#I don’t think I want tags on this post because I can see this as something others would take me out of context for

[candyheartedchy]

Saw a post talking about this, but I didn’t want to reblog and ramble in the tags of said post, so I’m bring it up here about the whole situation when it comes to people messaging first or not when it comes to their friends.

I struggle a lot with anxiety and constantly worrying that I’m bothering people when I reach out to talk first that 97% of the time I end up not messaging people at all. I’ve been trying to push myself out of my comfort zone when it comes to this, and getting better, when it comes to sending the first message because I want to let folks know that I do genuinely enjoy our conversations and want to be friends with them. But because of my past situations I end up falling back into the habit of isolating myself because I’m familiar with doing it to cope.

In a way I want to let folks know that when they message me first, I’m always excited to hear from them! And also to reassure anyone that may worry about bothering me. I promise y’all aren’t. There will be times that my text pattern might be different in tone, but that’s just me being tired and awkward.

Heck I’m always surprise when anyone really wants to talk to me in general because I usually get ignored irl. And if I’m being honest, I see a lot of you as my friends, but I’m always nervous to bring up the title because I’m not sure if it’s just one sided or I’m just projecting out of loneliness. So whenever someone says we’re friends I get caught off guard because I haven’t had any in so long.

Basically this is just me throwing in my two cents about people who try to test their friendship on how much people really care or not when it comes to who’s messaging first. I do agree that both parties should try to reach out to each other as much as they can to let each other know they do care. But I also want to bring up that a lot of times most of us struggle with reaching out due to trauma that relates to past friendships not going well and worrying about having those same experiences again. But also lot of folks are afraid to reach out first because they don’t want to embarrass themselves when it comes to making friends or losing that chance because they never had the experience of having a friend before. And I’m saying this from my own experience.

In the end I think if you really care about your friends, just communicate. And reassure the ones that reach out first that even though you struggle with talking, you still appreciate them and also just remind them that you like them because they worry about bothering you too. Because most of us don’t have any friends irl and our online friends are all we have. So even when others try to say that online friendships don’t count, they are missing the whole point of what friendships really is.

[indiestsnake]

okay. so. I’ve been tagged in a post talking about a group of sick fucks who are supposedly planning to send a bunch of… horrible, horrible shit in asks to people in certain fandoms on the 25th. I’m not reblogging it because I don’t want to flashbang anyone with a wall of text about anxiety-inducing stuff. but I will link it in case you want to know the details.

I usually take stuff like this with a grain of salt, small worries and minor issues can turn into tsunamis of fear-mongering on the internet really easily. but it is kinda making me anxious.

I don’t think it’ll happen to me. I’m a small person on tumblr and I don’t post often of the mentioned fandoms in the very fuzzy discord screenshot used as evidence. but for the sake of safety, I’ll probably turn off anon asks soon until… a little bit after Christmas, probably. If I see anything fishy, I’ll turn off asks fully for that time.

I’m conflicted about tagging moots. Half of yall check my account every minute so they’ll see this (thank u btw) and the other half have already been tagged by other moots. And most of my moots are smaller and disconnected from the target fandoms. And being honest, I’m suspicious that this has been elevated to higher levels than its origin. Even despite evidence. so I just… urge you to skim the link. Even if you think it won’t affect you. I just really don’t want to force this stuff in other’s face, this blog is supposed to be a safe space.

sigh. okay think that’s it. buh bye

[the-100-days-of-junkan]

Day 84 

Oh what a wonderful day! Why? BECAUSE I FINALLY GET TO SAY THE LAST OF MY STUPID ARBITRARY RULES! The Final Arbitrary Rule is: No Crossing Over with Other Franchises! Which I very clearly fuckin’ broke here!

I wanted to do my best to only make pieces working with just the base of Junkan itself, and AU’s I made had to be original and not just “What if Junkan but it’s in X series.” That way when I finished the project a bunch of new doors would open up for me to have fun with! I know last time we had Alice in Wonderland, but given the public domain nature of that story I don’t find it to be an infraction of the rule. There’s a future day coming up that also kiiiind of breaks it? But also i feel like it’s a slightly different case, not sure how to explain it while you can’t see it. None of that matters because today we have a blunt, no fucking around breaking of that rule, and why?

Listen I’ve seen some of ya’ll draw/write Junko and Mikan as Pokemon Trainers while waiting for this day to get posted, surely you understand. I’ve been wanting to draw a pic of these two with full teams for months at this point in the projects making, I couldn’t wait any longer, it was a moment of weakness!!!

Designing the outfits for these two was super fun. Once again I’ve fucking put Mikan in a Sweater, and this time it doubles as a dress! Will I ever be stopped? 

That does generally bring me to the thoughts I’m having in hindsight months after this pic, I think Junko’s side is on the weaker side. I like her fit though I might make small edits to it whenever the next time I draw her is. But the main thing is I think the team I put together is kind of lacking??

Mikan’s? I’m perfectly happy with, Frillish is just there because she vibes aesthetically with Mikan, Blissey is obvious, Lampent because it’s associated with hospitals due to floatin around them to steal life energy, Clefable I can explain in a second but it’s probably obvious, Spinda because she needs a cute buddy to be clumsy with, but my favorite was giving her an Applin.

Like the whole thing with Applin is that giving one to someone as a gift is a declaration of Love. So of course Junko would do that, she’s all about that shit (in my brain at least). I think it’s cute!

Junko’s half of things though, if I’m gonna be real a few months later I’d probably only keep two of them and just try to remake the rest of the team. Gengar (who is also the reason Mikan has a Clefable, I love that old fan theory), because he’s my favorite pokemon and I think he just vibes really well with Junko. And Hydreigon, because Junko deserves a giant nightmare dragon. 

This is another instance of me concocting something for this project and then not being able to draw any more of it because I have to wait for it to be posted. So now, assuming I have time, I can finally draw the Pokemon AU!~ Like I said i’ll probably do some minor reworks, and then some major reworks on Junko’s end. No idea when it’ll be but look forward to it I suppose!~ 

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

[teecupangel]

Desmond reborn as this breed of dragon. There are no flaws in this plan. Native to Italy so wouldn’t be out of place in Ezio’s era, naturally Assassin colours, and as far as I know Imperator are upper middleweight/lower heavyweight in size so he’s big and can carry full crew of Assassins/mercenaries. He could help defend Monterriggioni from Borgia invasion & probably save Mario’s life.

There’s not yet a full analysis sheet for this breed of dragon but there are a few more drawings in Atrocitas’ tag that can be used as size comparisons with other dragons, and if you then hop over to Genevieve’s tag (golden-white dragon) you’ll get an accurate picture of Imperator size (Genevieve is compared with her crew & Captain in one drawing)

Additional info from @wynterwulf7

More info on More info on Imperator/Asta di Marte (bc I just remembered that post that explored it a lil bit)

I’m going to assume we’re making a Temeraire x Assassin’s Creed crossover where Desmond is reborn as a dragon of that breed.

Of course, we’re here to make Desmond’s life ‘interesting’ so we’ll set this up where Desmond died in canon and is reborn in Renaissance Italy with the dragon elements of Temeraire.

He wakes up alone in one of the most remote places in Tuscany so he still thinks he’s in a world where dragons don’t exist. This means that he’d spend a few years trying to hide as he grows up.

Of course, just because he’s hiding, doesn’t mean that people won’t know about him. He’s a dragon trying to learn how to be a dragon in a world where dragons exist and is known by the people.

Sooner or later, he gets captured because he was trying to not hurt anyone.

And that’s when he learned that dragons isn’t something that could be considered as an anomaly in this world.

If anything, it was quite ‘common’.

Desmond is still a growing dragon though and he’s been noted as ‘wild that needs training’.

Whatever plan they have is cut off because Desmond learned that it’s December.

Of 1476.

There’s no big entrance during the execution.

Desmond used his large body to crash into the Auditores’ prison and performed a jailbreak with two reluctant men (Petruccio is totally on board though).

From there, it becomes more of a case of House Auditore becoming Firenze’s enemy number one because of said jailbreak.

But hey…

At least they have a large powerful dragon is totally on board with protecting Monteriggioni and helping with the defenses (and counterattacks).

Giovanni is absolutely sus about it the entire thing because Desmond can’t be controlled or even guided. Giovanni tried to get him to take them to Spain but he was adamant on taking all of them to Monteriggioni.

The fact that Mario doesn’t know ‘who’ Desmond is and how he knew of Monteriggioni only served to make Giovanni more suspicious that there’s something more to this entire thing that they’re not seeing.

Something like…

Desmond may be getting orders from someone else who wanted everyone in the Auditore family in Monteriggioni for some reason.

Yeah.

That someone?

Is Desmond himself.

But it’s not like Desmond can try to make them understand him.

He’s too busy trying to get these rowdy dragons that Mario purchased for his mercenaries to stop trying to bite him or groom him or…

Honestly.

Desmond doesn’t know what these dragons want from him.

[aquamarixx]

second rate stand-in

in which reo is reminded how shitty it feels to be just a substitute.

⁺₊ ❆ ANGSTMAS 2024 ENTRY ❆ ₊⁺ pairing mikage reo x reader word count 878 words tags post manga timeskip, university AU, angst, hurt navigation

Reo Mikage has it all.

An heir to a vast conglomerate and a rising football player, Reo lives a life that most people can only dream of. Money, power, prestige—it’s all within his grasp.

Yet, none of it matters. Not when he doesn’t have you.

You’re just an ordinary university student. Another face he shares four years of his life with. Someone he occasionally works on projects with, exchanges polite nods with in class, and maybe, at best, maintains a casual rapport.

But unlike everyone else, you don’t treat him like a prince. You walk into his life as an academic rival—unimpressed, unphased. Not a fangirl, not lovesick. Just you, someone determined to beat him.

It would’ve been easier to dismiss you if you were like everyone else, fawning over him for his last name or his talent. But you’re not. You see through the sheen of his perfect life and meet him eye-to-eye.

To you, Reo Mikage isn’t a golden boy. He’s competition.

How the fuck is someone so good at sports, life, and everything despite having a jam-packed schedule? you think.

You’re already struggling with your academics, wanting to graduate top of your class with the best damn grades. Meanwhile, Reo casually breezes through his life as if it’s a walk in the park.

This only makes you want to challenge him, question how someone with his packed schedule still aces exams and projects. It infuriates you.

And him? He finds it exhilarating.

For the first time in years, Reo feels alive. You remind him of the fire he had in Blue Lock—the drive, the hunger to prove himself. And oh boy, he wants to prove himself to you that he’s the real deal.

He faces your competitive nature head-on, enjoying every time he sees your pretty face contorted in frustration when he sassily shows off his better grades. No matter what half-hearted insults you throw his way, it only fuels the fire in him.

He loves your attention and loves how you unknowingly think of him, even though not in the way everyone else does.

To you, he isn’t a billionaire heir or a football prodigy. He’s just someone to outdo. A competition. A rival.

And he falls for you because of it.

Over time, the rivalry softens into friendship. The snarky remarks give way to late-night study sessions, inside jokes, and “friendly” coffee dates. You let your guard down, showing him the side of you that’s self-deprecating, witty, and warm. And Reo? He’s hooked.

But you aren’t his to love. You have a boyfriend—someone who holds your heart. So, he swallows his feelings and settles for the sidelines, the friend who’s always there.

Nagi mocks him whenever he talks about you. “You’re not the type to wait, Reo. Go after what you want.”

It’s not like him to be passive. He learned the hard way how it is to be in a dog-eat-dog world back in Blue Lock. That anything and everything can be his for the taking, if he wants to. And he can.

But you aren’t a trophy or a goal. You’re you. And he can’t risk losing you altogether.

Even when you break up, he holds back. He tells himself it isn’t the right time, that you need space. Instead, he becomes your rock—picking up the pieces your ex leaves behind. Coffee runs, shared meals, walks home. Every small gesture is his way of saying what he can’t.

Reo tries to fill the void, doing everything your ex never did. But no matter how much he gives, he can’t shake the feeling that he’s a stand-in. A poor substitute for someone you loved deeply.

Then comes Christmas.

Reo spends weeks searching for the perfect gift. A simple silver charm bracelet, each charm representing significant memories you’ve shared with him that he holds dear. It’s more than a present; it’s a confession. He just needs to see you. So he texts you that night, his heart pounding.

Are you free tonight? Can I see you?

Before your reply comes, his phone buzzes with an Instagram notification. It’s your story.

There you are, smiling next to your ex.

The caption reads “Catching up,” but it doesn’t matter. The sight crushes him. His grip on his phone tightens as he stares at the screen. A dozen emotions surge through him—jealousy, doubt, hopelessness.

What’s the point? How can he compete with someone who already has a place in your heart?

He sets his phone down, unable to look at it any longer. The charm bracelet sits on his coffee table, glinting under the glow of the Christmas tree lights.

“I’ll never be him,” he whispers, his voice barely audible.

Reo lets himself imagine it. A world where he’s enough. Where he doesn’t have to live in someone else’s shadow. Where your smile is for him and him alone.

But that isn’t his reality.

Maybe next time. Maybe next time, I’ll have the courage to tell you. But not tonight.

Tonight, all he can do is carry the weight of his feelings, as silent and heavy as snowfall. Alone.

“Merry Christmas,” he types, sending it to you. The greeting leaves a bitter taste in his mouth because he's sure it doesn’t feel like one at all.

amari's notes: this was actually the firs piece i wrote for angstmas. i just accidentally saw a reo post here on tumblr and thought how fun it would be to break his heart (jk im kidding) im beginning to love his character, along with chigiri tbh. anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to leave a reply or drop an ask or even a request! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

taglist: @inu1gf 100520s

[dismas-n-dismay]

HI HELLO I'M HERE FOR THE ANIMALISTIC FEATURES ON D(A)EMONS TED TALK

I’ve been waiting for you. *sits and turns in my swivel chair evilly with my hands pressed together at their finger tips.*

Full Explanation on Animalistic Traits on D(a)emons in no assorted order under the cut (with art included) @bazpire @vind3miat0r (tagging y'all cause I finally made the damn post)

(From left to right, Gavin, Caelum, and Azmidi in both their material forms and their pure demonic forms visualized)

Fear demons are very Creepy Crawlie based! That being said nearly all of them have amphibious/reptilian traits! Though they don’t have blood they do appear to at least feel cold blooded and do enjoy similar activities that reptilians might like sunbathing or anything equivalent!

Fear demons have Very thick and long tails, some have tails that end in fins or have extra fins on the side but that differs from demon to demon. Most fear demons have black sclera or entirely black eyes that are Very sensitive to light leaving them to only coming out at night which is both great for feeding but sucks because they get limited sunlight unless wearing sunglasses :[

Fear daemons tend to be cooler/dry colors! They’re not exactly pastels, think more calm and soothed colors that blend in w their surroundings.

For Example (of a standard fear demon): The Caller Boi is a light grey, fully scaled demon with a long tail that’s finned at the end and has smaller fins on the side! His tongue is fully that of a lizard (he can grab food with it!) and is forked, he also has heat pits underneath where his nose would be! His hands and feet are clawed and his hair is long, black, and oddly limp. His hair is incredibly long and always vaguely sopping wet looking, it also kind of looks like deep dark Kelp.

Most fear demons have longer hair/hair that very much seems uncared for, either too oily, or too dry, or too wet. Very much unnatural/uncomfy looking. Their eyes are usually obscured by their hair to keep them safe and few fear demons feel a need to show their eyes since the whole “Tall, oddly colored, long limbed creature in your room watching you” thing is enough to get a reaction and feed as is.

Most fear demons Do Not wear clothes. They don’t actually have any genitalia or defining features sexual and the effort to make clothes at both fit their proportions, feel comfortable against scales or oddly smooth/silky/slimey skin, and have tail holes is too much for any of them to Want to do unless they genuinely find it fun. So if you see one of these guys in public, don’t stare. They’re just doing their thing. Also they will notice you and will end up following you home :] (fun new buddy who definitely loves you)

Fear demons tend to either have flopped/lop ears or no ears at all! Their ears can still be perked to look for prey to pay extra attention to things if needed but are most comfortable flopping down and staying there. The chances of you touching a fear demons ears are slim to none since you will almost assuredly lose your hand afterward.

Empathy daemons very much got the best end of the deal as most of them are Chimeric in nature and therefore have a variety of mismatched animal traits! Where as other demons have traits that come directly from on family/class of animal, Empathy demons can and will have Any. (Though seeing mammalian traits is very common) This can go from mismatched fur and skin patterns to even each of their limbs. Being the most animalistic trait inheriting variety of demon, it’s incredibly helpful that Empathy demons aren’t able to be seen by their charges for a certain amount of time as this typically allows them time to be able to disguise their forms into something vaguely more human. Caelum is still struggling with this, thus his odd eyes and two sets of animal ears.

Though since that’s been repealed in canon (since it was causing empathy demons to have weird attachments to their charges due to being unseen) more people will probably be having what they assume to be visits from “angels” (more on that below)

Empathy demons are often mistaken for angels are where the idea of angels comes from somewhat! Truthfully the Sovereigns are what the concept of angels comes from but after their disappearance and the much more common appearance of Empathy demons to those in need, empathy demons became the standard as well as the saying “Do not be afraid” because seeing a creature that’s part every animal is Very Scary.

(The sovereigns look like biblically accurate angels)

Empathy demons are all born Incredibly short but grow to be one of the tallest kinds of demons! For example: Caelum was the shortest in his batch/litter of empathy demons but this means that he’ll grow to be the tallest and above average size for an Empathy demon! Which will be very inconvenient when he tries to visit freelancer and is now a good 8 feet tall (please be nice to him he hates being too tall to be held it makes him sad)(also Caelum is right handed by choice but all demons are ambidextrous…I couldn’t find anywhere else to fit this hc in so shush)

Empathy demons are born in litters/batches! Batches are used to refer to litters that have been born (typically 1 to 2 at a time otherwise the word litter will just be used interchangeably if it’s less than 2) while Litter is used by the demons in said batch to refer to themselves and their siblings that were born.

For example: “A couple new batches of empathy demons were born, they will NOT stop crying about someone taking their toys.”

“Oh me and my litter used to do that, have you tried just labelling the toys with their names?”

Empathy demons can be born with duplicate limbs! So there’s like a non-zero plausibility of there being an empathy demon named Tails who does In Fact have two fox tails. He would not find this funny. (But he would love tails and name himself Miles after him)

This can span from multiple arms on their torso to multiple tails, wings, ears, or even horns! Caelum has been known to have two tails on occasion but primarily is known for his two sets of ears! One resembling a bear or lion cub and the other resembling a lamb.

Concubi (incubi and succubi) have the Least animal traits as it would generally be hard for them to shift and disguise if they had the amount of traits other demons had. This leaves them feelings rather put-out by other demon groups and it’s very common for Concubi to be jealous or upset because of their lack of traits. Sure it’s great for catching food and all but it feels like a denial of their demonic attributes honestly. Being mistaken as human by other demons and humans themselves is a common and very down putting experience for concubi, while some embrace it and the ease it gives them to catch food, many reject this idea and will try and make their animal/demon traits more apparent.

It’s very common for concubi to have ur standard demon tail and a thing layer of fuzzy/fine fur as well as clawed hands and sometimes feet! It’s more uncommon to have cat eyes and slit pupils. Almost all concubi have long elf like ears and if they don’t then that’s very rare! The outcome of that is either having human ears (extremely rare) or some form of animal ears (even more rare) Obviously it’s much more favored by the general concubi population to have animal based ears and those that don’t have normal ears or animal ears will disguise their ears to be normal and elf like but demons can always tell when one another are using magic to hide themselves, so this trick only works on non-demons or humans

Gavin has a fair mix of uncommon and common traits for incubi! He has fairly long animal like ears (similar to a sheep/goat or rabbit), hooves, and claws! But for the most part it's not incredibly hard for him to shift and pass as human which is a mixed bag as far as he's concerned with how it makes him feel. He definitely has More traits than the average concubus but the ones he has are incredibly concubi specific, meaning they're as minor as genetically possible for him to pass as human when shifting. Think of it like being double jointed. Is it uncommon and kind of weird? yes. Is it something noticable that's going to come up every day unless you show it off? No. It's a minor oddball trait at best which sets him in this weird spot of either being idolized by some concubi for his traits, demonized by others for his lack of conformity with human standards, or being denied his demon-status due to the simplicity of his traits. It's a very hard topic for him.

At the least he's lucky that there are Very few sadism demons left out in the world, it would give him an even bigger complex of problems. (Sadism demons are basically what would happen if you took Concubi genes and pumped them with steroids. EVERYTHING about their genetics is more obvious. While Gavin has retractable claws, a sadism demon might have claws that never retract. Cats eyes that properly dilate in every light, more markings as well as markings that are more blantantly obvious. Fangs and tusks that protude from the mouth and glint in the light, whiskers and antennae that properly feel and catch every change in movement. Compared to a sadism demon, an incubus is just a chubby house cat playing an unconvincing game of pretend to a big cat. Really, if you asked Vega he would say their lives are spent playing a charade of pretend, a mockery of what a real demon is. they're practically human.)

(I have way more but this post was too long so lemme know if the tags if you want a part two on the other kinds of demons plus some more art :3 Also demon on demon discrimination because thats so fucking funny to me.)

[lumiy-a]

I appreciate a lot the explanations and I think it’s fair to give some space also to later arcs. Thanks for that! I’m sure that there are good things to take away from these, I can’t say much about the quality because as said, I haven’t read them. Even though I have them, physically, in paper, almost all of them and in their original edition for collection reasons. Since I’m one of those who only talk and create about this Meridian-Arkhanta-Basiliade-Kandrakar axis, I feel a bit called out here so I’ll share my two cents:

For me, and I think for others too, the point is not really a decline in quality or a prejudice because I heard the quality is worse.

The main reason I cannot read after arc 5 is that my favorite characters are not there. My favorite pairing is 50% dead and 50% weeping in Kandrakar. Another one of my absolute favorite characters is falling off the tower of Kandrakar for eternity. And another one is ruling on Meridian and forgotten by everyone. It’s certainly my problem if my favorite characters of a comic about five teenagers are not the five teenagers themselves, but that’s the reason. Had the comic kept these characters, I would have read all the issues even if the quality sucked. I would read literally anything where Cedric appears, even when he’s drawn by artists who hate him!

Another point I wanted to mention is that I don’t think the fandom is focused that much on Metamoor or Basiliade. One may have this impression from Tumblr because the few active blogs who post regularly with the w.i.t.c.h. tag (which can be counted on the fingers of one hand!) focus on these side aspects. But the thing remains that in bigger spaces like the subreddit or the general fandom server, the focus is mostly on the five girls and their stories (including later arcs) or on the cartoon storyline. I think on Tumblr there is just a higher concentration of fan creators who happen to be fans of these aspects and create the content they want to see on these.

Anyway, I think it would be great to give some visibility to the later arcs and to any aspects that are less talked about or subject to more prejudice so I’m curious to see what you will share!

Thanks for coming to my TED talk

Alright people let’s do it, I’m curious:

Reblog for sample size!

[wybienova]

dream visit (nostalgia) - a 2nd anniversary katfl comic

[tennessoui]

it’s like baby gorl there’s no way I, the author who wrote the fic you’re commenting on and who is the intended audience for this comment, am gonna agree with you 😿🙏 some things can just stay on your chest 🙏

[dykedvonte]

Mini rant below and in the tags, the only time I’ll talk about this and my personal take on it.

The way people talk about hypothetical male Anya on Twitter and the idea of how Mouthwashing would play out if the genders were swapped makes me remember how people still don’t take sexual assault and rape with male victims with the same gravity, especially when the perpetrator is female.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

The whole discourse about the privacy/secrecy/support thing has been sitting with me for a few days (I mean other than it always does to a certain degree) thanks to all the excellent discussion happening and I know I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said a million times before, but I think what we're seeing and what we're going to learn (e.g. from TTPD) is that it wasn't just the support issue, but how it was shown/handled.

We've all gone out of our way to show that introversion =/= lack of support. Someone can be shy, reserved, etc. and still show up for their partner, whether in public or at home. To chalk any of the differences up to the clash between introversion and extroversion is unfair to folks who count themselves among either tbh.

@thisisctrying said something the other day that hit the nail on the head about how if that support had been offered in private, there very well may not have been a Joever to begin with, or at least not at this point in time. (Sorry for loosely paraphrasing, and for namedropping you! Long time listener, first time poster.)

If this were a case where the "shy" partner said, "I am really uncomfortable with the spotlight personally and do not want to court it, but I will support you in your ambitions and offer you whatever you need to make them happen and make the glare bearable," I suspect that would have gone a long way to making Taylor feel seen and comfortable in pursuing her goals in the way that she now has. Again, that might have been more akin to the balance that seemed to have been struck around 2019 from what we can see, but even speaking in a general sense, there are lots of couples out there, celebrity or not, that have similar approaches where there are highly driven people and busy careers involved.

(A famous example being Dolly Parton's marriage. Tbh I know next to nothing about her and Carl, but she's always heralded as an example in this regard, because her husband is famously uncomfortable with the spotlight and hasn't accompanied her to public events in decades, but she's said that she never minded that because that was always work to her, and what was important was that he supported her in pursuing all her career goals and basically ensured she had a place to call home to return to at the end of the day.)

We're kind of in a brave new world with her current relationship because it felt like, at least at the start, we were maybe watching her figure out her boundaries in real time as to what she was comfortable with or not and adjust accordingly. Like so many have said, I fully believe the extreme privacy thing was initially driven by herself and her experiences in 2016, and she needed that quiet time to recover from all of the things and figure out how to exist in the world again.

Stating the obvious, it seemed like eventually privacy was equated with secrecy, turning the relationship and the celebrity into the elephant in the room and something to never be spoken of to the outside world. People are free to choose whatever works best for themselves and their relationships, and for some the separate public lives might work, but the “kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath” theme is all over her work and it’s clear that it’s a sore spot for her, because she’s been made to feel shame just for the life she leads so many times in the past.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s pretty obvious something Not Great was happening behind the scenes, which didn’t just amount to “she wanted to be a public celebrity and he wanted to be a private hermit.” (Also, in case anyone forgot, this is a person who also chose a public-facing career who also has to engage in press for it, but I digress.) As her career reached new heights post-folklore, if she had the support at home to do all the things without judgment and with encouragement, and in turn offer the same support to her partner, she may have very well lived just fine with that, not unlike Dolly Parton’s case.

By reading between the lines in all the press since, as well as comments on tour and general ~vibes~ with TTPD teasers, it seems like one of the issues was that that was likely not the case. There was all the stuff that we saw — the reticence to acknowledge each other in the media (particularly on one side), the lack of public support even at events at which they were both in attendance for their respective jobs, the great lengths they went to not to be photographed together at events they attended yet no problem taking pictures with other friends and coworkers, the jobs that separated them, the withdrawing from the public even for work accomplishments, etc. Which could all be manageable if a couple chooses to do so together and are not inherently a sign of trouble in themselves.

But what we’re seeing now I think is a reflection of the things we weren’t seeing then, and it seems to indicate some very deep hurt. (I know, call me Captain Obvious.) And like so many have been saying, it feels likely that that part of that hurt is rooted in that very lack of private support where a person would expect it from their partner. Obviously as a Taylor fan blog I’m going to be more inclined to understand her side of a story, but tbh, it’s also because… this is sooooooo common, and something I’ve experienced in my friend group. (@taylortruther is right when she says most breakups are the same one way or another lol.)

One partner is resentful of the other’s success, or resentful that the other’s priorities begin to evolve as new experiences unlock new goals, or feels the other’s ambitions are not worthy of pursuit, and coupled with perhaps their own struggles in the same domain, it’s easy to see where that can chip away at the other partner’s morale and faith in the relationship. I know I’m just speculating here, but I also don’t think it’s totally unfounded. (Again, because a) I’m picking up what she’s putting down and b) it happens to sooooooo many women even among us dull normals.)

With all the pointed mentions about how much Taylor feels supported in her current relationship and how she in turn loves to offer the same show of support to not only her partner but other loved ones, how she’s stepped out more in the last year to a whole host of events, how she’s mentioned feeling like she locked herself away for years and she’s just proud of her partner and happy she can show up for him even if the chaos around it is unsettling, it paints a picture of what perhaps was happening before last year.

To feel like you’re all alone in carrying the weight of the relationship (or burden of it), of twisting yourself into knots to accommodate the other person’s boundaries (or insecurities) but not feeling reciprocity for your own has to be so painful. (The idea that it may have been even darker and to have a partner not only be unreceptive to your own needs but even perhaps resentful/dismissive/belittling of them is even more painful to think of. I guess we’ll find out when TTPD comes out if that was the case, too.)

At a certain point, that lack of acknowledgement will force your hand to be able to reclaim yourself. And it feels like the further removed Taylor in particular is from it, the more she moves from being sad about the life she felt she gave up by leaving, to angry at the life she felt she was giving up by staying. Especially being in a relationship now where it seems like everything comes much easier, where she can be open about the person she’s with and show up for them, all the stuff that seemed as challenging as climbing Mount Everest in her past is nothing more than a molehill at best in her current life.

TL;DR: I don’t think it’s privacy that inherently spells doom for a celebrity relationship like this; it’s the mutual support and respect that does. If Taylor had felt that in the later years of her previous relationship, I think we could be seeing a different, though not necessarily unfulfilled, person right now in 2024, who’d be happy on tour but whose personal life would look a little different. But it seems like by losing that support she lost parts of herself, and we’ve seen her reclaim that in spades in the last year, and perhaps to degrees she didn’t even realize she could from before all the Bad Stuff started happening in her young adulthood.

I know this was extremely long-winded and unnecessary, especially about total strangers we only know through scraps fed through the media, but I just always bristle at this idea that issues like these boil down to “personality differences,” as though one person wants to live in a city and the other on a remote island, or some shit like that. The whole support (and gender tbh) issue is one that’s just very close to my heart because again, I have seen it play out with so many of my friends in long term relationships and marriages and I just think people in relationships (and women in particular in some circles) deserve better than to feel like they’re being, well, tolerated.

[toddtakefive]

thinking about todd and his resolve toward… not quite isolation, but being alone in a room full of people again. he goes along to the study room to sit on his own and do his homework, he sits at the poets table and follows along with what’s being said while keeping quiet, he goes to the meetings at all but doesn’t necessarily contribute (in fact, if you watch him when cameron is telling the story ‘from camp in sixth grade’, you can see that he recognizes it before any of the other poets but doesn’t voice it until they all have). he’s not alone, necessarily, if you want to get technical about it, he’s just lonely, and he’s generally okay with that. he doesn’t have friends and that’s fine, he doesn’t participate in class and that’s fine, he doesn’t have a relationship with his family and that’s fine—he could live without any real connection and he’d have been, more or less, fine.

the thing about when he says “i can take care of myself just fine!” is that he isn’t really wrong, you can infer that he’s been doing it his entire life anyway, it’s that ‘taking care of yourself’ isn’t the same thing as really living or being happy. todd’s an introvert, certainly, and even as he gets closer to the group he defaults to sitting quietly in the background, but he’s also denying himself community out of fear not introversion. todd isn’t friendless because he’s an introvert, although that definitely plays a part, he’s friendless because he pushes anyone that might want his company away. if anyone has every wanted for his attention in the first place. (neil’s unwavering interest in him is unique (even when it comes to the rest of the poets, who are fine with todd coming along and joining the group, but aren’t really hellbent on him being there in the beginning) and his refusal to accept it is a direct result of being so lonely growing up.)

there’s obviously something to be said about the implications of his parents neglect, and the more than likely fact that he grew up friendless, and how those both play a part in in him being so skilled at dodging social interaction/being so avoidant of it, but by the time we see him in the movie he’s all but accepted his fate as being alone his entire life. he’s already accepted being the family disappointment, and he’s already accepted he’ll never amount to anything, and he obviously doesn’t like it, but he’d have managed living with that knowledge without the confirmation that it was all wrong. would he have been miserable? almost certainly. but he’d have managed. he’d done it for that long already, anyhow.

[sammygender]

years ago i remember someone saying about dave strider that either he’s gay or he’s bisexual but deep down too misogynistic to actually have a fulfilling romantic relationship with a woman. anyway. this is how i see dean winchester

[braisedhoney]

some tragic love stories be like: if i could bottle the galaxy, i would pour it into a cup so it would be easier for you to drink. do you want them? do you want the stars? or do they suit you better as adornments for your eyes than glitter on your lips?

but they don’t want the stars. they don’t want the galaxy. but how can they not? is that not enough? (it’s too much, that’s the problem. it’s too much.)

[shower-phantom-ideas]

Do yall think that like Danny would read the fanfiction people write about him?

Cause I think he would avoid it at first but you know the saying curiosity killed the cat (or bragging killed the fenton. Hey they both get brought back)

Anyway so maybe hes just online, probably tumblr or twitter, and someone is posting a summary and a link. Oh that sounds neat sure lets check it out. Maybe he lets it go to his head in classic teenager style. Sam and Tucker think it’s weird but tbh Danny needs the win.

That or hes completely disgusted by it. He is a real person not some character to be fantasised about. Sam and Tucker tease him about it but totally agree that it’s super weird and gross. I mean people aren’t actively hurting anyone but Danny doesn’t go anywhere near the internet anymore, unless it’s to game and shitpost on twitter. Tucker probably made a huge program to help so none of them have to see the ship art. Again they arent bashing anyone but hes a kid and doesn’t wanna be traumatised anymore thanks.

Idk wtf in goingnon anouy buy it’s 735am and I am so tired but I need to be up a few more hours… wait does this oart go in th tags? Wheres am I

[ropes3amthoughts]

DunMeshi fanfic authors/fan artists, have Senshi and Kabru cook together and my life is yours