#bc there was only one episode i had to go ‘this is not my philosophy but good for them’

[friskarm]

tentatively putting my thoughts into the tag. for context i am an anime-only watcher but i've been really, really enjoying the mage exam arc and i was definitely a little surprised to find out that this arc has a lot of people frustrated!

one of the strengths of this arc, i think, is seeing how frieren interacts with characters and personalities we've not seen her encounter before. fern and stark are both relatively placid as people; they're generally content to go along with what frieren says.

lawine and kanne are two very strong personalities that frieren initially doesn't know how to deal with at all! they have a whole thing going on and frieren's choice is to. not handle it at all. rather, she spends much of her time quietly observing the two of them until she can speak with each of them individually and figure them out, just a bit. she really struggles to get a grasp on the situation until she does that; it's lawine and kanne who are acting first within their team.

then, secondly -- frieren's plan is so. elf with a lot of time to spare. the impact of the time limit is felt so strongly by every human character on the field; everyone is in such a rush! fern's team are stoked they caught a stille so early. the team that attacks them are desperate to steal it asap. after lawine freezes the lake, the other teams are desperately trying to thaw it, for a quick solution.

frieren, though? frieren's solution takes a shitton of time and involves her essentially meditating by a pond for god knows how many hours. it's such a frieren plan; i feel like only someone with a relationship with time like frieren does would come up with it.

tldr; frieren's capacity to form relationships and understand people and her relationship with time are shown off in a really interesting way wrt the way frieren solves the stille problem.

that, and... it seems a bit silly to say this about a show with a certain character in the title but... i do not feel that frieren is exclusively about frieren. it is certainly a story about her adventures but frieren is by no means the only important character! fern is also there! and stark but hes on vacation. so let's talk about fern.

the one fight scene fern has is so unbelieveably crunchy to me bc we learn so much about the world (now) and about the world (part)/frieren's view on magic from it! the girl she fights has really impressive magic; we know that this is generally considered a time of peace, the demon lord is dead, etc. magic is not necessarily a means to an end. i wonder if this means magic has entered a sort of renaissance? a time period after a period of great upheaval, where social structure is thrown out the window and great advances are made in technology, science - and maybe magic!

the way fern uses magic is very indicative of how frieren feels about magic. fern says (that frieren said) that "this is enough to defeat mages of this era", which is so interesting to me bc yes, ofc, fern does win! with her simple magic and full auto fire. but does that automatically mean fern is a better mage? it's complicated...

you hear a lot about the different philosophies of people who use magic in these episodes, and what i'm really interested in seeing is mr war guy meet frieren, bc i think they'd be the most interesting contrast -- a warrior of the past, and a warrior of today.

specifically bc -- frieren is basically a custom-designed warrior. the way she can mask her mana is very specifically designed to be able to weaponised against demons, flamme did that to her very purposefully. the way she's trained fern is also indicative of that; fern's immense firepower and stamina being "enough to defeat mages of this era" without being flashy so to speak indicate, at least to me, that this sort of thing was common in frieren's time! but this is a type of magic very specifically made for battle against a very specific enemy.

no wonder frieren likes collecting weird spells so much... i wonder if she's had much time at all in the past to play around with magic for the sake of anything but fighting and training to fight?

[theghostbunnie]

Just to preference alot of this is my interpretations/HCs/OC and very little of it is cannonical character analysis:

So her name is Penelope Esther Goldman but she just goes by her middle name Esther, as a funny little nod to know SK and Neil are both named Neil, she shares a name with Mrs Priss and I think I had them go to the same collage or something, might have to do the math on their ages again to see if that lines up

(I HC Carl's last name is Pasternak and Neil's is both, hyphenated.)

She's a incredibly intelligent scientist with extensive knowledge in biology, robotics, chemistry, ect ect. Esther doesn't really emote or exspress her emotions in her voice or face much at all, or well.

Carl when they first met was smitten, he was a groovy goofy goober and still is. He'd do that walrus thing with breadsticks in public at restaurants. He'd skate around with a fanny pack dancing to bee gees. Convince her to go to parties and she'd just be pleasantly content to stand there as he's like "that's fine I can dance enough for the both of us/pos" She had to pass a first aid course and he guided her arms and taught her you can keep the proper rhythm by singing Stayin Alive. He was just really persistent and really sweet and he grew on her okay 😭

Esther didn't really have a respect for philosophy because she didn't really grasp it's value or importance. As she grew to respect him more that sortaa changed.

They eventually got married and really kick-started both of their careers along the way.

(cw miscarriage implications for this next part) Neil's a rainbow baby that happened after several pregnancy losses. It may have been one of the things to strain their marriage but what really ended up doing it in was just the simple fact of life people change and grow apart and can fall out of love so now they can't really interact with each other for long. Their differences and flaws now clash and they butt heads instead of being complimentary.

I'm a firm believer the episode where each camper takes care of an egg they were reflecting their own parents. Carl is embarrassing but he's almost the exact opposite of a smotherer that Neil was showcased to be. His overall parenting style is like he's way more concerned about being Neil's friend than anything.

Esther is the one he's mirroring, here. She treats him like he's fragile almost. She gives him specific everything, down to his bedsheet thread count, knows how to cater to his living needs inside and out. Esther struggles to connect with anyone emotionally, though so her affection in the verbal department isn't as maintained. This never really bothers Neil, it doesn't register as "smothering" to him how much she shelters or caters to him. Because this isn't a kid interested in joining sports he could get hurt in and likes everything in a specific way anyways.

She's more aware socially than Carl is and knows how to not embarrass him in general.

Esther is Neil's biggest role model he wants to be just like her and is mad when he isn't, when he fails to be. He's upset even physically the only thing they share are the eyes. ((Regularly you can't even see Esther's I couldn't help myself in the art above from making them visible/forgot on the cc one but it's supposed to be a bit on "eyes are a window to the soul" thing and she's just that closed off and unreadable. Really only has a soft spot for Neil))

His mother is incredibly intelligent, and just seems so collected to him all the time.. and importantly not over emotional like he can be (his temper specifically.) and ESPECIALLY how emotional his dad can be.

I just love!! Character parallels!!!! How Carl is this emotional goofy person who joked around and danced and played music everywhere and Esther got regarded as "cold" and stiff and Neil is just both of them bc he's so smart but he's also silly. Like he plays video games and gets passionate over little things and allthat and it embarrasses him secretly sometimes, he wishes he could chill out and be like his mother. But the parts of him that reflect his father have always been the parts Esther always loved the most and found endearing. He doesn't know that though.

Neil to an extent even secretly believes if he didn't have his big brain and academic achievements him and his mother wouldn't have this close relationship because this is their shared quality. This is what makes her proud. He's so scared to lose that or disappoint her.

At the same time it doesn't stop him from pinning his parents against each other a bit from time to time. As he knows Esther's go-to move is to spoil him to win.

[night-faye]

*cracks knuckles* ALRIGHT- 1) Update on what I said for a hero will sacrifice one to save the world, a villain will sacrifice the world for one but its hero/warrior philosophy. I finally found Mei's line for it! "Wukong knew the risks. It's what he would do if he had to. That's the hard part of being a hero." And THAT'S why the next episode is "Time to be Warriors" because being a hero never works out :D 2) Isn't it SO funny how Macky's complaints about "other people will tell you to be patient" feels like the kind of thing Wukong would've learned himself from the Monk after the journey 🤔 "your first strike should be your last strike" *coughs in jttw wukong killed macky in one hit to the head* "you don't use a weapon, you are a weapon." Sir WHAT HAPPENED. This wasn't you before 😭 I'm starting to think his "don't you feel stronger now" might be something someone told him after this so called "who did you make a deal with?" 🤔 3) So we know Macky instigated the fight, naturally. but seriously WHAT HAPPENEDDDDDDD. he was SAD and GUILTY and WUKONG LOVED HIM SM HE WAS RUFFLING HIS FUR AND FIXING HIS CLOTHES. how does a guy go to such murdery lengths that they started hating each other sm in S1 and then??? like?? S5 that love is creeping back???? of course, just like Macky getting interrupted in S4, they just can NOT seem to hold hands 😔 so Fluffy had the bright idea of ShadowPeach hand holding when Wukong dies. She is obsessed with his death flags as a mentor. 4) "The old you would've leveled this whole mountain range!" <-- monkey MK splits a mountain in half. 5) "inevitably bring darkness to those they hold dear." now that we know how crazy this play is for hinting stuff, WHAT is up with the monkey we see get attacked with evil vibes and why is it on this line Macky 👀 also hilarious to me "last show actually I was just heading off-" he seriously spent ALL DAY just talking about his break up over and over to anybody who would listen. "always the comedian" <--- s4 opens with Wukong joking and dancing on a table. Can you tell I'm obsessed with recontextualizing dialogue? "so you're her puppet now?" "haha you know me." HELLO? IMPLYING WHAT? all this talk about "a winning side" is very owie, when you think of the side that lost the war against heaven but also <3 in joining MK. despite LBD having WUKONG on her side. "your buddy Wukong values people by how useful they are to him." BUDDY YOURE THE ONE WHO FELT BAD YOU COULDNT BE USEFUL ENOUGH TO BREAK HIM OUT. I'm sensing some serious miscommunication over the Journey West here. BUT GEE really makes you think about Macky telling MK to be a weapon! That'll make you useful to the Monkey King for sure! also! the winning side was almost titled "a traitor inside" gee isn't THAT suspect. *pokes Macky repeatedly* double agent vibes lowkey. or is this a callout for betraying Wukong lol. 6) going through my like history and someone pointed out that MK was probably "you're in time out young man!" while Macky, fully able to fight back, stood there and let them tie him up like "oh no I can't believe you're overpowering me like this. this place is a nightmare." 7) Update on "Wukong is the undefeatable Monkey King he HAS to be strong." he only reacts to the spicy pepper burning his mouth bc he's used to pain ^_^ who cared at all if he was hurt by the circlet, why would they care if he complained about the burning? and really? a spicy burning hot pepper? when he already was forced to eat molten copper pellets? and dropping a rock on him when he had a mountain dropped on him? which fun fact: based on Wukong's pose, it seems he got trapped while running ;D

1) Update on what I said for a hero will sacrifice one to save the world, a villain will sacrifice the world for one but its hero/warrior philosophy. I finally found Mei's line for it! "Wukong knew the risks. It's what he would do if he had to. That's the hard part of being a hero." And THAT'S why the next episode is "Time to be Warriors" because being a hero never works out :D

🥺🥺🥺🥺

2) Isn't it SO funny how Macky's complaints about "other people will tell you to be patient" feels like the kind of thing Wukong would've learned himself from the Monk after the journey 🤔

MMM! YEAH I HAD THOUGHTS ON THIS THAT I WILL BE EXPLORING IN FICS HEHE

"your first strike should be your last strike" *coughs in jttw wukong killed macky in one hit to the head*

Hey, hey hey, shut up <3

"you don't use a weapon, you are a weapon." Sir WHAT HAPPENED. This wasn't you before 😭 I'm starting to think his "don't you feel stronger now" might be something someone told him after this so called "who did you make a deal with?" 🤔

Ohohohoh yes. this line. this line makes me Thing Things. So Many Things.

Will also be explored in fics I write hehehehe

3) So we know Macky instigated the fight, naturally. but seriously WHAT HAPPENEDDDDDDD. he was SAD and GUILTY and WUKONG LOVED HIM SM HE WAS RUFFLING HIS FUR AND FIXING HIS CLOTHES. how does a guy go to such murdery lengths that they started hating each other sm in S1

No lie I am currently working on a fic that will be exploring this EXACT thing :) You should Be Afraid :)

and then??? like?? S5 that love is creeping back???? of course, just like Macky getting interrupted in S4, they just can NOT seem to hold hands 😔

GOD YEAH IT'S SO HEARTBREAKING AHHHH

so Fluffy had the bright idea of ShadowPeach hand holding when Wukong dies. She is obsessed with his death flags as a mentor.

@fluffypotatey when I get you

Can you tell I'm obsessed with recontextualizing dialogue?

yes dw i am too hehe

"so you're her puppet now?""haha you know me."HELLO? IMPLYING WHAT? all this talk about "a winning side" is very owie, when you think of the side that lost the war against heaven

:)))) >*pats my trunk full of plans*<

6) going through my like history and someone pointed out that MK was probably "you're in time out young man!" while Macky, fully able to fight back, stood there and let them tie him up like "oh no I can't believe you're overpowering me like this. this place is a nightmare."

LMAO THAT'S SO FUNNY

7) Update on "Wukong is the undefeatable Monkey King he HAS to be strong." he only reacts to the spicy pepper burning his mouth bc he's used to pain ^_^ who cared at all if he was hurt by the circlet, why would they care if he complained about the burning? and really? a spicy burning hot pepper? when he already was forced to eat molten copper pellets? and dropping a rock on him when he had a mountain dropped on him? which fun fact: based on Wukong's pose, it seems he got trapped while running ;D

HEY WHAT IF YOU DIDN'T? (I'mjustkiddingthisisgreat)

[chuuyadelune]

so the other day i read the beggar student (a short story) by osamu dazai and was struck by the resemblances to BSD's first chapter/episode that it has?? like it's genuinely crazy. here's the gist of what i'm talking about (*spoiler warning, please scroll if you don't want to see!*)

struggling author (also named osamu dazai) meets struggling student at the side of a river bank. said student is swimming/drifting down the river

dazai decides to 'save' the student bc he thinks he's drowning

student chews him out for being stupid like that after dazai trips and falls

one thing turns to another and then they go for lunch at a teahouse together (yes, a teahouse lol. no chazuke though)

dazai can barely pay for their food/tea bc he's broke

later they go drinking with one of the student's friends, who happens to be kind of uptight and serious (this one is a stretch but i'm including it anyway)

there's a lot of references to classic literature/philosophy all throughout

that's a very brief, crude summary of all the references i could pinpoint. the rest of this story goes by quite quick (it's only about 96 pages in all, and this was like, the first 20 pages or so? hints for the rest of the short story: there's school uniforms, beer, and long-winded speeches). but still. reading this all actually had my jaw on the floor, because what do you mean that the events of the first half of chapter one of bungo stray dogs is an osamu dazai reference. like surely this is not all just coincidence.

in conclusion: asagiri is a madman. the literary references go crazy. what else am i missing. i need to read more

(i've put some excerpts of the story below the break! frankly the interactions between fictional dazai and this student are hilarious)

pages 8-9:

page 20:

the excerpts are all from the recent translation by sam bett!

[wendytestabrat]

why i resonated with stan in “you’re getting old/ass burgers” (FROM THE VAULT [2020])

You’re Getting Old/Ass Burgers has always been one of my favorite South Park episodes because I feel like I’ve always connected to it on so many levels and related to Stan a lot. My favorite part is the end of part 2 (Ass Burgers) after Stan was so depressed and had been seeing shit for so long he came to the realization that he DIDN’T want things to go back to the way they were. He realized he was fine with his parents getting a divorce and Kyle ditching him to go fuck Cartman because it opened his life up to new possibilities of where it could go. In his words he’s all like “I’m gonna make a big left turn” or whatever. The ending is also frustrating tho bc everything ended up going back to normal anyways so we didn’t get to see how that would’ve played out, but we’re not gonna talk about that we’re just gonna talk about the beautiful speech Stan made. That part has always resonated with me so much bc I agree with Stan. I remember at a certain age I just got to a point where I realized that the key to staying happy and optimistic is to stay open-minded and keep trying new things. I think it’s rlly important in life to follow those child-like curiosities you have when you’re a kid, when you’re younger you’re excited about everything and want to know about the whole world and how everything works, and I think it’s good to continue that mindset into adulthood. For me personally, I get really depressed easily if I feel like I’m stuck in one place, following the same routine and doing the same shit over and over, like that’s the point when everything starts to turn to shit to me too. It’s good to add some excitement and spontaneity to your life, and I know it can be hard for a lot of people to get out of their comfort zones, trust me I get this sometimes I can be a stubborn bitch and I only wanna stay in the same lane doing the same thing over and over, but trying new things and embracing change is what builds character. Sometimes life can seem scary, especially when you’re young and you don’t have everything figured out, but the truth is life just gets easier the more and more you challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone and try things, it makes you more fearless. The more you can gain knowledge and wisdom about different aspects of life the easier you have it figured out, and this all comes with allowing yourself to get excited about new things, expanding your interests and having an open-mind. And when I say trying something new it can be big or small. It can just simply be deciding to learn about something new each day, deciding to read a new book, watching a tv show or a movie you’ve never seen before, starting a new hobby, meeting new people (I know this one is a bad example bc everyone is social distancing LMAOO), for me I really love discovering new songs and listening to artists I haven’t heard before. I mean the risk that goes into trying something new is that maybe you won’t like it and sometimes we can have that mindset where we’re like “this is gonna suck” so we don’t even bother, but you never know until you try, and you can still have an opinion on something you don’t like too. (I can’t count how many times I’ve suffered watching something awful I could not care about but I did it anyways out of curiosity. Also NEVER form an opinion on something you know nothing about or shit on something you know nothing about or else you sound ignorant.) But open-mindedness and being able to adapt to change and trying new things is really the key to staying well-rounded and happy and fulfilled. Having a lot of interests also makes it a lot easier to be able to talk to a lot of different people about different things and make real fulfilling connections. So yeah to me, what Stan said was actually very wise and I agree with him because it’s kind of been my go-to philosophy on life.

update 2024: i’m starting to realize now that my constant need for stimulation and new experience is prob just my sociopathicness FFHJDJSJS bc i get bored of shit way quicker now than i did before

[ghostsofharrenhal]

Okay hear me out: the One Piece doesn’t actually exist. Not as a gold-and-jewels treasure people think it is. Gol D. Roger’s dying words were, “if you want (my treasure), I’ll give it to you. I have left everything in this world there/I left everything I have gathered together in one place” (depending on the translation) In my mind, Luffy’s adventures show us the power of being a pirate, in defiance of the Marines and World Government and the myriad powers of Tyranny around their world. Through his actions, Luffy has found Nakama, family, and allies everywhere he goes. Pardon the cheese, but those people he has found are the treasure. Those bonds are more valuable than gold and jewels. Gold Roger reached this enlightenment before he was executed, and made his speech knowing no one would truly understand, but said it anyway, hoping his words would reach his true successor.

(This is a crackpot theory - I’ve only seen OPLA and a dozen episodes of the anime - but I stand by it bc I think it speaks to the overall theme of One Piece.)

first of all, thank you for taking the time to type this out!

second of all, this theory is actually one of the more popular ones! i wish you well in your anime journey because the lore is massive and soon all of the hints will come together and you have all the time to get to that!

personally i think this theory is part of the bigger "one piece." there's this joke even going around that the manga/anime will end without oda revealing what the treasure is and in a way we'll go back to square one - this time it's an irl treasure hunt haha! there's nothing more meta and hilarious than that.

but as for friendship being the one piece, farther into the manga/anime this will keep on solidifying for every crew member luffy recruits, every island they liberate, and every person they befriend. and i cannot wait for you to see the parallels between luffy and roger, on how they both embody being the pirate king - the freest person on the sea, the man who had held (roger) and holds (luffy) his found family as the most priceless treasure there is.

whether the one piece is a tangible object that will shock the world or an intangible ideal like friendship, liberation, freedom, the philosophy of the found family is its core. because the only way that you'll get to circle the world, overcome all obstacles, and get to the one piece is through and with your nakama.

[psych---ologically-deranged]

psych 2x12 the old & the restless

anupam nigam & tim meltreger according

Alternate titles: If you lived here you'd be dead by now TM: It was too long. My first one was called If You're So Smart Then Why Are You Dead? AKA Little Man Hate! Other alternates for this one were Age Against The Machine & Old Case

Brian Doyle Murray TM: Anu is a human IMDB

"We had to make him an anti-henry & we see some of where adult Shawn's philosophy comes from in life. You've got to live by the seat of your pants

(their voices sound too similar for me) I was trying to be professional on set but I was like "I'm sorry can I please get a photo"

smash cut right into the case

AN: Do you write the entire pepisode in a room with a single 40 watt lightbulb hanging from the ceiling?

TM: The writer's room is the heart of our job here on psych, it's the nerve centre where we sit around on couches & beat out stories until they make sense

Shawn being a doula again

Psychfact: they have a routine where they hide Gus in a sack & it never fails

TM is the internet guy. Mr Tim, if you are reading this *kisses you*

TM: I wanted to talk about Gus & Shawn's shirt, both wearing purple, very complimentary (they wear matching clothes. Honestly I wouldn't doubt it in canon.) AN: Henry's just dressing a little loud tonight. "Hey there's that pink safari shirt"

*gus sleeping on henry's shoulder* *henry not stopping him*

set design: Glorious Pines Centre for Assisted Living AN: It's a pretty big plot point that it can't be for assisted living

TM: I have another question. Is it cool to do the rest of this commentary pants-off? AN: Do what makes you feel comfortable TM: *microphone sounds* AN: No I can't help you

Describes the guitar is shimmering TM: What's the name of the guitarist? AN: That would be me! TM: Him! Did you have your pants on for that recording? (I think I got the ppl wrong. Their voices sound very similar. & I'm deaf) AN: Absolutely not!

Never calls him grandpa after that. Throw in a good algonquian moshum

"our" grampy. Maybe he's only his grandfather in the eyes of the law, not as in adoption but as in marriage

"When your episode gets shot, the psych people will fly YOU up to watch the episode

*five minute walk to the studio if you're in LA* *airplane if it's in BC*

I call my paternal grandfather grandpapa. he was quebecois. Opa! That's what I SHOULD be calling my maternal grampa but he was the youngest of like 13 & his older siblings went to school during or a bit after wwii so they got beat for speaking german.

gus does a GREAT agitated

Shawn & Henry matching colours

*Gus knowing random facts*

This is like when they sent Shawn to the mental hospital

REAL retirement community. ily kelly kulchak "I get that it's an old folks home, but do they have to look old?"

Henry "I'm going to teach you a lesson, even tho normally I'd storm out of here & leave you in the lurch" I mean they did trick him into coming here

Love a good old naming scheme

Love all the gus medical terms they had to do research/lh for

"I'm pretty sure when Chris Henze emailed me I walked out of my office into the writer's office & yelled I've got booger!"

Henry: Life lesson 20. People lie & they leave without warning. *looking at Shawn* Shawn: *rolls his eyes & shoulders in the biggest natural sigh ever*

idk anything abt marathon running

AN & TM used to run marathon in high school

BG: You can't get Indian Blood by working in a casino Me: That's what fist fights are for Fun fact, JRr is actually half mexican, & a ton of mexican population is mestizo (sort of like the Metis of canada, which I am) so by extension you could say he does have "indian blood" if you really wanted

Yeah, as an fnmi person it does strike me as weird that they'd say indian not native american but like this was 2007 & anupam is India Indian too lol

Some ppl say "asian indian" & "indian" not "Indian" & "american indian" really???? At that point just say native american bro. I guess "native american" implies USA when indian is used to mean anyone from the americas. Fine. (But then a lot of the time ppl also forget greenland still. Greenland is mostly inhabited by the inuit, but is owned by iceland, a european nordic/scandinavian country)

AN: & what's the name of your band, Tim? TM: *Gasp* the friendly indians! It's systemic! AN: & when you say Indians you mean people like me bc we're all very friendly TM: Absolutely. & You are very friendly. .. Although our story does have a very long "why we're called friendly indians" story that has something to do with political correctness. In some ways it's ironic but it doesn't bear talking about here.

yk what I'm happy this is finally mentioned. It's been smth around my head for a while, I just haven't cared to say it.

AN: I thought this was a neat clue!

Jason Enzler? idk. Great shot tho.

I forgot my man wasn't wearing any pants

AN had to stand in for that actress when she got held up in makeup (you need someone of comparable skin tone & height) "If there's something I don't like it's having to read my work aloud in front of other people, so I was standing there shaking, having to read my script"

OFFICE MOUSTACHE COMPETITION? "That's it, I'm putting my pants back on!"

I love henry's bathing suit

"My s-- grandson Shawn & his--... Gus"

"The extra we asked to [fall in the water] was PETRIFIED of the water!"

Yeah how DOES juliet know that if she went to cop school in miami?

yeah I DEF see the difference between seasons 1 & 2

*right after Chelsea puts her leg up on shawn while tango dancing* "She had hip problems"

DH is a skilled dancer & they put him on the dance floor standing STILL

Shawn: Where did my dad learn to tango? Me: where did YOU learn to tango?

... "for anyone listening" like me "what would you the writer do on the set?" I've never been to the set?

HS: I'm your father, do not call me dude Me to my mom: dude

tim *spot pitching jokes to the actors*

Yeah nursing home vs retiring home. I've been to low-care old folks homes, basically an apartment complex where you can cook your own meals & stuff but they still have a dining room (my 103y/o great great uncle lived there), mid-care where you have tons of freedom but it is still a care facility, & high-care dementia homes where people need two lots of care.

*all in one location* *network loves it*

DH& JRr: dancing for several minutes DH, rhythmically: When Is Ensler Going To Say Cut

They were supposed to take JJ the kid to prison for this shit but they couldn't. There was supposed to be lassiter graffiti on the walls

I like it when they say "I wouldn't change a thing"

oh he hurt himself on his mountain bike This may have been the first ep since it healed

"What is the collarbone called?" "The Collar Bone" "You're a medical guy!" "The clavicle!" "Ok now you need to name six bones to redeem yourself!"

Traditional Breakdown

"I dreamt I went to heaven & met god & he sneezed!"

Bang! *watching the stunt man on the styrofoam rock* my man has a reputation for killing people & he has only killed one person in his five episodes

Curtis *tickling her bc he can't find the pills*

"jervis babey" TM: They exit Jason E: they limb over the railing. Henry doesn't get a fist bump. Homage to the shining.

Show me don't tell me I struggle with that so much but you DO need a balance

Ooh Jason E, love this shot.

[moonmoonthecrabking]

hey so i was wondering: what is warrior nun’s view on religion? like is it sort of judgey and “people are idiots if they believe in God” or is it more “christianity can be fine/cool actually” or i guess where is it on the scale? like each of those as a percent? if you could let me know id really appreciate it!!!

[itsdaniclayton]

I know I complained a lot about tgp, especially during s3 (and it was kind of a mess yall have to admit it), but now looking at the whole thing, and in particular at the character development because that's what the show ended up being about, it really is one of the best shows and it ended perfectly and it's so relevant not only with social issues but also with deep emotional stuff and I'm quite glad I spent the past three years emotionally invested in it

[xx-psych0-rabbit-xx]

Top 5 fave headcanons about Renfield let's go

RENFIELD YEAH BITCH!!!

5.the autism and psychosis ones get 5 only bc i think everyone following me knows i go with those for interpreting him lol.theyre nice and self indulgent and help me understand myself better (not to be cheesy but renfields angry outbursts help me feel better abt mine bc i only had a bad person irl as reference of anger issues and it made me rly uncomfortable i also had anger problems lol) and just make me happy <3

4.that he and jonathan would have become friends if they had gotten to 1.interact and 2.if stoker didnt believe mental illness is incurable therefore jonathan is neurotypical again and renfields just crazy.i just think they could have gotten along and bonded over the whole "male dracula victims hes implied to have drank on" stuff

3.also that he and quincey should have been friends ik quincey only spoke abt him twice but he did seem to have some level of concern for him that felt stronger than "lol crazy guy i feel a bit bad lol".im not sure how a dynamic between them could go i just think quinceys neat and renfield needs more friends (he has zero none nada)

2....i felt very self indulgent recently and started interpreting his quick attachment to mina among some other behaviors as some form of attachment issues.for complaints thats just sort of embarassing to self insert in please redirect yourself to my legal guardian and tell her to not give me this much mental illness next time

1.i remember seeing this one interpretation of his change of behavior when he decided to try to convince seward he was now sane to get out that took his speech being more formal and "normal" as him masking it which i rly like? i dont think his natural speech is as bad as itd get sometimes when he was talking to seward but i do think it's sort of more eccentric and openly emotional, its hard for him to control it when having delusional episodes because his heads too full of fears and bad thoughts™ (and dracula bluetooth communication mixing in).idk i just think its a fun take lol i get why ppl would see his speech change as him just being lucid now

also he 100% knows latin and philosophy normally (way more than seward would ever know) has nothing to do with the masking

[golbrocklovely]

Unpopular opinion, i think fans are really mean towards Sam and there's not such a big reason behind it. He really wants to help people in his own way and just because his way of coming out with a piece of advice or a way to offer some kind of support is just different from Colby's, that doesn't make him less caring than Colby

Also, i don't understand why people hate on his dumb and wise newsletter or whatever u wanna call it because there aren't many influences who take their time to do something like that (i mean starting from scratch and managing to come out with something, cuz forwarding emails is easy afterwards) and also takes time to find things that might come in handy for fans who need that piece of advice. If Sam does this, even if it's a lot of Internet information and his side notes in that email, he did something good, tho unnecessary, a money grabbing brand. But if Colby comes on Snapchat and starts talking about life, he's a role model and he's so amazing and look how nicely he responds to questions and how nicely he speaks. Colby is way too overrated when doing the bare minimum any influencer should do, like staying in touch with fans and talking about mental health and anxiety and problems that don't go away by clapping ur hands. I appreciate a lot the fact that he talks about this stuff, don't get me wrong, especially because Sam and Colby are 2 of a small number of influences who address these important topics, but when they're both trying to answer their fan's questions or even talk about it how well they can, why try to make a difference between them? One might have a certain pov, while the other one has another pov and that should be alright. Any topic should be seen from more povs, it's not just colby who's right, it's not just sam who's right and u can't stay sam hasn't been through depressive episodes and bad anxiety. If he doesn't talk about these things is strictly his choice, but u can't say that he sounds cold and very objective when talking about stuff because "he didn't go through it"

This thing is literally like u and ur best friend giving the same answer in class but ur best friend gets the credit because "she's prettier"

Where i use u, I'm not talking about u 😂💜

this is so fucking long of a response to you. omg, i apparently have a lot of opinions lol

well, i can only speak on my behalf and say how i feel about the advice both boys give.

while i love the boys a lot, i do think sometimes their advice isn't as universal as they make it seem. i think that sometimes their lack of acknowledgement towards their own privilege makes it hard to want to listen to them. bc they give out advice and think that it will work for everyone listening, when that's just not the case. i do think over the years they gotten better at recognizing when their advice can help and where it can't, but they still struggle to realize that (especially for neurodivergent ppl) their advice doesn't go as deep as it could. or that in general, their advice isn't as prolific as they believe it to be.

like with metalife. one of the major problems i had with it is that a lot of their advice was basic or surface level. a lot of their philosophies weren't that deep. hell, most of the things they said on that site they said on the life project first, so they were just repeating themselves at that point. and while it's great that that worked for some ppl, i think it's also fine to admit that it doesn't work for most fans, especially those dealing with deeper issues. but that's okay. i don't expect snc to have the answers to my mental health issues. they aren't professionals. but i think another major problem was just the fact that anytime they gave advice, it was hard to listen to it knowing that they haven't lived a 10th of the life i have. i don't wish for them to struggle like i have, but when they are miles above me in every which way, it's hard to listen.

as for the split between sam and colby, again, i think it has a lot to do with how they sound. and while sam is genuinely trying to help, i do think that sometimes his words don't quite hit the mark. i think sam has a tendency to just repeat what other ppl say just bc that advice worked for him. which is fine, bc realistically none of us have original thoughts anymore lol, but if the advice was barely advice in the first place…. repeating it and putting your own spin on it lessen it's value.

i think there is also this out of touch attitude that sam can get that colby for the most part doesn't have. like, when sam wrote about not living for your vacations in the dumb and wise email….. like, bro, in this economy? you're telling ppl not to live for vacations, as if they can even get one in the first place?????? you just sound out of touch. i get what he was going for, but there are better ways to have said it. and he makes himself more out of touch by looking up to musk and bezos. i get it, you're a business man. but there is no ethical way to make billions of dollars. and then to keep it all??? even worse. and to top all of that off, he never apologizes for upsetting fans. he'll just ignore things until ppl forget or stop talking about it altogether. and while i get that for some situations, doing it all the time doesn't work. it makes it sound like he doesn't want to listen to fans.

also, i just gotta add this in bc i just remembered it, he has this vibe/attitude/whatever of "feel less, work more". he's surrounds himself in so much business but does little to no introspective work. he doesn't allow himself to feel, and would rather be busy all the time. but that doesn't work for anyone, let alone him. and i think that if he would allow himself to either work thru his emotions or just…. feel for once, he might be able to give good advice.

and while i say all of this, i still genuinely love sam. i can love him and still be annoyed at him tho. both things can be true. bc on a basic level, i feel like he does try his best to give the advice he thinks will work, but it comes across a bit pretentious bc he doesn't recognize his own privilege. and his dumb and wise emails, if i even read them in the first place, i just kinda shrug off and go about my day. sometimes i read them and think "oh that's good advice" but for the most part, i don't pay attention to them.

and as for colby, i think (and i know, at least, i feel this way) a lot of ppl relate to him more than they do sam. maybe it's bc sam is extremely closed off so we don't know as much about him as we do colby. maybe for some ppl (even tho they'll never admit it) they just generally find colby more attractive than sam and thus are more likely to listen to him. who knows, who cares. for me, colby comes in with advice that at least shows hesitancy. he outright refuses to answer questions about mental health problems, and tells those that need help to seek professionals. i don't think i've ever heard sam do that. maybe he just ignores those questions and instead goes for ones he thinks he can answers, maybe i just don't remember him doing what colby does. either way, colby tells does that, and then any of the advice he does gives, he follows it up by saying "this may not work for you, but this is what worked for me" and that alone puts him above sam in my book for giving advice.

that hesitancy shows a more realistic side to him than sam. sam comes in with a certain tone that's just very matter-of-factly, that there's no way he's wrong. colby, bc he's cautious about what he says or at least understands that his words may not help, shows that he acknowledges what he saying. he's not just regurgitating something someone else said in a book he read.

and i think as much as colby claims to be private or closed off, he tells a lot more than he shows. i don't think he realizes how much stuff he's actually told fans, and just that bit of vulnerability helps to make a connection. that's why i believe he probably does struggle with depression and, at the very least, anxiety. he's shown us what he's like after being super anxious all day. he's told us the stories of needing to take tums everyday at school. and as for the depression, which i know is just an assumption on my part, there are things he has said in the past (like not being able to leave his couch for weeks on end, like feeling like he was on autopilot, like isolating himself from ppl when he's feeling bad) that makes me believe he has struggled with depression without realizing it bc those are things i went thru as well. and that, i think, helps fans connect with him more. if sam struggles the same way colby does, we wouldn't know bc he doesn't tell us. and i get that he has every right to his privacy and that he doesn't have to tell us that information. but bc colby has, with or without his own knowledge, means ppl connect with him more and want to listen to his advice.

all of this being said, if you don't agree with me, totally fine. you might relate to what sam says more. that's great. if his advice works for you, please listen to it and use it. i'm just saying it doesn't work that way for me, but that's okay. i don't look at sam as less than bc of it. i still love sam. he's just a bit annoying sometimes lol

[his-mother-is-lightning]

Moon Knight Spoilers for Episode 2

I think my fave thing about Moon Knight so far is how much it struggles with the idea of killing people. Like, at first glance it seems like Steven is wrestling with the contradiction between his own personal philosophy about violence/death and Marc's. You've got Steven, the vegan who refuses to let Marc take over, even if it's to protect himself, bc he's afraid Marc is going to hurt someone - and then Marc, the mercenary with the bag full of guns and a trail of dead bodies in his wake. Two opposites, fighting for control, right?

Except it's clear that Marc doesn't want to kill anyone, and that he's ashamed of what he's done under Khonshu's orders. Not only is he trying to keep Layla safe, he's trying to keep Steven safe from the violence too. Like, he's compartmentalized all the bad things he's doing on one side - Marc Spector - to protect the part of himself that is good - Steven Grant.

My prediction is that Marc's plan has always been to disappear after his work for Khonshu is complete. You know how he keeps saying he promises that, once this is all over, he will never bother Steven again? I think that he has created this new life as Steven Grant, isolated from the horrible things he'd done (willingly and unwillingly), so that he can basically become Steven permanently. To him, Marc Spector doesn't deserve to live anymore.

Now, do I think that would have ever worked? Not really. I believe that Marc has DID and he can't just delete one of his identities. What's more likely is that he would have tried to cut Marc off and consequently created new identities, some of which might exist to keep Steven from finding Marc. But that's just my theory.

Some questions I have going forward:

1. What happened to the wall that was keeping Steven and Marc separate? Marc said there used to be one but something had happened to weaken/destroy it

2. Are Steven's interests (e.g. French poets and Egyptology) somehow tied to Layla's, or are they Marc's interests that he happened to share with Layla?

3. Is the fact that Steven and Marc have their own unique Moon Knight suits evidence that both are the avatar of Khonshu, perhaps embodying different kinds of justice (i.e. Mr Knight is more detective vs more superhero Moon Knight)? If Khonshu has power over both, why is his bargain only with Marc? Why would he stipulate that Steven not be involved if he could control them both?

Please share your thoughts and theories - I want to know what ppl are thinking

[ackerfics]

hi, rory! <3 what majors would the sc veterans take if they were in the modern world?

hi, anon !! thank you so much for this ask, this is heaven in disguise from all my schoolwork. tbh, the whole time i was working for a lab report, my mind will go back to this ask bc i wanted to have the association as accurate as possible hhhajshw

i asked one of my friends for help and thank God for them bc my single brain cell really said 'it's time for you to rest' after staring at one backlog. without further ado, here are the veterans' majors if they're studying in university:

first off, hange zoe, because if you ask me this question in real life, they would be the only one i can answer. every damn time i would think of them in a college setting, being a biology major is really hange's forte. at this point, this is what everyone would associate them with.

hange is all about experimenting and doing brilliant breakthroughs in any field of science but knowing that they have this unparalleled fascination with the unusual and unexpected life-forms (ahem titans ahem), the biology lab would be the surest place where you could find hange. i feel like biology is too broad so i will add that microbiology or bacteriology are just some of the specializations they will be taking in their time in college.

imagine, being lab partners with hange and immediately knowing that you will have one of the highest grades in the class because they're that well-versed in a specific lab report. and if you're partners with them for the rest of the academic year, you might as well have a shot at an immaculate grade. i'm not saying that you should depend on them too much though hHHHH, hange is still a member of the majority of the student body who relies heavily on caffeine to keep them invigorated. who isn't at this point?

so far, some of the biology majors that i encountered (well, more like chatted behind a screen — online classes suck), they have this energy that could drain my social battery too quickly and hange fits that description. (note that this doesn't apply to any college bc i observed this in mine soooo 🤭) they're the type to always go on a tangent on a certain science article or coerce you into joining this org thing. i can imagine levi just looking at hange like they're the one sucking his brain cells out whenever they speak about a documentary in bbc they watched the night before.

and if you're stuck on anything biology-related, hange will be the best person to ask help from. they're the first ray of sunlight you get while waking up. they're that approachable.

okay, so erwin smith.

don't come at me but he just radiates this ceo vibes and with that, one of his probably majors is business administration. i know this is so stereotypical of me but let's face it, erwin is a smooth talker through and through and if he doesn't take up marketing, business is one way to spend his college years. knowing his personality in attack on titan of establishing deals easily with a determined resolve, he fits the broadest description of being a business administration major. (again, don't come at me because my consultant for this statement is google and nobody comes after google sometimes hhhhh)

just for the benefit of myself, i will add what google says about this major, "[they] learn the mechanics of business through classes in fundamentals, such as finance, accounting and marketing ... students find ways to solve problems using data and they develop communication and managerial skills." and i thank you.

he's also probably the most well-spoken and most professional when conversing with others among his friends (and i'm not saying this to drag the other characters but this is what i pick up on) and that is exactly the qualities his major specializes. it is expected for them to strike deals and be a people person and who better character for the job than our very own erwin smith 🤩

now i mentioned 'one of the probable majors' and yes, aside from business administration, philosophy just exudes erwin smith. ngl, when i imagined erwin in a college setting, this major will always come first. his mind is just so sexy to me??? and i hope you guys think the same, too, because i don't want to be the only one who thinks that 👀 kidding aside, erwin is one of the smartest people in attack on titan and every time he speaks in one episode, my brain will instantly go mush, and that's what i feel when i hear philosophy majors talk.

philosophy majors (according to any other youtuber who does lookbooks for various majors hhhhhh) challenge what is unanswerable and analyze questions with no right answer. i feel like erwin, like hange, will talk all night to explain a theory. just imagine a date with him and you just listen to him rant about a topic that they should be making a report on. just listen to this man, okay?? it's adorable when he lets his guard down to include you in his little bubble of philosophies. he would also mention random things that he learned in classes, sometimes finding joy in knowing the philosophies of other people, or even deciphering levi's dream of an apocalyptic world. (it pisses levi off but he just leave him be.)

if you want a man who can do both of these majors, erwin smith is the answer 😉

sigh, mike zacharias.

this man holds so many talents and will forever amaze me.

i assume all of us here watched the movie perfume. and no, i'm not saying that mike is going to be a murderer but just like the main character of that film, making perfumes will be his forte with that sense of smell of his. and here, i conclude that mike will definitely take up chemical engineering.

he gives me the vibes that if it covers the one thing he does best, he will love his major. (mr. zacharias, can you please spare me that quality because i really need that now 😩) being in the labs while experimenting mundane things that can be found in the environment to create different scents is also a likely situation you can find him in, again, very much like hange. he's the type of student who really puts so much effort in staying afloat the honors list, even to the point of topping midterms in his major, for the sake of his dream. there will never be a moment where you will catch him complain about his major and professors.

he's that type of friend in college who agrees to any rant you say but in reality, he's got his life easy 😭

i headcanon mike owning a perfume shop after college just like how levi always dreamed of having a tea shop.

okay, imagine this little scenario if you're dating mike where he creates this unique perfumes as random gifts for you. they're not the typical perfumes that can seep through the room and can make you gag for no reason, they're subtle scents that will stay for the duration of the day. because again, he's got a sensitive nose, so making perfumes according to what his sense of smell dictates will always result in a revolutionary experiment. if you're randomly blurting out that you want a fusion of flowers and fruits as your perfume, say no more, he's your man.

now, the veteran who i find the hardest to associate a major with — levi ackerman.

after much deliberation and a break from plant physiology, i see him taking up law or criminology.

(i asked some of this from my mom because she attended law school :>>>)

levi is so organized and detailed in the things that he do and he fits in either of these majors since they require tedious memorizations and analysis of laws and crime scenes while being assertive enough to defend someone. he's the typical person who blurts out the true situation of a crime scene when watching film adaptations. yeah, he's that person, the one who sucks the enthusiasm out of you while watching a movie because he just had to correct some of the scenes. nevertheless, he means well though, he just wanted you to understand the reality unlike how films portray gruesome murders. movie nights always end up with levi ranting about half-assed mystery clichés.

levi's binder of readings are always too bright for everyone's good. his notes are full of highlighters and scribbles that it can blind someone. for one, he's always up all night studying his readings and cases for a practice court so by choosing neon highlighters, it's a way for him to wake up. there isn't one book in his possession that he doesn't highlight like it's a fricking coloring book. hange once jokingly said that his binder now acts like his bible and for once, he agrees because he was never seen without one. hange had a field day since levi never agrees with them.

when doing practice courts though, his go-to resting bitch face always come in handy when carrying out his role as one of the lawyers. he's just so sexy with his hands in the pockets of his slacks as he tries to justify his supposed client. the way he questions the accused definitely isn't hot because he's like one of the panelists in your thesis defense, the one who just comes up with questions that have you melting on the spot. he's dangerous i tell you. it also doesn't help if you accidentally hurt one of his friends or just landed randomly in his blacklist for being annoying as hell. relax though, he doesn't mean harm other than the fact that he's ready to throw some hands from all the pent-up rage he gathered in his body.

of course, i couldn't forget how he dresses up like a typical dark academia fanatic so look out for eye-candy.

if you want someone who can recite articles from the constitution, this man is perfect for you 😌

i had so much fun doing this !! again, i'm not generalizing every major i've talked about in these little headcanons, this is all for fun and based on the people i encountered in college. if you want more of this, don't hesitate to ask !! 😚

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi!! I’d like a matchup, if you’re doing them still. My name is mar, my pronouns are she/they/he, and I’m a lesbian but since that terribly limits my options let’s just ignore that. Im a libra sun, Capricorn moon, Scorpio rising (and Scorpio Venus lol), ESTJ 3w4.

My main love language is quality time. I tend to like people who I can also be friends with (I’ve had the episode of falling in love w my best friend lol it’s a universal sapphic experience). People who I can spend fun times with, who share my interests and stuff, because then I feel like I’ll be able to share myself with them. I dont show it outward often but I’m a huge nerd lmaooo

I’m currently double majoring in musical theatre and intl relations. Theatre is a lifelong passion and what I’m looking to make my career, I’ve been in a few productions and they’ve been the greatest experiences of my life. Intl relations is a niche little academic interest (also my parents wanted me to also get a “conventional” major) that combines all my niche little study interests: history, political philosophy and theory, and learning about the different cultures of the world.

I’m also a huge nerd for astrology and personality typology (mbti enneagram etc) I’ve been learning astrology on my own for two years now and it’s fascinating to me. I’ve gotten pretty good at reading birth charts (even have some mysme astrology headcanons) and absolutely LOVE learning anything I can about the subject. It is, to me, a way of understanding not just how people work but also the mechanisms of life itself.

I also like writing, reading, and playing games in my free time. Rn I’m into reading stuff like essays and poetry collections and stuff. And my favorite game to play (the only one I play consistently really lmao) is genshin. I like it’s aesthetics and the lore has me absolutely sucked in. I also sing a lot, and dance. As for activities I like to do: anything social. Going to cafes and bars, going to plays, (unironically) shopping.

I’d say I’m pretty aloof in relationships. I’m really bad at expressing my feelings for the other person, I tend to be a bit insecure on that regard. I like to keep my distance, both physically and emotionally lmao. I’ll talk about whatever with you but it’s hard for me to be actually vulnerable. I struggle with burying my feelings with work and other activities, or disconnecting from the emotional side of the issue by looking at the practical.

My friends all describe me as very funny and I guess I am. I like seeing the humor in things and often point it out, and I don’t take things too seriously at times. I’m also pretty hard to read, but I’d say that’s bc I don’t tend to trust people enough to be truly open with them. I would obviously love for that to happen, though.

It takes a lot for me to fall in love, but when I do, I’m always hooked for a long, long time. I’m like… offhandedly possessive, wanting to spend all day with the person. I also want to know everything about them, like discover them kinda. Tbh I’m not very experienced with love in general (but curiously I write about it a lot).

Anyway that’s all I think is relevant about me idk if it’s a lot or not hehe I’m curious to see the matchup. Love ur stuff!!

I match with you...

Jumin!

It may come as a surprise, or it may not. It's just something about your energy that says that the two of you would mesh well together in your romantic typing. It's because the two of you understand each other better than anybody else ever would. When you are easily misunderstood by other people, it's hard to find that one person who just knows what you're talking about. In this case, when the two of you make eye contact, it's easy to see that you are kindred spirits that have been lost from each other for some time.

You both trust but only when it is necessary. You know when to set boundaries and when to be wary of the people around you. You know how to control yourself in the moment even if the emotions inside of you are going all over the place. You're just the kind of person that needs somebody who can be strong so that you have a moment to be weak. In Vice versa, it would also be important. He never lets himself have a moment with his guard down so would you, it's nice to know that he can do it without fear.

With that said, it's not that hard to imagine that he would have a vetted interest in astrology because it's not all that far off from the dark magic that he normally likes to read about. There's a lot of overlap in these interests so it's something he knows. He may not be as well-versed as you but you can trust that he can easily keep up in a conversation and makes you feel like you have somebody who listens. It's rare to have somebody listen to you when you're talking about something that you're passionate about because people may not understand how much it means to you when you talk about it. He knows what that feels like.

[kitchensunflowers]

"i want my legacy to be speaking up for people who are suffering. for voices who nobody wants to hear."

...so this line in the most recent ep of lone star really bothered me.

content note: brief mentions and occassionally brief discussions of euthanasia, ableism, suicide, and eugenics in my discussion of this line, below the cut

first, i want to make it clear that my frustrations here are not with this character's desires, or with anything pertaining to the real life topic of dnr requests or dnr violations.

my issue is that this episode took on a complex topic that needs handling with nuance and care, and used it in a subplot to create a storyline whose ultimate message, as represented by the above line - which, given the context of the terminally ill character wanting not to be resuscitated, and talking about the difficulty of her illness immediately prior to saying this line - could easily be read as "sometimes, disabled lives aren't worth living anymore. and you know what, people don't think about that enough"

bc that's how it came across to me (a chronically ill/disabled viewer). in particular, with the above line punctuating that scene, the dnr subplot was turned not into a storyline about respecting people's agency and body autonomy, in particular disabled people's, but instead, it became a story that pontificated about how no one ever considers that some people's lives, because they are chronically ill or disabled, aren't worth living.

and that message, to me - especially as a one off line by a guest character in a one off subplot, and especially as relates to the idea that this is something abled people don't believe and need to think about more - feels ignorant and even dangerous.

it feels harmful, when there is actively legislation going into effect that has doctors suggest 'assisted dying' before offering or as an equal option to things like pain management, therapy, community resources and support.

(not dead yet's blog lists multiple different cases from the past year alone, and in their toolkit explains from disabled advocate's perspective why this is a complex issue)

it feels harmful as we enter year three of a pandemic whose spread has been aided by the philosophy, both colloquially and as represented by government policy, of 'well, only people who are already sick will die, and you know, they're already sick'.

(see the head of the US's CDC recently saying that it was "encouraging news" - actually her words - that, around the time of her statement, most of the people dying from COVID already had other comorbidities. rolling stone has a p good article on this cdc incident)

it feels harmful because actually, plenty of people already feel that many chronically ill and disabled people would be better off dead- something we've actually seen represented on screen this season when the nurses made their comments while tk was in a coma -

and actually, major media is actually more likely to represent disabled and chronically ill people when they are part of storylines where they are either completely cured, or they die - and where their deaths can be seen as better for them, better the people around them, and even quite a romantic thing to do. (me before you anyone?)

eugenic practices and philosophies are alive and well, ableism is still rampant in this world, and actually, the story - the reality - that is actually underrepresented in major media? it's the one where disabled people do want to live, do have lives worth living.

again, this is not to comment on this character's choice or anyone's w/r/t dnr requests. this is not to say that a dnr is the exact same thing as assisted suicide, or to comment on real world issues in general.

what i am directing my comments at is at the writing team, at the storytellers who decide to tell stories with complex real-world histories, interconnectivities, and applications, and then not giving those storylines the care, nuance, and importantly, specificity that such storylines deserve. its at the failure to consider what generalisations a lack of that specificity and nuance could lead to. To forget the potential implications of leaving in a line just because it sounds powerful and pretty.

so, as i said earlier in a different post, @ 911-verse writers room, producers, etc, if you're out there, next time you attempt to write about disability justice, please get a disability justice advocate in the room to guide you through it.

(or you know what, just consult with activists for any storylines about mis- and underrepresented communities in general. hollywood, it is possible make sensitivity reading a practice for movies and tv shows, too.)

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Ok so TOS S3E5, Is There in Truth No Beauty? is like???? So good???? So good for us aros????? It's late and this post is a mess but I needed to say it

So Spock and Miranda are set up as parallels right, and Miranda is one of the most well-written and developed women I've ever seen from Trek. She's super competent and honestly a queen but also has flaws so you know she's like actually round and can grow??

And she is 100% ARO. Like there's someone in the beginning section of the episode (another surprisingly well written character) who is super needy and says he loves her and she explicitly says, "I can't love you like you want me to love you." (WHOA big props for distinction between types of love!!) That person responds by basically calling her frigid, but when he starts thinking of murder, she (a telepath) doesn't judge him, but just tries to help him work through his feelings. He takes a jab at her for this too, but the point is she's framed as a very empathetic and caring person, although she follows the Vulcan philosophy in many ways as well (again, parallel to Spock) so she doesn't come off as exceedingly emotional.

Also when she's at dinner with the triumvirate, Jim is kind of coming onto her by saying "How did the men at the base not stop you from leaving? ...Well I'm glad they didn't, otherwise I wouldn't have met you," and then Bones says "How could someone so beautiful choose to spend her entire life being with someone so ugly?" (She is the companion/representative of an ambassador who is a very good being, but is so ugly that it drives anyone who sees it insane.) They then toast to her beauty (Spock refrains). And she says to Bones, "How can someone so full of joy and the love of life like yourself choose to spend your entire life being surrounded by death and disease? Eh, gentlemen?" ROASTEEEEEEDDDD anyways she makes a toast of her own (I think to progress?) and then Bones responds with, "To whatever you want, Miranda" in the most respectful tone and it's great.

ANYWAYS, Miranda eventually gets approached romantically by Jim (kind of as a ploy but kind of not), but she rejects him, and he proceeds to say what all aros have heard before: "You're young!", "Eventually, you'll want someone to love," "You're attractive. You want to spend your life with someone so ugly?" etc. and she just OWNS him and says no, she isn't interested in that, and anyway what right does he have to determine whether someone is too ugly or beautiful to be worth spending time with?

And then the issue between her and Spock is she doesn't want Spock to meld with the ambassador, because she's jealous and protective of the connection she's established with the ambassador and doesn't want him to take her place--which is a huge aro mood--but this jealousy is NOT because of some romantic motivation from her towards the ambassador!! And this is confirmed several times!!

Bones is trying to explain to Jim that Miranda wants to help Spock, and Jim is not buying it because "they're rivals" and Bones says "But not rivals in love!"

When the Ambassador is sharing Spock's body I was full-on ready for them to do the whole "I have a body and can kiss you now!" schtick but they DIDN'T and instead he just comforts Miranda and briefly takes her hand in a reassuring way (which he does in part because she's blind! So even cooler!!) and they are clearly close but they are friends!

And at the end she leaves with the ambassador, having gotten what she wanted (there's a cool moment about it when Bones is saying goodbye) which is a sense of security in her role/friendship with the ambassador. They DIDN'T DO THE WHOLE "I know how to love now!!" bit at the end!! We stay winning!

(Also Bones was written super well this episode because he noticed that she was blind and kept it private to respect her, and when Jim asked why Bones didn't mention it he said, "She'd have told you if she wanted you to know" so the respecting women juice was HUGE here.) She hadn't wanted to tell anyone she was blind because she hated being pitied, and she told this to Jim in their conversation as well, which means she intended it to be a comment not only about pity for her blindness, but also pity for her lack of romantic interest. She didn't want to be pitied for not wanting that with someone, which is a HUGE mood!

I was also ready for them to try something with shipping Spock and Miranda since they were so similar and they were having many other characters be interested in her, but NO they didn't do that either. She actually takes a jab at Jim about that, because as Spock is lying there comatose, she says, "You'd probably try to tell me to wake him with a kiss," and I'm like OWN HIM QUEEN bc he basically responds by calling her inhuman (rip aphobic Jim...he does this every once in a while). But no instead of having there be something romantic between her and Spock, she just saved his life and they had nice platonic conversations and respected each other greatly!!

But ALSO also what is great is (not to make this awesome woman-centric post into being about a man but):

Clearly all of Spock's interactions this episode were platonic, since he parallels her and that's certainly how they intended her interactions with him to be (and can I say how nice it is to see Spock interact with an intellectual equal--he even admits her telepathy is more advanced than his--and just have that respect there without that undertone of "are they trying to ship them...?" It's SO nice). Also a great moment at the start of the episode with Spock saying he declined the position Miranda has because "My life is here" (on the Enterprise) and thus reaffirming that Jim and Bones and what he has is more important than anything else

Because they are so similar, Miranda's aroness can easily extend into Spock being perceived as aro. Notably, Spock (unlike Jim and Bones) shows no (implied or not) romantic interest in Miranda, but simply demonstrates the deep respect which they both show each other. Also, both characters have moments this episode (explained above) in which they put their friends/platonic connections as higher priorities than romantic connections, and Miranda's connection with the ambassador is very similar to Spock and Jim's relationship. Really, we're supposed to look at them and go, "oh, they're the same type of people." So by Miranda being aro, it implicitly backs up the view of Spock as aro!!

Anyways yes I left this episode not only feeling validated as a woman because Miranda was frickin EXCELLENT writing, I also felt validated as an aro on multiple sides. And I needed to express that to y'all other starved-for-rep aros! So here ya go lol 😂