#honestly tho i take this with a huge grain of salt

[askshivanulegacy]

Sorry but if you think a LAPTOP and REAL PROGRAMS are more uncomfortable and clunky to use than a crippled handheld screen which can't handle anything better than every single function piecemealed into a million ad-powered apps, then you need HELP.

Also, parents? Genuinely WTF? YOU did this to your kids. YOU have computer skills. Why are you devolving??

this can't be true can it

[solarcitymelodies]

You said you wanted to talk about ventriloquism?

Tell me more?

It took me so long to get to this I'm so sorry 😭 low on spoons, you know how it is

But yes, I LOVE ventriloquism, and I talk about it semi frequently here in my corner of the internet ... I'm not even sure where to start just cuz there's SO much, but this post I made a bit ago with a focus on our bonds with our puppets is a good start :)

Other than that, I've left quite a lengthy beginners guide under the cut, so I hope you enjoy!

So, here's where we start. This here:

Is a headless Jerry Mahoney. I show you this mildly uncomfortable image so you can see the most important piece of equipment in ventriloquism: the headstick! Or control stick, some people call it that too. This has a bunch of different levers on it that control different parts of the face, but more rudimentary ones will just have one lever for the mouth. Which is really all you need honestly. (Anything else costs a pretty penny. Like, an especially pretty one.) The lever being pulled on Jerry here is the only important one, and that's the one that controls his mouth.

You can see a bunch of those controls here:

This isn't the only kind of ventriloquist dummy, but it's definitely the most well known iteration. There's been a huge rise in felt puppets recently, and there's also been pull-string ones around for quite a while (which are far less intricately built than other dummies, but pretty sweet for beginners. I only own string-pulls and i love them very much. ♡)

As for actually doing ventriloquism, there's a few tips I have that I tell anyone interested.

1. Ventriloquism is easy. It is so easy. It's learning how to make it convincing that's hard!

2. And in that same vein, it doesn't matter that much how convincing you are as long as you and the audience are having fun! I always get tired of people treating what's basically playing with dolls but ✨️fancy✨️ like an Olympic sport lol.

3. Letter substitutes are whatever you can get away with. Cut corners. Change your vocabulary. Whatever works to make yourself sound more natural is what you should be doing! Remember, it's not cheating if it works.

4. If you aren't a little weird about the puppets please consider getting weirder. It is a tradition we hold very dear to us.

Now, as far as the basics go-- like I said, it's not too terribly difficult.

First and foremost, there's a certain "standing position" your mouth should rest in, which sounds very silly but it's true. Your lips should be slightly parted, enough to let air out but not enough to be super noticeable. You can't actually talk with your mouth fully closed, but it should look closed from a distance. This is one of our tricks of illusion >:3

Your tongue should always be behind your teeth, usually resting against them a bit in my experience. Your teeth are going to be acting as your new lips. That sounds insane but it'll make sense the more you do it. When you'd usually use your lips to pronounce a word, you use your teeth. ALWAYS keep your teeth resting in a mostly closed position!! This is so people don't see your tongue moving!! Learned this the hard way lol.

There are a few letters you have to watch out for: B, F, M, P, V, and W. Some of these are easier for other people and some are harder, but these are the well known ones, plus ones I have trouble with (granted I do have speech issues as is, sooo... take with a grain of salt?)

These letters are evil and cursed and don't like to be pronounced without moving your lips, which is where we introduce letter substitutes. Generally,

B = D (or G)

F = more of an S sound, like a hiss

M = N

P = T

V = a sound closer to Z

W turns into the wretched "duddayoo." I do not like this one.

I'm not that great at explaining the basics to be honest, but there's lot of great tutorial videos out there, I'd recommending doing s little dive into those if you're genuinely interested. For now here's one from Darci Lynne because I love her.

The best thing to do though, if you dont want to do the actual acting thing? Get active in the community anyways. Get your friends into it. Talk about it! Post about it! Ventriloquism has been, famously, dying as far as most people are concerned for a long while now, and we really need younger people to step up and keep this art alive. Just appreciating it and supporting from the sidelines is a huge help. As much of a loser as this makes me sound, please for the love of God make ventriloquism look cool. It sounds goofy but we really do genuinely need it.

As a final note:

Ventriloquism at its core, I believe, at least, shouldn't be competitive. There are a lot of people in the community that just take it way too seriously and frankly, it is so lame. Ventriloquism should be fun. It's odd and it's kooky and it should be accessible to everyone no matter how good they are at keeping their lips still. A lot of the best ventriloquists famously could not keep their mouths shut. And I mean that as literally as possible. They were still beloved by many and are greatly cherished figures in our community.

If you ever doubt yourself, remember: Lambchop was only a sock before Shari Lewis made her come to life. You don't need the best materials, or the best technique; all you need is passion and a good routine.

[leclsrc]

Some 2 years ago, I was told by someone that my writing was incompetent because of how inconsistent I was and how I needed to be more original. And I took it to heart, knowing it was partially true. I'm probably soft to let that get to me for as long as it did. After reading your writings and found myself subconsciously comparing other works to yours, I can confidently say I'd prefer reading a paragraph from your oneshots to reading modern classics.

I can't write nearly as graceful and purely as you, but I can try my hardest to reach for the stars where you sit, and this time if I'll fall short, I'll hopefully land on a cloud. I'm not sure how to write towards that yet to improve, so I came here to ask; How do you manage to show and not just tell with words? To elaborate, you seem to capture a moment so perfectly that I'm able to picture it the way you want me to and the way you describe feelings are not overly specific but it's so honest and real that it goes through me and I end up feeling it. Thanks again, for taking the time to read this. Hope you're well! 💗

wow thank you so much 🥹 let me preface by saying this is immeasurably kind and so sooo sweet! as for writing advice, (i told this to mack actually) i truly feel unfit to be giving it out. i’ll try my best though :)

my process differs from work to work. sometimes i make an outline, sometimes i don’t, sometimes i write it in the order i want from the get go, sometimes i rearrange the scenes, etc. outlines r so helpful tho they cut a huge chunk of work out from the start 

+ music is SUUUUCH a key player in my writing and its clear honestly. i can barely write in silence unless i feel it fits the vibe best—so i’m always wearing airpods blasting genres of all kinds to get the scene going and it in turn helps me describe exactly what i want to be felt.

+ reading existing work AND reading friends’ wips makes me so happy and full of inspiration and drive. or i just have immensely talented friends! :)

take all this with a massive grain of salt—and can i just say that while constructive criticism is good, i don’t think ‘incompetent’ is a really helpful word and i’m sorry it was used against you. have fun 💋🌟!!

[inkykeiji]

can you explain the learning curve differences between genshin and hsr 🥹🥹🥹 i’m not much of a gamer but im so intrigued by the art and stories and fics ive read (LMAO) that i’m really curious. but my gaming experiences r super limited to stuff like stardew and breath of the wild so idk if it’d be worth it :/ i tend to like straightforward combat rather than stuff that makes u have to memorize stats and strategies 😖😖

hmm i can try!!! i’m really not much of a gamer myself aside from these two, stardew + the sims HAHAHA so take all of this with a grain of salt!! <3

in my humble opinion, i’d say honkai star rail is easier. it’s turn-based combat, which to me gets boring and tedious after a while, but i don’t feel like it really requires you to memorize stats and strategies aside from which characters will work well together based on their abilities (ie some characters heal, some characters support, some characters are used to cause the most damage/brute strength, etc) since each only has like,,, three moves and all you have to do is press a button to get them to do that.

what does make it a little more complex are like, the relics, traces, and eidolons (aka artifacts, talents, and constellations in genshin). relics/artifacts are basically just items you can equip on your characters for extra buffs (more hp, more def, more damage etc etc i am not going to go into all of it because it is a LOT lmao. like there are ‘sets’ of relics/artifacts (4 items in total) and within those sets there are a ton of different versions of each of the four items,,, idk how else to explain it other than that HAHA). you find these items in a variety of different places, including what are essentially dungeons (called domains, usually). traces/talents are skill trees, more or less. and eidolons/constellations you will only be able to unlock if you pull multiple of the same character.

the other thing i can praise hsr on is it’s writing. the story hasn’t fully captured me yet (tho i think this is generally just a personal preference thing and not something that has to do with the writing itself) but the writing throughout the game so far (i only just finished the first planet) is tighter and more cohesive with more causality than genshin’s story, which flounders and becomes especially awful during inazuma, but gets much better during sumeru. also, genshin is an open world game whereas hsr is not, so the maps are much smaller and it’s easier to navigate around the areas.

i’ve never played breath of the wild, though i have heard many times that genshin was hugely inspired by it, so if you rly enjoyed that game then i think there’s a fair chance you’ll enjoy genshin as well! genshin’s combat is more fun to me, but it also requires more thought (people get REALLY into building their teams and their characters), because certain elements (there are seven: hydro, cryo, electro, dendro, pyro, anemo, geo) will interact in different ways with each other to deal more damage or create certain effects. each character has different skills and attacks, and you can fluidly switch between your party/team members during a fight.

genshin’s combat is real-time action based rpg type combat, and each character has a specific weapon they can use (there are five types of weapons but a huge variety of weapons within each category, so figuring out which weapon works best with which character (for example, which bow works best with childe aside from his signature weapon, which you can only get from the gacha system) is important). both have enemies that are weak to specific things, though i feel like hsr tells you much easier what those things are than genshin does lmao.

hsr does not have weapons, but they do have these things called light cones, which basically act as a buff for the weapon + base stats each character comes with.

honestly, both games have a ton of content + daily/weekly missions and dungeons, so both are overwhelming when you start, but if you want something a little easier, hsr is probably the way to go! you also obv have to level up and ascend your characters + weapons/light cones, but the games will tell you where you can find the ascension materials if you just click on the item itself.

WAAAAH SO MUCH ehehe sorry for all of the asides in brackets, it is a lot!!! but i hope this helps at least a lil and isn’t too confusing! if you do decide to play, each game has about a billion guides online that can be of great help if you need them! the gacha systems and grinding can be a total pain, but you can still have fun even without constantly pulling for characters n weapons (i have like;;; four 5 star characters in genshin and for a LONG time i was only using one, so!).

[the-dark-abyss]

I posted 65 times in 2022

That's 40 more posts than 2021!

23 posts created (35%)

42 posts reblogged (65%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sleepytime-moga

@seafoamfucker

@ma2ereki

@oda-haruko

@vampnightwing

I tagged 54 of my posts in 2022

Only 17% of my posts had no tags

#rambling - 20 posts

#mafia 3 - 13 posts

#goncharov - 12 posts

#john donovan - 8 posts

#mafia iii - 7 posts

#ouatih - 6 posts

#lincoln clay - 5 posts

#thoughts - 4 posts

#mafia 3 definitive edition - 4 posts

#cars - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 115 characters

#lincoln is my fave character but lack of fleshed out story for donovan makes me hyperfocus on him and i wanna fight

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Mafia 3

Okay so I’m gonna take the L and admit I’ve never played the other 2 games, I just watched the cut-scene movies on YouTube, and while I enjoyed the story and characters of the first 2, when I watched Mafia 3′s it DID something to me. So I actually went out and got the game so I can play it all myself.

First things first, I’m gonna wonder why people seem to hate this game so much until the day I die, sure it’s glitchy but not as bad as any Bethesda glitch I’ve seen and nothing game breaking, more or less just funny stuff like “lol that cop car exploded in the middle of the street. I’m gucci tho.”. I really like the time-period cause I actually like learning about the 60′s in American history because SO MUCH important stuff was set in motion back then. Others seem to not like how it’s nt focused on the Italian Mafia anymore and...sure?? I guess?? I mean they’re still there, you’re allied with some Italians while taking out the bigger Italian crime family (I think they’re mad that the protag is black and it’s an important part of the game tbh) And another complaint I see a lot is the games too repetitive, I think that’s the lamest excuse personally. I played this after I beat Far Cry 6, and honestly? It was NICE! I like being able to sneak and take people down, or just blow up everything!  Maybe it’s cause I’m autistic perhaps (ASD gang rise up!) but having a pattern was nice for me, I have a specific way of playing and it was fun. Hell, I’ve beat the game twice already cause it felt nice to play.

I know this game came out in 2016 and I’m way late to the party, I became aware of the Mafia series in 2021 and finally played Mafia 3 in March 2022. And I need to be physically restrained from playing it a third time lol.

See the full post

7 notes - Posted June 20, 2022

#4

Found this under Nuit Blanche in the alt escape route.

I've never seen this in the game before this is so cool!

7 notes - Posted October 1, 2022

#3

Because I’m on the Spectrum™...

I would post this on my art blog but what good would that do? I guess this is unofficially also a fandom blog... anyways

So! A thing I like doing is figuring out timelines, time frames, dates and fun stuff like that. And I gotta say, the timeline of events in Mafia 3 is INFURIATING! And according to THIS it’s the lead world designers preferred playthrough. I know I probably should take this with a huge grain of salt, but going by this it throws so many things out of wack (especially making Sign of the Times be the last DLC story you touch)

So, February 27th is when things kinda kick off, Lincoln’s friends and family are killed and he’s left for dead by the Marcanos.

Bullet wound takes on average 2 months at most to recover from (from mixed sources 😵)

Lincoln was still bed ridden when MLK was assassinated on April 4th. So I assume he was walking a bit after that, mid-April.

So mid April is when he was up moving around and getting things set up.

The DLC’s, despite not supposing to be in order, 1 of them has a specific date correlated with it.

The DLC stories become available after you get have all the under bosses and do that Sit Down mission.

The “Sign of the Times” DLC introduces character, Anna McGee, without getting too much into it, her death date on her grave is “June 6th 1968

So, set time or no, this implies the cult shenanigans happen immediately while Lincoln is getting into contact with Cassandra, Vito and Burke and he’s juggling them on top of this.

Must happen only in the span of a few days, not even a week.

For the rest of June, I guess Lincoln works at a more normal pace but still a lot going on at once.

For reason the only record date one of the Marcano Capo’s is Lou, and that’s in July, so I assume the Judge gets clapped early July.

That text at the bottom:

This threw me off but I realized it probably took a sec for the charges to process.

See the full post

10 notes - Posted July 5, 2022

#2

Hey I have a weird thought, do tumblr gays have a specific version of Brad Pitt they latch onto? There's him in Fight Club and Interview with a Vampire thats all I can think of.

I finally got a version of Brad Pitt I latched onto recently and I just kinda noticed it.

Is this common?

16 notes - Posted October 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

AND ANOTHER THING-

About Mafia 3

Some thoughts about characters and how some folks treat them:

John Donovan: Love this guy, wish I had more info about him that isn't all surface level and stuff I had to make up for a headcanon, but jeez I swear, at least on YouTube comments, it’s like people want to make him the Mafia games equivalent of Deadpool. Cause he’s “wacky” and “chaotic” and they want him to be the next games protag, once again, love this guy, but oh my god, NO! I think he works best as a side character and at most a secondary protag (like for Stones Unturned). If there was a game with him...what would it be? Just assassinate politicians in the 70′s simulator? Won’t be a Mafia game then would it unless he goes back to the Clay Family. That’s just YouTube comments I see though, but I got thoughts.

Vito Scaletta: I have to be clear, I DO LIKE Vito, but I think I liked him more in Mafia 3, very much Italian Uncle I deeply deserved in life vibes, I will admit though, even though I like him in M3, I feel like the devs leaned in on him being there as like, a selling point? While I enjoyed M2, I will admit as faves in order go, it’s Mafia 3, Mafia 1, and Mafia 2. Vito was getting dragged along for a lot of the events in M2 and boy, Joe was.... I wouldn't want him for a friend. Vito can be all messed up about what happened to Joe, but when I watched the cutscene movie for M2 I thought Joe was awful to Vito. Vito needs better friends :/ (also even tho I’m usually on team “RAIL THAT OLD MAN!” I think the Lincoln/Vito ship is odd, def not my thing and yet somehow not as offensive as the next character I’m about to bring up though.)

Giorgi Marcano: Oh boy where do I begin with him... I see...so many people sympathize with him or simp for him and it feels SO GROSS. (Imma be honest this mf is ugly he looks like a monkey with his busted hairstyle. Like if someone made a realistic Westernized Lupin the III but somehow removed all the charm from him). I feel like people seem to have forgotten he handed the Hollow over the the Dixie Mafia on a silver platter, that or they don’t care. The Hollow is the Black community in the game and the Dixie Mafia is all Southern Pride and Lynch mobs, all those Confederate flags... And I know that Giorgi KNEW THIS. I see people saying he was just doing what his dad said, and sure to an extent but it’s clear he enjoys what he does (He was so hyped to tell Sal what he did to Olivia), I will never forget what the Dixie boy’s did to Perla’s, to the young black women they forced to take drugs and exploited, the the specific targeting of the Black and Haitian communities in game, what they did to Casandra, etc. Giorgi was a spoiled violent Daddy’s boy that either was playing Lincoln, Ellis and Danny the whole time, or didn't care about them enough to even protest Sal’s orders against them. Even in his death scene, he never tried to apologize to Lincoln even if he knew the apology wouldn't have saved him. If they showed that, then sure I would at least admit he did care about Lincoln and all his friends that were killed, but no he didn't, just him and his old man. (PUTTING EEEEEVERRYYOOONE ON A LIST WHO SHIP LINCOLN/GIORGI! I CAME FROM THE FAR CRY FANDOM AND I’M SICK OF SEEING SO MUCH RACISM IN CHARACTER PORTRAYALS AND SHIPS! SICK AND TIRED!)

Game story and themes:

I will praise this game to the moon and back, despite it’s “flaws” like the glitches and game play. The glitches were not game breaking for me and I liked the game play honestly (I have ASD so that probably contributes to it). The driving is good despite me being a bad driver and I liked the how the weapons worked.

But I do have some thoughts about what I think was kinda lackluster and disappointing.

Lack of highlighting how horrible the Vietnam war was, condemning the army and the C.I.A. I know that’s so specific but you can’t have a Vietnam vet without having some kind of toll that it took on him, most of Lincoln’s trauma was mostly just centered around what happened to his family after he got back home, and some stuff in his childhood. Which is valid those things are traumatizing but idk, were the devs afraid? Also I know Donovan during the game is still technically in the C.I.A until he officially leaves in 1969, and he’s like, a big JFK stan, but like, does he know what Kennedy’s plans were for the C.I.A, is he blindly loyal? Was it game? I mean I know he does leave it but he’s been in the game for like 15 years, what’s going on? What’s all those war crimes for? Do the devs at Hangar 13 and 2K not wanna be put on some weird list? I don’t know, man.

My taste for found crime families keeps getting un-quenched: Looking back at the promo trailers showing Lincoln and all his under-bosses working together, with Donovan even tagging along, and seeing how the game actually played out... ow. The under-bosses hate each other, every convo between Lincoln and Cassandra feels like it leads to an argument, Burke was racist to Lincoln at the start, and....actually Vito seems like the most pleasant despite being a sad middle aged man so I’ve give him that. The most we get to them showing respect for each other is if you go to pick up kickback and talk more to them, then they’ll say nice things about each other.

Ex: Cassandra saying Vito isn't as bad as she thought, she thinks Burke is really fun. Vito thinking Burke is funny. And Burke having respect for what Vito's been through and weirdly enough, oddly respectful of her beliefs.

But that’s it, and they have no idea who Donovan is either even though he’s been working behind the scenes. And with how they are in game, I know they would NOT like him, I think Cassandra would hate him the most cause she gave Lincoln flak for willingly joining the army (I mean she’s right, I agree with her.).

So in that aspect I’m a little <:/ about. Not everything can be perfect.

OKAY THATS ALL FOR NOW!

25 notes - Posted June 27, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[scoopsgf]

Hey Beedee! That quote was from Scott Patterson's podcast in the short interview he did with Milo. I was wondering if you ever listened to it? I started recently since I went back to the office and I was shocked by his (trash) opinions. He recently said he switched to team L*gan even though he hasn't discussed Season 5 yet and basically said Jess was a savage animal that needed to be caged and put down in teach Me Tonight. He agreed with Lorelai 1000%. I'm flabbergasted. Thoughts?

no, i don’t listen to it! honestly from what i’ve gathered scott is kind of… unpredictable and wishy-washy when it comes to his opinions, so i try to take anything he says with a huge grain of salt. sometimes i think he just says shit to be controversial or like, get a reaction out of people. it is pretty fucked that he said that tho, like… idk if i were milo and i heard that shit i’d be kinda hurt. anyway yeah scott seems to lack stability in that department so. he’s gonna say what he’s gonna say, who knows what’s gonna come out of his mouth next.

[thetaekookcloset]

There’s this BTS Noona person on twitter who seems to know things about the members and their lives (their dating history for example). Honestly I have no idea about their credibility, I find some of the things they share very problematic and I take what they say with a huge grain of salt. For example they don’t seem to think that TK are a thing and when someone questioned Tae’s sexuality based on the Paris trip, they said that based on his dating history it doesn’t seem like he would be gay. Well, fair enough, obviously we don’t know. But they also made a comment about everything that BTS does is calculated to which I do agree (to a certain point at least). We can clearly see this from the official content that we get. Things are often edited out, clips are sometimes edited into a certain order and obviously all the fanservice that happens on and off the stage. And you can clearly see it from the members as well when they are “on camera” eg someone is asking them questions behind the camera or they’re doing a live when there’s staff behind the camera. The difference is quite stark at times compared to for example lives when it’s just themselves.

But this got me thinking, and I’ve thought about this before, but I just saw anon sending you that one Vegas clip and saying there’s no heterosexual explanation for the look on Tae’s face. Obviously since I’m here I do agree that to me it seems more likely that TK are a thing rather than just fanservice or best friend relationship. I don’t think that the pure adoration that can be seen on their faces can be faked. Or if it’s all just for the show, they both deserve all the goddamn acting acknowledgements available on this planet lol. I’m rambling and I’m not even sure myself where I’m going with this.. But can you imagine having to fake that sort of thing for 10 fucking years?! I know we only see a small portion of their lives and it’s a very curated one but I can’t imagine living my life like that. Sure, everyone has to sometimes do things that they don’t want to. But we know for a fact that their contract has been renewed several times in the last few years, so you can’t even say that they are forced to do that anymore. At this point, they chose it themselves, if fanservice is all that it is. And that just makes me incredible sad and it’s very off putting if I’m being completely honest and morally so wrong. Not sure tho if moral and kpop can be even used in the same sentence…. 🙃 Obviously I know there are things that they do and/or say that are not genuine, it’s their job after all, I’m not that naive. But I guess I would rather see things through my purple colored taekook glasses than believe that they are just fake throughout.

I don’t know who you’re talking about, and honestly, I personally wouldn’t take what they say even with a grain of salt.  I seriously doubt that any accounts like that are really legitimate, and even if they were, I’m not sure giving them attention or taking their words at face value would be a very good idea.

That said, I did want to talk a little about the second part of your ask, if only to -- I don’t know, give my two cents on the topic, I guess, and also maybe reassure you a little, in a certain way.

The idea that Taehyung and Jungkook could somehow be faking their closeness for some reason is one that I see come up pretty frequently, and it’s one that I put less than zero stock in.  They would have to be more than good actors to be able to fake their interest and investment in each other.  Honestly, to a certain extent, this goes for everyone in BTS.

It’s true that content we see is curated, and it’s true that there are narratives at play that have been determined behind the scenes, but there’s nuance here.  People can’t fake all of the subtleties of body language -- not with the degree of consistency that they would need to do it in order for it to consistently permeate all of the content we see, especially since a lot of that content doesn’t come directly from HYBE anyway.

It’s possible that Taehyung and Jungkook aren’t in a romantic relationship, however likely I think it is.  What I think is impossible is that they aren’t two people who are incredibly close to each other.  That they have a lot of love and affection and interest between them is something that’s proven too consistently in too many really tiny ways for it to be faked.  It’s just not possible, and what’s more is that there would be no reason to do it.

What would they possibly have to gain from faking those subtleties?  Playing gay on stage and queerbaiting is one thing, but that is not what’s happening here.  We’re talking about gazing and touching in off-cam moments, not making out onstage, you know?  There’s nothing to gain outside of their relationship (whatever it is) by staring at each other or engaging in little touches.  It would be the longest con ever, and for what?

No, whether Taehyung and Jungkook are in a romantic relationship or not, the fact that they’re close to each other, are deeply invested in one another, and know and love each other a great deal is nothing short of just that: a fact.  There is no way that the subtleties in their interactions could be faked so consistently for such a long time, just no way at all.  So much of what we do every day isn’t consciously chosen, and that remains true even for famous people, no matter what narratives they’re expected to play into.

[comradepingu]

Ok I know I'm a little late to the party but just some of my thoughts on the Magia Record final season. Take this with a grain of salt because I have not finished arc 1 of the game yet (I'm on chapter 8 where iroha and sana locate the eternal sakura uwasa and fight touka and nemu there)

Tbh while it was very flawed and had themes very far off from what the game or the original pmmm series had at the very least I was still able to find some enjoyment in it and it and was not completely unwatchable like what I thought it would be.

Obviously, if you have not watched season 3 and do not wish to be spoiled then do not read this.

Touka and Nemu

I like how this season actually gave these two a slight bit more depth than their game versions. Game Touka to me has always been nothing more than an annoying brat who happens to be a child prodigy and also a cult leader because that seems to be the only way she was characterized thus far at least until where I am in the game storyline. Game Nemu doesn't get much characterization at all (I am aware she has some moments later on in arc 1 but I haven't reached there yet).

Final season episode 1 actually did a pretty good job finally explaining the Magius' backstory and founding. Some explanations behind Touka's motivations were also given, how her responsibility of listening to the unresolved and uncared for problems and worries of hundreds, maybe thousands of weaker magical girls all of whom were exploited and used by Kyubey but unlike a lot of the other girls we see, are too weak to do much about their situation. It took a toll on her and slowly radicalized her into the ruthless extremist we see in s1 and s2. Game Touka never really got such explanations for her motives as far as I know and is mostly just an extremist because she is. The doomscrolling analogy used for this scene also made her somewhat relatable? Idk given how shitty the internet has been to trans people lately with all the trans swimmer discourse and people bashing trans Ukrainians for fleeing the war it can feel very demoralizing and hopeless to read sometimes and that scene felt just a little relatable.

All that being said the amount of flip flopping of their motivations and switching sides that the both of them did later on was really annoying, not to mention the random decision to kill them off? You made them go through a sort of redemption arc and then just make them do a suicide attack which didn't even work like that? What was the point?

Momoko & Mifuyu

Unlike most of the deaths this season these 2 actually felt touching and more meaningful. While I have no fucking clue how they got into that astral plane place to help Mitama with un-doppeling all the doppel syndromed magical girls (i thought only coordinators like Mitama would be able to do things like this given that only coordinators can learn the ability to do stuff to modify soul gems??), at the very least this felt like a meaningful sacrifice unlike many of the other deaths. I sort of enjoy yachimifu content so it was sad to see Mifuyu die but yeah, not too bad overall. That's not to say Momoko's death did not feel a bit random and uncalled for tho.

Iroha

Honestly I liked her this season. Finally seeing her snap and shoot that bastard rat kyubey through the head was cathartic. Overall the season was pretty ok for her character, with her being forced to come to terms with reality vs her initial very idealistic view of the world of magical girls, but still remain hopeful for the future along with the Mikazuki Villa. Though I get why the latter point can fall flat given how rushed the pace of the anime is. We barely get to see any bonding between Iroha and the rest of the Mikazuki girls bar Yachiyo, with Sana, Tsuruno and Felicia feeling like random side characters sometimes. Though this has been a very huge glaring problem with the Magireco anime since season 1 and that's just what happens when you try to cram 10 chapters of in game content into just 3 very short seasons of anime episodes.

Kuroe

Her doppel and witch design was great but she was so badly written omg. While her death did do some good for Iroha's characterization as mentioned above it also felt so random and forced. Why did SHAFT introduce this (initially) anime exclusive character, give her almost no development in the previous 2 seasons and then kill her off in such a forced way in the final season??? WE BARELY KNEW HER 😭😭😭💀 Honestly I kind of liked her character despite the crippling lack of development but SHAFT really did her dirty. She deserved much better. If only the Magireco anime wasn't so rushed...

Alina

Probably gonna be my final point for the night. Downright atrocious and lazy writing. I've heard that game Alina is actually a much more complicated character than she seemed but I haven't seen her side stories on YouTube yet. Anime Alina however doesn't get much characterization or screentime in all the previous seasons but at least her appearances were fun and enjoyable. In this season however SHAFT turns her into a lazy twist villain just so they can add more deaths and trauma for seemingly no reason other other than for the sake of it. Fuse with Eve and absorb Walpurgisnacht's powers so she can turn the entire world into magical girls??? Alina has always been off the rocker but wtf is this random ass pull of a twist?? At least we got the funny witch name "neo-dorothy motherfucker" out of this 💀

Anyway the season felt like it was trying to be dark and edgy for no reason other for the sake of it, with all the meaningless and random deaths and random ass pull twists. The theme of the final season is downright opposite to that of the original series and magia record game story. Both of those stories are dark and plenty of moments of despair yes, but the main message was always that no matter how dark everything is there is always reason to hope. I got almost none of that from the ending of this season which just felt very depressing. Despite all that at least it had it's good moments and overall I was still able to enjoy watching it.

Feel free to leave thoughts down in reblogs or comments.

[hajime-isayama-official]

One main arguments I’ve seen from non Jewish and poc snk Stan’s and that will have that one token Jewish person or friend who says they are not offended and snk isn’t anti Semitic or Nazi propaganda. Or say well isayama isn’t a anti Korean racist or Japanese imperialist that’s all been proven fake blah blah blah. Even if it’s fake the series is still problematic stop using that one Jewish person who isn’t offended they don’t speak for all Jewish people obviously-part 1

Part 2 he also named miksasa after a imperial Japanese battle ship and dot pixels is based off of a Nazi Japanese imperialist I think? Same for Erwin I might be wrong that’s what I looked up. I’m personally not comfortable supporting the series anymore for valid reasons but it’s honestly so hard to find blogs like you who criticize the series and author I’ve only found a small amount of blogs who acknowledge the problematic aspects in both manga and anime unfortunately :(

Oh Anon, you get me going here.

Yes, Mikasa is named after a very successful battleship (it’s supposedly certain success if your manga has a character named after a battleship). 

Pixis was inspired by a Japanese imperial general. He died before WW2 tho. Anyway that sparked huge controversy with the Japanese fans, leading to hate messages towards Yams for years. 

German SNK Wiki claims Erwin was inspired by Erwin Rommel, a general in WW1 and WW2 who later turned against Hitler (it’s fine cause he wasn’t REALLY a Nazi, right? no.). Erwin’s Birthday is the death day of Erwin Rommel. However, since I can’t find a source I’d take that one with a grain of salt. The main Inspiration for Erwin as a character is Ozymandias from Watchmen. So only fictional mass murder for Erwin here lol

These points are already kinda icky, but can be ignored I guess. Of course SNK searches inspiration in military. It’s a series about literal Child Soldiers (which somehow is never a critic point on any anime/manga?!). However it’s also full of dogwhistles and even more uncomfortable references. 

My main points are the portrayal of grey-morality on the case of genocide and the way Isayama clearly draws inspiration from Nazi Germany when he portrays Marley. The latter is not per say problematic. Fullmetal Alchemist is also inspired by The Third Reich and carries a strong anti-imperalist and anti-nazi message. SNK however falls short on that till now. I am not Jewish myself, so I can obviously not determine what is antisemitic and only point out the obvious. Plus my knowledge of things is obviously limited so feel free to correct or join in. 

Isayama pretty much paints the Eldians as the Jews of this “mirror world” World War we witness since the time skip. This is clear by the imagery of the Ghettos he shows, the armbands the Eldians have to wear and much more (Short images search should do the job here). The coding of the Eldians as Jewish equivalent is complete with the Marleyan myth of Eldians ruling the world if no one does anything to hold them in control (aka every antisemitic conspiracy ever). But it doesn’t end there. We know from the manga that Paradis island is basically Madagaskar. 

The Nazis planned to deport about 4 million Polish Jews to Madagaskar in the 1940′s. That plan was shortlived and obviously never put into action for various reasons. So in SNK we have the scenario that the Eldians fled to Paradis in order to get an advantage over the Marleyans. The Eldians who are not on Paradis live in Ghettos on the mainland. That’s a weird coincidence, considering how many islands our big blue planet has. 

What I think is pretty bizarre is that Isayama distorts this by pairing this imo pretty obvious real live inspiration with references to Norse mythology. This is fucked up in so far that Norse mythology is so heavily appropriated by the Nazis that many runes are outlawed in Germany till today and showing interest in Norse mythology is still often associated with white supremacy (have a look at Neo-Nazi signs and see the pattern). Like, this combination of Norse and early 20th century German imagery isn’t even a dogwhistle anymore, it’s yelling “I SUCK NAZI DICK AND I LIKE IT”.  The references he uses are  especially Ymir and the paths, that can then be seen as the world tree Yggdrasil:

The tree connects the Eldians and the nine titans which share their number with the nine realms that Yggdrasil holds. There’s some more, tiny stuff, like Erwin being easily interpreted as a reference to the God Tyr (God of battle, who loses his right arm in the mouth of a beast) and Hanji to the God Odin (Losing an eye in a well in the pursuit of gaining knowledge and wisdom). Both of these Gods are probably the most appropriated by white supremacists. When Ymir first turns into a titan it is at castle Utgard. In Norse mythology Utgard is a place in Jotunheim, the realm of the Jotun who the giant Ymir is the first ancestor of.

In general the pairing of clear WW2 imagery and references to Norse mythology is a mixture that is VERY sketchy and should always make you suspicious. Especially since these two are not going together (as in Marley using references to Norse mythology), but against each other. So we have both sides (Marley and Eldia) associated with white supremacy. Another thing that I will never be over is that Zeke and Eren are obviously named in reference to the German words Sieg und Ehre (Victory and Honor) referencing white supremacist buzzwords. 

Then we have the issue that the main conflict is not with the Marley people, who are basically our mirrorworld Nazis. The conflict is AMONG the Eldians. Liberating the Eldians form the Marleyans is not even a thing, because we’re busy keeping two Eldians from practicing genocide/euthanasia on their own kind. So in this aspect Eldians are painted basically just as bad as Marleyans (and we have that “everyone is wrong in a war” Issue again). 

I think in the end Eren’s will to kill everyone will lead to Eldians and Marley people accepting their differences or whatever and leading to unision in the shared enemy (kind of already happens in the manga) and while I think that’s a possibly interesting way to go it’s imo not when one of those parties has been subjected to centuries of genocide by the other. Assistant says a good closure to the Norse Mythology theme would be the manga going for Ragnarök, so everyone, Marleyan and Eldian, dies, except for two people who start the world anew. After all anisemitism or in this case anti-eldian sentiment doesn’t just stop after a world war. I don’t really fuck with this bullshit we got in one of the recent chapters where this one Marley general was like “Oh no, they were only people after all”. Bro, your whole society is built on them not being people and all of that is gone in one day of crisis? *doubt.png* 

There’s obviously more to it than that and especially my understanding of the manga might be a bit off, since I don’t read it as attentively as I used to anymore. At this point I’m so fucking suspicious of this manga tbh. I doubt that we can come out of this with an anti-imperialist or anti-fascist message. 

This does of course not mean no one should read or watch the manga or anime. I read/watch it too as you see. But it’s always good to be critical of the media you consume and take concerns from others serious, when it comes to stuff like this. 

[luidilovins]

You should turn your post on the Uncanny Valley into a book or something. I am not even kidding, it's brilliant and sorely needed information. Thank you for it.

Tbh its just speculative that the uncanny valley is an inherent biological trait and not cultural or a learned behavior at the moment. A good example would be the cultural phenomenon of colorophobia where in the US we have a longer history of using clowns in our horror pop culture genres than countries like Japan.

Clown entertainment has been around since the Egytian times and maybe some people have always been freaked out by them it honestly just takes one director or author to have an disproportionately irrational fear and good cinematography skills to convince people that they SHOULD hate clowns just as much, (I could say the same about the movie Jaws but thats a bit of a tangent,) or a memorable event that damages the public's trust in something that SHOULD be innocent or harmless. (A good examples being the John Wayne Gacy trials.)

Clowns are also thought to be in the uncanney valley so ita a fairly good argument on cultural phenomenon versus genetic traits. Up until aroud the 60s-70s clowns were actually fairly well liked by the US general public and a lot of older generation still find a fondness in it that would scare the living shit out of their grandchildren.

As far as evidence that I may be right about the "uncanney valley might be because of rabies" theory, there has been a small case study suggesting that the movements of a non-human robot that trigger the effect in us, is also present in people with parkinsons but the sample size is too small for me to be thoroughly convinced.

And don't be mistaken I also dislike this concept because saying that ableism is an inherent human trait is just as bad as saying racism is an inherent human trait. There is little to gain from distrust in the disabled and little historical evidence to suggest it was common or beneficial to discard disabled people. Disabled people's remains have been found time and time again to live to incredibly long livea and be cared for, and participate in their communities. I'm highly critical of this particular case study and I take it with a grain of salt because its on cosmo, but evidence of human disabilities and compassion can be sourced by actual bones and it's been placed on VERY credible sources. NPR, NBC, Discovery, Nat Geo, NY Times, literally the clostest you can get to creme of the crop news articles on DOZENS of accounts and if you have a goddam problem then pay for a tour to the Smithsonian, find an archeologist and coherse them into showing you the bones and then explain phorensics to you because you probably wouldn't understand unless you too were a phorensic archeologist yourself.

What I DO BELIEVE tho is that if the uncanny valley is a legitimate inherent trait, that like most evolutionary traits, it made it this far for this long because it somehow served us benificially. And the biggest benifit I can think of is identifying neuro-infectious diseases because they can spread agressivley, many of them lead to death or lasting effects and are fucking MISERABLE to catch. We're talking brain swelling, fevers, uncontrollable vomiting, tremors, hallucinations, motor and vocal tics, difficulty swallowing, seizures. This could all happen because they eat infected deer meat or because of one bad fox bite. It's miserable if you survive and horrifying if you dont. Rabies can survive in your muscle tissue for years before infecting your brain and once it does usually you only live for about 5-10 days in and out of concious knowledge that you're going to die painfully, and disease aggrivated psychosis. It would be hard to pinpoint the causation because the amout of time before full blown infection would vary too much to assosiate for a long time. So your only option is to hone in on telltale signs.

The disabled people who would suffer from herdeditary or developmental neurological disorders run the risk of prejudice from mistaken identity, but if a human is part of a community, and doesn't die within a week from having a wobbly head, it would sooner or later become apparent that they're not dangerous. I think nowadays culturally people don't press to learn more about disabled people due to social and political prejudice and never fucking grow up past that. Mistaken identity or not. You learn about people from the patterns of their behaviors so even ones that seem abnormal to you become a normal recognizable pattern for them. Fancy that.

We don't get grossed out by chimps or gorillas, who are even more distant cousins, and the proof that we don't have a search and destroy button for anything immediatly related to us is a bunch of bullshit can be found in almost every human's blood on earth. And not just neanderthals, but denisovans as well. And that's not even accounting for genetic backtracking the crossbreeding of other sapiens species before we were whittled down to just the three. What makes the tweet even stupider is that when neandertals still roamed the earth humans were shorter, hardier, and overall more rough looking so we looked even indistinguished then. We Also Chewed On Bones and neandertals handled cold climates better than us based on a study on chest cavity density and, skull nasal intake and heat circulation, providing genetic diversity and the upper hand in survival in the tundras or mountainous regions spanning over Eurasia. If it wasn't for humans fucking neandertals we might not have been able to spread over the contient or diversify the way we did.

So my full hypothesis is that if the uncanny valley is a genetic inherent human trait it was used to benifit people from catching agressive diseases in a time where the benifit of fearing a group member with rabies outweighed the cost of fearing a group member with a disability like parkinsons.

WHAT PISSED ME OFF was the idea that we are DESIGNED to be unwary of our evolutionary cousins could easily be used for white supremacist spaces to justify racism BECAUSE IT ALREADY HAS

So that one tweet that might seem like a quirky thinkpiece in my eyes is just fuel for eugenics trend round whatever number we're on. It's like we don't fucking learn. It would be REALLY easy to retool the concept that it's natural for people to be fearful of whatever the bullshit definition of sub-humans are. Claiming that black people were sub-human thus deserving of mistrust and submission to white ownership worked like a fucking charm.

Maybe if I go to college and major in psyche/socio/civics it'll be my college thesis. Right now I'm more of a hobbyist than anything, but what I DO know is that anyone can make an untested hypothesis to combat another untested hypothesis and it should hold just as much goddamn value. I combatted the idea that the idea that human othering was funneled into an unconfirmed effect that causes disgust and terror based on non-human sapiens is in fact racist and gave what is in my opinion a more evoluntionary practical approach to the uncanney valley.

The generalized links that I used APARENTLY weren't good enough for some people but aparently a single tweet that says "hur dur heedle dee uncanney valley exists because of human cousins" was taken at face value even tho it was probably tapped out in five seconds without regards to the reproccussions. I find a huge discomfort that less than studious links about the evolution of monkey social behaviors that I used as a guideline to explaining my concerns became the focal point for people to nitpick without even having the gall to "well actually" on the subject. That absolute ravaging NEED to rip apart at it and devolve into name calling because I MENTIONED racism is fucking suspicious and I don't trust it. I had to stop looking at the responses because some people were only reblogging and arguing with barely half of my argument and i was getting nowhere fast.

There were a few people that made actual points with cited sources that made their own rebuttle arguments. That I respect. It's just as valid an argument as mine and I'm ALWAYS willing to take on more credible sources to strengthen my stance or gain perspective.

But it's the utter dismissal of a concerning concept that just seeped into the subtext that gnawed at my gut. Some people on top of hating the linked sources I provided, admitted they didn't read it, refused to read between the lines to purposfully misinterpret or derail my main points, and detract that my claim that the tweet was a result of systemic white supremacy saturated into modern science was a bunch of bullshit because I claimed that 1500s anglos invented racism.

The thing is we did invent the racism that we fucking currently subscribe to.

We practice the science that we formulated based on our own social prejudice. Real people die from this.

We remain uncritical of our own theorums that we postulate then pat ourselves on the back like we're philosophical geniuses even though racism is a family heirloom with a new paint job.

We preach the eugenics ideals that we pulled out of our asses to benifit from fearmongering, promises of national security and unpaied labor.

White supremacists create subtext with the intention of it being consumed by accident or in ways that seem palatable.

Fuck.

That.

I don't hate the person who wrote the tweet. Chances are that they gave the tweet as much thought as they took the time to write it and went on their day as a fun little thinkpiece. Everyone on the internet does it. But its that kind of thinking error that needs to be adressed as a progression of historic and scientific prejudice that gets rehashed, recycled and untouched and continually damages and is weaponized against marginalized people. I am not wrong for taking it seriously especially when a bunch of people were sitting around nodding their heads just as effortlessly.

I don't owe the internet any more sources than the tweet. I don't owe anyone on the internet a full scientific ananysis. And the people's reaction to what I had to say was actually what further convinced me I might have hit the nail on the head.

[minshinxx]

Sorry if this is a bad question or if you don’t know but when Scott was talking abt mcc 15 and saying only certain ppl could stream was there more info on that? It was vague on the mcc updates acc but do you think that means they’re trying to have only lgbtq+ ccs streaming or am I getting something wrong? Again sorry if this was a dumb question and I know you probably don’t know any more than I do lol but I was wondering if that was clarified on stream

you’re good don’t worry! And you’re right, i don’t know much more so i can only speculate :/

From what i could gather noxcrew is gonna partner with youtube gaming for mcc 15 because scott mentioned he was gonna stream from the mcc youtube channel for that. So if they partnered with youtube i’m pretty sure that would mean mcc 15 can only be broadcasted on youtube. Many twitch partners, which are most of the minecraft streamers we watch, have an exclusivity contract with twitch that prohibits them from streaming on rival platforms (not all of them tho, some have their contract altered a little so they’re still allowed to stream elsewhere) while twitch affiliates (dream for example) can still stream freely as long as the same content has not been shown on twitch in the last 24 hours !!

It could also be, as you mentioned, that only lgbtq+ streamers are gonna stream the event. If i’m being honest, i didn’t even think of that because i was busy thinking who i was gonna watch if dream wasn’t gonna stream oops 😬 It would make sense that only lgbtq+ streamers stream a pride themed mcc, that’s true. But i’m not sure if that would be the smartest move especially if there’s a chance techno and/or dream could stream on youtube, because i can imagine many people exclusively watch them and would not be convinced to watch someone else :/ like, i want more lgbtq+ streamers to be promoted of course but i’m not sure if it would make sense that way :( and mcc will raise money for the trevor project, so i’m sure they would like as many people to watch the event as possible

Also scott mentioned there’s gonna be some well-known faces for mcc 15. They’re gonna be one-timers so i can imagine youtube gaming may or may not put up some HUGE personalities. I think mcc’s probably gonna look quite different for june. I’ve seen some very mixed opinions on twitter about this, because so many of the normal participants are not gonna be able to stream it. But honestly, i think a huge chunk might not even participate for mcc 15 at all because we already know that there’s gonna be around 10-15 one-timers, so if they keep the 10 teams (which they most likely will because otherwise the event would have to be recoded which is way too time consuming) we’re only going to see 25-30 of the usual players. A good point i’ve seen as well is that it’s kinda wack that the sadly already pretty small amount of lgbtq+ twitch streamers are not gonna be able to stream this, so it feels kinda counter-productive. 

I’m pretty sure the reason so many people will not be able to stream is gonna be the fact that it will be partnered with youtube for that specific mcc but who knows

All of this is just speculation on my part btw, please take all of that with a grain of salt. I could literally be absolutely wrong lmao

[inkykeiji]

Super curious about the secret project and the gods series!! Are they going to be released soon or are they still in the preliminar steps of baking??

aaaah i'm so excited and GLAD to hear that you're curious!!!! i've been aiming for the secret project to be done around the end of july/beginning of august, and the swear to god series....... i have no idea. it depends, really, on if i decide to continue writing that, or if i continue writing either the dark academia AU or the twins!AU after bmb + tag you're it are finished!!

[brujoenlafrontera]

hi!!! I’m a puertorriqueño/nicaragüense enby looking into resources for learning bruja stuff, any good place you know to start?

I’ve gotten a couple of asks about this lately, and i’m so happy to know there are more latinos finding their way to the practice, tumblr’s brujeria tag often gives the impression that theres so little of us out there reclaiming our practices but getting asks like these brings me a lot of faith that thats not true :) first and foremost:

GETTING INTO BRUJERIA IS HARD.

it really is. baby brujos like us know that better than anyone- getting started, is often the hardest part of doing anything, and its no different with brujeria. it can feel so overwhelming and feeling lost is natural. from my experience, although i am still a newbie ive been able to find a lot of information out there, here are the best places to find info, sorted by priority:

FAMILY! a little self explanatory, but brujeria at its best is truly is an inherited, familial practice. If you can, before delving into internet resources, definitely connect w your family if you’re able to and ask them for guidance and about their experiences!

Your family is always the best resource over anything you can find online; theres so much misinformation out there or information not relevant to your region and if someone in your family already has established practices, always trust them first

 Do some thinking back to all your cultural traditions, quirks, stories, and superstitions that you’ve  learned from your family across time and never thought too much about- and rediscover them under a new light

KEEP IN MIND: brujeria is NOT a singular , concrete practice w concrete rules in itself, the term blankets a lot of traditions across latam, the caribbean, mexico, but imo its always best to stick with brujeria related to your heritage and where your connection is.

this can be hard for people (like me!) with huge family taboos toward brujeria that make it unsafe to ask around about, and/or limitations in family connections (also like me unfortunately). I personally can really only get the tidbits and stories that my family accidentally slips out when I occasionally see them. i try to write them down as much as possible, but the info i can get is limited... and thats where the following comes in.

ONLINE COMMUNITIES. i.e, youtube, tumblr, instagram brujx communities. notice I haven’t said “internet” in general- the reason why i trust community based social media more than random individual websites you find on google is because, in the case of brujeria and honestly any non-european craft, you’re often gonna find a LOT of white people writing blogs, books, etc about their “spiritual experiences” in latam countries and wrongly/incorrectly taking ATR or indigenous traditions (like with smudging). I know, with social media, although those same white people are also on insta and tumblr, it’s a LOT easier to see the face behind the accounts and differentiate who to trust, who’s legit and has real experience to share, rather than a nameless, faceless, website that is actually some colonizer sharing colonized ideas who thinks theyre on a spiritual journey taking traditions all willy nilly. And the fact that in social media, its much easier to find a lot of good brujas at once bc they tend to follow each other lmao.what ive personally done to find information tho is essentially SCOUR tumblrs, insta accs, and watching tons of youtube videos for posts, accounts, videos, etc, and narrowing down good info from there through , namely:

CHECKING WHO YOUR SOURCE IS!!!

ASKING YOURSELF FROM WHAT EXPERIENCE THEYRE SPEAKING FROM

ALWAYS TAKING EVERYTHING WITH A GRAIN OF SALT

AND STICKING TO INFO FROM CULTURES OPEN AND RELEVANT TO ME.

again, brujería is different depending on where your family is from in latam, and if you have an established connection to indigenous and/or black roots, so it’s useful to use keywords relating to that when searching (like if ur black, you can look into ATRs(african traditional religions) which tend to mix deeply with brujeria, if ur indigenous, finding other people from your tribe is great, and if youre not pursuing your already learned traditions you can think about connecting to them more deeply(altho indigenous traditions are their own thing, sometimes they do mix with brujeria too), and apart from familial roots, if ur catholic/christian and/or want to explore it, saint work/catholic brujeria might be a good fit for you!)  

tumblr: there are a couple of fantastic brujxs on this site with great blogs and resources who have sadly left the site, but i still go through their posts heavily for spells, rituals, scraps of info! etting started w brujería is hard bc there’s really not that much info out there right now, but i compile as many good brujeria posts i find on my acc.

@brujeria-n-bongs great for catholic brujeria, now at @Upliftherbs on instagram

@brujeria-lost @barberwitch @reina-morada @highbrujita

@naomi121406 is by far the most active and informative tumblr resource ive found, shes an afro-indigenous diaguita curandera from argentina so shes also really helpful if ATRs are in your path!

Im not black myself and dont follow ATRs so i don’t really know many good blogs for afrolatine brujxs out there but if anyone would like to tag some in the replies thatd be awesome!

instagram: Ive found that instagram #brujeria tags has a pretty healthy active stream of posts. You’re gonna have to sift through a lot of them to get to the good stuff though- imo a lot of hispanics use the brujería tag not to mean “latine brujería” but just the spanish word for witchcraft, so a lot of white hispanics will put wicca/neo witchcraft in the tag. imo that’s really not something i’m personally interested in bc it’s not true to brujeria’s traditional nature, is very white/eruropean , and that wicca shit basically just got here. its a relatively a recent thing😭 so i try to stick to bruja accounts that aren’t influenced by that.

youtube: The youtube brujería tag is hit or miss? and again, contains a lot of wicca. But there are some good practitioners on there like The Mexican Witch! You just gonna look around, and dont be afraid to click on videos by really really small youtubers; they often are the ones with the most informative and legit things to say!

Everyone’s path as a bruja/o/x (sjdf trying to be inclusive w gendered language is difficult) is different but here are some topics i think are great to look into as a beginner!

ancestors: start at the bottom and figure out who they are, where theyre from, and set up an altar. it’ll help you a lot with figuring out your identity and path as a bruja later on.

setting up a grimoire

divination: tarot is actually what got me into brujeria at first! tarot isnt strictly traditional and is european in itself but its a wonderful tool for connecting to dieties, saints, etc as well as super fun and helps a lot with introspection

ritual abrecaminos, aka road opening spells!

amarres (love spells... proceed with caution)

limpias, mal de ojo

saint work: even if you’re not catholic (im ex catholic), a growing number of us (especially lgbt latines like @/upliftherbs on instagram) are starting to take back and decolonize our view of saints like La Virgen Maria and removing her from the rigid european/colonized interpretation thats been forced into us

candle spells in general (i fucking love candles tbh, cheap, easy, fun, and WORKS)

spiritual colognes, how to cleanse

finally, here are some helpful posts yall should definitely read and think about moving forward!

about using tumblr as a resource

about looking into brujeria as a part-white part latine

bruja psa + about reclaiming lost indiginety

honestly naomi’s entire brujeria tag is great and super informative for beginners and basically holds answers for almost anything at this point

hope this post helps yall out!

EDIT: oh lord now that this is posted the outline format i tried to use is all kinds of fucked up please dont mind the odd numbering lmfao tumbr hates organized formats

[ohsweetflips]

what i dont get about da4 is why they chose to make solas a companion in da3 when he is such an important character? my reaction to finding out who he was came down to "really? this dude?" bc, to me, he is literally the least interesting companion in the game. i get that's my personal opinion, but did bioware not consider that some people would not care about him? making da4 and teasers all about him make me.... not care about the game, just like i didn't care about him in the third game.... i truly don't understand

akjsdjkjdsk okay i GET this like i too also did not care for solas as a Companion but tbh i have him kinda in separate halves like. companion solas?? tbh i don’t get the hype (BUT i have never travelled with him before past the mandatory beginning of the game stuff so like, take my words with a grain of salt). Villain Solas though????? i think is very interesting!!!! esp bc (if i remember correctly) a huge part of his character in dai is the fact that no one really knows shit about him so i feel like. while i have personal faves in dai that outshine solas a little bit (in my opinion), i think he makes for an interesting villain (tho lets be real trespasser did all that leg work) (like honestly the reason i replay dai so much is bc i love trespasser as a dlc) (which imo trespasser should have been either a part of inquisition or da4 itself but bioware loves making us spend $30+ for like. idk 10 hours of content. but i digress) 

tldr: as a companion, i dont really care for solas, but trespasser does a decent job at laying out his whole plan so i just vibe

(@ solas fans: this is not an attack on you, just my personal solas opinions!!)

[astrologysvt]

Seungcheol Full Natal Chart Reading

for the few member’s we have vague birth times for i’ll be doing FULL natal chart readings. PLEASE keep in mind that the birth times given were rather vague, and so i took some liberty on my end to decide on exact times in order to pinpoint likely risings and so forth. not only that, but with a full chart there is a lot more we can delve into but the concepts discussed also get more vast and more abstract. There is a lot more interpretation being done in these readings as opposed to my past readings which are more observation based. so please take everything i say in these readings with a grain of salt! 

so cheol answered in a fan sign slot for @/scoups_bf on twitter and said that he was born around 9am 

and the reason i’m not taking 9 o’clock literally and inputting 9:00 am EXACTY when looking up his chart is cuz ALL of the members we have birth times for have just given us approximations

and i don’t think cheol is much different. 

and honestly, i wouldn’t make such a hoopla about it if 9 o’clock wasn’t putting him just at the cusp between being a virgo rising and a libra rising. 

and so i’ve personally taken the liberty and decided to read his chart as though he was born any time after 9:25 am which would make him a libra rising. 

for more specific reasoning, check out an ask i answered addressing my thoughts on the matter.

with that being said, there is still A LOT we can take away just knowing that he was born generally around 9am 

and so even though we can dispute whether or not he is a virgo or a libra rising as much as we want

a majority of this reading is actually going to rely more so on the placements of his planets within the houses. 

and regardless of if he was born at 9am on the dot, or 9:59am — his planets and their respective houses do not change much. 

the only planets that are affected are his moon and jupiter which i do not focus on a whole bunch in this reading! 

SO WITH THAT HUGE DISCLAIMER OUT OF THE WAY 

you can trust that this reading is still going to apply to him and his chart REGARDLESS of his rising 

(tho, again, i’m reading his chart as though he’s a libra rising). 

so first off, we can take a look at his chart shape. 

all of his planets are distributed within a pretty confined space in his chart, leaving around 4 houses empty (7th-10th houses) 

you then have the rest of the planets taking up around two thirds of the chart and are forming an orderly line. 

this is called a locomotive shape (ehehe thank you anon for helping me figure out his chart shape). 

and what’s really cool is that once you start getting into chart shapes, the nature of the distribution of the planets within someone’s chart can actually give the native influences that manifest in ways that are very similar to signs unlike the ones in their chart. 

for example, a locomotive is a very ambitious and relentless placement that can have a very aries-like feel. 

and so although seungcheol’s only aries influence is his libra mars in the 1st (aries’ house), he’s going to actually have a very aries-like nature in how he goes about his goals and ambitions where he’s very unapologetic and attention-grabbing. 

there is a lot of energy, passion, and strength-of-will about him because of this chart shape.

but what’s also interesting about this chart shape, is the added emphasis it places on the leading planet of the locomotive. 

the leading planet is the front of the locomotive as if the planets are traveling in a clockwise direction just like (you guessed it) a train!!! 🚂🤯

for cheol, that means that venus in the 11th house is the leading planet.

this can make his libra influence a lot more prominent than initially expected, as well as the impact of the 11th house a lot grander. 

and so there are three things that a locomotive shape can indicate. 

one of them being a “goal” or a direction in life as indicated by the leading planet and the house it lands in. 

seungcheol has the planet of harmony, romance, art, and comfort in the 11th house which is the house that rules friendship, community, greater call-to-action, and humanitarianism. 

this truly adds a huge emphasis on people for cheol. 

you can trust that his goals center around rallying people, working towards a greater cause, and building community

and he’s going to go about this in a very venus-like fashion. 

so having that environment where he’s creating, playing, and communicating with others is very important to him. 

having that excitement in creation and collaboration is something that drives him and how he hopes to encourage others

and with this 11th house association, this hints towards a desire to reach wider audiences, make bold statements, and enact positive, maybe even revolutionary change. 

another thing a locomotive shape can indicate is the struggles one may have, as well as “necessary evils” they need to take into account in order to achieve said goals 

and that’s indicated by the final planet in the locomotive. 

that’d make it cheol’s saturn in the 6th house. 

and so you’re taking the planet of discipline, restriction, and ambition and putting it in the house associated with work, health, and lifestyle. 

this placement is both very positive and potentially difficult in a few different ways.

you’re taking saturn’s sense of discipline and applying it to work

and this is what makes seungcheol not just such a hard worker but also re-emphasizes the responsibility he already feels thanks to his capricorn moon. 

within the context of his locomotive, on the other hand, it can potentially be a very difficult placement. 

his sense of purpose and responsibility runs the risk of being all consuming. 

especially when considering that the 6th house deals with lifestyle and the day-to-day. 

it’s a mundane area of our lives, but it’s routine and constant which can make this weight of responsibility rather omnipresent and relentless. 

and with the association of health, this placement can often times mean that his focus in work can potentially be at the expense of his health. 

he may struggle to find a balance between meeting expectations and taking care of himself as he’s prone to getting so absorbed in work he forgets to do personal check-ins.

not to mention, wherever saturn lands will bring a very hypercritical mindset where he may struggle to ever feel satisfied with himself and his work. 

what’s also of note with having saturn at the end of his locomotive, is the fact that venus is at the very front of it. 

the planet of art and play is being weighed down by the planet of responsibility and structure. 

his desire to do as his heart pleases is at odds with his sense of obligation. 

this further adds to this mindset he may already have with his cap moon where he struggles to give himself some slack, even though the trajectory of his life is very much aimed at being that free and creatively-minded person.

and this adds to this sense of “necessary evil” that i mentioned before. 

in order to play, he must work. 

but also, it can create a mindset that in order to deserve the company he keeps, he must be successful. 

then the final thing to take into account with a locomotive is the empty houses. 

the empty houses emphasize the “missing” truth that he is attempting to address in terms of the rest of his locomotive. 

i always find this part of interpreting a locomotive the hardest as it’s pretty vague and can manifest in so many different ways.

it can serve as a form of motivation may that be through fears or past experiences. 

or maybe a sense of fascination or desire to discover/uncover what remains ambiguous in his life

but we can break it down in a few different ways.  

these planets reference adulthood in terms of life stages, and so it’s more than likely that whatever this is referencing to in his life hasn’t happened yet or he’s simply working towards it. 

they also hint towards added value put towards partnership, marriage, travel, philosophy, career, and public image. 

there is also the quadrants to take into account, and it’s primarily his 3rd quadrant that remains empty. 

the 3rd quadrant deals with his sense of social harmony and identity. 

it deals with the way he approaches lifelong commitments, the people he spends time with, the people he attracts, and the places he travels. 

it’s a social section of the chart, but one thats associated with great commitment and contract. 

and there are a bunch of different ways of interpreting the empty section of his chart

but considering how socially inclined his chart is from his libra rising, his leo placements, to his entire 11th house — i think the interpretation that makes the most sense is in addressing the social aspect of the 3rd quadrant

and i do not want to brush aside his empty 10th house even though it is technically not a part of the 3rd quadrant. 

this house is especially important to consider when taking into account the fact that the 10th house is capricorn/saturn’s house, along with the knowledge of the prominence of saturn in his locomotive. 

the empty 10th house can indicate he has a strong desire to make a name for himself

and with the 10th house also being in cancer, it can mean he wants to establish himself as someone people can rely on and someone who can take care of others. 

someone who can be a source of safety and comfort

and then you have the 3rd quadrant which deals with marriage and interpersonal style/commitment

and so that can mean that what’s driving his locomotive is his desire for stability and lifelong partnership. 

these influences can also point towards a potential fear of being lonely, and of not having someone he can share his life with

maybe a fear of missing out on those experiences, or of not having this area of his life to settle into. 

it’s kind of like his chart is nesting, and so obviously he wants to share that nest  

but moving on

we can now take everything i’ve just mapped out and deduce and observe a few things about him. 

i think that career is certainly a huge pillar for him and something he does not take lightly 

but in the big picture of his chart, his career is simply a supporting figure. 

having saturn in the 6th house at the end of his locomotive gives this false impression that career and work are INCREDIBLY important to him. 

and this is because of that nervousness that exists inside of him where saturn insists on constantly questioning, reassessing, and attending to his work. 

it can even feel as though there is something there that needs to be proven, or earned for him

and that is further emphasized because that speaks directly to his leo and capricorn placements that place such a huge emphasis on success and ambition.

these placements want and need something to work towards, and they both crave accolade and status. 

it is easy for him to focus on work, to focus on achievements, and to use said achievements as a point of reference for his own self-worth

it may even feel like a part of his identity. 

and all of these influences are so loud and imposing that they kind of tune out his more softer venus that’s seeking this much less tangible goal through art, expression, and companionship.

his chart gives me a sense that his work is certainly there and it’s an important factor to consider, but it’s not the focal point.

his direction is clearly pointing towards community, relationships, and social influence.

at the end of the day, what’s of value to him is his own ability to bring people together and serve a greater purpose towards the people he cares about. 

and with venus at the helm of this, he’s going to achieve this through his ability to communicate and care for others and will do so in a very sincere, charming, and authentic manner. 

whats interesting too is that you have venus which is a rather gently expressed planet, but at the front of a locomotive and in the 11th house which is a pretty bold and broadly applied house — this kind of creates a very interesting duality in how he goes about his ambitions. 

he wants to bring about change, do things his own way, maybe even attempt to entirely change the game. 

but it’ll be within the extent his art and his ability to make personal connections can go. 

he doesn’t have an enterprising, the “ends justify the means” attitude. 

instead, he wants to accomplish what he can with the most integrity and meaning possible

but after considering all of this, everything he’s said about his own personal goals to be able to stay with svt together forever take on a more significant meaning. 

i think when he was younger, he may have put a stronger emphasis on proving himself and leading his group towards success.

but overtime, i think his goals have molded into being something that’s much more along the lines of seeing his career as a means of ensuring he can remain with his members as long as possible. 

not only that, but a tool that allows him to provide and support them.

the added bonus that comes with his career as it is now, is that he’s able to stay near the people he cares about while also connecting with people on a greater scale and encouraging good will. 

this is one of the reasons he’s so sincere in how he communicates with fans, and i think it comes from a very earnest place because he genuinely wants to connect and soothe others. 

if he can be someone they can rely on, he’s more than happy to take on that responsibility. 

but beyond his work as an idol — with these empty houses dealing with marriage, partnership, and even parenthood through his cancer midheaven which is an EXTREMELY parental influence.

it wouldn’t be a surprise to me that, as he gets older, he realizes his main goal is to settle down, start a family, and to be a father. 

again, this is another interpretation where his energies through saturn and the 6th house have told him he wants to make a name for himself, he wants to be successful, and he wants to be the best of the best. 

but at the end of the day, that’s not really where his chart is planning on landing him. 

rather, it’s in being able to establish a home and share his life with someone. 

achieving that sense of belonging through friends and family is the moment his chart is pointing towards being when he can finally put his feet up and be like “this is what i was doing this for” 

especially with that libra rising that’s reaching out for that companionship and commitment. 

and not to mention a moon in the 4th house that really emphasizes the importance of home and roots. 

this is actually the first time i’ve even attempted to do a full chart reading for these guys, and i’m definitely still processing everything i’m noticing.

i definitely think it’s interesting to consider these placements knowing what we know about him 

although that knowledge is not personally, not intimately, and only what we’re given permission to see out of respect for him and his privacy. 

but we can obviously pin point at least a few ways these placements have manifested so far for him. 

such as his career (obviously lol)

his own experience with his health (known vaguely by us, and referenced as a new personal goal of his to maintain)

and his own statement in valuing the members over the company. 

i think this is where i reiterate again that everything i say in my readings and with astrology MUST be taken with a grain of salt. 

at the end of the day, the details we actually have with regard to the members are merely breadcrumbs compared to how vast and detailed charts can go. 

and so everything i’ve said is up for interpretation

and with readings like these i always encourage the person i’m doing a reading for to exercise their right to agree or disagree with anything i say.

and so i offer that to you guys as well 

i’m really just reading what’s in his chart, putting things out there, and hopefully creating a cohesive story/interpretation that can be applied to him and reflected upon — hopefully giving either perspective, validation, or ease (lol hypothetically if he were to ever see this reading). 

but if i had to wrap things up, when i do readings of this type, i do tend to leave with maybe words of encouragement or feedback that i feel may be helpful.

and so if i were doing this reading personally for cheol, i’d really reiterate to him that his energy is always going to be directed and validated by his community and loved ones.  

career is great and it’s definitely important as it gives his chart direction and allows him to put that antsy “i need to do SOMETHING” energy somewhere. 

but at the end of the day, he’s going to find more traction and purpose by focusing his attention towards his relationships as his success is only as good as the company he keeps.

i wouldn’t be surprised if he’s had really rough moments where his saturn, cap, leo & 6th house placements have all lead him down this very tiring work path with the promise of feeling some kind of “aha” moment at some point. 

when in reality, his chart is seeking out something of a much different nature. 

his vision shouldn’t be on the end goal, but rather his sense of togetherness.

making his focus “be with svt forever” was the right move in spirit, and will result in much more long term happiness. 

his hard work is important and will pay off, but it wont be through awards and it wont be through titles. 

it’ll be in feeling like he’s provided, and being able to look at the people around him and know they’ve been taken care of and that he’s made a difference to them. 

and also in knowing that he plays an important role to them.

at the end of the day, his chart is meant to play just as much as he’s driven to work. 

but ultimately, his sense of play is what is leading him. 

i’d implore on him to never make a career decision that compromises his ability to feel free, and to be creatively and socially enriched

and i do think this is something he knows. 

with all the complications and confusion in his chart i’ve outlined thanks to his locomotive, we can’t forget the “aries” nature of this chart shape.

with all of that conflict comes clarity. 

once he understands and focuses on his ultimate goal and what gives him that satisfaction and purpose — he’s going to barrel towards it with no hesitation, remorse, or caution. 

he knows what he wants, he know who he ultimately answers to, and it’s equally “how do i get there” as it is “how do i cut off all distractions” 

which is certainly the right mindset for him, at least in terms of his chart and the “path” it’s leading him towards as well as overcoming his charts own struggle in finding said clarity. 

it’s definitely “i know what i want and fuck all the rest” with him, and i’d encourage that thinking in terms of maintaining and protecting what is important to him. 

[malepresentingleg]

Some thoughts on the alex rider tv series (as a person who read most of the books)-

I'll start by saying all in all i didn't like it that much, but if you did then that's wonderful and I'm glad the fandom is satisfied and take my thoughts here with a grain of salt.

I honestly don't mind all the changes to the original plot of point blanc, most of them were actually good!

Adding girls?? Yes!! My girl kyra basically owning the series I'm just. Yes, thank you (we all know AH sucks ass at positive diversity)

Way more.. teenagery? Like. We got more of alex's school life and friends, got to see him being a kid and living his life which was a huge plus imo

The relationships with jack and tom? 10/10. So happy we got to see more of them in the series, that they were actual important part of the story and it was shown what they mean to alex! Very lovely i approve very much

Also loved how they introduced scorpia and the mystery etc etc

My favorite part was definitely alex's emotions! (In the way that he actually has them jshdhdh) both during the adventure and after- he's actually affected. He's scared and he's traumatized and it's actually showed. He's just a fucking kid (that looks 20 but) .

The only change I'm kinda sad about is alex's lack of awesomeness? Not lack, bc he did have some cool moves and did some cool stuff but they didn't show his cleverness and capabilities as much as in the books. Except the first scene with breaking into the school, the fighting scene in the very end and the resistance to torture (which holy shit??? Why) there wasn't MUCH. They kept saying how his uncle trained him for it but didn't explain which was also a shame imo.. (jack maybe said something super briefly about trips? ) but in the books he knows some languages right? Martial arts and rock climbing and more and more, it would have been cool if it was addressed and also that would explain better why they chose him for the job other than "oh he's his nephew". (Honestly? I actually loved that scene in the movie when m16 were like yup you were trained your whole life, and alex is in denial and they give all these examples to convince him that was what his uncle wanted for him).

And i mean, if they went more into his training then maybe he could be more badass idk.

Another change I'm not sure how i feel about is wolf and the special forces unit and their role in the series... like... ahhhh... torturing him.... liked it better when he was simply training with them😬

Them having his back at rescue mission thing was absolutely great tho i love him being cub

But basically all the important plot points remained and it was ahhh ig good, plot wise (at least as much as the book was)

Just, imo at least, as a tv series it was just.. bad. The soundtrack felt off 90% of he time, the weird.. idk, scene transitions, some of the suspense building and the delivery of several plot points was just 😬😬😬 not.. good.. the whole m16 settings were.. again, off.

I find it hard to explain but the general feeling i got was WEIRD, everything was so eerie, like i was watching a horror movie instead of action one but it wasn't actually scary? (Messed up, yes. But)

Basically it was ok all in all, and i realized i pointed out a lot of positive things after all haha but i just think with completely different editing and soundtracks it could have been a lot better