#basically teenagers

[bixels]

Learning that fans hated Applejack and called her "boring" is crazyyy to me because I genuinely, unironically believe AJ's the most complex character in the main six.

Backstory-wise, she was born into a family of famers/blue collar workers who helped found the town she lives in. She grew up a habitual liar until she had the bad habit traumatized outta her. She lost both her parents and was orphaned at a young age, having to step up as her baby sister's mother figure. She's the only person in the main gang who's experienced this level of loss and grief (A Royal Problem reveals that AJ dreams about memories of being held by her parents as a baby). She moved to Manhattan to live with her wealthy family members, only to realize she'll never fit in or be accepted, even amongst her own family. The earlier seasons imply she and her family had money problems too (In The Ticket Master, AJ wants to go to the gala to earn money to buy new farm equipment and afford hip surgery for her grandma).

Personality-wise, she's a total people-pleaser/steamroller (with an occasional savior complex) who places her self worth on her independence and usefulness for other people, causing her to become a complete workaholic. In Applebuck Season, AJ stops taking care of herself because of her obsessive responsibilities for others and becomes completely dysfunctional. In Apple Family Reunion, AJ has a tearful breakdown because in she thinks she dishonored her family and tarnished her reputation as a potential leader –– an expectation and anxiety that's directly tied to her deceased parents, as shown in the episode's ending scene. In The Last Roundup, AJ abandons her family and friends out of shame because believes she failed them by not earning 1st place in a rodeo competition. She completely spirals emotionally when she isn't able to fulfill her duties toward others. Her need to be the best manifests in intense pride and competitiveness when others challenge her. And when her pride's broken, she cowers and physically hides herself.

Moreover, it's strongly implied that AJ has a deep-seated anger. The comics explore her ranting outbursts more. EQG also obviously has AJ yelling at and insulting Rarity in a jealous fit just to hurt her feelings (with a line that I could write a whole dissection on). And I'm certain I read in a post somewhere that in a Gameloft event, AJ's negative traits are listed as anger.

Subtextually, a lot of these flaws and anxieties can be (retroactively) linked to her parents' death, forcing her to grow up too quickly to become the adult/caregiver of the family (especially after her big brother becomes semiverbal). Notice how throughout the series, she's constantly acting as the "mom friend" of the group (despite everything, she manages to be the most emotionally mature of the bunch). Notice how AJ'll switch to a quieter, calmer tone when her friends are panicking and use soothing prompts and questions to talk them through their emotions/problems; something she'd definitely pick up while raising a child. Same with her stoicism and reluctance at crying or releasing emotions (something Pinkie explicitly points out). She also had a childhood relationship with Rara (which, if you were to give a queer reading, could easy be interpreted as her first 'aha' crush), who eventually left her life. (Interestingly enough, AJ also has an angry outburst with Rara for the same exact reasons as with EQG Rarity; jealous, upset that someone else is using and changing her). It's not hard to imagine an AJ with separation anxiety stemming from her mother and childhood friend/crush leaving. I'm also not above reading into AJ's relationship with her little sister (Y'all ever think about how AB never got to know her parents, even though she shares her father's colors and her mother's curly hair?).

AJ's stubbornness is a symptom of growing up too quickly as well. Who else to play with your baby sister when your brother goes nonverbal (not to discount Big Mac's role in raising AB)? Who else to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your crying baby sister when your grandma needs her rest? When you need to be 100% all the time for your family, you tend to become hard-stuck with a sense of moral superiority. You know what's best because you have to be your best because if you're aren't your best, then everything'll inevitably fall apart and it'll be your fault. And if you don't know what's best –– if you've been wrong the whole time –– that means you haven't been your best, which means you've failed the people who rely on you, which means you can't fulfill your role in the family/society, which makes you worthless . We've seen time and time again how this compulsive need to be right for the sake of others becomes self-destructive (Apple Family Reunion, Sound of Silence, all competitions against RD). We've seen in The Last Roundup how, when no longer at her best, AJ would rather remove herself from her community than confront them because she no longer feels of use to them.

But I guess it is kinda weird that AJ has "masculine" traits and isn't interested in men at all. It's totally justified that an aggressively straight, misogynistic male fandom would characterize her as a "boring background character." /s

At the time of writing this, it's 4:46AM.

[spyroz]

if anyone needs help identifying things that can become moral scrupulosity OCD obsessions/compulsions, heres a list of some i've experienced:

rereading your posts/texts over and over

checking your notes and/or followers list frequently to "make sure" bad actors aren't interacting with you

checking OP's blog before interacting with posts

compulsively opening a social media tab to look at your notifs and then closing it, over and over

fearing ways that things you say/do (or don't do) could be taken in bad faith. being anxious that your words/actions will be misconstrued as morally wrong, bigoted, rude, or aggressive

feeling guilty or obsessing over whether you should or shouldn't have reblogged a post

feeling like you aren't "allowed" to disengage from online discourse or unfollow people who post it

fearing you're being stalked, talked about, or called out behind your back. fearing you'll never be forgiven and that people might even celebrate your disappearance or death, even though you havent done anything wrong

searching your own name/username to see if anyone is actually talking about you

imagining defenses you would make against nonexistent heinous accusations or arguments against you, to prove that you didnt do it

feeling like you have to roll over and become a doormat when others are cruel to you, because it could cause strife if you do anything other than grovel or apologize

having trouble enforcing your own boundaries out of fear that they are somehow "wrong" or unethical

ending up surrounded by people who have all the "right opinions" but are super mean and unpleasant, and make you feel like you have to walk on eggshells

fearing that just HAVING moral ocd makes you a bad person somehow (for example, i often fear that having moral ocd is somehow pushing a 'stranger danger' or misanthropist agenda, even though i actually have a lot of faith in my fellow humans)

some of these bullet points are not inherently bad on their own, but if you find yourself having this kind of anxiety very often, that's not normal, and it's time to get offline or even seek professional help if it's impacting your life

this list is catered to how online culture influences moral scrupulosity, it is not indicative of how everybody's moral scrupulosity functions, and it is not exhaustive

[butchlifeguard]

we need to destroy the idea that girls should wear makeup. normalize bare faces on prom queens and flower girls and cheerleaders. no products at all instead of '7 product simple makeup routine.' no more 10 step skincare and regular facials and dermablading and gua sha just to be comfortable with yr natural face. i want to see eye bags on the funny librarian and acne on the swim coach and wrinkles on all our adult role models. i want to see a 16 year old girl that has never tried putting on eyeshadow. i want to see a 7 year old girl who doesn't have to go out and buy powder for her dance recital. i want to see trans women and girls everywhere to never have to wear makeup, regardless of how well they 'pass.' no more 'contouring to look masc' either. a post-beauty industry world is possible

reblogs are on but if you bring up the stage makeup point that i have addressed three times yr blocked on sight ☹️

[ministarfruit]

day 24: plagued by the horrors ♡

(femslashfeb prompt list)

[tizeline]

Draw rottmnt donnie and rottmnt leo fighting

The word “fight” can be interpreted a number of ways, so you get one drawing of the two of them doing some friendly sparring and one where they’re just having a stupid sibling fight

[daeneryseastar]

people let their true colors shine through their consumption of media. case in point an adult man in a position of great power can rape his way through a numerous amount of serving girls in the castle he lives in and through the streets he frequently visits, but if he’s nice to exactly one member of the small folk due to said small folk member stroking his ego while he sits the throne suddenly *all* of his past evil actions are forgiven and he would ‘make a great king.’ in the same breath these people will cut to a moment twenty years in the woman claimant’s past where she stated, “their wants are of no consequence,” after stumbling upon a play that blatantly makes fun of her for being born a woman and being a girl heir, which in turn upsets her because it’s an insecurity she’s dealt with her entire life, something she’s never been able to forget. SHE isn’t forgiven, instead it’s used as a way to say she wouldn’t make a good queen and has no care at all for the small folk (she is the only royal family member attempting to keep the realm united as of right now).

[excali8ur]

So there's this AU,

[the-lavender-clown]

After several months I finally finished this sticker design set

They’re so stinking cute 😭😭

[bleu-oscar]

I dont give the 87 turtles enough love all donnies are hankering for some uranium,,

[nsvry]

[wis-art]

today i have stayed up and drawn luna (also want to give some love to stretchmarks)

[prettyupsetnerd]

what are the odds that the day I would finally finish this very niche and self-indulgent dndads comic would also be my birthday! 🎂

anyway- Scary Marlowe is the character of all time and I wanted her to go through the uncommon but life-changing experience of bonding with your friend's parents during a sleepover (also I think she would genuinely like the Barbie movie, even if she really wanted to hate it)

[divorcedwife]

encounter is a very short game i made to test renpy! it's about taking the bus

it's very basic and my first attempt at a video game ever, but i hope you'll enjoy it

you just have to download the correct version and unpack it

pc

mac

[littlecrittereli]

Have you thought about a situation where CPS has almost taken Chris away? The angst potential for this AU is good

If they were ever close, Chris would have never known about it...

Also shout out to the anon who suggested I call this AU Guardianship AU!! It now has a name YIPPEEEEE

I'm gonna lore dump about it real quick bc I have ideas and if I do not say them I will forget them.

Martin is 9 years older than Chris. Their parents died when Martin was 17 and Chris was 8. Martin got emancipated and was able to take custody of Chris but like all government branches... it's a really long process that basically drags out for Chris' entire childhood. Martin graduates high school early, gets a full-ride scholarship at Duke University while maintaining various jobs and internships. Sounds like a lot? yEAH bro is TIRED. But he's willing to put in the work if it means a better future for his bro.

Of course eventually he becomes apart of the Tortuga crew and things get a lot easier for them both. CPS is still riding his ass about taking Chris with him on these cross-country expeditions but he's been dealing with them for so long at that point it's not as scary.

[sweeneydino]

Yknow, I think he just hates teenagers who aren't Cody, guys.

Experimenting with different art styles cause I'm inconsistent ✨️✨️✨️ plus I was inspired but you already knew that

I was gonna make this more show accurate but I don't think my hand can take it.

I love Serling and I love torturing him.

Might add metalhead in a possible follow up..

[tizeline]

Hey guys remember the doodle I drew like ages ago of Leo wearing a PRIDEMONTH shirt?? Well I figured I should draw something for pride so I decided to properly ink and colour the sketch lmao (the orgininal is found here if anyone's curious)