#this might not be coherent im tired

[pbpsbff]

crazy how “genocide is bad” is a controversial take to some ppl these days

[brother-emperors]

ladies of the conspiracy

porcia and tertulla! I have some thoughts about their appearances in the scraps of the historical conspiracy that are visible (since it's like. the nature of conspiracy, even one as widely known and studied as the one leading up to the assassination of caesar, means that there's a gap in visibility with the details etc) that I'll have to try and pin down later, but for now, I think we should give them a dagger too

Brutus, the Noble Conspirator, Kathryn Tempest

Junia too, the niece of Cato, wife of Caius Cassius and sister of Marcus Brutus, died this year, the sixty-fourth after the battle of Philippi. Her will was the theme of much popular criticism, for, with her vast wealth, after having honourably mentioned almost every nobleman by name, she passed over the emperor. Tiberius took the omission graciously and did not forbid a panegyric before the Rostra with the other customary funeral honours. The busts of twenty most illustrious families were borne in the procession, with the names of Manlius, Quinctius, and others of equal rank. But Cassius and Brutus outshone them all, from the very fact that their likenesses were not to be seen.

Tacitus, Annals III.76

[happyk44]

Jason and Thalia: It's about right or wrong.

Percy: It's about if they brought it upon themselves.

Nico and Hazel: It's about right or wrong and if they brought it upon themselves.

[beastrambles]

Sometimes it doesn't matter how many times people try and drill it into your head, some things only click when you're scrambling around, frantically throwing together a protection jar to shake off a nasty curse that the ingredients don't matter.

Magic is Intent.

Sure, some things have become so deeply woven into common beliefs that it is difficult to remove those associations (salt=protection, pink/red=love, etc. etc.)

But in the end, it doesn't matter.

Humans like to have systems and guidelines to follow to make their work simpler, that's just what we do.

So it makes sense that we have assigned certain attributes/meanings/purposes to different things to make witchcraft, well, easier (see: crystal charts, spice/plant uses, color theory, and so forth).

One of my biggest gripes for the longest time was about how people seemed dead set on "ingredients" having specific/limited uses, and to use them otherwise was foolish. Which! Never made sense to me! But until recently, I lacked the right words to explain this frustration.

But honestly? I can't be mad about it any more. Fuck, sure, why not, salt is useful for preservation and keeping unwanted pests away, so yeah, it's good for protection.

It's much easier to do work with a few tokens of meaning than try and do everything with only mental effort (speaking for myself)- having physical objects to represent your intent can help tenfold. Doesn't matter if people don't have the same associations with those tokens as you- only your intent matters.

[theminecraftbox]

c!Wilbur and c!Tommy’s relationship was extremely codependent and that kind of bleeds into the clingy relationship after c!Wilbur died. The fandom likes to frame the discduo relationship as an extremely abusive and codependent relationship but in reality that was what the crimeboys relationship was. There’s also a sense of c!Wilbur constantly taking from c!Tommy and the other constantly giving both physically and emotionally to c!Wilbur. To the point I think c!Wilbur not apologizing to c!Tommy for the damage he caused yet making a fuss about the damage c!Dream caused was absolutely terrible and solidified my hatred for the character.

strongly agree / agree / ambivalent / disagree / strongly disagree / don’t care whatsoever

oh for SURE for sure. c!crimeboys + the abuse that shaped that codependency is like, essential to understanding c!tommy. and c!Wilbur for that matter.

It honestly reminds me a lot of certain fandom attitudes towards SPN Sam and Dean, in that there’s this need to explain away or refuse to recognize types of abuse where there’s tangible love present from both parties—as if the positive aspects of a relationship erase or negate the bad, as if multiple things can’t be true at once, and as if the only Real depiction of abuse has to involve mustache-twirling villainy. [Something something in this essay about the dsmp fandom and the SPN fandom I will]

Though I would clarify that I don’t hate c!Wilbur for condemning the damage from c!Dream, I think it’s a) totally in character and b) a fair response given that c!Wilbur isn’t like—being intentionally disingenuous about his love for c!Tommy. Like Dream hurt Tommy and Wilbur’s mad, I don’t think that’s a completely unreasonable response; even if Wilbur had the self-awareness and maturity at that very instant to realize and apologize for his responsibility for Tommy’s damage, that doesn’t, like, outlaw his eligibility to still be pissed at Dream. Wilbur is of course terrible to Tommy in Inconsolable Differences, and it is telling and fascinating that he’s trying to use Dream as an instrument of sort-of apology and recompense for Tommy.

[ghostlyheart]

I never expected this to be the season that really highlighted Nadja and Guillermo's friendship but I'm so happy it was. Them physically protecting each other was amazing, but in the last few episodes of the season she really goes out of her way to defend him from both the Baron and Nandor even though she disagrees with his choice. That scene of them in the motel together is short, but it says so much. She gives him the lecture about protecting his sire not for Derek's sake but because she's worried about Guillermo and she's trying to give him some of the important vampiric lessons that he's missed out on because his turning was abnormal. I wish we had gotten to see the rest of their conversation play out before she left because it seemed like she was empathizing with him about how complicated relationships can be once you turn into a vampire and learning to accept those consequences. She takes on an almost big-sister-like role with Guillermo where she acts annoyed but also secretly cares very deeply and is trying to help him learn from her own experiences.

The entire household has grown closer to Guillermo this season, but for me his and Nadja's relationship is special because I feel like she's the one who has held him at arms length for the longest. Last season, their dynamic changed because he became the nightclub's accountant, but in situations where she helped him, she always fell back on the excuse that it was in her own self-interest. She could have abandoned Guillermo at urgent care, told Nandor his secret in order to minimize the fallout for herself, not gone to visit Guillermo or advocate for him to Nandor, etc., but now she puts herself in those risky situations because she cares.

Woven through this season there are bits and pieces about her early life and how her turning ended up being kind of a traumatic experience. She mentioned last season that she watched most of her family die (and at another point that she was the only one of her siblings to survive). In "Local News" and "Hybrid Creatures" she talks about being forced to leave Antipaxos and the only place she ever really felt at home. The fact that she was so desperate to escape when they thought they were exposed on the news, even if that meant going without the others, speaks to her being afraid of leaving herself vulnerable. Unlike Laszlo, she also doesn't seem to have many connections outside of her housemates until she begins visiting with the Antipaxos family. I think all that amounts to her being wary of trusting people or letting in others outside her relatively small circle because she's experienced the danger of getting too attached. It's taken her over a DECADE to warm up to Guillermo, but as she becomes comfortable reconnecting with her culture and her human past with the Antipaxons, it makes sense that she would start to let her guard down with him as well. I think Laszlo's comment in the finale about vampires having a difficult time expressing their emotions externally ties in well with this. Nadja is a very expressive person, but when it comes to displaying her emotional closeness with others, it comes across a lot more subtlely. Nadja's arc didn't have the clearest throughline this season, and the hex plot itself didn't really spur much development from her, but I feel like it ultimately led to moments that demonstrate how she forms relationships and the ways in which that's informed by her past.

[butchdykecxck]

my femme doesn't need to be dominant or submissive or a top or a bottom or hyper feminine, they don't need to be a caretaker or a provider or a lover or a fighter or an attack dog or a dainty kitten, they don't need to be hard or soft or dainty or demure or anything because they don't NEED to be anything they just need to be. That's enough

[endious]

roommate jeff who jerks off over your sleeping form. it was so easy to unlock your bedroom door and sneak in without you ever realizing. the sight of your frilly panties as you kick the blanket off yourself in your sleep makes him squeeze his cock tighter in his hand imagining it was your tight pussy instead. and in the morning you’d never even know your roommate had done such a thing in the first place and you’d sit on the couch and question why the guy you went on a date with last night has suddenly disappeared is seen as missing on the news.

[noisytenant]

i've thought of this a lot before, but there's not, like, a measurable limit to how much a person can suffer (or not suffer). ultimately you have to decide how much you're going to take--though you don't always have the level of control to have the final say.

i think a lot about how people describe "breaking points" and so on, but i think of "low" points in my life as asymptotic. you think it can't get worse but it does, it continues to, and all the same it's not that much worse than it's already been; it's already saturated, you've already had enough. but you also continue to go forward.

it's broadly hard to even plot any of my experiences on a positive-negative scale. but i have certainly had harder and easier times, and during the "hardest" times i felt like i was at risk of losing my faculties. but i realized that i wouldn't lose them, at least not enough to relinquish me of the responsibility of deciding whether i keep going or stop the next day.

sometimes the bodymind starts actually breaking down from stress, but the breaking point is different for everyone, and manifests in different ways. unless you experience the exceedingly rare case of, like, surprise fatal heart attack, you still have to be the one to call it quits yourself.

basically, it's entirely arbitrary, but it's helpful to define these points, because you need it to know when to change tactics. but it kills me how it requires me to self-determine against The Laws Of Nature

[b3nnyrabb1t]

Scrawny by Wallows is such a good song and also so very Benny Weir. Benny Weir is a character who is pretty skinny and weak and pretty scrawny as long as scrawny doesn't include shortness as a qualifier, and he's obsessed with his hair and validation and he's a dick. He's offensive and a dick and he's desperate for validation, that's why he tries to avoid and cut off Rory. That's why he wants to join the hockey team. That's why he latches on to the idea of David wanting to be his and Ethan's friend. Status and validation. He's an offensive dick who just wants people to like him and he's got fears and issues (and is absolutely the most cowardly of the group) and that is exactly the vibe of Scrawny by Wallows (and matches very well with a lot of the lyrics.) So there.

[theguardianace]

sits down in front of you. dump all your wxs event leaks on me im also procrastinating on hw i wat to hear all of it

ok. so

this will definitely change once we get the event summary tomorrow, but my gut reaction based on the nene's card where tsukasa gets in a fight with sakurako, thus leading to him not being able to participate in the show in some capacity, explaining why he seems to be watching a play on the phoenix stage in more formal attire with such a pained look. if this is the case, it would provide both wonderlands x showtime with the feeling of actually performing without tsukasa and a full troupe, and for tsukasa, what it feels like to leave them. (this would hurt a lot). good ending for the event then would be they realize seperation would genuinely hurt them all so much so for the time remaining, cherish it all. cherish the stage you have and let it take you as far as possible.

a lot of the phrasing for this event seems to revolve around phoenixes, so i'm guessing the play will most likely have that as the theme. phoenixes represent rebirth. in a way, isn't that what tsukasa has been doing all this time? a phoenix will rise from it's ashes. in tsukasa's case, his ashes may well be his forgetfulness. in the main story, it was his forgotten desire to make people smile, to bring joy to his sister. once he truly remembered his feelings, it did almost seem as if he 'rebirthed' himself, in a way. he was still the same ol tsukasa, but he was more aware of the feelings of those around him, arrogant but less cocky, able to sacrifice some of his ambition for the greater good. over the course of wxs seperation arc, it feels like he's forgetting these things again. he's starting to become soley focused on stardom again, albeit differently- he's looking for ways to grow as an actor, but he's overlooking the stage he currently stands on and the people he's standing with. something about working with the phoenix stage might make him realize this and potentially set another "reset" in the more metaphorical sense? the most important thing to tsukasa is family. will he finally realize wxs is family, too? this is pretty loose conjecture though.

i really love the symbolism of the rocking horse. tsukasa is the pegasus guy. loves comparing himself to one. pegasus are mythical and beautiful and ultimately free. they can soar as high as they want, go wherever their heart takes them. tsukasa wants to reach the stars! he wants to go to wherever he can get even better, even higher. but the rocking horse is grounded. it can't go very far, if at all. right now, tsukasa is stuck where he is, rocking between a decision- a dream and a home.

The strings he's tied to in the trained card sort of play into that feeling of "stuck". sure, the standard meaning of marionette strings are manipulation and control. imprisioned marrionette used that very well to show how mafuyu, and by extent nightcord, isn't in control of their own being. it's different here, though. we can't see what tsukasa's strings are attached to. they almost seem to be holding him down to the ground below- to the wonder stage.

the light in the eyes is a pretty common thing people point out, but i really love the way it's done in this set. emu's the only one with any light, pretty much. nene's acknowledged the fact wxs won't last forever. it's something she's aware of, but to her, it's still in the far future. rui? the thought of leaving this troupe physically pains him. he knows they'll leave. he almost left! but this is the only home he's ever known. he can't lose it that easily, no matter how much he tries. and tsukasa? well, this is his event, isn't it? he wants to go past the wonder stage, but can he truly let this troupe go? emu, though. she knows they'll all leave. she knows that by pushing her friends towards their dreams, she'll eventually push them away from her. she knows that. but she knows it's ok.

the placement of the tear marks seem to be significant, too. both rui and emu have theirs on the same side. the two who dream, but who can't leave because of them. nene and tsukasa have them on the other side. the two that dream, but who must leave because of them. it's also interesting that rui, nene, and emu have three tear drops leading to a star, but the star has his star creating the tear.

less of an analysis with meaning, but the costumes seem to reflect their standard stage outfits and the props standard wxs imagery. tsukasa's coat, emu's dress, nene's ribbon, rui's coat and bowtie. the triangle ribbon banner, the chick plushies, the confetti, the pins

i don't know if you've seen the music video for the song yet, but there's a scene in it where tsukasa sits on the cresent moon holding a bunch of balloons. the balloons have various symbols and references to past wonderlands x showtime events. it's hard to tell with the low quality of the game size, but ones i could see so far were rui's hat from wonder halloween, the plane from pop! in my heart, and presents from the christmas show. tsukasa is looking at those balloons fondly and has the strings wrapped around his finger. he does truly value wxs. he loves the memories he's made, the places they've gone, the growth they've found. the strings are long, though. you can't see them when tsukasa is just sitting there on the moon (which, when you think about it, isnt' that pretty close to the stars?). they're there, but they seem distant, somehow. balloons are fragile things, too. one wrong move, and they'll all float away....

anyways that's what i have right now!! i cannot wait for this event it will hurt so so so so so much but i have the sinking feeling it will end up ok. also mr showtime is such a good song. it's so cute. the animation is wonderful, somehow combining the darker vibes of this set with a standard wonderlands x showtime flare. it's catchy, and despite the event seeming like the pinnacle of wxs seperation arc, it's the most unified they've been in a com. also tsukasa sounds so good. i'm usually pretty neutral on his vocals, but he really really shines in this one.

[thiscatiscreepy]

Russia's opposition to Israel is not at all contradictory with the ongoing war in Ukraine actually. As someone who lives here, I can confidently guess that the opposition comes from Russia being 1. anti-West and 2. antisemitic.

Anti-West thing is pretty self-explanatory. It the West likes something, it's bad, be it colonialism or gay rights.

Russians are also Incredibly antisemitic. Swastikas and jokes about Hitler are commonplace, and anything related to Judaism on the Internet is met with antisemitism and, as I saw several times, photos of a smiling Hitler. Russia Loves priding itself on fighting against Nazi Germany during WWII, but everyone hates Jewish people and, Again, treats symbols of the third Reich as jokes.

There's a bus stop in my town that has a drawing of a simplistic figure stretching its arm out to call a bus, that has been drawn into Hitler, swastika and mustache. They were only scraped off by hand on May 9 (Victory Day) when people remembered that they're supposed to be against this shit.

A common way of saying you don't want to spend money on something is "being a Jew" btw.

So it was no surprise when antisemitism increased drastically since October 7. Just recently a group of people in Dagestan (a republic with a major Muslim population) infiltrated a plane to Israel to harass Jewish people. Russians authorities claim that Ukraine had a part in the organisation of it, of course.

Obviously, I'm not saying that only Jewish people suffer from more hate crimes because of the current events. Both Jewish and Muslim people were widely hated in the rest of the world already, and seeing an oppressed group killing another oppressed group is a great excuse to harass either or both of these groups.

[uchimakis]

been seeing so much unnecessary bi mike slander on my dash recently. sometimes selfcare is blocking 15 people and going into the bi mike tag for an hour <3

[estrangedandwayward]

Omg I got a comment I forgot how nice those are now I'm all smiley

[liviz223]

It's so interesting how people can acknowledge a post about how vaccinations in Gaza are a good thing and to not spread antivax rhetoric (the vaccinations are a very good thing) but cannot acknowledge anything about the hostages being kept there or about antisemitism...

Mind you, the International Red Cross hasn't visited the hostages like they would if most of the hostages weren't Jewish, released and rescued hostages have said they hadn't gotten any medication from them, and the IRC has refused to answer hostage families when questioned about it or given non-answers.

If you find yourself only acknowledging one side of this idk maybe you just can't find the humanity in the other? Maybe it's a double standard. Maybe it's dehumanization.

Ask yourself why. Reflect a little.

[ghost-hours]

I'd normally be really excited about the Met Gala and want to draw for it but it's hard to feel anything but disgust. I think of Ilya Kaminsky's poem