#fine yin you win this whole being a human thing

[hirakiyois]

war is just a man that was made to be kissed and smooched and liplocked with

[pollylynn]

Title: Outreach WC: 900

“This is her target?”  — Richard Castle, Hong Kong Hustle (7x 17)

She means it when she tells him that she hopes she and Zhang will keep in touch. She hears herself say it, and it’s like stepping out of her body to watch, to nod approvingly as she says it: I hope so. 

She’s grateful to him for asking the question. The right question at the right time—it’s one of his talents. Of course, the wrong question at the wrong time is also one of his talents, so broken clocks, twice a day, and all that. But this is the right question. It’s an important question, as it turns out: You think you and Zhang will stay in touch? It is the answer she didn’t necessarily know until just now, as she stepped out of her body to watch: I hope so. 

She does hope so, because this whole case has been one about loneliness. She’s sick thinking about Zhu Yin and even Mei Wu, terrible as her crime was. Her stomach churns and anger wells up in her when she thinks about their fates—the terrible conditions they and so many others live under. Her stomach churns and anger wells up her when she thinks how lonely a life it has to be, not even having the freedom to trust anyone, to make even the most fragile of human connections. She hopes she and Zhang keep in touch, because there are million ways to be lonely in this world, and the freedom to trust is a rare commodity they shouldn’t squander. 

She hopes so, because Zhang is an inspiration and a cautionary tale. Both are true, however much of a mess the woman may feel her life is at the moment, as she tries to reconnect with her husband, her children. She hopes she’ll get a glimpse into the inner workings of that kind of ambition, that level of accomplishment, even as Zhang adjusts course to seek something more meaningful than the perfect public-facing life. 

She hopes so, because she wants the chance for them to truly commiserate over the friends they have lost, the friends they have let down—Henry, Royce. She hopes that  with time—when the wounds are less raw than they are right now—she’ll  have a chance to tell Zhang that she will always carry the weight of Henry’s death, but there will come a time, too, when it fades enough that the good memories—the joy and warmth of his friendship—will win out most days. She hopes they can forge a bond out of that shared loss.

She hopes the two of them will keep in touch so because . . . it would be good practice for her? No, more than that, keeping in touch with Zhang—building a new relationship with mentor, a peer, a colleague, a friend—that itself would be spreading her wings. It would be moving her forward in life in ways that are not just professional, and she is built for that now, or she’s getting there, anyway. She has worked hard to be more. She has worked hared on this mended heart, this soul that’s been expanding these last few years as she’s opened herself to him, to Martha and Alexis, to Lanie and the boys in new and important ways, and even to Gates. 

She hopes that she and Zhang keep in touch, because she thinks that she could be good for the good Inspector as she tries to get her life back into some kind of balance. It’s a revelation that knocks her back. She is good for the people in her life. She looks down at her list—black on white on the iPad, with the cursor blinking—and sees how narrowly she’s been defining her future. 

She’s been careful, as she tells him, to think about the things she’ll cling to—the things she’ll carry with her, whatever mountain she decides to climb. Between the lines of her list are things like  making more time, more space for her dad, for stitching him more fully into the fabric of this life she is making here with Castle and his rambunctious family. There are things like the pangs of covetousness she felt when she pulled up the picture of  Zhang’s adorable children.  Between the lines of her list she has written the growing certainty that she wants that, though she’s terrified, too. 

It’s a good list she has going, but it leans hard into the cautionary tale that Zhang is. It’s a list punctuated with emergency lights and hazard signs. It’s a list that is wary of the Kate Beckett of three years ago, of four, of seven of ten years ago, and she is not that Kate Beckett. 

She hasn’t fallen behind. She is doing just fine. She has landed a man who asks the right question at the right time, and she is good for the people in her life. She could be good for Zhang and who knows who else. It’s a heart-mending, soul-expanding revelation. 

She’s grateful to him for it. She is ebullient and in no mood to dim the magic by explaining why she’s grateful in so many words. She latches on, instead, to his sweet platitude about being always by her side. She straddles him, and with fire in her eyes, she takes aim at his own professional envy: “You are so much better than Patterson.” 

A/N: I think my sweet bebe does not necessarily realize she is a good friend, a good partner. This made me sad today. Sadness is a thing? This is not a thing. 

images via homeofthenutty

[princess-of-the-corner]

I know some people hated the "Dark Avatar" plotline in LoK but tbh I didn't mind the concept so much as the exectution.

Like. Okay. Thw whole concept is "balance" with "Yin and Yang" shit. A small bit of each 'side' is in the other. But the only time they utilize that is in "if the Harmony Spirit is killed she can be resurrected by punching Chaos in the chest and draging her out!"

What I'm saying is that they talk about Balance but represent it as a very black and white "Harmony is Good, Chaos is Evil" kinda way where Harmony has to win and everything's fine but if Chaos wins it's total destruction.

I think it would've been better acknowledging the balannce between Chaos and Harmony. While total Chaos is destruction, total Harmony can become stagnation.

It'd be more interesting if they started by showing the black and white version we got, but then they added the twist where Korra herself is the "Dark Avatar" because she is Balance, not Harmony.

The Avatar is supposed to maintain Balance. Usually that involves defeating Evil, as Humanity tends to have it's problems. But the execution of maintaining Balance is a thing. Sometimes you have to dismantle a fucked system entirely before you rebuild it.

And this could definitly be a thing for Korra who has dealt with a lack of Chaos until recently. She was kept too safe and controled. Locked in a compound, unable to travel and explore like other Avatars did. So becauae her life is too "Harmonic", she has something in the back of her mind saying "aren't you tired of being nice? Don't you just wanna go apeshit?".

Idk man I'm tired and bullshitting but it's a different concept.

[abiik]

4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 28, 29 + a, b, c, h for xingchen / 1-10 & 15-20 + a, b for zhi yin ?

aaaaaaa thank u for this jo!!!!! sorry this took so long!!! anyway this is. also very LENGTHY so im putting it under a cut <333333

xingchen

4. how easy is it to earn their trust?

it is actually very difficult to earn their trust, only because xingchen doesn’t allow people close enough in order to do so. the very few people who do have their hard-earned trust before the gang comes around is their remaining bio family.

5. how easy is it to earn their mistrust?

i wouldn’t say it’s easy for xingchen to suddenly mistrust you after earning their trust. they actually are the type to hold out for you for far longer than they probably should. while there are like, inklings of mistrust here in there, they’ll probably still trust you to watch their back in a fight and defend you against others who are like ‘xingchen maybe that isn’t a good idea :/’ they have a whole lot of hope & love for the world, though, & it's very hard for them to give up just anyone, especially someone who has previously earned their trust.

6. do they consider laws flexible, or immovable?

xingchen was raised that laws are immovable, so they’ve grown up knowing & believing this philosophy for most things. however, as they’ve grown older they’ve realized that maybe they aren’t completely sure about this. perhaps, it can be situational.  

7. what triggers nostalgia for them, most often? do they enjoy that feeling?

snow. winter on the mountain triggers nostalgia for them. seeing the jade amulet & sword that belonged to their mother & the calligraphy set that belonged to their father but mostly snow. they do not enjoy the feeling. they will subject themself to it anyway.  

11. how do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?

it mostly depends on where it comes from or who they’re around and what they’re confused about. usually they’ll simply ask to clarify; there’s no use in going into a situation pretending like they know something & they all get themselves killed because of negligence and pride. but…. that pride is exactly what gets the better of xingchen sometimes and it’s fucking hilarious.

28. would they prefer a lie over an unpleasant truth?

xingchen would absolutely prefer an unpleasant truth to a lie. they would possibly mumble through it or deliver it stiffly/coldly so as to be detached from the unpleasant feeling, but at least you would know the truth.

29. do they usually live up to their own ideals?

hmm. this is... difficult because so much of xingchen’s ideals were crafted by someone else, expectations put on them by someone else. outwardly, it would seem so. for xingchen, i think that they would always feel as though they have not done enough, or that they could have done something differently; that there is always room for them to improve to become the most perfect version of themself. they’re very tough on themself and i think that it begins getting worse around the second youxiong arc & the aftermath of that & the entirety of new boot goofin arc :)

+

a – why are u excited about this character?

i love xingchen’s energy!! their thoughts and their feelings are something i love to explore as well as like, the way that they’d react to things bc their method is so different than zoe’s. im also excited bc, just. like. the outward perception of xingchen is so different when compared to who they are as a person, unfiltered and raw.

b – what inspired u to create them?

xingchen was the order in the chaos; that’s initially why they were created. the body of their character was this philosophy, to balance zoe, to mirror her. xingchen’s name was something that was conceived almost like, directly after this, and once again, it was a mirror to zoe’s birth name - xian, and the implications behind that. xingchen’s name was mainly chosen bc of the amount of stars that surround their planet: 4. so xingchen’s name & this idea of someone who completed zoe’s balancing act, who ordered the chaos, crafted the idea of a character that was, in a way, the juxtaposition of celestial and earthly (like zoe) but only slightly to the left, wherein even to zoe, this character would be someone you were in awe of. they always sort of felt like the human embodiment of a shooting star, moved by duty and the righting of wrong to come down to earth. xingchen & zoe are technically on the same spectrum, but they have different methods, and that’s what i wanted from xingchen. i wanted a character that did elicit this feeling of awe, because of how amazing, talented, attractive etc. they are, EVEN TO ZOE, but was also intensely stubborn and, initially, very stuck on this ‘my way, or the high-way’ sort of mentality. i WANTED xingchen to create conflict with zoe and zoe to create conflict with xingchen, bc i wanted it to be an opportunity for both characters to be taken out of their comfort zones by each other.

of course, other things, small images, inspired me further when creating a silhouette for xingchen: blue & white; white jade; the sunrise; loquats; clouds; snow on mountain tops; spring; music played on a guqin; ballet & figure skating; swan <3

c – did u have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

hmm i did have trouble figuring out how i would involve them, or any of the rest of youxiong, into zoe’s story after the new boot goofin arc. sure she made off world excursions late in that arc after her recovery, but there wasn’t a lot & my mind was blank. i’m still looking to involve xingchen more maybe bc im not 100% sure on the whole roommates thing.

h – what trait do u admire most?

tbh how deeply xingchen feels things. they don’t communicate it often, it’s difficult for them, both verbally and visually, and sometimes even physically, but they feel everything so, so deeply and that’s. i just really love them a l o t.

zhi yin

1. what’s the maximum amount of time ur character can sit still with nothing to do?

yin can sit still for a moderate amount of time with nothing to do. she fiddles, though, with her fingers or with her clothes, even when she isn’t particularly nervous.

2. how easy is it for ur character to laugh?

it’s fairly easy for yin to laugh if she’s on good terms with you - & this is mostly everyone as she believes the best of everyone, that everyone is generally good.

3. how do they put themselves to bed at night? (reading, singing, thinking?)

yin usually starts by making herself - & cheng – something warm to drink & once she’s assured her brother she’s fine & sent him off to bed, she’ll curl up in bed & read about far away places or an interesting new techniques that she knows she’ll never be able to try until she passes out.

4. how easy is it to earn their trust?

it’s hard for me to gauge how easy it is bc yin DOESN’T trust most ppl. she’s the type of person who looks like she would be easy to win over, & she would be likable & sweet to u, but the only ppl yin is loyal to & trusts at the beginning are cheng, her uncle, and oddly enough, zoe. so like, while she does believe ppl are generally good, this doesn’t mean that she has every intention of falling victim to someone’s wrongdoings or intentions to harm people she cares about bc she trusted blindly on account of this philosophy. she’s cautious, but she doesn’t have this all-around anxiety like cheng, and she isn’t gullible like everyone intends her to be. for yin, i think it is like this: if cheng or zoe trusts you, she will trust you, but she will be cautious, and mostly look to them.

5. how easy is it to earn their mistrust?

i think in order to lose yin’s trust, you would have to lie to her. like, big time. or hurt her family.

6. do they consider laws flexible, or immovable?

yin is on the fence with this. with her uncle zhi as one of her mentors & cheng always looking out for her, laws/rules were immovable in order to keep her in a box & (in cheng’s situation) to keep her safe. however, their clan never actually taught them that rules had to be followed so rigidly (they follow a philosophy that one should achieve the impossible) that they were flexible, so i do think yin leans more towards flexible, but has anxiety about acting it out.

7. what triggers nostalgia for them, most often? do they enjoy that feeling?

making soup, walking on the docks, boating out on the river, practicing forms with cheng. yin does enjoy it, even if it is sometimes bittersweet.

8. what were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child?

stop daydreaming so much. (she wasn’t daydreaming) :)

9. do they swear? do they remember their first swear word?

yin doesn’t swear! not really

10. what lie do they most frequently remember telling? does it haunt them?

‘i’m fine.’/ ‘i feel fine!’ yes.

15. how do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first?

yin has a soft, pleasant voice. it’s almost like a whisper but its warm & sweet. she has the type of voice that if u were in a crowd, because of the tone of it, u might not be able to hear her even if she was standing next to u & speaking. her tone is always very sincere, or slightly teasing. she can stutter a lot when she’s excited or nervous. yin thinks about what she says usually, but sometimes she does pipe up & blurt what she’s just thought of on the spot. rarely does she raise her voice, but when she does, u know she means business.

16. what makes their stomach turn?

when she goes under. it’s an awful feeling of being disconnected from herself & not knowing what she did while she was out, & seeing everyone’s faces after, looking them in the eye after what she could have possibly done & them seeing what happens to her when she get ‘sick.’

17. are they easily embarrassed?

yes. yin is easily flustered, if that’s the same thing. she fumbles over her words in this case & will fiddle with her hands. crying is sometimes the result of being embarrassed too :) but i would rather not think about yin crying…

18. what embarrasses them?

usually anyone acting particularly brash, or flirty. when she, herself, makes a grand gesture on her own end, and it’s rejected. sometimes being reminded that she can’t cultivate while others can, that she’s a lacking heir.

19. what is their favorite number?

hmm three.

20. if they were asked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic or familial love, how would they do it?

yin might explain familial love as brushing her a-cheng’s hair out of his face & patting his head despite him being taller than her just to piss him off a little, nagging him until he rolls his eyes & does as she says, or finding a blanket tucked over her that clearly wasn’t there before after a late night of reading at her desk. she might explain platonic love as sitting with zoe on the docks with their toes in the water, zoe’s head on her shoulder & both of them spilling their hearts out, or sharing tea & poetry with xingchen for the first time, seeing them blush around the tips of their ears & having to stifle her giggles until they finally broke the tension with a laugh of their own. yin doesn’t know how to explain the difference of romantic love yet.

+

a – why are u excited about this character?

yin has so many different, like, facets & she’s really fun to think about. i really love thinking about her dynamic with zoe, but i especially love to think about her dynamic with others in the group & how she might get along with them & how their relationships will progress. she’s really sweet & is willing to help people out of the good will of her heart but still holds them at a distance & is like…disconcerting in a way, and that’s a character i’m pretty sure i’ve never had before, so she’s pretty new to me.

b – what inspired u to create them?

yin remained a mystery to me for so long, hence why her name is yin. she was like a little shadow. she remains a little shadow. a secret still. something i, and everyone, has yet to figure out. a dark spot with a gentle smile that stayed at zoe’s side. she’s the shadow in the pond that you arent too sure is a stick or a snake or not, but you keep creeping closer to anyway bc you think if it were a snake it would have made some move to get closer to you by now. and yin’s not a snake. she’s the turtle in this story. or a shell, perhaps. a lucky dark little tortoise shell. she can be a little scary at times, as the person creating her, and for the other characters interacting with her, but also she comes off as completely harmless. like a lake or a river wide and deep enough to swim in. yin has really just been fragments and pieces, little ideas here and there, that have come together to create a very healing, loving character that just has an overwhelming flood of love pouring out from her at all times.

there was also the idea, story-wise, of wanting to create a character that doesn’t become friends with zoe specifically bc of a shared interest/goal – yin doesn’t want to kill her uncle; she genuinely wants to be zoe’s friend. they do share traits & like. actual interests – they’re both family oriented, hence why yin wouldn’t want to kill her family – but yin isn’t zoe’s loyal-ass friend bc they have a similar moral code or bc they had similar goals & became close over the course of the mission etc. like jason, for example. the lotus is a big symbol for yin as well, which connects her directly to zoe, who is representative of the center.

ask me some q’s about my ocs!!

[wiccan101]

A Defense Of A Mixed Economy

Whether its Anarchism or Totalitarianism. Capitalism or Socialism. There's really only one thing I can say on such matters. A mixed economy is sufficiently better, than unfettered capitalism or total socialism on the other. Anarchism doesn't work, because people with too much freedom are susceptible to do dangerous things with too much freedom, which is why governments are an evil necessary to form to prevent freedom being overly abused to such a great extent that it would put everyone's public safety at risk. Totalitarianism however doesn't work either because placing too much power into the state, prevents economic marketable growth and stunts personal development.

Capitalism however promotes a free market system whereby citizens are practically free to create almost any product or provide almost any service and ideally start their own business to make their own profits. One of the main selling points of capitalism is that it’s a system that primarily self-regulates. It’s meant to keep prices and the quality of products and services at least half way decent. Of course it doesn’t always work out that way, but that’s the general idea. Another wonderful thing about capitalism is that it aims to preserve economic freedom from excessive government control. That’s a good thing. However, there is always at least some government regulation involved, as there should be in my opinion. Though most hard core capitalists believe in the French expression Laissez-Faire, which means “leave it alone.” They hold to the idea that if government would just stay out of the way and not legally interfere or try to regulate what business owners can and can’t do, all would go well. But in my view, as well as in the view of most leading economists, this is not realistic.

The list of corruption that rises under a completely free market, is too long to go into. But one quick example, is how oil companies would surely release far too many carbon emissions into the atmosphere during their production process if unregulated by the government. You know the old saying, “If you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile.” When unregulated, people will always eventually fall out of line. It’s kind of like when the teacher leaves the classroom, there will always be those children who will stand up on their desks, throw paper airplanes and spit spit-balls. Whatever margin for error is given, it will always be used to its fullest degree. So there must be at least some rules.

Capitalism, on its own, is not flawless, and is too often unfair. For example, it’s not fair that a young teenager can come out with a number one hit single of a song the singer didn’t even write and make millions, while a hard working adult works all day in the Sun, digging ditches, yet can barely feed his family or pay his rent. Wealth is often unjustly distributed. In fact, it is and has been the American way. In America, people can gain wealth by finding it, by winning it, by stealing it, or by inheriting it. Money is too often not truly earned.

Unfortunately, most capitalists think that competition, and free markets solve all problems. Competition is good, but too much competition can be a bad thing, leading to inferior products and/or services. For example, things are usually made just well enough to outdo the competition in order to maximize profits, which is unfortunately the real goal of most capitalizing Americans. Parts are often cheep, services are rushed, and many wear a fake smile while they trick you into paying for things you don’t really need. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, a “sink or swim” ideology. But thankfully capitalism, when properly regulated, does help to keep prices, product quality, and the government in check.

Socialism on the other hand is a system that promotes equal opportunity, financial safety nets, shared profits and shared sacrifice. Under pure socialism, every able-working person would always have a job and always have an income. Though we currently live within a dominantly capitalistic system, we do have many socialized programs and services like our public school system, our public libraries, the police and fire departments, Social Security, Medicare, and welfare programs like unemployment checks, food stamps, and Medicaid. Many socialized programs serve as a safety net for those who lose their jobs or become too ill to work. Imagine what would happen if your house caught on fire, yet for whatever reason, good or bad, you couldn’t afford to have the fire department come and put it out. Though your neighbors, who could afford to hire the fire department, chose to do nothing about it. In all likelihood, your house would burn down, along with damaging the homes of your neighbors who stood by. Therefore, at least some safety nets should be in place.

However, the word socialism has become demonized by capitalists and is now somewhat synonymous with Democrat. Some of the main complaints and concerns many have with socialism is that it increases the size of government, can lead to wasteful spending, and can encourage “social loafing” or laziness, whereby people who could work harder choose not to, because they believe other citizens will pick up the slack. Therefore, you get a lot of free-loaders riding the coat tails of others. I agree these are all very valid concern, but the solution is not to get rid of socialism altogether. Let’s not go from one bad extreme to the other and over compensate. When people abuse their car by speeding, making illegal turns, or getting into accidents it’s not logical to get rid of all cars or ban all driving. The answer is to find more ways to prevent people from taking advantage of the system. For example, social psychologists have discovered that having a good work plan, involving specifically assigned duties, and having fair evaluations of individual performances dramatically reduces social loafing.

But some still worry that individuality would become lost within a purely socialized society and argue that it would cradle and overprotect citizens. I agree this would likely be the case which is why I believe some capitalism is needed to help remedy those problems. We have to maintain a healthy level of individuality and personal reward. If you are familiar with many of my philosophical views, you will know by now that I always advocate balance in everything. Total socialized assistance is wrong and so is having absolutely no socialized assistance. The solution is in a careful balance between the two.

Many also argue that a socialized system can not be as financially successful as a capitalistic one. There was an economic experiment conducted by a Mayo high school student, in Rochester Minnesota, named Paul A. Leonard. The experiment was intended to compare the financial success between a capitalistic group and a socialistic group. The results showed that students performed more pushups and acquired more candy under a more stressful capitalistic system in comparison to a less stressful socialistic system. Even though Paul’s classroom experiment was only meant to be analogous to the real world, as all experiments are meant to be, I still thought the experiment was oversimplified. Paul’s experiment maintained ideal conditions and gave the false impression that pure capitalism would be a total success. For instance, he did not factor in important variables like unemployment, price fluctuations, inflation and deflation, and theft often found within a capitalistic system. A more accurate picture would have shown some students, within the capitalistic group, merely standing by to reflect the idea that no one could afford to hire them to do the pushups or students stealing candy from other classmates in order to survive.

In the real world, we are not just dealing with mere pieces of candy in exchange for pushups. In the real world, people suffer greatly. They become homeless, sick, and die when, for whatever reason, they fall behind. Anyone, regardless of how rich or good looking or decent, can eventually become down on his luck and find himself in desperate financial need. Don’t be naive thinking that as long as you do the right thing and work hard that you are completely safe from any financial collapse. The insensitivity of unbridled capitalism–a financial machine that cares only about itself, as a whole, and not the individual–will leave you far behind to be crushed within its gears and turbines. Yes, capitalism can make a nation more financially powerful, in the short run, but look at the costs. Most are overworked, over stressed, and can’t spend enough time with their loved ones. Children, on average, are not being properly raised. It’s not good to have an economic system which primarily focuses on acquiring money at almost any costs. The amount of money a nation makes should not be the only measure of its worth.

So it’s true that a purely socialistic system may not be as financially successful in the short run as a purely capitalistic system. However, a purely socialistic system profits in other ways. Such a system is often more humane, more compassionate, less stressful, and less corrupt than a purely capitalistic system. In simplest terms, whenever there is a gain, there will be a loss and for every loss there is a gain. This Yin-Yang effect is why I always advocate a combination of both systems. It comes back to the balancing act I strongly believe in.

Capitalists celebrate financial independence, self-reliance, and individuality, whereas socialists celebrate interdependence, cooperation, and community. These are all good qualities when properly balanced. Socialists hate unbridled capitalism and capitalists often criticize any form of socialism. But it’s unfortunate that many have not yet come to realize that some socialism is a good thing, just as some degree of capitalism is a good thing. Independence and self reliance are fine attributes, however, there are times when we not only need to depend on others, but should depend on others, because it allows us to be better people and it helps us to be more communal.

To sum up, pure unbridled capitalism is too insensitive, too selfish, and too cruel. It’s a cut-throat philosophy—an every man for himself ideology. With pure capitalism, there is an inescapable loss, and that is the nation’s moral sole. On the other hand, pure socialism can be overprotective and may inhibit individual recognition and rewards for personal efforts, talents, and strengths. Both capitalism and socialism, alone and independent of the other, are doomed to fail. However, both socialism and capitalism are needed. We need a system that provides incentives to work hard and rewards those who do, yet at the same time, a system that is compassionate enough to lend a helping hand when necessary—one that does not cruelly punish those who truly, for legitimate reasons and unjust circumstances, can’t work as hard or produce as much. Keep in mind that what affects one citizen ultimately affects all other citizens and one bad apple spoils the bunch. We are all apart of the same team whether we like it or not. So we need to start exercising a more cooperative effort in order for the human race to survive. It’s easy to do the wrong thing and it costs to do the right thing. We need a system that supports and maintains a healthy balance between capitalism and socialism, between competition and cooperation, between independence and dependence, between the private sector and the public sector, and between regulation and freedom.

Right now we are very out of balance, and as a result, nations are falling. When there are children who are not getting properly educated, it means something is wrong with the system. When people are starving, it means there’s something wrong with the system. When people can’t get proper healthcare, it means there is something wrong with the system. We must all pull our resources together to aid one another during these desperate times or the entire system will fall and all our cherished money will become completely worthless. Personally, I would prefer to trade in some of my cash to help my fellow man and to keep my sole in tact. Remember, what goes around comes around. The more you support your fellow citizens, the more they will be able to support you in your time of need. “All for one and one for all” should be the slogan for America . . . and the world.

Again, there is no perfect political system. No matter how well a system of government is designed and built, corruption will always manage to seep through the cracks. But, it’s our civil duty to do all we can to push back any and all forms of corruption and injustice as much as possible.

Down through the ages, we come closer and closer to creating the perfect society, even though we have had many setbacks. Like a pea rolling back and forth along the walls of a huge bowl, we are slowly but surely finding our way towards the center of equilibrium. Like a set of adjustable lenses the answers are coming into focus. Soon the arrow of correctness will hit the bull’s-eye straight enough.

Definitions of Capitalism & Socialism

Capitalism is an economic and political system (based on self-interest and competition) in which all the means of production and distribution are privately owned and operated within a free market society.

Socialism is an economic and political system (based on group-interest and cooperation) in which all the means of production and distribution are collectively owned and operated by all members of a society.

[sambart93]

So today Coworker A today got pissed at Coworker B because coworker B said they didn't believe in a god of death - but coworker A does.

Now, I am totally shitty at verbally expressing myself and more often than not, what I want to say comes out completely the opposite when I speak, so at the time I just said that I think coworker A is overreacting for being pissed that coworker B didn't believe the same thing as them.

NOW here's where I need to write and express my views. Let me give you an example:

Situation: I REALLY want to win tickets to this concert so for the first time in a decade I pray to the Christian God to let me win these tickets. The result? I don't get them.

The reactions or reasons for this outcome are:

1. God is trying to teach you a lesson or give you a message -- meaning you believe there is a god. 2. Well the probabilty was low -- meaning you believe in maths and most likely scientific explanations too. 3. You just didn't get lucky -- meaning you believe there is such a thing as good (and possibly bad) luck. 4. Maybe you did something horrible recently and don't deserve the tickets -- this could mean you believe in things like karma, or even the Yin-Yang balance. 5. You weren't supposed to or weren't meant to win the tickets -- meaning you believe in things like fate and destiny. Or 6. You didn't win them just cos. -- meaning you don't believe in anything

And beyond this there are a number of other beliefs and reasons as to why I didn't win those tickets; but I'm not going to be offended and pissed off at every person who thinks differently to what I think is the reason is.

This is just a small situation but shouldn't this apply to all other situations? Just because one person believes in god, doesn't mean they have the right to be angry at someone who doesn't believe in the same god. Just because you believe that science is a cold hard fact doesn't mean you should look down and laugh at someone who believes in Buddha. Just because my coworker doesn't believe in the god of death, doesn't mean you should be pissed and ruin a relationship you've had with them that lasts longer than those milliseconds it took for them to express ONE belief.

It's things like this - not accepting that someone might not have the same belief as you - that causes things like conflict, breaks up relationships, even the extreme of creating war and segregation. Yes those are extreme outcomes but they're definitely outcomes of someone not accepting that someone else thinks differently!

Why should it matter what other people think/believe (and I'm stressing on the word THINK/BELIEVE here.)?! So long as I get along with them, they're a nice person, we have stuff in common, I like being with them; so long as they ain't killing people and abusing kids (etc.), what difference does it make that someone thinks something differently to you?! Absolutely nothing. 

The best thing about being human is finding out just how different people are, and this shouldn't exclude what people believe in. You can believe in a god, you can believe that aliens are real, you can believe that spirits are real, and you can believe in absolutely jack shit; so long as you're a decent person, THAT is all I care about. I'm not going to break a friendship just because I believe that conspiracy theories are real but you don't, or you believe in spirit animals but I don't. What's the point ruining a friendship over that? Millions of other people are going to have the exact same belief as you. But millions of others are not. Don't get offended just because they don't. Get over it, just think 'I'm upset you don't believe but whatever, each to their own. Whatever floats your boat. You do you.' and look at what really matters; are they a decent person? And do I like spending time with them? Isn't that ALL that should really matter?!

And I'm done.

Of course there's going to be people on here who are like 'this dumb bitch what is she talking about?!' and that's fine. There's also going to be some who agree with me; that's fine too! That's the whole point I'm making. If it’s not hurting anyone, then why are we wasting time getting offended over things that make us all so different and interesting, and makes it fun to share those differences even though we might not agree.

[libertariantaoist]

The Tao is always at ease. It overcomes without competing, answers without speaking a word, arrives without being summoned, accomplishes without a plan.   Its net covers the whole universe. And though its meshes are wide, it doesn't let a thing slip through.

Lao Tzu - (Tao Te Ching, chapter 73, translation by Stephen Mitchell)

Dare Not to Act

The Tao is always at ease. But, how does that translate into being at ease in our own lives? Is it something we can only attain after years of hard work, and wise investing?  Is there some formula which always guarantees success? Or, does it happen only by chance, or to a lucky few, those on whom fortune smiles kindly. To answer these questions, I turned to Red Pine’s translation of today’s chapter. And, when I got to the commentaries, included with the translation, I ran up against centuries of ancient Chinese mysticism. Will fortune smile on me today? A much better question might be, why do we need to fall back on mystical elements to try and explain the mystery?

“Daring to act means death

daring not to act means life

of these two

one benefits

the other harms

what Heaven dislikes

who knows the reason

the Way of Heaven

is to win without a fight

to answer without a word

to come without a summons

and to plan without a thought

the Net of Heaven is all-embracing

its mesh is wide but nothing escapes”

LI HSI-CHAI says, “Everyone knows about daring to act but not about daring not to act. Those who dare to act walk on the edge of a knife. Those who dare not to act walk down the middle of a path. Of these two, walking on a knife-edge is harmful, but people ignore the harm. Walking down the middle of a path is beneficial, but people are not aware of the benefit. Thus it is said, ‘People can walk on the edge of a knife but not down the middle of a path’” (Chungyung: 9).

SU CH’E says, “Those who dare to act die. Those who dare not to act live. This is the normal pattern of things. But sometimes those who act live, and sometimes those who don’t die. What happens in the world depends on fortune. Sometimes what should happen doesn’t. The Way of Heaven is far off. Who knows where its likes and dislikes come from?”

There it is. What I feared has come upon me. “What happens in the world depends on fortune”? Before I say anything about this one sentence in Su Ch’e’s commentary, I just want to say, that save for that one line, I think Su Ch’e is spot on. Sometimes bad things do happen to people who “deserve” much better. And sometimes fortune does seem to smile on those who we might judge unworthy of their good fortune.

But, is that really what is happening? Is life really a crap shoot?

I am not a religious Taoist. I am a philosophical Taoist. And, by that I mean, I don’t subscribe to luck, or fortune, or praying to my ancestors. I see that as looking outside my own self for answers. And, I don’t see the need. I don’t think that is the heart of Lao Tzu’s teachings.

The heart of Lao Tzu’s teachings is in naming the laws which govern our Universe an impersonal, impartial Tao. The Tao doesn’t take sides. It gives birth to both good and evil.  Yet, it isn’t a crap shoot, whether you are going to be visited by good or evil in your life. But, the eternal reality is that we can’t know it. So, why try to explain it? Just be.  

I do like what Su Ch’e says, otherwise. “The Way of Heaven is far off. Who knows where its likes and dislikes come from?” I would only ask that we not attribute it to fortune. The Tao isn’t capricious. The way things are are simply the way things are.

I don’t know, maybe I am making a mountain out of a mole hill, here. The rest of the commentators explain it much better than I can, anyway.

SUNG CH’ANG-HSING says, “The mechanism whereby some live and others die is obscure and hard to fathom. If sages find it difficult to know, what about ordinary people?”

YEN TSUN says, “Heaven does not consider life in its schemes or death in its work. It is impartial.”

LU NUNG-SHIH says, “Loosely viewed, the hard and the strong conquer the soft and the weak. Correctly viewed, the soft and the weak conquer the hard and the strong. Hence, the hard and the strong are what Heaven dislikes.”

WU CH’ENG says, “Because sages do not kill others lightly, evildoers slip through their nets, but not through the Net of Heaven. Heaven does not use its strength to fight against evildoers as Humanity does, and yet it always triumphs. It does not speak with a mouth as Humanity does, and yet it answers faster than an echo. It does not have to be summoned but arrives on its own. Evil has its evil reward. Even the clever cannot escape. Heaven is unconcerned and unmindful, but its retribution is ingenious and beyond the reach of human plans. It never lets evildoers slip through its net. Sages do not have to kill evildoers. Heaven will do it for them.”

WANG AN-SHIH says, “Yin and yang take turns. The four seasons come and go. The moon waxes and wanes. All things have their time. They don’t have to be summoned to come.”

LI HUNG-FU says, “It wins because it doesn’t fight. It answers because it doesn’t speak. It comes because it isn’t summoned. If it had to fight to win, something would escape, even if its mesh were fine.”

The answer, my friends, is in daring not to act. That is why I dare you not to act. Let the Tao be at ease in your own life. And, you will be at ease in your own life, too.

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 7 -- How Are Thou Fallen -- Review/Discussion

Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 7, How Are Thou Fallen, was a really fun episode. I think this episode is probably the best they’ve put out there, so far. Granted, since the showrunner change, each episode has steadily been getting better since the previous one but that’s beside the point. The characters are feeling more like actual characters, chemistry between the actors is through the roof right now, and I only had a couple of small issues with the plot. So yay! I call this episode a win. 

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you’re the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that’s on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that’s the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I’m not telling you how to think and feel. I’m telling you what I think and feel. So please, let’s discuss with dignity and respect. If I’m critical about the show, it’s only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I am not hating on Shadowhunters; I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It’s great if you want to promote positivity with this show but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t acknowledge the things that are legitimately wrong with it. There will be spoilers for the show and spoilers for the books and movie. 

How Are Thou Fallen was a great episode, in my opinion. I had a really awesome time watching it. I only had a couple of small issues plot wise but that was it. The actors were on point, the dialogue was on point, the cinematography was FANTASTIC. Even the plot was on point even if there are a couple of things I wished they had done differently. With this episode, I really think the writers have figured out their groove on how they want to write these episodes and I am very excited to see the rest of this season. 

Clary, Luke, and Cleophas

Honestly, I think the weakest part of this episode was the show’s A plot. As it typically is with this show. And it’s not that it was a bad plot. It does work for Shadowhunters and it was interesting to watch. I just felt that it was far too rushed. The bit with Ithuriel felt extremely rushed. The final battle, although wonderfully shot, just felt lackluster in terms of story. This battle in Valentine’s lair could’ve been so epic if the show would’ve just taken its time developing it. But pacing is not a new problem with this show. I wish there had been more build-up to this “angel” plot line. Not to mention, it kind of leads to a few unanswered questions. Valentine says he broke Ithuriel out of his entombment and that he should be thankful. What entombment was he broken out of? Spoilers for City of Glass ahead. Don’t read the italics if you don’t want to be spoiled. 

Why all of the sudden was Clary hearing Ithuriel’s cries? Clary was given Ithuriel’s blood as an unborn child. Ithuriel, if they’re keeping with what Clary is in the books, has been Valentine’s prisoner for a long time. Why is he just now calling out to her? If the blood is the reason for why she could hear him? And also, why couldn’t Jace hear it? He has the same angel blood Clary has. 

But I really did enjoy the angel’s wail. I think it sounded super cool and yet terrifying and sad at the same time. 

Cleophas’ redemption arc also felt too rushed. Really, with this whole entire A plot, it was almost as if the writers realized they were having too much fun with their B plots and were like, “Oh crap. We’re in the 5th act and we don’t have a climax for the A plot yet. Hurry up. We need a big fight.” This plot could probably have been dragged out for a couple of episodes and it would’ve been much more satisfying. It just felt like all of the sudden, Ithuriel was here, all of the sudden, Cleophas was switching sides, all of the sudden we’re at Valentine’s lair, all of the sudden we’ve saved the angel and all of the sudden the angel is now giving us an obscure vision. Most of this happened in a time span of 5 minutes. That vision was pretty awesome, though. I liked that they didn’t go overboard with it. They didn’t try to put too much into it and give anything away. It was obscure enough to keep me interested on what may happen in future episodes. 

I want to take this moment to talk about Valentine. I’m feeling a little underwhelmed with Valentine as a character right now. Don’t get me wrong, Alan Van Sprang is doing a fantastic job with the material he’s been given. The show is doing a really good job with painting him as a villain but I still want to see more from him as a multi-dimensional villain. Because that’s what he should be. That’s how he is in the books. He is a bad guy and he does horrible things but there’s also a human element to him. He’s doing everything he’s doing because he’s trying to protect his people. The shadowhunters are dying out and he’s trying to take steps to prevent that from happening. He does love Jocelyn, he does love Jace. He did love Luke. As a young adult, he was deeply traumatized about what happened to his father and that’s what fuels his hate towards downworlders. Werewolves killed his father. It’s not completely because of racism and envy over the downworlders’ abilities. There is a personal element to it. His treatment of Luke is also because of what happened to his father. It’s not because of Luke and Jocelyn’s affair … primarily because the affair never happened in the books. That’s a show only thing and I still hate it. It really cheapened Luke and Jocelyn’s relationship in my eyes. No, Valentine has a particular disdain for werewolves because of what happened to his father and as a result he cannot reconcile the fact that Luke is now a werewolf. And also, Valentine did not cause Luke to be bitten. Luke getting bitten was an accident in the books. Valentine’s father’s death is where his hatred of Luke lies. He genuinely believes Luke is no longer Luke. That his parabatai Luke is truly dead and the man he is looking at is nothing more than a demon that wears Luke’s face. 

Now, I’m not saying that I want the show to be exactly like the books or that Valentine should have a backstory that is verbatim like it is in the books. I would be fine if the show created a different backstory for Valentine as long as it turns Valentine into a multi-dimensional villain instead of just a power-hungry racist. What I like in my villains is for me to question my own morals and ethics when I’m listening to them. Klaus from the Vampire Diaries and The Originals is one such villain. He was so multifaceted and displayed so much humanity that he was intriguing and I could understand someone like him in charge of the Circle. With the way TV Show Valentine is being written, it’s hard for me to imagine that people flock to him. In the first couple of episodes this season, the show really got him but we’re just missing that human element. That human element is what separates him from Sebastian/Jonathan. 

I also want to mention that I am still not feeling this whole “mortal sword can be used to commit mass murder” thing. Honestly, it feels like they are trying to simplify the evil villain’s master plan. Call me crazy, but I enjoy complex evil mastermind plans. Klaus is one of my favorite villains of all time partly because of how complex and diabolical his master plans are. The book series has a really interesting evil mastermind plan but the show is trying to simplify it in a way that is, to be perfectly frank, cheesy. With that said, I am not selling these writers out yet. I still have hope that they could take this plot point in a really interesting direction and I hope it’s going to surprise me. Right now, it kind of feels like Valentine is going to use Clary to activate the sword and I kind of hope it’s going to be a little more complex than that. Here’s for hoping.

Yin Fen That’s Not Really Yin Fen…So Can We Please Stop Calling It That

Don’t get me wrong. I am still loving the implications of Izzy’s drug addiction story arc. I think it’s going great and it doesn’t look like the writers are planning to resolve it anytime soon which is awesome. I would lose a lot of respect for these showrunners if they decided to make an easy fix for this problem. Izzy was definitely struggling in this episode. She kind of gets on Clary for not telling her about the sunlight rune which she was a little justified in being angry about. I didn’t think she should’ve been as angry as she was under normal circumstances but these aren’t normal circumstances. Izzy’s going through withdrawal so she’s going to snap at the smallest thing. As we saw when she snapped at the random shadowhunter, Lindsey, and Magnus. Speaking of Lindsey, I hope this is a character that the show is planning on giving some amount of screen time to. She was a decent actress and I kind of like this whole nerdy shadowhunter thing she has going on. Let me get this straight, because when Lindsey was first introduced back when that deleted scene was released for episode 6, a lot of people were saying it doesn’t make sense that she wears glasses. Shadowhunters are not vampires, okay. They don’t have flawless bodies. They’re human just like the rest of us. They’re afflicted by human ailments just like us. The angel blood in them just makes them a little stronger and their bodies can carry runes as a result. Their bodies can have certain imperfections. So it doesn’t bother me that she wears glasses. I kind of want to see more of this girl and I hope she’s not just going to simply disappear. Case and Point: Where the hell is Raj? I am liking that the show is making more of an effort to find a way to incorporate these other shadowhunters so I’m all for that. I just hope we get a few more personalities thrown into the mix. Izzy’s conversation with Magnus was also something that I liked even though the show did spoil The Infernal Devices. Really, at this point in the show, if you’re not reading the books now, you’re probably not going to so the show shouldn’t worry as much about spoilers. I just wish the show would stop calling this drug yin fen because that’s not what it is. By saying that it’s made from vampire venom just makes yin fen feel like it’s less than what it really is. And it certainly doesn’t feel as threatening. Not to mention, it’ll create plot holes for The Infernal Devices if they ever make that into a tv series.

We did have some really great scenes with Izzy going through her withdrawal though. She has a blowout with Clary which was interesting to watch. I think it’s important for friends to fight every once in a while. It’s what makes the relationship feel genuine. And besides, it’s about high time for SOMEONE to acknowledge that Clary is not this perfect, flawless angel. She’s impulsive and self-centered. Granted she’s like that in the books as well but at least characters from the books call her out on it. In the show, so far the only one who calls her out on it is Alec and every other character is always telling him he’s wrong for saying that and he should quit being mean to Clary. I don’t think he’s being mean to Clary. He sees Clary for exactly who she is and he recognizes the danger of having that kind of personality around his family. Whether she means to or not, her impulsive decision-making could very well get everyone killed. Besides, I always hate it when characters are keeping secrets from another character because they’re trying to protect them. You’re pretty much saying that person isn’t capable of protecting themselves. And wouldn’t they be better equipped to protect themselves if they knew the secret? It’s like the superhero always concealing their superhero identity from their love interest in order to “protect” them. Then that person inevitably gets kidnapped while walking down a dark alley which would probably happen a lot less if said love interest was actually aware that they’re involved with a superhero. I think they’d be far less inclined to be walking alone down a dark alley.

Izzy has an interaction with Magnus which is great. She’s trying to score some yin fen from this drug dealer but Magnus scares the drug dealer out of the country which was great to see. We don’t see it a lot where other warlocks respect Magnus and the power he holds in the show and this scene just reinforced that Magnus is a dangerous dude and is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He can also tell that Izzy is lying to him which is also great. But he does end up telling Izzy that she can get more yin fen from the vampires. I think he believed Izzy’s reasoning for trying to crack down on the yin fen drug trade but didn’t really believe it. I think he’s going to be keeping a closer eye on Izzy. He was close to Jem, I’m sure he’s aware of what yin fen addiction looks like.

Izzy also runs into Simon at the bar too which was awesome. It got me in the Sizzy feels. I just loved their interactions and him casually mentioning his lack of being kidnapped recently. It’s been a while since these two have been in a scene together and I really felt the chemistry between them. The chemistry has not disappeared at all. I don’t care how many other relationships these two go through during the course of this tv series, I just want THEM to be endgame. I am happy that it looks like, as of right now, the showrunners are not going to do the whole “Simon dating Maia and Izzy or Maia and Clary at the same time” thing. I don’t have anything against that plot in the books if they do decide to adapt it later on, I just don’t think that Simon is at a point in his life right now where it would’ve been believable. I’m not going to discuss the “Simon dating multiple women at the same time” plot here because I am aware of the controversy with it but if you want to know my feelings on it, message me and we’ll talk as long as you’re respectful. I also liked that Izzy kind of tries to get Simon to bite her in order to get her fix and then plays it off as a joke when she sees how freaked out Simon is by it. It just shows how deep Izzy is in this addiction. Just how desperate she is to get this yin fen. 

Izzy had another great interaction with Alec, too. Really, Izzy was all over the place with everyone. Alec wanted to talk to her but she kind of blew him off when he called her. I really liked when he came up to her and he was all, “I just slaughtered a horde of shax demons in Grand Central. I could’ve used your help.” I really just like any line where they mention they went demon-hunting because it’s so rarely mentioned in the show even though it’s their job. Alec can clearly tell that something’s wrong with Izzy but she just shakes him off saying she’s tired. She’s facing some pretty severe withdrawal that’s pretty obvious but I guess shadowhunters aren’t used to drug addictions so they wouldn’t know the signs. Alec accepts Izzy’s reasoning and asks Izzy for advice on sex which is in pretty much every Malec fanfiction ever. I think this was probably my favorite of the Izzy scenes in this episode. She just felt so incredibly alive in this moment. It was like talking to Alec about sex made her forget momentarily about her pain which is great. I love Alec and Izzy moments and I wish the show would do more of them. She tells Alec that when he’s ready, he’ll know it and cautions him not to overthink things like he usually does. It’s always good to have someone remind you of that. I’m someone who also overthinks things so I need people to remind me of that, too.

Izzy then veers into really terrible decision making when she decides to go to a vampire den to get her yin fen fix. I’m interested to see what happens to her in the next episode. 

More Malec Greatness

I gotta say, I really like that Malec has been taking over as the show’s main pairings lately. I was underwhelmed with how the relationship was developed in Season One but where it’s at this season feels very real and very genuine. Magnus and Alec have been portalling all over the world for their dates and in this episode they just got back from a trip to Tokyo. I just love the line, “I’m just saying calling it fatty tuna seems a little degrading.” I don’t necessarily know if I would call that an Alec line but it was definitely a Matthew Daddario line. I would not be surprised at all if that was an improv. Matt just has this really quirky, matter-of-fact humor but I love that Alec as a character said it. It isn’t always obvious in the books that Alec is a little quirky, himself, so getting to see that aspect was fun. 

Alec then surprises Magnus by revealing he got him a gift back in Tokyo. It’s some sort of protection charm and I felt so sad for Magnus because he was so surprised that Alec got him a gift. It was a very sweet moment from them. I just love these two to death and I will ship them forever and ever. I’m also wondering if this protection charm is going to come into play later on in the season. Is the charm actually going to protect Magnus in some way? I think that would be really great story-wise. The first gift he gets ends up saving his life and it’s given to him by Alec? Talk about the Malec feels. 

Malec attempts to start making out only to be interrupted by female giggling coming from Jace’s room. But Magnus rectifies the problem simply by turning up the music which was great. Of course the make out session is interrupted yet again when Alec gets called in to do some shadowhunting. Apparently, if a storm is brewing it attracts a higher level of demon activity so Alec needs to leave but not before reprimanding Jace for his terrible behavior. Don’t worry, I’ll get to Jace later. After Alec leaves, Magnus goes to the Hunters Moon to get a drink and has a nice little conversation with Maia. Maia comments that Magnus’ drink is on the house since he’s such a good tipper and Magnus advises Maia to “never trust a stingy warlock when they have an eternity to acquire wealth.” Sound advice. Never thought about it like that. Then he talks to her about the gift Alec got him and he’s realizing that things with Alec are becoming really serious. This is also where he bumps into Izzy.

Alec eventually comes back to Magnus’ loft after getting his advice from Izzy and has decided to take Izzy’s advice and jump right in. Magnus stops Alec and tells him he doesn’t want to rush into this aspect of the relationship because he’s worried that if they do, Alec may start to pull back. Alec tells him he has nothing to worry about and the director took the fade-to-black approach.

I have seen a lot of people have problems with this. One side of the group feels that Alec was being too forceful with Magnus and that it was veering dangerously close to rape; the other side of the group is mad that we didn’t actually get to see the sexual escapades that the show kind of alluded to. Regarding Alec being too forceful, I did not interpret it that way. Alec knew what he wanted and he was showing Magnus that them having sex isn’t going to change what they have. He was reassuring Magnus that everything between them was going to be fine. And also, Magnus is a strong ass warlock. He could stop Alec if he really wanted to. What I saw was two people giving into passion before the fade-to-black. Now, as for the group of people angry about not getting to see the two actually having sex, this could be interpreted in a couple different ways. For one, they could’ve just continued with their make out session and not actually had sex. They were in the middle of a storm after all; Alec could’ve gotten called back to shadowhunting. I’m okay with this option. The other way we can interpret it is that they really did have their first time in this episode which I’m also okay with. I am not angry that we didn’t get a sex scene because I don’t think it was necessary. Honestly, I hate sex scenes. For me, the only time they work is if they’re filmed in a way that shows an emotional connection and they so rarely are. And just so you all know, I don’t hate sex scenes because I’m an immature little girl who giggles at the sight of a half-naked man. I am 27-years-old. I am okay with sex. I don’t like sex scenes in television because they’re usually unnecessary. I would’ve been worried that this sex scene would’ve been filmed in a way that is very fan-servicey and objectifying and I don’t want that. For me, what I love about Malec is not them having sex or how many times they make out, it’s about who they are together. Two individuals who feel completely complete when they’re with each other whether they’re having sex or just hanging out. For me, sex is such a small part of an actual relationship and television these days really over-do sex scenes. Most of the time, they’re quite unnecessary. We spend all of this time watching these people have sex when that time could be better spent developing emotional connections or developing plots. For the most part, we’re all mature adults. We can insinuate what’s going on behind the curtain. It’s not necessary to actually see it more often than not. If you can have a sex scene that develops the emotional connection then I’m all for that but it happens so rarely. It really takes a special kind of director to pull that off. If you’re not going to do it well, then you shouldn’t do it at all. I also don’t think the show opted not to do the sex scene because of homophobia. Sometimes, subtlety is the way to go when it comes to characters making love. I feel the romantic connection is stronger most of the time with the less you see. It made this scene feel more romantic to me (at least in my eyes) with them just tumbling into the next room. I really didn’t need to see anymore. I was happy with just that. I am also not homophobic so don’t take that to mean that I didn’t want to see two men having sex. I just didn’t think it was necessary in the episode to have a sex scene. And before you all jump down my throat, I would much have preferred that Izzy’s sex scene in Dead Man’s Party never been shown, either. So don’t be thinking this is homosexual bashing because it’s not. I thought Izzy’s scene was over done and it made me really uncomfortable. Them alluding to it would’ve worked just fine. We didn’t need to see every uncomfortable moment in Meliorn’s gypsy tent, okay? Now, if you liked Izzy’s sex scene, that’s fine. I’m not disrespecting your opinion. I’m just telling you I didn’t like it. I’m also not disrespecting your opinion if you think there should have been a sex scene with Malec in this episode. I’m not telling you how to think. I’m telling you what I think.

I’ve also seen some horrible twitter posts to the writers and showrunners regarding this Malec scene and all I can say is that you people doing that…you guys are idiots. No offense. We all can be idiots at times and I’m not afraid to call you out on it. And I’m fine if people call me out on it too as long as it’s done constructively. Let me explain something to you about writers. Particularly writers who publish their work like authors, script writers, showrunners. A writer’s life is full of uncertainty. Will my work be good in the eyes of the fans? Will I get new fans? Will I get famous with it? Will I fail? Will I make money from this? I gotta eat sometime. Will I be expected to write a sequel? Crap, it’s been two years since I published…I need a new idea for a new story, STAT. There is a lot of uncertainty in a writers’ life. You know what writers know for a fact that is for certain in their life? There always gonna be haters. Most writers accept this and learn to block these people out of their life. I had to learn it when I started tumblr-ing. Particularly with my Shadowhunters Hopes for Season 2 post. I was just starting out then and I was amazed at just how much hate I got with that post. But I eventually learned to block them out and not respond to them. By responding, you’re only legitimizing that level of hate. So silence is the best way to go. That’s why I have the disclaimer at the beginning of my reviews saying I will ignore any and all haters. Even to this day, I still get haters on my shadowhunters posts but I’m not going to let a bunch of bullies deter me from what I love to do. Writers accept that haters will always exist so most of them choose to ignore the haters. You telling them horrible things about what you think of them is not going to make them listen to you. They’re still going to write what they want to write. You can say as many horrible things as you want to Cassandra Clare and guess what? She’s still gonna keep on writing. You can say what you want to the showrunners and guess what? They’re still gonna keep on gearing the show towards the plan they have set up. Here’s a tip, instead of giving out hateful criticism (trust me, most writers will ignore you), give some constructive criticism such as reviews like the ones I do. They are far more likely to pay attention to you because then they’re going to see you as something more than a crazed fan who’s putting up a temper tantrum because a story didn’t go their way. Act like mature adults, please. Trust me, when people get rude with me and tell me that I suck, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing just to spite them. I’m awesome like that. 

With all of that said, I do hope that with this scene, the show isn’t planning on putting a stop to showing all this Malec. I hope that they continue on with developing the Malec relationship. A relationship doesn’t end the first time a couple has sex and a lot of times that’s exactly what television does. The couple has their first time and then the showrunners don’t know what to do with the relationship so the couple breaks up and gets back together about 5 times over the course of the series. I’m talking to you, Klaine from Glee. I really don’t want to see that happen with Malec. I want to see the show continue to explore their relationship and move this relationship in a positive and healthy way as they have been doing this entire season.

The Most Awesome Jace Scene…EVER

Now, let’s talk about my favorite part of this episode…Jace. WHAT? Did I seriously just say that JACE was my favorite part of a Shadowhunters episode? We must be on the cusps of an apocalypse or something. Jace was just so wonderfully Jace in all the ways that matter in this episode. He made me smile so much while watching this episode and it wasn’t because I was making fun of his lines for once, as I did in Season One. He was wonderfully sarcastic and narcissistic. This is what Jace should always have been from the beginning. 

We have the scene in the bar where Jace is talking to Simon and giving him advice on how to impress Maia, which was really bad advice to be perfectly frank but it was such a fun scene. And there are girls out there who are attracted to guys who display the tips Jace gave to Simon. Maia just isn’t one of those girls. Also, speaking of Maia, I am still loving her. I think she’s a fantastic character. Some of the greatest moments from this scene: 

MAIA: You have a lot of gaul to show up back here.

JACE: Isn’t it about time we kissed and made up?

Maia brings over shots.

JACE: Thank you.

MAIA: I spit in one.

JACE: Delicious. Don’t tease me.

JACE: Tell me how you approach a girl.

SIMON: You mean act it out?

JACE: Yes.

SIMON: Here?

JACE: Dazzle me.

I also loved that Simon asks Jace to be his Obi-Wan and at first Jace comes off like he’s confused but then does a jedi-like hand-motion and says, “Don’t make me regret this.” I thought it was really funny.

Earlier in the episode, we also had a scene where Jace was in bed with the faerie girl, Kaelie and Alec comes in and tells Jace to get up. They need to go kill some demons.

ALEC: Get up. We have orders.

JACE: I’m a little tied up right now.

KAELIE: Not yet, you’re not.

And I also loved that Kaelie invited Alec to join them. Of course, Alec declines. If there is something I want to see more of in the show though, it’s more parabatai moments between Jace and Alec. I really hope Parabatai Lost isn’t the only moment we’re going to get between these two. That was kind of a mediocre episode. Matt and Dom have such great chemistry together. I just want to see more of them. And not them fighting each other. I had enough of that in the first season. Just moments where they fight together and they’re there for each other when the other needs them. That’s the Jalec parabatai bond I want to see.

I don’t know where this new Jace came from. Maybe he came from an alternative universe but can he please stay for good? Broody and vulnerable Jace is fine but he also makes for a really dull character. TV is full of broody characters: Oliver from Arrow, Derek from Teen Wolf, Stefan from Vampire Diaries. I get sick of them real quick if their only personality is brooding. I absolutely hate characters that brood all the time. I had a really hard time getting through the show Angel because of that. I really only stuck around because Cordelia, Wes, and Gunn had such a fun dynamic. Broody characters are so boring. I need them to make me laugh and Jace finally did that in this scene and I loved it. I’ve seen a couple of tumblr posts where the author is talking about how they’re glad Jace is a little different than he is in the books. That he was too mean in the books. I wouldn’t call him mean. He was sarcastic which is my kind of humor and is part of why he was my first book boyfriend. My entire family is sarcastic so I grew up around sarcasm; maybe that’s why I don’t think he was mean in the books. In my family, sarcasm is how we show our love. Really, if you thought Book Jace was mean, I don’t know how you survive in the real world. I crossed the street a few weeks ago, I had the right of way, and almost got hit b a car; and the driver started cursing ME out. There were times Jace was intentionally mean to Clary but he had reasons for that. He was mean with purpose. He may have also said some inconsiderate things to Alec but he really only said those things because he was essentially trying to goad Alec into admitting his feelings about him and his feelings for Magnus. He was trying to help Alec as only a brother would. I guess my point is that I want to see this sarcastic, sardonic Jace along with Broody Jace. In one of my Season One reviews, I mentioned Funny Jace is needed to balance out Angsty-Jace otherwise he’s really a bore that sucks the energy out of a scene. And also, Season One Jace was a real douche. I don’t know what people mean when they say tv show Jace was nicer than he was in the books. The only person he was nice to was Clary. He got better later on in the season but I will never forgive Season One Jace for saying to Alec, “Maybe your mother was right. Maybe your best isn’t good enough.” That is a horrible thing to say to a friend, much less your family. There was a period of time where I did not call him Jace. I called him The Douche in my reviews. But it’s okay. Jace is so much better in this season and I hope funny but vulnerable Jace is here to stay. Just lock Douchey Jace up and throw away the key.

I’d have to give this episode a B+. Like I said, this was a fun episode but the rushing of the A plot is what brought it down a little for me. If they had dragged it out for a couple of episodes, I think it would’ve turned out great. There was just too much that was happening in the last 5 minutes of the episode. It really felt like the writers are having far more fun with the B plots in this show than the A plots. Which I don’t mind because I really enjoy these B plots. They’re a hell of a lot of fun. I loved funny Jace, I loved Malec, where they’re going with Izzy’s addiction is really interesting. The chemistry between the actors is so much better than it was in the first season. It’s also something I haven’t talked about before a lot, but the show has been doing so well with their filmography. The directors are actually using establishing shots which is fantastic. You can always tell when you’re dealing with a rookie director when there’s a lack of establishing shots. They always want to go for the creative shots but a basic establishing shot can go a long way. In Season One, it was sometimes easy to forget the show is in NYC because there were so few establishing shots. But now we got plenty of them and it does SO MUCH for the overall look of the show. Things I would like to see more of in the show is definitely stop rushing the A plots. It always feels like they’re rushing those. I want to see some more parabatai-ness. As always, I hope they keep on with Malec. On the side though, I also want Magnus and Alec to be developed as their own separate characters. Malec is great but these characters are so much more than their romantic pairing. They’re both fantastic characters and I want to see them grow as individual characters as well. I hope we keep up with snarky Jace. That was awesome. And I’m curious to find out what happened with Izzy at the vampire den. I really think this show is going to some interesting places both plot-wise and character-wise and I can’t wait to see what else they’ve got up their sleeve. 

That’s all I have for you guys. I really liked this episode. I thought it was fantastic. I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this episode. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Just remember to be respectful of everyone’s opinions. 

[andiqamariel-blog]

Love.

Our souls float across the sea of life, in vessels made of blood and bone, taking on water as they go, occasionally sinking ever so slightly — perhaps even imperceptibly — into despair and decline. It is the hell of life’s long autumn, an elegiac march to our inevitable decay into the earth that birthed us. In spring and summer, if we choose to, we shine as warm and bright as we ever will, all boundless energy and burning desire, and humanity is all too eager to cozy up next to us to bask in our glow, should we let them.

Love is humanity’s ultimate pursuit, most innate instinct save for survival itself, and most relentlessly researched, opined, romanticized and prized condition. It is the noun and the verb, the yin and the yang. It is the gods upon which we’ve built our churches, and the art which paints our progress. It is socialized, cultivated, and unique within the self and between the afflicted. Distilled to its essence: It is a ritualistic, highly coveted, goal-directed firing of neurotransmitters in just the right proportion —the perfect cocktail of testosterone, serotonin, oxytocin and dopamine playing the harps of our axons in just the right key, occasionally arbitrarily, often in harmony. But if this is all in our brains, and this is all just one great biological trick, why do we love at all?

Our lives are inherently lonely. The body is a vessel and a prison, a perpetually confining hall inside of which we exist and outside of which we would cease to begin. We are unwitting hall monitors, guardians of the temple, inmates within the asylum of the self. No one can ever really know the around-the-clock, underneath-the-skin version of us. As we observe the outside, experience the essence of being, buy into the causes and motives of others, we are slightly careened off course, irreparably and irrevocably altered. You can find it, in infinitesimal yet infinitival doses, in the lasting gaze into James Stewart’s glare upon realization that he is, in fact, alive, or the minutes spent immersed in the intro of “New York City Serenade,” to use two highly personal and highly specific examples. An unshakable discomfort, a fleeting euphoria and warm glow that carves neural pathways the way time and water etch their names in stone. It is this that allows us respite from endless imprisonment, from a yearning loneliness. It comes from where you find it, should you seek it.

To be born human is to be born with capacity to beat back this loneliness the way light conquers darkness, day conquers night and gravity conquers flight. It is through action and presence, immersion and emotion, that we affix ourselves to the whole, attach ourselves to one another, and momentarily transcend the curse of a locked coordinate in space-time. When we reach out to heal, stand up to our bitterest demons, paint with a fine brush or build with our hands, we are doing so to reach outside ourselves and lasso the world closer to us. The greatest things we will ever do in our lives are those things which breathe life into the souls of others. In doing so, we can only begin to realize that the universe is not merely something that happens to us, but something that we happen to. We find the kingdom of shared suffering and collective experience in the smallest of things, should we seek it.

Our lives are also inherently transient, tiny and random, too temporary for comfort. We buzz like bees, and hunt like sharks. We’re loosely tethered to this earth by the breath we inhale and the blood that courses through our veins. Should we ever find ourselves thinking our concerns are of great import, that our life lacks purpose or meaning, we can rest easy knowing that our impermanence is the hallmark of our existence. Immortality waits for no one, not even the believers. And the reason we reach out, our capacity to connect, is our way of tying ourselves just a little tighter to life itself. It is duality of humanity: Our altruism and selfishness engaged in a desperate tango. It is our extraordinary desire to feel like we matter at odds with our compulsion to alleviate the suffering of others.

I do not mean suffering in an overt or obvious sense, though that certainly qualifies. Life itself is suffering. We wither, we break and we ache. We yearn and long and need. We wrestle with darkness, our restless souls feverishly seeking a place to belong, a home for our quirks and passions. All this warmth is too much not to share. We are time-bombs hoping for a cozy place to nestle before we burst into flames. This endless parade of days, this relentless attack of years on our vessel scars us and cracks us but only wins once. I don’t say this to scare you. I say this to encourage you.

We love so that we may feel less lonely and more permanent. The loneliness imprisons us, the transience eats at us. We love to free and feed ourselves and the world around us. No other truth will do this. Not change. Not the present moment. Certainly not death. Our wandering souls are taking on water, and that water has to go someplace, it begs to be shared and divided among the whole. The suffering is our shared struggle, and it is the singular disease that we all feel to some degree. It is more true than the gods we kneel to or the art we reach out to. It is only through this bloodletting of our suffering, through this love we exchange, that we can ever attempt to overcome ourselves.

People careen in and out, bound only by struggle, each locked inside a cell made of cells, warming ourselves by the cauldron of life before the light flickers out. Tears and sweat and booze are spilled, and we are drawn to this place the way moons orbit a planet, or the way light bends in the water. Nothing is forever. The water evaporates. The solar systems melt into the abyss. Yet, just because love ends doesn’t mean it never happened. All of this warmth, all of this ache, this is the only thing other people can see, hear and feel. By sharing it, holding it, and decanting it onto others, love is the only thing that lasts long after we do. It is the anecdote to the shared struggle, and the only thing that lasts. Love is the truest thing we can do, feel or become — and that’s why we do it. We love because it’s the only thing we make that makes us real.

[cerichandra]

Adulthood

When you operate outside the ego, you will only have one thing for everyone. That is love. I am trying to be as much as I can. Because its difficult to eradicate something that’s part of you. Sometimes things happen and bombards you, make you feel dreadful, feeling stuck and powerless, but once you get to that peaceful egoless place, you’ll realize that its not about changing the situation but accepting it, the yin and yang of everything. You’ll remind yourself that all people where once babies totally accepting and full of jest in life, including your parents, you’ll look at them differently, and that people are doing their best based on their level of understanding of things. Some makes you realize how vital it is to widen what you know. We run our lives based on what we know. Some will try to change you as if something is wrong with you without realizing that its just their view about you that’s messed up. Some address you based on the box. Their are things that in your perception is negative, but in reality, there is more to it. There are just certain things that has to happen for things to happen. Its like things need to undergo a certain process for the evolution of something. Don’t get me wrong, but age is not related to this. There are people who are old but the understanding of things are the same as a 18 year olds(its fine though to have a distorted perception of things thing you are young, you are entitled to it because you’re still learning, but if you’re old, still don’t know the ropes, I feel like life has told them, “hands up, I’m done” and that’s just sad. So its not age equals wisdom. I’m thankful that at my age, I think I kind of get it. Good perception matters. They make you realize your potential as human beings, its like am invincible  weapon to a war people don’t know exists. They wake up chase things you know its unnecessary, there’s nothing out there worth chasing. Know what’s inside and get facts straight of who you are and then you  can go out, you might be empty handed but you know you’ll win. Every information, I always put it in my “possibility box”, then after a few months, you’ll encounter something that fits to the information you got before, and then again and again, stitching things all together that eventually will make them as facts because its everywhere! Then you’re like “ow, that’s why” or ”I get it now” or “yeah because”, and its endless! One fact changes your whole view, changes you. Its like a drop of color in a clear glass water, the water may look the same but the contents is totally different in a microscopic level. No matter how it looks, you knows its not the same and that’s lovely and exceptionally fascinating.