#but god i feel like we could all benefit from more kindness and compassion and intentionality

[remyfire]

I think we should make more effort as a collective to be kind to one another and not feel like we need to repay cruelty with the same energy. Choosing to be the first one to break the cycle. Uplifting those who you see others stepping on. I think it'd be nice.

[artsy-hobbitses]

In truth there is no better place to be Than falling out of darkness still to see Without a premonition Could you tell me where we stand? I'd hate to lose this light Before we land And when I feel like I can feel once again Let me stay a while Soak it in a while If we can hold on we can fix what is wrong Buy a little time For this head of mine Haven for us

One of the things that I adore about Ties That Bind was the journey that Preston 'Prowl' Wan took to become a fully-fledged character, where he initially began as simply a mirror of IDW Prowl. And to honour that development, the man whose compassion is no less real for being learned rather than innate, who sees numbers and the faces behind them with the same crackshot clarity, and who believes not in gods or fate or a higher calling but in people, and in you Jazz, has earned a brand new character sheet! His old sheet can be found here And below, you'll finally find his full story!

Preston Wan Peirong remembers little of his childhood, which is perhaps for the best in some aspects; Hard to tell the truth from a lie in a memory when one doesn’t know how many times they have been ‘rewritten’.

However, what he can tell you with unnerving clarity was the coldness of it all. The sterility. The unquestionable sense of order and obedience to the system he was told kept the world from devolving into chaos after it narrowly avoided total annihilation. 

As a cold construct, Preston was a part of a batch commissioned specifically for the law enforcement division and grew up in the youth wing of China’s Public Security Academy in Beijing. Here, he was trained to become a police officer from the day he was old enough to respond when the numbers under the barcode stamped on his neck were called out: P7031 Names weren’t given; Names had to be earned. 

Every aspect of his life and that of those in his batch was strictly regimented down to the last minute; Food calculated down to the last calorie for maximum performance with minimum waste to funding. Lesson room, shooting range and dorm temperatures kept frigid to ‘sharpen the mind’. The text which met his gaze, the lessons which rang in his ears, the words that came out of his mouth when he was permitted to speak.

He learned early on what his purpose was in the world, and had it drilled into him how integral purpose was to keeping the system running; Everyone had a purpose, everything had its place, and as long as the people understood both, order would be maintained, and order had to be maintained to keep the peace for the good of the many. Sometimes, yes, that meant oiling the gears. Other times, it was hammering down stray nails.

That purpose drove him, and by seven, indoctrinated him so thoroughly that he didn’t question the stinging in his knees when he was ordered to kneel on rice grains during his lesson drills, or his own hunger when ordered to go without meals until he’d learned to disassemble and reassemble his weapon at a speed which put officer cadets to shame. 

At eight however, the sterile and orderly world he knew within the academy walls began to crack; Sitting on the top of his batch, it was decided by the academy trainers that he needed more one-on-one tutelage after class hours. It was decided that he needed a handler. 

Tan Yumei was a former soldier; a renown crackshot with steel in her eyes and in her bones from years in service to the state; The kind that made her sit up straighter when the offer was made for her to become a glorified babysitter—in her words—to what had to be the world’s best behaved boy. 

Asset, the interviewer would correct her. Not a boy; an asset. Our asset. 

The promise of a job in the academy which would come with pay and medical benefits which far eclipsed her government pension was too tantalizing to pass up, and she took on the child known as P7031 under her wing. 

She was to train him in field work and help with his assimilation into society; the silo of the academy gave him the skills necessary, but could only do so much to help him function as part of the system. 

As often as she was told to treat him as an asset, a tool rather than a child, that proved easier said than done as Yumei found herself warming up to all four-foot-six of stoic, stony-faced, serious-as-a-heart attack P7031. 

It started small and innocuous; ice cream as a treat for a job well done, something completely novel to the child. No sense using the stick exclusively when the carrot was there as long as results were achieved, she would assure the staff.

This hid her growing disturbance with the way P7031 was raised, more so as he began to light up when when she greeted him every morning, began to smile as she praised him for things that weren’t tied to the purpose given to him by the academy, began to question the world around him in ways he had never been given the chance to do before with the kind of childish wonderment that dissipated into thin air when it came time to return to the academy. 

And P7031 began to feel his worldview shift as well, as she was the first person to treat him like the child that he was, whether it be reading with him young adult novels not approved by the academy board or snapping the very first pictures of himself he was allowed to keep (a gift to remind him that he existed beyond the academy walls). Attachments were an alien concept to him; he understood that his purpose meant connections beyond duty—whether it be family or friends, neither of which he had prior to Yumei— were wasteful, unnecessary, dangerous. But for the first time in his nine years of living, he wanted for something more than purpose. He wanted a life with his handler, his mother, as the card he presented to her on a second Sunday in May proclaimed with words easier written than spoken.

And as the time grew near for her handler contract with the academy to end, it was a sentiment Yumei echoed. 

When he was ten years old, she came for him after hours; silent, stealthy and wreathed in shadow, promising him a life away from the academy, from a purpose he never asked for. 

And at ten years old, time froze for him. 

P7031 didn’t remember anything of that night; The escape to the docks. The lullaby hummed to keep him calm. The struggle and the thunderclap that spattered his coat in blood that wasn’t his, and the wretched, barely human sound that tore from his throat. 

He didn’t remember being dragged back to the academy beaten within an inch of his life screaming blue murder. 

Didn’t remember the golden eyes crinkled at the edges with amusement as he begged for them to stop, because he knew Uncle Gold-Eyes, the one they called Trepan, to be a doctor who dealt with ‘defective’ assets; something he had once prided himself in never being. He didn’t care that he was defective; they had already taken the only person worth anything in his life away from him physically, and they were prepared to take what remained of her in his mind to ‘fix’ him. 

His pleas fell on deaf ears, and what he did remember, after all this, is simply his dorm room, Spartan as ever. 

Life went on, with only whispers of the unexplained cancellation of the handler initiative, which he’d never heard of, as a ripple in the monotony of his classes, shooting range practice and on-field assignments.

At eighteen, he graduated from the academy and finally earned the right to a name, and P7031 became Officer Wan Peirong, assigned to the Chengdu Security Bureau where he became one of its rising stars. 

His professionalism, loyalty and sense of duty were unmatched, even among his batch, and he unquestioningly served the system that kept the nation running. Criminals had no place in the system, but as he was told by his superiors, neither did dissidents who threatened order and had to be re-educated, taught the error of their ways to become productive citizens the same way he had been molded into a model worker in the academy. 

In this period, blips in his memories became more frequent, though his attending physician dismissed his concerns as it didn’t impact his work. Work which he began to question one day when his task entailed breaking up a miners’ protest downtown. As he led one activist away, an elderly woman kowtowed at his feet, begging for him to show mercy to her son, and something in her voice made him loosen his grip with the beginnings of doubt.

Miners were not an outlying group; they were a sizable section of the populace, and they weren’t the only group voicing their grievances. He was tasked with helping keep the peace; something he was told repeatedly that the many desired over the few who bucked against the order. But who was he serving when those who bucked against the order he was told should not be challenged became the many? 

It was a question Peirong struggled with as the days went by and dissent grew louder among the working class, which authorities were ordered to respond to with mounting force even for the pettiest infractions.

He began to seek out banned texts, including translated copies of ‘Towards Peace’, supposedly penned by a Cold Construct just like him from the west, to gain clarity on the situation; He reasoned that ne had to study all angles before making a move after all, and the more he read, the more shaky his faith grew in an institution which was far from the paragon he had been promised in the academy. 

He wasn’t a fool however; he knew how the system worked inside and out, and began searching for loopholes to secretly help out people he believed were being failed by the system, as well as utilising malicious compliance to cover his tracks in a real-time game of chess with his superiors.

It all came to a boiling point one day, as he was assigned to a squad escorting a group of political prisoners to a new facility. 

Among them was someone Peirong recognised as one Brandon Shen Bailin; a charismatic and  defiant radio deejay-reporter from Hong Kong who recently came out as a Cold Construct and was nicknamed the ‘Blaster’ for the exposes he penned about the government. 

Brandon had gone missing weeks ago on assignment in Xinjiang; no amount of bandages and no large a hoodie could hide the toll that time had taken on the man, who was now emaciated and missing all of his fingers.

Before Peirong could fully process what he was seeing, the reporter was separated from the rest of prisoners and forced to kneel, as a gun was placed in Peirong’s hands by the Second-Level Inspector and he was told to dispose of this enemy of the state.

What was unspoken but clearly understood between both of them, as Peirong could deduce from the officers closing in on him, was that this was a test of loyalty as his wavering faith in the system was becoming clear to the bureau’s cabal. 

The choice was made in a split second; he refused his commanding superior’s orders, shot the man square between the eyes before they could draw their weapon and then kneecaped the rest of the officers before the dust settled.

Hauling Brandon into the shotgun seat of the prisoner transport truck and driving off, he helped the reporter liaise with a contact that directed them to a rendezvous point at the nearby contested China-Arunachal Pradesh border to fight extradition orders. 

With authorities not far behind, Peirong pressed on and covered for them as they raced towards the border, following in Brandon’s lead. He had spoken with them throughout the journey; stilted and monotonous as ever on his end as he struggled to connect with them, but two things were clear, as they made that run for freedom:

The first was that the system was untenable if it would deem parents, poets, artists and blue collar workers–the many, the unarmed—as enemies of the state.  The second, was that while they ran for their lives, he wasn’t sure whether he’d ever truly lived at all. 

This was a sentiment that Peiriong echoed, after he was overpowered by men in the same uniform he wore, to the constable pressing the nozzle of a gun to his forehead; That they were free to take his life, a life where the only moment he’d felt even barely alive was he had defied an order for the first time. 

The argument that occurred next between two commanding officers who debated his fate was a surprise, though not so much as the revelation that this wasn’t the ‘first time’ he had broken protocol, and that he had apparently broken protocol one too many times that they were now weighing his use against the cost needed for his ‘upkeep’. 

In a day of firsts, it was also the first time Peirong had allowed his emotions to overwhelm him, as his increasingly frantic demands to know what they did to him before this—suddenly the blips in his memories made sense—was met with a pistol whip to the temple, and booming sound which made him believe for a fraction of a second that the gunman had kept true to the threat to kill him. 

Except he still breathed, and despite the ringing in his ears, he dazedly managed to push himself up to see the officers scattered and stunned while a new man stood in their midst; armored, backlit against the sun, and smiling.

The words were muffled, but he could read the man’s lips clearly; “Focus on me.” 

It was the singular thread of clarity he needed to finally accept the hand outstretched to him as both of them made a run for the waiting aircraft that would, for better or worse, take him away from his purpose, from the only life he knew. 

The man, who introduced himself as Jace Zayden codenamed Jazz, was a friend of Brandon who had refused to leave without the lone cop who had risked everything to help them.

And where Peirong had feared losing his purpose, his reason for existing with the single step he took beyond China’s borders, he found that he had instead traded it in for another the moment Jace invited him to team leader Omar ‘Orion Pax’ Parvez’s table to discuss strategy; something this new team desperately needed. 

He chose a new name, Preston, to mark his departure from his old life, and focused on his new purpose as framed by the man who saw worth in his life when those he’d once pledged it to did not: Peace through compassion, even if learned, over oppression. 

And between understanding what it meant to live as a man rather than a government asset, and forging connections beyond what duty once dictated for him, maybe, just maybe he could one day piece together the scattered fragments of his past. 

[yeahprobablyamimic]

the Hearts Greatest Desire script was the plot of s2

Hear me out

At The Mountains of Dadness spoilers to follow 

 "The ending of the movie was a big comedy."

Self explanatory! Dnd podcast! Comedy storyline! It all started out in detention with all of them teasing and joking with each other and fucking around. Sonic shenanigans for example.

"It was about the world maybe coming to an end,"

Lark releasing the doodler, ofc. The teens started out “doomed”-the world was literally on track to end

"but at the end there was just this dumb goofy little laugh of a joke"

The entire prophecy being a Scam Likely original. The prophecy was a goof- which then wasn’t good enough/didn't matter and (almost) lead to the destruction of all they’ve ever known and loved AND ALSO the dismissal of the doodler AKA Dood

"that sort of ended the whole story that was going to essentially be about the destruction of mankind by an elder God."

What dood was “destined to do” eventually…

"But who knows what it's gonna be now? Because they were talking about rewriting it…"

the teens showed Dood love and kindness and helped them learn and protected them against people that wanted to manipulate them for their own benefit. Against all odds, they were able to save the deity so many had feared for so long. 

"In the screenplay, it had mentioned ‘the star appears’, and star is underlined multiple times and you got the sense from reading it that it was not referring to an actor."

This part is a little trickier, but “the star” could be interpreted as all of the teens coming together at the end in the epilogue, or even if we wanna go complete opposite and have it be that the teens fought knowing they didn’t need the power of the doodler. They put “the star” first

We then go completely full circle.

At the end of ATMOD, The Doodler and Robert are reunited, and for a moment they show each other love and understanding. For a moment they hold on to the comfort of having known each other, even if they didn’t technically, for years. Stud whispers “Dismiss Deity”, and the doodler is forced to retreat. In antony's words, the doodler “reacts with this horrible high pitched squeal” leaving in pain and fear. 

This time, though, Dood leaves knowing they’re loved. Knowing they’re cared for and for perhaps the first time feeling wanted. Enough that they returned one last time to say goodbye to the first people who showed them true compassion and understanding. The first people who treated them like more than just a power to be controlled. when i asked him anthony said it wasn't on purpose, but its genuinely one of the coolest throughlines of the entire show to me. I love these silly little guys.

[clean-casual-analysis]

Building My Ideal Hero

Cinefix on YouTube had a unique form of top ten movie heroes/villains videos where, instead of typical ranking, they layer traits on top of one another until they get a character that exemplifies all those traits at once. Speaking from experience, it’s actually a fun way to analyze and determine what I view as heroic or villainous. It’s also a convenient way for me to put out a bunch of What A Character! posts at once. So, to start off, I’ll be going through five of my favorite fictional heroes.

Trait One: Good Morality

The first trait my ideal hero needs is a good sense of morals, to do the right thing even when it’s hard. On the one hand, this seems an obvious trait for a hero to have. On the other hand, more comedic/selfish anti heroes have gotten the spotlight a lot of the time too. I wanted a more archetypal character to lend us this trait and almost considered my favorite ninja turtle Leonardo. But if we’re going for a rock-solid foundation of heroic morality, there are few that can match Sonic the Hedgehog.

The world’s fastest freedom fighter and menace to dark gods and mustached mad scientists everywhere, Sonic is a great starting point for this list. He might be a little cocky and impulsive, but his core dedication to goodness characteristically speeds past those flaws. He fights against Doctor Robotnik, not just for thrills, but because he hates bad people ruling over innocents. A loyal friend to many and protector of those who can’t defend themselves, the blue blur rushes into impossible odds with a smirk on his face.

Second trait: Skills and Strength

Now that my ideal hero has a good moral compass, let’s give them the skills to fight for what’s right. This isn’t strictly combat skills, plenty of heroes don’t need to throw punch to save the day. Maybe It’s through miraculous dimension altering like Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite. Perhaps it’s the dozens of talents Bruce Wayne learned to be Batman. For this list, I’d be doing little kid me a disservice if I picked anyone else but Master Chief.

John-117 is the sci fi super soldier to end all super soldiers. He matches his genetically enhanced reflexes and strength with unparalleled skills in military combat. Hijacking vehicles, adapting to alien weaponry without fail, making a pistol look like a god gun, the legendary Spartan almost makes fighting off alien armies look easy. Add that to his character’s loyalty, his willingness to sacrifice for the greater good, and knack for inspiring others, and it’s clear why he’s a beloved icon.

Third trait: Forced into Heroism

Of course, not everyone has superhuman abilities or even want to be heroes in the first place. The next trait for my ideal hero belongs to the Everyman underdogs whose forced into heroism by forces beyond their control. This is the calamity trio of Amphibia, or most of the human characters in Transformers media. Horror movie protagonists are very often average people going up against unspeakable terrors, and no horror protagonist is quite better than my next pick, Ellen Ripley.

One of the many great details that made the first Alien movie stand out from other sci-fi greats was the working-class nature of its characters. This wasn’t a motley crew of misfits against a galactic empire or scientific explorers, this was a group of space truckers hauling fuel from one end of outer space to another. Even before they encounter the xenomorph, you get the sense that the corporation they’re working for is grinding them down. Ellen Ripley best represents that feeling, a no-nonsense blue-collar woman whose cautious fear turns into dire heroism when the perfect organism rears its head. When the human antagonists of the story talk about the benefits that the potentially world ending species could have for humanity, she gives exactly zero fucks. And despite her anger and fear, she’s still a kind person willing to put her life at risk for others.

Fourth trait: Tragedy

So far, we have a morally good character who’s forced into action but has the skills necessary to overcome the obstacles in their way. The next trait will add a layer of hardship to them. Tragedy isn’t a necessary trait for a hero to have, but the best ones are often the heroes who help because they know what it’s like to be helpless. The classic example is Peter Parker indirectly causing the death of his uncle, but I’m personally more another comic tragedy, Bruce Banner.

Exposed to gamma rays and turned into a rampaging monster known as the Hulk, Bruce Banner steers his alter ego into evil and hopes for the best. Intelligently good hearted as Bruce but unstably powerful as Hulk, the scientist’s struggle to control his emotions and heal from his trauma bring about the tragedy. The man’s own existence has the risk of spreading mass destruction at the rising of his heartbeat. Bruce’s determination to control his inner demons and conquer the tragedy that altered his life makes it clear why he’s the strongest there is.

Final trait: Empathy

Four traits down and we have a pretty solid hero in our midst. The last trait is arguably most important trait to me, the ability to empathize. These heroes don’t just settle for sending the bad guy to jail, they’re the ones who want a better future for everyone. This is iconic heroes like Optimus or Superman when they’re written at their best, but my choice for this this and all other traits discussed above is an obvious one. Steven Quartz Universe.

I already made a post detailing my love for the character, so I’ll just just into why he’s the perfect mix of the five traits. Raised by a humble single dad and three heroic guardians, Steven is kind hearted by default. While he fumbles due to his inexperience and childishness, his growing powers and outside the box problem solving means that he will always save the day. The growing threat of Homeworld and the secrets left behind by his mother force him into impossible odds he needs to overcome. The trauma he received throughout his adolescence resulted in a troubled and conflicted mind, adding relatable tragedy to his character in SU Future. But throughout all the changes he’s gone through, it’s Steven’s empathy that shines brightest. Understanding when others are hurt and need help, even when they’re enemies. Call it corny, but nothing to me is more aspirational in a hero than that.

[talesmaniac89]

Charity Heist 11 - aka. The Reluctant Rescue Team

A Supernatural Heist AU - Masterlist

Pairing: Hitter!Dean x Thief!Reader

Summary: The Singer & Winchester Retrieval Agency is the best group of con artists in the world. But even though Y/N can crack safes, scale buildings and infiltrate even the most secure locations, she still can't find a way to deal with her all consuming feelings for the group's greek god of a hitter; Dean Winchester. How will she handle their next big heist, when she's forced to get up close and personal with the man of her dreams?

Warnings: Idiots in love, smutty thoughts, a lot of swearing and a ton of bad jokes.

Watch the trailer here

A/N: This story is 50% jokes and 50% dirty thoughts. No deep angst, just fun and action! Inspired by the series Leverage.

Y/N = Your Name

Start Here - Last - Next

A/N: Sorry for the delay here! Had a bit of a weekend 🤣

For a few seconds, the room was completely quiet except the soft sound of traffic coming through the speaker in the middle of the table showing that Bobby was out and about. None of you dared speak as you took in the news. 

Crowley, the damned idiot, got caught because he had to visit his fucking tailor? He couldn’t even go one job without ordering another stupid black suit? 

Fucking perfect. 

Yet, just as soon as the silence had settled over the War Table, all hell broke loose, with every member of your rag tag group of master criminals speaking over each other. Sounding less than the well-oiled con machine you were and more like a room full of school children. 

“He’s an idiot, that’s why I always say we shouldn’t work with him…” Dean growled from next to you, just as Charlie made some very apt comparisons between the mobster and a chimpanzee. Though you barely even caught either’s words over your own tired groan. 

“Holy… God, how the hell did he get caught?” You shot towards Sam, though you knew the youngest Winchester wouldn’t have held back on the details if he knew anything else. 

“You know Crowley. If nothing else, the man believes he’s untouchable. The king of the underground. So of course he had none of his own men with him,” Sam just sighed with a tired shrug of his shoulders. Leaning forward, your intelligence guy seemed just as lost as you as his big hands splayed against the wood of the table to steady himself as all his perfectly laid plans were shaken off kilter by Crowley’s antics.

“So… What now?” Castiel spoke up, keeping much more calm than the rest of your group. As always, your grifter was the most composed one among you as he leaned back in his seat. The last remnants of his latest role still shining through in the cocky hold of his shoulders and the slightly bored look in his eyes. Damn it, you hated it when he stayed in character. But the job was still on, and nothing could shake him from his role. 

“Now… We have to change our plans,” Sam gritted the words out through clenched teeth. If there was one thing your intelligence guy hated, it was anyone messing with his carefully laid plans. After all, he didn’t have a folder for ‘what to do if your idiot collaborator decided he feels like being kidnapped’. 

“We have to save him… Don’t we?” Charlie said with a sigh as she let her head drop to the desk with a dull thud. 

Pouting at your best friend you let out another annoyed groan. 

You knew she was right. But that didn’t mean you had to like it. After all, the problem with being an actual super thief with a heart of gold was that you actually had a heart. So you felt bad when you did bad, even if it was still kind of part of the job description. Maybe less so now than before, but you were still technically breaking the law. The devil and angel on your respective shoulders were mortal enemies, yet somehow also friends with benefits. Which wasn’t really great for your moral compass. As Charlie had said earlier that day; your rag tag group all had questionable morals. 

And though Crowley was an absolute ass, you knew you’d feel bad if he ended up with a brand new shiny pair of cement shoes at the bottom of a bay somewhere just because he was helping you out with a job. Even if he’d made sure to squeeze as much money as he possibly could out of you. You all would, unfortunately. 

“Do we have to?” Dean’s groaned, tired voice echoed your thoughts perfectly as he finally spoke up again. Though you knew your hitter wouldn’t leave anyone he was working with hanging out to dry. Even if the person in question kind of deserved it. 

“I guess we have to…?” You sighed, the statement coming out more like a question as you looked up at Sam. After all, him and Bobby made all your plans. At the end of the day, it was all up to them. You wouldn’t move without his green light. Even if you would drag your feet moving when he finally gave the signal. 

“Yeah, we need a revised plan, one including getting Crowley out of his own mess,” Sam confirmed, though he didn’t look all that happy with his own words either, sinking back into his seat from where he’d stood up to deliver the bad news.

“He annoys me though…” Charlie shot in as you all went silent, looking at the speaker as you waited for Bobby to talk some sense into you. 

“He annoys all of us kid, but we have to save him. If nothing else because he’s a liability,” Bobby’s voice finally spoke up through the speaker with a humorless laugh. 

“Ok. So what’s the new plan then?” You shot in, before another chorus of groans could shave even more time off of your planning. Hell, even though you were annoyed, maybe this was for the best? You had energy to burn through, and as the team’s retrieval expert, it would most likely be up to you to… Retrieve, the mobster. 

Plus, a job would mean you wouldn’t have time to think about the gun range. Or Dean. Or what the hell all of that was. Which the little escape artist you called a heart really appreciated.

“We need to hit them from multiple angles,” Bobby said through the speaker after taking a beat to think things through. Your mastermind was coming through for you once more. You could almost hear the gears grinding as he threw together a new rescue plan on the spot. Or, hell… That was probably still just background traffic, or Bobby changing the gears of his beat up truck, but it sure as hell sounded like gears grinding. 

“Crowley might be a bastard, but he’ll be true to his word. At least as long as the bad guys don’t offer him more money than we already have. Which, knowing their type, I doubt they will. They’re a miserly bunch of bastards,” Bobby continued as you all just nodded at the speaker. Still acting like the little piece of plastic and wiring could see you. 

“But, we can’t let them catch us. And we can’t let rescuing our damsel interfere with our plans,” He mused, as he worked out the kinks in his new plan out loud. Leaving you all to hold your breath, muscles tense as you waited for him to pull the trigger; firing you all into action. 

“Castiel, you need to hit them on their home turf. I want you to use your new persona to pay them a little visit at their white washed headquarters. Keep the bigger guys busy while we save our man,” Bobby finally said, earning a little nod from Castiel, who was quickly falling fully back into character. 

“They won’t be expecting me though… Might pose a problem,” Castiel’s voice was flat and void of emotion as he drawled the words. Making you shiver as you realized it wasn’t Cas speaking anymore. He was once more fully in character. 

“True.. Charlie, you go with him. Sneak into the IT department and set up some meetings in their calendars with Castiel’s cover. While you’re there, take this opportunity to plant some surprises in their system. A nice little bonus for messin’ with our plans,” Bobby easily corrected his own plans without breaking a sweat as you all sat waiting for your own orders. 

Watching your red headed hacker across the table, you cocked an eyebrow as Charlie’s cheshire cat grin replaced her former annoyance. Your best friend was nearly bouncing in her seat as Bobby gave her her role in the new plan. A wicked look in her eyes that… Honestly? Kind of scared you. She clearly had something up her sleeve, since she was normally not that happy to do field work. 

“Finally! I made this little virus a looong time ago. I can hide it in their servers and set it off with a click of a button whenever we want. It’ll cripple them, send their client’s data to a competitor of our choice and wipe their whole server clean. Their expensive computers and servers will just be overpriced paperweights when I’m through with them,” The red head was close to laughing maniacally as she let you all in on whatever it was she found so funny. 

“Good, sounds like just the thing we need kid,” Bobby didn’t even try to hide the pride in his voice as he responded to Charlie’s delight. A small chuckle escaping your normally tough-as-nails boss, before he cleared throat and fell silent, trying to formulate the actual rescue mission. 

“Alright… So while Cas and Charlie keep the higher-ups busy, we’ll need to get Crowley out as soon as possible. Dean, (Y/N) and Sam, I want the three of you to hit the spot where they’re keeping ‘im,” He finally continued after a brief pause, where you swore you could actually see him entering his own little mind palace through the small speaker. 

“Sammy… They might have some mid-level guys there. Crowley’s a pretty big mark for them after all. So they might have brought in someone a bit higher up than just your common muscle to keep an eye on him. Though if we’re lucky they haven’t gotten there yet. I want you to play the role of mid-level boss yourself or distract them if the bosses are already there. I trust you to figure out how,” 

“Quietly?” Sam shot in as he rolled his shoulders, his jaw set and clearly ready for a fight. Nothing pissed off the younger Winchester more than having someone mess up your jobs. Though you didn’t miss the way his hazel eyes softened from the trust his adoptive father placed in him. 

“Quietly, if possible. But feel free to get rough if the situation calls for it,” Bobby said after only a moment of deliberation. You weren’t worried that your mastermind was sending the youngest Winchester after the area bosses, hell, you’d seen Sam fight. And though Dean normally took on the role as the loud and violent distraction in any of your jobs, you knew his younger brother could more than hold his own in a fight. 

“So you want me to go get our damsel?” Dean sounded nearly nauseous as he asked the question. Seeming no more willing to go save the Scotsman than you were. 

“No. Your job’s a lot more important than that Dean,” Bobby shot back, causing Dean to frown as he leaned closer towards the speaker, waiting for his orders. 

“You need to keep our retrieval expert safe. (Y/N) will be the one infiltrating. If everything goes as planned, she should get in and out quietly with Crowley in tow while Sam poses as one of the bosses, or at least a mouthpiece for one to draw their attention. And you stand at the ready to help our girl out if something goes wrong,” Bobby shot back, leaving no room for arguing in his words. Though you could see Dean’s jaw tick in annoyance at the thought of you going in alone to save the greased up mobster. 

“Alright, I’ll go play knight in shiny harnesses and save our damsel. Dean will have my back, outside. Right?” You shot in, wanting to cut Dean off before he still tried to argue with your mastermind’s orders. Which, by the look of his eyes burning into the speaker, he was moments away from doing. 

Moving those same burning green orbs off of the speaker, Dean’s eyes settled on you as he tried to make you back down. But there was no way you would. You were the retrieval expert. Bobby’s plan made sense, even if Dean for some reason refused to see it. 

This was a job. Whatever had happened in the gun range took the backseat when there was a job to do. So even though your body was still heated from the feel of your hitter devouring you only 30 minutes earlier, you were not backing down. You were a big girl, and retrieval was your thing. 

“Right,” After a beat or two of silence, Dean sighed in defeat as he spat out the single word between gritted teeth. His eyes resting on you for just a second more before quickly standing up to get ready. 

It was time to go save yourself a damsel.

---

The ride to the job in Sam’s beat up truck was awkward, for the lack of a better word.  

Not only had Dean not-so-subtly been sending you burning looks through the rear-view mirror that made it very hard for you to focus on your rescue mission. But Sam and Dean kept arguing the finer details of the case. Mainly surrounding you and your role. 

And by that you meant Dean kept arguing the details.

Your hitter kept suggesting changes to the plan, which coincidentally all involved him going in first to clear a path for you, which you swiftly ignored. You didn’t need a damn babysitter. Dean had seen you in action before. Hell, you’d nearly knocked him out the first time he came to recruit you. But, you had no choice but to keep your mouth shut, or risk getting dragged into a shouting match with the two most stubborn men you knew. After all, no matter what Dean said, Bobby had made your roles crystal clear. 

You were the retrieval expert. You would be going in to save the idiotic Scotman with a suit fetish and a hard-on for his personal tailor. No matter how much your green eyed hitter batted his long lashes at you or pouted like a giant man baby in the shotgun seat. 

“I wish we could just turn this damn car around and leave the bastard to rot,” Dean groaned from the front seat after another round of arguing about who should do what during the job.

“Well, we’re basically here, so a bit too late for that Dean,” Sam sighed, sounding like he wished for nothing more than to turn the beat up truck he refused to part with around too. 

“We’re here? Good, let me go do my thing,” Cutting off the new round of arguing over the plan that you knew Dean was gearing up for, you spoke up for the first time since the car ride started. Both to at least get one shot in against Dean, but also because you were beyond ready to get your thieving on. Finally perking up at the idea of being out of the tense atmosphere in the car and away from Dean’s burning eyes, you nearly bounced in your seat from the thought of some much needed action to burn off all the dirty energy in your body. 

“You seem weirdly eager to rescue Crowley (Y/N),” Sam said as he pulled up and parked just half a block from where the mobsters had locked up your ‘damsel’. The hazel eyes meeting yours in the rear-view mirror looked at you in concern, as if you were possessed or losing your mind just because you were happy to work. 

Though, hell, if you had been possessed you would have ‘jesus take the wheel’-ed the shit out of that. With the way your life was going, you were just about ready to issue an open invitation to any demon who wanted to come take control of your life. Whichever demon was brave enough to come sort out your mess would have earned their permanent residence in the husk you called your body. You could be roomies. 

Maybe Netflix would give you a movie deal; a whimsical sitcom about you and your demon roommate. You’d name it ‘Doom Mates’ and Charlie would hate it.  

But, unfortunately, there was no demon willing to possess you and sort out your messy relationships. So, you were forced to do it yourself (or at least avoid the hell out of it) as you once more ignored Dean’s eyes in the rear-view mirror and wrenched open the truck door to jump out as soon as Sam had brought the car to a full stop. 

“I’m not thrilled about the… Subject of the retrieval. But it’s been a minute and a half since I last got to stretch my infiltration muscles. Plus, Charlie made me a new harness, and I need to play with it,” You shot back at Sam as he followed you out of the truck. Swallowing the many other reasons as to why you nearly needed the gig. Like the forest fire burning in Dean’s eyes, or how you could still taste the ghost of spiced peppermint on the tip of your tongue. 

Taking a shaky breath, you plastered your best imitation of a smile on your face and turned to squint down the street as Sam pointed out the building where Crowley was kept to the rest of you. The sight of the unlit neon sign outside of the business in question had your smile fall as you grimaced at the damned cliché. 

They had Crowley locked up in an empty, closed down nightclub. 

Because of course they did. 

Would it kill the bad guys to be fucking original for once? Why was it always warehouses, empty buildings or abandoned lots? Why couldn’t you go save someone from a fun place for once in your life? Like DisneyLand, or an active water park… Or at least somewhere with an open bar. Because, fuck, you could use a drink. 

Frowning at the building from half a block away, you busied yourself checking your equipment as the Winchester brothers continued their circular argument about the plan. Meanwhile, you were busy making plans of your own. From what you could see, the baddies had all congregated around the front of the building based on the few cars you could just about glimpse peeking out around the corner. Clearly not seeing Crowley as a big a threat as he thought he was. Which didn’t really damage your infiltration options much, as you’d usually never choose the front of the building as an entrance point anyway. 

Hell, from your vantage point, you could clearly see multiple ways into the nightclub. Including an unguarded rear entrance just begging you to walk in and sneak Crowley out from right under their noses. Still, as Sam had pointed out more than one time in his argument with Dean on the car ride over, you should be prepared for the worst. 

The unguarded rear entrance could be a trap. You had no way of knowing. So an infiltration plan was still needed. 

“Do you think you can get in from the roof (Y/N)? Charlie got us the blueprints, and there seems to be a skylight up there. Might mean you’ll get eyes on Crowley as well before you make your way inside,” Sam seemed to finally get sick of shooting down all of Dean’s ideas as he directed his next question at you instead.

After all, Bobby wanted this to be done quietly. And Dean going in first to loudly, and most likely violently, clear a path for you wasn’t exactly quiet. 

“You want me to throw myself in through a skylight and rappel into mobster territory? That’s a crazy idea… Insane!  I mean, there’s a perfectly good door right there,” You stage whispered, acting it up for the non-existent cameras as you pointed towards the unguarded rear entrance to the abandoned club. 

Ok… So maybe you were playing it up just that little bit extra to annoy your hitter. Who suddenly seemed to think you were incapable of performing even a simple retrieval mission. As if you’d lost all your hard earned skills after one makeout session. 

Who the hell did he think he was? Some sort of fucking dementor? Sucking out your ability to scale a wall with just one kiss?

The man was a damned good kisser, sure, but just because you could be someone’s good girl and be willingly shaped up against their body one second that did not diminish your skills as the fucking awesome super thief you were. You were fully capable of being a goddamn professional, and drown in peppermint spiced kisses thank-you-very-much. 

“So… You’ll do it?” Sam asked, the small tight smile of his lips tinged with mirth as he rolled his eyes at your drama queen act and the subsequent low growl that left his older brother in response. Though you knew he was just asking for the sake of a verbal confirmation, as you could see him gearing up to go distract the guys out front and buy you some time. 

“Of course I fucking will. This is gonna be awesome,” You grinned as you dipped back into the back of Sam’s truck to stuff a few additional toys and gadgets, courtesy of your awesome best friend, into your backpack. Including the new harness you had to take for a test spin.

“(Y/N)...” Dean tried, though you could tell the fight had gone out of him as his tense shoulders fell and his hands busied themself with double checking his own little arsenal. Still, for a second you froze. Taking a few deep breaths before stepping out of where you’d been halfway inside Sam’s car to fully see the Winchester brothers again.

Saying nothing, you simply raised an eyebrow at your hitter as you hoisted your go-bag up on your shoulder. Lips drawn in a thin line as you waited for whatever argument he had planned to stop you from doing your favorite thing in the whole damn world; throwing yourself off of a roof and into a building, however absolutely batshit insane that sounded. 

“You got this, just stay safe,” He finally sighed in defeat, giving you a soft smile which you returned with an enthusiastic grin. 

“You know I will,” You shot back, throwing a quick wink at both boys before quickly and quietly making your way towards the back of the building. Only throwing a glance back to see Sam get back in the car, ready to drive up front, and Dean setting out after you, just slightly to the left. Moving towards the building from another angle to set up camp near the rear entrance. 

It was go time.

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[riverdamien]

The Golden Rule!

Sunday!

June 9, 2024

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time!

“Sloughing Towards Galiless!”

“The River Runs Through It!”

“Practicing the Golden Rule!”

Mark 3:20-35

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus and Beelzebub Mark 3:20-28 NRSVUE

20 Then he went home, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” 23 And he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

Treat others as you would like to be treated.”

As we enter days of hot weather, I know that summer will pass by rapidly, my favorite time of the year. My mind wanders to mountains, streams, and fishing on days like this week, a very warm week. I will read of my friend’s Dana’s days at her mountain cabin in the Rockies and follow every Facebook, wishing I was there. I return to A River Runs Through It, a book that  that encapsulates the essence of finding meaning and peace in the flow of life. This summer I am going to be laid back, simply doing outreach at a slow pace, getting out of town when I can, reading and praying, having no volunteers, simply being laid back reflecting and enjoying this time, in my thirtieth year, understanding that I am closer now to the end than the beginning.

Today we hear of “strong men” in Israel, Africa, South America; we hear of “strong men” in our political race, that divide, and hurt many. In I Samuel 8:4-20 we read of the Israelites requesting a king, rather than governing themselves, and Samuel warns them loud and clear, they are making a mistake, he tells them to trust God, and follow the commandments. They insist and the rest is history.

In this election year Jesus gives us the Golden Rule which has stood the test of time as one of the most powerful principles ever invented for both moral and meaningful living. It has been shared across continents, cultures, and eras, and its message is simple: to live in harmony with the world around you, treat other people the exact way you would want them to treat you.

The Golden Rule holds benefits for our friends and the people we love. But it also holds benefits for society as a whole, us as individuals, and even our enemies (which might be an unpopular thing to desire, but a life constantly chasing revenge is an awful way to live).

The principle teaches us that we are responsible for how we treat others and that we always have a choice in the matter. More than that, we should choose love, empathy, kindness, and compassion. And I can think of no better way to be remembered than living out those attributes.

My whole life, my ministry has been committed, and dedicated to treating everyone through this Rule. Ultimately this is all that matters.

The Golden Rule is often memorized and often cited, but it is more than a philosophical idea to be written down in autobiographies and self-help books.

It is a practical approach to living that can help us filter good choices from bad ones. And we can apply this filter to the smallest actions (like the words we say) to the most significant of decisions (reconciling with a family member).

Our  society seems more divided than at any other time in my life. Depression and anxiety is higher than it has ever been.

 The prevalence of social media seems to indicate we are more connected than ever, but feelings of loneliness and isolation are on the rise. With this backdrop, the Golden Rule offers a path to friendships and healthy relationships that makes it feel more golden than ever. The Golden Rule is the key to our living in this time of divided relationships, and hate and anger.

The Golden Rule is important because it helps us overcome our natural inclination toward selfishness. It challenges us to think beyond our own needs and desires and consider the well-being of others.

In friendships, this shift in mindset can make a significant difference. When we prioritize the needs of our friends and treat them the way we would like to be treated, we create an environment of mutual respect.

In society, this same shift would probably result in more trust, more understanding, and greater unity. Nobody wants to be called names online and have strangers jump to unfounded assumptions about their motives. We would be wise to think about and interact with others the way we’d want them to think about and interact with us.

There are some who might argue that living by the Golden Rule would result in getting bullied, pushed around, and taken advantage of. But I disagree. When we respond to unkindness with kindness, we begin to break the cycle of retaliation. And peacemakers tend to attract others who support them and stand up for them. Kind people don’t always win in this world, I agree. But neither do unkind people. I’d rather roll the dice with kindness.

Now, as we are all aware, it’s one thing to acknowledge the wisdom and timelessness of the Golden Rule, but living by it is a completely different type of challenge.

 There are practical ways that we can begin to embody this approach in our relationships and friendships—for ourselves, our friends, and society. But before I do, it might be helpful to acknowledge the forces that work against us.

 “Know thy enemy,” Sun Tzu famously said. By recognizing the challenges that keep us from following the Golden Rule, and the reality that these forces are both internal and external, we are better poised to overcome them.

Here are a few of the enemies stacked against us:

We all have natural tendencies in our heart and soul, and many of these pull us away from our desired outcomes. For example, the pull inside us toward selfishness, jealousy, and revenge can sometimes overshadow our desire to act kindly. The very human urge to put ourselves first and protect our own interests makes it hard to follow the rule as often as we’d like. So we have in San Francisco five thousand homeless, and so many more in dire poverty just scraping by.

Society often promotes a worldview where success is measured by material wealth, status, or power. This messaging can lead us to believe that achieving these goals requires us to prioritize ourselves over others. The assumption that getting ahead means outdoing or outmaneuvering others makes it difficult to practice selflessness. Success is being a great sports player, hospitals are named after social media kings; success is going to the right schools, hanging out with the right people. Success is measured by results. Real success is loving others, caring for others, walking with others.

When we’re hurt or angered, our immediate response often overshadows our ability to consider the long-term benefits of peace. In the heat of the moment, it’s easier to react impulsively than to reflect on the impact of our actions.

When we have time to think about how we intend to respond in an upcoming circumstance or conversation, following the Golden Rule becomes easier. But when a difficult circumstance seems to come out of nowhere, it takes great patience, wisdom, and intentionality to follow the Golden Rule.

Life can be harsh and even cruel. Truthfully life sucks! Sometimes this cruelty comes from other people; sometimes it arises from circumstances. But either way, the harsher we are dealt with, the easier it becomes to deal harshly with others. As you get older you learn quickly how harsh life can be, we best walk with others in their shoes, making their lives easier, not expecting anything in return.

The pervasive cultural message to “look out for number one”  encourages us to prioritize our own needs and preferences above all else. And while, in the long run, following the Golden Rule is the best way to prioritize our needs, it doesn’t always feel that way. In fact the mood of the world now, it seems completely absent.

All of that to say, living by the Golden Rule isn’t easy. But how? What are some practical ways we can accomplish this in our relationships?

My goal with the following list isn’t to argue that living out the Golden Rule in our relationships is easy to do—I’ve already said it isn’t.

My goal is to offer both old and new ideas that help display the number of opportunities we do have each day to live it out. And hopefully improve all of our relationships because of it.

Make it a habit to understand your friends’ perspectives and emotions. Empathy is the foundation of meaningful friendships, so ask more questions.

A friend recently told me that when he is talking to a friend and disagrees with something they say, rather than arguing for his position, he’s learned to simply respond with the phrase: “Tell me more.” Far better than getting into an argument over who is right, it usually results in more understanding. I don’t agree half with what I hear, but this is their story, I listen, caring for them, not for myself.

Choosing to genuinely listen is a simple, but powerful way to honor the Golden Rule. Set aside distractions and give your friends your full attention. This is what we want when we have something we want to share with others. When we listen actively, we validate our friends’ experiences, make them feel seen and heard, and treat them exactly the way we want to be treated. Few of us really listen, so overcome with our social media, and our own self-centeredness, I have not to listen to others creates a lonely life.

 Finally be generous with encouragement, communicate openly and honestly, offer  help as the other requests without imposing our values upon them, show kindness in simple ways, and most importantly forgive, forgive, none of us are perfect, and forget, never hold a grudge. Most importantly prioritize quality time.

Treating others just the way you want to be treated—keep this idea at the forefront of your mind and you’ll be amazed by how often it changes the way you act. And you will be amazed at how well it improves your relationships. Keeping this in mind you can truly be “The Strong Person!” Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

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"For LGBTQ+ young people, having an affirming community makes all the difference. Your participation and fundraising efforts help The Trevor Project continue to provide free, secure 24/7 suicide prevention and crisis services. This effort will also support Trevor’s ongoing public education, advocacy, and research initiatives, all in hopes of building a world where LGBTQ+ young people are safe and free to be themselves.

I am sacrificing a meal a day to donate! Join Me!

"Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

============================

Dr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

Post Office Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

www.temenos.org

paypal.com

415-305-2124Alcohol and Drug Addiction Counseling Certificate

Certificate in Spiritual Direction

Certificate In Religious Trauma

(30th Anniversary Celebration!)

October 5, 2024

5:00 p.m.

Victor's Pizza

(Where Bought Youth First Pizza!)

Prayer of St. Brendan!

"Help me to journey beyond the familiar

and into the unknown.

Give me the faith to leave old ways and break fresh ground with You. Christ of the mysteries I trust in You to be stronger than each storm within me.

I will trust in the darkness and know that my times, even now, are in Your hands.

Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,

and somehow, make my obedience count for You"

------------------------------------------------

(Temenos and Dr. River seek to remain accessible to everyone. We do not endorse particular causes, political parties, or candidates, or take part in public controversies, whether religious, political or social--Our pastoral ministry is to everyone!

================================

"The people I love the best jump into work head-first without dallying in the shallows and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight. They seem to become natives of that element, the black sleek heads of seals bouncing like half-submerged balls.

- Marge Piercy, from “To Be of Use”

[the-unofficial-rakun-piratequeen]

My not very communist manifesto about productivity and self exploitation

I used to think that as long as "you give your best", it'd be enough even without succeding. But now I realize that the idea of "giving your best" is honestly bullshit. Giving your best 24/7 is extremely tiring, and even if you do succeed in anything, the difficulties for the next step are higher, so should I be eternaly giving my best in a pointless way? and, me giving my best for something, is it truly for myself if in the way I sacrifice so much? I doubt that if you give your all the reward will be fulfilling, after all whats the point of winning something if the other things are gone.

With that I mean wasting time, energy, effort, putting yourself in awful situations, blah blah blah. If something you are fighting for is so tiring that you feel that'll never end, or you feel that it's slowly taking away your will to live, then I can't help but doubt if I'm really doing it for myself. But if not for myself for whom?

Maybe some sense of trascendence after death, maybe for social approval, maybe to prove that I'm not all the bad stuff that has been said about me.

All the bad tags that were put into me when I was little remain in a very painful way. Whenever I do something wrong or miscalculate my next move, I can't help but think "Maybe they were right, maybe I'm useless". And now I realize that the more I try to fight it, the more useless I become, because sacrificing my mental health, my wellbeing and wasting time of my life only leaves me with less than what I had when I just started. So I do not plan on keep giving my best, not for anyone, I'll just give enough to pass through.

I prefer to be mediocre and not sacrifice anything if at the end a big part of the effort's reward won't even be for myself. Maybe one day I'll look back and regret that I didn't do enough, but I think that I'll regret more doing too much to end up with nothing. I only want to invest my time now in stuff that give me some sense. The problem is usually that type of stuff it's not something that 'll give me enough money to live. I truly think if at least there were still forest, or more public places with native species where I can forage, or some way to survive without being so dependant on what the higher ups give me access to, everyone would have it easier. If there were such places where one could still take enough for oneself of what nature gives without having to worry so much about ownership everything would be a lot better.

Did my rant into the social expectancy of productivity and the unfulfilling self sacrifice become a sort of slightly communist manifesto? I kinda think it did

But sadly I can only say it is what it is. And that kind of idealistic thinking can only be put to work if everyone agrees into not taking advantage of the system and give at least a little bit of selflesness to the world, but I see it kinda hard.

Thinking about it, when the church did good things (like xenodochiums or the hôtel-Dieu, social work and progress in general), usually it came from a sense of compassion, empathy for the other, community and union. When the church fucked up it was mostly because of the personal intrests of some specific parties.

I'm not a communist, I'm not christian nor religious, but even so I must admit that truly some of their ideas should be quite universal. If we think of our begginings as humans and the fact that we are gregarious, and one of the basis of our survival is being there for the other, when we act in a way that benefits no one but a small percentage that doesn't represent at all the population, when we fight with each other for the favor of the one who is in power, we loose part of our humanity. When we allow someone this god-like status, we are no better than ants , living only so the queen can pass on her genes, meanwhile the rest can have the bare minimum to survive.

We stop taking into account the individual while at the same time we hyperfixate on the individual. It's quite paradoxical because the individual we hyperfixate usually isn't ourselves, no matter how egoistic we are, the one we hyperfixate into is the same one we seek aprovation from.

It's like when we talk about the cult towards Elon Musk. Usually the profile of the people who follow him is slightly "selfcentered", or to put it in another way, the stereotype of a straight white man who thinks poor people are poor because they want to. So no matter how selfcentered they are, they still lose their individuality becoming nothing but an ant working for their queen hoping one day they can become her. Saddly that's exactly why things don't change. People don't want to beat the system, they want to get to the top of it, and it's understandable, no one wants to go to the bottom by trying to derrocate the state powers. No medieval noble would like to offend the king and become a slave.

in synthesis: FUCK GIVING YOUR BEST, FROM NOW ON THIS BITCH IS ONLY GIVING BARELY ENOUGH TO PASS

AND A BIG MIDDLE FINGER UP TO EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE (including myself and the person reading this, with all my love, go fuck yourself, tehe~ <3)

[ravenheartxvi]

So I've had this Tumbler for a while now, long time lurker and rarely posting. Just thought I'd give a little better introduction of myself than what my bio says.

I mostly prefer to keep to myself so excuse my sparse social interactions, haha. You can call me Charlie and I am definitely female. I was born the year Dr. Robert Ballard discovered the remains of the Titanic and for some inexplicable reason, I feel a connection to the “unsinkable” ocean liner. I had a minor obsession with the ship as a teen, and tend to enjoy reading about it, or watching documentaries or youtube videos of it. I am also a lover of Tudor history. 

My main interest here on Tumbler surrounds the Sims and fanfiction. I’ve been an avid simmer since the original Sims came out. I don’t know about anyone else, but for some reason I can get a kind of god complex when I play the sims, lol. I discovered mods during the Sims 3 and have been hooked ever since. My two favorite mods are MC command center and Wicked Whims. I’ve also used the extreme violence mod before and some of the sims storylines I created with these mods are rather, ahem, interesting. I would be willing to share if anyone is interested, just fair warning, these interesting sims stories are NSFW. 

My other love includes fanfiction. I first got involved in 2001 and was introduced in a now defunct Harry Potter site. My earliest fics are now lost. I later became prolific on fanfiction.net and you can still see my works there through the link in my profile. In 2005 I switched from Harry Potter over to Star Wars. For a brief time I had drifted into Gilmore Girls before drifting back to Harry Potter and back to Star Wars where I am currently firmly based. I have grown annoyed with fanfiction.net and decided to switch over to Archive of Our Own where all my current fics are being posted. 

My favorite fic trope is time travel/ time travel fix-its. 

I enjoy a variety of AU’s Such as: Anakin doesn’t fall, Darth Vader/Padme Amidala fics where Anakin was raised as a Sith, Character X doesn’t die, Luke and Leia were raised by at least one of their parents, and a multitude of variations of these tropes. In recent months I’ve gotten into modern au anidala fics, a trope that I’ve avoided for a while. 

My ships include:

Harry Potter/Hermione Granger

Rory Gilmore/Logan Huntzberger

Anakin Skywalker(Darth Vader)/Padme Amidala

Luke Skywalker/Mara Jade

Leia Organa/Han Solo

Ships that give me the willies but I wont judge those who enjoy them:

Anakin Skywalker/Obi-Wan Kenobi * Because they literally equate each other as brothers/family and have both said so more than once. 

Anakin Skywalker/Ahsoka Tano * These two have a big brother/little sister dynamic and nothing anyone says can dissuade me. 

Hermione Granger/ anyone who is a Death Eater. * Because, WTF? You know what I’m talking about, don’t lie.

Psychology is an interest of mine and I enjoy incorporating it into my works in recent years. If I could pass math and had the finances, I would pursue a degree in the subject. Mental Illness is a subject that is very important to me and I like to consider myself an advocate for the support of mental illness and fully believe in the benefits of therapy. So I do not, under any circumstances, tolerate the use of words like crazy and all its synonyms as a form of insult. Everyone struggles with something so a little kindness and understanding, compassion, is something we should extend to everyone around us, including those who have wronged us. I am very open with talking about my own struggles, in the hopes that I can help someone else struggling in whatever way I can. Sometimes, it helps to know that you are not alone in your struggles. 

I am not perfect, in any way, but I try to be a decent person with integrity. I make mistakes and often struggle in how to fix those mistakes. Often, I need people to come to me and tell me if I have hurt or offended them due to my own lack of a filter and impulsivity. I am very open to listening to grievances and to finding a way to work through those grievances. However, what I will never do is blast those grievances or work through them in a public forum. I prefer not to stir drama on the internet. It is preferable, IMHO, to work through any issues privately rather than air it all publicly. I have seen a lot of examples when grievances are aired online and it only ever invites people outside the situation to insert themselves into the situation and stir the drama even further. I have no interest in participating in such situations, it is way too stressful. This is why I have distanced myself from facebook. I would much rather save this account for stress relief fun. 

And here, I feel that I should reiterate another point I made in my profile. I very rarely, if ever, check my messages here on tumbler. When I first joined and for quite a while, the only messages I would receive was porn spam. So I found myself avoiding my messages here. I have zero interest in accepting porn spam. No, I will not check out your webcam. No, I am not interested in watching hot women or connecting with hot women. While I appreciate the female form and have had some celebrity girl crushes, I am very interested in men. And no, I am also not interested in unsolicited penis pictures either. Why do I appear to be interested in this shit? 

Back to a fun topic. My love for history, sims, fanfiction and geeky stuff is also accompanied by my love for music. My two favorite genres of music are Rock and Classical. I have a wide variety of music tastes but I can’t stand country music and disco. Ick…lol! I was exposed to a wide variety growing up so of course I love music. I listen to music during a majority of everyday tasks and while I read and write. My music library is absolutely huge! 

If Interested, I have compiled a personal playlist that expresses my life through song. You can check it out here:

[rhymingtree]

I watched Homecoming again for this so I came prepared.

Yay more Ollie panic. I love it.

No but he's genuinely panicking omg

The fact that he never broke down in the middle of all his time with Alpha One or had a heart attack with all the stress... astounds me.

I kinda wish he got paid a lot for it, 'cause that's a lot of work

Like I hope it got him benefits and a good pension or something

Ned is the best part of this whole chapter. period. it's the truth and the only truth

Ned supremacy

“W-Wait!” Ned called, jogging across the street to catch up with him, “What happened? You just had a superhero flashback.”

the beeeeest

no he did not fight hydra stop spreading fake news on my boy ned

PETER SHE ISN'T HYDRA

...what if peter does lay eggs tho that would be a fun visual

Ghost's favorite travel activity is killing Nazis

what if she recorded all of it like some kind of travel vlogger and edited a Killing Nazis montage with some lofi music in the background and like a sepia filter with a few added clips of like... European city skylines

SHE REACHED POLAND???!!

SHE DISSOCIATED SO MUCH THAT SHE REACHED ANOTHER FUCKING COUNTRY???

.....if this is what she's like travelling it's best not to be her travel buddy

NO NOT THE AMBUSH FLASHBACK DARKE

“Why do all the fucked up parts of my life start with an ambush?”

Maybe it's got something to do with your line of work, the people you associate with, all your life choices, the fact that you dissociate a lot while driving... honestly I could probably go on forever

You’re in a city. We don’t need a repeat of Paris.

Oh, killjoy. Just pull the pin. Do it.

There could be civilians nearby—

Just do it.

never go travelling without a moral compass

Ned's back yay

I love Ned's curiosity and support

“Your girlfriend’s back in town, huh—”

heheheehe yes she iiiis

“Who’s saying I don’t have her wrapped around mine?”

Boone Cavanaugh wrapped around a man's finger?? Never in a million years.

“Act mad we lost Barnes and Walsh.”

“You what?” Steve snapped, turning to him with a glare, “You what? Barton, are you fuckin’ kidding me?”

This shouldn't have made me laugh as hard as it did

Superhero flashback is more like... PTSD, Ned. Ain't as cool as you think.

“Do Avengers have to pay taxes?”

.... actually do they? Or are they excempt from it because... they're technically government property.. or is Tony Stark the bajillionaire a tax evader?

“What does Hulk smell like?” he continued without a care as Peter began doing sit-ups.

“I bet he smells nice.” Ned nodded to himself

Honestly I think he does, maybe he smells like herbal tea and menthol

 “He’s cool. So was his girlfriend.”

“Captain America has a girlfriend?”

“Had.”

😐 darke

I wonder how Zac would feel if his job was described as being 'the guy in the chair'

He keeps those little shits alive out there and he just gets 'guy in the chair' ouch

but it's a cool job though

i wanna be someone's guy in the chair

LIZ OMG LIZ

LIIIIIIZ

the absolute panic oh my gOD NED YOU INSTIGATOR I LOVE YOU

“Dude, you’re an Avenger,” Ned continued, “If any one of us has a chance with a senior girl, it’s you.”

If that was the only criteria i would honestly be concerned

NO NOT ANOTHER ALPHA TWO AMBUSH FLASHBACK

god fricking

I was on cloud nine with Ned and then you pull that one out like

Darke how dare you

He’d just been able to get used to the sights and sounds and smells of Wakanda but New York City was an entirely different animal.

did he just call New York stinky?

how come you're doing everything in your power to make me cry with this flashback after Jack just called New York stinky

Even if he didn’t want to remember any of it.

He did.

He remembered all of it.

All of it.

darke 😐

OMG ARMOR

FOR JACKABOY

JACK'S GETTING HIS OWN COOL ARMOR

wooooaaaah

AND BOONE DYED HER HAIR BLUE WOOOOOAAAAH

“I told you his butt would look good.”

Of course that's the first thing in his mind. Of course.

“You know what I mean,” Duke whispered, “I don’t wanna lose you. Jack, I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t.” He shook his head quickly, his smile fading in an instant, “I’m not going anywhere.”

I am terrified for these two.

Like the way they love each other and the things that have happened pretty much spell out the words doomed by the narrative and I am bracing myself for that doom

YAY LIZ'S PARTY

I'm so excited to see where this goes for peter....

Also I felt so bad for Ned during this whole thing he just waited for Peter the whole time

MJ IS HEEEEERE MY QUEEEEN

 “Peter, no one wants that.”

this was so rude of him but so funny i love ned

😭😭😭 Flash says the most random things

Canada!?

“I can hear them.”

Coming from Wanda that is eerie

YIEEE THE TWO OF THEM FINALLY MEET AGAIN

MONTANA AND NEW YORK... REUNITED

😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏 AND HE'S ANGRY TOO SO...

😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏

“I’m not happy with you, woman,” he hissed under his breath.

hot 😀

“She says that he’s looking for weapons,” Boone said, perching on the edge of a three-legged table, “As far as we can tell, it’s gotta be someone stateside.”

Well, well, well.... who could that possibly be...

who could possibly be supplying Walsh with plenty of highly lethal weapons in the States... in New York... where he is... hmmmmmmm

it's the vulture it's definitely the vulture but dont tell them yet it's no fun if they know too soon

WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING FLASHBACKS TO THE AMBUSH WHYYYY

oh so now they really did fuck up big time huh....

“That’s it. We’re out of time. With her or without her, we’re finishing it.”

I'm so excited you dont even know

She wasn’t doing it because she wanted to keep them safe, she was doing it to distract herself from the rage that they shared. The rage that had been amplified by unwanted chemicals and experiments.

(F/N) had stopped fighting it, she’d allowed her baser instinct to take over. She was…gone.

Jesus christ darke...

this was not on the travel itinerary

but in all seriousness Jack's identity crisis is terrifying to read

He was Jack fuckin’ Bennet.

You know who else is fucking Jack Bennet? 😀

It's Duke and he is very proud of that

AYYYYY IT'S THE VULTURE'S GOONS

It was New York fuckin’ City, where anything could happen.

That should be their new tourism tagline

But…Ned?

Ned was counting on him. Even if he was the one that got them in this mess in the first place.

Ned comes before all else

wait i just had a thought

how did Liz --a high school senior--have the time to throw a massive houseparty?

does she not have constant projects to do... tests? the impending doom of college and what the future holds breathing down her neck? because that's what I'm dealing with right now and I barely have time to sit and read let alone throw parties

GOD I'm jealous of her

And here's where it all begins...

He didn’t even bother to hesitate. His legs were working before his brain was as he took off across the roof and dove down toward the street, slinging webs as he swung between trees and streetlamps.

downhill from here... as if we weren't already tumbling down

oh hi Bucky

jesus with everything going on I forgot about the ambush on

THE AMBUSH ON GHOST WAIT OMG

I need to reorient..

A low growl cracked from Bucky’s throat as he snapped the tablet in two before chucking both halves at the man and surging toward him, latching onto his collar.

😀 hot

Not noticing the low grin that curled to Walsh’s lips.

what is it with supersoldiers being ironically unaware of their own surroundings

omg Pete's about to meet Jack

oooooh this is gonna be so much fun

The spider kid from Colombia. Fun

Omg I didn't realize those gauntlets came from brock rumlow

“Oh, my butt!”

I love Peter

“What the heck?” he yelled, fighting back against the talon with a grunt before a purple ball of energy cracked through the sky.

Hey that's your future girlfriend's dad you're grappling with Pete

He really screwed this one up. At least it was a strange man with a mask that found him instead of Mr. Stark.

That would be really embarrassing.

Well, in another world, sure

also tony is busy... like really busy.

Silent Bob... oh my god Peter

The New York Shadow... That makes him sound like an urban serial killer

oooh The Shadow gives omens

hahah Doctor Noodle puts tabs on his notes

I do too but I don't keep track of someone's kill count

“Wraith has outlived his usefulness,”

OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIIIT

well... things have certainly taken a turn

things keep taking turns at some point we'll just circle right back to the start.

i'm so so so excited to see more of Peter's arc and Jack's development

This was so so so gooood darke

even though it did stress me out

CHAPTER 91: GREAT POWER, GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

To all my live reactors,

Please, please, please, hide your reactions under a Read More cut. I don’t want any spoilers floating around. 

&

To all my Anonymous Avengers, 

If you want to react in my asks, feel free. However, I won’t be answering any of them until at least Wednesday if they contain spoilers. 

Thank you,

Darke

┍━━━━━━━━ ★ ━━━━━━━━┑

“Hey!” Peter yelled, vaulting over the fence, “Wait! Where are we going?”

“We're not going anywhere,” the Shadow said, continuing to march through the brush and back toward the bridge where they had first started, “You’re taking that back to Stark and figuring out where the hell it came from.”

“Aw, man.” Peter frowned, “But we made such a good team.”

The Shadow paused, looking him over with a shake of his head, “There’s somethin’ comin’, Spider-Man. You have to be ready.”

Peter’s frown deepened as the man stepped further into the darkness.

“What does that mean?” he asked, moving after the man before he froze. The man was gone, he’d seemingly melted into the night.

┕━━━━━━━━ ★ ━━━━━━━━┙

» CHAPTER 91: GREAT POWER, GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

✪ Bᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ Sᴄᴀʀʀᴇᴅ : Aғᴛᴇʀᴍᴀᴛʜ

♜♠ Tʜᴇ Sᴏʟᴅɪᴇʀ & Tʜᴇ Sᴘʏ

⧗ Tʜᴇ Rᴇᴅ Rᴏᴏᴍ

»Jᴏɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋᴇ sɪᴅᴇ Tᴀɢʟɪsᴛ

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[saturnrevolution]

tale of the sun - titan Helios

In a previous post, we talked about the connection between mythology and astrology. Each Greek/Roman deity has an equivalent to a planet in astrology. To understand how the planets function, we can look at the background story of the Gods. I will be looking at the story of Greek Gods, as they are the oldest.

son of: Hyperion & Theia brother of: Selene (moon Goddess) and Eos born on: Island of Rhodes (where he had a statue)

Helios would drive his chariot of the Sun across the sky each day, pulled by two white horses. He was represented as a young, bright, shining person, indicating his solar attributes. When Helios completed his round, he had the privilege of knowing the whole world, so he knows everything that happens during daylight.

‘All anyone could see of him was a ball of light so high it dazzled with streaks following behind. Helios watched what happened to the other Gods when he was present: they absorbed his heat, earth and water and air gods alike. They felt more expansive, more alive, they smiled more, they did small kindnesses for each other.’ — Homeric Hymn, 31 to the Sun

Once he let his son Phaeton drive his chariot, but Phaeton lost control of the vehicle and plunged to his death or, alternatively, set the earth on fire and was killed by Zeus  to keep him from burning up all of mankind.

The sun is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth. In astrology, the sun changes signs every month or so and it returns to the point where it was when we were born once per year (that’s when we have our birthday or ‘solar return’).

The sun represents:

our identity/personality/when we choose ourselves

our ego/pride/what we prioritize/are vocal about

what we focus on

natural gifts/the way we shine/need to shine

what we are appreciated for

the way we tap into our inner child/how we were as a kid

the relationship/connection to our father

the center of our creativity

our consciousness

our life force/vitality/self love/will

what makes us happy

recognition/who or what we look up to

the person we identify OURSELVES to be

our toxic traits/the way in which we bring drama

The degree of our sun sign

0 - your personality is quite straightforward and in tune with your sun sign’s traits

1, 13, 25 - there’s an energetic side of you, which can make you impulsive, but also a leader

2, 14, 26 - your values are important to you and they dictate your decision making/personality

3, 15, 27 - you are great with information in general and benefit from communicating your ideas

4, 16, 28 - some of your family traits are being reflected through your personality, you have an empathetic side and sparks of intuition

5, 17, 29 - whenever you trust yourself and do things out of pleasure and fun, you’re closer to success

6, 18 - keeping up with a routine gives you space to be your truest self

7, 19 - you are always vouching for justice and you have an aesthetic side to your personality

8, 20 - there’s a mysterious depth to you personality which is difficult to pin down

9, 21 - you have that spark of adventure and dare able to teach people things about themselves

10, 22 - your career is reflected through your personality and you are hard working

11, 23 - sometimes you might feel like an outcast, when in reality all you need is to be understood

12, 24 - there’s a spiritual side to your personality and a great sense of compassion

The house your sun is in

1st house - use your personality/body/appearance as a means of reaching the goals you want

2nd house - gather all the resources you need to lead a stable life and focus on self worth

3rd house - use words and voice/opinions to process information, lead in life and inspire others

4th house - break family patterns and find your own means of comfort in life through self love

5th house - embrace your inner child and prioritize play, tapping into your natural gifts to find purpose

6th house - align your daily routine/health and daily tasks in such a way that it supports your big life goals

7th house - allow cooperation and integration of others in your daily life to learn more about you

8th house - dive deeper into your emotions and form connections that get you to tap into your power

9th house - explore cultures, go on adventures and travel on the journey of life to discover you

10th house - set well planned goals and pursue the career that you are passionate about to succeed

11th house - work on changing the world by staying true to yourself and making friends

12th house - embrace your enigmatic side, you are endless and giving will help you receive

The aspects made to the sun

sextile - there’s an opportunity to use your self expression as a way to fully express the energy of the planet the sun is sextiling

trine - you are able to blend your personality with the energy of the other planet and that’s your natural talent

conjunction - a lot of your personality traits are being expressed through that other planet

opposition - you need to find a balance between what your ego wants and what that other planet needs

square - you are motivated and ambitious, but you might encounter setbacks with that other planet

[wolfanddragon98]

The Starks and the Tyrells (Histories & Lore)

So lately I was listening to some GOT lore and I kind of wanted to do one for the fanfiction Blood and Thorns written by @dreaming-for-an-escape​. I wrote this in Garlan’s point of view (aka Maeve’s brother). I can only hope that as the story is going to expand I’ll be able to write more.

P.S The drawing that you see wasn’t created by me. I only added the sigils in the background and changed some colours around to make the female character look more like Maeve. If anyone knows the creator of the original drawing, please let me know so that I can credit that person properly.

Now, onto the lore! Picture Sam Claflin narrating this if you want to immerse yourself even more. :)

During the reign of the former King Robert Baratheon, House Stark and House Tyrell were among the most recognizable seats of power in Westeros. Of course, this should come as no great surprise, for one ruled over the vast region of the North, and the other controlled the South.

While the Starks and the Tyrells were never deemed enemies, they had their undeniable differences of opinion in the past. During Robert’s Rebellion, the Tyrells were one of the few houses who remained loyal to the dynasty of the dragon. The Starks, who lost half of their own at the hands of the Mad King Aerys, were naturally on the opposing side.

Fortunately, after the Mad King’s heir Rhaegar Targaryen fell at the Trident, the noble Robert Baratheon decided to pardon the House Tyrell and kept them seated as the Wardens of the South. While most say that we were spared out of mercy, we knew the real truth. Robert Baratheon might have not been the brightest person alive, but he was not stupid. No one could keep the lands as fertile as the Tyrells.  

Over the years the Seven Kingdoms remained somewhat peaceful under the Baratheon rule. I, along with my brothers and sisters, were fortunate enough to live out our childhoods in stability and tranquility. Our biggest concerns ranged from not being able to go horse riding to being denied dessert for not finishing our supper. Oh, those were the days.

Our childhood phase has officially come to an end when my youngest sister, Maeve was summoned to see our beloved grandmother, commonly known by many as the Queen of Thorns. At the time we did not know that the next time we would see our little sister, she would be a woman betrothed.

Neither of us expected such news. Not only was our sister the first of the Tyrell children to be promised to someone, she was to become the wife of Robb Stark, the heir of Winterfell. From a political viewpoint this match was indisputably the best strategic move on the Tyrells part. We would finally be able to put down roots in the powerful North. Still, it is rather difficult to see the benefits of such an arranged matrimony when you are blinded by the love you have for your sister. While my elder brother Willas and I tried to keep our emotions at bay for the sake of our sweet sister Maeve, we could not help but feel a touch of concern for her. She was a delicate flower, full of compassion and kindness. How could she ever properly settle in the cold and depressing North?

It did not take very long for my siblings and I to make a secret pact between ourselves. After all, we had to find out exactly who my sister was marrying into. If he was to be declared not worthy of her hand…we would deal with him accordingly.

To our utter relief, Robb Stark was everything that we could have hoped for. After assessing him carefully we knew he would do. Just, brave, protective and loyal to his family, the qualities us Tyrells cherish the most. The way the Young Wolf’s eyes lit up every time he saw our little sister was also a nice touch. But between you and me, I believe the lovestruck look was equally reciprocated, no matter how often my stubborn sister tried to deny it.

House Stark and House Tyrell officially joined their houses the moment Robb Stark and our sweet Maeve exchanged their vows in front of the Old Gods and the Weirwood tree. They were so entranced with one another that it felt almost intrusive for us to be there. We were like ghosts, mere spectators on their sacred day. The wedding feast was out of this world, and the sour look that remained on my younger brother’s face was among the many things that have brought me great amusement that night. It also seemed like our grandmother was quite satisfied with her choice of a husband for our sister. After all, we did not see the Stark boy foaming at the mouth or clutching desperately onto his throat. Unbeknownst to him, he successfully passed the Tyrell test.

My sister and her husband spent their honeymoon phase in complete peace. From the letters that I have received, my sister was perfectly content and I as her brother could not have been any happier for her. Unfortunately, their peace was shattered the moment Ned Stark and his daughters rode out to King’s Landing. Back then, no one knew that next time the honorable man would return, it would be in a chest with his head detached from his body. Robb Stark was rightfully so furious with the Lannisters, and Maeve, being the dutiful wife that she is, stood by his side.

In that moment I should have realized that this was only the beginning to the end.  

[poign-ant]

I have been thinking about this for a while and i believe i’m finally able to offer something else to add to your response (the way i wrote this may sound kind of funny since i learnt all the english i know by reading fanfics):

The chimera ant arc explores the human condition as an attribute that is not inherent to human beings, and how it manifests in an alien, newborn animal species. Contrary to the fandom’s general perception, i believe Meruem was always human. Yes, he was violent and selfish and cruel but aren’t those human traits? Are we so different from the ants? Chimera ants always had human emotions, feelings and desires. And there is not a more human trait than free will, the potential to become something different from what others made of us. That is what separates us from animals and angels. The human side and the ant side, wich are relentlessly struggling in the inside of the characters along the story, doesn’t correspond to good or evil, or compassion vs ruthlessness, but to individuality and collectivity instead: the dilema of choosing between sacrificing oneself for a common benefit or rather break away from the colony in the pursuit of a higher purpose.

Meruem’s journey is about finding his own path. He has to choose between the role that was imposed to him prior to his birth (ant side) or something that gives him peace, joy and meaning (human side).

Shaiapouf’s character represents Meruem’s role as the chimera ant King, future world’s ruler. As you already know, he’s named after the egyptian god of Fate. In the narrative, Pouf being by Meruem’s side means he’s still living a life decided by others. This is also why Shaiapouf is the last guard to die, and we get to see his death right after Meruem’s abdication (performed in the symbolic act of bowing down to Palm).

After being nearly killed by the poor man’s rose, Meruem is reborn as a different person: a fairer, less sadistic, more tolerant monarch. When Youpi admits he let the enemies escape Meruem spares his life just because he told the truth, though what he did put the King at disadvantage. The old Meruem would have obliterated him for way less. This King, on the other hand, is willing to accept his subjects’s flaws instead of just suppressing them. And it seems that he values their honesty above their blind obedience.

The scene we’re talking about reminds me a lot of a ceremony described in the egyptian mythology, known as The Judgement of Osiris or The Weighing of the Heart. The ancient Egyptians believed that, after your death, you would be judged by a court of gods, among whom Osiris was the most influential one. They would decide if you were worthy of the eternal life based on your heart’s testimony. If your heart lied you’d be devoured.

In Shaiapouf’s psychostasia the narrator tells us that for Meruem, who’s able to read his guard’s heart like an open book, ´´loyalty and animosity were equally worthless’’.  Those two feelings coexist in Pouf. This man’s heart is an unsolvable paradox, even for Meruem. It’s imposible to tell if he’s a martyr or a traitor. Or better, he’s both.

The answer Meruem demands doesn´t need to be pleasant nor treacherous, it needs to be honest. The only thing that could save Pouf is the truth. And what is Pouf if not loyal to his truth? He’s a manipulative liar, but in some deviant, heartbreaking way his intentions were always sincere. He may have betrayed Meruem, but he never betrayed his heart. And his heart didn't betray him before his God.

I think that’s what Meruem saw in him, that’s the reason why he spared him. It doesn’t matter if Shaiapouf’s feelings are right or wrong, it only matters that they’re true. 

Why do you think Meruem didn't kill Pouf when he interrupted him while talking to Welfin? Meruem was totally going to do it and Pouf was totally willing to die.

(Btw, I'm glad you're back!)

(I'm always glad to make a comeback, but even more glad that people notice when I come and go <3)

It's been a bit since I've seen the whole arc, so I'll answer based off my memory; I've seen the CAA somewhere near 3-4 times + read through it in the manga as well, so I feel at least a little confident in my approach lmao

I think there's a couple of major pieces to that scene that offer an explanation, but I firmly believe that Meruem himself is the key piece in how he chose to handle the situation (which I feel goes without saying, but I want to be as clear as possible). At this point in the storyline, Meruem is only a minute or so away from remembering Komugi, and is also wavering between his human and ant components; there's also the huge piece of Pouf and Meruem having a psychic link, being able to feel each other's emotions. Before going any further into this, I'd like to show some manga panels of the scene (taken from the @/everyshaiapouf blog):

I feel like it's fair to say that these panels are almost definitely back-to-back, considering how Pouf was commandeering the scene. It's pretty explicitly stated that Meruem fully understands Pouf's feelings, which would include a dual-edge of secrecy, guilt, and devotion; Pouf's secrecy doubles back directly into the devotion since he fully believes that killing Komugi is the right thing to do for Meruem. While Meruem doesn't know that this is what's being hidden from him, he can still pick up on Pouf's intense loyalty, as well as his guilt, through his inherited usage of Spiritual Message.

Surprisingly, I haven't done a lot of examination of Meruem and his arc; I feel like a lot of people have already done so, with more attention to detail than I could provide. That being said, I'd like to give what feels like a more base-level analysis, with such being: him sparing Pouf can be seen as another manifestation of his humanity. The lines immediately before this are overdub narration, roughly saying that "loyalty and animosity were equally meaningless before [Meruem]", which then leads into the panels I've posted (if my memory serves correctly). Even though Pouf is completely willing to die to protect his secret, Meruem spares him in a simple act of humanity. I believe it's the same base impulse that allows him to spare Welfin after he says that he'd never bow to Meruem.

For the latter, it could easily be said that Meruem's priorities had shifted to Komugi, so it wouldn't have really mattered for him to linger, especially with him knowing that his time was limited, but I'd like to bring up another major event that points to Meruem's change in character: at the beginning of episode 135, where all these major events happen, he kneels before Palm in a gesture of equality. This act alone is unthinkable for Meruem at the beginning of his arc, as well as his act of sparing Welfin, and I think that both of these events tie in nicely with Meruem sparing Pouf.

Something else I would like to point out is that this is all visible in Meruem's thoughts towards the guards as a whole. Earlier in the arc, he struck each of them across the face, with enough force to knock Youpi down and throw Pouf across the room; in Meruem's last moments, he mentions how he was unworthy of his guards. His changes are more well-displayed through his interactions with Komugi, but they're visible with the guards in more subtle ways (the most overt I can think of off the top of my head being when he asked Pitou to take care of Komugi after her injuries).

The final piece I want to discuss is how he spared Pouf after remembering Komugi. Once more, it could just be said that Meruem likely wouldn't have wanted to waste any more time, but I'd like to argue against that - he took time to stop and wish Welfin the best of luck in living as a human. His refusal to deliver any sort of punishment upon Pouf, even when only a minute ago Pouf was prepared to let himself be killed, speaks volumes.

I'll freely admit that this essay isn't quite my finest work, so if anyone has anything to add or wants to address something I've missed, please feel free to add to this!

[twentytarot]

hi everyone! today we’re going to be doing a quick reading on your soul family. for the purpose of this reading, i took “soul family” to mean the people that are connected to you in ways that are beyond this world, here to make the biggest impacts on your life and teach you the most important lessons. i saw some people on the internet call this “soul group” as well. pick the image that sets your thoughts off and scroll down to your respective pile for your reading~ 💐

PILE ONE: GUITAR

you’ve met your soul family for many lifetimes already, and this time, they’re here to teach you complicated lessons about obsessions, holding on and letting go. you might find these people shady in the beginning and find it hard to trust them or find it difficult to be vulnerable around them. you may even feel the need to distance yourself from some members of your soul family. in fact, some of you will even call bullshit on this whole thing. soul families don’t exist, you’ll exclaim, and if they do they shouldn’t be this incompatible with me and my life! it will be a moment of disillusionment that is good for you, because it will steer you away from thinking that you have a saviour; no, ultimately only we will be the common denominator and save ourselves.

this is not a situation where you will leave your soul family, but through this push and pull, you will learn that life doesn’t have to be so black and white. you don’t have to either love someone or actively remove them from your life. some people just float in the middle, you know? in particular, you will find friendship and support with the younger air signs in your soul family. your soul family seems big, a mix of varying personalities that won’t always get along. yet, it will be a community that you have known in lives before this, and when the moment comes, you’ll know exactly what you need to do.

PILE TWO: MICROPHONE

your soul family will be your wish come true, but the funny thing is, you won’t even realise it at first. it has always been a dream of yours to be the diamond in the rough, creating a safe and protected bubble for yourself amidst the mess that is your life sometimes. when these people creep into your life, they’ll help you realise that it’s okay to be selfish, in fact, the only way to be truly at peace with yourself is to be selfish enough to draw your borders in black permanent marker and not let anyone step over those boundaries. the only way you’ll feel refreshed when you wake up in the morning is if you refuse to involve yourself and invest your energy in hopeless people and situations. people will see this as you being “selfish”, but we’re humans, not gods. actually, in most stories of gods, the gods themselves aren’t even fair...

the highs will be high and the lows will be low with this group, yet your soul family will also be the ones to ground you and love you when things get overwhelming. overall, there’s just a lot of love and care surrounding everyone in this family, and the message for this family is: people will always benefit from you not being able to see your blessings, but untie that blindfold anyway because it is only fair to yourself that you do.

PILE THREE: BASS GUITAR

oh, this is kinda sad. when you first meet your soul family, you’ll find that you get along with them easily, that life is a little lighter when you’re around them. this could be because you’re older than most of your soul family, or their lives are simpler than yours. either way, this unfortunately doesn’t last. it starts off small, little arguments because you live differently. it’s realising that planning an overseas trip is a nightmare because one of you refuses to spend more than 50 bucks per night for lodging but the other struggles with staying at any lodging that’s not at least a four star hotel. it’s someone making a joke that unintentionally brings up unwanted memories, and a huge fight arising from that. it gnaws at you until you decide to rely fully on no one but yourself. you will leave these people and go on your own way, perhaps temporarily, perhaps permanently. i don’t know if you like the fact that you’re a lone wolf and operate best that way, but... perhaps you will need to let go of your dream to hold on to many pairs of hands as you fly because you will only fly the highest and reach your maximum potential when you’re alone. trust that you are learning this lesson to allow better things to come in!

PILE FOUR: DRUMS

this soul family is all about choices. the biggest choice and decision you will need to consider is: do you want to go fast or far? do you value your material success or your emotional wellbeing more? which will make you ultimately more fulfilled? like i’ve always said when this topic comes up in readings: there’s no right answer because we need both types of people in this world. you soul family will be people who can lift you up and make you happy, but they may not meet you at that eye-level that you wish they did. i’m not seeing a “look down on others” kind of vibe with this, it’s just more like meeting a colleague in the workplace and then being promoted over them because your presentations were more outstanding. it’s something that you can’t quite help, but it creates a negative dynamic. you will have to pause and wonder if you’re going to slow down a little so they can catch up, or if you’re going to go ahead without them. if you stray too far, you won’t be as close to them as you wish you could; if you wait, you’ll always wonder what more you could have done. do what will help you sleep at night, and know that, either way, these are the people that taught you what compassion is and what home is.

[misssakurapetal28]

#Sabrina Raincomprix Deserves WAY Better...

You know...

I find it SO FUNNY how this fandom preaches about “peace and tolerance” or “let these bullies learn and grow” or “They are are just misunderstood!” when it comes to characters like Chloe and Lila. It doesn’t matter what they did or always do, people have faith in them no matter what. However, when it comes to Sabrina, ANOTHER mistreated and misunderstood girl (in my opinion), just because she’s no “important” or “one-dimensional” or “not developed enough”, no one bats an eye, no one doesn’t care, no one gives a shit, NO ONE SEES HER mistreatment and potential and completely turns their backs on her. Even when a small handful of people DO care, it’s suddenly “not that serious” because she’s not that important, it’s a kids show, or people will try to make it about Chloe in some way.

It makes me mad because...most of us have been bullied and mistreated in school. Some of us been manipulated, intimidated and belittled by people that we once loved, cared about or saw as our friends and I’m sure of it. Some of us, we were kids once and sometimes we did things that we didn’t want to do, but we DID do in fear that we would get bullied or have something be taken from us. Sometimes, we were misunderstood or wronged for things that could of been or should of been at least understandable. Sometimes, we did wrong things to keep toxic things or friendships.

Now, of course you can say that some of this COULD apply to Chloe and Lila too. It VERY likely and possible, but in my opinion this fits Sabrina’s situation a more than Chloe and Lila’s. Also, I would have been a lot more fine with this applying to Chloe and Lila IF Sabrina gotten the same amount of sympathy, empathy and compassion for that too. You see, I bet A LOT of people dealt MORE with people like Chloe and Lila in school. And I know at least 1 person AT LEAST saw people like Sabrina too. 

My point is...when I see all this passion, controversial opinions, constructive criticism and even hate when it comes to Chloe and Lila, people always say that “their children, let them grow and learn” or sayings like that all them time. They want to defend them, no matter what they do because “they had it hard”, “they’re relatable” or “because they’re children”. However, Sabrina??? It’s always the same kind of answers:

“She’s undeveloped” 

“She contributes nothing to the story”

“She knows what she’s doing but doesn’t care”

“She WANTS to do bad things”

“She’s spineless”

“She one-dimensional”

“Chloe is better than her”

“She’ll be terrible with a miraculous”

“She doesn’t feel sorry for what she does”

“She only uses Chloe’s friendship to benefit from being friends with a rich girl”

“She’s not important”

Like, even if ANY of that was true (which I admit it might be to a CERTAIN DEGREE), not only people don’t look at the subtext of the situation, but where are you guys compassion, sympathy and empathy for HER though??? As teens???? AS ADULTS????? Not Chloe, not Lila, SABRINA? Why does Chloe and Lila deserve 78 chances when you can’t even give Sabrina even 1!?!? It means she’s undeveloped, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have potential! She does bad and questionable things sure, but that’s what happens when you have bad influences in your life and no real responsible adults -___-. 

Is Sabrina competely innocent? Of course not! Sabrina is responsible for her own actions and she owes everyone SHE has personally hurt an apology, but I still believe she has a chance to gain confidence, grow a backbone and change for the good. I don’t think Sabrina is a bad kid, just misguided. Maybe she doesn’t deserve a miraculous at this point of time neither, but neither does Chloe. I’m so sick of the double standards when it comes to Sabrina and other bully characters in the show.

And you know what??? 

Even though I do feel sorry for Chloe to a degree, even though I DO stand of Chloe over Hawkmoth/Gabriel/her creator (Thomas) now, even though I DO think Chloe had potential to be great and developed, I really don’t like Chloe as a character. 

Never did. 

I don’t think she deserves a miraculous and I personally don’t think she deserves more attention or better in general than Sabrina. I’m not afraid to say it anymore. If you want to go after me for that, fine, but I don’t care anymore. I like Sabrina, I relate to her and I think she deserves MUCH better than the show and the fans give her. 

Regardless of you like or dislike Chloe, you can’t deny that she has shown time and time again that Sabrina isn’t truly her friend outside of what Sabrina can do for HER or if it boost her ego in someway. Sure, they might have their nice moments every now and then, but come on??? She basically admits to her mom that not only she’s using Sabrina (Queen Wasp), but she also has said that Sabrina would be NOTHING without her (Evillustrator). 

“BUT WAAAA! SHE CAN GROW!!!” 

And OK! I’ll give that to you! She CAN grow, but that does NOT mean that people don’t have the right to say anything about her behavior or be irritated/disappointed/angry when she does something wrong! YES, her actions do have UNDERSTANBLE REASONS, but they aren’t JUSTIFLIEABLE REASONS. It means it’s understandable why she’s this way (mom issues, absent mother, spoiled, her dad is a bad influence, fear of being bullied so she does it first etc), that doesn’t mean she gets to get off scot free and keep doing/acting the way she wants (the show won’t do anything about, so fans do, which is why I sometimes understand the Chloe hate). 

Also, what are the chances of ANYBODY (let alone Chloe) having any development at this point??? 

It really baffles and annoys me how much attention this fandom gives to these girls (Chloe and Lila) because of “redemption/reformation”, “what they’ve went through” or because “it’s much more interesting”, but then gives SO MUCH LESS attention to an very underrated character who can have just as much as a good redemption story as Chloe and Lila can. It’s even you like Chloe over Sabrina or you equality dislike both of them. I NEVER hear more than a handful of people liking Sabrina more than Chloe. 

Also, we barely know anything about Sabrina outside Chloe. How about we try to ask for some development for her? Some development? Some backstory? SOMETHING for Sabrina??? 

So basically the “let the children grow” argument only implies to characters that you like and are interested in apparently and you ignore their “followers/friends”, even though they themselves have potential and understandable reasons to THEIR actions too 🤷‍♀️ People only care about Sabrina when it comes to shipping or if it has anything to do with Chloe’s development, and it’s not fair.

Seriously, you have people still having faith in Chloe and Lila, who HAS arguably done more harm than Sabrina, with or without Hawkmoth’s influence, but then dislike Sabrina MORE for what? Just being someone’s sidekick because they don’t have a spine yet? Because she’s just simply bland or undeveloped? YES, Sabrina has done some messed up stuff too, but she NEVER did that stuff without Chloe specifically telling her to. And if she does seem mean? It’s just to blow smoke up Chloe’s chimney. 

I don’t think she does mean things because she’s a toxic and mean person, she does it for Chloe’s approval. Sabrina just has a twisted mindset on how friendship works. It doesn’t make it anymore right, but can you at least TRY to understand where Sabrina comes from instead of focusing on Chloe and Lila all the time???  God, as much as I do like it when people notice/don’t ignore/callout the bad writting in MLB, this fandom when it comes to Sabrina REALLY pisses me off...

And before you say “why are you so serious about a nothing character from a show for children????”

1). Why are YOU when it comes to Chloe and Lila???

2). If None of you are going to defend Sabrina, who will???

As for Lila, I’ve already said my reasons on why I don’t like her as a character/person neither in the past, but I’ll just make a separate post about her in the future. My point being in this post is that Sabrina really isn’t that bad like people make her out to be. At least not as worse as Chloe. I belive that both girls have the possibly of growing and changing for the better (now Lila is a different story, but I digress), but I just think Sabrina deserves more attention and love. In short:

#SabrinaRaincomprixDeservesBetter

P.S. I am looking forward to see her with the dog miraculous, but I know it’s probably not going to be good...

[yoshiintheweb]

YEEEEEES

I'm currently playing a Durge who is a little goodie too shoes currently (She's a Paladin with the Oath of the Ancient) and it's honestly wonderful. I wish I didn't knew spoilers for this playthrough even if i know very very little of them (I know that Durge is a bhaalspawn and the Isobel thing and the whole deal with Gortash either by puzzling things together in my first playthrough [i read every book i saw] or stright up read something over here in Tumblr dot com). So i could go completely blind into it. The whole gimmick i have for her is that she woke up in Paladin's clothing (presumably one she killed) and assumed she was a Paladine so she especially cosplayed till some god granted her actual abilities to have all that Paladine skills in some sick experiment to see if she will gives in or do some good. IT'S WONDERFUL I'm finishing Underdark at the moment and she is crumbling, almost broke her oath twice, and on a spiral with essentially no support as everyone is not really sure what is happening (I try to not tell everyone about the urges till i had to and that went horrible!) Can't wait to see where it's gonna go bc like you said, here we have this dichotomy of a past you do not remember, something covered in blood and guts vs what is now and what you think you should be. She's a Paladine, she should be lawful, kind, merciful, charitable. But when they go through goblin camp she smells a horrible oddor, a dwarf meat being roasted over a campfire. And her mouth starts to running wet, shes getting hungry. She doesn't know how she knows it's dwarf, she doesn't know why she knows it's gonna be so tasty when it's done, but she cannot stop thinking about how violating it is how disgusting she feels bc of that. THE STORYTELLING IS GLORIOUS, you could slap some many spiraling into her chef kisses.

Anyways back to the topic! Yeah! Dark Urge is quite whatever you want them to be, I focused more on a goodie too shoes type of character in the previous post cuz you mentioned the Folk Hero background which kind of indicated it. But honestly one can do literally whatever - I think that you could even play a little bit more murderous character and still regret Bhaal and make it make sense in character - as there is a difference between old good fashion murder and all that FUCKED UP things Durge was doing before thier memory loss. And the idea of shifting the background would stay - instead of a goody to shoes Folk Hero, Durge can as easily become sneaky assassin who channels the murder into thier own benefit not just to whoever comes across (perhaps, as you said to avoid harming someone close to them) becoming, (or staying) a Criminal. Or they could learn one or two from the vampire, start to be more cunning and develop into a Charlatan, or perhaps don't really pay attention to the people around choosing to isolate themselves instead of taking any risks becoming an Outlander or a Hermit. Lots of possibilities with lots of different ways to play! Or perhaps do all of it and still stay as Haunted One woth the weight of thier past is being that inescapable and even when it's behind them, and Bhaal cannot reach them, it still plauges and defines them this time in a different way - to as a compulsion but a memory of something you won't truly remember and something that will haunts you forever.

And a chaotic neutral character can really go in whichever way you want, really. I always saw chaotic neutrals as characters focused on themselves - not really benevolent or malevolent but something in between following a path they deem correct. My first Tav was Chaotic Neutral and they basically did all the "good" deeds the game presents but not bc it was the good thing to do, but bc it personally alligned with thier moral compass (it was total accident i didn't knew a lot of BG3 back then so i accidentally made a character whos morals almost always alligned with the conventionally good choice 💀). She was a tiefling who had this mantel of protecting her own no matter what was the price but at the same time they had a great fear of mindflayers. So she protected the refugees as they were tieflings - her kin. She bonded with the group as they were in the same position - tadpoled - so she saw some resemblance there. The great way to show it was Wyll's dad actually! She didn't care if he lived or died, she was even hoping he will perish (disowning your underaged son? Over a misunderstanding? Mx. "Your own comes first everything eles second" had non of that, Not on thier watch) He lived in the end, but not bc of her it was all Wyll's efforts (that get him killed actually and i had to for the first and only time take Withers on his offer). Or the murder investigation in act 3 - the one in the temple, i was soo in character when i encountered it that I MYSELF had no interest in this plot up until i realize they are blaming a tiefling for it.

MY POINT IS, that whatever you want to play you can spin it whatever you want and the choices in the game doesn't need to fully define the character you play. People can call you a hero all they want, but you don't need to be one, you can be the biggest scum in Fearûn, an asshole who just did whatever was deemed right in the moment. And it's fun! I would say it's the best part of any role play based game (let it be video or tabletop), so do whatever, be creative, it's all made up anyways so who cares

I'd like to preface by exclaiming that i would like your (yes your) opinion on this.

Below is a quick thought about DURGE that evolved into more than i originally intended. Also pls don't kill me for the run-on sentences and what-not. I will be referring to durge with she/her pronouns because that's what her pronouns were in my playthrough.:

Ascending Astarion fit my durge playthrough, but I'm over it. I'm not sure if i will do it in another playthrough or not. It depends on the backstory and personality of my character... But when I was in the head of the Bhaalspawn dark urge, I sort of felt like the way she saw murder was scarily casual.... I think it was sort of a misinterpretation on my part, though.

I think now that she probably felt like murder was more akin to how me, as a child with autism and ADHD, felt when i was in a rocking chair or ripping the holes in my nylons bigger. It is the dark "URGE", not the dark "thought."

I actually am not sure if the dark urge /would/ ascend astarion because i think she much prefers to get her hands dirty (at least when she blacks out and kills). Although the actual writer(s) for the character The Dark Urge kinda left her as a blank slate because she had her memories erased, so any behaviors she has outside of when she blacks out and kills can really be anything????

Like you (as durge) are someone who randomly ended up on a nauteloid with no memory of your previous self. The only thing you really are beginning to know about yourself is that you have these dark urges, and then you find out that you seem to be the only one in the group that gets like that. You (as the player) get to choose the personality of Durge beyond that.

After being purged of her powers, if she resists during the quest line in act 3, she still has no memory of her past, and now she no longer has the dark urges. So, who she is at her core would not change. I guess if you want, you could play it like that was the case. Like if after her urges are gone, she suddenly becomes folk-hero like. Idk.

This is a lot of thinkin I've been doing on this. Anyways , idk if anyone will read this, but just LEMME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS.

[feralcherry]

Naruto takes that might enrage you (girl addition)

Warning, some of these takes might enrage you- that’s fine.

Fillers don’t count as canon, don’t even bring them up if you talk about this post lol. Also it’s been a while since I’ve seen the whole series, so some of these might be disproven as I continue with my rewatch. The excuse that Shounen is for boys is also very weak and holds no weight, as tons of girls (and nonbinary folk) relate to the characters in this show, so that doesn’t excuse Kishimoto for his weak writing of women.

To preface, I love this show. Love it to pieces. It was part of my childhood and holds a very special place in my heart. But there are some things I personally don’t like or wish could have been done better. I love every character and will go blue in the face talking about how much I still love this show. That doesn’t free it from my criticism. I’m also only listing what I don’t like and what I would change, though I’d be more than happy making a post about what I loved.

Let’s start off with my girl Sakura Haruno. She is easily the most hated girl in the series, and all because of how ‘weak’ or ‘annoying’ she is. As if that’s not the fault of Kishimoto himself lol. She was shoved off to the side continuously and never given cool storylines, unlike the other members of her team.

What I took issue with about Sakura:

-What were this girls dreams?? The whole reason she became a ninja was never really talked about nor were they really developed as time went on. She was all about Sasuke, which would be fine if she grew out of it. But no. 

-Her crush on Sasuke was super stale. He was handsome and powerful, but what else was there to him? He was a jerk to her most of the time (there are some instances he’s somewhat kind to her, but if we go off canon, it’s not enough to make her deep love make sense). I think it would have been so much more interesting to see her grow out of her infatuation for him. If they had to have ended up together, watching them relearn each other and fall in love would have made them more compelling. She stayed loving a boy who thought very little of her. 

-She’s pitted against her best friend and doesn’t develop much of a relationship with other girls her age. It’s kind of sad, and I think they should have fought over something other than a boy. 

-We are told repeatedly that she’s super powerful by other characters, but she’s never given time to truly shine. She got like a single battle with Sasori and she deserved more cool moments like that!

-She was a healer, which makes perfect sense. But why is it mostly girls who are the healers? It’s a bit weird, when there’s also Neji with his perfect chakra control. She only has her healing abilities and her super strength; but even then someone like Kabuto has more offensive healing based techniques than her. Like his chakra scalpel. 

What I would fix:

-New dreams. Show her find a dream outside of her team and grow into it. Also give her more of a backstory. Sai has more of a backstory than she does and he’s way newer than she is.

-I would let her fuck up one of the Peins instead of Konohomaru- she’s a main character and passed over for that little brat?? She should have gotten to do more than scream out for Naruto and heal people :/ 

-She her intellect a bit more. She’s so smart, and yet we don’t really see it.

-She’s perfect for genjutsu, Kakashi himself said so. So why not give that to her? Or play more with ninjutsu. She has earth and water on her chart, so why not give her those abilities? Maybe even wood jutsu to even her out with her super OP teammates. Idk how, it could have happened, this is a show full of demons and god like abilities, it could have happened someway.

-She should have grown out of Sasuke and not married a man who doesn’t really appreciate her and isn’t there for her at all.

-I would totally have expanded on Inner Sakura more. Imagine if it made her mind impenetrable? Could have woven that in with her skills for genjutsu and made her unaffected by other’s illusions.

Next, let’s go with a more beloved character of the fandom. Hinata. Now personally I don’t care much for her- she could have been so cool but just like Sakura, they kind of messed her up.

What I didn’t like about Hinata:

-Her entire existence is revolves around Naruto. Naruto this, Naruto that- and yet she simply sat back and watched as his life was shit and did nothing despite her ‘love’ for him. And then fillers/movies are added to show that oh wait! she’s been there this entire time!! no lol. Build her up from the start as his love interest at the very least.

-She stayed super meek the entire time. Shy girls are okay, but I wanted to see her grow into herself more and not need as much reassurance. She’s a ninja and should stand on her own two feet more.

-She’s less skilled then Neji and I would have loved to see her outmatch him at some point, even once. Or gain abilities outside of her clan, or do something that made a name for herself outside of being the heiress of the Hyuga.

-She never fixed her clan which was one of her few spoken goals. That was a huge bummer.

-I think it would have been cool to see her mess up Pein a little more. She only stepped in because it was Naruto, which reinforces that she’s only about him. But at least let her land a hit if she’s as powerful as people say she is. 

-She makes the most sense to be a housewife or a healer with the way her attitude is but in Boruto, she’s kind of rewritten to be a ‘scary’ mother which just doesn’t fit her. Plus, she tells Boruto to go and take care of his dad?? Bro, that’s your child and your husband is the hokage. 

What I’d fix:

-Prove her dad wrong and show him that her compassion isn’t a weakness but a strength. 

-Fix the Hyuga clan bs.

-More character growth and showing more of her life away from Naruto. Her romance with him could also have been better. I hated her always watching him but never standing up for him, it kills me.

-Neij dying for her proved their clans hierarchy bs to be right and it just doesn’t make sense for him to die for her. It showed that he was right to feel caged and that he simply existed for the benefit of the Main family.

Now with the others, there’s much less I have to say about them because they aren’t main characters or the love interests.

Ino-

-Jealous of Sakura, no dreams of her own, stupidly loves Sasuke and for what? WHAT’S SO COOL ABOUT HIM?

-I like her growth for the most part, it was cool watching her fight in the War Arc with her team. 

-Why is she the medical ninja? I never got that.

-She got with Sai but they didn’t really show their development and how they fell in love with each other. It’s like she only likes him because he looks like Sasuke and called her pretty once.

Tenten-

-Should have gotten to train with Tsunade at some point, since she was the one who originally idolized her. 

-We know nothing about this girl at all. She doesn’t even have a last name.

-Her weapon usage was meant to be so cool and yet she missed so often- there’s a disconnect there. Her abilities could have been built up more. Imagine if no matter what she never ever missed. That would have been cool.

-Her weapon shop isn’t doing well. Just because it’s an era of peace doesn’t mean the need for weapons is totally over, not if there are still active ninja??

Karin-

-I actually like her, she’s kind of funny and I like that she’s mean even if she can get annoying.

-Again, another healer, though she’s also sensory which is more interesting. I’d like to see her with some jutsus though. That would have been neat.

-Her love for Sasuke makes sense since he saved her and smiled at her, making her think of him as her hero. And she’s the only one he apologizes to without Naruto strong arming him into it.

Temari-

-She’s pretty solid in my opinion. Though I would have loved to see her more without her brothers.

Konan-

-Her goals in life were to support Yahiko and Nagito’s dreams. It would irritate me so much if other girls in the series were more well rounded and din’t also have some sort of dream involving a boy.

-She was underused. I would have loved to see her fight more.

Tsunade-

-Only becomes hokage to support others dreams...All of them men. And then later passes the title onto Kakashi who doesn’t even want to be Hokage either. 

-No other justus used, she’s on par with Jiraya and Orochimaru and yet she’s only super strong and the best medic. She should theoretically be more well rounded than that, right? She also should be shown fighting more even if she’s a medic, she’s also s legendary sannin 

-Had to be saved by 12 year old Naruto. I know it’s a show about him, but she’s meant to be a literal badass but needs a kid to save her.

Kushina-

-Wanted to become the first woman hokage and then didn’t. Her husband did. and then she became a housewife?? What?? She should have become the first woman hokage with a badass husband or had another prominent role in the village like as a council member or something.

Kurenai-

-Always lost a fight? She’s some genjutsu using badass but always lost fights.

-No real personality, she’s just chilling there. Sexy as hell though. Has a kid and that’s about it.

-What I will give her is that I’m so glad she was allowed to age. So many anime mothers always look the same as their teenage self and she looks like she can be anybody's mama.

Over all, the girls could have been handled much better. I wouldn’t find issues with any of them being housewives or all about boys if that weren’t what seems to be the standard in the anime. I just wanted more of a variety and better character development, especially for Sakura and Hinata who are the mains 😩

Now to what might REALLY piss people off- ships! I’m not trying to start some war here, this is just my opinion and you can take it or leave it.

Sakura- Naruto, since they had the most development and showed more than two seconds of caring for each other. Even Sai in Shippuden has more of a connection to Sakura than Sasuke did.

Ino-Shikamaru, if she had to end up with a guy it makes sense it’d be him since they spend more time together than her and Sai did. (inosaku for the win tho)

Hinata-Shino or Kiba, again, because they spent more time with her. Naruto and her felt very rushed and I don’t quite understand the appeal.

The one that made the most sense and became canon was Shikatem, though their son’s design was lazy :D 

If I do a second part, it’ll be about the boys and the ships with them that made sense to me. For now, this is all I have. If you’ve made it this far, thank you lol

byeee