#people who do work as a coping mechanism exhibit A

[mintjeru]

once in a blue moon a popular artist will follow me and every time i'm ???

[astrojulia]

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8th house through the signs

ARIES: You have been through some tough experiences in your life, including being bullied and mistreated by others. These traumatic events have left you feeling powerless and overwhelmed, and may have caused you to act out in destructive ways. However, you are actively working on healing and finding healthier ways to express your emotions. Despite these challenges, you have a strong and resilient spirit that has helped you overcome difficult times. You are determined to succeed and have a deep drive to win, but you understand the importance of doing so in a positive and constructive way that doesn't harm others. As you continue to heal and grow, you are discovering the power of channeling your passion and assertiveness in positive ways, such as building deeper and more meaningful connections in your relationships. With your strong will and inner strength, you have the potential to achieve great things and create a fulfilling life for yourself.

TAURUS: You may be experiencing emotional discomfort due to feeling a lack of harmony and security in your life. A challenging experience with a loved one or partner may have brought out possessiveness and inflexibility in you, causing you to hold onto things or people tightly even if it's detrimental. You have a strong drive for material possessions and pleasures, stemming from a desire for power and control. However, focusing too much on material things can lead to chaos and destruction, making it difficult to feel secure. To overcome these inner struggles, it's essential to find security within yourself that cannot be taken away. By letting go of material possessions, you can lessen the negative impact of your possessive tendencies. You possess an incredible ability for stillness, which can serve as a valuable coping mechanism once you find true healing. When it comes to intimacy, you approach emotions directly and calmly, viewing sex as a physical and sensual connection. To build a lasting sexual bond, it's essential to first feel comfortable in your own skin and have a thorough understanding of yourself.

GEMINI: You may have experienced emotional wounds in the past that have caused you pain, such as being deceived, misled, or lied to. It is possible that someone may have infiltrated your mind with harmful thoughts or belittling comments, leading to severe mental abuse. As a result, you may find yourself exhibiting manipulative tendencies and playing mental games or verbally attacking others, which can be harmful. However, with your rational understanding of these issues, you can overcome these psychological challenges in a sensible and productive way. Making changes to improve your emotional well-being can be difficult, but your intelligence and resilience can help you navigate these challenges. As you continue to work through these issues, you will find peace, and your outgoing nature will allow you to talk about your problems with ease. This extends to your intimate relationships as well, where you are adept at finding solutions to any issues that may arise.

CANCER: It sounds like you've been through a lot emotionally and have struggled with feeling understood and cared for in the past. It's understandable that being in a negative environment can bring up those feelings of neediness and insecurity. However, it's important to remember that these feelings stem from a learned emotional pattern and that you have the power to break that pattern. In order to heal and move forward, it's important to find a balance between nurturing yourself and allowing others to nurture you. It's okay to ask for help when you need it and to lean on those who care about you. Intimacy may feel vulnerable, but emotional sharing can be a powerful tool for satisfying your inner needs and building deeper connections with others. Remember, you deserve to feel safe and secure, and with time and effort, you can learn to create positive emotional patterns that support your well-being.

LEO: You've been through some painful emotional experiences, and as a result, you may have developed an identity as someone who's been deeply wounded. This can sometimes make it difficult for you to express yourself fully, as you may feel like you're living in the shadow of your past. It's important to remember that you're not defined by your scars or traumas. It's possible that in the past, you may have used destructive behavior to get attention. However, as you work through your emotional challenges, you'll become more confident in yourself and your abilities. You have an inner strength that helps you persevere through adversity, and you should take pride in that. You may find that exploring your psyche and delving deep into your emotions can help you feel more alive. While drama can be addictive, it's important to remember that you don't need to be in constant emotional turmoil to feel alive. Taking care of yourself and finding healthy ways to cope with your experiences is key. Ultimately, intimacy is how you can find and maintain self-awareness. By being true to yourself and remaining loyal to your inner self, you can heal and continue to grow into the best version of yourself. Remember that you're a survivor, and you're capable of achieving great things.

VIRGO: When it comes to sharing resources with others, you like to have a clear understanding of any agreement you're making. And when it comes to intimacy, you value good hygiene practices. While the final outcome of a will or inheritance may not always match the original intentions, it's important to consider all possible costs and legal issues, such as travel expenses or unforeseen lawsuits. In the event of the death of a spouse or business partner, you may need to adjust your work or management arrangements, but you have a strong grip on life and will face any challenges with a calm and steady approach. In your career or workplace, there may be some risks of accidents or illnesses, so it's important to take care of yourself and others. The financial situation of your spouse or partner may be linked to this area of your life, but it's not the most important factor. You take a cautious approach to joint finances and investments, making sure to carefully examine and understand all the details before making any big decisions. Overall, you have a logical and thoughtful approach to life, and you can use this to help you make positive changes to your health and well-being. While it's impossible to predict the future, it's important to take care of your body, especially when it comes to issues with the intestines, spleen, or nervous system. By staying informed and proactive, you can continue to transform and improve in a planned and positive way.

LIBRA: You've got some deep emotional scars from your childhood when it comes to how you were valued and loved. It's like your beauty or sensuality was either overemphasized way too early or seen as something wrong. Maybe you were in a messed up and toxic situation where you had to keep the peace at any cost, even if it meant sacrificing your own happiness. And man, that stuff can mess with your head, making you constantly worry about being liked or messing up the affection you already have. It's like you're flipping between those two extremes, you know? But here's the deal, your emotional upbringing has given you a skewed view of self-love and relationships. It's like you see partnerships as risky or threatening because of all that baggage. But don't worry, my friend, if you work on addressing those emotional issues, you'll be able to love yourself and others on a deeper level. You've got this unique ability to find calm even in chaos or to build harmony from within. You have this inner strength, man, and it'll help you deal with your emotional struggles and keep your mental health in check. And guess what? Your inner self is pretty damn attractive, friendly, and enjoyable. You're all about expressing your emotions in a way that brings people together.

SCORPIO: The emotional trauma you have experienced in your life runs extremely deep and requires your attention. At a young age, you were forced to confront the most intense and profound aspects of life, including death, abuse, abandonment, betrayal, and brutality. It is possible that you have also endured sexually unpleasant situations, such as rape, molestation, or inappropriate sexual attention at an early stage. Your dark side can be particularly terrifying, causing you to descend into the depths of despair and even pulling others along with you. This destructive behavior is often a distorted manifestation of a hunger for power, which seems to be a pattern in your family's history of abusing their positions.However, you possess an incredible capacity to explore your psychological troubles and find ways to address them. You have the power to transform your darkness into something therapeutic and beautiful. The key is to learn how to extricate yourself from that darkness, as it is easy to become consumed by the shadows and lose sight of the light. Once you consciously choose the path of healing, you will become unstoppable in your journey to becoming a better person. Moreover, your transformation will have a positive impact on others you encounter along the way. Your profound inner resources enable you to offer strong support and understanding, ultimately enhancing the lives of those you deeply care about."

SAGITTARIUS: The emotional wounds you carry revolve around your faith and sense of freedom, and they need healing. You might have experienced something really awful that made you doubt the possibilities in life. As a result, you've developed a darker side that gives you a sense of power, and you refuse to be held back or surrounded. However, this side of you can sometimes go too far, causing harm to yourself and others because you don't know when to stop. Your ancestors passed down a tendency for testing your luck, which can push you to the edge. Honestly, you might not even notice or care if someone else falls off that edge with you. That's why addressing your emotional difficulties is important to avoid being overly naive or dangerous. When you confront your issues, you'll come to realize that you do have problems. If you're willing to risk getting burned, you can be quite persistent in your desire to walk through fire. However, this mindset can evolve into a powerful belief system. By embracing the idea that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, you can heal and find your inner strength. This resilient attitude attracts good fortune into your life, allowing you to transform emotional discomfort into a source of joy.

CAPRICORN: You're the one handling other people's assets and investments. Being in a position of authority in collaborative ventures suits you well. However, you might also feel a bit sexually repressed. Emotional pain has at times made you feel like a failure, impacting different aspects of your life. There may have been instances where you felt helpless and unable to achieve your goals. This has caused your shadow side to emerge, overwhelming you with fear, worry, and a sense of defeat. Sometimes, in your quest to regain control, you become overly calculated, which can be self-destructive. You've inherited a lingering sense of not getting what you desire, leading to deep bitterness and resentment due to a perceived lack of control. Confronting your personal demons and learning how to manage and overcome the darkness within will bring you a true sense of fulfillment. When it comes to gaining the upper hand, you have a tendency to become obsessive. However, if you put genuine effort into honestly addressing and transforming your challenges, you'll discover that you have a significant advantage.

AQUARIUS: So, you might be one of those people who seem totally disconnected from their true emotional struggles. When tough things happen in your life, your reaction can be kind of numb and distant, keeping you away from your inner darkness. The truth is, you've been deeply affected by feeling like an outcast, being misunderstood, or having your personal feelings ignored. Ignoring your own needs for the sake of others only fuels that dark side of yours, and it can come out in some pretty impersonal and cold ways—either towards others or even towards yourself. It all stems from some psychological stuff that can easily keep you distant from your true self. But hey, here's the thing: you have the power to work through that psychological baggage in a way that you treat yourself like you would treat someone else. It's a mix of traditional and unconventional approaches to facing your personal demons. And in the end, that secret sense of being weird and unpredictable that you've got going on is fueled by all that emotional turmoil. But guess what? You can break that pattern and gain some serious survival skills. Don't let toxic programming or the pain of the past rule over you. When you find your own power, it sets you free to engage in intimate connections while also releasing your partner. When it comes to sex, you're pretty open-minded and accepting, ready for whatever strange and wild things your partner wants to explore. The question is, will you expect the same from them or venture into a realm where your sexuality can truly blossom?

PISCES: When it comes to shared resources, you can feel uncertain about what belongs to you and what belongs to others. Engaging in a collaborative artistic project can be a great way to express yourself. Your sexual feelings might also confuse you at times. It can be challenging to identify and understand the emotional scars you carry, especially if you've experienced any form of abuse. You have a tendency to dissociate from unpleasant or difficult experiences, seeking refuge in another world. This might give the impression that you have multiple personalities when your hidden shadows come to the surface. The more you deny the chaos you're causing and remain delusional about it, the more destructive it can become. This pattern could be influenced by a lineage of people who played power games, lived in their own delusions, and were disconnected from reality in some way. There's often a psychological legacy of feeling like a victim and having your personal power stripped away. Confronting your personal demons requires you to "wake up" and see things more clearly. It can be dangerous if you let your imagination run wild and unknowingly attract harmful individuals. However, your ability to create an ideal state can eventually become a source of strength for you.

(CC) AstroJulia Some Rights Reserved

[pomegraphy]

How to Guide on Shadow work,

A loose Step by step and simple guide to shadow work.

Before you continue

I know we all saw those tiktok shadow work books and how easy it was! Now, so many people are trying to get into shadow work, but they just don't know how or what it actually is! So I'm here to try my best and explain what it is, the benefits, and the purpose of it! If anything I said is wrong, please let me know! Remember! Everything I say is just what I know works for ME. If it doesn't work for you, create a way that does work for you! Find more resources that can help you!

What exactly is Shadow work?

First, we have to understand what a Shadow is. Carl Jung is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who created the Jungian Archetypes. The term Shadow and what we're focusing on comes from Jung's model of psyche. The Shadow is the unconscious part of your mind that has all of the repressed aspects of oneself.

But what does this mean exactly?

It means that the Shadow embodies the unpleasant side of yourself. From unfilled desires, unhealed damage/trauma, and things you consider to be harmful. Also, it can be referred to as self-projecting.

People naturally repress their Shadow because it's things that are socially unacceptable, harmful, or hurts you in some way or form be mentally or physically.

Shadow Work

Now, Shadow Work is actually a type of psychotherapy in psychology. It involves exploring, acknowledging, and integrating the parts of yourself that you've previously repressed or even ignored.

The goal of Shadow Work is to recognize and acknowledge those parts of yourself. It's to learn that the parts you repress is who you are and those parts of yourself aren't good or bad. It's to learn how to accept yourself and who you are at your core.

How Shadow Work helps

Identifying and regulating your emotions (why do I feel this way? Am I angry at you or at myself?)

Improving your self esteem, self acceptance, self confidence, and self projecting

Strengthening and deepening relationships

Learning healthy coping mechanisms that work for YOU

Learning and how to modify self-sabotaging behaviors

Be cautious

It is easy to go down into a self deprecating spiral when doing this! Remember that the goal is to NOT highlight your worst qualities and get rid of them but to accept those qualities and learn how to live WITH those qualities. You are exploring yourself. This means self acceptance. By rejecting parts of yourself you are going down the opposite path!

How to approach shadow work?

Think of all of your 'cringiest/embarrassing' moments and stop thinking about how other people view it or what other people think or how you THINK they thought about it. Think about WHY you felt embarrassed in that moment. Be on your own side. Don't be an enemy to yourself or bully.

If something about a person triggers you (shocked, taken aback at their behavior), think how you would react to yourself exhibiting that behavior? Are you jealous or resentful of someone? Feel that feeling and really get to know it. Know exactly what you are feeling and know the exact cause.

Understand WHY you have negative behaviors. Did something happen in the past that made you develop that behavior? Once you acknowledge and recognize the cause of that behavior, you can then work towards a path of 'healing' in a way that you can accept it and find the next step towards a better sense of self that YOU can accept.

Recognize that the past does not exist. What exists is the present. If you felt embarrassed, something in your 'past' has conditioned you to feel that way. Your mind is still holding on to what has conditioned you. You have to learn to let go because the past is no longer happening right now. It doesn't exist, so there's no need to still feel conditioned to react embarrassed when it's already passed.

Everything you do as a habit, belief, or values that you don't fully understand will form and is your shadow.

Beware that you have things about yourself that you don't fully understand. Take time, reflect, recollect, and understand the things you don't get about yourself. There is never a 'I just picked this habit up.' Why did you pick that habit up? What made you pick it up? Is this a response to something that has happened to you before?

Why do you react a certain way? What caused it? When did you start doing it? What emotions do you feel during it? Why do you feel those emotions?

How do you motivate yourself? Why do you motivate yourself that way? What caused you to do it that way? Is it harmful or helpful? Why?

Integrate your Shadow to yourself. Find ways to express these unconscious things you repress in a healthy way.

Results of Shadow Work

It is important that as you see results that you MUST be kind to yourself. You must be patient and not rush through it. Setbacks are normal. Go at your own pace and take breaks. Everyone has a shadow. Do not feel upset over the things you learn about yourself. Seek help from others. It's okay to find a support system during this process. Whether it be from a professional or someone close to you.

Tips

Journaling your progress.

Be persistent

Be patient

Understand that not everyone goes on the same Shadow working process. Learn what does and doesn't work for you.

[schizoidvision]

7 Reasons Why Schizoids Experience Hyperawareness

Hyperawareness, in psychological terms, refers to an acute sensitivity to external stimuli and the constant monitoring of one’s environment, particularly how one is perceived by others. Schizoid individuals, who prefer solitude and emotional detachment, paradoxically exhibit pronounced hyperawareness of their social surroundings. This heightened awareness, which often results in significant mental and emotional exertion, serves as part of their defense mechanism to avoid unwanted interactions and maintain control rather than forming meaningful relationships. Despite this, schizoids can develop self-insight through conscious exploration, though it varies by their development stage. This article explores the reasons behind this paradox and its psychological implications.

1. Early Childhood Experiences and Psychological Makeup:

Schizoid individuals' hyperawareness is deeply rooted in their early childhood experiences. During infancy, they often face trauma or neglect, leading to the formation of complex defense mechanisms. These defenses help them cope with the lack of emotional attunement from primary caregivers, such as neglect, inconsistency, and emotional coldness. This early environment sets the stage for their heightened awareness of their social surroundings.

2. Objectification of Self

Without nurturing emotional bonds, schizoid individuals often perceive themselves as objects rather than people. This self-objectification increases their concern about how others view them. They see themselves as entities to be observed, leading to a heightened awareness of their actions and presence in social settings.

3. Defense Mechanisms and Emotional Detachment:

To protect themselves from further emotional harm, schizoids develop defense mechanisms like intellectualization and emotional detachment. While they become hyper-aware of their external environment, especially how others perceive them, they remain emotionally detached. This detachment allows them to navigate social situations without becoming emotionally involved, using their hyperawareness as a tool for self-protection.

4. Social Surveillance

Schizoid individuals engage in constant social surveillance to avoid unwanted attention and conflicts. This behavior, rooted in early defensive strategies, helps them maintain control over their social environment. However, it also reinforces their detachment, as they are more focused on monitoring others than on understanding their internal emotional states.

5. Hyper-awareness and Social Perception:

Schizoid individuals' hyper-awareness is not about forming relationships but about avoiding unwanted interactions and conflicts. They engage in social surveillance to blend in and maintain control over their environment. This constant monitoring helps them understand and prepare for social interactions by knowing what is expected of them, even if they do not seek deep connections.

6. Fragmented Self and Lack of Self-insight:

Despite their hyper-awareness, schizoids often lack self-insight. The ability to perceive oneself from others' perspectives does not provide true feedback on one's deeper self. As a result, their true selves remain hidden, leading to emotionally detached and superficial interactions. This emotional detachment contributes to an underdeveloped self-concept and identity, making self-understanding challenging.

7. Cognitive and Emotional Split:

Schizoid individuals experience a divide between their cognitive and emotional selves due to the defensive mechanisms developed during childhood. They may objectify themselves, seeing themselves more as objects rather than people, which intensifies their concern about how they are viewed by others. This cognitive-emotional split means they often feel like they are performing a task rather than enjoying social interactions, leading to a preference for solitude and work environments where they can avoid the stress of constant social monitoring.

In Summary...

Schizoid individuals display a paradoxical behavior where they exhibit hyperawareness, an acute sensitivity to external stimuli and constant monitoring of their social environment, whilst sometimes lacking deep self-insight. This hyperawareness, rooted in early childhood experiences and defensive mechanisms, helps them avoid unwanted interactions and maintain control rather than developing meaningful relationships. Understanding this phenomenon can help schizoid individuals to connect with the deeper reasons behind their functioning and gain greater conscious awareness of the psychological dynamics that are influencing their personal journey.

Video From My YouTube : Channel: Schizoid Hyperawareness and Lack of Self-Insight (Part 1)

[nanaosaki3940]

Sakamoto Days Manga Chapter 173

Thank god the current JAA chairman isn't Uzuki's biological brother!! Uzuki's just an orphan who grew up with Gaku and the others in that orphanage. 😩 I would've hated that if he was actually related to the chairman...

Them being runaways!!! 😍🥰 Now I see why people ship them so bad!! 💕💕💕

And my thoughts about the Uzuki-Rion ship vs. the Nagumo-Rion ship...

I'm not one to ship characters unless their relationship is made canon by the mangaka. However, I can understand why people ship Uzuki and Rion together. They have a certain charm, and their interactions in the Sakamoto flashback arc were indeed quite shippable.

On the other hand, the idea of Nagumo and Rion as a couple doesn't hold up. Neither Nagumo nor Rion has ever shown romantic interest in the other. Their dynamic is more akin to that of siblings, with their banter and bickering reflecting a deep friendship rather than a romantic connection. The Nagumo-Sakamoto-Rion trio exemplifies true friendship, portraying how best friends interact and support each other. Throughout the series, Nagumo never exhibits romantic feelings when thinking about Rion; his memories of her are purely platonic.

Some might argue that Nagumo's inability to move on from the past and his obsession with uncovering the truth behind Rion's death suggest romantic feelings. However, this is not the case. Nagumo is simply a person who cannot let go of the past until he solves the mysteries that haunt him. Unlike Sakamoto, who tries to forget the past to lessen his pain, Nagumo needs closure. He is determined to uncover what happened to Rion during the year she disappeared with Uzuki, only to be found dead later with Uzuki beside her. The circumstances are undeniably suspicious, and Nagumo's pursuit of the truth is driven by his loyalty and love for Rion as a best friend, not as a romantic interest.

Consider the circumstances: Rion ran off to catch Uzuki, vanished for over a year, and was then found dead with Uzuki alive by her side. It’s impossible to dismiss this as mere coincidence. This is why Nagumo, even while working for the JAA and the Order, continued to investigate behind the scenes. He needs to understand what truly happened that year. For Nagumo, this isn't about romantic love; it’s about caring deeply for his best friend and seeking justice for her.

This distinction highlights the differences between Sakamoto and Nagumo. Both were deeply hurt and affected by Rion's death and Uzuki's probable involvement, but their coping mechanisms diverged. Sakamoto chose to escape from the pain, trying to forget the past by running away from it. However, this approach worked until the recent events pulled him back into the chaos and forced him to confront these memories, turning him into a fugitive and separating him from his family. Nagumo, in contrast, couldn’t move on without knowing the truth. He needs to uncover what happened to Rion, especially given the suspicious circumstances surrounding Uzuki's survival.

In my opinion, Nagumo and Rion do not share a romantic relationship, nor does Yuto Suzuki-sensei portray them as such. Their relationship is rooted in deep friendship and loyalty. However, I understand why people ship Rion with Uzuki, and I'm eager to delve deeper into their backstory.

[bethany-sensei]

It’s time for more

Weird Queer Characters

And the people have chosen

Baleirithys

That’s pronounced ba-LAYR-i-tis. Yeah I know. Fourth Sphere dragons need spelling reform.

He started his life as an unwanted prince, the son of a tyrant who spent about a century wrecking his own kingdom out of spite and a raging inferiority complex. At the age of eighty (this is roughly comparable to sixteen for a human), Baleirithys outwitted his father with cunning use of poison. By Seyzharel law, Baleirithys would forfeit his claim to the throne if he killed his father the tyrant, so he uses a combination of magic and drugs to keep the “Sleeping King” in an induced coma. Everyone is fine with this.

Baleirithys mostly taught himself how to rule his kingdom, but he did have some help from his friends, the dragons of the Second Sphere (yes, the assassins). Now about four hundred years old, he’s still working to undo all the damage his father managed to do. He considers all of the dragonfolk at the castle to belong to his Clutch*, but he does have some favorites: the tailor, the baker, and his childhood crush who is the healer.

Baleirithys does not yet realize that he is genderqueer. He suppresses his less masculine tendencies until he can’t any more, and then he flees his home for a short while to engage in reckless behaviors (a favorite is picking fights with the notorious criminal, Szearbhyn Soul-Stealer)**. He knows he shouldn’t, but he hasn’t figured out what else to do about it yet.

Baleirithys’ lousy coping mechanisms have a direct impact on Tempest’s story.

*a Clutch is a group of people a dragon considers their own to nurture and protect, often including close friends, offspring, romantic and platonic partners, etc.

**it is well known that in dragon societies, the females typically exhibit more aggressive behaviors, especially when young.

[curatoroffiction]

Congratulations on your milestone!!!

Can i request perhaps a comfort with Octa trio, with an artist reader but finding out their art it just a coping mechanism, please?

if its not too much tho— feel free to ignore the request:)

Thank you!

Azul had long-since attempted to get one of your art pieces in the Mostro Lounge. The art of another world - Another universe! It was a novelty that was discovered in your first art class. You had techniques and perspectives and memories of places no one had ever seen. Whatever you put your mind to, you poured your heart and soul into it to bring something alive in it. Something none of Twisted Wonderland had ever experienced before you arrived; Your world.

Your teachers were surprised and excited by your works. Other students marveled as they asked questions about the places you painted, or the things you captured in your sculptures. Your art very quickly became the talk of the school - And it was spreading quickly beyond those confines as people passionately shared photos of your work online and discussed what you'd say about your own work. Posts of your paintings were going viral online, and you were attracting quite the unique art convention to Night Raven College. But to you, it was the only way you could see your world, even just a glimpse of it. It was because of your rise in popularity that Azul was willing to do whatever it took to get a piece of your art. Something to attract people to the Mostro Lounge, something he could invest in for the future - A ___ ___ original! But you weren't selling. "Look, Azul, I've told you several times already that I'm not selling. I'm not doing commission work. I just, I just create art, and I'm keeping it for myself." "Surely, ___.. You couldn't appreciate all this art on your own? You MUST have some pieces you're willing to part with. I've got quite the offer, I'd say.." "No thank you." "You can have a meal a day at the Mostro Lounge for a month." "No." "Two months." "I said no." "Three-" You start closing the door on him again, which is when a foot slips right between the door and the doorframe. You look up to see Floyd grinning, having just slithered into view. "Now Shrimpy, I think you should hear out Azul's offer.. ~ Wouldn't want to be rude, yeah?" He's daring you to give him just one reason. You sigh, slowly opening the door. You're not looking to give him a reason. Azul straightens his tie, coughing into his fist as he puts on his smile again. "Now, ___.. I'm sorry we're getting a little more.. eager? But you have to know by now that your art is going to make a lot of noise. If you let me host a public gallery, we can keep the art hounds off of you. No one will know your address, and anyone who comes here to harass you would meet quite the resistance! I know you like your privacy, so please, let us help you." "...." You stare at the two, your hands still firmly on the door, ready to attempt to slam it at any moment. Jade is nowhere to be seen, but that doesn't mean he isn't here. But still.. there's a certain sense to what he's saying. You could let him showcase your art, keeping the pieces all to yourself at the end of the day, and he'd keep people from trying to take it for themselves. And, if you aren't selling, that creates an exclusivity that should be appealing to him.. "How's this; I could let you showcase my art, BUT- The pieces are still my own. Mine. I'm not selling. I'm not selling to you, I'm not selling to the art critics, I'm not selling." "That's fine! I can work with that! Yes, an art exhibit could be quite thrilling!" Azul flashes an excited and warm smile. "And it'll be quite beneficial for the both of-" "I want half the proceeds." "..." Azul blinks. He then gives you a bewildered look. ".... What?" "You're gonna charge for admission, yeah? I want half of whatever you make from my art." "..... I'm sure we can iron out the details-" "It's a non-negotiable term." Azul pauses. He smiles once again. "We'll iron out the details in a contract, to keep both parties honest." "You'll be speaking with my lawyer." "... Who is your lawyer, exactly..?" "Crewel." "... I see. ----- Part 2

[blackkatmagic]

I love how your Granta jives so well with the clones due to growing up believing himself a tool for the Mission, but also that his primary expression of love is "I want to make YOU my mission!" because as delightfully unhealthy as THAT is I still imagine the clones in particular understanding this sentiment perfectly and going "aw" (or Sith!Fox/Stone/Thorn's version which is: "aw. *mine now*.") - but so far Jax is the only one who's taken that extra step into "You can DO that?!" and then promptly done the same thing right back at Granta. Something something accidentally stumbling right into Your People like that cat in the capybara exhibit. (Somewhat aside but also a continuation: Your Feemor and your Granta shoved into a room together would be fascinatingly hilarious and/or awful and/or both - especially considering their radically differing philosophies) (which is to say I just love this repeated theme in your works and how it fits onto different characters) (you're my favorite writer)

Honestly one of the funnest part of writing Granta as Like That is throwing him at the clones and exploring just how not okay all of them are, which I feel gets overlooked a lot in favor of focusing on Obi-Wan/Anakin/Ahsoka/etc. The system they and Granta were both raised under would leave them with some pretty wild internal logic and coping mechanisms, and Granta is fun to throw at them because he's like. The super extreme condensed into a person. Very fucked up but in a way that's like one of those mirror that makes everything look bigger and/or closer.

[hello-nichya-here]

lmao you're so angry that you know shit about radfem so made an entire fucking essay of actually... PROVING IT??? of made up facts to make radfems look like a boogieman liberals wants us to make 😂 it's so pathetic omg, ok step by step:

1)lol what? radfem is about WOMEN, woman's safety, it doesn't matter who exactly was the abuser, what matters is to help female victim because it a movement about WOMEN. Take your head out of your ass.

2) Laetitia Ky, Artė, any south Korean radfem cuz any other type of feminisms won't work there hundreds of woc radfem here just 🗿

3) lol what? did you just imagined it yourself lol?? i'll repeat, radfem is about women well being, it doesn't matter who exactly was the abuser, what matters is to help female victim because it a movement about WOMEN not victims of abuse. and it just so happened that men commit about 90% of abuse, that's a statistic you can google go educate yourself

4) didn't libfem tumbler came out with this bs? it's the same labeling woman, putting them into unneeded categories that liberals like so much? i'll repeat, radfem is about women well being which means no separation from one another and no judgment especially about your sexuality. Take your head out of your ass.

5) ohhh yess we all just haaaaate ace.... no lmao. no one gives a shit, maximum is questioning the label itself cuz it's pointless, your asexuality is a low libido. no radfem gives a shit.

6) lmao where do you take this shit? 😂 can i take your narco dealer's number? also, oh what's this? several public researches that proves that TIMs exhibit a male-type pattern of criminality? rapes in prisons where trans women were sent? hundreds of assaults in public restrooms??? wow shocking!

7) you don't need to be saved, some therapy, cuz i doubt you'd like to be beaten/choked/ect in any other circumstances. another question does it not bother you that your partner would enjoy "playfully" hurting you? in short it's called coping mechanism to deal with abuse and trauma, go educate yourself

8) yeah for some reason we don't support child trafficking, rapes, murders, pedophilia and etc. that comes with prostitution. go watch interviews with those who escaped prostitution, they all hated it. they were abused and traumatized. Take your head out of your ass.

9) hun, we don't hate you we pity you at worst. it's not our job too look out for men, it FEMENISM it's about WOMEN and only WOMEN. adult human female, comprende?

and listen i may not be the best person in the world but at least i'm not spending my life chronically online writing incest fics ;) one again, pull your head out of your ass and educate yourself, here's some masterpost https://manlarp.tumblr.com/post/667874370724691968/accessible-radfem-ideology-masterpost bye bye :)

Saying "WE ARE ALL ABOUT WOMEN" doesn't change shit. You once again proved my point by saying that my experience with radfems spewing out abuse apologism towards me when they thought I was being abused didn't happen based on nothing but your favorite go-to defensive line. YOU didn't see it thefore it didn't happen to ME. Way to prove you guys don't try to silence women who disagree with you by trying to exactly that.

And yeah, I know there are woc of who are TERFs. There are also women who are even more misonygistic than some men. There are plenty of slavic countries where nazism is still a big thing even though Hitler hated slavs. Self-hating idiots have existed and always will. Doesn't change the fact that you fuckers are racist all the damn time.

"We don't care if people are ace, we don't devide women" literally a quick search will show that you guys do. A bunch of the anti-ace discourse was literally INVENTED by radfems, something they are very proud to admit. And plenty of queer radfems are biphobic all the fucking time, something I, a bisexual woman, have to put up with every single time one of your friends comes bother me. Go lie to someone else, bitch.

"Those who ESCAPED prostitution hated it" Yes, people tend to hate things they were forced to do. Doesn't change the fact that you guys are more concerned with making women who WANT to do sex work be labelled as criminals than with punishing human traffickers.

And once again, we have you being all condescending. "Let ME tell you what YOU want. Let ME tell you what makes YOU feel safe." And gotta love how you heard me say I'm kinky and immediately assumed I'm submissive, instead of a dominant or a switch. And then of course you have to go for the slut shaming of "You write kinky porn therefore you are automatically wrong."

"FEMINISM IS ONLY ABOUT WOMEN" Which is why it is dying. If your movement cannot accept that the world isn't black and white, and that societal hierarchies are much more complicated than just Group A is always the all powerful one and Group B always gets screwed over, it WILL fail because it will be ignoring real problems for the sake of keeping a narrative alive. Which is why nobody fucking likes radfems, and the world would be better off if you idiots were gone.

I don't need to read your bullshit, because you idiots will scream your nonsense at me all the time, like you just did. And not once have any of you ever said a single word that was worth listening.

Don't bother sending me more asks, I'll just block you. Go larp with your fellow radfems about every single woman who has a problem with you guys is "brainwashed by the patriarchy" because there's no way you guys could EVER be the problem and that your "activism" is as shallow, stupid and fake as you are.

[purpleheartskies]

Robby's characterization and portrayal (part 2) - Robby in s5

Before s5 came out, I wrote a post about Robby's characterization in s4, which accounted for a lot of his characterization throughout the series. One sad reality for Robby is that the childhood trauma he started out with in s1 has been compounded by his experiences throughout the story, such as Johnny replacing him with Miguel, the school fight, everyone's behavior towards Robby since then, and juvie. Robby's mental health and traumas have been worsening. For example, Robby's statement in s4 about not trusting anyone anymore was true and was, in large part, the result of Daniel's actions in s3e2. I've also posted before that Robby's scene with Johnny at the end of s4 was reminiscent of an abuse victim going back to his abuser. No doubt, it was exactly that. Because Johnny's abusive behavior towards Robby in s5 was there for anyone to see, and anyone who recognizes that type of abuse saw Johnny's behavior for what it was.

In this post, I want to talk about Robby's characterization in s5, focusing specifically on his behavior wrt Johnny. A lot of people were taken aback by it, or worse a lot of people praised it as Robby "maturing". But sadly, given Robby's worsening traumas, Robby's behavior in s5 actually fits his characterization: Robby has c-ptsd, and as it worsens, he exhibits more signs of it. At the end of s4, after Robby believed he'd "screwed everything up", he went to Johnny, hoping to work on his "hate" (which he doesn't realize is how his trauma manifests) and try again with Johnny. (Of course, the responsibility has always been on Johnny to be the parent and truly try with Robby, which Johnny continues to fail to do.) Robby also needed/wanted the adult and mentor in his life that he has always needed/wanted. Johnny is the mentor Robby was speaking about when Robby said, "Be the mentor I wish I had when I was younger." Sadly, Johnny hasn't changed at all for Robby to get what he truly needs from Johnny. And it's understandable and sadly realistic that Robby went to Johnny after pushing him away and giving him attitude in the few interactions they've had over the past 2 years or so (the show's timeline).

Robby's behavior in s5 is called "fawning" and is a type of trauma response adopted by some with c-ptsd. In fact, some people who grow up with rejection trauma might use fawning after unsuccessfully attempting the other trauma responses like "fight". Robby believing that he'd "screwed everything up" in s4e10 is what led to the change in his response behavior towards Johnny. Fawning involves the person developing people-pleasing behaviors to avoid conflict and to establish a sense of safety. It's a type of coping mechanism that survivors of c-ptsd adopt to "appease" their abusers. They might agree with everything the abuser says, do things that will earn them approval, set aside their personal feelings to avoid abuse, and/or put their abusers needs above their own. This was Robby's behavior in s5. In Robby's case, the main "abuse" he's avoiding is Johnny rejecting and abandoning him again. Robby knows that Johnny will reject and abandon him completely if he doesn't comply and behave in a certain way. After Robby started this behavior with Johnny during the Mexico trip, it slowly escalated and pretty much became Robby's consistent behavior after the baby news.

There's a lot to breakdown in s5, especially in light of previous seasons. I'll do separate posts about the "rivalry" and apartment fight, Robby's interactions with other characters, and more. But, in this post, I'm going to focus on Robby's behavior to "appease" Johnny by focusing on certain scenes.

s5e1/2 - The Mexico Trip

Johnny started off the Mexico trip by tricking Robby into going with him because Johnny needed help finding Miguel. Johnny literally admitted this to Robby after telling Robby the truth about why they were in Mexico. Johnny also gaslighted him about looking for him when he was on the run after the school fight, and then tried to get him to stay by guilting him about making things "right" with Miguel. Johnny's conversation with Carmen followed in which he told her that it's not safe for her to be there. Robby's pensive reaction to that convo could have been because he realized that Johnny and Carmen are dating and/or he realized that Johnny didn't care about risking Robby's life. Either way, Robby experienced a lot wrt Johnny's behavior in this series of scenes.

It's at the bus stop though that Robby's behavior changed on the trip. Johnny gave Robby some cash and said, "Sorry I dragged you into this Robby," and just left Robby to get back home on his own. After tricking, gaslighting, and guilting Robby to come and stay on the trip, Johnny was getting rid of Robby, not even making sure or caring if Robby could/would get back home safe, but instead abandoning Robby in an unknown, unsafe place in another country to get back home on his own, while Johnny openly worried about and acted to ensure Carmen's and Miguel's safety and well-being and to ensure that Miguel got back home safe.

At the beach, after Robby had saved Johnny, and they're talking and drinking their respective drinks, this line of Robby's really stuck out because this line indicates that Robby stayed to appease Johnny and put Johnny's needs and feelings above his own.

"But I'm going to stay. You're trying to make things right and I wanna help you."

(Johnny's squinty little look of surprise at Robby's words.)

Robby's consolation prize was "making some stories together". After Johnny ditched Robby at the bus stop and Robby decided to stay, Robby kept saving Johnny/them after Johnny kept putting himself/them in situations that he/they needed saving from, all for Johnny's quest to find Miguel and bring him home safely.

In their final scene in Mexico, Johnny hugged Miguel, with a "fatherly" love that Johnny has never shown Robby. This time Robby didn't react as he had once reacted to a similar scene back in s1. Robby had no choice but to completely put aside his feelings to keep the peace with Johnny.

After they returned, Johnny told Carmen that he and Robby were good, but Robby and Miguel still have issues. But, Robby later told Tory at the waterpark that he and his dad still have issues. Johnny has allowed himself to believe that all is now good with him and Robby. After all, Robby had done what he could to appease Johnny, and sadly, Johnny has never actually cared or even thought about how Robby feels about Johnny's failures with him or about his relationship with Miguel. In fact, Johnny minimized his over 17 years of failures with Robby when he told Robby, "I know I haven't been there for you, Robby. More times than I can count. But I've also failed Miguel," essentially comparing a lifetime of failures with Robby to essentially no failure at all.

s5e5 - The apartment fight and rivalry "resolution"

This is one of the most atrocious scenes in the series. Johnny's Cobra Kai mentality reared it's ugly head, and Robby was it's latest victim. Like some people have said, Robby had no choice but to fight because these were the terms now. After Johnny had suggested the fight, Miguel wanted to fight. Johnny wasn't going to let this go until Robby complied and made things "right" with Miguel. Earlier in the episode, Robby had also clearly said that Johnny and Miguel have their thing and he's okay with that, putting aside his own feelings about it again, so that he could have his space from Johnny forcing him to be "family" with these people that Johnny consistently puts above him. But, Johnny had already been pushing Robby about making things "right" with Miguel during the Mexico trip, and now Johnny's panic over the baby coming sped up Johnny's timeline for forcing Robby to accept these people that Johnny wanted in his life more than Johnny had ever wanted Robby. To Johnny, Robby isn't a person with his own needs and feelings. He's just a thing to have around as part of Johnny's checklist to feel like he's making up for his failures.

Johnny: "So? Is it over? Are you guys good?"

I want to focus on one moment at the end of the fight.

Robby got zero resolution on his side in his convo with Miguel, which Johnny doesn't know. But, Johnny never cared why the "rivalry" had started, who had started it, what the details were, or if things had been resolved properly. All Johnny cared about was that things were "resolved" between them. Given what Robby had just been forced to endure, after a pause, he nodded yes that he was "good" with Miguel, but only after Miguel said that he's "good" now. Because Miguel was "good" with Robby now, Robby had no choice but to be "good" with Miguel now too.

Once again, Robby had experienced a lot wrt Johnny's behavior before Robby complied, and this time it was to appease Johnny's desire that Robby now get along with Miguel.

s5e5 - The baby news, and Robby's place in Johnny's new "family"

Of course, right after that moment, the baby news dropped.

When Johnny slipped and mentioned the baby coming, Robby's immediate reaction was NOT happy, especially when Miguel said, "You and my mom?" Robby's processing the news: the Diazs are now going to be Johnny's permanent family too. Now, Robby has to comply with Johnny's expectations, or Robby will be abandoned. The Mexico trip and apartment fight had already proven that Miguel was still Johnny's priority over Robby, and Johnny's convo with Carmen during the Mexico trip proved that she was also a priority over Robby. Now, this baby would be a priority over Robby too.

Johnny then said that he and Carmen were going to tell them together so to act surprised, and Robby smiled slightly. When Miguel exclaimed happily and Johnny said "like that", pointing at Miguel, Robby immediately broke into the ridiculously too happy smile, and Robby rushed to hug Johnny before Miguel could.

THIS is when Robby's behavior changed the most. It's important to note again that once again Robby went through a lot before he responded with more fawning. That apartment fight was brutal. Robby wanted his space from Miguel, but Johnny's feelings and needs matter more, and Robby knew he had to fight. He looked hesitant and scared at different points in the fight. Robby gave up, "lost" in the end, and got no resolution on his side. Even his nod in response to Johnny's "are you guys good?" was Robby appeasing Johnny. With the baby news, Robby now knew that Johnny is pretty set with a new family now and with another kid on the way to replace Robby with. Essentially, Robby knew where he stood with Johnny, and because Robby was given no choice but to stay with Johnny during the summer, he especially had to accept his place in Johnny's new "family". (Neither Shannon nor Johnny bothered to ask Robby if he wanted to stay with Johnny. They had made the decision for him.)

This scene also shows Robby's vigilance as he's figuring out if he's safe here. Well first, Robby's line about the breadsticks was definitely him fawning. Then after Carmen entered, the way he's extra/cautiously nice with his question (if it's alright that he's there) and with his smile, followed by his gaze as he watches her carefully is telling and concerning. Robby knew that, if she said that she didn't want Robby there, Robby would be out.

s5e8 - The "fatherly advice" comment, and Robby's behavior that followed

This moment was one of the few moments pre-s5 Robby made an appearance.

Robby: "How sweet. Is this what fatherly advice sounds like?" Johnny, annoyed: "Robby. Come on, we're just talking." Robby: "Relax. I'm just messing with you."

The comment about fatherly advice is so telling because Robby stopped fawning for a moment and was more of himself with Johnny. Johnny immediately got annoyed with the comment and made it sound like Robby was being unreasonable, so Robby put the mask back on and laughed off his own comment as a joke. Johnny's convo with Miguel had been about Johnny respecting and caring about Miguel's feelings and not wanting to fail him again, but when Robby commented reminding Johnny of his failings with Robby, albeit in an indirect way, Johnny shut Robby down with annoyance. Clearly, Robby's feelings about Johnny's failures with him don't matter. And, Robby's comment itself indicates that Johnny hasn't been having these types of fatherly chats with Robby, even though Robby was now living with Johnny. Robby had also broken up with his girlfriend, and obviously Johnny had never asked Robby how he was doing after his break up, like Johnny had now asked Miguel how he was doing after his break up with his girlfriend.

Johnny then sighed and said, "I'm glad you ironed out your shit. With the two of you on the same team, we have a shot."

The look on Robby's face as Johnny says that says it all.

Johnny just wants Robby to get along with Miguel for Johnny's own benefit: so he can have them both, with the condition that Robby not have issues with Miguel and with Johnny's continued lack of attention and caring towards him and his continued prioritizing of Miguel; so he can have them get along and they can all be a "family" for him, especially when the baby comes along; and so now he can have a better chance of them winning against Cobra Kai. No where in any of this do Robby's needs and feelings matter to Johnny.

Later in the episode, Johnny told the boys that they've all earned the chance to take part in the trials but only one of them can fight. Johnny's recap of the two avts of course leaves out Miguel's cheating move of pulling Robby's injured arm between rounds to get his championship win. Since s3, Johnny and Miguel call Miguel's s1 avt "win" a win and proudly call him "the champ", even though Johnny had acknowledged in s2 that Miguel didn’t have a real win because of Robby's injury and because Miguel had fought dirty.

One thing that sticks out though is Robby's reaction when Johnny says, "Diaz is last year's champ, and that could've gone either way."

Robby nods and also acts like the second part's true. That's definitely a contrast to Robby in s2 who had commented (to Johnny in s2e1) that Miguel had fought dirty and (to Miguel in s2e10) that Miguel had cheated.

Given Johnny's annoyance at Robby's fatherly advice comment earlier, Robby couldn't have disagreed here. The Robby who speaks out about any mistreatment has no place in Johnny's life and new "family".

It's also interesting to note that Miguel is in the center, right across from Johnny while Robby's relegated to the side, Robby's now permanent place in Johnny's new "family".

This moment is actually the final interaction between Johnny and Robby in s5, and it also really sticks out. Robby's smile is too sickly sweet, like his smile after Johnny said how he wanted them to react about the baby news. After finding Miguel in Mexico, Johnny and Robby shared no scene alone with each other, and Miguel is present in every scene they have. Given Johnny's insistence throughout the season that Robby and Miguel get along and Johnny continuing to prioritize Miguel, Miguel's constant presence isn't surprising.

It's important to note that Johnny's behavior and characterization in s5 was consistent with that throughout the series. Since s1e4, Johnny's primary goal has been to feel better about himself and his failures with Robby. This is why Johnny decided to have Robby stay with him after Johnny's convo with pawn shop guy in s5e4, even though Johnny continued to ignore Robby's feelings and needs. Johnny has never considered how Robby feels about Johnny's failures with him. Johnny just wants to feel like he's making up for his failures with Robby. Robby is the one who had to change who he is, in an extremely unhealthy way, in order to have a place in Johnny's life and new "family". This "family" is a sadly realistic representation of many of these types of situations, in which the child, who was previously abandoned, is now only welcome in their parent's life and new "family" as long as the child is accepted by the new people in the parent's life and as long as the child behaves a certain way. And, Robby's behavior was sadly realistic and consistent with his characterization. Robby adapted to survive and to "appease" Johnny so that Johnny wouldn't reject and abandon him again.

(Note: Please don't reblog or reply with any dismissive comment or tag expressing negativity towards the show writers, the writing, or the serious aspects of the show. Such comments/tags minimize the contents of the post. This blog (link) explains more about my general thoughts about posting after s5.)

[navree]

Hi! So it’s rumoured that we might expect the show about the Conquerors so there’s one thing I’m interested in

Could Visenya’s motivation for pushing Maegor towards the throne, mocking Aenys at every turn and claiming he’s weak, and her falling out with Aegon to the point that they couldn’t even stay at the same residence been motivated by the fact that Aegon married Rhaenys?

It’s said he married Visenya for duty and Rhaenys for love. But we aren’t given details of their weddings. It could be Aegon married Visenya first as tradition dictated, but then Aegon chose to or was seduced by Rhaenys into taking her as a second wife? Visenya might not love Aegon, but him insulting her like that surely could motivate her into betrayal?

First things first: HBO, I've said this before and I'll say it again, I am willing to work for very little money and I know I'd make a good show, just give me this, I can do it right the Conquerors are my babies.

I think it's entirely possible, since we know next to nothing about the inner workings of the Conquerors' brains, but I'll be honest, if that were an actual plot I'd find it a bit lazy. There are very few tropes that feel as tired to me as "woman scorned" and given how interesting these characters have the potential to be, it would just seem to me like the easiest way out. Yes, there's a reading where Visenya feels insulted that Aegon loved someone else more than her and prioritized that relationship, and that's a perfectly acceptable headcanon to have and I'm not here to knock on anyone's theories (and this is all theorizing because of the dearth of information we have), but as a writer, I find it a bit basic, and I'm not entirely sure it holds up to scrutiny. Visenya never exhibits any sign that she is insulted by Rhaenys and Aegon's marriage, or that she bears either of them any ill will. She fights by their sides during the Conquest, she crowns Aegon as king herself, she's comfortable sharing administrative duties with Rhaenys, she's just as upset as Aegon was when Rhaenys died, and she specifically is the one who creates the Kingsguard to protect Aegon. And when Aegon dies, she doesn't ever actually try to challenge Aenys's authority as king, she respects him as a ruler and never mounts any challenges (especially poignant when it's so clear that if Maegor and Visenya really wanted Aenys gone, they could do that, they have the two most powerful dragons in the world at their command), and she does try to actually help and advise him. She badmouths Aenys, yes, but only once he's king and long after Aegon's dead, and it seems that's more motivated by genuine issues she has with Aenys's personality than any old hurts that are making her be vindictive or petty.

The thing is, the change in Aegon and Visenya's relationship really seems to have been motivated by Rhaenys's death, not her introduction into the marriage. Visenya, according to all the records we have, appears to have been perfectly fine with Rhaenys being Aegon's wife as well, and with Aegon's clear preference for Rhaenys as a romantic and sexual partner. It's only after Rhaenys dies and the First Dornish War comes to an end that it's apparently becoming clear to chroniclers that Aegon and Visenya are drifting apart. And to me, that reads more like it was what happened to Rhaenys specifically that altered the course of that relationship. Grief is a very powerful thing and it can either bring the people affected closer together or tear them apart with its intensity. And these two were absolutely grieving, they lost their baby sister unexpectedly and violently and clearly weren't handling it in the most healthy way, considering that their coping mechanism was "burn an entire subcontinent to the ground over and over with indiscriminate rage for two years". It seems like Rhaenys operated, in some capacity, as the glue holding their family together, considering how she's described as kindhearted and well liked and just a good person to be around, in stark contrast to Visenya's sternness and Aegon's reserved introversion. So when she died, you've got two people, who have a cooler relationship with each other than they had with her, who are feeling very strong emotions that they cannot handle very well and are heavily internalizing, and it resulted in them drifting further and further from each other in the years to come (especially on Aegon's part, considering how clear it is that he never got over Rhaenys). That's likely part of what motivated Visenya's own strong attachment to Maegor and her decisions to prioritize her own line over the laws and customs of Westeros and to do the things that she did, no matter how "evil" they might be.

My own theory is, as I've mentioned, that Visenya was a lesbian (or at least a woman attracted to other women) and was jealous of Aegon for having Rhaenys, rather than the historical narrative implying the opposite, and part of her issues with Aegon getting so bad was how Aegon ended the war and their chance to avenge Rhaenys without even consulting her. Mostly because Rhaenys and Visenya's relationship is very important to me, ASOIAF needs more gay characters, and there's a lot that can be played with in the idea that the taboo involved isn't even the incest but simple same sex attraction, and how that factors into the Valyrian culture vs. Westerosi culture debate and how the Targaryens operated in their early years. @ HBO, I'm right here, I'm free and available.

TL;DR, it's certainly possible, but it doesn't seem like Visenya was bothered by Rhaenys entering the marriage or viewed it as a betrayal, and the catalyst for how bad things got with Aegon and Visenya and how it bled over into the succession was Rhaenys's death, not Rhaenys's involvement with Aegon.

[bug-the-chicken-nug]

When you see a post about Adrien not being able to last a single day at a real job and like.

I know he's flawed and that that post wasn't entirely meant to be serious, but like

I feel like it is still important to correctly represent a character's flaws, or at least to parody them only by extrapolating what they truly exhibit.

Tbh I could see him like

If he suddenly lost all his money and typical civilian responsibilities, I could totally see him being overwhelmed and going into temporary burnout mode, over-relying on Chat Noir as a maladaptive coping mechanism and seeing any form of further responsibility as a crushing burden that reminds him of his history of restricted freedom.

But once he gets over that, I honestly think Adrien would come to find working like a "normal" person stimulating and refreshing in its own way, at least with the kinds of like. Standard low-wage teenager jobs you'd expect him to have access to.

Like it's not like he was some lazy brat who made Nathalie do everything, he already *did* have to constantly deal with things he didn't like, things that he found dry and boring, demanding and obsessive people, and immense amounts of pressure to succeed.

His actual like, annoying/harmful flaws (so not all of them, just the ones that have particular potential to negatively impact others) I've observed are, from what I can recall

-He's way too pushy with a girl he likes

-He gives people not only more chances than they deserve, but so many that it can go on to enable further harm.

-Sometimes, he's such a goody-two-shoes that it feels like he oversteps and tries to tell other people how *they* should feel when it's not his place.

-Half the time, he's kind of just a jobber and a general fuckup as a superhero until they suddenly need him to be useful/competent again.

-His feelings for Ladybug can make him behave selfishly in a broader sense too, besides just being kinda pushy with her.

-Handled things with Kagami poorly sometimes, and his lingering feelings for Ladybug often kinda made it *feel* too much like he was leading her on, even though he technically wasn't in the strictest sense of the term.

And as for flaws that are specifically harmful to the story, I feel like that mainly boils down to him being too much like just Marinette's trophy being constantly dangled on the end of a stick in front of her. Besides his sad life and all that, he actually kinda lacks interiority and agency, at least as much as you would expect from one of the main characters after so many episodes.

So yeah, he's been annoying and stupid and nowhere near as great as the show wants you to think on multiple occasions, but like, labeling Adrien as some stereotypical whiny, irresponsible, weak-willed rich boy who would never survive in the "real world" like imo totally misses the point in favor of low-hanging fruit. Therefore, it would also have a potentially harmful impact on subsequent efforts to "improve" him.

[pinklemonade333]

Q!Quackity: Having to Take “No” for an Answer

(all q! btw) (not caught up with ALL of q!q’s storyline so I’m sorry if this is inaccurate)

Something I would really like to see on the QSMP would be for Wilbur to give a final “never come near me or my child again” to Quackity to show him that he cannot continue to take advantage of his kindness, nor inflict psychological harm on Tallulah as a way to deal with his own grief.

For Quackity, having the person that has been the most kind to him turn him away because of his own actions could either be a wake up call that will allow him to begin to recognize how his actions are affecting others, and possibly work though his issues in a healthier manner as a bonus as he’d see that these ways of coping aren’t helping him either, or it could instead drive him further into his unhealthy coping mechanisms like revenge and other such harmful (both to himself and others), selfish behaviours we’ve seen him exhibit. Either way, I think it would make for a very good turning point in the arc he’s been constructing.

For Wilbur, it could be an interesting step forward in his character development. A person who’s main philosophy is that he should be kind to others having to turn away someone he knows is deeply hurting for the sake of himself and his child could possibly create some rifts in his convictions. Maybe he’d change his philosophy after recognizing that kindness can also be both a way to help others and a way to open oneself up to being taken advantage of. Maybe he’d try to convince himself that the kindest thing he could do for Quackity was turn him away. Maybe he’d not be sure it was the right choice, but he did it for Tallulah’s sake anyways.

Personally, I’d love for Quackity to finally realize that he is indeed hurting the people he cares about by disregarding reasonable boundaries and seeking revenge. Just watching that clips where Tallulah’s cowering from him in the basement while Quackity demands from Phil her just outside, or when she was so confused and believed that the people griefing her house didn’t like her breaks my heart for the kid. I’d love if he could realize that he’s hurting, yes, but people don’t owe him kindness when he’s causing them harm and acting so selfishly. With the bond he’s formed with Wilbur and his feelings towards Tallulah, having him be rejected by Wilbur specifically would probably be one of the best ways to do it from a story standpoint (and be good for the general drama of it all).

I want to see him hit rock bottom then climb back up into being a better person, but having him hit rock bottom and keep on digging because no one wants to offer him a hand anymore would also be interesting.

[pearwaldorf]

Gaza, Holocaust, genocide

Do you know the other time in my life that I've seen lists of names like this? At the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. There were so many and the type was so small there was a magnifying glass in the exhibit so you could see Anne and Margot's names.

Yad Vashem put together a life sized Book of Names. 4.8 million known victims, and blank pages for 1.2 million victims who have not been identified. There are two banks of names. Each is six feet tall and 26 feet long.

How the fuck does a country founded partially to ensure something like this never happens again turn away from an atrocity within living memory to do the same thing to another population?

There is a word a Jewish professor of mine used to describe Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath, but I can't remember what it was. It means something like "a grievous sin" or something incredibly shameful*. That is what is going on in Gaza**.

This year has felt like it is intent on shattering every illusion I have ever held about lines in the sand, the hope that there is some inherent threshold where people go "This is too far, and we will push back against it." And I'm sorry to say there isn't one.

I wish I had something comforting to say, I really do. I wish I could tell you that all we have to do is keep working for good things and it will happen. But I don't want to set people up for disappointment.

We live in a society where we don't think something is worth doing unless we think we're going to succeed. That is the wrong way to approach it, imo. There are things that are worth doing, even if they're difficult, because it's the right thing to do. Success is, of course, the end goal, but I don't think it's what you should focus on to the exclusion of other things.

Maybe this is a coping mechanism for me to deal with the possibility a lot of things I work towards won't succeed, I don't know. But at the end of the day, I tried my best, and I have to hope that's enough to help push things forward.

--

* It wasn't "shande", which to my understanding has implications of people not acting right and thus embarrassing everybody Jewish. This is much much worse.

** I have no opinion on whether a Jewish state should or should not exist, although I understand why people would want one. But I do not think this particular Jewish state should exist if this is what is "required" to maintain it.

[feisaru]

Do you have any other IE ships besides FeiSaru? And do you have any sexuality/Neurodivergence Headcanons for anyone in IE?

I do. But tbf, tbf I've drifted away from the other ships ever since I played CS and these two entered my life. You could say they're the only ones I have really hard feelings on. Other than that, I pretty much just vibe with what the people I follow throw on my dash (there are a few ships that trigger me, but luckily nobody here has subjected me to them yet and I've filtered their tags)

Nevertheless, here's some other stuff I enjoy:

Enhiro!!! My babies. I love them. A lot. I wrote crap analysis on them at 3 am after I watched S3. I've heard the Japanese side of the fandom does them pretty dirty though. Glad I didn't have to witness any of that yet lmao

Arugan (Alpha and Gamma from CS) (@amalg4me's fault. These two are so friggin cute)

Rococo and Fideo

Garsha and Vanfeny (recently decided to call them Garvan)

Meia and Giris

Hakushuu

Kyouten

Somefubu

Midori and Nishiki

Anything within the Break Trio (yes, as polycule also)

Very fine with Kdfd and Kisaku

Haruna and Kogure

Tourika

Ennatsu

Most of the typical Galaxy pairings, I think? Like Minamana, Mataten, Munetaku, Konoha and Kusaka... I kinda forgot what I shipped there because in the end I found Ozrock as an antagonist really enthralling and thus focused on him mostly. Gotta touch up on that someday.

(There's also a special ship my friend made up that I'm not listing here...) (and Aoi is a firm sapphic imo, make of that what you will)

It all comes down to I don't seek out ships, if they come to me they do, if they don't, they don't. There are various things I like seeing people get worked up over but can't say I actively ship (e.g. Takuran, Ranmasa, Nosaichi (bc I have not seen Areori)). Suma sumarum you could say I'm pretty chill over almost everything mainly bc I'm so insane over Fei and Saru that there's no room for much of anything else *fingerguns*

Now to the sexuality hcs: I have a lot of those. If you want my thoughts on any specifically, u can send 'em my way bc I wouldn't even know where to start. They come flying to me like the word of God to an ancient monarch.

And neurodivergence! Honestly, there are quite some characters in the entirety of IE that exhibit signs of being nd. Lots of them hyperfixate on soccer, use it as a coping mechanism, or both. But once again, my brain doesn't mull over the entirety of this franchise. So, (who would have thougt?) I definitely have pretty firm thoughts concerning Saru's mental problems (Fei's too but Saru's are overall easier to figure out for me)

(Bonus little thing which I think is a pretty popular fan interpretation: Endou has ADHD and Kidou's definitely autistic)

[horizon-verizon]

A lot of us in the ASoIaF fandom throw around the word “antihero” a lot when we talk about certain characters like Daemon Targaryen, Aemond Targaryen, Sandor Clegane, etc. George R.R. Martin himself calls Daemon Targaryen an anti-hero, despite some fans claiming that the book character likely killed his first wife, Rhea Royce, for her property.

But what is it and why do we (some of us) like them so much? 

[Warning: Lots of quoting]

“Antihero” Defintions

An anti-villain is the polar opposite of an anti-hero: a character with heroic qualities, who turns out to be the villain. Their intended goals are usually good, but their methods range from bad to ugly.

Anti-heroes are still good people, but their approach to achieving what they want might be different than what society deems "acceptable". On the other hand, an anti-villain is evil and does whatever it takes to get ahead no matter who gets hurt in the process (StoryFlint)

the central character in a play, book, or movie who does not have traditionally heroic qualities, such as courage, and is admired instead for what society generally considers to be a weakness of their character (Cambridge)

An antihero is a protagonist that displays qualities that do not align with the traditional hero. The qualities can include laziness, greed, selfishness, i. These characters more accurately depict true human nature because of the flaws given to them (Writing Explained)

An antihero is a protagonist or main character who does not embody traditional heroic qualities such as grand displays of bravery or unwavering loyalty/honesty. Most antiheros could be described as ordinary. Sometimes, they even embody unappealing characteristics such as lying and cheating. However, they are overall still a good character that does good things for other people (WoodheadPublishing)

“Antihero” Purpose

[...] an antihero has to work to make readers trust them and feel invested in their storyline. However, with appropriate character development, the end result is a much deeper bond as audiences watch the antihero grow and develop, all the while the antihero is becoming more likable and accepted.

Additionally, antiheros are more easily related to than traditional heroes. Every person has flaws and it can be hard to relate to perfect heroes because they are less like us. With antiheros, there is a very natural and complex sense of growth that results from the events and characters the antihero has to navigate. This mirrors real life more fully than the traditional hero-villain arch. The sense of suffering and overcoming is highly valued in literature, especially in contemporary times (WoodheadPublishing).

The use of an antihero as the protagonist in a literary work can serve several important purposes. By including a main character with flaws, it creates a more realistic main character. It also allows for the character to exhibit growth if he or she overcomes these flaws  (Writing Explained)

“Antihero” Traits

will often do what's best for their own self-interest even if it means putting other people in danger. They're not necessarily evil, but they definitely don't have the same sense of honor and duty as a traditional hero does

belief in something is what motivates them and sometimes they can be morally grey. They're fighting for the greater good, just not necessarily playing by all of the rules that a hero would follow.

...because their methods are often questionable, this can also lead to a lot of inner conflict and turmoil for the anti-hero. They're doing what they think is right, but it's hard to be proud of their questionable deeds when they were selfish or done at someone else's expense

unwillingness to play by the rules and live up to expectations put on them. They don't want someone else telling them what they can or cannot do, even if it's for their own good.

[...] internal conflict [...]; And because they don't always have the best coping mechanisms, this can lead to them being self-destructive or anti-social

don't trust authority figures or people who are more fortunate than them, and they can be pretty cynical about life

one of the reasons anti-heroes act differently than heroes is because they've probably experienced some pretty traumatic events in their lives.  (StoryFlint)

usually has one of the "Dark Triad" personality traits: narcissism, psychopathy, or Machiavellianism ("The Antihero in Popular Culture: Life History Theory and the Dark Triad Personality Traits”)

Disclaimer 

Anti heroes act in or are adopted to have these traits. Since they don’t exist as real people and are imaginative creations that you could use to study human thought patterns, but aren’t solely made for or manifest as such. The below definitions of the “Dark Triad” in regards to literature is metaphorical or just not the same as when existing in real life. The meanings of narcisssm especially come to contradict each other through the historical thoughts on it, and we are in our medical psychological, “everything must be real and individualistic” place.

Narcissism: 

often regarded as an unhealthy characteristic, and investigations of the interpersonal functioning of narcissists support this view. In short, narcissists seem to be interpersonally inept. They make good first impressions, yet are eventually regarded negatively as arrogant and self-centered (“Parenting Narcissus”)

Narcissists want positive feedback about themselves, and they actively manipulate others to solicit or coerce admiration from them. Accordingly, narcissism is thought to reflect a form of chronic interpersonal self-esteem regulation (Britannica)

it tends to be the result of indulgence instead of deprivation ([Karen Horney’s thoughts] Personality and Personal Growth)

Psychopathy (called today, anti-personality disorder if though as a psychological disorder)

basically persistent antisocial behavior

less sense or capacity for empathy and guilt

bold uninhibition and egoism ("Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: Developmental origins of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness")

Machiavellianism :

manipulativeness

callousness

indifference to morality (“Studies in Machiavellianism”) By definition, they do not take a moralistic view of themselves, others, or interpersonal relations and should feel no greater qualms at admitting their behavior than they do at performing it

Antiheroes can be on spectrum of relatability, appeal, and intensity of traits listed above, just as villains and heroes and “anti-villains” are.

Who is the most anti-hero and who the least?