#you're wrong and also this was deceptively difficult

[theforgottengreatpoem]

(Boss Bitch plays in the background)

[icarusignite]

PIRATE! ATEEZ MASTERLIST

The ships have come to carry you home Pairing: Captain Hongjoong x Runaway Princess Reader Summary: Weary of the gilded cage of royalty, you escape your opulent life, only to realize that your longing for freedom has landed you in the clutches of ruthless pirates. Determined to prove your worth, you must persuade the enigmatic captain to defy the bounty on your head.

Pairing: Siren Yeosang x Poacher Reader Summary: You have always lived by the code of the hunt, and as a skilled poacher of exotic creatures, the only law you abide by is that of your own survival. But when a lucrative contract tasks you with capturing a siren alive, you find yourself ensnared in a perilous game where delivering the prize without succumbing to your own guilt or its elusive song proves impossible. (coming soon)

Pairing: Ex-Naval Officer Jongho x Captive Reader Summary: As the daughter of the naval commander, you find yourself ensnared by the very pirates your father hunts. Among them, your most ruthless captor is none other than the man who once served your father but is now a deserter of the worst kind. As days turn to weeks, you uncover the hidden truths that drove him from the ranks of the navy, and through the eyes of your captor, you witness the cruel corruption that festers within the very force sworn to protect the seas. (coming soon)

Pairing: Cartographer Yunho x Pirate Reader Summary: When you find yourself marooned on a remote island after your ship is stolen, you must rely on your wits to survive. With the unexpected help of an old friend, you join a new crew ready to take back what was yours. Among your new allies is the soft-spoken cartographer, whose quiet strength and compassion offer you unexpected comfort. (coming soon)

Pairing: Explosives Master Mingi x Medic Reader Summary: Life as the ship's medic is no easy task, battling not only the fierce skirmishes and injuries typical of a pirate's life but also the ship's resident explosive expert, who constantly finds new excuses to seek your company, often accompanied by yet another injury for you to tend to. Despite your repeated warnings, his cavalier attitude toward safety continues to test your patience and skills, until his recklessness costs him more than he could ever anticipate. (coming soon)

Pairing: Lookout San x Spy reader Summary: You have managed to infiltrate a notorious pirate ship through deception and lies. Your mission: to pass on their secrets to their enemies. But navigating the perilous waters becomes increasingly difficult when you discover the all-seeing eyes of the ship's lookout, who seems to witness all and scrutinize your every move. Caught between the need for stealth and the watchful gaze that seems to penetrate your every facade, you must tread carefully, or risk being exposed and facing dire consequences. (coming soon)

Pairing: Firstmate Seonghwa x Ghost Reader Summary: Trapped for centuries within an ancient artifact as a restless ghost, you find yourself unexpectedly released by the intimidating first mate of a pirate ship. However, there's more to him than meets the eye, and as you struggle to adapt to a world you no longer recognize, he finds himself strangely drawn to you and your secrets. (coming soon)

Pairing: Quartermaster Wooyoung x Pirate Hunter Reader Summary: You have dedicated your life to eradicating piracy from the seas, but when a case of mistaken identity finds you on the wrong side of the law, you're forced to flee with the very crew you have sworn to destroy. Onboard the pirate ship, tensions run high, and you find yourself torn between your duty and an unexpected connection with the charming quartermaster who is determined to make you stay. (coming soon)

A/N: lol so Ateez at Coachella was my final straw and I absolutely had to write for them. This pirate/maritime theme has been rattling around in my head for a while so I'm excited to get into it. They're probably going to be one-shots or maybe 2 parters if they get long. Comment if you wanna be added to the tag list <3 will probably post the first one sometime next week cuz exams this week rip

[yanderes-galore]

May I request Transformers animated swindle with a human?

Oh sure! Swindle wasn't that hard of a character to grasp for me, you don't even have to know everything about the show to understand him. I hope you enjoy this ^^ Anon wanted it a romantic concept.

Here's a video of all his moments in TF:A

Yandere! TF:A! Swindle with Human! Darling

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Manipulation, Kidnapping, Murder, Obsession, Slight sadism, Forced affection, Threats, Jealousy implied, Violence, Possessive behavior, Forced relationship, Transformer/Human.

Swindle is a Decepticon arms dealer in the series.

However, he's always going to go with the highest bidder.

He works with humans, Autobots, Decepticons, really anyone who can make a good deal.

He also doesn't mind betraying others for his own greed.

He'd lie to humans to get them to hand something over for his own benefit.

He's also... really armed.

Swindle knows just want to give others and loves to make deals.

The nice thing about Swindle is he's one of the smaller Decepticons.

Which makes affection towards you easier.

Don't get me wrong, Swindle still towers over you, but not compared to someone like Megatron.

Swindle would be rather deceptive towards a darling to coerce you into listening to him.

He seems to be the type to draw you in with his charisma.

Swindle sees his darling as a partner.

In both business and other ways.

Swindle would be rather threatening and manipulative towards you.

He'd also try to make a deal with you the first time you meet.

Your 'relationship' is like a deal to him even.

In exchange for your attention... Swindle will defend you with all the weaponry he's got.

You don't have much of a choice unless you want a cannon in your face.

Swindle also has a vehicle mode you can get in.

What does that mean?

Swindle can trap you within him.

He can take you anywhere he wants with you as an unwilling captive.

He finds your fear kinda cute.

Oh... humans are so reliant on others, aren't they?

You need him like it or not...

Trust him... you want him on your side.

Swindle would take you with him on deals, portraying you as his human pet companion who helps with the merchandise.

Despite being sleazy and deceptive, he does love his darling a ton.

You're the one thing he can't sell.

He picked you out in a deal with another set of humans.

Unfortunate, really, those human friends of yours were really reluctant to let you go.

They have no choice against a Decepticon.

He blew them to bits without a care.

Swindle does love to carry you around, even more so in vehicle mode.

Mostly because in vehicle mode he can lock the doors and prevent your escape.

While you bang on his interior, threatening him to let you out, he talks to you gently while on the road.

He tells you that you'll be great partners.

A human such as you will enjoy adventures in space, away from all the other humans and stuck with him.

He promises he'll take you on some more drives to talk and express your feelings for each other...

But could you stop trying to break out of him?

Swindle does like giving you fresh air, all humans need that.

Just expect him to hold you.

It feels funny when you crawl all over him, almost makes him laugh.

Transformer/Human affection can be difficult at times.

Swindle is aware he can't entirely kiss you like he wants at times.

He'd squish you.

So he asks you to do it for him.

Your own little deal.

If you refuse him then he'll just threaten you.

When you do, it's a small feeling but Swindle enjoys it.

He tries hard not to move when you kiss his face, his purple eyes staring at you intently.

Hugs are also an issue, he has to be extremely careful with you and force you to initiate the affection.

Swindle is very protective of you.

He is also very capable of defending you with the amount of weapons he has.

Swindle also could put you in that organized storage space he has if he feels he needs to....

Try and use another car? He'll chase you down in vehicle form.

As with most Transformer yanderes, you can't run away easily.

You'll run out of gas, he won't.

Don't even waste your time on foot.

Swindle isn't going to let you leave.

No amount of bartering would have him let you go.

He's killed for you.

Defended you.

He'll care for you so don't you dare leave.

Will you make your friends die in vain?

How sad and selfish.

Swindle would emotionally manipulate you to lure you in.

Then he captures you again and the obsession continues stronger.

Swindle feels you and him made a deal.

He can't have you running off with other humans or bots, can he?

A deal requires trust.

He wants you to trust him.

He'll have you keep your end of the deal to make this relationship work...

Even if some persuasive force is required.

[alligatorhearts]

Animal Divinity in the Bayou

Cajun and Creole mysticism can both be traced, at least in part, to practices which heavily feature animals. The belief that the Earth and her creatures are all one can be found time and time again in many of the magical customs and communities which persist in Louisiana.

This is what my swampy animal messengers mean to me.

💫🐸🐊🐠🦐🦟️🐺💫

DISCLAIMER: the following symbolism and associations stem largely from my own personal practice and do not necessarily represent any specific group or practice. I am from Louisiana and I actively work with and research practitioners and practices from here, but there is a great deal of magical diversity in the swamp. Some of these are also categories of animals and should be looked at as umbrella terms. Take what resonates and leave what does not. <3

ALLIGATORS: strength, power, maternal instincts, fertility, protection, sleeper build, queen, a period of rest, the underworld, dark internal energy, balance of dark and light

FROGS: movement especially of home or environment, sensitivity especially to light or emotional, baggage, music (as in a career or love for), luck, fortune, addiction, disregarding messages (being stubborn), friendly warning, new connections

LIZARDS: (especially when seen on and around front doors!) death (typically not literal but spiritual or circumstantial), family, kin, illness in the family, deception, hidden truth, an upcoming search for something, desperation, a call to intuitive practices, change in sibling dynamics

FISH: (specifically black water fish like gar, pirate perch, black bullhead, and flier) financial hardship, display, commiserating, incoming connection, encouragement, movement (esp spiritual, like enlightenment or persevering through difficult work), toughness, dawn, new beginnings, opportunity, community, found family

SHRIMP: childhood, knowledge, the feeling of being unseen and/or unheard, coziness, friendship, new friends, high intelligence, fear of intelligence, jealousy, exhaustion, isolation, bullying, misunderstandings

CRAWFISH: parties, tender love, the heart chakra, romance, passion, speaking (as in a career or a passion), opening up, exploring new things, getting unstuck, being pulled out of the mud, sweeping generalizations, spreading your light, telling your truth

MOSQUITOS: gossip, telling stories, tall tales, being watched, the devil (as in tarot), masculine energy, warning of a psychic vampire in your midst, fog, confusion, rain, loss, interruption

LOUP GAROU: trickery, illusions, light-heartedness, smiling and laughter, fear of the unknown, unwarranted fears, an indication to take a pause and reassess, masks, shiny objects, looking the wrong way, choosing the lesser of two evils, loudness, shrouded in darkness, mystery

Tell me what you think, and let me know what animal messengers have surprising associations where you're from!

[velvetvexations]

lmao on you not spreading negativity. you're literally well known for doing so. your hate for the bad kids while excusing everything the rat grinders do is almost infamous by now. if people keep telling you you're being negative and hating on something, at what point do you maybe consider it's not literally everyone else that is wrong?

It's not hating on the Bad Kids to expect or at least want them to act consistent with how the narrative treats them. As I said, comedic sociopathy is a fine trope and I love a lot of things that are built around that. My own writing features protagonists of very dubious morality. MY morality is somewhat dubious. But it's difficult to reconcile that with people who simultaneously treat them like the most generous, caring, loving group of sweethearts to ever live while also going "if you watched the previous seasons you'd know they've always been fucked-up little hell beasts whose favorite thing in the world is mass murder".

If we can take Fig's relationship with Ayda so seriously that it moves people to tears we can also take the really terrible things she does with Disguise Self seriously, and think that maybe those two elements clash a bit. That maybe it'd be cool if Fig got character development that moved her past that instead of being a character we're supposed to accept as deep and nuanced until it's time for carrying on deceptive romantic relationships with adults and catfishing another teenager for literally no reason in which case she just turns into a bit machine we're not meant to take seriously.

And if we can call BLeeM a decolonial philosopher, maybe we can acknowledge Fabian said something violently misogynistic without necessarily condemning Lou over it? Maybe we can point out when something in the show is not very harmonious with it's usual messaging instead of just pretending it's praxis will always be perfect forever in all cases without exception?

I also don't 'excuse' the Rat Grinders. I feel like Slayer, like, they're the bad guys, they've murdered multiple innocent people, I should not have to include a disclaimer every single time I talk about them and what they do to make sure it's clear I don't approve of their actions.

I'm not super into Junior Year, anon, but that's fine. I love the cast. I'm still the person who made this with zero irony. I will be here for Never Stop Blowing Up and beyond.

[heinzpilsner]

Okay, another part of 'Overanalyzing beach Maiko' series here! And I want to assure you that even though it looks deceptively like 'Roasting beach Mai' series to the unaided eye, it's actually not the case. The differences are here. Somewhere. Probably.

I roast Zuko too.

Anyway, in the last part, Mai said 'hey', and Zuko said 'are you cold', and Mai slapped Zuko's hand off, so I guess this leaves their relationship status in the border area.

So, what's next?

Well, despite the fact that their interactions keep going quite actively after this, we're not gonna see any real relationship progression for quite some time.

So, I suggest to take this as another opportunity to yell at study the characters instead.

And it opens with the roasting of Ty Lee.

(The structure of the beach polylogue makes it quite difficult to build a laconic presentation of the context, so... Let's just rely on our memory this time, shall we?)

Zuko: "You're stuck in your little 'Ty Lee world' where everything's great all the time." Mai: "Zuko, leave her alone."

You know, this moment almost made me suspect that Mai cares about the other girl! It would actually make my "she can't care about anyone but herself" hypothesis wrong, which would leave only one explanation for the "bring me food" moment (That is, Mai just didn't care about Zuko in particular.)

But then, after Ty Lee got emotional and cried, and there was no defender for her among their group, Mai decided it was a good time to criticize her as well.

She had a choice between expressing her annoyance (and intelligence) and sparing Ty Lee's feelings, and she prefered the former. Emotional support of her upset friend wasn't even among the options, apparently.

So, I suspect, the "defense" of Ty Lee was hardly more than another instance of scolding Zuko for being angry.

Apparently, Mai just gets disturbed (and hence annoyed) by any display of vivid negative emotions in her close circle. And if there is one thing in life she truly cares about, it's her own emotional comfort.

Simply put, Mai needs fun and pleasure, and all this dramatic shit around only sucks her energy out.

Smart choice of a boyfriend, by the way.

Pffft.

("But she said she cares about Zuko in the end!", I can hear someone protesting. Don't worry, we'll get to it.)

Mai: "I don't believe in auras." Zuko: "Yeah, you do not believe in anything."

That's a curious accusation here.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were times in the past when Zuko tried to talk about something important for him with Mai but recieved a cynical reaction.

But there's no proof for this, obviously.

Besides, as we soon learn, Zuko is not that good at identifying true sources of his frustrations.

It's still my headcanon though.

Mai: "Oh, well, I'm sorry I can't be as high-strung and crazy as the rest of you."

But... What believing or not believing in things has to do with being high-strung?  This answer just sounds so unnatural in the context. As if Mai responds not to Zuko's words, but to writer's plan her own thoughts here.

(Quite a typical behavior for an egocentric though, when I think about it.)

Still, why would Mai want to change such a convinient topic? Cynical people who proud themselves on their intelligence love talking about how stupid it is to believe in things. It's basically that Mai 'auras' answer was about. And then suddenly this awkward shift.

It's a shame, actually. To me, it would be much more interesting to hear about Mai's beliefs than to focus on imaginary "not expressing your feelings" problem.

Also, I love how Mai just casually called Azula crazy. So much fear here, if you catch my meaning.

Zuko: "I'm sorry, too. I wish you would be high-strung and crazy for once instead of keeping all your feeling bottled up inside."

When. When Mai ever kept her feeling bottled up inside? When she's bored - she says so repeatedly. When she doesn't like something - she criticizes it right away or glares at you fiercely. When you make a scene at the party - she yells at you "for once" (even though she was bored and you put quite an exciting show here, which makes her reaction kinda contr-intuitive. How interesting of an interlocutor Ruon-Jian was, anyway?)

The fact that you can't find among the feelings she expresses something you looking for, or don't find their expression intense enough is a different question entirely.

The fact that she avoids discussing problems you want to discuss too.

For some reason, you just keep barking up the wrong tree here, Zuko. I wonder if you ever heard about different nervous activity types. Or different life views. Or different anything, really.

But this is not the main problem here, obviously.

Zuko: "She just called your aura dingy. Are you gonna take that?"

Yep, Mai's self-worth is not affected as heavily by other people's opinions as yours, Zuko. What a terrible tragedy.

Mai: "What do you want from me?"

A really good question. What do you want from Mai now, Zuko? A magical transformation into Katara a person you wish her to be? Or an explanatory note for thinking and reacting not exactly like you'd prefer?

Surprise, she doesn't owe you anything! Your frustration with Mai's personality is your own problem, and you'd better start asking yourself what you really can do about it.

Take your love life in your own hands, boy, and I didn't mean it like that, you perverts or stop terrorizing your not-quite-ex-girlfriend for not meeting your emotional needs.

(You still didn't apologize to Ty Lee, by the way. Kinda ooc of you.)

Mai: "You want a teary confession about how hard my childhood was? Well, it wasn't. I was a rich only child who got anything I wanted..."

Well, this part is definitely truth.

Mai: "...as long as I behaved and sat still, and didn't speak unless spoken to. My mother said I had to keep out of trouble. We had my dad's political career to think about."

Ahhh, this part though is much more tricky.

You see, for all we know, Mai's mother could just try and prevent Mai from throwing kitchen knives at her father's important guests or from saying that their make-up is abomination. Poor little Mai though would remember it as a terrible oppresion of her self-expression for the rest of her life.

More importantly though... Even if what Mai says here objectively took place in the past, I highly doubt what it's a good explanation for her demeanor.

I mean, Toph has quite a similar background, and... Did you see Toph?

Honestly, it looks to me more like a natural temperament kind of thing. It's just the way Mai is. Maybe environment affected her to a certain degree, but I don't think its influence was crucial.

Sometimes her emotions are more intense, especially during fights, but it doesn't mean she hides some kind of oppressed passionate girl underneath her languid mask or something.

So stop trying to dig her out, Zuko, it's getting embarrassing.

Azula: "You have a controlling mother who had certain expectations, and if you strayed from them, you were shut down. That's why you're afraid to care about anything, and why you can't express yourself". Kinda cheated with this one, didn't I

Okay... first of all.

Why. Just why on earth everyone keeps saying Mai doesn't express herself? Are you blind, people? Or maybe you're deaf?  The Mai I know is one big walking talking act of self-expression!

The real problem here is that apart from her annoyance, boredom and hunger she doesn't have much to express in the first place. Because in reality, she's no more than a hedonistic self-centred brat whose lack of proper occupations and interests in life left her on the verge of depression.

And sorry, local beach ghost of an amateur psychoanalytic who's currently possessing Azula, but most likely Mai's mother's "tyranny" has nothing to do with it. Breaking news: not everything in human psychology can be explained by mommy or daddy issues.

I'd assume here much more prosaic explanation. That is, during the last decade, Mai was mostly focused on her school life, while in her free time, knife throwing and passive entertainments were her only hobbies. So, when the school ended and nothing else started, she suddenly found herself in a vacuum she didn't know what to fill with.

And since Mai is a spoiled infantile, she's always waiting for something to happen, or for someone to give her something to do instead of asking herself that she can do to change the situation fundamentally.

And apparently, being in "love" with Zuko is her only real entertainment nowadays. That's why she hey-ed him so soon after the break-up - Mai's life's emptiness reached the 'uncomfortably painful' stage at this point, so even the emotional discomfort caused by Zuko's behavior was more preferable than this.

And I don't know much about Mai being "afraid to care about anything", but I can say a couple of things about her being incapable of caring about anyone.

Growing up as a rich only child, Mai became used to the idea that everything around is about her. She's always focused on herself and her own needs, and subconsciously expects the same attention from other people (from her romantic partner especially).

It rarely occurs to her that people around may have their own interests, and "listening to Mai's complaints and entertaining her" are not among them. When the reality reminds Mai about the fact though, she just gets annoyed by such a nuisance.

I start to suspect now that her "are you cold" question in "The Awakening" was actually not about Zuko's comfort, but about Mai playing her unusual new role of a caring girlfriend. So, when her performance didn't get the expected appreciation, she immediately got frustrated - kind of like Zuko with his seashell, actually.

(Except that Zuko after this thought about something Mai really would want and went to get some ice cream. While the boy is not exactly a paragon of personal maturity himself, on his girlfriend's background, he honestly starts to look like one.)

Even after Mai's "I care about you" declaration, when she really tried to support Zuko in "Nightmares and Daydreams", it sounded like "I might be hungry for a whole tray of fruit tarts". It would be funny if it wasn't so sad, really. She had a vague idea that she's supposed to do something when her partner is upset, but even with it, she couldn't really break the egocentrical shell around her mind and see the difference between her own desires and desires of other person.

Pheeew. I finished.

Of course, all this doesn't make Mai a monster or something. The girl is only 16, and even if she wasn't, the way her personality was formed is a result of many objective circumstances.

If we look at the situation the way Mai's psychologist could, there's no point in blaming or shaming the girl - only to help her realize the problems with her attitudes and offer alternative ways of thinking.

But I am not Mai's psychologist. And I am pissed by how the episode ignores the real problem with the character and helps to promote the old pseudo-psychological myth that just blaming your parents is enough to "understand yourself".

My dear beach ghost, Mai is already a person with infantile way of thinking! She doesn't need an extra encouragement for accusing someone else in her problems.

It's not you who have to deal with her after this, you know.

Spare poor Zuko, the boy has a lot on his plate as it is.

Annnd I guess it's as good a place to stop as any other. We'll start the next part of 'Overanalyzing beach Maiko' right from Mai's... peculiar reaction to Azula's words. Yay.

Thanks for your attention?..

Fortunately I ignore all notifications.

[raytorosaurus]

Hello I hope you enjoy some ray questions :) what is your favorite ray solo, the most beautiful to you, and the one that in your opinion is his most technically and musically impressive. love and light and ray toro to u

oh my godddd i DO enjoy ray questions thank you thank you <33333

okay so honestly this tour has blown everything out of the water so if we're including the recent live stuff then. kids from yesterday is his most beautiful AND technically impressive. the thing about fast shreddy solos is that sure they're very difficult to play but they're also forgiving. skip a note? under/overdo a bend? hit a couple of wrong frets? no big deal, it'll barely be noticeable as long as you're able to recover quick. slow solos that focus more on emotion and musicality are often so much more difficult because every single note matters and the mood depends on you not only hitting every one but hitting it well, bending in tune, sustaining it, really putting feeling into it etc. like for example the summertime solo is super simple and easy to play, but ray pours his heart into it every night so it sounds beautiful, and if he hits just one note wrong it's obvious as hell lol. anyway ray's a master at both of those types of soloing (which is insane, and as much as everyone knows he's an incredible player i feel like his emotionality as a musician doesn't get enough recognition compared to his technical prowess and ability to shred). and kids from yesterday this tour like. combines both of those things at once. it's jawdropping every single night - and the fact that it's, like, semi-improvised some nights too. genuinely astounding like all else aside mcr getting back together is the greatest gift in the world just because we get to witness that. it's like the perfect showcase of how ray's grown as a musician over the hiatus because even though remember the laughter is relatively light on guitar, you can really hear how those solos and exploring that style influenced this new kids one...but it's still so my chemical romance, because ray's never played to show off or posture, he knows exactly what every single song needs to be as emotionally resonant as possible.

anyway. lol spiel on kids from yesterday over (genuinely the way it ROCKETED up my ranking of mcr songs from close to the bottom to close to the top after this tour....lol). if we're talking studio versions only......

favourite solo: this is genuinely such a fucking hard question so i'm going to have to go with my gut response. which is venom. it's probably not my favourite solo anymore, but it was originally - it was one of the things that really hooked me on mcr in the first place, and when my show got cancelled in 2020 i couldn't listen to it for like two solid months bc it was the one i most vividly daydreamed about seeing live LOL so i have a huge soft spot for it. and it's catchy. it's clean. it's classic. it's just fucking FUN like it catches my attention and gets a smile out of me every time lol. close runners-up are vampire money, flw, and the live version of destroya.

most beautiful: augh. fuck. fuck. easy answer is summertime and as much as i agree i think i have to say scarecrow....again, it's nothing overstated. the way it like. weaves around and reinforces the vocals on "love won't stop this bomb" too like...it has brought many a tear to my eye. jesus. side note frank's parts in both of these songs are fucking heart-wrenchingly gorgeous too. for an album that sounds less like a ~guitar album~ than all of mcr's others, danger days has some of the best guitar work of their whole discography man...

most technically/musically impressive: genuinely this one is impossible to answer...like i could make an argument for sooo many of them in different ways...but i think i'm going to have to say. i don't love you. she is criminally underrated and so deceptively simple-sounding but so technically complex AND so fucking emotive. like okay another thing ray should probably get more credit for is not only that he's able to play all these solos flawlessly and beautifully but that he's able to write them - it's truly like he speaks another language, every solo he's ever written is so perfect for the song right key, right chord progression, right scale, right energy. and he's comfortable playing in so many different styles too....his blues-ed up teenagers live playing my fucking BELOVED, his practically baroque metally to the end solo, classic rock or polka or fucking borderline-edm...we are so lucky to have him oh my god.

also if we're counting non-mcr solos. take the world and remember the laughter...oouguhghghhhughhhh SHIT. they tick ALL of these boxes (and you can see what i mean about the new kids from yesterday part growing out of them).

oh my god i'm SO sorry you asked a straightforward question and i rambled for like several hundred words adjkaljgdlksajgd. what's ur favourite <333

[alexturne]

13 and 15 for the ask game 🫶🏻

Hiii hope you're well ❤️

13. what are some of your favourite lyrics alex has written? (doesn't have to be arctic monkeys, can also include tlsp/ other artist collaborations/the submarine soundtrack)

This is sooooo difficult, and I feel like Alex in that interview with Jo where he can't answer a single thing in fear of getting it wrong 😂 I'm certain I'll pick something and then spend the rest of the day remembering more favourite ones 😂😂

But!! He has written so so so sooooooo many perfect lyrics. I genuinely don't think he has ever written any bad ones which is quite the feat.

I love when he gets all deceptive and crinkled and does twists and turns and almost gets lost in the abstraction and then I also love when he gets so direct that it's almost painful.

"I caught you talking to the real me, can't tell you how unhappy that shit makes me." The Bourne Identity, basically all of it. It hurts so good and it's so unique to his catalogue and he couldn't ever have been so open and endearingly and painfully honest if it hadn't been for the support of Miles 🥰 I love that song to bits.

"There's a set of rickety stairs in between my heart and my head. And there ain't much that ever bothers going up them." From The Element Of Surprise - another example of how writing with Miles brings out a totally different side to his writing. It's such evoking imagery and such a cool way of saying what he's trying to say. So clever but so simple and straight forward, yet still incredibly layered and thoughtful. Also I love when he writes more directly about his personal inner life and thoughts and how he feels about himself. That's when I find him at his best.

Another set of absolutely gorgeous lyrics with powerful imagery is Love Is A Laserquest, the most heartbreaking thing ever. "When I'm pipe and slippers and rocking chair, singing dreadful songs about summer. Will I have found a better method of pretending you were just some lover." It's just so impressively well put and makes us feel SO MUCH with such simple words. Contains MULTITUDES.

Also, I've always enjoyed the way he makes his lyrics feel like almost rap verses, and he has the most amazing flow and he shoves in so many words and different rhythms and tongue twisters and I just love the creativity he applied to his lyrics. An all time favourite song of theirs for me is Red Lights Indicate Doors Are Secured, and especially this bit just sounds so delicious "Drunken plots hatched to jump it, ask around "are you sure?" Went for it but the red light was showing, and the red light indicates doors are secured."

Another example of this is him spitting in Curtains Close "Cause I'm a mad mother-fucker with my curtains open, sitting tucked up in bed."

15. favourite arctic monkeys b-side?

Uuughghjjjj I looooove their b-sides, they're literally incredible.

Nettles is a massive fave, Temptation Greets You, Red Right Hand, Electricity, Wirral Riddler, 7, You And I, I.D.S.T... I could keep going forever 😂😂

Thank you so much for the lovely questions ❤️

[coffehbeans]

In regards to the post where you stated that you were getting a bit tired of gt, maybe its with the community? I've been in the gt community for a couple years now, and I've observed it to be... Not as great when I joined. For one, its become way too oversaturated with the same types of tropes and style of writing (fluff mostly), and two, its seemingly hostile towards anything that isn't what saturates the community. It also has a terrible relationship towards writers and I'm not pull out that particular drama (even though its pretty damning), its just that very few stories and creators get the attention and interaction they deserve. Whether it be because people can't be bothered to take a few minutes to read a story, or it goes against the fluff norm.

I especially felt you when you said you got annoyed by the posts where 'oh it would be so cool if I was tiny' like wow... Nobody's said that before (they have, over and over and over and over-). The g/t community is deceptive because initially you think it'll be great because its relatively small and you all like this odd genre of media that you'd think everyone would just get along. Because we're all weirdos. But nope, the community can be just as toxic, just as uninviting, and just as hostile as other fandoms.

Of course, take everything I say with a grain of salt. I've only been here for two years, and these are my observations which have come not only from my own eyes but others I've interacted. I could be completely right or completely wrong. Who knows. Just wanted to say you're not alone in being tired of g/t.

Thanks for such a long ask! I share a lot of the feelings you have here. Although for me I don't think the g/t community is toxic at all. Drama will continue to happen as humans will remain being humans. But with the other aspects I totally agree with you.

I'm in the g/t fandom for five years now. Back then, it peaked at deviantart. Stories and writing were the main g/t content, but I don't remember if there were interactions or not. But I still say the time g/t was brimming with good content was ack at deviantart, and the countless groups and content. It was so good.

It seems that over the years people stopped reading or something, because it's very difficult to get a lot of notes on your writing. And I say this not referring to me, but to the other writers I follow. I try to at least leave a nice comment in the tags or something, but usually I'm part of the few people that do this. I say that nowadays writing g/t stories is the same as talking to a brick wall.

And the take I most agree with you, is the oversaturation. Oh gosh. The same stuff being repeated over and over and over. And only fluff, and only wishing to be tiny, and I'm tired. Sorry if people are having fun, it's just that these aren't the reason I personally like g/t and seeing the same boring fluff stuff for the milionth time and getting 500 notes is, tiring. I enjoy fluff but gosh, is that really all that people can come up with? Where's the interesting stuff, you know?

Also over the years I really felt the age difference. I'm not part of the majority of the demographic that composes this fandom and gosh, I feel it. The stories I find, when they're not from my usual favorite authors, are immature and childish. The posts are the same stuff, written in a way that I can see is from a 14-16 year old. Again, nothing wrong with that, but I can't relate to these types of content like I used to when I was that age.

So for me, anon, it's not about toxicity (I think the g/t fandom is very healthy). For me is that I really started to feel the age difference between me and most of the community, since I don't find the content that tackles the subjects I'm interested in (which are usually kinda deep and definitely not the fluff and jokes we get everyday).

Thanks again for the ask!

[cityandking]

photo album, mixtape, psyche, shooting star for minah, vesper, & caes!

tyyyyy!! // oc ask meme

photo album: describe one of your OCs’ favorite memories.

MINAH — answered! VESPER — sitting in solas' study talking about some semi-obscure magical theory and being delighted by the way solas approached it from his (assumed) hedgemage perspective and how that reframing added something she'd missed in her circle education. dorian, overhearing them, had leaned over the banister from the library above and was so insistent on getting in on the discussion that he was halfway through a lecture before solas asked if perhaps he'd care to join them for tea and scones, or if he was too loathe to abandon his pulpit. they'd been at it so late that leliana had dinner sent over, and vesper had just been satisfied and thrilled and grateful, which were novel and delightful things to feel in the middle of the war and the chaos. CAES — also answered!

mixtape: 5 songs that describe your OC(s) or songs they themselves would like.

MINAH — 1. bad blood - bastille (all this bad blood here / won't you let it dry? / it's been cold for years / won't you let it lie?) 2. part of me - noah kahan (even through the pain, I can't recall your face / just the ache of knowing everything was gonna change / I got so close to love with you, my dear / but I don't miss you / I miss the way you made me feel) 3. final girl - chvrches (telling all the tales took time that I just do not have / sifting further through the wreckage, I think you just have to laugh) 4. you can run - adam jones (truth gonna come out, someday / it's gonna wipe that smile right off your face) 5. liar - the arcadian wild (my life’s become this grand game of deception / my mind’s ignored all my heart’s good intentions) VESPER — 1. dear doubt - michael schulte (dear doubt, you wore out a path to my door / and it's needless to say that there's no way that I want you here) 2. make them gold - chvrches (we are made up of our longest days / we are falling but not alone / we will take the best parts of ourselves / and make them gold) 3. son - sleeping at last (so I will try, try, try to breathe / 'til it turns to muscle memory / I'm only steady on my knees / but one day, I'll stand on my own two feet) 4. woodblock - joe gil (I don't have to take my burdens home / I don't have to do this on my own) 5. be yourself - harrison storm (take on the colors on / and fire fight the winter storms) CAES — 1. everybody wants to rule the world - tears for fears (all for freedom and for pleasure / nothing ever lasts forever / everybody wants to rule the world) 2. forces of the unseen - cloud cult (I'm gonna make it through, you'll see / I swear I'll prove you wrong / you haven't seen the last of me / I am way too strong) 3. culling of the fold - the decemberists (listen up boy / and listen up girl / it's a shallow little trench / and it's giving off a stench / it's a shallow little world) 4. heat stroke - black math (you're breathin' hard but I still got a hundred miles / untouchable I live for this / I breathe for this / I bleed for this) 5. my songs know what you did in the dark - fall out boy (be careful making wishes in the dark / can't be sure when they've hit their mark / and besides in the mean-meantime I'm just dreaming of tearing you apart)

psyche: what’s their head space like? do they have any mental illnesses? how do they process difficult or emotional situations? what are their coping mechanisms?

MINAH — it... could be worse? like it's not great up there but she's perfectly functional. she just ignores some stuff (or obsesses over it too much, or swings wildly between the two). processing emotions is not really part of her skill set, so most of her coping mechanisms are rooted in avoidance, distraction, and deflection all piled together into a wobbly card tower of maladaptive techniques. but honestly, she's fine. VESPER — her headspace is mostly just bleak. kind of a constant churn of what-if and not-again. she's definitely got a bit of an undiagnosed anxiety thing going on, but she copes with it pretty well all things considered. her emotional processing works overtime to keep up with how much thinking she does all the damn time, and her coping mechanisms tend to be Working Even More. one of the upsides of the inquisition is that she finally gets a proper support network. CAES — pristine. you've never met anyone better at compartmentalizing. he's a horrible little man who doesn't know how to let go of a grudge but he will have it sorted by date, location, responsible parties, and weather at the time. I'm not sure he "processes" his emotions but he sure does Do Something About Them (exact revenge, be petty, plot people's downfalls, etc.)

shooting star: if your OC(s) could have one wish what would it be?

MINAH — she doesn't know. she's so torn about what she wants most that it would be almost impossible for her to choose just one thing to wish for. maybe to go back and do it all over again. maybe just to have all the facts, so at least she'd know what went wrong. VESPER — part of her would feel obligated to wish for things for other people—a stop to the fighting, peace in southern thedas, that sort of thing. I think probably in actually she'd wish for happiness, or the chance to talk to solas again—to try to change his mind, or just to understand why he's so determined to continue down this path. CAES — power, probably. the sort of power you can dangle over people's heads; the sort of power that works quiet and in secret and bends the world to your will. it's why he wanted so badly to join the magisterium—it may be cutthroat and bloody and twisted, but it's also the center of everything and a great place to be to get shit done.

[girlwholovesturtles]

Opening with Nikola immediately, I see. Why do this? Oh god.

"Needs to be near us." Breekon and Hope need the coffin near? That's interesting. Also worrying that the coffin is there at all.

Nikola makes me uncomfortable. I kinda love them... They've said "Can I call you Elias?" twice now. I'm not convinced they entirely know what's going on.

Did Jon just try to say "Fuck you?" I'm smiling way too much from this episode already.

Oh god, are they gonna- oh god, they are gonna skin him.

"Can I call you Elias?" Number three.

"Do you have a preferred brand of lotion." Oh my god. This should not be making me laugh so much.

Wait, is this the episode? It is! This where the animatic came from that got me into the show to begin with! Yes!

This one!

Jon, why do you sound more annoyed then you do afraid of this man saying he's gonna kill you? I guess when so many people are saying the exact same threat, it stops being scary after a while.

Okay, Michael or I suppose the Spiral is lies and deception. He has nothing to do with the Unknowing but he wants it to fail. Jon, fuck why he's here, ask what the Unknowing is. He doesn't want the Circus or the Archive to win?

Okay, I think I get it.

Theory before it's all said: Michael was Gertrude's assistant, he some how got taken by the Spiral, and the part of him that is still Michael resents the Archive he what happened to him. The Spiral doesn't want to be Michael anymore because it has made it's nature complicated but I suspect it can't get rid of him, for whatever reason. Okay, starting the video again.

Sure, Michael, give up a statement. I'm sure this will be very coherent and not at all filled with me going "WTF?!" constantly.

Michael Shelly... Oh, Michael here implying Gertrude is deceptive, that's interesting... what? She FEED him to the Spiral? Oh... Michael really cared about Gertrude and she used him for this.

"Is a thing evil when it simply obeys it's own nature?" That is an interesting question. A polar bear isn't evil just because it willing to hunt humans, it's just hungry. And near as I can tell, the Spiral and all these other entities, they also are just hungry in their own ways. So, maybe they aren't evil. Though that certainly doesn't make them good.

"He believed everything she told him..." Alright, me and Gertrude aren't friends anymore. But what is the Becoming, exactly?

"Okay." Jon is just giving up? I mean, I know he lives because there's like 200 episodes but...

What do you mean "It's loc-

Uh... is Michael dead? Oh, hi Helen... Yeah, I guess Michael is dead? If it could kill Michael whenever it wanted, why didn't it before? Or did it need someone to replace him? Which I guess it what Helen is for?

You're options are the door or being skinned, my guy. Make good choices.

Wait, is the Spiral cool? It's just... taking Jon home? That's pretty chill of it, given the Archive's history with it but alright.

Okay, hold up. It's entirely possibly I'm reading this all wrong but were these entities at some point just kinda vibing and Gertrude decided they all needed to be destroyed? Because that's what it sounds like to me. Like, I don't know what the Becoming is yet but it sounds like the Spiral was attempting to transition from being a thing that could never be into something that was and perhaps could even be defined. At it's very core, it sounds like these things simply wish to exist but they're so volatile that it's difficult to do so. Gertrude even wanted to destroy the Archive, the focal point of the Eye. Even though, as far as I can tell, it's only interest is to collect knowledge.

So did she just decide to go rogue and destroy all these monsters and that's why they're mobilizing like they are?

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Male Victims of Coercive Control

She's thrown heavy and sharp objects at me, including knives, scissors, hammers, heavy ornaments and smashed up lots of expensive items. Laptops, mobile phones, TV remotes, etc. I feel that if I told her I was finally leaving, she would have attacked me in a violent rage and killed me.

I was whipped across my face and back with a radio aerial, had my testicles squeezed and kicked. My forehead, eyes and cheeks have been gouged by fingernails. I've been punched full in the face in front of her brothers and mother in an attempt to provoke the brothers to fight. I've had golf balls thrown at the back of my head when trying to eat a meal after work. And was also cut across the back of my hands with broken ceramic, amongst many other things.

I firmly believe she's capable of taking the life of me or my children without remorse. She is able to easily gaslight those in a position to help and turns them against me.

She threatened to have me murdered, and I was scared that she might actually stab me. There was a period when I was always looking at her hands to make sure she didn't have a knife in her hand whenever she entered the room.

She fractured my cheek and split my eye. I woke to her jumping on top of me. She knew i had 300 stitches in my lung.

Because she lies and people believe her, because she really hates me and I believe she would lie to get me into trouble, she tries to get other people to believe that I'm the abuser and has passed on my details to men who she has to protect her from me. So I worry I could be targeted.

I rarely had food, as money went on what she wanted to go on. My sleep schedule was erratic and this is part of the reason for the eventual mental health crisis.

Because she is a dangerous liar ,who will say whatever she wants to get what she wants from whoever she needs it from. If I had been convicted of the false allegations she accused me of, I would have got five years in prison. I still get insecure when I'm out and about. I have to record myself everywhere i go with dash cam, just in case I'm accused again.

She can do and say anything about me, lies to the authorities, raise false allegations, alienate my child against me, and there is nothing I can do about it. I have no rights.

The authorities were on her side. Despite there being no evidence, it was assumed that I was guilty of abusing her.

The threats that she would make things up about me,and prevent me seeing the children and lose my job. I thought I could end up homeless with nothing.

I was scared of losing my daughter, because I knew she was capable of using a child as a weapon.

Ongoing abuse in the form of false allegations from her and using them to halt family court proceedings, and prevent access to my son.

Because my ex-wife is still trying to control me through our children.

My ex is still controlling me through the court system and by continuing to teach my children to hate me.

An ongoing child arrangements case which has lasted a year and a half. It's still a few months from conclusion, and the psychological abuse continues in the allegations being made against me and in the fact-finding hearings when your abuser and their barrister paints you as someone who you're not. When their deception succeeds in the family court, it's very difficult to accept. You know you've done little wrong and all you want is contact with your children.

If you try to call out the behaviors, these same behavior patterns when you see them in other females, you get labeled as a woman hater, an angry man, and so on.

Because I am acutely aware of what is sayable and what is unsayable, and the way in which the truth around domestic abuse is distorted, my partner used to deny that she hit me and it's very difficult for me, and I presume for other victims too, to confront a society that is skeptical of men who claim to be victims of domestic abuse.

I could not sleep through stress and would often go for three days, nights straight without sleeping. I became unable to handle any stress at all, and even my speech was affected. I went from being quick-witted and articulate to being unable to string a coherent sentence together much of the time.

My life slowly started to revolve entirely around not making her angry. She'd generally get angry just before I was going to go to bed so I ended up with very little sleep, and she wanted to have entirely circular arguments for hours. My work suffered and I eventually had to take redundancy.

I struggled to concentrate and sleep. I lost my job, I lost my home. I get emotional and upset regularly. i'm constantly anxious at my child's well-being and future.

I lost 20 kilos and became dangerously underweight. I suffered chest pains then ended up in hospital with pericarditis. I couldn't sleep or wake up. I wouldn't eat or drink unless it was a whiskey to help me sleep. My friends and family were very concerned with the change.

She stabbed me with a kitchen knife and I stitched it myself as she begged me not to go to hospital in case she got in trouble.

I was drinking a lot of alcohol to try and block out the pain. I ended up in hospital due to really high blood pressure and anxiety. I was suicidal.

It took a long time to realize how this has affected me, and many years to actually acknowledge that I possibly was a victim of domestic abuse. I get upset many times a week, a day. I don't get much sleep. I'm a low mood a lot of the time. Lack of energy and interest in things i used to. I'm anxious for my child's well-being all the time. These feelings I feel are mainly after the contact with my child stopped, but heightened after the false accusations and a serious accident.

A huge level of anxiety, as I was being painted out to be someone i'm not. Second guessing everything I do. Walking on eggshells to avoid future conflict. Feeling not in control of my own life and that of my children.

Significant impact on mental health. I had counselling due to suffering with severe anxiety, especially when I wanted to buy myself something. I remember wanting to buy a shirt, and I felt guilty for wanting it, as it would be spending money. Became incredibly anxious at what she would do and say if I do.

I'm a bitter lonely man. I'm filled with rage and despair. I think of suicide most of the time. I don't trust other people. I'm 58 years old and the last 20 years of my life have been grim, and they won't get any better. The control will continue until I'm in the grave.

I feel extremely restricted in my life generally, because the consequences of doing things she doesn't approve of. I often have to meet friends in secret, and feel I can't leave because of the threats in the past about suicide.

She would square up to me, but then say I was the one threatening her. When I got upset, she'd say I need to man up. When I didn't respond she'd ask me if I was a mute. I tried to walk away from her a few times, and she'd block my way and say we weren't finished. On the few occasions I argued back she made me feel like a monster shouting at her.

I feel like I'm disappearing, and wish I could simply flick a button and stop existing to stop the constant pain. I cannot bear living without my little one, whom I was actively raising as a hands-on father which I can and will prove. I love her, and she is my heart, however I don't think the system or the court cares into looking into this case from my point of view. And I'm dead on arrival. This has affected me beyond belief, and I feel like I'm slowly slipping into this dark thing that I'm not. Any traces of the kind, funny, happy positive person i was, seem to have been corrupted by her and the system.

==

Devastating.

[josiecarioca]

So my question is basically how do you think Evelyn will take Severus's role in the wizarding war? I mean, as far as I have seen her as a character and read your main story about the two I can categorise Evelyn into someone who might have very strong ideals and a nearly unshakable morality. She doesn't seem the type that can understand the grey area between good and bad, right and wrong. She looks like someone who would very easily divide people into either black or white (at least that's how I have understood her, till now that is).

Do you think she will be able to forgive Snape's transgressions? Understand the place where he came from, the things he had to do. His nightmares, his problems, his faults, his reasoning, justifications anything?

It is after all very messy, complicated and incredibly difficult to attune a person like Evelyn whom you have described as a very real flesh and blood boisterous lively woman to a person who is basically all smoke and mirrors. The contrast between them though symbolically and aesthetically delectable does look increasingly jarring when thought about deeply.

Do you believe that Evelyn can make peace with the fact that the man she loves can very easily be stacked into the dark side on account of him actually perpetually hanging at the brink of white and black?

It took me ages to answer this ask because I didn't really know where to start, since this question has oh-so-many layers to it. Needless too say this answer contains major spoilers for all published chapters so far.

So, @pixiesandstarlight, to give your question a short answer: Yes, Evelyn will eventually come to terms with Severus true self. But it will be a rocky road.

Now, on to the needlessly long answer...

You're right when you say Evelyn is a very moral person with nearly unshakable principles, but the truth of the matter is, it's been quite easy for her to be like this. Evelyn is at her core a compassionate and accepting person, but she's also very sheltered, specially when compared to Severus. Evelyn comes from a loving, stable family who provided her with all the tools necessary for personal success and stability: care, affection, an excellent education, a comfortable home, emotional support, intellectual encouragement, sound moral and ethical guidance...Her dad was an educator and a free thinker, who went out of his way nurture and encourage his children and her mother's parenting style, while leaning towards the more strict side, put great value in compassion and love as core spiritual values (Sophia is a pious catholic who immediately took Fin in her home when he was kicked out of the house for being gay, so it's clear her idea of faith has more to do with love than dogma).

Evelyn was also blessed with personal charisma that made it very easy for her to make friends and connections. In short, Evelyn never faced true hardship like Severus did, and she was never put in a position where she had to make difficult choices from a moral standpoint. It's rather easy to hold on to a strong set of values when they never been challenged. At points, she even comes across as almost naïve or high and mighty in the way she deals with things.

Now there's one important thing to consider: the one, real tragedy in Evelyn's life, which is Paul's death.

There's an interesting aspect to appreciate here, in that everything about her brother's death is borne out of (well intentioned) deception. Paul only had his accident because he was never instructed on basic magic safety, and that happened because Evelyn's grandfather, Marius, never disclosed the fact that he was a Black, and there was a real possibility any of his descendants would be magical. That deception was rooted both in his own personal trauma and inability to discuss it as well as his need to protect his family from further trauma. It's possible that until Paul started to manifest signs of magic, the thought of revealing his secret never occurred to him (what would be the point?), and by the time he realized he'd have to say something, Paul's tragic passing merely dissuaded him, and he felt like saying something would be pouring salt on the wound (also who would believe him?). There's also the fact that (as some readers may have realized already) Dumbledore himself convinced him not to say anything (again, because it would be pointless AND it might draw attention to the muggle branch of the black family. It was 1971...the first wizarding war was on)

The problem with this is, Evelyn was an eyewitness. She saw Paul performing magic, she saw him die from a spell gone wrong, she saw magical creatures, and she saw Dumbledore talking to Marius. And she told the adults, because that was the right thing to do, as she was taught: you tell the adults when something is wrong. Her grief-striken parents simply thought she was making up stories to cope with the loss (an opinion that was echoed by the therapist that treated Evelyn, because, again, her parents were trying to do what was best for her, and taking your traumatised child to a therapist IS the responsible thing to do...not their fault this plan couldn't account for the literal existence of magic), and her grandfather thought it would be best for her if she also believed she was just imagining things. Again, because he was desperate to keep the family's stability, and also to keep them off the radar. So, Evelyn, who was raised to value truth, honesty and morality, really did convince herself she was imagining things. Because the only alternative would be that she was lying, because magic isn't real. And lying is wrong, so she couldn't be lying...therefore she was imagining, so she needed help and therapy...she was mentally unsound because her brother died. That became her truth.

So Evelyn did grow up with that * one* issue: the vague feeling that there was a lie, something that didn't quite add up at the core of all she believed to be true and where her entire moral compass comes from. Her aversion to deception and stubborn hold on the very idea of truth as an absolute has a lot to do with that. That's also at the root of her insecurity about her mental stability. Because if the truth is absolute, any deviation from it must be in her head, she's imagining things, she's “crazy”.

Now enter Severus. Who is...well, Severus, as we all know. He grew up without any of the advantages Evelyn enjoyed, had none of of the care, affection and guidance she got from her family and has made morally questionable decisions time and time again, either because he had to or because he didn't know better. And now he has to live with all of that. Yes, Severus is the kind of man Evelyn would avoid like the plague if she had known the truth about him right off the bat. But she didn't. All she knows at first is that he's a reserved, grouchy but extremely intelligent and intriguing man. She doesn't know Severus like we (the readers) do, she knows this persona he created for himself to live as a muggle. And it's not exactly a deception: Severus really is this quiet, socially awkward intellectual she falls for. But that's only a part of who he is. And he knows that if she discovers everything else, she won't react well.

So he simply doesn't tell her.

But here's the thing, Evelyn does love him. She loves him to the point she's willing to work things out even when she finds out he'd been lying to her. She's willing to forgive the lies because 1- she loves him this much (time and time again she even berates herself for letting her emotions get the best of her, and even wonders why she's so madly in love with this man that she's willing to put up with all this) and 2-, at this point she has been put in the position of contemplating her grandfather's story, and how wizarding society pushed him away, and why he felt he had to conceal things from those he loved the most. She knows her grandfather was a good man, who loved his family and would do anything to protect them. So she understands him. Consequentially he's perfectly willing to accept Severus deception (much like her grandfather's) came from a place of emotional fragility and fear of rejection. And she forgives, because she was raised to forgive. It's part of her mother's set of spiritual teachings, it's part of her identity, having been raised by a spiritual mother and a humanist father: to try and understand human fragility, to accept imperfection, to forgive when true repentance is shown (which would be living up to the catholic ideals she was raised with, tbh).

HOWEVER, even then, Severus doesn't tell her everything. At first he gives her a vague narrative of his life. He leaves out the most unsavory parts. And there's simply a lot for her to take in all at once. She holds on desperately to her love for him to make peace with the fact that there's so much to him she doesn't know. And as she keeps finding out more, that love is tested time and time again, and she's put in a position, for the first time in her life, to contemplate the gray areas of morality on which he navigates and why he does it. Interestingly, her delving into the gray areas of his life also give him a chance to move more towards the “lighter” side she inhabits, since her insistence on honesty and truthfulness also pushes him to face his own demons head on, and learn how to operate on an “open field” abd be vulnerable (at least when it comes to her). Because as Evelyn proves herself willing to accept him with all his idiosyncrasies, he finds that there's no more real need for “smoke and mirrors”.

To be frank Evelyn also has plenty of help through this process. Through her interactions with other people (mostly Minerva, Harry and Draco) she gets to see multiple sides to Severus, and understand him and his motivations, and find empathy beyond the fact that she loves him. Find empathy for him as a person, and not just accept him because she's in love with him. And she also discovers new things about herself, about the limits of her own acceptance and what she's really like when confronted with dilemmas she never had to even think about before.

After all, you never really know how you'll react to a moral dilemma until you're confronted with it, and even the most self-assured among us may end up surprising themselves with what they find after a little soul searching.

[septembersghost]

I agree with you so much on hsh being his 1989. Both 1989 and HsH got them the fame/appreciation that Red/FL never did despite it being superior art. Both of them made it sonically cohesive because their previous album was criticised for sound.The albums were commercially successful but that resulted in their overexposure that made me feel disconnected(its me,hi I'm the disconnect anon)Holivia was everywhere the way tayvin was in 1989.To me FL was therapy in a record. Golden made me forget about the bad things and focus on good things.WS made me yell from top of my lungs. Falling made me embrace the pain and FL gave me strength with 'we'll be alright '. Hsh couldn't give me that. Plus both hsh and 1989 is happy pop disguised with sad lyrics

hi disconnect anon bb <333 right, you completely understand what i mean by that. it doesn't mean the more successful/popular records aren't also great as their own things, they are, but for me there's a difference in connection and empathy/meaning in them as whole pieces. and the pitfalls of major success and initially fun popularity unfortunately come along due to the glare of that spotlight often turning harsh. i'd imagine it's difficult to find your bearings in it and that results in a certain distance from artists themselves too. (and yeah, the omnipresence of the relationships and the fallout are also similar.) the deceptive sound of both 1989 and harry's house too, exactly - they're shiny and upbeat, they're far more sonically cohesive, but quite a bit of both records is very sad/lonely/damaged underneath if you only note the words, even though hsh does have radiant warm/homey vibes to me too. fine line narratively works for me so much like red does (it's no wonder why i love both albums dearly) - beginning at that beautiful moment (this is the golden age of something good, and right, and real) but having worries underneath (you're my achilles' heel/i know that you're scared because i'm so open), the exhilaration of being in love and continuing to fall until it becomes a bone crushing crash, hurting and asking how everything could go so wrong, then slowly surfacing and finding your way again, trying to heal and start anew. and the fact that they do that with ups and downs of melody and with varying genre experimentation. it hit me hard when fine line first came out and i hear it every time. they both give me such a rare feeling. To me FL was therapy in a record. same. it IS therapeutic, and pieces of art that affect us in that way make such a real difference to us.

[annabell505]

The Monster: Jeffrey Dahmer

Part 4.

To summarize

As research shows there are no definitive definitions of how people become killers/serial killers.

 

There has been talk of the "Serial Killer Gene" but if you dig deeper, you can conclude that it affects temper and aggression, and as we know - not every temper is a killer. Many of us still have restraining factors, which appeared in our consciousness at the moment of personality formation (in the process of upbringing) such as: morality, realization of the value of any life, or, for example, religion.

No matter how you spin this medal (I mean the so-called killer gene) man is a reasonable being and can fight aggression and work on it. 

Of course, it's also important how serial killers grew up, how they were brought up :

whether they were given enough attention, whether they were not abused by parents/relatives/peers, etc.

whether some event happened to them that dramatically changed their perception of the world.

It often happens that if a child has a lack of love from parents (especially mother) in the future it is difficult for him to start romantic relationships, long and reliable.

And if this indifference causes hatred in him, it is not excluded that the hatred will spread to other women, in one way or another "similar" to the mother's behavior or external features.

In Dahmer's case, he undoubtedly bore the divorce badly, bore the heated family atmosphere badly, and it caused him to want to keep people around him "any way he could." 

Jeffrey never felt truly needed. Valued and loved.

Now, I'm going to give you an example of the "traits" that serial killers/murderers have. Or what to look out for if you're a parent:

- a child's interest in the world of the dead.

-Violence towards animals (not only killing them, of course, but also simple abuse like sewing them up, cutting off limbs, etc.) Violence towards other children, especially physical violence.

-excessive temper tantrums, mood swings.

-depressed mood, apathy.

-lack of social connections, no friends.

Some of the items on the list seem "harmless" and it is true! But what you need to consider is that they will only become harmless when they are worked through.

No, you don't need to scold the child, to rape his brain.

It is worth seeking help from a specialist and many of these problems will be solved.

The main thing is to notice the problem in time! And do not miss the moment when the growing up personality will no longer listen to someone "from the outside", and will act from their own wrong. and will act out of their own wrong and perverted beliefs.

How to know you're looking at a possible killer:

* Broken eyebrows can signal a lust for power;

* An almost straight lower eyelid line can signal suspicion, distrust of people;

* An unsightly lip shape is a sign of a complex character;

* A chin with a dimple or bifurcation - about difficulties in controlling the will;

* A flattening of the bridge of the nose - anger outbursts;

* General facial asymmetry - lack of integrity in the personality.

All these factors have been revealed by experts physiognomists, criminalists and are NOT ABSOLUTELY true, but rather presumptive.

Of course, if there's one thing, it doesn't tell you "Run, it's the killer!" But if you see many of the above in your interlocutor, be careful.

The first impression is often deceptive, happen your instinct, if you feel danger, it is better to listen.

Often a maniac seems charming, yes, he may have a family, he strives to put on a "mask of normality" until he meets his potential victim and loses control of himself.

In Dahmer's case, everything was exactly the same: he seemed nice, calm, easy to trust and could "bribe" his victim.

But it should not be forgotten that despite all those "positive" qualities he was sick and his disease, like drug addiction, made him do terrible things.

Alcohol only contributed to this: at first maniacs drink to forget their first crime, to distract themselves, but then everything goes further, when after drinking they feel more confident.

  

Then alcohol becomes one of the tools of murder, giving the maniac inhuman strength and confidence in what he is doing.

The more we drink, the more our brain dissolves - it turns into mush, unable to think.

Yes, this is why many maniacs lose their grip - they simply stop thinking critically, and they spend most of their time in alcoholic oblivion.

TIPS ON HOW NOT TO BECOME A VICTIM OF A MANIAC/RAPIST :

It's simple, you have to remember - we can't see them, they are transparent, they blend into the crowd easily, but they see us perfectly well.

How not to become a potential victim for a maniac?

- Avoid walking at night.

-Avoid places where there are almost no people: back alleys, yards, bushes and parks (especially at night!). 

-Do not drink alone/alone and do not drink what a new "companion" offers you.

-Do not go to the house of strangers/significant others, do not agree to "warm up" in the car. 

NOW WHAT WILL HELP YOU IN CASE OF AN EXTREME SITUATION

-Always carry pepper spray.

-Carry a burglar alarm, it can scare off an attacker.

-Don't be afraid to hit, do everything to keep yourself alive: use all methods: bites, scratch the attacker's face, aim for the eyes.

-Try to move with someone, less often alone.

-Shout.

If you live in a private home and are afraid of a thief/killer breaking in:

-Always draw the curtains, don't give them a chance to peek in on you.

-Hang bars on your windows, especially if it's the first floor.

-Put an alarm system in your home.

-Install a panic button.

-Put something fragile on the windowsill that will break and wake you up in case of a home invasion.

-Have a gun, maybe under the bed.

-Put a camera, let them see you have one - good deterrent. 

[flatbartender]

I really dislike personality tests like these. Some people seem to be head over heels for them, but I took a look at scientific evidence and it's. It's not good, it's a lot of nice, flattering blanket statements with some other stuff peppered in...

I think they kind of terrify me in a way. Like when you get your personality tested and then someone comes and announces with all the confidence of the world that you're an introvert (even though you may really not be), with a lot of stuff to convince you, then you start thinking you're an introvert and really act like one... That's pretty fucked up. And it kind of happened to me a long time ago before I did any research on the subject.

A few years ago I decided I would try to shut people off before they tried to think about """analyzing""" me. I think people (including me!) are way too weird and complex to neatly out them in categories like that. And in the end if you do listen to your categorization, you're bound to agree with it (because it's mostly nice flattering blanket statements) at least a bit and let it guide you towards... something else? And it becomes some kind of self fulfilling prophecy. "Oh I have been told I'm INTJ, I heard they do this and that, I should do that too" kind of stuff.

Makes me really uncomfortable, but also when someone comes to you with strong beliefs that clash with your own, how are you supposed to handle it?? I don't want to be an asshole and hurt people, even though I think astrology and MBTI and Freudian psychoanalysis are complete bullshit? First because well. I don't want to hurt people and have them act mean to me, possibly behind my back. And second because by alienating people like that you break any future possibility of convincing them that they are wrong for believing things like this.

Finding a way to. to stop people who believe. without hurting their belief. is something I often struggle with. Because (and that applies to everybody) we're always "right," and the other is always "wrong."

But that's not true. There are objectively correct beliefs and objectively incorrect beliefs. But it's hard to decide which is which. I think the scientific method helps us decide, but a lot of people are not receptive to that argument because of a lot of things. There's a lot of bad science out there, and filtering out the bad part is really hard and some people and organizations try their hardest to make that as difficult as possible.

On that specific topic though I am very confident I am correct in thinking these """tests""" aren't useful or indicative of much, and can be used to manipulate people. People are weirdly simple but deceptively complex and the path to self discovery does not lie within a 200 questions test with a """professional""" interpretation at the end, no matter how convincing.