#victimises awe

[ssaalexblake]

Gotta give Joe props for his line delivery here because he’s managed to make the cursing Rossi’s doing sound deeply invasive and uncomfortable because uh... Rossi’s not doing gr8 and is using more decorative language to insult somebody. Whereas the rest of them are just using swear words to add emphasis to things. And damn the difference is obvious. 

[une-sanz-pluis]

Beaufort historians be normal about Margaret Holland's marriage to Thomas Duke of Clarence challenge.

Challenge failed since 1988.

[nunap]

Some of yall tryna make hyunjin look like he's the most unprivileged forgotten 4th Gen idol are really funny

[theworldgate]

I have to explain what is going on in the UK, because it is absurd.

So, this is Gary Lineker:

He's known for a fair few things over here. He was a very good (association) footballer, playing for England in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, winning the Golden Boot in 1986, and managing to never get a single yellow card in his playing career. He played for Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona, and Tottenham, before finishing his career in Japan. But if you aren't in your mid 30s, you probably know actually know him him for a couple of other things. The first is the role of spokesman for another Leicester icon, Walkers Crisps (which are sort of equivalent to Lays, but hit different), as pictured above. Despite being a notably clean player, he used to play a cheeky serial crisp thief. I don't think he's done that for well over a decade, but his ads were on the telly a lot when I was a kid and it's a bit like learning that the hamburglar was an incredibly clean (American) football player or something.

The second thing Gary is widely known for is having presented Match of the Day, the big football program on the BBC, the sort-of state broadcaster, since 1999. He is, incidentally, very well paid for this (though with a consensus that he could get even more if he went to one of the non-free-to-view broadcasters because he is very good at the job). He also has a twitter account. And political opinions. So, the UK government has got itself dead set upon doing heinous stuff that will totally somehow work to prevent people who want to come to the UK making the perilous crossing of the Channel (between England and France). By heinous, I mean "openly advertise that they won't attempt to protect victims of modern slavery" stuff. It's very obviously using a legal hammer to victimise a marginalised group of people in order to win votes. And, uh, I should clarify that by "legal" I mean "using the passage of laws" - the policy is, in addition to all the other ways it's awful, probably incompatible with the Human Rights Act and the UK's international law obligations. Gary, top lad that he is, objected to this. On Tuesday 7th March, he made a quote Tweet of a video of the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, bigging up the policy, he wrote "Good heavens, this is beyond awful.". This got a bunch of backlash from extremely right-wingers, and then he made the tweet that really got him in trouble (with right-wingers): "There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?".

Now, I am not actually subjecting myself to watching a video of Suella Braverman bigging up a cruel policy to say whether the specific comparison of the language to 1930s Germany is accurate. But needless to say, Ms Braverman was amongst the many figures on the right of UK politics objecting to Gary's rhetoric. And here's the part where a fact about the BBC comes in: it is nominally neutral and impartial (and so, of course, is routinely accused of bias from all sides but particularly the right-wing), and has something of a code for its contributors to this effect. Now, that code has previously been applied to Gary Lineker, over a comment about whether governing Conservative Party would hand back donations from figures linked to the Russian regime. But it generally hasn't been applied too strongly to people like Gary, whose roles have nothing to do with politics (such as presenting a "here's what happened on the footie today" show), on the basis that, well, their roles have nothing to do with politics. However, when directly asked about whether the BBC should punish Gary Lineker for his tweets, government figures basically went "well, that's a them problem". But a couple of days passed, and it seemed like Gary's approach of "standing his ground because he did nothing wrong" was working and everything would die down. He was set to get 'a talking to' but not much more than that. The Conservative right, after all their fire and fury earlier, had gotten bored and moved onto something else. And then, on Friday 10th March, the BBC announced that he would be suspended from hosting Match of the Day this weekend. But it could still go ahead, because there are, like, other hosts! Except, well, funnily enough, when you take a beloved figure off air, for making a fairly anodyne tweet, no one wants to be the scab who actually takes up the role of replacing him. Gary's two co-hosts, Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, said that they would not appear without him. People who (co-)host Match of the Day on other days followed suit. The net result is that Match of the Day is currently set to air without hosts, BBC commentary, or global feed commentary. And the solidarity shown to Gary Lineker, over what is very flagrantly actual cancel culture and an attack on freedom of speech (the logic implied is that institutional impartiality requires that no one say anything too critical of the government ever), has continued to grow. The BBC has pretty much been unable to run pretty much any live sports content today, and has resorted to raiding the BBC Sounds archive to fill the sports radio channel. And, as of 17:30 on Saturday 11th March, the situation shows no signs of improvement, though some are calling for the Chairman Richard Sharp, who is separately facing corruption allegations, to resign (yes I linked to the BBC itself there, there is nothing, nothing, the BBC loves more than going into great detail about how much the BBC sucks).

[sflow-er]

August's story is not "good boy turned bad at Hillerska" but something so much more complicated.

I've been thinking a lot about August and the revelations in S3. About how Erik and co played an even bigger role in his indoctrination and development into a toxic mess of a young man than I had imagined - but how it's also important to remember that didn't happen in a vacuum.

The new information doesn't cancel out the old, it just completes it.

August will have still grown up in the highly patriarchal, misogynist, elitist system of the aristocracy, with a very specific view of the world and his place in it. Idolising his father, whose tux he is fittingly wearing when he gets "awarded" the bad boy trophy. A man who taught him by example that death was preferable to failure - and seemingly turned him against his mother, as we could infer from S1E3. A mother who then essentially dumped him off at Hillerska after his father's death and left him feeling like the only woman in his life failed to support them both.

It's precisely these kinds of views, values and experiences from his early life that will have primed him for the culture of abuse at Hillerska (which his father will have also attended back in the day). Made him so desperate for the older boys' approval, vulnerable to their abuse, and susceptible to the awful patterns they impressed upon him. Erik and the others' part in messing him up is horrible and bigger than we thought, but that doesn't cancel out his parents' part any more than his own victimhood excuses his victimisation of others. He's got many intersecting and partially overlapping cycles to break, and I really hope we see him take more steps down that road on Monday.

I may write a longer meta post on him after the finale. For now, though, I'm just going to engage in some shameless self-promo and point to my old analysis post with more thoughts on his upbringing and worldview as well as the backstory one-shot I wrote in the run-up to S3. (It's set two and a half years before his arrival at Hillerska and focuses on his father's horrible influence, as well as his parents' marriage as a possible model for his seemingly contradicting views of women and romance. It remains compatible with canon apart from a few details - please check the tags for content warnings, though).

[halalchampagnesocialist]

A question I've had for the past 3 months is that... if Israel believes that what it is doing is correct and just, not just in Gaza but in the grand scheme of things, then why does it continuously lie? Why does it feel the need to constantly twist things and produce (awful) propaganda? Better yet, why does it feel the need to set up paid propaganda units? Furthermore, why does it feel like it needs to go to extreme lengths to silence pro-Palestinians such as censoring them and getting them fired from their jobs? The answer really is obvious to anyone familiar with Israel's tactics. It's about domination, whether that's on the ground, or domination of narratives. It's about silencing Palestinians and disempowering us and our allies. It's about perpetuating constant self-victimisation. It's also the simple fact that if what you were doing was in fact moral and just, you would not need to spend billions countering pro-Palestine rhetoric and advocacy.

[lizzie-queenofmeigas]

“Harwin forced Rhaenyra to become pregnant” but on a serious note how can he force her exactly? She’s in the position of power and he’s not her husband, if she doesn’t want to have sex with him he can’t make her, if she doesn’t want kids he can’t force her. They have taken a relationship where for once the woman is in control instead of the man and managed to twist it into another story about a victimised woman.

Why are Rhaenicents so obsessed with making Alicent and Rhaenyra the ultimate victims but then turn around and insist Helaena wasn’t abused by her husband???

Because to admit that Helaena was abused by Aegon is pretty much to admit how awful Aegon is. Is admitting that Alicent knows what happens to her daughter and does nothing. Is admitting that Aemond stands by while his sister is abused by their brother. It would be admitting how rotten all of the Greens are and TG loves to downplay their bullshit.

[politicalprocrastinator]

Always fight back. It's awful how many people are being victimised in the UK by the forces of fascism, patriarchy, and cisheternomativity. Stay safe everyone. (Source)

[that-ari-blogger]

The Cycle Continues (Protocol)

Protocol is an episode about the underling. The person victimised by abuse, and the point at which they break. Its an episode about loyalty and where that goes right and where it goes wrong.

The episode has a few scenes that are rich with storytelling and analytical potential, and those scenes are some of the best in the series.

It’s also an exploration of characters who haven’t had the spotlight before. Light Hope gets some backstory and character development that explores the concept of the robot in this context, and Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio get their priorities sorted.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

This episode is a box episode. The characters are trapped with each other and have to work out their differences. Adora is trapped with Light Hope. The Horde Mook Trio is stuck with each other.

This is usually the lowest budget of a live action series. The team has one or two locations to work with, and not many actors, so they put them together. But an animated series doesn't need to do this, because the budget for one location is the same as the budget for multiple locations, so it's a choice.

I want to stress that box episodes are some of my favourite episodes of television out there. Boom from the new series of Doctor Who is a box episode in which the eponym can't even move for the most part of the series.

Box episodes are limited, which leads to either amazing stories, or forgettable ones. There is no in between.

Protocol, by artificially making use of this format, gets all of the benefits of the characters being trapped together, with none of the limitations, which means its potential is really quite high.

This is Adora's poker face. This is it. She doesn't have another one. I wonder why people keep telling her she's an awful liar.

You would think that the title of Protocol has multiple meanings here, but it's actually exactly the same for all the characters. They are in a chain of command, and they are making a decision as to what to do. Do they follow the protocol, or do they do their own thing?

Starting with the Horde Mook Trio, the protocol is that one of them needs to go outside and fix the vehicle. The protocol says to prioritize the mission over themselves. The protocol does not care about them.

The Hord Mook Trio are in constant conflict with each other and with the protocol itself. Except, I don’t think that the two are separate, I think one causes the other.

She-Ra is a series about the cycle of abuse. That’s why the seasons are structured in such a repetitive fashion, and why the characters are the way they are. Even the villainous ones.

Catra is the obvious example, as a victim who lashes out in an attempt to feel powerful and therefore safe. But others fit this as well. Lonnie is mean to Kyle, for example, he is the butt of all the jokes and while I wouldn’t consider it abuse, the extent to which Lonnie takes out her anger on Kyle isn't the healthiest or most proportional.

Which leads to the protocol. Because what is a protocol but a set of instructions? An order given, a facet of the will of someone more powerful. In this case, the protocol is the hand of the Horde itself, and Catra who has become the face of it.

But I’ve talked too much about Catra in this post. More on her next season. For now, back the Horde Mook Trio.

I like to call this the Azula metaphor. Hair coming down over a character's face, especially when its asymmetrical, is a sign of diminishing sanity. It's a character action to put it back in place and regain composure. Hair as symbolism, Azula metaphor.

"I don't care. I gave you an order. Pick someone, send them outside, and fix it."

The trio exists in a setting that does not value their lives, and they react to it in different ways. Lonnie feels bottled up aggression that she can’t turn on her superiors, so she pushes it down on someone she perceives to be weaker than herself; Rogelio… well I don’t know much about him, I don’t speak lizard; and Kyle does something else. Kyle decides that if nobody will find his life meaningful, then he will, and he offers that mercy to his companions. It takes this episode for them to see it.

The trio are soldiers, they perceive the world in a might makes right system, and characters who are physically weak don’t mesh with that. But there are other forms of strength.

It takes strength to look at what you have been taught about the value of your own life, and to say “no”.

"Catra doesn't care about us. Adora left us. Everything they taught us in the Horde about loyalty is meaningless. Its everyone for themselves."

Loyalty is a fun concept, right? As a storytelling vehicle, there is so much you can do with it. Because it’s a completely amoral thing. Loyalty in this case is twofold and at odds with itself. Loyalty to one another or loyalty to the system.

The loyalty to each other is actively discouraged. They must send one person out to their probable death in order to further the goals of the Horde.

Alternatively, one of them can sacrifice themselves for the others, which is what Kyle does, and it’s the breaking point for Lonnie and Rogelio. Kyle cares about them more than the Horde does, and he nearly gets killed by the protocol.

Kyle hears Lonnie give a speech about how loyalty is meaningless, and selfishness is how to survive, and immediately proves her wrong. He acts selflessly to get them out, but he also makes them immediately try to protect him, against their better judgement.

Light Hope is a similar example of this. Because she’s a robot, she has programming. She has no personality other than that which was given to her. She is pure purpose.

This episode reveals that to be a lie. I’ve commented on Morla Gorrondona’s voice acting in the role before, mostly in how she manages to convey emotion through stoicism. But here we get a different take on the character, one more expressive and happier.

It reframes the previous performance a bit though, making the modern Light Hope seem repressed in comparison. The true version of herself was someone whom Adora could have befriended. Hold on to that thought for a moment.

This version of Light Hope claims to have no personality. That part of her "hasn't loaded yet", but in reality, she displays the richest sense of individuality she has had yet this series. She's fun, she's tricksy, she's oblivious. In other words, the "personality that hasn't loaded" is the personality that is acceptable. Also, this is a rare example of a story leaning into the neurodivergence coding to humanise its robot character. Maybe there's something about repression in that too.

The fact that Light Hope is a robot implies that she was made by someone, that being the First Ones, and we don’t really learn much about them except from what she tells us, and how she acts.

The Protocol made her forget her memories of Mara. Light Hope’s purpose could not exist with her own happiness. Light Hope was brought into this world by people who told her that her own life was not worth anything more than they decreed. In short, Light Hope too is a victim of abuse.

You may say “wait, Light Hope is a robot, she has a purpose. It's not denial of personhood if she never had it.” To this strawman, I answer the following: This episode shows Light Hope displaying autonomy and free thinking when disconnected from her programming. It shows seeking joy and learning new things. It shows Light Hope falling in love.

It shows emotions, reveling in learning a new thing, obvious sadness upon realising she's messed up, wonder at the sight of She-Ra.

It also shows her going against her code. She wants to help, she is kind. She finds the memory and goes looking for it to try and help. She's less perfect on a knowledge basis, but this version of the character makes up for it in effort. This character seems to want to help Adora rather than follow her instructions to the letter.

This episode shows Light Hope as a person, and then shows us her programming taking that away.

As a side note here, I keep describing what Shadow Weaver did to Catra and Adora as programming. She taught them specific responses to stimuli so she could control them. In the context of an autonomous person, that control is villainous. If we consider Light Hope to be an autonomous person as well, you will notice that this is exactly what the first ones did to her.

The scene at the end of Light Hope forgetting is her perpetuating her own misery. The only person who can hold up the protocol now is her, and yet she continues because it is all she has ever known.

You could say that this episode as a whole is a commentary on a system that prioritises stoicism and views emotion and attachment as a weakness and how that leads to abusive relationships. You could say that.

You could also say that this is an example of the self sabotaging nature of evil. By which I mean the villainy here, the abuse and the destruction of the memories to be more efficient and not get attached, not only harms the person perpetuating it, but it also hinders the goal.

Hey look. History repeating itself. Cyclical storytelling. It's almost as if I'm on to something with my analysis.

The happy version of Light Hope is one Adora can get attached to, someone she could befriend and trust. Just like Mara did. The end goal of this all was to earn Adora’s trust and make her into an obedient weapon, so that would have succeeded, right?

Except, that version of Light Hope would have got attached to Adora in return, just like it did with Mara, and judging by the present day. That didn’t end well.

Final Thoughts

Here is my hot take. This episode is one of the best episodes in the series… with the volume off.

This episode has some incredible visual sequences, and the storytelling is done so well through the animation alone. Adora is so well animated, Light Hope’s slight smile conveys her change of character so incredibly well.

But the dialogue is painfully redundant and that actively takes me out of the scene. With one exception, that being the scene with the flowers, almost every line in this episode feels like wasted space. The moment where the Horde Mook Trio try to save Kyle is undercut severely by the fact that they stop to tell you that Catra wants the armour kept safe.

Case and point, Rogelio’s speech is emotional and resonant, and nobody but Kyle and Lonnie can understand it. The emotion isn’t in the words but the reactions.

A lot of this comes from the fact that I don’t find any of the dialogue humour in this episode funny. Light Hope sideways is funny, Light Hope being silly about a bird is funny. You don’t have to point it out.

This episode goes out of its way to explain the plot beats and explain the jokes, and it doesn’t need to in order to get the point across.

If you want to prove my point, put on some music and watch the episode on silent. I recommend the soundtrack from Shadow Of The Collosus, but anything will do. It's amazing just the extent to which the entirety of the plot and humour can be done visually, and that the dialogue is really not necessary for either and, in my opinion, detracts from what was otherwise a genuinely brilliant episode of television.

Next week, I’ll be looking at the episode Princess Scorpia, and addressing a change in my own read of the character. So, stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

[firesnap]

people trying to immediately victimise tommy and shift the focus from the very real, awful abuse shubble went through to focus on speculative abuse tommy might have endured is so vile to me. especially considering who lexie's abuser is presumed to be. wilbur's abuse was rooted in misogyny, and honestly? protected by misogyny. you can't take that out of the context to be able to focus on your second white guy, in order to feel better about him not uttering a single word in support of shubble. as your post said, it's time to accept the possibility that tommy knew and did not see anything wrong enough with it to cut wilbur off.

IS THAT HAPPENING??

Tommy is ALSO friends with Wisp. I guess you could pull up clips of Wilbur and Tommy roughhousing and go "look we all should have known poor Tom someone save him." But when you've got two abusers in your friend circle you gotta start going "if ONE rotten apple spoils the whole barrel then what does TWO do??"

[vikinglanguage]

How to articulate your emotions in Danish

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD

Literal years ago, I got an ask about how to talk about emotions in Danish. I was never really entirely sure, what the person was asking about, but I recently had the idea to just flat out translate one of those "how to identify which emotion you're experiencing" charts. So here goes nothing

Please note: all of these are approximations, and a lot of the words that are used to describe the same general feeling are in fact more or less interchangeable, as is the case with the emotion chart.

This is the chart I used:

[ID in alt text]

bange - fearful

noun: frygt - fear

bange, frygtsom, ræd - scared hjælpeløs - helpless skræmt, rædselsslagen - frightened

nervøs, ængstelig - anxious overvældet - overwhelmed bekymret - worried

usikker - insecure utilstrækkelig - inadequate underlegen, mindreværdig - inferior

svag - weak værdiløs - worthless ubetydelig, betydningsløs - insignificant

afvist - rejected holdt udenfor, ekskluderet - excluded forfulgt - persecuted

truet - threatened nervøs - nervous udsat - exposed

sur - angry

noun: vrede - anger

skuffet, svigtet - let down forrådt - betrayed forurettet - resentful

ydmyget - humiliated ikke føle sig respekteret - feel disrespected gjort nar ad, latterliggjort - ridiculed

bitter - bitter forarget - indignant krænket - violated

vred - mad rasende - furious jaloux - jealous

aggressiv - aggressive provokeret - provoked hostile - fjendtlig

frustreret - frustrated arrig - infuriated irriteret - annoyed

fjern - distant tilbagetrukken/tilbagetrukket - withdrawn følelsesløs, følelsesforladt - numb

kritisk - critical skeptisk - sceptical affejende, afvisende - dismissive

frastødt - disgusted

noun: afsky - disgust

misbilligende - disapproving fordømmende - judgemental pinligt berørt - embarrassed

skuffet - disappointed forfærdet - appalled væmmes (verb, reflexive) - to be revolted e.g. jeg væmmes ved lugten af fisk 'I am revolted by the smell of fish'

frygtelig - awful kvalm - nauseated foragtelig - detestable

frastødt - repelled forfærdet - horrified tøvende - hesitant

ked af det - sad

noun: bedrøvelse, sorg - sadness, sorrow

såret - hurt flov - embarrassed skuffet - disappointed

deprimeret*, nedtryk - depressed mindreværdig - inferior tom, følelsesforladt - empty *while deprimeret like English depressed primarily should be used in relation to a medical diagnosis of depression, it is also used as a synonym of nedtrykt (literally ned 'down, de' + trykt 'pressed') in the vernacular

skyldig - guilty fortrydende, skyldbetynget, angerfuld - remorseful skamfuld - ashamed

fortvivlelse - despair adj: fortvivlet - despairing sorg - grief adj: sorgfuld, sorgramt, sørgende - grief-stricken, grieving magtesløs - powerless

sårbar - vulnerable gjort til offer, offergjort - victimised skrøbelig - fragile

ensom - lonely isoleret - isolated efterladt - abandoned

glad - happy

noun: glæde, lykke - happiness

legesyg, legende - playful ophidset - aroused fræk - cheeky

tilfreds - content fri - free lykkelig, glad - joyful

interesseret - interested nysgerrig - curious videbegærlig - inquisitive

stolt - proud succesfuld, succesrig - succesful selvsikker - confident

accepteret - accepted respekteret - respected værdsat - valued

stærk, magtfuld - powerful modig - courageous kreativ - creative

fredfyldt - peaceful kærlig - loving taknemmelig - thankful

tillidsfuld - trusting følsom, sensitiv - sensitiv intim, tæt - intimate

optimistisk - optimistic håbefuld - hopeful inspireret - inspired

overrasket - surprised

noun: overraskelse - surprise

forskrækket - startled chokeret - shocked forfærdet - dismayed

forvirret - confused desillusioneret - disillusioned perpleks - perplexed

forbløffet - amazed forbavset - astonished ærefrygt - awe

begejstret, spændt - excited ivrig - eager energisk - energetic

dårligt - bad

kede sig (verb, reflexive) - to be bored e.g. jeg keder mig 'I am bored' ligeglad - indifferent apatisk - apathetic

travl - busy presset - pressured forhastet - rushed

stresset - stressed overvældet - overwhelmed ude af kontrol - out of control

træt - tired søvnig - sleepy ufokuseret - unfocussed

[itsthequeenofswords]

🔮🪄✨ Tarot reading: Bill Skarsgård - September 1st, 2024.

• General Energy

🎴 Eight of Swords: "trapped, restricted, victimised, paralysed, helpless, powerless, imprisonment". "Surrendering one’s power to an unknown entity, whether it's fate, or God, the government or something else means that you are giving away your own personal responsibility to affect change". Self judgement is clouded. The advice is to take off the blindfold and see beyond the limited perspective that we created for ourselves. (I feel that Bill is too invested in looking to the dark side of things. Does it has to do with some negative reviews about The Crow? Maybe. He may be feeling consumed by the fear of rejection.)

• How is Bill feeling about The Crow?

🎴 Four of Cups: "apathy, contemplation, feeling disconnected, melancholy, boredom, indifference, discontent". Feeling discouraged and unmotivated. Feeling apathetic; nothing makes you happy or passionate. What are your motives, instincts and thoughts that can help you to find your passion again? As for Career, since we are talking about his most recent work, the Four of Cups means: "bored with job, feeling unhappy with job or career, lack of progress". Feeling distracted and distant; mood being impacted negatively because of that. Feeling you are going nowhere. (This card might confirm what I wrote above. Bill is probably not feeling happy with some negative feedbacks the movie has been receiving, and it's bliding him to see the positive ones.)

• Family

🎴 Temperance: "balance, peace, patience, moderation, calm, tranquillity, harmony, serenity". The perfect harmony that comes from the union of dualities. "In moments where there is anxiety or great stress, you have been able to remain calm throughout." A clear vision of what you want to achieve. Higher learning. Evaluate one's priorities. Balance between inner and outer self. (I see that Bill's family supports him and he knows that no matter what, they will be there for him. Specially now, if he's feeling anxious and stressed.)

• Love Life

🎴 Five of Wands: "conflict, competition, arguments, aggression, tension, rivals, clashes of ego". Disagreements. Enjoying the adrenaline of the conflict. Love and Relationship: "competition between suitors, conflict between lovers, playful banter". "Playful banter can turn into explosive arguments when either of you are stressed." (I feel that they are constantly provoking each other, and they feel pleasured to do that.)

🎴 Page of Cups: "idealism, sensitivity, dreamer, naivete, innocence, inner child, head in the clouds". "The Page of Cups represents the unexpected inspiration that comes to us from the unconscious, perhaps in ways that we may not truly understand". One should be open to new ideas. Inspiration should be embraced. " In most cases, some people cannot express themselves as they want to protect their ego". Love and Relationship: "fresh perspective on relationship, awe and wonder at love and romance". A person who is ntuitive, creative and emotional. Innocent and naive quality, regardless of their actual age. One's approach to love is of childlike fascination. (I think this card is decribing how Bill sees and imagines his love life, probably. Or how he is as a partner.)

🎴 Ace of Swords: "clarity, breakthrough, new idea, concentration, vision, force, focus, truth". When we look at the swords closely, and see its double-edge, we are also reminded that this sword may be either used for noble deeds or to deal destruction. It all depends on the wielder, and is a warning too that excessive power holds the danger to corrupt. Love and Relationship: "attracted to discussion, facing problems honestly, communication". Intellectual discussions. It's better to speak and face the discussions than sweeping them under the rug. If the relationship is already a turmoil, this card is an encouragement to cut out toxic people from your life.

🎈🐦‍⬛✨

[csuitebitches]

Hey! This is probably a stupid question but I am really struggling here and your input might help.

So, I have recently realised I have shitty friends and yes I want to cut them off my life but I don’t know how. Up until now, we have always done things together. Went out together, ate together, gotten ready together. We have a lot of common friends.

I don’t want to fight and make it into a big juicy drama story for the rest of our friends. I want to cut them off swiftly and quietly without harming my relationship with our other friends but how do i actually achieve that?

Easier said than done, tbh. But it’s possible.

You have to essentially distance yourself from them to a point where you are simply cordial and formal with one another. If you tell them directly that you’re cutting them off, it’s 100% going to lead to your other friends taking sides because emotions will be running very high. You could still do that. But that would definitely create drama and people love to victimise themselves. If push comes to shove, that is still an option on the table but you’ve clearly indicated that you want the least messy way.

I think the solution is unfortunately not the most mature one but could be ideal if you want to be friends with the rest. therefore, naturally fade them out of your life. I’m assuming that you’re more comfortable with them telling the world that you guys naturally grew apart as opposed to there was a whole fight and half.

stop telling them important things, stop hanging out with them. Call your other friends over, make plans with them one on one as well. However - be polite when you meet your shitty friends. Don’t be friendly or too warm - you can be cordial, as though you’re simply meeting an acquaintance. Not everyone in your life is your friend, remember that.

this will take time. Your other friends may be puzzled as to why you don’t want to hang out with the rest; your shitty friends may themselves ask you if something’s happened. It’s your choice whether you want to remain tightlipped or if you want to dole out the truth. Decide for yourself what makes the most sense.

if you end up telling your other friends about the issues, remember that unless something awful has happened, there is a chance that they may not agree with your POV. I’m just saying. Human beings are complex animals. We tend to believe the best in people. Don’t be upset when this happens. You have chosen to stand up for yourself, it’s okay. It’s better to have no friends temporarily than to have terrible ones.

[dianaladrislovebot]

hey yall i was talking to a friend about certain ship dynamics in the series and after the video i posted a few days ago and some of the responses ive got (not particularly bad responses, just interesting thought provoking ones), i wanted to talk about it here too.

there’s a reason there’s a lot of ships i like and don’t like, and i’ve had it pointed out to me that it’s actually bc there’s a power imbalance. see, for example, drake and caine work as a relationship bc they’re both as fucked up and awful as each other and it balances out, but putting drake w people like diana or astrid or sam, people he’s personally victimised and tormented who’ve struggled to fight back, it adds a power imbalance that leaves the relationship being nothing but toxic and abusive unless you take creative fanon liberty and physically change the characters entirely.

it’s also why i don’t particularly like quinn and lana. at the point in the series when they’re together, lana seems to be at her lowest mentally and i wouldn’t say it’s unlikely that she took that out on him. i mean, she pulled a gun on the guy. lana’s the kind of person who’s fierce and opinionated. she’s someone who won’t take people’s shit. quinn’s the kind of guy who does. he’s someone who won’t stand up for himself and call her out on her behaviour, preferring to stay quiet in order to keep the peace. this is where it becomes toxic. it’s exactly why lana and sanjit DO work, bc sanjit refuses to allow her to pull something like that on him, while also forcing her to confront her demons in a healthy way and helps her heal from them, which is something quinn would never have been able to do. he’s simply not strong enough. lana’s too strong for him. too overpowering. it’s a game of the mouse and the lion.

alternatively, this is why i enjoy the (partly hypothetical) dynamic between quinn and caine and it’s why it’s one of my favourite ships in the series. at the point of their forced proximity, caine is at a much lower state than he was when he and quinn first met, having lost a lot by then and almost walking on eggshells. early fayz caine was far too cocky and arrogant but i think by fear he’s toned it down quite a lot. he’s still a prick, but he’s slightly less of a prick. he’s a prick who understands loss. in the first book, he hadn’t experienced that yet, and it’s what ultimately led to his downfall. he was too confident. meanwhile, early fayz quinn as previously mentioned was cowardly and wouldn’t stand up for himself, whereas late fayz quinn does exactly that w the penny plot. caine previously had something he could and did hold over quinn, but by the end it’s turned entirely on its head and it’s quinn who can hold something over caine. this doesn’t leave them overly unbalanced however, bc it simply knocks caine down to his level. it wouldn’t have worked in the first book bc they were both wildly different people in wildly different positions, but by the end of the series they’ve grown significantly, as well as their importance to the town, but can also still learn things from each other, like caine chilling the fuck out and perhaps not being a shit person, while quinn learns how to stand his ground and be stronger. it’s balanced. i think that’s the foundation any relationship needs, and in the series there’s a lot of ships that simply don’t have that.

a ship can have an interesting dynamic and still not realistically work. if there’s no balance, everything falls apart.

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

you need to be very careful with the way you talk about misogyny bc I’ve seen some of you cross the line into fucking victim blaming. bc like what does “don’t trust any man” do? it makes the actions of the victim the variable. if all men are inherently untrustworthy, then they didn’t choose to hurt someone bc that’s inherent to manhood. therefore, the difference between victims and people who haven’t been victimised is that the victim chose to give trust to someone inherently untrustworthy- and therefore, would not have been abused if they didn’t- and not that they met a person who chose to be awful. because being an abuser isn’t a choice when it’s Every Man. like this isn’t even a not all men thing it’s a fucking. realise you’re recreating victim blaming thing. bc like you’re just recreating the idea that men can’t choose to be bad people so it’s not their fault if they assault women idea but in faux-feminist language.

[fenny-self-ships]

Hiiiiiiiii

Idk if you’re comfortable with hurt/comfort, but if you are I got a request for you! Lol

Basically, the idea is headcanons (or writing) of Jafar with an S/O that suffered SEVERE narcissistic abuse, and him quickly dealing just how much damage behaviors like his can cause. Like, he has to calm them down from a ptsd flashback, and they end up saying something about the “mind games” they were always playing, and how they were always on eggshells, and he’s basically over here like “ohhhh fuk…I do that kind of thing to people…”

Ooh some hurt comfort?? Coming right up 👀

I'm by no means an expert on this topic, so I'll stick with headcannons for now, but if you like 'em I'm more than open to writing a full imagine in future!!

Cracks my knuckles

Jafar with an abused S/O~!

Given the way he speaks, I wouldn't be surprised if it was something he said that triggered the unfortunate episode

A nasty, condescending comment about a hobby of yours, a hissing remark correcting your behaviour, or even deliberately misconstruing something you've said -- Incredibly self-serving, of course, but he's a master manipulator, and can very easily play the victim in even the tiniest arguments

Nothing could prepare him, however, for the sudden fit of anxiety and terror his words would induce

He is WOEFULLY uneducated on such things, and would regrettably have absolutely zero clue how to approach the situation -- He'd more than likely just freeze, simply staring down at you as you crumble

Once he's snapped out of his stupor, his first instinct would be to remove himself from the situation

He's clearly upset you, and he'd rather die than debase himself by admitting to his own wrongs. What a PATHETIC move that would be, huh?? (/sar)

Perhaps not the greatest instinct, but he'd give you time to cool off, to return to yourself, before slinking back in to discuss what caused your 'hysteria' (🙄🙄)

Likely with some warm tea to show in the smallest sense that he does actually CARE about you. It's not much, but it might be enough to get you talking

He would have fully intended to make a half-assed attempt at listening, followed by an empty promise to 'do better' and some kisses to top it off, but, in true Jafar fashion, his interest is piqued when you start describing the shit that he is oh so good at

The insufferable superiority complex, the 'do-no-wrong' mentality, the near constant mind games, manipulation and victimisation -- every single experience you describe he resonates with far too much

He hasn't had much experience with guilt, but you're his beloved. He cares about you. The sickly feeling creeps, resting heavier and heavier on his shoulders the more you manage to tell him

Truly an 'ohhhh fuck... I do that shit' moment if there ever was one

It's become second nature to him, almost a survival tactic -- not any excuse for his behaviour, of course, but he rarely gives a second thought to how awful the effects can be

He hates that it was you who had to tell him. He's supposed to be your biggest supporter, not your worst enemy

His illusion of perfection is shattered -- You aren't lucky to be with him, HE'S lucky you've put up with his disposition for as long as you have. He feels terrible.

All at once, you're wrapped up in a hug. Physical touch isn't his forte, but when you're as bad at apologies as he is, sometimes you have to compromise

This may be the first time you've ever heard a genuine 'sorry' from him

He will make an effort. Not to better himself as a whole, hell no, but to be better for you. The last thing he'd want to do is hurt you the way you've been hurt before. That'd be the WORST thing for his overinflated ego.

He's trying <3