#i also do understand people's frustration

[salemlunaa]

ೄྀsome of you STILL don’t understandೄྀ

you must get comfortable in your god state to really succeed

ೄྀPART I | STOP NEGOTIATING WITH THE 3D

To get comfortable in your god state you need to understand that it is you ALONE that manifests. Stop consuming and spreading misinformation, you don’t have to “meet in the middle”with the 3D for your manifestations.

“If you want your dream bod to be manifested you have to stand firm AND workout”

“If you want to manifest clear skin, it’s good to visualise but you should also be focusing on skincare”

“If you want to manifest good grades you can affirm but you actually have to study”

“You can’t expect to manifest when you aren’t bothering to do anything in the 3D”

bullshit. absolute bullshit

although it’s important to still take care of your necessities, there’s no such thing as meeting halfway for your desires. If you think that you don’t understand what manifestation is. And with the assumption that it is, means that you don’t understand your full potential. As soon as you think of a desire it’s yours, no negotiating needs to be done with the 3D. All you have to do is stand firm.

Why are you making deals with the 3D?, “okay, okay if i workout in the 3d and manifest my dream body in my 4d it will come” that just isn’t needed

“okay but it does help things move faster” “it does help things become a little easier” nope, still wrong!

you don’t have to lift a finger for something that’s already yours. never. same goes for inducing pure consciousness, you don’t have to spend hours saturating your conscious mind in order to shift. You can have the worst day and still induce pure consciousness because that’s all it is: a state of consciousness.

ೄྀPART II | EVERYTHING YOU DO IS PERFECT

To get comfortable in your god state you must also understand that you’re doing it all right. Stop asking dumb questions, you’re doing everything correct. The fact that you rely on bloggers to tell you if you should do this or that as if they’re your god shows that you don’t truly understand (and it’s getting really frustrating).

“will i still be able to induce pure consciousness if I lay on my side rather than in a starfish position?”

“do i have to affirm?”

���what if i don’t do this one blogger’s method to the minute details, does this mean i won’t shift?”

asking stupid questions like these confirms that you still don’t understand the extent of your power, you still don’t understand who you are.

And if you don’t understand, you will never progress, treating this like a chore that you have to perfect is where you go wrong. As a god, everything you do is correct, you could even induce pure consciousness by standing straight up and singing heavy metal at the top of your lungs, because what ever you say goes.

Stop sitting back up after minute 5 of it “not working” to check if you’re doing that method correctly. Why does you living your dream life depend on other people’s rules, are they the gods of your reality or is it you?

And you do know this still counts as you putting the void state on a pedestal? There are people who find out about pure consciousness and induce it that same day. Get your head in the game.

1: You don’t have to lift a finger for your dream life

2: You’re doing everything correct, you are “I AM” trust that and you’ll induce in no time

Both of these things, negotiating with the 3D and asking if your doing it right in YOUR OWN reality are signs that you don’t trust yourself enough. Learn to actually trust yourself and accept your fate as a god and you’ll have everything you dream of

NOW GO GO GO, GO GET YOUR DREAM LIFE

🍵🪷To understand and succeed you must trust yourself

[franavu]

I think one of the problems with C3 is structural. Matt seems to be wanting to tell a story with themes about Gods, Divinity and Religion, which, great. But if you're going with those themes one of the worldbuilding questions that should at least be thought about is "in a world where the Gods are real, what does that mean for culture, society and community?" and the answer seems to be "it doesn't". It's like the religion parts are worldbuilding-adjacent, like, "I guess they're religious too." And this was fine for the previous campaigns and literally any other story, but for what C3 is doing, it should at least have been minimally addressed.

Part of it was that Matt could have gone in pre-campaign-prep, "For reasons, your character needs to have an opinion on the Gods that is rooted in your background." Something like, "the orphanage that Ashton grew up in was run by Lawbearer people and they came down hard on even minimal rule breaking, which made it a miserable place for a kid like Aston to grow up in, so he's understandably bitter." Or, "of course Chetney prays to the All-Hammer, he's a craftsman, he tries to go to the temple on his holy day, but he hasn't managed it for the last 20 years, and he feels vaguely guilty about it." That would have at least given the PCs some connection to the larger narrative.

It's also that in the whole first arc the Gods weren't relevant unless the BHs specifically needed a priest for something. And themes of religion could have been there from the beginning, which could have connected with the overall Predathos narrative. I think something really interesting could have been done with Jrusar, and worship of the Lawbearer and the Wildmother, and civilization rising from the wilds. It needn't have been particularly invasive, just there in the background, the same way the governmental structure was explained but not particularly relevant for what the BHs were doing there.

And it's such a shame, because Matt is really good with personal faith, and individual interaction with the Gods, but it seems to break down with organized religion. And I don't know if it's a blindspot, or if he was so busy during pre-campaign-prep that he just went with what he had, which, again, would have been perfectly fine for literally any other story, just not this one. It's just that this whole campaign feels like missed opportunities, and the feeling like it could have been so much better. 

(Like, for example, a personal frustration is that the Vasselheim parts could have shown diversity in forms of worship for different parts of Exandria, and diversity in ritual from priests of different Prime Deities, and show that despite their differences they are all working together towards a common goal. Instead in communal situations, we get fantasy-Protestantism, with a sprinkle of fantasy-Catholicism ritual on top. (And don't get me started on the alcohol ban, don't the fruits come from the Wildmother's bounty, grown and harvested under the Dawnfather's aegis? Isn't the All-Hammer the God of all craftsmen, including the vintner and the brewer?) It could have still been a bleak and hard place, just rooted specifically in the religions and Gods of Exandria.)

[liondrakes]

To add on with personal insight: I first awakened when I was in middle school, but shied away from embracing who I am out of fear. I didn’t come around to embracing myself until I turned twenty.

I don’t think it’s a matter of the experience being too “deep” or “serious” for children. Hell, some adults (therian or otherwise) don’t even see their identity as an overly profound experience. It’s their life. End of.

It’s a matter of belonging that needs to be taken into account. People can experience that at any age. Children spend a lot of time contemplating about who they are and where they belong, so it makes sense why such a vast influx of them flock to this community through a very popular outlet… even if said outlet tends to spread a lot of contradicting, and sometimes incorrect, information.

I would know because I did the same thing years ago. If I were to apply any of this to myself, I wouldn’t be considered a “real” therian, or alterhuman in general, back then because I learned about the otherkin community through Vine when I was thirteen. From there, I sat with the possibility of having this experience. I ruled out that I likely did, but I didn’t announce myself as a member of either community as mentioned before. I shut it out for a while. This decision was made out of concern of being judged by the spaces I already found myself in.

On one hand, can I understand the frustration with young, misinformed therians on TikTok? Yes, especially when they try to recirculate outdated definitions and discourses. Nobody is obligated to educate them, though I personally encourage it if you want rampant misinformation to cease.

On the other hand, I don’t think their behavior disproves their therianthropy. They still have a lot to learn about themselves and their community. Even if they’re the kind who insists that they’re not an animal, they should at least be directed to terms in the community that help describe what they experience (ex: synpath, otherhearted, otherpaw). They’re trailing behind, but they’ll find their way.

Furthermore, some of what they say (such as claiming therianthropy “isn’t” identifying as an animal) is likely a means to prevent the judgement and lack of belonging that they fret over. The “Oh, well, I’m not really…” response reads as a defense to me. I’m aware that there’s kids who genuinely don’t know therianthropy inherently means being an animal, but this is also the same generation with unfettered access to the internet. If they wanted to know beyond TikTok, they’d know. These kids could be putting up walls to turn away folks who’ll subject them to harassment for even daring to step outside of what they consider “normal”.

By no means am I saying they’re allowed to dilute the label because of this. No one would should go out of their way in making themselves palatable to assholes. I say this to shed light on how they might be feeling and why they assert these claims, despite said claims about therianthropy being wrong.

Children, especially teenagers, are very cautious about how they are perceived. It’s not that they can’t comprehend having an identity like this. It could be a huge thing for them to understand, but I don’t think we should blanket it as that alone. That has never worked out for any community, regardless of the label and its context (as discussed by Paleo).

Many of these children are clinging onto the belonging they feel amongst us. Despite having to brace for anti-therian/kin bullying, and doing so in a very backwards way, they still conduct themselves as members of this community.

Some of them may not continue to identify as therians in the future. This happens with adults too. It’s not a child-exclusive circumstance. Even if it was, then so be it. Life happens. You explore. You make discoveries. Whether or not those experiences remain a part of you is something that only time can tell.

Some of them also have the possibility of staying within this community. They have the capacity to keep learning from and engaging with their peers. I embraced my alterhumanity as an adult, but I still had much to learn. I wasn’t thirteen anymore. The community I familiarized myself with had long changed, so I had to catch up with everything.

I just don’t think the original post is a fair approach to younger members of our community. They have ample room to grow. I’m not saying older members should hand-hold them through everything, but we as adults have the experience to know that kids aren’t devoid of their own complexities when it comes to identity. We were all kids once. Our circumstances may not be the same, but we must ask ourselves: “Would l say the same thing about myself when I was fourteen?”

Better yet: “Would I say this about anyone who was misinformed about our community but still felt like they belong here?”

You can feel however you wish about their lack of understanding, but that lack of understanding doesn’t define them as people. If that were the case, anyone who questioned an identity and didn’t figure out all the details would be put in the hot seat.

Don't bash me in for saying this..but I don't consider anyone 14 or under who especially has tiktok to really be a therian.

They're more than likley gonna grow out of it. I'm not hating them for saying they are a therian but most people that young don't even know the meaning and seriousness of the identity.

[tanadrin]

I am sorry for the anon but I feel too vulnerable to come off due to the nature of my question.

I am slowly losing friends due to my refusal to engage in negative/nihilistic/doomer views of the future. My friends are 1000% convinced Trump and Republicans are going to crash the economy on purpose, leading to a depression, and carry out a Gilead situation. I told one of my friends the other day how, despite everything and the political situation, I am trying to be as positive as possible - or at least neutral. Her response to me was, "Why? I don't understand your optimism. You know they're going to enslave us all like in The Handmaid's Tale, right?" and it has become so dreadful now to interact with them. Anytime I disagree, they try to intellectually dominate me or put me under them in a way where I have no choice but to just leave the conversation.

I know this was a lot. But is there any advice you might have for someone like me? Because I sometimes feel like I am being painted as crazy. I know things will be hard but they genuinely want me to believe I have no future and I can't stand that.

Also, would it be too much to ask if you maybe mind sharing some of the other people/blogs you follow?

I once heard advice on dealing with Qanon family members who had fallen down the rabbit hole and only ever wanted to talk about conspiracy theories or the outrage bait they'd seen on Fox News or OANN or whatever, about not challenging them on their views but basically saying "I don't want to talk about this; let's talk about our plans for the weekend, or what movie we wanna go see later, or what interesting books you've read lately." The idea being, arguing with someone can only further entrench their beliefs, and if you really want to shake someone out of their dismal universe of conspiracism, it helps to remind them of all the things that aren't the fear-and-anger-activating content they're stuffing their brains with for hours every day.

Maybe something like this could help? I have a hard time imagining that someone really believes The Handmaid's Tale really is just around the corner--if you really believed that, surely you would be trying to flee to Canada or doing some political volunteer work or something--and sometimes doomer stuff can be kind of reflexive or phatic, like making a crack about how your retirement plan is to die in the water wars or something. But even if it isn't, I don't think there's any point in trying to argue about this stuff in the moment. Instead try to build on the things you still find fulfilling in that friendship, the conversations and interests and activities with those friends that caused you to become friends in the first place.

If you can't do that--if hanging out with them is always a constant grind of full-throttle doomerism, and they express no interest in actually trying to do something with their feelings of anger and frustration--you are perfectly within your rights to spend less time around them. You could, if you wanted to and you felt that you owed them at least that, give them a heads up as to why. If a close friend of mine or a family member was doing this, I would certainly talk to them about it. But your obligation to subject yourself to someone else's self-destructive idee fixe is not bottomless. Even with a partner you are within your rights to eventually say "I'm not going to talk about this with you anymore."

(And that's not only true of politics or conspiracy theories, by the way! If you have a close friend or family member or partner who--for example--has severe depression but refuses to seek treatment for it, you are not obligated to be the sponge for their misery forever every time they need someone to talk to. If someone in your life is in a relationship or a job that is making them miserable, and won't do anything to leave that relationship or find a new job, and just wants a friend to complain to, you are within your rights to eventually shut that down. Lots of people fall into a holding pattern in their life where they are unhappy but unable to do anything about it, and they will make this their friends' or loved ones' problem. That doesn't make them bad people: lord knows I have found myself doing this before. It's a very human thing to do. But sometimes the Good Friend Thing is to say "I love you, and will support you if you want to actually *do something* about your situation, but otherwise, oh my god shut the fuck up." But, you know, nicely.)

But if your friends want to make themselves miserable because hanging on to an endless stream of toxicity and doomerism from social media (and I will bet this is primarily coming from social media) is more important to them than your friendship, and they can't handle you not agreeing with them, you may lose them as friends. If you do, I'm sorry. That sucks. It's hard to lose friends, and it's even harder later in life when making new friends is more difficult, and I don't want to pretend like that's not a big deal.

[fuck-customers]

My work had some recent problems with USPS where they marked a group of shipments "delivered" on accident instead of scanning them in at the location as a checkpoint. Our shipping director has literally been on the phone with USPS nonstop after hours trying to get this fixed for everyone. For the most part this hasn't been an issue. People have been super understanding, thankful that we let them know, and appreciative that we've provided resources to contact USPS for assistance with their package.

Except for one woman.

After giving her the exact same information as everyone else, I was gifted with a paragraph long email about how I'M incorrect and should - I quote - "educate myself in how USPS works" because she "worked for USPS for 30+ years" and "There's no way to contact USPS about a package once it's marked delivered because the tracking number is void."

This is patently untrue. I know this because I've had misdeliveries I've had to contact USPS about. They've been able to locate my package with a supposedly "voided" tracking number that had been marked - you guessed it - delivered.

The contact page I sent her for USPS also has a "Where is my package?" service request page smack dab in the middle of it and SUPER visible where you can request assistance with a tracking number that has, once again, been marked "delivered". The package was also shipped ground and takes 2-5 business days to reach it's destination, and she's demanding to know where her package is 24hrs after it shipped.

Like I get that your frustrated, but maybe contact people who can actually help you? Once it leaves our shipping it's in USPS's hands and we can't really do anything. The package is insured. You can submit a claim. And if you "worked for the postal service for 30 years" you should know we can't help you track your package or issue a second tracking number since the package has already left our facility. You just wanted to yell at a minimum wage worker to feel better about yourself, but got stuck with me instead.

Posted by admin Rodney

[thebreakfastgenie]

Is it wrong that in some ways, I'm actually pretty fed up with the near constant amount of people whining about capitalism?

It isn't because I think they're wrong for disliking it and they're not wrong for being angry at the state of things, but rather that it's just an extension of their general learned helplessness and demands/expectations that someone else do the dirty work of getting rid of the evil billionaires while they sit around and whine and cry about things not happening fast enough?

Because that's what gets to me: That all they ever do is whine about the elite looking down on them as slaves and servants, all the while never lifting a finger themselves to even attempt to save themselves, either because "it's too scawwy to stand up against the billionaires", or because they keep on clinging onto the "Revolution" or for someone else to do the mass slaughtering to keep their own hands clean of blood as some kind of instant panacea that will fix everything. Or even more nastily implied, because they think it's beneath them to do the work because THEY might not get the benefits in their lifetimes.

At this point I'm frankly just "either put up and risk your own damned lives and livelihoods to do something about it, or shut up because you're just a poser and whiny little prick who will never do anything to even attempt to save yourself".

It's not wrong at all. All your points are correct. I'll also add that blaming everything on capitalism is a bit of a meme that, as often happens, devolved from being understood as a memey shorthand to being understood literally. Many of the things referenced in anti-capitalism rants are not exclusive and/or inherent to capitalism. Sometimes those posts include things that are not capitalism at all. Capitalism serves the same function as "the man," a vague, powerful enemy at which to direct your anger. Notably too vague to take any tangible action against. Honestly it kind of resembles the way the right talks about socialism/communism, which is possibly where some of these people picked it up; they simply inverted their Republican parents' arguments.

It's deeply frustrating because if you want to seriously criticize capitalism, you have to use the word correctly and understand what you're criticizing. It obfuscates the problem to throw the word around and that is counterproductive. Marx would certainly not approve lol.

[fuckyeahisawthat]

I'm gonna split the difference between your Watsonian and Doylist takes and say a little about each.

As someone who is ALWAYS down for a story about the oppressed rising up...I personally would have been disappointed if what seems like generations of inequality had been magically (ha) solved in 18 episodes. I don't think there's a way to do that without it feeling cheap and fake--even if any of the show's other plotlines were sacrificed to give the class struggle story elements more screentime. I also think that expecting that from a show called ARCANE is setting yourself up for disappointment. Magic was always going to be the main plotline. The inequality between the two cities is a backdrop for stories focused on the characters and their relationships, as @thetardigrape says. And given that (in my understanding) that inequality still exists in the world of the game, it seems unrealistic to expect it to be resolved in the show.

Sevika taking her one (1) token Council seat for the Undercity under the stink-eyed gaze of all the old money Pilties was a great moment, actually. That's fucking real, man. It's gonna suck so so much for her both politically and personally and I tend to think it will be nothing but ineffective and frustrating as a strategy for change, but that door toward more equality between the two cities has been shoved open a tiny bit and someone's gotta stick their foot in the gap. Within the world of the show, a tiny, imperfect and resentfully acknowledged crack in the status quo honestly feels way more real to me--and consistent with the tone of fragile hope that most of the storylines end on--than a more decisive political victory would.

And within the world of the show...I mean. Class struggle is never over. As long as there is inequality there will be new rounds of social upheaval, and there are many forms of struggle in between fighting the police and becoming a politician.

I do think that Silco's (and young Vander's) framing of the conflict in nationalist/separatist terms seems to be a very small minority position in their time, and that specific political project dies (for now) with Silco. I have a lot (like a LOT) more to say about this but it does not seem like most residents of the Undercity think of themselves as having a shared national identity. Maybe there is some vague sense of a shared class identity but there is certainly no sense of unified class power. (Again...a lot more to say about this that really deserves its own post.) In general, people's group loyalties seem to be to (1) their families (both bio and found) and informal networks of mutual support for basic survival, (2) gangs and networks of criminal enterprise, which can overlap with (1), and maybe in certain limited senses (miners, probably) to their fellow workers.

This doesn't mean that trying to cohere a national identity for Zaun is an objectively incorrect political strategy (my answer on that is a big fat "it depends!") just that it's not popular. The Undercity is not united at all during the timeline of the show. We're seeing it in a moment of division and defeat and I have a whole theory about exactly why but that's really getting into the other post I just need to sit down and write now.

(Arcane Meta) Zaun Died with Silco

I want to open this by saying I understand people who are upset that there isn't more Piltover/Zaun conflict and resolution in S2 of Arcane. However, I'm going to argue here that the reason it's not in S2 after 2.03 is because the conflict is over. Piltover won. There is no more Zaun anymore as a potential political player and, ultimately, this comes back to haunt Piltover in their hour of need.

Overall, while I am invested in the Piltover/Zaun conflict, especially in S1, I'm less focused on Caitlyn and Vi's story which is our main lens for the conflict, or rather the end of the conflict, in S2. Still, I hope to offer my more Arcane worldbuilding-focused perspective. And just to get it out of the way, here are a few things I had trouble with:

I too was puzzled that anyone from the Undercity would join Piltover in the defense of the city.

I also thought it was strange to have Jayce focus on the threat that Viktor posed with his robots while soliciting help from the undercity, instead of on Ambessa, the more clear and understandable threat that would have made a better rallying point and allowed for a final discussion about the Noxian occupation of the undercity and how Noxus turning on Piltover was just them reaping what they sowed.

I was certainly taken aback when everyone was given Enforcer uniforms for the final fight.

That said, I believe there are answers to all three of these. From there, I want to dive into what exactly happened in S2 with Piltover vs. Zaun, to my eyes. Short version: there is no more "Zaun" as a potential nation or political player by 2.03 when the Chem Barons are taken out by Cait's forces, but it really died before that with Silco, who was already in a precarious negotiating situation himself and he knew it.

Very few people from the Undercity joined Piltover's defense of the city. Maybe a half dozen. I felt that was our moment of "you reap what you sow" for Piltover. A few passionate idealists who could see the bigger picture that saving Piltover does mean saving the undercity joined, but there were no hordes of volunteers. Piltover had lost the right to them and was substantially weakened for it.

Jayce choosing to focus on Viktor as the threat makes sense for him, but it was a poor political move and probably lost him volunteers he would have otherwise gained. The robot army threat is too esoteric and fantastical. "The Noxians turned on us and plan to conquer the city," is a threat that would have been better for rallying the troops, Jayce is just too single-minded to think of it. He's a bad politician.

The Enforcer uniforms are an odd sour note, but they do make sense as protective gear. Piltover doesn't have an army. There are no uniforms to give people. All they have is Enforcer uniforms. It is an odd note symbolically, but practically speaking it shows how little time Piltover had to prepare. Piltover is a civilian city going up against a military force like Noxus. They are woefully underprepared and really only have their status as defender in urban fighting to give them a prayer of even stalling the Noxian forces. Ironically, Piltover's only hope against Noxus mirrors Zaun's only hope against Piltover if they had gone to war: the difficult nature of urban fighting against an entrenched, motivated opponent on their home turf.

Now, to get into, "What happened to the overall Piltover vs. Zaun fight?" I get why people think it's lacking in S2, and I get why people find it horrifying that there is no independent Zaun at the end, all we've got is Sevika with one seat on the Council, as far as we can tell but I would point out:

Zaun is dead at this point. It's been dead since 2.03. Arguably, it really died with Silco.

As Jinx said, she didn't just destroy her own family, she cursed an entire society when she launched that rocket into the Council Chamber.

Here's the thing, Jayce was actually right when he said Zaun wouldn't stand a chance in an outright war with Piltover.

Yes, Zaun has a lot of brawlers. They have Shimmer and the Shimmer berserkers.

But Zaun doesn't have any sort of organized fighting force beyond the guards of individual Chem Barons and their factories.

What Zaun has is the fissures. It has ugly, difficult urban fighting in dangerous spaces. But as a counter to that, we have the fact that their ventilation is controlled from Piltover. In a true all-out war, Piltover could in theory just flush out the entire undercity using the Gray. Having your infrastructure entirely dependent on an enemy oppressor is what I would call a "fatal flaw" in any defensive military strategy, particularly when what they can cut off is the air you breathe. That's easily game over right there unless Silco has a way to circumvent that.

In a guerilla war, Zaun could probably hold out for a long, grinding, ugly civil war made up of mostly guerrilla attacks, in which a great number of innocent civilians will die, even in an all-out conflict with Piltover. But it would suffer catastrophic losses and probably still lose in the end.

Now, Jayce is I think somewhat naive in his claim Zaun doesn't stand a chance. Maybe Zaun wouldn't stand a chance in the long run, but they'd make Piltover pay for every inch with blood. They'd grind Piltover down into a shadow of its former self, force them to sacrifice all of their principles. To some extent, I think Jayce gets that, he gets that he doesn't want more kids to die, but I think even he underestimates just how ugly that war would be and how long it would go and how unrecognizable his Piltover would be by then.

The moment that gives Silco pause in Jayce's assessment of how easily Zaun would be crushed isn't the fighting. Silco is pretty confident that they could make Piltover pay and he's arguably looking forward to the chance on some level.

What gives him pause is when Jayce says the Council doesn't care.

To some extent, Silco like any revolutionary against an oppressive "civilized" society (heavy, heavy emphasis on the air quotes there) is that a certain point, Piltover is so soft-hearted they will get tired of the bloodshed.

What Jayce just told Silco is that the Council is more barbaric than even Silco maybe appreciated, for all their vaunted principles. There isn't necessarily a limit to how many Zaunite children will die before Piltover decides to cease hostilities. Knowing what Silco knows of Piltover's brutality, I think that is a sobering moment for Silco. That's when he decides this really is the best time to negotiate.

(Aside, this is by the way where Vi is wrong about Silco, driven by her emotions. Silco is willing to set aside the feud to get his nation of Zaun, he can be negotiated with. He's just not willing to give up his daughter (something Vi can't possibly understand at this point).)

Here's why it's the best time for Silco to negotiate and it ties into everything else:

Without Shimmer, which has been severely hampered by the raid on the factory, Zaun doesn't have anything to counter Hextech.

Jinx's wild attacks against Piltover has helped put the pressure on them that Silco capitalizes on. But it is a paper-thin threat. She is a lone albeit devastating terrorist. She makes Zaun appear more dangerous than it is but that can't last forever. Silco has leveraged her attacks into a pressure campaign against Piltover, but a serious response from Piltover (as seen in 2.03 with the strike team corners and very nearly captures her) could reveal just how fragile that threat is.

Basically, Zaun has some champions, arguably a league of legends lol, but it doesn't have an army. It doesn't even have Enforcers of its own. It doesn't have a concerted force of any kind.

The money is running out. As "Sucker" shows us in 2.02, each Chem Baron that gets taken out means less money on the table, and we're down 2 by the beginning of S2 with Silco and Finn, who arguably both fell to internal fighting.

As the Chem Barons say in 2.02, even if they got total unity in Zaun, they're outnumbered.

However, they don't have total unity in Zaun. They can't even get the Chem Barons to agree on what to do on one topic, with Jinx.

Silco basically has to accept the deal with Jayce when he does, while Zaun appears to be at its strongest. Because if he had waited any longer, the fact that they don't have the strength or money to back it up would have become apparent.

Furthermore, once Jayce resigns from the Council, which he was planning to do anyway regardless of Jinx's attack, would mean Zaun would lose its one champion with the political capital to give them independence. The window for Zaun independence is actually extremely narrow.

With Silco's death and Jinx's attack on the Council, then the subsequent eradication of the other Chem Barons, their resources, their money, including Shimmer which was the only thing Zaun really had to match them against Hextech in that arms race, there really isn't a Zaun anymore.

There's no one to negotiate with. No one to hand power to. No force that can govern itself. Zaun is completely fractured with the eradication of the Chem Barons. By taking them out, Cait removed the need for Piltover to negotiate with Zaun. And the reason Piltover chose not to was because of Jinx's rocket and then the attack on the memorial, which was orchestrated by Ambessa.

This is all according to Ambessa's design, by the way. She divides Piltover/Zaun against themselves by capitalizing on Jinx's attack. She leaves both severely weakened to make it easier for her to take over, and Piltover walks right into the trap. They would have fallen to Noxus if not for Mel's love of the city, even if you remove Viktor and Jayce's plotline entirely.

TL;DR Zaun is gone, guys. It's a distant dream. Sevika is the only person with an interest in making it happen anymore and she can't even get the Jinxers to listen to her. All the factions are easily arrested at the rally. Piltover has no reason to negotiate with any of these people. As the lone torchbearer for that cause, it makes sense for Sevika to be on the Council but beyond her, there is literally no one else to give a voice to (since Ekko doesn't appear to have an interest).

At least, until the Noxians turn on them, and then there's an interest in Piltover and the undercity joining forces, but as I referenced at the beginning of this, Piltover has now lost the right to the undercity's help AND lacks the undercity's resources too. Now Noxus has Shimmer instead of Piltover or Zaun, in addition to their sophisticated and expertly trained military force. As Jayce said, they were meant to lose this fight. Arguably, they never had a chance of winning if not for Mel claiming the loyalty of the Noxians in the wake of her mother's death and everything Jayce did to stop Viktor and the Hexcore.

[graementality]

behold?? my full interpretation on all of the main factors of CCCC!! I don't know what compelled me to write all this but here we are. (whoops this got LONGG)

enjoy!

[disclaimer that this is my own interpretation and, while I take alot from canon, some of it will be closer to the fanon side of things. ]

[disclaimer 2 that I get all writery in certain parts and essentially write "from the characters' perspective" so those bits aren't MY OWN opinions, it's what I think they would feel about certain things C:]

[disclaimer 3 that alot of this is me stating the obvious, aswell as making them out to seem quite horrible, I promise I love them all and while they do have many flaws, they have good moments too </3 uhh ok yeah don't kill me with rocks pls]

Heart

• first of all: Heart has a huge victim complex. whether intentionally or not, he will always play the victim- he can get quite emotionally manipulative in this sense too. It can never be his fault- "he was provoked" "the other deserved it" "the other started it" "I'm innocent I'm innocent I'm innocent."

• he *can be* immature. now this word gets thrown around alot by Mind but i think he's 'immature' not in the sense that he throws tantrums and can't be trusted and has nothing of importance to say like Mind thinks. he is in the way that he refuses to listen to others, refuses to take the blame, and can also be quite petty and has a tendency to blow up (sound familiar? yeah. Minds immature too, we love Heart Mind parallels).

• he is spiteful and impulsive, but can you blame him? he's constantly being belittled and fought against; of course he's gonna take any chance he can to get back at Mind- to show him how it feels- to make him finally *listen*.

• Heart constantly feels like no one listens to him, that he is the disregarded part bcus he's "uncontrollable and unruly". this obviously forms alot of built up resentment because no one is taking him seriously. I think he can switch alot between "I need to prove that I'm just as good as Mind, I'll show them." and "they're right, I'm violent and impulsive and I'm ruining our chances of becoming Whole.". as you'd expect- his mood swings are wild.

• he is Inherently violent and impulsive. nothing is premeditated- if he's angry, he'll act on it. he'll say and do whatever he thinks will get him out of a situation or will make the other person listen.

• just the same as Mind- he is under the full impression that his opinions on how Whole should be are correct. And of course there is truth in that, emotions are a necessary part of existence, but just like Mind, he doesn't understand the need for his other half's part aswell.

• I think he very much wallows in his depression. he finds it difficult not to, but when he's bad- he's bad. he takes after Whole in that sense. he will be selfish and cruel and will isolate. he will spend all his time in his room and will be significantly more vile to Mind. he gets very caught up in his own emotions and depression, which just enhances it. (that is until things start being better and they're on their way to concord ofc, they all start helping eachother and themselves again) (this sounds mean I promise I love him, sadly I love projecting onto him more)

• there's alot of negatives here for him being my favourite character but trust me he can be good too. He's excellent at comfort, he knows just how to make someone feel better when they need it. He's empathetic, he can read people's emotions with ease and because of this-is able to understand them. Every fight with Mind- he feels his anger and frustration just as much as his own, he knows Mind gets just as riled up as him when tipped over the edge. The same goes with Soul, he can feel Soul's anger like a looming threat when their fights escalate too far. He can feel Soul's guilt and and how he relishes in the control despite it. That is to say- Heart can be kind and caring too, when it counts. he's the love AND the hate; it just so happens that he's got ALOTT of things to be mad about in his life </3

Mind

• Mind is astronomically emotionally repressed, it is a problem. he views emotions as something that holds him and everyone back from rational thinking and being at their optimal performance levels. he doesn't allow himself to get caught up in emotions (this of course is a lie, and excludes his petty outbursts at Heart, those don't count).

• ^ so much to the point that he 'removes himself of everything humane and emotional' by replacing himself with mechanical parts. no I don't think that's canon but I love this headcanon and I will die on this hill.

• though he would deny it: he is very petty, and does enjoy provoking Heart whenever given the chance. (which of course Heart does aswell)

• he is a 'control freak' to his core. though it comes off as tyrannical, he truly does think he knows what's best for the Whole, and that's why he's so adamant on being the ruler. logic is straightforward, logic can be easily worked through and used to make optimal decisions, thinking clearly avoids all possible bad situations. logic is his mainstay, his rock. (If he were to let in the flood of repressed emotion, he wouldn't be able to handle it all, and would lose hold of his mainstay whilst desperately trying to stay grasped onto it. he would be scared and lost in it all without a way back up.)

• he hides behind his apathetic facade but he *does* feel and he *does* get angry and upset and scared- and he hates himself for it. he can't be seen as vulnerable, as weak. I don't think he even knows *how* to deal with emotions either. he's spent so much time shoving them down that when they finally all come back up, he genuinly doesn't know what to do, he panics, unable to use logic in a situation like this.

• he is stubborn as all hell.

• he is Whole's ego. he doesn't think he's ever good enough and yet pretends he's the best; he believes he's the best too- contradictory I know, they're all hypocrites /lh.

• despite all these sympathisable things, he *is* cold and he *is* cruel at times. just like Heart, he has his reasons, but that doesn't make his actions justified. (make up already you guys suck!!!!)

Soul

• sigghhh identity issues x1000; he doesn't know who he is or what he's meant to be. he isn't a real person, and what's worse, he isn't *Whole*.

• I think so much of his character is based around Whole rather than him being much of his own person. his identity is a mimicry of Whole, botched together to make the imperfect Self, always wrong, never perfect enough. he has spent his whole existence working towards becoming someone else that he's never once thought to make an identity of his own- it's all for Whole, he would be nothing without him.

• he does not want to have to hurt the other two but in the end, that's all they'll listen to. he mimics power and control. he doesn't want to hurt them- but what else does he have if not power over these two? he has no control over the loops, no power against Whole, he can't do anything to stop this in the grand scheme, so he exerts control in the only way he can. he (tries to) keeps them in line. there is a large amount of guilt around that though.

• he's actually a very guilty person in general, his existence is merely the happenstance of dissonance; he and the others are born from it. he is the hubris of his Whole's misery- how could he not feel guilty about his every motion and thought, his existence itself is made from anguish {his Whole's anguish}.

• he yearns for non-existence and existence simultaneously; he contradicts himself. he wants to be Whole, but at the same time he wants to co-exist with him, happily.

• overall he is tired, he is very very tired. he doesn't have much left in him and he'll do whatever is necessary to just make it *stop* at this point. I think even after cacophony ends and the fighting finally stops, he's still on edge. he flinches at every little sound and raised voice. he wakes up in the middle of the night thinking he heard the other two arguing again, he has nightmares. he's very paranoid at all times.

• during cacophony I feel like Heart and Mind are defintely dehumanised by him. whether subconsciously or not. they become the ids, rather than his fellow thirds. they're a problem he needs to fix, parasites he needs to be rid of. he wants to get along and trust them, truly, but he never can.

• touch starved. this needs no elaboration.

• he worships Whole, devotes himself to him. he thinks of him like a god, something holy and perfect and completely out of his reach. his whole identity and existence is built around becoming him, this places Whole as the epitome of perfection. he wishes he was able to be close to Whole, to know him- but that's impossible, and he thinks if he ever even got the chance to brush their hands together his body would explode at the heat of his divine touch. yeah listen to this freak, please be normal for once in your life Soul.

Whole

(disclaimer: this is the character Whole and is in no way how I view CJ!! they are completely seperate thank yew) -

• my entire perception of Whole is mismatched ideas I've collected from mutuals but a large portion of his personality is from 'live the dream'. so, just picture that version of Whole mixed in with the weird codependent god relationship with Soul and that's my Whole 👍

• he is selfish and hypocritical at his core, he's almost as guilt-ridden as his Soul.

• he knows he does bad things, to himself and others. he hates it, he regrets it, he feels guilty for it- but he will always come back and do it again.

• he lacks barely any form of self love- of course this is going to make it difficult for him to sympathise and love his little blots- *parts of himself*.

• he is (of course) suicidal, alot of his (self proclaimed) 'selfishness' stems from this; he can't help it but its true. he's spent so long only looking out for himself, in isolation, believing that everything he does is pointless- his actions are gonna be selfish, whether he likes it or not. hence- the loop; he continues to repeat it.

• he is a chronic liar, he lies to himself, he lies to HMS, he lies to his friends. sometimes harmlessly, sometimes Very Much Not. there are times he's sworn he won't restart the loop and believed it, but of course that never lasted very long.

• he's not good at maintaining relationships- with anyone. this is why he struggles so much with Soul's unwavering devotion to him. not only does he feel like he's not putting into their relationship as much as Soul is, but he also lives in constant fear that *it will end eventually*. Soul will realise what a bad person he is and abandon him, or he'll fuck something up on his own.

• Whole has religious trauma (two wuv), and because of this he is very uncomfortable with Soul's worshipping of him.

• despite this, he still leans into it; no one's ever adored him this fervently, without hesitation, he can't help but enjoy it at least a little. both him and Soul are touch starved as hell so, it's *alot*. It's easier when they're in the loops, when he's separated from them all, from their resentment and their love. he doesn't think he deserves anything but what he thinks of himself. so Soul's unwavering love and devotion throws him off, but who would he be to refuse such a scarce thing in his life?

The Juno Incident

• ok!! I like lot's of different interpretations of the Juno incident honestly, though the ones that align best with what I think happened are these:

• Heart missed, literally. his bullet did not hit Mind. I believe he had low vision (just like me fr!!) before being blinded fully after TJI and this of course made aiming difficult.

• ALTERNATIVELY, he *did* shoot Mind, and the bullet *did* hit. Whether that was in the throat or some other place idrk, it fluctuates.

• In both instances, I think it went like this: after Heart's shot, Mind was shocked, he was scared, ESPECIALLY if the bullet did actually hit. I think in that moment, he did not have his logic to rely on, emotion- shock, fear, betrayal, anger- all of it, took over. he probably couldn't move for a few *very long, agonising* minutes, he was shaking, he was trying to organise his thoughts to best approach the situation and *couldn't*. his smug demeanour was finally broken down and in that moment he was truly *weak* (which he resents both himself and Heart for every day).

• meanwhile Heart very quickly flips from seething hatred and anger to regret, he's a sobbing mess. he's also scared- partly for Mind (if the bullet hit), but mainly for himself, mainly of *Soul* and what the consequences will be. he starts hysterically apologising, not to anyone in particular, just whoever will listen. he immediately goes into defence mode- victim mode.

• when Soul gets to the scene it's a mix of emotions. he's mad, mostly, but also feels betrayed- this is going to impact Whole, this is a setback we can't come back from, how could they do this? but of course the first thing he has to do is help, mediate, punish- as always.

• when it comes to whether or not Soul blinded Heart, I'm not sure. I enjoy the interpretations where he does, but also the ones that don't. but I firmly believe that it was majorly Heart's doing (self inflicted whilst in Apathy which I'll elaborate more on soon).

• Soul still punishes Heart obviously. after realising that Heart isn't the one that's been hurt here, and is crying crocodile tears, he quickly makes his way to Mind, who is still trying to regain his composure. Heart is obviously still screaming and wailing, and Soul now has the full picture of what happened, he tears into Heart. he yells at him about how he's betrayed them, betrayed Whole, how he's broken everything. Heart just defends and defends, cries and cries, he doesn't want to face the consequences. Soul eventually sends him to Apathy, where he can't wreck anything else (except himself). This was maybe the first time they were all equally afraid of eachother. (It will happen again, and again, of course)

• after dealing with Heart, Soul tends to Mind, who is *very* averse to being looked after (he doesn't need his pity). But he is obviously Very Fucked Up and accepts the care anyway. cue weeks of recovery and PTSD.

Apathy

• Apathy is somewhere in headspace that no one knows how to get to, they just end up there when that is where they need to go. It's a long walk, or a short one; no one really knows when you end up underground, you just do.

• I picture it as something of a cave system but instead of rocks, it's made up of decay. It smells like dirt and rotting flesh, the walls squirm as if they were alive, the floors are covered in rotting vine-like things that crawl around you and pull you deeper into the pit. Its dark and agonising.

• Heart relies heavily on sound and touch, this place is a sensory nightmare for him to say the least. he can barely see, Apathy is unable to harbour sound, and everything around him makes him want to throw up.

• eventually his own actions, with the additional side effects of being somewhere so horrific all alone for so long- causes Heart to scratch out his eyes. I hc him as someone very prone to scratching and skin picking- it got a bit much here to say the least and that got taken out on his eyes.

• I imagine he was down there for at least a few weeks. at the max a little over a month. Soul is the one to come get him, Mind does not want to face him.

The Loop

• Whole purposefully restarts the loop. for quite awhile I stuck with the idea that the loop restarts itself, like when they start fighting again- as the cycle of depression does. and while I still believe that- I like Whole restarting it on purpose more :]. It gives not only the plot, but all of the characters so much more depth in my opinion. there's resentment, there's guilt, there's it's effects on relationships and relationships with oneself. It's just overall so horribly good.

• I mainly like the way things happen in 'live the dream'. as in: Whole gets tired of Being A Person, he doesn't want to exist anymore- so he sits down at his piano and begins his song to restart the loop; the loop that brings him to the peaceful realm of unconsciousness whilst his thirds go through hell once again. and when they finally reach concord, he's brought back to reality. and it repeats itself.

• regarding memories: Soul remembers the most, which isn't saying much but yk. his memories of the loop mainly consist of the main events (split, fighting, Juno incident, any other significant things). his memories aren't clear enough to ever prevent any of this though, he just has to live with the fact that he knows something bad is going to happen, and he can't do anything to stop it. even if he did manage to, the loop would find a way to make it happen anyway. (for example: he calms Heart down before he manages to shoot Mind. Soul thinks all is well but later that night he hears muffled yelling from one of the blots' rooms, he's annoyed for a moment- just another fight- until he hears a gunshot. It happened anyway, his efforts were fruitless.)

• Soul is aware they've been through many many loops. he doesn't know how many, but he knows they've been here for A Very Long Time. he's tired.

• Heart and Mind are..somewhat aware of the loop? I think during calamity and closer to concord they're able to remember better, but in the midst of cacophony, they might as well know nothing. the battle for control and constant warring prevents them from remembering they've been here before- and will be once more. It all feels familiar, they write it off as deja vu. alot of things happen because of their 'instincts', for example: Heart's first thought during The Fight with Mind is to grab the gun; he's never shot anyone before, so why'd the thought come up? well it's obviously the most efficient choice of action- it'll certainly get Mind to shut up and listen to you. <- and so the cycle repeats itself.

• on how many loops there have been. I think it comes and goes like the cycle of depression (obviously). I think they each last for a few months up to a year at a time, and concord lasts for roughly a few months aswell. however many of those fit into the time that Whole has been alive and struggling with depression is how many loops there have been.

done!! holy shit that's alot, over 3k to be exact. these ideas will probably change and fluctuate over time but it was nice to get it all down for now :] feel free to send me asks about my headcanons of these weird little bugs, I love them :33 !!!

[betsj]

Battle

୧ ‧₊˚ 🍵 ⋅

୧ ‧₊˚ 🍵 ⋅

✩°｡🦦 warning: angry izuku, public??, degrading, pet names, maybe OOC? and smut

✩°｡🦦 summary: you threw yourself into battle, it was a risky move but it saved so many people. other hero’s were proud but izuku thought differently.

✩°｡🦦 he isn’t a minor, he’s 28 😒

Cheering erupted as the hero rose from the dust and smoke on the ground. "The heroes have done it again!" A reporter yelled above the loud crowd in the street.

You were put above the crowd, name being chanted by kids and their parents along with elders. Ochako ran over to you as soon as the hero's put you down, "Are you okay?!" Nodding with a hurt-smile, "Yes… Shoto was able to help me as well.” High-fiving him as he walked past you.

She was talking to you but it was cut short when Izuku grabbed you by your arm and dragged you off to the side of broken buildings, where multiple cars laid around and debris. Shoving you against a car, "What the hell was that?" Knitting your eyebrows together...

Izuku has never reacted like this before...

Calmly, you said, "What's the matter Izuku?" Trying to get off the car but Izuku wasn't having none of that. In a frustrated voice he yelled, "You could've died!" Eyes widening, looking around to see if anybody was peeking around corners... nobody, you thought. "I know but if somebody didn't do anything, everybody could've died." Izuku wasn't breaking.

"You need to stop throwing yourself out like that!"

Scoffing, "You cannot talk!"

Izuku and you have been together since the last year of high school. You knew everything he's been through so, he has no room to talk... "Izuku I understand you're mad but you can't be a hypocrite as well." His green eye twitches and that was the last straw.

Flipping you around, making sure your stomach was flat on the hood of the car. In a gasp, he pressed his legs against yours, using all of his strength, you couldn’t move at all. "Iz-Izuku, what're you doing?!" No answer. So you asked him again in a panicked tone when you felt him pull the zipper down. "Out here?! Really?!" Before you could push yourself up, he took your wrists with his right hand while his left worked on your hero suit.

"You're going to feel how mad," Pushing his bulge against your now exposed panties, groaning "I get when you put yourself at risk."

Closing your eyes, panting and probably drooling... you and Izuku have talked and argued about the risk of throwing yourself in danger but you didn't know it angered him this much. Believe when you say, you like when Izuku is in control but not like this... he's usually soft and gentle. Mad Izuku? It made you shutter.

Letting out a loud moan when three fingers were shoved into your now, soaked hole. Likewise, he wasted no time to start fingering and opening you but it was so rough it made you start crying. Hearing him chuckle, "C'mon don't act like you don't like this." Once he hit a spot that made your thighs squeeze his hand, he said "You're always begging me to go harder and faster, so here ya go." Shaking your head, finally looking back, "No-Not like this! Not out in the open!”

Izuku almost falters from seeing how desperate you looked for him to be softer but he couldn't, you pissed him off for the last time. You also haven’t yelled y’all safe word: hunter.

Rubbing your clit hard and in circles to ring an orgasm out. It took everything in you to overpower him. In a whimper, "At least look at me Izuku, please."

It was quiet before you felt your wrists being let go and you were put into missionary. Seeing him made you feel better... still soaking wet, so you moved your hips. "Such a whore sometimes," He grinned and smacked your pussy... his dick was already set free, seeing it made you whine.

Anytime y'all had sex missionary, you held your ankles up but not this time. Izuku had a tight grip on them, using one of his hands to align himself to your entrance, "Ready?" Nodding immediately, he laughed and pushed in quickly.

Both letting out a moan in unison. "Fuck you're tight..." He began to move and it didn't take long for him to pick up a quick pace. Hips slamming hard into your thighs and his balls were hitting your ass.

"Izuku! Oh God!" He was sweating and panting over you and his right hand left your ankle to push down on your stomach, "That feel good?" Nodding, feeling tears run down your face again, "Yes!" You didn't realize it but your own hand began circling your hard clit.

That turned Izuku on a lot.

Pushing himself to the brim, whimpering, "Oh fuck... your pussy feels so good, baby."

"Izuku, my love, I-I'm about to..." He nodded, "Come on my dick, you whore." Throwing your head back while pulling him down to kiss him. Moaning into his mouth... it took four thrusts for him to pull out and jerk himself off, finishing on your stomach.

Y’all both were panting in sync, not saying a word before you mumbled, “I should throw myself out there more if this is what I get.” Izuku sat up, glaring down at you.

Giggling, “I’m joking.” Sitting up and pulling him into a hug.

izuku mmmm

[thrashkink-coven]

I get the thing of wanting to be as harmless and uncontroversial as possible in your craft. I understand white witches trying their best not to encroach on closed practices or cultural appropriation. I understand wanting to cancel problematic occultists and generally push the witchy community away from its history with white supremacy and racism. I get it, I really do.

and I say this with love and try to come across as gently as possible.

Some of you, though your intentions may be pure, don’t seem to recognize the difference between genuine caution and concern and blatant white saviourtism. I promise you that people of color don’t need white witches to speak for them. I promise you that it is not your responsibility to be the saviour that enforces what is and isn’t problematic, especially when you yourself are so clueless about the issue at hand.

People who don’t know even the first thing about Judaism shouldn’t be trying to herd all of their white friends away from Lilith or dictate why you shouldn’t use magick with a k. It’s frustrating because the original message gets completely lost every single time.

Jew witches will say “hey guys maybe don’t work with Lilith if you don’t understand her origins because she’s not just a girl boss mother of demons but also has a lot of history in our culture as an extremely violent and chaotic energy that actively victimizes women and children”

But all that tumblr heard was “Lilith is associated with Judaism and that means she’s a religious figure and can’t be worked with by non-jews” without having even the slightest clue what her role in Judaism was and why people advise caution. Saying that Lilith is a religious figure to Judaism tells me that you’ve never even met a Jewish person in real life.

People will say “hey Crowley was actually a piece of shit and shouldn’t be idolized as a wise practitioner when he was literally just an extremely racist heroine addict who tricked a lot of women into having sex with him for rituals”

But all that tumblr hears is “Crowley bad. Anything associated with Crowley also bad. If you do anything that was associated with Crowley you are also bad.”

Indigenous witches will say “Hey white sage is an extremely sacred herb that is being heinously over harvested by corporations selling the witchcraft equivalent of fast fashion and it’s causing severe harm to indigenous businesses and communities, please stop supporting them”

but all that tumblr heard was “White sage shouldn’t be harvested. If you get white sage from anywhere, even indigenous people themselves, you are racist.”

and in retaliation to that super hard stance you have witches who have decided they don’t care about respecting closed practices in general and purposely buy from non indigenous sources out of spite

“I don’t know enough about this topic to have an intelligent stance on it” is ALSO a perfectly acceptable position. You don’t have to be opinionated about things you don’t understand. You’re more than welcome to just avoid the things you know would make you uncomfortable to participate in without pushing blatant misinformation.

Most occult spaces have some sort of historical tie to icky stuff like racism, misogyny, ablism, etc. You’re not a bad person for recognizing that and wanting to stay away from them. I’m happy you care.

But you are not an authority on things you’re uneducated about. When you pretend to be you only muddy the words of the people you’re supposed to be helping.

Saying shit like “using magick with a k is just as antisemitic as using a swastika” completely waters down what real antisemitism is, and makes the matter less serious than it actually is.

Saying “working with Lilith is just as antisemitic as working with the Tetragrammaton” is just a complete slap in the face to practicing jews, and you don’t know why because you don’t understand Judaism or the people who created it. You can’t understand it because you’re so busy talking over them that you never took the opportunity to listen.

Before you make the decision to run these mass cancelation events, take a second to consider if you’re doing this because it’s actually important and something you truly understand, or if you’re just doing so to feel morally pure and accepted by your fellow politically correct white peers.

[psychemochanight]

Honestly I don't like making HC about things that involve characters I don't know very well, but I saw this which is apparently canon, and well, I was already missing something from Cass and Dick being siblings.

Apparently Cass tends to forget words when she's stressed (if I'm wrong and it's not canon, well, take it as HC).

And since I involve Dick in everything...

He may be one of those who best understands Cass in this.

As an audhd person, words are actually not always as easy as one thinks. Sure, ADHD sometimes involves increased speech ability (yes, it's a real thing), but it can also hinder vocabulary, even to levels similar to dyslalia (which would be something like speech dyslexia, it's a speech disorder).

So maybe Dick, even though he seems very eloquent with words, definitely understands Cass in that regard, because he goes through that too, more often than people think. He's just quick to change an entire sentence when he can't remember a word, but sometimes, when he's really frustrated or tired, the words just don't come.

Dick even confesses to her that sometimes he is so stressed that words do not come to him even in his native language, nor in any other language that he knows, so he has to make gestures and pray that someone understands him.

And Cass is genuinely grateful to know this, to know that one of the most eloquent people she knows is going through the same thing she is.

[mhevarujta]

It's interesting to me that fans have started using the 2016 version of the Nosferatu script to rationalize that they are romanticizing Ellen and Orlok's relationship in the 2024 movie, which is NOT based on that version of the script in the first place.While Ellen is still very much attracted to and yearning for Orlok, their dynamic is fundamentally different. In fact, while it shares the same plot, the movie is fundamentally different on a psychological level.

What was in 2016 a 'dark love' she felt becomes a 'dark bond' by 2023's final draft. The emphasis of the ending also shifts. It focuses on Ellen's sacrifice to redeem the city and on her moment of victory that is completely absent in the 2016 version, where Ellen's consummation with Orlok was just meant to be affirming. In the 2023 version, when she calls Orlok to her, Ellen's tear is not one of happiness. She is not acting lovingly as she was in the first draft. In the final product there is also a much more violent quality to Orlok's pursue of Ellen and a deliberate acknowledgement of the carnage that is absent in 2016. Ellen and Thomas' relationship is also stunningly different. In 2016's version Ellen DOES tell him she loves him, but there it's marriage(as a social convention) that makes her 'as normal'. In the shooting script, it's 'love'.

There is a lot to be said about Eggers' change of heart being possibly affected by the similarities between Nosferatu (2016) and The Witch in their approach of women's sexual repression, but that's for another time.

My initial point was that in the movie that was actually made Eggers has CHOSEN to depict a more violent and predatory relationship between Ellen and Orlok. Proshippers can go back to the script of a version that was never made to try to validate their takes and try to insult other people's intellect, speak of MeDIa LitEraCY (these two very overused words), but that's reductive and it speaks of an outright refusal to engage with the themes of the actual movie.

Of course, I don't think that the interpretations that try to erase Ellen's attraction to Orlok are any better, and I DO understand that the reactionary takes that inspired this post come largely from a place of people who romanticize/fetishize Ellen x Orlok being attacked. I get that it's tiresome and frustrating to have one's morality, values and mental capacity degraded on the grounds of finding joy and sensuality in a harmless fictional ship. There's nothing wrong with engaging with this story as a tale of transgressive desire, neither is it something that women haven't done before Eggers' version.

But I feel that too many viewers are stuck with the version of the movie that they WANTED to see instead of the one that Eggers ended up making.

[tw1lightstar]

A Man. Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Warnings | DBF!Joel, there's an age gap but it's never said, she/her AFAB reader, praise kink, blowjob, no use of y/n.. lmk if I need to add anything else.

A/N | if this sucks do not tell me or I will cry and scream (joke), also this is short like every single fic I make I promise I'll work on length soon, also if you want this turned into a series lmkkk

masterlist | ask box

Joel sees you across the yard. You know he does. You hadn't seen him much before this cookout, hosted by your dad. Things happen, people get busy, he understands...doesn't he? He's looking at you like he's frustrated. It's probably how long it's been since you've seen him, I mean it's not like you're ignoring him. So, what the hell, you go up to Joel.

"Hey. Is everything good?" you ask, his daggers never ceasing. He grabs onto your shirt. Subtly but hard enough to pull you in the direction he wants.

"Joel what are you doing?" He isn't answering just pulling. Joel grunts right as he gets you in the bathroom. Then he speaks.

"It's been too long." Joel murmurs out, unbuckling his belt. And hey, who are you to say no to this, it's been a while. "C'mon" he grumbles again, getting his pants down. You kneel in front of him, helping him with his boxers and before he can say anything you start stroking him.

"Yeah that's it." He says a little louder than he was before. Joel pushes your head closer so you can put him into your mouth. His head falls back as you take his member practically down your throat barely stuttering in your movements. The part of him you can't get down, you jerk with your hands. "So good at this, Darlin'" Joel starts to move his hips, almost making you gag, but at this point you know how to take him. You know he's close as you speed up.

"Come on, 'bout to cum in this pretty mouth of yours." He utters, hips sloppily shifting into your mouth. He moans as his seed spill into his mouth. He hopes you swallow but he's not gonna make you. There's a knock at the bathroom door.

[mai-komagata]

a (not) short little rant

This isn't about shipping but about people complaining about rings of power, but i need to explain a thing about shipping first. The actual rant is short.

look i have repeatedly said i have nothing against shipping. I love shipping, i multiship, etc. *fandoms* can sometimes be toxic when people are insulting, but like, the transformative act of shipping is great.

I am even in support of meta/textual analysis about how the subtext needed for shipping is a great addition to interpreting a work, and how you are able to convey emotions in an understandable fashion to the audience using sexual/romantic cues, because most people have experience with romance, with sexual abuse, with lust, with breaking up with someone, with romantic betrayal, and you can use the imagery of such to imply very strong feelings via simile that you can't if you can only draw on the audience's experiences with workplace acquaintances. (Like how do i explain fealty worth dying for by comparing it to my lunch buddy jeff?)

I am also in support of there not being a single interpretation of a story, like if in your head in the scenes we didn't see the characters they fucked nasty, well i can't say you are wrong. You can watch and have fun with the medium that way, and if it makes the work richer for you then its valid.

What I have found amusing is then people sorta feel the show is *only* about their interpretation? Not like "Oh i think frodo and sam might have been gay, and it actually adds to the story to interpret it this way" but "frodo and sam ARE GAY and if you don't think so you don't understand the show" or "if they focus on rosie cotton too much they will be ruining the whole point of the Lord of the Rings". Like, even if they were "canon" that isn't what the show is about. (This isn't about sam/frodo, i just think they are very uncontroversial and hit all the beats im talking about. Apologies if there are actual sam/frodo ship wars going on.)

But that isn't what this rant is about. What I find funny is not shippers thinking this way. That is understandable, if you love a thing you want to see it everywhere and it's frustrating when you don't get everything you want and you want more of it.

What i have seen is people who *HATE* a ship then hate a show because of that ship. A NON-CANONICAL SHIP. They refuse to watch the show because they think the show is just about that ship. Which they hate. WHICH IS NOT CANON. It's like Reverse shipping, you interpret the ship as canon, not because you love it, but because you HATE IT and it gives you a reason to hate on the show. They hate that the show is a cheesy romance now and that the show made the protagonist a romantasy protagonist with no motivation but romance. WHEN IT ISN'T. They ignore all aspects of the canon that contradict that ship, just like a shipper would. EXCEPT THEY ARE INTERPRETING IT THAT WAY TO HATE IT.

Like, dude. You have complete freedom to interpret a piece of art in ANY WAY YOU WANT. Why would you ever choose the way that makes you hate it the most? (BTW, this isn't the fault of shippers.)

It isn't just with shipping, but I've seen a few complaints about Rings of Power like this. Just interpreting a scene or an event in the way that MAXIMIZES how much they hate it.

[thebreakfastgenie]

The Orange One has frankly done so much damage to everyone in many ways.

I don't think it's a coincidence that people as a whole seem to have outright become crueler, meaner, and less forgiving of other people ever since he made it fashionable to do so.

I don't think it's a coincidence that people (especially in the self-righteous circles) now have the impression that the Presidency is a dictatorship, which I think feeds so heavily into why so many people seem to expect Biden to be able to do things his office ISN'T supposed to do, like making laws instantaneously or expecting him to constantly break laws "for the greater good".

I don't think it's a coincidence that people have only become more and more shallow and convinced that they know everything while degrading any kind of meaningful intellectualism or understanding of the world if it doesn't fit their own personal narrative.

And it's especially no coincidence that everyone is hellbent on blaming the liberals and democratic people and institutions while constantly giving freebies to the right wing media and cronies.

Everyone wants to act like they're the enlightened ones, but it's blatantly evident just how tainted and negatively influenced they are by the Orange One, and they just don't want to admit it. Either because they can't bear the idea that such an evil person has made them worse as people, or because they just enjoy the faux-clout, fame and power that being cruel people gives them.

I agree. I think there are multiple factors in all of these, but Trump is a big one. I think he fed on those tendencies that were already there, which helped him rise to power, and then reinforced and exacerbated them. It's a bad cycle for a society. We can't ignore the pandemic as a factor, that's obviously major, but we also can't separate Trump from the pandemic. The pandemic would have happened no matter who was president, and the unavoidable level of trauma from an event like that would probably have had some level of negative impact on society no matter what. But a pandemic where anyone else was president in March of 2020 would look very different than the one we lived. Some of the things you mentioned were very clearly stoked by Trump's reaction to COVID, the anti-science sentiment, people being convinced they knew better, general anti-intellectualism and hostility to expertise. It's impossible to know how much social skill degradation is an unfortunate side effect of necessary social isolation and how much is the result of extreme polarization that Trump and his cronies actively encourage.

As to your last paragraph, I think both reasons are true. Some people are mostly one, some are mostly the other, and some are a little of both.

It's frustrating, it's sad, it's infuriating, it's exhausting. It's also important to remember that it doesn't have to be like this forever.

[mikilolz2]

How can I stop self sabotaging myself when I come close to shifting?

Hi,

It’s kind of ironic that I’m coming here, considering where my problem started, but I really don’t know what to do. Lately, I’ve been feeling different, thanks to Nero Knowledge on YouTube. Yesterday, with a newfound boost of confidence, I came incredibly close to my DR. Honestly, it was one of the best attempts I’ve had in at least eight months—maybe even longer.

I experienced a ton of shifting symptoms. I know people say symptoms aren’t really a thing, but for me, they always show up when I’m close, so I take them as a good sign (since I felt that type of spinning everytime I had “minishifted”). My body started feeling like it was moving, and my bed felt like it was going through turbulence, which was exciting since I’m supposed to wake up on a plane in my DR. It felt amazing—maybe too amazing. I kept telling myself, It’s done. I’ve done everything. All I need to do is fall asleep, and I’ll wake up in my DR. I reminded myself that my frequencies had shifted, and my DR was right there waiting for me. I know the idea of frequencies isn’t super popular in the shifting community, but it helps me stay confident, and it’s something I learned from Nero Knowledge’s videos.

But here’s where it got frustrating. Instead of focusing on my DR, my thoughts started getting more excited about telling my friends that I was making progress and almost there. It’s so stupid because I want to shift more than anything—it’s obviously better than just saying I got close—but after five years of trying, I think I’ve grown too used to daydreaming about shifting instead of actually doing it.

Honestly, it feels like I’ve become almost addicted to daydreaming. Shifting has been my dream for so long that it’s practically my personality now. So why is it that, when I get close, I end up getting more excited about sharing progress with others than actually shifting? It’s like I don’t fully believe I’ll succeed, and I settle for almost shifting instead.

This isn’t the first time it’s happened, and it’s starting to really annoy me. I’ve also developed this habit of comparing my attempts to every story I’ve read. If my attempt doesn’t seem similar, I start doubting its validity or whether it makes sense. It’s so dumb because I know everyone’s journey is different. I’ve even discovered things that work for me but don’t seem to work for most people in the community.

I think I’ve grown too attached to the journey itself—and to the community. It feels like a way I’ve coped. But I hate that I got more excited to say “I almost shifted” than to actually shift. I don’t even like this reality. I’m in the worst depressive episode of my life, and shifting feels like my only way out. Yet, when I finally get close, I somehow sabotage myself.

As for how I got so close this time, it was really simple: I set my intention. That worked, probably because of the mindset shift I gained from NeuroKnowledge. Once I started experiencing symptoms, I intentionally stressed about small details my DR self would care about—like remembering not to leave a sandwich in my backpack so it wouldn’t go bad. I’m starting to understand what works for me after five exhausting years of trying every single day. I just want to stop this pattern of settling for “almost shifting” and actually shift. I want to be excited about living in my DR instead of about telling people I’m making progress. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone talk about this specific issue in the community, though I might’ve missed it.

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Please help me, this seems like such a stupid problem to have. Any advice would mean the world to me. Thank you so much for reading.

p. s. It’s my first time posting on reddit so sorry if it looks confusing