#is the lack of facial express

[hugscakeanddragons]

Damn am I gonna hafta draw all the faewish sprites from infinity nikki with actual facial expression myself or??

[lillicatrose]

anxious green guy and his unlicensed stoner therapist.

he is confused and doesnt understand how lavender scent is supposed to make him calmer.

this is not a ship. everything in this artwork and post is 101% platonic.

i headcanon owakxc as having anxiety and paranoia. and i headcanon vineria as being the equivalent of a therapist idk why but she seems like she would be a good therapist.

[mothy-graves]

do you guys ever think that, when Arthur thought Daniel died, part of why it stung so bad, was because he never got to actually see him again?

he spoke to him, he was in his presence, but he didn’t see him. Daniel may have seen Arthur, but Arthur didn’t see Daniel. John saw Daniel. do you think, ever, Arthur ached just to actually see the people he knew and loved again?

though, do you also think, part of him was thankful for the blindness? he never had to see Parker’s body, the man he’d known and cared about for so long. he doesn’t have to remember the faces of people he left behind, because he never actually saw them. he doesn’t have to be haunted with the memory of how Oscar looked at him when calling him his purpose. or the memory of how Noel would’ve listened to and looked at him with such understanding. he doesn’t have to remember how any of them smiled, or how they looked at their worst. Whether that be when they sat, depressed at a bar, or when on the brink of death

sure, they can haunt him in other ways. but at least their faces can’t be attached to it. not like Daniel’s. not like Bella’s. not like Parker’s. not like Faroe’s

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Autism & Looking Younger Than Your Age…

Neurodivergent_lou

[shutupineedtothink]

I’m still s h o o k that people do not see exactly what’s going on with Moiraine throughout s2 and people are dragging her and dismissing her without an ounce of empathy for what she’s been through, so I’m bringing the full character analysis for y’all (and my own sanity). So this is a big ol in defense of Moiraine (and Lan) rant, so if that’s not your thing, scroll down now. Here we go.

I just… The AUDACITY some people have to look at Moiraine and be angry and pissed off at how she acts in S2. To not feel any sympathy and empathy for her and the monumental weight she’s under every goddamn day. There’s a reason we start with that bath scene in 2x01 – it shows you everything. How she’s just going through the motions. How she only lets herself cry when she’s alone in the water. How she literally curls into the fetal position and looks reproachfully devastated over her knees as she hugs them to her chest in a futile attempt at comfort. Not to mention the direct comparison/callback with the bath scene in 1x01, where she has both her power and Lan still, and now she’s lost her connection to both of them.

How is it not painfully obvious that every interaction she has after that bath scene is infused with a trauma response? Let’s tally up the devastation she’s been through. At the end of S1, she was 1. banished from the sisterhood of the white tower (they literally turned their backs on her), 2. was separated AGAIN from the love of her life fully expecting to never see her again, 3. was cut off from the other love of her life (that would be Lan, for the record) which is all the worse bc it’s her own fault for masking the bond, 4. was fully made to believe she’s been stilled from the one power aka an integral part of her being, AND 5. she’s “failed” her mission at the eye of the world – the one goal she’s had for the last 20 years, her life’s purpose – because instead of locking away the dark one she’s directly caused Rand to set Ishamael free.

You don’t think it's justified to be a little pissed off and standoffish after all of that? You don’t think the weight of that guilt, grief, pain, and loss is a reasonable cause to be distant, cold, harsh, having a little bit of a death wish? That’s TRAUMA, baby! She is absolutely wrecked, and it’s coming out in the worst way in her interactions with others (especially Lan because we’ve seen how they should be), but it’s absolutely not because she actively wants to hurt the people around her. In fact after almost every moment she lashes out at someone, we see an equally sad/grief-stricken/devastated moment from her and THAT’S the real emotion hiding underneath the anger. This woman needs therapy and understanding and patience, and does not deserve to be judged at the worst time of her life.

Ok fine, you say, but Lan IS patient and understanding with her! And she’s still an asshole to him! You’re right, Lan is absolutely trying his best and doing just about everything he can to be there for her in 2x01/2x02 (with a little help from Verin and Tomas). But 1. It’s STILL not about him, Moiraine is not obligated to respond in a certain way to her grief and pain that makes him feel better, and 2. This is Moiraine goddamn Damodred and even her trauma response is also a front to protect him, to push him away from her and what is now certainly a suicide mission to fight the dark without her powers.

This is SOOO important to really get Moiraine’s character — y’all gotta understand this: Moiraine truly loves only TWO people on the whole fucking planet: Siuan and Lan. They are also the only people who truly love her, unconditionally, with all of her flaws and imperfections. Please please ingrain that into your brain, especially for Lan, in this context. (Siuan is a whole other conversation I won’t get into at the moment.) Moiraine loves Lan, he loves her, deeply. That’s the foundation of everything they go through with each other in this season, despite what’s happening on the surface.

Once you accept that as fundamental truth, everything makes a whole lot more sense. She is a dick to him to push him away. Literally tells him he failed her to put the final nail in the coffin of driving him away, which is his worst nightmare. On the surface it seems egotistic at best, plain cruel at worst. But look underneath. Moiraine always has reasons 2, 3, 6 layers deep for everything she does.

With everyone else she’s mean to this season, namely her sister and her nephew, it’s born out of distrust (and the aforementioned trauma response). She can’t afford to trust anyone because anyone could be a dark friend. (And if they’re not a dark friend, then they become a liability and endangered.) Anything she lets slip could be used to hurt/control Rand and push them all one step closer to eternal darkness. Oh and when we see Barthanes’ true nature that turns out to be fucking justified, by the way. But I digress.

Right so why is she an asshole to Lan then? Because she doesn’t trust him? I don’t believe that for a second. These two have been on the same page, literally sharing the same headspace, for the last 20 years – she knows he’s the best person she’s ever met, the least likely to ever turn to the dark, ever. It’s an actual impossibility. So it’s not that she doesn’t trust him. She literally marvels at how courageous he must be to fight the dark with only a sword.

The true reason is: she does trust him, she does love him, and she KNOWS him. She knows that he will never leave her like this, in her darkest hour. He is both honor-bound to her (which he takes very seriously) and deeply cares for her. The problem is that now his life is in serious danger by staying with her. But there is no calmly explaining to him that he should return to the white tower for his own good and bond to another aes sedai who can actually channel, who can actually hold up her end of the partnership and protect him and heal him in return for his loyalty and sacrifice. Or better yet, find Nynaeve, who is not only ridiculously powerful and has probably the best chance of protecting him out of anyone, but who also loves him.

If Moiraine loves him and wants him safe, the ONLY option she has to protect him, the one good thing left in her life even if their bond is masked, is to drive him away. To make it so that he’ll stay far away from her of his own free will, and never come after her and her suicide mission to defeat the dark. Because she has already lost everything, she has no control over her fate anymore (if she ever had any to begin with), but the ONE thing she can still try to do is keep him safe. And hopefully, maybe he’ll be happy, one day. Her reasoning is directly confirmed for us in the last thing she says to him in 2x02 before she leaves: “Light protect you, al’Lan Mandragoran.” That was her goal all along, to protect him.

That’s the true reason she’s Like That to him. It’s all out of her love for him, and a desperate desire not to drag him down with her when she’s sure she’s destined to die on this mission. Is her strategy misguided? On the one hand yes, because she does need people to help her and she needs to trust someone, as he points out. On the other hand, she’s absolutely fucking right because look what happened with the Fade fight at the end of 2x01. Both her and Lan would have died without Verin and Tomas, and it would have been because she couldn’t channel. He is factually, logically, physically better off without her as long as she’s “stilled.”

This is why it makes sense how Lan eventually responds the way he does. He initially sees right through what she’s trying to do, he literally says he won’t let her push him away. He knows her too, better than anyone, including Siuan at this point. But he isn’t expecting her to go as far as she does, and it shakes him to his core. She tells him he failed her, has his worst fears confirmed, and then hears the words “we were never equals” and hears that she thinks she’s better than him, when she means the exact opposite. Tomas tells him to really listen but he can’t, in that moment.

But then he gets some distance, and some perspective thanks to Ihvon and Maksim, and he remembers: he loves her. He believes in her and he knows her and he knows what she’s doing to push him away (although maybe not why, when it comes to protecting him, because he doesn’t see himself as someone who needs protecting). Even better, he realizes that her situation is actually not what she thinks, that she’s shielded not stilled, and he can do something about that.

I LOVE Lan in 2x07 because he’s got Moiraine’s number now, and he will not be swayed by any further attempts (rather weak attempts at this point) to lash out at him. He just takes all the shit she throws at him, and calmly asks her what he needs to know and tells her what she needs to hear (“hopefully everything we’ve lost” and “that’s what I thought” and “you need to trust someone, Moiraine”), and is truthful with her even if she is still putting on this act with him in her fear and grief. He isn’t having any of it, he sees straight through it to the fear and pain underneath. And he literally DECIDES they are going to be okay, and then he fucking. Follows. Through.

He is not a doormat to her rage, he is not her servant, he’s not going back to her with his tail between his legs. He SHOWS UP for her in her darkest hour, when NO ONE, not even Siuan, can see what’s going on with her. That’s a true friend, a true hero, and absolute king behavior.

In conclusion, Moiraine’s behavior in s2, while not cute, is totally justified given the trauma, circumstances and everything she’s dealing with (jfc the lack of sleep alone) and makes sense in light of her ultimate goal to protect the world, which includes protecting Lan. And Lan’s response, once he figures out what to do, is the absolute correct way to handle the situation and is not weakness at all but strength in the highest order.

I’m so glad we got the payoff of all that with their conversation in 2x08 and reconnecting the bond. It was so beautiful, so earned, and reminded us of the level they’re on with each other — which is a soul connection way beyond what any of us can imagine.

[mishy-mashy]

Nacht and Morgen really look like girls.

More people should mistake them for that—

[laf-outloud]

odetteannable It’s WALKER WEDNESDAY Y’ALL! Just #cordri over here horsin’ around. See you tonight @thecwwalker 8/7c. @jaredpadalecki 🤠

Love the untucked shirt!

[allsketchesnononsense]

[Disgusted beeping]

[eeblouissant]

Thank you sm for the tag @the-eclectic-wonderer !! I love these little tag games :)

Bold and colour what's true about yourself:

i'm over 5'5 / i wear glasses or contacts / i have blonde hair / i often wear sweatshirts / i prefer loose clothing over tight clothes / i have one or two piercings / i have at least one tattoo / i have blue eyes / i have dyed or highlighted my hair / i have or have had braces / i have freckles / i paint my nails / i typically wear makeup / i don't often smile / resting bitch face / i play sports / i play an instrument / i know more than one language / i can cook or bake / i like writing / i like to read / i can multitask / i've never dated anyone / i have a best friend i've known for over five years / i am an only child

As usual I’m a little shy to tag anyone (and most of my mutuals were tagged in prevs post), so if you see this and want to do it take this as me tagging you!!

[the-weeping-dawn]

'............I walked right into that. I actually have no clue what I expected you to say. Good to know. That was mildly concerning.'

The maybe I might not mind being a mindflayer line/response my beloved. No one gets to think about touching it until that has happened.

[ashtcnirwin]

one of my main talents at work that isn't directly work-related is being able to identify a "mean girl who peaked in high school"-nurse within seven seconds of watching her interact with a patient

[br1ghtestlight]

for me my biggest problems (autism related?? who knows) are like. the inability to form facial expressions or express Anything through body language. flat effect and unemotive voice. very limited speech because I physically cannot think of words to say or how to communicate with people. and general lack of interest in socializing and doing Life Things

it's about 100x more complicated than this as mental illness usually is but it's like impossible to form relationships with people (or expect people to WANT TO talk to me) when talking to me is like the actual equivalent of watching paint dry. and I'm so jealous of people who are outgoing and excited and have expressive voices and body language EVEN THOUGH I USED TO BE THAT WAY because it's like something died inside of me. i dont know how to get it back or even if it exists anymore. idk it's just hard to connect with people even if I do want to sometimes. there's a mental block in my brain. fortunately it's less of a problem online because you dont have to perform in the same way but still :(

[saturnsfather]

the thing is that my job is genuinely like. fine. theres nothing really wrong with it i mean some of the people there are incompetent and i work long hours but my supervisor is genuinely really competent and pleasant and cares. and im actually kind of helping in a process that is Valuable. its important for people to know whats wrong with them medically.

but at the end of the day what is the point. what is the point of running myself into the ground when the money im being paid is barely enough to survive on and what i dont get of my paycheck goes to the government so they can keep sending weapons of mass destruction overseas so more innocent people can die. and even what im doing is tainted by the fact that i Know a Lot of the people seeing doctors and getting testing done are running their savings dry doing it. if the people getting medical procedures are emptying their bank accounts but IM not getting paid enough and the DOCTORS AND NURSES arent getting paid enough and the PHLEBOTOMISTS arent getting paid enough and the COURIERS arent getting paid enough then where is all the fucking money going.

[87dvhnk]

"i read the wiki and i saw the pages/panels already, why do i need to read the comics?"

because a) some those comics fuck with awing dexterity and stamina b) there's a good chance shit is out of context or simply misrepresented (innocently, humorously, ignorantly or maliciously) and c) you know the beats/endings of tons of shit, but it doesn't impede your enjoyment of it, now does it? sure it's nice to go in spoiler free, but if the gimmick of spoiling material is all a piece of media has, then that piece of media is meritless. you knew who luke skywalker's father was before you saw the movie. is it still worth watching? you knew romeo and juliet died before you read the play. is it still worth reading? do you not want to go on a journey? do you not want to feel something? do you not want to commiserate about the human experience through art? a wiki will never be comprehensive enough to cover everything you would have read or seen yourself--it can't be, not without being the thing itself. even then, you still miss the things not on the page/screen, the things that are only implied, the things that go unstated, or else conspicuously omitted. don't talk to me about shit haunting the narrative if the only haunting you've ever been apart of was your passing despite your dogshit analysis skills haunting the conscience of your eng 101 adjunct professor in perpetual fear of losing their contract and being relocated from their car to under a bridge by demanding college students demonstrate basic reading comprehension, critical thinking, and coherent argumentative skills. boast about killing the author? my friend, you are cain advancing in the fields, skulking, stepping in abel's footprints, filled with murderous intent, with nothing but the chinese telephone-equivalent of a description of a weapon cutting into your soft palms.

[gideonisms]

I think about breq every day of my life if I could purchase her spotify subscription for the next 100 years I would but I know her adblockers are airtight

[calicotisane]

Broiling deeply about my dialogue and character voices after being told they are samey. AACKKKK!!!!! Surely this is the fault of "not reading books anymore " . I think so much about distinct characterization but characters in my brain are sometimes too similar for my liking and i really hate to fumble at how they communicate... i prioritize making sure every line is in some way a useful piece of information about the story and/or the characters but i'm sure i don't do the best job at that all the time. is the dialogue a barrier to entry? I have accepted that esoteric nonsense terms are a turn-off for most people maybe that's it. I've never seen dialogue as a super weak spot in my writing (in general) but i'm not always thrilled with it either. Need more perspectives on this as i struggle to see past myself and avoid repeating things all the time