#has any perspective or sense of reality'

[chemicalarospec]

this is gonna sound ridiculous. but you ever seen someone into one fandom and it doesn't bother you, but you can tell from their approach to that, that if they got into a specific other fandom you'd be soooo annoyed by the way they're a fan.

[shimmershifts]

an open letter to those who have not yet shifted.

i don't know how many of you will see this, let alone how many will read it entirely. this letter is for those who have been trying to shift for two years, five years, more. those who cannot give up, and those who will not give up, and maybe even those who already have. to preface, this letter will not rehash everything you already know. you've scrolled every forum, you've seen every method, you've read every tip. you've trialed, and errored, and persevered... but you're still here. law of assumption, manifestation, belief, intention. but you're still here. you've been told all about shifting... right? you already know what shifting is... right? you should already know how to shift... right? but you're still here.

this letter is not intended to debase or invalidate those who do already believe in those things and who are satisfied with that. this is for those who have been trying that way for 2 years, 5 years, and more, and still haven't shifted. this is for those who might want an alternative perspective.

what you've been told

in my personal opinion, the online shifting community as it currently stands is very... rigid. narrow. there are a few dominant views, and then the many who drown out any possible dissent or disagreement. i do understand why this happens. reality shifting is already a marginal belief, hounded by anti-shifters and disbelieved and debunked on all sides, so it makes sense that people feel the instinct to close ranks at any sign of an outsider. unfortunately, this has led to a community that raises its hackles at even other reality shifters who simply don't believe the exact same way that you do. law of assumption. manifestation. intent. (and dare i say it, the multiverse.)

i don't believe in any of that, in the context of shifting.

now, wait! don't go yet, stay with me. it's okay if you do. i'm not intending to change the minds of those who already believe in these things. i'm not going to go at anyone and say "i'm right, you're wrong, and you must change your mind to agree with me!" that would be silly, and counterproductive. let's lower our guards, and extend an olive branch, please. if you feel these things serve your journey, then carry on. you're allowed to disagree with me, i won't be upset. you're allowed to think i'm wrong, if you want. literally no worries at all.

but i am a little tired frankly of certain ideas being treated as the only options, and often in a rude or hostile manner. if you are someone who has spent five years trying to shift, and you see yet another post that boils down to "all you have to do is want it hard enough" does that not hurt your soul? the following sections of this post are for those who these ideas have not been working for. for those who have not yet shifted. it's been two years. five years. more. and you're still here. are you open to another possibility?

what is reality shifting?

i've told you what i don't believe, but what about what i do? i'll try to keep this as concise as possible for the sake of brevity and comprehension, knowing i could potentially clarify in future posts. but please continue with the understanding that im a chronic overexplainer, and my curse is the fact that the extra words don't always actually increase understanding. bear with me.

reality shifting: broadly speaking, this refers to shifting your linear experience of reality from one, to another. this has been known by many other names in the past, across continents and cultures, even in pre-agriculture societies. i'd include ideas like persistent realms, quantum jumping, focus 21, etc. language is subjective, and people may describe or understand the same experience in different ways.

i believe reality shifting is a haphazard side effect of our limited ability to perceive and comprehend reality. let me explain. space, as we understand it, is three dimensional. but reality isn't. it's our bodies and minds limiting our perception and understanding that makes all of reality seem that way to us at surface level.

1D: let's consider a hypothetical one dimensional existence. everything would a straight line, and the only way to perceive anything else would be as a single point directly in front or directly behind you. forwards and backward. the 2D and 3D are beyond your limited ability to physically sense or feel, let alone to comprehend. Forget about the 4D (time). due to your lack of comprehension, you cannot move at will in two dimensional planes, let alone three dimensional space or even time. you are static, a single point.

2D: let's consider a hypothetical two dimensional existence. it would be a flat, infinite planar expanse. you might be a square, or a circle. you can move freely in two dimensional directions (forward, backwards, side to side), but not in the 3D. No up, no down. If you tried to perceive a three dimensional object, you would only be able to comprehend it as linear, a line on the horizon where it intersects your 2 dimensional plane. you would perceive the 3D as moving around or within you on its own, without the ability to direct it. the 4D, or time, if you could perceive it, would be static, a singular point at a time.

3D: what about our three dimensional existence? congratulations, you now are a form, such as a sphere, or a cube. you can move freely in a voluminous, infinite three dimensional space. Forward, backwards, side to side, up, and down. if you *try* to perceive the fourth dimension (time), you can only comprehend it as linear, a line where it intersects your 3 dimensional space. You perceive it as moving around or within you on its own, without the ability to direct it yourself. any dimensions higher than that, if you could perceive it, would be static, a singular point at a time.

quick 4D sidebar: clearing this one up now because this will confuse some of you who are involved in other communities. in many law of assumption and manifestation communities, "4D" has been used to refer to your imagination, inner world, a bridge to "higher vibrational states", etc. i don't use it that way. i use it in the sense of the mathematical concept, or linking three-dimensional space with time. 4D=time.

4D and 5D: so, time is the fourth dimension. that means it is four dimensional, yet due to our limitations as 3D creatures, we can only perceive it as linear. we perceive it as moving around us, without our direction, forwards, (or backwards in some cultures). what about the 5th dimension? the static one? the one we can only perceive one point of at a time? let's call this 5th dimension... reality. due to our limited perception, it may not seem like it, but time and reality are just like space in that all of it exists at once. if you were a 5th dimensional creature, you wouldn't see a bunch of different realities, you'd just see one the way we just see one 3D universe around us right now.

tip: think of it this way, if a three dimensional creature moving through time is only able to perceive it linearly, it may think that each point of time exists separately, passing by in chronological order. this would be like a character in a book, the character experiences each page one at a time as we turn the page. but we know that actually, the entire book exists all at the same time, and already did exist before we picked it up and started reading it, and continues to exist even when we set it down. the same is true of time, and reality. even if we perceive it as linear, or a point, all of it actually exists simultaneously, like space.

still, we can only perceive one point of reality at a time. i believe when we reality shift, we are by some freak of nature (or nurture) finding a way to trigger a "movement" in this "5th dimension," and therefor shifting our linear experience of time and our singular perceptual experience of one reality to another. ("movement" is a bit of an abstraction here, as movement generally refers to 3D space. you're not actually moving anywhere, you're already there, you just... can't see it at the same time as this.)

ok, so how the heavens do i shift?

if you read through all of the above, i assume that's what you're asking by now. "get to the point shimmer! how do i shift?" if you don't need intention, belief, assumption, manifestation, three gallons of water, crystals, or anything else then what do you need to shift?

if we boil shifting down to its absolute core, all you need to do in order to shift is to shift. (put down the pitch forks, and the flaming feathers and tar. i'll elaborate.)

shifting involves finding a way for us 3 dimensional creatures to trigger a shift in a dimensional direction that we do not have the capacity to perceive. so what i mean by "all you have to do to shift, is to shift" is that there is no physical movement, or secret password we can whisper that makes us shift, not inherently. it's sort of like being told to find your invisible and non corporeal primordial tail, and then swish it in a direction that doesn't spatially exist. find your "move in the 5D button", and then press it. except, there is no button.

so how do we "move" from one point of reality to the other? well, the first clue to this is in noticing what part of us is actually doing the "moving".

you don't make it happen with your three dimensional form. there is no body part or mass or motor function in your 3D body that triggers a shift. there's nothing that allows a three dimensional form to move in five dimensional directions... you just can't. your body stays here. that's good news actually, in my opinion. there is no need to force yourself into strange bodily positions, or chug water, or whatever else. your 3D body is irrelevant, because it's not going anywhere. you don't have to do anything with your body to shift. some people can shift awake, asleep, in the shower, walking around, etc.

you also don't necessarily do it with the fourth dimension, time. there is no specific amount of time that you'll shift after. it might seem you've spent a lot of time trying to shift, but the actual shift itself is instantaneous. some people shift their first try, and some of you might be on your second decade of attempts. again, the time factor being irrelevant is good news because this means it doesn't have to take time.

i also don't think we do it with just intent or belief. the intention word gets used so much it basically means nothing, but the general idea is that intent is the driving force that manifests your desired outcome. in the context of shifting, people use it like "set your intention to shift, and you will" or "intent makes you shift." or the dreaded "you just have to believe harder." personally, i don't think that's true. i don't think intention makes you shift. if it did, you all would have shifted by now, right? i think looking anyone who's been trying to shift for 4 years dead in the eye and telling them they just haven't intended to shift yet is honestly a bit cruel and unusual. some people who intend to shift will shift, but in my opinion, its a case of correlation, and not causation. there are also people who shift without intending to, or who intend to shift but don't.

it's also not really our thoughts that shift. or our mind as a concept, or our entire self. we know this because you don't turn into a comatose vegetable when you shift to a different reality. your thoughts, mind, and self here are unaffected by your awareness shifting away from it. if you successfully "permashifted" to hogwarts tonight, your self here would still wake up in the morning and go to work.

so what does shift? only our linear experience of our own awareness. so in order to reality shift, we just need to find a way to trigger our awareness to shift from one point of reality to another in a non linear fashion, and then integrate that into our linear experience. aha! you think. great! now how do i do that...? unfortunately, this is not an exact science (yet.) once you begin shifting regularly, i think it gets "easier" in some regards because you get a sense for how your awareness "feels" and what works for you. for those who haven't shifted, i can't say "take three deep breaths and recite the secret words, and then you'll shift." there is nothing specific you can physically do that will for certain make you shift. there's no secret passwords.

there is no key to shifting. the good news is, this means there is also no lock.

what we can do is get ourselves primed, into a state that increases the chances our awareness is triggered to shift. ie, find the "move in the 5D" button, (you know, the one that doesn't exist) and learn how to press it. and because it is our awareness that shifts, my "methods" have to do with priming your awareness for shifting. you don't need to believe, which is a good thing because it means doubts won't hold you back. you don't necessarily need to intend, which is a good thing because it means there are no secret blockages in your way. no "subconscious", no "reprogramming", no "delusion is the solution." you don't need any of that. you also don't have to do anything specific with your body or space unless you feel like it and want to. you don't need a script, but you can make one if you want. it's whatever, it's irrelevant darling, it's non-consequential.

these three methods below basically encompass all shifting methods out there. i might expand on techniques for these methods later, but for now i'll go over the basics.

method one: pure awareness

it basically boils down to two steps. get into a state of pure awareness, and then shift.

the first step for this method is actually a simple one, sort of, but i think it's unkind to call it easy. it can be easy, if you just happen to have a perfect technique that works for you on your first try. if so, congrats! if not, don't despair. it comes more naturally to some than others, at first. you can probably build the skills and try different techniques necessary for you to get there.

but what is pure awareness? it's currently very often being called "the void state", but i'm not using that term for a few reasons. one, i think using the term "the void state" or calling it "the void" is making people think it's some sort of place that they're trying to go. it's not. it's not a physical place at all, and that's kind of the point. most of the time, your awareness is perceiving reality through the confines concept of 3D reality, because that's the data input it's receiving from your brain and body. that grounds you in this reality, and allows you to go about your day to day life. your goal with the pure awareness method is to focus on just your awareness, absent of all 3D distraction data and input. that way, your awareness is primed to be triggered to shift its focus to the 3D perception of a different point of reality when you come out of that state.

i might make a post about techniques for getting into the state of pure awareness, but this post is already long enough.

method two: destabilization of awareness

this method gets over complicated, but it basically boils down to two steps. destabilize your awareness, and then shift.

honestly, most shifting methods i see online are in some way doing this. lucid dreams, the hypnogogic state, SATS, self-hypnosis, "symptoms", and also all those iterations of the "raven method" the "staircase method" the "alice in wonderland method" etc are all basically ways to destabilize your awareness from the linear perception it is so used to in this point of reality, offering the opportunity of triggering a shift to a different one. they're all sort of either distracting or subverting your focus on the 3D here in this point of reality.

basically, you'll be trying to discombobulate yourself to the point your awareness is not focused on 3D reality, and trigger a shift.

method three: absence of awareness

sleep method gang, rise up. i'm serious. this method involves reducing your awareness to zero, or as close to it as possible, another potentially prime state to trigger a shift. (and by sleep method, i don't mean lucid dreamers or SATS, i mean simply going to sleep here, having a period of complete unawareness, like totally dreamless sleep, and then waking up in your DR.)

this absence of awareness during sleep is (in my experience) the most common cause of accidental or unintentional shifts, but you might be one of those who can trigger a shift to desired realities with this too.

sleeping is not the only way to get to the state of the lack of awareness. i'd say total distraction methods also count for this. you're not asleep, your body is awake, but you're so "zoned out" (or alternatively in a meditative state such that) you're absolutely not aware of the 3D experience of this point of reality anymore.

this is completely different from the state of pure awareness by the way, because in the state of pure awareness you are aware. like, in pure awareness you have a full train of thought and total control. the absence of awareness is the opposite. it feels sort of like a "blip" where reality time and space passed you by and you were not aware of it.

[drdemonprince]

any advice for coping with being on the receiving end of a public callout ?

Oh yes:

Do not acknowledge the callout publicly. It will only further its spread, lend it legitimacy, cause you to be interpreted as guilty, and convey to anyone who bears you ill will that you are rattled and feeling socially threatened.

Do not act out of urgency. One of the ways that cancelled people get themselves in far worse trouble is by spiraling due to anxiety and rushing to issue a statement about what has happened, or to attempt to socially manage public impressions about what has happened. Do not do this. Anything that you say will be picked apart and used against you. The situation is truly not as urgent as it might feel. A lot of times, doing nothing and being quiet is the best way to proceed, and the dust will settle better if you do.

Do not issue a public apology. If you truly feel that you have wronged someone, that conflict should be worked out in private with the people you have directly affected. You do not owe the anonymous public audience a damn thing. Do not apologize for something you don't honestly believe that you have done wrong. Take time and really think about what happened, and seek the counsel of people whom you trust in PRIVATE.

Do not attempt to disprove the callout unless you have crystal clear, smoking gun evidence that the person who accused you is actually victimizing you. And even then, probably don't do it. I have only seen a disproof of a callout work ONCE, and that was when Juniper Abernathy revealed the person cancelling her had been abusing her. Even if the facts are on your side, acknowledging the accusations will only make more people aware of them, give your detractors ground to criticize your every word, and will muddy the waters and make people find the situation confusing and troubling rather than clear.

GET THE FUCK OFFLINE. Delete your social media apps for the time being. Turn off notifications. Turn off DMs requests. Change your settings so that you only ever hear from people you already follow (I do this, on the advice of Philosophy Tube). Get away from the computer.

Connect with IRL friends. When you're wrapped up in a cancellation, the negative opinions of a handful of foaming at the mouth freaks loom way larger than they actually are. And social media dramatically skews our sense of social priorities such that the approval rating of complete strangers starts to seem more important than people we actually know, and trust, and who actually know us. Go get a meal with a buddy. Watch a dumb movie. Talk to your grandma about her plans for her garden. Surround yourself with real people you care about and focus on their life and problems, to help put things in perspective.

Find distracting, active, rewarding activities that bring you out of the digital space and into physical reality. Not everyone is talking about you, not everybody hates you, most people have no fucking clue what has been said about you, and most people do not give a fuck about you (that's good). There are so many areas of life that are completely fucking untouched by what a bunch of social media power users have to say online. Go volunteer to clean up a park, run some errands, take an exercise class, foster a dog, regrout your bathroom, knit a hat. Even if the worst case scenario happens and a cancellation sticks, it's really only among a certain very vocal group of miserable fucking people. There is a whole world around you that will not ever care, and you will have a life outside of this.

Good luck!!

[txttletale]

Sorry for anon, I'm shy. I think I'm one of the liberals you're complaining about and I don't want to be. If (and only if) you have the time/energy, could you elaborate more on where the Harris campaign went wrong? I promise I don't mean this in a sealioning way - I genuinely want to understand and move towards a better perspective, but I don't even know what to Google to start.

it is extremely conventional political wisdom that running as the incumbent party during an unpopular administration is a gruelling uphill battle--harris was in this position, and i think going all-in on her continuity with biden, who is extremely disliked (for many reasons, ranging from his fervent passion for genocide to a vague sense that He Made The Ecnomy Bad And Woke) was a catastrophic error that any dickhead with a political science degree would have told her to avoid. unfortunatley she surrounded herself with biden's people who in the run-up to him stepping down had already proven themselves to be completely self-deluding and isolated from reality.

the absolute worst thing you can do in the electoral situation harris was in is go on television and say "i would do absolutely nothing differently to the current (unpopular) administration" and she did literally exactly that.

other facts are that the constituency her campaign decided to go all-in on, of, like, sensible moderate center-right republicans who value bipartisanship, basically hasn't existed since tea party birtherism became ascnedant in the republican party if it ever did at all. the idea that there was an election-winning segment of voeters who would vote for harris if she proved that she wasn't "too liberal" through serious policy commitments to right-wing positions was just not founded in reality--like it was a strategy that failed to grapple with the basic reality that the modern republican position on democrat politicians is that they're adrenochrome-chugging child rapists.

in a similar vein her hard pivot to border fascism was morally deplorable but also a total waste of time because donald "build the wall" trump has made his personal brand synonymous with anti-immigration politics and so she was simply never ever going to win anyone over from him on that ground. & finally of course there was the campaign;'s wholehearted and total contempt for her own potential voters, which manifseted most obviously and evilly in their treatment of anti-genocide protestors and their flying bill clinton out ot michigan to lecture arabs about how they deserved to be bombed but also seems responsible for their total lack of consideration of (again) conventional elecvtoral tactics 101 like "energizing the base" or "getting out the vote"

so tldr it was just a disastrous campaign that prioritized the egos of biden campaign staff and biden himself over winning or facing basic reality

[vaguely-concerned]

can you even imagine what a fucking horror show the early game is from spite's perspective, though. not only is this funky forcibly severed little slip of the fade having to deal with the reverse cosmic horror of physical reality as perceived by a spirit and being trapped in it against its will -- existentially confused and disoriented and hurting and nothing makes any kind of sense, at the mercy of human cruelty at its most deliberately sadistic. and then the one source of comfort and compassion and some kind of safety and clarity that lucanis surely must have been to him in the ossuary despite everything just goes and shuts himself in his room inside with a seemingly passive aggressive number of locks between them and no explanation and won't speak to him and they're STILL in the fucking ossuary. rook came and found them and they could be free now (rook is here!) and still lucanis keeps them in the ossuary even though he PROMISED he promised they'd get out of there together!!! what the fuck DO you think at that point? like did he trick me that whole time??? he wasn't like zara before, so why is he doing this to me now? why isn't he saying anything? 'he won't move. I can't reach him'. at least in the ossuary they had a deal, a goal, a hope -- each other. at least he wasn't entirely alone, before.

this poor poor poor little spite spirit really was ferried into the real world like 'hey welcome to reality! as your first introduction to it you're first getting horrifically tortured and then getting to vicariously experience one of THE most distressing and harrowing psychological conditions the human brain can cook up for itself (a fully fledged and deeply entrenched freeze response flaring up with catastrophic severity due to an unbroken ongoing and unlikely to let up any time soon chain of Unfortunately... Recent Events). I think spite is being extremely reasonable and patient about the whole thing, when you put it into perspective. I'm not saying let him eat the self-lighting candles or anything, but he's got some extremely valid points along the way lol. spite is not only child-like, the metaphor work going on is a lot more pleasingly flexible and complex than that, but he is also helplessly existentially dependent on lucanis in a way that, if anything, is a heightened version of the way a child (or child part) has to depend on a parent to navigate the world and survive.

tl;dr: we truly don't give enough sympathy to spite for having to live in the head of lucanis dellamorte. a place even lucanis dellamorte would prefer not to be. to be fair to him I think lucanis would be the first person to agree with this lol

[fairyminnie444]

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐰

The idea that time is not linear comes from the understanding that it is merely a perception created by the human mind to organize experiences. In reality, everything that exists, has existed, or will exist is already present in the “eternal now.” This means that while we are accustomed to thinking of time as a straight line with past, present, and future, this is merely a mental convention to make it easier for us to understand.

How does this connect to manifestation?

If everything already exists, including your fulfilled desire, you do not need to “wait” for something to happen or “do something” in the present to achieve it in the future. Instead, you can simply align your consciousness and your internal state with the reality where your desire is already true. This alignment puts you in the position to experience that version of your life because, in the infinite field of possibilities, it is already there.

The practice of the “eternal now”:

1. Accept that the future already exists: Stop thinking of the future as something distant or uncertain. See it as a choice available to you in this moment.

2. Visualize as if it were now: Whenever you think about what you want, bring it into the present. Imagine that you are already living it.

3. Feel it as truth: The feeling is the link between you and the desired reality. When you feel that you already have what you want, you activate the corresponding state and allow it to manifest.

4. Let go of the illusion of “waiting”: If time is an illusion, there is no real “waiting.” You are simply experiencing in the physical what you have already accepted within yourself.

Why does time seem linear?

Our brain processes experiences sequentially to make sense of the world around us. This linearity is useful for practical tasks, but it is not the absolute reality. At deeper levels, time functions as a “field” where everything already exists.

When you understand that time is not a barrier, you realize that you can “jump” from one reality to another simply by choosing where to place your focus and energy. This change in perspective eliminates the idea that there is something to be “achieved” in the future — everything you want is already yours.

Conclusion:

Time is not linear; it is a construct perceived by our mind. Everything already exists simultaneously — past, present, and future are available in the “now.” This means that you can access any state or reality you desire, because, in essence, everything is already created. You just need to align your consciousness with what you wish to experience.

[linkcharacter]

I find it interesting when people call Jimmy an unreliable narrator. There’s not really any narrating done in the traditional sense, and we don’t even hear a lot of his inner thoughts. Do they mean “narrator” as in our view of the world and characters are shaped by his POV through interactions and visuals, instead of a verbal, descriptive narration?

Please THANK YOU EXACTLY I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SO BAD ACTUALLY.

My opinion is that people like to shove terms that vaguely fit the story of Mouthwashing anywhere they can, same with describing characters (Curly for example) as "morally grey". Which in my opinion is reductive and doesn't represent who the character is, it's defined enough for people to 'kinda' be on the same page but also vague enough that it doesn't accurately describe the character and blurs the complexity that makes the character interesting.

I wouldn't apply the term "unreliable narrator" to Jimmy. His perspective of what we are allowed to see in game is limited, but we see exactly what happens, just through Jimmy's eyes. Jimmy isn't twisting the narrative for the viewer because he's NOT NARRATING. Mouthwashing is a game with no narration to tell the story. Sure, characters talk about the events, but they're not talking to the player, and an unreliable narrator's purpose from a storytelling point, is to deceive or mislead the viewer. I think trying to shove storytelling terms anywhere it fits doesn't work and just confuses a lot of people. The game itself plays around with the narrative and reveals things and structures the story in ways to manipulate our perception, like allowing only certain small sections of events to be seen, and ordered in a way to play with our thoughts and attention.

Jimmy's perspective and presence change the attitude of characters, but this isn't "unreliable narration", it's the reality of how characters act with Jimmy around. I kinda understand what people mean when they say he's an unreliable narrator, that we shouldn't take Jimmy's POV as the whole truth at face value, but that's not because the 'narrative' is being twisted, we just have to take into account the context of the situation. The players aren't being deceived, they're being required to think about nuances. And even when Jimmy starts having his episodes with hallucinations, it's not to deceive the viewer, it's showing us how JIMMY HIMSELF sees reality, we can very clearly disconnect what is being shown from the context of what is actually going on. The dinner scene, for example, is obviously just has Jimmy tweak out, but we as players can tell that it's not real, there's no misleading happening. And we see how Jimmy talks to others during gameplay, we see Jimmy be abusive to others and be a jerk and perform manipulation, there's no narration to make us believe he's not doing all of these things or to even conceal or twist the truth. Jimmy as a character with his words does manipulate others, but not the viewer. You can say Jimmy is an unreliable narrator within the reality of the game, but he's definitely not if we're talking about meta.

The bizarro sequences are a bit different because there's clearly some meta "showing the viewer symbolisms to have them connect ideas of the story, while not being grounded in reality for the characters in the game" stuff going on, but again, there's no narration nor is there a point to confuse the viewer. The point is to show the themes of the story in an interesting and impactful way that leaves a lot to analyze, you're not being deceived, you just have to think about it and see what the game is trying to show, it's encouraging you to look deeper into the story. Mouthwashing IS NOT a game with a clear-cut clean concrete story with no room for interpretation.

[sapphorror]

The Narrator's perspective only gets more horrifying the longer you think about it. Like, imagine being an Echo of yourself—one of many, all made to serve a very particular purpose and knowingly living on borrowed time, if 'living' is even the right word for your current state of pseudo-existence.

You've inherited the mission of a dead man—it's literally the only thing left that you can do before fading, so you sure as hell better believe in it; the alternative would be unbearable. Only you keep failing. With every loop that you don't remember, your lack of agency in this situation becomes starker—you can influence small things, sure, but it becomes increasingly clear that you have no real power, no matter how personally invested you are in the events unfolding in front of you. You are, after all, only an Echo. You've forfeited the right to meaningfully engage with the world.

Worse—every loop you're made aware of is another time you've failed, with unimaginable consequences, though you had no control over these previous iterations of yourself and can't even learn from their mistakes. Everyone around you is operating on a shared perception of reality that you are not part of, will never be part of. After a few repetitions, you are, ironically, the least informed person in the room. All you have left to go on is an evidently outdated script. At the same time, everyone else is experiencing a contiguous version of you, comprised of parts that are, in some sense, also you, while at the same time existing at a complete remove from your current perception of self. Whatever you don't know you did—that's you now. You are, after all, only an Echo. You've forfeited the right to define your own identity, never mind know what it is.

Even worse—this has trapped you within a stagnant hell of your own creation. Nothing you say or do really matters in terms of your own self (the rest of the world is a separate issue entirely). Anything you've come to believe—say, for totally hypothetical example, that you were wrong actually and your envisioned paradise is really a hell beyond any you had the capacity to envision—has about as much permanence as a drawing in the sand. 'You' will continue, exactly as you were, no matter how much you might like to change your behavior. Every possible future has already been set in stone. You are, after all, only an Echo. You've forfeited the right to say anything you haven't already said.

For some reason, no part of any of this has made you feel more comfortable and at peace with the general concept of finality.

The really, truly absolute worst part, though?

There is no one for you to blame but yourself. And that's exactly what turns your story into such a tragedy.

[writingwithcolor]

Does the way my alien character disguises himself as a POC perpetuate harmful tropes?

Anonymous asks:

"Hi all! I'm a longtime follower, first time asker. There's something about my current story that feels a little sticky, and I haven't been able to find any applicable information on the blog. I'm working on a queer monster romance. The setting is a modern one with supernatural elements. One of the main characters is an alien refugee, and his species has an ability to possess corpses and retain some of the last soul's memories to disguise themselves. It's morbid, but it's supposed to be a story about monsters, and he doesn't do worse beyond that. I've read a lot of posts by Latinx and Jewish people talking about aliens on Earth as a metaphor for immigrants, with the struggle of adapting to a new culture and being separated from the one you were born into, and since my story takes place in Southern California, which has a large population of Mexican immigrants, I thought it made sense to make his ""host body"" Mexican. However, the more I think on it, I'm worried that his ""disguise"" method could be viewed as a violation of a brown body. I'm also concerned that he's just TOO monstrous, and could play into a harmful trope of making POC inhuman. The other main character is white and more visibly monstrous, and there are other POC who aren't monsters, but is it enough? Should my alien disguise himself in another way? I know mods aren't answering questions about Latino culture right now, but I think this is more about harmful tropes against POC in general. Thanks for reading."

I appreciate that your response is about the Mexican community rather than the Jewish community, but still take a look at Mod Shira’s post on Jewish Monster Characters Doing Harm  as well as Monsters in General.

Consider the tension that your monsters create. As those posts suggested,  could you swap out “monster” and replace it with “immigrant,” “Latine,” or "Mexican" and see real-world conflict? If so, then the story could be veering towards a metaphor for race-relations, despite being a romance genre and not an #ownvoices narrative. 

You mentioned that some monsters disguise themselves in white bodies but are “more monstrous.” That’s interesting, but I’m still unclear: does your alien monster merge with its host, or is it just wearing their skin? In the anime Parasyte, the alien Migi and its human host have deep conversations about humanity, culture, and perspective. These are all things Migi doesn’t initially understand. This exchange gives the human host agency while preserving their cultural identity. Will your Latine MC receive that kind of humanization?

If not, and these aliens are simply using a Latine appearance as a disguise, that’s a problem. It effectively erases the Latino experience while using a Latine character’s face, which feels deeply unsettling. It risks reducing Mexican identity to an aesthetic rather than acknowledging its depth of culture, traditions, history, food, music, humor, or language.

Since this is a queer romance, it also raises another issue: if the alien is just impersonating a Latine person, then the Latine love interest is, in reality, falling for someone who isn’t actually Latine. Does the love interest teach the alien about Latino culture? That could work, or fall flat depending on execution.

Ultimately, if there’s no strong narrative reason for this alien to present as Latine, it might be worth reconsidering their ethnicity. Maybe your next story could have a Latine MC without this sort of ambiguity, or you could make the alien merge with a real Latine host, similar to Parasyte. Alternatively, the love interest could be Latine, allowing for meaningful cultural exchange. Personally, I’d pass on a book where a non-Latine entity is running around murdering and romancing in Latine skin. But that’s just me. 

~  Melanie 🌻

since my story takes place in Southern California, which has a large population of Mexican immigrants, I thought it made sense to make his "host body" Mexican.

This just sounds exactly like the aliens disguising themselves as Latin American immigrants in The Men In Black (1997) lol. In MIB, it is an intentional joke/play on the word “alien” that only worked in the 90s. That’s going to be the first thing audiences think of when they read this scenario. 

~ Rina

Rina and Melanie’s Required Reading/Watching Recs:

The Men In Black (Columbia Pictures, 1997) 

The Host (Stephenie Meyer, 2008) 😖

Parasyte (dir. Shimizu Kenichi, Madhouse, 2014)

Our prescription: more research and genre awareness.

[4-the-l0ve-0f-art]

"Caleb becomes a wet rat (and gets unpixelated?!)"

Chapter 6: Homecoming Wings

Pairing: Caleb x GN Reader

Word count: 1180

Genre: Reverse isekai, fluff, romance, comedy, supernatural, angst, slow burn

Rating: General Audiences

Triger Warnings: none

A/N: I recommend replaying through Homecoming Wing's first part of chapter 1 while reading this !! i've also made a tag for this fic called fic: wet rat caleb which will be used to post updates on the future chapters and bonus content related to this story, just for fun

<< previous next >> Tumblr Chapter List Ao3 Link

---

Caleb was knocked out of his thoughts by your excited chattering.

“Let’s goooo!!! Caleb’s chapter released!” His head whipped towards your direction.

You looked up, sensing the stare. “Oh, not you, Caleb. I meant, like, Caleb-Caleb, you know? The actual Caleb from the game.” You lifted up the ipad to show him your screen. It was only for a brief moment, and Caleb was unable to catch what was written on the screen.

Caleb’s eyes narrowed. This was his chance.

He walked over and jumped on the couch, sitting right next to you. He glanced at the ipad and then back to your face.

You were staring at him in shock.

Oh. Oh my god. He’s sitting next to me.

He blinked at you with his purple eyes, not saying anything. His tail flicked to his side.

Okay. Okay. Stay calm. You don’t want to scare him away by reacting too loud.

“You really are interested in Caleb, huh? I knew it.. Even cats are going to like him.” You turned your focus back to the ipad in your lap, which was currently on the chapter selection menu for the main story.

Are we really talking about me? This much enthusiasm.. It’s unsettling. 

Caleb was a bit confused. He knew for sure that the man on the screen was him, but he didn’t understand why you were so excited when you saw him. Both of you had watched the same video.

There was still a lot Caleb didn’t understand about the video. The man was him, but it wasn’t him. 

“Did you honestly think I would always be the kind hearted boy from your childhood?”

He was talking to someone. Someone from his childhood?

There was no one. No one worth remembering, anyway.

What disturbed him more was the experiment report.

[They are the optimal weapon for destroying each other. This experiment is never to be restarted.]

One thing he was sure about was that there was no one, absolutely no one, who had been turned into a weapon the same way he was. That is how he rose to the ranks of Colonel, and that is how it’s supposed to remain. There was no one who had been able to endure the experiments long enough to be as powerful as him. 

And that is why he didn’t understand what was going on in the video.

Or what was going on in general, to be fair. He had turned into a cat. A cat!

And here I thought things couldn’t get any worse when grandma was killed.

Snapping back to reality, he read the text on your ipad screen.

Homecoming Wings: Vanishing Skyward.

He watched your eyes twinkle.

“The background is so beautiful. That’s Skyhaven, I think..” 

You were right. It was a picture of Skyhaven from a distance. He could recognize the layout of that island anywhere, it was his base after all. Or his prison. Depends on how you look at it.

“Let’s find out what you’ve been up to while MC has been suffering, Caleb.” You poked his head gently.

He narrowed his eyes on you. It was amusing how you talked to a cat, but the cat was still him. The situation was somewhat laughable, he thought.

You tapped on the block titled “01 Story: Infiltration”.

He read the text on the screen alongside you. It looked like it was written from someone else’s perspective.

“She’s dreaming about the explosion?” You muttered, focused on the screen.

Caleb’s eyes widened as the words “Aether Core”, “Ever”, and Bloomshore District Explosion” appeared on the screen one by one.

The scene seemed to switch from an office to the scene of an explosion. 

Reporter A - “It’s been a week since the explosion in the Cascade District. The Farspace Fleet still has the region under lockdown.”

Caleb was baffled.

…

You stared at the screen in silence for an entire minute once the cutscene ended.

“Did you see that?” Caleb wasn’t sure if you were talking to him or yourself. Frankly, he didn’t care. He was just as shocked as you.

“I think infold really loves to introduce their characters while they kill someone.” You said, referencing a certain white haired man with a crow.

Caleb, on the other hand, was lost in thought.

The scenes that had just unfolded on the screen hadn’t happened too long ago to him. He had killed the man who had tried to sink his ship in the deepspace, on his first mission as Colonel. It had been a couple months since then and Caleb had adjusted well to the endless attempts at people trying to dethrone him, courtesy of Ever.

It was a weird experience watching it unfold from a different perspective, however. And even weirder when it’s from an ipad screen of a random person who didn’t know he was right there, next to them.

At this moment, his life felt like a fever dream.

…

Currently, you’re having the biggest crash out you’ve had since you started playing this game. And a cat was witnessing it all, sitting at his place next to you on the couch.

“Girl, oh my god..” 

“You did not just get drugged by that guy. You did not—” You cut yourself off.

You looked at the cat next to you.

“Caleb, Do you see this shit? Do you???”

Caleb did, in fact, see the shit. And saying that he was flabbergasted would be an understatement. 

“They deserved a better reunion scene. What the fuck was that?? “It really is me.” Who says that after being declared dead?” You mimicked Caleb’s voice line, clearly annoyed.

“And the MC just.. Accepted it? And then proceeded to stay at his home?”

That was not what Caleb was worried about. He was more so focused on the fact that he was a video game character in this world. And with a story which was eerily similar to his own, at that.

Just without the hunter.

I have no idea what you’re talking about. Caleb continued watching as you ranted.

“There's so much shit going on in this story, man..”

Strangely enough, Caleb didn’t think that his actions in the story were out of character for him. He didn’t resonate with the need to protect someone like the MC in the game, but in the end, he had still ended up in the same position as the other version of himself, regardless of whether that hunter was in the picture or not.

He had been forced to survive on his own either way. The only difference was that he had no one waiting for him at the end of it all. His desperation was fueled by his need to feel even a semblance of control over his life, which had been thrown into disarray since he was young.

And it was happening once again. This time, with an obviously cat-shaped dilemma.

Yet, maybe, just maybe, he didn’t mind it as much.

A certain someone sitting next to him was altering his reality, oblivious to it all.

And he was starting to accept it.

---

Taglist: @roseapov @mangooes @zukini-01 @browneyedgirl22 @mavix @staristoo @hohoooowhy @pirana10 @lunia-likes-pomegranet @bertieorangy @heyimseli @xxnessinessiellexx @mcdepressed290 @mentaltrouble2201 @stardustsunflowers13 @I-lover9 @destheoren @ixloom819 @super-nerder @mazlodowki @friedmagazineprincess @celestialzdiviner @deadghosy @fishwasher8 @dummiebunny @etsuniiru @wegottastayfocus @astraecho

A/N: You can DM me or comment if you want to be tagged in this series and it'll be done in the future parts !!

[crustyfloor]

Ivan's hopelessness and introspection / Nowhere

TL by whatafruit

What mainly sets Ivan apart from characters like Mizi, for example, is his upbringing, he initially lived in the slums, a dangerous, harsh environment, and had to learn how to navigate that at a young age without anybody by his side. Ivan didn’t grow up in bliss and innocence or as a generally happy person, and after nearly dying in the slums, it left him with a first impression of life that was unforgiving and cruel. That aspect of his backstory deeply scarred his subconscious and impacted his perspective, which molded his nihilistic approach to life.

Even after being adopted by Unsha, Ivan never left that side of him behind but adapted those traits to his new environment. Ivan obediently conformed to whatever the aliens expected of him to ensure his survival while he lived, perfecting his expressions, maintaining the alien's favor, becoming well-admired by the other children in Anakt Garden and well-liked by the aliens, and a lot more things. All this to say, Ivan was the perfect pet; despite that, he still had a hollow interior. Complying with the aliens without a real sense of identity, nor any will to develop one could've been what led to his self-perceived unusual ‘otherness’ compared to others. To say his life was ‘stained’ from the beginning means he saw his existence as inherently corrupted, irreparably so; that's the way Ivan always regards his existence, as something sad and flawed.

It highlights how miserable Ivan was, even after being given everything that he needed because of his guardian, simple necessities that didn't come easily when he was still living in the slums. Despite being surrounded by kids, that's the thing. From watching how they interact and play, Ivan knows how different he is from them; he simply lacks life. He doesn’t feel like he truly belongs anywhere, in Anakt Garden, where he can only wear a mask to blend in, or in an alien society where he is simply a product that was on a very clear time limit. The reality of that keeps him in his own head, dissociated and alienated. He's already twisted, and his fate was written from the beginning. So whatever happens, happens.

Despite how aware Ivan was of the desolation of his reality that didn't leave any room for hope when he saw Till for the first time standing up for himself, it brought something out of Ivan, that urge to (study like a bug) understand a part of Till that had courage and rebelliousness that Ivan himself didn't possess. Ivan grew a fascination with Till akin to the way he felt when he saw a meteor shower for the first time, through Till, and through expressing himself by pulling on Till's metaphorical pigtails, bringing out Till's emotions. Ivan could feel deep emotions again; he could feel alive again. Those feelings even encouraged Ivan to do something that would essentially be him rebelling even though he had no prior incentive to escape his monotonous life. Before Till, Ivan showed no genuine interest in changing anything; he didn't fight it, just accepted things as they were. But because he saw that Till fought because he wanted freedom, I think Ivan naturally dislikes his own conformity. It is only an efficient and beneficial way to live, and it kept him alive for the most part. Escaping would probably be one of his less well-thought-out plans in retrospect; they were only children. Wouldn't going out there mean certain death? but I think he wanted to indulge for once and see what Till saw in being free, and he wanted them to be free together.

When the lyrics refer to “A rigid dream and hope seeped in rose tint,” it could be relating to the common saying “rose-tinted glasses,” for something to seep is like a leak, a rigid and stiff ‘dream’ that has a rose tint leaking through, the meaning behind “dream and hope” is synonymous with looking on the bright side and seeing pleasantries, you intend to look at the bright side that distracts you from that unpleasant reality, but it is ultimately just a shallow hope, the kind that “it’s stained with blood” isn’t real with all of its undertones and conditions, it was naive, faulty, and cruel, In a world like this, they would be and were stomped on immediately. The sad thing about it is it's not like Ivan didn’t see it coming when Till turned back, but he only naively thought he had it all right, hopeful that he could change something in his own life and might be accepted by Till, wishing things would go his way and wanting more but knowing he can't ask for more than this. The rejection hurt, and remembering it hurts even more.

Ivan's motive for wanting to escape was because of that childishness. He had long since accepted his situation for what it was before then. He deals with life as a whole with detachment, and more specifically, his emotions. he is so used to downplaying his feelings and hurt that, at some point, he becomes 'numb' to them; his apathy leaves his complicated feelings buried, and forgotten from time, but never healed.

Ivan’s identity as an idol is carefully curated; everything down to the way he smiles ties into that image, But that identity separate from himself is not something Ivan particularly likes. His smile is significant to his image, it makes him ‘special.’ When asked about his charm point in an interview, he replies that it’s his snaggletooth. Ivan's obedience and perfect behavior are what rank him up so high among human pets, which is probably why he’s so critical when referring to his most notable features. Of course, his face gets him places, but because it is directly tied to his identity as a product and, by extension, the system that he sees with contempt, he's disgusted by it to a degree.

&

Ivan emulates what the aliens want of him, he's always forced into submission by the very system that he resents. To his detriment, the benefits he had received from being perfect only exacerbated the negative image he has of himself that he is ultimately powerless and the feeling that his real self will always be unwanted, and it leaves him feeling a loneliness only he understands beneath the persona.

He does as he’s told and doesn’t do anything about confronting his feelings because there's no point in trying the way he sees it. Nobody cares about him, so it’s not a big deal if he feels bad, it's not a big deal if he hurts himself because he can just keep going because there’s nothing else he can do, Ivan treats himself like a waste of time all the same, his whole character is repressing the emotions he feels, and leaving them to fix themselves at some point, it is what he wants to think, that “if I just ignore it, it will fade in time.” Ivan wants to pose as a mature and nonchalant person who can persevere and let go of things that hurt him, even just for the sake of making it to the next day, but he is very emotionally immature.

Even though he wants to subdue his emotions, it’s ironic how, no matter what, he can't escape his humanity and the part of him that craves to be seen and understood by someone. This is best seen in confession-- Ivan tried relating to others. Sua, who he thought was like him, the 'connection' and the feeling that he wasn't alone brought him a twisted sense of comfort, he didn't even seem to realize or know how to put into words why he was so upset when he realized that wasn't the case the whole time--because he's so out of touch with his emotions.

This cycle, when it comes to Ivan allowing some semblance of vulnerability with someone or something and then being exposed to hurt ultimately leads him to close off with no outlet for these intense feelings of hurt and bitterness that are just left to build up. 

Hysterie often refers to the state of extreme and controllable emotions, I find this interesting when Ivan uses it because of his quiet personality, only in brief moments does a part of him that is emotional and smiles freely come out as he grew up and learned to mellow out that side of him and stifle his true self, “a hysterie festering” like feelings of emotion that have built up over time into something Ivan can’t manage and stifle so easily anymore and that's what it ultimately amounts to when Ivan is in his most emotionally intense moments, during Black sorrow when he was singing about his melancholy and devotion to staying by Till's side, singing the song exactly as he learned it until he lost control of his emotions for a moment, and in Cure when he recklessly expressed the strongest of his heart to Till, even if Till couldn't understand, to be seen by someone, and someone that he cared so deeply about before forfeiting his life override the part of him that wanted to keep these feelings tucked away, to die with them before burdening someone else with the weight of it all.

Cure and Black Sorrow can't be sidelined for just how vulnerable they are. But Nowhere is so intense and honest in an intriguing way, given how evasive and deceptive Ivan is when it comes to his feelings. Especially considering that this song was likely specifically made to never be used on stage or even found in the first place, it's a song purely from his point of view filled with emotions he always kept hidden; it is essentially Ivan's soul. His apathy, his loneliness, his beliefs, and his sorrows, such as the way the affectionate lyrics at the very start of the song are cut off at random and distorted into meaningless background noise that lingers until the end of the song, reads like Ivan's bitterness towards his haphazard feelings, his way of love, and by extension his resentment, mixing with his self-loathing into something intangible that only he could really understand.

Ending this off with the same words, “This always happens to me,” “That's just how it is,” is a reflection of Ivan’s view of life (even though the narrative disproves his flawed perspective on several occasions). He’s very secure in his nihilistic view of the world. And his inability to change anything about it, the fact that he's incapable of being loved and understood, or the idea that he was cared for at all. His pragmatism regarding that is because he’s witnessed firsthand how life contradicts and snuffs out hope, so Ivan decided to never subject himself to that kind of naivety again, living with such deep-seated feelings until it came back to bite him, and died thinking that this is just how things go, his emotions, shallow and meaningless always gets the better of him

[luneariaa]

ᯓ★٠ ࣪⭑ UNSPOKEN. ✧ KENJI S. { 𝐈 }.

✰ — PART 1 ; mentions of kenji having some deep; untold sadness, emi mention, the reader being the sunshine friend to kenji + having close relationship.

✰ — probably will have more two - three parts of the story! tried to fit in one part, but it doesn't work somehow ( ╥ω╥ ) to those who wanted to be tagged in the next future parts, feel free to comment or send me an ask <33 !! ✩₊˚. PART 2.

. dividers by @/strangergraphics ⛓ !!

GROWING UP, for almost his entire life, KENJI— regardless of the increase of popularity and fame, doesn't really have that much of friends. Does he even have them at this point? He doesn't really have anyone that he could actually rely on; even trusted fully.

Despite everything from the outside of one's possible perspective, he's still the lonely, sweet boy deep down. None has ever truly cracked his persona down and managed to bring out his true self, which a part of him is glad for some reason— but the other, not so much.

The attention that he has received all over the world doesn't really mean anything, not what he silently craved and secretly desperate for.

Companionship, someone who actually cares about his wellbeing as a whole despite his ongoing status.

Yes, of course, he loves the fact that he's able to accomplish something that's quite significant to him, at least— getting all of the attention that they think he truly deserved, but there will always be this one void within his heart; as if begging to be fixed with something that even he himself wasn't so sure about it.

His mansion may have everything that he ever needed, but it still feels bleak, somehow, no matter what he's trying to do. What's the point of having large spaces, when in the end, the mere silence will be his only company?

Kenji doesn't even realize it, but sometimes, he ended up just staring blankly at the empty gaps of his surroundings; feeling lost at the said moment.

His world has been nothing but simply revolving around his stardom life as much as the realization hits him; an endless, monochromatic-colored world that he tacitly faced alone with some fair, or unfair number of struggles.

"Must be a tough day today, yeah Ken?"

"You should take some more needed breaks, at least!" He swiftly got pulled out of his train of thoughts, eyes immediately glancing to the source of sound. This is his reality now, not the one that he keeps on unconsciously reminiscing of.

"Pushing yourself too hard wouldn't be too good for your health, y'know." A euphonious voice scolded him lightly, accompanied with a bright, albeit concerned grin.

Kenji now took notice of you standing by the doorway; your smile remained despite the visible apprehensive look that was directed towards him. Completely aware of the mere truth behind your words alone, he averts his gaze back elsewhere— cracking a small, yet almost forceful of a smile as if he's trying to ease down your concerns.

"Yeah, you got a point. It's just the usual, I guess," he scratches the back of his head while lazily slouching on the bed. "It's not me if I don't mope over some pointless stuff."

"Well, it's not that pointless if it bothers you." You exhale out, gradually pulling him out of the bed.

"Maybe we can try something for the day— maybe you wanted to play baseball for a bit? I'll watch 'cuz you know I suck at those."

He couldn't hold back the snort from escaping, which earned a disapproving pout from you, but nonetheless, you added further.

"Or we could just play around with baby Emi as always! Or both, I don't know.."

"Perhaps that could at least ease your mind for a bit..?"

He could clearly sense your efforts; chuckling as he knows that he doesn't have any other plausible choices, but to simply follow your lead without any complaints. When it comes to you, Kenji knew it would always be futile to try anything quite the contrary from it.

"That sounds nice, actually." A genuine smile, despite the hints of his exhaustion, tugged at the corner of his lips. Has he even noticed it himself on how easy it is for you to coax him out of his shell? "Playing with Emi sounds amazing."

Kenji admitted along with a smirk being present by now, replacing his previous smile while doing some mini stretches here and there.

"I know!" You merely giggled over his words, "Besides, I just know that the baby already misses you. I fed her earlier too, in case you're wondering!" His pretty, midnight-colored eyes seemed to brighten up after you finished speaking for a bit.

"At this rate, I think you're spoiling her a bit too much," he castigated facetiously, earning an eyeroll from you when one of his hands ended up atop of your head— giving it a playful ruffle.

"Well, what can I say.."

"She's just a cute, big baby."

His genuine smile returned in mere seconds, finding the whole idea to be quite endearing; causing for him to feel the warmth that's starting to blossom within his chest. He's totally aware of his whole responsibility at this point— unintentionally, yet welcoming the idea of becoming a father to the baby kaiju, now willingly to take care of her because she's one of the reasons that actually changed him for the better.

Throughout the whole conversation that the two of you have shared with one another, it seemed as if the burdens on his shoulders has been lifted away; the atmosphere becoming more comfortably lighter than before without you even realizing it yourself.

Kenji doesn't even know how, but your sole presence has something in particular that keeps him grounded, and he values you deeply for that.

Even with such mystery that's been shrouding around you, it never really bothered him that much; respecting your boundaries and taking an immediate notice on how you seemed to be uncomfortable with talking about your own past and parents, in a way. He assumed that something might have happened before, hence the vague details you kept telling him— no irritation present ever.

Maybe someday, you'll have the courage to tell him. But for now, you would rather keep it a secret.

@luneariaa. do not repost; reblogs are welcomed. all rights reserved.

[fulcrums501st]

silco is a great character. but if your love of silco causes you to hate on vi I’m gonna need you to reevaluate some things

like vi has every reason to hate silco all of which are valid for her to believe. yea she doesn’t get that silco actually cared for jinx. but like bro she was imprisoned?? and like? he killed her family??? why would she ever see him in any way either than that?? she doesn’t know about his political motivations and those don’t justify him trying to kill her family????

vi’s been in prison for years and obviously would assume that jinx became the way she is cuz of silco. and she isn’t even fully wrong to assume that cuz silco raised jinx for years and yea he did let her get to this point. like yea it’s complicated cuz of his own issues and his messed up ideology kinda make him incapable of being a good parent no matter how hard he tries. but vi ain’t giving him the benefit of the doubt and like why tf would your expect her to?? obviously we know that there was some jinx brewing beneath the surface of powder in act1. but how tf was vi supposed to have predicted this?? silco’s parenting undeniably contributed to who jinx became. so vi isn’t even wrong to believe this. not 100% right but not 100% wrong.

and like jinx is so different from vi’s perspective ofc vi is gonna 100% blame silco on that. and like she has a right to. like vi shows up to try and save her sister and silco tries to kill her and yaps about “freeing” jinx. like what is vi supposed to conclude from that other than silco is Mr. evil and a sister- stealer. like yes girl go blow up his factory.

“silco was there when vi abandoned powder” actually what tf are you talking about. vi was 15. experiencing a trauma no one eve should. she invisibly shouldn’t have hit powder but like I completely understand why she fricking did. understandable emotional reaction for a 15 yo. how are we still giving her shit about this?? plus she TRIES TO GO BACK TO POWDER. BUT IS PUT IN PRISON FOR 7 FUCKING YEARS. she walked off to cool off not abandon her sister.

also the point is that silco misunderstands jinx’s situation. he can only see vi “abandoning” jinx as the same betrayal that happened to him. when they’re completely different. silco’s perspective on vi’s motivations and “betrayal” could not be more inaccurate. it makes sense for him to believe that cuz again of his own trauma. but be fr rn he did not asses the situation correctly which is partly why jinx has such conflicting feelings on vi. yes silco was there for jinx, but not cuz vi abandoned her or bc vi was a terrible sister.

silco and vi both want what they think is best for jinx. what they think is best tho is completely incompatible. both of their perspectives are completely understandable and genuine. that’s why jinx feels this pull between the two of them. that’s what makes the dinner party scene so good. cuz neither of them are entirely in the wrong for believing what they do or for wanting what they do.

“silco was right, vi chose caitlyn over jinx”

if this is abt s2 then just no. never cite s2 again when talking about vi. never. Not in my vi arcane.

And even in s1 jinx asking vi to shoot Caitlyn was unfair and messed up as crap. like ofc vi wasn’t gonna do that she has fricking moral compass. vi is put in an impossible position.

silco was right about how vi is still holding out hope that jinx can go back to being the same innocent powder she remembers AND CAN YOU BLAME HER?! she hasn’t seen her sister in 7 YEARS?! she only remembers powder. the memory of powder was the only thing getting her through those 7 years. yeah silco is correct in this assessment but it doesn’t make vi’s hope invalid or selfish, just wishful and optimistic. again, powder was the only thing keeping her going. cuz vi has been separated from the world and the cruel reality of it for 7 fucking years. silco and VI’s perspective are both valid given their experiences.

“vi could never accept jinx, while silco loved jinx unconditionally”

ok and that’s great parenting on a paper but is also lwk part of the problem cuz he enables all of jinx’s messed up and self-destructive behaviors. his unconditional love overrides his capacity for good parenting and discipline. it’s part of what makes their father-daughter relationship codependent and toxic. also vi loves and cares for her sister sm. but her sister becoming a murderer is an insane thing to ask of her to accept. like jinx does so many messed up things in s1. we the audience know why jinx is acting the way she is. but vi has every right to be disturbed by her. like could you imagine being kidnapped and separated from your little innocent sister for 7 years and then coming back and the first thing you see her do is shoot at people and giggle?? all out of her own volition?? I would be a bit taken aback too. It would be weird if vi wasn’t. And even after all of that vi doesn’t give up on her. she literally says “I’m not going to abandon you again” (and do not fucking bring up s2 cuz that was NOT vi)

“vi created jinx” “no silco created jinx”

how tf is this still a discussion?? they both did and neither of them did. jinx was made from terrible circumstance. every single one of her life experiences contributes to who she became. her parents being murdered by enforcers. her living under systemic oppression. her childhood insecurity and feeling like she needed to prove herself to the group. vi encouraging her inventions. the incident. vi “abandoning” her. being raised by silco. killing silco. etc. there isn’t one event that “makes” jinx.

anyway. vi’s hatred of silco is valid given her perspective. and silco’s beliefs also make sense given how messed up he is and they are genuine. but I never wanna see a silco fan hating on vi ever again.

[dceasesd]

why juni ba’s the boy wonder has my favorite jason characterization of any contemporary comic run: a needlessly in-depth analysis (pt.3)

go check out part 1 and part 2 if you'd like! this is a long one, sorry guys.

if you haven't already i'd recommend you check out pt. 1 & pt. 2 (linked above), but if you haven't checked them out i've been going over some of the main things people have been criticizing ba's characterization for: 1. the typical boiling down of jason's character to "the angry one" 2. his lack of strategy going into the fight with the demon is out-of-character 3. the neighbor's kid interaction

alright, so this last point is purely based off of one page of the entire comic: the one where the child of one of jason's neighbors is dragged inside his home when his mother see's jason coming.

first off, i love this page. it might be my favorite page in the entire issue. everything about it is great. just thought i needed to say that.

anyway, there's some people who are seeing this page and reading it as "jason protects kids! that's one of his big things! why are they scared of him?"

here's the thing, though: the kid isn't scared of jason, the mom is. the kid is literally playing dress up as the red hood-- he's not scared of jason, if anything he's trying to replicate him. little kids dress up as their heroes all the time; why is this kid any different? it doesn't really make sense for the kid to dress up of something he's scared of (not everyone is as weird bruce wayne), especially a real person that could be a real threat rather than a concept. i doubt you see many kids in gotham dressing up as the joker or something, because that's just asking for trouble.

the dress-up honestly seems like a ploy for attention to me. the kid clearly knows that red hood lives in his building (which is honestly so funny. take off the mask jason you're giving you're position away (actually this is a really good instance for analysis but i'm determined to not go on a tangent)). if the kid knows red hood lives in his building, what better way to get his attention that dressing up as him and playing pretend? if the kid was scared of him, he wouldn't want to draw that sort of attention to himself. if he had a sort of hero-worshippy thing going on like i suspect, then he would want to get jason's attention. to sum it up,

it's the mom who pulls him away when jason nears, because she either a) perceives him as a threat, b) doesn't want her kid to try and replicate him even more, or, the most likely option, both! the kid isn't scared of him, but the mother believes they should be.

once again, we come back to the whole perception vs. reality theme i talked about in part one! we've come full circle, everyone!

when looking at the neighborhood's perspective of the red hood, ba gives us a few contradictory examples. there's the kid and the mother, obviously, but there's also a slew of other citizens who interact with him at the beginning of the issue, both in fear and camaraderie.

the unhoused man and the people outside of his building clearly have a familiarity and are comfortable with him, while the shopkeeper is terrified and literally has a banned poster on his wall featuring jason (i am so curious what he did to deserve that, if he even did anything at all). from this, it appears that jason's reputation teeters between fearful and familiar-- a sentiment that also colors jason's relationship with his family.

furthermore, this concept underscores just how lonely jason is-- one of the only good relationships he had in his current life was his fucking landlord, for gods sake, and he's dead.

i think it's important to note that jason doesn't respond to the friendly greetings from the men-- he could attempt to build camaraderie, the roots are there, but he chooses not to. he could work to try and show the mother that her son is safe with him, but he chooses not to. why? jason is obviously lonely (as ba states in the panel below) and he caves pretty easily when damian asks him for help (both of them are so desperate for human interaction its tragic). so why does he distant himself from the community?

obviously it is in part due to the vigilante lifestyle, but it is also jason's perception of himself and how he believes others perceive him, especially in regards to his family (ba is literally hitting readers in the head with that theme baseball bat).

he doesn't see that the kid with the mask looks up to him, all he sees is the mother pulling him away. he sees the banned poster in the store. and, as ba narrates, "he was sure he'd been forgotten about" by his family. utrh is jason's twisted way of attempting to reach out and connect with bruce, and obviously that doesn't work-- so he chooses loneliness over rejection.

like in part one, though, damian refutes this idea by describing bruce's perspective, showing how what jason believes differs from actuality. bruce hasn't forgotten about him and doesn't hate him, as he suspected, but instead harbors guilt over the situation and desires to make it better, which jason must come to understand to be able to open the locked door and begin to move past his trauma.

so, that's what the little kid in the red hood outfit looks like to me. i actually have a lot more i'd like to say about the boy wonder, especially in regards to the whole "door to my past life" thing and what ba does with lighting and blocking in his artwork, so i may do a little post on that as well! i was gonna try and shove it into this one, but i've run out of room! i hope you guys liked my analysis, if you'd like to chat about the boy wonder or any other comics, my dms, asks, and reblogs are happily open! thanks for reading! :)) <3

pt. 1 / pt. 2

[kirinblueko]

I've debated for a couple of days about whether to say something because I don't want to be overly political on here, a place where I can just enjoy the things I love. However, I feel like this is a topic on which I have a pretty personal view on, so here I am.

A disclaimer, I want to make clear that I am not pointing fingers or anything. I just want to put my thoughts out there so people can perhaps see a different perspective. English is not my native language (obviously). I tried to make myself clear and be courteous, but sometimes my language skill fails me, so please be gentle and know I do not wish to offend anyone.

It's about people flocking to red note as a reaction toward the tiktok ban. I am happy for people who had their first genuine interaction with people behind the Chinese fire wall, it's always beautiful when people from different culture communicate and learn from each other. Hell that's the reason why I am on this website. But I also can't help feeling sick with concern at how people disregard information warfare and missed the point that the problem has never been the Chinese people but the CCP government.

I am a Taiwanese. If you know anything about Taiwan and China's complicated history, you can probably imagine I have FEELINGS toward China. It's strong, and it's NEGATIVE. (I am not trying to represent all Taiwanese. This is just my own feelings.) I am relatively young, but even in my limited time alive, I've personally witnessed how the Chinese government bullied and oppressed my country. There are active attacks toward us, and it has been for years, just not YET in the traditional military sense. The information warfare is as real as ever and we, in Taiwan, don't have the defense of the language barrier. China spent an unimaginable amount of money every year on information warfare against Taiwan. Spreading misinformation and propaganda, buying out internet accounts and influencers. Planting agents. Anything you can and can't imagine. They are smart and cunning.

There is no such thing as a private company in China. Look up what happened to Ma Yun. If the country wants to, they can take anything from you, even the company you founded. The CCP government can and WILL monitor and control the discussion happening on any social software/application that's run by a Chinese company. They WILL manipulate the algorithm for propaganda. That is not an empty threat. They literally built a firewall around China so Chinese people can't access the internet freely. You treat them with humanity and courtesy doesn't mean that you will get the same treatment from them. CCP does not abide by your law. We all want to live in an idealistic world where people are kind and honesty is the default. I want to live in that world, too. But reality is cruel and playing dirty will get you far ahead of people playing by the rules.

I wish people in the US (and any other country that do not have to worry about being invaded, really) can realize how privilege it is to be a citizen of a wealthy and stable country that never have to worry about losing your identity just because your huge and rich neighbor says you belong to them. How privilege it is to be able to think China is not a threat, the government overreacted. I envy them. I envy their confidence in their country's future, that it won't disappear when they wake up the next day. I envy that they can still count on international society recognizing them as citizens of a independent country without hesitation and reserve.

I will never use TikTok (not even the US version) and RedNote. I will not install anything that I know has any relation to Chinese companies. Because I am worried for myself, for my family, and for my country. It's the least I can do as a defense as a single, insignificant Taiwanese. Seeing people jumping in voluntarily, giving CCP access to your personal information, makes me extremely anxious. I sincerely hope that there won't come a day when this decision backfires.

[loassbarbie]

shifting/loass & what works for ME.

DISCLAIMER: so everyone in the shifting/loass community has a different take on how the whole thing actually works. after a lot of pondering, this is my take. you don't have to agree <3. we all have different perspectives and that is beautiful. whatever works for you, works for you. this is just me rambling about my experience and what makes sense to me and my beliefs. (sort of) long post alert!!

according to neuroscientist Patrick Cavanagh, "we're not seeing reality. we're seeing a story that's being created for us".

our thoughts, if we think them over and over, and assign truth to them, become beliefs.

beliefs create a cognitive lens through which we interpret the events of our world and this can shape our perception of reality.

by changing our beliefs, we can change our perception of reality and create a new experience.

it isn’t about what happens only, but about how we perceive the world; our values, what truly matters to us, our self imposed limits, the way we see ourselves; our assumptions about ourselves, our limits, and about what we can do.

we don’t see the world as it is, but as we are. our concepts, our ideas of possible/impossible (most of which was taught to us, not something we ourselves came to a conclusion based on our own lives), our traumas, the people we surround ourselves with - all of these aspects shape our assumptions.

when I started changing my assumptions, my limiting beliefs; when I TOOK CONTROL and created my rules for myself - that’s when I started to become who I wanted to be.

i stopped allowing myself to be defined by my diagnosis (i have bpd). i am not a disorder. i am what I choose to be. i regulate my emotions, i take my meds, and i don’t let the negativity, or the emptiness, or the pessimism get under my skin or overstay their welcome. I just tell them to fuck off, because I am a human being capable of being mindful, like everyone else, and you know what that means? I choose where my focus goes.

what took me so long to realize was that in the material world, several things are outside of my control. and i could dwell on this thought and entertain it for hours, which is what i'd usually do. i would let my mood be defined by the world outside of me. that is the quickest, most efficient way to be miserable: to entertain my worries, to let a concerning thought take over instead of letting it flow away like a leaf that fell on a river stream that i'm calmly observing.

i personally believe that, as Schopenhauer and so many other authors say, the only person i can change in the material world is myself. i can make my mind a wonderful, beautiful place; when the law says it “reflects on the 3D”, IN MY PERSONAL VIEW - the one i found some peace in - it means that when I am happy within, i see the material world with brighter eyes. the “3D” world is full of beauty and it's full of chaos; i cannot take the chaos out of other people's lives for them. what I can truly do is choosing where my focus is gonna go: the bad or the good.

i keep my awareness in the good things in life. i choose to keep my attention in the beauty of the world and in the good in humanity, instead of over consuming negative content.

last but not least: i still believe there can be something metaphysical about manifesting. but what actually fulfills me is the notion that reality is perception. that I am pure consciousness, and that nothing exists outside of my own consciousness. there is only the here and the now. i can rejoice on that thought, or i can dread it. ultimately, whether or not that is good thing depends on where my focus is going right now. what are my mind's eyes seeing? what am i saying to myself? what do i believe?

to me, these questions were much more effective than any method. and still are, every day when i wake up and choose this lane and not another.