#but that’s a whole other post

[ilovefredjones]

[earthshine-moon]

Current mood

Isildur saying “it’s alright” when he’s almost waist deep in quick mud and is still sinking

[alicentflorent]

I initially found it strange that we Lucy Gray doesn’t seem too affected by what happened in the games, she says through music that she’s not going to let the capitol take anything from her and she’s not going to let the games change her or break her. Lucy Gray is a survivor, Because of this you could say that she’s accepted that she did what she had to to survive and she tried to do the least harm as she possibly could. However I find it hard to believe she never got angry or upset about what they put her and the others through, that she never thought about her friend jessup and the other tributes that she got to know, who died horrible deaths.

But then I realised WHY we don’t get to see her feel anything about the games and it’s victims. It’s because we only see the story through Coryo’s POV and he lacks the capacity for empathy. It’s that inability to empathise with people that stops us from witnessing Lucy Gray’s trauma and grief. He doesn’t think about what she went through, he never asks her about how she feels about it or even about how she’s feeling in general. Lucy Gray never confides in him or brings up the games herself because (perhaps unconsciously) she knows he won’t understand or truly empathise and therefore, he wouldn’t be the person she’d choose talk to about how she’s feeling.

We don’t see her trauma because snow never cared about her trauma, he only focuses on how they fell in love during the games, not the horrors of it or what the girl he believes he loves had to go through, despite having a small taste himself of what it would have been like for Lucy during the games despite having a front row seat when he went into the arena and had to kill a person to get out alive, but he lacks the capacity to empathise. Despite his front row seat to Lucy Gray’s trauma as well as the injustices, and poor quality of life that she faces in district 12.

[alluraaaa]

to expand on my tags on the previous post i think allura really enjoys combat training and fighting because it’s a way to move her body and expel energy when she’s antsy. plus the skills she’s building are useful in keeping her friends and family safe, which gives her peace of mind

but i think she also enjoys dance, as it is also a very physical outlet for her, but taps into the side of her that wants to be pretty and graceful and beautiful. and growing up as a princess with expectation of inheriting rule over an entire planet she saw her own desires for beauty and art and play as childish and unnecessary. that feeling would no doubt multiply tenfold after waking up and spearheading a war effort. but she still wants to dance, and one day there will be enough peace and relaxation where she can dance without worry

[stardust-falling]

Odysseus in the vengeance saga really seems like he’s trying so, so hard to appease and accommodate those that hold power over him and then when it really, really doesn’t work he just breaks down and lashes out and honestly it does something for me.

[icanlove2things]

Ok but what if Buck and Eddie are together when disaster strikes, and there’s a moment when Buck would be safe, but instead he dives after Eddie, which gets them trapped together, mirroring that first call where Buck volunteered to stay with Eddie while he removed the grenade from that guys leg.

The call that set the tone for their whole relationship.

Because they’ve known since the very beginning, when they didn’t even know each other and Buck didn’t even like Eddie, that everything is easier when they’re together.

[eothemagnificent]

Been having Odin Thoughts™️ recently.

There’s… a lot to be said, for the right words in the right ears at the right moment. But there’s maybe a couple dozen real human people who actually see my posts, and I don’t… I don’t think that’s what this is going to be. But maybe if I manage to get the words out I’ll stop feeling them caught behind my teeth, all heavy-pressured and weird.

This is kind of vague-posting about a couple people I’ve interacted with IRL, but it’s not like any of them deserve any particular ire—I can’t exactly be mad at them for spreading misinformation if they don’t even know it’s misinformation. But I am agitated about how common that misinformation is.

Or maybe misinformation isn’t quite the right word. More like… mis-emphasis?? It’s hard to explain. It’s just—the way a lot of people talk about Odin, the reputation and overall impression that develops around him and becomes what new people expect, it’s… Theres a mis-match. It feels like wearing the wrong size shirt to hear it. And it’s not helping anyone to spread it, I don’t think. It certainly didn’t help me.

There was a long time that I couldn’t work with him, because of what I’d come to expect. I couldn’t get through a single conversation without getting spooked, and going all reflexive-defensive in a way that prevented anything else getting done. Because I’d got the impression that he’s intense, and he can be cryptic and pushy, and he’s usually got at least a dozen irons in the fire only three of which you can see, and to have any kind of understanding of him you can’t ignore the aspects of him that are of war and of death and of the dark, sharp side of what we call madness.

And none of that’s untrue. But it’s also… only one face. And I think there’s an over-focus on that one face, because we don’t want to forget about it, but then other faces start to get forgotten. And it’s not even like that’s the Default Face that he presents himself with, because there’s lots of situations where presenting himself like that would Not Be Helpful for whatever he’s doing, so he. Doesn’t do that, in those situations. Maybe even in most situations. There’s a lot of situations, and a lot of faces to navigate each.

The point is, it’s in those other faces that I actually felt a connection with him to start with. It was honestly with Snufkin and with Ginko from Mushi-shi that I first felt… something. A draw, or a connection of some sort. Something about the characters that fill those sorts of roles, something about the itch to just start walking in a direction to see what you’ll find, something about the drive to properly understand a situation so you can actually fix the problem, something about the sense of responsibility to use the knowledge that you have and to pass it on to others because what they don’t know CAN hurt them. Something I still struggle to put into words.

But for a while I lost that something, with how spooked I had gotten myself and how over-focused I was on what felt like an inherent danger jn working with him. Because that seemed to be what people talked about, when it came to him. And it was only after I finally figured out how to un-spook myself that I actually realized there hadn’t actually been a reason to get myself so wound up and anxious in the first place.

Like I’m not saying he doesn’t have the potential to be dangerous, but… I mean first of all, so do a lot of people. It doesn’t mean he’s inherently dangerous to have around. It’s not like playing with fire, where either you keep it at arm’s length and protect yourself properly or inevitably get burned. Fire just burns, it doesn’t have agency. But it’s kind of a whole important part of the nature of deities that they do have. Agency. And intentionality. And other such things. Anything he’s capable of doing, he is also equally capable of deciding not to do. That’s kind of the point.

So yeah, talking to him is often a very intense experience. Some days I wanna put my head through a wall just trying to understand what the hell he’s saying, because I haven’t found the right way to wrap my head around a concept. And then sometimes I get a reading with all the subtlety and ambiguity of a brick through the window. Man’s damn good at making himself understood when he wants to. But the intensity of it isn’t a drawback. There’s been some intense shit going on lately, and anything less intense just… wouldn’t match it, I think. Sometimes the meltdown is an essential part of the process. Sometimes you’ve got to mourn lost pieces of yourself before you can figure out how to live without them. And I had help through all of that. And yeah, there’s things I push back on, but there’s respect for the pushback and for the boundaries set. I think there’s maybe a level of trust to it too, that I can and will push back when needed. And yeah I don’t always know what’s going on, but when I insist on informed consent he hasn’t given me shit about it or tried to act like I don’t have a right to know what I’m agreeing to. Which is good, because I’d respect him a hell of a lot less for it if he had.

This is already a novel, and honestly I’m kinda running out of steam here. Point is, it would’ve been a hell of a lot easier to get to where I’m at now (which is undoubtedly better than where I was) if I hadn’t had to push past all the weirdly intimidating ways that the man gets talked about in order to start properly interacting with him for myself. And there’s probably other people in the same situation, with the same misunderstandings. And that, uh, kinda sucks. We should make there be less of that, probably.

[redwolf17]

⬆️

🙃 Regular reminder that while Hozier has amazing love songs, he is ALSO very outspoken about his leftist politics, specifically anti-fascism, anti-racism, reproductive rights, Palestinian rights and more.

Take Me To Church and Foreigner’s God are scathing critiques of organized religion, specifically the Catholic Church.

Moment’s Silence is about oral sex but it’s ALSO about how that specific sexual act is often distorted to a show of power rather than that of love.

Nina Cried Power is an homage to various civil rights activists from the US and Ireland and a call to follow their path.

Be specifically criticizes anti-migrant policies and Trump and his ilk.

Jackboot Jump is about the global wave of fascism.

Swan Upon Leda is about reproductive rights and the violent colonial oppression of Ireland and Palestine.

Eat Your Young is about the ruinous way the 1%/capitalism prioritizes short-term profit over everything else to the detriment of the youth/99%.

Butchered Tongue is about Irish and other indigenous languages being suppressed and erased by imperial powers.

If any of the above surprised you, please, please delve deeper into Hozier’s music, you’re missing such an important part of his work.

[anonymous-venting-space]

You know those posts of trans people being really rude and aggressive after getting misgendered, and then all the comments are defending the person who misgendered them or trans people saying they don’t associate with trans people like that or aren’t like that themselves? I’m gonna be honest, I’m on the trans person side; like I get that being rude isn’t really gonna help anyone, but why should we be condemning them for having the confidence to stand up for themselves.

I’m not saying every trans person is alway right or that trans people shouldn’t be held accountable for their behavior, but as someone who allows almost every single person to misgender me, I’m happy that they can be so open about their identity.

And I know that, yeah the other person might have just not known and maybe they don’t even know what transgender means, and I know the first trans person they meet blowing up at them probably doesn’t give them the best impression on trans people, but it’s not every trans person’s job to hold others’ hands and teach them what transgender means.

If someone called a person of color a slur but didn’t know it was a slur and the PoC got really angry about it, would you really blame them? Would you expect them to be ok with it and gently educate the other person why that hurt them?

(Also, Google exists, you very easily google what transgender means, you can probably even use the most offensive, ignorant, transphobic terms and eventually find out what transgender means.)

Any half decent person wouldn’t take their first and only interaction with someone of a group as a basis of how all people in that group are.

I don’t dislike TERFs because I met one once and they were mean to me, I dislike them because every single one of them, by definition, think I shouldn’t exist and want me to be something I’m not. Or they want me dead

Obligatory disclaimer, No, I’m not saying trans people get a pass for being rude, they are being rude, and maybe they are being unreasonable, I’m just saying we shouldn’t act like it was completely unprecedented for them to get defensive, and unless they resort to violence and are causing physical harm, all they’re doing is yelling at someone, and there people who have done things 10x worse than that to trans people.

Second obligatory disclaimer, Trans people should also not always expect every single person to know their pronouns or gender right away. I’m Non-Binary but I look and dress like my assigned gender at birth, I’m not going to fault anyone for thinking I’m that gender, but once someone knows my preferred pronouns and gender identity, I expect it to be respected. So if you’re a trans person and you don’t really “pass” as your gender, be aware you will likely get misgendered, but also don’t don’t let those that know your identity misgender you, because you don’t need to look “appropriately” feminine/masculine/androgynous for people to respect your identity.

[lemongogo]

life of regret

[oars]

[botlabyrinth]

percy immediately apologizing to luke after he hurts him even though he is literally being betrayed because his fatal flaw is loyalty and he cannot fathom hurting the people he cares about… meanwhile luke turning around and hitting percy back without hesitation… i feel sick

[verflares]

(click for higher quality!) draconified link concept ive been chipping away at this past week ..... here's my funny little compendium concept for him:

"A heroic spirit has taken the form of this bestial dragon. Unlike it's kin, this creature exhibits an extremely aggressive disposition. It appears highly territorial, and will relentlessly chase down those who disturb its skywide patrols - of which it seems to be endlessly searching for either a long-time vassal or foe. Unfortunately, it seems the spirit within has long since forgotten exactly who it was looking for…"

[giantkillerjack]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

[plain-text version of this post can be found under the cut]

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

Plain-text version:

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

P.S. Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[afterthelambs]

This trio is aggressively y2k. Good thing they all died within the decade because I cant imagine them past the 2000s, they all have nokia fliphone face

[bluegiragi]

holding back (part 2)

early access + nsfw on patreon