#he’s ‘smart’ but lacks critical thinking skills.

[saturnsorbits]

Watching the newer episodes of MHA is just making me dislike Deku more…

If I was Bakugo I’d be fucking fuming he got OFA, too.

[bivht]

Astrology Observations

😎Virgo moons are polite and respectful until you cross their boundaries. But people accuse them of being rude even when THEY were the ones put in a super uncomfortable situation

😎Aquarius and sagittarius placements are free-spirited. You tell them to do something and suddenly it’s an obligation rather than a choice and they don’t want to do it anymore lmao

😎Cancer risings and their low-key unhealthy relationship with food :0

😎Taurus is branded as the foodie of the zodiac but I think Sagittarius is the ultimate foodie

😎I like to see the moon sign as who a person is at their core. And the moon sign in your mercury persona chart is very insightful to how you express yourself.

for example:

Aries moon- expresses themselves passionately, perseverant, doesn’t give up easily, likes to keep things tidy, hard working, could be naggy, aggressive

Taurus moon- sweet and charming way of talking, logical, doesn’t like believe anything without concrete evidence, self care, words of affirmation, has definitive personal boundaries, slow down when you’re eating babes, when they’re toxic they’re some of the worst kinds of toxic

Gemini moon- domicile (home sign), real sweet talkers, witty, critical thinking skills on point, charmers, just the right amount of flirty, know how to talk themselves out of a situation, scatterbrained, PERFORMERS

Cancer moon- sweet, will remember your birthday, wants to include everyone, confused easily, overstimulated easily

Leo moon- humorous, dramatic af, will spread love to whoever gives them attention, gives their love to everyone, critical thinking not their forte

Virgo moon- domicile, polite, respectful, knows how to remain professional in awkward situations, hates the feeling of being stuffed full?? 7/10 full is sufficient for them, due to this they’re usually slim, “perfect” self expression, neat and tidy, expresses gratitude for every tiny thing, eats slowly, critical thinking on point, extremely private (esp. about relationships)

Libra moon- diplomatic, likes to agree, charming, soft and sweet but also vengeful, avoids confrontation, talks shit behind backs instead of addressing issue directly with person

Scorpio moon- opinionated, probably a coffee addict, death stares at people they dislike, private but not the same as virgo, virgos tell you things but won’t go into detail, scorpios just won’t tell you. so fiercely loyal, their charm is fatal

Sagittarius moon (detriment)- happy, seems like they’re always having fun, don’t take themselves too seriously, charmers, funny facial expressions, stuff themselves full. they DEVOUR food, tendency to overindulge so can be chubby cheeked, struggle to articulate themselves in a professional manner, hates being nagged, lacks critical thinking, they get bored easily so consistency is an ongoing struggle, can be flirty

Capricorn moon- logical, down to earth, realistic, charming, articulate, their smart little jokes, a bit reluctant to try new things but they will, loves feeling in control (more than anyone else), really patient, consistency is key, can be rude and dry, may make shy, insecure people shifty

Aquarius moon- they talk in a very self-important way, very recognisable tone of voice, an intellectual, research whore, likes to share their found knowledge with people, lecture people, full of themselves

Pisces moon (detriment)- ehhem OVERSHARER to the T, silly humour, a bit unreasonable as they don’t follow logic, poor critical thinking skills, either super empathetic or lacks any empathy, can be flirty

😎More of an assumption but Leo+Virgo (and/or taurus)= hating slimy and mushy textures like eggplant, okra, durian

😎Chiron in the 6h can be obsessed with hygiene and cleanliness. My brother has this and he will not eat from the same spoon or drink from the same straw as anyone else, not even his own mother. He’s criticized and scolded by his mother because of this

😎A mother with 10h mercury is scrutinizing their childrens’ speaking abilities and how they interact with people in public

😎Aries mars has a fit looking body

😎People with sun 1h in the mars persona chart can seem really athletic

😎Sometimes individuals with neptune hard aspects (esp. square) are accused of having a mental illness (bullied)

😎Mars square neptune is a really anxious placement. Their panic is so clear on their face. They get really nervous about things more than others. Their intentions are confusing and people find it hard to figure out what your intentions for your actions are

[eddwardharrison]

MOON HOW MANY BRAINCELLS DO YOU HAVE??

TSAMS RANT/ NOT HATE / ALL LOVE FOR THE SHOW

Moon, moon. Moon. Look at me. Look at me with your eyes. Answer something for me. ARE YOU STUPID?? YOU CLAIM TO BE SO SMART AND YET YOUR LACK OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS HAVE RENDERED YOU THE STUPIDEST CHARACTER ON THE SHOW.

He never seems to learn basic emotional structures and it angers me beyond belief. You have Ruin AT YOUR DOORSTEP saying “Hey I’m going to help the world just for a minute by roasting my blueprints over a flame” and then also saying “Hey, yeah, so…if I tell you anything…I’m going to be killed.” AND MOON’S RESPONSE TO THIS IS “OKAY CRYPTIC ASSHOLE.” SHUT UPPPP AND LISTEENNN RUIN IS IN DANGER, HE’S BEING HONEST WITH YOU, HE /WANTS/ TO HELP, HE COULD BE SUCH A FUCKING ALLY AND YOU AREN’T DOING SHIIIIT WITH THAT. COME ON!!! Eclipse got this SAME TREATMENT WITH NEW MOON WHEN HE BEGGED HIM FOR HIS HELP.

Moon’s are just apathetic anti-empathy asshole and I cannot be proven wrong. (I do not actually think this its just an angry statement)

I understand Ruin is a sore spot but you have been shown time and time again that all Villains have a soft spot and they have secondary motives that are hidden away behind their villain ego. Eclipse wanted to have control over his own life, Killcode wanted a second chance to help people, Bloodmoon didn’t want to be used anymore, Ruin is just trying to survive, Solstice wants to liberate Sun from his 2 year torment, Nexus just wanted his brother back, EVERYONE HAS A SECONDARY MOTIVE. And thus for, EVERYONE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD AND MAYBE EVEN TURNED AROUND TO THEIR BETTER SIDE. ECLIPSE DID (no thanks to ANYONE except for Earth.) and he was the OG villain that tormented them for HALF THE SHOW! He, as of now, is the ONLY character that came 🤌 THIS CLOSE to the most RADICAL change TSAMS has ever faced (See Lord Eclipse for example) And if ECLIPSE turned around, with Sun and Moon’s help, EVERYONE COULD’VE BEEN TURNED AROUND. Solstice doesn’t even have a DARK MOTIVE! He just wants to save Sun from all the pain he endures every day! Nexus just went emo because he’s mourning his brother which is VALID??? His entire life has just been not his to control and so seeing the only thing Nexus chose to forever care about get stripped from him IS TOTALLY TRAUMATIZING AND A LITTLE VALID FOR A WHOLE MENTAL SNAP.

Maybe if Solar GOT OFF HIS ASS and DID SOMETHING ABOUT THIS instead of trying to KILL HIM, Nexus could be good too! And don’t get me wrong, I was so happy when he tried…but my smile DROPPED when he decided “We have to kill him.” NOOOOO DAMN IT NOOOOO THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS NOOOOOOOO!!!! YOU ARE ALL A BUNCH OF TRAUMATIZED ROBOTS AND YOU NEED TO HELP EACH OTHER LIKE ONNEESSS!!

ugh but back on topic

Ruin is the most honest character in the show. I’m being so serious right now. Yes, I am holding a straight face. BECAUSE HE IS. He only lied for months on end because he was forced into lying to survive, but his intentions are all genuine and he just wants to stay alive and not die like all of his friends did before him. He is a sole survivor and he cannot let his guard down during his whole “Virus Infection” act. Ever since he was “fixed”, he had a reason to not act anymore and he could show his full genuine side while still lying because HE’S STILL VERY MUCH IN DANGER! Not only that but his vile acts like DESTROYING 5K UNIVERSES was in the name of saving TRILLIONS OF OTHERS! Yes, it’s a heavy price, but those tough decisions are things people with that kind of power have to make.

Examples: Old moon sacrificing himself for Killcode, Sun blasting Eclipse at the price of his body and almost his life, Sun trying to kill Eclipse that one time to save his family, Nexus deciding to nearly kill his family for the sake of Solar, Solstice protecting Ruin from Nexus, etc.

I’m not saying Ruin is necessarily a good person, when you make those decisions and you act the way you need to to survive, you aren’t going to be a pacifist. But I have confidence in saying that not a single person in this show is a saint or completely innocent…other than dazzle and jack ‘o moon… (I love you guys <33) But putting them all together to compare and contrast, Ruin is a far better person than all of these characters simply because his intentions are pure, and it’s simply to stay alive and often times also help others stay alive. When he first studied eliminating universes, he knew Solar would be sacrificed. He says he tried EVERYTHING he could to prevent this. He looked up how to avoid it, if it was possible to avoid it, even if there was a way to bring him back after death. He found nothing, and had to make the decision to go through with his plans anyways, because he HAD to.

(also I find it funny everyone was so caught up in trying to bring him back and running into dead ends, crying and sobbing pver it with no leads…and then Eclipse in the back goes “hey guys so Solar is coming back…you’re welcome. I’m dipping now. Bye.”)

Throughout following Ruin’s lore…and from experience of depicting and eating away at psychoanalyzing ECLIPSE of all characters, I am confident in knowing what I know about Ruin. EVER SINCE HE WAS CURED I KNEW THAT BITCH WAS LYING!!! AND THEN ECLIPSE KNEW IT TOO. AND I WAS LIKE “YEAH YEAH ECLIPSE BEAT HIS ASS GET IT GET IT GET IT!!!” And thus for I am prideful in what I know for a (opinionated) fact

Ruin is completely telling the truth right now, he has always wanted to and he always wanted to try. He’s tired of acting but he has no other choice. He wants to help, but his job isn’t done. His motive right now? I’m really not sure. Maybe he’s destroying all evidence of his knowledge as we see with his blueprints before allowing himself to die, or maybe he has a bigger purpose.

My predictions are very iffy, but this is something to think about: Maybe because of what Eclipse did for Solar, he may now believe his own universe could be saved. Just an idea, though.

Ruin cares for the celestial family, he really does. It more than likely reminds him of the bonds he lost. And in such a mourned idea, he has grown attached to them from afar. He’d hate to see them be torn apart as he was once was.

So…Moon…if you’d kindly…think….with that…big, BIG brain of yours….I would love if you developed some empathy for once and maybe tried to help Ruin. Maybe share some of your “brotherly love” you so generously let JUST Sun have. Just a thought….or…y’know…maybe you could just get another “what if ther was a Good Ruin in VRCHAT?!” episode. Because that seems to be what Moon’s do best. Replace rather than fix.

Hahah. I’m hilarious.

Fuck you, Moon.

[lavandermix]

"Timmy Fenton AU"

I've been thinking about this AU for a while and since I've finished the basic design of the main characters, I wanted to share it.

This is an idea of what it would be like if Timmy had been abandoned with the Fenton's at the age of 5. The story is still half in my head but I'm leaving the most important parts as a future reference:

I am using part of the chronology of the premiere dates of the series, so, Clement (Timmy's mother) is 3 years older than Maddie (Danny's mother). Even so, Maddie married and had children before Clement.

(Did you know that according to Google, Timmy's parents are named Clement and Edgar? So sad).

Timmy's mother and Danny's mother are sisters, Clement from a young age resented her younger sister for being smart and skilled in engineering, she made fun of her passion for ghosts and criticized her marriage to Jack although she was also envious of their success in their career and marriage. On the other hand Maddie stopped paying attention to her sister and although she tried to keep in touch, she stopped receiving responses when she had her daughter, the last she heard from her sister was 5 years before when she announced her pregnancy to the family and gloated that her daughter would be better than Jazmine (and daniel).

Timmy has suffered abuse and neglect from his parents for as long as he can remember, causing him various traumas and disorders, including dyslexia, anxiety, anxious attachment, selective mutism and ADHD.

Timmy is learning retarded because his parents never took him to school.

The day Timmy is abandoned, he is taken out of his bed at dawn and put in the car with only his backpack and only one change of clothes, he changed in the car, so he didn't have his pink cap anymore.

Timmy's hair is a little long and unkempt because his parents kept forgetting to take him to the hair salon.

They literally left him on the Fenton's doorstep with his backpack and a letter where Clement asked (demanded) her to take care of him since she and her husband were going on a cruise and didn't want to take timmy with them.

Danny at first doesn't understand why an unknown boy who is supposed to be his cousin is now staying at his house, but seeing how sad Timmy looks, he adopts him as his little brother and proposes to take care of him.

Jazz worries about Timmy but prefers to leave the “recovery” work to his parents.

Maddie and Jack first try to locate Timmy's parents, but when they can't find anything for a month, they decide that the best thing for Timmy is to adopt him themselves.

In this AU Timmy doesn't meet Cosmo and Wanda until the Volcano Island adventure.

I haven't thought about if Timmy will have friends at Amity Park yet, but at the beginning he has to receive special education plus extra classes with Jazz for reinforcement.

Timmy's skin is slightly pale due to the lack of sun exposure from being indoors most of the time.

I want to make this a fanfic in the future, but I don't have any publication date yet, anyway if anyone wants to know more, feel free to ask me questions or drop me a message!

[grahambaham]

Something that has always annoyed me is the habit of many fans to declare that a villain of a certain piece of media is in the right when they are most definitely not.

A few examples that I can think of right now are Thanos, Magneto and Doom. What. The. Fuck.

First of all, Viktor Von Doom barely even has anything to be right about. The guy’s goal in life is to get as powerful as possible and use that power to rule the world or whatever, prove to everyone he’s smarter than Reed Richards (he is not) and to inflate his own ego as much as is psychically possible. Though that last one could be a result of the first two I guess. He basically wants the basic ass stuff all villains want, even if it’s not what they’re focusing on specifically. There is nothing for him to even be right about, my guy. Alright so the wanting to rule the world thing isn’t for his ego, though it helps. It is because he has a fucking god complex and thinks he’s the only one who can truly do it and properly protect the Earth from any future attacks. Everything about Doom basically boils down to his ego.

Now, I understand how Megneto, otherwise known as Max Eisenhart (Erik Magnus Lehnsherr is just an alias), can be a sympathetic villain. He’s gone through a lot and when very simplified his goal seems fairly noble. Dude just wants to protect mutants, make sure they’re safe and living their best lives or whatever. The problem is that he believes mutants are the superior species and treats humans how you might treat a mosquito. He wants to eradicate them completely, and so the world would be there for mutants to rule over and live happily ever after or whatnot. Any of that sound familiar to you? Yeah… Anyway, the point is that even though we can understand how he might’ve come to the point where he’s willing to do such horrible things, that does not mean he is right at all. People seem to think that the humans deserve it for the way they’ve treated mutants, even though there are a lot of good ones who most certainly don’t do that shit AND so many of them are children too. Because you do know that Max would legit murder even the little toddlers? Not for any reason other than ‘they’re human’. So yeah, he was not in the right. He was not the good guy all along or whatever. He is a villain and a horrible person who has also been treated horribly their whole life. Those two things can both be true. Having a bad childhood does not excuse your shitty actions though.

Last and certainly least we’ve got Thanos. First of all, that fucker did not give a shit about overpopulation or whatever in the comics. Bro wanted to court Death so he went around murdering people and destroying planets to impress her. Not very noble of him, I gotta say. Now as for the MCU, his goal is in fact to kill half the universe so more people could get more resources because he’s seen the way the poor live because of that lack of food and other things essential to living. Now, instead of using that infinite fucking power that he had in his hands to create more shit to give to everyone or, I don’t know, anything else? They’re called INFINITY stones for a reason? This fucker instead decided to just commit genocide real quick. I genuinely believe the only people who think this loser was right are actual children. Twelve years old at the most. Because there is no way in holy hell that grown men and women think Thanos was good and smart to use the INFINITE POWER IN HIS HANDS to just KILL A BUNCH OF PEOPLE INSTEAD OF SAVING MORE BY JUST WISHING FOR MORE RESOURCES OR FUCKING WORLD/UNIVERSE PEACE OR WHATEVER THE FUCK? Thanos is secretly twelve years old and hasn’t gained any critical thinking skills yet, I swear to fucking god.

So yeah, I guarantee whichever villain you think was right was not in fact right, they’re simply easy to sympathise with or their cause is. But if their way of making that sympathetic idea come true is murdering/torturing/conquering etcetera, then THAT MEANS THEY AREN'T RIGHT AT FUCKING ALL.

Good night.

[valenciags]

Remnants of Hope AU

'The 'Remnants of Hope' are considered the last remaining of the sane Hopes Peak Academy students that are not in our care. It is this foundations mission to find and extract this miniature squadron from danger. We assume one of the lower level windows panelling was more rusted than initially thought before it had been fixed for the 'Killing Game'. These teenagers could be one of our last chances. Do not let their blood ridden figures lead to a violent encounter. They are simply surviving the best they can in that war zone.

Owari Akane:

Ultimate: Gymnast

Height: 5"9

Weight: 59kg/123lbs

Age: 17

Based on current cameras we have managed to reprogram for our purpose, Akane is plenty violent and makes up for a lack of proper critical thinking skills with her inane durability. She has no visible loss of body parts unlike her current compatriots, yet is littered with scars. Mainly more akin to a bear claw. Her strength is not to be questioned, in her files, the only people who have beaten her on hand to hand are Oogami Sakura and Nidai Nekomaru.

Sonia Nevermind

Ultimate: Princess

Height: 5"8

Weight: 50kg/110lbs

Age: 16

Additional Information - Home Country - Novoselic

Based on our surveillance, Sonia seems to be the least physically violent. She will adorn a weapon every once in a while and bear no fear in stepping in for her compatriots. This loyalty has resulted in the loss of her right arm from just below her elbow. She has sustained a temporary knee injury, slightly altering her ability to break into full sprint, this does not seem to bring her down. Her high spirits had made her a defacto leader and planner.

Souda Kazuichi

Ultimate: Mechanic

Height: 5"6

Weight: 64kg/141lbs

Age: 17

By far, this one is the least violent. From our surveillance, verbally, he's a menace. Otherwise he's secluded. His few attempts at heroism have had him majorly injured, losing his left leg from mid thigh down and almost complete loss of feeling in his right ankle. Don't underestimate the smarts. While brash verbally, he can build up a gun along with ammo and use it as quick as need be. He does not move now unless it's unquestionably needed.

Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko

Ultimate: Yakuza

Height: 5"1

Weight: 43kg/94lbs

Age: 16

Don't be fooled by his height or baby face. If his name rings a bell that's because it should. While one of the two destined to be a leader one day, he leaves it to the princess in exchange for more of a ranged amount of violence. Keeping range with mainly guns and ammo made by the mechanic has resulted in him being hurt the least, but he has lost an eye due to a rogue 'Remnant of Despair'. Which one is the culprit is unknown as of now.

We have trust you can extract these four safely and put them in the secure hands of the 'Killing Game' survivors. Or more, our hands.

Good luck.

- Kirigiri Kyoko'

[ourladyofmaplemurder]

Riverdale is Bad and I’m So Smart

So, I was going to make a response video to Friendly Space Ninja's video on the finale...but honestly, there are just other things I'd rather do with my time...

I did, however, write a script for the video. You can read that here if you wish.

The short version is that people who talk about art the way he does are fucking idiots and I'm tired of being nice about it. If you don't know what you're talking about, either figure it out or shut the fuck up. **And let me clarify: There is a big difference from expressing a personal opinion to friends and standing on authority with a huge platform to provide "critique". Huge difference. Not understanding or not liking the finale is totally valid, (It wasn't necessarily what I would have done with the final season) but what makes me angry about this guy in particular is that he positions himself as an authority on media criticism and analysis. He then provides the shittiest fucking examples of both. I can't stand it.

Hi. So. Our dear friend Friendly Space Ninja put out another video about Riverdale. This time, he took it upon himself to discuss the finale. Anything for a click, right, buddy?

Well, he made all sorts of claims about the finale and the final season. He gave his thoughts on the show as a whole. And all of it, dear viewer is entirely worthless. Strong statement, I know, but hear me out.

He didn’t watch the latter half of season 5, nor season 6 at all. He didn’t even watch all of season 7. He watched the first few episodes with specific expectations and when those were not met, he skipped to the end only to be baffled by its conclusion, claiming that it was all meaningless and even going as far as to “explain” quote unquote that Angel Tabitha’s rework of the timelines erases the other shows that Roberto Agurrie Sacasa has made. This, by the way, demonstrates such a lack of understanding of the surface level plot, that I can’t even respond to it.

For these reasons, I will not be refuting his assertions as I did in my last video response to him. It’s simply not worth it. His video is so deeply stupid that picking it apart would be giving it more credit than it deserves.

I was very diplomatic in my last response video, but I really don’t wish to be this time. I really don’t think it’s worth it.

However, I would like to say a few things, just to give you a sense of why I am so fucking angry.

Firstly, I’d like to talk about the work of Barnett Newman. In particular, I’d like to talk about Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III. The first time I saw this painting, or even just paintings like it, I scoffed and said, “Why is something like this in a museum? It’s stupid. It’s just red, yellow, and blue. Is this even art?” Years later, however, I learned an interesting story about this painting.

In 1986 the painting was vandalized in an anti-Semitic attack. Daniel Goldreyer attempted to restore the painting in 1991. Should be easy, right? I mean, it’s just three colors.

However, the effort proved utterly unsuccessful as the depth of the color was incredibly difficult to replicate. The skill required to create this painting was far more than the untrained eye could perceive.

The first time I saw this painting, I did not understand it and condemned it as stupid because I was an arrogant prick.

And I’m sure hundreds of thousands of people who also don’t understand painting would agree with such a dismissive sentiment.

But just because I have millions of people agreeing with me doesn’t mean I know anything. It just means a lot of people don’t understand painting. That’s it.

Friendly Space Ninja’s video on Riverdale is the equivalent of someone looking at this painting and calling it stupid without understanding anything about abstract expressionism, painting techniques, and the works of Neoplasticism that this series was responding to.

It is watching Sunset Boulevard and complaining there is no color.  

It is the equivalent of an incel giving you dating advice.

But let me address Mr. Space Ninja directly and I won’t use any metaphors because I want this to be understood.

More than making a stupid response to Riverdale, your crime, Mr. Space Ninja, is arrogance. You look at a piece of art, you are utterly baffled by it, as you yourself say in the video, and you assume that the art must be the stupid one. It couldn’t be that it’s going over your head. No. It must be meaningless because you can’t grasp its meaning.

This is very troubling and also quite sad.

Though, I suspect you have no interest in providing useful insight into the works you discuss. It’s far more lucrative to provide inflammatory confirmation bias and, at the end of the day, that’s all you’re really doing. And to be clear, that is an insult. Wouldn’t want you to miss that. <3

Now, I also watched Alex Meyer’s video on the finale as well out of curiosity, as he also has a large platform. I haven’t watched his other videos because they seemed overtly negative about the show and I figured they wouldn’t be even remotely enjoyable. Curiosity won out though and honestly, though the sacred cow he is mocking is mine and thus, I disagree…I can’t fault him for this. There was a lot of care and thought that went into this. Even if he thinks the show is silly (and it certainly is) there’s a clear affection for it.

Not only that, but towards the end of the video he says this: “Time will be kind to your show. And all the chucklefucks like me with our kneejerk reactions? That's all going to fade away."

He also acknowledges the fact that there might be more to it than just the silliness. He doesn’t talk about it because he prefers to joke about the show rather than analyze it. He’s a jester, not a scholar. I could never fault him for that.

But I also don’t think anyone in their right mind would consider this critique. This is a comedy bit. And I’m not saying that comedy is less important or valuable than analysis. Not at all. It’s just different.

Anyway. Friendly Space Ninja. Fuck you.

[sansacherie]

I was on a Aria fan blog because I hate myself and wanted to see what they were posting (the Sansa obsession is real like every other post was literally just made to hate on Sansa to uplift Aria) when I saw a few posts about Elia and, I shit you not, this person was arguing that Elia and Ratgar were totally chill with each other and PolITiCal ParTnErS and Elia totally knew about him crowing L/yanna as QLB and supported it because Elia must have thought it was unfair L/yanna couldn't participate in the tourney cause she was a woman (which lmaooo). I just.....I mean....wow. Never thought I lived to see the day people try to Cool Girl-ify Elia but here we are. They weirdly claim it's because they don't want her to be seen as a "victim" so instead they're......depicting her as a doormat with no self-respect who would be fine with her husband's nasty behavior and being humiliated up and down because I guess that's better???? They also argued that Jon would in no way be a threat to Aegon or Rhaenys' places in the line of succession so Elia would be chill about that too (which again lmaooooo). I am amused at the lack of any and all critical thinking, media literacy, or reading comprehension skills but am also flabbergasted and want to start swinging.

Hey.

The people who seriously believe Elia would have defended Rhaegar's completely inane actions are very young or very dumb.

"All the smiles died." There is literally nothing, not a whisper, ZILCH that Elia knew what was going to happen at that tourney or that she approved it. Wasn't there an artwork that was commissioned by George where he approved of the artist's depiction of Elia sitting stiffly in the stands while Rhaegar pissed off the North, Stormlands, & Dorne? Unless they think she was pretending?

And that's such a nonsensical argument for Elia being OK with it. To be blunt, Lyanna not being able to participate openly wasn't Elia's problem. Lyanna not being able to participate openly is not justification for Rhaegar to publicly insult his wife like that - because that is exactly what it would have looked like to outsiders. Not to mention the offence to Lyanna - its kind of a wonder that Rickard didn't rush the wedding after so he could see Lyanna safely wed & have the protection of the title 'Lady Baratheon', but he was probably afraid of particular rumors starting if she fell pregnant too quickly. Ugh...

If I was Elia I would not breathe easy unless I knew that Jon Snow was

a) fostered away from court with people that were unfailingly loyal to me. And unfailingly kind as well. Being smart doesn't require being a monster *cough* Tywin

b) entered the Night's Watch or the Faith when he came of age. Is it fair? Not really- but it's a kinder fate than the one Rhaenys got.

But yeah the people who cry over how its wrong to accept that Elia was a victim dress it up as empowerment, when really it's all just about protecting Rhaegar. If Elia was in on it, then Rhaegar can't be the villain! Are they going to argue next that Aerys was justified in murdering Brandon & Rickard the way he did because he actually knew of Rhaegar's plans & that it was super importance he impregnante the teenage girl he kidnapped/ran off with? Be for real.

Anyway I would just avoid those blogs or be like me, get yourself blocked by them as many as you can looool

[nokingsonlyfooles]

The Dark Secret of Kung Fu Panda, Part 2...

...if you're coming from a place of Western tropes and values, you need to read Shifu as a shitty teacher, or the story doesn't scan.

Oh, and also a shitty parent, a shitty student of kung fu, and a shitty student of Buddhism.

(Sorry, little dude.)

I've already unpacked the teacher part, but all these things are a result of trying to write a story set in China, that both Chinese and Western audiences will understand. They did very well! But there's always a few folks who aren't able to keep up with a complex read like this - and they don't go, "Oh well, this story wasn't for me," they get mad at the characters and the writers.

So! Let's talk more about kung fu, Buddhism, child development, tropes and subversions - and whether that shiny piece of paper Tai Lung was after actually meant something or was just an elaborate troll.

I like to go to TVTropes and read the Headscratchers. For a storyteller like me, it's like playing Narrative Minesweeper. Let's see, did anyone have trouble with this plot point? (click) Ah, not too bad. What about this one? (click)

(Check that link! This is the page for Kung Fu Panda 2! People are really upset about this!)

KABOOM! Oh, man. Okay. Let's plant a flag in that and try to figure out why it blew up so bad.

Something I've seen across stories is that audiences have a really hard time noticing that they are being lied to when characters or narrators say one thing and do another. I think it's a mirage coughed up by the suspension of disbelief required to consume a story in the first place. We see a lot of villains who are supposed to be criminal masterminds, yet to make the plot go they have to behave like utter idiots. We're willing to put up with that, as long as it seems like they're supposed to be brilliant in-universe.

Then Rian Johnson throws a character like Miles Bron at us. The whole point of Miles is we're supposed to roll with the "in-universe mastermind" tropes, but only up to a point. The message of the film rests on the audience's ability to snap out of it, pick up their critical thinking skills and go, "Yeah, this guy never did one smart thing. Just a lot of audacious things, because he's too sheltered and dumb to understand the consequences."

But if you check the Headscrachers for Glass Onion (and if you care to look at any right-wing critiques of the film), you'll find a lot of people groping for reasons Miles is smart, actually. Maybe Blanc just called him dumb to get a rise out of him! Maybe he's smart socially but dumb with business! Or vice-versa! Maybe the film is badly-written!

No, he is very dumb. Truly. And I don't think the film is badly-written. But some people just blow right trough a sign reading "STOP RIGHT HERE, THIS TROPE IS BEING SUBVERTED, THE DETOUR IS THIS WAY" stagger off the path, and wind up dead in a ditch. Metaphorically speaking.

The above Troper - who is upset by Tai Lung's lack of a redemption arc, while expecting a nuanced story where the bad guys aren't all bad - has failed to detect a nuanced story where the good guys aren't all good.

In China, audiences need a stop sign that reads "Actually, the brilliant teacher is still learning and can do even better." This isn't too jarring, especially given the relationship between Oogway and Shifu. Shifu admits Oogway is a better teacher than him, and smarter than him. Even when he doesn't understand the lesson and loses hope of ever understanding it, he doesn't blame the turtle, he blames himself for just not getting it, and prepares to clean up his mess the best way he knows how. For his part, Oogway was clearly trying to get some hard lessons into Shifu's head - up to and including, "You don't actually need me to guide you down the path, you need to start looking around and trying to understand it for yourself..."

"Bye-eeee!"

Oogway is teaching in accordance with Theravada Buddhism, which is basically the philosophical equivalent of trying to get the dog to notice you've dropped the bacon on the ground and he's not gonna get anything by sniffing your fingers.

Tai Lung's return is an emergency situation, and if Shifu's not careful he'll be trying to reach enlightenment from the Spirit Realm (which does seem doable, given that Oogway continues to train and meditate himself). So Oogway leaves Shifu a $50, says, "You will have to find bacon without me," and buggers off. Permanently. And you know what? After three films, it works!

"Ah, you have finally mastered your Pride. Never stop learning, my most stubborn student!"

On the other hand, a Western audience has much less patience for jerk-ass teachers - and while they do have experience with Trickster mentors, it's much harder for them to see where Oogway is coming from, and why he nopes out instead of just being honest when it's important! They need a much bigger stop sign that says, "SHIFU IS ACTUALLY A SLOW STUDENT AND A BAD TEACHER AND OOGWAY HAS BEEN DESPERATELY TRYING, AND FAILING, TO CORRECT THIS PROBLEM FOR DECADES." But that's unnecessary and nonsensical in China. What we ended up with is much more subtle and open to interpretation. Some people decided to interpret it as, "Oogway's a troll, Shifu's an idiot, Tai Lung got a raw deal, nobody ever admits any of this, and this movie is stupid."

It's true, nobody ever gets called a troll or an idiot - that would be incredibly disrespectful in China, so that's a nonstarter - so you have to draw your own conclusions based on what they do. We see Shifu having a lot of difficulty in picking up what Oogway is laying down. He trusts Oogway implicity and knows there is always some kind of wisdom being imparted, but he gets impatient and tries to speed up the lesson, or he grabs for the most obvious interpretation and runs, or he just gives up and falls back to something he understands a little better.

Like when he gets sick of waiting for Oogway to blow out the candles and get to the point and he douses all of them with a cool move. Oogway is modeling the behaviour he'd like to see - Shifu really needs to slow down and learn patience. But Shifu responds as if the lesson is, "My Master needs help blowing out candles!" which is just silly, but he's going too fast and not paying attention.

Now watch Po listen to Oogway... and watch Oogway listen to Po! Oogay doesn't run in and go, "We don't have time for this! Tai Lung's coming! Get your shit together!" He lets Po set the pace, reflects back his feelings, and offers a little nudge. Which Po absorbs and thinks about at his own pace, instead of pushing to understand everything as fast as possible right now. Ideally, that's how it should go, but with Shifu this approach has about as much impact as boinking croutons off a brick wall.

So it's not too difficult to imagine that Shifu let his pride get the better of him in educating Tai Lung, while ignoring multiple nudges from his own teacher, because he was just too focused on his ultimate goal and going too fast.

In this case, his ultimate goal was a shiny piece of paper his Master rolled up and stuck in a cool-looking temple, all to give some future student a nudge to help them understand, "Self-worth isn't earned or bestowed in this way, it is intrinsic." And Shifu focused on proving his worth as a teacher by trying to turn out a student who was worthy of the scroll!

"Son, I am beginning to suspect you just ain't right in the head."

How can a friend and teacher manage this without stepping off the path of Theravada Buddhism, which a Chinese audience will recognize and expect to remain consistent? The only thing to do is back off, give your student some room to screw up, and nudge him again when he's open to listening.

Unfortunately, that took a very long time. Decades. In the meantime, Tai Lung grew up expecting to make his father proud by earning the scroll.

"What do you MEAN I spent my whole life training and I'm STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH?"

There is something that I was taught explicitly, because I learned how to teach preschoolers: it is super easy to get kids to believe your love is conditional and dependent on their ability to get good grades and perform. Like, you can swear up and down that you love your child no matter what, but if you lose your shit and take them to Disneyland when they make Student of the Month, the kid is going to draw their own conclusions. You know how Tai Lung complains about how hard Shifu drove him to train? You can do that with praise just as easily as with discipline. More easily, sometimes.

In China, that's a perfectly acceptable way to teach a child, no further explanation necessary. In the West, not so much, but the writers can't hit us over the head with how wrong it is because in China, it's fine. So we have to watch and pay attention to how they act.

In the flashbacks, we never see Shifu being anything but loving and supportive, even when Tai Lung rips off a piece of his moustache and causes him obvious pain.

We never see the leopard boy eat all of his dad's bamboo furniture and cause a freakout (presumably followed by apologies on both sides). Young Shifu seems to have two modes of parenting and teaching: "I'm proud of you" and "Wow! Great job! I'm extra proud of you!" the second of which is reserved for punching and kicking real good. If that's all his dad seems to want from him, and the solution to every problem is to train harder and punch and kick better, it's possible Tai Lung's first experience with real failure is not getting the Dragon Scroll. You know, the thing his dad named him after.

His lack of experience with failure is evident in his reaction; he has no emotional maturity, he's like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. Shifu taught him how to punch and kick real good, and did not teach him how to deal with failure, frustration, and a lack of outside validation. That's because Shifu himself is super bad at all those things!

Kung fu is not just punching and kicking and going as hard as you can, it is listening and adapting and approaching situations with open-minded humility. When Shifu rolls up and presents his first student like an art project to be graded, Oogway knows he done messed up. All he can do is nudge them away from a lesson neither one of them is ready to learn yet, and back off.

"Ultimately, my stubborn student, this is my failure, but I'm not sure how to resolve this situation. And your kid is a ticking time bomb, do you not even see that?"

Unfortunately, Shifu's flawed teaching method has resulted in a student who knows nothing but punching and kicking, so all he can do is punch and kick. Real good. "Laying waste" to the village was a late add, to help the audience understand how badly Tai Lung melted down, but it makes perfect sense in this context. If he's not getting the validation he needs for his skill, he'll beat up the whole Valley trying to prove he's the best. And when he gets back to the Jade Palace, no, somehow he has still not punched and kicked hard enough to get what he's after, so he tries to beat up the people standing in his way. Maybe that's how you prove yourself worthy of the scroll!

Alas, it was not. And with a student too misguided and dangerous to teach - yet who still might be able to learn, and help Shifu learn - pausing his rampage for a few decades to allow Shifu some more time to get a clue was the best option Oogway had.

Thank heaven for plot devices!

It turns out, Shifu is capable of improving, through immense pain and suffering. After his failure with Tai Lung, Shifu's despair leads him to fall face first into teaching Tigress with Oogway's method...

...That is, at least he backs off and lets her learn she's going to get no validation from the outside, so she stops looking for it. That's enough to keep her from having a total meltdown when she doesn't get what she wants - it's not a betrayal, it's just par for the course. She goes off by herself, because she's learned to solve her own damn problems (as have the rest of the Five, who follow her), and she almost gets them all killed, 'cos Shifu still doesn't know how to teach humility.

It takes him a few movies - he expects to learn everything through hard work and suffering and so, inevitably, he does.

Just to hammer home how badly Shifu messed up, and how fundamentally flawed Tai Lung's understanding of kung fu is, when Po just hands him the scroll, Tai Lung doesn't get it.

Po is a Mahayana Buddhist. He always tries to enlighten his enemies. When they make it clear they're not ready for it, he'll do what he can to keep them from screwing up everyone else's chance to learn.

So Tai Lung gets yeeted direct to the Spirit Realm. But, it is possible to keep learning in the Spirit Realm, as Oogway and Kai show us in the third film. We just don't see Tai Lung again until the animated series, 'cos no matter how cute he is, he's not the protagonist.

Also, I think the writers can't help but noticed how badly Tai Lung's arc landed with some audience members. There is no good way to address that in under two hours of film. Look how long it took me to unpack it in text!

In the end, the Dragon Scroll isn't meant to be useless, or an elaborate troll from a Trickster archetype. It's a nudge in the right direction. For Po and Shifu, once they slowed down and thought about it, it landed. Tai Lung just wasn't there yet, and showing him that the scroll was nothing but a shiny piece of paper wouldn't have gotten him there, no matter when it happened. But respect to the Dragon Warrior for trying, that's just how he rolls. He's not wrong to try, but Oogway's also not wrong about enlightenment not being a thing to teach.

That's why ya boi gets Oogway's staff, and Shifu ends the film series still needing a little more time to learn.

[the-starry-seas]

My fellow Leverage fan! I have a question! Star Wars (specifically TCW era) Leverage au, who are you putting in which role on the team?

ooh okay I'm thinking 👀

Mastermind is Windu. That man is bonkers frickin smart and having had to handle Jedi and politicians and Force powers for so long? This team is a cakewalk, he's on vacation, he's enjoying himself. Critically lacking in family/Catholic trauma but he's having such a good time that I can't hold that against him.

Grifter is Obi-Wan. He has the perfect combination of looks (those eyes do half the work), steady temperament, gremlin behaviour with little provocation, and YOLO-ery to pull off just about anything he sets his mind to. (Briefly considered making him the hitter due to his canonical propensity to remove people of their limbs.)

Hitter is Jango. He's got shit to work out, he's good at what he does, and he'd look great with long hair. Surprisingly like Eliot in that he's got a circle of female acquaintances that he learns things from. Arguably never been one to try to atone for the shit he's done, but also arguably has the daddy issues thing down pat. Also at some point Eliot should have Obtained Child and this is my opportunity to make that a reality (kinda).

Hacker is Tech. Because I love him and also because look at him. He's the best at what he does! And he's already part of a weird renegade clone unit so he's got some team-oriented skills and is used to being up to weird shit. It's like taking a collie to a sheep farm, he's got a job and he's very good at it and he WILL be doing it.

Thief is Quinlan. His experience as a Shadow makes him good at finding things, and getting into and out of places unseen. Also I think canon Quinlan would really love the brain-puzzle of the lasers and locks and all that. He switches out museum exhibits just to give the curators a crisis over Who Did That. Also I think he'd get a kick out of jumping off buildings.

[cherokeegal1975]

One comment I got on YouTube about Unexpected Cargo by Meriah Smith...and my thoughts on it.

@sunofpeter2 

 • 4 months ago @CherokeeGal123  hey Miss, I like the story. Pretty original in alot of ways. I have listened to almost all of it, The creatures are unique and the dynamic of the main character and his lover i like alot. In you writing be aware of plot armour and overpowering the protagonist with talents, physical attributes and allies. But lots of originality and potential for world building and a series. Keep writing and developing your creative persona! I think you could become good at reading your work. Just takes Practice and a little coaching. I like your voice easy to listen to if not outright pleasant. You should read "The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire " by Edward Gibbon. I say this because the story is interesting but this mastery of the English language is amazing. It is so rich, like acting a decadent dessert. Your use is good and again the potential for enriching your writing style is only limited by you. Your main character does smart things, you impressed me with his basic survival decisions. You must have some outdoor skills. In survival situations have your character use real life skills and backing his thought process with logic makes sense..and it make like you character. I hate dumb characters that are that way because the author lacks real world sensibility. Louis L'Amour is pulp fiction writer, wrote westerns, his characters new how to live off the land. He was very descriptive in their decision making process backed by real world application. I think you have a touch of that and can expand on that. Your personal development and research will benefit your character skills. I would also pick a fighting style for your character and go take classes so you can use your experience when describing his fights. Make hin a Dutch style kick boxer. Watch training videos and take some classes and use what you learn to describe his fights. Louis L'Amour was a boxer and he described his fights in a simple yet realistic rhythm. If your character is going to use a weapon go learn how to use it or research it so your writing reflects real world applications. Be proud of your work and keep at it. I will listen to the end tomorrow. I am at the part where he escaped the deamon and is about to give birth. You touch on this slightly erotic /taboo sexual theme and you do it a way that is tantalizing because you touch on it then leave it to me to think about the details and emotions. Love it. I wish you the best of luck in your writing career, keep at it!

_-_-__-_____________________________________________________

Love that I got a positive review, even appreciated the constructive criticism I got for my work. Still a little vague with what he thought with (I'm assuming this person's a man based on the username, but I'm aware that it could've been a woman too) his descriptions on what he thought of my story. I tried to enquire further and got no answer.

Maybe the word I should use is critique instead of just feedback? I want to know both the good and the bad and the "meh." I know my book has issues and my audiobook isn't the best since I'm not a trained reader. I will get it all fixed as soon as I can...which won't be very soon, but I will try my best to get some professional help for my work. It's a life goal of mine and I really would love to see my book be adapted to a Netflix movie or miniseries. My chances are slim to none, but I'll definitely try as soon as I have the funding to get things going. Literally, the only thing holding me back is the lack of funds. Based on my own experiences with reading books and watching TV and movies, even gaining access to Netflix for a time, I'm confident that my work will fit right in. But, just in case I'm wrong, this is where the feedback/critiques come in. I need a mirror...or a thousand mirrors in the form of readers willing to share their thoughts. The more the better. Maybe you will prove to me I'm right about my work being good enough to be on Netflix...or at least selling a lot of copies once I really get it published professionally instead of self-published on Amazon and YouTube.

I did get some pleasant conversation from this guy and I was happy to do so. But I really wanted to know more about what he thought about my book and he never did tell me more. Maybe he hated the ending? Or just dropped it and forgot it? I don't know. He stopped writing after a brief conversation about other books.

IF and that's a big if, I can get the funding to do what I need to do to get my work properly out there, I will definitely try to get an agency to propose my work to Netflix. I'm aware they could say no, but I'll won't fail for not trying. That and I'll see to it I can get a decent reader after all the editing is done. I suck at it, not the worst, but I could've done better. That and I can't stand the sound of my own voice in a recording.

Yes, I'm aware I'm being a little harsh on myself, but I use being my own worst critic as a way to drive me to do better the next time, not drag myself down.

[freeaustinbutler]

AUSTINS CAKE IS ALL WRONG!!

PLEASE SHARE xx

It’s actually sad how remarkably thick some people can get. A lot of you “shippers” lack a serious amount of critical thinking skills. Your ability to showcase low levels of intelligence and simultaneously craft sentences is saddening yet impressive in the lowest form. 

Let me make SPELL IT OUT for all of you! I’ve also watched kaia grow up too! Her mother Cindy places her in well crafted PR relationships that help sell, generate hype, and shift public focus. Jacob Elordi has come out to express things. That should be your alarm bell. Harry Styles was almost trapped in a PR relationship with Kaia but bailed QUICK!  Rande Gerber was not happy about this!! I’ve been a fan of Austin for over a decade. I’m not saying I’m his best friend, but as a fan, I know enough to know how WRONG the cake is! The cake looks like it was made by a 12 year old fan who just found who Austin Butler was a day ago. The person who made the cake evidently knows very little about our boy! Let’s dive into it:

The soccer AND basketball teams are WRONG! If you ARE a genuine fan of Austins unlike (Nikki) who claims she’s a fan, you’d pay enough attention in his interviews to know 2 of the jerseys are wrong and placing Beckhams name on there because they “hung out” once, is HILARIOUS! he may respect these names, but fan?? wrong. 

There would have been his SISTERS name on the cake and a little love toward his father!! There was NOTHING for them. Enough said.

Placing a script there is something a fan would have done. Not someone who knows him well. 

Placing kaia’s name where it was placed was just hilarious and an idea that came from her/ her team. Enough said there too.

He travels a lot so a “road trip” reference would have been more ideal! He flies a lot for business but doesn’t LOVE it! So wrong reference!

Milo is NOT AUSTINS DOG!! It’s the Gerber family dog. It was gifted to kaia from her dad!! He is photographed with the dog, but he don’t love the dog enough to be on a cake 

We explain the “house” situation and with the help of paps, and OR agency in LA, we have PROVEN that Austin and Kaia don’t live together!!!

HE LOVES DARK CHOCOLATE! Any TRUE fan knows this! like with this fake stunt, they could have at least TRIED! He hates sweet flavours like that cake is!!

THERE IS NO PHOTOGRAPHY reference or GUITAR!! Two of his legit FAVOURITE things he loves VERY much!! There’s a MOVIE camera but not photography one or polaroids would have been great!

now… the most IMPORTANT one of  all… if you know Austin you’d KNOW Why he has “27 “tattooed on his LEFT ARM! It’s a tribute to his late mother, and it would have been a , lovely tribute/symbol. Would have been better to have a heart shape with “Lori” and a “27 “underneath to represent that she’s always close no matter what. She brought him into to the world on his special day.  Kaia and her self absorbed soul didn’t think of that now did she!

I know the SMART and genuine fans noticed, but did YOU think to ever wonder why the only places you can see the pottery and cake pics are from the actual companies instagrams only!?!? Because it’s a business/ marketing move!! kaia doesn’t like or show any support by liking anything Austin does on socials. You can still show support and have a private life!! shout out to ASHLEY TISDALE for being genuine and sharing the love despite being a private person, too! Also Cindy Crawford will follow the most stupid accounts on insta but won’t follow Austin HAHAHH she knows….These two are PR. MIC DROP!! 

[famousfilmsfan]

Season 2

Bryan: You know. You guys are kinda hypoctires

Freddy: What?

Bonnie: Why?

Bryan: You tell me to get help but refuse to tell me when I have my appointments until they happen and refuse to let me make my own appointments.

Freddy: That’s because...uh.

Bryan: And you tell me I should spend more time at home away from you and have a personal life but everytime I do, you force yourselves into my house and mess with my personal life. Which is it? Want me to be my own person or have you guys in it all the time?

Bonnie: That’s because we..

Bryan: and you guys say I don't take Constructive criticism well. Your critisim isn't constructive at all you just say that ‘This building sucks’ ‘Your layout is utter nonsense’ ‘This design is bad’ You don't even try to be nice about it or think that, I DIDNT DESIGN THIS PLACE! HELPY DID!

Bonnie: But uh...You did visit this place to okay it...right?

Bryan: No. Helpy didn't even tell me the address until we got here after the pizzeria burned down. Also you say ‘You’re bad with money’ whenever I buy myself clothes or accessories when you guys are allowing Helpy and the others to buy silly shit they don't even use, and you don't say that to them.

Bonnie: There is a reason for that.

Bryan: Which is?

Bonnie: Well...Helpy..is..smart?

Bryan: She fell for a Nigerian prince scam, three times!

Bonnie:...A different kind of smart.

Bryan: And then there's my sleep schedule. You tell me to sleep more but in the middle of the night, you wake me up for stupid reasons! You do it because you can't tell me in the morning because i’m ‘Forgetful’

Bonnie: Then when are we supposed to tell you?

Bryan: In the afternoon? Like 3 PM? When i’m awake for a while?

Bonnie: Oh. Forgot that was an option.

Freddy: Yeah same here.

Bryan: Now, have anything you want to say?

Freddy: Well..Uh. You should really be more mature about this. So we’re hypocrites, stop being a baby about it.

Bryan: You have no place to talk about being mature, you died when you were ten you don't even know how babies are made.

Freddy: Yes I do!

Bryan: Then how?

Freddy: *unsure* When..a mommy and daddy love each other.

Bryan: See? You call me a child even though you are literally still children playing grownup!

Bonnie: Well we’re not throwing a tantrum.

Bryan: Actually when you reach a certain age it’s called a mental breakdown. And i’m sorry you guys don't like me having feelings. If you couldn't tell that was sarcasm.

Bonnie: Why even bring this thing up?

Bryan: Therapy.

Freddy: You’re seeing another therapist?

Bryan: No you guys are.

Freddy: What?

Bryan pushes two of them into a room and locks it. There's a guy in there.

Bonnie: You can't do this!

Bryan: Why? You force me to go to therapy how is this different?

Bonnie: We don't need it!

Bryan: You have a large lack of communication skills, you favor others and hate me even though they do worse things, you blame me for things that aren't my fault. And we have no idea why Freddy has such bad anger issues.

Freddy: I DONT HAVE ANGER ISSUES! *Pulls the doorknob off the door*...Okay maybe I do but I don't...need help.

Bryan: I’ve said that hundreds of times but you ignored it, so i’ll ignore it.

Freddy: You’ll have to let us out sooner or later....Bryan! Bryan!

Bonnie:...I think he left.

[ideasatemynights]

I headcanon that newt used to be self conscious about his weight but stopped caring after awhile

Oh yeah definitely, I 100% agree with that!! I've thought A Lot about Newt's relationship with his weight as someone who's fat irl and is also pretty similar to him in personality according to irl people I know, which definitely leads to the Projection. Some general sorts of headcanons about this (warning for internalized fatphobia, disordered eating, and just a fair amount of self hatred below. Also I wrote this in one big block in the middle of the night, so it's going to be kind of incoherent.):

☆Absolutely is someone who's always been naturally chubby/fat. He didn't really think anything of it when he was really little because he looks like his dad and uncle and they're so cool and he loves them so much!! He was always more focused on catching cool bugs and playing Godzilla with his dad and uncle anyway.

☆Once he got to be a little bit older in school, he definitely started feeling insecure. He already had a target painted on his back because he was too smart, too loud, too passionate, too rude, basically too ND for all the other kids and even the teachers (not helped by the fact that he was always ahead in school), so his classmates absolutely started picking on him for his weight and probably his height too. Because of all of that, he started feeling really bad about his body and wishing that he looked different.

☆This also intersects with my HCs about Newt being trans and his relationship with his mom. His mom was the only person in his family who was more thin and conventionally attractive and because he was AFAB, before he came out she basically just wanted to use him as a doll to parade around and show off on the rare occasions she actually saw him and because of that she tended to be critical of a lot of aspects of his appearance. There was a lot of her fussing over him and telling him that he should diet, grow his hair out, be more proper and less messy, dress more feminine, etc, which didn't help his self esteem. Once he came out as trans, she basically just stopped talking to him altogether.

☆There's also a lot of fatphobia in trans spaces, medical gatekeeping based on weight, belief that fat people can never be read as their correct gender, lack of gender affirming products for fat trans people, etc, which also doesn't help.

☆Once he started at MIT (probably around 15 based on canon info??), he was even more in the spotlight because he was known very publicly as a prodigy, was in a lot of news articles and stuff, won a lot of awards, etc, which added a whole other layer of scrutiny from the public to his appearance. He was also pretty isolated from same age peers because of it, so when he did get to socialize with them, his naturally poor social skills were even more atrophied because of it. Because of that, he was subjected to even more weight based bullying than he would have been otherwise, which did an additional number on his self esteem.

☆When Newt started writing with Hermann, he never would have admitted it, but he was kind of happy that Hermann couldn't see him. He had kind of reached a point where he assumed anyone would immediately write him off because of his appearance and particularly his weight and he was so happy to finally be able to make a friend who couldn't dismiss him based on the way he looked. He knew that Hermann could definitely find pics of him online, but he was hoping that the relationship he built through writing would cancel out the way he looked (obviously a super unhealthy thought process, but uhhh). The fact that the first healthy relationship Newt had ever had with a peer was also with a guy who didn't originally know what he looked like also unintentionally reinforced some bad body image stuff.

☆When Newt figured out he was falling in love with Hermann, he was even more terrified of Hermann learning what he looked like. Like he hadn't had a good track record with making friends or people affirming his appearance in the past, but he uhhhh especially hadn't had a good track record with romance. He had been rejected a lot and when someone had gone out with him, they were clearly using him for easy make out sessions and the sort, while not really caring for his personality or appearance in the slightest (and oftentimes making digs at them). Newt was certain Hermann wouldn't do that, but he was still convinced that the only way someone could like him was despite his weight and he was terrified that Hermann wouldn't like him enough for his personality to cancel out the difference (once again, not true and definitely unhealthy, but he's having a real bad time).

☆So they finally meet in person and it goes poorly. It had nothing to do with Newt's appearance and logically he knows that, but there's still some small deeply unkind part of him that's convinced that Hermann took one look at him and decided he was too fat and ugly to even consider staying in contact with, much less dating.

☆(In actuality, Hermann took one look at him and instantly thought that he was the most attractive man he had ever seen in his life. He desperately wanted to press Newt up against the wall and grab his love handles and kiss every inch of his mouth and face and neck and chest he could get his hands on. Being Hermann, he was deeply mortified by having such lewd thoughts about a colleague, especially one so obviously attractive to him, which definitely contributed to them both being incredibly awkward and off their game while meeting.)

☆By this point, I think Newt's in a really bad place mentally with his body and his relationship with his weight, so I think he ends up in a depressive episode for a while. This has the side effect of killing his appetite and so he ends up losing some weight which is really not physically healthy for him, but he feels a sick sort of pleasure in anyway. When he meets back up with Hermann when they're both stationed in HK, Hermann is still fucking pissed at him (just as Newt is likewise), but he's also legitimately worried about Newt because he doesn't look well by the standards of his body. Hermann ends up eventually asking about it, which only pisses Newt off and honestly brings up a fuckton of trauma for him and also causes Newt to believe that Hermann really is disgusted with him and his body.

☆As the war rages on and rations get tighter and they start working longer and longer hours, Newt loses even more weight which once again causes a sick sort of pleasure in him, despite logically knowing as a biologist that this is in fact very very bad for him and his body. He never intentionally tries to restrict food or lose weight, but he can't help feeling some pleasure at being so much more thin than he's used to. By the time the movie starts, he looks like he actually does in it, where he's soft around the edges, but not fat anymore. Hermann doesn't bring it up both because it's the result of the last days of war and because last time Newt got very upset, but he watches from the sidelines and is very worried about him.

☆When Newt drifts with Hermann, there's a lot of surprise on Newt's end that not only does Hermann like him and not only is Hermann actually in love with, but Hermann actually likes his body in its natural form when it's treated well. In fact, Newt is kind of stunned at how attracted Hermann was to him at their first meeting and the fact that while Hermann would be attracted to him at any weight, Hermann definitely distinctly prefers him fat and healthy and happy. This also causes Newt to realize that Hermann was legitimately concerned about him when he asked about his eating habits, etc, and that maybe the way Hermann treats him is the way he should have been treated all along.

☆Now this obviously doesn't fix everything in one go because a lifetime of trauma doesn't just go away overnight, but going to mandated therapy post war helps, along with a healthy relationship with Hermann, more time to relax, the ending of rationing and the entire world recovering, etc. He eventually gains all of his original weight back and then some and Hermann is so fucking in love with his incredibly handsome sexy fat husband and his wonderful mind and personality. Like don't get me wrong, they're still complete bitches to one another, but they adore each other and work through their insecurities together and it's wonderful.

Once again, I'm writing this at 3 am, so I'm sorry if this doesn't make any sense. Also forgive me for the huge block of text, you unlocked A Thing I Go Insane About.

[hermit-pride]

Day: 8. I didn't post yesterday but laid in bed trying to sleep. It seems that working the overnight has maybe caught up with me after most of 40 years. I've always liked night shift. Fewer people, fewer interruptions, fewer managers, directors, administrators and The Joint Commission has never graced the night shift with its presence.

But that's not what this post is about. My mind was scheming; one way I fantasize. I have about five different posts roughed out in my head. I thought I'd start with this ...

I try to be positive when I'm masking, especially. When ppl ask how I'm doing and I'm not doing great I say "good". If I'm doing my usual (well enough) I say "excellent". I'm a firm believer in "fakit til ya makit".

(So, that isn't what this post is about either).

I try to think about the positive aspects of whatever being schizoid most of my life has been positive.

One important thing is being able to control my emotions and be calm, cool, and collected in situations which may be difficult. One example is that I have never been in a fight, brawl, or situation to harm anyone. However, I have lost my composure three times.

In second grade a very emotional girl named Arlene directed her emotional energy at me and I reacted by slapping her. In seventh grade Chuck and I got into some silly argument and I ended up taking him down (wrestling style). And when I was in the 9th grade the same happened with Mike but he took ME down, wrestling style. He apparently had some training and I was in a painful pin in no time.

My point being, I'm certain that my schizoid personality has kept me out of trouble.

On a pivot here, these past few months that I have been spending a significant amount of time refamiliarizing myself with reality I am discovering that some of my behaviors that seemed (almost) normal are now laid bare to the truth. A good example is the fact that I have never had a close friend. OK, I lied, my wife is my only close friend.

I guess I really never thought about it. Never had the urge to have one. My wife picked me (thank the gods) or I would have likely never had one. I lacked the skills, the desire, or a sense of needing others that a neurotypical possesses.

I don't dislike people. I just don't "like" them enough to spend any of my free time with them. I spend about 36 hours a week at work, 2-4 hours a week grocery shopping and at doctor's appointments. Otherwise I'm a hermit. I don't even do much yard work. Between my ADHD with serious execution deficiency and my schizoid avolition and "does it really matter" outlook, I struggle to keep things going at home. My wife always used to help motivate me and also help with the inside chores. The last year or more, with her several chronic illnesses she spends an average of 15 minutes a day out of bed plus bathroom breaks. Her doctor's appointments are a struggle.

So with schizoid I never have been a goal setter. But I do have one goal. To remain autonomous and to be able to care for my wife for as long as she has. That is enough 🤍💛.

PS. This is meant to be a "Smart Journal" and somewhat therapeutic in nature. I invite you to add thoughtful comments and criticisms in reply.

[the-owl-house-takes]

A lot of the people criticizing TOH are using recycled arguments from the SU crits and for that reason alone I know they're not good arguments. Something can be serialized AND episodic. This mixed model is present in many shows, INCLUDING ATLA. Something can have horror and romance and comedy, look at WTNV! "The Collector had more characterization than Gus" that is patently false. I am a Collector fan and Gus definitely got more focus. He had multiple episodes fleshing out his relationships with other characters, outside the main cast, we know his weaknesses, in that he can be blind to other people using him (a parallel with the Collector) AND he can only really do illusions. We know about his insecurities, we know his strengths, we know his interests and hobbies. People are complaining to complain. It's not lost on me that this intense nit-picking of problems that barely exist is the exact same thing that happened to SU. AND DON'T EVER LET IT BE LOST ON *YOU* THAT THIS MOSTLY HAPPENS TO SHOWS WITH QUEER REP, A DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS, SHALLOW OBSERVATIONS OF PROBLEMS THAT DON'T REALLY EXIST ***AND THEN!!!*** CALLING THE CREATOR A BAD PERSON OR A RACIST OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, AS IF THE SHOW SPRUNG FULLY FORMED FROM THEIR HEAD. (mod can you not post any asks in the future that call Dana or anyone else on the team a racist or anything like that?) "Oh the ending was rushed! It's bad writing, I don't care that they had a runtime equivalent to six episodes to conclude what they originally planned and paced for TWENTY!" Okay then pal, if you're so fucking smart and talented, then why don't *YOU* make a script that wraps up everything perfectly but the catch is YOU NEED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE RUN TIME (this is an argument about what we have being rushed so you cannot change the conclusions, because the "it was rushed" argument implies that "it would work if it wasn't paced poorly"). Yeah. Develop the Collector more and show us their change of heart in more depth? At the expense of what? Rewrite Huntlow so it isn't abrupt and is further away from both of their mental breakdowns? At the expense of WHAT? Include the hexsquad in the final Fight since everyone wants the deeply traumatized child to watch his abuser die (this is not something every abused person wants or needs btw)? I'd like to see you juggling (Luz, King, Eda, Hunter, Amity, Willow, Gus, Camila, The Collector, Belos, Raine) ELEVEN CHARACTERS. Not to mention so many of these complaints REEK of media illiteracy. "The ending should have been more like amphibia's" That wouldn't have worked with the Themes of the show. Not to mention the ones I pointed out at the top of this rant. It really feels like people have walked into a subway and are complaining at the lack of chicken nuggets. "I'm allowed to say my complaints about the show I like!" I think if you call the creator of this show a racist or insult anyone on the team because you wished this cartoon for children didn't end the way you wanted it to, then maybe you shouldn't be allowed to criticize anything, ever. Critique NEVER should include insults at the creator. Would you look at the work of a painter and say "Wow what horrible skill, what a lack of talent, this artist must be a real loser" and it turns out you're mad about the art being abstract when you prefer romanticism, or post modernist when you want neo-classical.

There's things that could have been improved about the show, there's criticisms to be had, but Critique IS NOT insulting the creator. And your criticism can be criticized too, especially when it is over-inflated or based on objective flaws in reasoning (like people wanting the ending to be like amphibia's, which, despite all similarities, WAS TELLING A DIFFERENT STORY THEMATICALLY).

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