#and I've been saying that I wanted a philo but I would know the right plant when I saw it

[elminx]

I just found the most beautiful Philodendron "Painted Lady" (Philodendron erubescens) at my local co-op for a steal (still see it mostly for $40-60) and when I brought it home it fit perfectly into the giant red teacup planter that my partner thrifted for us and...that's it. That's how life is supposed to work.

You find a bigger planter than necessary but it's a giant red teacup so you just need to have it. And then you find the perfect plant to go in it.

One thing leads to the other. You just get the feeling that you were supposed to own this plant - like it was just there waiting for you to bring it home.

[brionysea]

if you know me, you may know that I love animation. I think it's beautiful and deserves a lot more respect as an artistic medium than it gets. I still live with my parents, and they don't agree; they think it's for children, which makes it worth less. I put on my favourite film (Into The Spider-Verse) while they were in the room once, in a sneaky attempt to share something I love with them, and they were just on their phones the entire time. if I'd been more open about what I was doing they might have tried more, but as it stands, it didn't even cross their minds that something animated could be worth their time.

I say all this to lead into the fact that I've also never been able to get them to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. again, I was watching something I liked while my mum was in the room, but just because I wanted to this time. I was watching the North Pole episodes. my mum likes badass female characters in media, so I told her to pay attention to Katara's fight with Pakku, but even that didn't pull her in (although she did note that Katara was "fiery"). she was bored, wanted the TV for something she liked now (I'd had it for a while), but I wanted to finish the 2-parter first. we decided on one more episode. we reached the part where Zuko kidnaps Aang and runs into a blizzard with him, and Katara, Sokka, and Yue find them. Katara, of course, outmatches Zuko in seconds. Sokka frees Aang and suggests leaving Zuko to die in the blizzard, and Aang - being who he is - says, "No. We can't leave him here."

and my mum, barely looking up from her phone, says, "Why not? He'd leave you."

bear in mind, she hasn't watched the show. she doesn't know these people. she doesn't know Zuko. this is a single glimpse into a single moment of his life, one of countless mistakes made by a lost teenager, where someone else had to decide whether or not he was worth saving. I got this sinking feeling, imagining a world where Aang didn't listen to his beliefs in this moment; a world where Zuko died in the blizzard, where Iroh lost another son, where Aang never got the chance to learn firebending from him - a world where Zuko never realised his destiny, all because he was left for dead in a snowstorm.

but my mum didn't know this show, didn't know all the reasons why that shouldn't happen, so all I could think of to say in response was a small, devastated, "He's sixteen."

and I'm looking back on that feeling now, at the judgement made on a boy she didn't even know, and I'm thinking: what gives you the right to decide he's done? that he's not allowed to grow anymore? that he won't be missed? that he should die, and that Aang should be complicit in it?

this may seem silly. animated or not, Avatar is just a show. but it's a show that got me invested, a show that made me care about the characters and what they have to say about morality and philosophy and the world. it's a show that made me not want Zuko to die alone in a snowstorm. it's a show that made me not want Aang to become a murderer at 12 years old.

but that mentality of judging people by their worst moments, of not seeing them as full human beings who have worth and a future and limitless potential for change because you, personally, haven't seen it, translates to real people too.

it's reductive.

I think of it like this: what they decide says something about who they are, but what you decide says something about who you are. are you the kind of person who would let someone die when you had the chance to save them? are you the kind of person who invites more pain into the world? who allows it without protest? who believes it's possible to reach a point where people don't deserve your compassion anymore?

Aang isn't.

I didn't have much of a plan going into this post, but looking at it in full, I think this is the value of redemption arcs. and while on a practical level, you can understand why so many people pushed back against it at the end of the show, I think this is the value of Aang's philosophy: it lets you be more.

[magical-regical]

hello sentient moss. do we have an owl city vibe for jeremiah.

Have you ever seen a character with so much yet so little lore in a piece of media? Jemmy's a side character that has so much of his lore scattered around the most random places of the game.

Tldr;

Vanilla Twilight

(Tumblr needs more text color options when you're on mobile I stg let me paint with all the colors of the wind)

Vanilla Twilight

I gotta say I think I hit the jackpot. This was my initial vibe song and after scouring for his lore it just hits even harder. Very firmly sad boi™ vibes.

I mean come on, this is the first verse,

The stars lean down to kiss you and I lie awake and miss you

Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere

Cuz' I'll doze off save and soundly but I'll miss your arms around me

I'd send a postcard to you dear, 'cause I wish you were here.

Like oh my god??? It's him. It's him every night when the flower shop's closed for the day and it's time to water the marigolds. The first four lines of the song and I'm already sad and the song just gets sadder and sadder as it goes along and I'm not okay. Jemmy why do you hurt me like this.

Now, as much as I want to do a verse by verse like I've been doing with all the other characters I've done this for, every single line in this song is just "cold nostalgia chilling him to the bone"

With lines like

(from the second verse)

Because it takes two whisper quietly,

The silence isn't so bad until I look at my hands and feel sad

'Cause the spaces between my fingers are right where yours fit perfectly

(from the bridge)

As many times as I blink, I'll think of you

Tonight

*insert the most melancholy piano progression in music*

Then the last verse is the nail in the coffin because it goes,

When violet eyes get brighter

And heavy wings grow lighter

I'll taste the sky and feel alive again,

And I'll forget the world that I knew but I swear I won't forget you.

Oh if my voice could reach back through the past

I'd whisper in your ear

Oh darling I wish you were here

I am on the ground sobbing in a fetal position. The fact that the music swells in this last verse just gives me the image of a spaceship (the Traceback II perhaps?) taking off and we know that if that spaceship really does get off the ground Jeremiah would be on it because at present, he wants nothing more than to go back home to Philos.

And he'll be looking out the window of the Traceback II as earth becomes smaller and smaller and he knows that with how long people on Philos live his memories of this little blue planet will gradually be locked away in the recesses of his mind but that little flower shop will always be there in his heart.

[magicalqueersarah]

Aerith, the Last of the Cetra

from a Jewish POV

Aerith is a huge part of why I love Final Fantasy 7. This is partly because she and the Cetra are somewhat Jewish coded.

Spoilers below

This is pretty blatant, since they're an ethnoreligious people trying to find the promised land, just like the ancient Hebrews. This promised land is a metaphor, which is a common belief in real life. The Cetra spend their whole lives trying to find the promised land, but it's within. It's not a physical place, it's being one with the planet by taking care of it and letting it flourish, then returning to it after death. The Cetra's relationship with the Lifestream parallels the concept of tikkun olam, repairing the world. I could go on about how Kabbalah influenced FF7 but I won't do that in this post. On to Aerith.

On a surface level, Aerith is striking to me. FF7 takes place in a world largely based on Modern Earth. Aerith wears a pink dress and bow to symbolize her femininity, a biker jacket to show her toughness, and gardening boots to show her relationship with the planet.

Her hair is slightly curly, which reminds me of my own. Aerith's last name came from Serge Gainsbourg, a Jewish and French singer.

She was adopted during a war after her mother died escaping a lab. They were experimented on and persecuted by an evil Corporatocracy who tried to use them to find the Promised Land, a source of infinite mako, and thus, infinite riches. This parallels the long history of Antisemitism and modern "Philo"semitism(Evangelicals want all the Jews to colonize Palestine so that Jesus will kill all of us and the Palestinians by starting the rapture :) https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/5/26/biden-palestine-and-the-buttressing-of-christian-zionism). Only Aerith's mom is a Cetra, but she is 100% Cetran which is just like halakhic tradition and how all Jews are equally Jewish, regardless of what our DNA looks like. Even if all of this is unintentional, Aerith is Jewish coded.

Rebirth reveals that Aerith has been alienated all her life, her Cetran heritage and abilities being the subject of bullying. Though she kept it hidden from those who persecuted her, she was able to connect to her ancestors by cultivating the planet and growing flowers at home and in an abandoned church. Aerith admits she doesn't know how to pray properly because her mom never taught her, which really resonates with me. When she comforts Marlene because Shinra is going to destroy her home, I think Aerith is reminded of her and her mother being forcibly removed from their homes.

Even many ethnoreligious agnostic or atheist people will still practice their ancestral religion, philosophy, and culture in some way, to keep in touch with their history. But many of us have lost parts of our culture because of ethnic and cultural genocide. I've had to hide and stand up for my Jewish identity because people would make violent jokes about us, or accuse us of murdering their god.

Aerith is plucky, kind, and savvy. She lives life to the fullest, becomes more in touch with her heritage, and works to repair the world. She fights against a greedy corporation and a Messianic Jew who's trying to forcefully spread Christianity mass murdering super soldier who claims to be a Cetra and the rightful ruler of the Planet. She inspires me as a Trans Jewish woman.

So it's really devastating that Aerith, the only known Cetra, dies. Not only does an important member of the party get murdered, the world loses an entire people.

it is implied throughout the compilation of FF7 that Marlene has inherited a connection to the Cetra through Aerith. In the original game's ending she can sense Aerith before the Lifestream erupts to stop Meteor, and she is able to sense her father in Remake. Aerith says she holds the white materia when she wants to feel safe. The Ultimania reveals that Aerith let Marlene hold it to feel safe during the evacuation of Sector 7. In Advent Children, Marlene has inherited Aerith's mannerisms and insight, and has begun taking care of Midgar's flowers. I believe this means at least some of humanity will become Cetra; Inheriting their culture and taking care of the planet.

So yeah, Aerith is tied for my favorite Final Fantasy character with Tifa :P. She is a great character and I feel connected to her because of the hardships she's faced as a marginalized person, and her willingness to live life to the fullest, heal the world, and fight injustice.

[littleblondesoprano]

Creative, warm, intuitive [Cancer sun]

My normal routine - probably making dinner, watching some video on youtube or Philo, taking a shower, obeying Fluffy's commands 😂 [Cancer moon]

I have no idea, and that's genuine. I have a very small amount of people I talk to on a daily basis and they're all so busy - but I think they like me! Wouldn't talk to me otherwise, right? 😂 [Cancer Rising]

Dreaming biiiig? I'd love to have an award winning fiction novel. I'd love to do voice acting, or go on broadway at some point. Dream job, but more realistic - I'd love to work as an editor at a publishing company. Something that gives me benefits! [Pisces MC]

Feeling stuck and lost, procrastinating deadlines, and just general 'not knowing'. [Cancer Mercury]

Oh!! I have a few. I love soft pinks and turquoises, but also golds and yellows and greens. [Taurus Venus]

People chewing with their mouth open, or people forgetting about me [Gemini Mars]

When I turned 18 we went to Wilmington and on a ghost tour, I saw this pastel yellow Victorian with white shutters, and a big pride flag flying outside - and I've wanted something like that ever since, except I don't want to live in a big city. I want a big yard to grow flowers and veggies, and a pool in the back, and maybe space for dogs. And kitties inside! [Virgo in IV]

My hobbies are singing, learning, reading, sewing, crafting, gaming, journaling(?) - I write down my dreams, so that counts, lol. [Scorpio in V]

I do! I get up in the morning and get ready - usually in something comfy - brush out my hair, say good morning to Fluffy + her water/food/litter, stretch, insulin + breakfast, hop on my laptop to check everything and start work! Then, at night, it's fixing dinner at about 5:30/6pm + insulin, going for my walk + mail, shower, Fluffy's awake by then - so brush her, tumblr. [Sagittarius in VI]

My last ex - oh geez - was a Leo sun. We haven't spoken since I was 18/19-ish. [Capricorn in VII]

I don't care where, I just need out of here. I wish I could get my own place - if I could, I would go there. Or I'd go somewhere where I'm valued. Maybe just go to a beach and lay in the sand, just not think about anything for a while. [Aquarius in IX]

There are so many at this point. One of the biggest is Unionizing, ALL worker's rights, along with trans rights, acceptance, and loving. Another is environmentalism and trying to reverse climate change, or even just slow it down - trying to clean and support our planet. Black Lives Matter is 100% supported here - as well as feminism and fighting for bodily equality and love. I try as much as I can to support abuse survivors and those struggling medically, because I've been there. I'm also a supporter of abolishing prisons, as well as the police - putting in place various social reforms, including better access to mental health resources - Medicare for all and housing for all too. Raise the fuckin minimum wage, everyone has a right to food, water, shelter, safety, hygiene, and love. [Taurus in the XI]

My happy place is in my daydreams. In them there's no distance between the one I miss and me. [Moon in the XII - Gemini]

I have so many favorite books! The Hobbit, The Phantom of the Opera, The Argonauts, Priestdaddy, I Am Not Trying to Hide My Hungers from the World, Wuthering Heights, The Book Thief, The Scarlet Letter, The Middle. [Mercury in the I - Cancer]

Inner person wise, I find dependability, charm, wit, fire, intuition, loyalty, strength, maturity, compassion, ambition, leadership, open-ness, artistry - all very very attractive. Also, ya know, liking kids and animals. Outer person wise, I tend to gravitate towards people who look kinda prickly (but very hot) on the outside - like, I have no idea how to explain it. Look at LP at the beginning of the 'Tightrope' music video - or imagine a modern Jon Snow while listening to Guns n Roses 'Nightrain'. [Venus in the XI - Taurus]

BDSM, bondage - I'm a sub, if you couldn't tell - masochism, knife play, ice play, cnc, edging, breath play/choking, begging, marking (hickies are my favorite), dp, spit-roasting, degradation (to an extent), exhibitionism, slapping, I don't know the actual name for it, but wrestling - like sexy wrestling - fighting for control, orgasm denial, sensory deprivation, spanking, primal play. There's probably more I'm forgetting. [Mars in the XII - Gemini]

Oof. Well, right now I'm working on saving money for somewhere else to live, but I'm also doing a lot internally. Trying to listen more to my intuition and find something every day, even if it's little, to make me happy. I've been doing lots of dream interpretation, and working on softening the voices of fear and doubt - letting things flow. [Jupiter in the X - Pisces]

Oh jeez. Beyond how to fear raised voices, that I need a job that gives me benefits. [Saturn in XI - Taurus]

I daydream about running away, about being with someone I care about and miss with my whole heart. About the future, about finally being able to be me without repercussions. About travelling and learning and letting myself still have fun. About stability, a firm foundation. [Neptune in VII - Capricorn]

Rejection and abandonment scare me, being forgotten scares me, dying alone and unfulfilled scares me. Losing people I love scares me. Giving up scares me. Stagnation scares me. [Pluto in V - Scorpio]

21 questions: zodiac edition

Copy and repost this with your placements and answers✨

Answer the questions before adding in your chart placements to keep it genuine!

Your sun sign: how would you describe yourself in three words?

Your moon sign: you have the night to yourself, what are you doing?

Your rising sign: what do people say about you?

Your midheaven: what is your dream job?

Your mercury sign: what makes you anxious?

Your Venus sign: what’s your favorite color?

Your mars signs: what is your biggest pet peeve?

Sign in your 4th house: what does your dream home look like?

Sign in your 5th house: what are your hobbies?

Sign in your 6th house: do you have any routines? (Something you do everyday)

Sign in your 7th: what sign is your significant other? If you’re not dating anyone use your most recent ex’s sign

Sign in your 9th: if you could travel anywhere right now where would you go and why?

Sign in your 11th house: what’s a cause you care deeply about?

House moon is in: describe your happy place

House mercury is in: what’s your favorite book?

House Venus is in: what do you find attractive / are you looking for in a mate?

House mars is in: what are your kinks / fetishes/ turn ons?

House Jupiter is in: where/how do you need to improve your life?

House Saturn is in: something your dad or father figure taught you (could be an uncle, a brother, a family friend, a teacher, a coach, etc)

House Neptune is in: what do you daydream about?

House pluto is in: where do you feel powerless? What’s scares you?