#idk if it makes sense idk if it even makes complete sense to me

[gem-de-lune]

Flash Reading: SM's Statement on Seunghan

No intro lesgo aorry if there is any typos this was a very emotion heavy read and all the members are freaking tf out.

READ THE VIBE CHECK 11/15 PRIOR TO THIS READING FOR CONTEXT: HERE

How does Riize feel/what are they doing?

Do you recognize this Page of Cups? Yes. This was literally just in my Full Moon Reading regarding how this Moon was affecting Riize or rather their ultimate interaction with SM. They are going to make their emotions and intentions on this matter very very clear probably unexpectedly on SM's side. The 7 of Swords indicates they were blindsided, and the 10 of swords in this deck indicate they are overwhelmed with this feeling of being "put down". Idk how to describe this perfectly but it's like when you are so full of absolute outrage all you can do is stomp over to the person and literally seethe as you feel like you are being ignored.

How does Seunghan feel?

The Moon + Strength + The Hermit

Does he want this?

The Devil

Bro wants to hide away completely. He isnt sure what to feel. He was not blinsided here and he knew. But in classic Libra fashion he has been told what his options are and wanted to see if he could try. He is regretting it already knowing what he will have to do all alone by himself. He does not want to be a soloist. He is scared. He is barely managing to keep himself subdued. As I read this i am almost tearing up. He tried lying multiple times during the reading and If you read the way I do for individuals you know what I mean because you end up feeling what they are feeling physically and the cards don't make sense.

Anyways, he is so so so low in confidence rn. He at a point felt like it was kind of SM to even offer a solo debut, but now he knows its really a death sentence and strategy they are using to save Riize. He wants to help Riize, but he also did not want this outcome. I am so so sick to my stomach reading this bc he is so so sad and so so riddled with anxiety and fear of not knowing what will happen.

What will SM do in Response?

Knight of Swords

Extra pulls that flew out when asking for clarification and if their statement would be retracted

The Magician (flew) + King of Cups (fell out and didnt notice until i move my hand)

Recognize this Knight again? Yes this is the card pulled in Vibe Check for the full moon saying swift action will be taken. With the Magician and King of Cups we are seeing someone with the power and tools to do so taking action on the matter. With the King of cups we are actually seeing an ounce of empathy and understanding on a fundamental level (shocking).

But the fact that the Page of Cups for Riize and the Knight of Swords for SM literally showed up here is NOT a coincidence. It means this is all a part of the plan to turn things around unexpectedly.

Bottom of the deck:

The High Priestess

YALL IDK HOW CLEARER I CAN BE

She is saying to trust your intuition and follow that path with every ounce of your being. My intuition is telling me this isn't the end and the truth, and what is right will prevail. There is absolutely no better indication of that than the Priestess. If you have any ounce of intuition you KNOW what is happening right now and you KNOW what is right. Follow that feeling.

This is not the end. SM is trying to console people because they SEE the numbers, and they don't like it. This is the sale pity party prize they gave Lucas. I, for one, have had enough of their antics. This is where it stops. Do. Not. Fall. For. This.

[olderthannetfic]

Quote from a post: "the things created within fandom aren’t real - an individual fic can’t cause actual, material harm to a reader, even if it contains tropes that would be harmful or distressing if they happened in that reader’s real life; an author’s use of certain tropes or interest in certain characters is not indicative of their actual morals and values in real life; thought crimes are not real crimes - but fanfiction is produced by human beings who are themselves products of the societies and communities in which we all live, and these societies and communities all have flaws and failings.

which is to say, those of us who prefer to read male friendships as romantic do need to be aware that, no matter how enlightened on gender and its foibles we think ourselves to be, we are nonetheless influenced as modern humans by a modern tendency to discourage platonic physical and emotional closeness between men - especially straight men - on the grounds that two men having this sort of relationship is inherently queer and, in being queer, implicitly sexual [an understanding of queerness which is another powerful societal influence on our thought, even if we know we don’t agree with it.]"

Okay this is from a big post from a big fandom account here please don't speculate who it is this is not about them specifically and has nothing to do with them i genuinely respect this poster and they are nothing but a supportive space and don't have any anti-nonsense. But I wanna talk about this point that they are making "the society is queering straight friendships" which is something also the anti-fujoshi crowd is saying and honestly I can't agree with that point.

I don't think its us the people who make fandom are queering the relationships between two straight men but the patriarchal system we live under and straight men themselves are doing it to themselves. They can't show love and affection to each other lest other dudes will call them gay not because there are secret fujoshis around that sexualize them. They can be vulnerable period lest everyone calls them whiney like women. I feel like (and most of the things I say here are vibes, not facts) men having close friendships with other men are green flags, and most women are excited to see men who have exact the strong relationship that are portrayed in media.

I'm confused by this talking point to be honest. I also understand that by saying everything I said above I sort of said the same thing as the original poster. In a sense that society is the problem here and we live in a society as we know, but... idk I feel like what they say is "we live in a society where everyone by default is sexualizing male friendships" which sounds like the standard anti-fujoshi talking point to me.

And regarding the point of romantic relationships being prioritized over platonic— I feel like is a complete bullshit to be honest.

Romantic relationships are prioritized over platonic ones across the board. Straight couples leave their straight friends behind when they get further into relationship too! I don't understand this impulse to constantly talk about romantic vs platonic thing when its about queer ships, and maybe there is somewhere straight ship discourse about romantic vs plantonic but its not as big as with mlm or wlw ships.

And honestly even with this take I feel like romantic relationships are also not prioritized but rather are more encouraged. And there is difference between encouraging and actually prioritizing I think.

(I want to add here that I'm not aroace so maybe its a blindspot and from that identitys point of view the dynamics might be different)

In reality I think both are equally hard to obtain and maintain. I always felt like the fandom being so shipping focused was not about people being hellbent on romance but just the fact that good love stories are few and far between both in fiction and IRL and we can't help but try to make something at least remotely good, or interesting or satisfying.

Again, my main problems is: 1) I don't agree that romantic relationships are prioritized to that high degree over the friendships like everyone claims. 2) I don't think that every single person is actually a secret fujoshi waiting to make any straight male friendship gay. 3) Fandoms are romantic ship centric because people just want more narratively satisfying romantic stories that are underrepresented in media (or they don't get to experience it IRL) rather than they are vehemently against platonic ships.

I don't know this hopefully came out coherent.

--

The person who wrote that sounds like a pretentious twatwaffle, and I am so sick of seeing otherwise reasonable people spout that crap. That's been true since the 90s and probably before.

The reality is that Western culture enshrines male friendship as the highest form of affection possible. This goes back to the Classical world. And, yes, they were probably fucking too back then, but the thing that all of the media is about is friendship.

The entire backbone of Western culture is built on the idea that men are spiritually, biologically, inherently more capable than women of this highest form of relationship. Romance is the big thing for women because we're not eligible for The Pure And Holy Friendship Between Two Men.

The epidemic of male loneliness is real, but we haven't gotten any less "Bros before hos". Fandom and m/m shipping behavior are irrelevant to this.

--

Furthermore, fandom has plenty of people who don't focus on shipping.

AO3 was built by slashers, so ship type is a top-level category, and the site obviously signals that it's about shipping and particularly non heterosexual shipping since you can filter out het.

Past sites often had more metadata that wasn't around ships (e.g. FFN's genres that work like bookstore genres) and almost never let you get rid of het. You might have been able to filter in The Gay, but straight stuff was literally unmarked.

~We do need to be aware of~

Bite me.

This naggy phrase is everywhere, and nothing good comes of it.

The only thing we need to be aware of is that Blorbo is great and s/he should be mashed together with Other Blorbo. If that's in gen adventures, you do you.

[thewritetofreespeech]

Can I please request Astarion with a flirty yet oblivious plus size Tav? In the way that they do flirt because it's fun and light like their companions/friends with benefits thing, but they think that their feelings are unrequited (because of some slight insecurity about their size) until Astarion is like I actually like you and Tav is like '???' (Idk if that makes sense lol) Thank you!

-------------------------------🩸-------------------------------

“So, Astarion, what is your actual type?”

“My ‘type’,” Astarion repeated at Shadowheart’s question as they traveled, “is such a broad prevue. I can’t think to narrow it down to just a single collection of words.”

“That’s a unique way to say you’re a trollop.”

Tav snickered at Shadowhearts retort, getting a stern glare from Astarion. “What? It was funny?”

“Pft. And here I was going to say you, my dear, but if you’re going to be so incredibly cruel.”

“Aw shucks. Always a bridesmaid I suppose.”

During their journey together, Tav had grown very fond of Astarion. He was a little shit, but deep down he was very funny and undeniably charming (although not for the ways he tried to be). The two of you had picked up a friendly banter over your time together, sometimes even flirty, but only that. And Tav was fine with that. Well aware that a handsome rake like Astarion could have his pick of the litter, and they were just happy to be considered a friend.

Later that night, while everyone was finishing their day and slinking off to bed, Astarion came over to Tav by the fire to sit with them. “You know I really meant it earlier by the way.”

“Meant what?” Tav asked. Lost, by this point, on what he was talking about.

“That you’re my….‘type’.” He seemed loathed to use the word. Even scrunched his nose. Tav just laughed.

“Yeah. Right. I’m sure.”

“No, really, I mean it.” He insisted.

“Come on Astarion, the only way you’d be interested in me is because I’m a a keg instead of a flagon.” Tav gestured to themselves and their full frame. “I have ample blood to spare.”

Astarion frowned. “Yes, your blood is certainly a bonus, but that isn’t why I care for you.” He huffed and crossed his arms dramatically. “Honestly, why does everyone think I’m not being serious when I am?” Astarion asked with a bit of flabbergast. “Is it something about my expression?”

Tav looked more than a bit flabbergasted at his remark. They didn’t really think they liked them….that way. Friends sure. Allies, of course. But romantically? “You…really have feelings for me?”

“Ugh! What is it with you new generation and wanting to put a name to everything?” Astarion bemoaned. “Feelings. Type. Can’t we just enjoy this for whatever…this is? All I know is that out of all the people in this whole wicked world I would want to be stuck with, it’s you.”

“Gee, that’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.” Tav teased.

Astarion frowned again, but then leaned in close to Tav so all they could see was his piercing red eyes. “I could wax poems for you, if you’d prefer. How your eyes are the stars. How your curves are roads I would never get tired of roaming. How your ample bosom feels like a place to call home. All true, but you’re so much more to me than that.” He moved back to sit in his original spot. Wrapping his arms around his knees at his chest as he looked into the fire. “You’re the first person I’ve trusted in…well ever. You mean more to me than just your body. Though, again, that is certainly a bonus. I had hoped….you feel the same about me.”

Tav blushed, but then quickly gathered their voice and told him, “yes! Of course.”

Astarion seemed relieved. Then leaned over to give Tav a simple, sweet peck on the cheek. “Good. Now, get some sleep. We’ll probably have a completely eventful day tomorrow as well. You’ll need your beauty sleep. Not that you need it, of course. I’ll keep watch until the morning.”

Tav smiled, blushed again, and then went to their bed roll. Tentative in accepting Astarion’s confession & feelings, but hopeful it was all true. Perhaps, for once, they could really be the bride instead of the bridesmaid.

[glisten-inthedark]

I’m rewatching some of Mike and Will’s smaller scenes in season 2 ‘cause when I first watched season 2 I think it was really easy for me to fall into the trap of thinking all of Mike’s behavioral issues stemmed from missing & grieving El

And I still truly believe that’s a massive part of it because I think he has a form of survivor and almost caretaker’s guilt from El’s supposed death. He took care of El and then she singled him out in a goodbye and seemingly died protecting him and his friends. That is a helluva weight to carry around and he’s experiencing PTSD as the anniversary effect kicks into gear.

But in s2e1, before Will has to go into Hawkins Lab, Will is clearly down in the dumps in class because of the Zombie Boy note he got in his locker. We don’t see Mike notice, but later he says “He’s quiet today,” which shows that he did in fact notice his mood. Which is a really nice subtle parallel to Rink o’ Mania where we don’t see Mike noticing Will’s mood but then Mike himself reveals that oh yes, he has been incredibly aware of Will’s mood, attitude, and behavior.

I also just love how the camera focuses in on Mike when the boys are watching Will leave. The creators are screaming at the audience, “HOW MIKE FEELS RIGHT NOW IS YOUR PRIORITY,” and yet it’s so easy (at least it was for me, on my first watch) in Mike’s very next scene to take his moodiness as missing El, because we find out from his parents that he’s had behavioral issues all year, so my silly little brain went, “Oh, because of losing El.” But when the scene starts, before Karen even brings up the two boxes of toys for the yard sale, Mike is sullen and picking at his food.

And again, this is Mike’s next scene after they very intentionally focused on Mike being concerned for Will going to the lab. So he’s not picking at his food because of El—it’s because he’s worried about Will. (Contrasting Dustin & Lucas going to the arcade to watch Max, most of their focus on her.)

Then this dinner scene is followed by Nancy & the Holland’s dinner scene, which ends in Nancy experiencing her own guilt over losing her best friend….and only then do we get an El-focused scene for Mike. Directly after a deep display of grief and guilt from Nancy over her platonic best friend. In Mike’s scene with the toys, he sets aside Rory the dinosaur, which he and the audience associates with El…..except…..she showed zero interest in this toy in season 1. He also picks up the Millennium Falcon, which Dustin tried to get her to fly, but Mike never witnessed her actually levitating it. He associates it with Dustin’s attempt to make her fly it, but not her actually engaging with it.

And all the while, hovering over his head and shoulder, are Will’s drawings. After he picks up the Millennium Falcon, he’s framed between two of Will’s drawings.

Of course Mike misses El; he cares for her and he’s seen firsthand her communicate through the radio, and we’ve seen that he was able to sense her presence like Will did when he was in the UD, and he tells Will that he feels like he keeps seeing her, so I think El visiting him really heightened that need to keep reaching out, and also the guilt that would come with stopping reaching out. After all, in the scene in s2e1 when he uses his radio to reach out to her, it is absolutely Eleven whose voice we first hear, not Dustin. It sounds exactly like her. And then before Mike starts talking, we hear Dustin say “Mike?” and it sounds completely different. So imagine him experiencing that on and off for a whole year! The poor boy would struggle to move on so incredibly badly.

But before the basement scene, it was Will on his brain. Not El. Will was the reason he was sullen at dinner.

Idk I just think it’s so interesting how even though I’d rewatched season 2 a ton of times before season 4 and now, I had M*leven on the brain and so let that color how I perceived things and the assumptions I made.

Hello! Oh this is why I love getting asks, I didn't even notice all of this.

To be honest I also assumed his behavior change was due to El at first, but thought better of it not due to the things you noticed but because after I watched I thought about it and realized it was most likely a situation where there's a lot of trauma from what happened to El and what happened to Will intertwined.

I've talked about this before very on a surface level because no one here needs a psychology Ted Talk, but I truly believe El and Will are very enmeshed in Mike's brain due to trauma coping mechanisms.

Will disappears, he gets El. El gets Will back but disappears and he thinks she dies and she gets her back, connect this with Mike's internalized homophobia/biphobia and we have a recipe for his behavior down the line.

[gldnstrngs]

things i would change in bbc’s merlin

(yall this is gonna be a long one but even then i wont be able to give a full list bc that would take forever…)

starting with…

• arthur wouldnt fucking DIE at the end of this goddamn show. the show runners need to LOOK over their shoulders bc im so after them… 👁️ it genuinely made no sense to have him die so early LIKEEE!!! even in the legends he dies when hes at least middle aged like bffr.

• morgana and arthur being siblings would be effectively implied… and there would be no…incestual… undertones between morgana and arthur bc… that was freaky… as someone who knew the legends before starting the show, i was Gobsmacked when i realized they were flirting gross. even if someone who isnt familiar with the legends watched the show, they would be like oh ok s1 arthur & morgana had Vibes etc and then s3 its revealed theyre SIBLINGS?!!!? wild as hell.

• this might be a super unpopular opinion but i think it wouldve been better for gwen to be a princess like she is in the legends. idk i wouldve liked seeing her and elyan (who would also be a knight of their kingdom) being sent to camelot since she and arthur have been engaged for years, but they dont really have feelings for each other but they also respect each other a lot. and maybe she’d become super close to merlin and learn about his magic and same with morgana… idk there was potential tho!

• mordred would not be arthurs bane… it didnt rlly make sense for him to have motive to kill arthur. like, in the legends hes basically arthurs bastard son and kinda(?) an incest baby so obviously hes gonna be somewhat unhinged😭 but in the show he wasn’t rlly given that motive until they showed kara in the third to last ep in the entire show,,, like it just made no sense to me

• instead of having morgana be completely out of character and turn on arthur, she could deal with the inner turmoil of being a pendragon and also being related morgause. like seeing that conflict would’ve been so much more nuanced and interesting

• lancelot elyan and gwaine wouldnt have died🧍

ok there r def more thoughts i have but its too much to write down JDJEJJD

[a-most-beloved-fool]

Vulcan tails! I love giving Vulcans tails. But, because I am a writer more than an artist, I am cursed to think of The Implications™. So, have some headcanons. (i think there was a different one of these not too long ago, too, but i figure more can't possibly hurt!)

Prehensile - it is fully maneuverable and can be used to grasp small-ish objects. It's pretty thin, though, so it can't hold much more than 20 pounds. (even that seems like a stretch to me, with how long and thin they're usually drawn, but Vulcans are stronger than humans, so let's indulge.)

Telepathically sensitive! Not as sensitive as fingers or qui'lari, maybe, but still pretty sensitive. Compatible minds could meld using only tail contact, even if they're not the most telepathically proficient. Most of that sensitivity is concentrated near the tip, but in instances where the tail must be partially amputated for some reason, the telepathic centers have been known to redevelop farther up, on the new tip.

Tails are kept wrapped around the body (like a belt, typically, but there may be different styles of wearing them) the majority of the time. This is partially inspired by fanart, and partially because wrapping the tail around something is a Very Good Way to keep it still through emotions.* (I've seen it suggested that Vulcans would simply amputate tails as infants, but I Do Not agree with that, simply because I think that cutting perfectly functional body parts off of people without their consent is Horrifically Immoral, and also? inherently illogical? Like what do you mean you're chopping off their limb??? what if they want it later? it can't just grow back! wtf??? Cardassians might cut off tails, Vulcans Would Not. You could argue that the tails are usually kept tucked away beneath clothes, though, if you want an excuse for "no visible tail". You could also maybe argue that those who completed kolinahr would get their tails removed as a symbol of the removal of emotions, but tbh i don't like that much, either.)

I think I saw a different headcanon list somewhere on here which suggested that very young Vulcans might hang onto the tails of their parents, and I do like that concept. It's very cute. So, yes, tails are often used when caring for small children. They probably offer some kind of emotional support to Vulcans young enough to not have developed their controls yet. A telepathic pacifier or comfort blanket, if you will.

The V'Tosh Ka'tur (Vulcans without logic, like Sybok) advocate for tails to be freed. Sometimes Vulcan punks will experiment with their tails loosed as a form of rebellion. There's a whole underground movement about it.

There's an ongoing debate about whether tail use should be allowed during certain sports and gymnastics. It does help with balance, for example, but critics suggest that it's unfair to allow tail use when some Vulcan athletes will still refuse to use their tails for spiritual/Surakian reasons. They say it offers an unfair advantage to those who use tails, at the cost of more conservative Vulcans. Others say that it's illogical to ban the use of a natural body part that they almost universally possess.

(speaking of "universally possess" - I'm toying with the idea that the tail kind of begins as an umbilical cord? so before the child is born, it connects the infant to its mother, and after it's born, the cord develops bones and cartilage and transforms into another limb. idk how much sense that makes, but i like the concept.)

Because Vulcans keep their tails so contained, sometimes aliens don't realize that they have them. They assume that they're just an unusual belt that Vulcans are particularly fond of. More than one has been utterly shocked to see this supposed article of clothing twitch on its own! (sometimes, particularly young or rebellious Vulcans will deliberately play this prank on people.)

The VSA bans all tail use for tasks in their laboratories (both chemical and engineering) after a number of unfortunate accidents involving dropped specimens and tails caught in machinery. Space-OSHA is very strict about tail PPE. Tails must stay beneath the lab coat at all times!

Pre-Surakian theater often had blocking instructions for tails written into the script. The first time a modern troupe put on one of these productions, the controversy became the talk of the planet for weeks.

Similarly, pre-Surakian paintings and sculpture had a strong emphasis on tails. However, the tails were particularly prone to breaking off of the sculptures (they are very thin, after all), and large amounts of academic discussion have gone into attempting to restore the tails accurately. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell what position the tails would have been held in. There are only a handful of sculptures which have remained completely intact, and their tail positions are not consistent enough to provide a template, so many statue recreations are forced to guess. Some academics also suggest that there was a movement nearly 1000 years previously to deliberately remove tails from statues and destroy them!

At least one (non-percussive) musical instrument exists which requires use of a tail to play it properly.

Underground Vulcan clubs often feature risque tail dancing. This is less controversial than the plays, simply because it's not officially sanctioned and is considered to be a "display of skill and sensuality" rather than an expression of emotions.

*this has been haunting me with another silly spirk fic idea I don't yet have time to write, which is below:

Spock's tail, which is usually kept wrapped around his waist (save for when it's in use holding things), gets badly injured during a landing party. Some of the bones are broken, and because the bones are small and finicky, a good chunk of the healing needs to be done via a good old fashioned cast.

Meaning: Spock can no longer keep it wrapped around his waist.

And, having a free-hanging tail for the first time since he was three-ish, Spock learns that he is Very Bad at keeping tabs on it. Whenever he's focused on any sort of project, his tail has a mind of its own, and, naturally, it reacts most strongly to Kirk. Sometimes it wags when Kirk smiles at him, and nearly every time Kirk is close enough to him, it drifts over to touch him. They do reports together one night, and Spock's tail finds its way to Kirk's lap, and Spock, too focused on his work, doesn't notice that it's there for over an hour. Kirk does notice, and deliberately doesn't draw Spock's attention to it.

Kirk (pining) is trying his very best to not read too much into things (and is failing. oh boy does he want it to Mean Something). Spock (also pining) is just about at his wit's end trying to figure out how to control his wayward tail (because he doesn't want people to realize that it Means Something). Everyone else just finds the whole situation very cute (because they all knew from the start that the emotions were there).

[fritzes]

I'm sorry if we're past this already. But I was just seeing your Sinner answers from yesterday. And I wanted to add a theory/thought (idk what to call it) but like I'm not a tennis expert at all so I might be completely off base.

I almost feel like there's a vibe where his fans might be worried he's gonna get the Novak "role/character/persona" in tennis? And they don't want that to happen? Idk if this even makes sense.

I am saying this as someone who is indeed a fan of jannik sinner (I know it probably hasn't seemed like it lately, but I do really like him): I think for me, the thing isn't that he's winning everything but that only one player is really managing to challenge him at all. yes his dropshots are ass and he drops sets for the lols, but it's rare that he's genuinely being outplayed and he has to adjust and overcome that. and it was the same thing with novak for the last few years, he barely had to deal with being outplayed. I want jannik to win things, but I want him to be challenged when he's doing that! carlos can't be doing all the work here lmao

[oceanwithouthermoon]

yk when i think about it, especially when im watching the anime with people who havent read the manga, the reason a lot of people who only watch the anime and didnt read the manga misinterpreted saikis character so badly is definitely in part because of how damn fast paced the anime is 😭

like that little smile and eye shine frame is there for not even half a second in the anime, so its easier to miss it and assume that he really did only finish those workbooks to get coffee jelly ☠️ its much more clear if you get a good look at how he reacts here that hes just a silly little tsundere and a fucking liar

[turtleblogatlast]

Something I think is cute is that - y’know how Raph’s eyes are more on the yellow side?

Well, you know who also has slightly yellowed eyes? Donnie.

While Raph’s are more yellow, I think it’s cute that this is something that they share and I don’t see it pointed out too often?

It’s also something they both share with Draxum and Splinter’s current form (though again, these two have much more yellow sclera than the boys do.)

But yeah, I like that there’s this little detail that ties Raph and Donnie together, even if it’s small.

[dariusaurs]

i think dinostar is such an interesting ship right now even if i've kind of turned away from it after this season. the problem is that it's complicated, and fandoms historically don't like nuanced situations or takes. i don't think it's fair to say darius is putting brooklynn on a pedestal, since from his perspective, she hasn't done anything wrong, and kenji has been framed as this unfair partner to her. it does feel like his feelings are very immature and more of an infatuation right now ("if he loved you half as much.."/"unless?"), especially when you compare them to kenji's own feelings for brooklynn - his girlfriend who he's loved for 6 years - but that isn't a horrible thing, it's just different. i do completely understand if people dislike the ship right now, and even criticize darius' way of handling the accidental confession, but i just think people have been way too harsh on all three of them without being willing to see that all of their perspectives are different

[moeblob]

They're soulmates in every single universe and I miss them at the most random times.

[wuffgang-ameowdeus-moozart]

I think one of the reasons that kaladin can deal with actively killing as a soldier but not with accidentally (passively) letting someone die as a surgeon is the sense of failure (plus of course the obvious protection aspect and the whole me-vs-them mentality he only really starts to question when Shin joins bridge four, and he starts interacting fairly regularly with a light-eyes he can genuinely respect). dalinar himself said that he "love(s) taking responsibility for things", which is especially clear in the way he still can't quite blame amaram for tien's demise (because he feels like this is his failure, too).

like we can see in the first book that the deaths of the people he swore to protect weigh on him not only because of the dying people per se, but also (and I would argue: especially) because of his FAILURE to keep them alive. he always makes this connection to himself, thinks of their demise in relation to HIS own person and HIS role and HIS failure (cue the whole "stormfather cursed me specifically" thing). like, besides tien and the bridgemen (who we know because they are active current characters), can we truly say much of anything about the people he failed to protect in the past? the only thing we really know is how HE feels about it and how it messed HIM up. but the people themselves??

kaladin just has insane main character syndrome, and everything happening to him (first dark-eyed to have the rank of a light-eyed, one of the only surgebinders, guy able to survive multiple fights with actual shardbearers, etc etc) do the opposite of helping him dissuade the notion. I feel like I lost the plot of my own post. Kal is honorable and a good guy and everything but he is also pretty self-centered? which I actually find really cool because many times people who do objectively good actions are still kind of demonized if they don't do it for the "right" reasons (aka purely 1000% selflessness), but Kal explicitly starts helping the bridgemen not because he actually cares about them but because he needs a reason to not commit suicide. and when he loses bridgemen (especially in the beginning where he barely knows them) he always immediately thinks back to the other people he FAILED to save. he isn't devastated because that person in particular died, he is upset because he is very bad at dealing with his own failures and also terrified that the wretch will use this to lure him back onto the ledge. i mean, he loathes failure so much he was resigned to never see his parents again (who he clearly loves a lot and who he knows would welcome him back with open arms; it's his own shame that he can't confront)

he helps people primarily to try to make up for the failures of the past, an attempt to dissuade the guilt and shame eating him alive 24/7 (which of course never works because guilt is a very unreasonable emotion and as long as he doesn't change his mindset and confronts his own beliefs about himself and the world it will never go away.)

"do the fire sprin create the flames or are they attracted by them?" of course syl was compelled to follow kaladin around. dude keeps actively (even if semi-unconsciously) putting himself into the same role and situation over and over again in the hopes that if he can only succeed one time it will somehow redeem him for his past failures. literally every single thing Kal does and thinks and believes is rooted in the fact that he blames himself for tien's demise. he needs to somehow redeem himself in order to be able to live with himself but at the same time he can never be redeemed because letting tien die is an unforgivable crime and yet he needs to make it up somehow because the wretch is always in the back of his mind and he's actually terrified of it but he is equally scared of actually somehow managing to get over this sense of guilt and failure because wouldn't forgiving himself mean he thinks tien is less important than his own stupid (and, in his mind, deserved) feelings?

that guy is so not over his brother's death it actually isn't funny anymore 💀 please get that dude some fucking therapy 😭😭

[moe-broey]

Amateur Hour but I gotta outsource this. Aromantics. Heed my call. What is "romantic" love to a non-believer?

Bonus Round if you're not entirely ace -- does experiencing any amount of sexual attraction influence your answer? Also acknowledging that both aro/ace identities exist on a spectrum. Believe me. I am deeply familiar... with so many kinds of spectrums........... 🧍

Also if this breaches containment It's Not That Serious........... just a personal question. For a friend. Me 🙂‍↕️

[reapkusho]

A lot of people say kainess is incredibly one-sided (on ness' part) but I think Kaiser did want to keep him for a while because that was the only thing he wanted — for "something that lasts" and to "love and be loved". The only thing that'd really last is for someone that truly loves you that would keep coming back even if you push them away and/or abuse their affection.

It was because Ness kept coming back and the fact that he went through the same thing as him — not getting any love and affection as a child (guess he related to him?) — that kaiser decided to keep him. but after he realized that restricting himself and being uncomfortable was the key to being the best then he went and let him go — which means Kaiser can't really "love" because that'd mean being comfortable with something > then he goes searching for something to keep and love again which means he's at peak desperate condition > when he finds it he has to let it go because he'd be comfortable > cycle repeats.

[okawarihappylife]

i am once again thinking abt the lost potential that is hypmic.

[ganondoodle]

im not lying when i say that i was just finally getting "over" totk, like i hate it still, but the immediate anger and need to rant has died down-

and then the elden ring DLC fucks with me in a very similar way, just even moreso focused on my favorite character in that entire franchise, completely unexpectedly, and the more i learn about it the worse it gets and now i feel even worse bc i dont have the energy anymore to get as angry as i did with totk and its just kinda ... depression and sadness ..

it was like the interest i could fall back to when zelda annoyed me too much or i needed a break from that and i was honestly thinking about doing more with it but now

i know i know i can always draw 'my own stuff' but being a fan of a piece of media or character is just fun and .. furfilling to me in a different way and now i feel so empty again ... and finding new things to obsess about is easier said and done bc i dont 'decide' to stop liking something and neither can just decide to obsess over something so im just kinda left hanging here ... and in a way, i still like it and care about it, frustratingly so, and dont WANT to just stop and find soemthign new ...