#Already hyper intellectualizes things

[stuckinapril]

Can’t believe I ever functioned without going to therapy every week omg. The sheer delusion of thinking I can last in this life without therapy

[sailorrhansol]

Amnesia | Teaser c.sc (m)

❀ Pairing: Choi Seungcheol x f. reader

❀ Summary: Choi Seungcheol has never been the type to commit to relationships - casual is more his thing. You’re fine with that - except you and Seungcheol seem to be terrible at casual when it comes to one another. 

❀ Word Count: TBD

❀ Genre: FWB to Lovers

❀ Type: Smut, Angst if you squint

❀ Rating: 18+ Minors are strictly prohibited from engaging in and reading this content. It contains explicit content and any minors discovered reading or engaging with this work will be blocked immediately.

❀ Teaser Warnings: Recreational drinking, tension

❀ Disclaimer: Disclaimer: All members of Seventeen are faces and name claims for stories. Any scenarios or representations of the people and places mentioned in works are not representative of real-life scenarios. Moreover, none of my works accurately reflect, represent or take a stance on the nuances of Korean culture, cities, people etc. Seventeen members are not Seventeen culturally, intellectually, physically, or representationally in my stories, and should be considered name and face stand-ins for made up characters.

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Wordlessly, Seungcheol holds his hand out. Flushing from the neck down, you hand it over to him with a silent thank you. He pops the top easily, bicep flexing for a moment before he passes it back over, shooting you an award winning grin. 

“Wow, so strong.”

He pouts and you swear you see stars. “Hey, I am strong.” 

“No, no, you are. Thank you.” 

“You shouldn’t tease me. I’m new.” 

“Huh.” You sip your beer, letting the cool liquid slide down your throat. It does nothing to soothe the heat spreading over your skin under the sole attention of Seungcheol. “I don’t remember that being a rule.” 

“I never was one to play by the rules anyway.” 

“Oh, so you’re saying you cheat at games like Jeonghan does.” 

“I like winning.”

You roll your eyes. From the edge of your vision, you see people leave the pool table. Eager to stand up and stretch your legs, you start to slide out of the booth, the wood grain scratching against your jeans as you do. 

“Come on then, cheater. Let’s play pool.” 

“I’m down.” 

Seungcheol follows you. Your fingers grip the glass of your drink tight, knuckles straining. You move around tables and duck around other patrons, hyper aware of the way Seungcheol keeps close to you, the heat of him against your back. 

Next to the rows of dart boards are two pool tables, the felt a faded green with beer stains and other mysterious smudges on the surface. You grab a cue from the rack on the wall, spin it in your hands, and hand it over to Seungcheol. He eyes it, running his fingers along the splintered and dented wood.

Grabbing your cue in one hand and the triangle rack and set it on the table while he collects the balls from the table and the pockets, rolling them over to you. A few feet away, Joshua is already accusing Jeonghan of cheating. You don’t know how you cheat in darts, but you do know if there is a will, Jeonghan will find a way.

“Dangerous to let them have sharp objects,” Seungcheol notes, sliding the last ball over to you. You huff out a laugh, rolling the rack of billiard balls back and forth to set them. “You’re not going to get violent with me, right?”

“I don’t know, are you going to cheat?”

His smile is wicked. “Me? Definitely not.” 

“Hmm. Not convincing.”

Seungcheol presses the flat of his palm over his chest, drawing your eyes to how thick he is in the chest area. You swallow thickly as he says, “Cross my heart.” 

“Whatever you say. What are we playing for?” 

“What will you give me?” 

You look up at the shift in his tone. Dark. Flirty. He leans against the pool table, resting his hip casually as he crosses his arms over his chest. You ignore the way his arms flex, totally focused on the way his eyes are only for you. Intent. Meaningful. 

A warning goes off in your head. You already feel the pull to him, the innate attraction that has your heart hammering. You should brush off the flirtation, move on to other things. Relationships aren’t really your thing, but there’s something about him that makes you know you’ll want more. 

You already do want more. 

“What do you want?” you ask softly, ignoring your better judgment. 

When Seungcheol smiles, you know you’d give him anything. Everything.

“I can think of something, I think.”

[punkpandapatrixk]

☕️Soul Story with Your Divine Counterpart ♦︎ Timeless Pick A Card

A long, long, long time ago, in the harmonic realms of Pure Bliss, there was nothing but Dharma. Bored as whoa from a lack of strife, our Souls began to yearn for Drama. In the theatre of the Universe, Game Masters joined forces to create the most hyper-realistic Game of Polarity—of opposites and contrasts. We were told, we would understand Unity better if we could master Duality.

Divine Pairs were invited for the launch of the Game as the unbreakable bond between them was deemed the most powerful, enough to withstand the chaotic nature of Duality and Polarity. In time, we all jumped into the Game expecting all kinds of immersive experiences of playing knaves and heroes, destroyers and builders, enemies and lovers, et cetera, et cetera.

In the beginning, we played amongst many of our own Kind but eventually met those from other harmonics who had later been invited to the Game, too. In a world of illusions… we were dreaming all kinds of events and adventures with our cosmic avatars, and in time, all kinds of storylines intertwined to weave an even bigger cosmic narrative.

We all played for so long we were beginning to forget our true form. Many of us could no longer recognise each other’s Divine Counterparts. A multitude of shape-shifting had caused a distortion in reconnecting to our Original Memory. The game world had now become a second Reality.

🎧Alone Again, Wonderful World by Plastic Tree

🎧I Love You by Off Course

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Pile 1 – Finally, Happily Ever After with You♥︎

MOVIE: Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

your Home World – Page of Swords

I have a feeling your Home World (at least one of them that is significant in your current stage of soul evolution) was a relatively new world. You’ve come from a civilisation that prized intellectual pursuits more than anything. Your Kind loved to study; you enjoyed improving your environment and society. Researching plants—understanding them and making chemicals and potions with them—was a pastime of your people. You were working to understand your Planet.

Your Home World had many large, expansive libraries of all the things your people had come to learn. Many people loved to visit the library and read and just have fun studying. You were such big-brained folks. There was no school like we know on Earth. There were academies and laboratories for children to partake in research and new inventions. The weather on your Home World was always pleasantly sunny and you could see buildings that are similar to hot houses on Earth. There were gardens and open fields, of course. Vegs and herbs were your main interest and food was aplenty.

People had roles in society but nobody had any semblance of a concept of what we call ‘jobs’ on Earth. People didn’t work for money. People lived with the joy of knowing that they were alive and that the Planet had provided for them. Your people loved the Planet so much—you appreciated and cherished this new world you were beginning to understand. But… this also meant you didn’t have any concept of conflict, power struggle, and war… You didn’t have a military—never crossed your mind the necessity for such a thing.

And so, when warmongering space invaders attacked your Home World you couldn’t protect yourself.

a promise before birth – 4 of Swords Rx

From the moment the space invaders arrived, it was clear that there was no way your civilisation could stand a chance against the enemy’s warships. The imbalance of military power was too overbearing. You didn’t even have an army, not even a fighter. All you could do was try your best to evacuate your people and escape the Planet. Homes and gardens were destroyed and families were torn apart. Friends and lovers calling out names of lost loved ones. Sisters and mothers shielding children and escaping. Brothers and fathers staying behind to buy time.

This horror was etched in your Soul Memory for a long time. Your heartbreak became a default setting when you chose to be born on Earth. As if, you’d forgotten how it feels like to have peace. But you craved it from the deepest unseen well of your subconscious, and at one point in your soul evolution, you prayed to Infinite Intelligence. You prayed that you could be saved from the looping horror of being trapped in the same scenario of sorrows. You had come to resent the Game.

‘Please, salvage my heart from betrayals, isolation and loneliness.’ Infinite Intelligence heard your plea and whispered: ‘If you could remember your Divine Counterpart, they will remember you, too, and you will be calling out for one another. If you could remember your true form, you will remember what your Divine Counterpart feels (looks) like. And all will be fine in all of the worlds again when you meet.’ And you fell back into slumber to find yourself awake on Earth.

finding each other – 5 of Swords Rx

Earth is a world that is just as war-torn as your Home World, if not a lot worse out here. Being born into a world so reminiscent of all your traumas, navigating Life here has not been easy. As if Infinite Intelligence had played a cruel joke on you. But the truth is, Earth is the perfect place for you right now because by being here you resolve your traumas a lot faster than if you had been born somewhere comparatively better. You are in the midst of recovering from bad dreams of lives lost in wars.

Did it cross your mind that your Divine Counterpart has also been doing the same? You’re not alone. You’re working really hard to purify yourself from all of these bad dreams, bad memories, all so you wouldn’t mistakenly destroy each other when you meet. Infinite Intelligence had arranged for you to face your traumas head on so you wouldn’t have to show your ugly healing to each other. That scenario isn’t for you. Isn’t it so graceful?

Although it’s hard to face your challenges feeling like you’re all alone in the wild wide world, trust me, it’s better to have those quarrels and separations with people who mean little. I can hear a soft voice from the aether saying: ‘You’re… the only reason I’m still breathing… We will meet. When I’m good, I can make everything in your world good!’ So confident. So loving, indeed.

TURNING THE PAGES🔻💜

story behind your Union – Gold Physician (Hippocrates)

the rest of your days – Priestess of Ambition

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Pile 2 – True Calm That Comes Only After the Storms

MOVIE: Grave of the Fireflies & My Neighbor Totoro (both 1988)

your Home World – 8 of Cups

Quite similar to Pile 1, you still carry deep sadness and heavy regrets in your heart that are, truthfully, only remnants of memories from your Home World. Your Home World was quite advanced technologically. Your civilisation depended on the Masculine energy—Yang energy. Societies were run on varying degrees of strictness but the modus operandi was clear: the masculine form and structural ways of running things were favoured.

Obviously, not everybody was happy about that though for a long time, peace was maintained. However, influences from visitors and ambassadors from other civilisations (by comparison they were freer; more fluid) eventually seeped into the consciousness of the main populace, and in time, underground rebellion groups were formed. These alliances were made amongst multiple races of beings that felt they weren’t accepted (or respected enough) by the main races.

Friction began to tear apart the establishment and government officials tried their utmost to crack down dissents. Many went to prison or got killed in the numerous conflicts that were becoming a plague in your Home World. In a last attempt to preserve the codes of freedom, many elders told their young warriors to flee and find refuge in other Worlds that were, hopefully, more balanced in their operation of Yin and Yang.

a promise before birth – 3 of Cups

You left your Home World carrying a promise to come back and make everything better after you’ve learnt enough about the ways of other Worlds. Tears were inevitable but the determination in your heart was solid. You were a new legion of Ambassadors from your own Home World. You didn’t really want to think of yourselves as refugees, after all, many of your Soul Family members were still living alright in your Home World though things were just… a little too unpleasantly unjust.

When you departed your Home World, you created a mirror image of yourself to accompany you across the Multiverse—a divinely ordained Counterpart. This was possible by the grace of the Infinite Intelligence, of course. In the beginning, you went to the same places and learnt similar things. Over time, your understanding of each other’s capabilities became clearer and, with confidence, you decided you would travel separately from now on.

You had this unbreakable bond and an immense capacity for telepathy, so you weren’t the slightest bit worried about losing contact with your Counterpart. You believed that it would be just as easy to call upon each other and reunite as you deemed fit. Alas, your travels brought you to Earth, finally, and things over here were just… slightly over-the-top chaotic for even you to handle. The level of evil on this new World was… NEXT LEVEL.

finding each other – 7 of Pentacles Rx

Crash landing on Earth! Coming here felt like a major accident. Your whole world upside down. The reason being something related to betrayal trauma. To find a World that’s even more polarised than your own; to see a World that operates on the highest level of toxic masculinity; to be in a World this corrupted by its own leaders; needless to say the whole being born thing was traumatising.

The shocks of being born on Earth made it difficult to reconnect with the essence of who you are on a Soul level. Thus you forgot how to contact your Divine Counterpart. You’ve felt like you have so little guidance living Life on Earth. But deep in your psyche, you’ve always known you’re here for something greater than the mundane. You know you don’t belong to this Earth. You’re here on a mission. You want to build something with someone… Someone dear, but you can’t remember.

Can you believe that you and your Divine Counterpart are meant to inspire the dissolution of anger? Yes, this World so deep in the clutches of aggression. You are special Souls who have been ordained to meet on Earth when the time is right to help inspire peace—after all, it is what you seek and Infinite Intelligence is arranging every couple’s rendezvous in the most magnificently mysterious ways. I think your finding each other is just gonna happen naturally by virtue of matching vibrations. So~ Keep focusing on your Life’s mission and just like that~ BOOM! There they are.

TURNING THE PAGES🔻💚

story behind your Union – Green Historian (Herodotus)

the rest of your days – Priestess of Inspiration

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Pile 3 – ‘Kiss You Better; I’m Your Only Other’

MOVIE: Princess Mononoke (1997)

your Home World – 6 of Wands

The Home World that’s currently significant in your soul evolution was a world of glory and magnificence. Your Home World looked nothing like what we know of abundance and celebration on Earth; it was such a rich and happy World. It emanated so much pink, gold, blue, turquoise and soft violet. Back in your Home World, people didn’t even look… humanoid, per se. Your Home World was… fluid. It was a different type of consciousness. Life itself was fluid. Existence was simply flowing with the sweet symphony of the Cosmos.

Your Home World operated on the basis of Love. People were very kind and jolly most of the time. Your people didn’t really understand this whole concept of non-Love. Suffering and terror… what the heck are those? Manipulation and lies… for what? Taking advantage of someone else, murder and theft… but… why? All of those concepts were so foreign yet so fascinating to your people.

When you heard that Earth needed some high-vibe volunteers to ‘raise her vibrations’, actually, not that many people from your Home World were interested LMAO The risks of being separated and forgetting Love sounded not worth a good dime. Your World was so peaceful, loving and fulfilling. But the call from Earth felt a little too urgent! So… Some curious and courageous Souls finally decided to take a test drive. Just a preview. It couldn’t be that bad, you thought.

a promise before birth – King of Wands

With gleeful optimism, you promised people back Home that you would be back with grand stories! Off you and your Soul Mates went to a big academy (on another World) to study and prepare for a reincarnation on Earth. Yup, unlike the other Piles in which they couldn’t help but arrive on Earth, you chose to come here out of genuine curiosity. You were expecting dramatic fun!

You and your Divine Counterpart were giggling with anticipation as you prepared yourselves to dive into the Earth Matrix. You and your Divine Counterpart are powerful Souls; you were confident this Game would be between easy to medium difficulty, although you had been told Earth Game’s level of easy is the equivalent of extra hard anywhere else! Your optimism deafened you to that piece of information🤷🏻‍♀️

You kissed your Divine Counterpart and said, ‘I love you. Let’s find each other quickly in this Game. Let’s have fun and then go back to tell everyone what we’ve seen! It’ll be great!’ Your Divine Counterpart nodded in agreement and waved to all members of your Soul Family and they did the same. With great determination to serve your collective consciousness back Home, you dove into the illusions of Life on Earth🌎

finding each other – 5 of Pentacles

Arriving here, from the moment you were born as a child the world was already chaos. The reality of Earth was too shocking to bear alone. Who would’ve thought the density of Earth would cause you this much pain? Physically, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, everythingally. You thought, ‘Damn, my training at the academy told me nothing, NOTHING, of this!’ Literally you didn’t expect Earth’s negative polarisation would be THIS fucked up.

For you’ve come from a world of nothing but Love, Life on Earth was soul-shattering to say the least. Many moments you’ve thought it impossible to go back to the frequencies of Love and you became dejected as fuck. But you’ve only forgotten that YOU are Love. You carry the memories of all your collective consciousness that supports your coming here. As long as you tap into this Love deep within yourself, so shall you be reconnected to the essence of who you are on a profound Soul level. There, as well, you will feel the heartbeat of your Divine Counterpart.

For you’ve come from Love, it’s as if your Divine Counterpart had left a piece of their Heart in yours so you never feel alone. You are both a complete whole carrying a piece of each other’s essence everywhere you go—a perfect personification of the Yin-Yang symbolism. You are literally inseparable and have never truly been separated. A piece of your Heart in theirs is always reminding them of their ultimate goal in this incarnation: to find each other, weave stories together, and infuse a piece of yourselves into the collective conscious of Mankind as a token of gratitude—for all the experiences.

TURNING THE PAGES🔻💛

story behind your Union – Red Astronomer (Johannes Kepler)

the rest of your days – Priestess of Illumination

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[kaelio]

I think I've written this before somewhere, but my "fix" to make David Talbot more interesting isn't to make him a better guy; in many ways it's to make him worse. Or, emphasize the things that already make him pretty vile. David was a predator as a living person, and an effective predator, and a sophisticated 'intellectual' figure. Unlike most of the other characters, he was successful and, beyond that, esteemed when he was alive. And he held that position not just despite, but because of how successfully he navigated the world around him—as that predator. David seizes what he desires, going back to TotBT. He's utterly casual about what he has taken from others, what he kills, and who he's fucked. I don't particularly like him shipped with Lestat because Anne was right: he's perfect for Lestat! I don't want a romance I think would fit that tidily.

Now, the trick here is, I would lean into how David was (as a living person) a wolf amongst sheep, but as a vampire, he's more a coyote among wolves. Lestat might try to talk him up, but realistically David isn't an especially powerful vampire and I would have written him as even weaker. He's more of a predator than ever—he has capabilities that dwarf what he could do as a living person. However, now he's in a world of hyper-predators, and among them, he's nothing special. He's a dog, but not the alpha dog. I'd emphasize that even the best mortal predators aren't much compared to the vampires themselves (who aren't necessarily good at being vampires because they were 'bad people', and in fact often weren't) and David is in many ways starting over from scratch without the benefits he might assume. Or worse, he'll never be much in comparison to the one who made him or those who came before him. He'll never be a vampire who fed from Akasha. He'll never supersede those who are esteemed among vampires.

Lestat found one of the most brutal takers around and made him his pet. David has absolutely no recourse at all and has no control in whatever relationship he has to Lestat beyond what Lestat thinks is fun to pretend to grant him.

In fact, that's sort of how I'd have liked the opening of TVA to go: Armand being fascinated by someone who seems like a real motherfucker, and then taking him for a ride and realizing oh. Quite an ego on him, Lestat's new fledgling, but this is the big leagues, kiddo, and you're over your skis.

[drdemonprince]

Hi, apologies in advance if this is something you've already discussed or addressed, but I was wondering about whether there is any kind of correlation between autism and increased sensitivity to tragic global events? Maybe I'm just burnt out, but the past couple weeks of turmoil and tragedy in Israel/Palestine has me completely immobilized with anxiety and despair. I don't have any profound connections to the region, Israeli citizens, or the Palestinian people, but my heart aches from it all, especially with the ongoing devastation in Gaza.

I had a similar experience in 2017 from Hurricane Maria, but I had lived for a year on the island where it first made landfall in PR, so I was personally invested and it was a place with which I was familiar. Asking other autistic friends if there's a higher chance of being hyperfixated on or extra sensitive to coverage of international tragedy, I was told my own personal history with trauma and violence/tragedy may just make me more empathetic to others' suffering.

How, as an autistic person, do you find ways to pull yourself out of despair for the state of the world and the suffering of others?

Many people find it compelling to draw a link between Autism and heightened empathy or sensitivity to matters of injustice, for understandable reasons, but the reality is far more complex.

In research, we see that Autistic people are more morally consistent than other people -- we are more likely to sacrifice resources or social standing in order to stand up for the things in which we believe. Because of masking pressures, many of us become highly attuned to the emotions of others -- or what we presume those emotions to be, because of course no person is a mind-reader. We can appear stubborn, to others, in holding steadfastly to our beliefs even when doing so is risky. We are also highly traumatized and thus suffer from hyper-vigilance, trauma triggers, and many other symptoms that may register as us taking emotional blows particularly hard.

It would be comforting to tell ourselves that such traits make us more connected to global events, or actually more morally or ethically invested. But that isn't necessarily the case. Having a strong moral consistency doesn't mean that a person's morals are the correct ones, being willing to make a sacrifice for a cause doesn't mean it was the right cause, and being highly sensitive to the plights of others doesn't mean we actually understand them or are feeling their feelings at all.

For myself, being Autistic is associated with being far less emotionally impacted by such global events than other people. I have very limited empathy, and in situations like these what empathy I do have is entirely cognitively mediated. Global catastrophes and massive injustices don't really emotionally affect me the way that I see them affecting other people -- I don't cry about such things or feel devastated by them, I just think about them a lot in a relatively dispassionate way, and many of the gestures people find moving surrounding such issues do nothing for me.

It doesn't mean I don't care. I actively make the choice to care because of my belief system and values. I have to decide intentionally to dwell on the emotional reality of what is happening. I have to force myself to imagine what others might be feeling, and what others are going through, in order to understand it. Otherwise, to me it is more of an intellectual abstraction, and my focus immediately goes toward what I think the logical solution or means of response might be.

This doesn't make my conclusions any better than anyone else's, mind you. Just because I'm thinking analytically doesn't mean I have the correct information or frame of reference -- in fact, in such matters it often leads me to be oblivious to what others need or what others would consider the morally right thing to do. There's a whole spectrum of human experience I can't access, and while I used to think it made me evil, it's doesn't. It just makes me different.

My friends and loved ones who are more emotionally open-hearted are the ones that remind me to pause, to honor people's grief, to make sense of the emotional and social needs of the moment as well as the ones that strike my numb self as more supposedly practical. My knee-jerk reaction to such situations is to try and jump into problem-solving mode, and I have had to learn from experience that I need to slow down, humble myself, and make space for the enormity of people's feelings and the horror of the things are happening that my body just cannot touch. Very emotionally obvious things, by the standards of other people, completely fly past me.

Still, I am also often frustrated and confused by the reactions other people have to crises -- as a very general rule, humanity tends to reach for means of addressing such events that are symbolic and emotionally satisfying but might not align with their professed ideologies or any kind of articulated strategy. The safety pin thing after Trump was elected, for example, or the blackout squares at the height of BLM. These movements felt good, I guess, to people who were in a state of genuine panic, but they actually did more harm than good.

It's difficult to be what often feels like the sole voice asking whether what the collective is doing really makes any sense. If often makes me seem like I am heartless, which I guess I am, but I am still highly invested in the side I believe to be just winning, and in my annoying fault-finding I'm simply trying to aid in that.

There's benefits and drawbacks to both approaches, is what I'm saying, and there are many routes to caring about an issue and many ways in which caring isn't the same thing as being helpful.

All of this is a bit ancillary to your question. Is it an Autism thing to be sensitive to global genocide? I think that's quite a human thing. Many Autistic people take such matters very very seriously, but some of us do so in ways that aren't as emotional as what you describe. Others are incredibly emotionally impacted by such matters, like you are -- and so are many non-Autistic people. It hardly matters whether it's normal or not though -- this is what is happening for you, and it matters, and you certainly aren't alone in it.

I wish I had advice that came from personal experience, but my experience is somewhat of the mirror image to yours. I find that when people care deeply about an issue, whether it's intellectually or emotionally, they compulsively consume information and upsetting imagery about the issue to a degree they find debilitating. I do this, and you probably do it as well, even if what happens to me is analysis paralysis and fault-finding and what happens to you is probably more like horror and despair.

I believe limiting one's intake is necessary. I believe humility is too. We are not the stars of this story, and we are not so important in the world as to expect ourselves to be experts or saviors. I find that stepping back and gaining historical knowledge places things in perspective. I have learned much by studying the political movements of the past. I have had to develop a true understanding of how the social change I desire really works -- thanks to historical reading, discussion with people I respect, and by consuming leftist theory.

I think it is vitally important to be able to disagree with people, at least in the privacy of your own mind and in your own conduct, so that even if someone is ringing an alarm bell and saying that a certain action is necessary, you have the power to determine if you actually agree. I think it's important to not constantly consume information. We have to learn to know which voices to completely disregard, by asking ourselves what belief system drives a person's claims, and whether they are positioning themselves as an expert for their own self-enrichment and betterment rather than for a just cause.

I think we can't just be moved by the emotional panic of the situation, because we are very easily manipulated, drained of energy, and led astray, and disempowered if we are. But I also think we can't be detached from the human emotional reality of the moment either -- no matter what I think is the rational course of action, the only way humans are ever going to organize and take that action is by speaking with one another, crying with one another, eating together, laughing together, and believing in something better together.

I don't know how to do any of that stuff. I only know tactics and history and theory and fault-finding. There is a place for me in the struggle. There is a place for you in it too. But we are small, and we have to make peace with our smallness and flaws and build a movement that accounts for them, and for a wide variety of gifts and perspectives.

[seriousbrat]

Do you think Lily (or atleast your lily) is “not like other girls-ing” it. Meaning do you think she looks down on the hyper feminine or atleast holds her self as being better (consciously or unconsciously) for not being that?

Given the time period she grew up in it would be a bit of an anomaly for her to not have these deep seated ideas of femininity (which is why I don’t give hermione too hard of a time here), but if you think she didn’t adopt that thinking what caused that? And if she did (to any capacity) what does that look like in her day to day life?

Oooh, honestly a very interesting question! My most honest answer is that.... probably a little bit. The thing is that we've only begun to question the whole "not like other girls" thing very recently, so we have to consider that this was absolutely not a thing during the 70s. I do think Lily would consider herself "not like a lot of other girls" in the sense that maybe intellectual, political, philosophical things are more important to her than stereotypically feminine concerns like makeup, boys, fashion etc. That being said, I think she would in general be what we now call a "girl's girl."

I don't think she can be blamed for this; again the way we now see the whole "not like other girls" thing is very recent. Personally I don't believe that any women or girls who have felt excluded from the roles traditionally ascribed to women are at fault for feeling that way. Especially in the past, I understand why women would have felt like they weren't meeting certain standards that were expected of them and would take that as proof that they weren't like the majority of women-- the truth is that NO women are meeting 100% of the standards expected of them, but all of this is a pretty recent idea.

Lily would have likely compared herself to the model of Petunia, who is in many ways very stereotypically hyperfeminine-- her main life goal was to get married, be a housewife, and have a kid. While Lily did get married and have a kid, I don't see her as being content with just being a housewife, and I don't think that was her only life goal at all. If it weren't for the war (which is already something Lily was dedicating herself to beyond a sterotypically feminine role) she likely would have had aspirations beyond being a mother and a wife. So I do think she compared herself to Petunia in that sense, but you have to consider that in the 70s and 80s women were still fighting for many rights and considerations that today we consider basic.

I imagine that for Lily, Petunia represented something actively anti-feminist-- she married a chauvinist, conservative, middle class man who expected Petunia to cook his meals and clean his house-- and that was all that Petunia aspired to. I think that, in a sense, Lily did look down on Petunia for choosing this lifestyle, simply because she would never be content with that herself. We also have to take into account the fact that, for all the faults that the wizarding world has, gender is not really as big of a factor as it is in the Muggle world---although misogyny definitely exists in canon, a witch could potentially be much more powerful or talented than any given wizard, and it seems as though witches are very capable of reaching the same positions as wizards in the Ministry.

So, basically, I do think Lily would have judged Petunia especially in some sense for making choices that Lily considered to be anti-feminist. Does that make her an "I'm not like other girls" girl? I don't think so, personally I see her as being a stalwart feminist and very supportive of her female friends. Her judgment of Petunia likely came from the disparaging attitude that Petunia and Vernon had towards Lily and James-- I see Lily as being prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt, and really making an effort to support her sister and maintain their relationship even if she didn't fully agree with Petunia's choices. But as we know, Petunia didn't let her. Lily tried to understand, and that does show a lot of empathy. I think that in this situation he problem was Petunia.

[topsyturvy-turtely]

JOHNLOCK FIC REC/ MUST READ!!!

last year (2022, not that long ago) i read this absolute genius fic by @totallysilvergirl and it is long overdue to recommend this beauty out to my fellow johnlockers!

Drawn to Stars by Silvergirl

Explicit, Words: 109.272, Chapters: 60/60

Additional Tags (selection): Angst with a Happy Ending, Sherlock's Italian adventure, Jealous John, Mutual Pining, mutual misunderstandings, finally they talk about the Fall, First Time, First Kiss, can requited love last?, TFP never happened, Fanart, Multiple Pov, Seriously a REALLY happy Johnlock ending, Idiots in Love, Roberto Zanardi (OMC)

SUMMARY:

“Romantic entanglement, while fulfilling for other people—”

“—would complete you as a human being.”

After the Culverton Smith case Sherlock is clean, working, and looking for a romantic partner—since John has told him that’s what he needs. Shame John didn’t mention he was interested in that role himself, before Sherlock went off to Rome with a gorgeous Italian copper to try to fall in love and become a complete human being.

---

it is an absolute masterpiece. it got everything: angst, fluff, deep talks, intimacy, communication, jealousy, art talk (yes hello i love that okay?), (love) letters, writer john, beautiful description of the surroundings, fanart... do i need to keep on?

it captured me from the first chapter, i cried, i laughed - i felt it all for my two favorite bois. it broke my heart into a million pieces only to pick them all up and put them back together and cover it with a fluffy & healing layer of magic. basically binge-read this. yes it is long, and i've honestly been hesitant to read it because of its length but let me tell you it is 100% worth it and in the end it was over in no time (too soon!)

you already read Drawn to Stars?

-> check out all the lovely sequels!

Winter Light by Silvergirl

Explicit, Words: 7.742 , Chapters: 21/21

SUMMARY:

This is a hermetic universe, which for a few minutes a day has only two inhabitants. They don't even need names.

They wouldn't want to live always in such isolation, but in the winter light, when time cracks open, there are always—only—two of them.

---

winter fluff! i repeat! winter! fluff! my heart is happy remembering this :)

◈⬖⬖⬖⬖⬖◈⬗⬗⬗⬗⬗◈⬖⬖⬖⬖⬖◈

Teach Your Children Well by Silvergirl

Explicit, Words: 12.662, Chapters: 4/4

Additional Tags (selection): Angst with a Happy Ending, mutual misunderstandings, Old unhappy far-off things will bite you in the butt, Established Relationship, can requited love last?, POV John, A grown-up wedding

SUMMARY:

John decides to send Rosie to the local school a year early. Sherlock assumes he doesn’t want her becoming solitary, hyper-intellectual, hyper-focused—in other words, like Sherlock. It doesn’t help that Rosie’s prospective teacher is a dead ringer for Nicole Kidman, and is making overtures to John by text. But both fathers are wide of the mark: well, there’s always something, right?

---

silly bois being equally dumb but good at parenting/relationships in their very own way. Silver's version of Rosie is a kid you will admire for both: her intelligence and capability of love. (what can i say she is her fathers' daughter!)

◈⬖⬖⬖⬖⬖◈⬗⬗⬗⬗⬗◈⬖⬖⬖⬖⬖◈

The Nearer Your Destination by Silvergirl

Explicit, Words: 18.949, Chapters:6/6

Additional Tags (selection): Established Relationship, Wedding, Honeymoon, POV Sherlock, can requited love last?, Parentlock, Jealousy, No plot beyond sex holiday and personal growth, and lots of talking

SUMMARY:

After a December wedding, Sherlock takes John to Venice for a February honeymoon. It's absolutely perfect, up until the moment he hears John growl, "What the hell is Zanardi doing here?"

---

a wedding told as a memory, and a honeymoon in italy. who wants more? oh, and they TALK! their conversations always have at least one quote in them you could live by!

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The Ever Circling Years by Silvergirl

Mature, Words: 15.735, Chapters: 29/29

Additional Tags: Rotating POV, Mostly Fluff

SUMMARY:

Snippets from different Decembers in the Drawn to Stars universe. (They'll make sense on their own, though.) Each chapter ends with Miss Davis's prompt for the day.

---

decembers from 2013 all the way to 2045 (not each but a bunch)! there is a lot of fluff, lots of Rosie content, and - as so often - very amazing fanart!

◈⬖⬖⬖⬖⬖◈⬗⬗⬗⬗⬗◈⬖⬖⬖⬖⬖◈

dear @totallysilvergirl i love this universe with my whole heart. your writing style is beautiful, the plots amazing, the characters complex and lovable. thank you for writing this! you would have at least thrice as many kudos if ao3 let us give more, and girl do you deserve them!

*throws badly cut out paper hearts*

tagging some people so this gets spread around (ik lots of you probably already know this universe but... i can't think of a but)

@justanobsessedpan @helloliriels @fluffbyday-smutbynight @inevitably-johnlocked @hisfavouritejumper @rhasima @forfucksakejohn @ohlooktheresabee @turbulenttrouble @7arantellgrrl @ssmeowl123 @so-youre-unattached-like-me @peanitbear @train-mossman @loki-lock @smulderscobie @timberva @grace-in-the-wilderness @chinike @pansherlock @the-smol-bean-libby-blog @jawnn-watson @whatnext2020 @escapingthereality @missdeliadili @kettykika78 @musingsofmyown @7-percent @speedymoviesbyscience @astudyin221b @francj15 @almosttinycowboy @ladylindaaa @we-r-loonies @mxster-jocale @sherlockcorner @noahspector @our-stars-graveside @jobooksncoffee @baker-street-blog

[communistkenobi]

Now that Succession is over I’ve been reflecting more and more on the fandom that sprung up around it. When I made this post I had Succession in mind, but it was too large of a sidebar to get into, so now I’m making a separate post.

And before I get into anything, both in anticipation of being yelled at and so I don’t have to constantly inserts caveats into every paragraph: this is not a universal or comprehensive description of how people interact with Succession in a fandom setting online, but rather my experience with it on tumblr and the experience of watching my friends interact with it. Additionally, this diagnosis of a narrow slice of the Succession fandom is not a moral or intellectual damnation of anyone who ships characters or whatever. I am talking to myself publicly on my own blog and this post is a sequel to the post I linked at the top, and so the primary focus of this is going to be about the “methods problem” within fandom that I outlined in that original post. If anything, this is an invitation to reflect on your own experiences and extend/adapt/critique the arguments I’m about to make to your own contexts, not a condemnation of those experiences and contexts. If you feel the urge to say things like “you’re trying to censor me” or “let people have fun” I would rather you not do that because I’ve heard those things hundreds of times already and those complaints are deeply uninteresting. anyway

I think one of Succession’s strengths as a show is that it is a drama about a modern corporate empire that is shown entirely through the eyes of the individual Roy family members. There is a particular, deliberate clash between the intensely intimate drama of Shiv and Tom’s marriage, Kendall’s addiction issues and estrangement from his family, Roman’s sexual and romantic problems, Connor’s loneliness manifesting in him “buying a girlfriend,” and the fact that they are wealthy beyond comprehension. They are so far above material need that the only arena of conflict is their personal lives. This comes to a head in S4, when their father dies and their family drama becomes the primary battleground over who will take the throne. Yes, they are fighting over acquisition deals and legal issues surrounding their father’s company, this is the “material” component that has a direct influence on their wealth, but that is still secondary to their conflict as a family. Kendall and Roman deliberately attempt to sabotage the sale of Waystar, both because of their personal desire to “be the boss” and the constantly-cited desire to “do what our father wanted.” Their primary concerns are always either an attempt to appease their dead dad or their desire to replace him with themselves.

This is the most intensified form of bourgeois interiority in fiction - all material concerns are made invisible, shoved to the side to focus solely on individual emotions and relationships, because the Roys are part of the ruling class. Their material needs will never be part of their problems. The individual landscapes of their emotions, desires, and traumas are the only real site of conflict. The army of servants and underlings beneath them, the public that is only ever at the periphery, are part of the massive social, political and financial scaffolding that allows them the time and freedom to act out these hyper-intense psychodramas with their lovers, friends and family. The character-centric focus of the show is itself a commentary on their wealth - they don’t have to work, they don’t have to worry about money, they don’t even have to interact with public infrastructure, and so they are free to focus entirely on interpersonal turmoil and pleasure. This intense, indulgent look into their personal lives is predicated on their wealth, and highlights how ridiculous and out of touch they are. This is an integral part of how the deeply uncomfortable, second-hand-embarrassment tone of the show is maintained.

But this nuance doesn’t get translated into fandom - or is only translated haphazardly - which is likewise deeply character-centric. As a fan of the show for many years I have largely avoided the Succession “fandom” because of its intense focus on shipping and rooting for your favourite characters to win. This is how you end up with people deeply invested in Roman’s character, running cover and damage control for him as he becomes increasingly openly racist, misogynistic and fascistic as the show goes on. In particular, the way that misogyny in fandom intersects with this character-centric method of engagement is that a lot of apologetic discourse about Shiv is reactive, excusing or rationalising her behaviour to an online crowd who finds fault with her behaviour not because she’s wealthy but because she’s a woman. It’s how you end up watching people online defend the actions of a fictional billionaire girlboss, because the dominant mode of discourse in fandom is focused so heavily on the actions of individual characters that said actions become free-floating, divorced from their context. Shiv is not being defended on the ground of her wealth and power (or not always, lol), nor even really being defended from the fact that those things make her an objectively horrible person, but that popular fandom perception of her boils down to “man what a huge bitch.” It’s not that (necessarily) people want to log onto tumblr to apologise for liking a fictional billionaire - although again, that does happen - it’s that fandom misogyny is so individualistic that Shiv’s actions are always discussed at the lowest rung possible, commonly expressed as “she’s a bitch” or “she’s being unreasonable”, and so that is the discursive arena that discussion about this character remains in, never moving beyond the individual. It reminds me of the backlash against Skylar from Breaking Bad - it was impossible to talk about anything else about her character aside from explaining why she’s not the devil incarnate. Yes there are also unironic fans who love the fact that Shiv is a vaguely progressive rich white woman, those people absolutely exist, but even when you want to approach the show from outside of that uncritical angle, I think you oftentimes get painted into this narrow discursive corner anyway because of how stupid fandom discussion tend to be.

And yes it’s all fictional, it’s not real, and people “blorbofying” a Roy sibling or shipping Kendall and Stewy together are not remotely good indicators of their beliefs about the ruling class in real life. I am not making claims about anyone’s beliefs or political convictions because they enjoy a show about billionaires. I also enjoy the show. But the rhetoric of fandom is so intensely individualistic that “shipping” characters in a show like Succession is seen as a regular thing to do. The easiest way to tell if you’re in a “fandom” on tumblr is to see if people are writing ship fic or drawing shipping fanart. I enjoy Succession a lot and talk about it with friends, but I am not “in the Succession fandom.”

And at least with the people I follow who do engage in Succession “fandom,” there is an intense self-irony on display - people making fancam edits of Gerri, someone who is general counsel to a fictional version of Fox News, or AMVs of Stewy, a hot ruthless venture capitalist. It’s funny precisely because of the dissonance between the use of fandom aesthetic forms (ie fancams) and the subject being fandomised. Embedded into these behaviours is an ironic self-distance, a performance of fandom with a wink to the audience that you don’t actually believe in this, that this is a self-ironic indulgence, a way of articulating sympathy for these fictional characters while maintaining the air of being in-the-know, being a good person who gets what the show is “really” about. And I enjoy that! Those posts rule lol. If anything I am in the meta-fandom, I stay on the periphery with friends to enjoy posts about how stressful shareholder meetings are, to celebrate the tomshiv scorpionmarriage win, to know what the phrase tomstar gregco endgame means.

But that self-irony is only possible to express because of the fact that “doing fandom stuff” with Succession necessarily involves an intense and constant form of apologetics for your favourite character or relationship - it is this assumed, unstated default that this self-irony is engaging with. If you were just talking about the plot of the show or its themes, if you disavowed any desire to ship characters together, if you never got into arguments with people about which Roy sibling “deserves” to be CEO, you would hardly be doing “fandom,” or at least you would be doing it in a fundamentally different way, and crucially you wouldn’t need to be employing that self-ironic tone of “alright now we all know billionaires are bad. But isn’t Roman such a cute little baby? Don’t you just want to hug him?”

I remember a popular sentiment being expressed around when Succession first got popular online, saying that Succession pioneered new ways for people to talk about their favourite characters on the internet. “He’s my Disney Princess” “I want to put him in a Pringles can and shake him” “she is a bug I need to study under a microscope” and so on. And I think this is partially a result of 1) absurdist internet humour in general, 2) a memetic mirroring of the show’s brand of humour specifically, and 3) people’s general political instincts running up against fandom engagement, the desire to engage with Succession as a fandom-text without experiencing intense cognitive dissonance, producing ways of expressing love and enjoyment for characters that are fundamentally, irredeemably bad people, people who are direct reflections of and parallels to the ruling class of modern America. It doesn’t even give you the benefit of historical distance the way a medieval fantasy would, where it’s easier to “stan” a king because it’s taken for granted that everyone here doesn’t support hereditary monarchy. Succession is a direct, immediate commentary on contemporary American life in a way that is impossible to ignore, and so to engage with it on fandom grounds requires a certain kind of additional effort, a way of simultaneously performing your real-world beliefs while also letting loose. I know Succession is not the first show to be like this, nor is it the only thing that has impacted the way fandom operates online, but it has enjoyed a five-year popularity whose digital omnipresence has reached far beyond its immediate audience. Most people on twitter remotely engaged in fandom have seen a Kendall Roy fan edit, for example.

So, all this to say: even when it feels like a text is deliberately choosing a character-centric focus to comment on its themes and structures, I think what happens is that this character-centric lens becomes easily and instantly adopted by fandom, but the commentary gets left behind. Which is again what I meant in that original post I linked at the top - character-centric lenses are not inherently bad, or inferior, or lesser to other lenses, but that fandom only ever engages in a very narrow and particular type of character-centrism, a lens that is so adaptable that you can easily import shipping discourse and “x-character-did-nothing-wrong” style apologetics into a show like Succession. If you engage with Succession primarily as a vector to ship characters together, or to “pick your favourite character,” I think you are falling into this fandom mode. Which I’m not saying is inherently bad, I have also done this with Succession by calling myself a romangirl or whatever, I’m just trying to articulate the whiplash I sometimes get when watching prestige drama television about billionaires being murderers and sex pests and fascists and then going online and seeing hundreds of people expressing a desire to wrap Roman Roy in a little blanket. A lot of people are engaging with the show’s themes and also doing this “fandom” thing with it, so you don’t have to choose one or the other, nor am I saying that there are necessarily “low” and “high” classes of artistic interpretation that people permanently slot themselves into, but I do think these modes of engagement are at some level mutually exclusive, because they require the adoption of fundamentally different interpretive lenses when approaching a text

[divijohm]

WHAT CREEPS ARE AUTISTIC? + SUPPORT LEVELS

A/n: this are the pastas I personally think are autistic and why because I am autistic and I'll pass down the autism

Jane: I'm projecting

Cody (xvirus): because I said so

Hoodie/Brian: Because he's literally me

Toby: Because he already has ADHD and tourettes so he might as well get the whole pack

Bloody Painter: I'm projecting²

Sally: Because autism is coquette and she's too

Eyeless Jack: Because why not?

These are the autism support levels

This is not set in stone, levels can fluctuate during the week/month based on how stressed the autistic person is or how well therapy/treatment is going. A person can also be between 2 levels, I myself am between level 1 and 2, because of my high masking. I have great social difficultys but can do day to day activities (mostly) fine, although on paper I'm level 1. Support levels can also be defined by concomitant disabilities, specially if they're intellectual (down syndrome, learning delay, etc)

Ok so now to the actual reasons

Jane: She's literally the embodiment of autism in afab people lmao. Her straightforward way of speaking, black and white thinking and strong sense of justice and difficulty forming connections are all very autistic traits. She's level 1 of support, 2 on bad days

Cody: High interest in microbiology = hyper focus + special interest. Bedsides I don't see him as "social" he prefers to be alone which could be either esquizoid personality disorder, autism or both. I'll go with both. He doesn't understand humans neither really like to be with them. They're level 2 (almost 3) support

Toby: Many psychological Disorders are accompanied with others, much like a pay one get three deal, tourettes, ADHD and autism are pretty common together. It is not always that "social difficultys" are tied to shyness or isolation, it can also be pushyness and a hyper personality much like Toby's personality. He's level 1

Hoodie/Brian: In my head he's schizophrenic AND autistic. Which really makes his paranoia worse, autism already make you hear things people filter out (like electricity) this together with auditory hallucinations makes him have really bad meltdowns. He's level 3 of support but with all the bullshit he's been through he's forcing himself to be level 1, he don't manage it very well so he acts like a level 2

Bloody Painter: isn't really specified why he's bullied in the og as far as I remember and many autistic folks are bullied for no reason. His passion for painting and drawing can be seen as an hyper focus /special interest. Also his hate from loud places and crowds can be because of sensory overload. Helen also has a personality similar to mine when I was younger so why not haha. He's level 2 of support

Sally: Is pretty rare that girls are diagnosed with autism below the age of 16. So I'll give a little representation here. Her love for pink and typically girly things to the point of looking like a stereotype can be read as her special interest. Autistic girls are often more naive than the average girl of the same age, which more often than not leads to abuse/bullying, so one more point there. Not much else besides the "I want her to be autistic because I wish I was diagnosed much younger". She's level 1 support.

Eyeless jack: He's the embodiment of sensory issues, bedsides I see him as pretty socially inept, not that he doesn't like to socialize, He just don't really know how (like me). Also I see his medical skills as being a side product of his Human body special interest. He's level 2 support

[kaycode1999]

Hey, I’m doing a LMK matchup! :3 I’m not sure how to really do this so please bear with me 😅

Appearance: I have black hair, dark brown eyes and I’m about 5,2 or 5,3.

Pronouns: My pronouns are she/her.

Aesthetic: I would say my aesthetic is dark colors, the colors for example like black and red or even pink.

Hobbies: I really like to draw a lot, I like going out sometimes, going shopping, going to the movies, I like playing video games. I’m into learning about science like biology. Astronomy is also a passion of mine too.

Type: I want my type to understand me, who will be there for me, who can give me affection when I’m feeling down or when I’m in a mood but not someone who’s too affectionate. Not overboard affection if that makes sense. But I would like my type to be into physical affection too, like giving hugs or holding hands, I would like my type to be taller then me and maybe a bit muscular (lol) and maybe have their personality match mine too.

My personality: I’m nice and chill. But I can be sometimes hyper over some topics that make me really talkative. When I first meet someone I’m really shy and quiet but after I warm up to them once we talk more or see each other alot. I’m sarcastic sometimes, either playful or when I’m annoyed. I can get annoyed easily at times. I sometimes have a bit of a temper over things like arguments but I cool down after a few minutes. I care for the people I love and will always be there for them when they need me when they need help or when there going through something. I will say I get emotional too, or get anxiety easily.

(I hope that was a good 😭🥲🥹)

I match you with

The one and only Monkey King

He doesn't mind going shopping with you to get stuff you want. YOU being operative word because he already has way too much junk he has to get rid of.

He definitely likes going to see a movie or playing video games with you MORE though. Because he doesn't like being in crowds where he feels suffocated

If you're in a movie theater he’ll definitely hold your hand and snuggle with you because he feels more calm having you closer to him

THERE IS NO LOVE IN WAR! JK, but seriously he doesn't care if you're his significant other, you mean nothing to him in the context of video games😂😂 If you give him the chance to take you out he will

I think you being interested in science makes him become more intellectually curious so if you bring something up he definitely wants to hear about it

Have a little star-gazing date and he’ll tell you all about the old legends and mythology behind different stars, the moon, and constellations

Any drawings you make for him will go up on the wall right next to the pictures of him and his friends and you

He's been on his own for a really long time so it takes him a little time to get used to giving and receiving affection but once he is whatever affection you want is yours.

He doesn't even have to look at you to know if you're feeling down, he can just feel your aura so to speak so whenever you're down he just automatically says “ Come here” with a smile and holding his arms out to you

He's kind of tall I think so expect the teasing about your height to be relentless because he thinks its adorable

He's very sarcastic and playful just like you and even though it's hidden under fur he's pretty fit and muscular

He understands you being reserved at first, but once you start warming up to him and being more talkative it makes him really happy to know you're comfortable around him

When you get hyper and talkative he really thinks its so cute. He’ll listen to you forever with the biggest heart eyes

There are a few specific things that push his buttons and that causes him to have a temper as well though its rare you would ever do something to upset him. He doesn't judge you for having a temper because he understands it. He’ll give you the space you need to calm down if you get heated.

He admires how much you care for others and cares for you just as much.

If he notices you getting anxious he doesn't mind just jumping on his cloud and taking you somewhere more calming though he tries to do it as graciously as possible. If he can't get you somewhere more calming quickly he’ll take your hand and do some grounding exercises if you need it

[avissapiens]

What would be the middle ground between nerd and himbo or bro? Like the confidence, looks and slutty attitude + brains?

I enjoy questions like these because there is always a range of answers. The archetype system is super versatile and it opens itself up to a range of possibilities. Its almost sociological in that way. So many theories you could take. So i'll give you a frame work of 3 potential options. And since you wanna be a nerd so bad, i'll use big smarty words here and there to keep you interested.

1) Idealist

I think Himbo works best with a nerdy/intellectual dimension. It takes on an almost manipulative character when a Himbo slut has the cunning to really make use of their body and sexuality. It becomes an active application of the right thing at the right time, using the social clout you have be being perceived as a Hot dumb hole to get ahead. Every area of life is benefitted by being sexy as fuck, you could coast by just on that, but it really makes the difference when out of nowhere you can jump and surprise someone with your competence. Slutting it up while knowing your shit. Being the best of both worlds and using each to enhance the other. Never sacrificing one or the other. As an addendum Nerd "culture" is already pretty steeped with Himbos. Many of the role models and inspirations for what a Himbo should be and look like come from games and media properties. And a Himbo loves playing dress up and fun lil video games with his cheeks out and a cock in his mouth.

Bro is harder to mesh with such desires because with the bro mindset there needs to be an active refusal for intellectual pursuit and the mental stress of thinking too much about shit brah. So for bros i think it'd be more like a light switch. You turn on the nerd when you need it, and then when you're done you shove that loser back in a locker and go about your day.

2) Materialist

These Archetypes are Ideal forms, almost Platonic, existing in a higher realm of ideas. But in the material world I never expect anyone to try and adhere to them perfectly 100%. These are meant to be Aspirational, not Hegemonic. They have a form and structure, but there is always room for your unique performance and identification. To bring a part of you in Heteroglossic dialogue with these concepts and Ideas. In a way these archetypes are rather Bahktinian because I have always developed them in conversation with others or with wider social constructs in mind. They grow and shift and change. They are not absolutist conceptions of the world. So for any further questions about whether one thing or another can co-exist with some aspect of an archetype; I might have my own ideas on it (and my ideas are usually pretty damn good), but the answer can usually be yes if you twist and turn it enough times. That said, ya know, i'm still gonna make my archetypes and ideas how i want to. If you want to call yourself a Himbo or a bull without any of the characteristics or aims of being one, that's up to you, but uhhh me and my colleagues in the abyss will laugh at you.

3) Critical Theoretical perspectives on "nerd"

Why are some of the most common questions i get about the maintenance of intellect? Is it really so great? You already admit that you hate the body being a "nerd" gave you enough that you want to change it. You hate the social situation enough and the kind of person it made you. Why are you so hyper attached to concepts of intellect? I think there is a kind of false consciousness to the allure of being smart. It gives you a sense of superiority, when in reality, its just a tool of your own oppression. What does being smart really do for you? Make you more exploitable to the system. Make you more passive and docile because you understand the way the system works. Make you miserable because you perceive everything through the same Iron cage of rationality(that's Weber for you sociologists out there) that industrial capitalism enforces upon the world. I think its a good thing that nerd is becoming an insult again I think the rise in Himbo worship and a return to muscle and shallow aesthetics is a clear response to whole generations of little kids who were encouraged to be smart nerds because nerds would rule the world one day. Those same kids put everything into being smart, their whole meaning and purpose only to realise that it didn't mean shit. And rather than ruling the world, the nerds only ruined it.

As you can tell, I am procrastinating from school assignments to answer this question. If you wanna support me being able to drop out of university to become a bodybuilder feel free to subscribe to my Patreon or to just come and ask to give me money.

[dynared]

I think the writing problem within Transformers originates from the fact that audiences as a whole ALREADY felt that they were already being talked down to, and in an effort to appease fans writers deduced that they needed to tackle complex narratives out of their league. In a lackluster attempt of replicating other medias successful attempts, storytellers were essentially pushed to pump out highly intellectual political discussions that they weren't entirely well too informed on and unrealistic publishing/producing schedules added onto this stress

It is my own opinion that Rescue Bots, Rescue Bots Academy and BotBots are better written than TFP, RiD2015 and Cyberverse. Taking that into consideration, I couldn't help but notice that the latter were more influenced by IDW whilst the former were allowed more creative freedom. While this could simply be a reflection of my personal dislike for majority of IDW's work regarding Transformers, I have yet to see an example of anything to combat the implications that IDW and heavily inspired IDW content are a main contributor in perpetuating weaker writing standards under the guise of political depth to appease fans and make them feel intellectually savvy

Like I've said before, in my frequent, frequent lambasting of IDW's writing, sales, characterizations; and pretty much everything that essentially wasn't a crossover with another franchise, there was a lot of trying to be hyper-specific in the focus, which only really served to show just how shallow and dull it all was, missing the core of why anyone would be interested in the franchise and only really enticing a small, hardcore subsection of the fandom. Now, you have a copy of that, unable to replicate even the few things that IDW was credited with making work, and you end up with a caricature of something that wasn't working, to begin with. And with that comes diminishing returns, in show quality, views, and sales of associated merchandise.

I don't really have opinions on Rescue Bots or BotBots, since they were aiming for a much younger audience and I didn't have kids who were interested in them when the shows were airing, but you could argue that they were more focused, instead of trying to do their best to imitate the IDW comics in an attempt to find meaning in the work and creating that caricature of work that was already not that great.

And now we have Earthspark doing something similar after IDW lost the license, trying to do the post-war "The Decepticons had a point" stories only for it to completely not resonate with kids or casual fans, and the toys to clog discount retailers across the country. It's not that you shouldn't try to handle deep topics, it's that your words need weight to them if you want to have any hope of getting people to care.

[crownmemes]

Elementary Sentences, Vol. 2

(Sentences from Elementary (2012-2019). Adjust phrasing where needed)

"You thought this was a romantic engagement?"

"We're not going to fight, no matter how much you may want to."

"For a long while now, I've suspected that connection with another person - real connection - simply isn't possible for me."

"Is it possible to truly know another person? Is it even a worthwhile pursuit?"

"When the one that you love is revealed to have a dark heart, it is... Well, it's excruciating."

"Ah, you're alive. That's unfortunate."

"That's some ugly bruising on your arm..."

"I often wonder if I should have been born in another time."

"Did you really mean what you said in there or were you just winding them up?"

"I have many passions - work being first amongst them."

"You're a good detective. For a second, I thought maybe you were going to be a great one."

"You can be nice - I know that you can. You have this tiny, little zone of courtesy, but you're only ever willing to extend it to me."

"I can offer you no satisfactory explanation."

"It was not a decision; it was an impulse."

"I am not a nice man. It is important that you understand that."

"I consider you to be exceptional, so I make an exceptional effort to accommodate you."

"I am answering the question, just more precisely than you intended me to."

"Obviously you want to talk, so talk."

"Would you be surprised to learn that you've been on my mind?"

"Time heals all wounds. Sometimes it just takes a larger dose."

"My superiors insisted we not be seen together."

"My life has been carefully constructed so that I do not have to do things like talk to people about their former romantic partners, and yet here we are."

"Your expression. What does it mean?"

"I think I know what you're thinking..."

"Who's to say what's accurate and what's not?"

"I'm tired of people looking at me the way that you're looking at me right now."

"I don't find your self-pity amusing."

"Are you okay? You seem... Hyper?"

"Since when do you care about other people's privacy?"

"Your apologies always seem to come after you already got what you wanted."

"I know you. Even after all these years, I know you."

"I promise you that I won't let you fail."

"It's my business to know what others don't."

"You have the intellectual tools to make simple deductions. Your failure to apply them in an energetic fashion is a constant source of befuddlement."

"The only way for you to influence this situation is to tell me what I want to know right now and deny me the pleasure of extracting it from you."

"You're upset, and you're right to be, but I can explain."

"Everything I've told you is true, more or less. I've just omitted a great deal."

"This is the sort of invitation that one is obliged to accept."

"Don't be sorry. Be better."

"Oh, I work without a shirt sometimes. It makes me feel closer to the problem."

"Someone with a problem can't be forced to get help. They have to want it."

"You might want the world to believe that you're an automaton - a calculating machine - but you and I know better."

"It's a non-disclosure agreement. I would like you to sign it."

"Paranoia is the byproduct of being consistently right. You should aspire to it."

"I really don't know why I subject myself to these people."

[thecharmingchimaera]

Ugh, I’ve just woken up and I’m already annoyed.

Why am I annoyed you ask? Because I came across a video where a someone is excitedly telling someone in-depth information about a topic, and made a joke about having ADHD (strike one, I’ll explain why later), which the subtitles corrected to autism (good, correct, as it should be). The comments were RIFE with idiots shrieking their heads off about how you can’t diagnose someone with that, if they have ADHD they have ADHD (strike goddamn fucking two), but the guy was just making a joke and I just. Argh.

There was just as much evidence of him having ADHD as autism (i.e. absolutely fucking none). But everybody was vastly more comfortable with chatting about him having ADHD. Autism is absolutely fucking taboo, apparently. For some reason ADHD is more palatable for the masses (who am I kidding, we all know why).

I know the word ableism exists, but there needs to be a term specifically for anti-autism, because lately with everybody and their mother diagnosing themselves with ADHD, there are so so so many horrific attitudes towards autism going around. And like, I get it, I was one of those people too - when I was diagnosed, my first thought was “oh jeez, don’t tell me I’m lumped in with these awkward socially inept retards” (yeah, I know, it’s an awful thing to think, but that’s the depth of internalised ableism I was feeling).

It’s especially frustrating, because you know the real irony? The research me and a couple of dozen other autistic autism researchers have been working on lately?

ADHD and autism is more than likely to be the same fucking thing! Just different ends of the same fucking spectrum! Just different presentations of the same fucking brain configuration!

But of course that terrifies the ADHDers, because autism is so socially stigmatised. When people hear “autism” in relation to anything about themselves, they think “I don’t want to be seen as socially inept or off-putting”, because that’s how the condition has been misrepresented in science AND pop culture (perhaps even more so in science!!) since the 1930s, and it pisses me off.

Nobody wants to be seen as related to “those people”, and it frustrates me so much. Especially the number of people my age who delightedly crow about having ADHD, but the minute I say something like “hey, well, you have sensory sensitivities, infodump about focused topics, and are socially anxious, here’s all the research saying they’re the same thing, you’re autistic too”, they are absolutely horrified/offended/in denial.

Especially when I point out that the stereotypical image of so-called “low functioning” autistic people is more than likely to be traumatised children with co-occurring intellectual disabilities, and not representative or accurate to the average autistic experience, but that’s just too much of a radical reframing for people to comprehend, apparently.

Fucking hell. Don’t let your friends send you reels, kids, otherwise you’ll end up hopping mad like me.

[beguines]

Economics is an academic discipline premised on "the failure to recognize power relationships in society", as Robert Chernomas and Ian Hudson has recently put it. Economists tend to depict the capitalist economy as the outcome of voluntary agreements between free and equal individuals; as a sphere in which domination is excluded a priori. The economy is defined from the outset by the absence of power. For economists, the expression "free market" is a pleonasm, whereas for Marx, it is a contradiction in terms. This denial of power is the result of a twofold intellectual operation. First, the market is presented as the determining moment of the economic totality, which means that a part of the economy is abstracted from the totality and represented as the whole. This primacy of exchange was already visible in classical political economy, despite its emphasis on production, but it only really came to the fore with the so-called marginal revolution in the 1870s. In neoclassical economics, market exchange is presented as "the central organizing principle of capitalist society", reducing production to "a means of indirect exchange between the present and the future". And, not only is the market presented as the essential feature of the economy as a whole, in some strands of modern economics—most notably in the work of Gary Becker—the voluntary exchange of goods between rational and utility-maximising agents is elevated into a prism through which all social phenomena, including crime, discrimination and politics, can and ought to be understood.

The second intellectual operation underpinning the disappearance of power relationships in economics, is the introduction of a set of assumptions and abstractions resulting in a conception of the market which excludes the very possibility of domination. The agents who engage in transactions on the market are assumed to be isolated, hyper-rational and utility-maximising individuals with infinite and infallible information and expectations. Such rational individuals comprises the Archimedean point of the social ontology of economics, a kind of sui generis substance which accounts for everything else. Assuming this transhistorical economic rationality, the need to explain the existence of capitalism conveniently disappears. From such a perspective, the capitalist economy is simply what appears spontaneously if human nature is allowed to unfold itself. This is why "[i]n most accounts of capitalism and its origin, there really is no origin", as Ellen Meiksins Wood notes. The market is perceived as the place where these rational individuals meet and enter into contractual relations with each other. In a competitive market, there are barriers to entry, and hence no monopolies, apart from the regretfully necessary so-called natural monopolies. The absence of monopolies means that a market agent is never forced to do business with a particular agent, which is why every act of exchange can be regarded as voluntary. Furthermore, when individuals show up on the market, they do so as owners of commodities, and as such they are completely equal. What and who these individuals are outside of the market relation is seen as irrelevant for economic theory, and the question of why they show up on the market to begin with is equally absent—generally, economics simply assume that people show up on the market to sell their commodities after having carefully weighed the possibilities open to them and reached the conclusion that this was in fact the most rational thing to do, i.e., the most efficient way to satisfy their needs. This is why it is possible for Milton Friedman to present "the technique of the market place" as a way of "co-ordinating the economic activities of millions" by means of "voluntary co-operation of individuals":

"Since the household always has the alternative of producing directly for itself, it need not enter into any exchange unless it benefits from it. Hence, no exchange will take place unless both parties do benefit from it. Co-operation is thereby achieved without coercion."

This passage is noteworthy because it explicates what is usually hidden as an implicit assumption in economics, namely that people have the possibility of reproducing themselves outside of the market. This is the assumption which makes the market appear as a sphere of freedom: not only are agents free to choose who they want to exchange their goods with, they are also free to choose whether they want to engage in exchange at all. This is why the market is usually understood as an institution providing individuals with opportunities, a concept "absolutely critical to the conventional understanding of the capitalist system".

These assumptions and abstractions form the basis of the highly idealised mathematical models so characteristic of contemporary economics. The transformation of economics into a discipline fixated on the development of formalised mathematical models has allowed it to present itself as "a nonideological discipline, aimed at providing positive, scientific answers to the policy questions". Economics has thus been able to live under the auspices of the natural sciences and present the economy as something regulated by transhistorical laws similar to the laws discovered by the natural sciences.

Søren Mau, Mute Compulsion: A Theory of the Economic Power of Capital

[smokeybrand]

Factual Fiction

Cats want to boycott season five of Stranger things because Noah Schnapp is pro-Israel and i kind of find that excessive. Schnapp is a New York Jew who works in Hollywood. I'm generalizing here, of course, but since this sh*t has started, I'm seeing more and more of this specific type of Jew, screaming antisemitism when confronted with anti-Zionism. Debra Messing is another one. Steven Spielberg, too. I mean, he lived in New Jersey but that's close enough, i think. The issue here is that these very much affluent individuals, hyper focus on the idea of Israel and not what the Israeli government has been doing for seventy years. Hell, a lot of them have come out and said that everything Israel is doing in Gaza, is absolutely justified because of the brutality of that November 7th attack, literally ignoring the fact that, in order to even create the open air prison that is modern Gaza, they basically Kristallnacht'd the entire population already living there. Couldn't Hamas use the same logic to justify their attack on the 7th?

It's fine to support what you perceive to be your homeland, however problematic it's creation is, but i find it intellectually dishonest to so one-sidedly support what is basically a racial cleansing at this point. My personal opinion of the Israeli state aside, i genuinely believe it has no right to exist in it's current form, No one, in good conscious who's not a complete zealot, can see the devastation going on during this massacre and honestly believe it's justified. Like, Israel just bombed a refugee camp. They outright murdered three surrendering Jewish hostages, gunned them down in cold blood as one was even waving the flag of surrender, because they thought they were Gazans. They shut of water to the occupied territory at the very start of this holocaust, targeted reporters with lethal effect to keep the news from getting out, and attacked hospitals under the false guise of them being Hamas strongholds: All of which are War crimes, all of which are just the tip off the iceberg in terms of what is going on out there. The personal stories of survivors is more than harrowing but Steven Spielberg wants to propagandize this sh*t and make it seem like all the brown people are at fault. And that's kind of my point.

A few years back, i watched this Vice documentary about how Israel basically started seizing Palestinian property, i believe in the West Bank, illegally expanding their territory and evicting Palestinian residents from their ancestral homes. I watched a Palestinian family plead with this New York Jew, who decided to move to Israel because they offered him a house for free basically. Their house. Generations of Palestinians lived in that house but, because Israel is an occupying force, backed by the strongest military in the world, they just keep committing atrocities like it's nothing. Dude as, like, "This is my house because this is my land because my god said so." You can commit horrors when your god says it's okay. And this is an American Jew. Imagine what actual Israelis think of Palestinians after living in that entitled and propagandized environment their entire lives?

The people waging this war don't see Palestinians as human. They've said as much. Now, i don't know if it's just racism or if that bigotry is tied up in their religious bullsh*t, but i do know that every Jew here in the States, are coming at this from a "chosen Land" perspective first, and then maybe a "I hate darkies" perspective second. Again, when your version of the one god says it's fine, you have a blank check to inflict horrors, something the Israelis have been doing since they crashed the walls of Jericho. That's right, the Israel from antiquity, started with a military siege. God basically "gifted" them a land with a whole ass fortified city on it. You know what that's called? Theft. They stole that land, just like Britain did for them centuries later. They're proud of that sh*t. It's the origin of their entire culture as a solidified peoples. And it started with a brutal siege and occupation of a land which belonged to an entirely different people. Sounds familiar, right?

I might be losing the plot here but this sh*t chaffs my ass. The state of Israel is as terrible as Hamas, which is as terrible as any other terrorist organization; The difference being Israel created Hamas by disregarding the terms of their country's genesis and immediately began persecuting their neighbors in the name of their version of god. That same reason is why so many prominent Jewish people, here, in the US, are so fervently and blindly, supporting Israel. it's fine that these assholes are murdering babies and bombing Gazan historic sites because Hamas is bad. These people experienced a single day of the same treatment they've given Gazans for decades, have gone full mask-off with their genocidal intent, with the full backing of US Jews, and that sh*t is wild to me. Noah Schnapp's perspective is not isolated. You see it throughout most mainstream media. The dissonance between the reality happening on the ground in Gaza, and what these people believe, is, at best, negligent and at worst, calculated.