#neutral opinions are valid

[k0nanharv3y]

Ok, so, I was talking with my friend about Cass apocalypse series and we started a debate, which do you prefer, Cass apocalypse series or L.O.V.E.?, and we started our argument

First, Cass apocalypse series (very long, we'll call it C.A.S. HAJDHAHA IS STILL CASS LOL) It is the one that has inspired most / if not all / the series of The Bad Time Line. And it is one of the most advanced and almost finished, and all of us in the fandom love and revere Cass, BUT, however, the characters are not that deep, because we don't see the duel after death, I mean, we see a part of it, but it doesn't hurt so much, because Cass rips your heart and soul out by showing you the death of the characters, but nevertheless, it doesn't totally show you how the others cry for hours or stop doing things they did because that reminds them of the person who died

Second, L.O.V.E. AHHHH GOD, I can't say much, Tapakah(? it has been very inspired by C.A.S., and we can easily tell it with some things, but, L.O.V.E., it rips you out and plays with your heart showing you the death and mourning of the brothers (I was literally a week suffering to see how Mikey missed Raph so much, and how Casey reminded him of him), but nevertheless, L.O.V.E. gives you moments of togetherness and moments of "we all have each other, even at the end of the world" and That, that makes your heart scream and cry when one of them dies, because you know and see how much they loved and needed each other, Leo, loving Raph, Mikey loving Raph and showing Leo how much he's matured, and after Raph dies and it looks like Mikey is willing to sacrifice himself just to get him back.

AND DONNIE, DON'T GET ME STARTED ON DONNIE AND THE FUTURE SCENES

And my friend and I started arguing, about, no matter which one is better, they're both great and have their strengths and weaknesses. But one, one brings tears to your eyes in a worse way than the other

The thing is, he defends CAS with all his soul and says that this is what makes you cry the most, because it shows you the evolution of a child who had to live through hell and came back alive, but no one else did.

And I defend L.O.V.E. to the death, because it shows you THE LIFE of the apocalypse, and how that hell had no mercy, and how the brothers survive a world that is taking their entire damn family from them

And I want to know your opinion, which is the series that makes you cry the most? Neutral opinions are valid. What do you think @tapakah0 @somerandomdudelmao?

[clockworkreapers]

Hello! I hope i'm not imposing you with this question, but have you read the Crow Strider AU by @meraki-sunset before? if so. what's your opinion on it?

Vaguely, Iv at least skimmed (to be fair I don’t actually read a lot of canon adjacent or canon character comics I like fantrolls, big surprise I know the fantroll lady likes fantrolls) . I think it could be a good comfort comic for a lot of people something sweet and nice and not too intensive. I wouldent say I have like a super strong opinion on it though, like most things on the internet.

I will say I’m glad they got to have a completed story though! Not many MSPFA peeps can say they’ve been able too, I hope they are happy with the story they got to tell, that’s kinda all you can ask for

[fruitsofhell]

       An idea I’d been working on for a second was that Morpho Knight isn’t the only grim reaper of the Kirby universe, and more just fills the specific niche of taking the souls of warriors. It came from reading the novel where Meta Knight falls into hell, which explained that he came just for the purpose of taking the souls of strong warriors, (something that was then canonized in KatFL). Which is fun cause it opens up the idea of like a little pantheon of reaper butterfly characters for specific niches.

Which I will talk about a lot now.

       So building off that I thought about Morpho’s actions and how it seems he specifically shows up when a character has long overstayed their mortal welcome and needs to be taken away, or needs to have a “final battle”. Given the nature of how Soul Bosses work and how Forgo himself was in that state before Morpho came and got him, I figured the idea was that in the Kirby universe character’s souls can linger on and get lost when they’re still filled with too much emotion and a will to fight on. Thus needing to be tracked down and forcefully taken away by a reaper. It’s easy to imagine this happening with warriors, who are likely to die in fights still full of energy and vengeance, but also power seeking maniacs drunk off power are commonly turned into soul bosses within the games.        Another part of it I thought of though is how much “judgement” is emphasized in Morpho’s descriptions, so obviously that’s an important part of why reapers would exist beyond souls just wandering off. Warriors are probably very tricky to judge because their job includes spreading death and destruction, and you have to weigh that against the good they brought as well as intended to bring with it. And back to the theme of those power hungry maniacs, while some of them were clearly vain like Sectonia, you have Haltmann who started just with the wish to bring back his daughter before he went down a path of corruption.        And Morpho’s origins had always been hard to think about for me, the most obvious idea at first was that it was the same species as Galacta, Kirby, and Meta, but his appearance couldv’e just been because of absorbing Galacta. But then KatFL comes around and he’s still an orb with wings which is in line with our description of their species. As well as the fact that Forgo manages to get “Chaos” powers it previously never showed off only after escaping Morpho... I think it made a strong case for Morpho being soul matter, the way Kirby is heart matter and Zero is dark matter. It’s power’s seemed in line with the idea of how Kirby and Zero represented their specific elements.        (Also as an aside, I wondered if Elfilis would be dream matter, but if Kirby, Zero, and Morpho are our bases for this species... it would not make sense. Plus like I said, it only got the “Chaos” powers related to Astral Void after interacting with Morpho. So no in my opinion.)

Headcanon Starts Here:

       ANYWAYS, thankss to KatFL I’m very sure Morpho, and subsequently his reaper pals, are all a form of Astral Void. But unlike Kirby (Heart Matter) or Zero (Dark Matter), they’re weird trans-dimensional shadow orbs. Which is how they can teleport, turn into butterflies, and break the rules of space-time in order to judge souls across the universe. A butterfly of a certain type comes to everybody who dies, but these bad boys only really make true appearances when things are special. The butterflies work kinda as just pieces of them spread across time and space, and they can appear from them at will as long as they have enough power.        There’s probably far more I could hypothetically make (it would be fun to make a whole rainbow of them), but these are the ideas I have now based on the qualifications of being needed to wrangle troublesome souls and/or those souls needing careful consideration. They also have roles in the actual underworld, which is probably where they consciously spend most of their time as their butterflies go about bringing souls to them.

       All the reapers regard eachother warmly, as being an eternity old makes it hard to keep grudges, and they see eachother sort of as friends or coworkers. Unlike Heart Matter and a lot of other creatures in the universe, they don’t have a burning need for deep attachment and they spend lots of time completely solitary from eachother. They sometimes have small rivalries and running gags though. A big one is how Morpho had been looking forward to claiming Galacta Knight’s soul for most of the warrior’s life in order to punish his hubris, but once he got sealed outside of space-time that became rather impossible - much to Morpho’s despair and the others’ amusement.        The reapers are also completely sexless, and regard themselves as genderless. They just pick up whatever mannerisms or characteristics they feel suits their niche, like Morpho adopting warrior-like traits that could be read as masculine, and Shepard adopting caring and nurturing traits that can be read as feminine. They mostly refer to eachother by name or maybe as “it”, but adopt the pronouns of any peoples or mythologies who regard them as well. To a patriarchal culture the King reaper would be thought of as a man inherently, but to cultures like the Ripple Star fairies who are matriarchal they’d refer to it as a ‘she’.        Most cultures across the Kirby universe pick up on the connection between the butterflies and death, but interpret them in different ways. Some base their versions of them on accounts of their true forms, and some make up characteristics from scratch. The ancient Halcandrans were very familiar with accounts of Morpho and the Artisan as a culture who valued both valor and ingenuity. The fairies of Ripple Star are most familiar with the Shepard as a species of children, and the King who comes to take their queen. Some cultures like the Jamba whom are very absorbed in their own beliefs actually attribute others, such as Astral Void, to ferrying the dead. Which surprisingly holds a tiny nugget of truth as the reapers are spawn of it.

       And speaking of Astral Void, the reapers do tend to pay extra close attention to their fellow voidspawn cousins. Morpho watched Galacta very carefully from a young age, knowing that he would be a truly great warrior but blinded by ego. He did try to scare the guy into not developing a god-complex, but Galacta was stubborn and only saw death’s warnings as challenges. Ever since then he’s watched Meta and Kirby very carefully, and is actually a big fan of Kirby due to him quickly becoming such a humble, merciful boy. Zero created a similar problem for King, and it waited very very patiently for his unimaginably long reign as the god-king of dark matter to be ended by everyone’s favorite pink ball of peace.        They’re not able to communicate directly with other beings, only with their souls, which isn’t very easy to reach in life. Even when appearing as Morpho did in KSA and KatFL, it wasn’t able to talk to others, but it could finally talk to Galacta’s soul in it’s head. The only way they can make appearances like Morpho did to the living and healthy is by using a dead or dying soul, and to those in that state already they can appear like that when casting judgement. They can also control souls of the dead as ghosts to do their bidding and send messages too. But that’s fun stuff for my HC writing. I’ve rambled on long enough.

TL;DR - Morpho is the Knight of Hades, and I thought up a King, Shepard, and Artisan of Hades who have their own niches of souls to guide and judge. They’re genderless, solitary, hyper-dimensional shadow people who are interpreted across the cosmos as different pantheons of death gods. They’re cool with eachother and even look out for their fleshling void-kin, but don’t interact with mortals outside of death matters. Morpho is an exception with it’s shenanigans cause Gala and Forgo cause hard times.

[incrcls]

Stumbling upon fandom discourse as an introject is bizarre. On one hand, I'm disconnected enough that I'm not bothered in the slightest & on the other, I'm baffled to say the least.

[officersnickers]

Ranking Ray's outfits in promotional art according to how much he would wear them / if they did choose another color combination for him but black/ white/ blue

(blatantly stolen from @just-like-playing-tag​‘s ranking of Emma’s clothing)

We’re going to start simple; later on there will be more extravagant outfits, I promise.

Plain and simple; charcoal is a nice color for Ray, and the outfit itself gets upgraded because of him serving croissants – his mother’s favorite meal. But overall, it doesn’t add much, so 5/10.

Ugh, I really can’t stand this shade of blue, I’m sorry! Only redeeming quality are the pastries he’s holding, working way better with the strong blue than they should. 2/10. It’s basically the same as the bakers outfit above, but so much worse ><

I’ve got nothing to say about this, but a) the baby blue color is wonderful and did catch my heart and b) Ray itself looks so baby here. 6/10. At least he’s wearing fluffy boots and a hood.

Okay, he’s going to get a bonus point for looking so goofy with this party head, but overall, I’m not a fan. The outfit itself isn’t the problem, but the dark blue color looks kinda boring and doesn’t bring anything on to make him look festive, plus he gives off a Norman-vibe here (if you understand). Only the little striped ribbon makes this slightly better. 5/10 points.

Blue, as usual, but I’m more fond of this because of the combination of light and dark blue stripes. I wonder which color his ribbon would have had if it wasn’t covered by his hand. 7/10 since it’s not too bad, but also not too creative either.

There’s a lot to unpack here ^^‘ Finally, some other color than blue, but nah, the red itself hurts my eyes. The rest of the outfit is quite nice, from the hat and cat mask (great choice of fairy tale character, btw) to the vest and sword. The outfit itself would get a strong 7/10 from me, since I’m not too sure Ray would want to wear so much, but the overknee boots fuck so hard, I have no choice but to go up to 8/10.

From the trio, Ray got the least interesting outfit here, sorry. Blue in blue again lacks something Emma and Norman got. Also I’m a bit biased because I’m not a fan of dungarees (and I can’t imagine Ray would either). 4/10.

I love it! Again, Ray looks truly comfortable, and I’m surprised we didn’t get to see him wearing sweaters earlier than this. The blueish tone of his jacket brings me more joy than usual, and the way he wears his necktie screams „I don’t care about anything at all“. For a party look though, it’s a bit too lax, so 9/10.

The iconic march rabbit outfit. The colors are lovely (though I have to admit, they remind me way too much of the „adoption clothes“ the children have to wear during their shipment day…) and are a breath of fresh air. Seeing Ray in more than one color is so rare, I can’t grade this outfit too low. It’s cute, a bit overloading, but it could be worse. 7/10.

Ray, honey, the sax isn’t on fire here, sorry. The outfit itself isn’t too bad, but the hat… the hat ruins everything for me, ugh. It makes his hair look weird and it’s the same problem as with my rating above – dark hair and equally dark hats, without anything to direct my attention, doesn’t work. Also, the blue is an overused color for him at this point. 4/10.

Lame. He looks like he’s wearing a japanese school uniform. Where’s the innovation? Where’s the dignity? Clothes from head to toes, so uncomfortable and stiff. Again, lame 1/10 points from my side. (but his eye color is very nice here, thank you)

Yes yes yes! Finally a great, warm reddish brown and oh boi, Ray looks so good with it! It matches his green eyes way better than blue imo, and the farmer look is undoubtedly cute. The suspenders and dark boots are surely comfortable to be working which, an attribute I’m fairly sure Ray would value. 8/10 from my side.

Sigh… listen, I know, maritime looks are supposed to contain a lot of blue and white, I don’t mind. But why does Ray have to wear a dark blue hat with a similar dark vest? Imagine him swapping his outfit with Norman – white hat and white vest – and boom! his great haircolor would stand out so much more. The way it is now the black is swallowed by the blue and vice versa, which is a shame, since I really like this outfit! The shorter bell bottoms add so much character, and looking at Ray’s innocent face and posture makes me go „aww“. Sadly, only 6/10.

In comparison to Emma’s pirate outfit here, even a potato sack would be better, but let’s still talk about it. I don’t hate these clothes – they work together quite well, and the long vest is a nice add-on. Still, I feel like there is too much going on to catch our focus. Three different colored scarfs plus an eye patch… also, the blue scarf could have been laid over the vest, because now, it doesn’t flow at nicely as it should. I feel like it would be a hassle to dress myself like this in the morning, and considering Ray’s „no bullshit“-agency, I doubt he would be the greatest fan himself.

Still, his pants here make me giggle though, since I literally got pants with the same color and stripes ^^ Ultimately, it’s a great look, with some minor details I’d like to change. 7/10.

Okay, yeah, this outfit rocks. Grey-brown-blue is a combination I never thought would work, but it does; the gold add-ons are a nice detail too. Instead of forcing a hat onto Ray’s already weird haircut (my beloved), the goggles are way better, and the scarf is such an iconic Ray-detail, I’m very glad they remembered it. Best part though are the gloves and the belts around his leg – this is something I always appreciate in a character’s design. But, in comparison to Norman and Emma, it feels kinda flat? idk how to describe it, so 8/10.

No discussion, Ray is the lone survivor of these so called „Valentine’s Outfits“. His clothes aren’t even that special, but the high collar is a great design choice, and finally again, he’s wearing warm colors. 10/10 because Ray would wear it, no doubts from my side (and it makes look Emma and Norman even more terrible hsdgfjklajsjad)

Yup, that’s a look that Ray would wear. 9/10, because it lacks something really cool, but honestly, it still works. It looks comfortable and warm and most importantly, rebellious.

Simple, casual, monochrome – a very basic, but also very good look Ray so would wear. I’m just the tiniest sad it contains no colors, but seeing Ray in comfortable clothes (also showing his ankles, my poor victorian woman heart is going to faint) leads me to 9/10 points. Okay, you know what? 9.5/10. That’s it that’s my last price.

Listen, guys, I’m no fan of this shade of green myself – but 1000 points for Ray here. Olive green fur coat, matching his eyes, grey shirt and dark grey pants with revealing ankles in winter, the posing on top – what’s not to love about this? I fear for his toes, but that’s the price you pay if you’re as cool as Ray is.

Bonus:

5/10. It’s obvious, right? Give us Ray wearing glasses and make lenses work or don’t do it at all. Also the glasses look so nerdy and not cool enough 🤓

[its-just-hyper]

I’ve been getting into bnha for the fanfiction and I think the funniest thing to me is what people name Aizawa’s various cats. I like guessing which ones are real cats and which are Headcanon about what he’d name them. When a character has (a) fanon pet(s) but not a common name for them it leads to so many people inserting their own silly pets into the story and I think it says something very important about humanity I’m just not sure what.

[fellow-traveller]

Thoughts on Avpolhol?

Ah. I knew one day I'll get asked this...and maybe get cancelled idk

I'm not a fan of Avdol pairings.

The closest you see me shipping him with anyone is with Joseph, and that be mainly platonic.

No hate whatsoever to the man. In fact, I personally feel like I'm disrespecting him if I put him in a romantic relationship with anyone.

Also, no hate to anyone who likes Avdol pairings. You do you ♡

[rapha-reads]

I hate debating, I hate debating, I HATE DEBATING.

Unfortunately, my family loves arguing (my brother is loud and self-confident, my sister studies law and philosophy, my mother is a punk communist anarchist teacher, they talk TOO MUCH) about the stupidest things, and they get very aggressive about it. The problem is, in the case of my mother mostly, they argue opinion versus opinion and don't bother about the facts. Which leads to debates going in circles where they go like:

My mother: "abortion is a last recourse in extreme cases, but it should be a right."

My brother: "abortion is a recourse, and anybody can choose so, point. The end."

My mother: "abortion shouldn't be allowed for people who only want it for comfort, but it should be allowed for necessity by choice."

My brother, me: "abortion is a right for everyone no matter what the situation is, no question asked and no restrictions (only the time)."

Anyway. You see where that is going. And that's just tonight's debate. In the past week we had asexuality (no surprise here, my mom still don't understand how that could be real because it is unconceivable for her, therefore it's unconceivable for everyone else), the use and democracy of social media (that one was between my mother, brother and sister and was particularly stupid), whether modeling is a dumb job (glad I wasn't around for that one)...

Have a full family holiday, they said. We haven't been together all 6 of us in a long time, it'll be fun, they said. *deep fucking exhausted resigned sigh*

Edit: finally managed to expose my point to my mother and she let me articulate my argument, and basically hers boils down to "it's not a contraceptive and it's a hard decision to take, or at least it should require hard thinking, but I agree that it should be a right", while mine is "there are as many realities as there are people and not a single one should be judged, criticized or reduced". (for clarification, my mother is pro-choice, just a product of her education who has a hard time applying what she preaches)

I'm exhausted.

[marauderingminnie]

So much of the current marauders fandom controversy wouldn’t even exist if people just tagged their posts right 😭😭

[snekdood]

i really try to understand why my fellow progressives are so avoidant of actually introspecting on why they think its still cool to bully. im sorry but thats just an inherently conservative thing to want to do.

[3hks]

CORRECTLY Writing "Morally Gray" Characters

Want to write a hot, cool, and bad character but DON'T want he/she to come across as toxic, downright bad, or, god forbid, cringe? Well, I've got a couple of tips that may help you create exactly what you want!

1. Softness

Okay, yes we want this character to be tough and cool, but there also needs to be a certain softness, no matter how small, that comes with them. If there's someone that your character prioritizes or cares about, there has to be a point or two that it shows--a moment where they're soft only for the people that they care about. Why? Because this establishes the humanity in them. It shows the readers that your character IS human, not an emotionless monster.

2. Goals

Key to any good characters are their goals. The thing is, for this type of a character, their objectives can't be so random. They need a reason for their actions, and it needs to be valid. Usually, this is reasoned out by some kind of past epiphany, which is crucial because without it, your character doesn't have anything solid backing up their goals. We need to see where they're coming from.

Bad decisions, but for an understandable reason.

Establishing their morals is important for nearly the same reason.

Now, why is this important? Because it can pull readers to their side. As long as they understand the cause, they have a chance to follow your character's side, increasing their likeability!

3. Neutrality

Notice how this is a "morally gray" character, not a "completely evil" one. Why does this matter? Well, a trait people tend to overlook when writing these characters is the morally gray, or neutral, part. It's important to just occasionally show that your character is walking the fine line and in my opinion, a great way to achieve this is to have them help the protagonist out (instead of always fighting against them) one, or even two times!

4. Positive Characteristics

This is a very simple one, but make sure to depict a couple positive qualities (besides just being hot) of your character! Like my first point, it's pivotal to illustrate that they have some humanity, and this is an easy and great way!

Throw in a few good characteristics (I have a post with some examples of redeeming qualities for villains if you need some help), and let it show that they are still respectable!

5. Backstory

I believe that with certain characters that play certain roles in the story, explaining their backstory is a NEED for them; and this character type is no different! Introducing even a bit of their past can get the audience interested in your character. It also allows for better understanding of them and shows how they changed over time.

6. CONFIDENCE

Be confident in your skills when writing this character! To many, the idea of "cringeness" makes them second-guess how they should write. In reality, it's better to write it however you wish, because if you're confident in one moment and clearly less in another, the readers are able to sense any unexpected changes in things in your character's tones, expressions, and actions.

It's important to keep your character in, well, character. Still, there's going to be a few moments that break it, but it shouldn't be in any unnatural way.

If your character is flirty, then let them act flirty. If they mess around a lot, then let them mess around. Don't limit their actions or words just because you think some people might find it cringe!

Alright, that's it for me! What do you think? Are they valid or unreasonable?

Happy writing~

3hks <3

[genderqueerdykes]

i want to see more asexual, aromantic & aspectrum representation this year during pride month 2024. we've been made to feel like we're not queer at all, and when we are seen as queer, we are pushed to the VERY bottom of the priority list, seen as not as queer as others, or not a priority because we do not suffer from any kind of oppression.

i want to break the silence on this matter this year. even if an aspectrum person isn't affected by any sort of societal oppression, they still deserve to have a space to talk about how they experience their identity. having a complicated relationship or no relationship at all with romantic feelings and relationships in a society that guilt trips people into developing romantic relationships starting in their teens is not in line with our societal view of what is "normal" and "correct". constantly being told that you "haven't found the right one" is harassment.

Not experiencing sexual attraction, refusing to have sex, or having a complicated relationship with sexual feelings is 100% queer and outside of the norm in a sex-obsessed society that guilt and mocks people for not having experienced it, and at the worst of time, forces it on people, telling them that they'll have a changed opinion of they just experienced it for themselves. being guilted or forced into interacting with sexual media or having friends try to force you into sleeping with someone is harassment and assault.

having a complicated relationship with gender that results in someone feeling agender, whether they have no gender at all, or have a gender that feels partially agender and partially another gender often results in someone being told they're confused, or have no idea what they're talking about. many people refuse to acknowledge someone who totally lacks a gender identity, or identifies with gender neutrality.

aplatonic people are frequently told they are losers, or just have anxiety or are experiencing their feelings due to depression or something similar. aplatonic people are told they do not understand their own feelings, when it is a very valid experience to not experience platonic feelings or have a very complicated relationship with them that leads one to feel happier not engaging in those relationships.

these are very real issues aspectrum people face. even if an aspec person doesn't face these problems, they are still queer. they are still aromantic, asexual, agender, aplatonic, or some other like of aspec. you don't get to tell them how they experience their identity, and you don't get to tell them they're not queer or don't experience hardships and denial of their identity. i want to see more people talking about and accepting these identities in 2024. no more pushing aspectrum people to the back, we are here in the front with everyone else, shouting alongside you. we all deserve to be heard- including asexuals, aromantics, agender people, aplatonic people and other aspectrum folks. we are all shouting for our rights together. let's shout for each other, too.

[ckret2]

i know you're reading the book rn, but i need to know is it true that bill has a redemption arc??? and that billford is canon??? I HAVENT GOTTEN MY COPY YET BUT IM SEEING OTHER PEOPLES COMMENTS AND POSTS ABOUT IT I NEED TO KNOW😭

As of the end of the book, Bill is in the process of being forced into a redemption arc. Please understand that I say that like "the airplane is in the process of being forced into a shoebox." It's not successful thus far and might never be successful from what the book presents. But the road is offered to him.

In my opinion, Bill & Ford's relationship is being written like a (mostly one-sided) romantic relationship (from Bill toward Ford), with multiple in-text parallels between how Bill talks about romance and how Bill interacts with Ford, and I believe the romantic coding is deliberate. I have not yet read something that explicitly verifies Romantic Emotions Are Happening and I don't expect to.

Like, we're at a point where Bill crushing on Ford has less textual support than Dipper crushing on Wendy, but more textual support than Tyler Cutebiker crushing on Manly Dan, and maybe even more textual support than whatever thing Dipper & Pacifica have going on.

It's left open-ended enough that you CAN go "Bill's just platonically obsessed with Ford and platonically trying to 'seduce' him and platonically heartbroken when Ford rejects their partnership after learning what Bill's up to." That is still an option. But this is some INCREDIBLY heavy romantic subtext.

At this point, "there's no romantic feelings on anybody's part here" is no longer the most default/neutral reading of Bill & Ford; it's gotta be, like, a choice. A choice that remains valid within the canon text, but still a choice.

So not "canon" as in "the word love is brought up between them" or "they were in a relationship," but "canon" as in "I believe wholeheartedly that the writer's intent was to make us think about a (toxic) romantic relationship when reading these scenes, whether or not such a relationship ever took place." The text doesn't quite go there, but it openly invites you to go there if you want.

I firmly believed the book wouldn't be any more billfordish than the show & J3 were—just some light, probably unintentional subtext. It completely blew past my expectations.

[breelandwalker]

Marks of growth as a person and practitioner in witchcraft spaces:

-not feeling the need to constantly correct others

-knowing when and how to offer a dissenting viewpoint

-being content to disagree without engaging in debate

-fact-checking information before passing it along or incorporating it into your practice

-questioning your assumptions and decolonizing your thinking

-understanding that no two practices are the same and that the experiences and opinions of others do not need to govern your path

-understanding that practices not your own or contrary to your own can still be valid

-being able to describe your current beliefs without putting down others or defaulting to discussions about religious trauma

-focusing on comprehension, learning, and exploration rather than consumption

-understanding that "witch" is a gender neutral term and that anyone can be a witch if they choose to

-understanding that safety is more important than visibility

-understanding that magical practice does not have to be constant

-Developing personal beliefs and practices that may align with existing traditions but may not match them precisely

-Developing a reliable bullshit detector and employing it regularly

-Diminished desire for constant validation from outside sources as to whether you're "doing it right"

-diminished desire to overshare or aestheticize your practices, instead focusing on what works for you rather than what looks pretty enough for social media

-diminished desire to Do All The Things At Once and instead focusing on the areas where you are comfortable / interested and taking things at a reasonable pace

-being aware of the problems in the community and doing your best to not contribute to them

-being aware of the New Age pipeline and staying out of it as much as possible

-embracing science and history and common sense alongside magical learning and spiritual beliefs (if you have them)

There are lots of others, but these are some of the ones I've noted in my own journey. Just some things to consider.

Happy Witching and Keep Growing!

[sh0tanzz]

How about doing Riize green flags 😚

you have thankfully given me a reason to post this draft instead of procrastinating 😭😭

RIIZE GREEN FLAGS/PROS based on astrology ~

reminder this is based off of MY opinions of their birth chart placements + aspects and is not exact fact unless I knew them myself and I am not a professional astrologer

Shotaro

values including people for example in a group discussion if you haven’t said your piece yet he’d ask “what do you think” to make sure you know your opinion is also valid + important

private, reserved and relatively humble, doesn’t put all attention onto himself and isn’t overly cocky, doesn’t air his business out to everyone

cherishes loyalty and sees it as an important value

very attentive and observant of others, pays attention to people’s habits and gets to know them like the back of his hand

Eunseok

emotionally grounded and leveled, understands making decisions off of feelings alone can lead to consequences or mistakes

independent and can handle being alone, isn’t clingy and overly dependent can handle his own responsibilities

practices being rational and practical, understands the subjective and objective twist to things and needing to level them

calm yet witty, isn’t overly forward but is able to assert himself with charm without being overbearing or too much to handle

Sungchan

friendly and kind, likes to make a good lasting impression with people and likes to be on good or at least neutral terms with people

extremely into self improvement and becoming an optimal version of himself (working out, self help, etc)

enjoys being useful and of purpose/service to others, likes to provide and brings things to the table

empathetic/sympathetic, somewhat tapped into his more emotional and sensitive side and is very aware of his feelings and the feelings of others

Wonbin

extremely truthful and honest or at the very least..has an extremely hard time lying and being dishonest to others 😭

has very prominent and potent creative and artistic ability, likes to create things on his own and likes his creations to be original

can settle and indulge in the more basic things in life or appreciates the mundane and comfortable, the type to appreciate a good nap or something like that

very set within his own morals or motivations and can at least stand his ground in a more opinionated sense

Seunghan

sweet and personable, despite being introverted he knows how to interact with others in a manner that can make them comfortable or at ease

affectionate, both physically and verbally, dotes on and compliments those that he cares about

finds importance in fairness, thinks that what’s given should be reciprocated or for there to be a sense of equality or 50/50

likes to make others around him feel good or important, a hype man or very supportive even

Sohee

an optimist. prefers to see and value the good in things and stay on the positive side, a more “glass is half full” personality/mindset

takes pride in his craft and nurtures it, practices and is very stubborn and constant when it comes to improvement of his talents

blunt and honest, feels that speaking the truth is the best and that speaking what’s on your mind is the best choice in most situations

enjoys trying new things and viewing things outside of his own mind/lense

Anton

mentally stimulating, likes communicating and knowing/learning different bouts of information and opinions (lowkey a yapper 😭)

ambitious yet careful, goes after what he wants with all that he’s got but won’t take a risk unless it’s calculated and he knows the possible outcomes

can/chooses to take care of himself, similar to eunseok he can handle being alone and isn’t too dependent on others

protective and caring to his loved ones, takes the matters of the people he loves seriously and is willing to defend and protect them

[valar-did-me-wrong]

The Orc family hate has finally broke me guys, so here's me ranting..

Someone I read on reddit today said correctly that (paraphrased here with tons of my own opinion added) these ROP Haters™ were initially all happy & excited with the show announcement pre character introductions. It was all well & good for them till the day ROP announced Ismael as an elf & Galadriel, a woman as the lead. Then these people got furious!

But most didn't want to bring forth or face their internalised misogyny & racism fueling this sentiment, so it became their life goal to dig into the legendarium to find points & tiny side notes to use to drag the show & justify the hate they were feeling.

From actively overlooking the meaning of 'Adaptation', to painting Newline Cinema & Warner Brothers as charity organizations unlike Amazon, to making PJ's story canon OVER Tolkien's, to digging up dirt on the producers being religious hence implying (pre premiere btw) that the show is pure christian propaganda... no stones were left unturned by varying varieties of ROP Haters™ who were all united at the pale white European elves & delicate feminine background character Galadriel front. All of which the rage bait youtubers utilise against ROP to this date!

Well this succeeded in affecting public sentiment during season 1 because the show was a little Tolkienian in pacing with characters & world building, along with the humongous Rights Problem & people being generally wary of prequels.

But by mid-end of Season 1 to now; despite the review bombing & all efforts for the past 2 years, neutral people started to watch the show themselves & realised one by one that it wasn't actually a disappointment as they were promised. It grew on some people without Hate in their heart & biases filling their minds! Hence the views & the positive comments grew, infuriating the Haters™ & fueling their mindless bullying.

Yet still these people were pretty sucessfully hiding behind their canon excuse untill The Orc Baby.

The Orc Family Hate & it's unhinged justification via convoluting the basic essence of LOTR; it shattered the illusion hiding what these ROP Haters™ are at their core.. just people desperate to destroy a thing that isn't in line with Their worldview. Because in their head the story is Theirs, the only valid interpretation is what They grew up watching & hence it owes Them to be made exactly how They deem correct!

Willing to distort a dead guy's life work to absolve themselves of their unjust hate & get a free pass to feel morally superior doing so!

Unhinged comments claiming the essence of Tolkien's writings is the existence of purely black & white differentiation of good & evil in his world!! Each one of them sounding like regurgitations from some youtuber's video who watched PJ's trilogy at 1.5× solely to farm hate veiws.

Frothing at the mouth over a 5 sec clip! Demanding a world where a whole race can be hated without using critical thinking; these are the same people who used to scream before last week that the reason they can't give ROP a chance is because ` They cannot watch a show without critical thinking `

Embarrassing hills these Haters™ keep dying on tbh

Haters™ does not equate honest critiques btw.. Haters™ are the delulu, moral superiority complex driven, hate stalkers of ROP. The show has faults & you can obviously point then out without being these people :)