#if they're truly a good person and someone who actually respects you and the decisions you make

[queenvhagar]

Omg I liked your response about book!Aegon and I’d like to add one point: the book is NEVER afraid to talk about rape and horrifying things that happen to women, but it NEVER explicitly says Aegon rapes anyone. That’s fascinating, don’t you think? Could just be a coincidence, but it’s a very interesting one. Not that groping people is better but there is an argument to be made for book!Aegon actually being a nicer-than-average guy as awful as that is since that makes him just a horny grabby drunk.

Thank you 😌

You think if it actually happened then it would be in the book as someone's account of the history, but even Rhaenyra's court jester Mushroom's unreliable accounts don't say that he outright attacks and overpowers women for his own pleasure. I'm not sure if book!Aegon is necessarily nicer than average, but I suppose that depends on what average we're talking about. Better than Daemon, who most certainly murdered his first wife, groomed his niece for his own political advantage, and had Laenor killed so he could marry her? Probably. Better than an everyday non-royal family man? Maybe not. But book!Aegon is definitely not a violent or sadistic Joffrey or Ramsey type of character that the writers want to suggest he is.

Of course, the writers would justify their decision to add new things to the show and portray Aegon in this specific way as the book purely being a "propaganda" account designed to prop up the Greens and put down Rhaenyra. This whole take doesn't make a lot of sense to me, though. Why does the book include accounts of both sides being terrible if their goal was to slander the Blacks only? You think if it was truly propaganda it would be more heavy-handed and favorable to the Greens than it is.

To me, their whole take of "what if it was all propaganda 🤯" is them thinking they're clever in their interpretation when actually they're undermining the underlying messages and themes of the story by messing with it so much. Additionally, the idea of the official history being written as propaganda and it being some conspiracy of the academics to portray the conflict differently than it actually was shows to me a lack of understanding of how academia and historians usually operate. There's just no way there would be the level of cooperation and coordination among so many different people to just rewrite and lie about history in this context. Not to mention showrunner Ryan Condal was talking about how stuff like the Blood and Cheese of the books was specifically made up by Alicent and relayed to the historians to be the worst possible version of events, basically saying that a lot of this propaganda against Team Black is an Alicent creation. Beyond the whole "not believing women's trauma" thing going on here... you'll see that Alicent never really had the power or access to give anyone any of this information or try to rewrite history. And at the same time, they're writing her as still in love with Rhaenyra and/or desiring reunion with her, so why would she be making up so much stuff against her? It just doesn't really hold up and seems to be more attempts by the writers to make Alicent into a villainous, hypocritical, hated character.

Aegon and Rhaenyra were both flawed in the books, and to be sure, not everything about either person was entirely true in Fire and Blood. But the show is out to make Aegon a degenerate, sadistic, cowardly, pathetic abuser eager for war and bloodshed and Rhaenyra a righteous, brave, just, level-headed savior who exhausted all options for peace before going to war to save the world from the "Song of Ice and Fire" prophecy... They want this story to be an oversimplified morality tale of good vs evil, so they insist that any accounts in the book that conflict with this interpretation are respective "propaganda" to make Aegon look better and Rhaenyra look worse.

Like, I get that Fire and Blood is written as a textbook, but you can't just so freely change the source material without it affecting the quality of the story being told. Imagine any other major adaptation insisting that their source material is false or fake and their version is what really happened. It would just make it obvious that they didn't understand the source material and were trying to justify their own questionable writing choices while at the same time rooting their own horn about how they think they're smarter than the original author.

[thehighpriestexx420]

🔮✨What do they think + feel about you? ✨🔮 (& Advice!)

Find out by choosing the pile of tarot cards you're drawn to!

From left to right - Pile 1, Pile 2, and Pile 3.

Pile 1 (Opal) :

There's a decision to be made here. For some of you, you're deciding between 2 people to persue. For the rest of you, you're deciding whether or not you should persue 1 person.

For the ones deciding between 2 people, there's a person who's holding most of your attention and is more direct in their interest towards you. They may seem like the obvious choice because the other person you're considering is more in the background, more shy, and/or seems more unattainable. But things aren't always what they seem - including any obstacles you're perceiving.

For all of you, you're scared someone doesn't like you and you aren't giving yourself enough credit.

Fear is something we all experience (unless you have a condition) and we all have the ability to act despite it. You're perceiving this situation as an immense task - like the person in the 2 of Wands card looking at the mountains they have to climb before them. Regardless of if it's actually immense or not, you have the immense ability to create your own life - like the person standing on top of the mountains in the Your Life Is A Canvas card.

Free yourself from any limits and doubts you place on yourself. Rise above like the bird in the Judgement card. Choose the person you truly want to persue. Believe in yourself, know you're deserving of what you want, and align your energy, thoughts, and actions with the same vibration of what you want. What would someone confident enough to pursue your person tell themselves? Work on it.

Because the cards didn't give a direct answer as to how your person thinks and feels about you, I asked the Romance Angels deck.

The "obvious" one's main energy towards you is passion. They're really into you and want to express that physically.

The "less obvious" one's card is Stay Optimistic About Your Love Life - Positive Thinking + Faith Will Bring You Romance.

Again, the cards aren't giving you a direct answer. But they are telling you what you *need* to hear. This serves as a test. What will you choose - will you take the card's advice and truly have faith or will you allow your anxiety about not being told their feelings overcome you?

For those making a judgement about whether or not you should pursue 1 person, this could serve as a message of advice and their feelings for you.

For most of you, you're being encouraged to make them an offer - ask them out on a date, talk about your feelings, ask to make your relationship official, etc.

For some of you, you're being asked to work on your self-concept enough to where they would be interested in you and say yes to your offer. This is an encouraging sign and tells you this is obtainable.

Either way, heed the card's advice.

If this reading resonates with you and you'd like to have a more detailed personal reading, feel free to ask me about the pricing for my tarot services! Starting out at $5 per question.

Pile 2 (Fluorite) :

This is the beginning of you and your person's connection so whatever they're thinking and feeling towards you is growing and is too early to say. You plant the seeds of your impression and your connection with them. Choose carefully what you're planting - make sure you're tending to the connection with love, respect, and care. Whatever you're planting is already growing and has a very good chance of evolving into the next step of your relationship.

With the 6 of Swords, this indicates you've moved on from a difficult time. With the 7 of Pentacles, this could be the reasoning behind this period of contemplation within your connection. You're being told that this connection does hold a lot of potential - you just have to do your part in maintaining a healthy connection.

With The Golden Children card, your advice is to treat yourself and others with more tenderness and like they're innocent children. Try to remember we're all doing the best we can with what we have. Try to trust that this situation will play out as it's supposed to.

If this reading resonates with you and you'd like to have a more detailed personal reading, feel free to ask me about the pricing for my tarot services! Starting out at $5 per question.

Pile 3 (Fairy Quartz) :

Your person wants to work on your relationship - there's hope for it. You're being asked to trust in that. Release yourself from doubt, paranoia, impatience, and anything holding you back from your potential. These are merely false realities The Devil card portrays. Connect with the part of you that knows all is well and as it should be. Peace of mind isn't dependent on outcomes or situations.

If this reading resonates with you and you'd like to have a more detailed personal reading, feel free to ask me about the pricing for my tarot services! Starting out at $5 per question.

[moontheoretist]

The issue with what Jedi are doing here is that on the surface it looks like they're respecting the kids autonomy, desires and choices, but on the other hand they're also preying on the child's curiosity and thirst for the outside world to lure them into their Order. Osha wants to be a Jedi but only because they look cool and represent the outside that she craves to see so much. Mae on the other hand is satisfied with what she has in her home, she is not curious about the outside world at all. If the witches weren't hunted, Osha's dream may have come true, but because they were persecuted the isolation was for their own protection as well as children's, not to abuse the kids or isolate them from the outside world on purpose. If the witches were not hunted and still insisted on isolation then it'd be a bad thing to do, but in the circumstances they are now, it's understandable. And it's also what fuels Osha to want to leave them. She knows logically that they're hunted, but she never experienced it, so she doesn't truly understand why she has to hide when there is a vast new world outside that she wants to see. And Jedi are actively preying on this, while playing the good guys at the same time. Osha doesn't know who Jedi truly are and therefore she can't make an informed decision. She doesn't have any knowledge she can compare them against, other than what she was told in the coven. And even what she was told is not enough when not confronted with real life experience. She can't believe them to be bad like Mae does, because she never experienced it, and she refuses to believe the cautionary words of her coven without proof that they're legitimate. Normally that's a good quality not to believe what you are told, but when you have no way to check it and your only source of info are the people themselves who also at the same time have an agenda to recruit you, you will not end up with the objective view on the matter at all. To do so Osha would have to be exposed to far more than the coven or the Jedi alone, and only then she would be able to decide. Meanwhile she is just 8yo girl who is curious about the outside world, awed by the Jedi's novel appearance and beliefs. In this sense Jedi are only an excuse to leave the stuffy place she was suffocating in. They knowingly gave her an out that they knew she wanted. They presented her with a new path that she desperately wants to follow.

We can see that even her mother wants it to be Osha's choice. She doesn't want to force Osha to be someone she doesn't want to be like a good mother. But Mae doesn't understand it. She thinks they're the same and want the same. But they're different, like twins tend to be. They're not the same person, they are distinct and have different wants and desires. Mae doesn't get it and feels betrayed when Osha seeks her own autonomy, because she rejects Mae by doing so. But Mae does the very same. She rejects Osha every time she says they're the same. Both of them can't understand the other and that's the sort of conflict they should have resolved far earlier. And if they couldn't do so on their own, adults around them should have helped them to do so. But instead they were too focused on training them for Ascention to focus on what to them looked like petty squables between children rather than an existential issue that would affect them and the way they can actually work together to use the Thread. Resolving conflict like this should have been a major priority for the coven to ensure that they were on the same page before the Ascention. In this sense you could have said that the coven failed them. In turn their relationship slowly deteriorated. Osha was seeking individuality while constantly pressured by Mae to be the same as her because she believes they are, which in turn made Osha want to get out and seek freedom. And that was enough to a bunch of outsiders to gain a new Jedi initiate.

At the same time Osha's decision was something Mae couldn't take. As far as she was concerned they were one and should stay together, but Osha didn't want to and it hurt Mae. Mae then turned that hurt into anger. She became dominering and imposing, trying to assert dominance over Osha, whom she perceived as part of herself rebelling against her will, and when it didn't work she decided that it's better to have a dead sister than the one who chose to leave her behind. It's a scream for help if anything else. She didn't want to be alone. Couldn't handle to be left alone. But she also was unwilling to understand Osha and see where she was coming from, which lead to a disaster. In the end tho it was neither Mae's or coven's fault. Everything bad can be traced back to the Jedi of that era who trampled over others.

[elstreem]

(Spoilers for FGO LB6)

Something that has been bouncing around my head for a while now is how interesting it is to compare Bedivere and Oberon's actions and roles in their respective chapters.

...I'm pretty sure I can never put this neatly or concisely enough so ok rambling time!

Which means, this is a warning for a very long post. Seriously.

I have read discussion on similarities between the Faerie Knights and the Knights they were named after, as well as Morgan and Goddess Rhongomyiad, and of course the game itself compares and contrasts Artoria and Castoria. It wasn't until I read that Chapter 6 Habetrot mirrors Bedivere's journey that I realized that our cat-loving fairy is actually Bedi's counterpart in Lostbelt 6 lol, but it is obvious in retrospect (they bond closely with Mash and help her work out her issues, they're both close friends to a queen figure who they now must work against, they're carrying a secret weapon that has to be returned to someone).

So why compare and contrast Bedivere and Oberon? Because I feel like it and also I just think about Bedivere a lot :b A little disclaimer though, I don't actually have Oberon on my account so I might be off base about my understanding of his character...basically, these are just my musings!

But yeah, I think it's interesting they're very alike characters in a lot of ways: they appear to help Ritsuka and co., but secretly had their own agendas waiting to be fulfilled at the end of said chapter. They both even have important bonds to the iteration of Artoria that appeared in their chapters, and interestingly, both of them do mention outright having used Ritsuka for their own purposes and express a sentiment about being fake (Bedivere's wording is "counterfeit" while Oberon is, well, a Pretender).

At the same time, Bedivere and Oberon are very much each others' opposites, too - and I think the key difference here is Bedivere is truly himself, and Oberon...basically can't do that. "Staying true" is an impossibility for Oberon because his very existence is being something he's not.

Going scene by scene, the contrast between the two shows as early as their respective meetings with Ritsuka:

Bedivere tried to keep his distance from the Chaldea crew, even giving a false name and bluntly stating he can be considered an enemy. (key word here being "tried," he sure caved in quickly later on lol) He even says the meeting was just coincidence, and you know, in retrospect it's a crazy stroke of fortune for both Bedivere and Ritsuka to meet like this in Camelot.

By contrast, when Ritsuka finally meets Oberon face to face, he's immediately friendly and personable, even stating he's destined to help them. However, this meeting is definitely not coincidental, as Oberon has been making sure to keep Ritsuka and Castoria on a specific track of actions.

Following the story, Bedivere doesn't actually join Chaldea until he shows himself against Gawain during the night of Selection. And even then, he sort of admits it was an impulsive decision on his part -

And he even confesses to Mash that what happened afterward wasn't totally for Ritsuka's and Mash's sake, he was also just taking advantage of the Chaldea crew.

While he is a genuinely good person, it's true Bedivere had his own personal agenda throughout Chapter 6 which he kept secret until the confrontation with Goddess Rhongomyniad. It just so happened that goal aligned with what our heroes were after, too, so it all works out.

Meanwhile, Oberon does a lot of things to help Ritsuka from the get-go, and he makes plenty of suggestions as to what to do next - but as it turns out, it's all part of his plan to lay the groundwork for him to appear as Vortigern. Castoria even calls him out on this when she confronts Oberon about how he deliberately kept it secret from Ritsuka he knew where Mash was.

Speaking of which, this is another major difference between Bedivere and Oberon -

Part 1 is mostly Mash's story, and as with all of Arc 1's companions, Bedivere mostly guides her.

I know I have terrible BediGuda brainrot hours all day every day lol, but I do admit as far as the actual game goes, Bedivere is shown being very close to Mash. The film switches it up by giving the conversation before the final battle between Fujimaru and Bedivere, but in game, it's Mash who reassures Bedivere there is meaning to his journey, and it's Bedivere who tells Mash how to fully utilize Lord Camelot. Mash even reacts to the news of Bedivere being a summonable Servant by saying she has another Senpai to look up to (which, tbh I'm kinda sad the game never really followed up on, I think it would have been cute to see more of Bedi being Mash's supportive senior at the Round Table).

By contrast, Oberon very much focuses on Ritsuka, and there's a couple of scenes where he talks extensively with Ritsuka about personal matters.

It goes both ways in Lostbelt 6 really, if you think about it, Oberon goes out of his way to have Ritsuka tell him about the Lostbelt and how they've felt so far, but in turn, Ritsuka actually does learn enough about Oberon to be suspicious of him at various story beats. (Although, one thing I'm not completely sure of is, does the Oberon who appear in the Garden of Lost Will the actual Oberon or is it just a representation of Ritsuka's doubts?)

In any case, while they have a different focus in relationships, Bedivere is still clearly shown caring for Ritsuka as Chapter 6 goes on, and at the very end, when he comes clean of everything, he does so with an apology.

So while Bedivere hid a secret all this time, his end goal worked well with Chaldea's goal of eliminating the Singularity, so no harm was ultimately done by his keeping his secret, even if his aberrant action was the root cause for Goddess Rhongomyniad being who she is.

And by contrast, Oberon does address Ritsuka and Castoria's anxieties, and makes sure they are doing what needs to be done, but while doing so he is also making sure he can be Vortigern again. Needless to say, his end goal of destroying the world is something Chaldea needed to stop. Though, my understanding of Oberon is, he does care for Ritsuka and Castoria, but his way of affection and concern is all twisted up because of who he is, so he can't really be honest with them even if he wanted to, because admitting it would turn it into another lie.

Their relationships to the Artoria they knew are also interesting to look at, because both Bedivere and Oberon in part made them who they are. Bedivere meant well when he didn't return the sword, only to find it led to Artoria turning into the Lion King, and he sought her for a long time to fix his mistake. Even then, when they met again, she didn't recognize him until he could reveal Excalibur for what it really was. And before that, Bedivere knew Artoria as a king to be looked up to - he loved her and served under her, so while there are strong emotions of respect and concern, it's still a formal sort of relationship, the king and the knight. Meanwhile, Oberon practically raised Castoria while he could. The way they interact is very much devoid of formalities, since they argue and fight a lot, but deep down they understood each other for what they were.

There's probably also something to be said about how both characters did find closure at the end of their journeys, but while Bedivere got it after fulfilling his goal despite all the hardship, Oberon got it even after he was thwarted at the very end.

I think I can put a few more comparisons in but I'm gonna be repeating my points and just stating what's already in the dialogues.

So to sum them up - one is a horrible liar and the other is a natural liar :b

Sorry, I just had to put in how terrible Bedi is at lying, it's pretty funny.

Gosh, I don't even know how to tl;dr this, it's so scattered and long. I think it took me over two hours to write this and this probably still reads more like ramblings...and man, I hate having to look for screenshots only to find I'm missing the one I'm thinking of and I don't want to be bothered to re-check the game :')

But yeah. Anyway. Bug boy got them issues, while Bedi resolved most of his (good for him).

[polyhexian]

Okay I might be on to something, get ready for some vague what-ifs I've been pondering all evening.

So we haven't really delved into the runaway au's political scene much, but several things have been brought up that make for ingredients in what could be a very interesting pie:

Belos has built Will up as a super important and integral part of his regime.

Will actually has good self-esteem and has independantly come to the conclusion that there's something fishy going on here.

With an adult Golden Guard at Belos's side, the government is probably even stricter.

Will and Lilith probably don't like each other.

Open rebellion is super risky and we don't know what Raine's up to.

So starting with Belos and Will - Belos's manipulation tactic with Will is to basically butter him up. Oh, my Golden Guard is SO loyal and competent and brave, whatever would I do without him? And he has been doing this since Will was picked, and for an added bonus he probably hasn't even been beating Will to a bloody pulp for any perceived failures (it probably rankles Belos to hold back on a potential punching bag like that, but he still doesn't know what set Jasper off so he's being careful with this one). So right off the bat, Will has a good foundation of self-esteem for his developmental journey.

Now, Will could have gone a different route and become co-dependant on Belos. Belos is the one with the real authority and could take Will's power away whenever he wants, and that could have led to Will being blindly and exceedingly loyal. But we know from Lament that Will is curious, and he likes to experience things, and he pursues the truth. And dictatorships are always chock full of logical fallacies.

So it's probably a bunch of little things that slowly set off Will's alarm bells. Things that just…don't add up. Why do we do this instead of that? Why is this inefficient policy a thing? Why do I get the feeling that the cruelty is the point?

Maybe the palismen are a part of it - Will may not care for palismen personally, but he watches Belos eat one and thinks, there has GOT to be a better treatment for this curse that doesn't rely on such a limited resource, but Belos just flat-out refuses to hear it. He might not beat Will for bringing it up, but the fact that he shoots the idea down immediately is just…why would you NOT want to research other options? That's just stupid.

The entire situation with Jasper is another inconsistency. So this guy was the last Golden Guard, he's armed and highly dangerous, he has government secrets and may be plotting a coup, and he stole the Grimwalker that was supposed to replace him. A Grimwalker who was…a baby. Belos might brush it off like "He likely wanted to buy more time before I could send someone after him" but as Will hunts them down it becomes clear that Jasper still has the kid. Every time he questions people in a town Jasper passed through, they're like, "oh, yeah, that father and son, they were sweet, the spitting image of each other except for the scars." There is no strategic reason to kidnap and keep a baby that no one is going to pay a ransom for, in fact that is the opposite of a sound tactical decision, and yet Jasper did exactly that. Why??

He probably brings it up to Belos and is given the ol' "who can truly understand how wild magic corrupts us" non-answer, and Will is getting REAL TIRED of hearing that spiel.

Now, part of Belos's buttering up of Will is giving him governmental authority, and that could make things interesting. Hunter was technically a Coven Head, but everyone in the castle saw him as a child and a brat and didn't respect him. Jasper had military authority but wasn't a Coven Head, and the Coven Heads seemed to think they were above him. But Belos isn't going to allow anyone to play those games with this Golden Guard - he can't afford to lose Will to political pettiness, he isn't going to tolerate anyone trying to instigate anything. Will is also an adult, so he has that advantage over Hunter, and without the uncle/nephew connection no one's going to accuse him of being a nepo baby, though it is weird that he just came out of nowhere. But most importantly, the Emperor clearly favors this Golden Guard, and it's a sort of situation where the Coven Heads realize it's better to gain the Emperor's attention by working with the Golden Guard, rather than see him as competition to remove. The Golden Guard is the ticket to the Emperor's approval--even if they don't LIKE him, they aren't gonna undermine him.

That doesn't make the government any better or the coven system more efficient, of course. If anything Will is surrounded by ass-kissers and people who tolerate him, lol. But he doesn't have to worry about people trying to stab him in the back, usually. There's some actual, real working relationships going on there. His colleagues talk to him and ask for his input and pass him information and trade favors with him.

And then there's the comparisons to Jasper - not from Belos, but from everyone else. Oh, you're SO much more competent than the LAST Golden Guard. He was good at his job, but he upset the Emperor SO often, he had SO many curse-induced fits because of him. You've NEVER upset the Emperor THAT much! And you actually help out with governmental things, the last one couldn't be bothered! Also don't take this the wrong way but it's almost a relief you don't speak, the last two guards' voices were SO annoying.

And Will is just. Gathering intel here. Like. Huh. This Jasper guy made Belos so angry he'd have curse-induced fits? All the time? Jasper apparently had limited governmental authority. This is WEIRD.

Heck, maybe Darius unintentionally says something that tips Will off. Until little Hunter shows up on his doorstep, Darius is the same sad, bitter, miserable man he was at this point in canon, minus a child to bully. Will may not ever show his face, but Darius still feels like Jasper is being replaced and he doesn't like the new Golden Guard. Maybe he likes him even less than he liked canon!Hunter--it took 13 years for Hunter to become the Golden Guard, but here Jasper disappears and Will is taking his place a year or two later? Ouch. Darius would NOT be happy with that.

Darius maybe says something like "You ought to know that your predecessor's magic was far more impressive than yours, but all his hard work was hardly ever appreciated. You'd best not take the Emperor's favor for granted." And Will is just like. Okay. Jasper was a super-powerful witch and Belos didn't care about him much, but he claims to care about me a LOT. What the HELL was going on there??

Moving on - I posit that Will is highly competent at his job. And I don't just mean that in a super-cool ass-kicking Golden Guard way. I mean he has leadership skills out the wazoo, both in the field and in the office. In the field he does his best to minimize casualties, his briefings give his scouts clear goals, plans, and backup plans, he doesn't throw scouts over a cliff just cuz he's frustrated. In the office his managerial skills are top-knotch. He understands the powers of administration and delegation. He prioritizes communication and constructive criticism and recognizes hard work. He's the manager that someone tells you they have and you're immediately jealous because that guy is an AWESOME manager.

Belos gave Will power and responsibilities and he uses them wisely. The Emperor's Coven has never been as efficient as it is under this man. (He is so frustrated by how long it took to MAKE it that efficient. The coven is supposed to be the Emperor's fist, but Belos doesn't seem interested in doing what it takes to make sure said fist hits as hard as possible. Why are they all so sleep-deprived? Why do they only get one day off?? It took YEARS for Will to convince Belos to give them quarterly days off. It's like the guy WANTS them overworked and miserable.)

The coven scouts LOVE Will. He has their back and they're happy to have his.

Will doesn't like how Belos treats his coven scouts.

And then we have Lilith.

Now, after everything I've suggested, we COULD say that maybe Lilith doesn't mind Will. Maybe she'd want to foster a good relationship with him to build up her own favor with the Emperor. But this is Lilith, she's kind of full of herself and has been a Coven Head for a few years by the time Will shows up and she knows how Belos treated Jasper. Maybe she expects this Golden Guard to be the same, and she's too used to the castle's games, and she says one too many snide things and ends up on Will's bad side before she realizes the rules have changed. I don't think they'd be antagonistic towards each other, but they certainly don't LIKE each other much. Or she doesn't like him, and he's just decided to deal with her as little as possible.

It probably drives her crazy that he's ACTUALLY good at his job. Like, the Emperor favors him, and it's FOR GOOD REASON. UGH.

They still have a working relationship though, because she can grit her teeth and deal and Will is a consummate professional. She's told him everything she knows about Jasper for the sake of the investigation. She doesn't teach him how to teleport, though.

But the whole situation with Jasper is starting to form cracks under her feet. Jasper was loyal. She knows Jasper was loyal. Belos beat him bloody and tore up his face and Jasper just took it. He did everything Belos ever said, and oh, it was amusing to watch when he got in trouble, but she can't deny that Jasper was insanely good at his job and followed Belos's orders to the letter and was incredibly loyal until he suddenly wasn't.

And the moment he stopped being loyal, Belos immediately called for the death of his most trusted servant. Over a decade of service and dark deeds done in the Emperor's name, and it bought him zero leniency.

Eda has never been loyal to the Emperor. Eda has never cared for the empire. Eda has been an active criminal for decades. She breaks the law on a daily basis and flaunts it. She is very publicly vocal about how much she hates the system. She has done absolutely nothing to earn the Emperor's mercy, and if someone as loyal as Jasper can't even be granted that mercy, then how can Lilith trust that Belos will--

She'd be in denial for a long while, of course, but the cognitive dissonance is THERE. Heck, maybe Will is even the one to make it fully click in her head. She's talking to him about some upcoming mission to capture Eda, humble-bragging about how great it'll be to have her sister by her side in the coven, they'll be an unstoppable force and a valued asset to the Emperor--

And Will, who's getting fed up with how fishy everything in this castle is, just looks at her like. Wait, the Emperor's super strong at healing curses? Why hasn't he been able to heal his own? That would be way more efficient than inhaling palisman. Or he just snorts like yeah, sure, and Jasper's gonna be so happy I held down the fort for him while he was away on sabbatical.

And Lilith has to excuse herself and go to her room and pace a hole into the carpet because fuck. FUCK. She doesn't want this to be a lie, she NEEDS this to be real, but she can't deny that there are discrepancies that just. Aren't adding up.

She might not become a rebel. But she might become a bit less zealous about taking Eda in. Oh, she still ACTS committed to doing so, but her actual attempts don't have the same bite. She starts digging into things she may have ignored before - feeling out what Belos's agenda is, researching forbidden history, what even IS the Day of Unity and why are all the Emperor's explanations such non-answers? And at first she maybe does it in a desperate attempt to convince herself that no, NO, Belos is perfect and right and I'm not wrong. But the more she looks the more she sees.

She doesn't know what to DO with it. Rebellion is probably still out of the question, she's not quite there yet. But she doesn't want to be alone with this, she's reeling and questioning everything and it's driving her crazy. She can't tell Eda, her sister would hoot and holler and say I told you so, and she doesn't need that.

So who's someone Lilith would know, and be predisposed to trust, and was kind of open about the fact that they were joining the coven system to try and improve it from the inside?

Raine Whispers.

YESSSS OKAY I LOVE BASICALLY ALL THIS

I think Lilith stays covenhead, it seems like it might be a "until you die" position. But will IS still in charge of a lot of military stuff. He never speaks, but he can still issue written orders, like, sending an illusory note telling people where to report or what shift to take.

Will is cool and efficient. He questions Belos a little more often than he would like. If Belos tells him to go burn some wild witches house down and then fight and capture them, well-- that's stupid. I'll just sleeping nettle them and take them in peacefully. He always gets the job done, but not necessarily how he's asked. I think he DOES pass a lot of reforms to make the emperor's coven more efficient, but he's so scary and off-putting because he never speaks and just sort of looms over anyone that tries to talk to him, people still avoid him. He's more well liked than jasper was, but he is scary. Unlike jasper, though, they do think he's a person. Unlike jasper; whom they had rumour about like he didn't bleed or couldn't be killed. He's just more... Elusive.

I think will is also a lot stricter than jasper. Just not sloppy.

GOD I LOVE LILITH AND RAINE TEAMING UP THO THATS SO FUCKING GOOD AHHHHHHH omg... Neither of them are ready to involve Eda but... Omg. Will asks why they don't just bring the owl lady in. we've never REALLY pursued her effectively. And Belos says some dismissive shit and to let Lilith worry about it. But will is like. That's dumb. I'll put together an outfit and just go get her right now. Uh oh!

[pebblysand]

okay, you guys seemed to love these last season so here we go again: selling sunset hot takes, S7E1-5.

whoever is responsible for imposing that mansion tax has my utmost respect. tax the rich plz.

i don't think we talked enough about that basket ball that amanza was dragging around in ep 1.

talking about amanza: yes, she is a shit stirrer, i called it in s2 and i am baffled it took this long for the show to self-actualise on this issue.

i also don't think we talked enough about jason's baby powdered balls.

i was equally shocked by the fact that brett seems to have a tongue and a brain that together are capable of producing words.

having said that, talking about jason, he remains The Worst. i don't even know how to explain. that man is a walking red flag and the fact that he seems to have survived a life's worth of terrible professional, financial, and personal terrible decision-making is truly a wonder.

that said, we need to stop pretending their income at this stage comes from real estate. most of the money they get is from the show. which is why, i suppose, they're able to open new offices when all of their competitors are shutting down.

as someone who knows a little bit about real estate, the house they were in for the O Group anniversary dinner had real architectural value, which is notable because none of the houses ever do.

romaine-like-the-salad remains my favourite character in this show and i swear sometimes i can hear him think in french.

that said, he and mary being pregnant is the one good news of this season, although they totally knew before that test and their "surprise" was very poor acting.

i am also happy for mary that she stepped back from management. i think this is good for everyone, but mostly her.

now onto the hot stuff: i think when it comes to bre v. chelsea, they actually both have a fair point. i do think chelsea was trying to genuinely apologise, but what she was apologising for was exactly what she said: if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing. she had nothing nice to say and still said things, and now recognises that she shouldn't have. having said that, her view on bre's situation is so clearly rooted in very personal christian beliefs that she's not going to intrinsically change her mind. and actually, this might be my hottest take to date but... i think that's fine. like, as chelsea said, "i don't agree with everything my friends do." she would have been fine being bre's friend but bre wants her to approve of her situation (which, imo, is because deep down, bre is a bit insecure about her situation) and that's never going to happen. my hot take last year was that chelsea had a point, and i think she still does.

this is a bit of a side point but i thought chelsea was at least 40. i'm 30 and i swear my friends and i don't look that old. proof that packing your face with plastic doesn't actually make you look younger.

which, another tangent but why did everyone make such a big deal of the accusation that nicole has had work done? THEY ARE ALL PACKED IN PLASTIC.

and onto the hotter stuff: the situation between nicole v everyone else is starting to bore me. nicole is clearly wrong. nicole has been wrong for two seasons now. let's move on. that said, i had to google what "social climber" meant because i don't think it means the same thing to me as it does to them.

and on chrishell v. marie-lou: so this is actually a hot take, i think, but i do reckon they both have a point. on the one hand, marie-lou is, it's true, rather young and insecure, but she also has reasons to be. they've all made fun of her age, and i feel like her age isn't her fault, and she doesn't seem to me particularly more immature than them. additionally, jason is clearly still in love with chrishell but because he is The Worst, she cannot have that conversation with him, she's turning to chrishell who, in fairness, has no power over that.

i will also say that as a european who's lived in the US, i think what she is holding against chrishell is more of a cultural difference, than it is anything else. what she's basically saying is that chrishell is "american-fake," meaning that she is nice and enthusiastic on the surface but doesn't actually "care." which to marie-lou reads as fake and rude, but to chrishell reads as polite. standards of politeness and casual social interactions are some of the biggest cultural differences between europeans and americans, and i think that's where you'll find that most of the issue is.

i also thought that chrishell, in that scene, used her language superiority to overpower marie-lou. chrishell is someone who speaks a bit fast and is very good at arguing. which is fine when she's with other americans but with marie-lou who is german, whose english is clearly not great, it very quickly feels like bullying. i don't think she meant it as such but marie-lou was taking a bit of time, trying to find her words to get her point across, and chrishell didn't have the patience and kept badgering her. i do believe that had she let marie-lou talk, they would have realised 1) my point above about cultural differences and 2) that the source of all their problem is jason's toxicity and lack of accountability, and that he should be locked in a safe room for the rest of his miserable life.

the way he was trying to hang up the phone during that fight had me in TEARS, like: do i need to be in this conversation? YES. YES. YOU CREATED THIS MESS. you are the weakest, most pathetic little man on the planet.

having said the above, obviously, chrishell has attenuating circumstances for her snapping and bullying of marie-lou and i'm glad she's feeling better now. we are still #teamchrishell in this house, we just need to acknowledge that sometimes our girl makes mistakes.

lastly, did anyone else think the reveal that amanza was molested as a child was a bit random? like, i'm sorry for her but also it felt a bit like it didn't have anything to do with anything. i wonder if it was just there to reconcile she and chelsea.

i will come back with more hot takes whenever i have time to watch the rest of the season lol.

[mdhwrites]

I've seen a fair share of posts speculating about what Amphibia would be like if, instead of having strictly Anne as the main character, it made Anne, Sasha and Marcy all main characters. Specifically, the Calamity Trio being given equal screentime.

I've loved pondering over this myself, and I was wondering what you think would change if Amphibia was written this way. I know you said more screentime for Marcy in season one would be pointless, given her lack of a supporting cast or growth as a person, but what if the writers could make it work? e.g. Marcy making actual bonds with the newts in Newtopia and getting over some of her issues (while of course not getting over her biggest issue, that being her fear of losing her friends, until season three)

Do you think Amphibia would be better or worse for being the story of the Calamity Trio rather than the story of Anne? How much of what was set in stone in the original canon would have to be changed to make a more purposeful story? Sorry, this is kind of a handful of questions, I just get carried away thinking about this stuff.

In short, what kind of story would Amphibia be if the Calamity Trio were all main characters? And if it could be just as good or better than canon, how do you think that could work?

So this kind of like anytime someone asks for a major change to TOH's plot and why I assume the S3 we got is at least structurally the same to any sort of S3 we would have gotten for TOH (and why it's BS that a full S3 would have fixed the show). Writers, at least good ones, don't make decisions randomly. Who they decide to focus on, how they focus on them, the roles certain characters take, etc. like that is all important to how a story functions at a basic level. That doesn't mean we can't make unintentional mistakes or have unintended choices by how we frame things but that any truly major shift like this presents a very, VERY real problem.

Is this still recognizably the story that was being told in the first place?

This is why people have asked me how I might rewrite TOH to try and fix its split identity issue but I can't. Not in good faith at least. The split identity is still part of the story's identity and that combination of elements is still part of what people enjoy about the work. It was still a choice that makes the foundation of the work. Deciding to spread the focus is a lot like this for Amphibia.

The story is of a big city girl not just getting teleported to a different world but as different as is potentially possible. Not only are these not humans but they're farm folk. There is no way for Anne to properly have a foothold amongst them to begin with and that's part of why she has so much to learn from them and why it takes so much for her to connect with them properly. The contrast, both in magical and grounded ways, is part of what makes Wartwood work so much better as a setting than Newtopia where it's a little too close to what Anne is used to and you can feel that in the tales being told. Some of the wonder and friction is missing, especially as Anne treats it more as a comfortable place to be.

And comfort is a major driving force behind both Sasha and Marcy's places in the narrative. Marcy is still in the big city and actually gets a level of prestige and respect that she's never had before. She is quite literally friends with the most powerful man in Amphibia. Meanwhile, Sasha spends a while in a cell but she can roll out the red carpet for Anne because the toads ADORE HER. They may be less refined than the plebeians she's used to manipulating but they're still dumb and give into base desires, both traits she can exploit, just like she did with Anne.

These are stories that can be told mind you... But they're also the stories we got already. Marcy's flashbacks still give a good grasp on how easy of a time she had it in Newtopia. Sasha's two episodes in S1 are quite literally all we need to understand who she is, why she was able to take power so effectively and sell us on her being someone who's really good at manipulating others, especially the lazy and hedonistic. They could be expanded but...

With Sasha, anyone giving her friction actually starts harming Anne's character. The more unstoppable we think she is as a manipulator, the more we are allowed to fill in the minor gaps in our knowledge with Anne's beliefs, the more she comes across as a genuinely dangerous antagonist. The more we believe that she can control an army of toads, change things with their regime and be the one who knows how to potentially pull Anne back into her worst habits. That she could take what was earned and with one hard yank make it all come tumbling down. More time with her would very easily become detrimental. As a note: This is why big bads don't often get a lot of episodes where they're doing things, instead of their cronies, because the more they're challenged, the weaker they look.

So that's one character who's story being expanded can very easily damage the very foundation of the MC's character arc while also cheapening that character's skill set, what about Marcy? She is a bit more complicated. See, she is actually far less harmed by more time with her as she has plenty that she can learn and the like as a person... But Newtopia doesn't want a person. They want a mind. And not just the Core. Even Olivia makes it clear that she only treasures Marcy for her mind. The other advisors are friendly with her but not friends. They just... don't care about her.

Worse yet is that from the perspective of Marcy as a main character, Newtopia is a TERRIBLE setting for the sort of stories that Amphibia excels at or tries to tell. She is literally friends with the King. She is smarter than almost anyone else in the city and not pushed to really interact with its populace, just the city itself. She also shouldn't be actively seeking its populace because Marcy is not a people person. She wants Wartwood to like her because they like Anne and she doesn't want to be a weird outside compared to Anne there. She is still liked in Wartwood though so without someone ushering her out the door... What is Marcy doing?

And I can come up with things. I could tell you that the way to make Sasha's story work with more time is show different forms of her manipulation as she gains a band of loyal toads. You can give Marcy a non-royal friend who's interested in the oddity and come on, don't you want to see the non-shiny parts of Newtopia and Amphibia? But that's adding more and more to their stories while taking away from the core.

Because suddenly, you have one girl in their element just flexing on everyone around her while another big city girl is... In another big city. You are now spending much less time on the big city girl coming appreciate different, substantially different viewpoints, realize their way of life is just as valid as her lazy way of life, growing and changing into a better person who genuinely values those around her instead of just wanting someone who lets her have fun and do as little else as possible, etc. like that.

For the sake of the trio... You're losing Amphibia.

That is a big sticking point for me and why I still refuse to call Sasha and Marcy main characters. They're important supporting characters, don't get me wrong, but the story is about Anne and Amphibia. Anne and Wartwood. The choices to spend the VAST majority of our time with her and these settings is not an accident. It's not like Matt chose to just devalue the other two main characters. They were used incredibly effectively, they do a lot to help highlight Anne and her growth and act as milestones for it effectively, and Sasha has a LARGE impact on who Anne is at the beginning of the story.

But it doesn't make them main characters because this isn't their story and there is no way to tell the story of Amphibia with them as the main characters. Focusing purely on the friendship and needing to repair it, or destroy it, is likely going to reinforce different themes, or at least different elements of the themes. After all, you can still talk about change but paradoxically, focusing in on the trio like this, even if it means spending more time in different parts of Amphibia, excludes the community element that is so important to Amphibia. After all, now you're splitting focus between three communities and focusing the story on the arcs of these three human girls. That's going to require a lot less time fleshing out these side characters. Diminishes the impact any of them can have on any character. The Plantars do a lot for Anne after all but we understand that it is WARTWOOD that changes her, not just the Plantars. Would we get that if you now had to split the focus this much?

Also, we lose Reunion in any way it is right now because with Marcy taking a more prevalent role, S1 HAS to end with a confrontation of all three. The first time they meet together. To leave any one out would be to diminish their role. Marcy isn't as important, especially to Anne's character, as Sasha is in the version we got so it's fine for her not to be present for Reunion. But... How do you handle Sasha's arc if all three have to come back together at once?

And to justify having brought up TOH earlier, how likely does all of this start a split personality problem for Amphibia? With Anne as the focus, you only get a handful of episodes that aren't genuinely Amphibia. Capital letter Amphibia. You know know what to expect and you know what sort of story is going to happen and that creates a nice, fun, comfortable status quote you can enjoy from week to week. Now imagine if Marcy's writing is still weaker like it was in the show, or the toads fail to be compelling because in order to keep Sasha as the antagonist of the group, they keep just setting themselves up to be knocked over by her and by the third time, it's getting kind of boring? Suddenly, one third of the show is causing friction with someone, especially since all three, due to DRASTICALLY different settings, would cause inherently very different storytelling just because the sorts of issues are so different. This is part of why the vibe of S3B is so different because finally we are not at peace, we are at war. Even the shifts from a guard tower that exploits people, a big city where the MC is treated as effective royalty, and a small farm town is enough to cause some amount of friction to happen between settings.

I'm not saying that this story is literally impossible to tell well but... Man, it'd be INCREDIBLY hard. And, of course, it still wouldn't be Amphibia. It would look like Amphibia, some of the notes would sound like Amphibia, but it would just be a very, VERY different story.

Because like TOH found out after Yesterday's Lie, you can't just change who your character fundamentally is without MAJOR consequences to your storytelling. Splitting your main character three ways is going to yield similarly discordant results without writing the entire thing from the ground up.

But it's not the same story and as I LOVE the story we got, I would say trying to force Amphibia into this mold would only make it worse, if I could compare it at all.

======+++++======

This is by no means a comprehensive list btw of all that would potentially be lost, need to be changed, etc. like that so as to even make this sort of shift for Amphibia work. Like someone in my Discord when I mentioned this ask brought up how the impact of Sasha coming into Anne's life and the tension of Reunion would kind of be lost if we already know Sasha fairly well. It is... Complicated to put it mildly.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past.

I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead.

If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

what is your personal take on talia? how do you see her and damian's relationship in your view/version of canon?

mmmm personally, I like her WAY better as a villain/love interest for Bruce than selina. (I actually am indifferent to/don't like selina haha). If they actually kept her at the 'eco-terrorist/save the world by destroying it' thing that they sometimes have Ra's and Talia doing/they originally were doing. Because a) it's more interesting and b) would be a good foil vs Bruce.

I think she's interesting, or could be, but I could take or leave her. I'm not super into villains as a whole and I totally get criticism for and against her, but mostly I'm whatever.

as for her relationship with Damian, again, I see a lot of ways. As someone who used to have a very contentious and not-great relationship with my own mother, I get the fans who both say she loves him or doesn't. I do subscribe to the idea that she's always loved him, but in an unconventional way. When he was young, she trained him to be the best because she knew he could do it, and kept him at arms length from her own experiences of love bringing pain. As he grows/is away from her, she realized how much she truly did love him this whole time, not for Bruce, not for Ra's, but for him, so wants him back for that.

I don't like that in canon they're like 'she's trying to get him back to be on HER side.'/berates him for not killing kinda shit. I would like it more that she and bruce both respected that - since DC are kind of forcibly aging Damian faster than ever - now that damian is older, he is making his own decisions/can do so and doesn't HAVE to 'pick sides'. Obviously the reader got that in the most recent Robin series/the mini events since then, but the characters in the story haven't yet so...eh.

tl;dr she's bruce's real true love and she loves her son, is my personal take haha

[whyreyousoobsessedwithme]

Lookism 479, 480 and 481 edited

Struggled to type this because I'm sore from my physio therapist appointment

479

- OK, so we know Jerry also knew Jinyoung and that his father was murderd. We also know there's this mysterious reporter Kim who might have some clues.

- What is the Era of peace?

- Jerry's father had an abnormal body.

- Why does no one know anything about Daniel's connection with Jinyoung? I'm so done. I don’t even care about that anymore.

- Now that lineman's training, I would like to see him go against some of the worker guys that beat him.

- Dj being shady ass hell as usual 🙄. I don't think Daniel should trust him, he's being too trusting. James knows so much but refuses to tell him anything. He's using Daniel to get to jinyoung so he can learn the secret behind the 2 bodies. I know deep down Daniel doesn't trust him that much, but he needs to stop giving James even the tiniest bit of info.

- I feel like Lightning Choi is in danger now that James knows about him.

- oh my God, he really is living by the junkyard💀

- these guys just keep getting stronger, why is his back so huge, it looks like an extra layer of skin😮‍💨

- tf do they mean by " the time has come for us to try to kill each other". As if they weren't giving each other permanent damage. Honestly, gun and Goo's relationship reminds me of 2 siblings, goo being the younger one who is not used to being independent until one day he decides to leave the nest. This whole meeting felt like a family low-key falling apart, goo leaving the family but deciding to visit his brother one last time before leaving. Which makes me think about the whole theory of someone dying and it showing guns' true personality. I originally thought that it was hinting towards Olly and how gun surprisingly has respect for the dead. But now I think it's goo who's going to die. These panels are honestly so well done. The bittersweet smiles and how human they look in here. You can tell they don't want to kill each other.

480

- I feel gun will eventually betray Charles because he took it too far or hold back while fighting goo. That or there'll be a change of plans like in the workers' fight with dg.

- I think gun was genuinely happy to find someone on his level. Maybe he was used to people always agreeing with everything he did or said, so befriending someone like goo was a breath of fresh air.

- Watching this interaction also reminds me of Crystal. It honestly looked like she had a good relationship with James,Gun, and Goo. Calling them hyung and conversing normally. She seemed like the little sister of the family, and Charles is like the power-hungry dad tearing it apart. I almost felt bad watching the junkyard breakup, but then I remembered they're both awful people. The one I truly feel bad for is Crystal. She didn't ask for this, she didn't join Charles because she had a choice.

- The whole thing with Eli deciding Hudson will stay, and the whole " ... so I'll let you borrow one room" thing is pissing me off. Why is he the one making all the decisions, Sally did a lot for Hostle, but somehow, she's just being pushed aside. Ptj wtf. Throughout the entire Hostle arc, it was just Eli getting the credit for half the shit Sally did it was literally her idea to give the runways a home. And the point system shit was not only an Ok idea, but it wasn't even his original it was just something he saw while living on the streets. The fact it's all "Eli this" and " Eli that" is so fucking annoying. Ptj literally showed Sally putting in the work and pushed all the credit toward Eli. Like if you want it to be about him actually make it about him

- Gyeol doesn't deserve his brother.

- Every one of these guys have insane methods, like how do you expect him to talk when you shove his glasses down his throat.

- THE UGLY FACE EXPRESSIONS ARE HERE WHICH MEANS SHIT WILL FINALLY GO DOWN.

- I used to think Charles's weakness was his daughter but now I don't think he gives a fuck about her.

- How did dg record the evidence though?

481

- hey I have that flash drive too

- I think dg was testing the waters with the whole flash drive situation to see Eugene's reaction to him knowing jinyoung.

- Mandeok is like Regina George, his hair is full of secrets literally

- Now they're calling it anxiety attacks instead🫥, ptj please research mental health

- is it me or James feels guilty for killing Gapryong and jinyoung going insane? This makes me think that after that incident James started hating Charles.

- that's some tacky ass writing he has there on his car

- that's the worst marketing strategy I've ever seen

- how did jibeom get so big😃

- Someone said the new guy looks like the lovechild of dg and Eli and now I can't unsee it

- To think Vin killed a king

- I was right about the cult theory

- This is why education is important, people think anything is evil, acting like they're not the devil themselves.

[acourtofthought]

I just saw some E\riels lamenting the idea for which SJM won’t break Elucien’s bond as that would hurt them both. And I’m honestly flabbergasted.

No one is saying that the pain of breaking the bond could impede Elucien from actually breaking the bond (except that you know, the bond can’t really be broken, but that’s another matter entirely), if that’s what they wanted. People are just saying that it’s hard to imagine SJM would go with that, considering that mating bonds represent the ultimate HEA for her. Especially to characters we know she really loves. And especially when breaking the bond would always make Elain and Lucien feel pain, as well as a connection to someone who isn’t their partner.

(E\riels also leave out the fact that Azriel desperately wants a Mate, and I don’t think he would ever turn them down for anyone).

And sure, having a couple reject the bond can happen—SJM herself has presented us with cases of this, but it’s not a pain she usually condemns her mains to. That’s what people are saying, nothing else. We’re aware that we’re not the author, and that all of this could actually mean nothing. Grow up.

Also, it’s hilarious how E\riels think that the Elucien mating bond is just a bump in the road for their ship, but they never even considered that Azriel could be just a bump in the road for Elucien. Coherence? Never heard of it.

If SJM wants Elucien to break their bond, they will. But....if that's what she always intended, why would she have told us that there will always be a tug and that it can sometimes drive the males insane?

Lucien is one of her favorite characters and a broken bond WOULD cause him distress. The author literally tells us that information so we're not making it up that a broken bond would be painful, we've seen him struggling already. And she didn't say, "some will feel a tug" she said, "there will always be a tug" so again, we're not making it up that even if Elain and Lucien end up with others, they will always feel drawn to one another and I don't think that's something the person they're with wants to deal with forever. Can you imagine how that would feel for someone like Az? "I choose you but just so you know, I'm forever going to share a special connection with Lucien and I'll at times feel drawn to him." That's only going to lead to jealousy and a constant need for reassurance.

You said it above but WHY would she do any of that to her main characters? Why would she have given Lucien not only a murdered love but a bond that will end up rejected? It doesn't make sense.

Why did she write it so that Lucien is still looking at Elain with disappointment and longing nearly two years after the bond snapped into place? Why did she have Cassian look at Az and have no clue why he started pulling away from Mor while then having Cassian feel sad for Lucien's suffering? Why did Nesta note the exchanged look between Az and Elain but think nothing on it while having her wink at Az when she told him he was Gwyn's new ribbon? Why did Az end up looking like a complete idiot, claiming Lucien isn't good enough and threatening to kill him while making Lucien still come off as the good guy who is respecting Elain and not forcing her to make a decision on the bond? Allowing her the space and freedom to figure out what she wants while still making it clear that he'd like to get to know her better.

Why did she write it that Az desperately wants a mate? He believed Mor was his mate and now he believes Elain should have been his mate because his brothers are with the sisters. It doesn't sound like Az really cares who he's with at this point, he just wants a mate and I don't think he'll ever be truly satisfied until he ends up with one. Now I don't think SJM is going to make it as simple as all that, I imagine he's going to suffer a little bit because he's been acting like a tool but I don't think his HEA will be complete without a bond of his own especially because I think if he did end up with someone else, he'd still be wondering if he had a mate out there somewhere. To Az, it seems a mate does represent being worthy (something he struggles with).

At the end of the day, that's not why Elucien HAS to be together and I don't think it's the entire sum of what any of us are saying. It's a piece to the entire argument but it's not everything. And because these are her characters, she can give them each what she has described as a bond so deep that marriage is insignificant in comparison.

Elain and Lucien don't have to reject the bond and be doomed to always feel a tug to one another. Lucien doesn't have to know that his first love was murdered and his mate rejected him. Elain could end up really getting to know Lucien and realizing he is everything and more that she could have never imagined wanting.

Az doesn't have to be with Elain knowing she has a bond with Lucien and wondering if he still has a mate out there. He doesn't have to always wonder why his brothers were given bonds while he wasn't.

This is where E/riels like to come up with the theory of two mates and fake bonds but to me those theories are farfetched and I personally don't imagine SJM going that route because it goes against everything she has ever written. I'm not saying it's impossible but I do find it unlikely.

So if that is unlikely than that leaves the scenario where SJM writes it so Elucien do end up really happy together and Az finds his own mate and is happy with her (possibly Gwyn).

[sovereignsimmer]

Navigating the Dating Jungle: Unfiltered Tips from Yours Truly

Hey there,

As a 31-year-old gay guy with a track record in committed relationships, I'm here to share some unfiltered wisdom about the intricate world of dating apps. For those of us looking for serious, monogamous connections—beyond the superficiality of casual hookups—it's time to dive into the nuances of online dating. Inspired by my own experiences and a nudge from Satch's video, here's the full scoop on navigating the digital dating landscape, regardless of where you fall on the sexuality spectrum.

Crafting Your Profile:

Let's kick things off with your dating profile – the virtual face you present to the dating world. My advice? Less is more, my friends. Oversharing on your body, life details, or expectations might make you look a tad too eager, desperate, or just plain shallow. No one wants to be public property, right? Then do not publicly grant access to your personal information, pictures of your body, or the details of your life.

And those labels like "twink" or "bear"? Nah, not cool. They're limiting, objectifying, and just downright nasty. Think of them as the word "faggot" but even worse. They mess with how you see yourself and how others see you, and that's a rabbit hole we don't need.

Build a foundation to spark curiosity in potential matches. Keep it short and sweet – a one-sentence bio, a couple of interests, or a picture of you doing something you love. But for the love of all things holy, no walls of text! Think LinkedIn, but with a dating twist – presentable and grandma-approved pictures, because you never know who might stumble upon them.

Potential Matches:

Now, onto the nitty-gritty of potential matches. Remember, you deserve nothing less than what you have to offer. Seriously, don't settle for anything less.

Avoid the skin showoffs; they're all about hookups, not actual relationships. And steer clear of those listing demands like it's a shopping list. "No fem" or "str8 act only"? That's a one-way ticket to Belittlement Central. Trust me, it says more about their personality than you'd want to know.

If someone's putting up pics of other people without their consent, run the other way. Respect and privacy matter, and if they can't get that, you're better off. They probably didn't ask for their colleague's or uncle's consent while uploading that photo there, and it is highly likely they won't respect your privacy or consent either.

*shivers*

Limit interactions with those who can't string a sentence together or reply in a decent timeframe. You deserve someone who would read poems for you if not talented enough to write them on their own; do not settle for "k ttyl" bullshit. Remember, you're not just going to be a friend; you're going to be a partner. Partners are a whole different breed – more considerate, more attentive. It is what it is.

Cut the prolonged texting phase; get to know them in real life. Watch out for signs – good and bad. Manners, habits, signs of deceit – keep your eyes peeled.

Oh, and don't always be the one initiating. Relationships are a two-way street, my friend. Give and take – that's the name of the game.

I understand that once you start incorporating these suggestions into your dating app game, it might initially seem like your options are narrowing down. However, trust me, it's all for the better. Your chances of discovering someone genuinely worth your time will shoot up.

In my own experience, implementing these changes completely transformed my dating life. Admittedly, the dates are fewer and rarer now, but for me, it's always been about quality over quantity. Gone are the days of being salty, regretting decisions, and complaining about the people I met. Nowadays, even those brief flings feel more meaningful because I've learned to connect with people on a deeper, more intellectual level. It truly reshapes your perception – give it a try.

[luxsea]

KICKS IN THE DOOR GIF. 3, 4, 9, 19, 21, 29, 31, 32. ok love you mwah

blorbo jail for moji 1000 years! >:) love you too mwahahaha thank you for the ask, i may have went overboard w my responses >.<

3. What is your character’s moral alignment?

for the most part, lux is chaotic good! their actions are not really motivated by any desire to be a good person, they simply stand up for others freedom and their right to make decisions for themselves. you can do whatever you want forever and ever <3 there are traumatic events in their past that very well could've lead them down a remorseful path but they instead eventually accepted each step of their journey and the people they meet as a learning experience. and when they care deeply for someone, all morals go out the window if it means keeping them safe. they may be pure chaos at times but they have respect for the knowledge and passions of other people and they do not steal from an honest working man. but the gods can kiss their ass for all they care.

4. How did you choose your Tav’s name, if you gave them a unique one?

any jokes i could make abt needing to escape character creation after being trapped remaking lux for a week aside, the reasoning behind why i chose their name is very multifaceted. it's mainly inspired by tiefling virtue naming convention, a name they choose for themself after they left their home and is symbolic of who they aspire to be. to focus on that glimmer of hope despite everything and shine for others. they also have a great appreciation for art and a good shiny. and they literally have to be the shiniest thing in the room. "i am a (lux)ury few can afford" etc. lux is also short and sweet like tav! :) i really like latin names and will never escape the kingdom hearts fan allegations (guilty) they don't have a family last name because [redacted] and i don't know if they would keep their trade last name if they had one. they deserve a title though, something badass to match their fury of avernus wifey >:) when i find the perfect one i'll let you know!

9. What is your Tav’s biggest priority or goal?

their biggest priority during the game is to avoid the main quest at all cost. "i quite like the worm and the powers it grants me actually" is to be a light in the darkness for the companions they're closest with on their personal journeys. they want to find a way to fix karlachs engine because she deserves to enjoy her life despite the injustices shes suffered, to make sure shadowheart doesnt feel alone in the world as she discovers who she truly is and to help wyll find an alternate path from the endless cycle of duty and self sacrifice. there is always a way. lux is the designated leader of the group and they won't let anything bad happen to their friends especially now that they have found a sense of belonging again, they wouldn't dare fail them and they'll set the world on fire if they have to.

19. Who is your Tav romancing, if anyone?

oh... you know ;3 the big secret around camp is that lux is romancing karlach, totally not obvious to literally everyone!! these two make me feel very mentally ill you know this. the nature of my own immediate karlach favoritism and her being very much my type lead to a lot of coincidentally great chemistry between the two ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and even though i very much believe they'd only be committed to each other, i love exploring the dynamic of a polyship with shadowheart and if the game allowed it past act 1. they're a sun/moon/star trio and make me feel so soft ;-; lux will be romancing shadowheart in my 2.0 playthru :') if im strong enough to resist romancing karlach again sdfdfgsdfd

21. If you’re romancing anyone, who fell first and who fell harder?

these types of things with karlux can be a bit difficult to pinpoint considering they were instantly fond of each other and developed feelings pretty quickly, accelerated by their circumstances. karlach was never able to think about romance during her time in avernus and once she's free she's just grateful to be alive, she would be content just finding a way to cool down and hug someone. so falling in love was certainly not something she expected- and neither did lux. karlach falls in love after the many cozy campfire talks and the risky kiss they share under the stars. she tells herself what they have between them is casual, that she doesn't mind sharing lux if they pursue someone else but she's really just repressing the extent of her feelings because of the limitations of her engine. but to see lux fight so hard to find a solution, and caring for her so much, that's when she knows. and lux ofc is super in love with her already but it hits them hard during karlachs second engine upgrade at last light. the excitement for both of them to finally being able to touch eachother mixing with the horrors of the ultimatum that is given on her life. karalch could die at any moment and she accepts that, but for lux, who is realizing they love her so much that they cannot imagine their life without her... that love is insurmountable and terrifying.

29. How easily offended are they? How do they act when offended?

i think their lived experiences have left them able to tolerate the petty stuff. in their travels they've heard pretty much every insult under the sun but they draw the line when other people are being degraded or oppressed. they try their best to be firm in their boundaries and what they don't tolerate. this isn't because they're all calm and collected, they're simply too aware of how dangerous they could potentially be if they let their anger take hold of them. this is something that can make them so powerful when they're in situations where they have to fight. but there is always risks and the nature of wild magic requires them to constantly question if it's worth it. and sometimes lux doesn't care.

31. How does your Tav dress for different occasions, like very fancy situations?

every occasion is a fancy situation, what do you mean? :^) lux's fashion sense can be a bit eclectic but when it comes to accessorizing, every piece is carefully picked and considered. they very much dress as a means of self expression and are also aware of how others respond to how you present yourself, using that to their advantage at times. i'm just saying, i think cleavage adds a charisma bonus and you can't tell me i'm wrong.

32. How did your Tav get their scars, if they have any?

their face scars originate from my first play through, i thought it would make sense two thirds through the journey that they would have some battle scars, especially considering how reckless they can be so i added it to the design. when i remade them for my 2.0 playthrough i kept the scar because i like when reiterations of a character retain details in honor of their past self :) this is tentative but i'm also experimenting with magical scaring on their hands, as if their magic sometimes burns right through them when they use their powers or even is rotting them from the inside out when they don't. it's a source of chronic pain they've had to live with which is why lux 2.0 even as a sorcerer makes a warlock pact in a desperate attempt to salve and control it. i would love to explore this idea more but for right now it's just a loose concept that also looks pretty badass c:

Baldur's Gate 3 Tav Ask Game

[septembersghost]

I'm so bummed about the Lizzo that, never would've expected such horrible and disgusting stories about her mistreating people. :/ idk it makes me think of how the internet has been so obsessed with making Taylor into a villain or bad mouthing H when they're well-known for being kind and generous to literally everyone who works with or for them, including truckers and service workers, there's never a bad story and they get hated for nothing at ALL. when actual harassment and harm and abuse is taking place from others all over the industry and keeps coming to light.

it's terrible, the stories in the lawsuit are worse than i would've even imagined, and it really is awful to see things like this and to realize how many artists/celebrities use their money/influence/power to mistreat and degrade those around them. that status unfortunately goes to people's heads and egos, sometimes in very gross and hurtful ways. it's especially a shame to see it with someone whose image has been based on positivity, inclusion, and equality. you always just want to believe that's true and see the best of people who present that because it's uplifting and needed.

it's apples and oranges to compare, in a way, but after 17 and 13 years respectively in the industry, it is particularly telling that the stories around the two of them have always been of immense kindness and generosity and welcoming spirits - because i truly do believe that's a choice. once you're that successful, that wealthy, the bad behavior, the feeling of invincibility almost, knowing you can get away with whatever, is probably heady. many fall into the trap of it because they can. (also, small poor choices or missteps in one's personal life, that then end and can be moved on from, is quite different than active mistreatment of others professionally and abusive behavior, imho). being kind is a decision, especially when you're at that high of a level, being generous, embracing people at all levels, recognizing the work others do to help you, it's all an active choice. you can decide to wield your power harmfully, or you can decide to do your best to extend it with graciousness. and nothing has ever shown to the contrary with them, and it's something that i do find comforting and worthwhile. i don't need them to be perfect or to never make a mistake, no matter how famous they are, they're still human beings and we all have our flaws. but they've proven time and again that they try to do good, and that is part of why i love them.

i'm sorry that the lizzo news made you sad though, i get exactly why it did. 😔

let's read these instead, yeah? 💗

[allamericansbitch]

(same person, again not a hate ask but a genuine attempt at conversation) because the 'problematic' people you're talking about are actors and musicians. they're not people you personally know or interact with on a daily basis, and they're not politicians or any other profession where morals genuinely have a widespread impact on people's lives. it's not that you shouldn't care if someone is good or not, but i just don't see what calling out these non-important celebs does for anyone, especially since most of these call outs aren't even for a good reason*. if you're uncomfortable with them then you have every right not to support their work, but i don't get what people get out of constantly talking abt what they've done and how problematic they are, especially since the whole entertainment is pretty fucked up and most people have a few skeletons in their closet.

like for example when people made those lists of who sided with depp or heard during that trial. who the hell cares??? especially since that whole thing was crazy and turned into a media circus anyway. most people i know irl supported depp because they genuinely and truly believed he was abused thanks to the misinformation spread on the internet - and they didn't care enough to dig any deeper bc it was just celebrity drama to them (which is very valid) - not because they were misogynists. i am by no means a depp supporter (that man makes me extremely uncomfortable), but i also don't think that someone siding with him during that trial means that they deserve to be put on a Permanently Canceled list (especially since i recall one of those names on the list was mckenna grace??? who was a 15-year-old back then???) like, constantly looking for things to cancel people for just feels like unnecessary twitter behavior.

*by good reason i mean things like percy hynes white's recent SA allegations. those are things that actually need to be called out so that the perpetrators can face real consequences for their crimes. otherwise, what do you get out of it? literally nothing other than the pretense of being Morally Right.

celebrities decisions and morals do have an impact on people's lives. i'll use the same example you did for the depp trial, the celebrities that defended him did so by liking posts or memes that mocked a women actively reliving and gaining more trauma, they made jokes and made a mockery of her and her story. they laughed at a women crying, at pictures of her bruises and injuries. even if they didn't believe her, that is an insane level of apathy and it has so many ripple affects on abuse cases moving forward. by celebrities liking those posts, their fan bases will see that they approve of it and if they agree, they will follow suit. it's a domino affect. they see a stamp of approval by someone they admire or respect and think it's okay to do the same.

It's all a trickle down affect. If someone says a slur or does something else terrible, it inspires other morally weak people to do the same. People mocking the trial inspired others to make memes of abuse. That creates an attitude that lacks seriousness and respect around abuse victims and now it's a sociably acceptable thing to mock people who come forward with abuse. When someone says a slur it inspires others do the same and makes it common. When one person does it, it creates an air of 'oh.. if they did it i can' and it grows. Peoples actions, especially famous people who's actions are global, have consequences.

you saying it's 'very valid' for people to dismiss the depp trail as just 'celebrity gossip' is also truly insane and goes to show how little you've actually looked at the bigger picture. that trail was not just 'celebrity drama'. a women got publicly mocked for sharing her story of abuse and was threatened every single day. that case and the way it was run has pushed the way the world views/sees/acts on behalf of abuse victims back decades. every women who comes forward with abuse will be not believed and labelled 'another amber heard' at least once, guaranteed. that trial opened up multiple abusers minds to try and sue their victims, see Brad Pitt and Marilyn Manson suing their victims for defamation (just like Depp) who had the courage to speak out. and thats just famous people, i guarantee there's a huge spike in defamation cases with the everyday abusers to their victims as well. describing people supporting advice abusers, or in other cases slurs, acts of racism, homophobia, etc., as nonchalantly and simply as 'most people have skeletons in their closet'... is wild and once again says something about you not thinking it's that big of a deal.

that list I made of people who vocally and actively supported depp means they spit in the face of victims, approved of the way the trial ran, and let their fanbases know it was okay. And no one is putting them in 'Permanently Canceled list' because cancel culture is a myth and no one has anything happen to them. Louis CK, you know the guy who sexual harassed multiple women, just performed a sold out show in Madison Square Garden. That man traumatized so many women and he's dong perfectly fine. All for those celebrities on that list will be perfectly fine and literally nothing will happen to them because they are on that list. It was made to inform people and say 'hey, here's a list of people who supported a victim or at least felt gross about the way the trial was handled, and here's a list of people who thought making memes of women crying on the stand and mocking abuse was funny and approve of the message that was being sent to the entire world. Do with it what you will.' Cancelling people isn't a problem at all. It's literally just asking people to take accountability for their own actions and if you see that as a problem that's on you. What's also on you is your extreme lack of empathy for victims and the people affected by these actions including (but not limited to) people of color and the lgbtq+ community. 'who the hell cares???' i do actually, and so do the people it affects. Just because you dont care about other people doesn't mean none of it matters.

[pynkhues]

I feel very uncomfortable abt the Fred Astaire biopic given he absolutely did not want one to happen and was extremely clear about that. If it ends up happening I will 100% think less of everyone involved including Tom, it is a sign of extreme disrespect imo and Tom does not need the money it is just a fuck you I can do what I want, akin to spitting on FA's grave.

I think the problem with Tom Holland isnt his agent because lets be real, his agent and team are excellent. I think from interviews etc Tom is not that interested in film as an art form, doesn't seem aware of indie or foreign directors doing interesting work, and is pretty anti-intellectualism in general. So when he tries to "go indie" he tries to go for projects that seem gritty or interesting on paper, but end up flopping and coming across "THIS IS ACTING, TAKE ME SERIOUSLY." Tom has the power to approach indie directors he likes and get movies funded for him to star in like Robert Pattinson with Safdies, Claire Denis, etc etc. But Tom is not the type to know who Claire Denis is. He should work with someone like Jeremy Saulnier, that is my advice to him lol

I totally respect your uncomfortable feelings about it as a topic, anon! You're right, Astaire was clear about not wanting a bio pic on his life, because he - in his own words - never wanted to feel misrepresented, and any adaptation or exploration of his life as a result feels inherently disrespectful of that wish.

At the same time though - - I don't know. I guess I tend to have two questions about a bio pic, which is a) what is its purpose? and b) who's it for?

(Full disclaimer: I don't disagree with you - I just also have mmm, a mixed bag of feelings on the topic, I guess, haha.)

So let's talk a little about bio pics

Because it's an interesting conversation, right? They've always been a staple of filmmaking, both for better and for worse, and I do think they vary a lot as a genre. Some of them are naked mouthpieces for the individual or their estate, some are ways to enshrine or disparage an historical figure, some are about capitalising on a current popular trend, some are ways to explore a historical movement or era, to lend it greater understanding or cultural context through a particular person, or to keep an important figure from being forgotten or remembered in a way people with a vested interest might not want them to be remembered, and hell, sometimes I think a bio pic is just about telling an interesting story.

Does intent matter? Yeah, I think so, and I can understand why, in that context, intent can feel immediately malicious when the person a story is based on or inspired by was against the idea, but I don't necessarily think that's automatically the case.

I guess, in that sense, that brings it back to who a bio pic is for. I actually tend to think bio pics are at their worst when they're for the person they're about. Like, I enjoyed Elvis as a piece of entertainment, but as a bio pic it fails on more counts than it doesn't, in no small part because it was for Elvis. It was for his legacy, his daughter and grandchildren, his diehard, uncritical fans, and, in my more cynical moments, for Graceland too. It was about reinforcing a legacy instead of truly exploring it.

And exploring it is important. Good bio pics can help to shed more light and bring a deeper understanding to crucial moments and figures in history, and how someone wants to be represented or understood in that I don't think is entirely their decision. We don't exist in a vacuum; our stories, our histories, the roles we play in the world, aren't ours alone to dictate the terms of. We play roles in other peoples lives, from those who know us, and in the case of many public figures, those who know of them, and to make the decision unilaterly that our legacy can't be explored beyond us is I think both naive and potentially dangerous.

I don't know. It is complicated, and I'm not even saying that I'm entirely comfortable either with the fact that it's happening, especially given there are two Astaire bio pics in the works right now (ironically the other one's cast Jamie Bell, which is kind of funny from a Billy Elliot trivia standpoint), but like I said in my last post, I don't know if I believe that Astaire's wishes should stand so resolutely as others. After all, the law doesn't recognise that stipulation, and if it did, what would there be to stop other people using that as a sort of media gag to prevent critical bio pics that challenge the legacy of a public figure i.e. the counter point to Elvis being able to be this year's Priscilla?

I guess I'm saying that our histories might feel like a thread that belongs to us, but they're ones stitched into the fabric of time and of culture. They inform relationships and families, and in Astaire's case an artform and an industry, and to me, I don't think that means that he owes anyone more than what he gave in his lifetime, but I do think a version of his story lives beyond him - both in the lives he touched and the culture he influenced - and for better and for worse, that's not something he'll ever have complete control over.

Let's talk about Tom Holland

I agree and I disagree on this front - as a total cinephile, I truly feel the pain of him not having known who Pedro Almodóvar was in that one interview, haha, but I don't necessarily think that's an issue. After all, it's literally what he has an agent and a manager for. They should be looking at talent across the board and guiding him towards people they think he'd work well with, especially given he has worked with indie directors before - like, gosh, Kornél Mundruczó was the establishing director on The Crowded Room, and Antonio Campos directed The Devil All the Time.

But you're right - the projects aren't right, and I don't think that it helps that he doesn't seem to be well versed in cinema enough to be able to articulate what it is that he likes and doesn't like, and I also don't think that it helps that he skews young and doesn't really match the styles of the directors he's said he wants to work with (Tarantino in particular I think he doesn't fit the type for, but in looking up a couple of things to reply to your ask, I found out he did meet with Bong Joon Ho last year who I actually think could be a good fit for him).

I like your picks for directors a lot though! I think you're right about Jeremy Saulnier in particular. and while I'm not his biggest fan, I think Justin Kurzel could have a really interesting role for him in that sort of similarly masculinity-soaked indie vein. I also think (and gosh, these aren't even that indie these days, haha) Alex Garland, Karyn Kusama, Dan Gilroy and Marielle Heller would be interesting directors for him.

And while they're not indie, I do also think he'd do well in a Coen Brothers or a Baz Luhrmann.

But who knows at this point. He certainly runs the risk of being Peter Parker forever right now.

[askinkiskarma]

Baeee Help me pleassseee ! 😭😩😓

So for the context there is this guy. We met 2 months ago and since the start our relationship was confusing. We met on a dating app, but as first timers in all of that, from the start we never expressed the way we met and never put a point of clarity of like "are we doing this to be together at some ?"

One time I did and it ended up being same. There was a clarity, but in the end I didnt understand anything.

Like since 2 weeks, its hey and how are you and nothing really to "lets start being friends" as we agreed on. And I tried.. I guess ?

So I know I am not an option and I need things to BE clear, always. I decided to write him this message. I know he has a lot of shit with university entering and maybe I was getting to far with the text below, I hope nof. I just am not a "girl in the pocket for plan B". And this is THE thing I cant accept.

Here is my text message🥺🙄 :

Hi

I'm sending you this message to tell you that I'm having trouble seeing the point of all this.

Don't get me wrong, you're a very nice person. That's not the problem.

It's just that it's getting monotonous and the fact that there isn't really any effort made to become "friends" since we have met, if that's what I understood, bothers me a little.

We rarely exchange and it doesn't really make sense.

I understand that you have a lot of work to do and that I'm not the center of the world. But if there's one thing I've learned so far, it's that when you're not a decision, a choice, even for something as simple as friendship, you can't play the game.

I don't want to become an option because I respect myself enough. I'm not saying this with pride, but with a deep empathy for myself, which I feel is right.

I don't know if I'm setting the bar too high. I don't know if I'm used to more concrete things in relationships or if I'm impatient. What I do know is to trust my feelings.

I don't feel like you're putting any effort into it and that's okay. You don't owe me anything.

It would just be nice if you'd finally tell me and we could stop this never-ending drag.

All this may have no substance and may be stupid, but I'm an honest person and I don't like stagnant situations.

Thank you and have a nice night time :)

I hope my message isn't taken on the wrong note.

So yeah... Thanks bb with all of my heart if you answer this really 💗💕 Means a lot 🥰

Please be honest... did I fuck up ? Because he has seen in. Its been 2 hours. I know its late but sh*t 😂

He aint be the good one if he isnt getting the point... right ?

hi xx

so first of all, i do think especially us, as girls, we tend to overthink a lot of scenarios (i'm super guilty of this too). i used to do this all the time, and be very upset when someone wasn't giving me the attention i thought i deserved or that i was giving to them, but in time i've learnt that most times it truly isn't personal - people have a lot going on in their lives, and sometimes (again, speaking from experience) life can get so crazy even the thought of answering a message or seeing a friend is very overwhelming. it doesn't mean you don't love them or appreciate them or prioritise them, it sometimes just means you absolutely can't handle it at the moment. now i'm not saying that's what happened, but it is something to maybe keep in mind going forward.

now, i think you were very respectful in your message and at the end of the day, you deserve someone who is on the same wavelength as you. men are very simple creatures, and a lot of the times we want to overcomplicate them and make them more complex than they actually are hahahaah - oh, what did he mean by that, did he try to send me a message, was he being purposefully cryptic etc. that's not usually the case. men show you what they think and feel - if they're interested in you, you will know. if you say it's been two weeks of barely any interaction or barely any effort made on his part, that to me is answer enough.

but who knows? see what he says!

good luck and smooches x