#gaining credence

[damez1979]

Dying Light: The Following - Gaining Credence

[pochapal]

shannon also bringing up the "violent witch" narrative as well in much the same way that the other servants were doing so in the kitchen oh it's not looking good for her at all

[welcometogrouchland]

What if I proposed the analysis that Belos actually has very little internal moral compass and that his veneer of righteousness has always been implied by the writers to be complete fabricated bullshit even before watching and dreaming basically confirms it.

[physalian]

10 More Character Types the World Needs More of

Part 1 was specifically character dynamics, but I’m considering this a sequel anyway.

1. Fiercely independent character’s lesson isn’t to “trust people”

I’m not projecting. You’re projecting. There is a divide wide enough to fit the Grand Canyon between “trusting that someone isn’t lying” and “trusting someone to follow through on a promise”. Most dumpster fire attempts at these characters (almost exclusively women) rely solely on mocking them for the former because “not all men” or something.

Being consistently let down in life makes you hesitant to a) gain friends, b) pursue romantic interests, c) maintain familial relationships, d) get excited about any event that demands participation from someone who isn’t you. None of this is simply a bad attitude—it’s a trauma response. There is no lesson to be learned, and not even exposure therapy can help because it’s a real, legitimate, and common stunt people pull, whether they mean it or not.

So write one of these characters and legitimize their fears, give them someone who proves the exception to the rule, but do not let the lesson be “well they just haven’t found the right person yet”. Even the “right person” can let them down. It's about not becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy by sabotaging a good thing to prove it will inevitably go bad.

2. Conventionally attractive men who aren’t horndogs

I’m going to find every way I can to tell you to write more aces. This is to fight the stigma that attractive people must be attracted to people. Give me gorgeous aces and demi’s, men, women, enbys and everyone in between, who put a crap ton of effort into looking their best, and yet happen to not have a very loud libido. They look good for themselves, and not to impress anyone else.

Give me someone who could have anyone they wanted, gender regardless, and just simply has no interest. Or, they do actually have a significant other, but sex, how hot their partner is, or how horny they are, isn’t their internal monologue. I don’t even care if it’s unrealistic, it’s annoying to read.

And, you know, giving men male characters who aren’t thinking about sex all the time can be good, right? Right?

3. Manly warrior men who also write poetry

A.K.A Aragorn, Son of Arathorn. Just give me more Aragorns, period. This dude is either covered in filth, blood, guts, and the last 30 miles of rugged terrain, or singing in Elvish at his own coronation while pink flower petals fall. A man can be both, and still be straight.

A man can also drink Respect Women juice, you know? He ticks off all the boxes—he’s gentle when he needs to be, not afraid to hide his emotions, kind to those who are vulnerable and afraid and need a strong figure to look up to, resolute in his beliefs, skilled and knowledgeable in his abilities without being arrogant or smug, and the first boots on the battlefield, leading from the front.

4. Characters who are characters when no one is watching

This is less a specific type and more a scene that doesn’t get written enough. This whole point comes from Pixar’s Cars. I. Love. This. Movie. It’s not Pixar’s best, for sure, but this is my comfort movie. The best scene, one that’s so unique, is when Doc (aged living legend) thinks he’s alone when he rolls out onto the dirt race track and comes alive tearing around the oval.

This character’s unbridled, unabashed glee and euphoria at proving to himself that he’s still got it, when he’s completely unaware of his audience, is perfection. Not enough credence is given to characters to just… enjoy being themselves. He’s not doing it to prepare for the climactic race, he’s not doing it for the plot, he’s doing it just to do it, not even to prove Lightning wrong—just for himself.

Give your characters a “Doc Racing” scene. Whatever their skill is. Maybe they’re a dancer, a skater, a swimmer, a painter, sprinter. Just let your character love being alive.

5. Characters whose neurodivergence isn't “cute”

A.K.A. Lilo Pelekai from Lilo and Stitch. Really, her relationship with Nani is peak sibling writing. But Lilo herself is just so realistic with how she interacts with the world, how she interprets her relationships with her so-called friends, how she organizes her thoughts and rationalizes what she can’t quite understand, and how friggen smart she is for an… 11-year-old?

But she’s not “cute”. As in, she wasn’t written by generic Suits who were trying to cash in on the ND crowd by writing what they think will sell, but also making her juuust neurotypical enough to still be palatable by the rest of the audience. Lilo’s earnestness is what endears her to everybody. But also, she doesn’t get a free pass for her behavior, either. Her “friends” aren’t forced to accommodate her and Nani isn’t written as the cold-hearted villain for trying to discipline her.

6. Straight male characters with female friends

Am I double-dipping a bit here? Yes. While I completely understand how tempting it can be, this type of character is in dire need of exposure and representation to prove it’s possible. No weird tense moments, no double-glances when she isn’t looking, no contemplations about cheating on his girlfriend (and no insecure jealous girlfriend either). Just two characters who enjoy each other’s company and are able to coexist in a space and be in each other’s spaces without hormones getting in the way. Peak example? Po and Tigress from Kung Fu Panda.

Let these two rely on each other for emotional strength in times of need, let them share inside jokes, let them have a night alone together at a bar, at home, cooking dinner, getting takeout, talking on the patio in a porch swing… with zero “will they/won’t they.”

7. The likable bigot

I’m actually on the fence with this one but it’s something I also don’t see done often enough and I’m adding it for one reason: Bigots aren’t always obvious mustache-twirling villains and the little things they do might seem inconsequential to them, but are still hurtful. So showing these characters is like plopping a mirror down in front of these people and, I don’t know, maybe something will click. They don’t have to be MAGAs to be dangerous, and only writing the extremes convinces the moderates that they aren’t also the problem.

Example: I have a “friend” who recently said something along the lines of “I have lots of gay friends” followed up shortly by “I don’t think this country should keep gay marriage because it’s a slippery slope to legalizing pedophilia.” You know. The quiet part being that she *actually* thinks being gay is as morally abhorrent as being a pedo. But she totally has lots of gay friends. Including one who was driving her during that conversation. (It’s me. Hi. I’m apparently the problem, it’s me.)

She’s absolutely homophobic, but the second she stops announcing it, she’s a very bubbly person. She’s a ~likable~ bigot and thus thinks she can distance herself from the more violent ones.

8. The motherly single father

I say “motherly” merely as shorthand for the vibe I’m going for here. “Motherly” as in dads who aren’t scandalized by the growing pains of their daughters, and who don’t just parent their sons by saying “man up boys don’t cry”. Dads who play Barbie with their kids of either gender. Dads who go to the PTA meetings with all the other Karens and know as much if not more than they do about the school and their kids’ education.

Dads who comfort their crying kids, especially their sons. Dads that take interest in “feminine” activities like learning how to braid their daughter’s hair, learning different makeup brands, going on nail salon trips together. Dads who do not pull out the rifle on their daughter’s new boyfriend and treat her like property. Dads who have guy friends that don’t mock him and call him gay. Dad who does all this stuff anyway and is *actually* gay, too, but the emphasis is on overly sensitive straight men’s masculinity here.

Wholesome dads: a shocking amount of single-parents to female anime protagonists.

9. The parent isn’t dead, they’re just gone

Treasure Planet is an awesome movie in its own right, but what’s even better? This is a Disney movie where the parent isn’t dead, he’s just a deadbeat who abandoned his son and isn’t at all relevant to the plot beyond the hole he left behind for Jim to fill. The only deadbeat dads Disney allows are villains and those guys are very vigorously chasing an aspiration, that aspiration just doesn’t include quality fatherhood. Or motherhood. Disney has yet to write a deadbeat mom, I’m almost certain.

I just wrote a post about the necessity of the “dead parent” cliche, but what is perhaps more relatable because it’s more common, and what earns even more sympathy and underdog points for the protagonist? The hero with the parent who left. Then there’s a whole extra layer of angst and trauma available when your hero can now plague themselves with the question of if the parent leaving is their fault. Death is usually an accident. Choosing to abandon your kid is on purpose.

10. Victim who isn’t victim-blamed or told by their friends (and the narrative) to forgive their abuser

Izuku Midoriya lost so much support from me the moment he told his friend, bearing the consequences of domestic violence across half his face, that Midoriya thinks he’ll be ready soon to forgive his abomination of a father. I am firmly in the “Endeavor is a despicable human and hero” camp and no I’m not taking criticism. I audibly gasped when I heard this line and realized Deku was serious. Todoroki needs friends like the Gaang to remind him that he's allowed to hate the man who's actions caused the burn scar across his f*cking face.

I understand that the mangaka apparently didn’t anticipate the vitriolic backlash toward Endeavor during his debut and reveal of his parenting tactics but the tone-deafness of telling a fifteen year old with crippling emotional management issues and a horrible home life that his abusive dad in any way deserves and is entitled to forgiveness on the grounds of being related is disgusting.

Take it back further to a more famous Tumblr dad: John Winchester. Another despicable human who got retroactively forgiven by his sons after his death in a “he wasn’t so bad, he really did try” campaign. It’s one thing if the character believes it, it’s a whole different matter if the narrative is also pushing this message.

Katara is a perfect example: She lets go of her grudge for her own peace of mind and stops blaming Zuko for something he had no hand in, stops blaming him simply because he’s a firebender and he’s around to be her punching bag. She doesn’t forgive the man who killed her mother, because that man doesn’t deserve her forgiveness. Katara heals in spite of him, not because of him, and had she let him off the hook, she would have gotten an apology for getting caught, not for what he did (which is exactly what happened).

[just-dol-headshots]

kylar the faithful looks like he's going to lock me in a basement and forcibly initiate me into their cult (in a way that involves a lot of boning)

Kylar the Faithful isn’t the cult temple’s leader ;))) but he is more than happy for you to join so you two can spend more time together <3

I am replacing the “Purity / Corruption” stat with “Credence / Obsession” for Kylar the Faithful: his credence (or his acceptance in The Ivory’s preachings) may have gains or losses depending on your interactions within the temple community—to strengthen those beliefs or to rebel against them. Chipping away at his Credence stat, he will become obsessed with you, gradually deeming you as a new savior as his Obsession rises higher.

Still a work in progress but I think it’s a fun concept to bind the Faithful LI role and OG Kylar’s infatuation.

[kcwriter-blog]

Solas and the Orb

I was playing through Trespasser again and something Solas said finally percolated through my brain. I had never thought about it before but found it interesting.

Solas tells the Inquisitor that if he had retrieved the Orb, he "would have "entered the Fade using the Mark you now bear. Then I would have torn down the Veil."

In other words, he would have torn the Veil down from the Fade side, not the waking world side.

Dagna says the Anchor reminds her of a key. We know the Inquisitor can open rifts as well as close them. They open rifts in the prologue and in the Fallow Mire. We also know they can open a rift to physically enter the Fade.

We know the Orb gave Corypheus a lot of power but he couldn't use it to enter the Fade. That is why he looked for magic objects. Which means Solas couldn't use the Orb to enter the Fade. The Anchor is necessary.

So what seems to be going on here? I'm putting the rest of this under the cut due to length and possible spoilers for Veilguard.

I would argue that the Orb creating the Breach was the result of Cory doing a similar ritual to the one he and the other Magisters Sidereal did to enter the Fade the first time.

Solas' agents may have let the Venatori find the Orb but I doubt it came with an instruction manual. We know from Dorian that there are pictures of similar orbs in Tevinter. So maybe Cory thought he knew what he was doing.

Solas' plan was for Cory to unlock the Orb and be destroyed. It would have worked if Cory hadn't had the Archdemon ability to jump into tainted bodies - which he had access to since there were plenty of Grey Wardens around.

As an aside, there was no way Solas or his agents could have known Cory could do this because only the highest level Wardens knew Cory even existed. It's never made clear if they knew he could body hop. We also know that rifts occasionally open on their own or can be opened with magic - Telana's rift in Jaws of Hakkon and the rift in the Still Ruins. Both pre-date the Breach and obviously an Orb wasn't needed to do that. So Solas could have opened a rift, using the Mark, without creating a Breach.

So what are the implications? The first is that Solas didn't realize the ritual Cory was going to perform (if he even knew the details) would blow a hole in the sky. He may have thought he would gain the Mark and absorb the power of the Orb. The Breach may have been a side effect of Cory's ritual. Solas understands how the Orb works so his idea was to take the magic, go into the Fade and do whatever he had to do. In other words, Solas would not have created a Breach, although he realized what had happened as soon as he saw it.

Tearing down the Veil would have had consequences for both sides but we don't know how it would have worked if the Veil was torn down in the Fade. We don't even know why Solas felt he had to do it from the Fade side.

In Veilguard we see Solas opening the Veil from the waking world side. There is a hole in the sky and rifts but it seems to be more contained. I suspect that without the Mark, Solas had to do what Cory was doing - gather magic objects to open the door. The only way to open the door from the waking world side would be to open a hole with the accompanying rifts.

When Solas gets pulled into the Fade, The hole vanishes. Which indicates Solas had more control over things than we give him credit for. No Breach and no reason for Rook to close rifts like the Inquisitor. Which adds credence to my theory that Cory's ritual plus the power of the Orb created the Breach.

Okay, so now what? Well Solas may be in prison but he is also where he needs to be to tear down the Veil like he planned. Which is going to make things very interesting if we manage to spring him from jail.

[morbidology]

The haunting question "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?" has perplexed and fascinated the public since 1943, when the skeletal remains of an unidentified woman were discovered inside a hollow tree in Hagley Wood, Worcestershire, England.

On April 18, 1943, four young boys—Bob Farmer, Fred Payne, Thomas Willetts, and Bob Hart—were exploring Hagley Wood, part of the Hagley Hall estate owned by Lord Cobham. In the course of their exploration, the boys came across a large wych elm tree. Curiosity led one of them to peer inside the hollow trunk, where he discovered what appeared to be a human skull, complete with some strands of hair and teeth.

Frightened by their grisly find, the boys initially kept the discovery to themselves, fearing they would get into trouble for trespassing. However, the secret proved too heavy to bear, and one of the boys eventually confided in his parents, who contacted the police.

When authorities arrived at the scene, they retrieved the nearly complete skeleton of a woman, along with fragments of clothing, a shoe, and a gold wedding ring. The woman’s right hand was missing, later found buried nearby. The skeletal remains were sent to Professor James Webster, a forensic pathologist, who estimated that the woman had been dead for about 18 months, placing her death around October 1941.

Professor Webster's examination revealed that the woman was around 35 years old, 5 feet tall, with irregular teeth, including a distinctive dental feature—a missing front tooth. He suggested that she had been dead for approximately 18 months before her discovery and that she had likely been placed in the tree shortly after her death, as the small hollow would have made it difficult to fit her body after rigor mortis had set in.

The cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation, possibly due to being suffocated or strangled, although the exact circumstances remained unclear. Despite extensive investigations, the police were unable to identify the woman. Missing person reports were checked, dental records were examined, but no match was found.

The case took an strange turn in late 1943, when graffiti began appearing in the West Midlands area. The first message, written in chalk on a wall in Upper Dean Street, Birmingham, read: "Who put Luebella down the wych-elm?" Subsequent messages shortened and refined the name to "Bella," and variations of the phrase "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?" began appearing on walls and buildings across the region.

The identity of the graffiti artist remains unknown, but the messages suggested that someone knew more about the woman’s identity or her fate than they had revealed.

Over the years, numerous theories have emerged regarding the identity of "Bella" and the circumstances of her death. Some of the most prominent theories include:

Witchcraft: One theory suggests that Bella may have been killed as part of a black magic ritual. The removal of her hand, a practice known as the "Hand of Glory" in folklore, lent some credence to this idea. The Hand of Glory was believed to possess magical powers, often associated with witchcraft and sorcery. However, there is little concrete evidence to support this theory.

Espionage: Another theory posits that Bella was a spy during World War II. This idea gained traction in the 1950s, when Margaret Murray, an anthropologist and archaeologist, suggested that Bella could have been involved in espionage, possibly as a Nazi spy. Some speculated that she might have been a German cabaret singer and spy named Clara Bauerle, who had parachuted into the area during the war and was killed after her cover was blown. However, no concrete evidence has been found to confirm this theory, and Clara Bauerle's records suggest she died in Berlin in 1942.

Romani Connections: Some researchers have suggested that Bella might have been part of a Romani group or a traveler community. This theory is based on the fact that many Romani people lived in the area during the 1940s, and some witnesses reported seeing gypsies in Hagley Wood around the time of Bella's presumed death. However, like the other theories, this remains speculative.

Local Knowledge: There are suggestions that the graffiti artist had local knowledge and possibly knew more about the case than the police were able to uncover. The use of the name "Bella" might indicate that someone in the community recognized her, but chose to remain anonymous.

Despite extensive investigations, the true identity of Bella and the circumstances surrounding her death remain unknown. The case was reopened several times, and modern forensic techniques have been suggested to re-examine the remains and the evidence, but so far, these efforts have not provided definitive answers.

[narutouzumakiarchive]

Hello! I hope this doesn't reach you at a bad time.

Looking at your blog I've thought that you may have some information that I've been looking for unsuccesfully, or may know someone else who does.

So. You know this quote from a SJ interview with Kishimoto?

Shonen Jump: Naruto and Sasuke kiss (accidentally) in the first chapter where they appear together. Does this add a special dimension to their rivalry? Masashi Kishimoto: I didn't have any particular reason for it, other then to surprise readers. I mainly did it because I don't think there has ever been a manga where two rivals kissed. Also, by having this encounter, it was easier to set up the love triangle: Sakura, who had intended to be the first one to kiss Sasuke, has it stolen by her rival Naruto, Sasuke and Naruto are rivals, so there's and added tension there. And so on and so forth.

I've been trying to find the source to verify it's not a convincing fake, but I've spent a couple hours searching and nothing fully reliable turned up. I did find the full interview, which lends credence to it being legit, since most fake quotes are isolated and/or from unlikely contexts, but all the blogs or forum posts where I found it on call it just "an Interview with Shonen Jump", no date, magazine issue, voluem, event, anything. Some linked a source, but the links are dead and not archived in the Wayback Machine so I can't check them. The earliest posting of the interview that I could find is from March 2006.

I'd appreaciate it if you could tell me when/where it was published, or if there's a Japanese version of the interview. This quote is so interesting due to the implications of the kiss being used to set up the love triangle and Naruto being "[Sakura's] rival" (for Sasuke's attention, I imagine Kishimoto meant?) and I'd hate it for it to be fake after all.

Thanks in advance!

First of all, thank you for the ask and sorry for the late response. I've been making my way through my asks, slowly but surely, and I only got to this message a few days ago.

This one was definitely a nice (challenge). You are very right about the lack of very reliable sources. But, the saving grace was that, like you said, it was a part of a larger interview. The reason why it was so hard to find anything convincing when only searching for the kiss quote was because it was incredibly shippy, and there was so much fanfare surrounding it. So, I decided to search for information about one of the other moments attributed to the interview and that I figured it would have gone under the radar in fan spaces.

I key searched "alpha male" "monkey" "Kishimoto" "interview" (it felt so ridiculous typing this out lol) and it allowed me to find a credible a blog post from 2004, written long before Naruto started gaining online popularity in the west around 2006/2007. More importantly, it included a credibly cited source.

[Original blog post] [Archived blog post]

So, I searched "Ninja Master Kishimoto" and three links popped up, one of which was a Japanese website that actually posted pictures from the original source in question, including the magazine cover and a snippet of some of the questions/answers that were connected with the kiss answer — but not the kiss answer itself.

[Original post] [Archived post]

That said, from here I realized that the chances of the kiss answer being real were high and all that was left for me to do was buy the magazine and check. And I can officially confirm the interview's veracity! The quote about the kiss was real.

And you're definitely correct about the interesting implications it sets up.

When Naruto talks about how he finds Sasuke handsome, Sakura shows her fake smile. Even other SS have notice it though they've tried to rationalize it away. @badgalsasuke has written about that situation here. And during Sakura's last confession, she references what Naruto said during the 5 Kage Summit when he said he'd bear the burden of Sasuke's hatred and they'd die. The word she uses (sashichigaeru) carries the meaning of "dying at eachother's hand" —which is a nuance English translations failed to capture — and right after she makes this lamentation there's a close-up of Naruto's face. So there is a very real sense of a subtle tension between Naruto and Sakura in that regard.

[Aside: Not to get up on a soap box, but it's ridiculous that was of the most heavily referenced interviews in the Naruto fandom only had 3 links with an available source, one of them being a Japanese website who luckily decided to randomly review the English magazine (the interview was only available in English. You hear so much about how things on the internet remain there forever, but that's far from the truth. Many important websites, forums, essays, art pieces, etc. have unfortunately been lost to time. If y'all can, please make use of the internet archive. It's crucial, especially during a time when misinformation is at an all-time high.]

[nekropsii]

the fandom wiki experience is just.

oh wow! wiki page for a character i like! -4 hp -4 hp -5 hp -20 hp -7 hp

Truly.

This is a totally godless entry. This is all they say about Cronus and Mituna's relationship. The way they try to lend credence to Cronus saying him and Mituna were allegedly friends "before the accident" by tacking a citation on there... When not only was it clear that Cronus was manipulating him, but also Cronus is extremely prone to lying, especially for his own benefit, and the Great Act of Heroism was NOT a fucking accident. It was a choice that Mituna made. This was not an accident- Mituna's disability did not randomly happen to him, it's not a tragedy that he did get disabled. It is canonical that his brain damage was a result of him making a sacrifice for people he thought were his friends, only for them to abandon him the second he stopped being what they wanted. THAT is the tragedy of Mituna's character in text- not that he is disabled, but that his disability, gained through heroic means, lead to him getting abandoned and reviled by the same people he made that sacrifice for in the first place. The way they try to downplay the abuse Mituna faces at Cronus's hands as just harassment. The way they downplay that further with a cute little "Citation Needed".

This was the citation, by the way. Mituna's getting sexually assaulted here. Is this just harassment? Does this sound like words you want to take as a credible source? Cronus? In the middle of assaulting a guy? Cronus? Fucking Cronus? We're taking Cronus's word on this? While he's in the middle of assaulting him? We're believing this guy? Cronus? We're believing Cronus? Cronus motherfucking Ampora? Fucking hell.

Absolute work of the devil. -1,500 HP. Cronus himself wrote this shit. Who wants to bet that Cronus transcended the lines of fiction and physically manifested to write Mituna's wiki article in a way that specifically downplays his actions. Why are we taking Cronus's word but putting a Citation Needed on Mituna getting abused harassed? Demonic!!!

There's so, so many words that can be used to describe Cronus and Mituna's relationship, and this one simple sentence uses all of the wrong ones in the complete wrong order. I hate it here. I hate the fact that they opened with Cronus's words and not Mituna's feelings. This sucks. This happens so damn often with fandom wikis- the way they downplay abuse is fucking insane. Augh.

[neptunes-sol-angel]

Title says it all! Pick the picture(s) that you're drawn to the most, then scroll down for their corresponding message.

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Pile One

What Needs Protection?

You need to be more private about the things that you're trying to manifest and any spell-work that you do. If you're in tune with your psychic abilities, then I'm getting that any plans in store for you that your spiritual team sends you messages about, KEEP THEM TO YOURSELF. It seems like anything related to the occult that you practice, needs to be discreet when it comes to family members, friends, and what you post on the internet. Knowledge is meant to be shared, but some things reside in the occult for a reason, your gifts, relationship with spirituality and the divine, is not for everyone's eyes to see or for any and everyone that you believe to be trustworthy. Even though no one can mess up what's for you in the end, protection is still needed to prevent any unnecessary drama from others trying to bring obstacles your way.

What Needs Exposure?

I feel like a lot of you are actually new in your spiritual journey and are receiving intuitive downloads or seeing more signs that remind you of someone that's no longer living, but very close with when they were still alive. Whether you are new or a little bit more seasoned in this journey there's this message to move inward in this path, some of you could still be on the superficial side of spiritualism which could be insulting to some of your guides because it's giving off the impression that you're in it for the aesthetic when there's an actual calling for you to partake in. There's a need to be more trustful with with your guides (god(s), ancestors, angels, etc) and to communicate with them more, as well leaving offerings for them. It's very important to build a connection with them instead of just leaping in with them to ask them for guidance and assistance for rituals.

Pile Two

What Needs Protection?

You need to be more protective over your time and energy! You know that quote "givers need to learn boundaries, because takers don't have any"? That's exactly the message that I'm picking up for this pile. There are attributes that you have that remind me of the sun, you're resourceful, regenerative, you create your own energy and produce your own light effortlessly that makes others gravitate towards you, but you must be careful with burning yourself out sooner with the way you're not limiting yourself on how much you give. People could rely on you for direction, money, emotional support, or even insight that they plan to take all the credit for. I'm sensing mainly that if you guys are creatives, keep your ideas to yourself, do not tell what you plan to create unless it is finished. Another is that some of you need to have more credence, you give away your visions and ideas because you don't believe you're capable of executing them yourself and you need to stop shortchanging yourself like that. I notice you guys keep saying "no" to yourself a lot on the things that could benefit you, try working on exerting that no onto the people that you should set boundaries with, especially if there's someone that you've been having a bad feeling about for awhile.

What Needs Exposure?

People in this pile have a story that needs to be shared. Whether it's autobiographical or fictional, there's something very personal that you've worked hard on in your life that needs to be public. Maybe you've triumphed over situations that would have broken other people, and the experience and wisdom that you've gained from this could inspire others who are going through situations that they feel that they won't make it out of. You may downplay what you've persevered because you it's something that you've adapted to, but what you may view as easy, can show people that when they encounter a big mountain, they don't need to be intimidated by the thought of how they're going to get over it, they just need to go around it.

Pile Three

What Needs Protection?

You're sitting on some tea that needs to be kept to yourself. Someone or a group of people could be trying to involve you in some mess, but you need to know that that drama has nothing to do with and that you need to stay out of it. Don't give in to the peer pressure of joining cliques, because that bond together out of gossiping about others, will not have long until they're turning on each other and you. If there isn't any drama that's going on, then there's a message for people in the pile who are going through a phase of wanting to impress others or do things for a person or a group who are either high in status or something else that you'd like you to be a part of. Your self esteem and individuality needs protection, do not place everybody on a pedestal or put so much of your faith into regular people. You may see yourself as the diamond in the rough thinking that you need someone or something to give yourself meaning, but that's the quickest way to fall into manipulation and a spiral of confusion about who you are.

What Needs Exposure?

Your ability to stand on your own needs more exposure. Maybe you have a parent or someone in your work/school environment that's underestimating you by believing that you're codependent and incapable of having a mind of your own with a backbone to follow it, but you gotta show these people better than you can tell them, that you're not someone to push around or someone to discredit when it comes to your accolades and the things that you've worked hard for. Maybe some of you are hesitant to make a certain move that involves parting ways with someone who's toxic towards you, but you have to acknowledge that you've lived a life before them and that you are safe and strong enough to create a life without them. And once you do, I feel like there's this boost of prosperity, positive attention, or a period of luck that you may experience as a confirmation that these people are not the reason for your success, you're blessed because you are, not because they were in your life, especially if they were creating blockages in your money and opportunities.

[justenjoythegossip]

THE ONE WHERE HE SAID HER NAME

For people who aren’t aware, Chris was just interviewed on Access Hollywood where he is promoting his dog food brand and talking about his wife’s connection and relationship with “their” beloved dog. Go Portugal! 

First remark, she will no longer be known as Voldemort as it’s the first time since the start of this shitshow that he has ever said her name. Good for her and shame on him. 

Second remark, his background has been blurred for more… privacy (sarcastic coughs).

Apart from those 2 new elements, it’s pretty much the same old stuff. Let’s dig. 

THE TIMING OF THE INTERVIEW

This interview takes place at a time where Chris is gaining a lot of momentum. He just made a very talked about cameo in a huge Marvel hit. As a positive sign, he is gaining followers again, which at least looks organic whether they are real or bots or a combination of both. He is working hard, doing stunts with ASP, in order to look deserving of the Spirit of Service award he is going to receive on September 11th which, by the way, coincides with the one-year anniversary of his wedding. 

This interview is about promoting his dog food brand and their partnership with a giant retail store. Because obviously why not ride this wave of publicity, make more bucks and get more attention? Especially after that planned story on his Insta about his Deadpool cameo and the variety article that suspiciously followed so quickly after it. 

Not coincidentally, this date was supposed to be the one when a BUA was to be announced, as Team PR blogs were insisting. (By the way, that fact alone should enrage Chris’ fans as his team clearly looks in cahoots with them, as many suspected.) 

TEAM PR AND THEIR LASTEST DECEPTION

Team PR blogs have been claiming the contract expired on July 26th, that the BUA was imminent and was to happen before the end of July.

They were clearly lying like they have been lying since the start of this shitshow. Particularly about the ending which was supposed to happen after the Ghosted premiere, after the Peter Holmes interview, after he came back to Insta, after theForbes article, after the papwalk in December… …during the shooting of the Materialists… 

The fact people actually gave credence to their most recent claims is not a testament to their “cunning” manipulation techniques or people’s gullibility but to how much this fandom wants this shitshow to be over. 

As you noticed, one key and vicious member of Team PR was explaining yesterday that Chris’ wearing the ring meant nothing and “was insignificant”. How hypocritical, isn’t it?  When Team PR, Team Real & Team Middle have all been talking & trolling about the precious for months. 

Notice how those Team PR blogs are now deflecting once more with silly diversions such as dog behavior or how allegedly his family will suffer for it (oh please), or play the victim card as they are allegedly receiving threats and hate messages. All of this is meant to distract from the fact that they lied once more. And they did it for several reasons, the most important being... 

ANOTHER CLASSIC BAIT & SWITCH FOR ADDED SHOCK VALUE

We have seen this movie before and repeatedly, haven’t we? The pattern is so similar to what we have witnessed in February with the ski trip. 

And even recently, with all the time she was seen spending in her home country without him (the concert, the birthday), her furnishing an apartment in Portugal, his wearing and hiding the ring every chance he got, and more importantly the stunt at the walk of fame of Kevin Feige where she was seen to be a no show so ostentatiously… Look at how staged that was, and you will realize what the purpose for it was. 

So, what they did was to try to breadcrumb a separation once again, to build up the fans’ anticipation before pulling the rug out from under them in order to add shock value. 

Well done! But FYI the aftereffect might prove very counterproductive for Chris, as his complicity looks more and more obvious and his playing the victim card looks more and more infuriating. 

CHRIS’ COMPLICITY

Chris claimed in his SMA interview how much he hates any forms of manipulation. He should have added that he was fine with it as long as he was the one doing the manipulating.  Indeed, his complicity is absolutely undeniable. 

I have written a post about this topic, if you want to check it out. 

Let’s add to this his recent shenanigans and more precisely what he did with the precious ring. I won’t go too far back and will just use 2 recent examples. 

Do people remember the Jinx commercial where he uses his pinkie to “hide” the ring as he gives food to Dodger? What he is actually doing here is to draw more attention to the ring and promote his relationship with Alba, he also looks ashamed to gain sympathy from his fans and manages to feed the discourse (real or not?) in the process. 

Isn’t it exactly what he did again for that walk of fame ceremony where he allegedly arrived without the ring (like he would forget to wear it) and then get photographed with it from every angle while his wife was a no-show?

Now let’s move on to the most interesting aspects of it all: the brand deal.

THE BRAND DEALS CONNECTED TO THIS SHITWHOW

First observation. You can see the similarity to the interview he did on The View sponsored by Jinx when he came back to Insta just in time for the Black Friday. 

I am not privy to any private information and haven’t seen the contracts but it’s safe to assume that certain businesses of his are directly connected to this shitshow for the simple reason that they have been getting an incommensurable amount of “free” publicity from many prestigious publications & media outlets. 

And by the way, it started before Alba even entered the scene. We can safely deduce Chris had already cashed in on those checks (“free” publicity) and this shitshow was also used as a payment for it. 

Because clearly, dog food and a civil engagement platform are not the “sexiest” businesses. And, the amount of media coverage those companies have been getting seems totally disproportionate compared to Chris’ status and the marketability of those businesses.

Compare this to the media coverage his fellow Avengers have been getting, like Jeremy Renner’s cigar and alcohol businesses, or Scarlett’s The Outset. 

Obviously, Chris gets to promote his businesses Jinx or ASP when he talks or breadcrumbs his relationship to Alba because this is far more selling and salacious for the media and the public. 

Sidenote, now observe the media coverage his commercial for a much “sexier” brand like Audi got, a commercial where he did not have to wear the ring by the way. 

So if you guys are enraged by this shitshow and how it is conducted, not looking at this train wreck won’t change a thing or the timeline but what might have an impact is to boycott the protagonists and the brands that are playing and manipulating you. 

THE ENDING OF THE SHITSHOW

Clearly this shitshow is long-term and won’t be ending anytime soon. And the reason for that is simple. The optics of this relationship aren’t great as he looks like her old uncle and the power imbalance is all over the place. He HAS to stay married to her for a while to give value to this relationship. 

Because clearly, he looks like another Hollywood cliché going through a midlife crisis. The only thing that could salvage a part of his public persona is to make this marriage last so that he doesn’t look like a “one-dollar Leo but without the talent”. 

In fact, it will likely last for much longer and might even escalate (DM is breadcrumbing baby rumors) because one thing appears crystal clear at this point: this marriage seems to be much more than a rebrand and a publicity stunt.

WHAT MIGHT BE COMING NEXT?

There is a rumor that Chris might be selling his LA home after he just sold his Concord house. Not so long ago it was the one in Vermont.

Like some Team PR blogs rightfully said, it was purposefully leaked to the fandom after the house had already been sold. It was a great and very smart PR move. Suddenly, Chris seemed like he was at a crossroads, like it was a new start where anything is possible. 

But as you guys noticed, the background was purposefully blurry for this interview, which gives the illusion he is private when he is really not, also puts emphasis on the crazy fan narrative (Chris has to hide to protect his family from his crazy fans) and more importantly helps to present any fabricated life he wants to the general public. It is a white canvas so to speak. 

[forgotteneilionora]

OOC | Swords of Stafford

ok so our beloved kate just postedd the following

and it made me picture eilia, [ princess leia style, being like 'idk what ur talking abt' ] right to roderick's face when he demands the location of the stafford swords -- even tho they blatantly just had (two of) them during the war ladksjflkjsdfjkdsf -- while she still thinks that both her sisters and one of the swords have slipped away from between roderick's fingers alskjdflkjsdfjk

no, but it ~also reminded me that we never quite finished up talking abt the swords in question (my fault entirely!) but the rest of that's [ here ] and before that [ here ] and we've def talked abt it elsehwere in drips and drabs, such as establishing that they were meteor sowrds etc

anyway, since we also got talking general family stuff there <3 i thought id make a new stafford sword post so we can get down to business w the swords themselves <3

ok so here's what you/kate said last re: the sword of kings:

SWORDS I love the idea that the missing sword isn't really a stafford sword but a founder sword... any house could lay claim to it! (ooo what if each house has their own name for the sword so no one really knows what it was originally called!?) could we retcon the story slightly and perhaps add something in about the sword being claimed by someone who is there to save Astaira in its time of need? or reunite the kingdom? i dunno something along those lines i feel like would help play into the idea of rian/his dad that THEY should find this sword to rule astaira! and if/when roderick hears about it hes like... well i obviously need that to prove to all these HEATHENS that I am the one who is here to save their backwards country! And then there can still be the two stafford swords w/ siobhan running around w/ one which would still be a THING since its a symbol that could unify people and obvi that's bad for our favorite power hungry emperor! ;)

ok so obsessed w this line of thought!!!!

side note: this really ~does actually lend some credence to roderick's hope to gain legitimacy in astairan eyes by claiming the sword, doesn't it? bc...that's what the sword is for basically lakjsdfkljsdf still feel like the sword would betray him in some way or become a corrupt mirror to its usual self or smth in the hands of the wrong person but yeah!! this is just kinda happenstance for him ofc bc he always has this philosophy more bc he sees these ars trophies/symbols of power (plus he's a lil supersticious lbr) etc but this time he lowkey lucked out bc it really ~does lowkey confer some power alsdkjflkjdsf ofc it might kill him or drive him mad or smth who knows but anyway here we are a;ksdfjlksjdf (meanwhile the astairans still laughing at him bc he's going around w morningstar strapped to his side, still thinking its evenstar alksjdflkjsdf heehee)

i do still think the og wielder was def a stafford and it was forged from a falling star via ayla etc like we said but!! we've talked before abt how perhaps malconaire, lorcan, and stafford (and perhaps one or two others) were originally ancient kings in their own right and ultimately united to take down the gods as one etc so i can def see where the first king of a united astairan realm could easily have been a stafford and yeah!!

but yes!!!!!1 anyone being able to claim it feels soooooooo on point re: astairan values etc!!! and i def like to think that's still a thing!!! and yesssss! i love the idea that its for whoever is like willing to put astaira ahead of themselves or whatever, and not just abt bloodline!! and, like, what if its og wielder died thrusting the sword into the lock against the gods basically yknow that ultimate act of putting others before self etc kinda thing?

ok ok so this is WILD!!!!!!! what im abt to suggest laksjdflkjsdfj so no worries if you're like nahh lets not alksdjflkjsdf but like...ok so if a prev king stafford ~did die w the sword like...what if the sword isn't ~just a symbolic sword, what if its legit magical in some way (id guess a conjecting to air/night/sky or some kind and/or maybe souls? which're sometimes compared to aether anyway sdlakjfklsdjf) like...its got powers but its lowkey fueled by the spirit of its wielder/past wielders so like...its light and bright in the hands of a good soul, but turns dark and cold in those of one of ill intent, or whatever, and kinda drinks part of the soul, so you can randomly get some vibes from its prev wielders or whatever???? idk!! lakjsdfkjlsdf ANYWAY!! also @thelongforgottenrealm is this kinda concept even a thing in this world? hahaha

(not that anyone of ill intent truly could dislodge it from its current spot, but if someone of good intent did dislodge it, and it ~later fell into bad hands or whatever idk)

ok so we also left in our og thing some questions re: the name! our two biggest contenders were constellation and celestial. what do we think?

def feel like i came into this w some other thoughts on this topic but uhhhh idr them now so we'll just go w this! a nyway id love to hear all ur thoughts and ideas!!!!!!! <33333

[pxrfqct]

Do you enjoy reading? If so what kind of books? I love fantasy/sci fi. Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson are two great authors!

ah fuck, someone finally asked. i'll try to keep my yap short-ish.

i loove reading. my fav genres are mystery/crime/horror, and i've discovered within the past year and a half i really enjoy RPG lit but only by a specific author, Matt Dinniman lol. i was binging the classic James Patterson for a while with his standalones and his Alex Cross series before i came about the rpglit series i'm reading now, Dungeon Crawler Carl. usually dungeon crawl books are pretty much the same with a crawl and an audience, but this series actually gets into rebelling / trying to shake things up and has very interesting plots and characters every level. big yap under cut.

hiigghhly recommend it. the main characters have in-depth backstories that unfold throughout and shit keeps hitting the fan. also there's a talking cat that gains sapience. is that not enough to convince you? (get me on the marketing team) anyways. Matt Dinniman is an amazing writer, every friend i've hooked onto the series regardless of their love for DND has thoroughly enjoyed it.

likewise with James Patterson, as he's also an amazing writer.

i've heard of both of those authors, but i haven't read any of their books. i'm not one for sci-fi or fantasy, besides the series i'm reading, but they look good! i'll have to add them to my list to check out (however long that list may be 😶)

the covers of Brandon Sanderson's books give the old Alex Cross covers vibe for sure. i love it. thank you for some potential reads! always appreciated <3

ugh onto what everyone's probably waiting for: smut. i'm not much of a smut girly tbh in terms of actual books (though let's be honest, the ones i'd like probably wouldn't be allowed on the market) BUT i do have a friend with some recommendations i plan on giving a chance eventually.

yeah yeah i read Haunting Adeline, but it wasn't all that good. sure there were scenes that aren't in your typical smut book, but they were overhyped af by (no offense) bored vanilla housewives. rvpe and cnc? come on .-. and i hate nothing more than the cliche plot of an untouchable, overly intelligent and skilled, super hot guy, stalking a super hot girl that lives in the middle of nowhere. SORRY, just ain't it for me, be unique fr, it's 2024.

i did really enjoy H. D. Carlton's skill in writing though, and that's what kept me there until the end. she went into the mindset of how the victim felt while being violated in different ways, and all of the confusion while falling for her stalker, which is hard to do but pulled it off amazingly. it wasn't a "i need to finish this" book, i was so close to just putting it down, but the talent was nice and i had nothing better to do in my free time. i was waiting for book 7 of Dungeon Crawler Carl, so here we are lol.

i'll list a few recommendations my friend gave me (who's also into some fucked up shit, and i haven't really looked looked into the descriptions, so don't come after me if they're absolutely vile)

Credence by Penelope Douglas

Den of Vipers by K. A. Knight (lowkey super interested)

Verity by Colleen Hoover

^^ if you've read these feel free to put me on or off of them lol

anyways. there's my yap of the day. or first one at least. enjoy!

[pseudowho]

At the risk of giving any ounce of credence to that unwelcome asker, you once reblogged one of my works, which went on to become my most popular piece as a result of that increased boost in visibility for my small, relatively new account. Even so, it was the incredibly kind comment/review you left that made a lasting impact on me. So that asker was: A) Clearly loud and wrong B) Some things are much more valuable than the number of "likes" on Tumblr. Perhaps this is something they could reflect on if they'd spend less time pocket-watching other people's supposed engagement numbers on a social media site. Keep doing you, I enjoy reading both your work and the banter between you and Mr. Haitch!

One thing I've always sworn to do, is to maintain honesty and sincerity regarding my personal reblog culture. I ensure I only reblog the things that I adore, that I think are really amazing quality, or that explore something/use language in such a way/characterise very well/make me laugh, etc. in a way that makes it feel outstanding to me.

As such, all of my reblogs are heartfelt, and while I may reblog some writers more than once, it's because they've done these things more than once. I love to save for myself, and to share amazing work.

I'm aware that having a large following and sharing someone's work can make a massive difference to the amount of interaction they see...but it only opens the audience for their work a little bit.

It's not the barrier being opened. I'm not gatekeeping anything by being a "Big Blog™️'. It's not the big thing that determines whether someone gets more likes or followers. I had basically no followers when I started, and wrote and wrote and wrote to gain it.

What I see more and more is a shift towards cliquey and insincere reblogging. People repeatedly hyping work not for the quality, but because it's their friend and the 'positive reblog culture' has actually been transformed into a 'toxic reblog culture'.

This also flips the other way-- when someone or a group of people decide they don't like you, they stop reblogging or engaging with your work at all, even when they apparently loved it once before.

Isn't that sad? That tells you they're not really here for the art at all.

I'm here for the art; I'll reblog a great piece even if I don't personally like the person who created it. I'm not talking about giving genuinely horrible people a platform; just those whose personalities don't get along with mine. I'll still reblog their work if I love it, even if I know they hate me. Because I'm a big fucking girl.

I think half the reason my reblogging is so effective, as it was for you, is because I hand-on-heart love every piece I reblog.

How many times have you seen someone reblog their friend over and over and over, hyping their work beyond reasonability, and as such it feels insincere and forced?

Why has artwork and literature become one big Boys' Club, when we should be trying to push our world away from these bizarre "Us Vs Them" practices?

I don't sit and watch my notes. I keep receiving bitter assertions that the "only reason I have X notes is because I have X followers"...as if the notes mean everything, as if my writing hasn't drawn people to engage with my work, as if I came by my followers by luck instead of anything else?

I could wax lyrical all night.

Tl;dr-- toxic cliquey reblog culture is a scourge. You can rely on my reblogs to be utterly sincere and not driven by loyalty disguised as 'positive reblog culture', but based on my genuine love for what I reblog.

I'm so glad that any reblogs I've given you have increased the notice your work has received, but quite frankly, if your work gained traction after I reblogged it, I barely nudged your work-- its quality was its main driving force.

So don't do yourself dirty. You're fantastic.

I'm prepared to lose followers and gain more blocks even for this. People don't like being told they're arseholes, especially when they pretend they're above petty bullshit like this.

I'm here, and I have fun. I don't obsess over any of this. I really hope you stay for the fun too, and if you want a non-anon message, I'm more than happy for it, as I always am.

Love,

-- Haitch xxx

[thegildedbee]

Experiment/Chaos: May 16 & 17 Prompts from @calaisreno

Periodically, Greg Lestrade reflects on the chaos leading up to and surrounding the arrest of Sherlock Holmes and his subsequent death – in the privacy of his own mind, Lestrade refuses to use the word “suicide." If he is relatively certain – balance of probability – that the actions that Sherlock executed resulted in his demise, that’s not the same as being able to arrive at the conclusion that he committed suicide. Lestrade is too good a detective to let an obvious-on-the-face-of-it-story get in the way of the facts. Needs must, facts first. The tricky part is how to work through tricked-out feints, when solid facts are scarce on the ground.

It's not quite correct to say that there are few facts to consider – rather, there are too many facts, and the vast multitude of these originated with Moriarty, in service of Moriarty’s tale of being ruthlessly used by a detective who would have to have been so seriously demented that he would be a head case worthy of sending Freud himself on week-long benders of 7% solution.

Over the months since the chaotic clusterfuck of the final days of Sherlock Holmes, Lestrade has advanced through several iterations of a thought experiment he has challenged himself to complete: how to account for Sherlock’s innocence, if such it was, and the unrelenting perfidy of Moriarty, if it was he who was bearing false witness to the alleged crimes under scrutiny. On those weekends when his daughter is at home with his ex-wife, on those weekends when he isn’t fighting his way through a relentless blizzard of paperwork, at those times when the streets of London are relatively silent beyond the routine crime that plagues a large metropolis -- Lestrade engages in "what ifs?"

In between his last iteration of his thought experiment and tonight, he’s had a frustrating encounter with Anderson, after having agreed to meet the fellow, who is in dire straits, for pints. Despite Lestrade's dismissive response, Anderson had insisted, despite all appearances, that Sherlock is alive and can be observed to be at work on the European continent, if one only knows what signs to look for. What a field day Freud would have with the daft bugger, given the outsize role that Anderson himself had played in bringing Sherlock to ruin!

Lestrade is under no illusions about Anderson's brainpower, and is not discounting the large role that guilt may be playing in the man's story. But he finds himself inclined to perhaps interview Anderson as witness: if there is one thing that Anderson is an expert on -- and, lord help them all, it isn’t the details of his forensic work in the field – he had become an expert, of sorts, on Sherlock Holmes, at work. There was nothing that Anderson had given anywhere near the same amount of attention to in the last years, than to his obsessive observation of Sherlock Holmes.

Lestrade has his own data points – not based on what may or may not have transpired after Holmes’ burial, like Anderson, but from looking back at the months preceding the climax of events between Moriarty arriving on the scene, and beginning his jousting with Sherlock, to however it was that they both came to be on the roof of Bart's on the day of their deaths.

Lestrade believes that Moriarty's story didn't gain credence because of its validity, but as a fortuitous consequence of the chaos churned up through his theatrics; if you take a close look, Moriarty's claims have the substantiality of tissue paper. Any investigative effort greater than the level of Kitty Riley’s credulous affirmations that are nothing as much as they are taking dictation in the pursuit of her own aggrandizement are tenuous.

Lestrade keeps returning to the phone call of the elderly woman, when Sherlock had been running down the puzzles he was being made to solve by Moriarty while the clock was ticking fast away. If Sherlock had set all of these up to show off his brilliance, killing the woman who was trying to give him details of her kidnapper doesn’t fit the pattern of master-minded orchestration. If Moriarty had just been a hired actor, there would have been no need for that tragedy to have occurred, and, in fact, if Sherlock was aiming at demonstrating infallibility, then that was quite an error. But beyond these aspects, Sherlock had been truly distressed at what had happened.

He also thinks about Mycroft and his cctv network, and his overbearing oversight of his brother. That somehow Sherlock had been consorting with "Richard Brook" in concocting a series of faux murderous confrontations without his knowing beggars belief, and then to think that Mycroft would allow such fakery to continue instead of plucking Sherlock from 221B and snatching him off to a safe house for rehabilitation or sectioning at some faraway clinic makes zero sense, no matter how convoluted the governmental git's machinations in regard to his hush-hush enterprises might be. If Mycroft didn't care for his brother's sanity, he would at least care not to have his own reputation sullied by such a bizarre public humiliation of the Holmes name.

Lestrade had also arranged some off-the-books investigating, under the radar of his superiors, Mycroft, and the press. This business of "Richard Brook" allegedly being a performer with some sort of record was the most obvious point to probe, he had thought. He'd arranged for Wiggins, Sherlock's aide-de-camp from the street network, to spend time in Southbank at the publicly available video archives at the British Film Institute, poring over the titles to see if any evidence of Brooks's work could be shown to have existed and aired. Nothing had been found. The hysteria over the accusations in Riley's story had scarcely engendered any scrutiny of her Moriarty-supplied fake evidence.

He finds it exceedingly unlikely that Sherlock wouldn't have fought back, knowing the truth as he did. He might have had to disappear for a while as his own investigation commenced, but Lestrade has no doubt whatsoever that Sherlock would have been able to solve "The Case of the Arachnid Actor & the Consulting Criminal," and be able to clear his name. None of it adds up. He himself might have to continue keeping his head down for the near future, but that doesn't mean he can't be scanning the ground for clues, in search of evidence of fraud of a very different sort than has been being assumed to exist.

........................................................ @calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @friday411 @peanitbear @original-welovethebeekeeper

@helloliriels @a-victorian-girl @keirgreeneyes @starrla89 @naefelldaurk

@topsyturvy-turtely @lisbeth-kk @raina-at @jobooksncoffee @meetinginsamarra

@solarmama-plantsareneat @bluebellofbakerstreet @dragonnan @safedistancefrombeingsmart @jolieblack

@msladysmith @ninasnakie @riversong912 @dapetty

[daydreamerwonderkid]

Kyoko is adding so much more credence to my theory that being a magical girl is more like a curse.

My earlier thoughts about how there's no incentive for magical girls to work together seems to be correct so far.

Yeah, sure, it could just be how the magic system operates that the more Grief Seeds you collect, the more powerful you become. And the fact that in order for a magical girl's gem to not "fade" aka not lose their powers, they have to keep collecting more Grief Seeds is just so ... convient.

It's starting to feel more like magical girls are meant to farm Grief Seeds for Kyubey to snack on vs "helping people."

I'm mostly saying this because of Kyoko and Sayaka's first interaction/fight.

The fact that Kyoko is willing to sacrifice people in order to "game the system" vs Sayaka's-and by extension, Mami's-blatant disgust at suggesting such a thing is very interesting to me.

To me, this really shows how manipulative Kyubey actually might be. They're still selling the idea that being a magical girl is like being a super hero, but Kyoko is living proof that this is not the case at fucking all.

It also shows that Homura isn't an outlier. Her cold personality, actions and words could absolutely be a direct result of her making a contract with Kyubey. Where Kyoko seems to find amusement at the expense of others, Homura is detached and seems to find no joy in being a magical girl.

So her anger towards Sayaka forming a contract with Kyubey is actually looking pretty warranted. I mean, sure, her anger towards Sayaka for doing it feels like a on overreaction to Sayaka and Madoka. But with all this added context, Homura's actions are starting to feel less like an overreaction and more like an appropriate response to, well, literally everything.

Kyoko and Homura are "veterans," but it's extremely obvious who has more experience here. Kyoko can still act cocky and brash, but the difference in perspective really highlights their difference in power, too. Something something the more powerful you become, the more of your humanity you lose.

Of course, from Sayaka's perspective all she sees is someone who let Mami die. But in actuality, Homura gave Mami ample warning and she still chose to fight the witch on her own. Mami died because of her overconfidence and it's a fucking tragedy.

But to Sayaka, Homura is directly responsible. So whenever Homura tries to offer any advice or warnings, Sayaka instinctively writes her off and refuses to listen.

So you have 4 different perspectives all at war here:

-Sayaka's righteous (and possibly naive) belief that being a magical girl is an honorable profession akin to that of a super hero/knight

-Kyoko's ambivalence towards human life all for the sake of self satisfaction and power, which is further validated and encouraged by the reward of Grief Seeds/more power

-Homura's emotional detachment as a possible result of witnessing far more suffering than any other magical girl before her

-Madoka's growing horror and desperate attempts to have everything be "okay" again, naively imploring everyone to use the "power of friendship" so she doesn't have to see anyone else get hurt

It genuinely feels like being a magical girl purposely sets you up to self isolate. Whether as a precaution to protect loved ones or to gain more power, there's just very little reason for anyone to work together.

Also, Kyubey's constant fucking pushing for Madoka to become a magical girl is so fucking suspicious. They're legit pressuring Madoka to keep entering into dangerous situations "just in case" Sayaka gets in trouble when we all known damn well at this point that it's absolutely guaranteed she will.

Kyubey using Madoka's fear of losing another friend in a horrific way by knowingly placing her and Sayaka in danger is so fucking suspect. And then them trying to convince Sayaka to persuade Madoka into forming a contract-BITCH, HELLO?!

Idk what Kyubey has to gain from all of this yet, but if getting more Grief Seeds translates to more power ... making a contract with Kyubey could potentially be a way for them get innocent and vulnerable girls to do their dirty work.

A part of me even wonders if Kyubey knew Mami was going to die and is using that traumatic event to further manipulate Sayaka and Madoka.