#i don't even know half the stuff they're asking from me like yeah events will probably happen over the course of this phd isn't that enough

[pochapal]

self assessment improvement charts are the nastiest pox god has ever inflicted on planet earth

[lexirosewrites]

Hello, I saw you only had one submission for tomorrow and so I have come with Thoughts that I have made just for this. It's Steddie but we're going to focus on Max for context and fluff; you CANNOT have O!Steve without considering his pups, okay??

Max, with all her Family Issues, doesn't always immediately believe that people care about her, at least as much as she cares about them??? And also, she's never going to SAY she cares. You kind of just have to Figure It Out through proximity and the rare times she is willing to imply she would not say no to your company or assistance.

As such, she knows O!Steve cares about her. He got hit in the head with a fucking plate for her (and the others, but it was Billy, so it was also very for her), not to mention the rest of the UD stuff with him protecting everyone. But she doesn't really know that A!Eddie cares about her like that?? It's not like she thinks Eddie doesn't like her, they talk and joke and he gives her rides to group events because they're neighbors, but there's a difference between "I don't mind this kid" and "i care about what happens this pup," you know? She's not offended, it's just a fact of life that not everyone is going to be particularly concerned with her.

Max used to show up randomly at Steve's to spend the night when home was a bit much, but then Eddie and Steve started dating. Steve would never ask her not to come over even if Eddie is there, and Eddie might not mind her presence sometimes, but she doesn't want to impose so she just deals with it and stays home.

Maybe one day she's out on her skateboard after Hellfire (she doesnt play, but she and El hang out in the vicinity and talk), and the weather turns bad super quick. Thunder, lightning, freezing cold, pouring rain, the works. She doesn't have any change to use a payphone, so she's like tucked under an awning that shields her from about 10% of the rain.

A car comes by after about half an hour, and she gets briefly blinded by the headlights, but then they're driving away. Except then they're not. The car did a super illegal U-turn and is parked on the sidewalk, and it's not a car, it's a van. It's Eddie's van, and he's jumping out of the driver's seat and running over. He's got his leather jacket on, but as soon as he's next to Max, he's taking it off and holding it out to block her from the rain.

They run back to the van, Max still wrapped in his jacket, and Eddie cranks up the heat and starts rambling about trying to find her while he starts driving. Max is like "?? Find me??? You saw me half an hour ago???? Weren't you going to your boyfriend's????" And Eddie looks at her like she's speaking in tongues and is like "yeah?? And then it started fucking pouring so I called your house to make sure you got home okay but no one picked up. I drove over to see if you were just asleep, but no one was at your trailer so I came looking. "

Max is like. Positive she's not processing this correctly. So she's like "you were at your boyfriend's house. And you stopped your date to call me. And when I didn't pick up, you left your date. To drive all the way home, in this weather. And then drove around to find me because I wasn't there." And Eddie's just like "yeah, that's about it"

And look, Max isn't just going to Announce that this sounds like absolute nonsense, because that's a bit too much vulnerability, but it's probably written on her face, because Eddie glances over and suddenly the van is full of Reassuring Protective Alpha scent. His tone is super light and chill (probably for her benefit) but he just goes "like it or not, Red, you're one of my pups now. I might have to share you with Stevie, because he'd fight me for sole custody in a heartbeat, but that just means you're ours. Now come on, you haven't been home in ages and Stevie missed you."

Max just kind of looks at him confused, but then she looks out the windshield and they're at Steve's house, and Steve is already throwing open the door looking super relieved and he runs over with like a huge umbrella and holds it over Max specifically while he gets her inside, and he fusses over her and she allows it (just this once) and then she takes a shower to warm up and when she gets out there's a pair of Steve's shorts and Eddie's shirt waiting for her to put on while her stuff dries and their scents are super nice together and they smell like Home and Pack. Then they all drink hot chocolate and watch a movie and Max stays the night and never worries about coming over again.

The End and whatnot

-irrelevantbutembarrassing

🥲🥲🥲 she’s their pup

[twizzytalks]

GUYS. I just read a freaking amazing batman issue, that I think everyone would enjoy, so I'm gonna try to spread the word.

It's from Batman issue #150, the main story called "Be Better". It's written by Chip Zdarsky, with pencilling by Denys Cowan and Jorge Jiménez, and was released on July 3rd, 2024.

This story is a great character piece, exploring Gotham City from the street-level perspective of somebody who actually lives there. And specifically, it's the life of a low-level thug-for-hire that actively contributes to the suck and corruption of the city.

If you're someone who doesn't know a lot of Batman lore, you know that thing that happens, how if you think about the Batman world for longer than like 5 seconds, you get a lot of practical questions about how everything works? "Okay, but like, why do people even work for these villains? Or, what's the thug employment scene like? Or, how does literally nobody know Batman's identity??" Well, all of these questions and more are explored and/or answered.

This story is a great way to expose people to Batman comics without overwhelming them. I read a lot of Batman comics, and to be honest, a lot of storylines I don't even care about, because they're just like.. action movie fight scenes. And idk about others, but to me, that stuff gets really boring really quickly, and sometimes I straight up just skip over pages of fight scenes if there's no interesting dialogue going on. The Batman stories I REALLY care about, are the ones like this, that explore the mindset, experiences, and perspectives of the characters.

It has *practically* zero required reading, or previous knowledge required. I know, literally the first page has an editor's note referencing events from a recent storyline called the Gotham War, but ignore it. Literally just ignore it, I promise you, it doesn't matter at all going forward. It also references recent stuff going on with the Penguin, but you don't really need to know that either. Stay strong, shrug your shoulders, ignore it, and just keep reading, I know you can do it.

The story will introduce you to some characters that you're not gonna recognize, and you may feel like you're supposed to know their deal, but you're not. Half of the guys introduced are new throwaway characters created just for this one comic, and you don't really need to know anything about anyone that pops up, beyond the most basic core Batman lore that everyone knows.

A big challenge for people curious about Batman comics is that it's really difficult to find an easy, accessible, current, modern, interesting entry point. And I really think this is one of them.

If you ask a Batman fan where to start reading, nine times out of ten they're gonna tell you to start with Batman #404, which is the first chapter of the Batman: Year One storyline, which is undeniably phenomenal, but it was published back in 1986, and lots of people don't want to start with a story from nearly 40 years ago. Also, it's a take on the Batman origin story. Everybody knows how Batman started. Maybe they don't want to start with an origin story, maybe they want a story set in the present, that is perfectly standalone.

So yeah, pleaseeeee everyone check this out! Not just new readers either! 10/10, amazing story.

(Also, I'm only talking about the main story, not the backup story that starts in the last quarter of the issue that's called "Brick by Brick", that one is very caught up in current lore, and is Very Scary, stay away from that one.)

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

sorry but frankie being the ONLY ONE at monster high who thinks cleo is Cool will never not be my fav headcanon

cleo LOOKS like she's the popular one-

the attitude! the presence! the outfit! the ambition! the kind heart and the CONFIDENCE!! But Canonically Speaking-

frankie's the one made from various famous monsters, hanging with the ghoul kids in school. THEY'RE the one crushing hard on the local organization nerd ("self-proclaimed party princess"),

cleo, miss Number One human enthusiast, who means well but isn't always the best at reading the mood or focusing on priorities

(all of werewolf weekend) (also "clawed and clawdeen?? thank ra my parents didn't name me nefra-een! ugh~!" smiles, realizes no one else is smiling, "...right not the time cleo.")

she WANTS more fame, but mainly spends her time setting up school events, talking with her scarabs, and is starting to tag along with the popular group sometimes

result is THIS

So whatever her song says, i headcanon the vibe in school is more like....

Random Monster High Student:

Oh Cleo? Nefera's little sister, the one who always plays a tree in school plays?

Yeah, she has the funniest, most TRAGIC picture in the fearbook- I hear she has to make herself sneeze all over again whenever she wants to get something at the Coffinbean!

She's head of the dance committee, right? They did a "human themed" dance night once, because of her. And didn't she also organize the after-pep-rally eyescream this year? I think I remember her asking me what flavor I wanted...

Her friends? Um well, she's got these scarabs that are kinds cute. She tags along with Clawdeen Wolf and Draculaura sometimes, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't at that wild Nightmore party the crew had at one of Drac's mansions.

Other than that...

Oh oh wait!

I've seen pics of her hanging out with Frankie, though!

You know Frankie Stein- tall, goes by they/them, wears pretty much nothing BUT school memorabilia, falls apart a lot

I think they built a robot instead of turning in a paper one time, and blank out when remembering something from one of their famous brain bits?

They've got like, bits from almost any amazing monster you could name in the last half century! Monster models, Scareisian monsters, ballet dancers, monster scientists, lawyers. Even a bit from a king of Goreway! They're pretty clumsy but I mean, they HAVE only been alive for less than a year...

They dorm with Drac and Clawdeen- those three are pretty much always a trio, except for fearleading practice and theater stuff.

And yeah, I guess I see them with Cleo pretty often. Frankie, that is.

They sit with her at the creepateria a lot!

Huh. The brilliant franken monster and the second-in-line, dramatic, wanna be queen... I mean, don't get me wrong, Cleo's really nice! And her outfit is AMAZING... Just... I wonder what they even have to talk about...?

meanwhile, Frankie, @ Cleo:

actual canon dialogue: "Any party you're in charge of is sure to be zaptacular! You're so good at parties, and planning things, and picking things, and ah... (flustered) ..making things nicer, and..."

cleo-> decides to sneak into the family tomb. frankie -> PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME PICK M-

also frankie: laughs way too long at cleo's lame pun, tells it it's a good one anyway

also also frankie: goes to cleo for help looking good in their fearbook picture, even though cleo's last photo was a disaster and is the whole reason frankie got nervous about theirs

also also also frankie: "Anything for you, Cleo!"

also also also also frankie, after cleo holds their face and compliments them:

Me: what do they talk about? well mostly frankie just flits with her and is smitten and stuff XD

[britt-kageryuu]

Leo and Donnie are streaming. Their models are in onesies, Leo a Unicorn, and Donnie a Dinosaur, with matching slippers, their models are sitting in beanbags. A low table between their models has a tea cup, mug, and Shelldon on it. They're attempting a live podcast, though not sure how it's going. There is a chat asking questions, but only a handful are answered.

Leo: So we don't really mention Pops much do we, so let's talk about him.

Donnie: Papa was once a celebrity, at the very least in the martial arts world, and because he came over from Japan he often went by a stagename, so not many may know his real name. He does pop up on random YouTube videos of 'Where are they now?' Kind of stuff.

Leo: What we knew about him growing up was mostly believing he had some odd obsessions with some actors, only to learn he looks very different after being out of the spotlight for, what, 20 years?

Donnie: Give or take. Papa was very popular amongst a wide variety of people, he went to and left many events with different people if you get what I mean, It wouldn't surprise me if we had some long unknown Half-Siblings out there.

Leo: Yeah, though you'd think they would go to the media, or someone to try getting child support back pay, or something. But really I wish Dad had told us more about his time in the industry.

Donnie: Even if some of his media related advice wouldn't work in the age of social media, and the internet. He mostly told us about the on set stuff, like actor drama, the stunt coordinator not explaining things well.

Leo: A stunt guy that almost cost the production alot of money for a bad move. Typical movie/TV film set gossip stuff. Do you think Pops would ever get back into the movie industry?

Donnie: While it would be amazing thing to happen, Papa would need to get back into shape, badly. While he may still be able to pull of his old moves, he has thrown out his back trying to show off before.

They segued into talking out some of Splinters ex's, and but avoiding mention off who their mothers were, they said it's to complicated to cover, and wouldn't make sense trying to put together the timeline of events.

----------------

Masterpost

I just wanted them to toss out the canon of Splinter pretty vaguely, if only to cause chaos in the chat, and because I couldn't think of a more fitting podcast topic that I could write for a good amount without lots of research.

[im-an-insane-man-lover]

Okay this is really long and absolute yappery just. I NEED to shove this out somewhere besides with my pookie

So I think like a few people know who Alexi is??? Right, my silly until dawn oc. Him and Mack (or Moose) are me and my friends silly ud ocs right

I'm focusing more on these sillies than Alexi IN ud so I'm yapping about them !!! Because they're so silly

To the 3 people (pookie and like. Idk other goobers) who might read this tell me if you want more yapping of them because they're infecting my brain rn and I want me and pookie to yap more

ALSO INCLUDING SOME DOODLES AND DRAWING BY POOKIE!!! @roverthegoober

GOLLY I love these guys..... a LARGE portion is just like angst or the aftermath of the ud events

Two goobers meeting in early middle school only over the fact Alexi was asking him for help on work and after that he kept bothering him. Not even for help, asking random questions, and trying to know him better.

Alexi having Mack over for a movie night, and he's either forcing him to watch some sad rom-com or all of The Thing movies and explaining the comics and lore, pointing out small details and references in or related to The Thing (its his favorite horror series? I think it counts as a series right)

Like after the events of ud (saying everyone lives ending), they're both screwed up, but Mack had suffered from tbi (traumatic brain injury). Alexi is also suffering, obviously. Half his face is still messed up, his arm and hand are, but he doesn't have severe head injury (facial yeah, but erm... not head or brain, yknow)

Alexi isn't making any efforts to talk to anyone else (the group, not REALLY his family except if it's his brother, which is unlikely), but he's talking to Mack. Only talking to Mack, even if they're both struggling and trying to recover, he's literally worried sick about him and not metaphorically (because his anxiety is increased tenfold now)

Depending on how severe the tbi is, Mack COULD have memory issues with recalling what went on that night and everything that happened (long-term memory loss, he'd also struggle to remember how to do this or that and what this is etc). So Alexi is just dumbfounded.

Alexi can remember everything perfectly fine, and he just can't grasp that the person closest to him can't?? He can't go to Mack for any questions on what happened, how he got injured (at least for the injuries he wasn't present for, or Mack already told him after) and he can't go to him for any reassurance and comfort.

He's just in shock because he is ABSOLUTELY NOT going to confide in someone else, like family or a friend, because you have to be so insanely close to this guy for him to trust you to that extent.

So, over the years, he's sticking with Mack since he still remembers him, but not completely. He can't recall facts about him or moments that happened between them, and its not completely Mack.

ANYWAYS, IM GONNA LEAVE THAT THERE BC I DONT WANNA YAP ABOUT SAD SHIT ALL IN THIS POST

Don't come after me for anything that's not super medically accurate. Im not a doctor or anything. im just spit balling to get an idea out. Like Mack would probably have different symptoms and stuff, but this is just for silly fun for our ocs and I just wanna be silly 😞😞 this is literally just for fun so don't come at me with a pitchfork and mob

More art giggles

I love these guys I need them dead

Alexi was almost a theater kid, but he was too scared to because of his anxiety, but he still really wanted to try singing (he wasn't exactly too big on the dancing portion). He only did a few times at his house in his room, but his mom caught on and offered to get him a personal vocal coach (or trainer, idk the exact title).

So he CAN sing somewhat, but it's been a bit since he has, and he definitely isn't telling that to just anyone. Mack only found this out when they jokingly had a karaoke night, and Alexi didn't suck at singing

Also, if anybody is confused about why he has red hair, sometimes it's because his natural hair color is red, but he dyes it black. His older brother has black hair, and he was really close with him, and so around the start of high school, he started to dye it a bit to try it, and eventually he just ended up doing it completely and making it a routine.

Mack helps him dye it sometimes, but that's not often since he isn't the super best at it..... helps with getting Alexi what he needs mainly

OKAY THATS ALLLL !!!!! IM GONNA try to finish drawing Mack and Alexi as Paul and Sam from TGWDLM and sleep...

[dcviated]

MUNDAY: GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Respond to the following prompts out of character, then tag others you'd like to get to know a little bit better!

ROLEPLAYER NAME: bear! or will, I don't mind being referred to by my real name but even my wife calls me bear most of the time, so-

ROLEPLAYER PRONOUNS: he/him

MUSE NAME: I feel the mainstays will always be Wylan, Raguna, and Eira. But many many others-

PREFERRED COMMUNICATION: As needed. I'm low maintenance while still considering us 'in contact'. But I do love getting sent random bits as relevant and commentary on threads. I can be short or slow on replies at times though. Discord all the way over tumblr IM.

EXPERIENCE: Back when I was 15 or 16 on forums. I did some avatar games that had roleplay baked into it as well that were good. Did a lot of RP in warcraft back during BC to WOTLK, but could not get into it in FFXIV. Tumblr has been my favorite place to write, by far. I love getting into longer form. On that note-

PREFERRED ROLEPLAY TYPE: Literate paragraphs! I can't stay bantering in short stuff to save my life. Like a leak I inevitably switch over to having a paragraph. Then two. Maybe three. I'm pretty comfy around the 300-500 word length on my replies. I get intimidated when they get consistently longer and writer's block starts to lay its bricks.

PET PEEVES & DEALBREAKERS: An inability to meet halfway when plotting is brought up. I don't like being waited on like it's my responsibility to come up with a compelling plot that I suspect you'll half-ass reply to. Have some advocation for what you want. Otherwise ... yeah.

Also an overabundance of context-less dash commentary. Particularly connected to their discord happenings. Some blogs feel less 'indie' and more pseudo-group related. And if you're not involved good luck.

PLOTS OR MEMES: I like to think I'm pretty good rolling with the punches! I can do memes, random asks, and memes and ad-libbing a situation out of a few back and forth banters is really amusing. It's also easier than front-loading a ton of plotting that may or may not be realized anyway. Letting events happen off the cuff feels more dynamic and allows more surprises for both writing parties. <:

That said, don't mind plotting whatsoever! So long as the other person actually wants it and isn't going through the motion of it because it's 'what people do'. Also... I hope they're ready for the long game if so? Like they want to let the plot play out and not just making a plot and then jumping to the end of it.

Pre-establish-jutsu is not plotting!!

LONG REPLIES OR SHORT REPLIES: Middle?? Both?? There's a time for everything but like I said before I'm a fan of 300-500 words for my replies. Sometimes I like them shorter, others longer. But we're biasing towards the 'long' given when a lot of what's in vogue as of late.

BEST TIME TO WRITE: Whenever I can put my adhd into proper submission. I like writing at the office (after I have my work for the day handled) because it separates me from the usual distractions but we can only be so strong...

I like writing earlier in the day! I feel like my best work is done in the mornings, after all. And the head is clearer before I've hit lunch. So on weekends where I don't have plans and I can make myself sit down at a keyboard before everyone else is around, that's just great.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSES: Like any good oc writer, I pull out little pieces of myself and cram them into other beings to irreversibly corrupt them not unlike a certain villain from a certain manga. People have called me dad in the past... perhaps that fits better than I thought.

tagged by: @triinitas (thank!!) tagging: gosh this one has gone around a few times, steal it if you like!

[highly-opinionated-ramblings]

"Bruce, my man," Oliver said loudly as he entered the Watchtower's cafeteria, "today would be a good day to delete your social media apps for a little while. Take a break, come back in a few months or so."

Bruce sighed. "What is it now?"

"Nnnnnnothing. Don't worry about it."

"Really," Barry added, seeing that Bruce was unconvinced, "it's nothing important. Just some random person stirring up drama."

"Hang on, you don't have a guy who handles that stuff for you, do you?" Hal asked. "Like a secretary, or something?"

"Wayne Enterprises has a social media team. Personally, I have Tim, who makes it his business to intervene on my behalf more often than not."

"Well, tell him to delete his socials for a while, too."

"It's just drama, right? Nothing either of us haven't seen before, I'm sure."

"Uhhh," Barry said, exchanging a nervous glance with Oliver, "well, this one's going kinda viral. Any kind of statement on your part would probably make it worse rather than better."

"Barry, I promise, I've been 'viral' lots of times in my life. You're probably worrying too much."

"Look, I'll tell you if you want to know," Oliver said. "I'll do it. Are you really sure you want to know? Are you really, really-"

"Oliver."

"Alright, fine. Have it your way. Earlier today, somebody posted, and I quote: 'billionaire playboy' is just a nice way of saying that Bruce Wayne is a SLUT."

Bruce snorted. "Is that all?"

"It's going viral," Barry repeated carefully.

"That's fine. It's no big deal."

"No big deal?!" Hal asked incredulously.

"Wayne Enterprises just put out a Transparency of Operations report last week, I was worried it would be something about that."

"Still, the comments.... the comments..."

"Highly entertaining, I'm sure," Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, they really are." Oliver grinned. "Some great memes in there."

"It's split about half and half between people slut-shaming you, and people saying we shouldn't be slut-shaming anyone."

"My favorite part is that there's a bunch of people defending you who claim to have actually slept with you during the height of your slut era. And they're all making a point to mention how nice you were about the whole thing!"

Oliver threw back his head and positively cackled. Hal laughed, too. Barry attempted valiantly to remain merely concerned, but even he had to bite his lip to stop from laughing. Bruce merely shrugged.

"Well, I like to think I kept it respectful with all my past partners from that era. Never saw any point in not being considerate."

"Yeah, you're a real gentleman."

"There's some men in there, as well, saying the same stuff," Hal said. "Does that count as a big deal?"

"Why would it? I've been publicly out as bisexual for almost three years now."

"You WHAT?!"

"Missed that one, did you? That also went viral for a little bit."

"You were in space when that happened, Hal," Barry said. "Remember that time you were gone for a while, and then as soon as you got back, Lobo was running around causing all that chaos? It was then."

"That's- you should have remembered to tell me about that, Barry! That's a pretty big deal!"

"No, it's really not."

"Shut up, Bruce. What the fuck does it mean to be 'publicly out', anyway? How did that even happen?!"

"Someone approached Wayne Enterprises about sponsoring the Gotham pride parade, and a couple of associated LGBTQ+ focused charities. So we gave them some money, and they invited me to give a speech as part of the event. I thought it would have been inappropriate to do so just as an ally."

By this point, Oliver was bent double, laughing so hard that there were tears in his eyes, and even Barry was snickering at the the look of mixed disbelief and confusion on Hal's face.

"That's... that's... I can't... you're not normal! I need you to recognize that you are not a normal person!"

"Noted."

"I'm sure it was actually inspiring for a lot of Gothamites," Barry said. "They looooooove their Bruce Wayne out there, after all."

"Sure. I'm not ignorant of the influence my standing affords me."

"Well, I still think you should stay out of this one. And Tim, too, definitely don't let him intervene on your behalf here. But it's good to know that it doesn't bother you."

"Yeah, I aspire to have skin as thick as yours. Any tips?"

"Maybe being a slut has something to do with it."

"BRUCE!"

[nerves-nebula]

I just saw from a post that you mentioned that your dad was Nigerian and I was just curious how you feel about being like Nigerian and if you actually feel like you're connected to the culture. Like you don't have to answer if you don't want to, it's just I was curious since I'm also Nigerian but I've never really left this godforsaken country(I say this both affectionately and with burning hostility)

Like did your dad ever like make an attempt to teach you your language or was he like my grandpa and just refuse to teach it to his kids😭

And if you've ever had Nigerian food what's your fave? (I dare you to say jollof rice🌚) mine is banga soup and white rice or ofada stew and white rice

Do you speak pigeon? Because if you do I'll definitely be speaking it to you in the anons from now on lol

And I totally agree about the beating being normalized in poc households😭. Your blog really helped me realize that my mom was kind of abusive (and I'm still kind of in denial about it) because over here it's so horrifying how normalized it is to beat your kids until they've turned black and blue.

I was talking to classmates and we were bonding over the fact our parents used to beat us with like wires, sticks, belts and stuff and how they overdid it alot of the time and made us scared shitless and one of them was literally telling me how she fell a glass cup and broke it and got some glass in her foot and she couldn't even tell her parents because she was too scared to get flogged so the babe performed surgery on her self with a DIRTY RUSTY razor at 10 yrs old💀.

And let me tell this convo wasn't even heavy, we were all laughing and joking about it and shit.

Then I asked them if they would ever beat their kids and these niggas said YESSS they were like if they never got beaten half to death as literal children they would have grown up to be bad ppl and I was floored like do you hear yourselves??? And when I said why beat your children like they're animals instead of treating them like little humans with developing minds that make mistakes and grow and these fools laughed at me and looked at me confused like I was speaking French to them😭 and I'm screaming jesus what a life😭😭😭😭

Only divine intervention can save Nigerians from this awful cycle of abuse(I'm not religious in any way). These goats need therapy😭😭😭😭

And have you heard the bs the government is pulling out of their asses over here with the money problem😭😭😭😭😭😭

Sorry if this is overwhelming, I just got really excited at the word Nigeria lol. I hate this stupid country and its stupid ppl so much but yet sometimes I'm filled with such overwhelming love for it and its stupid inhabitants. I'm the anon that went to that skating event and met a ton of queer ppl who respected my pronouns and stuff so these ppl are the only reason why I have hope for my dum dum country with it dum dum politicians

Sorry again for the rant😭😭😭😭

I just saw from a post that you mentioned that your dad was Nigerian and I was just curious how you feel about being like Nigerian and if you actually feel like you're connected to the culture.

ive never left America, so no. im sorry, i wish i was more connected to it a lot of the time but it just feels too late for that to me.

he never taught me his language either (Tiv) though he did speak it when he was around the house. but he wasnt around a lot. when i asked him why he didnt try to teach us he just shrugged like it wasn't a priority. he started staying in nigeria for most of the year only coming back for a few months every now and then so i probably wouldnt have picked it up even if he HAD tried.

I've never even called myself Nigerian, not because I don't want to be but because of the embarrassment of having to explain that yeah im Nigerian but... not really Nigerian. I wouldn't want to disappoint any REAL Nigerians by basically being raised as a white American kid and knowing nothing about Nigeria.

And if you've ever had Nigerian food what's your fave?

i've only ever had pounded yam and okra i think, it wasnt bad but it also apparently wasnt made properly. my mom would make it and my dad would be like "this isnt even real pounded yam what the hell is this" and then nothing would change the next time around haha. so i dont think i can say ive ever eaten Nigerian food, sorry. my oldest sister has tho, when she went to visit him. i hate spices though, they hurt too much, so i doubt I'd enjoy it. which i feel kinda bad about. but ive got a lot of issues about food, and being forced to eat food, so. yeah.

Do you speak pigeon? Because if you do I'll definitely be speaking it to you in the anons from now on lol

GOD I wish. i wish he'd taught us literally fucking anything.

now that most of us are adult-aged he's been asking us to come visit him in nigeria. he's clearly very lonely, but i dont want to be alone with him in a country where he controls everything about where i stay and what i do and what i eat (he doesnt understand my eating restrictions and it would be hellish to starve because of that)

two of my sisters have gone to visit him and it sounds like it was fucking AWFUL tbh. i'd go with them but not with him.

Then I asked them if they would ever beat their kids and these niggas said YESSS they were like if they never got beaten half to death as literal children they would have grown up to be bad ppl and I was floored like do you hear yourselves???

yeah this mindset is wild to me, cause if a kid is too young to understand why what they did is wrong then why are you beating them?? that wont help they literally don't understand?? and if they AREN'T too young to understand then explain it to them! People who beat their kids are just admitting they dont know how to solve problems or vent frustration without violence. And if they had control over the people around them, they would USE violence to force them to comply, but since they only have control over their kids they can only beat their kids.

Only divine intervention can save Nigerians from this awful cycle of abuse(I'm not religious in any way). These goats need therapy

my dad is the only Nigerian i really know, but from what I know about him this is very true. he's insanely traumatized from like, civil war stuff and his own shitty upbringing. but he doesn't really believe in mental health stuff so good luck telling him that!

And have you heard the bs the government is pulling out of their asses over here with the money problem

im not very caught up on the political situation over there, but from what my dads told me its not good. my dad is mostly interested in the education system though, its like his life's work and all he's ever wanted to was to be put in charge of it and get kids educated so they have opportunities like he did or something. idk. he thinks education is the key to making Nigeria better and i dont exactly disagree with his life mission but hey, I don't live there. what do i know.

he apparently helped get the current president elected in hopes that he'd be good, but it doesnt appear things are going well. Every time he'd come home when I was younger though, that was the main thing he talked about. Getting his guy elected.

he texted me a bit ago to say he'd met with the president multiple times and was feeling stressed out, but i dont wanna say more unless you end up tracking me or something haha. fun fact tho, he's apparently been almost assassinated at least twice. like maybe he's just super paranoid, but he KNOWS someone hired a guy to assassinate him at least once because that guy was his friend and came up to him one day like "yo watch out someone's trying to kill you lol" or something.

idk he told me that story when i was younger so maybe i have the details wrong.

I'm the anon that went to that skating event and met a ton of queer ppl who respected my pronouns and stuff so these ppl are the only reason why I have hope for my dum dum country with it dum dum politicians

ohh i remember you! what a coincidence haha.

[blimbo-buddy]

The only legit reason Barley lives in peace is because Bluestar still exists, and Barley is just a young man, and she you know.. spares the little ones.

She has respect from the kingdoms because she's actually pretty nice in the beginning.. (before it went downhill), and Thunderclan doesn't participate in the raids anymore. They've been trying to stop the raids from happening. They don't intervene soo..

I am not 100% sure on the timeline, but the kingdoms span all the way back to Mapleshade's Vengeance and the raids that Oakstar did, and Pinestar does leave to the kingdoms.

His fate is unknown because I don't know what to do with that guy. He's just like Yellowfang in a way he found a family, made friends. He lived kind of nice.

Most of Kittypet Kingdom is a re-write in a way. Crookedstar, being the father of Stonefur and Mistyfoot, but Oakheart, being their adoptive dad to cover for their brother because Oak is cool like that.

Silverstream dies because I do not know what to do with her. If you have any ideas, let me know. Greystripe is a friend to Rusty. me know. Greystripe is a friend to Rusty.

He may be a terrible cat, but I physically can't hate him because I love this stupid goofball, and it's hard to hate a childhood favorite. I tried.

Starclan doesn't exist. Kinda... kinda not in a way. I looked back on the asks, and you answered, and you described as demons, and I kind of really love it, and I just wanna use it so... YOINK!

Sandpaw and Rusty is still a ship. It's still canon. Most ships are canon. Whitestorm is Grey's dad making Darkstripe and Grey half-brothers. Dunno who Dark's dad is.

I should've actually worked on the whole timeline before making all of this.

ITS NOT TOO LATE!

Have a nice day, Blimbo. I hope you are doing well, and I hope this ask doesn't turn into a ghost! Byee!!!

Ah, got it got it. Nice call back to the implied friendship that BlueStar and Barley had in Into the Wild! 'Least they're trying to stop the raids as much as they can. Also fuck yeah PineStar leaving the clans we love to see it. I'd imagine he'd probably live a good life but also he might be dead by the time the events we see come around. Or at least on his deathbed, could make for some good emotional moments between the characters.

The rewrite stuff with CrookedStar is interesting! I don't think I've seen that done before but I like it. As for SilverStream, maybe you could have her life be saved by the Kingdoms? I don't know if you'll kill her off in the same way as canon, but if you do, you could have the Kingdoms take her in when she's bleeding out and saves her last minute. You could also maybe have SilverStream previously be pretty rude towards the Kingdoms (as any clan cat would), maybe even hostile to them to some degree, and then the act of them saving her life makes her double think on whether the Kingdoms are actually so bad. Just kinda throwing some suggestions out there in case any stick. That's fair enough for GreyStripe, I think some neat stuff can be done with him too, maybe he can still be pretty bad like in canon or somethin'.

Oooh boy, Starclan demons eh? You got my attention! And cool cool, gotta love the DarkStripe GreyStripe half-brothers thing being kept in. Maaaybe DarkStripe's father could be an unnamed Kittypet? That seems to be a favorite headcanon when it comes to his father. I'm interested in the timeline, but try not to rush it lol, take time with it otherwise it'll confuse yourself. Thank you man! Thankfully this ask didn't turn into a ghost ask.

[ace-the-fox]

Oohhh mama I've got the Adam Murray fankid (Cain) on the brain again. Have some thoughts (he's still a massive WIP that is trying to go along with whatever the canon decks at my face next, but here's the recents):

Okay, so, he IS now Evelin's kid too. Idk, it's symbolic and shit, and makes the most sense. They are the only couple in the series among the main characters, I believe, so...

This one's my fave. Making his parents pretty heavy duty Christians. But not like Carrie Christians, and more "We asked God to give us the perfect child and then we adopted you... What do you mean you want to be a boy, that isn't God's way??" Yeah, that. So, obviously having his Biblical knowledge, hating his parents, and not knowing what name to go by, he slaps on Cain for the time being. It's just to piss off his parents by naming himself after a murderer from the bible, because hey he's not getting it permanently, legally changed or anything. Though, he does turn out to really, really like it, unfortunately for his folks. (Also the fact that Cain killed Abel, his brother, and his deadname, Annabelle, has Abel basically in the middle... 👀 layersssss-)

He's basically the type of guy who would literally cry over spilled milk but then go through the most traumatising event known to man and just go "well, that sure was... a day."

I've also given him friends!! (Even though, with the way tmc seems to be going, the alternates might as well kill off all humanity by 2023, when this takes place, BUT–) I haven't thought of names. I considered biblical ones, but I'm not sure about finding ones that really fit deeper than just being from the good ol' bibble. One of them is your typical basic blonde white girl (who, admittedly, kind of starts off as one of those annoying allies. "I want a gay best friend!!" type of thing), the other one's a chubby video game nerd. They're an odd bunch, who somehow bonded over a shared chemistry project :)

This may change with the tmc plot or other stuff, but rn I've decided what makes the most sense is that Cain isn't technically an alternate and is actually just some guy. However, he is immune to alternates, as they can sense SOMETHING off about his vibes.

Mention of (entirely SFW) mpreg under the cut (I mean, any thing I do for any fandom ever is nearly guaranteed to include it, and I apologise for that but it will happen again lol). Don't tap if it ain't your thing.

(I may or may not have started a oneshot based on the latter half of this idea lol...)

So, he was originally starting to develop before Catalyst came out, and I got the whole "he was found in a rubbish bin off the street" thing from a Jacqueline Wilson book I never even read (sue me, okay 💀). But, no, recently I had a better idea: lil Cain was born DURING Catalyst. Essentially, Adam had no idea he was pregnant, his alt transformation triggered labour, he was already in so much pain from said transformation the labour also went completely missed, baby comes out, Adam has no idea what to think or feel. And, this all kinda depends on what Alex is gonna do next, but main idea for now is Adam gives bby to Thatcher and tells him to make sure he's (well, he'd say she because Cain was literally a newborn, but I'll say he because I feel that's right? Idk trans people can confirm or otherwise on that lol) cared for. Thatcher takes him to the hospital where he can be looked over and given to a new family (,:

[the-firebird69]

Have a few comments to me this crowd is ruckus and our control and elderly and see now and leave. But there's too many of them you know sitting right there making stupid noises and dressing up in there karate stuff certainly just start taking advantage of them

-it's a huge number of people investigating these mega Giants no they cooled off again and they're idiots the Canary Islands spaceship removal is going slowly and it's ridiculous. My son is looking for a cause and effect reaction and wants to bring the New Hammer XT buy and the GT1 and people are interested in there's other things too this he knew a mini bike motorcycle and it goes about 120 miles an hour with a 49cc motor and that's probably about six horsepower and it didn't get up and move with one gear it's got two sprockets decent sized tires. And there's a Lambo kit projects. There's also the kraven set earlier this morning he asked his father and mother to drive the wraith by. The changing Facebook deaths are we friends there's another item happening they using some real low-level smut and s*** to try and threaten them and it doesn't do anything but we have to come in here and enforce some laws. Father and mother Salazar and goddess wife except and Hera is on it with her side. They can both fit in there and he says it'd be curious to see which side got closer and really it's quite an event. There's some other vehicles we can swing by and we're thinking about it is the Rolls-Royce it's a large roadster and a new Rolls-Royce small convertible and a lot of times they don't let kit cars and other cars near I want to see if we can get in there. There's a couple production cars we'd like to swing in the Chrysler supercar and the Chrysler hypercar and someone else's name would be nice and we have some Pantera of ours and things like that that are stock and run great extremely fast and they don't look it. The Ford GT is several models and they don't really go up there too much for they should. You have a couple cars that we made a production cars out of and one of them did not take off as a production car and it's still a kit it's in the Carolinas and people think that it's the max but they don't make the kit it's these guys the max are making a real black car that looks like it. We're going to swing by our version of the production Vader and it's made out of metal the hull and it's pretty sturdy it goes real fast and we have a few daggers we're going to swing by I'm going to try and get in there usually they don't let you they might with a dagger and they might with the hyper car from Chrysler and even the supercar they're Worthy and we are making other cars but we're going to start with that and see how it goes and John Cena wants to bring his car by and I'll be welcome if you could try and get that down there yes his car is very fast it's over 500 miles an hour just wondering if you can turn the cloak on. And they don't want it but if a whole bunch try we can get them in there that's a good idea and we might try to yeah we're going to we have a whole bunch of these. Is about four of these special Rolls-Royce it would build and there's about 10 small ones. Just half that of the Bentleys of each. We don't know if any of the hammer XT are built but we can't really drive that one down it's going to be like a stealth they have some go down there and we do have one like Brad's and he doesn't have one and it's not a kit and it's still and the painter's colored but it's still a stealth and it's a two-seater and it looks awesome. The new Aston Martin made it down there last time and they're trying to get it there again and today is Monday and we're going to try all week so you can see how it works and try and get there for Friday more shortly

That's right he said the whole suite of craven the supercar looks really looks awesome the military version sometimes they go there and the military version camper like vehicle and have it all wheel drive would be nice or with the six wheels four and back side by side

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues Hera

[omnium-gatherums]

hi! I was wondering if u know what exactly is normal to not remember in childhood? like did can cause memory gaps/amnesia in childhood but I hear people also say it is normal to have gaps. so I don’t really know what is the normal and what is the amnesia?

Yes, most people have at least some memory gaps in their childhood. It's not unusual. However, usually those memory gaps are mostly only present for ages 5 and under. Different sources will say anywhere from "3-4" to "3-8." Generally, personally, I feel like it's more normal for people to not remember things under the age of 5. Anything over that age is like yeah you'll probably forget some things, but the average person won't have a ton of gaps in the way people with DID/OSDD will.

It's also normal to have memory gaps around traumatic events specifically, but people with DID/OSDD will have many more gaps and will have gaps for things that aren't traumatic (I have memory loss for video games I played, the things I liked, my hobbies, the feelings I felt over those things, etc.)

I can't really say for sure what's "normal" versus "abnormal", but I can give some personal experiences.

I always felt like my memories were like a giant puzzle with broken, missing pieces and mismatched pieces. Or like burnt photographs. Or like shattered fragments broken down into the tiniest pieces. Etc. etc.

I have many, many memories that feel like they are missing context, don't make sense, are "unfinished." Like a half of a memory, or vague memories. Or memories that I "know" happened, but can't really remember. Or feeling like there are many, many "holes" in my memories.

I have evidence of things I did, said, felt, etc. as a child, but I do not remember ever saying, doing, thinking, feeling those things. For example: I have evidence of me roleplaying as a kid. I distinctly remember telling people around those SAME ages that I didn't like roleplaying, never roleplayed, and found it boring/uninteresting/didn't like it. Even though just like a year or so prior, I apparently really liked roleplaying and did so frequently with a close friend of mine at the time? (Looking back, that ""roleplaying"" was definitely very likely just alters fronting and we thought it was just roleplaying lmfao but like I said I have no memories of roleplaying, ever).

I have amnesia for my teenage years and adult years. To my knowledge, amnesia for teenage years and adult years isn't common/normal for the average person. Unless you're, like. Super old I guess, but I've met way older people who remember a lot from their teenage years still

My family would directly ask me if I remembered something from my childhood and I would tell them I have no memory of it, while my brother (who is only a year older than me) did or something

In general my family will tell me about things that happened in my childhood and I wouldn't remember it

I have to rely on outside, objective things to be able to remember things like "I lived in this house around ages (xyz) because (abc)-". That probably makes no sense, so for example: I remember playing Spyro: A New Beginning around maybe ages 6-7? And upon Googling the release date of that game, it was released when I would've been 5, so I may have been around ages 5-6 when I played that game. Or, another example, "I don't remember what age I was when I played Poptropica, but that game came out in 2007, so I must have been anywhere from 6-8-years-old, likely 7 because I remember playing that game when Ilived in this house and I lived in that house at-" you get the picture. I hope that makes sense? Like I have to rely on objective stuff like "when did this game release, that will tell me how old I might've been when I played it" or something.

Memories feel "out of order." I can't put my memories in order. Like they're all jumbled and all over the place and I have to figure out the timeline myself, I have to figure out the timeline but the timeline keeps changing because I remember so little and have so many missing memories and out-of-context fragments and such and. It's all confusing.

Talk to other people about their childhoods, people who you know do not have DID or OSDD. It might become a bit more obvious to you how little you remember when you start to talk to other people about what they remember about their childhoods. At least for me, when hear people talk about their childhoods, I'm so shocked by how much more they remember than I do.

I grew up changing homes and schools a lot so this might not apply but I basically remember Nothing about most of my elementary schools beyond maybe the name and a few vague memories, etc. and I have many memories from schools that I cannot place WHAT school these memories are from, what age, etc.

Many memories that I can't remember the age, where I was, what was going on, etc. in general. This kinda goes back to "out-of-context memories, memories that don't make sense, etc."

Just a hunch. I always felt like I remembered so little about my childhood, barely remembered things, etc. and I always felt like I had a lot of ""repressed memories""/that it wouldn't surprise me if I did

These are my own personal experiences and since I didn't link any sources here to back these up and I myself don't actually have a lot of understanding of what amnesia for childhood is normal versus what's abnormal/etc., I'd take this post less as scientific fact and more personal experiences.

[tribow]

So I watched Blood-C: The Last Dark

This whole review is going to have spoilers for Blood-C and other Blood media so if you care move along now. I'm not even gonna hide it.

The first half of this movie was honestly fire. Good stuff until the second half where that hill starts to decline real fast. The Last Dark starts out with a pretty solid follow-up to the ending of the anime. The world outside tbe events of Blood-C is actually interesting.

Unfortunately, this movie doesn't escape from some of Blood-C's original problems. There are too many scenes where I ask, "What was the point of that?" and I don't get a good answer. Not to mention that it still fails to explain important parts of the story.

Blood-C is already so weird. It's COMPLETELY different from the original Blood movie and Blood+. Saya hasn't made it her mission to destroy all Chiropterans in Blood-C. In fact, Chiropterans don't exist here. Instead the monsters she faces are called The Elder Bairns. These monsters are a lot more youkai-like more than anything else. There's never an explanation of what they really are and that's a huge shame.

In the plot twist for Blood-C's anime, it's revealed that Saya drinks the blood of The Elder Bairns and does not kill humans. This is completely different from original Blood's lore as she would still need human blood in the original, but is still hunting her own kind. Who knows why it's inconsistent, but whatever.

The whole fiasco that goes down in Blood-C was an experiment to test whether she would stay herself if her memories are completely changed. This whole plan seemed stupid to me though. Like why would you have her still fight The Elder Bairns if you you ultimately need her to kill a human? Why not raise her to hate humans or some shit?

The man behind the plan; Fumito, is also able to make paper fakes of himself? he does it in the movie, which slightly makes sense as he comes from a clan that works closely with The Elder Bairn and considering they're like youkai, he could be a Kannushi or some shit. Even so, it just comes out of nowhere and I just have to accept he could randomly pull anything out his ass. I already suspended my disbelief for controlling The Elder Bairn with Saya's blood through means never explained why you gotta make it worse? Everything Fumito does sucks except for confidently shooting part of Saya's face off in the anime.

Blood-C fails for most of its characters. One of the ones that died in the anime was actually redeemed in the movie and the hacker group in the movie was alright. Everyone else sucks though. The villains are handled REALLY bad and the Saya herself doesn't fair much better. Again, the first half of the movie was great. It redeems much of her character now that she's able to be proactive but then she just gets sidelined again by Fumito's bullshit.

Speaking of bullshit, did you know Blood-C is a CLAMP story? You know what that means! Blood-C actually crosses over with xxxHolic! (Not Tsubasa thankfully). The shopkeeper (forgot his name) actually plays a pretty vital role for Saya, but he makes NO SENSE if you're not aware of xxxHolic already. His existance feels so out of place and somewhat undermines Saya's own resolve by being there. Cringe. I'm okay with CLAMP doing crossovers like this, but it frequently amounts to having the audience go "Oh I know that guy!" followed by weakening the plot.

Speaking of out of place. The big CG monster at the end is so bad. I'm not even upset at the animation for it. Yeah, it clashes with the wonderful 2D animation for the movie, but who cares? There was no need for the giant monster! It just gets one-shotted anyway because it had a weak point. Gone as quickly as it came. Fades away leaving little lasting damage despite towering over the city. Why was it there? There's so much of that in Blood-C.

Why was there nudity? I was actually ready to praise a bit of the nudity. At first I thought they were doing a fan-service bit for no reason, but it was actually there to prepare viewers for the PTSD nightmare Saya has in her sleep. That's cool! Except the nightmare amounts to nothing! We already know she's traumatized. You could remove that nightmare and nothing changes.

I hate having these problems. Blood-C genuinely has some really cool shit in it. It may be worth a watch but like...I can't honestly say that. Truly a shame. If you're a fan of some good looking animation I would give it a look at least. Production IG whipped up something good with these visuals.

If you want a hyper violent anime with an actually good plot, I'd watch the 2019 adaption for Blade of the Immortal. Way better.

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

I'll have a couple of thoughts and could quote the whole interview more or less and tags will not be enough, so I put everything under a cut. (Looong post)

The first few seconds start in a good way, and you have no idea what is about to come. 🫠

The first ~9,20min are her talking about her work and the war. After that the personal part starts.

On a side note - once again, a really good explanation from her why she doesn't comment on certain political topics or events or doesn't answer some political questions. She explained that in the past here and there, but somehow there are still people who give her hell for it. But her explanation is actually really good and makes sense, and she's right. Yeah, she is the First Lady. But FL is not an official position or government role in Ukraine, so while society expects her to perform her duties, her job is basically to look pretty next to Vova, host stuff and do some society work and improve things. That she already did political stuff pre-war and even more now (including basically performing the role of an ambassador, diplomat and employee of her husband who represents him) while still being "just" FL is for sure a very hard balance act she has to manage. Because especially now people pay attention to her words and if she says (or does) something wrong, this could fall back to Vova and hurt his efforts and work.

When the interviewer asked about what is it like to be married to Ze, I fully expected her usual in love answer about her amazing husband and life being fun and never boring with him, while blushing and giggling and smiling from ear to ear. Well, nothing could have prepared me for what she answered instead. 🫠 ESPECIALLY SINCE THE BEGINNING OF HER ANSWER WAS SWEET!

Also interesting how much her view on how Ze's Presidency influenced their life has changes. Pre war it was mostly "big influence" and changed a lot and life-changing decision and everything. And now, with the war, that view on it certainly has changed. Which makes sense, because of course such a war and what happened to them is far more life-changing than "her husband getting a new job", so to speak. And how it influences their life now is absolutely bigger. Also interesting how Olena now summarizes the whole his decision - her decision. Considering her initial decision was indeed to work in the shadows and she only joined him and took her role because pressure from public and Vova needed her, as First Lady but mostly as emotional support and by his side (and she still half stayed in the shadows). On the other hand, again: war life - normal life. That war has (had) such an impact that she probably now sees her past life differently or from a different perspective. Very similar to Ze who also does this and voiced it in interviews.

"Regardless of your own emotional state" 😭😭😭 That woman (both of them) are so strong. Like, can you imagine, which everything they experience and see and hear, how broken and depressed and traumatised and exhausted they must be occasionally, sometimes, most of the time,... and they STILL and BOTH put their job and the country and people before themselves and are there for the people. To be the emotional support system for EVERYONE. I know we always talk about Vova literally being a servant of his people and how he works and his moral compass and his ethics and everything. But as different as they are - in these points, they're very similar. And Olena is just as well a servant of the people. Not by her choice and willingly, like Vova, but still as determined, strong, steadfast to do the job. And, also exactly like Vova, she finds people and their support inspiring and gets energy from that. Which is even more interesting, considering her character and shy / introvert nature.

Olena talking about their separate lives and the kids needing her father somehow hit different this time. I don't know what it was, but it feels more ... needed? The father back in their lives? Maybe also because of what she said afterwards: "He's getting tired of this lifestyle.". I mean ... how fucking MUCH must he miss his family that she says that so openly and honestly??? Like...that's totally a sentence that could backfire on Vova. (Which Olena for sure knows. But she still feels the need to say it.) We probably can't even imagine the PAIN Vova must be feeling at this point about being separated from his family so much. And having to be for obvious reasons. But missing them so so SO MUCH because he needs them. (And if you think back ... he talked about his family and their meetings and his kids and meeting Olena way more often in recent interviews.) (On a side note: again a parallel to Vova. The "we can't complain, others have it worse, at least we can see each other". And the inability to allow themselve the say "Yes, we actually live in a fucking awful situation.". Always putting other people and their stories and tragedies before themselves.)

About the whole "how strong is your marriage, how do you cope as a couple" quesiton ... . First and foremost, it's a very, very, very positive answer and basically a verbal confirmation of what we see. They have a really, really, REALLY STRONG marriage. Which is their luck and most valuable "thing" in this situation (as Olena herself says). And we can discuss back and forth if it's a good thing or a bad thing that most likely they put their marriage / relationship before everything else in their life and this was always priority #1 (minus that one time with Ze and his decision). Which also includes their family, if you think back to Olena's decision to stay with Ze and go that path together, as a couple, despite Oleksandra (and their families) not really being thrilled about him running for President. And while I see why people could have a problem with that, I want to offer a thought. The reason they have such a loving, strong, stable, and peaceful family life is because they not only teach their children important lessons about relationships, but their relationship / marriage is okay and well. If the parents are strong and happy and united and loving each other, this reflects back on the family.

That being said - Olena joking about not having a clue why everything is good also speaks for a strong marriage and actually everything being good. (I can't wait for people to misunderstand her here again, like the "pause" comment in the past ... ; I mean, honestly, everyone would expect that a marriage suffers and breaks under such circumstances. And they manage to cope surprisingly well, so a certain ironic look on it that this is, what it is, for whatever reason ... is something a lot of people would have in such a situation. You expect the worst, you know rationally, a lot of worse things are going to happen / should happen ... and somehow, they still happen, but the expected effect doesn't happen?!? Weird??? Why? What's going on? ... you know what I mean.) And Olena actually says something really important (and kind of answers her questions): they need each other because of all the trials they've been put through. Because they are together. They go through this together. They live apart and alone but they're not lonely. They always had and always will have each other. They went through ever hard challenge in their life's together because no matter what - they had each other and their love. And that is such a strong bond, such a powerful love. That is 100% commitment to each other and love for each other every single day. And on the same level that need for each other. There is not one person in this world who would understand them better. And while people like Irina, Andriy or Maks or other people are for sure a big help to get through this - ultimately, they both keep each other sane and here and going and most of all alive.

On a side note: Olena joking about the reason being that they see each other frequently and always have something to talk about and bore each other ... 😄. Ah, yes, a classic Olena. 😁 I love her sarcastic and sometimes very dry humour (which remains me of an interview and someone - no idea who - mentioned that Olena can have the most brutally honest humour you can imagine and very easily can joke about herself and people or things close and important to her (not in a mean way)). Also even more funnier, when you think back to another recent interview where Olena basically was like "sometimes we just sit next to each other and say nothing and it's silent and that's very nice that no one is talking and he have nothing to talk about". 😄

"We don't make each other angry, we don't fight". Reminds me of an older interview where Olena was like "sometimes he's DRIVING ME NUTS but I love him so ..." or where Vova joked about them "fighting" about the most boring things or Olena being angry with him about everyday stuff and usual couple problems or him not being able to be angry with her for long. Also Olena basically saying in the past that, of course, like every couple, they do fight, but it's very rarely. So ... yeah ... . 😅

First, her thoughts about couple therapy were a but surprising. But on the other hand - one marriage of one of her best friends is over, and the last update was divorce. And the marriage of her other best friend seems to be also in trouble. Maybe both or one of them also used such therpay ... so. Yeah. Actually, it's not so surprising that she isn't that sure about the effectiveness of it.

"I hope Volodymyr and I won't need such therapy". Yeah, I'm pretty sure you two are good, Olena, and won't need it. 😄 Not as long as you two look at each other like that and cuddle and hold hands at every given opportunity und are crazy for each other. And all the million other things. 😁 (And if these two ever break up - love is dead and not real. If these two don't make it, no one will.)

Not so much new things about how she copes with her own mental health, but FAAAR more open and brutally honest about it. And very, very heartbreaking. Which is either good because she's healing and getting better and can talk about it. Or she's actually pretty worse and it gets harder to mask / hide. Considering her answers I really want to believe in the first option but the second one could it be as well.

(I also get more and more the impression that her studying again is either Psychology or has something to do with it.)

I somehow can't help myself to project her words about her mental health and how she's dealing and how bad she is, on Vova. If she already sufferes so much ... how much must Vova suffer? How bad must his mental health be?

"There are moments were I feel I am close to a psychological burnout" 💔💔💔💔💔

Also Olena also finding strength and rest in family moments. Like Ze. 🥹❤️ (maybe an addition to what I wrote earlier - while they put their marriage before everything else, including their family - without a doubt their family is also priority #1 and the most important thing in the world. Both things basically co-exist.)

Her answer about sport is interesting. I faintly remember Olena talking about sport (pre-war, pre-presidency). And how Vova tried to make her do sports and she never really did, only after Sasha's birth and the problems with her weight and everything and how ultimately it's just something she has to do to stay fit and healthy (like eating healthy). While for Vova, as we know, sport was always his way of coping with everything and his place to get everything out in his mind. So interesting this attitude now also is in her and sport is now a way to deal with everything. Very similar to Vova now doing sport and his answers about it.

Cleaning as coping is so real. 🙈🙈🙈

Her answer about Ukrainian - Russian was very, very interesting. Also, her own personal story about switching languages. And especially interesting that she seemingly switched to Ukrainian earlier than Ze (he probably stayed for similar reasons she stated) and that the language issue seems to be an important part of identity for her (or question about it), maybe more than for Vova.

Also the whole last past about the importance of knowing Russian ... . Very interesting part, as I said.

Equally interesting was her answer about "1984" and Russia having parallels with Orwellian dystopia (I agree). Also about people being so brainwashed.

THAT COPING QUESTION. I WAS NOT PREPARED. 😭😭😭 Especially not for Olena's answer. 😭😭😭 That deep breath and rapid blinking. 💔💔💔 And again that not showing weakness to the kids because she has to be strong for them. Like in that night and the days after. Sometimes I wonder - since we talk about a kid that is an adult and two obviously smart kids - how much they notice from the stuff Olena (and Vova) think they don't notice ... .

Olena not being able to cope (at night) and her admitting it ... so basically confirming things like nightmares or panic attacks. 💔💔💔 I mean, we all knew she most likely has it and kind of very very very vaguely said it in the past. But that's probably the most direct answer we ever got from her about it. (Again, don't try to think about Vova and how he must be if this is her situation. 😭)

(Also, a bit ... paradoxically?! That on the one side, she is glad the kids don't see it and see her as a source of strength and everything. But on the other hand ... she talks about it. ... so they will still know?! Or does this mean, while the kids do have access to the internet, Olena (and Ze) still limit certain things and certain interview and stuff are forbidden for the kids so they don't know certain things???)

The cry answer. 💔 What a change to earlier in war, when she she would cry all the time and can't stop sometimes and everything makes her cry. To now allowing (!!!) herself to cry in certain situations when they're very sad. Well, maybe she was talking about situations with the kids and giving in her emotions and cry in front of the kids. Not about her privately. Because I absolutely hope so. I mean, sure, maybe that allowing is a way if coping for her, because otherwise she would be do overwhelmed and paralysed and would just cry and get nothing done. But letting that out, is also very important. But yeah, probably talking about situations with the kids and using these moments to let her emotions out in a concentrated and really aware moment.

(Also the moments of happiness have changed. In earlier interviews it was stuff close to her - sunshine, being outside, seeing a cat, ... . Now it's happy moments strength from other people.)

And again, at the end, minimising herself and her work. 🫠🫠🫠 What is with these two that they're always sooo humble about themselves and their work??? "Other people do more, other people work harder, other people have it worse, other people to far more important things in this war, ...". Yeah, so? These two still do one of the most horrible, challenging and draining jobs. And I wish someone would scream at them every day how fucking awesome they are until they believe it and get a bit more "arrogant" about it. 😄

Olena's new interview for The Telegraph

[calliecat93]

Okay, I know that the Spones content in Bread and Circuses has been talked about before, so I’m likely adding nothing new. But heck with it, I’m talking about it anyways cause it’s just too good not to!

The episode has Spock and McCoy somewhat saltier towards each other than usual. From the second the episode resumes after the opening credits, they’re snarking at each other almost immediately. It goes on for so long that we have the guest character outright ask Kirk if they’re enemies, and even he isn’t for sure. It’s almost like one of the writers anticipated the fact that some would legit think that the two genuinely hated each other, and decided to ask the question. For the most part, their banter is mutual and they’re clearly trying to rouse a reaction from the other.Even when at gunpoint, McCoy just HAS to snap at Spock for “[being] so blasted honest?’. Spock’s raised brow to me almost came across like ‘really doctor? must you be like this now?”. It’s got some amusing stuff, like the banter in the beginning and McCoy of all being being the one to suggest illogic regarding sun worshipers has Spock giving some utterly hilarious facial expressions. But still, the banter goes enough that event he audience has to ask: are these two truly enemies.

The rest of their scenes answer the question.

During the gladiator fight, McCoy’s still so pissed off that even fighting to the death won’t stop him from yelling at Spock when he asks if he needs help. Stress and you know… trying not to die is a factor, but still. But since McCoy’s a doctor, not a warrior he’s about to be killed… until Spock takes out his own opponent and nerve punches McCoy’s before he can be harmed. Doing this breaks the rules and Kirk chooses to take what would be their death sentence upon himself. Spock acted on pure instinct in that instant. Or even more bluntly, it was an emotional response. He interfered because he didn’t want McCoy to die, and he was the only one in a positon to save him. He even seems pretty started that he did so. But because of i, now Kirk is going to die in their places and neither he nor McCoy can do anything about it. He outright pulls at the cell bars, according to McCoy, fifteen times. Logically it’s pretty clear that it’s not working.

With this, McCoy’s now cooled down enough that he legitimately tries to thank Spock for saving him. It’s awkward, neither one are very good at having heart-to-hearts with each other. Spock pretty much acts like it’s the usual banter and kind of condescendingly before telling him to get to the point, which causes McCoy to just snap it out at him. Spock tries to go into the usual ‘I’m a logical Vulcan’ spiel, saying quote:

Spock: Oh, yes. You humans have that emotional need to express gratitude. You're welcome, I believe, is the correct response. However, Doctor, you must remember I am entirely motivated by logic. The loss of our ship's surgeon, whatever I think of his skill, would mean a reduction in the efficiency of the Enterprise and therefore-.

Which is what finally gets McCoy pissed off enough to directly confront him about it. Why? Because he knows that Spock’s spitballing here. He’s trying to deny his emotional responses, despite having demonstrated it at least twice with McCoy right there for both of them. Saving McCoy despite knowing the consequences of doing so was an emotional response. Trying to escape the cell due to Jim’s life being in danger despite all efforts failing is an emotional response. He tries to say it’s just due to professionalism, but at this point there’s been enough episodes that the audience knows that that’s not true. McCoy absolutely knows it. He knows how Spock tends to keep his emotions suppressed and deny that he even has them, even though he very clearly does. It is a factor that has continuously frustrated McCoy. He’d never force Spock to be outwardly emotional, Plato’s Stepchildren made that VERY clear. But when it DOES happen and Spock tries to act otherwise? And after having dealt with this for nearly two years now? Yeah, McCoy decides that he’s had it as he grabs Spock, turns him around so that they’re making clear eye-contact, and makes his opinion VERY clear.

McCoy: Do you know why you're not afraid to die, Spock? You're more afraid of living. Each day you stay alive is just one more day you might slip and let your human half peek out. That's it, isn't it? Insecurity. Why, you wouldn't know what to do with a genuine, warm, decent feeling.

Which… he’s not entirely wrong. Even during this, Spock turns away from him like he doesn’t want to talk about it. But McCoy’s right. Spock’s been at war with his Vulcan and human halves for his entire life. He chose to suppress the human half, and it peaking out does concern him. He isn’t able to settle two sides, hence why he’s always insistent about being a logical, unfeelign Vulcan. Now we all know that Vulcans DO feel things. Very strongly in fact, hence why they suppress it to begin with. But I do think it’s safe to say that Spock is afraid of expressing or even talking about his emotions. Whenever he does, he needs to get his grip back on the Vulcan side as quickly as possible. Even though he knows that McCoy knows otherwise. McCoy is pretty damn good at picking up on Spock’s emotional state and Spock knows it. And I think to at least an extent, he knows that McCoy’s correct. McCoy might be being too harsh admittedly, but the point is there. Spock is afraid of letting his human half slip out and the constant struggle of keeping it in check.

I think this is what makes their relationship so important. McCoy’s really the only person who can provoke Spock like this. Sure Kirk can normally reach out to Spock, but he’s not as likely to directly confront Spock and be blunt about it the same way that McCoy can. Spock’s also really the only person who’s ever been able to provoke McCoy and get him think past his own perspective the way that he does. It’s vitriolic in many ways. Like I said, it’s hard for them to really be civil with each other most of the time. Even here when McCoy did try to start off as civil when he tried thanking Spock, it ultimately devolved into another argument. Even McCoy expressed that he isn’t sure why it’s always like this when he says “ I know we've had our disagreements. Maybe they're jokes. I don't know.” But I do think that the episode demonstrates the answer to the queation of if they’re enemies. The short answer is no. The long answer is that they have a very complicated relationship that on a surface level, comes across as hatred. It gets to the point where even they aren’t fully sure. But the truth is they do care about each other greatly. They understand each other a great deal. They’re the only ones who can reach out to the other. The way that they show it is unorthodox sure, but it’s how it works for them.

And even when they are particularly heated, it always ends with them coming down from it and finding a point of unity. In this case, there is absolutely one thing that they can agree on.

Spock: Really, Doctor?

McCoy: I know. I'm worried about Jim, too.

While their concern for Jim is true, I think McCoy brought used that more as a way to bring them both back down after the exchange. Jim and his well-being is very much the one thing that they can agree on. I serves as a calming down point for them n this particular instant. After this while they don’t have anymore direct interactions, they seem to be on good terms and even enter the Bridge together at the end. They still have their heated moments in later episodes such as The Paradise Syndrome and The Tholian Web. But I think that for those who really do think that Spock and McCoy hate each other, I’d say watch this episode again and give their interactios a closer look. Especially the prison scene. Because it shows that for all their banter, for all their differences, there is a strong connection that is very much uniquely them.