, which they can literally scroll past (and also exclude with filters), and scream "ew, censor it! because i don't like the fact that it was written, even though it is no different than movies or books or tv shows portraying the same themes."

when i read a dark fic for the first time at fifteen, i never thought the author was deserving of my judgement, hate, etc. because i knew it wasn't real at all. i was only reading words on a screen. when the content started making me feel uncomfortable, i simply stopped reading and i never considered leaving a disparaging comment because i'd willingly clicked on the fic after reading the tags and warnings. i really shouldn't have been reading that type of content at that age, but it'd piqued my curiosity. then i realized dark fics weren't for me at that time, but it was not the author's fault when i chose to read it. and i reminded myself it wasn't real and moved on with my life. i really wish that line of thinking returned in fandom spaces.

[aihoshiino]

Always love reading your Ai posts! I lost interest in OnK somewhere in the movie arc but I still keep up with your posts haha <3

Can I ask about the Secretly Ai characters you mentioned in the recent Aikane ask? Pls and ty professor 🙇‍♂️

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!! Sorry in advance that this is going to be majorly rambly lol this is one of those topics I have always sort of rolled around in my head purely as A Vibe and never had to rly articulate at length. but lbr you guys are here to read me post 50k word screeds about hoshino ai.....................

So when I talk about the Secretly Ai Characters in OnK, I'm talking about a little something I mentioned in an older ask, in which the story uses certain side characters and deliberately and obviously parallels them with Ai in ways that are intended to sort of, indirectly communicate things to us about her. Obviously they are still characters in their own right with their own individual role in the story separate from this - but those pointed similarities are very much intended to make you hear information about them and go "oh, so Ai must also..."

These characters are, imo, Yuki, Abiko and Mimi.

Of the three, Abiko is the most in-your-face and deliberate about it. Her colour palette is very similar to Ai's and the anime even adds a really explicit and clearly intentional parallel to one of Ai's most iconic frames from episode 1 - and this was so important, apparently, that it was basically the first thing we saw of her in the anime continuity when season 2 previews were being released.

Abiko's similarities to Ai are mostly about making the viewer understand their shared communication issues and how this impacts their social health - the way it contributes to isolation and a snowballing fear of trying to connect with other people.

I think there's also a vibe to Abiko being hyped up as being a "genius" and "supernaturally talented" in her field in a way that both obfuscates the obscene and frankly unhealthy amount of work she puts into meeting those expectations and heaps additional pressure on her to live up to the role of a "genius", without anyone else taking into account the fact that she's just a person doing her best. I, uh, probably don't need to elaborate on why that's particularly Aicore...

Yuki and Mimi are less clear cut, but for Yuki specifically, Akane's 'Aikane' performance cribs quite a lot from Yuki's persona on LoveNow in the same way it does from Ai herself. In fact, here's another one I just caught lol:

We can tell by these parallels that Yuki and Ai are similar sorts of people, then - or at the very least, similar sorts of performers. I think Mem puts it best here (DOESN'T SHE LOOK BALD HERE WITHOUT HER HORNS BTW) when she says it's "not lying, just exaggerating". This lines up with how Rie Takahashi (and, implicitly through her, Aka Akasaka) describe the difference between 'Ai Hoshino' and 'Ai of B-Komachi' - that the latter is not a wholly distinct fabrication but just a different side of the real Ai that comes out depending on the situation. In other words, an exaggeration.

As for Mimi, this one kind of speaks for itself I think LOL. She's definitely the most undercooked of the three... I think everyone in the fandom kind of like, implicitly agrees that Mimi and her brother were supposed to have larger roles in the narrative and that Akasaka just kind of dropped whatever he was setting up with them. So I'll start with the parallels that actually exist in-story and then I'll go onto what my current theory is for the role Mimi was supposed to play.

First off, I think it kind of speaks for itself that Mimi just... looks a lot like Ai? It's a bit less clear when she's in her big snuggly hoodie but when she has her hair loose for her Dig Deep cosplay, it's kind of uncanny.

and those eyes sure do look, uh. coughs. familiar.

Mimi's role in the industry is also very similar to Ai's. She's an indie VTuber seeing a lot of success without association with a major agency which neatly parallels B-Komachi's success as an underground group backed by a small agency managing to see major success even while fighting mainstream groups. A lot of Vtuber culture has its roots in idol culture and Miyako even points out in volume 3 that present day idol culture (in the world of OnK, anyway) is primarily online. So Mimi can be understood as a sort of 'modern day' Ai.

In fact, the more I went over Mimi's intro for this post, the more parallels I found...? Some of this is certainly accidental, but Mimi is managed by a family member just like Ai was and the reason she becomes a VTuber is because she has communication and mental health issues that make an 'ordinary' job difficult for her. She even dropped out of the education pipeline just like Ai did.

All this combined (the idea of those eyes being accidental is very hard for me to believe lol) makes me wonder if Mimi isn't supposed to read as a sort of 'failed' Ai or at least an exaggerated one. Both of them have (as mentioned above) communication and mental health issues that make living 'ordinary' life difficult for them and so they both commit themselves to strands of the entertainment industry that are maybe not necessarily good for them but because of their individual pathologies, they are uniquely suited to find success.

Heading into what is straightforwardly speculation territory (so take this with a huge glacier of salt), I actually wonder if Mimi was being set up to join B-Komachi as the catalyst for the Kana-Nino parallels and rather than Ruby being the Ai in that equation, Mimi would've been our Ai.

From what we're told about gen 1 in the Movie Arc, Nino was originally the group's center and basically the entire reason they got off the ground to begin with but she was ousted in both position and popularity when Ai joined and completely eclipsed her. Part of this was due to Ai's natural talent as an idol but it's also pointed out that Ai and Nino both had very similar personas as idols and were thus competing for the same fans.

This is exactly the conflict between Kana and Mimi set up in the lead in to Scandal...

... which is very much not the case for Ruby and Kana, which makes the attempts to force that parallel in the Movie Arc (as the manga later does) a little hamfisted.

As such, I really wonder if Mimi joining B-Komachi would've lead to a long-term rivalry between her and Kana that more explicitly paralleled the one between Ai and Nino. I really do feel like that would've been a much more natural way to play with echoing that dynamic than what we get between Kana and Ruby - I've criticized this before but it really is kind of insane that Ruby treats Mem and Kana like shit all during her BH era, never apologizes or has to make any amends for it and when Kana is finally able to express discontent over this, not only is this framed as being something she's doing for Ruby's sake but also something Kana is at fault for, all so Ruby can graciously forgive her. Insane!!!!

As for why it never came to fruition if that was indeed the plan... who knows! The manga following the Scandal arc is littered with so many nonstarters and dropped threads that I really could not tell you what was going on in Akasaka's brain. It could just be that he recognized he didn't have the time for it and decided it wasn't worth taking up page time for. But again, the inner machinations of his mind are inscrutable to me so it's anybody's guess, really.

[zahri-melitor]

dick just tells all his siblings he'd have tried adopting them

The thing is, I’m certain this is not the case. The two 'offers' of adoption Dick has made (to Jason and to Damian) are based in Dick attempting to create or reinforce a bond and support system for the other outside of the one via Bruce, because Damian in particular needs to hear that someone would choose him, rather than that he's an unlooked-for obligation.

This dynamic is not there for Dick with either Tim or Cass, and he probably never would even consider telling them that he would adopt either. I think it's interesting to look at why.

For Tim, I can’t think of a moment where this would come up between Dick and Tim, and much of that revolves around the fact that the topic of adoption was incredibly fraught for both Dick and Tim right up until post-Infinite Crisis, at which point Tim's own adoption story occurs in Face the Face.

Part of Dick and Tim’s initial bond is over their equal footing on this; Dick can call Bruce ‘our Dad’ to Tim because he’s both of their former foster father, as well as their mentor. Neither of them are adopted; Jason was the adopted child, and they're working around Bruce's grief over this.

And not to take Nightwing #110 1996 out of context, but it’s incredibly telling to me that this is the only major conversation Dick and Tim EVER have about adoption together; the one in which Dick reacts badly to the idea of Bruce adopting Tim and Tim scrambles to explain he didn't accept it.

Their relationship and brotherhood isn’t based in their mutual relationships with Bruce: it’s based in their shared past and views of each other, entirely separate to Bruce. They don't need that legal support structure for their view of each other, because their brotherhood existed for an entire real world decade before Dick was adopted himself.

In the case of Cass, it's even more unlikely on two angles: Barbara and Batgirl 2008.

Firstly, Dick would never need to make an offer to give Cass the security of a legal family, because if it ever ended up necessary, Barbara is obviously the person other than Bruce who would do so. There's simply no reason that Dick would need to do this for Cass' security.

But also: Dick ended up getting stuck being the naysaying voice in Batgirl 2008, and as part of that, his major comments directed towards Cass on the topic of adoption include the fact that he doesn't think Bruce should be adopting her, let alone stepping in himself. Of course, both before and after this storyline in other titles Dick's a lot more accepting and slots her straight into the 'little sister' spot, but it's also the only real occasion we hear Dick having views on Cass and adoption.

But beyond Batgirl 2008 creating friction in the Dick and Cass relationship, their broader relationship, like both of theirs with Tim, is based in mutual assistance and a period of storytelling where they didn't need formalised relationships via Bruce to define their bonds with each other. Dick's close relationship with Cass was as vigilantes working together and his more distant one was "Cass is my girlfriend's mentee".

So like...I do see the joke but it drops a lot of complexity out of Dick's relationships with different characters, to flatten it all down to the same beat.

[greenplumbboblover]

Interests & Hobbies - Update post

Hey everyone!

First things first, sorry for the wall of text!

I know quite a few of you have been wondering about this project, if not been REALLY patiently been waiting for it! That's why I figured I'd make this post.

A bit of backstory:

I have, in all honestly, been working on it for 2 years. Except, that because the mod has SO MANY features, I kept making tiny mods that then get shelved because I wanted to get back to the interests & hobbies mod. But obviously that's part of the mod and... argh! :p You can see how I got stuck in this creative loop. And I would then be happy to just quickly make something like a bus manager, or a RPG manager or a thirsty sims mod or randomly deciding to create a sims website (as you casually do clearly lol). Because that was a bit of an escape for me. Though, this morning, I was talking to someone about this and the mod's progression. How I was just completely thrown out of the creative process and that I just didn't know what I wanted to do...

Basically, out of that conversation the following question came, which was:

So, what have you finished already, then? Given that you've been working on it for so long?

So far, I've done:

Assignment of a hobby lot. Sims of that interest will also visit that lot.

Sims will pursue their hobbies inside their house/garden/lot. (i.e a sim with a gardening skill, will garden their garden.)

Your sims can have an interest and a hobby (duh).

The environment hobby currently has a working hobby challenges.

Getting interested in a field can be done through the phone or computer. (or starting on certain items of that hobby).

Your sim can get magazines of that interest/hobby. This will increase their interest each time they read it.

Learn which interest that sims knows of the other sims. Just like with traits. ;)

A way to make it so that custom content items are considered hobby items as you place them down. And therefore give your sims interest points too.

Certain conversation topics can now be considered interest related conversations.

Which... I know doesn't sound like much, but the *amount* of technical background stuff is absolutely insane :p And that took me more time debugging and error fixing than I've ever done with any of my mods!

So with that said. I want, not only apologise for taking so bloody long to get this mod out of the door, but also share what's going to happen next.

So what now?

As you can probably tell, the basics are (almost) done, as well as the basic mechanics. So, what I think I want to do is the following:

Release the mod this year, with the current features I just shared that are done, and all the other features that were in the document, I'll work on separately. I guess, they function as DLCs for the mod? Or expansions, I guess? :p

That way, I feel less stressed, and you get to give it a try! :) In the end I keep forgetting I'm only one person, and I can finally sleep at night lol

hopefully that's okay with you all!

[prfssnlshipper]

uh hi, just wanna ask something about proship and all that jazz .

im anti hara for a reason: i just block people if i don't like something, but im deeply uncomfortable with certain ships and the romanization of complex topics.

i feel like a lot of darkshippers (saying that to not generalize) are doing it for coping reasons, but some definitely seem groomed into it.

so i just. don't know what i am?? i consider myself unaligned but not neutral. im DEFINITELY not neutral about lolicons.

but also, if proshipping IS about letting people ship what they want, does that extend to fully romanticizing very complex and/or sensitive topics? (i am very particular about terms and their "proper" use)

thats all! im very open about hearing both sides, but i can't deal with certain things being seen as "good" or "hot" when i lived through them and they weren't.

Hello! Sorry for getting to this late, I wanted to spend some time to think about how to answer.

For one thing, I'll say that dark shipping is not necessarily always the same as romanticizing the topics involved. This is where the line between fiction and reality needs to be drawn. I would say that fully romanticizing a topic would mean glorifying it happening in reality. The context of the ship and of the fictional content is important.

To give an analogy, it's like if someone really loves FPS (First Person Shooter) games. Like, they go home after school/work and play FPS games every day. Maybe they like all FPS games just because the mechanics of shooting a character on screen happens to be fun for them. This doesn't mean they think shooting a real gun at living beings in real life is fun. But shooting things in the context of fiction may be fun.

So I'd say that's the first thing to know about dark shipping or about being proship -- it's distinguishing that people can and do enjoy things in fiction that they could even be disgusted by in real life.

The second thing is that it's about separating oneself from what they see in front of them, even if it's "relatable". It can feel like a personal "attack", where if someone finds something "good" or "hot" in fiction, that feels like it means they would think that happening to you in real life was "good" or "hot". But that's not the case.

Like using the example from earlier, let's say someone has been shot before. Then, if they met the FPS fan, even though this person loves FPS games, if they found out what happened to the real person in front of them, it's likely they would be horrified. Because something terrible happening in fiction is one thing, but a terrible thing happening to a real person IS horrific.

And the third thing is just that it's completely valid to still be uncomfortable with certain topics, and it's also important to recognize that discomfort doesn't make something immoral.

Like, you shouldn't have to "deal with" anything that makes you uncomfortable. That's why blacklisting triggering topics is important. But if you run into someone talking about enjoying that content (in fiction), the best thing is to move on. It's uncomfortable, but that doesn't make them a horrible person. (If they didn't tag their content appropriately that's a different story, but social media does also deserve some blame for sometimes showing posts to people they weren't intended for.)

If you imagine someone close to you that has always advocated for you and you KNOW they don't support anything harmful happening to real people, especially whatever you went through, and then you one day learn they like some dark fictional content, that doesn't mean their support was fake. If they continue advocating for you and make sure not to discuss things you're uncomfortable with around you, then that's what shows how they feel about those things happening in real life. Not their fictional tastes.

That's all that being proship is about. There's definitely content I never want to see in my life that would probably disgust me, but I know that it doesn't mean the people making it are inherently immoral. I'll base that judgement on their actions toward real people.

[sunnies-theory-of-happiness]

Super Spectacular 250 Follower Event!

Welcome to the garden⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ Unlike the previous one, however, this one is filled with everything but flowers★*⁠.⁠✧!!

Musical Mushrooms 🍄

“If you call out to them, they'll call out right back!” Q&A★ Ask me quite literally anything about my interests, my faves, you can even give me a topic or character to analyse, as long as I'm already familiar with them! But nothing too personal(age, height, etc)!! Though if a certain question makes me uncomfortable, I won't answer it.

Limit: none, can send multiple questions per ask✮ 𖦹 ⋆｡°✩

The Frog Pond 🐸

“The frogs love to hop around on the lily pads. They make the cutest sights ever!” A moodboard★ Send in a character of your choice from a fandom in the intro post, and I'll make a moodboard for them!!

Limit: one moodboard per person⭒⋆☾⋆✧

Fairy's Cottage 🧚‍♀️

“The fairies are always whizzing around and spicing appearances up with outfits they seem to pull from thin air!” Custom outfits★ Request any fictional character of your choice(doesn't have to be from a fandom of mine) and some accessories or clothing pieces(e.g. santa hat, short-sleeved purple shirt, etc.) or let me edit some probably strange outfit onto them!! You can also provide a theme(e.g. witch, wizard, hatsune miku, etc.)!!

Limit: multiple characters in separate asks after i've finished the first one⋆｡‧˚ʚɞ˚‧｡⋆

The Magic Mirror 🪞

“It's said that at the very bottom of the pond is a magic mirror that reflects the true nature of your soul...” What reminds me of you★ Drop an ask and I'll include something that makes me think of you!!

Limit: one per person ࣪˖ ⊹₊ ⋆

portal to the intro post+speech utc★!!

WOW. 250... this feels so unreal honestly😭😭 the story of how i joined tumblr is kinda mediocre lmao. basically, it was the only social media website that was accessible on my school computer, so i set an account up with my school email(for confidential reasons). why? because i had, and still have, a lot of thoughts. especially interest related!! but most of my irls dont listen and i have lots of limitations for posting on whatsapp. so i decided to put my thoughts, fandom and non-fandom, onto here!! a blog for anyone that wants to hear me out★ then i got into rp and started making online friends, finding people i admired(cough @/artist-kreating-stuff and @/catihere cough), and soon, tumblr wasnt just a place for me to put my thoughts. it was like a second home. somewhere i really connected with. since then, ive made more friends and found more people that i look up to and am too scared to approach off anon, and it's been fun!!! ive been here for... eight months? seven to eight months. ive made memes, theories, etc. and i have no regrets :) love you guys so so much, hope youre all doing fine, and remember, im always right beside you in spirit, offering you hugs and love<3

thank you so much for 250🫶🫶

[pompomchihuahua]

Based on your post about Sanemi keeping Genya at arm’s length, do you think the two would have lived together at least? And if not, do you think Sanemi would have tried making up for abandoning Genya, such as giving him money, etc? (I understand Sanemi as a traumatized individual, but the idea he had all this money and he didn’t bother to give Genya any funds hurts.)

Do you think their relationship would have been like Masachika and Sanemi?

As unfortunate as Sanemi’s life is, the fact Genya had it just as hard being alone and probably surviving alone makes me wonder if that’s another factor in Sanemi being punished. Sanemi was able to make friends, while Genya just… didn’t. Or he did, but he wanted to find his brother to reconcile that he loved so much. I feel like in KnY, Genya gets the short stick a lot. Even in Gakuen he seems to be teased/taken advantage. But aside from that, it’s so sad how Genya was literally alone up until going the corps and making friends for a short period before dying. While Sanemi experienced loss, Genya stayed alone

I just want to say! Thank you so much for this ask!!! This is a topic I've discussed at length amongst friends and ARGH!!! Sanemi is such a complex but frustrating character at heart, I adore him and want to flick his forehead so bad.

As far as post canon goes, I can see Sanemi possibly living with Genya again as long as he felt it didn't interfere in Genya "getting his own life." At the end of the day, Sanemi has this idealized life planned out for Genya that doesn't really take into account what Genya wants.

(Side note, I love how this translation takes Sanemi's rude way of talking and just translates that into "he cusses every other word").

I can definitely still see them living together though as, without the threat of demons looming over them, Sanemi's presence shouldn't necessarily be a threat to Genya's direct happiness any longer.

If they didn't live together, I think it's almost a certainty he would send Genya care packages though.

Sanemi sends food care packages to the Kamados at the end of the series, who are already very well off from the money Kiriya sends them, I'm fairly certain he would do the same for Genya.

As bittersweet as it sounds, I can picture an ending where Sanemi chooses to go his separate way in some stupid self-sacrificial "so he can have a normal life" kind of way but still being unable to help himself from leaving gifts on Genya's porch. Sneaking there in the middle of the night or even the day and leaving packages full of money and food and gifts from his travels. Trinkets for any potential nieces and nephews.

Constantly watching them grow and flourish from afar. God, I do adore Sanemi as a character but he is so frustrating.

Sanemi and Genya are tragic in their own unique ways. Sanemi is a story of continuous loss over and over and I wish gotouge had gone into more detail about what Sanemi did after the final battle. We know he "embraced peaceful times," but what exactly did that entail?

And while I don't believe in comparing traumas (I wouldn't say what Genya went through was any better or worse than Sanemi) Genya's trauma does tend to get overlooked imo but I think a big part of that is that there's so much we don't know.

As for Sanemi not giving Genya any funds, one of my headcanons is that he did intend to give Genya money when he was old enough or after all the demons were gone. However, that is just a personal headcanon, once again.

As for whether they would be like Masachika and Sanemi: personally, I don't think so. The point was that Masachika, as an older brother figure, was embracing of Sanemi as a demon slayer. While he thought Sanemi too kind for the job and wanted him to take care of himself, he still introduced him to a trainer and supported him full-heartedly. He respected Sanemi's decisions for his own life.

[rockybloo]

Getting people interested in your OCs takes a LOT of time. So creating OCs for the sole purpose of getting people interested in them is def draining af and I get why people get frustrated and sometimes just give up completely.

I have been drawing original characters since I could hold a pencil because I love making my own beings I can just do whatever I want with. And I've been posting my OCs since the early 2010s (I had been drawing original characters earlier but it wasn't until I got into middle school that I began posting my art online).

The biggest reason I've been going so long just drawing them, with only sprinkles of fan art in between ever blue moon, is because I genuinely enjoy my characters. I've had an active imagination since forever so I enjoyed imagining them in scenarios and sometimes drawing said things.

I would say, with my full chest, that I didn't really reach any flavor of "popularity" until 2022 which is when I came up with Glitter and Guilt. And I am fairly certain that is where a GOOD chunk of people came from since...I mean who can resist magical girls?

I had been drawing my number 1 favorite baby, Beanstalked, since highschool but, unfortunately, I spent most of that time posting it on a sperate blog from this one and only am I recently sharing art for it here.

I think the only other big source of other people discovering me is from my Red Beans art (Jack x Nana) because prior to 2022, that was like...85% of my art I would make. And while that was on a separate blog as well, I'd at least sometimes reblog it to over here.

Bondwidth also helped a wee bit with getting a couple people interested in me since before Glitter and Guilt showed up, Bondwidth became an active thing I'd post on this blog that kept it alive since, like I said, I had a separate blog for Beanstalked and Red Beans so there was a time long ago where this blog was basically crickets.

I WAS LUCKY TO GET ONE ASK A MONTH TBH

So 2022 was def when I got put on a wider radar thanks to Sweetheart and Bitterbat.

SO YEAH--Getting people to be interested in you OCs is def a time consuming process which is why I say to just keep having fun and blabbering about your characters because in the end, that's the only thing that matters. That you enjoy them.

I couldn't predict when people would flood me because I had been blabbering about my characters for practically 2 decades and I had been a relatively small artist working on a small lil webcomic that I eventually had to reboot because I had a better vision of it.

And then one day I just happened to have designed some OCs people REALLY liked and here we are.

I do get curious about how things would play out if I never made Glitter and Guilt and just kept trucking along with Beanstalked. I would have probably made it to where I am now, given like....an additional 10 years maybe? I dunno how to gauge fairy tale interest--I AM BIASED THO SINCE I LOVE THEM (I get so happy watching walk throughs of little story book forests and Eftling y'all have no idea).

But now I am getting off topic

THE POINT IS

LOVE YOUR OCS AND KEEP DRAWING/WRITING/TALKING ABOUT THEM AND PEOPLE WILL NATURALLY ARRIVE

[no1novelist]

Hi Lukas! I know you're a writer so I wanted to ask about this:

I'm working on a rewrite of a childhood book series and I was wondering if you had any advice? (Also it's about cats I know you like cats)

I've already started working on fixing the admittedly questionable canon family trees and I've started to realise that this project will probably take up most of the year along with the... five? other projects I have going?

The joys of not having a job and having too much time on your hands 😅

Ooh, sounds very interesting! ((Is it Warrior Cats? Making a guess))

Honestly, my best advice is to find a balance. You seem to have a lot on your plate that you’re choosing to have, I personally do one project at a time but if you believe you can handle them, awesome! But still, find a routine. Always remember to jot things down, find a “vibe”, and keep passion flowing.

Jotting things down is a thing most people do but not efficiently, do it as much as possible. Whether it’s physically writing, typing or even recording/drawing stuff! I find it awesome to record yourself as if you’re explaining something/the process/the writing to someone really wonderful. Get everything down. Especially if you have multiple things going on, I failed on this front sometimes (I’m a hypocrite, I know!) and got lost during times when I took a break. So trust me, it’s helpful. Tedious yes, but helpful!

Finding a vibe is amazing, kind of connects to the passion thing but it’s basically, get a work environment. Whether that be in bed with a nice cup of tea, at your desk with music and dim lights, out in the forest with nature accompanying you or whatever else. Your writing is almost always better when you are at your most comfortable. It’s hard to find the vibe that really suits you but once you find it, it’s worth it. Although, sometimes your setting can switch and that’s okay. Keep yourself happy and your brain will do all the work smoother than let’s say, you enjoy quiet enclosed spaces but today you’re writing in the public and crowded mall! I hope I got that point across.

Keep the passion FLOWING. I know writers block can suck! I personally have experienced it so much, anything and everything you can do to keep yourself engaged in your project, DO IT. Take breaks when you genuinely don’t feel like it. I assume you’re writing for fun so there is no rush, when you rush, you never put your 100% into it and you’re not doing it out of pure enjoyment. You will find imperfections, you will be unhappy and as a writer, it’s your desire to have the opposite! Your writing is your growing baby so treat it as such! Think everything out, be gentle and caring, love it and love what you do.

Extra tips:

Don’t overwork yourself.

Stay hydrated and eat well. (You work best at your healthiest! Exercise is an option too but not necessary.)

Remember it’s okay to dislike stuff. It’s okay to rewrite stuff. It’s okay to trash stuff (but never delete! Push it aside, in a folder, in a separate Google doc, in your drafts or wherever else!).

Get opinions, find people who enjoy your topic/subject and get them to read it. If you’re posting it somewhere, AWESOME! You already have this. Listen to feedback but remember it’s okay to deny certain factors.

You’re the writer, you’re in control.

[moonpie016]

Moon goes on a whole talking session.

*Walks in and realizes that this is becoming a frequent thing to post on here. And I'm happy about that, because I get to show what I make all the time. :]*

But now onto the drawings, and will eventually make a list on things I want to do next because that'll help me stay on track.

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Positive stuff below the drawing.

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It's the dudes inside my head, yay. Though they're all asleep, well two of em are. I drew this for whatever purpose it would serve, that being that my insides, while still a confused state and overall over reactive response to anything that needs rephrasing. Or just anything that happens, good, bad, whatever, that it has a way of comforting itself. It tries.

It tries to do the bare minimum of existing, even if it is tricky with having to always remember and think of more to do.

How to react appropriately, how to understand things to its full capability. How to understand others and everything more.

It's difficult, not in the way that doing things is difficult, but however that goes. These conceptualized beings of emotion have existed for some time, don't remember when but they have. But they always hadn't looked like this, obviously/lh.

But they all serve the same purpose combined or separate.

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And, to go completely off topic, to go ramble.

Songs have whatever emotional attachment they can hold, whether important or not, it's just something that sticks. Helps.

And as you can see how much art I make, how many times I've probably listened to most of all the songs on repeat by now, what random pieces of dialogue I'll spew to write.

Chonny's music is comfort. Now it isn't just his, other artists as well. But those aren't important rn. His music in general, not just CCCC. Through whatever emotional moment months ago that made me feel lost and confused on what to do, what do I do now. I needed to find something to latch onto, if not, I'd feel..off. like I wasn't doing anything, because I wasn't doing anything. I tried to get into stuff but it wasn't working, like it needed to naturally happen instead of force myself.

The music has related to my state of mind (no pun) at certain points. And I find that comforting. Concerning? Maybe, but comforting.

Like, getting into what's popular, what new game, but that didn't work. And I'm kinda happy my brain decided to be now fixated on this man's music. Sure every time I'd like to explain or show someone, I need to specify and always show specific songs. Cus. Yeah. But now, I see people's work and stuff, and it's all so cool. And though the inconsistency of this blog is very apparent. I've enjoyed my time on here, very much. Even if I don't always actually speak to someone, because I don't really know what to say or start a conversation. (Seeds/social anxiety). I'm still happy for whatever interaction I get. I'm happy to feel included in this bizarre/pos and silly household. Idk why I'm calling it a household. Just go with it.

Even if I linger around or just post a drawing, I'm enjoying it. Some artwork may be more serious than silly. But yeah.

And to also just say whatever without rethinking is great, now I'm not going to say anything out of word. But just being silly in general with my wording. Y'know? Make odd jokes or talk excessively. (Wow).

Sum it up, I appreciate you all. Though you don't know me or I know you, it means a lot. I didn't think a joke about Heart beating up Mind would be turned into anything else, or that people would actually say anything.

This is just a happy little appreciation thing. I don't know how to end it! I just felt to write this.

So, uh yeah. :3

*Runs back into the hills*

Thanks for reading my ramble/pos.

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