#so I put as many as I could justify putting on there

[unchaineddragon25]

I hated being autistic and having synesthesia when I was a kid. My synesthesia was basically treated like a shock collar built into my nervous system. Anyone could subject me to a loud noise to cause me immense pain without leaving a mark on me. People would actually keep score on who could cause me to drop to the ground in pain most often before the end of the week. And I couldn't do shit to retaliate until I was in high school. One kid screamed in my ears in ninth grade and dumped the contents of a trash can on me once. And then he thought it was messed up that I grabbed a lunch table and hit him with it. I got lunch detention for responding to an unprovoked attack. I just didn't get people.

Eventually things got so out of hand that my disability was made public knowledge by the admins just so that my retaliations could be justified as self-defense to hate crimes. I lost track of how many times I was assaulted. It just never stopped. Even when I got into the habit of throwing people around, I never felt safe. I even got followed home by people on my way back from the gym. I kept two knives concealed in the palms of my gloves for that reason. The attacks were so common that I was frequently released from school 30 minutes ahead of everyone else simply for some additional safety. And even that didn't guarantee my safety. When I was eighteen a boy at school pulled a knife on me. I disarmed him by weakening his grip with a pressure point to the base of his wrist.

I hated myself for my conditions when I was growing up. And more than that, I hated people for putting me through hell for being different. A friend's dad once threatened a group of kids who chased me across the neighborhood with his spear cane. And another time my archery teacher had to pull a crossbow on a group of kids while his daughter threatened to call the police on them for attacking me with rocks to the head when I was in junior high. My teacher had me practice in his backyard from that point onward and gave me a key to his carpentry shop for extra security where he kept a spare bow and arrow and a phone with the police department on speed dial.

I basically had to live as if my life could be ended at any moment. One of my greatest fears was to die and end up a cautionary tale. I only survived due to either dumb luck or being physically stronger than my attackers. The latter of which is why I spent so much time in the gym as a teenager. By the time I was seventeen I was regularly bench pressing my own body weight 150 reps a day. My autism caused me to overdevelop in regards to neuromuscular efficiency, prioritizing that over fine motor control. It was necessary to survive. And I could read human biomechanics like a neurotypical person could read facial expressions. I was a natural fighter. I trained at the gym in weight lifting, cardio, and martial arts for up to five hours a day. Just to deal with my anger. Just to have a place where I felt safe.

I still struggle with PTSD to this day because of the abuse and violence I suffered as a kid. One of the only things that brings me any relief is swordsmanship. The sword is one of the few weapons I didn't train with during that time. It's a clean slate for me. I used to use any number of weapons in self-defense that I'd keep on me. Knives, staves, short clubs, whips, and more. I even once had to raise an axe in self-defense when I was fifteen when I was cornered. I'd been removing a small tree for a neighbor when I was ganged up on.

It just felt like it would never end.

I mean surely we all grew up feeling like there was a wrongness inherently deep inside us that will endure for the rest of our lives

[sorcave]

Hating Calypso does not mean you don't understand morally grey characters and defending her does not mean you understand them.

I've seen many takes from those defending Calypso in one way or another dismissing those who hate her as "not understanding morally gray characters" which is simply isn't true. Defending her as a poor victim who didn't know any better does not mean you understand the concept of morally gray characters either.

The main divide is whether intent, her actions, or both matters in defining her morality and by how much. Either side of that spectrum is missing the nuance of the situation- she's not a supervillain intent on making Odysseus' life horrible nor is she an innocent, naive girl who shouldn't be held accountable for her actions. To me, while I don't think she is evil, she is at the darker end of the "morally gray" spectrum as her actions are so egregious that her intent nearly doesn't matter.

Most defenders use the story that Calypso tells in "I'm Not Sorry For Loving You" as their evidence. She didn't INTEND to hurt Odysseus- she hasn't known anyone before so she didn't know! She was just lonely! She just loved him! If you were stuck on an island all alone for 100 years and finally someone came, wouldn't YOU want to make sure they didn't leave? Besides, she apologizes for her actions!

This is a trap that the song actively brings listeners into. It is meant (or at least easily interpreted as) as a plea for sympathy, to make the audience feel empathy for poor Calypso. It is not a simple explanation for her actions and it is definitely not an apology for them. The reason it feels like a "Youtuber Apology" is that they share many similar characteristics. She is intentionally vague about what she is apologizing about, to the point they are nearly irrelevant. "Coming on too strong" wasn't the issue- it was "Coming on too strong" AFTER Odysseus told her no ( "From here you're mine, all mine"/ "Hell No") was. It doesn't address her main crime, specifically keeping a man AGAINST HIS WILL for seven YEARS, even AFTER he became so desperate to leave that he was moments from committing suicide. Lastly, she doesn't take accountability but (intentionally or not) blames Odysseus . "I'm sorry if my love was too much for you" is a VERY common phrased used by abusers to shift the blame from themselves onto their victims.

The crux of the issue for me is while her rough experience up until she met Odysseus may explain her actions, too many people seem to use it to EXCUSE her actions (including, seemingly, the narrative itself). Why this rubs so many the wrong is because of how many real life victims have been told they have to "forgive" their abusers because their life was hard or "they didn't know better." Many who were bullied as a kid had at least one guidance counselor say they needed to "forgive/even befriend x because they are struggling/ \[Insert Bad Thing Here} happened to them." Many others see Calypso using the same tactics their own abusers used to hurt them, and justifiably hate her for it.

I am not saying someone is wrong or stupid for having a more forgiving perspective on Calypso. If you are one to put more weight into intent than actions, I could see why Calypso could be a much lighter gray ( I am not seeing many defenders saying she is an entirely innocent, "morally good" character"). It can be argued that her actions were not of an intentional abuser but of a goddess who haven't had much experience with relationships before, especially with mortals. If her idea of romance came from whatever the Ancient Greek version of romance novels were, it makes sense that her idea of romance may not be the healthiest. Heck, even reading the myths would explain or even excuse why she didn't see "She's my wife" as a sign to back off- for probably at least 90 percent of Greek Heroes, that would not matter.

In summary, Calypso is a morally gray character- but that doesn't mean there aren't valid reason to dislike or even hate her. Seeing her as dark gray bordering on black doesn't mean you don't see the nuance- many who are against her understand her intent may not have been evil- but that her actions make her intent almost irrelevant. So please stop dismissing those who dislike/hate her as simply misunderstanding/being naive with morally gray characters. Many are not (especially since the entire show is full of them) and simply put weight in her actions more than her intent.

[hearts-in-tune]

One more project finished, and it’s a coat this time!

It’s a lot (maybe a bit ridiculous) but super cute

There’s even a floppy muffin hat to go with it! It’s in the same fabric as the bows and has its own matching bow in the back.

Made this for myself but for some reason I’m not really liking this shade of green on me. I’m gonna test out some other different ways of styling it over the next few days. Hopefully it’ll grow on me...

[vriskan8or]

let her go

[caughtthedarkness93]

My friend, a man stood in front of you and said "I would like to kill my political opposition. I would like to command the military to use physical violence against those who do not bend the knee to me." And at best, you decided it was a problem you could stomach.

This is a message he has leaned on repeatedly. He has not been subtle or ambiguous about it. Donald Trump has, in multiple situations, said that the people who do not agree with him are traitors, has said that he considers "radical leftists" to be "the enemy within," defined anyone left of Mitt Romney as a radical leftist, and said that he wanted to harm these people. And before you say that no, he didn't do that, he did.

So I want you to tell me: I want to not write off conservatives. I've known many through the years and back in the 2000s, I actually respected a lot of them. I don't want to believe the worst about you.

But you saw a choice between a candidate threatening to use the arm of the state to enact physical violence against people who do not agree with him politically and someone who wasn't.

I can see what you're doing here, the veneer of respectability, the genteel persona. I honestly wish political conversations like that were still possible. But it rings so very hollow when your standards-bearer is an avatar of petty vengeance and cruelty.

So by all means, try. Try to justify why this is the man you chose to put in a position of power. I'm listening. But the walls you're going to have to climb here are high. I will be civil as long as you are. But I will not let lies and cruelty stand. And as I see it here, you have voted for lies and cruelty. What say you in your defense?

conservatives are evil

[fumifooms]

Chilchuck analysis speedrun: As a hardworking half-foot who grew up poor and discriminated against and had his gullibility taken advantage of multiple times in his early adventuring days, Chilchuck thinks optimism is a dangerous flaw. He’s stressed and strict all the time because his job is noticing details like traps that could get everyone killed before anyone knows it, he takes the lives of everyone to be on his shoulders, and with the way he speaks about it that probably partly reflects how he felt about taking it upon himself to provide for his family too. His life’s always been pretty centered around work and has become even moreso now that his wife left and everyone is independent, and due to past events he’s very iffy with bonding with coworkers. He thinks feelings and job are a disaster mix. Like with his wife or with parties hiring him as sacrifice, being open or having good faith is vulnerability which can get you hurt, so he processes and shows all his stress as anger instead of worry. Doing strict dieting probably isn’t helping the irritability what with hunger, and on top of being a hunger suppressant alcohol might be the main stress reliever he has.

His grey hairs are so earned

[turtleblogatlast]

Things I make for myself when insomnia kicks in

Just a chart about what I wanna change up and keep consistent in my art - I mainly wanna draw Raph with a tail because he deserves one, it fits too well. Donnie gets a long tail too because I didn’t realize how dino-like he looks until I gave him one, and now it’s a must for me haha.

[presidentofthelipglossclub]

i have come up with a new, extremely self indulgent AU for tfrb:

basically what happens is each individual character in tfp accidentally finds out about the rescue bots, whether it's through a ground bridge mishap, an intel scouting mission, even a situation where they get rescued.

this starts out with mostly autobots, because i assume griffin rock is either in autobot territory or a neutral/unclaimed area (or it's off the grid and nobody knows about it) (i think the last one is the funniest), but the decepticons also learn about them eventually.

now. here's where the funny/self indulgent part begins. none of them know anyone else knows. the autobots AND decepticons all assume they're the only one who knows about these bots, and that the team has been trying to live a normal, calm life away from the war.

team prime doesn't know optimus and bumblebee already know, and the decepticons don't know that these guys have connections to the war. and of course, the rescue bots always manage to worm their way into every. single. bot's. spark. all of them individually grow to care about the rescue bots, and independently decide to keep them secret. nobody wants their new friends to get hurt!

anyways shenanigans of course ensue because it's very hard to keep a previously extinct group a secret from all of your friends, and since everybody knows but doesn't know everybody knows it becomes a lot of ridiculous sneaking around and badly lying to everyone.

the rescue bots are SUPER confused by all these bots who keep showing up, but they pretty much just assume that someone spilled their secret and everyone after are all showing up to meet them. eventually i think they would start to figure everything out, but they don't fully comprehend that everyone has been trying to hide them from each other until some big reveal happens.

the way this pans out is probably the end of the war honestly, because again; no one wants these guys to get hurt, physically or emotionally, and if that means having a ceasefire so be it.

[t8oo]

there is some symbolism iv never considered in that one episod of pt5 where zenigata rescues fujiko before she kills lupin

[horce-divorce]

crazy how if you're not selling your time to an employer, suddenly everyone else thinks they're entitled to it. ie "you don't have anywhere to be, why can't you just do XYZABC for me?" as if i have nothing else important to do, ever, just because some authority figure isn't setting my schedule for me, or because those tasks don't bring me income, or whatever, it merely fucking keeps me alive. useless, I know

[btsbs]

.

[66sharkteeth]

Hello! Idk if you are still faking asks but of so thank you in advance if this gets answered!

I'm not gonna lie, it's a bit disturbing how the majority is cheering on Rex and the side he's taken. Though that side might have some points, I just can not see them as people I'd like to ever support or think they are doing it with good intentions in mind. But anyway, I apologize if I just can't understand or root for this gang. I know things aren't black or white but i just see more bad than good. And I hope that's ok.

The only think I dint understand and kind of made me not like Rex so much anymore is that when he is fighting Desmond he mentions something along the lines of "you already met my scyon" and that just raised more questions for me. One of the mane reasons Rex felt hurt and betrayed and thought it was all Desmon and Lys's fault for "betraying him" was because he couldn't under why they would turn on him (it was when he still didn't know about the other part of himself). But now he knows, he knows its the Scyon that hurt and attacked them. Hence why they had such a reaction. I've seen people stating that yes, Rex was betrayed! And I just...I don't see it at all especially when the og gang had every right to react the way they did.

This monnet kind of just made me distance myself from Rex I guess. Because he knew the scyon was the one to hurt the gang, the reason why they reacted the way they did and yet that does nothing for him. I don't think this is bad writing, nit even the slightest. Cause I know some people in real life would have such a reaction. We are flawed beings and some weren't thought or leaned how act to know their actions or way of thinking is flawed etc or self centered. It's a process everyone can go threw in different ways. So I hope maybe Rex one day can learn more as he goes.

But yeah, was there something behind the scenes we didn't see for Rex to not even question that the Scyon hurt Desmond or for him to not even care about that fact?

I still love the comic a lot and its one of 2 other webtoons I follow religiously and have given money for passes! The art and world building I feel like is really good and has made me so inspired to make a fan art and fic for this world (I'm just too afraid and shy to share I guess but I'd love to one day!).

I hope you have a good day and I apologize for any speaking or grammar mistakes I've made. English isn't my first language and I'm also dyslexic 😅

Tbh, I think the only people who are 100% wrong are the ones who think one side is 100% right.

Like you said, the situation isn't black and white (heck, it's even one of the major themes of the story), and both sides have points and flaws, some bigger than others. I know people are having fun cheering for Rex's "corruption arc" (I even love to tease about it), but that's exactly what it is- a corruption arc.

Rex has points and fair criticism, but it's important to also remember the environment he's in. He's Blan Corp's prized pig that they need to keep happy until they get that memory. Other than Bag Girl, Rex is basically surrounded in an echo chamber of yes-men. So no, you didn't really miss anything. Rex is just currently in an environment where everyone is telling him "Yeah! It WAS abusive of Desmond to make you do all those chores!! What a jerk! >:(" and Rex going "yeah, you're right!! I am the victim here! Tell me more."

He's with the villains now and there is a lot of manipulation* going on.(*Side note: Mostly from Jericho and his Scion, to be clear. You could argue Nia as well, but I kind of maintain that she is just as manipulated and in a kind of equally tough position. Remember, Blan Corp is the ticket to getting her mom back and she's kind of in just as big of an echo chamber of "human bad, blank superior" as Rex)

That said, please don't give up hope on him haha. Rex can get a really sharp tongue when he's pissed (as seen in the latest episode with his encounter with Lyss), but he's still the same Rex at heart. He could never take the steps that Jericho is willing to take, and I... Tried to make that clear in ep 133 with Desmond's criticism of Rex's changes. Desmond asked if he really has it in his (half-human) heart to follow in Jericho's foot steps, and I like to think (most of us) know he doesn't- At least not as far as Jericho. Desmond planted the seed of doubt in ep 133 and I don't intend to just...ignore that seed in my writing of what's coming up.

TLDR: Yeah! Rex is being a jerk right now after a lot of manipulation, gaslighting, and just all around anxiety. But that's what a corruption arc is. Only time will tell if he starts to realize what a jerk he's being, but I certainly didn't show him hesitating after what Desmond said because it went in one ear and out the other. That's definitely going to be living rent free in the back of his mind for now.

[arolesbianism]

Thinking abt Sif Odile duo looping au again and I wanna be able to plot everything out more coherently but act 5 eternally looms overhead and boy I do not wanna look up

[imblocking-you]

Reading Turning (I'm on ch. 131) and I'm so damn curious who Nahan actually is and what's his deal like how he knew so much and so detailed and he got to both the Hartan and the Apeto households earlier than the Cavalry did.

Also, I enjoy the Commander being a cryptic mess and Yuder being oblivious as hell.

[bardicbeetle]

see the problem i am experiencing yet again is this: do I bite the bullet and make SitD like, really quite fucking long so that the climax and falling action are the whole mess with Isaac's uncle OR do I maintain the initial one as Alex's full turning/the killing of their father I'M

this is the problem when you write a three book series at age 14 and realize the amount of content could potentially fit in one book but also it really could be two if you spin it right

[oh-yeah-ants]

in all the stuff I’m seeing about the watcher drama there’s a lot of “we CANNOT AFFORD to pay the 6$” which I’m sure is definitely true for some people, but not all. I feel like a good portion of the backlash is coming from how sick everyone is of subscription services. Sure I could pay the 6$. But i don’t want to. I literally do not care about watcher or the shows they produce enough to do that, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. Maybe if the company put out more things that appealed to their audience I could see the subscription as a worthwhile thing, but honestly there are so many other channels out there that cover spooky stuff or history stuff or conspiracies that I would rather watch ON YOUTUBE instead of giving my card info to a production crew that only makes one show I put on in the background every once and a while. They seem to have overestimated how much loyalty fans have and the mask of a renegade dorky YouTube channel slipped to reveal a now profit-focused company and it���s very obvious that fans HATE IT. As is their right.