#because there are things it is absolutely important to bring up!! but simply being dependent on someone else is not fucking one of the

[pom-seedss]

We can't expect individual people to have safety nets and contingency plans for everything when as a society we have gutted any safety net we once built.

The way people can get trapped in abusive situations, or be stuck without finances if your spouse dies, is absolutely important to talk about and bring awareness to.... but we can't keep doing it by throwing disabled people under the bus because this happens to us all the time. And unlike someone choosing to be a trad wife we really have no choice in our situation.

We need more robust safety nets, community supports and resources to help people from getting stuck with no way out of abusive relationships and bad situations.

We can't personal responsibility our way out of societal problems.

sometimes, when someone is criticizing the stay-at-home-wife movement being sold to young women by conservatives, it loses focus on the "selling you a repressive and authoritarian worldview" point and slides into... well... implicitly leaving disabled people to die.

and what i mean by that is, it's all well and good to say you should do everything in your power to make sure you're not financially dependent on another person... but what if "everything in your power" is "nothing?"

what if how society is structured means you have absolutely no choice but to be financially dependent on another person? what if it's that, or simply die? this is the choice disabled people are faced with. not even uncommonly... frequently. people who need full-time carers, or who have very expensive medication and assistive tech needs, or people who simply can't work in the current job structure, often have the choice of... well... find someone to be financially dependent on, or face a slow, painful death, usually without housing. even if you're lucky enough to get on a fixed income, it's never enough to even make monthly rent, and that's not counting the extra costs of food, toiletries, medicine...

in fact, a lot of disabled people (certainly notably women, but absolutely not limited to, and in fact i see this happen to trans men over and over again, and i've lost a dear transmasc friend because of this) are funneled into being stay-at-home parents and homemakers, forced to do all of the domestic labor and childcare in exchange for a roof over their head and access to their medications/assistive tech, and isolated in all the same ways tradwives are isolated. in fact, this even happens with leftist partners/parents. all the time, i see disabled people disappear from public life entirely, lose contact with all their friends, and consign themselves to a life of cleaning up after someone while struggling to handle their own health needs, even having their disabilities exacerbated and their lifespans shortened by the amount of domestic labor they're required to do.

but it isn't a choice... it can't be fixed by focusing on academia or work... and it's not due to buying into conservative propaganda. all i ask is, please remember this, and please never leave us out of these discussions.

[actual-changeling]

Welcome back to Alex's unhinged meta corner! I am fuelled up with coffee and my adhd medication, so this is about to be a RIDE.

Apologies in advance, since this post will probably get quite long and also scientific at some point, but I will try to keep it as plain and easy to understand as possible. Combine two of my special interests (Good Omens and chemistry) and you get absolutely insane infodumps; it's a blessing and a curse.

As always, this is simply a theory, and maybe I'm wrong, maybe we'll never find out. But it's an option, and I have canonical proof.

There have been endless theories about why the Gabriel-Hiding-Miracle (which I will shorten to GHM) set off alarm bells in heaven and reached a strength of 25 Lazarii. Are their half-miracles really combined that strong? Does it depend on their relationship or love?

Well, today I am here to tell you that, actually, there is no such thing as "half a miracle".

We are going to have a closer look at miracles themselves, but the first important thing to keep in mind is that most of the time, Crowley and Aziraphale are incredibly unreliable narrators and have barely any inside into how heaven and hell work. Remember, they have been on earth since 4004 BC, they are certainly not used to any of the internal routines and functions.

They can tell us all kinds of things, but that does not make them true.

Now, miracles!

Both angels and demons are capable of performing them, though they only seem to be counted as actual miracles when they happen on earth, seeing as they measured in Lazarii.

One Lazarus equals the miracle power it takes to bring one human being back to life—the consequence is that miracles must be bound to the earthly plane, since that is where their unit originated from. When they are performed in heaven or hell, they are still miracles in a broad sense—celestial beings using their powers—but not in a way that ascribes to the measuring system.

Neil once answered an ask about Lazarus as a unit, and he stated that miracles tend to be measured in Centi- or Millilazarii (mostly the latter), meaning that the GHM was about 1000x as strong as your usual, daily miracle. The labeling also tells us that the scale for Lazarii is the same as the metric one.

If we treat Lazarus as a base unit, we need to find a way of defining it that is unique to this specific unit.

Globally, we have a collection of agreed-upon base units, the SI units (coming from the French Système international d'unités, aka International system of Units). Those seven are second, metre, kilogram, ampere, candela, kelvin, and mole, and every single one has a very specific definition—they are too bloody complex. None of them can be expressed with one of the other SI units, which gives you great definitions such as these:

A little excursion for those that are interested: For a very long time, the kilogram was defined by. well. A cube. The "true kilogram", which is still in a vault somewhere in Paris. However, you can probably imagine why basing a unit on a physical objects isn't a great idea long-term, so back in 2018, the kilogram was redefined, along with three other units.

Now, all SI units are defined by natural constants, not physical objects, making them accurate and (more or less) absolute.

Back to miracles!

The reason I am telling you all this is that we need to find such a basic definition for miracles, too, or at least an approximation.

My proposal is that a miracle itself is the force exerted on matter by a a celestial being. That force is then measured in Lazarii, with one Lazarus being equal to the force required to bring one person back to life. This is where it gets a bit tricky because how do you visualize that kind of force?

Matter cannot be destroyed only created, so all the particles currently making up our bodies will continue to exist long, long after our deaths. Meaning when a person dies, the amount of matter that was them is still there, the consequence of which is that their body can be recreated at will. Now, souls seem to be separate from matter, making them metaphysical and thus irrelevant for this conversation. I am going with the assumption that once a body has been recreated, the soul can be put back into without additional cost in miracle power.

There might be another base unit hidden in the metaphysical, but that's a conversation for another time.

All of this amounts to one fundamental hypothesis:

A miracle is either done, meaning matter gets changed, or it isn't, meaning matter remains unchanged.

There is no in-between stage here, a "half-change" is not possible, either you exert a force on particles or you don't. What kind of change that is might not be tangible for us, but a change is a change.

When Crowley and Aziraphale try to hide Gabriel, they change the way he gets perceived, how others perceive him, aka they change the way his presence is processed.

The closest thing to compare it to, in my opinion, is the superior mirage—the Fata Morgana. At its core, it means that light bends as it passes through air layers with different temperatures; your eyes perceive the bent light rays and your brain processes them accordingly. You see images that aren't actually there.

Celestial beings look at Gabriel but see something that isn't actually there, so the "true" image remains hidden.

If we stick to this metaphor, then Crowley creates a mirage for any ethereal beings, and Aziraphale creates one for occult beings. The creation of that mirage is one miracle—not half a miracle, but ONE singular miracle. Both of them change matter, and both of these miracles can exist independently of each other.

Crowley and Aziraphale could have created their mirages on their own, meaning that two miracles were performed, not two halves of one miracle.

If you listen to the sound of the miracles, you can hear that it's different from the other ones they have performed on their own, with the "combined" miracle having two sound peaks instead of one. Tumblr hates it when I upload audio files, so have it like this.

In order, the miracles are Aziraphale lowering the chandelier and moving the shelves, Crowley removing the paintball stain, and the GHM.

IF they had both performed half a miracle, the end result would have been one miracle, meaning it should have sounded like any other—but it didn't! Two connected sounds, two simultaneous miracles.

There is still one thing left to talk about, which is the power of their miracle. Here is where my previous definition of Lazarus as a unit comes into play again.

Heaven measured a miracle power of 25 Lazarii aka a very high amount of force exerted on matter. You might think Alex, if they both performed their own miracle, how come that the alarm bells rang?

If we keep up the mirage metaphor, we can explain that! Crowley's intention was to make it so that ethereal beings cannot perceive him, so his miracle changed matter in a way that aligns with ethereal perception.

However, Aziraphale intended to change matter so that occult beings cannot perceive Gabriel, meaning his miracle changed matter in a way that is adapted to occult perception.

This is where science comes into play again!!

You see, particles aren't just particles, they are waves too. Wave-particle duality describes exactly that, e.g. an electron being both a particle and a wave at the same time. A connected theory to that is the Uncertainty principle, which describes the inability to measure the exact value of two different properties at the same time.

Or, to put it more plainly, if you try to figure out the exact position of a particle, its momentum becomes blurred, unclear. If you then focus on the momentum of the same particle, you can no longer describe its exact position.

You are probably looking at me now, thinking where the fuck are they going with this and why are there suddenly so many principles of quantum mechanics in a Good Omens meta post???

Crowley changes matter in way A.

Aziraphale changes matter in way B.

Those changes can co-exist, like an electron being a particle and a wave at the same time. However—and this is scientific theory adapted to celestial miracles—when an angel looks at Gabriel, then they are focusing on state A. When demons are looking at Gabriel, they are focusing on state B.

Focus on A and B becomes blurry. Focus on B and A becomes blurry.

Maintaining that double-state requires power though, because compared to wave-particle duality, these states aren't natural, they're inflicted—matter was changed. It's like the matter around Gabriel is flickering between those two states, a light switch trying to find a neutral position when there is only on and off.

How do we measure that power? In Lazarii.

The miracle energy that heaven measured is not that high because they each performed half a miracle and combined it into one, it is that high because they each performed one miracle that stands in opposition to the other; as a result, two different states need to be maintained at the same time, meaning the manipulation is ongoing, meaning it needs a fuckton of power.

If you want to keep balancing your light switch, you need to keep trying, you need to keep up the pressure, otherwise you either click it off or on. Same thing with the hiding miracle.

Twenty-five Lazarii.

The power you need to exert on matter to reshape twenty-five people—or to continuously hide one being from two opposing observers with rapidly-switching state changes.

While I think the whole "it's because of love" theory is fun and cute, scientifically it really doesn't make much sense because their powers have rules similar to our base units, so me must approach and treat them as such.

With that, thank you to everyone who made it this far and managed to survive our little excursion into the field of quantum mechanics.

Questions, thoughts, additions, etc. are very welcome!

[indnwitch]

I said last night we should talk about tattooing runes and sigils on your body, so here it is; (Note, the reference pictures I’m using I found Pinterest and best visually describe what I’m trying to convey)

Tattooing in itself is an ancient ritual that dates back to indigenous people, my people have been telling stories on skin with ink for thousands of years. That being said when you get a tattoo you bleed, and your blood is a form of your life force, your energy, a signature not just of your energy but of your DNA. We tend to get tattoos of things we like or something that has meaning to us, however it started as a way to document warriors, spirits, deities, and of course magick, these markings were significant to each tribe and custom to the person wearing them. How does that translate now into tattooing sigils and runes of your body? Well I’m gonna tell ya,

Blood magic

Tattooing is a form of blood magic, which isn’t as scary as it sounds. It’s simply put a form of magic that is stronger because a part of your DNA is used. So if you were to tattoo say a protection rune or sigil on your body it would draw it’s power from you directly, we trace invisible sigils or runes on use when we need to use them so the same quote rule and quote would apply here. When you need the power of the sigil or rune you’d simply finger trace over the tattoo to activate it. As mentioned up top it would draw from your own energy so, depending on how powerful the sigil or rune is you May feel dizzy, or get a headache. It’s something to keep in mind if you’re considering getting them tattooed. You can always temporarily draw it on your skin and see how it vibes with you before you get it permanently.

Choosing an artist

You’ve decided to get a sigil/Rune tattoo, amazing now you need to pick an artist carefully. If you’re not tattooing yourself (which I don’t recommend unless you know what you’re doing) choosing an artist is highly important not just to find someone willing to do the design but because let’s be real some people’s energy is highly crusty. You absolutely DO NOT want someone with off vibes tattooing you, especially tattooing something as energy heavy and important as a Rune or sigil. I recommend checking out each tattoo shop and artist available and feeling out the vibe, LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION!

Color magic

If you want you can use color magic when deciding what rune/sigil you wish to have tattooed. Say you really wanted a pink tattoo, you’d find a rune/sigil that corresponds with what energy pink brings. You don’t have to do this of course, you can choose any color, rune, sigil you want.

Pictures/video

Note, the picture shows large runes tattooed all over the body, YOU DO NOT have to have runes/sigils tattooed all over your body, YOU DO NOT have to have them large. YOU CAN have them any size, any color, any location that you so wish. YOU CAN even incorporate them into your next tattoo piece, which would look rad in my opinion. Work with your tattoo artist to figure out what you like best.

REMEMBER THE PICTURE IS JUST AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT A TATTOOED RUNE OR SIGIL MIGHT LOOK LIKE FOR THOSE WHO NEED A VISUAL. Once again I found the picture on Pinterest under ‘rune/sigil tattoos’

[juliasdowntonstuff]

The beauty of The Little Prince

Those who know me a bit are aware of the fact that I absolutely LOVE Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince". I bring it up any chance I get and because today has shown me again just how much this book means to me, I thought I'd use Tumblr as a journal and share at least a few of the reasons why. It is currently 2 am as I am writing this, so I don't guarantee for any of this to make any sense.

Apart from being the book my mum used to read to me when I was very little, apart from being the book I learned to read with and being the first book I ever read in every language I speak, "The Little Prince" is also just such a wonderfully poignant book that, for me, is just as important nowadays as it was back when it was first released in 1943.

It deals with themes we all encounter on a daily. It talks about greed, love, friendship, sadness, vainness, and wisdom — just to name a few of them. And it does so very endearingly. Part of this book's charm is not just that utterly beautiful and simplistic style of its illustrations, but also that it can be read by children and adults alike. It's generally easy enough to understand for children while also being so descriptive of the themes mentioned without the so usual moralising undertone that is often apparent in comparable works. And there are so many layers to the quite simple story itself that I find something new to focus on every time I read it.

There are sequences that did not really interest me as a kid because I did not understand the full extent of what they meant. Sure, I knew there was something to take away from every sequence, but I did not always know what it was. And as I keep going back again and again, I keep finding new layers to uncover.

Take the sequence about watching the sunset 42/43/44 times, for example (depending on what edition/ language you're reading). It only gained my interest when I was about sixteen, because it suddenly spoke to me on another level that was not just about describing a pretty sky. It expressed exactly what I felt at the time but never managed to put into words, and it helped me understand what it was I was feeling. Before then, I only thought the short chapter was about the nice colours that make up a sunset, about the hues that are usually quite warm and can feel comforting. But it is really so much more.

Sadness can cause many things; for me, it makes me lose interest in most things I used to enjoy greatly. That one page that discusses the little prince feeling sad and watching the sunset so often told me to go outside and look at the sunset, and so I did that. After that, I began to appreciate the beauty in nature around me more. The sense of calmness and clarity that I get when I walk in nature and listen to the birds or sit and watch the sunset (or sunrise, occasionally) is something I never managed to replicate otherwise. People rarely talk about how they are truly feeling in everyday life, and there is still some sort of stigma around talking about mental health, depression, etc., which I think shouldn't be (but that's an entirely different discussion). We all are happy to talk about the things that fill us with joy, that excite us, so why can't we talk about the bad feelings we have in the same way? It is easy to feel that being sad or even depressed is simply not allowed in society, that one is alone with all the bad thoughts spinning around and around, because we never talk about them.

That short sequence about sunsets taught sixteen-year-old me that it was okay to be sad, that it was okay to be okay one day and a total mess the next, only to be better again. It taught me that sometimes, you just need to take a second to sit down, breathe deeply, and look around, try to find the beauty in things you usually overlook or see the beauty you have become blind to. It also taught me that extreme sadness does not last forever, which is what I keep clinging to, now that I feel myself slowly slipping back into that seemingly bottomless pit of sadness.

Another sequence that has greatly influenced the way I see things in life is the part about the fox. The taming. Because that is just such a vivid depiction of what making a friend is. It is a metaphor even kids understand. And it is so true to the core. You have to reveal who you are as a person to become friends with someone, you have to share your thoughts and beliefs. You have to get over that "being friendly strangers" phase, and for that, you need to find out more about the other person, their likes and dislikes. And only then you can determine whether you like the person enough to become friends with them. That seems pretty straightforward.

Sadly, though, we tend to skip parts. We don't get to know each other enough to get to the "being tamed"-part. We consider someone a friend too soon, when all they likely are is a friendly acquaintance and nothing more. I realised recently that I did not know some of my friends as well as I thought I did and it caused a lot of unnecessary added heartbreak. You know, when you find people you like and you get along with them splendidly whenever you see them, which might be frequent or sometimes not so much, it's easy to feel as though you're friends. But do they still message you when things get rough? Do they try to include you when they do not see you around as much as before? Likely, they do not. Or at least that is what I have experienced.

This goes hand in hand with what the fox says to the little prince about the rose. “You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”

Because that's what true friendships are like, or at least they should be. They don't just end, they don't just fizzle out. You can't just up and leave when you're bored or when you disagree. Unless there is a real reason for you to stop talking or stop being friends, you should always keep an eye out for your friends. You got to know them, you tamed them, and you are at least a tiny bit responsible for them, too. Certainly not for everything they do, no, but for the part of their lives that intertwines with yours. That is what you are responsible for.  

And there are some more quotes that have influenced me greatly. I won't go deeper into them now, because, frankly… if I did, I would never shut up. I will just leave them here to read and ponder for anyone who wants to. 

Maybe they speak to you as much as they do to me, maybe they don't. That's the beauty of literature.

“I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”

“Then you shall judge yourself," the king answered. "That is the most difficult thing of all. It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.” (Chapter X)

“Where are the people?” resumed the little prince at last. “It's a little lonely in the desert…”

“It is lonely when you're among people, too,” said the snake. (Chapter XVII)

“Language is the source of misunderstandings.” (Chapter XXI)

“Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” (Chapter XXI)

“What makes the desert beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that somewhere it hides a well.” (Chapter XXV)

“In one of those stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night. And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend… I shall not leave you.” (Chapter XXVI)

And last, but certainly not least:

 “All grown-ups were once children… but only few of them remember it.”

On that note…

[taones]

hii! sorry, was just wondering if i could request head canons/scenarios of how suna, tendou, and sakusa would comfort their s/o who’s been feeling down and avoiding others because they feel like a burden (i’m just rlly going through it rn 🥲)

Comforting You - S.R + T.S

sorry that you're having such a hard time sweetpea! I'm going to leave Sakusa out these purely bc it's been ages since I've watched his scenes ●~● not edited bc I can't be bothered

warnings - hurt/comfort, nothing not mentioned in the request ●³●

Suna

I honestly thing he wouldn't have a clue what to do at the beginning of your relationship

depending on how long you had been dating, I think he would eventually get the hang of it

but even then, he definitely prefers to comfort you quietly, more of an observe and act rather than an act straight away

however - I think this is extremely comforting when you're crying

Sunarin can really be the softest, warmest person to snuggle up to and when he snuggles he goes hard

brings your double duvet into the living room, wraps you in it like a burrito and holds you in his arms for as long as you need

absolutely more of a listener than an advice giver but will murmur comforting words into your hairline while you're snuggled on him

especially if you open up to him about feeling like you're a burden

he gets this little knitted brow-frowny face and sits up so he's facing you, holds your hands in his and says, in the most sincere voice you've ever heard from him that you could never be a burden and never will be

and that you're the only person he can even stand to be around for that long amount of time, you're so important to him and he would look so stricken then you even think that about yourself PLSSS

late night drives are his thing, especially if you just need to scream out some lyrics of the songs you like to feel better

will take you to get whatever junk food you want and sit with you all night until he sees a smile on your face again

Tendou

oh please he is the king of comfort, he knows exactly how you're feeling without you ever having to say a word- he's just that in tune with your emotions

plus he's very experienced in feeling unwelcomed or like a burden to people, that's something he's worked through by himself and he's not going to let you be without a support system during this time

Satori is ON it immediately, has the best coping mechanisms and little self worth affirmations to tech you

but he knows, as much as those work, the best thing you need in that moment is comfort and reassurance

he obviously tries to spend some quality time with you, have some skincare/self care ngihts with you

but he also has a serious sit down talk with you about how you're feeling and how he can help

even if you're not overly sure how he can help - this will at least give him some insight so he can take a guess

so so so reassuring about what you mean to him and how much he loves being around you - you could never be a burden to him or anyone else because you simply make people around you so happy

starts leaving little post-it notes around the house in places he knows you'll see them

packing them in your lunch every day so you never forget how much you mean to him

ahh again, sorry I didn't include Sakusa, it's been ages since I've rewatched haikyuu so I don't think I could do his characterisation any justice, I'll put it on the back-burner for now and get to it as soon as I can <3 loves ya

reblogs and comments are appreciated <3

[buck-yyyy]

what do you think of boris’ sexuality? do you think he externalizes his internalized homophobia? this is a goldfinch ask !!

ohhhhh this is interesting. so sorry for answering this a couple weeks late!!

first of all—boris is 100% bisexual. he absolutely expresses attraction to both men and women throughout the book, that boy is BI.

the second part is wayyy harder. i think that it's really difficult to tell from what we know of him—since the book is obviously from theo's perspective, we can't quite get inside his head the same way we can with theo, so i'm just gonna list out some examples of his,,, varying queerness tolerance level, i guess lmao.

he's casual about suggesting that hobie may be gay, and has a very calm reaction compared to theo's immediate discomfort.

similar to theo, as a teenager, he never brings up the times they've had sex.

he's flippant about mentioning that theo is "the only boy [he's] ever been in bed with", and brushes it off as "[they] both needed girls".

that's.... it, i think. at least off the top of my head. so my conclusion, to be honest, isn't based on a whole lot of proof, as opposed simply to drawing from other aspects of his character.

from his casual usage of the N-word after spending time with kotku, who was "cool"; his conversion to islam, not because he believed in allah, but because the muslim people around him were good to him; and finally, his attempt to pretend to be jewish in order to work for mr. silver, it's really easy to point out that boris conforms to various environments with ease, something that he's had to be able to do because of how much he's moved around. he's not doing these things because of personal beliefs, ideas, or opinions, he's doing them because he's trying to blend in, or in some cases, seem "cool", whether it's intentional or not (depends on the situation). that doesn't mean that his actions are automatically morally good or even neutral, but it gives us an understanding of why he is the way he is, and why he's so different depending on where he is and what point of his life he's at.

i think from that, it would be easy to argue that perhaps boris himself has no personal issue with gay people, but he would most certainly display the same homophobia that was so typical at the time it was written: ie. he would be casual about someone he knows being gay, but he's also definitely described things as gay, or said the word faggot in a derogatory context.

i'm not entirely sure how to relate all of that back to his internalized homophobia, simply because we don't get to see what that's like for him, or if that's even a thought on his mind. i think i'd argue that, what with everything else that's happened/currently happening in his life, he doesn't care all that much. i doubt he would ever call himself bisexual, or pansexual, or any of that; we can assign those words to him because he's a book character, but it's also important to recognize that those weren't words he would've grown up using, and that would likely stick with him in ways that some younger people would interpret as queerphobic. he's simply boris, and if boris wants to kiss a man then boris wants to kiss a man and that's all the thought he'd devote to it.

so yeah. i suppose i believe that he's homophobic, but not because he hates gay people or himself for being gay. i also think that he would not devote any particularly meaningful amount of time to dissecting who he is in regards to his sexuality, simply because it's never been a particularly important part of his life or survival.

[lighthouseborn]

repost and rate your muse's traits out of 10 in each category !

COMPASSION: 6/10. Sees people around him, and will go out of his way to help people, especially in little ways that are just very doable and why wouldn't you. Also, though, has greater commitment to loved ones than to strangers. He is more likely to be moved to action for people he feels connected to, some way. This can be as little as 'seemed like they were having a bad day', but as the stakes get higher, the circle narrows.

BITTERNESS: 2/10. There's a little bit of an edge, but it's really more frustration than bitterness, I think. Things could be so good if people would just let them be. But he doesn't feel owed. He just feels like people make it harder than it should be.

HAPPINESS: 8/10, generally. There's a little bit of an edge, how else do you end up at frustrated and willing-to-punch-things-into-order?

POLITENESS: ...3/10? He can sometimes just fall into 'polite' because his baseline is chill+nice until given the need to be otherwise, but he very rarely if ever adheres to Politeness as an intentional practice and standard. He also doesn't like the idea of manners being more valued than truths. Impertinent is a good word for it, really.

MORALITY*: idles at like a 6/10 but Henry... flexes. And contradicts himself, sometimes. He is, broadly speaking, in favor of helping others, or at least striving to not bring harm. However, he is also centered on people in his circle, and is pushable to excusing things as long as his people aren't harmed; he also has a tendency to answer violence and harm to himself/his loved ones with retaliatory harm, & sometimes capable of taking this Too Far.

PRIDE: 4/10. Not non-existent, but not, generally, more important to him than his life, others' lives, the truth, etc. He's skilled and confident, but also if he's wrong he's wrong and if it's beg-or-die he's begging. If you insult his mother, however, he will kill you. (That is an exaggeration (probably.))

HONESTY: 7/10. Very honest in the sense he is who he is and doesn't shy from it, doesn't feel the need to hide it. Rarely outright Lies and more often deflects or simply refuses to answer, when it feels necessary. Also, though, he's got a sneaky streak (mainly in a being-places-he-knows-he-shouldn't way, never met a locked door he liked) and it's not a compulsive habit but he has been known to pocket things without paying, here and there.

BRAVERY: 9/10. Absolutely terrified: stands his ground in front of the scary thing anyway. Docked one point for being slightly cagey when it comes to talking about the things that scare him. (He's afraid to give them more power to frighten and maim with his words. Ghosts may be hard to get rid of, but myths are impossible to kill.)

RECKLESSNESS: 5/10. I know what you're thinking. I know why you're thinking it. I agree, he is very impulsive. He also, and I will die on this hill, is way more measured than people take him for. It's true he can be goaded into not thinking at all, and he is, in general, quick to act. However! I think he bows to his impulses only around half the time, and it's just that he's struck by impulse so often that only indulging it around half the time means it's still a defining trait for him. This is also what makes him so easily frustrated — you're only seeing half of his go!go!go!, he's already holding himself in check, so people going "uh, hold yourself in check" is just. A very frustrating experience. Imagine you're walking and people keep blasting whistles in your ear to go 'no running!!!' at you like you're breaking the rules >:[

AMBITION: ..5/10? 6? In terms of when he has a goal, he'll go to every length to achieve it. Ultimately, though, his goals are usually just "the people I care about (including himself, btw) are happy and safe." Everything outside of that isn't necessarily important to him. So it really just depends on what level of 'my people' he's at, as for how ambitious this goal is.

LOYALTY: 10/10. You can't get rid of him if you try, once he's grabbed on. Even if you hurt him.

LOVE: 10/10. Heart on his sleeve. He's not afraid to get close to people, not afraid for them to know it, not afraid to be known - prefers to be known, in fact. I think he's pretty easy to love, too. He is, notably, several closed off characters' weak spot.

SENSE OF FAMILY: 100/10. I told myself I wasn't going to dick around with the greater-than-ten value numbers, but. C'mon. The key to a Henry corruption arc lies somewhere in his unwillingness to let go and the way his people can be used against him.

ATTRACTIVENESS: .. 8? 9/10?? I'm biased about his literal appearance but I feel like it's gotta be... if not more, then equally about his nature. Which I guess is also a 'to each their own' kind of situation, but like. He's warm and reliable and communicative and supportive and earnest and a little bit possessive and there's that surprising edge of wildness and he's got big stupid brown eyes like. I dunno man I feel like a lot of people would fold, at some point. Like come on.

AGILITY: 6/10. Stronger than he is fast, but he'll surprise you with it. Reaction time is very important if you want to work the rigging of a ship. Henry's is reliable, without being flashy or gimmicky; it's more to do with him being attentive than being above-average nimble or anything; suffers/goes down when he's distracted/overwhelmed.

SEX DRIVE: like.... 7/10. Pushing toward higher than average. Not to the point of distraction/preoccupation, but he's definitely down & interested more often than he isn't, if that makes sense? And also very curious, in this regard. In every regard really but here it's relevant.

[rockofeye]

Hey Houngan Alex, I left my Sosyete years ago (respectfully, and only after many attempts to work out our ethical differences as a House) and there's something I've always wondered about. Is there any kind of ceremony that needs to take place to let someone leave a Sosyete, and does that ceremony involve the po tét?

Months after I stopped coming around, I was told I needed to bring my po tét to my Mambo for a ceremony so her Lwa could formally release me. It was emphasized that she would give it back to me, and this was not punitive or a big scary deal, just a traditional formality that would let me continue as a Mambo without issue. "The right, traditional way to do things".

I was suspicious, so I reached out to a brother I trusted who'd been in the Sosyete for decades. He told me it was true, and echoed that this was totally safe, NBD, just a formality.

This was years ago and I never did it, of course. I'm sorry but absolutely nobody is touching my po tét. I was not surprised that my Mambo would suggest something like this, but I lost a tremendous amount of respect for the brother who encouraged me to do it.

I'm wondering if there's some kind of totally legit, sensible precedent to this within the tradition that isn't centered around cutting a person off from their Lwa, or removing their stability. This doesn't keep me up at night, but I trust your knowledge and it's something I've always been curious about.

Thank you for all you do for the community.

Hi,

I have not heard of this specifically and it's possible that it is something specific to that sosyete but there are some things that concern me. In my experience, this would not be common or accepted.

There is a part I find pretty troubling, about having her lwa release you. That's just something that doesn't exist, because you have your own lwa. You are not living under and serving her lwa, you are living under and serving her lwa, and she has no control over that and no right to meddle with it.

Further, when you undergo ceremony that produces a po tèt, that work is irreversible. It can't be taken away or cut off simply because you choose to no longer be a part of a sosyete. If that were so, people would be stripped of titles and initiations and that's not possible. It doesn't matter if it was a lave tèt or a kanzo, it can't be undone or removed from you. It is irreversible. There are ways it can be modified or overwritten, like if you had a lave tèt and then did a kanzo in a different sosyete or were made a hounsi kanzo or sou pwen in one sosyete and took the asson in another sosyete...but what was done can never be undone, and that is why it is so important that people discern before committing (not saying you didn't, speaking generally only).

I would also feel pretty resistant to someone I was breaking off a relationship with touching my po tèt. It is literally the seat of my soul and being, and I would question why and how someone would need to touch it as part of parting, because there is literally no work necessary. Po tèts are very rarely worked on for any reason post ceremony and really only addressed in the case of imminent death or grave illness; that is when a spiritual parent or someone they designated would do work on it.

There is no process to leave a sosyete, really. Like, if you (in general) are leaving on good terms it's good to have a discussion because issues can be addressed even if they are irresolvable but it's not necessary. I know a lot of folks who have left sosyetes; some leave after conversations, some leave after a massive falling out that is visibly messy, and some just fade away.

Part of the reason there is no process is that once the work is done, it's done. There is no control factor in a lave tèt or kanzo; your ceremony is not dependent on your relationship to a person and your relationships with your lwa are likewise not dependent on the person who did the ceremony. Is it ideal to stay in the same sosyete and learn from the same person? Yes, but ideals don't always work out. If I chose to leave my spiritual mother and sosyete I was initiated in, it would be painful but there would be nothing for her to do about my lwa and my title.

It's also something that is not that uncommon, particularly in Haiti and particularly for people who are not asogweman. It's not unusual for people to be made senp or sou pwen in one sosyete and take the asson somewhere else. I know folks who do senp or sou pwen in a family temple, but then find themselves led somewhere else. Sometimes folks might relocate geographically and it may make more sense to do their ceremonies somewhere else.

From what you describe, you already know there were issues where you were and your lack of surprise should inform you. It sounds like there is an aspect of control in this situation that just doesn't exist in reality and that sounds like an environment where growth may not be encouraged.

I hope you are feeling supported wherever you are now. Happy to speak privately with you if that would be helpful.

[screemnch]

A not so “mini” mini-essay about writing advice.

This may be old news and entirely obvious to everyone, but this is MY internet void space and I get to put my thoughts down here if I want to. That being said.

“Only write things that are essential to the plot. If it does nothing to further the story - get rid of it.” Is a piece of advice that I heard a bunch of times, and I have things to say about it.

I’ve been hearing this advice since I was in middle school, just learning how to staple together a story, and it always felt so mean to me. Same with “kill your darlings” though I’ve come to tolerate that one a lot more. But this whole “whatever doesn’t further the plot must be cut” always sat wrong with me.

I think its partially because often times it had been used by people around me to tell me (the author) what I should cut or keep. I had people telling me that things that seemed to me extremely important were actually irrelevant and should have been cut. But that’s not exactly fair, is it?

It creates the notion that all stories have the same priorities. Any book/movie/narrative must follow a plot and have its purpose, comply with story structures and fulfill audience expectations. It creates a conventional cookie cutter for a story which the author may simply fill with whatever the current trend of storytelling is. But if you pose a wider question to the audience “what is essential to the story? What does actually further the plot?” You probably won’t have everyone come to a consensus.

To some it may be simply the hard actions that encompass the journey and its destination - how things began, how they ended and what troubles happened in between. But then the question arises - are those hardships relevant to the plot? Does the story really need the struggle, especially if it’ll be overcome anyway? Is our ultimate story actually just “hero needs to do thing - hero does thing”? Or is it that by getting rid of the issues within the journey that we’ve made the story itself obsolete and therefore must cut it as well? Which then of course eventually becomes the question of: does your story need telling? Do people need to hear it at all?

A lot of the things I was told as a teenager were irrelevant to the story were things about emotions. Subtle elements of a character’s backstory that inform their decision making throughout the plot, even if the actual element never reenters the narrative. Is then what we need to move the plot further - information? Do we need to keep in only the things that make the story comprehensible, getting rid of any embellishment that god forbid may obscure some parts? But then what’s the point of detective novels, or postmodernist obscure fiction, stories that are based entirely on misleading and confounding the audience’s understanding of itself? This, of course, brings up the important question of what the barrier is between the author and the audience. Do the readers get to know as much as the author? Do you leave them in the dark to reach their own conclusions? How much of the story is dependent on who it is consumed by?

Additionally, many people are of the belief that stories need to have some sort of moral. A lesson for the audience to take away and carry with them for the rest of their lives as a reminder of what’s really important. Of course, in the current world of fast paced information, media trends, and an absolute flooding of content, that timeframe may be as short as a few hours. Most stories hardly stick with audiences long enough to even elicit an emotional reaction, let alone actually affect them on a deeper level. And while the argument of what it really means to be changed by a piece of media is a super interesting one, it’s also not all too relevant here. The question we have here is about whether the things that a story ACTUALLY needs are all the elements that reach the audience, convey the message and encourage an empathetic and analytical interaction with itself. One might say that that is what’s essential to the story and needs to be kept in at all costs, but… The same story doesn’t have the same reception in different groups. Some stories lose their affective quality over time. Do those stories then cease to be relevant and must be cut? Does the author actually, truly have the control to bring forth the needed reaction and prompt the “right” kind of discussion from the audience? If the fate of a narrative is to be consumed by an audience, then shouldn’t the audience’s intention to interpret be consider above the authors intention to persuade?

And that’s when it kind of clicked for me what I found so unnerving about this piece of writing advice. Some people may have found it useful and that is wonderful for them, but I think the main thing that I take issue with is… It instills insecurity. All of these questions that have been asked in this mini-essay don’t have definitive answers. It’s not easy telling what’s relevant and what isn’t, and it brings on further doubts, eventually making you wonder if you should be trying to say something at all? Why write a story if it’ll have an ending? Why write a story when you could have a series of factoids? Why write a story when the audience will take from it only what they want, if anything at all? Not to mention the criticism levied against writers of indulgent “pointless” stories, such as fanfiction and erotica: why write if you, presumably, don’t have something deep, compelling and high-brow to say?

I resent this notion - the whole concept that a story must be something, and has to be a particular kind of way. I resent the idea that people are made to feel a certain way about their writing based on simply whether parts of it should have the right to exist. Especially since there isn’t even a consensus on the matter alongside literary academics. Literature will always be subject to debate, to discourse, just like other art forms. The idea that something has to be important in order to exist? I think it’s stupid and capitalistic at its core. Even if I, as an individual, find something unimportant or unappealing, that doesn’t mean I get the right to say that it needs to disappear. The author is trying to communicate something, whatever it may be: world altering philosophical ideas, political propaganda, high-stakes emotional turmoil, or the typical kind of excitement people get from erotic fiction. Whether people will listen or respond positively is another thing, but communication is an important tool under humanity’s belt. We shouldn’t limit it based on a theory that may he obsolete within the next year.

If anyone does want advice in regards to killing your darlings and getting rid of the fluff in a story, may I offer you something first: consider what kind of story you’re trying to tell. Identify your priorities in this particular narrative and use that to decide what’s relevant. Sometimes a story doesn’t need to make sense, sometimes it can just be stupid fun. A story about people having a nice swell time and a story about people suffering are not likely to prioritize the same elements. The things you include and exclude are just as much a part of the story as what it ends up being in the end. Know what informs your decisions and consider if this is what you, the author, want.

Also don’t listen to random people on and off line telling you what to do without applying critical thought. If it’s upsetting to you that someone may look at a story and immediately move on to something else, maybe remember to practice engaging with texts critically and not just drift in the ocean of contradictory content. Peace.

[ayakh03]

Denotations and connotations in movies: How and why are they useful in animation movies?

Simply put, denotation is the straightforward, literal definition of a word, while connotation is the figurative meaning, it includes the emotional and personal associations that the word brings, that goes beyond the literal meaning of the word.

Movies can use connotations to evoke emotions and set themes in a subtle way. It involves symbolic and emotional association with the viewer through sound, lighting and dialogue to allow a richer form of storytelling. I always find it really fascinating when I discover the meaning behind a specific choice in movies (which also leads to believe that absolutely everything in movies is done on purpose)

A very common example would be the colour blue: Seeing the colour blue in movies more often than not connotes sadness. Same for the colour red and anger and green for evil in Disney movies.   

Inside Out (2015) Directed by Pete Docter, DOI or Available at Disney+

However, depending on the movie and the franchise, the same colour, word, or sound could mean different things. Staying on the theme of blue and red, in Star Wars, for example, blue is good, and red is evil. 

Star Wars (1997) Directed by.George Lucas, DOI or Available at Disney+

Artists use connotations way more than the viewers realize, and learning about them is always a shocking revelation, that ends up making so much sense and might change your view and opinion on so many subjects and theories regarding the piece. 

Now regarding animation movies, I think denotations and connotations are especially important because animation relies a lot on visual symbolism and storytelling to create. A more engaging and memorable experience for the audience.

A good use of denotations is to establish clearly and quickly some scenarios and characters.

For example, in Zootopia, they used the species of the animals to indicate their personality, or role in society.  

Zootopia (2016) Directed by. Byron Howard, Rich Moore, DOI or Available at Disney+

As we can see, the lion is the mayor, the sloth is the slow, lazy worker, etc…And of course, the movie basically covers the dream of the little rabbit that wants to become an officer, and the predators being viewed as automatic threats in society. 

On another hand, Inside out uses connotation through colours. Joy is yellow, she radiates comfort and warmth, while sadness is blue and lacks energy. They represent the emotions and the colours used for them work really well.

Other forms of denotations and connotations are through shapes, movements and actions. For instance, in kung fu panda, Po’s clumsiness and round physique, bring positive connotations of humour and warmth. 

Kung Fu Panda (2008) Directed by.Mark Osborne, John Stevenson, DOI or Available at Netflix

There are many more examples I found that are really interesting, but that would take a while. In summary, denotations can provide clarity while connotations grant artists the ability to add creativity, depth and emotional richness to the story telling. Denotations and connotation participate in making animation one of the most powerful mediums for storytelling, for all ages. 

However, during my tutorial with Saint Walker, he pointed out that denotations and connotations can be understood differently depending on the viewer's cultural background, personal experiences, and emotions.

Going back to colors, for example, a red envelope in chains usually signifies a gift or means good luck. But on the contrary, when I received a red envelope in the mail I automatically assumed that it meant something bad, which turned out to be true. So the way I see it, even if some connotations might be done on purpose, they might be understood differently. And of course, sometimes they don’t mean anything, but each viewer might just understand them in their own way. So I realized, that denotations and connotations can be really useful and important to each viewer's individual experience with a movie. So of course, using them to pass across a specific message to the audience will of course be of great use for storytelling, but I find it interesting how we can use them to create a more personal and immersive experience for each viewer. This is of course very complicated, but it’s very interesting, and I’d love to use this to my advantage in future personal projects.

In conclusion, denotations and connotations in animated movies are essential tools for storytelling, and the subjective aspect of it allows free interpretation to each viewer, allowing them to have a unique and personal experience. This flexibility is what makes movies resonate differently with the audience. It also invites viewers to rewatch to interpret scenes in a new way, as we are always affected and changed by events in life as we grow older. 

sources:

Fiveable.me. (2024). Denotation and connotation in film | Film and Media Theory Class Notes | Fiveable. [online] Available at: https://fiveable.me/film-and-media-theory/unit-5/denotation-connotation-film/study-guide/3Tjy800AGSDoCT0D [Accessed 10 Nov. 2024].

Steains, T. (2020). Film Symbolism | How to Analyse Symbolism in Film or TV. [online] Matrix Education. Available at: https://www.matrix.edu.au/film-symbolism-matrix-cinematic-techniques/.

Tavares (2021). What’s the Difference Between Denotation and Connotation in Film? [online] BeverlyBoy Productions. Available at: https://beverlyboy.com/filmmaking/whats-the-difference-between-denotation-and-connotation-in-film/ [Accessed 10 Nov. 2024].

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[rose-of-oz]

ship asks 10-20 + aj x roman — @xoteajays

Thank you so much for this!! Also gonna tag @stelstellakidd since I know she loves Fast & Furious too. <3 <3

Do they share any hobbies or interests? How do these things bring them together?

Well, of course they do share a mutual love for cars, even if AJ’s interest lies more in modifying and suping them up then actually driving them, and, of course, all of the craziness the Toretto family gets up to and breaking the law in general. And these things bring them together in a lot of ways; in addition to AJ’s ties with the Shaw family quite literally being the reason they met in the first place, spending time with the team on adrenaline-fuelled adventures and committing smaller crimes together in between missions allows them to bond and reaffirm all the things they love about each other.

How do they feel about nicknames/pet names? If they like them, what pet names do they use? If they hate them, why do they feel that way?

AJ doesn’t like them very much, mostly because he’s kind of awkward with affection directed at him in general, but he doesn’t mind when Roman calls him “babe” or “baby”. Roman’s a bit better about them, but he’s still not comfortable with anything too mushy - he does really like when AJ calls him “love,” though.

Do they have a difficult time when separated from each other, or are they fairly independent?

They are both fairly independent people, but because of AJ’s anxiety, he tends to have the harder time when Rome’s off without him. It isn’t that he doesn’t trust Roman, but he does know the other man’s reckless tendencies all too well, and he often worries that he’ll get himself into danger if AJ isn’t there to act as his impulse control. Roman is a lot better about being left without his boyfriend; depending on where AJ’s going or if he knows where he is, he might worry, but mostly he trusts AJ to keep himself safe.

How do they keep in contact when they’re apart? Do they write letters, talk on the phone, or simply wait out the time?

They’re not often apart after AJ becomes an official member of the Toretto team, but when they are, they usually content themselves with texting each other, or doing a video call if there’s time for it; neither of them could stand just waiting out the time until they’re reuinited.

Do they enjoy PDA, or are they more private with affection?

They may hold hands in public or, if they’re going their separate ways, share a quick kiss before they go, but nothing beyond that; AJ’s too awkward with affection for anything else in the presence of others, and although Roman has gotten to a much better place with his feelings about his sexuality and love for AJ, there’s still a part of him that gets nervous at the thought of being too affectionate around other people.

What songs remind you of their relationship?

“Tough Love” by Avicii, “Delicate” by Taylor Swift, and “Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy” by Queen.

Would they ever get matching tattoos? If yes, what would these look like?

I don’t know if they ever actually would, and if they did it would be AJ’s first and only one because he’s terrified of needles, but if they did, the tattoos would be matching sports cars on their forearms.

How well do they communicate? Are they open with their feelings/thoughts or more reserved? Why?

They are… not fantastic at communicating, mainly because neither of them are very good with emotions in general (AJ more with properly communicating them and Roman more with expressing them in general). This can cause problems in their relationship, but they do try to make the effort because they know it’s important.

How do they care for each other when one of them is wounded/sick?

If it’s a person who’s hurt Roman, AJ will actually get angry, raring to go out and get revenge on the person who hurt him, but he will make sure he’s okay and his wounds are properly tended too first. If he’s sick, however, he will absolutely dote on his boyfriend, making sure he has everything he needs and checking up on him as constantly as he dares without getting annoying.

Roman isn’t as good at taking care of people, it doesn’t come naturally to him, but he will make sure to be right by AJ’s side and lean on the people around him for extra support. If AJ’s injured, he’ll leave the patching up to Mia or Brian, hold AJ’s hand the whole time, and be at his side the whole time he recovers; if he’s sick, he’ll call Tej because he makes the best chicken noodle soup, and make sure to make a list of all the things Mia told him help best for sick people so he never forgets for next time.

Do they wear each other’s clothes/jewelry?

It’s mainly AJ wearing Roman’s clothes, since AJ’s are too small for Roman to wear, but he will occasionally snatch a shirt or jacket that Roman will vehemently deny that he finds cute, and they also get matching chain necklaces after two years together.

How do they comfort each other when one of them is upset? Is this method of comfort effective?

AJ isn’t very good at verbal comfort, so his usual method of comforting Roman is just to tuck himself into his boyfriend’s side and lay his head on his shoulder, giving Roman all the time he needs to speak or return the contact and making it clear that he can tell AJ to leave if he needs to. It’s his way of making it clear that he’s right there with Rome no matter what, and though it may not always work immediately, it does always work.

Roman, however, is a very verbal person, as we know, so if AJ is upset or overwhelmed, his usual tactic is to just start talking - telling a random funny story, sharing memories about him and Brian as kids, anything lighthearted that he can think of. It’s a trick for bringing AJ out of his head and cheering him up a bit, and though it can be hit-or-miss, it’s always done with the best of intentions.

ship ask game!!

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Would the Awake and Present Timeline Joanne Please Stand Up?

Depending on the day you catch me on, I will tell you ether that Coyote Dreams is my favorite books of the series or that it is tied for the top spot with Mountain Echoes. Either way, this is a damn good book. Joanne is finally ahead of the curve for once, and she's learned to both lower the blast walls and raise shields--but more important she's learned when to do those things and why. Not that any of this means that Joanne's life is anything but messy, in a glorious, tangled, way that is a blast to watch unfold. Oh, and she has to convince a Navajo god that she isn't actually the harbinger of the end of days, which is somehow STILL less embarrassing than Morrison casually saying that he gave his piece of topaz to Barbara Bragg. Let's talk Coyote Dreams.

This is your obligatory SPOILER WARNING. You know the drill, folks.

Ok, so I'm skimping on the plot summary on this book for two reasons. One, I very much want you to GO READ THIS BOOK. It's worth it, I promise. Two, this is my blog and I want to just highlight all my favorite parts of this book, because frankly? There are SO MANY and this book is just AMAZING.

The TLDR of the plot is that Joanne accidentally woke up and gave a signal to a Navajo god that it's end of days, so Begochidi starts putting people to sleep and siphoning off their life force to keep himself awake and powerful enough to lead his people to the next world. Meanwhile, Joanne suddenly has a social life that gets wildly out of control as she and Morrison date a pair of fraternal twins and Joanne gets JEALOUS AF. This social life gets twisted up with her day job (police officer) and calling (shaman) as people she loves start to fall asleep and cannot be woken up. She manages to keep Gary awake though, and we love that for her. Eventually, Joanne steals her 13-year-old self's competence with her own magic and convinces Begochidi that she isn't the herald of the end times and he can go back to sleep. Everyone wakes up and it's all good, and Joanne takes a promotion from Morrison instead of a date, to both of their very complicated feels about it. The end.

Ok, now, on to the things I adore about this book. And we're gonna use headings, because that's pretty fun for me.

Joanne Wakes Up In Bed with a Boy She Didn't Sleep With

This book starts off with Joanne waking up next to a strange man. It's kind of hilarious, and we spend 3/4 of the first chapter sorting out who the heck this very cute man is and how we feel about the cute man and how we feel about being IN the situation, because this is very outside of normal for Joanne. Genuinely, the clear communication, priorities, and internal monologue in this whole section are amazing because the flip-flopping between "What the SHIT am I doing right now???" and "daaaaaaaaaaaaaang, this man is pretty" is both hilarious and deeply relatable.

Especially once Gary shows up and chaos gremlins the whole thing by switching between concerned friend, dad figure out to terrify the boy he found his daughter figure with, and wingman. I love when Gary brings the chaos gremlin energy, and he keeps leaving Mark's number around the apartment for Joanne to find to make sure she has the option for a social life and boyfriend if she wants.

The fact that Mark is one half of the manifestation of the sleeping sickness that is spreading throughout the novel is...regrettable. Because he's cute, polite, he cooks, and he made the bed. But he's part of the problem, and more than that, part of the problem is that Mark is not Morrison.

Joanne Pisses Off Doc Holliday

Ok, so, when Billy Holliday gets trucked off to the hospital in a coma, Morrison drags Joanne there to see if she can help. When a doctor walks in all offended by the drum and the laying on of hands, he "simply hit all my arrogant-prick medical-professional buttons" and Joanne lets him absolutely HAVE it. I'm just gonna let her speak for herself at this point, because nothing I could say could possibly make it any better:

"This is Mrs. Holliday. Oh, you've met. [...] So I'm sure you understand that whatever's going on in here is happening with her approval, which makes it, let me see, what's the phrase I'm looking for here. Oh yeah. None of your goddamn business. [...] Does it appear to you that anyone in this room is providing illegal medical advice, or in fact trying to remove Mr. Holliday from the hospital's expert care? [...] I didn't think so. I'm sure you're familiar with the idea of positive thoughts and prayer shoring up the ill, Doctor, even if you don't subscribe to its usefulness yourself. [...] That's what I thought. But you'd hardly deny the family and friends of an ill man the chance to surround him with those thoughts and prayers, would you? I didn't think so."

And she spends this entire monologue aggressively backing him out of the room, only for Melinda to explain that he is actually Billy's brother.

I love how far this represents Joanne having come from book 1, because book 1 Joanne would have been entirely on Doc Holliday's side. She'd have rolled her eyes SO HARD at faith healing and the idea that anything other than medical science could help Billy. And now, just two and a bit books later, she's actively and aggressively slapping down someone who is hardcore only western medicine. It's such great character growth, and I cannot do anything but LOVE how hard Joanne goes to protect and support her people.

Even if in doing so without first surveying the room she accidentally pisses off the person she's going to have to work with once Melinda goes to sleep as well. Which leads to a whole great "look, I was a dick and we disagree, but can we just bury the hatchet and make this work?" arc.

Joanne's Ongoing Battle With Laurie Corvallis Begins

Laura "Laurie" Corvallis is a reporter who will keep showing up in the rest of the books, and we kind of love how tenacious, self-aware, and wholly ruthless she is. Most of that comes from her later book interactions, but we are introduced to her here when she shoves a microphone in Joanne's face immediately after Morrison goes, "Whatever you do, do NOT talk to the press" because a quarter of the precinct is now in comas.

Laurie Corvallis knows a lead when she sees one though, and she spends a lot of time watching and following Joanne. Joanne buys her cameraman's loyalty with a burger, and ultimately fucks this first interaction up because she actually gave Corvallis a lead that both did and did not pan out. So basically, Joanne made herself interesting to the reporter who is just barely not a muckraker. She will never, ever be free of this woman.

Joanne Loses Her Absolute Shit In Public During a Double Date

Ok, so this meltdown. This meltdown is epic, and got a little bit of its own post on this blog because it's precipitated by Morrison making the worst possible move ever and giving the piece of topaz Joanne gave him (topaz is protective against the comas) to Barb. But that is just the catalyst; this meltdown encompasses more and needs a little setup.

So Joanne accidentally gets Coyote killed during a trek into the astral plane, and admits it to Morrison when she checks in with him at the precinct. It's already SUPER awkward, but then Barb walks in and strongarms Joanne into a double date. Joanne doesn't like Barb. Joanne is jealous AF of Barb. Joanne extremely does not want to go on a double date with Barb and Morrison. Unfortunately, we then cut to Joanne and Mark on a dinner date with Barb and Morrison, and Joanne's shamanism has come up in the context of the comas half the police force is in. Barb is PUSHING the topic, and when Joanne explains that the topaz is protective, this happens:

"The topaz works as a charm against the sleeping sickness," I heard myself add. Morrison's expression went indecipherable. "Good," he said after a moment. "I gave that piece to Barb."

I'm pretty sure that line counts as both murder and suicide. Like, this reminds me of Anthony in Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra trying to do the honorable thing and falling on his sword but FUCKING IT UP. Like, there was no way out of this conversation alive for either Morrison or Joanne, but instead of mitigating the blow, Morrison landed it in the most painful way possible. Joanne is already emotionally vulnerable because her friends are in comas or dead, and the man she is absolutely gone for just basically shoved her in front of a bus. I'm way more emotionally put together than Joanne is, and I don't think I'd have managed this any better than she did.

And what Joanne did was...kind of the epic date night scene in the restaurant/restaurant parking lot. First she freezes as Barb waffles on inanely about topaz. Then she stands up. Then she BOLTS from the restaurant, taking out at least one other table as she goes. She doesn't get her car door open in time to avoid Morrison catching up to her, and when he gently touches her shoulder, she hauls off and decks him (he deserved it).

Then the words come out. With no thought for volume, propriety, or the audience of confused diners who have followed them out to the parking lot. And more than hauling off and punching Morrison, Joanne lets him have it with her words. And I suspect that this is what lands for Morrison more than the actual punch, because she manages to admit that she has feelings for him, throws his own logic and integrity in his face, throws the fact that the sleeping sickness is actually killing HIS people in his face, and finally calls his ass out for his "big dumb hero" moment actively putting him in danger. Which...is valid and true but uh...I'm pretty sure that kind of surgical takedown is pretty close to as emotionally devastating as Morrison giving Barb the topaz is. And I think those points hit because the ONLY rebuttal Morrison has to all of this is as follows:

"I'm going to cut you some slack, Walker, because a friend of yours just died. [...] But if you ever. So much as think. About throwing another punch my way, I will have you up on assault charges so fast your head will spin, and I am good and certain that your bag of tricks doesn't hold a get-out-of-jail-free card. Do I make myself perfectly clear, Officer Walker?"

If you have to fall back on literally being the boss, you've made your point, but you've lost that battle. He didn't address a single one of her valid points, or the fact that he was out of line by giving the topaz away. So uh...I'm not going to declare a WINNER here, but I think hits were scored all 'round.

This was gloriously messy as a public scene, but it also was gloriously messy in that it fully spilled the can of worms that is the weirdness of the Joanne-Morrison relationship out into the open where they can both see it and kind of can't ignore it anymore. They're gonna try, though. For like another four books.

Joanne Saves Morrison's Life

So...when you date one of the two people actively siphoning people's life force after putting them in a coma and then you hand them the thing that protects you from them...you're absolutely getting nerfed and drained dry. And I have a hard time sympathizing with Morrison about ending up on his back on his kitchen floor with Barb's hand over his heart, sucking his literal life away.

As Joanne notes, his life force is depleting WAY faster than anyone else's, because he is very close to her and unlike Billy and Mel, he doesn't know how to shield. So he is about to get very literally energy vampired to death by his girlfriend, when Joanne astral projects in and sticks her astral hand into his chest beneath Barb's, startling Barb enough to break the connection and get some damn shields on this man.

There's not a whole hell of a lot to this instance--it goes pretty quick in the book, but holy HELL is this emotionally satisfying. Joanne is vindicated about not liking Barb, she gets her own big damn hero moment, and she actually knows enough about herself and Morrison to be able to effectively shield him. The details she pulls up to link to him and create boundaries for the shield for him are really lovely and sweet and real. It's such a good moment, and it's absolutely the moment where you KNOW they are endgame.

Joanne Punches Barb in the Face

This one is pretty much what it says on the tin, and it is deeply emotionally satisfying. Like as soon as Joanne finished shielding Morrison, she winds up and hauls off a punch that takes Barb in the teeth. It's AMAZING.

Gary Helps Joanne Arm Up

Garrison Matthew Muldoon is the best human in this series, period, end of sentence. So of course when Joanne decides she needs to be drummed under to fix the sleeping sickness and prevent the end of the world on the astral plane, Gary isn't about to let her go in unarmed and unprepared.

Admittedly, his first preference would be that she not go in at all, but once it's clear that she's GOING, he plants her in her living room and then arms her up. He pulls Cernunnos's sword out from under her bed and hand it to her, before putting a copper bracelet that acknowledges her Cherokee heritage and was a gift from her father on her left wrist to protect her heart. Then on goes a silver triskelion and Celtic cross necklace from her mother, to guard her soul. Then Joanne says, "What about you? [...] Don't I get anything from you? Mother's got my soul covered and Dad's got my heart, but without you, jeez, Gary, I wouldn't be here at all. You took the damned sword out of me when I was dying so I could heal myself. And all I get is this lousy little ritual?"

My description is not doing this scene any justice whatsoever, because at this point when reading, I'm in tears right along with Joanne. And then I sob my eyes out when Gary pins his Purple Heart from the Korean War to her chest to shield her.

This is literally every arming up scene from every movie with such a scene, but it hits so beautifully hard and is all about love and protection rather than glorifying the battle. This has to be done, but it's about making sure that Joanne will be ok and make it out the other side. That Gary supports her effectively and without question or hesitation is also just heartbreakingly wonderful.

Joanne and Morrison Have a Heart to Heart Part I

Ok, so...remember when Joanne shielded Morrison? There was a small oops in there, because she accidentally hooked him up to Begochidi through her shields, and she has to fix that from his garden. Which...after the scene at the restaurant you kind of expect to be deeply confrontational and awkward, but reader and Joanne are surprised when Morrison is deeply chill and comfortable. Well, he should be, it's his head they're in.

This section is a really well done and deeply necessary follow-up to the meltdown at the restaurant, because this is where Morrison opens the door that Joanne flung open during the meltdown. It also gives Joanne a chance to come clean about her past to Morrison without the "real world" power structures and hang-ups that really prevented them from communicating this well from minute one, where Joanne publicly ribbed him for not knowing cars.

This is SUCH a good conversation, and all props to CE Murphy for writing setting in this scene, because I don't know what I was expecting for Morrison's garden, but this was PERFECT.

Joanne and Morrison Have a Heart to Heart Part II

Soooooooo...remember that bit where I said that Joanne and Morrison were going to spend the next four books trying SUPER HARD not to acknowledge that they like each other? That starts here. The last few pages of this book are Morrison coming to Joanne to ask if their previous heart to heart in his garden was real. Joanne says yes, and he's over here looking devastating and superhero-y and he very carefully and precisely asks, "Would you take a promotion?"

And literally, y'all...this question is DEVASTATING. Because a yes would mean aligning Joanne's shamanism and her day job in ways that would help her learn and grow, but more importantly would genuinely help people. A no, however, would mean...Morrison. It would probably end Joanne's career as a cop, but it would open the door to try it with him and change literally everything about her life again.

And Joanne takes the promotion. She HAS to at this point, she has more to learn, she's still healing, and she's legit terrified of herself, which means that she isn't ready to focus on a future and relationship that she knows she wants. For all that, though? This is HEARTBREAKING in the best way. I haven't seen such a well-done bittersweet ending for a book in a WHILE.

Joanne Steals Her Past

So, a lot of this book is Joanne recognizing that her past left scars that she needs to deal with, from Aidan and Ayita to her dad to Sara Buchanan to the First Boy. And all of that ties up and gets utterly tragic when Joanne realizes that to save everyone in the here-and-now, she needs the skills and knowledge that her 13-year-old self had.

So in the astral plane, she ends up back in North Carolina with her younger self, and realized two things. First, she doesn't like her younger self and the feeling is mutual. Second, she has to take those skills from herself, and the sense of loss and pain and isolation from this action significantly contributed to the choices that led to her teen pregnancy and isolation. Like, this is actually tragic, because by the time Joanne understands what happened and why, it had already happened and she has no choice but to hold her younger self in her arms and tell her she'll be all right as her older self steals the things that give this 13-year-old community, confidence, and self-worth.

Guys, I cry so hard at this scene every time. The fact that there are lives on the line--that the world is on the line--somehow still doesn't make this ok for Joanne, either at 13 or 28. It's just tragic because it's a closed loop of time so there's nothing to be done to change it. That said, knowledge is power, so adult Joanne knowing what happened and why allows her to move forward, as we'll see in subsequent books.

I just love that the real tragedy of this book is that Joanne was the architect and victim of her own life, when at all points she was doing the best she could with the information she had. And at more than one of those points, it just wasn't enough. Especially when she's young, unsupported, and in pain. The idea of self-compassion (even when it's hard, and even when 13-year-old you was an obnoxious brat) this part of the book focuses on is so important, because it's soft, it's tragic, and ultimately, it's hopeful in some very real, concrete ways.

Begochidi's Last Best Shot

Ok, so this is in here because Begochidi tries so hard to take Joanne down into sleep by giving her what he thinks she wants in dreams, and he just KEEPS. FUCKING. IT. UP. The final attempt is clever in that he lets her think she's woken up before giving her the supposed life of her dreams. But damn for Begochidi, Joanne is good at details and if she thinks she's awake, there should be a particular logic to events based on her life, and the details just...don't match up.

Joanne is allowed to think she's woken up in her apartment after a week, with both Gary and Morrison there. Except that in this reality, Morrison is dating her, she has her own mechanic shop, and Gary and Morrison sorted out whatever the alpha male bullshit they have going on. And despite all of that being stuff Joanne would LOVE, the details are wrong. If she had been in a coma for a week, Gary shouldn't still be holding her drum when she wakes up, and she should be waking up in the hospital. Not to mention that Morrison dating her--as awesome as it would be--is just too weird to track.

Like...it was a valiant effort, Begochidi, but you cannot fight an English major with an insistently logical mind with dreams. He'dve got me though, since this is one of my favorite scenes in part because we DO get that tantalizing taste of the dream.

Overall, this book is just amazing, and if you've made it this far and DON'T go read the series...I guess I applaud your 3am, insomnia-fueled fall down this rabbit hole? Also, I hope you sleep soon.

[wolint]

FRESH MANNA

TRUST AND OBEY

Romans 2:13

Many of us will remember the chorus from the classic hymn:

Trust and obey,

For there's no other way

To be happy in Jesus

But to trust and obey

We all naively sing the words to this familiar hymn without giving them much thought but these important words convey the very heart of the Bible’s message.

The secret of spiritual growth, peace and blessing is simply trusting and obeying the Lord.

Christians often think that the secret of being "happy in Jesus" is found in some other method like "spiritual experiences"! No! The divine method for happiness and blessing is full trust in God and complete obedience to His word. Lack of faith and partial obedience not only result in unhappiness and loss of blessing, but they also bring serious consequences in the life of the believer.

Trust is a critical element to faith, the scriptures teach that we trust God by believing that His word is true, by obeying them even if we don’t understand and by obeying His will, no matter how difficult and depending on Him to see us through a step-by-step plan to His will and directives.

We must recognise that God is trustworthy and trust in Him above everything else says Psalm 33:21.

Before Abraham could receive his promise from God, he had to follow God’s instruction to relocate which wouldn’t have been easy, especially when he had no idea of what was ahead of him or where God was taking him and the sacrifices that would be required of him in Genesis 12.

When God stirs our hearts to do something, we must quickly obey the instructions and commands He gives us as seen in Ezra 1:5 and 2:1. This means we must listen attentively always to what the Lord is saying because obedience to Him involves listening to what he says. As declared in 1 Samuel 15:22.

Is the Lord saying something to you that you’re struggling to either hear or obey? Trust God! You will be rewarded for your faithfulness as seen in Matthew 25:29.

Abram was tested to see if he loved God above all and whether he could willingly leave all to go with God. The command God gave, is much the same as the gospel’s call, for natural affection must give way to Divine grace.

With God’s plan for Abraham unfolding in stages, Abraham had to learn to trust God one step and stage at a time.

Do you trust God? Will you obey what He tells you?

To trust God and obey His scripture more than listening and knowing, we are obligated to live an obedient lifestyle. Obedience is a faith requirement. It proves our faith is genuine when trust and knowledge are followed up by obedience.

Some people don’t like taking any step until they understand the finer details, but spiritual things do not work that way, we must believe to see, declares Hebrews 11:1. The first step into Jordan River was what was needed to part the river in Joshua 3:14-17.

God is always in the details and leaves nothing to chance, He would hold us up according to Jude 24. Just take the first step and God does the rest. We must trust and obey God while waiting on Him to fulfil His promises His time and way. He promises to meet all our needs in Matthew 6:33 and Philippians 4:19, as He did the children of Israel in the wilderness, He will supply all our needs if we trust and obey Him.

We are not made righteous by the Law, but only through faith and absolute reliance on and trust in Jesus Christ. Trusting Christ for salvation means we cease trusting in our efforts to make us righteous.

Trust God and obey Him, He will greatly bless you!

PRAYER: Lord of host, thank you for being so trustworthy. I ask that you help me to always listen and obey your instructions in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Shalom

WOMEN OF LIGHT INT.PRAYER MIN.

[respondedinkind]

Khan has absolutely no connection to christmas - or any other human traditions, for the matter.

Back where he comes from, a planet so far away that mankind doesn't even know of its existence yet (and he sincerely hopes they'll never start to explore that quadrant of space, for the sake of earth), traditions were rare and centered around the great rulers, their glory, their lives, the way they are meant to be superior to everything else that might exist in the Universe. Once a year, everyone would gather - literally everyone, except the poor souls living in the slumps outside the cities - and collectively praise the ones who turned them into what they were, what they still are. Speak a mantra that has been drilled into their heads from the very beginning, to be recited so often until it became part of their existence, their own lives, their own thoughts.

But besides that... well, there are no holidays. No other traditions. Nothing that would distract eager soldiers and others from doing what they're supposed to do.

So, the whole concept of having more than just one holiday once a year... it's very new to Khan. The first time he's heard someone speaking about Christmas, he didn't understand - the second time it had happened he'd grown curious. And when he's heard the very same word spoken out once more, eagerly so, he'd decided to do a bit of research on his own.

The Data Padd had given him a sufficient amount of information; Humans, depending on where exactly they came from, which area of earth they'd been born into, what they identify with (in any possible way), carry different traditions, celebrate them according to what is appropriate, and enjoy their time in such a way. It's fascinating; Khan has read about it for a whole evening, and then finally understood what Christmas is about, usually.

It differs a bit - the religious background has mostly faded, it's more about people enjoying time with friends and family, bringing gifts to show each other their appreciation. It's cute, in a way, yet so very much foreign to Khan that he cannot really understand the sentiment... how it is supposed to feel. He's never given a gift nor has he ever received one, and he's content with it. Yet, after reading about those traditions... he does wonder.

What would it be like to receive a gift? To have someone consider him important enough to come up with anything they can think of to give it to him? ---Perhaps he'll never find out about that, and he's meant to take that as a fact. He does. The slight pang of something bitter he experiences within his heart is quickly pushed to the side; He should be thankful for being here, and that's all that matters.

Returning from his shift one simulated evening, Padd in hand, Khan knows that said Christmas must be around the corner. He's unsure when exactly it happens, but he has spot some people getting excited - and some have even decorated parts of the ship with greenery as well as ornaments that have caught Khan's attention immediately, simply because how sparkly they are in the surrounding lights.

It's the simple things he finds joy in now, he assumes. Even if it's tiny trinkets made of plastic or glass, meant to just exist for the sake of looking pretty.

Humming to himself, he opens the door to his quarters without even needing to think of the action, stepping inside---

---Just to be met with the sight of that woman, the Doctor, standing there, staring right back him with what is obvious surprise - and shock - written onto her face. Khan's brows lift high on his forehead, equally as surprised, blue eyes widened as he stops his motions and takes in the sight of her, allowing silent seconds to pass.

No, he's not angry. Why should he? His quarters are private, yes, but it's not as if he isn't used to sharing them with anyone. Back where he comes from, he's resided in a shared room with three other men for the whole of his life...

He's just that: Surprised. Wondering why she is here, noticing the way she gets overwhelmed with embarrassment because she's been caught doing... well, what exactly?

Khan's blue eyes flick over to his bed, where he immediately spots... something sitting on the covers. Something that's wrapped in a bow. That almost makes those black brows rise even higher along the span of his forehead and Khan blinks, for the first time since he's arrived, as his gaze trails back to the woman who starts to speak a few, quietly muttered words.

Did she...? Are those...?

"---No need to worry.", is what he decides to say after a while; Such things are awkward on him, trying to do small-talk, trying to find the right words. Khan tries anyway, because he wants to. "I'm not... angered by your presence." Does that help? Is that the right thing to say? He doesn't know, but he hopes it will suffice.

And yes, he is still standing there, in front of his now closed door with his Padd lingering between his fingers.

Advent Day I ~ Old and New @respondedinkind

Christmas means a lot of things to Beth, but mostly it means peace and family. She remembers eagerly awaiting for the ships to bring pines and spruces in refrigerated containers, and some neighbours simply decorating palm trees in their yards. She remembers stopping and visiting the bearded and red suited Santa Claus bearing his chest to the tropical sun and raising his hand in a universal greeting ~hence why he's called Shaka Santa~ while beside his statue, one of Tutu Mele {Mrs Claus in formality} wearing a grin, her square eye-glasses and her finest mu'umu'u. She remembers feasts down on the beach where members of the community pulled together to bring food and drink enough for everyone, and no one was turned away. There would be carols sung along with the soft strains of ukuleles. There would be Aunties sharing pumpkin crunch bars. Hulas would be danced, presents exchanged. But star ships don't really have anything that can compare. Most of the time, the crew seem to ignore the ceaseless flow of time, marking it all down not as days and nights but strings of numbers that create a stardate. Beth remembers. Keeps track of time as far as earth-dates in her personal journal.

~*~ Weeks ago, she'd taken the liberty to escort Khan back to his quarters. And while he never offered her entry, she couldn't help but notice the barren state of it. She saw no photographs, no hint of anything personal to him. And maybe that made sense in the time when he politely inclined his head, his face an unmoving and expressionless thing, reminding her of nothing so much as an achingly haunting classical statue. She bid him a good evening, and turned back down the corridor. Mind lost in thought as she thought to herself how sad and lonely it all seemed. Not that he would admit to anything like that. But surely, even Commander Spock was prone to sentimental things. Then it occurred to her that maybe… maybe Khan had nothing of his old life. Nothing of home, of kin. Maybe nothing at all. She recorded these thoughts as she did most of her opinions. In letters she would never again get to send to her brother. She tells the idea of him that in some ways she is starting to identify with her mysterious patient, or at least empathise with him. How he and Khan might have been friends. A lot of little things that held no bearing on her assignment or the man's place on the ship. And then after making herself comfortable, she began her secret project. The first order that would take the longest was the blanket. The outermost border was knitted in white. Then cream, then alternating cream and a neutral sort of brown. These colours represented dry and wet sand from her beaches and the way the colours blended down by water's edge. Brown gave way to a thin sort of blue. The kiss between land and sea. That blue became the turquoise and deeper shades of the sea as the ocean fell away into itself, and finally turned to the colour of his eyes that she has no name for and doesn't have the paint to try and replicate it in any other medium. Knitting the cover took all of her time so that it would be ready in the time she wanted to have it. Wide enough to span the size of his bunk, long enough to wrap him shoulder to toe. She doesn't think Khan gets cold like she can, but that isn't the point really. It is a gift. Something for him to own, something that is his and no one else's. So what if she sacrificed a little sleep in order to finish it? Beth has never needed much rest to be fully capable, and she wanted to be kind. The second gift is much more personal in nature perhaps. Or at least in an entirely different way. When Beth was little, her grandfather had given her a little scroll case necklace. The clever design incorporated her 'aumakua ~a family guardian~ in the form of turtles swimming endlessly. Honu are seen as a symbol of wisdom, of long lives, of perseverance. All things he wished to impart in her, and all things she sees in Khan the more she gets to know him. It does make her smile a little when she thinks of the incredibly hard outer shell that protects the soft living heart within. She can think of nothing more appropriate to describe him. What Beth didn't account for, though, was getting caught trying to be a secret Santa. She'd talked her way into getting his quarters opened. She'd set the ribbon-tied blanket on the foot of his bunk, the necklace settled atop of it, and she was fully expecting to make good her escape when she turned…and came face to face with the man in question. Beth blinks. Her cheeks are fire and she lowers her gaze. "I…I can explain."

[damianbugs]

dc might not like to address how they've unofficially retconned a lot of jasons original robin run to end up being absolutely classist, but i most certainly will bring it up whenever i can. while this is definitely narrative criticism, it is more of a study, as i am not expecting anyone, readers or dc, to really change how they view the todds.

jason goes from being a rather reserved, kind and genuinely friendly child to an angry and cruel boy who was contemplating murder at some point (batman: urban legends). not to mention willis going from an absent but well meaning man who turned to crime to support his family to now being an abusive father and husband. catherine todd was originally stated to have died from overdose, but was later confirmed in death in the family to pass away from cancer, so while the 'poor addict mother' stereotype still applies, it is more complicated in her case.

it is no surprise that in modern tellings, all three of them represent very realistic forms of poverty. willis the abusive criminal, catherine the addict (her battle with cancer is always noticeably left out) and jason the violent child left to repeat the cycle.

dc simply couldn't allow the todd family to remain poor but an all in all good family (though i am careful to say they were perfect, past or present, since depending how you read him, willis can still be seen as a bad father and horrible husband), and instead had to dramatise negative stereotypes of poor people in order to really perpetuate the existence of jason being the "angry" robin. this mostly comes down to dc perhaps wanting to bury older comics featuring the original characterisation (since the only way to read them is through piracy), and there is no better way to do that than make his current characterisation nothing like his old one, at all.

after all, how else can we ensure readers are aware of how angry, evil and emotionally unstable jason todd is, if not making his life the pinnacle of why poor people are terrible and should not have kids? dc is not trying to hide it at all, it's almost laughable.

while the blatant classism is very clearly the biggest issue, from a storytelling perspective it is also really disappointing. deconstructing catherine and willis todd to their morally reprehensible, abusive and neglectful 2d personalities in modern telling leaves a massive gap is what made jason so personable as robin. personally, i also think it takes away how homelessness and his own poverty seperate from his family might have affected jason's morals and opinions on certain topics — another aspect of his character that is very important but often undeveloped.

especially with jason; making him having always been this quick to rage and violent child/robin takes away the true devastation of his death and subsequent revival. he died an innocent, damaged and complicated but caring boy, and came back vengeful and spiteful. he is a boy who has suffered a lot in life, with a sick mother he had to provide for due to his absent father, who also died due to a life of crime — and yet jason broke free from the cycle and became something more.

he loved to learn, to go to school, to play sports and to help people. he loved being a hero, even when it got tough, and though sometimes it was hard to remember, he always tried to stay on the bright side of things.

it's one of the main reasons bruce is so unable to process and accept his son's return, because to him, the person who came back is not the son he lost. though, that is another conversation entirely.

on the one hand however, i can see why jason's current life story might be more appealing to certain readers (and depending on the work, fanon or canon, it can makes more sense). since now that he's broken out of the cycle of abuse, he can use his strength to protect other vulnerable people. the true 'people's hero' in a way batman and other adjacent vigilantes can not be.

it is just a little regrettable that to fulfill this, he and his family must adhere to classist stereotypes to make it more believable. after all, jason was very much the 'people's robin' even without all the retcons to his character. he has always stood up for people who couldn't do it themselves.

[yoshkeii]

𝙲𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠/ 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 <𝟹

࿐ character(s): Gojo Satoru, Toji Fushiguro, Inumaki Toge, Megumi Fushiguro

࿐ genre: sfw, fluff

࿐ type: headcanons

࿐ requested by: ohhrin

⌦ male!reader (he/him)

⌦ ‘gojo, toji, megumi and inumaki x male reader cuddling hc’

A/N: surprised i got requested some fluff for Toji, thought that would never happen- pretty short since it has more than 3 characters !! i usually don’t do more than 3 but sometimes there are exceptions for who is being requested :]

𝙶𝚘𝚓𝚘:

→ i headcanon that one of Gojo’s love languages is in fact, physical affection, idk why but its just a feeling i have. especially whenever he has his technique on 24/7 i feel like it has a toll on him. so cuddling him is practically one of his favorite things to do with you.

→ mans is most likely a big spoon, but whenever he’s way from you for a long period of time he turns into a whiny clingy baby.

→ he would be all over you once he comes back from a mission in a different city or even country. all he ever wants to do is just snuggle up next to you.

→ though, in your perspective you’d just see Gojo walk into your shared room (or dorm) dragging his feet just a little with a little pout on his face once he sees your busy doing something else. but once you fully turn around to face him, simply opening his arms to welcome him back into a hug he wanted for who knows how long.

→ during cuddles, he’s the one to just randomly talk about the most weirdest shit- its literally whatever comes to his mind whether it be something with deeper meaning or him literally spitting out those ‘what if’ questions. probably would ask “would you still like me if i was a worm” type shit

→ Gojo practically has a handsy childish personality. so do expect a slip of a hand under your shirt, whether that its up on your back or sides. though it may seem bold but don’t keep your guard down or he might just fucking tickle you instead- which might result in him getting hit... sorry Gojo.

𝚃𝚘𝚓𝚒:

→ this man does not care whether he’s a big or little spoon, though... he enjoys being little spoon with you the most. especially after a long rough day.

→ the first time you offered him was a moment where it felt like absolute heaven. your hands lightly running through his hair, massaging his scalp just a tad. feeling the tension melt away from the larger male who was resting his head on your lap made you laugh quietly, biting the inside of your cheek to hold in the upcoming laughter you foresaw. making a confused Toji look at you before questioning you.

→ Toji is a fucking heater. which is good for cold days. winter season? this man will warm you up with just a hug. 

→ will carry you away from whatever you are doing for cuddles. Toji does not care but he knows he’ll get scolded by you if were doing something important- so he’ll face that to even get more cuddles.

→ always has his arms around you, or at least his hand holding yours whenever you both cuddle. the physical sensation is something he craves and he will fucking admit it to your face, just to see your reaction (which depends on what he says...)

𝙸𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒:

→ cuddling w/ Inumaki always has laughter in it. no matter if its soft giggles and chuckles, because he’s the one to share videos and posts he sees on his phone to you. and with his phone he can type things to you time to time, but its pretty uncommon since you learned to understand him from his other classmates.

→ occasionally he would text you on his phone to start silly conversations... even if he’s literally leaning back on you. him between your legs, his back facing you with his head resting on your stomach.

→ Inumaki doesn’t care if he’s little or big spoon. he just wants to be with you all honesty.

→ give him lil kissies !! he gets embarrassed and quite flustered when you do and its quite a sight seeing him hide away in the blankets coating both of you.

→ during cuddle sessions, definitely brings snacks that both of you like. almost every time there is at least one homemade snack, occasionally its something new he makes because he learns your favorite foods one by one.

→ a fucking great listener, probably the type to take mental notes or even notes in his phone of things you like- ranging from foods, clothes, colors, the smallest of things. he just wants to get to learn you better !!

𝙼𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚖𝚒:

→ this man loves to cuddle with you, its probably one of the most things he’ll ask for whenever you both are alone and comfortable.

→ Megumi’s favorite cuddling position would most likely be with you facing him or towards his chest. one arm around your waist to keep you close and with legs intertwined. he won’t every admit or say it aloud but he enjoys the handsome view he gets whenever he wakes up before you after a nap like this.

→ if requested, Megumi will summon his shikigami for cuddling sessions. like ya cant blame me because this man can summon a fuck ton of bunnies, a wolf- like man... fluffy animals... (he gets jealous when you give them more attention than him sometimes)

→ he doesn’t like it when Itadori, Nobara, and/or Gojo catches him cuddling with you. he just knows he’ll get bombarded with teases once you aren’t around... or when you are-

→ not the type for PDA imo, but he’ll do bare minimums.

→ during cuddles he’s so fucking gentle with you. just his hand brushing a strand of hair away from your face to see you clearly or his hands reaching to cup your face ever so softly into his palms. he doesn’t see you as fragile of course not- but you are so important to him.