#completely mental. esp when it comes from men

[justasecretflower]

“Cruel affair” homicipher men when they realize another monster likes you

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cruel affair - beabadobee

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Synopsis- like a reversed harem. I wouldn’t call it a love triangle necessarily !

Cw- mentions of possessiveness, fighting, marriage, unhealthy obsessions, stalking. Mentions of a chest? Not specifically feminine

Pairs- Mr. Scarletta and Mr. Crawling, Mr. Silvair and Mr. Chopped, Mr. Hood and Mr. Machete

ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊no reblogging pls :) ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊

Mr. Crawling and Mr. Scarletta

❤️Mr. Scarletta obviously had his eyes on you way before Mr. Crawling and he reminds him of that often. He tries taking you and pointing while saying ‘mine first’

🖤Mr. Crawling is not scared of Mr. Scarletta. But he knows how obsessed Mr. Scarletta is with you and is afraid he can’t compete with him. So he often brings you gifts or tries to be more loving. He’s very clingy. So this only adds to it

❤️Mr. Scarletta, being delusional as always he believes that mr. Crawlings gifts and affections can only go so far because you two are in love. You will be together. You killed all for him, surely you wanna be with him forever right?

🖤Mr. Crawling actually gets more excited to find an exit because of Mr. Scarletta. He gets more eager to leave this world behind so you can just forget about all the other monsters and live peacefully with him.

❤️Mr. Scarletta is happy wherever you are but he likes the world you’re in because he can manipulate it a lot more than the real life world. Your significance of marriage means more in the paranormal world . But he’ll follow you to the ends of the earth if you wanted to.

🖤❤️they have fought a couple of times and each time Mr. Scarletta just disappeared just to reappear like a week later.

⤷if you choose mr. Crawling… Mr Scarletta isn’t ever gonna fully go away. Only if you went back to the real world would he leave your life completely..but you still feel like he’s somewhere there..

⤷if you choose Mr. Scarletta mr. Crawling would get super super sad. He felt even more betrayed because he taught you monster language and helped guide you through their world and then you picked Mr. Scarletta. Mr. Scarletta would be appreciative and get married immediately so he knows you could never leave.

⤷If you couldn’t pick…they would not be able to share you. They’re both clingy. Mr. Crawling physically and Mr. Scarletta emotionally. They need you there with them or else they freak out. They also don’t get the complexity of relationships in the polyamory scope so they just assume they need to keep fighting until you pick which one you want lol.

Mr. Silvair and Mr. Chopped

🤍I honestly think mr. Silvair is pretty possessive but he thinks of Mr. Chopped to not pose a threat. He thinks Mr. Chopped is well.. not enough to fully satisfy you. You will always need him to hold you when you sleep so you’re safe, or take care of you. As well as taking care of Mr. Chopped

🧡Mr. Chopped will always be super jealous of Mr. Silvair because he can touch you. He wants to pat you on the head, hold you while you sleep, kiss your face all over, too :(. Because of this Mr. Chopped is esp needy when Mr. Silvair is touchy. He demands to be held after Mr. Silvair touches you.

🤍I feel like Mr. Silvair would be insanely interested in the human world, especially health and things like that. He’s just so interested in humans and if he changed if he was for a long time or not. Mentally or physically. Mr. Chopped strikes me as someone who is scared of change but eventually warms up to it if u force him to come along. Plus he wouldn’t wanna be alone.

🧡Mr. Chopped is always trying to get your attention with being silly and trying to make you laugh. He’s desperate. He craves love and attention and is so jealous that he can’t just pick you up and take you away from everybody else. He needs to be constantly reminded that you do in fact like him.

🤍Mr. Silvair is observant. He understands Mr. Chopped is jealous of him being able to touch you and not have a reliance on somebody to carry him around. He finds it funny. But he makes sure Mr. Chopped gets head pats

⤷If you choose Mr. Silvair… Mr. Chopped would understand, he’s literally a head. He can’t fill your physical needs, he can’t be a proper lover to you. Thats fine. It just hurts him like hell. He hates seeing you and Mr. Silvair do everything he wants to do with you. Mr. Silvair is a good boyfriend but gets that Mr. Chopped hates seeing you two touch and yk..do couple stuff so he usually isn’t that affectionate when he’s around.

⤷if you choose…Mr. Chopped he would literally be so happy. He can’t hold you or kiss you without you helping him but you still choose him just because you like him?! Ugh he’s over the moon. Mr. Silvair never expected it, so he’d sulk silently for a pretty long time. You were the first person that he’s met in his ghost life that he was attracted to. That he really liked. But he knew that Mr. Chopped deserved some love.

⤷if you couldn’t choose… Mr. Chopped and Mr. Silvair are perfectly fine sharing. In fact they balance each other out quite well. Mr. Chopped makes you laugh super hard and Mr. Silvair gives you physical affection and is the seriousness out of you two. (If you’re a lil silly ˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) Mr. Chopped insists to be held all the time. Especially at night so while Mr. Silvair holds you, you hold Mr. Chopped who drools into your chest

Mr. Hood and Mr. Machete

🤎Mr. Hood isn’t possessive. He’s not insecure, he knows he’s good to you, and he also knows Mr. Machete is… Mr. Machete..

🩷Mr. Machete doesn’t react to kindly when he finds out somebody else likes the person he likes. He finds this out by seeing you walking with Mr. Hood and how Mr. Hood was incredibly gentle. I believe Mr. Machete is 100% a himbo but he is also incredibly jealous and possessive. Seeing another monster that close to you makes him mad.

🤎Mr. Hood knows that Mr. Machete can’t actually hurt him yk because he has no solid figure. He’s just black void with a cloak on. So I imagine Mr. Machete constantly trying to throw his weapon at Mr. Hood and only for it to go through and for him to make an aggravated noise and run away.

🩷Mr. Machete is like a dog/cat who brings you dead prey in able to impress you. He likes staking his claim like that. You’ll often be walking around just for Mr. Machete to come out of nowhere and place a dead corpse in front of you

🤎while Mr. Machete is all acts of services Mr. Hood is a heavenly combination of acts of services and words of affirmation. He praises you a lot. While Mr. Machete does the complete opposite because of how small and weak looking you are compared to him. Mr. Machete tries to imitate this but he literally can’t it’s not in his blood. He can throw out a few compliments here and there but they’re not as good as Mr. Hoods

⤷if you choose… Mr. Hood Mr. Machete would go full ghost on you. (Haha) out of anger and spite. He can’t just be friends with you after that damage to his ego. Mr. Hood would be an attentive boyfriend and make sure to always meet your needs, if you were hellbent on getting to that elevator he would help you. But if you wanted to stay he would stay with you. Similar to Mr. Crawling.

⤷if you choose…Mr. Machete Mr. Hood would not be able to comprehend that at all. But Mr. Machete would try to be good to you. If you pass out from exhaustion you’ll wake up on his huge back with his hands holding under your knees. If you get gravely injured he’s yelling at you calling you weak but he’s also not leaving your side, he’s hauling you wherever he is. I don’t think he would understand the human world and you would have to leave without him..but if you did he’d take your necklace or bracelet and leave it on him. He forgets a lot of things being in this world. But looking at a cute beaded bracelet or locket necklace he would immediately remember the human who captured his heart.

⤷if you couldn’t choose… Mr. Hood and Mr. Machete still comically fight over you. They also don’t understand polyamorous relationships and quite frankly could never even stand each other if they really tried. You’d have to alternate between them like divorced parents. If you went back to the human world Mr. Hood would likely be fine with a domestic life like that but Mr. Machete would never be able to. He’s too wild. He likes the thrill of fighting and killing. But he can also to a degree understand it’d be selfish keeping you there to rot and forget everything and eventually die. So he lets you go.

🎐𓍼ֶָ֢⊹ ࣪ ˖tags

[taylortruther]

Philosophy with my boyfriend (we’re both students) has generally evolved into whoever happens to have more money at the time pays. Although I don’t know that we ever explicitly acknowledged that so much as it’s me observing how our conversations go prior to purchasing anything (“I can afford X,” “okay well I’ve got about Y”). And afterward there’s not really any talk of paying back anything; the mentality is generally just that it comes out of “our” budget even tho we have separate accounts. What’s interesting tho is that I’m very selective with who I share this info with; I don’t have any explicit confirmation from my friends on this, but bc I’m Gen Z, I always suspect my relationship will be judged bc I often end up paying (I tend to more regularly have a budget to work with). The friends I have talked to never behave like this, but still, it’s interesting that I just instinctively suspect that, probably due to social media. Esp bc I remember the first time (early on in our relationship) when he’d clearly been working up the nerve to ask me to pay for a date we had been planning for a bit; it melted my heart that his expectation was to be judged.

this makes complete sense to me and sort of aligns with what my partner has said (that poorer hetero couples are way more flexible about the gender roles of who pays what)! and i can relate to being choosy about who you share this stuff with - i make 2x more than my partner (or i did, before i got laid off lmao) and i don't mind it, but i think some people outside of my close friends would judge. but i grew up in a family where my mom was the sole breadwinner (and made a great salary) and my dad was the stay-at-home parent my whole life. i think my dream is honestly to have a SAH partner even though we don't plan on having kids, i'd love to just be able to work and not have to worry about house stuff. the dream! no wonder men want to keep women from having rights.

[lakesbian]

and wildbow definitely doesn't even think sy is being transphobic. so it's effectively just the thing with lillian. wildbow just is not cut out for in depth thoughtful world building wrt LGBT people.

ive been thinking idly about this recently (alongside many other things about jessie) due to my current twigfic writing fixation (wretched fixation to have but im having fun) and if anyone wants to hear my rambles about how id handle it. well i have a lot

i think it would be plausible for the general mainstream mindset within academy circles to be part "the power of Advanced Science can even transmute men into women and women into men, sex is dead" & part reminiscent of medicalized/academic transphobia. like, it being viewed by many as kind of a niche mental condition--theres no respect for any "natural order" that deems sex or gender to be innate, so 'treatment' in the form of complete physical and social transition isn't unheard of, and the first notable people of higher status to undergo it probably got a bit of special treatment as a scientific novelty. but there's ultimately still social downsides in having [insert twig term for 'gender dysphoria disorder' here], esp for trans women because of the whole social dynamics there. so the ultimate goal for people in academic spheres who have the means is to transition efficiently/nonpublicly and then pass as cis as soon as humanly possible.

which like. in terms of how that impacts jessie i think lillians response to her comes from viewing jessie (and jamie 1) as a Good Boy in contrast to sy being sy, and viewed jessies kind treatment of her & general nonthreatening tendencies/approachable nature as like. Proof that there are men who don't suck, something that comforts her as a girl dating sy and dealing with misogyny in the academy. so when jessie transitions she feels betrayed and robbed of something that was giving her a kind of hope and she spits out that "but you were such a lovely boy :(." if i were handling the arc over this i think she would pretty quickly feel really guilty, especially in response to jessie being like "no. you're not kidnapping us right now. you burst into my bedroom at 3 in the morning, you broke my window, and you've insulted who i am. get out." like i think she ends up having to have a really miserable conversation where jessie mercifully allows her a Reset, Take 2, and she asks her dumbass cis woman questions about jessies Feelings and comes to terms with it and ultimately manages to understand her/want to re-befriend her properly

oh and i think duncan is like. I think if you asked Duncan in a void what he thinks about people with [twig version of gender dysphoria disorder] he would confidently give some insane fucked up response about how conversion therapy is awesome and the obvious solution. but then the second he's actually in a room with jessie watching lillian fuck up so bad he ends up immediately empathizing with her as a person/seeing her as yet another girl he doesn't want to offend and being cordial/decent if awkward. ignorant and too unfamiliar with trans people to see them as like real people and not hypothetical case studies but then when he actually meets her and processes her as a person who's happier this way his biggest sin is the occasional sexist microaggression.

helen i think is thrilled because yay women. mary doesn't gaf she's just like ok sure can i shoot sylvester now. ashton is really polite and super chill about it he doesn't say anything for like 30 minutes because everyone is having an incredibly tense conversation about a variety of things and then when he finally speaks up he's just like. excuse me, jessie. i would like to say that your outfit looks very pretty. in the politest voice known to man and jessie is like thanks ashton:) it's good to see you again. and helen is pinching his cheeks during this entire thing.

as for non-academic circles. i actually don't see mauer giving a fuck. like he's running a revolution he's been through unfathomable horrors, straight up he does not have time to give a fuck if one of the little murder assassin children-now-teens that have apparently started their own rebel group and want to coordinate with him despite previously trying to arson murder him. has transed her gender. like i don't know if he would find it bizarre or distasteful or be totally chill with it but i can't see him letting whatever he's thinking internally stop him from referring to her as she wishes externally and dealing with them without particular care or interest in how jamie is jessie now.

and i think there's definitely lots of back alley surgeons that can do all sorts of SRS procedures as a matter of course. if someone wants something done to their body there's a market for it. there's nuances to how much you can trust the medical care based on area and the person doing it, but it's definitely An Option. you know how twig shows both lower tech areas that are sort of behind/dragging their feet on catching up to what they see as fucked up societal changes, And areas where crazy body mods like drake/emily and brunos and everything are super common and normal? i think the normalcy and ease of transition physically and socially ranges from "worth moving out of town for" in the most conservative areas to "completely accepted as scarcely more than another type of mod" in the more modern ones. esp if you're running in younger crowds. i think nonbinary people can totally have fun in twig. if you move to the right place "my transition goals are Tentacled Beast" is a feasible statement to fulfil.

ultimately i don't think jessie would run into too much transphobia in the wild...i think she doesn't go as far physically as many trans people, but she also never had a testosterone-based puberty because she never had testes, and trans people aren't in the public consciousness enough in most places for people to think "that's a Transgender Person...." instead of just "thats a lanky woman with a kind of weird voice. anyway." i don't think much of anyone outside the lambs and the employees who knew her before transition are even aware she's trans

One thing that I think is strange about Twig is how non-transphobic people are. Like aside from Sy's shit and that one mishap with Lilian, everyone's just like seemingly okay with Jessie. Even apparently Mauer, who was a pastor in the 1920s. Like you're sure that this is the early 20th century?

[masterthespianduchovny]

It’s really fascinating that whenever people are pressed by a ship it’s always 1. Why can’t men and women just be friends??? 2. Shippers clearly weren’t paying attention to the story.

Just say you don’t like the ship and own that shit. Stop trying to condescend and pretend people who ship two characters aren’t paying attention or, in the case of Freya and Kratos, are ignoring their backstories, which is far from the case.

When it comes to Kratos, just because he’s still mourning his wife’s death doesn’t mean he cannot move on or that he wouldn’t fall in love with someone, in this case Freya, unplanned. Faye tells him to open his heart and himself to the world so that he has an actual relationship with his son and fulfilling relationships with others in general. It stands to reason that a man who is in the process of doing that might fall in love with someone, esp someone he has such a deep connection with.

Before Kratos found out that Freya was a god, he clearly distrusted her the least and was opening up to her in a way he hadn’t with anyone besides his wives. Then he finds out that she’s a god and is angry with her and closes himself off again. When Atreus gets sick, despite his poor behavior, he goes to her and literally trusts her with his son’s life. Literally the most important person to him. Kratos is distraught and goes to HER. If he truly distrusted her that wouldn’t have happened. He felt played and was angry as a result.

He believes so much in the goodness of Freya, despite his past with gods and her concealing her identity, that he kills her son against her wishes. He regrets hurting her, but not choosing her life over Baldur’s. Kratos’ care is so deep for her, it extends even years later when she’s actively trying to kill him. Kratos literally refuses to hurt or kill her and only fights back to defend himself.

Kratos unashamedly compliments and comforts Freya and isn’t coy about it in the least bit. He finds her admirable and says it’s plainly.

Yes, men and women can be just friends, but honestly, these two are tinged with sexual tension. There’s this intimacy that exists between them that makes it hard to see it as remaining just platonic.

Which leads to Freya. Although Kratos killed her son, deep down she knows that it was necessary and that her anger at him was a projection of how her actions led to this as well as her shit marriage with Odin. As much as she loved her son, he made the world as worse place. This was partially (or mostly) a consequence of her trying to protect him from all harm, which fucked up him mental then emotional state. Add to having Odin as a father, a monster was created.

Because of her banishment at the hands of Odin as well as the shit he pulled during their marriage—only giving her a child to control her, I believe—all she had ti keep her going was Baldur’s safety and protection. Her mind was distorted due to her hostile circumstances. She literally couldn’t protect herself even if she tried and was locked away in an u familiar land. Cut off from her brother and her people.

We get hints that Freya doesn’t hate Kratos as much as she wants to believe. There’s so much subtleties and nuances in their interactions and how she has to fight his advice and being endeared to him. When he helps free her from Odin’s spell, she calls a truce between them. After that, her hostility melts towards him even though she says she can never forgive him.

Freya pleads for Kratos to fight against Odin and even makes him head of the army. She explicitly trust him with her life and of that of the nine realms. After she is free from Odin’s magic, she never uses Baldur against Kratos at all.

And I honestly do believe she forgave him completely because kratos knew what it was like to be betrayed and manipulated by a god and lose a child. He did not want to kill Baldur, it was a necessity, one that I believe she accepts. Him revealing that personal stuff about his daughter softens Freya in her assessment of him.

Freya reveals to him that she’d have another child if the opportunity presented itself. Considering that he’s the man that killed her only child, that says a lot. Why would she even reveal this to him? It has nothing to do with romance, but her trust in him. He’s a confidant and someone she feels not only comfortable around, but is okay with being vulnerable with.

She constantly laughs and jokes with him and feels more comfortable around him than Mimir. Again, Kratos is the man who killed her son, where as mimir suggested the marriage between her and Odin. Later, she is friends with mimir, but it’s telling that she’s closer to Kratos before she is with mimir. She’s also very complimentary towards him as well.

Rather than going off and doing her own thing, Freya chooses to help Kratos rebuild society, which isn’t some light commitment. She’s literally going to be spending fucking years alongside Kratos helping him rebuild society.

Like it’s so obvious that she forgave Kratos, esp when compared to Odin who she admitted to relishing in the reality of watching him lose everything in the end.

And we also see her defend and protect Kratos against Gna after ragnarok.

Like, yes, they’re friends, but this can evolve into something else considering their histories with each other, how deeply they care for one another, and even though lose informs their behaviors, they’re no longer defined by it. Both see paths as to having futures after their losses and despite how they were defined/perceived in the world. So we can’t fall back on him still needing to mourn Faye or Freya being unable to forgive him for Baldur.

This is all assuming that they get together right away rather than over time. I don’t think those feelings would be obvious, but would make sense once they realized that something has changed for both of them.

So it’s really strange how shippers are framed as ignoring context and backstories to push a ship when the narrative makes it clear that Freya has forgiven Kratos and will being spending a shit ton of time with him. She can’t forgive him for Baldur, but literally put the life of humanity in his hands, protects him, travels alongside and rebuilds society with him, compliments him, reveals her deepest secrets to him, served as support about him wife and son (even the first set of wife and child), yet the idea that she could never move past him killing her son is the crux of the argument as to why Freya would never get would Kratos?

Although some arguments can be made, imo, there’s more evidence that that’s just not the case.

And Kratos moving on isn’t impossible since he has done so before. He needs someone who he trusts and that understands him and that he cared about…hmm…wonder who fits that criteria.

[antichrist-starscreen]

Hello! I saw your post on exposingcourtneylove, along with the tags saying how nothing negative was ever said about Kurt, and the further discussion on how it was a mutually toxic relationship. I have wondering if you could elaborate on that? I'm not denying that men can't be victims to abuse, of course--I had an uncle who was in an emotionally abusive relationship, alot like how that blog described.

yeah man ofc, thank you for being so respectful & asking abt a special interest of mine. I think exposingcourtneylove was/is a complete delusional mess bc it’s run by somebody who legitimately used to believe they were dating his ghost in the spirit world & fucking thru astral projection so I kinda pity that entire scene now. aside from shit that can be proved w video clips (such as Court saying slurs & shit) I wouldn’t believe anything u read there, esp not the shit abt like. Frances being forcibly conceived. bc that’s just a disgusting disgrace to how much Kurt wanted & loved that child, but that’s a side rant.

Kurt was really manipulative in his own ways and very dysfunctional. he never matured properly bc of trauma and untreated mental illness so he just never developed a real sense of emotional responsibility or an understanding of adult life, if that makes sense? like at my age he was still living rent free w Tracy Marander & manipulating her out of asking for help by threatening to sleep in his car. His relationship with Tobi Vail failed bc she wasn’t interested in mothering him or being in a monogamous relationship with him (neither of which they’re guilty of anything for!) so without somebody basically acting as his mother he lived in complete disarray and was miserable. when he and court got together she fulfilled all that shit he couldn’t get from his two previous serious relationships.

firstly, she was maternal and sort of a parentified eldest sibling so she was willing to baby and protect him. she would clean up after him, revive him, do drugs with him, defend him, filter his parental relationships for him, and give him at least a parody of the cohesive family life he was convinced he had to have. that is a LOT to expect your wife to do for you, and ofc he reciprocated in his own ways, but it went like? deeper than that? like according to Heavier Than Heaven and Hole’s BTM, Kurt was so needy and so fucked up that it put a strain on their relationship.

examples of that neediness would be: begging Courtney to let him do drugs/manipulating her into using with him, expecting her to help him through all of his breakdowns/not being able to handle them himself, being so insecure that he would rather OD than like. have an adult discussion with his wife about his insecurities & spare his child the loss of her dad. like he overdosed in Rome because he was convinced she was cheating and it affected her so badly that she had a nervous breakdown and her hair started coming out bc the mfer put himself in a COMA rather than talking about it.

if she laid down any ground rules, esp during the last year of their marriage, he would immediately break them. when she asked him not to do drugs in the house, he would just disappear to random hotels and she’d freak out thinking he’d die while using. if she let him do drugs in the house, she’d have to revive him or potentially have him die in front of her. when they did their final intervention to try and save his life, he told her she didn’t have any room to talk because she was just as fucked up as him- a fact that at the time wasn’t true, and it upset her so much that she had to be helped out of the house & out of the intervention. she was dedicated to improving in ways that Kurt wasn’t and she was never, never as badly addicted to specifically heroin as he was.

I think court is abusive, definitely, but specifically to Frances. I don’t think it can be argued that she abused Kurt because while she did pick fights with him & do things that set off his insecurities, he fought back just as hard and he hurt her very very deeply. I don’t think either of them were good to one another but I think they were as good as they could be, if that makes sense? like I think there was true love & soulmate shit going on there, it was just buried under these horrible issues and unhealed traumas. the real victim of Kurt and Courtney’s relationship is Frances, who is basically the quintessential “fix-it baby”, something she’s described herself as before. like idk why we focus on who abused who in an equally codependent & miserable relationship when the kid they had is the one who endured the most damage.

[queen-merunyaa]

💖😈[ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐛𝐮𝐬 ♡︎︎ ] 😈💖

The Spirit of Merudiana is a Succubus Demon which manifested over 1100 years ago in Northern Italy. She can possess any virgin female soul as long as the mind is corrupted with sexual desires.

In order to maintain the possession, Meru must consume adequate amounts of semen daily, otherwise, the mind of the possessed will become self-aware, and may attempt to cast out Meru's spirit.

There is a way to maintain a permanent lifelong possession, which is to consume the semen of a sexually abstinent virgin.

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

Meru has a collection of powers that increase the more semen she consumes; these powers include but are not limited to:

1. Flight and Levitation

2. ESP

3. Hypnosis

4. Shapeshifting

5. Teleportation

Meru's ultimate goal is to kill the priest that separated her spirit from her precious powers, but the priest is not so easily beaten! She cannot confront him until all her powers have returned.

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

Meru will receive more or less power depending on what level of quality the semen she consumes has. Semen received by sexually deviant individuals will have less of a lasting effect in comparison to semen taken from virgin males.

Mind corruption is also a factor, as those with daily sexual thoughts will not provide enough energy for Meru as opposed to sexually abstinent men. These types provide Meru with immense power, more than enough to sustain a lifelong possession.

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

“Sweet dreams” is a subconscious defense technique used by Succubi to deter suspecting individuals from sabotaging the objectives of a Succubus. Sweet Dream Succubi are a separate entity not linked mentally with their physical counterparts.

Once latched onto an individual, Sweet Dream Succubi have one goal: to enter the minds of their victims and emit hallucinations that induce a lucid wet dream.

The hallucinations are harmless and relaxing and are only meant to relieve the body. Can only be assigned to one person at a time. Does not work on Priests.

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

Compatibility is the most important factor in regards to maintaining possession. A succubus and her host must be 100% in tune with each other when it comes to consent, libido, and sexual orientation.

In the event that a Succubus is able to acquire the semen of an unsullied, the personality and memories of the original host will begin to fade away and the demonic spirit of the Succubus will take complete control of the body.

It is a terminal possession and the Succubus may choose to leave at any time she desires.. However, what will remain is an empty husk.

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[weabooweedwitch]

I have seen your previous posts about your sister from like?? Months ago?? And I completely understand that you want to prioritize your own mental health and social life. You do not have to sacrifice yourself for an adult woman who has her own issues, and sooner or later people have to realize sometiems that victims of abuse or trauma survivorrs make their own bad decisions and there is nothing people who are not them can do to help. They are not above critiscim and although bad decisions and self destructive behavior mostly come from trauma, a lot of times their support people are just there unable to do anything because essentially the person does not want to be helped or is inconsistent. No matter how much you love them or want to support them. In the end, you just end up suffering on their behalf while they keep repeating the same harmful patterns despite your support and love. They need to accept the help. It is not easy for anyone, it is mentally taxing.

I feel deep sympathy for your sister and I hope she can find a way to happiness, as I hope you will (I was really happy to hear how positively this trip affected you), but at the end of the day you cannot sacrifice your own life to be at her whim. What do they expect you to do for your sister? Be miserable with her? Become her emotional punching bag? Neither of you are in a position to help each other, and you have your own issues. You do not have to sacrifice your chances of happiness for her. And from what I have read, you really do have some sort of distance in your relationship with your sister, which makes everything more complicated. Abuse victims need help and support but please stop expecting other people (esp. people who also suffer from trauma and abuse) to drop every good thing in their lives to cater to them. I really do not mean to sound insensitive towards your sister. I hope things work out for her and for you to help her as much as you can, but not at the expense of your mental health.

From multiple personal posts, you come across as an isolated person with no support system. You need positive presences in your life, to socialize, to build connections. If you are in a good mental health space you might even be able to offer the emotional support your sister needs, but right now I do not understand why the other anons expect you to sacrifice everything good you got going on (and is positively affecting you) for your sister. It kinda sounds like the anons think her issues and her hurt are more important than your own. They ARE important, very much so, SA and abuse are not to be taken lightly, but they completely ignore posts you made about your own mental health and situation.

Stay safe and I hope everything works out. For both you and your sister.

I'm at work right now so I unfortunately cannot give this the more long thought our reply it deserves but like, really cannot stress enough to these "drop everything for your sister" crowd that me and my mom did that literally just in July for her birthday and you know what she did? She sabotaged the entire trip by constantly complaining about wanting to spend time with her new loser boyfriend, some 35 year pld bike repairman slash drug dealer who still lived in his family home with like 5 other adults, when we had barely seen her over the last 10 years by the way, we've barely fucking seen her for years and shes trying to force us to spend time with her boyfriend after an entire life of prioritizing men over herself and her family, and she had a, sorry, hysterical psycho meltdown when we asked her to put a bra on to go out in public with us because she exposes her nipple piercings through her clothes on purpose which, personally, I think is disgusting for anyone to do.

Like I love her but this is like when families have to leave a family member out on the street homeless because they refuse to get clean and choose drugs and self destruction over being well.

I told her once that I would take a bullet for her and she laughed in my face and told me to go away because she wanted to spend time with her boyfriend and I never really forgot that moment. She called me a level 5 clinger for being an affectionate sister, for wanting her to spend a little bit of time with me instead of her EXISTING for whatever relationship she has barnacled onto this time?

My sister is sick. I am sick. Our mother is sick. Our father is sick. Our little half sister is sick. Our entire family is one big fucked up mess of intergenerational trauma and congenital mental health and addiction issues and it's just. It hurts. It's not that I don't care about her, it's that she makes it so extremely PAINFUL to care about her. One time my mom lightly criticized her boyfriend and she jumped out of the car while it was still moving while she was cruising through the suburbs. My sister is very, very unwell and there are so msny things she has done to hurt herself and others.

I am here for her, I am talking to her, I am telling her I love her and am here to listen, but, I'm sorry, I know enough of our history to know that if I try to put myself on the line for her, she usually just chooses to hurt me instead. Remember how we didn't even know she had been attacked twice until she said, smirking and smiling, "well both of the times I was attacked it wasn't for what I was wearing, so :)"

Like I'm sorry. My sister is a victim but that right there? That's fucking emotional manipulation and she's been doing shit like that her entire life. This is sort of like the same thing with my mom you know? I love them but I hate them too. I love them as my family but they've also tormented me and abused me and I've abused them too. We're all a fucking mess. I am no saint here and neither is anyone else.

I just hope, if nothing else, that she finds a better place to live and some better friends, if she doesn't want her family to be that support for her. But she's been talking to me and my mom and even our dad more so... I'm trying to have hope? But I am so so terrified, legitimately terrified, that we're going to bring her into our home and it'll be just like last time: her throwing absolure fits and yelling and screaming to the point we got evicted, because YES she has gotten us evicted before

I just. I just want her to be safe. And she can't be safe if she's going to bars every night and bouncing from one relationship to another and not taking time for herself. It's tough love. I just don't want my big sister to die when she's more talented and beautiful and motivated than I could ever be.

If I could hit a button that gave my life to save hers, I would do it in a heartbeat. And I shouldn't be made to feel like that.

[antiloreolympus]

Yo! I was reading Lore Olympus yesterday and... yeah, it was a mess. While reading it, I pushed down several things that felt like red flags but kept reading it because I got absorbed in the drama. It might've been fate but I found a really good set of tiktok videos that basically criticized the sh*t out of it and validated my concerns.

Honestly, finding out the creator of LO was a white woman was... not a surprise, considering how the story is written. It butchered a lot of characters in Greek mythology (the most obvious being Apollo bc from my understanding he was actually ok but hey! The creator obviously had to make somebody the flipping villain to continue her unnecessary trauma plot 🙄) . That is a major problem for me. I think it's all about personal interpretation of Greek myth when reading it, but when you aren't Greek, when you use Greek gods and goddesses, dieties people still in fact worship (I didn't know about that fact until yesterday), as warped characters in your story to advance your (bad) plot, it's not good at all. It's basically taking parts and pieces of a culture and using them to satisfy your own wants, which is literally what white artisans have been doing for what feels like forever at this point.

Ignoring the obvious plot issues/inconsistencies, there was excessive amounts of emphasis on the age gap between Persephone and Hades. The age gap would have been okay because Persephone is an adult and can make her own decisions but the way the creator had this... gross infantilization of Persephone did not make it feel ok. Her mentality and way of acting was too similar to a child and made me wonder if she and Hades had more of a father daughter relationship. And it was intentional! I mean, this doesn't even bring up the casual incest in Greek mythology. (which honestly I think it's just something you have to accept when reading Greek/Roman myth because it was pretty normalized so I just kinda have to shrug my shoulders yk?)

Also the art style. There... there aren't many ways to differentiate between characters, esp the female ones, besides color and their outfit that episode. I didn't even realize it until I watched the tiktoks I was talking about I actually liked the art style despite its issues. I thought it was nice. I'm no artist though so I'll accept any criticisms about the art at any time.

As my last point, there was this harmful concept and possibly even a glorification of the female cast members keeping silent when it came to abuse from men. This is most obviously seen when it comes to Zeus and his subjects (ex. Zeus scrotching Demeters fields when she didn't agree to harboring a mortal he cheated on his wife with) or with Persephone and Apollo. The abuse of power from men is a present theme in the story that reflects real life very well. But at this point the story is just normalizing it instead of trying to fix it. I feel like somewhere in the second season the creator is going to try and have one of the female goddesses try to take their power back or try to shed light on the casual abuse amongst the gods and Olympians. (I'm still on the first so this is just a prediction but honestly, I don't think I want to give that woman any more clout by reading her weird story 💢). Also, I don't necessarily mind the author having SA because it reflects the themes of the story but I don't think she's doing it properly at all because of the casual way she is normalizing abuse rather than making her female ensemble fight against it. In this story, I feel like using that type of trauma to fuel a storyline makes it read off as trauma porn, basically making Persephone (hell, even Hades) the victim of something and completely innocent.

All and all, as someone who likes webcomics I'm disappointed in myself for not listening to my gut about this and being more critical about what I read. I don't want to be consuming problematic content, esp not without properly analyzing why it's problematic. But nevertheless, I won't harbor too much guilt about reading a good portion of LO haha! I hope my points make sense tho.

Thanks for listening and have a good day! :)

You too and thank you for sharing! ✨

[uno-writing]

Sera and Arlo are absolutely fashionable esp. Arlo and u cannot tell me that they didn't drag john out for a shopping spree. From now on John's not allowed with them in public unless he's dressed semi decently. If Arlo bought clothes for john and he didn't wear them arlo would be so irritated, and even tho the first time it was bc he forgot from then on John tries to come up with the most obscene fits possible just to annoy the fck out of arlo. Like not weird fashion just horrendous, unflattering colours, with like socks and sandals or flip flops idk.

I'm just obsessed w John and arlos friend dynamic. Sera and John are competitive but it's a whole new level with him and arlo. They both are also wayyy protective of sera which is adorable. Lol the amount of insults and backhanded compliments. Arlos been outwardly indifferent to John uptil now but I cannot wait for current!Arlo and current!John bromance.

Sorry this was such a mess I usually rant to my friends but none of them have read unOrdinary.

🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽 ⛏️⛏️🏭

🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

I gotchu fam w the popcorn we can work out shifts

Oh absolutely🍿

Like Sera didn’t have a problem with John’s clothes until Arlo pointed it out. And like, they didn’t force him to get preppy looking clothes. They actually got him clothes in a style John actually likes, he just got in the habit of grabbing his crappy clothes. And when Arlo’s so annoyed with John not wearing the clothes, John’s like, okay I’ll wear them. And he makes the most atrocious combinations with the clothes Arlo got him. Like John was taking mental notes on their lecture about fashion and just did the exact opposite.

And yes, literally everything has to be a competition with them. A lot of the times Sera joins in their competitions and just completely shows them up. And while they are both protective over her, they realize at certain times that she doesn’t need it so they’ll just be major hype men.

And don’t be sorry!!! I love when you all come in with your own ideas and HCs!!! I don’t have anyone to talk UnO with either so it’s a lot of fun!!! <3 <3

[wolfsneedles]

My Re-read of a storm of swords and i just cant get over how interesting it as book with iconic lines and carefully crafted dialogues and some miserable important deaths of some of my fav characters. Like this book, is really the iphone of asoiaf lol. A fine wine. Arbor gold. It starts from same events left incomplete in clash of kings but only that now every person meets their consequences and disastrous results of wrong moves & mistakes end so perfectly and painfuly in conclusive way. A feast for crows obviously focuses more on king's landing events and some of the riverlands with brienne and jaime. Might say it isn't my fav book yet since im reading it too apart from some breathtaking prophecies and aemon declaring how prince that was promised could be --> dany

However, ASOS is best best book ever. So much mess and bittersweet endings.

You see catelyn, robb and riverlands arc ending in the most tragic way as result of all small excusable mistakes to the reader that piled up and finally execution of red wedding with bangs and drums, not to mention this event was so catatonic and an irreversible tragedy that almost all characters had visions and dreams of it (patchface, Ghost of high heart, theon, daenerys, jon perhaps later) knowing half of these characters never met the victims of the red wedding.

This event also meant - northern power of houses and faith of independence and somewhat retribution they deserved or wish they had is thwarted now and almost all of them die there esp strength of dustin, manderlys along with boltons betraying them and roose coming out as an iconic cold hearted brute and villain somewhat.

This book also shows how stark sisters had their paths turned after the tiring chasing and running away like arya through war torn lands and sansa finally fleeing KL to Vale with littlefinger - in a way a complete revival again of her and arya embarking on to braavos with an entirely different name now and somewhat purpose we dont know yet also ends her arc of sadness and despair she felt when chasing and running towards her lady mother and robb at the twins. kind of tragic tbh more for her how she saw or heard almost every death of a stark. near to her or family, she saw horror unfolding in front of her eyes.

You have lannisters coming off as victorious ( not really then...) since tywin and tyrion's last scene is iconic. Its like how the might of house lannister which in case tywin refers to himself is broken on a freaking privy - somewhat bittersweet ending since we know cersei and jaime are already not so in a good mental state to make up for heir of casterly rock - and then we have tyrion fleeing too again, once more, finally, to essos as we know. This ending of his arc in KL is also imp since he entered this city like tywin as hand of the king and is leaving like a prisoner. Idk seems perfect to me how he runs and tywin who came as hand of king replacing his son, now goes back in ehh coffin...glory indeed.

You have bran and rickon already parting in ACOK, BUT now the most importent part of brans journey also begins somehow. and therefore him abandoning winterfell and that side of north for further journey is too sad for me too in a lot of ways. His connection to his own home as the last stark who was residing there has ended too (prob bloodraven has more action for my boy i hope).

You have Lysa Tully in the Vale before sansa arrived there with baelish, and she also ultimately gets too much of frightening end in same castles and doors she never opened for anyone - even refusing to help her sister during war because now i wonder had the vale signed for stark side, how different circumstances would be but then tywin wanted to play rains of castamere so bad (i hate him sorry)

Jaime and Brienne still were busy in their road ventures and romantic comedy but him arriving as cripple and maimed to KL, is again of uttermost importance since he in his thoughts lose a lot of confidence in himself now not really making him a perfect candidate for so many things,,, again he has to sort out some issues with his big of bully sister and not-so-accommodating power hungry deluded father but he chose to argue and decline offer for heir of rock and also confessed his utter disregard for poor kids he have, joffrey especially. Idk im so confused what this golden lion & a trained chivalrous warrior is onto since jaime's chapter is like a realistic slap on your face & we see his POV in ASOS only and then he just goes thru huuuge turmoil lol. (not good day or year for him tbh)

Lastly we have daenerys who then vows to settle in mereen making it evident in way how she isn't obsessed with utter power and throne of her ancestors as some ppl speculate, ofc she appears in ADWD again but her freeing slaves and singing dracarys is my another fav momet of ASOS, since dany is really not a frightened confused child she was, she is getting hold of things in realistic way too, and meets barristan, gets to know abt their betrayals, basically gets Unsullied, idk a major iconic moment if u see in contrast to how everyone is losing war now in westeros and wo5k is coming to kind of an end, with balon dying, robb and joff dead, and stannis...(well he is another spiritual case) going to the wall, we see how horrifying brutal war did come to an end in ASOS in the end eventually with tywin also dying. So dany getting an army of unsullied opposed to all other armies kind of dissolving in westeros is quite a distinction. ( bonus points she is young and woman and alone and has 3 dragon )

On the Wall - jon plays and practiced swords with emmett and then struck by memory of him and robb playing & above all how he wants to be lord of winterfell. In the end Jon Snow wins the vote in a landslide victory and is named the 998th Lord Commander. His entire journey from start of ASOS was with ygritte and Wildlings and then finally giving up on mance and returning to Wall with no expectations of him being commander after having spent moments alone and with wildlings and others with him just a ranger.

Realising in the end now, how storm of swords puts people in power like jon and dany and others like boltons and freys in north & riverlands, at the same time starks and lannisters are in way battered and struck by at a time tragedies. Half of people who were away from their families unite or return back like jaime while other half return somewhere more far (arya sansa at vale and braavos with bran more far from winterfell, rickon too), most of the 5 kings are dead too. Also aftermath of war at end of ASOS and AFFC also describes perfectly the attitude and responses of smallfolk towards whoever results in being the king of no concern to them. Most of the small roads and inns were damaged and plundered with woman and children killed or raped and men usually dead too. When we see arya or jaime and brienne usually, we read their POVs, we also see the wrenching elements of war too and how main message could also be that lords play their game of thrones but peasants suffer dreadfully more, we also see how smallfolks have no trust or loyalties towards any house or liege lord. They usually refer to starks and lannister conflict as 'wolves came...or lions did this'. Major point i noticed.

not to mention again, in essos and on the wall 2 different realities and places that mid westeros, we see dany and jon and their ingrown different experiences and attitudes towards smallfolks. freeing of slaves and getting some loyalties tied to you, while living with wildlings and seeing how they rule and eat and sleep like a commoner is so important. The Wall also gives meaning to how real breathing humans are segregated from westeros and other houses as result of prejudice and inborn enmities. The slaves in chains indicate how their little lives in Yunkai is not of importance when they are...utterly children. some of them.

ASOS has major shifting thoughts and stories tbh. Its like gospel of asoiaf for me.

[acioo]

anybody who knows anything about me will be able to tell you i spend a bunch of my time ice skating & i’ve never seen a guide on how to write a character that figure skates , so i thought i’d compile some tips & explain things , because my whole childhood i was travelling across the country to spin on ice with nothing on but a leotard & some tights , and now i have nothing but a bunch of tacky costumes and this post to show for it . this is pretty in-depth , about 2.5k words , but if you have any questions about specific aspects or want me to clarify anything , feel free to shoot me an ask . oh & a like  or reblog if you found this helpful would be sweet ! tw : injury, mental illness, eating disorders

most people that wind up as figure skaters started ridiculously young. i was probably six, but at my rink, we train kids as young as four and five. if your character has competed professionally at a state-wide level or up, they most likely started super young and have been professionally trained. figure skating is not a sport that you can do casually, most of the time. ice skating, casually, however, totally different thing. but competitive figure skating, being on a figure skating team, and the like, it’s a lot of effort, time, and discipline. in a lot of families, it’s a tradition to teach your kids to ice skate. at my rink, there’s a lot of people who come from slavic families whose parents signed them up - or athlete parents in gen. so, if your character is SUPER GOOD, they’ve put hundreds of hours of work into it, and have years of practice. it is not something you can pick up in a day, and i’d even say you have to be at it for at least two years before you get good good, and it takes a while to even become comfortable on the ice before you can start to do any kind of trick - THAT is why they start young, so by the time we’re pre-teens, we’re really, really good. the problem happens, famously, at puberty, because your balance gets knocked off, your bones are growing, and you have to basically relearn everything you know.

there are so many different types of figure skating. i specialize in singles, but i’ve done showcase and solo dance ( but both of those skills are more for me to be a well-rounded skater, not for competing ), and would sometimes be put into pairs to help learn skills and work together. you NEED to be in one of these categories for competition because they are what all comps are based upon. singles is, as you think, one single ice skater individually doing their routine. singles will do various dances, jumps, spins, etc. i won't lie, it’s hard, and really, really competitive. singles is the most competitive of all these categories. it’s usually a short program ( jumping, spinning, steps - the easier portion of competition because it’s really just a routine that you need to get down pat so you can boost your score. you will learn to do it in your sleep. ) and then a free skate ( longer than the other, it’s more complicated and difficult ). pair skating is really, really difficult, tbh, and you need a good relationship with whoever you are doing it with because there’s a lot of trust involved. it’s hard to break into pair skating because you need a partner that you’re equal to in skill and you like as a person. you guys spend a lot of time together and you need to get along. you guys need to be equally proficient at ice skating. most pairs get put together when they’re still very young. it’s very difficult to from singles to becoming a pair skater. it’s two skaters and they skate around each other, they lift each other, and move in synchronized patterns. it’s highly technical, like all figure skating, but it is more difficult because you have to keep in mind both your own feet and someone else’s. you do NOT want to bump skates with someone. at best, that is very uncomfortable. at usual/worse, you’re both about to eat shit on ice. in pair skating the partner that lifts needs SO much strength. like, so much. i’ve tried to lift fellow skaters, who are the same weight as me, and it’s near fucking impossible for me. ice skates are HEAVY and skaters have a lot of lower body muscle. we are not light people. for example, once time my team and i were out of practice and just skating around and we started playing around and i did a cartwheel on ice and i fell very hard. wiped tf out. and that’s me, trying to handle my own weight. like singles, it’s a free skate and a short program. pair skating is typically male + female ( what a sad world, i know ), but i encourage every writer to take some suspending of reality. ice dance is, basically, dancing. it’s a lot more performative than other types of skating. it’s done in pairs, but can be performed alone, in a different category called solo dance. in the nicest way possible, singles/pair skaters usually look down a bit on ice dancers because it’s a bit less technical, and doesn’t have any jumps of lifts. but ! that doesn’t mean it’s easy because it’s not. it’s rooted in ballroom dancing and they have two parts of competition: rhythm dance and free dance. fun fact: pair ice dancers scott moir and tessa virtue, who are famous to be suspected dating, are the reason we had a no dating rule at the rink. showcase ice skating is usually for some kind of platform, or in front of a large crowd. i’ve done showcase for investors for our rink. there’s usually costumes involved ( there are costumes for all competitions, but their costumes are more, like, theatre - y ), and props, and acting. it’s actually very fun to watch, but you need acting skill. theatre on ice, however, is just what it sounds like. theatre on ice is popular with children and good for ways to show off an entire team of skaters, because you can have eight to thirty skaters on the ice. they can also compete and they can go international, but they aren’t in the olympics and there aren’t many competitions for them. it’s usually just a fun way to get together with your teammates, bond, and then show off what you did.

so, competitions. super complicated, and as a writer, i suggest really glossing over them, because it’s difficult to get it down completely right. there are nonqualifying and qualifying comps. the difference is that in qualifying competitions, you’re looking to start moving up, basically, so if you qualify in the first one, you go onto the next one, then state eventually, then national, and so on. you start with regionals ( singles ) /  sectionals ( pairs and ice dancers ). then, if you succeed, you go to sectional singles / pairs + ice dance finals. the goal is to get on the national team ( i’ve watched ameatur skaters tell other rinkmates they want to compete in the olympics - it was NOT pretty ), basically. which, let me say this. it is nowhere. near. easy. like, just go into youtube and search “ yuzuru hanyu “ ( gold medal in pyeongchang olympics for mens singles ) and watch ANY of his performances. now he’s the gold medalist, right. he started at four years old. so let’s go smaller. google elsa cheng and watch one of her routines. she’s a member of the us national figure skating team. she’s fifteen. YEAH. not an easy sport. nonqualifying is more laid back and for fun, or trophies. nonqualifying is also a way to practice before you enter into qualifying. competitions are really nerve-racking. it’ll cause stress between you and your rinkmates, because more often than not you’re going against one another. you and your coach will usually spend all the prep season creating your two programs, which you will almost always repeat in every single competition you attend. i have about 20 different routines stored in the back of my head. sometimes my coach would give us exercises of coming up with a routine during a time restraint. my friend junior learned a routine that was on yuri on ice. 

for competitions you arrive, you get ready. you’re almost always wearing some kind of elaborate costume/dress leotard thingy. this is a time to start getting mentally ready, talk to your friends, and do each other’s hair and makeup. costumes are bought way ahead of time, and are usually related to the theme of your routine. you do NOT want a wardrobe malfunction. it’ll mess you up & you’ll lose precious points. your hair will most likely always be back and, more often than not, braided or in a bun. the comp will begin and you have a practice session so that you can get warmed up and ready. it’s not long. you will get the music for your program played one by one, and you rehearse - this is usually to check to make sure your music is right & to get acclimated to the ice then you get off the ice and another group will warm up. your coach can’t be on the ice whatsoever, and has to stay outside the rink. usually, competition order is done by a random draw. one by one, you will do your routine. no one but you can be on the ice. then you go off to the “ kiss and cry “ ( because you’re either about to celebrate or get your ear chewed off by an adult in a tracksuit ) where your score gets announced. then, competition continues. your warmup + when you start is not based on how you placed in the last part of the comp ( usually started with lowest ) and you perform the second routine. then, and this is usually determined by like how serious the competition you're going to, but there are trophies handed out, a podium ceremony is held, or medals or flowers are given out. my coach would always make the team pose together after competitions and go out to eat - lots of coaches hold bonding exercises esp after comps. if we did well, we could skip our 9 am practice. if we did poorly, the team meets up at a local park and runs the three-mile trail, and then they do technical corrections at the rink. after your medal/etc ceremony, you’re done. sometimes the top people will perform, but by that time you’re usually exhausted and want to sleep for a billion years ( or, if you did really well, you want to go eat 15 ihop pancakes and conquer the world ). the competition season is from august to april. this is a BASE of what happens. it’s different at different kinds of competitions and for different categories of skating, but it’s almost always something like this. offseason is for practice, rest, and fun, basically, but if you're a serious skater, by the time you’re hitting july, you’re spending more time at the rink than at home. the most well-known and the hardest competitions to qualify for are the grand prix, europeans ( european championships ), worlds ( world championships ), and the, of course, olympics.

another aspect of almost any professional sport is injury. think about any ice skating routine you’ve seen. there is no protection. you’re wearing a thin sheer leotard. you have basically knives on your feet. it’s VERY easy to get yourself beat up by ice. the ice is very hard and not very forgiving. meaning, if you hit, you hit hard. you usually are putting a lot of force into it, too, because you’re falling. don’t even get me started on the BRUISING. you will look like you have gone thru something, all the time. ice skates, which have to sharpened routinely, are, as you imagine, SHARP AS FUCK. knife shoes. i’ve been recreationally skating, because i work at a rink, and just monitoring the skaters and usually messing around with my rinkmates, and i fell, and i sliced open my thigh. i didn’t need stitches, or anything, but there was blood everywhere. very gross. ( ask abt this answered here ! ) and i wasn’t even doing anything particularly hard. and this has happened before. they WILL cut you. ankle injuries are super common. i’ve seen someone break their ankle feet away from me. i’ve twisted my left ankle five times. as for dislocations, they also happen a lot. when i was twelve, i was at the top of my figure skating career. i was qualifying to competition after competition. during a regular, normal practice, i was doing a jump i had usually aced, and i landed the wrong way and i dislocated my knee and blacked out. it’s a very disgusting injury and extremely, extremely painful. like, a good 50k in hospital bills for the surgery to fix it. i was very good and it was my favorite activity on the planet, but it was so awful that i quit. when i was fourteen, i started skating again, joined my team, etc, etc, but it was very difficult to recover from. and that’s a very common story. most people get injured and they have to stop. i know a girl who got a bunch of concussions, and wasn’t able to skate. i’ve been concussed on the ice. people tear their acls or their hip. we have a sports medic at all figure skating practices and comps. and a lot of injuries, once you hurt something, you will hurt it again because you made it weak. we are all very flexible but overuse will make your bones brittle. there’s also stress fractures and different things you can get from just overworking your muscles. shin splints, tendonitis, jumpers knee, etc. you name an overuse injury, and i’ve had it. i was one so exhausted after practice that i laid down on the ice and cried until my coach ( who i love very dearly ) gave me a bag of skittles and told me to suck it up. that’s not saying my coach is a bitch ( john mulaney vc my coach is a bitch and i like her so much ), that’s to say there is no break, no stopping. you get better, and move on, or you quit.

as-is with basically any competitive sport, if you get serious, you will probably go onto some sort of diet along with it. you want to be eating a lot of nutritional stuff ( granola bars are HOARDED in my locker room & to this day i gag at the sight of protein shakes ), anything with a lot of calcium ( because we do be breaking bones ! ), and iron. i used to eat pasta before comps ( like wayyy before not an hr or anything ) because it gives you ~energy~. you need to be eating a lot because you’re exercising a lot. gatorade is banned by my coach because it's so much sugar. you need to drink so. much. water. we all take a bunch of vitamins. usually will eat chicken / meat in general. but keep in mind, like any sport in which you are cutting things from your diet / eating specific things / etc, it can easily lead to an unhealthy relationship with food. there’s a lot of shitty mindsets you will encounter with coaches and fellow competitors about what weight a figure skater should be, and it's even worse in pair skating ( because of lifts ). when i was eleven, one of my old coaches told me that she hoped i never hit puberty because it’d fuck up my balance & when i did i cried. a fellow competitor once told me she wished she had my “ figure skater “ body ( and at this point of my life, i had very unhealthy eating habits ). another time a group of older kids made fun of how gangly i was while i was in earshot. the amt of times my coach has SCREAMED at ice skaters for making fun of / putting down fellow ice skaters is astronomical. it’s rough. a lot of figure skaters have opened up about how figure skating caused / contributed to their mental illness. it’s very easy to fall into because of how “ perfect “ you need to be. you can look up various figure skaters stories on this: adam rippon, gracie gold, and yulia vyacheslavovna - a very famous one as it was part of the reason her career ended & she was the youngest ever skating gold medalist. and i will say, personally, my unhealthy relationship with food ( that would eventually lead to lots o problems & i still feel the impact of today ) began when i was figure skating. there are other risk factors for mental illness as well because there’s so much focus on winning / losing. more than once, competitions would give me panic attacks because of the great stress.

another thing is MONEY. as fucked up as it is, you need money, or a grant, if you want to get good. you need expensive skates, costumes, travel fees, and more. my pro figure skates, not my casual ones, cost upwards of 300, and that’s low balling it. when i was ten, my parents spent upwards of 10k on figure skating. there are rink fees, there are competition fees, there are coaching fees. it adds up extremely quickly. i know a lot of skaters who stopped competing because it was just too expensive. i work for my rink by teaching classes and monitoring open skates and additional things, but if i added up every single dollar i ever made, it would be nowhere near enough to pay for everything. but the thing is, if you get really good, you can make money off of competitions, but getting there is the hard part. at one point in my life, my parents were paying $100 an hour for my private coach who i was seeing multiple days a week. figure skaters also oftentimes will take additional classes to help. my coach made the entire junior team take ballet one year. i took a ton of gymnastic classes as well to help with skating.

so, who are the kind of people that ARE figure skaters ? what do we act like ? there’s a lot of stereotypes that figure skaters are cold people. that’s not necessarily true. i would say that we are extremely competitive people. i’ve seen rinkmates get into full-blown fights during competitions. one of my best friends, who i met at my rink once i returned from my hiatus, HATED me because she knew i was competition. we are on-edge.  stakes are high and the pressure is on. a lot of us are very perfectionistic because you sort of got to be to get to our level. we can have control issues and we can become easily frustrated if we flop jumps or keep stuttering coming out of a spin. the other stereotype is that we are super delicate little flowers. probably because of the way we have to move. realistically, we’re a tactile bunch of people who would probably wind up hurting someone if we played hockey. ( another stereotype : figure skaters and hockey kids. the closest i’ve gotten to a hockey player is the one time i threatened to quick him in the nads because they came early and insisted we get off the rink. ) we all love skating and have a lot of fun while doing it. it’s dangerous, and that’s part of the thrill. speeding around the rink at extremely high speeds is, honestly, exhilirating. we love our sport and, though we can get on each other's nerves, love our rinkmates. it’s not easy, but it’s our favorite thing to do.

[hirakdesherrani]

Scattered thoughts on Bulbbul 

(spoilers ahead)

Finally watched Bulbbul yesterday night, with my bff. We thought we needed each other’s support because we are phattus of the highest order, but there wasn’t much horror in it (as we found out later). 

Which brings me to the first thing, the trailer. Whoever edited the trailer did a splendid job, because it gave very little clue what the movie was about. I thought it was something like Stree, using horror to give a social message, just instead of comedy in that movie, this was more drama?

The movie, however, had very little horror/thrill. While the movie is one of Netflix’s better online products, it isn’t...great. Like it’s very on the surface. There are not many layers to the characters, neither is there a lot of subtext. Still, the pace is good, and the storytelling engaging. Hindi cinema, theatre or OTT, are very new in this genre, so I don’t want to be too severe here.

Things that I liked:

Tripti Dimri....omg what a revelation. Laila Majnu didn’t let us on how versatile this girl is. In the first few frames, me and my friend were commenting that why is she only sitting around, posing like a mermaid? But then with the flashbacks, her raw performance really took hold. The scene where they are sitting at a picnic and Mahendra pulls at her hair, the way she said, “Dada, na” slightly scared, but also not wanting to hurt his feelings (btw I’m very anti-Mahendra in this post), that was so well done. From there on, she owns every scene, that you can’t look anywhere else. Whether it’s the mix of annoyance and impatience when she wants to meet Satya but Binodini is taunting her, or whether it’s the scene where Indranil informs her and Satya that he’s sending the latter to London, she was so natural. Special mention to the two scenes of violence esp. the sexual assault one, because it takes a lot of guts to portray the victim in such scenes, and the scene was so difficult to watch, that we forwarded after a few seconds of it. 

That reminds me, from the moment the two brothers Indranil and Mahendra enter the frame, I knew what was going to happen, and which brother was going to perpetrate which abuse. The writing was on the nose, so to speak, with these two particular characters. Even so, Rahul Bose did the best that he could with them, but we have come to expect perfect performances when it comes to him, so not surprised here. 

The third brother, Satya, was what I would say the most layered character in this movie, surprisingly. Initially, I didn’t get why did they cast Avinash Tiwary for this role, because it wasn’t either a substantial role, or even a positive or negative or supportive role. I even thought the makers tried to cash on the Laila Majnu hangover, and hyped Bulbbul/Satya love story in the trailer. Unlike Bulbbul who loved Satya, I don’t think Satya loved Bulbbul, at least not like she did. Sure, he thought of her as his best friend, confidante, and all, but he didn’t care for her like that. It was evident when he was enamored by the idea of going to London, and didn’t notice Bulbbul’s voice breaking when Indranil informed them of the news. 

Halfway done with the film, I had made up my mind that Avinash is good with unrestrained roles like Qais, where he can completely let go, but not in subtle roles requiring controlled performances. What changed my mind was my growing dislike for Satya as the movie kept progressing. I kept thinking why does he annoy me so much, like he’s only there in a few scenes, and yet I want to snap at him? That’s when I realized how well the writers have written Satya, captured his mentality and vision, and without any overt or dramatic scenes, Avinash essayed the writer’s message.

Satya is proxy for the society in this film. He hears no evil, he sees no evil, just like our society which likes to pretend that there is nothing wrong going on behind closed doors. Satya is representative of those men, who argue whenever a woman raises her voice, that ‘not all men’ (ala that scene where Bullbul alludes to Master Dinkar beating his wife, while Satya defends the man by suggesting that his wife may have actually fallen down the stairs). In the scene where he meets Bulbbul after five years, he questions her what did she do that girl he knew five years ago, indirectly putting the blame on Bullbul for losing her childlike innocence, instead of asking her what happened to her that she became like this. Satya is classic ‘not all men’, victim-blaming abuse apologist in the film. Evil men are not just men like Indranil, who beat up their wives, or sexual assaulters like Mahendra, evil men are also those who stand by and watch, and pretend that nothing is going on, who put the onus on the woman for the upkeep of tradition, who question a woman’s morality and who act as the judge, jury and executioner of a woman’s character. Bulbbul’s dialogue is telling, “Tum sab ek jaise ho” Satya is no different from his brothers, he may not have committed and violence, but he was just as much a villain as the rest of them for willfully ignoring the evidence of his eyes. I haven’t made up my mind whether he was actually jealous of Dr. Sudip or not, or he just hated the man for being too bold to be friendly with the ‘women of his family’.

Which brings me to Dr. Sudip, the only likable man in this film. Even though at some level it is a little sad to see Parambrata Chatterjee slotted into these male guide/support to the female protagonist kind of roles (his role in Kahaani was something similar), I really do like watching him in these roles, playing them as he does with a lot of charm, subtlety, and empathy. The makers perhaps wanted to signify that there are a few men who are not completely evil, and not afraid or feel threatened in the presence of a assertive, and this case, avenging female. It’s his relationship with Bulbbul which I felt was the real love story of the film, though of course, Bulbbul didn’t harbor the same feelings for him, though she did care for him immensely. 

The other female role was that of Binodini. I know I should be feeling sympathy for her, at some level, she was also taught to keep quiet and bear all injustice, but I’m so tired of females taking out their bitterness on other females, making the lives of other women miserable, instead of directing them, rightfully, at the men in their lives and the dictates of the society. Binodini, like Satya, was a proxy for the women in the society who instead of being supportive of other women do the opposite, and help perpetuate patriarchy by teaching their fellow women to keep quiet. 

Another minor thing, like I mentioned before, from the first scene it’s evident what Mahendra’s going to do. And I wish to God that we stop with mentally ill men assaulting women. No, their mental condition does not excuse rape. Mental illness can provoke violence in a person, yes, killing accidentally or in a fit of rage, beating, pulling clothes, etc, but not rape. Rape is a specific offense that requires knowledge and intent, unless a mentally ill person has learnt it from somewhere, and even then, the fact that they drew pleasure from that violence shows that they have a sadistic instinct. Which is why I was glad when Mahendra was punished for his crime. (this is why I didn’t watch Ranjha Ranjha Kardi despite liking Iqra, because I knew they were going to excuse marital rape using mental illness). 

As such, there isn’t much of a plot per se in Bulbbul, it’s more of a commentary of our society, even though it’s set a century back, the issue of it’s choice being violence against women. Despite that, it’s an engaging enough film. It get’s through the message that the real horrors are not ghosts or witches, but what happens daily in our society. The length of the film is a huge plus, so I would suggest watching this film if you’ve some free time in the weekend. 

Also, don’t get fooled like me and my friend, it’s not horror genre. 

[spiderstyles04]

COBRA KAI SN 3 SPOILERS

Episode 1:

Can’t stand the fact that they’re trying to make Sam the victim, fuck the white bitch 😤. (okay yeah she’s kinda the victim but like she deserves to be blamed)

I can’t stand the fact that everybody keeps trying to make Robby the villain (ik he’s MIA, but the words they’re calling him make me wanna punt their asses into oblivion 🧎🏽‍♂️🏌️)

Episode 2:

Kreese is actually fucking sadistic wtf.

fuck men (esp. those that prey on young girls).

cops @ the prison rlly said: “I aint see nothin at all -👄-“.

wow so you can definitely see who is Johnny’s priority! Instead of continuing to look for his missing son, he went to go see Miguel🖕🏻.

and Miguel is like boohoo why’d this happen to me it’s all Johnny’s fault. Uh no it’s partially yours for accelerating the fight. Shouldn’t have gotten in the middle of a fight if you wanted to come out unharmed.

Robby blaming himself for everything and worry abt the others before himself is making me cry my eyes out pls 😭😖.

Daniel fucking Larusso rlly said let’s catch this scared teenage boy off guard and have a cop sneak up on him and arrest him

Episode 3:

I hate that Robby is in jail but he looks hot af

Not the LaRussos blaming Robby’s grudge on him being a teenage. Like you literally had a cop sneak up on a terrified kid and you expect him to take your calls???? I think tf not.

Sksks Sam rlly out here acting like Tory got angry outta nowhere and that she had no reason for being brutal. Yeah having a bad background doesn’t justify bullying but you kinda provoked her. YOU KISSED ANOTHER GIRL’S BOYFRIEND WHILE YOU HAD ONE OF YOUR OWN. SUCK IT UP AND SHUT UP LIL BABY.

Not Robby fighting with guys in prison over their comments abt Sam of all ppl 💀 she’s the reason you’re in there and she cheated, what the fuck are you defending her for?

sad puppy Robby is making me tear up shit I love him too much to see him in pain 😖

God I hate Eli. Imagine being jealous of not being able to creative enough to raise money for your friend so you resort to stealing the money from the only ones able to get money for him 💀.

“Douche clown” BAHAHA.

NOT JOHNNY MISSING OUT ON SEEING ROBBY BC HE WAS WITH MIGUEL HE COULD’VE CALLED AND LET HIM KNOW FUCK JOHNNY

Episode 4:

NOT JOHNNY ASSUMING THAT ROBBY IS THE ONE STARTING FIGHTS (reminds me of Jess and Rory from Gilmore Girls when she accused him of fighting with Dean when rlly he just got attacked by a bird)

I love that Robby is telling Johnny off like PERIODT KING GO OFF

Nah if some idiot wrecked my lego diagram that took me weeks to build, I’d knock him on his ass no hesitation. Idgaf if I got expelled

Not the counselor completely disregarding the fact that Dimitri’s project was wrecked

Every time Johnny enters Robby’s life, he just makes shit harder for him. I feel horrible for my bby

Kreese has a god complex & I wanna put him in the ground 🕳👨🏻‍🦽👩🏽‍🦯

Little miss princess got some anger issues oop

Not Johnny making a paralyzed kid get out of bed 💀

THOSE KIDS IN JUVIE BOUTA FEEL MY WRATH MFRS DISRESPECTING ROBBY MAKE ME WANNA SKSKSJSB

KREESE BETTER BACK THE EVERLOVING FUCK AWAY FROM MY BBY ROBBY I WILL NOT HESITATE TO RECREATE A CRIMINAL MINDS EPISODE WITH YOUR BODY GRANDPA DONT TEST ME

Episode 5:

Robby basically telling Kreese to fuck off and tell talk to “somebody who gives a shit” is everything to me I love him

Not Johnny using a sex magazine to motivate Miguel 🤢

If Robby gets back with Sam I will RIOT

Imagine taking pleasure from terrorizing others and children sksksk couldn’t be me

Damn it Robby you shouldn’t be fighting. It’s only gonna make your sentence worse bby. Ik he’s an asshole, but you gotta be the bigger man

The fight in the lazer tag place I- not even gonna comment

YAY MIGUEL GOT SOME MOVEMENT BACK IN HIS LEGS

POP OFF MRS. LARUSSO YOU PUT KREESE IN HIS PLACE

Episode 6:

I’m glad Eli is abt to get the vibe check he deserves

Miguel rlly should choose what he says more wisely like sir you can’t just tell the angry mentally unstable girl that she needs help sksksksk those are words of war to her

Oh Mrs. LaRusso getting in on the action lmao

Episode 7:

Damn Tory rlly wakes up every day and chooses violence uh it was a dream nvm

There’s no fooking way Miguel recovered from a spinal injury so quickly 🙄 also why’d they throw away the wheelchair??? That shit is expensive af

Imagine having a dad that actually feels genuinely bad for not keep up with your life SKSK couldn’t be me

I haven’t seen Robby in a hot minute and I’m getting pissed abt it.

I love when ppl tell Eli off. Gives me a diff kind of joy

tf is Eagle Fang sksksks

@ Kreese: Bye bitch 🥴

Episode 8:

THE DIFFERENCE BTWN THE THREE DOJOS IS SO FUNNY BAHAHAHAH

I cant believe they’re dicusssing Kreese when they’re abt to pick up Robby I- none of these men are fit to be stable father figured to him

Glad Robby told them to fuck off bc when the going gets tough, unfortunately, they will always choose someone else over Robby

But I’m all here for Miguel’s character development. Looks like soon I’ll have a total of 2 characters that I like on this show

NOT ROBBY DEFENDING SAM FOR CHEATING AND CALLING IT A MISTAKE PLS YOU ARE SO NAIVE SHUT UP SHES A STUPID GIRL WHO THINKS SHE CAN GET AWAY WITH EVERYTHING PLS OPEN YOUR EYES

Eyyy go off Miguel preach

Nvm fuck that. I’m glad Robby walked in on Miguel and Sam flirting so he could see she isn’t all she’s cracked up to be. I’m glad he’s telling them off. I just hate that they’re making him out to be a villain, AGAIN UGH

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO IF ONLY YALL COULD HEAR MY SCREAM OF ANGUISH WHEN ROBBY WALKED THROUGH THE DOORS OF COBRA KAI BABY NO YOURE THE GOOD GUY DONT GO WITH THE FUCKING PSYCHOTIC ASSHAT PLEASE

Episode 9:

Fuck fuck fuck I’m terrified for this episode

MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄

oh shit Ali...

Trouble is in the air....

Miguel and Sam 🙄😀

Oh so Robby is back in his sn 1 wardrobe... 🤬

OH I SWEAR FOR FUCKS SAKE IF TORY AND ROBBY GET TOGETHER I WILL STOP WATCHING THIS SHOW FOR GOOD ISTG

PERIODT ROBBY DENY THE BEER A WISE DECISION

Not you making bad decisions again Robby smh we’re trying to keep you out of jail

I repeat... if Robby and Tory get together I am RIOTING

Fuck Johnny

Episode 10 - final episode:

I am the quintessential example of seething anger. If I was an anime character, I’d have steam coming out of my ears and a tic mark on my forehead smh

BAHAHAH DANIEL’S GLACES TO JOHNNY ARE SENDING ME

Tory has got some anger issues that surpass even my own, and that’s saying something

Also why tf are they fighting in Sam’s house??? Like I don’t like her but thats not only trespassing passing on private property, but the damages they’re causing are gonna cost a buttload

I’m just glad that Robby isn’t there to fight. Thank you bby

I LOVE THE MUSIC IN THE FIGHT SCENE WE LOVE SOME ROCK CHRISTMAS INSTRUMENTALS

I love the fact that Eli is realizing how fucking stupid he’s been acting

NO ROBBY DONT FIGHT JOHNNY YOU DONT KNOW THE FULL PICTURE BABY STOP BEING FUCKING DUMB

NO JOHNNY THREW ROBBY INTO THE LOCKERS FUCK IS HE OKAY IS BABY OKAY

DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT KREESE DONT PICK IT UP YOU GERIATRIC ASSWIPE

NO ROBBY IS FULLY UNCONSCIOUS FUCK IF I WAS THERE I WOULD BE ABLE TO HELP BC IM FIRST AID TRAINED AND CPR CERTIFIED CALL 911 JOHNNY

YAY DANIEL TO THE RESCUE

I’m still crying over Robby fuck

Everybody over here hashing shit out and Robby is inside the dojo like X👄X

NVM HES OKAY HES WALKING IT OFF

NO GO BACK TO FUCKING SLEEP BITCH BC YOURE STILL NOT THINKING STRAIGHT WHY ARE YOU STILL WITH KREESE GOD FUCKING DAMN IT

Anyways all in all, fuck season 3 gn

[hmsannlett]

Some mid-S4, Mary-has-just-come-to-camp-and-things-are-tense-with-Anna thoughts coming for you that have been brewing for a while tbh.

This is an old opinion and something the fandom already almost unanimously agrees upon and has since the beginning, but I so, so wish the Anna/Abe affair hadn’t been written in. There are a many things that bug me about it, but one of the consequences of it that I think is a real shame and detriment to the show is the wedge that it drives even deeper between Mary and Anna.

In a show where female friendships are already few and far between, it’s disappointing to see what could have been an excellent dynamic be tainted by past betrayal and hurt (and the hurt is completely justified on Mary’s part, to be clear). I adore the times when Mary and Anna work together to solve issues (usually Abe’s *sigh*) and so wish we had been able to see more of that kind of female relationship – women working together to accomplish a shared goal (even if just for individual instances and not for long-term goals or a sustained friendship). Those few scenes between Mary and Anna are a breath of fresh air within the larger context of the fairly catty relationships we see between women – but even then, the cloud of Abe’s and Anna’s affair hangs over the Mary and Anna scenes, even if it isn’t mentioned in dialogue.

I know the show tried to create a female friendship with Anna and Abigail, but it’s always felt off and unevenly-written to me, not to mention being pretty implausible historically. The power imbalance between them even after Abigail is freed is too significant for a genuine friendship between them to exist, which is something the show does seem to try to hint at every so often, but it’s inconsistent with their bonding and having close conversations (esp. Anna’s begging Abigail in S1).

And the same goes for Peggy and Abigail. Peggy has moments of seeming-understanding for Abigail, but when it benefits her to, she pulls the white authority card and uses her privilege against Abigail. Again, not really a friendship, even though Peggy confides in Abigail often (which is probably more because she knows Abigail won’t talk). Note that Abigail rarely does the same. Though Abigail cares for Peggy and seems to feel some measure of closeness, she certainly does not feel like the best of friends with Peggy (and understandably so, given how Peggy has no problem showing Abigail her “place”), as shown in her body language in each scene with Peggy and constant verbal deference to her.

All this to say, it would have been impossible to make Abigail have a genuine, reciprocal friendship with either Anna or Peggy, given the societal dynamics of the time and their respective positions of power over her. (Now, would I have loved to have seen a historically accurate, genuine female friendship for her? Absolutely!! Abigail deserves all the good things and way more screen time.)

And...that’s about it in the way of female friendships in the show. Yes, Mary and Ann Bates have a “friendship” from Ann’s perspective, but it’s short-lived and duplicitous. Ann and Hester are friends, but their friendship largely consists of gossiping about Anna and conniving against her. Peggy and her friends/sisters aren’t shown very often, but even when they are, it’s usually Peggy having the upper hand in the scene or her friends/sisters automatically deferring to her, with no expression of mutual friendship. Mary’s sewing circle is more about gossip, smearing people, and using Mary to gain information than any actual bonding among women. And don’t even get me started on Peggy/Philomena. It’s Mary/Anna on steroids.

One could argue that all of the twisted dynamics of the female relationships in the show are because it’s a show about war (and one about spying and distrust, no less), and everyone is working their own agenda for their own ends or for their side. But I don’t think that argument holds water. With the male characters allowed friendships like the ones between Ben/Caleb, Ben/Caleb/Abe, Richard/Hewlett, Ben/Selah, even Ben/Caleb/Sackett (even though it’s more of a mentor dynamic), it’s deeply disappointing that the women are portrayed as being so divisive and self-serving.

One could also point out that all of those friendships are between men who are on the same sides as each other, so of course they would get along well compared to Mary/Anna, but to that I have to point to Ben and Andre. They couldn’t be even more of rivals if they tried – and yet they are still able to meet each other with mutual respect and appreciation for the other’s work and role (not friendship, of course, but still a heck of a lot more respect than the women typically show for each other). And, yes, one could further argue on this point that it’s just 18th century military decorum to treat a captured enemy officer with respect, but, as we see in the show, that isn’t guaranteed and certainly isn’t always followed. I do realize that there is historical precedent for Ben and Andre’s respect for each other, but Turn isn’t exactly known for keeping to the facts – ergo, the show made a deliberate choice to keep this respect between rivals historically accurate. Their respect for each other proves that it is possible for two people on opposing sides to respect each other and the other’s character – as could have been possible with Mary and Anna if the Abe debacle hadn’t happened.

This is more of a rant than an argument, I realize, and I know I’m beating the proverbial dead horse here. But I’m just tired of the trope that women always have to be fighting each other or stabbing each other in the back, rather than exploring the possibility that women can actually, just maybe, perhaps have genuine friendships and interactions with each other – free of jealousy, bitterness, cattiness, and all the other ugly emotional/social weapons women are always portrayed as wielding against each other.

Why can’t we have women spying together; uniting to help the war effort; helping each other deal with loss; heck, even just helping each other mentally and emotionally get through, you know, a war taking place on their doorsteps? Or just...talking to each other. Like women do. Without venom or spite. Without ulterior motives. I’m not wishing we had more female characters or friendships (though that would be nice), just that the ones we did have didn’t conform to typical media stereotypes/tropes.

Yes, war has historically been the dominion of men for millennia, but it’s women who have always held society together while the men are away; women who must support each other through stress, worry, loss, and grief when their husbands, sons, fathers, and brothers are away from home and dying. And in a show that is about female spies being just as important to the war as male spies, I wish women’s friendships and relationships with each other had been shown to be as important and reciprocal as the men’s were. For a show that is so focused on the home front, women’s lives should be pretty significant and important – and that means a holistic view of their lives.

I love Turn, don’t get me wrong, and I think it did excellent showing strong, smart, everyday women doing the best they could to fight for their beliefs within the restrictions of their time. I just wish we could have seen women interacting with each other in a healthy, normal dynamic while doing so. Mary and Anna would have been perfect for this, I think, but evidently the Setauket Soap Opera was more important. And that’s a shame. If women’s stories are going to be told, they deserve to be told fully.

tl;dr: The women deserved better.

[tellywoodtrash]

immj2 02.11.20 lb

this fucking episode my dudes. i just went through it like...

business maharani is doing some more bitchification of bhaabi, ki dekho phir nikal gayi aapke peeche. even used the same lameass mandir excuse, the idiot, instead of coming up with something new.  

hubs like riddhima is a major pain in the ass, but she's MY PAIN IN THE ASS, where isss sheeee, why isn't she back yet???????? is she ok????????????

ishani getting a call about someone in the hospital and......

bitch, it's her friend who's in the hospital. why the fuck would anyone call ISHANI of all people if riddhima was in the hospital????

lo aa gayi.

gujarat registration gaadi waale bhaiyya was a careful driver. unlike literally everyone else on tellywood. good for him.

concern!maxxxxxxxxxxx about her haalat.

asks about her bleeding hand and she's like i'll tell you if you tell me about how YOUR hand got hurt. noice.

again, rrahul's not putting on the vansh voice in this scene and it's 300% more watchable. for the love of god stop directing him in a way that impedes his performance!!!!!!! LET THE MAN MOVE HIS FACE AND TALK IN HIS NORMAL VOICE!!!!!!!!!!!

cliche dialogue about “shareer ke ghaav jaldi bhar jaate hain par dil ke ghaav..........”

this asshole is like yeah who would know that better than me???? BITCH WHAT IS THIS, THE TRAUMA OLYMPICS???

she's thinking ki yeah, i'm not gonna fall for your fakeass parwaah anymore. good. i like. she needed this stupidass illusion of her's broken longggggggggg back.

ohohohohoho ib waala mangalsutra breaking and slipping off trope idhar bhi hai.

“tooti hui cheezein kabhi kabhi dobara nahi judti.”

dialogue maarke chali gayi, lol.

but notice she's the one who caught it anyway. which makes me think she's gonna choose him/this relationship YET AGAIN. *deeeeeeeepest sigh in the world that sucks up all the oxygen in the atmosphere*

“jaise mera dil.”

OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH.

“lekin ab waqt aa gaya hai bohut se cheezon ko sahi karne ka.”

again, he looks menacing and all, but is probably just talking about making sure all the paperwork is up to date for upcoming end of year audits. he's a very rich accountant, remember???

ragini's medical reports have come.

lol being married to ishani is taking yearssssssss off angre's lifespan. roz naya tension, naya drama.

also, angre refers to vansh as "vansh bhai" when talking about him to ishani, but calls him "boss" when referring directly. interesting. veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy interesting. you guys need to sort out that relationship, my dudes. it's the only stable, healthy one in this whole damn show.

ishani is like you're his right hand, what the hell are you doing about riddhima spying on him and getting all up in his business???????? dang, this might be the first conversation they're having about their only common interest: vansh's well being.

also i notice ki shivaay ke saare shirts angre ko diye gaye hain. huh, the shirts must have a kanji eyed wearer clause in their contract.

“mujhe shakti dijiye ke main apne emotions se upar uthke sahi ke saath khadi rahoon.”

damn, first time i've had a lil respect for riddhima. i mean, i know ultimately it's all gonna go to shit, but she's trying.

lmao a dhaarmik aarti version of the title track is playing. a version for every situation!

“main ragini ko bacha ke rahoongi. yeh mera aapse, ragini se, aur apne aap se vaada hai.”

YESSSSSSSSSSS BITCH, SISTERS OVER MURDEROUS MISTERS!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG WHY WON'T Y'ALL JUST DRESS HIM LIKE THIS, LIKE ARNAV, WITH THE SHIRT AND SWEATER COMBOOOOOOOOOOOOO. PLS GODDDDDDDDDDDD STOP DRESSING HIM WITH THAT STUPID SCARF WAALA BLAZERRRRRRRRRRRRR I BEG OF YOUUUUUUUUUU

he's talking to some shadow (def a woman) about how they're his humraaz about the whole ragini issue and nothing is hidden from them and how everything is going as they planned and the story will end soon.

it might be siya but omg i hope to goddddddddddddd it's ishani. i really really reallly want it to be ishani and see the hot demon siblings do some scheming and planning together. the sibs that conspire together, stay together!!!!!!!!!

menacing growling about riddhima and how he needs shadow chick's help in "handling" her, so that she doesn’t leave the house.

“chaahe VR mansion uske liye jail bann jaaye, i don't care.” cool, real healthy. also copied from this week's naagin 5. i'm telling you, these two shows be copying their homework off each other.

vansh leaning real hard on how he trusting shadow chick. hmmmm. reallyyyy hope it's ishani. though can’t say i wouldn’t be delighted if siya also turns out to be just as fucking twisted as him.

ofc ms. snoopy here has come to snoop. SIS TUM THAK NAHI JAATI KYA ISS SAB SE. MUJHE TOH DEKHTE HI THAKAAN HO GAYI HAI AND I NEEDS ME SOME GLUCON D.

“ragini riddhima se jeete-jee milna toh door, usse dekh bhi na sake.”

uh a little too late for that my man, lol. your girls already had a catchup session this afternoon. they're going for brunch and manis next weekend!

oh ho, she knows that angre's gone out. so this is def someone else in the house. DAMN, I'M REALLY INVESTED IN THIS SHADOW NOW.

yaaar, kya haalat bana rakhi hai shivaay ke room ki. best room hota tha iss set ka, aur isko bas ek random space banaa rakha hai.

ASLKFJSLDKJFLSDKJFLDKSF

this fucker crazyyyyy. like fulllll on flipping cray cray!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wow ok he's shaking from rage. more unhinged than i've ever seen him. which is really something. something scary as fuckkkkkkkk.

kudos to riddhima for just being like same old, same old, instead of being scared. i'm really liking i-give-no-fucks-riddhima.

DUDE. THIS FUCKER HAS COMPLETELY LOST IT.

also knife play copied from shivaay. this dude like a much much worse version of shivaay. never thought that would be possible, but never say never with ITV and the year 2020.

ok i don't like this angry version of him that's outta control, all shaking and growling and panting. not only is it really bad acting, it's hard to take seriously as menacing. ppl are always scarier when they're ice fucking cool with their anger.

blah blah blah some more growled warnings and riddhima and i are just here like............. “ok and????”

she's not even allowed to leave the room.

oooooh brave sis questioning him back and provokingggggggggg himmmmmmmmmm. got a death wish, this one, but i like her like this. i was sick of her just collapsing all over the place weeping. thaaaaaank god she found her longlost backbone.

“tum jaise haiwaan ki baat kabhi nahi maanungi.”

sarcastic slow clapping and slightly turned on by this show of dheentness.

“chalo aaj tumhari bahaaduri ko celebrate karte hain.”

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

“piyo, zeher nahi milaaya hai ismein.”

OK NOW THAT YOU SAID THAT I'M DEFINITELY THINKING THAT YOU HAVE.

omg ridhhimaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa you idiottttttt.

ok he's def put something in it. his face almost looking pitying as he takes the glass back.

“jaao. jahaan jaana hai jaao. nahi rokunga tumhe.”

ohhhhhhhhhh boy.

dslkfjsdlfkjdslkfjdslkjflkd her legs don't work no moreeeeeeeee.

THIS FUCKERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. JESUS CHRIST THIS CRAZY ASS FUCKING D;SLFKJ;SLDKFJ;LDSKJF;LDKJ

EVEN THE CHANNEL PUTTING BIG BOLD DISCLAIMER OVER THE SCENE LIKE THIS SHIT IS SERIOUSLY UNHINGED AND FICTIONAL THE CHANNEL ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT CONDONE THIS FUCKING MADNESSSSSSSSS

I CANNOT STOP SCREAMING THIS FUCKERRRRRRR IS OH MY FUCKING GOD WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK IS THIS THIS SHIT IS MAKING 4 LIONS MEN LOOK LIKE SOFT CUDDLY LIL SOFTBOIS I AM LITERALLY GOING OUTTA MY MIND WITH RAGE AND ANGUISH WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

i need a break. i seriously need a break to go cuddle my cat coz my god this deranged fucking showwwwwwwwwww.

ok cuddle break done. i’m not feeling any better but at least the tears of blood have stopped flowing from my eyes?

all i gots to say at this point is that CHEELANSHU SINGHANIA FROM NAAGIN 5 WOULD NEVER DO THIS. ONCE AGAIN SANKIIII CHEEL BOY >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> HUMAN MEN.

“haiwaan hoon main. rakshas hoon. aur rakshas kuch bhi kar sakta hai.”

electric chair for you, dude. ELECTRIC FUCKING CHAIR, GREEN MILE STYLE.

he literally gave her a paralytic.

“isse ek luxury relaxing spa treatment ki tarah enjoy karna.”

OMG I WISH I HAD SOMEONE MAKE ME SLIP INTO A PARALYTIC COMAAAAAAAAAA WHAT ELSE COULD A GIRL WANT FROM PRINCE CHARMING UWU TRUE WUVVVVVVVVV

omg inn paplu taplu ka chip waala naatak abhi bhi chal raha hai BIGGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED IN THE HOUSE YOU IDIOTS KEEP THE FUCK UP LITERALLY NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR SADAA HUA MEMORY CARD ANYMOREEEEEEEEEE

anyway they decide to put it in the bank locker. omg why though, under the mattress was suchhhhhhh a safe and secure spot!!! badal kyun rahe ho tum log?!?!?!!?!?

“good morning.”

sis, lower half is paralysed. haath abhi bhi kaam kar rahein haina??? PICK UP WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON AND HURL IT AT HIS FUCKING HEADDDDDDDDDDD

“don't worry, bas kuch der ki baat hai. uske baad tum apne pairon pe khadi ho sakti ho. main tumhari help kar deta hoon.”

TELLL HIM SIS. TELL HIM TO STAY THE FUCK AWAY AND NEVER EVER COME WITHIN A 3 DISTRICT RADIUS OF YOU. 

“phir se zidd. tumhara naam riddhima nahi, ziddhima hona chahiye tha.”

ok can't deny i lol'd at that.

OK NO BACK TO HATING HIM. PUNS WILL GET YOU NOWHERE WITH ME, YOU BLOODY PSYCHOPATH.

“abhi toh bas ek chota dose diya hai jiska asar sirf 10 ghante rehta hai.”

oh how sweet. such a considerate husband. Star Parivaar Pati of The Year you are. haan behen, aur rakho aise pati ke liye karwachauth.

“agar baat nahi maaani, toh agla dose double hoga.”

seriously though, where can i get one of these? all i want is to be put in a coma so that i don't have to be conscious anymore. esp with the USA election today............ give me a 5x dose, daddy.

YEAH RIGHT LIKE SHE'S EVER GONNA CONSUME ANYTHING YOU OFFER HER EVER AGAIN LOL

“tum chaahe kitni bhi koshish karlo vansh, main tumhe ragini ko nuksaan pohunchaane nahi dungi.”

determination toh behen ka top classssssssssssss hai. where do ppl get such mental will from? i face the slightest inconvenience and i need a 6 hour nap to cope.

LMAO VANSH YOU DUMBASS YOU LEFT HER WITH HER PHONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. YOU KNOW SHE'S A SPY AND HAS SOMEONE ON THE OUTSIDE. YOU WANTED HER NOT TO GET TO RAGINI BUT NOW SHE CAN JUST CALL WHOEVER SHE’S WORKING WITH TO GET RAGINI THE HELP. GOD, BEWAKOOFON KI TOLI HAI YEH SHOWWWWWWWW.

ab yaad aayi kabir ki. my god, he seems like such a mellow weirdo now compared to vansh, just into some casual costume-changing and quasi fratricide. almost a tolerable level of deranged compared to this other fucking madman.

sent a voice note to him.

SHE HEARD SOMEONE COMING AND FLUNG THE PHONE ACROSS THE ROOM INTO A PILE OF CLOTHES. OH HO WHYYYYYYYYYYYY, YOU COULD HAVE LITERALLY JUST HID IT BACK UNDER THE PILLOWS WHERE YOU FOUND IT!?!?!??!?!?!?

“hi riddhima! tumhe iss haal mein dekh kar, dil ko bohut sukoon mil raha hai.”

asldkfsjflkjdslfkjdl i honestly love her the most. she's so fucking petty and hilarious.

ishani is like thank god bhai has seen fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinally seen your real face.

“sirf vansh ne hi nahi, inn sab mein maine bhi vansh ka asli chehra dekh liya hai.”

“kya matlab hai tumhara?!?!!”

ok, i'm thinking ishani is shadow girl. from day 1, she’s wanted riddhima to see vansh in a certain way; as someone dangerous, the way he projects himself. (as opposed to dadi and siya who want her to see his soft side.) this statement from riddhima makes her wary that did she get close to the actual truth. INTERESTING. VERYYYYYYYYY INTERESTINGGGGG.

she's now grumbling about how vansh treats her much better than she actually deserves. I REALLY WANT MORE INSIGHT INTO THIS BROTHER SISTER RELATIONSHIP THEY HAVE IT'S SO INTRIGUINGGGGGGGG

le, kapde chale gaye laundry. phone ke saath.

———————————————————————

precap: kabir listened to the voice note and now him and mummy are in panic about ragini disclosing the truth about 3 years ago. RE DEVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. OFC THESE TWO WERE INVOLVED IN THAT KAAND TOO. LITERALLY EVERY ONE IN THIS SHOW IS A DERANGED MENACE TO SOCIETY.

kabir coming to meet riddhima.

but ofc.

ugh she turned back saying “K.........” and he's like there's literally no one in this house whose name starts with K.

*facepalms for allllll eternity till my godforsaken face itself falls off.*

i think i’ll go watch s2 of mirzapur now. i need something ~~~light and fluffffffffffy~~~ to take my mind off whatever the FUCK this was.

[masterthespianduchovny]

Steve, Bucky, and Peggy: The Love Triangle that Isn’t

There is a popular narrative among a certain crowd that Steggy only happened so Steve isn’t perceived as gay or having feelings for Bucky. And maaaaaybe this is true, but honestly, I don’t agree.

Peggy was supposed to be the great love of Steve’s life that never got to happen due to circumstance. And then comes along Sharon who is supposed to be his great next love. But, what happened is that not that many people were interested and, funny enough, more were drawn to Steve’s reaction about Peggy—him visiting her and her later dying than they actually have a fuck about Staron or whatever the ships name is.

Coincidentally, this is the SAME movie that Bucky as winter soldier is reintroduced in. The movie where they try to establish a new romantic relationship for Cap and have us met the new Bucky, which the former isn’t Bucky.

What happened is this: fans essentially completely rejected Sharon and salivated for Bucky and this devotion Steve had towards him. It was a shipper’s dream the way Steve behaved. BUT, Steve and Bucky was never on the menu and it was never teased canonically.

I cannot say if the actors or those connected to the MCU queerbaited fans, but actors and connected employees have the habit of trying to be supportive of fans and ships by entertaining things they aren’t necessarily invested in or care about all that much. Some of that is because they appreciate the fans enthusiasm and the other part is it being apart of the job to have enthusiastic fans.

It reminds me how how John Boyega supported two/three ships on Star Wars, but it wasn’t necessarily because he was a shipper himself. The only actor in the current series who seems like an actual shopper is the one who plays Poe.

So, after they got rid of Sharon in the third cap “movie”, they had to figure out what to do about his love interest. Again, the only significant and canonical one people gravitated to was Peggy, but she was dead. BUT, there was also a consistent thread about Cap’s feelings for her. Almost every movie that desires cap prominently has some small scene or moment that references her.

So, for people to act like Peggy was Sharon is dishonest. Or how they want to act like Peggy was some random girl. Peggy met Steve before he was cap—I know, I know, Bucky did too—but, this is important because it sets up their relationship about how she cared for him and took him seriously as a person even then. Her feelings grew romantic as did his, but their feelings was based on friendship and their mutual respect for one another. Peggy also helped Steve to defy orders to do what he felt was right, so they share values as well. I believe all this happened over a span of two years.

When she is in the hospital Steve regularly visits her and is distraught when she dies. His behavior is a call back to that old fashioned romanticized love in which one half of a spouse is loyal, dedicated, and (always) by their beside. Despite Steve still having g his youth and presumably young, interested women clamoring for him, he is devoted to Peggy and takes time out of his week to visit her. When she dies, he’s even her pallbearer.

This behavior is more than “a connection to the past.” I guess since it’s muted and not fighting to save someone you care about at all cost, it doesn’t read a love or romantic.

But, it’s clearly established that Steve’s love has never faded and even though he has young women interested in him, he’d rather sit by the side of his 90 year old (former) love.

We even see him carrying a locket with her picture in it as well. The MCU has gone out of its way to show how very real Steve’s feelings are.

Enter in Bucky.

When we first meet Bucky, we see he’s the best friend of Steve. The charming ladies man who exudes confidence. He looks out for Steve, esp because Steve likes to get up for trouble when standing up for his values. Yet, neither Steve nor Bucky are particularly attached to one another—meaning to subtext of homoeroticism that speaks to deeper feelings known or unknown.

We could argue that Steve’s feelings became prominences, but not known to him, when he saw Bucky again, but I’ll continue to lay out for my reasoning for not believing that.

Winter soldier sets for the foundation of how captain American went from a loyal patriot to questioning and distrusting his government. Despite his camaraderie with the avengers, he still feels alone and like a man out of time. He leans on his patriotism to get him through this totally unique and indescribable experience. But, I’m the second movie, he’s on the run from that very same government and is finding out about their secrets and lies.

During this time he runs into Bucky, his best friend who he thought died.

We must keep in mind that Cap’s two direct connections to the past in this moment are both Peggy and Bucky. We see his loyalty to Peggy due to reasons I mentioned, but there is another factor going on with Bucky: it’s him, but it’s NOT him.

It was completely disorienting for Cap to see a man who was supposed to be dead and in his 90s looking youthful and a unrelenting killer. There was no way they was the Bucky Cap knew. Cap has to get to the bottom of what happened to Bucky and, later, avenge his friend. His autonomy and agency was violated, he was experimented on, and brought back to life to be a trained killer.

Of course Steve feels that deeply, especially because he underwent a similar experiment, but willingly and retained his agency and independence. But, it’s also about corrupting the past for Steve. The way the government manipulates and pushes things forth for the agenda. There’s levels to this.

Then, when Bucky saved Steve, and then disappeared, Steve was largely fine, but concerned about Bucky. And why wouldn’t he be? Bucky almost killed him, saved him, and then left—he doesn’t know how Bucky is dealing and coping with what happened to him. How could he know?

Steve fighting and protecting Bucky in his third movie and, eventually, fighting against Tony is about how we shouldn’t punish an exploited person for something that were manipulated into doing. And how they’re being used as patsy’s to shift blame. Bucky was a victim in the second and third movie. Bucky needed someone to stand up for and advocate for him, which only Steve did.

I mean, did Bucky deserve to die for something he had no choice over? Or imprisoned?

That doesn’t mean that they couldn’t have been two men in love, but once Cap knows he’s safe and protected—meaning, he’s allowed to make a “full” mental and emotional recovery without further exploitation—Cap doesn’t worry or obsess over Bucky. Bucky was on the way to regaining agency and independence and that’s all that cap wanted.

Once Bucky looks happy and healthy when they see each other again, cap goes to treated him like he did in first avenger.

And I fill that this must be pointed out: some friends do go above and beyond for people who 1. Have mental illnesses, no systems in place to assist them, and no advocates other than them 2. Someone who has been harmed/manipulated/exploited, is triggered, and potentially down spiraling. 3. PTSD.

Steve is being a damn good friend and advocate to/for Bucky.

With that being said, some don’t feel that stucky was going to be canon, but that the MCU went out of its way to prove Steve was straight. As a reminder, the Steve and Peggy thread has been CONSISTENT since day one. Since Sharon failed, they wanted to find a love interest for Steve’s endgame, no pun intended. Personally, I think that they went Natasha/Steve because Natasha/Bruce doesn’t work. I understand Natasha and Steve has a great friendship for the “why can’t men and women be friends” crowd, but Natasha also has other male friends, sooo....

To use Star Wars as an example again, this isn’t Poe and Keri Russell’s character who exists solely to prove Poe is STRAIGHT.

Peggy was never created to be someone who existed to prove Steve’s sexuality, but she was someone he was in love with and never stopped loving. She was someone that we knew Steve loved deeply and could never get over.

I know people feel that Steve going back undermines his values both in the comics and the series, which I fee is valid. But, honestly, Steve has spent a good chunk of protecting others and putting his life on the line. We see many of the other avengers be in relationships, have families, and overall fulling lives and Steve just has the avengers.

Which isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, but he’s allowed to want more than that. His life shouldn’t be dictated by if he can be of service to others.

Steve didn’t “abandon” anyone. Most of the avengers are adults who don’t need Steve. He may have been the leader, but anyone in the group can be the leader. There are other heroes.

And Bucky doesn’t need him.

Bucky understand all that cap went through and sacrificed. He doesn’t need cap to always near and hold his hand. That’s not how friendships work. That’s not how families work or, at least, healthy ones.

I’m fine with people who ship stucky, but this animosity against Steggy and Peggy is ridiculous. No movie or show owes you an open ending so you can ship who you want. From what I can recall, there was no canonical queerbaiting (I believe Chris Evans supported both ships, but I think Steggy more). And Peggy isn’t some random woman or a woman he knew for three seconds, she was important to him and their relationship meaningful to him for the rest of his life.