#and thus don't know if they're actually true or not

[theflyingfeeling]

I think Niko is shipping Olli and Aleksi…👀

oh, for sure 😌 and he's absolutely right to do so as well <3

so yeah who else tried googling 'michael jackson anti-gravity lean meme' or something to figure out what the hell that was all about. I mean not meeeee

[unproduciblesmackdown]

already was musing on how like, here's an intro that's Establishing Things, and it's like, does it matter that we were given a quants interaction of winston being like "hey you were nice to me there, actually. it reminds me of how" only for rian to pull the nice maneuvers of not wanting to listen to him share anything, being willing to just issue an order to someone about what he gets to do (talk for ten seconds) and doing so, then some underwhelming flair used to insult him surely, i guess that he's so stupid(tm) or whatever. like, wondering does that mean anything really that that was just about rian being an asshole, as has been sprinkled in before, just little moments that deadend with winston just feeling Disheartened b/c rian was shitty for no reason. does it mean anything that she did anything for the quant duo before that in refusing a chance to not sit next to him. theoretically just a [we're still tmc] kind of choice to stick together, and sure didn't move her to even treat him like a person she dislikes, just a nonperson she also dislikes

and relatedly it's going to be just as hilarious as rian, what, implying winston hasn't heard / of the french language, that the theory that rian and dollar bill become some kind of duo based on being Hilarious(tm) but also just terrible to any & everyone and bullying people has only more plausible, And that this episode of billions' introduction / establishment of dollar bill is decidedly centered around "yeah nobody likes this guy or can stand to deal with him. not even the people paid to be there, not even the self-declared Too Nice guy who kept choosing hanging out with dollar bill & his bullying over working & hanging out with his friend taylor" so it sure doesn't seem like that's leaving much room for [oh that was an oversight] if dollar bills going to fuck off into mpc hq on the regular and rian's immediately going to be like of course i can roll with this fuckin asshole

and truly a distillation of "rian's supposedly gets the 'good' treatment of More Material & being taken more seriously by other characters, but this only meant that instead of any sense of character &/or her own actual subplots ever, she's whatever a different more prominent character needs for their plot at any given time; winston's peripheral funny little guy unimportance & insulting treatment is still so much better re: being a character" if winston gets the worst treatment of being shoved out of mpc by episode three and rian is graced with hanging around most or all season only to be judged & condemned to now have that loss of [quant duo] replaced with being insufferable bullying horrible person dollar bill's New Friend and like, right away, with ease. and like i was saying like i would not argue with that, if rian had the consistent principle of treating anyone with basic respect she wouldn't be treating winston as a nonperson, and of course she has a broader capacity for being an asshole to anyone at any point that's just drier and less [outbursts of physical aggression] than dollar bill's style.

no idea what rian's overall arcs could be when yknow, why is she here, why has she stayed here, her most relevance right now gets to be "has the dialogue capacity to talk about getting prince with a sex scandal. also has zero thoughts on how power factors into one rather than that you just need to be polite about it?" which only feels truly character specific when held up against "rian was supposedly bullied but also Above even hating the people who did it. but she is also a bully and not even especially emotionally detached about it, even though how she treats winston is more important than how she feels about it" like basically "also a bully" is her most coherent deal. and it's just Interesting that simply being mean to winston is again basically pointed out, and her future bestie or [put in the same shots duo status] dollar bill is Impending but the episode was like "yeah of course everyone hates this guy, for being awful" and the joke nonjoke the whole time that unfortunately rian might get along just fine with bill as workplace (and probably also life in general, it's not a honed strategy they limit to the office) bullies

so that That's what rian gets for getting to stick around, while winston Might get to be shoved out of the fund hq with any character flair from him and, i do unfortunately have to wonder harder now, maybe any relevance afforded to the way people have treated him, indeed maybe rian especially, his personal bully and abusive friend. and because other people also see rian as better than him & maybe also winston as [not a person], if winston does anything that's indeed deliberately petty, mean, Angry, etc, towards rian, That will be seen as unacceptable vs the yknow checks notes years of cruel interpersonal treatment from rian to winston, but nothing hangs in the balance on that front, people won't suddenly be like "nice. winston's a person to me now, which, why am i even in a position to Decide that" if he's shoved out & goes quietly & politely and creates no problems in return. and, very much like dollar bill, i don't think rian will change, but for winston's own sake it would be Heartening if he voices his experience such that we know he knows it was bullshit, even though of course rian, and probably anyone else, isn't going to choose to listen past 5 seconds, least of all when he's clearly indicating a general state of irritation. rooting for flair and idiosyncrasy for him and indeed that the best sources for that could be with taylor, please, the person he's always been here for, rian, the person for years now bullying him more than she does anyone else or more than anyone else does to winston, and even fun if there's anything with tuk his apparent genuine friend tuk, and by "fun" i mean "such a delight i daren't really think much abt it From Canon"

anyways the tl;dr i suppose is that winston getting apparently thrown away in the first third of the season is insulting treatment but rian getting to stay and be dollar bill's wretched bestie is truly the worse fate and basically that distillation of like. oh winston's bringing it on himself he's so annoying nobody likes him, while in actuality all the ways he's never fit in or done things "right" and how he would never have been hired if taylor hadn't done it are all compliments and endorsements. while rian's been viewed as a capable valuable person by all from the start and treated as Better Than even others who are still also seen people, but her "success" and the shit she gets to continue to do in how she treats people b/c nothing about being at work stops that and some things facilitate & reward it, see: also dollar bill being around the whole time & now also back, definitely include treating a friendly coworker any which way, which she usually chooses to be: badly. and of course shoutout to the thread of taylor being like "if you stay btw you'll probably get all fucked up" but like also rian just Brought the [i'm a bully but it's fine when i do it. it's bad when it happens to Me] stance from the start, but like, obviously always the opportunity to get worse and just be left off with that implication of Never Trying To Learn, just like your new good friend dollar bill

real tl;dr As Fates Go winston being shitted on & fired / driven to quit >>>>>>>> rian sticking around, befriending dollar bill. and like not in the way i'm arguing that the fate is worse like In Conceptual Quality. it's just a hell of a potential condemnation / indirect illustration of like, here's this person it's horrible to be around, here's a reminder rian is cruel to this coworker on a dime anytime, here's rian deciding the horrible person is Alright anyways. maybe they'll be busy with a bullying power struggle the whole time. and maybe winston will get to appear outside the fund actually. just really something to be going like "oh my god lmao rian and dollar bill might actually be specifically getting along well as fellow [be horrible to coworkers] bullies and assholes who feel Above It, it being many other people, this being a kind of requirement there" and to be wondering if billions will make this fact that rian's job is being an asshole more relevant at all, if even to be like yeah leaving off with a lost cause here, including that i really doubt winston can Get Through To her even with his ability & willingness to air his grievances, and like, as though oh actually winston brought it upon himself b/c rian just didn't knowww, that's on him and his visible pain & verbal expressions of that pain & requests that she stop which Weren't Enough, and as though maintaining that onesided dynamic for bullying and demeaning and shutting down and abusing was like an unconscious accidental coincidence every time and not its own Active Process, regardless of what the other person does or doesn't do, and with the agenda of maintaining that [i'm the person who chooses how things go; they're the object that reacts accordingly like it's laws of physics level of demands of reality] one-sided relationship, so they'd only just be looking to react to what that other person does or doesn't do in ways that serve those purposes anyway. sometimes rian's "nicer" but she's still the one deciding how everything goes, winston can only roll with it like a ball at the top of a ramp like, of course, unquestionable. cue space winston, zero gravity

haha another tl;dr. winston being disposed of is a warmer Fate to assign a character than rian's potential "of course she's friends with dollar bill now" like lmfao Ouch. but yeah of course.

[splinter-cat]

I don't know enough about our history/history in general to answer many of the questions, sadly, but I'll try for a couple:

4. Honestly this is hard, because I love inserting trans OCs into any historical show I watch and they all have different challenges that would be interesting to see. I think what I come back to most though is something like Downton Abbey.

So for example for a Downton Abbey like setting, I picture a trans man as one of the footmen. I'm not much interested in the noble/upper class characters tbh but to see how he navigates being around them would be interesting to me, especially where the jobs themselves were so gendered (to my knowledge). I've heard (though not confirmed) that many footmen were queer because nobles wanted less risk of their daughters getting with the servants/getting pregnant, so I'd like to see him interacting with other queer men, too.

The thing that makes a Downton Abbey setting more interesting than say a Bridgerton setting to me is WWI. So if that happened during the series, what happens to our lead? Does he sign up and go to war? Or does he not want the risk of being discovered? How does he deal with people who question why he's not going? Etc.

I'd also be interested in a broader look at the era, too, like comparing and contrasting the experiences of the trans man working as a servant to nobles vs one working in a factory, because the cultures were very different.

7. I honestly don't know, like I did have a couple incidents when I was younger where I might have just died without modern medicine sooooo setting those aside I'd probably go for... probably post Civil War and pre WWI? If I had a to choose a time in American history that is, I don't know enough about world history other than "a lot of it sucked for a lot of people." I'd much rather avoid any major wars, idk. I honestly probably wouldn't have figured myself out, I'd just know I had the desire to wear and do "men's" things but the fear that I wasn't allowed them would probably have outweighed that without a community around me (I didn't even figure myself out until after years and years of being around online trans communities). I think I would have avoided having kids as much as possible.

8. Hopefully my writing, I'd like to break into screenwriting one day and it'd be cool to be known for creating/running TV shows about queer characters.

since October is queer history month:

who is your favorite historical trans man/transmasc?

what areas of transmasc history do you wish were more discussed?

which historical trans men/transmascs deserve more attention & praise today?

if you could have a period drama starring a transmasc main character, where and when would it be set? who would the character be?

who is your favorite transmasc activist from history? what did they do?

what are some things you think people misunderstand or don't consider when talking about transmasculine history?

(for transmascs) If you had to live in a different point in history (pre-1950s!), where and when would you choose? how do you think you would have navigated life as a transmasc?

(for transmascs) if you became a famous transmasc icon, what would you be known for?

answer in reblog and tags, @ your friends, use this as an ask game, whatever you want!

[yumeka-sxf]

Well, seems like something that was just a theory before has come very close to truth...

Because of this major revelation, I wanted to take a deep dive into what we know about Donovan so far and how hints throughout past chapters could indeed indicate that he can read minds. While we still don't have concrete proof for this other than Melinda's word, I don't believe there's anything that discredits this idea, either. In fact, many things throughout the series support it.

First we have Loid's encounter with Donovan way back in chapter 38. I always found it strange that we never got insight into Donovan's thoughts throughout that whole exchange. We always get to know what characters are thinking, even without Anya's mind-reading support. It's not an uncommon storytelling mechanic in general after all, especially for manga. Yet, Endo chose not to give us any insight into what Donovan was thinking. I figured this was simply to avoid spoiling anything about what his exact plans and motives are for future stories (also why Anya was absent for this). But now it seems like this could have also been to hide the fact that he can read minds. If he can read minds, certain things he said during that exchange take on a more ominous meaning. For example, what he said below about how people can never truly understand each other.

It's been a headcanon of mine that the reason why Anya, and perhaps Donovan, were given mind-reading powers, stemmed from the desire for world peace...the idea being that if people could read each other's minds - in other words, always know what others are thinking and feeling, sympathy and understanding would abound.

We learn later on that Donovan had ideas like this even as a kid when he made a similar comment during his debate competition speech. He said that it's impossible to know the true intentions of others so people will forever doubt each other, thus war is inevitable.

We also have the little detail in today's chapter that Donovan did not have the scars on his head during Melinda's flashback (of course, he didn't have them as a kid in chapter 99 either).

Now this is totally my theory, but if we take Melinda's words as the truth, without any misunderstanding, then sometime in Donovan's adult life after he married and had a child, he was experimented on and was given mind-reading powers, perhaps by force but most likely by choice. Now that he has these powers, his laments about people not being able to understand each other are no longer true, at least not for him. Perhaps the experiments done on Anya were preliminary tests that he put together to perfect the mind-reading implementation science before actually doing it to himself. Again, totally just speculation, but not out of the question.

Then we have Demetrius...we learned in chapter 93 that Anya has trouble reading his mind.

If we put that together with Melinda's comment in today's new chapter, that Demetris also took note of Donovan being able to read minds...

...then perhaps Demetrius conditioned himself to think in ways that would make it difficult for his mind to be read, specifically to thwart the "alien" that's impersonating his father. I mentioned last time that I don't think Donovan is actually an alien, and that this description is the only explanation Melinda could come up with to explain his mind-reading powers. If this is true though, it really does make the Desmond dinner scene all the more telling...that throughout all those panels without dialogue, Donovan was absorbing the deepest inner thoughts of his family members (and again, no insight into his own thoughts, just like in chapter 38).

But if the "Donovan can read minds" theory holds true, then the most disturbing idea of all is that Donovan knows that Twilight is a spy. He knows that he's the target of Twilight's mission, and that Twilight seeks to thwart him. Not only that, but depending on what he's read of Damian and Melinda's minds, he knows that they're fond of Anya and Yor, respectively - people who are close to Twilight. Mind-reading powers in the hands of a child are one thing, but in the hands of a shrewd and power political figure...I'm both excited and anxious to find out what Donovan's next move will be!

[beatrice-otter]

You’re seriously still blaming Trump on “Bernie Bros”? Time for democrats to start taking responsibility for putting up shitty candidates and deflecting blame toward everyone else, for once

Trump was elected by a very narrow margin. And there was a ton of polling and data crunching and statistical modeling going on during and after the election, so we actually know what the factors that tipped the needle Trump's direction are.

One of the biggies is leftists who thought Hilary was insufficiently far left. If every leftist who loved Bernie and disliked Hilary because she wasn't perfect enough had held their nose and voted for Hilary, Trump would have lost. They're not the only demographic that's true of; there are a number of others who, if they had turned out in force, would have turned the tide of the election. For example, if a higher percentage of Black women had voted, Trump would also have lost. You know what the difference is between your average Bernie Bro and your average Black woman? Your average Bernie Bro is white and thus a hell of a lot less likely to have his vote suppressed. He is a hell of a lot more likely to find it easy to vote. This is not me saying this because I don't like them, or because I think Hillary was a perfect candidate. This is me saying that when you look at the actual numbers, leftist ideologues who refused to vote for a candidate who was not their perfect choice was one of the main reasons Trump got four years in the White House.

In general, regardless of the candidates involved, if 55% of American adults vote in a national election, the Republican wins in a landslide. If 60% of American adults vote, the Republican wins by a bare margin. If 65% of American adults vote, the Democrat wins by a bare margin. If 70% of American adults vote, the Democrat wins by a landslide. If 75% of American adults voted--and voted regularly in every election--the Republican party would cease to be a significant force in American politics.

This has been known for decades. Republicans will show up and vote no matter what; a very high percentage of Democrats and left-leaning voters will only show up if the candidate in question is perfectly in line with their views. That's why we have a Congress that is dominated by Republicans despite most of the country not liking them, and that's why we have most of the political problems that they do. By waiting for a political candidate who is good enough, you are directly ceding power to the people who are making the world worse.

Elections are decided by the people who show up. If you do not show up to vote, your vote does not get counted. If politicians want to get re-elected, they have to listen to the people who will vote for them. If they try to listen to the people who don't regularly vote, they are far more likely to lose re-election than if they listen to the people who show up every election. And conservatives show up every election. If liberals and leftists changed our voting habits and voted in every single election--voted for the furthest left candidate in the primary, and whoever got the Democratic nomination in the general election--we would prove ourselves to be a voting bloc worth listening to and the party would move left in response.

You want a candidate who perfectly fits your vision and ideals for what America should be? That doesn't happen in a vacuum. That takes work, and the most basic level of that work is showing up to vote now and every time there's an election to vote in.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Love when people belittle resistance to nuclear plants by pretending the only concerns people have are "nuclear fallout" and "toxic waste" rather than,perhaps, the massive clusters of birth defects that pop up in the wake of a TON of industrial industries, including nuclear, all of which are often defaulted to THE SAME SMALL RURAL TOWNS thus ensuring that those towns are subject to a cumulative level of toxicity that can be seen in the physiological prognosis of the entire town for literal generations

Like I'm sorry. Sometimes a logistical concern isn't as simple as "those dumb hicks don't know nuclear plants are safe now". I always remember the hullaballoo folks made about "but what if solar fields kill all our fields and the sheep have nothing to graze", accusing them of believing the solar panels would "absorb too much of the sun" rather than the more complex (and if not exactly reasonable, at least an understandable conversation to need to CONFIRM UNDERSTANDING OF before acting on) "hey a lot of the parts in this are heavy metals, and you're asking us to alter large amounts of terrain in ways that could disturb root systems and if that mixes badly this could kill our crops, can you confirm that won't be an issue?"

And like. I dunno. Maybe interconnectedness means that when someone says they're not sure they agree with you that the pros outweigh the cons, you need to consider the possibility that could actually be true.

[bamfkeeper]

SFW Headcannons: Kurt and his Bamfs

a/n: Obviously I love the bamfs, and I had to do some of these with them because I adore them and I want my own army of them, damnit. Depictions heavily taken from Nightcrawler (2014) comic series. Pretty hasty, just a fun little set of headcannons. I hope you enjoy <3

The bamfs were something you hadn't anticipated, there were so many and their origin was difficult to wrap your head around. Kurt tried to explain it, but you were distracted by the curious bamfs staring at you.

They were adorable, about a dozen? Maybe more? They all were curious, they looked at you with big, round eyes. They seemed so innocent, and you couldn't help but smile.

Kurt was skeptical, they usually weren't this well behaved. You adored these little guys, and welcomed them like a horde of puppies rushing to you. They all jumped on you and made cooing noises as they played, like actual puppies. They were so playful, you didn't understand why Kurt was confused.

That was until you realized that the bamfs were as mischievous as they were playful. They were little gremlins, slightly destructive, and they tended to get into trouble like toddlers.

The bamfs don't speak, but they make an array of noises. Coos, squeaks, hisses, trills, etc. They communicate mostly through noises you come to recognize and body language.

They were a handful, they would make messes and look guilty after. You wanted to scold them, but their big round eyes looked up and that guilt got to you. You forgave them of course, Kurt sometimes says you have to be a little more firm with them or they will always guilt trip you to get away with things.

You didn't care. They practically adopted you as their mama.

There are lots of them, but you always show them equal love and affection. They are pretty needy for it, and like feeling pampered in the way that you treat them.

The bamfs get jealous easy too.

They are protective of you, just like Kurt, and they won't hesitate to keep you safe the best they can. They hiss and the fur on their backs raise a little.

Don't be fooled by their small size, they are like blue darts, they are incredibly hard to fight if they attack.

Each one has their own personality. They are all playful and a handful of troublemakers, but each one has something that makes them unique. More sensitive, more artistic, more sneaky, etc.

You love sleeping now because you have a big nest full of small blue bamfs curling up against you. They're so fuzzy and warm, you hold as many as you can to your chest while they rest pile around you.

Some bamfs stay behind when Kurt goes away just to keep you company.

You really do love taking care of them, and Kurt loves to watch you love on the bamfs. He thinks it's endearing and sweet.

He doesn't understand how you seem to get the bamfs to do what you say. They listen to him, but normally he has to say something over and over before they decide to listen. With you, it's instantaneous. You ask them to calm down, they do. You ask them to stop fighting, they do. It boggles him how they just obey you so easily.

Part of him thinks they only obey you to annoy him even further, and that might be true, but they also care a lot about you and they want nothing but to see you happy.

Also these things can EAT. They consume so much food you think their little tummies are going to explode. They have a strong liking for popcorn and sweets, to which Kurt tries to limit because hyper bamfs are extremely difficult to deal with.

However, a dozen or so begging you with their eyes is so hard to say no to.

And thus, you have a house full of bamfs bouncing off the walls.

You have a lot of fun with the bamfs, they can be a bit overwhelming from time to time, but at the end of the day when you get into bed and they all come snuggling close to you, you know it's worth it.

Thanks for reading.

*BAMF*

dividers by @/adornedwithlight

Cover photo from Nightcrawler #1 (2014)

[discodeerdiary]

There's a good reason why I try not to argue publicly with anyone under 18, and it's not that I think they're inherently stupid, it's not that I think their brains are "underdeveloped", it's not that I think they can "do no wrong", it's that I never know how much freedom they actually have to think freely, or how many of their opinions are actually their own. Of course, under-18s *can be* capable of thinking for themselves and developing their own opinions, but (here in the US at least) law and culture put a lot of roadblocks on their ability to do so.

Of course parents and teachers cannot actually control the inner thoughts of the children they wield power over, but they can restrict the information that they have access to, can punish them for saying the wrong things, can cut them off from healthy diverse social groups, and can convince the child their thoughts are being monitored through religion, psychology, and other appeals to higher authority.

Thus if a random teenager says some headass shit in my mentions I have no way of knowing if these are opinions they arrived at on their own, or if they are dogmas forced on them by the people holding food and shelter over their head. If it's the latter, there's nothing to be gained from a public confrontation: people are generally unwilling to change their opinions in a direction that threatens their social support system, and they are especially unwilling to do so at the behest of an internet stranger who cannot offer alternative forms of support. If a teen is genuinely curious about my opinion (that is *if they consent* to a discussion of disagreements) and if I have the mental bandwidth for a potentially emotionally loaded conversation, yeah I'll have it, but I'm not gonna maintain any illusions about my ability to change their mind until they can find a way to live independently.

This is also why my leniency toward the not-yet-adult tends to also extend to the recently-adult. Coming up with a system of beliefs that you're actually willing to stand behind? Shit takes time, and I'm not necessarily gonna expect it of a 20-year-old who may, for all I know, have been living under conditions of near-absolute control up until their 18th birthday. Sure they may be opening their mind in college, or college may be their parents way of keeping them too occupied with busywork to develop new opinions, as they continue to hold financial support over their head. It's around their mid-twenties that I'm willing to go full gloves-off antagonistic with strangers, knowing that they've had a few years of legal and social adulthood under their belt, and that even if they're still financially dependent on their parents it's a different sort of dependence, one where they're given default legal permission to run away from home.

A lot of people are deeply uncomfortable with this line of thinking because if you look too far into the factors that influence young people's thoughts, you eventually have to start asking yourself which forces of dependency are influencing your own beliefs and opinions. Yeah, as an independent adult you may have the option to quit your job, divorce your spouse, ditch your friends, move to another country, but realistically how many of these can you accomplish at the same time? How many do you even want to? And how are all of these forces *in aggregate* setting the acceptable limits of what you're allowed to think and feel? It can be upsetting to think of yourself this way, it can be easier to think of yourself as a true free thinker and children as mindless automatons, but I urge you to think of mentally coercive environments as a continuum rather than a binary. The point is not to free yourself from all influence, but to gain the ability to see yourself as an influenced mind, and to have compassion for those dealing with all the bullshit you don't have to anymore.

[spamishmoss]

ADVICE FOR BEGINNER PRACTITIONERS

I'm a generational witch and have worked in the craft for around 10 years, with some experience in conjure. I'd like to disclaim that I am still fairly young - but I feel as though I've gathered a decent well of knowledge. And thus, as I connect with others in this community, I'd like to share it.

1. Know what type of work you're actually doing.

"Witchcraft" is a blanket term often used to describe any type of ritualistic manifestation, however, not all of what you may regard as 'spellwork' is considered to be witchcraft. You see, at their core, any spells, workings, or prayers are examples of folks working with energy to achieve a desired outcome. Many religions that denounce or don't explicitly link themselves to witchcraft manipulate energy in their practices in very similar ways to witches themselves. However, these religions still do not consider what they're doing to BE witchcraft - this could be because of stigma or a variety of different things, but it's usually important to respect this because if you ignore the origins of your work, then you'll miss important cultural context - and the history of any items used or deities called upon DOES affect the results of any ritual significantly. There are also closed practices in which only certain people can work with a type of energy because of heritage, location, age, gender, etc. Participating in closed practices when you are not invited is not only disrespectful, but it can also be extremely dangerous because you can anger the gods of that practice and spirits that have been venerated for thousands of years. This can result in horrible misfortune.

So, to summarize, when you're conducting rituals created by other people or working with gods or spirits venerated by others, it is extremely important to learn the history (mythos, examples of previous use, etc) and cultural background of what it is that you're doing. It may take longer, but your results will be better and you also won't accidentally put yourself in harm's way. This doesn't so much apply to extremely simple things like lighting a white candle to honor a recently passed relative, because it's common knowledge that thousands of cultures around the world have done that for years. But if when researching rituals and whatnot you find something completely unfamiliar to you, do NOT try and work with it until you've looked into it more.

2. People Lie

There is a small number of people who knowingly practice witchcraft or similar works. There is an even smaller percentage of people who tell the truth about their experiences and are skilled enough to make spells work consistently. It is easy to become a 'real' witch, but we are rare in Western society for a variety of reasons - a big one being that it takes lots of time and research. Many people who claim to be psychics or 'witches' are either scam artists, in psychosis, or are too ignorant to realize the errors in their craft that are preventing their spells from working - and they brag about them anyhow as if they do work. It is important to understand that, while you are learning about witchcraft or consuming content related to it, people are going to lie to you. Many people will exaggerate their anecdotes or just makeup stories altogether, either for recognition or to sell a product. On the other hand, witchcraft is WEIRD. Things that shouldn't be possible become more common, and it opens your eyes to the fact that some things just can't be explained with science. In my personal experience, at the beginning of my craft, my spells would manifest slowly as odd coincidences, but now I can control the timing of my work much better, and - since I am more experienced - the results are more effective and shocking than they were five years ago. So, in conclusion, some things that may sound like lies can actually reveal themselves to be true - and the world is actually that much stranger than you thought, while other things that seem fictitious just are. Thus, it's important to ensure you trust any source you may be getting information from - even from me, your dearest Nicasia.

3. Your results aren't going to be consistent at first.

This kind of piggybacks off of the last piece of advice, but when you're a beginner witch without any enchantments already active for whatever reason, it's unlikely that everything you do is going to work - and that is okay. I remember finding this very discouraging when I first started because I thought that if my spells didn't work, it meant that witchcraft itself wasn't real and everything I was doing was stupid. But spellwork is a very old and complicated practice, so when you're a beginner, it can be easy to make mistakes. Like I've said, as I've become more experienced, my spells are more effective. I'd say they work about 85% of the time now as opposed to my former 20, and the sole reason for this is that I'm more knowledgeable. Practice makes perfect, and even the elders can fail sometimes. Spells can fail for a variety of reasons. It can be because of the moon phase, your poor mental health or lack of subconscious belief, unstable energy, previous blocks, etc. Sometimes you can do everything perfectly and your ancestors or spirit guides just won't let something manifest because it's not meant for you - even to the point of your supplies going missing out of the blue. What's important is that you keep trying.

**If you don't have mental health issues, are currently living a privileged lifestyle, or have never been cursed before - this next part likely doesn't apply to you, but certain people will need to do uncrossing or road-opening work to begin spellwork. People can bind your energy, and thus your ability to do witchcraft, and you can even do this to yourself by overthinking too much. Many witches preach beginners learning protection magick first, and I agree that's usually a good idea, but there are cases where you gotta make sure your gates are open before you can receive iykwim.

4. You Don't Need to Spend Money to Have Effective Spells

As with all 'cool people' things, witchcraft is done best when you get creative. In Hoodoo / Conjure, a closed practice of African American folk magic, there's an emphasis on the fact that slave magick was created by those who literally had nothing and just had to learn to work - in secret - with the energy of what they had on hand. It is 1000% doable to do witchcraft without investing in expensive crystals, oils, and herbs. Don't get me wrong, the more you put into your craft the more you can get out - whether it be effort or money, and sometimes expensive supplies are genuinely just better. But if you have a strong intention and know how to call upon the right spirits, you can literally do witchcraft just by thinking. Don't limit yourself by thinking that since you can't afford to buy the angelica root in a spell posted online, you have no chance of doing it successfully. That's when you research substitutions and build upon that ritual to your needs until you finally have your own spells.

5. People are assholes

People suck. When and if you choose to tell people about your craft, you're going to get mixed reactions. Be very careful about who you tell, because witchcraft is very misunderstood and misunderstanding leads to hate and violence. Some people may even respect your work but inform you they don't believe in it: Which is fine, but this may affect your confidence in witchcraft and spells. Thus, sometimes, it's better to keep things to yourself. I'm a very anxious person, and many of my personal friends don't even know I'm a witch for this exact reason. I've found that my craft works better when I don't tell people about it. When I do workings concerning other people, even if they've specifically asked me to do them, I often won't tell them when exactly I conduct their spell. This is because I don't want them overthinking and second-guessing themselves, therefore closing themselves off to receive any new energy.

Opinions and facts matter, remember that. But above all, have confidence in yourself and your craft - and of course, stay safe.

- Nicasia

[wardensantoineandevka]

i haven't watched CR since CR1 - what's the status of the VM crew? Curious but i know in my heart im not watching another campaign to find out

So, I've summarized their epilogues as they play out in the finale of Campaign 3. I've tried to not editorialize and stick to facts, but as always I do recommend people check my work! You can read a transcript of the episode with this link starting at where the VM epilogues start.

Grog is an ambassador to the new Krevirian Republic on Ruidus. He and Gaz Tomo, one of the officials of the Republic and a former revolutionary who fought the prior imperial regime and who is not dissimilar in temperament to Grog, hit it off immediately. Grog has also taken to introducing himself as Grogory.

Scanlan and Cerkonos of the Fire Ashari (who was played by Robbie Daymond during C3) developed a really hilarious but actually fairly touching friendship over Cerkonos's attempts to woo Lieve'tel. Shortly after the events of C3, in the time where Pike has no duties to tend to, he asks her to spend some time adventuring with him again before they both have to hang it up for good. Pike wants to say no, but admits that she still loves him and loves spending time with him. He says they don't have to marry again, but they're probably going to get married again (again). For now, though, no labels. He also casts True Polymorph on her too, so they are both adventuring as centaurs.

Lieve'tel continues to serve as a high warden of the temple at Vasselheim. She is still out there gettin' it.

Percy, feeling that he is getting old, exacerbated by the fact that years have been very difficult and hard and stressful, and that retirement is fast approaching, has decided that he and Vex need to start thinking about preparing their children to take over some of their roles in Whitestone and the world at large. Percy wishes to try to locate the reincarnated gods before anyone, because he is paranoid about trouble starting, but Keyleth convinces him to allow this to be something the generation after him decides how best to approach and worry over. Whitestone is among those places that open themselves to Ruidian refugees, and it benefits from an increase in residuum trade in the aftermath of the shift of magic following the Rite of Catatheosis.

Vex eventually steps away from her duties alongside Percy as he gets older to spend time with him in their several vacation homes across Exandria and their cottage on Ruidus. They are mentioned to own both an Evil Babies painting by Braius and a Lavorre.

Keyleth is among the first, if not the first, to know when a god has been incarnated into the world by communing with the roots of the primordial trees throughout Exandria. She does not tell Percy.

Aside from and probably after her time with Scanlan, Pike for a long time feels a sense of loss and grief without the Everlight's presence and feels uncertain what to do with her life, so she continuously tends to the Everlight's temples until one day, fifteen years later, she receives news that the Everlight has been found.

Vax no longer carries out his duty as the Champion of Ravens alone, but now has a partner in Morrighan, perhaps with others to come in the future. Together, they are expected to eventually find and protect the incarnated Matron of Ravens. Thus, he returns to live in Exandria, with a little more vitality and color in him than before. He returns to Keyleth. She says that she has changed in the years since, and he asks to start over with no expectations. She agrees to another beginning, and they introduce themselves to one another again: "My name's Keyleth, and you're the love of my life." "If you will have me, I am yours, Keyleth of the Air Ashari."

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

What exactly *are* the angels, in your opinion? Are they in fact Eridan's consorts? What do you think their purpose was supposed to be in the game?

ok, let's be super clear about this, the angels are NOT consorts.

Consorts are a very well-defined type of game NPC. they're drawn from the same bipedal, puppet/plushie looking base model, and always describable as a type of IRL amphibian or semi-aquatic reptile (to tie in with the genesis frog) - salamanders, iguanas, crocodiles, and turtles have all been seen. they serve as the first questgivers/exposition fairies a player will usually see (except in cases where they wake up on their moon early, in which case they might meet carapacians first), and will usually provide hints as to the player's personal quest, classpect abilities, etc.

while they aren't very smart, they can follow simple commands, and will automate building the player's house (which ultimately serves to release their grist in order to create a new universe) and take over other repetitive duties like that. knowing this about consorts, it's pretty obvious that the angels are not that, though snake consorts wouldn't necessarily be out of the question, since they would fulfill the semi-aquatic IRL reptile requirement. Still, if a player did have snake consorts, they would physically resemble and function as john's salamanders. (fwiw, i like to headcanon that eridan's consorts were indeed snakes, and that karkat's were basilisk lizards)

thus, we can conclude that angels are some auxiliary NPC, like the brains on sollux's planet, the fireflies on john's, or the hummingbirds on jade's. they're still tied in with the player's personal quest, but they aren't an underling/consort/carapacian, whose roles are more defined.

hussie describes in the book commentary that angels are literally born from Hope, and we see this in action within the comic itself, as the Hope field jake summons ends up spawning a few angels itself. we also know that the angels are the source of prophetic whispers... which don't necessarily seem to be true, except as the Hope player (whose main powerset revolves around Making Fake Things Real) can make them true. they apparently whisper about their "lord" to eridan, or the "evil wizard" to cronus, though we've never heard a firsthand source.

However, i do believe it's possible to glean what the angel prophecies actually sounded like. sollux actually provides a description of angels, while he's talking to terezi, where he explains that they're "feathery demons that paradox space uses to usher in the end". therefore, we can conclude that, despite being born of Hope, they prophecize hopeless things - the evil wizard, their lord - without necessarily prophecizing hopeFUL things, like that the Hope player is meant to rise to defeat them - that this is left for the Hope player to figure out and make real, to refute the hopeless prophecy.

Their vaguely ominous nature tracks with some other stuff in the comic - that LE is described as the "angel" of double-death, that cherubs in general are named after a type of angel, and that when they show up from jake's Hope field, the other characters (who have never seen them before) are instinctively put off and wary of them. i think they're intended to be read as embodiments of narrative impotence, counterbalancing the power of Hope's ability to warp reality itself, born from especially powerul sources of it. these sorts of dichotomies and dualities are present throughout homestuck, so i don't think it's too far-fetched.

now i'm going to get into much more speculative, headcanon-y territory, so feel free to disregard this part. Personally, i like the idea that eridan was supposed to aggro and kill his angels - just not YET.

We see from his planet that it's enveloped in this blinding white light, so bright that eridan has to wear some douchey ass shades to stand outside in. this is, in all likelihood, a Hope field, like the one Jake summons - and it's where the angels are spawning from. moreover, his land is called the land of WRATH and angels, with wrath sounding suspiciously like Rage, Hope's opposite attribute. i'm personally of the belief that, had eridan done his quest "properly," as a Prince of Hope - one who destroys Hope or destroys with Hope - he would've had to learn both how to destroy the Hope field, as well as how to quell the rage on his planet.

In other words, personally, i think his quest would've been to destroy the Hope field, which would've enraged the angels, but also - the crucial step that he missed - would've prevented them from respawning. Having displayed mastery over destroying Hope, he would've then had to USE Hope to destroy the enraged angels, which would've given him the tools he'd have needed to destroy the lord they prophecized, given another thing hussie notes Hope can explicitly do is overpower forces otherwise thought undefeatable - Hope vs. sollux's eye beams, and later, jade's green sun abilities. It's likely that, fully realized and with a good enough shot, eridan would've been able to completely bypass normal game rules like god tier immortality, or even LE's unconditional immortality. unfortunately, eridan ended up giving in to the forces of narrative impotence and hopelessness, so this was never realized.

[thesweetestsupervillains]

Avoid The Roleplayer Yips!

So here's something that I've dealt with, and talking with friends, they've dealt with, and from what it seems like, it's something that's not really talked about in the wider community.

Now, 'The Yips' is often talked about in terms of sports. It's a mental wall that keeps you from performing at your best; maybe the pressure to perform has gotten to you, maybe you just got back from injury and you're too preoccupied with not getting injured, but whatever it is you're incapable of performing at the level that you were before.

This happens with creative people too. Maybe you're a musician and you can't seem to play the same way you used to. Maybe you're a writer who can't bring yourself to sit down and write like you think you should. Maybe you're an artist and everything you put out looks, to you, like garbage. You're always chasing this feeling, this idea, this thing that you think needs to be true to be great.

And in roleplaying, this happens all the time. You think that you need to put in a lot of effort into your replies, because you want to meet expectations of your partners. You take their replies and you put them in your drafts, and you say 'I'll get to them.' But you don't. Instead they sit there, piling up, like a giant boulder growing heavier by the second. You can't bring yourself to deal with them, because it feels like such a huge ordeal.

And then one of two things happens. You either quit roleplaying entirely, because it's not fun. It's a chore. It's work. Or, you just delete all of them, start fresh, but don't change your behavior and the process starts again. Maybe you decide you need to start fresh on a new blog, and you move from account to account, never finding anything changing.

Look, you don't realize it, but you've already got The Yips. You've fallen into the pit. But don't worry, because there is a way out. But first you need to grasp how it happened.

When everyone starts roleplaying, no one thinks about things like quality or how much they 'need' to write or things like trying to meet other people's expectations. You're having fun. You want to have fun. You're writing, and they're writing, and that's all there is.

But then you start to actually gain understanding; you realize that some people are good writers. You realize that people seem to be putting in effort. You've gained understanding, and in so doing, you've suddenly realized that you might not be as good as others. But, and this is the important part, the only one who cares about this is you. After all, no one was complaining before; the one who has changed is you.

In other words, you're so concerned with meeting ideas of 'quality' and 'living up to expectations' that you end up doing nothing because you're being crushed under the weight of your own expectations.

So, now we know what it is. How do we deal with it?

Well, for one, you need to teach yourself how to get back to basics. Chances are, at no point have any of your partners actually complained about any of the supposedly awful parts of your writing. Thus, we need to see this as a skill, one you're going to work on. It's a habit that you're going to form for yourself.

First, I don't think about roleplaying as writing. Yes, it involves writing. But for me, writing implies a lot of things; writing a novel or a story is work, it requires effort, it's tiring, it's something that contains expectations. Writing is what you do in school, a thing that gets a grade at the end. It's stressful and has pressure associated with it.

But roleplaying is different. I've separated these two things in my mind. I don't go 'I'm going to write today' I go 'I'm going to roleplay.' Roleplaying is a game, it's fun, it's something I do that's entirely separate from writing.

But let's take this a step further.

When I write a response, I don't use drafts. I don't think about it. I just go with my gut. A response for me takes no more than around 5 minutes, maybe 10 if it's really long. And the way I do this is that I read my partner's response, and I just respond, and then I post it.

Now, some people will go but how could you not go back over it and make sure it's perfect and not bad and- No. Stop.

This is the skill you're going to learn. This is the thing you're going to develop. No more overthinking, no more trying to be perfect.

By just going with your gut, by not thinking but feeling your muse, you're training yourself to just respond. It's not work. It's not conscious. It's just something you know how to do. It's not stressful. It's just something that you do.

And this will make your writing easier. You'll stop struggling to 'have muse' because you'll just write. You won't have to think about how to respond, you'll just respond. And more importantly, you'll remove the stress from replying.

Look, it's not going to be easy at first. But the point is that you, the mun, need to form the habits that let roleplaying be fun again. Instead of feeling stressed or anxious, you'll be able to just write and enjoy yourself. It's a skill, one you can develop.

And it begins by taking a step back and changing how you approach your roleplaying. Roleplaying isn't a job. It's not a test. It's not something with serious consequences. So don't approach it the way you approach those things. Retrain yourself to do more roleplaying and less worrying.

[serviceable-mechanism]

As passover rolls around again this year, i think it's a good opportunity to examine the fascinating interaction between capitalism's neverending drive towards profit seeking, and a product specifically designed to be unpleasant and unappetizing

Passover, for the unaware, is a time when (particularly strong willed) practicing Jews abstain from risen bread and a fair variety of other grain-based foodstuffs, and eat matzah in their place, to commemorate the historical suffering of the Jewish people. As such, matzah itself, the bread of affliction, is specifically intended to be, more or less, pretty bullshit. It's hard and nearly flavorless and cold and boring and nothing at all like warm soft beautiful sourdough bread my beloved (may we be reunited soon). As a result, attempting to sell matzah puts advertisers in a difficult position, presented with the task of making this horrible bullshit (i like the soup, okay?) look like something one would choose to eat outside of the confines of religious tradition

To commemorate this holiday, I'd like to look at a few of the approaches they have taken

Manischewitz

Right off the bat, we've got the brand recognition to carry this one through, and to be honest that's largely all a good box of matzah should need, considering the 99% of the time it will be bought out of obligation. Often considered to be the "autism of religions" Judaism is a faith that celebrates the importance of tradition above all else, so Manischewitz is going to have an advantage from jump. That said, I find the phrase "perfect for Passover" to be particularly redundant in this context. If you're Jewish, it hardly needs to be said, and if you're not, well, please eat something that tastes good instead

7/10

2. Manischewitz (again)

Here's where we hit our first roadblock. In addition to the brand name being sized down, thus lessening the advantage granted by cultural cache, this particular product makes what I would consider to be a rookie mistake. Onion flavoring. That is, they attempted to make matzah taste good. While tempting, this is ultimately an error. It's not supposed to taste good. It was designed and perfected by our most talented artisans for three thousand years to be be the culinary equivalent of watching paint dry. It is absolute hubris to believe yourself capable of turning that into an appetizing snacking treat with the addition of a little bit of onion powder

4/10

3. Streit's

In general, this one is not particular offensive in any direct sense. It has bold, bright colors, and a clear image of the product. I feel that "thin and crispy" is a particularly unnecessary addition, as, yeah man I should sure hope they are, and the addition of (light) salt edges this just a little closer to attempting to taste good, but these are relatively minor complaints. My true issue with this is the assertion that this matzah is meant to "pair with soups, spreads, and salads." This is false advertising

5/10

4. Yehuda Matzos

On the surface this appears to be a relatively inoffensive example, but the longer one looks, the more the cracks begin to show. The images present give off a particularly sickly yellow quality that makes them just a tad less appetizing than they already would be, and the description of them as "Matzo-Style Squares" really sells the unsettling quality of this whole display. And they're also gluten free. Yes, I know some people have dietary restrictions, but as far as I'm aware, most people who are gluten free already don't eat all that much bread anyways, and with the helpful acknowledgment that this particular product is "not a replacement for matzo at the Seder" as in the one time where actually eating the stuff is part of suggested tradition, I fail to see a scenario in which these things are consumed. It also, obviously, loses points for the "Imported from Israel" banner in the lower corner, though I'll get into that in a moment

3/10

5. Holyland

There is basically just the one advertising strategy being employed here. It's subtle, but with a keen eye I'm sure you can figure it out. The natural issue, of course, is that it's an inherently polarizing one. It positions itself such that one's political alignment is the only deciding factor in the decision to purchase it, and without other appealing characteristics, this is ultimately a losing strategy.

Obliviously, the primary issues here would be the ongoing genocide and human rights abuses, but as that's largely out of the scope of this particular post, I'd like to focus on how inappropriate a pro-Israel message is when it comes to the celebration of Passover specifically. Ultimately, the story of Passover is that of Jewish escape from bondage and slavery, leading to a forty-year of wandering through the desert looking for a home. That is, it is a celebration of the history of the Jewish people specifically as a diaspora. As the period of Jewish chattel slavery in Egypt is considered apocryphal from a modern lens, one should approach the narrative not as an earnest recounting of true events, but as a metaphor for the Jewish condition as a whole. And from this framework we understand the forty years in the desert searching for a homeland not to be a specific literal stretch of history, but instead a collective journey that the Jewish people undertake, to escape antisemitism broadly. Considering how antisemitism is alive and well to this day, one must come to the obvious conclusion that this is a journey we are still in the middle of. In addition to the fact that ethnostates as a whole are an evil endeavor, the idea that Israel should exist at all, is, from a Jewish perspective, incredibly hubristic and antithetical to the message Passover means to instill in us.

0/10

6. Streit's (again)

To lighten the tone somewhat, here we have something almost passable. Passover matzah. That's what it's for, that's what it is. And with what appears to be a depiction of the bitter herbs meant to be consumed alongside the matzah during a traditional Passover seder, this branding subtly hints at the clear implication: you are eating this because of your traditions. No attempt is made to make the matzah itself look good, and I respect that. That said, I balk at the idea of purchasing an entire five pounds of the stuff, but that inherent revulsion is in conflict with my desire to find out what exactly the "Passover game" enclosed inside entails.

7/10

7. Yehuda Matzos

I hate this. No, I will grant you, matzah is not supposed to be good. You are meant to long for the taste of bread. You need to want it. But, at the same time, there's no need to make it taste worse than it already does. It may be the bread of affliction, but, like, maybe not too afflicted, and I really think that making it whole wheat ruins my last shred of enjoyment of the stuff. This one's also from Israel

3/10

8. Streit's (again)

Go fuck yourself.

0/10

9. Rakusen's of Yorkshire

There's really a lot to say with this one. From the completely superfluous "vegan" sticker in the lower left hand corner (they're flour and water), to the helpful description of these as "crackers." There is just such a monumentally small target audience for this. I'm sure the population of British Jews excited to celebrate the coronation of King Charles with a holiday snack...exists, I don't imagine they're particularly numerous. Also, doing some research, King Charles' coronation took place on the sixth of May, 2023, while Passover of that year took place between the fifth and thirteenth of April. What event could this possibly be appropriate at? Having them for the coronation itself would mean eating matzah outside of the timeframe in which it is specifically necessary to do so (untenable), and having them for Passover of that year means saving this box in your pantry for a month so you can get questioning and uncomfortable looks from your friends and relatives during the Seder. Additionally, I really can't tell if I think it's antisemitic or just pretty funny that they thought a possibility of winning money was one of the best ways to advertise matzah.

1/10

10. Streit's (once again)

Finally. Now, here is something to be celebrated. Note the helpful yellow ribbon in the lower right corner, and the glaringly prominent "UNSALTED" staring us in the face. No salt, no flavoring, no bells, no whistles. There is nothing here to differentiate this particular product from any other box of matzah, except the specific advertising flourishes being utilized. And what flourishes would those be, precisely? "For each box of this matzah that goes unsold, a woman will die of breast cancer. This will be on you." That's right. Sure, you can rely on creative flavoring, to mask the taste of bitter affliction. You can offer cash prizes, nationalist posturing, or an appeal to tradition. But only Streit's is out here advertising their matzah the right way. The Jewish way. With guilt.

Buy our matzah. If you don't, you're a bad person.

10/10

[anghraine]

I've seen some posts lately assuming that the Rohirrim are basically descendants of Hadorians who didn't go to Númenor. It's an understandable assumption because that is an in-story belief about the Rohirrim. However, Tolkien repeatedly suggests this is essentially a Gondorian myth.

They're not lying—by the WOTR, they genuinely believe it's correct—but it isn't true. In "Of Dwarves and Men," Tolkien wrote (c. 1969) that Gondorians "attributed to them [the Rohirrim] actual direct descent from the Folk of Hador in the First Age." Furthermore, he said:

This was a general belief in Gondor at that time [the War of the Ring], and was held to explain (to the comfort of Númenórean pride) the surrender of so large a part of the Kingdom to the people of Eorl.

In a footnote, he adds that the Rohirrim had no ancestral traditions or cultural memories of the wars of Beleriand at all. They don't really have any reason to care about this version of their history, though they accept it as it contributes to the strength of their alliance with Gondor.

Then there's a marginal note about the footnote (because this is Tolkien) that says this belief in an ancient Edainic kinship with Men of Middle-earth could have actually been true of some of the Men the Númenóreans found when they came back to Middle-earth, but not of the Rohirrim specifically. The Rohirrim may be similar to the Hadorians in appearance and temper, but they are at most related to the larger group of First Age Men that all the Edain had originated from and not any of the Three Houses in particular.

This "Edainic" concept of the Rohirrim's history is also thrown into doubt in Lord of the Rings itself, right before their first appearance, when Aragorn explains to Legolas and Gimli:

'they are true-hearted, generous in thought and deed; bold but not cruel; wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs, after the manner of the children of Men before the Dark Years ... They have long been the friends of the people of Gondor, though they are not akin to them. It was in forgotten years long ago that Eorl the Young brought them out of the North, and their kinship is rather with the Bardings of Dale, and with the Beornings of the Wood...'

You know who are actually kin to the Edain, though?

Also it must be said that 'unfriendliness' to Númenóreans and their allies was not always due to the Shadow, but in later days to the actions of the Númenóreans themselves. Thus many of the forest-dwellers of the shorelands south of the Ered Luin, especially in Minhiriath, were as later historians recognized the kin of the Folk of Haleth; but they became bitter enemies of the Númenóreans because of their ruthless treatment and their devastation of the forests, and this hatred remained unappeased in their descendants, causing them to join with any enemies of Númenor. In the Third Age their survivors were the people known in Rohan as the Dunlendings.

[fishtrouts]

I'm noticing something interesting about Swordfish, and what I noticed seems to tie into the recent lore you've revealed about Avoryx and what she believes Hopper is going to end up doing someday. (The whole eating all her friends and terrorizing the countryside thing.)

It seems plain to me that Swordfish doesn't value material things, and instead is fascinated with the living, breathing creatures of the world. Hopper contrasts by loving all things associated with being a 'true' dragon such as material wealth and magical artifacts. All I've done thus far is state the obvious, but here's my actual point:

Could Swordfish's destiny be to right the wrong that is Avoryx's legacy of avarice, murder, and cruelty, by showing Hopper (even if Swordfish's curiosity and interest in the smaller, ordinary fauna of the world is childish now and not rooted in any kind of 'personal philosophy') that there are things to value other than hoarding inert trinkets, that the little wonders of living are worth cherishing and guarding too?

WOW!!! I very much enjoyed reading this analysis! It's such a joy when my silly comics invoke deeper thoughts and theories like this. Both Swordfish and Hopper are a part of me and my experiences, so many of their adventures are directly or indirectly inspired from my life. And many times I don't realize these parallels myself. Sometimes I just draw and write what I subconsciously know, but don't acknowledge to myself out loud. How parents, siblings, friends can affect you, shape your future etc. How every generation is hopefully better than the last. Your take is absolutely correct in that Swordfish's influence could change Hopper's future, but in the end it's Hopper who makes the choices. She admires her mother so much that she might be blinded to paths other than the traditional dragon tyranny.

But they're just hatchlings atm, so nobody knows what the future holds :P

[velvetvexations]

I bet you a case of your favorite alcohol that those that use the term "cuntboy" would rip your throat out for calling them "dickgirls".

Rules for thee, but not for me, right?

And the excuse is that it's a derivative of dickgirl, and thus it's not a problem because trans men aren't fetishized - and, you know, that's just a fucking bigoted lie, when 99% of the transmasc porn on the internet is about raping and detransitioning them using terms exactly like that. But even if that was true, which it ISN'T, it's completely fucking insane to think it's just like, cool and fine and not a problem to casually throw out 'cunt' at random trans IRL men specifically to misgender them by associating them with the genitalia many go through surgery to alter.

Like. What is happening here. What the fuck.

Every time a TRF ever gets on to me for saying this or that about how they're weird as fuck about trans people AFAB's bodies I'm just going to show them that and point out that person is an extremely popular user over on transfemblr and they've been saying that shit for years.

But they go "It's transmisogynistic to say we care so much about wah wah wah you're basically calling us AGPs"

But they're not Buffalo Bill or anything like that and it's disengenous for them to say I'm implying otherwise. What they are is a group of people who are coping with the bigotry they've been subjected to in the worst way possible. Why the fuck else are they obsessed with calling other trans people cunts and -FABs? Why do they spend all of their activism on the extremely important goal of being allowed to refer to other trans people's genitals in a degrading and aggressive way? Why do they call them "softbois" and saying they listen to breezy ukulele music like some girly girl?

"the transmisogyny website"

God, yeah, and one of the biggest sources of transmisogyny on this website is from people who hate themselves so much they turn hyper-aggressive the second someone who rejected what they want exists in their proximity and lets them project having the exact same dynamic with men as cis women even though they so obviously don't actually consider anyone other than trans women AMAB anything other than their AGAB. They don't even accept the existence of trans people AMAB who aren't in some way "transfem."

But not all trans women are like that. Most trans women are not like that, even, and it's not even close. This is a tiny, vocal minority that also spends their time cheering for genocides when they're done by the right country and telling people not to vote because things would be 99% the same if Kamala won. The weird, hyper-niche trans radical feminist clique on this website will not last in the wider community.