#as much as i've tried not to be super political with this blog

[archie-sunshine]

you absolutely do Not have to answer if you dont want to but is there a reason why you dont like tfp request? too frequent? not your cup of tea? i know its super popular among fans but i was just curious-

I'm a good. and kind person. and i can tell you that because i had a very mean thing to say to this ask, but i didn't say it.

here's my faq that i told you to read so you'd understand before you sent this ask

and heres my completely honest answer:

I don't mind getting tfp asks, because i know its my blog and I don't have to answer.

i don't like TFP requests because then when i politely say no, I am demanded to tell you why.

It's easy to find on my blog that i don't like it and all my reasons why, but you don't bother looking for that. Because my time doesn't matter to you! I said 'my reasons are in my FAQ' on all the posts where i said i dont like it in the past day. and in my pinned post, you can find the faq. and in the tags you can find my faqs. and in my rules you can find my faq. But you didn't look for it. just like they didn't look for my rules, just like they didn't read through my faq.

I don't like tfp asks because the fact that i get them means there are people who only see my pen and not the person attached to it. it makes me feel sad. It makes me feel discouraged from drawing altogether.

I feel an obligation to answer because I'm a nice person, and i know 99% of the time nobody means anything about it, but its not enough to point to the sign. It's never enough to just gently state a boundary. you have to know why. and its not enough for you to know why, you have to ask WHY i felt like that. and its not enough to know WHY i feel that way, you have to have EVIDENCE as to where i formed my reasons. and that there is a whole day of me explaining. I have my reasons and I explained them. and none of you take the time to look for them.

you can understand how upsetting that is, can't you? i've had to do this like 8 times now! you'd be frustrated just as much as i am.

Because when I explain it to you, im not being mean, I'm being as nice as i possibly can. And I still get mysteriously reported, and my posts still get mysteriously flagged every time I express an opinion.

Because I don't want to have to block people that ask, because i WANT to give you all the benefit of the doubt. But I'm sick of it! it makes me tired.

I don't want to have requests open if people don't care about me enough to read my rules. i don't want to just be a porn printer. you understand how it makes me feel that way don't you? I was supposed to spend my evening drawing so people could have art they liked and i spent it answering this ask AGAIN because i thought maybe, MAYBE people will get it this time.

I'm not answering these anymore. I'm not giving this my time anymore. I've tried to be nice, i've tried to be funny, I've tried to be gentle, I've tried to be firm, I've tried to be honest, but it doesn't matter. It's the simplest boundary I could give, and you all still don't care enough to do that one thing. you can think this hill is stupid to die on, but you won't stop shooting arrows long enough for me to get off the hill.

requests are now closed until i feel like taking new ones. I'll answer whatever else is in here that i feel like drawing.

[jils-things]

I would never fall in love again until I found her

I said, "I would never fall unless it's you I fall into"

I was lost within the darkness, but then I found her

I found you

[3.25.23]

ouueeehh we're back to my corny love letters like last time 💜 again absolutely NO pressure reading these, because it WILL get lengthy 💜 this also serves as a personal love letter that i can archive!

ahh, steven st.one. a wild card in my f/o list. i never thought i'd find myself to like him... i've always tried my best to avoid the pretty boy design after i've gotten older which is why i was oddly in denial during my early steven days hehe... the earliest memory i have of him is just me battling him in my ruby emulator back in the 4th grade - but i don't think i actually remembered him too well, i only thought he looked like a silly anime version of the classical composer be.ethoven and tbh, i still like to think he does look like him in the rse style lolll 💜

for the whole, actual story - it was just last year - i was reading the r/s arc, of course. it was one of those days in school where i had nothing much to do and snuck my phone to read manga to pass some time. at some point, my classmate joined to read with me - it was at this moment where steven debuts properly and it caught my classmate by Surprise. she thought he looked very handsome! to which i teased her... strangely enough, this exchange impacted me? maybe it's because someone acknowledged what i was doing and even bothered to briefly read along with me - so in a way steven kinda bookmarked that memory.

so after that exchange, i just kept on reading. everytime he had something to say, i couldn't help but just stare at his face? he looked nice, i guess? he's also very gentle and polite... i kept this thought of mine for quite sometime until i was discussing the manga arc with my p.okespe mutual and he mentioned him. i somewhat confessed he looked nice and that was the biggest mistake i've ever done because what my friend did after was absolutely blow me with art after art of the pretty rock collector and i was STRUGGLING. it ultimately came down to this one cute panel in the o.ras chapter where he was blushing and I wasn't the same person since then 🚶🚶🚶and funnily enough, i told myself I wasn't going to fall for anyone because of the manga and whoopedoo p.okespe!steven my beloved the greatest man ever. i mean i love the game counterpart as well, they're nearly identical - it's just the manga that totally swept me... sighhhh

steven is such a nice character to begin with, he's honestly a very humble and nice champion. he's not showy about his identity and would rather be alone by himself to indulge in what he wants. he is willing to give up a very respectable position in the po.kemon league just to pursue his interests and with that i see a man not after power and fame but a man who just wants to find joy in what he does even if it demotes him. on top of that, he's just a sweet gentleman. he was raised well of course, and you can see it clearly in his acts in the story. i love him very much for that and who wouldn't want those traits?

i was really absolutely embarrassed to be all over this guy at first - it took a whole month for me to actually share to my blog about how i liked steven and took awhile to adjust to that fact that i opened up about it 😭 but the community was very kind and supportive about the pairing and if i'm being honest, i think stevaide made a super lasting impact on my blog recently and it's really so comforting to picture them as a young loving married couple with ruby. it made me feel unashamed with what i can do with my silly ships. i'm still very glad for the endless support for steven and jaide.

soo, yes. happy memoryshipping 💜💚 thank you for making my times of struggle more bearable if not perfect and thank you to everyone who enjoys this ship even if it was just a little bit :]

credits to @/cafekitsune <3

[not-wholly-unheroic]

I really love reading through your blog and came across the quote from Barrie about “No little children love me.”

And then I remembered from “Return to a Neverland” (Hook talking to Smee after catching Peter Pan): Look Smee. He’s nothing but a child. And I loathe children!

Then that got me thinking, yeah, Hook clearly isn’t fond of children. . . Until Jake comes along! TBH I haven’t actually seen the show but I’ve seen some stuff and omg it’s adorable; so I’m not sure how Jake got onto the island. Not really sure how Hook, or any other adult in the JatNP even got to the island either. I don’t even think Peter Pan really understands how Neverland works, so it’s always fun to guess.

Clearly, Peter brings lost children to Neverland (perhaps even before The Darling Children + the time they come from can vary as Neverland is just weird).

And as usual, an act that the crew are exhausted to their wits end, Hook practically follows a one track minded goal to capture Peter Pan and kill him to where, chances are, he won’t take notice of anything else. It isn’t until the crew gets back on the ship when someone goes “Hey! Where’d he come from?!”

Cue Jake, with a big smile as he’s happy to be onboard with his eyes fixated on Captain Hook. The child isn’t even scared as he steps forward to politely ask: Are you a pirate? I mean a really real pirate? You know, like BlackBeard and Mary Read and Calico Jack and all of the rest!

Jake goes on to talk about the stories he’s read about pirates and is curious if Hook really is a real pirate like them or just someone pretending to be pirate. Heh, might as well humor the twerp, Hook confirms that he is a really real pirate with plenty of proof from the Golden Age of Piracy. Now that’s when Jake gets really excited that he is meeting a genuine Golden Age pirate! And cue the never-ending gosh darn questions that leave Hook, Smee, and the entire crew mentally exhausted after seven hours (Jake is to Hook as Tim is to Dr. Alan Grant). It’s right on that spot that Jake decides he doesn’t want to be a Lost Boy! He wants to be a pirate! A really real pirate just like Captain Hook!

Hook: Ugh lousy little pest.

Also Hook: I've only had Jake for a day and a half, but if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.

What Hook wasn’t expecting is that Jake was actually serious! Now it’s not just Peter Pan to deal with, it’s Jake and his friends who call themselves “The Neverland Pirates” that put Hook’s own crew to shame since these toddlers are really good at piracy! And yet, Hook also finds this to be entertaining. . . Oh fine, what’s the harm in playing along? Besides, someone’s gotta teach the lad on how to be a professional pirate.

Little did James know of how much of an impact he would leave in Jake’s future.

Do you have head canons about Captain Hook and Jake?

Oh, man if you are a fan of Disney Hook, I HIGHLY recommend watching the entire show if you can. Yes, it’s sometimes a little overly silly because of the age group it’s geared toward and yes there are a few things I think they should have done differently (most notably how the show ended…) but AS A WHOLE it’s precious and I love it because Hook gets a lot more character development than you’d expect. He’s still a grump and a thief (He IS a pirate after all…) but we get to see him outside of his relationship with Peter, and that means we see a lot more facets of his personality. We see his insecurities, his friendships, and his more heroic moments and it’s SO GOOD.

We see how he reacts when he’s in love—which is just…so cute and exactly how I imagined it. He’s only charming and suave when he’s trying to manipulate people. He TRIES to be with Red Jessica but ends up getting tongue-tied and stumbling over his words and just…being super awkward and adorable.

We see that he CAN be selfless when people he genuinely cares about are in danger. He turns on the Legion of Pirate Villains when he realizes their plans would ultimately cause harm to people like his mother and Red Jessica. He also is willing to step aside (albeit rather heartbroken) when he is under the impression that she’s in love with someone else.

We see that although he doesn’t always treat Smee well, he DOES actually care about him as a friend when it comes down to it. And Smee tries SO HARD to cheer him up when he’s struggling, going so far as to get the kids’ help in hiding a treasure specifically for Hook to find. And the kids DO IT. Like these kids are actually NICE to Hook and go out of their way to HELP HIM on more than one occasion.

We see his relationship with his mom, which is…a little complicated. He loves her, that much is clear. And she loves him. But she can also be a bit…overbearing? And it seems like he’s always a bit concerned he isn’t living up to her standards.

The whole thing is just…so good at showing how complex he is, and it makes me incredibly happy that the creators of the show recognized that.

As to your point about Hook actually being rather fond of Jake and asking about my personal headcanons regarding the show made me think about another post awhile back…

[aziraphales-library]

Hey, yall do super cool work, thank you for everything yall do <3

I was wondering if you could find any BPD Crowley fics? It isn’t have to be specifically centric, but just written with that headcanon in mind/referenced/mentioned, just about anything that mentions it 😅😅😅 Original universe if possible

tysm again for everything you do, I've been using your blog for fic recs for a WHILE now, super super useful and wonderful :]

Hello! While compiling this list I realised that a couple of these fics are yours, but I've added them for completeness and so others can enjoy them. Here are some fics in which Crowley has (or at least is implied to have) borderline personality disorder...

In This Twilight, How Dare You Speak Of Grace by cosmickaiju (T)

They can't bear to hear his pity. Can't bear the thought of Aziraphale thinking they're just like any other demon.

My World Can't Turn Without You by LvndrLemonade (M)

Crowley is convinced he's been abandoned for good, and doesn't see the point in going on. Upstairs in Heaven, Aziraphale's plans to stop the Second Coming are hastily interrupted by a sudden feeling of terrible dread.

Delicate by midnightdragons (T)

Aziraphale tries to comfort Crowley after waking him from a nightmare.

i was born sick (but i love it) by sonderrrr (T)

After he regains his breath, he falters three words. Three words that Crowley had prayed he would never have to hear again. Because it meant he was wrong. “I forgive you.” What was he being forgiven for? Initiating a kiss that was unwarranted? Not going with his Angel? Being a demon? Being unlovable? Sighing, Crowley shakes his head and starts for the door. “Don’t bother.”

The Great (not) Gatsby by luckythirt33n, LvndrLemonade (G)

Can't repeat the past? ...of course you can! Ever since being assigned to the states, Crowley has been, admittedly, lonely. He hosts grand, sinful, parties under an alter ego, so he can get Hell of his back, and simply bides his time to get back home. That changes when Aziraphale joins him in the United States, sent on a vague mission from Heaven to 'check in on things.' Though, their newfound time together isn't as simple as it should be; Crowley has gotten into some political hot-water with activity in his overwhelming free time, and the sudden appearance of a mystery man may be what can solidify a rather scandalous article that's bound to hit the front covers of every newspaper in the nation. Aziraphale and Crowley will have to balance want with need, thousands of years of pining finally bubbling to the surface. Will they be able to get their happy ending *and* keep each other safe?

Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it by mr_clairdycat (T)

"That said, this angel and this demon love each other in the way someone who loves God does, that much is objective. Their love is patient and kind, it doesn't insist in its own way, it is not irritable or resentful, nor does it rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. That’s how it truly is; their love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Most importantly, however, it will never end. Does not matter whether everyone in the universe isagainst it, they will persevere till the end of their never-ending life. That considered, who could’ve known if God was truly against it in the first place, if this was a test, if this was their plan. But maybe, just maybe it is useless to ponder at such question. Cause that’s what these two are: indescribable, unimaginable, forbidden, wonderful. They are just ineffable."

- Mod D

[thegirlwhowrites642]

I really love ron i do, fandom has put him through shit for a long time. But now a days i feel ron's fans has become what hermione's die hard fan used to be. I visited some blogs most of them were shitting on ginny( this thing is quite vicious on quora)and harry too in some( less than ginny OFCOURSE) Some even tried to alleviate ron and harry's friendship at the expense of ginny. What gets me when people said harry and hermione are more imp to ron than ginny. And OFCOURSE ginny will be only second to ron in Harry's life. I used to like hermione really but because of her arse worshipping fans i sort of drifted apart from her and now i am worried same thing will happens with ron.

Yeah, I noticed this too.

I was in the Marauders fandom for a very long time so I knew in general what was going on with the trio era side of the fandom, like the crazy Hermione stans but I wasn't involved. I always really liked Ron and I always felt bad for the treatment the fandom gave him. But then when I got into the trio era side of the fandom a few years ago I found out that Ron's stans had become insane too.

It's one of the reasons I've never been able to get into the romione fandom despite the fact I've always really liked romione, it's too much a combination of two incredibly obnoxious fanbases.

As for who is more important to whom, in HBP there's a whole theme about Harry choosing Ginny over Ron. And in the last two books, it's made very clear that if Ron really needs to choose between Harry and Ginny, he is going to choose Ginny (and I'm pretty sure Harry himself would kill him if he didn't). One of the things it's important to understand to comprehend the evolution of Ron and Harry's friendship is that when Harry properly falls for Ginny, their friendship changes forever because for the first time, there's a person they both care more about than they care about the other. Ron and Harry have four proper confrontations in the books, and three of those are about Ginny, and there's a reason.

If you are a Ron stan you should be the first to acknowledge this, because it's super important in order to understand the fight in the tent, to truly understand where he is coming from in that argument.

It really sucks when a character you like has obnoxious fans. Though, I think the Hermione and the Ron stans come from two different places.

If I had to make a political analogy, I'd probably say that Hermione's fanatics are a far-right cult while Ron's stans are a minority that got radicalised after years of oppression.

But to be clear, I don't think this was the case for the person who reblogged my post expressing their opinion (if that was the post that brought you to write this ask), they seemed quite polite and not unreasonable even if I disagreed with them.

[neworleans-in-thearts]

Ways of Seeing: Art of New Orleans

This is a great introductory post for my blog, please enjoy!

I will be looking at different pieces of art based on New Orleans and using John Berger's theory to show you what the pieces want you to "see" and what is "seen" by the viewers.

Lets start with this painting. Its' got a water-colored style about it. I can see the paint-strokes and the movement of the lines. The colors are super vibrant. The subject of this painting is not only the New Orleans Seafood restaurant and other buildings, its this African American playing his trumpet leading against the streetlamp. I can't see his face, but he looks so cool and collected.

This makes me think New Orleans is fun, playful, and cool.

This painting is at night, unlike the other picture. The paint strokes and movement are still noticeable here too. It is visually a similar style. However, there is a lot more people in this painting. The band looks like they are having lots of fun and a small group next to them is just enjoying the performance.

I can see the energy, movement, and vibrancy of the city in this painting.

This painting is very stylized. It is more abstract because of the many brush strokes. Still, the St. Louis Cathedral is clearly the center of this picture. The people here are just blobs of color, but they look engaged (almost a part of the environment).

I feel the same sense of energy and vibrancy here, but also intense beauty.

So, that's what I see from the paintings. However, does it line up with what I "see" about New Orleans?

No.

This style of painting that I've shown is actually commonly found near the French Quarter, being sold. Its marketable to tourists.

Kinda sounds like this idea of "New Orleans" catches the eyes of the people who aren't from the city. And when they are here, we might as well make money from them too.

And of course it catches their eye: life looks so simple and chill in New Orleans! But have you ever seen it? Its way too busy and chaotic for one person to chill on the street. I cant image leaning against a streetlamp, ew.

Everything looks too empty. New Orleans can be crowded, busy, and so yes- it does has a lot of energy!

These pictures have so much character to them. But its not exactly true to New Orleans' character. N.O. is not just a place to get drunk and play music, its defined by its suffering. Whether it be natural distastes or political ones- the city changes because of that- and I don't see that character impression on these paintings.

However, there is a collection of art that actually matches the character and energy of the city of New Orleans- and that is graffiti.

Take a look at this one- its based on the author James Baldwin. Even if the name wasn't on the book, you could tell who this is. I was attracted by the message "Artists are here to disturb the peace. -J.B." This was painted by artist Brandon Odums, or B-Mike, and speaks to me about the message of New Orleans. Its a city of creative and inventive people breaking the status quo to make an impact on their city. This graffiti- this is what I see about N.O.

Finally, we have this smaller piece at the corner of an abandoned building. Its a young girl standing under an umbrella of rain. This is very detailed and gothic-styled. This painting is meant to be a message about Katrina- how the people of the city experienced the aftermath.

It is so telling to me. Even if I wasn't from the city, I could see the despair- the hope for the damage to heal.

I love how for both of these pieces I could see the faces of the subjects, and I connect to them more than the people without a face in the street paintings. Even if they tried to appeal to everyone by removing the faces of the people in the paintings, it never came across that way to me.

That New Orleans is beautiful, but is too ideal for a resident.

The graffiti shows me the true New Orleans, the city of heart and suffering I know so well.

[peachie-kittie]

Okay so MASSIVE TW for talks of disturbing content.

Specifically: Implied pedophilic thoughts, suicidal ideation, political talk, race talk, mention of slurs, talks of obsessions and compulsions

For context, most of my compulsions are mental/not obvious. Same goes for my obsessions. I feel if I mentioned a lot of them in casual conversation, people would write them off as natural insecurities or overthinking.

My OCD tendencies started I believe back in middle school, when I first started questioning my sexuality and got my first proper crush. I would spend hours at a time looking up posts, blogs, quizzes about hoe to know you were queer. Bisexual vs lesbian posts. Coming out as one for a week, then the other for a next. It exasperated me and my parents, and for all the advice along the lines of "take it slow, it's okay" I couldn't get past the nagging feeling of needing to know. Not to mention my parent's secret exasperation ("how can you not know?") didn't help.

This is where it gets bad so anyone who may have experience with CSA specifically and/or similarly disturbing thoughts may want to turn away in case it may be triggering.

Long story short, around 9th/10th grade I started to develop intrusive thoughts about children. The kind that would get me put on a watch list at best, death threats at worst. However, without any real outlet, I once again took to constantly searching online, checking and re-checking (mentally), and asking a few trusted people if they thought I was a "creep"/acting strange.

It got so bad that I would actively avoid going out, tried to stay in my room at family gatherings, and was afraid of my developing sexuality for fear of getting off to the wrong thought and pegging myself as a monster. I even told my mom 2 times I needed therapy, before telling her "nevermind" less than 48 hours later. It was only after 2 calls to the suicide hotline and spraining my ankle (aka, essentially leaving myself alone in my head) did I break and finally expressed a firm NEED for therapy I didn't go back on.

I had a feeling I had ocd before asking though - my symptoms lined up super well, I had enough sense to realize that. The reason I didn't feel that way with my sexuality was - despite the immense distress - I thought it was just confusion mixing with normal low esteem (maybe depression? But I wasn't thinking ocd until I saw POCD was a thing).

I've been out of therapy for I believe half a year now? I honestly would like to go back, but for money reasons and also life reasons, I can't just yet. Thankfully, since then, THOSE thoughts have gone away for the most part. I still get em time-to-time, but am much better at dealing with them.

I currently label myself queer for a plethora of reasons - one being OCD. Everytime I try to find a more definitive label, my OCD gets squirmy, but without one I feel uncomfortable.

As for the overall/underlying issue? I've found my obsessions all stem trom this underlying insecurity of being "bad" - this is flexible, as it ranges from outright malicious to thoughtlessly impulsive to saying something ignorant.

It's not fun. My favorite thing as of late (/s) is the fact that my OCD clings to political issues, often taking the republican talking points and plays them on repeat in my head, making me break them down again and again. The only good thing to come out of this is the fact that with all my research, I've gotten decent (as decent as a young adult under 25 can be, anyway) at discerning biased from nonbiased resources. And even then, my brain doubts that, taking the stance of "Oh you're just so biased towards the left that you're unwilling to engage with the right" which. Truthn't. But okay I guess.

As for obsessions/compulsions? Most of mine are mental/not obvious, as stated before. Things I do/deal with include (in no specific order):

Watching reliable documentaries/reading "accredited" papers/blogs over and over

Constantly arguing with myself over the validity of certain ideas

Constantly being on-guard for certain thoughts; racist, queerphobic, ableist, etc etc

This is gonna seem fucked but I feel like I'm always aware of slurs?? It's annoying at best and guilt-inducing at worst to just think slurs for no reason bc one day someone said one around you (POV: you live in a red state) and now you've been thinking about it. Or smth similar.

Hyper aware of my identity. White, able-bodied, fat, (not visibly but still) queer, etc etc.

High guilt over past mistakes, even if no one got hurt/it was accidental.

Struggling with self-trust in general.

Dealing with thought crime guilt a LOT.

It presents differently now than it did back when I was having "thoughts" about kids, but like - nervous about your behavior in front of others. If you seem unsafe/prejudiced.

Hell, obsessions aren't even always over shit like this. I enjoy studying sidereal astrology (specifically the hindu branch!) as I feel it better aligns to the actual mythos. But the calculation on where it should start is debated and there are multiple calculations.

I've been stuck in equinox precession calculation hell (otherwise known as ayanamsha) for MONTHS. ACTUAL. FUCKING. MONTHS. And even before this, back when I first got into astrology, I was obsessing over how I was technically a libra instead of Scorpio (in western astrology) and just. It was a whole thing.

Once again, it boiled down to my percieved sense of self being wrong. Something I don't handle well, haha.

There's no real way to end this. I just hope this helped! Apologies for the long-ass post.

Okay, weird thing to put here perhaps - but this blog ironically feels safer then my main, not to mention more reach.

But! If you have any experience with having OCD, can you reblog with your experiences and how you realized you may have it? Especially if you have what some may consider non-typical experiences of the disorder.

I’m not asking out of a sense of weird curiosity, I’m sorta comparing and contrasting so I might be able to discuss something with my therapist.

[mee-op]

> reposted from my side blog @loveydovey-leviathan

.twst x gn!reader.

.

MALLEUS

when he first came to you with a bracelet in hand, he was certain you would like it. it's simple and lightweight, gold looks good on anyone > and he asked lilia's opinion.

what he did't expect was to find you looking up at him awkwardly— eyes darting side to side like you don't know what to say.

eventually, after the tense moment of hesitation— you politely reject his gift.

he's confused at first, but he brushes it off and concludes that maybe you just didn't like such an expensive gift.

but when comes back to you multiple times to give you more— the answer is the same.

dragon boy is taking this super hard. do you not want to be around him anymore? or are you one of those people who feel like they "don't deserve" good things?

and then he sees one of your first-year friends giving you a gift, and he sees you accept it with no hesitation. no awkward rejection, no looking like you don't want to be there— just a smile and a thank you.

his chest starts to hurt at the sight.

but he's not one to give up. after watching you for a day and seeing for himself what you like; he's certain he's found the perfect gift: your favourite food.

he's teleporting to ramshackle with a smile on his face, absolutely sure he'll finally get to witness you accepting a homemade present of his with a smile.

so when he's at your door, offering you his cooking; he can't help but feel a bit angry when you still decline.

but most of all he's just hurt. have you grown afraid of him? has he already lost one of his only friends outside of his family?

thus he confronts you about it. he says he saw you accept a gift from a friend without faltering, and he wants to know why you don't do the same for him.

he's surprised when you blurt out the truth; the reason why you don't accept gifts from not just him but all fae.

but moreso he's grateful he's finally gotten an answer.

he's understanding with you, there are many stereotypes humans have when it comes to fae, and vice versa. it's one of his missions as future king to rid of those false assumptions.

from then on, he doesn't give you gifts unless you explicitly state that you don't mind. he's going to try and prove to you that all he wants is to be someone dear to you, just as you are to him.

SEBEK

he spent a lot of time choosing the very first gift he would give to you. it had to be perfect. you only have this moment once, after all.

after he triple-checked that it was to your liking (a plushie from an anime you like— strange but he won't judge.. too much), he excitedly walked to your mess of a dorm.

after all that giddiness, you can imagine his disappointment when you decline his present to you.

he was sure he got something you liked and really wanted, but he reluctantly admits to himself that he might've been wrong. he just has to make the next one better.

but that doesn't work either. every time he tries to gift you something, you politely decline.

at this point, he knew you must be playing some sort of stupid prank on him. getting these gifts aren't easy, y'know. and he's seen you accept stuff from other people just fine!

do you just... not like him?

he gets a bit sad at the thought, but before he mopes he wants to know exactly why you keep rejecting him.

he was expecting a lot of things when he confronted you; some were stupid, some were hurtful. but at least he would get an answer.

what he didn't expect was for you to blurt out an old stereotype about fae.

he goes red for just a few seconds before realizing getting angry about it would be hypocritical; especially since he's still unlearning the assumptions he thought about humans.

he honestly doesn't know what to do now that he's learned the truth. he supposes the only thing he can do is stop giving you presents and try to convince you that he isn't trying to make some sort of deal.

he's a bit rude about it honestly i've seen your life and i am not impressed but he hopes you know that it's his way of proving that he just wants to be treated and thought of ike you do your other friends

LILIA

he's been watching you even before you knew who he was, so he was prepared for rejection when he planned to give you gifts.

he's hoping he might be able to change your mind about fae. it might be a slow process; after all unlearning what you've been taught when you were young takes a while.

so he figures if he gives you gifts and you see that he doesn't want some kind of deal with you, you'll trust fae more Ʌ Ʌ

whenever you politely decline him, he just gives you a smile and drags you to diasomnia to hang out.

this goes on for a long while, longer than he expected. so he figures if he asks you about it personally the two of you can work it out.

it's only when he hears you say it himself that he realizes he might've gone about this the wrong way. he was just making you uncomfortable most of the time.

so he tells you he'll stop giving you gifts. he's not offended, he's lived for so long that someone believing in fae stereotypes won't concern him at all.

he just hopes he hasn't completely destroyed any chance of keeping a friendship between both of you.

[amysubmits]

Can I ask about why you use "traditional gender roles" to describe your dynamic instead of something like service or domestic? I know from your posts that you say youre not one of those "women must be submissive, men must be dominant" types so I dont know why you would put your dynamic in terms of gender like that, if that makes sense. Especially as a non binary person, Im super curious (and, full disclosure, a little bit suspicious) in general about folks who make their kinks about their gender, if that makes sense.

Sorry it's taken me a while to get to your ask.

I suppose I use 'traditional gender roles' for three main reasons.

First, before I knew I wanted "D/s" I thought of what I wanted as "an old fashioned relationship". I was loosely familiar with BDSM, and had heard of 'doms' and 'subs' but I didn't know about "lifestyle D/s" (meaning a power-exchange based relationship style) until like five years ago. Prior to that I thought dominance, submission, kink, etc were all exclusively about sex, basically. While I pretty much always knew I was at least a little kinky, my deeper desire was to live 24/7 D/s...but I had no clue that this could be connected to BDSM. Now that I've been part of the D/s or BDSM or kink community for so long, it feels weird that I was so clueless about lifestyle D/s...but I don't think I am probably alone in that...I think BDSM and kink are things that pretty much all adults know exist, where 24/7 D/s or having a 'leader/follower' relationship style isn't something that everyone realizes can be connected to kink or BDSM. So because of that, I thought my desire to be a "follower" or whatever was just this random desire I had, I didn't associate it to my interest in kink at all. So I thought I wanted an 'old fashioned' relationship style, or something like that. never came across 'trad' communities when I was younger, but when I come across 'trad' content now, I can't help but think that if I had found that stuff when I was younger, that I would have thought it was what I wanted. In other words...I feel like 'being traditional' is often a gateway to D/s for people who just discover 'trad' stuff before they discover lifestyle D/s. Frankly, it's almost funny to me to see some of these blogs claim that it's not sexual at all yet their whole blog is obsessed with deferring to their husbands and things like that. There's so much sexual tension on some of their posts that it's clear they're turned on by power exchange. While I may find it slightly funny at times, on a deeper level, I find a lot of it concerning, too. It concerns me, because while there are rare people in the trad community who are more open minded, most of the trad community has some deeply problematic beliefs about gender and sexuality and politics, in my opinion. So, I totally get why a lot of people who are D/s refuse to associate one bit with anything related to being traditional. I really do. However...this kinda takes me into my next point.

Second reason. Part of the trad community tries to push this idea that you can only 'really' be traditional if you believe it's how everyone should be forced to live. In other words, if you believe in enforced gender roles. I think this is really just stupid, frankly. Choosing a 'lifestyle' for yourself doesn't have to mean you think it is how everyone should live, regardless of what that 'lifestyle' is. It's always valid to say I like this for me, but I want others to do whatever they like. What I'm basically trying to say is...part of it is a bit of rebellion against that idea? I'm trying to claim the label myself as a way of not letting the label belong to the sexists. I'd like other young people who may currently think they are just trad (but really want D/s, ultimately) to know that they can see themselves as trad but also be feminist, be pro LGBTQ+, and not try to push their lifestyle onto other people. I'd like them to know that they can enjoy embracing traditional gender roles within their relationship in a way that just feels good and warm and loving to them, while also admitting that it actually does tur them on somewhat, too, and maybe it does correlate to their sexuality at least somewhat, too. I want them to know that the 'I choose femininity, not feminism' memes are bullshit. That they can have their cake and eat it too. So, I guess I'm hoping to be one example of that, and I hope that some of those people come across my blog when I use TGR in my bio or occasionally use it in my tags, and realize they don't have to buy into all the toxic bullshit just because they like being traditional or traditional gender roles.

Third reason. My femininity feels linked to my submission, to me. I feel more submissive when I embrace things that make me feel feminine, and vise-versa. I am not saying that feminine things are inherently submissive, and I'm not saying that submissive things are inherently feminine. I'm just saying that there are undercurrents in both that feel connected for me personally. I personally find the traditional concept of masculinity attractive both in terms of just...that's the type of partner I want as it's what I am drawn to overall, but also sexually. This is part of how I experience my submission, my sexuality, and my gender expression.

So I just feel like it's accurate to say that we are embracing traditional gender roles, but we do so because it's what we like, not because it's what we think is 'best' or what others should do. I think it would be really harmful if everyone felt like they had to live this way, I don't believe in enforced gender roles at all. I just see part of what my relationship is doing, is embracing traditional gender roles...it's just a more open minded version of TGR than what most people associate the phrase with. But kind of back to point #2...I feel like we should be able to embrace that label, that it doesn't belong to the 'enforced' gender roles crowd and the sexist crowd, etc.

[officialmadokism]

if it’s alright to add, i like what this implies about false hope. that the hope itself isn’t wrong; it simply has to change sometimes. Homura’s hope of saving madoka from the fate of all magical girls wasn’t wrong, and it wasn’t impossible, either. her tactic was wrong; she became convinced that the only way to make her hope become a reality was to stop Madoka from ever becoming a magical girl. her hope to save Madoka became intertwined with another; the hope and determination to stop her from becoming a magical girl. But the real path was to destroy and rebuild the system that created that fate, and for that to happen, Madoka had to make a wish.  Sometimes you have to re-evaluate your situation, and you realize that your efforts so far aren’t going to get you where you want to go. And it’s so, so easy to fall into despair when that realization comes. Kyubey’s explanation of how Madoka gained so much potential forced that realization into Homura’s hands, and by putting all of her hope into her method, by truly believing that this was the only way, she’d locked herself out of other options and doomed herself to that despair. but Madoka- and many people who’ve watched the show and seen other potential loopholes- knew better. That the core of Homura’s hope - to save Madoka from that fate - was still very alive, and still completely possible. when the path you’ve been walking suddenly closes, or you see that it lead you the wrong way, you don’t give up the journey. you look at options you previously didn’t consider, you find another way, and you re-draw the map. 

There’s a scene in PMMM that I feel often gets overlooked: the scene where we see Madoka decide to be a magical girl and what her wish will be.

Throughout the entire series, Madoka has been a helpless bystander. She can only stand by and watch as the rigged magical girl system hurts and even kills her friends. Although she has enormous potential as a magical girl, Homura’s good intentions and her own hesitation and fear has prevented her from making a contract to become a magical girl. In the end, the only ones left standing are her and Homura as Walpurgisnacht threatens to destroy everything.

But then Madoka asks Kyubey why Homura is so insanely determined to save her and defeat Walpurgisnacht, and Kyubey answers that it’s because Homura still hasn’t given up hope. She’s repeated this time frame God knows how many times because she has never given up the hope that she can save Madoka from the terrible fate that comes with being a magical girl, which is to either die fighting a Witch or become one yourself. But it goes deeper than that. Because if Homura were to stop hoping, it would be the end. She would be overcome with despair over her inability to save Madoka and the pointlessness of the pain and suffering she’d gone through and become a Witch.

To Kyubey, Homura is a fool for continuing to hold onto her hope. Not only Homura, but every other magical girl as well. To Kyubey, hope is a futile emotion that only prolongs and intensifies the inevitable despair that will follow. This is the pessimistic view of hope: the idea is that by hoping for or expecting a good life that we can never have, we prolong our torment. So it is better to live without hope. 

But Madoka’s view is different. To her, hope is never bad. It is never wrong to hope that things will be better and strive for a better future. Hope is a blessing that makes us strong and keeps us going. It’s what we hold onto and fight with when all else seems lost. To Madoka, the idea the hope could ever be twisted into something bad or pointless is unacceptable. She makes her feelings clear after she makes her wish, and it’s an outright refutation of Kyubey’s earlier statement:

To me, this is why Madoka became a magical girl. A large part of it is to save her friends and stop Walpurgisnacht, yes, but also it’s bigger than that. Madoka can not stand by and watch a system that penalizes hope exist. She also alludes to this when she is making her actual wish:

“I don’t care what I become. All those who have fought against Witches, who believed in hope as magical girls… I don’t want to see them cry. I want them to smile until the very end. If any rule or law stands in the way of that, I will destroy it. I will rewrite it. That is my prayer. That is my wish.”

And this is the scene where we see Madoka decide this. The scene where she finally gets fed up and thinks “You know, screw you Kyubey. I’m going to wish for a universe where magical girls will never die in despair. Where they can hold onto hope and smile until the very end.”

To me, this is the final message we’re left with in PMMM. That we should be like Madoka and never stop hoping. That hope is never wrong. 

[matchmakerecorner]

Hi there~ I really enjoyed reading through some of the matchups you've done so far and was wondering if I could I request a 🐇 matchup from Twisted Wonderland as well? 👀

Personality: I'm highly introverted, but am friendly, polite, considerate, understanding and approachable! I'm rather on the private side, so I tend not to say much or really open up easily, but I'm always willing to lend a hand to anyone. I regretfully consider myself to be a people-pleaser at times :'D I have trust issues so it takes me A LONG WHILE to open up. Though, when I do, I'm silly and affectionate! I enjoy cracking jokes with people I'm close to! And although I'm not really into PDA, I will be terribly affectionate with my s/o in private, often kissing them or doing silly things such as dance my fingers on their skin lol. I also tend to be sensitive and take things seriously and wholeheartedly. On the flip side, I can be stubborn, short-tempered, and very self-critical. I'm often hard on myself, but I just think it's necessary for the sake of improvement! I make it a point to do things thoroughly and well-thought out!

Likes: Singing! Especially singing soft jazz or slow lovesongs! (I wouldn't mind singing them to my s/o, despite how cheesy it may sound hehe). I love watching the sunset and ocean as well!

Dislikes: rude, insincere, condescending people. People who don't take things seriously tend to irritate me.

I think that's about it! I hope it wasn't too long 😥 Do take how ever long you need, no need to rush or anything! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! :>

(I also wanted to mention how much I love the aesthetic of your blog! It's neat and organized as well, it's honestly so pleasing to look at! 💕 May you two stay safe and healthy at all times!🙏)

🐇 | I've decided to match you with...

☆ Deuce takes things seriously and always tries his absolute best, no matter the results, he never gives up!

☆ He's also not very big on PDA, maybe he'll hold your hand in big crowds, or hug you if he feels a little jealous. When you're in private, he enjoys affection! Just a little bit awkward and flustered at first. He might not get used to it, but he'll happily accept anything given to him. Deuce also tries his best to return affection too! He's most fond of hugs.

☆ He enjoys going with you to the beach! After a really bad day, you both go down there to talk about how you feel while enjoying the beautiful scenery. Sometimes you both will make sandcastles together!

☆ Whenever you tell jokes, he laughs at them no matter how stupid they are. (Unless he doesn't get the joke, which does happen sometimes. He's the type to get it like 3 hours after it was already said and then start laughing to himself.)

☆ He absolutely enjoys hearing you sing to him. Again, he's a bit blushy and embarrassed, but it makes him feel really happy. Sometimes it even lulls him to sleep if he's had a really rough day. It's super cute.

☆ Deuce is also quite hard on himself. You both watch over each other. When you're working too hard, he encourages you to take breaks and will get you something to drink!

☆ He always listens to you when you feel upset. If you want space, he'll give it to you. Want to vent? Go ahead, he's here. He'll even hug you and give you a few kisses on your forehead if you'd like him to. Deuce just wants you to be happy.

☆ He really admires you, seeing how well you do things just makes him want to be the best version of himself as well. And generally, spending more time around you has managed to make him feel like a better person! He couldn't be more thankful for you and everything you do for him. He loves you very much :D

The Other Choice(s):

Jack: He takes things very seriously and is super responsible! He'll always end up convincing you to take care of yourself--even if his wording isn't the most direct in the world. Jack is also very considerate, it may not show all too often, but he wants nothing but the best for you.

Trey: He appreciates how hard you work. He'll make your favorite dishes and place them right next to you! He won't bother you while you're working, but instead he'll give you a quick peck on the forehead and leave you to it.

.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜

A/n: I'm so happy you've enjoyed reading the matchups so far, I hope you like this one too! Of course, if there's anything you don't like go ahead and send an ask and I'll rematchmake you. I'm glad that you like our theme, thank you! You stay safe and take care too❣️ ^^

.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜・.・゜゜

| Teleportation: The Map Room | Matchmaking |

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

Hi, I've never done this before but I was wondering of you could do a scenario where the boys (separate) meet your parents and/or family for the first time. (I love your blog btw, you make my days more enjoyable

God this ask is so freaking cute. Pardon any spelling errors/grammar mistakes cause I did this on my phone at 5:30 in the morning lmao. Also, I'm going by the ~average~ nuclear family of one mom and one dad (even if my own household isn't like that lmao)

The Lost Boys x Meeting the Parents

David

Will pretend that he doesn't care if your family likes him or not, but he actually Does™

He's not gonna change his look or anything for your parents. He just doesn't want them to be against him or to be an obstacle in any way that would prevent you from seeing him. Your parents not liking him could be a real pain in the ass, and you remind him of that right before the two of you leave. It's basically a reminder to be on his best behavior

It takes forever to actually convince him to meet them because he's kinda like- who needs parents when you're a vampire ahahaha. Plus the only parent he has to base judgement on is Max so he doesn't have high expectations.

But if your parents do like him,,,,and your dad calls him son? Oh god daddy issues have been activated

Your dad put a hand on his shoulder and complimented his hair what do you mean he can't move in???? (If you tell the others they will make jokes that David wants to fuck your dad I'm sorry)

David is a little bit more wary of your mom, but he's still nicer to her than he would be to Max. Basically, David just tones down being a dick and that's it. He's a pretty charming guy when he wants to be so he'd probably 8/10 get your parents approval. Especially if David keeps up the whole "gentleman" thing since he's from like the late 1800s.

Will most likely end up on a first name basis with your parents by the end of the night

Dwayne

He thinks meeting the parents is important, not because he wants their approval, but because it's a big step in the relationship. It's just solidifying what you currently have and Dwayne is cool with that

Didn't really take much convincing. You just invited him to dinner one night and he just goes "Cool."

Harder to convince him to wear a shirt though. This will take forever, rip your parents but Dwayne likes having his tiddies out. Best you can do is get him to wear a wife beater that shows just a little bit too much side-boob y'know the ones I'm talking about

Dwayne just had a way,,,with parents. He starts off very polite with a, "Hello Mr and Mrs. _____" and you stand to the side as your parents welcome him in like he's always been there. It's been five minutes and your mom is already insisting on him calling her by her first name. He's not a talker but he does put in a little bit more effort around your folks. Doesn't really matter either way though cause your parents already love him

You pull him aside to ask him if he pulled any mind tricks on them but he's just like, "Nah."

Moms love Dwayne. I'm sorry but they do. He eats a lot and he's not picky so once he's cleared his second plate your mom is just fawning over how he's a "big growing boy" and even if Dwayne hasn't aged a day in like nearly a century he still plays into it. Your dad will ask him questions and the two of them talk about Car Stuff™

Dwayne will 10/10 steal your parents sorry I don't make the rules they're his parents now

Marko

Has absolutely no will or desire to meet your parents I'm sorry. Will probably avoid the meeting for as long as possible. It's not until you're genuinely starting to get pissed at him that he'll groan for a solid minute before saying, "Fine. Fucking fine."

Marko will Not™ change for the meeting. The crop top stays on. So do the leather chaps. It's not dinner attire but Marko makes a point to not changr

Marko acts this way because he's the most androgynous and he's the least likely to be accepted by 80s standards rip. He's just prepping to be hated, even if you swear that your parents won't be assholes

Marko is welcomed into your home and is,,,,, uncomfortable. He tries to make small talk but it's hard to filter out all the curse words he says on a daily basis. He's the second quietest of the boys, so he just clams up whenever he feels like he's making an ass out of himself. Is mostly just overthinking so rip this vampire

Even if your parents like him, it's hard for him to accept that. He just assumes that they won't because he's grown used to Max for like the past century. Is weirdly??? Liked by one parent??? And not the other??? (Most likely your dad because Masculinity™)

May not be popular with your parents but if you have any pets- ohhoHO

Will lay on the floor with a furry friend or will stare inside the cage of your family pet. Marko may not be good with parents but he just Gets™ animals

Solid 7/10 of whether or not your parents like him cause they just think that he's "interesting", but will 10/10 steal your dogs love and affection

Paul

Most excited to meet your parents and will meet them the earliest out of all the boys

There's no convincing him to change any aspect of his outfit, even the mesh shirt so- don't even ask because Paul will just find a way to turn it into flirting ("trying to get me out of my clothes, babe?")

Honestly, you're gonna have to warn your parents more than you're gonna have to warn Paul

Paul is the type to immediately call your parents mom and dad. Like, they open the door and he hugs both of them like they're his very own parents. Is just as affectionate with your parents as he is with everyone else i.e. kisses your mom's cheek and gives your dad friendly pats on the back. Let's just say your parents are,,,,Bewildered™ but oddly charmed

Paul is like a walking tornado and let's just say that, while Paul is very friendly, your parents aren't super impressed by how "lax" he is. Basically, Paul screams sex, drugs, and rock and roll and this was the 80s parents worst nightmare

He somehow eats three plates of food and your parents are just in a constant state of confusion. Paul is as polite as he can be and thanks your mom, might even offer to help wash the dishes, and has started to affectionately call your dad "pops" before the night is over

Paul thinks the night went great and really likes your parents but there's a 5/10 chance that they actually like him back. Paul promises to come back soon and somehow you know he isn't kidding

[qqueenofhades]

I kinda really like that au I've seen on your blog where the Darkling isn't a complete trashman, gets a redemption and Alina and together they become king and queen of Ravka. Hurrah! I wonder where the plot would have to start deviating from the books for that to happen?

Ahaha, well. It depends on how you want to do it/whether you want to make them estranged frenemies who still have feelings about each other and are willing to put their differences aside to work together, if you want to send Aleksander full trash and who has to rebuild from within a smoking crater, if they're sworn enemies who end up in a political marriage, if it's their choice, if they get wrestled into it by their respective camps, and so forth. There are a lot of possibilities.

I mean, I like Nikolai a lot and support him as king, but any version of the above would be more satisfying as an ending for Alina than "she kills the Darkling, loses her powers, and returns to obscurity with Mal," lbr. Leigh Bardugo has admitted that the Grisha Trilogy books are a little cliche and tropey in their overall setup and they are her early work (which is proven by the Crows books being much better written and more complex) but she still seems aboard the certain-unnamed-Timeless-writers train by insisting on the fact that Aleksander did bad things in the past deprives him from any chance of a real redemption or a happy ending in the future. (And that's even before they explicitly wrote show!Aleksander in the tragic antihero mold, and then she resurrects the Darkling in the latter books anyway and kind of retcons the whole thing and then extra-super-duper punishes him, albeit by making it a heroic sacrifice on his part, but... never mind that.)

With the caveat that I didn't read book 3 and thus can't comment on how events unfold in that, the setup for Tsar and Tsarina of Ravka is already there in book 2. Alina and Aleksander are in pretty much constant communication/contact/he is able to visit her privately/she works out how to use his powers after he did the same thing to her at the end of book 1/etc. It wouldn't have been hard to develop both her and him (her being willing to embrace more moral greyness, him remembering that MURDER is not always the way of solving your problems, willing to actually once more put in the work to fix Ravka as a country rather than just terrify its enemies into submission) toward a place that brings them full circle from their initial connection in book 1. Except now they are flawed and mature adults (at least on Alina's part, though Aleksander has also changed a lot) who understand each other better and are finally able to form a real partnership. But I think this interfered with the neat and fairly trite moral story that LB wanted to tell re: Alina, and so she didn't do it.

Anyway, enemies to lovers to enemies to Alina and Aleksander grudgingly agreeing to get married to solve the wounds their war has inflicted on the country + hating every minute of it at first + slowly opening up to each other about their choices + Aleksander tries to be a better man for her + Alina accepts that the world isn't black and white and she needs to let go of her own past and denying herself for Mal's sake + they play off each other as Sun and Shadow Summoner and symbolically rectify the damage they themselves did in the Grisha civil war + slowly seeing each other as confidantes again + opening up to their physical/emotional connection again + trying to resist it/insisting that they'll remain work partners + failing to do it + giving in and truly reconciling with each other and accepting their future responsibility together would have been a MUCH better arc for both of them. I said what I said. The end. 😂

[mallowstep]

oh! no don't worry i was making a joke! i just thought it was funny because i don't really,, see much overlap between the two! like if i were to make a venn diagram of "people who read warrior cats" and "people who read homestuck" i'd imagine the overlap wouldn't be very big. not necessarily negligible, but not. Big.

and regarding your tags: tbh yeah, hs really is a whole different beast commitment wise. i've read through the warriors series a few times, (minus super editions/novellas/ graphic novels,, but someday maybe) but i've only gotten through homestuck once and only then because a significant chunk was already uploaded to youtube as a read-through. tried to reread it, and there's just Too Fucking Much

oh thank god

i'd actually wager the overlap is fairly large. they have similar appeal, but i'm a lil too tired to explain. basically like. politics + battles + magic + non-human main characters.

'course, this is only for older fans. don't know what the Youngsters are up to but i sure hope it's not homestuck.

i've read through homestuck...one time in full, and with all the pieces i've read through for fics (i may not have a lot posted but i have a lot started), i feel confident saying i've read through it twice. it's got some great moments. the word count for homestuck is...let's say 1 million words.

i put each warriors main series book at 100k words, or 0.1 mil words, so actually warriors is much, much longer than homestuck. even if i use half my estimate for that and put them at 50k, that's still...20 main series books/1 homestuck? so...arcs 1-4.

homestuck is longer than harry potter, but not by much. warriors is much, much longer that homestuck

now there are other, non-word count* factors that go into homestuck's length, but i'm not a homestuck blog. that was... @amuseofspace altho i don't have. i'm not active there. i don't know the log-in. if you send me an ask i will not know you sent it nor to respond. just to be clear. also you're not allowed to judge me for what i did at fourteen. also also my classpect is heir of blood so like yeah.

anyway i bring this up more bc u should give urself credit! warriors is long! there's a lot of it! you've read a lot!

* this is adjusted word count, so it does consider panels and flashes

anyway kids don't read homestuck. but for local homestuck fans:

ldksfja; classpect brain was activated so: protags + aspects: (also the one post i'm most proud of i'm not happy with how it's written but i still remember the theory behind it really well is aspect introduction)

fireheart: blood

brambleclaw: time

squirrelflight: breath

crowfeather: heart

feathertail: rage

stormfur: breath

tawnypelt: mind

hollyleaf: doom

jayfeather: light

lionblaze: time

dovewing: hope

ivypool: void

alderheart: space

twigbranch: breath

violetshine: hope

shadowsight: mind

rootspring: heart

bristlefrost: blood

all of these are objectively correct <3

[awed-frog]

Hello, I've accidentaly found your tumblr few weeks ago, and I'm learning so many interesting things! Would you please elaborate on the tags in the post about alabama? It seems like super interesting stuff. Also i live in former austria-hungary area... Looking back, I actually think all of the involved parties would be better of still being a part of the empire. Thoughts?

Hi, thank you for this message, I’m glad you like my blog! 

When I came across that Alabama thing I found it super interesting and I tried to think about other examples of time not really evolving, or the past still showing up in the present. I’m sure there are tons of stuff out there, but I’m not really an expert, so this is what came to mind.

The first example is this famous analysis of modern Polish and Romanian election results superimposed on old Austria-Hungary maps:

As in the Alabama case, the sharp divide is due to the Austria-Hungary side of the country being more industrialized, so more cities, more universities and the like. You can see the same pattern in old literacy rates in the Balkans:

Again, the reasons are much the same, if otherwise culturally declined.

And: possibly not exactly the same issue, but there have been studies showing how wealth has been concentrated in the same hands for centuries, despite big changes in government and even borders. One example is from Florence, where you have accurate data starting in 1427, and the top five families literally haven’t changed in 600 years. Another famous example is the UK, where about 25,000 people (plus some entities including the Crown and the Church) own half the land and the situation hasn’t changed - or has gotten worse - over the centuries (source, source).

I think on the one hand, the problem is that geography will determine a lot about people’s lives and on the other, that a ruler’s choices can have an impact for centuries to come. Whether your religion encourages learning or not, for instance, or whether you’re interested in expanding your borders, make peace with certain enemies, destabilize your neighbours - when you’re a king, even petty fights with family members can have concrete consequences for thousands of people - as was the case in the Byzantine Empire or in Portugal, whose fading was partly due to internal bickering and incompetence of the ruling families. And as the case of Poland and Romania shows (but I bet you could create similar maps for most other European countries), the choices of past kings are still influencing the democratic process today.

As for Austria-Hungary, I really don’t know enough about it to give you a sensible answer. One thing, though: when you look at a place from the future, or from its centre, it’s fairly easy to disregard blunders and atrocities. You hear all the time how ‘everyone’ was better off under British rule, or under the Soviet Union, and while that may be true for some people, many others suffered horrifically. By its nature, a system that’s not representative of all its people will not care about the people it doesn’t represent. The Austria-Hungary experiment didn’t really last long enough to give a definitive judgement on anything, but the way the Hapsburg massacred thousands of civilians in 1914 doesn’t really fill me with confidence in its potential as a force for good. 

Anyway, if you’re interested in this kind of stuff, I’d encourage you to read Yuval Noah Harari’s books - he sums up history and politics in a very clear way and makes fascinating connections between a bunch of stuff you would never have guess was actually connected.

[stargazing-enby]

Hey! I recently found your blog and you seem very nice. I've had a very tough time with the pandemic situation and I was wondering how are you and your girlfriend doing? (Idk if you live together). Do you have any advice for anxiety?

Hi! Thank you 🙈❤️ We're doing okay! We don't live together, but we do live in the same town, so we hang out together most of the time hahah. I haven't seen her in a few days because she's out of town rn, but skyping with her yesterday made me smile like a fool. And we're going to cook some homemade meals tomorrow when she's back :3 can't wait for that!

The pandemic hit both of our mental health very hard too, though. 2020 in general is doing a number on my anxiety. I’m going to share some tips and thoughts that have been on my mind and that have helped me lately, but first I wanted to link you to this post that @april-thelightfury115 wrote just now, also inspired by your ask. 

One of the things that my therapist told me when the pandemic started, and that helped with my anxiety, was to try to focus on the things you can control, and not on the things you can't. Maybe you can't see some of your loved ones right now because it's not safe, or you can't go to the gym to work on being more physically active like you were trying to do before the pandemic started. Maybe the things you do yearly can't happen this year, so life feels like an uncertain void floating ahead of you. Uncertainty is a biiig enemy of anxiety, so it helps to try to focus on: what are things you could be doing right now? What are the plans you can make for next week, or even next month, to give that void a bit of shape and colour? Maybe you can read some books/fics in your to-read list, watch some shows, look for some ways to exercise at home, learn new recipes, make plans to Skype with some people once every week...

And even though my therapist and I didn't talk about this topic in relation to social media, I did want to bring it up here too, because social media (in general, but especially right now) can be a draining, dangerous place if you have anxiety.

(Warning: this next bit doesn’t have that much to do with your ask 😅 but it’s something that’s been affecting me lately, so I felt the need to talk about it)

I already shared some advice that worked for me regarding all the ways you can control your fandom/social media experience so that you can avoid things that affect your mental health negatively, but I wanted to touch on another aspect of social media: what to do with the content you DO see. Because, if we're realistic, no matter how much you do to turn your online experience into a safe space for yourself, chances are you're going to see untagged posts about current events sooner or later, or that you’re going to click through properly tagged ones and find triggering information. And if there's something that we as individuals have little to no control over, it's current events.

So, here are some things that I always try to keep in mind for when this happens: 

1) Guilt-tripping is not activism.

If a post says that you have to reblog it or you're a bad person; if it says you should have known about the issues it's discussing already; if it makes you feel guilty for not being able to engage with its sort of content at all times or for wanting to avoid it; if it implies in any way that you putting your mental health above anything else is an act of selfishness/violence/privilege; if it is telling you that in order to help others who are less privileged than you, you have to stop helping yourself: that is guilt-tripping. Whether intentionally or not, it is trying to make you care about their issue out of guilt. It is exactly the same as when you're walking down the street and someone from an NGO approaches you and tries to make you donate money to them by describing to you how other people are suffering and dying because you, personally, are not sparing 10€ a month for them.

And you now have a free pass to roll your eyes at that post, say "yeah, sure", and move on.

2) No fight is more important than every other fight. 

This quote comes directly from my therapist, so jot that down. If you want to make the world a better place by engaging with activism, that's great! But there's only so much we as individuals can do, and activism is something that we should always do on our own terms. So if someone else comes to you with "if you don't care about MY fight as much as I do, you're a part of the problem I'm trying to fix!" you should kindly remind them, or at least yourself for your own peace of mind, that THEY also aren't fighting every single fight at once. They might be super invested in a few issues because they hit them very close, like saving some animal species or fighting against a political party in their country, but I assure you they are not as invested in every single fight happening in the world right now. That doesn't mean those other fights are less important! It just means that no one should be turning their fights into a sign of moral superiority on their part. That's not how you convince others to join you. In fact, that's a very quick way of making people want to avoid you so they're not feeling like they're personally guilty of the world going to shit for 3 seconds.

I feel like what a lot of people without anxiety don’t know is that anxiety can make you feel like any blame that’s thrown around the place without a specific target is directed specifically at you. At least mine does: it often feels like all of those posts about how “people” are indirectly harming others by not fighting the system 24/7 are talking about me, specifically. It feels like if I dare log off, or if I dare have my own problems to deal with, I am guilty of something terrible.

But if that’s the case for you (or anyone reading this) too, I promise the world is not going to shit because you're not reblogging Tumblr posts about current events. It's not going to shit because you're not going vegan right now. It's not going to shit because you're taking care of yourself and doing things at your own pace. And you're not “just as bad” as the people in power who are keeping in place the systems that are hurting the planet and everyone else who lives in it. 

It's okay if the only person you can look after is yourself.