#so what are we supposed to learn from this if we can't trust whether a character is being genuine or not

[sungkaan]

My biggest gripe about the ending isn't even about the ship or about Eren's character. Now, it's how they disrespected my queen, Carla Yeager.

Whatever happened to "He's already special because he was born in this world"?

I remember watching that and feeling what Eren has felt. Like a weight was suddenly lifted off my shoulders because I don't need to prove that I'm special so I can justify my worth. Me and everyone are already special by virtue of being born. That made me cry. That line got me through tough times. I always go back to that.

Now, the main character and the author is suddenly saying how idiotic it is. They've contradicted it.

"Oh sorry all of this happened because I was an ordinary idiot."

Are you implying that if the founding and attack titan were to be given to someone 'special', the the rumbling wouldn't have happened?

Yeah fuck you guess he prob need Ackerman genes to be special.

[sillygoofyqueer]

ahhh i'm glad you like it!! and you're SPOT ON with the pampering and carrying the other peak lords do<3 whether he's in his small bird form or his big human form with large wings, doesn't matter, he's getting picked up!! (i love liu qingge playing taxi chauffeur and realizing with horror that he likes holding shen qingqiu in his arms a little too much🤭)

so so so, i was just thinking about preening, if this is a canon compliant au, and shen yuan got dropped off in another's body, he probably has no idea how to take care of his bird features, let alone his wings, like how to align the feathers, removing molted ones, dust bathing to remove excess and stale lipids so his plumage stays fluffy, or taking care of pin feathers (new pin feathers have a blood supply flowing through it, if the pin is damaged, it can bleed pretty heavily!), so he just... doesn't. no more than clumsily washing them when he bathes, anyway. and then his wings start itching, and hurting, and the feathers are all askew, and he has all these tattered clumps and pins that hurt when he picks at it and what is he supposed to do...???

naturally, people notice when the prim proper scholar's peak lord, with the perfect hair and flawless skin, has two disheveled wings trailing after him. some of them are worried it might be some sign of self-neglect (also bc it's specifically his demon features that look uncared for), and of course when shen qingqiu coughs once so to speak, yue qingyuan shows up at his doorstep; and i was thinkingggg..... different peak lords taking turns coming to his bamboo house for some casual wing care and preening..... in some bird species preening each other strengthens the trust and bond between the two, for crows it's even a big aspect of social bonding! crows preen their young, their mates, and sick or injured birds, so it's only nature that a ill-feeling shen qingqiu relies on his companions to help him when he's incapable himself...

also because i can't stop imagining shen qingqiu sprawled out across liu qingge or yue qingyuan's lap in bliss while they very carefully align his feathers and tease out molted ones, maybe freeing some matured pin feathers, feeling akin to having his hair brushed and played with while they take care of hard to reach places (thinking about how allopreening birds in nature often have less ticks/healthier plumage bc other birds reach places they can't, but shen jiu probably wouldn't let anyone touch his wings so some parts of them were always a little... messy).

some birds (like parrots) might even overpreen when exposed to strong scents, so all the peak lords quickly learn not to put on too much or heavy perfume because it makes shen qingqiu rub and dig into his wings until feathers fall out

(and i haven't even mentioned the sheer angst potential of stress plucking, but ahh this ask is already so long!!!)

OOOOH MY GOD!!! That's such a wholesome idea. I can already imagine it - and it's always a fight of who gets to preen Shen Qingqiu's wings, to the point where it actually turns into a fight (thanks to Liu Qingge) and it's almost an all-out brawl until Mu Qingfang (the only reasonable peak lord jhebus) makes everyone draw lots to see who gets to do it (- and then cheats because everyone else is so hyped up from the brawl, and his dear shixiong simply cannot deal with such stress!!). It becomes a natural thing to come up with different ways of deciding (unless Shen Qingqiu asks one, then the others just have to choke on vinegar(kiiiidding sort of)), and the peak lord who got to do it last time is not allowed to participate in the next game because that's unfair! Spitballing about how different peak lords go about offering it at first, if I may!! I think that Qi Qingqi would be actually quite gentle about it - she's used to helping out the girls with their hair and other things (shark week 😔😔), so she knows how to go about being like, "hey, I know we don't always get along but I'm going to help you out with your wings, 'kay?" and he is immediately just like "jesus christ please save me from this torment pleasepleaseplease" - kidding, kidding, he'd be much more hesitant about it because he knows that his wings are delicate and he needs to place his trust in whoever's touching them. Qi Qingqi has been...hostile towards him (because of Shen Jiu, so he can't be too offended), and this could be a moment of weakness (- jesus, bestie boo, I'm making him sound like Shen Jiu) but...his wings hurt :[ At first it's awkward, but then Shen Qingqiu relaxes and it does NOT become a gossip session (it should and it does, you can take that from my cold dead hands). Of course, Yue Qingyuan is the first to offer at all, being all like "xiao-Jiu plleeeaaasseeee 🥺" and who is Shen Qingqiu to resist those puppy dog eyes? He seems to have a history with Shen Jiu so it wouldn't be suspicious of him to deign to allow Yue Qingyuan to help out. Of course, Shen Jiu used to let Yue Qingyuan preen his wings on the streets (if we're going that route), so he's skilled and immediately makes Shen Qingqiu feel comfortable as he feels the itchy feeling in his wings FINALLY disappear with every movement the other man makes. Of course, he should be analysing so he can learn to do it himself but...he's so comfy :( When Liu Qingge first does it, it's on a mission! GASP!! Yue Qingyuan sent them on a mission together because it was a matter of both brute force that needed some form of plan involved that wasn't just "grab smash kill" (and mayyybe he wanted his shidi to bond, who cares? Shen Qingqiu has been a lot less hostile recently, and he's going to take advantage). So, they're out on this mission, and it's a LOT fucking harder than they first thought, leaving them waylaid in the forests (stereotypical I know but screw you (/j)). Shen Yuan's (for brevity's sake) wings are slowly getting worse and he's so very uncomfortable but he can't reach the worse bits so he forces himself to abandon his pride for a second and begrudgingly ask Liu Qingge for help! Obviously, Liu Qingge has no clue what he's doing and has to be guided by Shen Yuan (Liu Qingge later claims to not at all be nervous, but his hands were shaking because he didn't mind this new Shen Qingqiu and didn't reaally want to hurt him). The next time Shen Yuan needs his wings preening, Liu Qingge (literally) kicks the door down to offer to do it. He may seem overly aggressive when he manhandles the peak lord, but he's really quite gentle. I do want to yap about the other peak lords, but this answer's really long already!!! If you want me to, please let me know, because I severely want to expose myself as a Mu Qingfang and Wei Qingwei fan and PLEASE tell me more about the angst potential pretty please, I'll be like Yue Qingyuan at your door with puppy dog eyes. I'm INVESTED NOW, GOD.

[togglesbloggle]

In Defense of Bad Things

'Bad' here meaning mostly 'amateur'; stuff made enthusiastically by people at an unprofessional level. Art with visible gaps between what the artist imagined and what they achieved, products of flawed craftsmanship. I suppose everybody can appreciate them to some extent, it's a rare parent that doesn't put up their kid's drawings on the fridge in one way or another. But it turns out to be a fully general skill you can cultivate, and the more I do, the more I'm glad I did.

Partly, it's the teacher thing; finding delight in amateur work is one of the ways to find delight in the process of learning. Cultivating a love of striving-qua-striving can help make you a force for good in the world, as people start to feel safe trying to do things when you're around, even when their efforts are wobbly. You get to participate a little more in the process of atoms spinning themselves into ideas, even when there aren't any illusions about whether you're helping cultivate some revolutionary genius in the field.

And partly it's a fabulous way to build community. By necessity, our professional-level skills tend to be at the service of other people, performed for economic benefit; that's kind of how you get professionally good at something in the first place. When we're acting for our own sake, and among friends, most of what we do with one another is amateurish. I only cook middling-okay, I can't hold a tune that well, I'll never be a speed runner for anything. If you can only enjoy singing from the hundred best singers in the whole world, manufactured and polished by major studios, then you and your friends will sit shoulder-to-shoulder and passively listen to music. But it's so much richer an experience to sit face-to-face, actually singing together, even badly; you expose yourself to so many new ways to appreciate and respect one another, building relationships on what you've accomplished and not just by witty criticism or liking the same things.

And partly it's because some of the most powerful and innovative artistic experiences are in high-churn environments with low expectations and low barriers to entry, if only because those catch the passionate and driven young people that have been otherwise overlooked by our systems. The golden age of webcomics meant that a ton of the actual art involved was pretty lousy, but it also produced work that people still talk about today. D&D began as a profoundly unpolished collection of handmade rulebooks sold at cons in a plastic baggie. By the time these products of enthusiastic amateurs filter themselves through various levels of popularity and absorb mainstream cash influx, they're often risk-averse and missing a lot of the bold spark that inspired their fans in the first place; others will simply never drift towards the mainstream at all. I'm not saying you should be the person who goes out to dig through the slush piles of the internet looking for overlooked art, unless you want to be-- but sometimes a work of actual staggering genius also happens to be a Supernatural fanfic by a first-time author who's a little hazy on commas, and if that's a dealbreaker, you're going to miss out on some profoundly valuable experiences.

And hiding behind all of these things is, like...

Our appreciation of beauty has an odd structure, right? When things are done very skillfully, by brilliant artists with years of training, we can usually appreciate those accomplishments. And when we're looking at nature without human influence, and especially when we think very deeply about natural processes and understand them in context, we often rediscover that sense of beauty. There's just this bizarre hole in the middle where we declare things 'ugly'; as if a little skill is worse than none at all.

I really don't trust that gap. It feels like a trick my brain is playing on me, you know? It has me suspicious that a lot of what I consider 'ugly' or 'bad' is not a very direct experience of the world at all, or an informed judgment. That it is, rather, a declaration of (self-, social-) identity; a desire to be seen as a person of good taste, or as somebody who does things well, or just more primitively as one of the monkeys who is in the good-stuff-tribe and not one of the monkeys who is in the bad-stuff-tribe.

[suuuupernovaaa]

nìmal

nìmal [nɪ.ˈmal] adv. trustingly, without hesitation

Anonymous Request: Can we have one where Neteyam and Omaticayan reader love each other very much. But a guy likes the reader and tries to break them up by making neteyam think that the reader is cheating on him. He gets really angry and accuses the reader of cheating. Like there's a big fight. But later he learns the truth and tries to make it up to her and she doesn't make it easy on him.

Neteyam believes a rumor about you, and when he finds out the truth, you're reluctant to forgive him for his bad behavior.

932 words

Your bag is so full of fish that you aren't sure you're going to be able to carry it back home, but you can't stop.

Throwing the spear, hearing that satisfying thwack when it connects, getting to put your body to use, it's easing some of the tension you're carrying.

"Idiot!" you exclaim, though whether you're directing that at the fish or not, is unclear.

How could Neteyam believe you would even consider betraying him? Have you not been loyal to him, promised to him, in love with him completely? Does he know so little of your character that he is willing to believe you would give your body to another - to someone you are not mated to?

Just the thought of it disgusts you. His confrontation yesterday has left a sour taste in your mouth, and you feel so angry and hurt, you don't know how to release these emotions.

Kiri assured you she would fix it, but it's been an entire day, and you haven't seen Neteyam. Plus, you aren't sure if she can fix it - even when Neteyam realizes he was wrong, some damage has been done.

You catch another fish, add it to your bag, and decide to head home. This isn't helping anything.

Neteyam arrives just as you try to hoist the bag over your shoulder, and you freeze when you see him.

--

He watches her from behind the trees for a while, listening to her cursing at the fish she's killing, knowing she's picturing him in their place.

He winces with every kill.

He deserves it. He will curse himself until the day he dies for what he's done.

It's hard to explain it, even to himself. He just hopes she'll listen.

The glare she gives him when he approaches is almost lethal. "Can I carry this for you?" he asks, and the bag thuds to the ground again.

"No," she replies, spitting venom through her perfect teeth.

"Okay... can I explain myself?" He lifts his hands up, palm out, surrendering to her.

Not only is Y/N beautiful, but she is lethal. Most of the Omaticayan women are fierce, but something about Y/N gives her an extra edge. She is quiet, thoughtful, and dangerous. He's almost a little scared, which is part of why he's always been so attracted to her.

"You can apologize," she replies, standing straight, arms crossed over her chest, waiting.

"I am sorry, Y/N. Not only did Marek confess to me what... he said happened, but many confirmed it. It seems, you made some enemies, and one um, admirer. They were all too willing to confirm his story for him."

"None of that should have convinced you, Neteyam," she replied, so evenly and calmly that a chill ran up his spine. "You should have trusted me. You should have trusted how I feel about you."

"But you, Y/N," he rubbed his forehead. "You almost never tell me how you feel about me. You're very hard to read."

Her back stiffened, and her mouth opened a little as if to speak, and then closed again.

"Oh..."

--

That wasn't at all what I had expected Neteyam to say.

Though I felt very sure of my love for him - had I not done a good enough job ensuring he was sure of it, as well?

I tried to think... how many times had I told him I loved him? Not very many. But, how many times was I supposed to? Did he have a greater need to hear it than I realized?

"Still," I replied, still processing. "You wouldn't even listen to me, Neteyam."

He stepped forward. "That was wrong. I was wrong, and I should not have doubted you. It will never happen again."

You felt crushed by the look on his face. You tried to put yourself in his place; if he was feeling unsure of your affections, and so many people were lying to him, maybe it was easy to be confused?

"I would never want to be with any man, besides you," you said finally.

Neteyam stepped a little closer still, tentatively.

"I want to be your mate, Neteyam. It is all I have ever wanted. I am angry at you, very, very angry... but I see maybe I haven't made how I feel clear, to you. It all get stuck, up here." You point to your head, and you see Neteyam's expression relax.

He reaches out and takes your hand, and you allow him to pull you close.

"I'm sorry, Y/N. I trust you fully, and I will never doubt you again."

"I will... I will tell you how much I feel for you every day, if it helps."

He smiles, and squeezes your hand. "You don't have to say it every day... if you don't want to."

You reach out, running your fingers from his temple to his chin.

"I could show you, instead."

His brow perks up, and his smile grows.

"Yes, that could be good."

You lean in, pressing your lips gently to his, and he takes your face gently into his hands, and then wraps his arms around you as the kiss deepens.

When you pull apart, you are both breathless and smiling.

You bend down, picking up the bag of fish, and thrust it into his arms.

"You may carry this, and then consider yourself forgiven."

He bows under the weight of it, but dutifully carries it the long walk home for you.

Neteyam never doubts you again, and you show him just how much you love him every day.

[callofdudes]

I need to see this happen !!

Could you do a platonic Gary roach Anderson headcanon please, but with a twist. MWII 22 timeline please

My little bug boy! I'm currently laying out a timeline for him, so guys, seriously, ask me about Roach. I'm building an empire of lore for this man in MWll 22. Thank you for blessing us @itsscromp

Gary 'Roach' Sanderson headcanons

The timeline that I'm working out for my favorite bug boy is that he was forced to go KIA after a mission gone too far south a couple months after Simons return from his capture with Roba. 22 timeline, somewhere within the time Simon was still in rehab.

Friendly reminder in the og, Simon was shot and killed, Gary had to watch as both were burned alive.

So I headcanon that he shares some burn scars with Simon. And has some of his own.

When he is introduced back to our sergeant, Egg, as we now call you. It's on a whim excursion. I think I'm sticking to the idea that Simon happens to recognize him when out in public with you and that's how it started.

You start to get along well with him, even if he does stick by Simon most of the time. The two attached at the hip. He's quiet, and you often see him using sign language when alone with Simon.

Gary could talk, but was often much more comfortable with sign language. Actually talking and trying to find words a lot of times put some mental stress on him.

A lot of times, having to speak and not having the right words can frustrated him to tears.

"Roach, where are those papers you were supposed to get to the main office."

Gary opened his mouth, faced with a commanding officer than wasn't Price. Gary is strong, but when in a situation like this he can't focus. He couldn't find words. It's like he was stuttering together something in his head but he couldn't verbally get it out.

His hands moved anxiously, knowing he couldn't sign his way out. Stuck in place. He tried to speak, but nothing would come out. The officer only questioning him again, telling him to just spit it out.

Noticing Gary's growing anxiety, you came over and lightly tapped his arm. "It's ok Gary." You whispered.

Gary attempted some frazzled sign language, his own lack of communication making him frustrated, tears reaching his eyes.

You squeezed his arm. "Gary did send them in but there have been slow processing times down at the office recently. You should get it soon."

The officer seemed to accept this explanation, and you were left with Gary.

He whined in frustration and you rubbed his arm. "Hey, it's ok. It's ok, we got there in the end."

And you decided hey, if he liked to talk in sign language, what's the harm in trying to learn? So you started to spend some of your free time every day trying to learn BSL.

And eventually you had learned enough for some basic conversations, signing Hi! From your seat in the cantine, grabbing his attention. Gary gently patting Simon's arm and tugging him over to sit with you, signing back.

You smile nervously at him, attempting the sign from across the room, hopefully he'd see it.

You could see how his eyes lit up when you signed to him. He immediately grabbed Simon's sleeve, grabbing his lunch plate and tugged him over to you.

He sat down across from you and signed back. Again getting excited when you signed back. Simon sat next to you, also joining in.

You didn't know a lot, and Gary tried to keep his sign simple, experimenting sometimes of what you knew.

He was touched that you were learning sign for him so you could be a part of his choice to go nonverbal.

That's how the real conversation started. You started to ask him questions, things about himself and how things were before he left. Before all the shitty stuff happened and you arrived. And Gary is happy to talk.

I think that Gary is very selectively mute with his people. He will speak but there has to be a trust there. Whether it's the trust Simon shares with you, you learning BSL or just doing little things to help him around back on base he feels secure with you.

A life of learning to not trust people did that to him, and his family life was probably a little rocky. But he trusts you, eventually getting deep into conversation with you.

Also, you're going to have to clarify to him if you like bugs or not right off the bat before he shows you his... friends.

And while he's all about bugs, he's also a flower guy. Nature in general is his favorite topic but I think he knows a lot about flower language. Another way he conveys how he feels.

Silly, but I think he has a bunch of those fake flowers and a vase in his room, so whichever flower is in the vase the guys at least somewhat know how he's feeling without him having to use the words to express it.

Hes very athletic and flexible. He can fit into anything. It's not uncommon to see the little guy lounging on top of the fridge before Price has to swat him off. Or hearing him crawling through some of the vents by the gym or something.

One time placed a speaker in the air vent by your room and started playing creepy noises. You only called him out when you heard that little giggle.

Quiet, but I think he has the most distinct giggle. Like, you know it's Gary. It's not quite a cackle, but it is in a way. It's very distinct to him.

Once let a recruit get away with having a tarantula on base because he thought it was cute. Simon screamed at him when the thing got out.

Gary is as silly as he is tactical. Let's not forget just how amazing he is at his job. Gary is the guy who can get in and out without being noticed. Under the cover of a snowstorm you would never see him.

He's Ghost's main team up, of course he's skilled.

When you get surrounded by enemy soldiers with nowhere left to run you think you're going to die. Until the enemies start getting shot down from bloody hell know where! Precise bullet after bullet until their down. Only then does Gary pop up.

"Surprise! Miss me??"

Has bug themed pajamas.

Did a spicy pepper challenge and was crying on your lap for over an hour while quivering and blowing his nose into the thoughts of used tissues. It was not good.

Once got a lip piercing once as a 'dare'. Was sad when Price eventually found out about it and made him take it out ☹️

Took you to the zoo once, wanted to spend all his time by the bats and the snakes. They even had a tank of spiders that he desperately attempted to get you near because 'look how cool and pretty they are!'

Gary is also an incredible comforter. He's small, but he attempts to lay across you. If you're bigger than him, he'll starfish out across your chest, snuggling his head into your chest to try and keep you cozy.

If you've had a nightmare he'll wrap a blanket around you and stay with you.

He snuggled up to you, wrapping his arm around you. He tilts his head a little, pulling down his mask to offer you a crooked little smile of reassurance.

"It's ok." He whispers, trying to calm your shaking. He takes your hand, bringing it close to his chest, making sure you're ok.

"It was just a nightmare, I promise." He whispers again.

You lean against him, and he embraces it, taking the weight for you. "I got you, I won't let anything hurt you ok?"

"Thank you Gary..."

You once saw him slap Simon hard across the face (a little spat) and you thought that little man was going to die. Apparently Gary has the powers of the sun because Simon just nodded and shut up. Like what!?

You love him but you're also scared of him...

He's as cute as he is deadly, and just... Be careful with him. 😅😅

(sorry if I mentioned Simon too much, realistically I think they are brothers who would not go anywhere without the other)

[hellobitchlet]

Thoughts on Kinich's quest:

- from the moment the quest started, where Kinich revealed that Trindad wants to kill the Mountain King, and Paimon and Traveler immedietaly went to "Oh no! Killing = bad!", with no mention of Enjou or Ajaw whatsoever, I knew this quest wasn't going to be as good as I hoped. I don't know why I had hope in the first place.

- I like Kinich accidentally entering a beastly rift and doing his own research on abyss stuff, without automatically knowing the names for things like most characters. It was pretty neat to watch him explain beastly rifts to Traveler and Paimon while referring to riftwolves as "purple dogs". It made me feel like I understood how his brain works a little better.

- actually, the funny thing about Kinich, as a Natlan character, being the one to do this research is that Natlan is the nation that is at war with the abyss. Like. This is literally the only nation where it would make sense for the average person to know what riftwolves are. This isn't reeeally a complaint, I just find it funny.

- I'm really not a fan of how killing the Mountain King was automatically seen as bad despite their suffering bc tradition is 'more important', but to be fair to the main conflict, it would've been much worse if we were supposed to see Trindad as a bad person. The writers didn't villainize him for not wanting his people to die bc of a tradition, and his point of view was treated as equal to the npc's that Traveler and Paimon agreed with, and that is pretty good for a Genshin npc.

- though, I am a little suspicious about how they're suddenly willing to do this for a light skinned npc, when Mualani's quest villainized a brown skinned npc in the same update.

- I do actually like the Turnfire Night plot. One of the only things I like about Natlan is that it combines the abyss lore and nation world building more than other places. I just feel like the writers can't decide whether they want Kinich to be morally gray (sending the MK to the ABYSS just to avoid killing it to Avoid Drama) or have great morals like the rest of the cast (Traveler and Paimon being so focused on killing = bad that they don't have a problem with this).

- I am extremely annoyed at the fact that a decent chunk of this quest was spent helping npc's and giving Traveler over-the-top praise while Kinich did the actually important stuff. I don't care about these guys! I care about Enjou and the abyss! This isn't even about the turnfire night! We already do this kind of stuff in every single world and archon quest, for fucks sake!

- why do we learn how Kinich and Ajaw met from a random npc? Who just brings it up out of nowhere?? Why??

- it's not that important I guess, but Kinich calling Paimon gentle natured was the stupidest thing ever. I can forgive him bc he's comparing her to Ajaw and hasn't seen her be bitchy yet, but please don't tell me that the writers actually see her like that. She's an asshole.

- in comparison to the Turnfire Night plot, what little we got of Enjou and Ajaw was suuuuper interesting. I am loving whatever they have going on (and Ajaw's lore overall), and I wish we got more of it instead of fooling around with less important npc's. I am very glad that Enjou is back, but that makes it sadder that he's probably going to be forgotten about again.

- it took me a second to realize that his name changed to The Thing Calling Itself "Sanka". That's a neat little detail.

- "cliche, I know - the hero's trusted partner sells him out to the Abyss in a shocking act of betrayal. Cue bad-guy speech and drawn-out death sequence..." "Abyss Boarding School" "I could never beat you in a straight-up fight, but when it comes to running away, I won't lose to anyone" Enjou I love you.

- my favorite part of this entire quest is probably the fact that Enjou now, officially, has a relationship to a playable character other than Traveler. And man, is it a fun one. Deadpan, serious Kinich caught between silly little assholes Ajaw and Enjou both wanting to take his body is really fun. If Genshin itself refuses to expand on his relationship to Ajaw and Kinich, then I better see the fandom doing it instead.

- back to the Turnfire Night stuff, it's convenient that the Mountain King isn't corrupted anymore and decided to live. I wonder if the ending was just done like that bc the writers weren't sure what to do with a story where one side isn't necessarily wrong. Overall though, it's not that bad, just boring.

I'm enjoying making these overall thoughts posts. Maybe I should make more? There's no guarantee of me doing every single archon quest and story quest, though. Especially when I'm focusing on both Genshin and hsr.

[lagunapoint]

I finished Vows and Vengeance, and below is a stream of consciousness, thoughts, tears, and spoilers for the podcast. Sit down next to me oh I have so much to tell you

I cried at the end of the podcast. And I was putting off listening to the last episode I didn't want it to end. Silly, right? I got attached to the podcast, to the characters, the atmosphere, to the way I could just disconnect from the world and not use up almost any energy.

I was just sitting there with a cup of chamomile tea, hoping it and the podcast would help me reach nirvana, but instead of peace and the reunion of the main characters, I was wiping away tears and gave up any hope of going to bed early. This is why I love the Dragon Age plots and characters.

And it’s so familiar, that bitter acceptance at the end… when you're wiping away tears but realizing that life goes on? That evil was defeated, but your heart is lying in pieces in the corner? And you just have to move on?

She tried so hard to save him. Nadia. She did everything she could. She learned to accept herself, the people around her, others' care and help. Do you think the Nadia we heard in the first episode would have trusted Lucanis or Emmrich so quickly? Or left him alone to perform the ritual? She deserved happiness. In my metaverse Nadia and Elio were supposed to be together, and Solas spanked. But something went wrong. As always. And I don’t understand. Is there a Solavellan context here, or my rambling become completely incoherent?

Solas is stuck in the Fade. He needs to be saved, right? Lavellan will worry and try to save him. We’re counting on a happy ending.

Nadia's beloved is stuck in the Fade. She worries and tries to save him. And what? He’s dead. She couldn’t save him because he died almost immediately and there was never any hope, to begin with. haha thanks a lot.

I’m trying, trying, I really am trying not to connect things that have no connection. But. But I can't help but stir up this storm inside me and project the story onto Solas and Lavellan. And I'm vibrating and shaking because it’s tearing apart my canon, my heart, and I can’t think about it anymore.

Yes, it was a great story. I want a second season. I want more of these audio dramas. I’m waiting for the game, but I loved listening and doing little rituals before each session, whether it was a cup of tea, a box of chocolates, or a short post here. It was awesome. How about you? :)

[aisuruyuuji]

Suni talks: Lovely Complex and toxic masculinity...

Recently I've seen quite the number of people displeased with how Lovely Complex has unraveled as a shoujo series and some its of characters. This was all happening on TikTok so I'll take it with a grain of salt...

The complaint was regarding the series' male lead, Ootani Atsushi, and especially his behavior towards the female lead, Koizumi Risa.

(Could be) Spoilers!

Lovely Complex (also shortened as Love Com) is exactly what you'd think it is; a rom com series. The shoujo manga was written by Aya Nakahara and later animated, all happening in the early 2000's.

The series tries its best to capture the relationship between 1.72 cm tall Koizumi Risa and 1.56 cm tall Ootani Atsushi. The heights bring sorrow to their every day life already. No one sees Risa as a girl and Ootani, as a boy. Although something changes when they sit next to each other.

They start off as friends, naturally. Their friendship seems to be genuine as they share a big interest in the same artist, Umibozu. They go to concerts together and talk to each other about this quite a lot. However what makes them so popular, even at school, is their fights (and trust me, there are lots of them). They call each other insults and names, they make fun of each other's heights and misfortune in love. It's their thing whether it's mean or not.

Somehow Risa develops feelings for Ootani and she rapidly confesses to him. However Ootani can't seem to get over their height difference and tells her the truth; for now the feelings are not reciprocated. Risa doesn't give up on Ootani and for the rest of the series, she fights to receive Ootani's love...which she does.

To people's surprise (and i mean the readers/ viewers), Risa and Ootani's fights never went away. Even after Ootani learns about Risa's feelings, he doesn't change a bit and he sometimes even teases her for the crush. What people seem to miss is that Risa doesn't change that much towards Ootani either. But I suppose that was the key to Ootani's heart. If Risa had changed and became someone "more to Ootani's liking", he would have never ended up falling for her as hard as he had. And same goes for Ootani since Risa fell in love with him as he was from the start.

People are quick and mostly eager to judge. Nothing will be enough or well done. In this case, poeple were just as quick to label Ootani as 'annoying' and 'toxic'.

Is he annoying? Personally, he reminds me of my boyfriend and he's truly dear to me as a character so no, he's not annoying at all. He can be for you! But is he toxic? Let's talk about it!

First and foremost, it all comes down to the fights and the name-calling so we'll talk about this aspect first. It's true that fighting, name-calling, insults are NOT a 'love language' and they aren't 'cute' or 'aesthetic' either. They should never be romanticized. But is it toxic in this scenario? I don't see it as such. They're teenagers, they're new to the concept of love and relationships and especially to such a 'taboo' height difference. They insult each other as a defense mechanism to all the years they've spent being insecure about their heights. They grow and learn together, as we see later in the manga, they learn to love each other and themselves together with their heights. They accept it and that's when the fights die down. I could not call this 'toxicity'.

But what was upsetting to see was this supposed 'toxicity' being label as Ootani's doing. Mind you that they both fight, argue and insult. People tend to pity Risa for having to fight so hard for Ootani's love, but I find Ootani's refusal respectful towards Risa. He knew there was a gap in the intensity of their feelings so he never gave up on Risa and her feelings. Even when Risa was about to lose all faith, he was the one to bring her back on track. There were moments when Ootani believed more in them than Risa had. He loved her, he just wanted to love her enough and appropriately.

Ootani is a prime example of 'fragile masculinity' which is in fact not the same as 'toxic masculinity'. Ootani is insecure about his height, that'a a given. He gets defensive when Risa makes fun of him and feels upset when others don't take him seriously. And funny enough, Risa does the same.

I don't think Ootani is in the case of having 'toxic masculinity', especially since he's had no problem dating the girl who makes fun of him the most about his biggest insecurity who is also tree heads taller than him. And not only did he date her, but he loved her, in his weird gremlin way, but he cherished her.

What is your opinion about this? Is Ootani really a bad-written character or are people just never going to be satisfied with the content they're being provided?

[fuxuannie]

↳ pairing : miles morales x (filo) reader

↳ synopsis : "ang dami mo naman tinatago, ginamit mo lang ba ako" - ikaw at sila, moira dela torre

↳ authors note : the reader being filo does nawt matter at all i jus wanna write tagalog dialogue HAHHA *translations will be provided @ the end me also say this quick & angsty :( no atsv spoilers. BOLD ITALICS are flashbacks

Dating MILES was certainly not an.. easy feat. Not only was he constantly busy, but would mysteriously disappear in random times whether at school or just simple hangouts. "I'll be quick." He says, but the next time you see him is in 3 days and he's covered in bandages.

You learned from some schoolmates that before you, there seemed to be a girl named Gwanda that he was particularly hung over about after she left.

Of course, students will be students who crave any sort of drama will try and spark up rumors. You trusted Miles, and you were hoping that your trust wasn't misplaced. He didn't seem like the type of guy to lie to you, the exact opposite infact. The boy seemed to love you more than he loved the world, he just.. it didn't hurt to be cautious.

Miles is a friendly guy. Anyone would feel hurt over a friend leaving, that's it and there's nothing more to it.

You sigh softly as you leave your classroom, Miles already waiting for you because his ended early. "Hi babe." He'll smile, grabbing your hand and intertwining his fingers with yours. "Hi." You reply, your energy far different from his.

There's silence when you two walk, through the halls and out the schools main doors. Unlike Miles, you still lived with your parents unlike him who shared a dorm with Ganke.

"You hear about the stories going around us lately? Jeez, seems like people are more obsessed with our relationship than we are."

"Miles."

His smile disappears when he realizes you're upset or unamused.

"Are you really.. over her?"

You stop in your tracks, staring at Miles who was a few steps ahead of you. His head still turned away from you, but he feels your gaze burning into the back of his head.

He says nothing, so you continue further.

"Alam mo ba, I really tried, Miles."

You remember the sketches of a blonde haired girl in his notebook, features similar to the girl your classmates described.

He still refuses to to look at you.

"I wanted to fight for us, I really really did."

There's something about the way he talks to his parents about her,

"I miss her a lot, I hope she visits soon."

"You'll never believe who she hangs out with now..!-"

"She had the nicest smile I've ever seen."

It felt.. odd.

His head looks down to the floor, as if lost in thought.

"Pero ang hirap kapag di mo naman talaga gusto sakin."

You feel something akin to a stab to your gut when you catch a glimpse of his phone, your eyes widening slightly at the photo of Gwen and him. Of course you wouldn't have minded.. but you two were on a date, a date that happened because it was your first year of being together.

You look back at Miles, forcing a smile as if nothing had happened. As if what was supposed to be a day worth celebrating, wasn't the very same day your heart was shattered into a million pieces.

Miles finally turned to face you, his expression is mixed with sadness and confliction.

"I'm not her, Miles. I can't be her."

You wanted him to say something, anything. Anything to prove that there was a reason to keep trying in this relationship.

But there's silence, his hand slips away and you allow it.

You two stand there, suffocating in the air surrounding you. It felt so hard to even breathe with how hard you were holding in your urge to cry.

This was for the best, right? It was better for the both of you if you just.. left it there and now.

But you were just so scared that you'll regret everything and run back to him in a heartbeat, back to a boy who never truly loved you.

"You're right."

Those words cause more damage than you ever thought they could, he has no idea how two words can absolutely break a person, how hard it is to realize that a one year relationship was a lie after you gave your all for him.

"I see."

What did you expect? For him to tell you that he wasn't still inlove with a person who left him two years ago? That he didn't date you to absolutely distract himself from the fact he missed Gwen? That's absurd, impossible even.

You turn around and begin to walk away, mostly to hide the tears that were threatening to fall down your face.

It's over, right? No more overthinking, or wondering if you're not enough.

You know the truth, that's what you wanted.

But there's a lingering feeling, one that you can't quite shake off.

That there's the tiniest chance that he'll grab your hand, pull you in and tell you that it's all a misunderstanding.

And against your better judgement, you look back.

He's already walking away.

TRANSLATIONS ::

Ang dami mo naman tinatago, ginamit mo lang ba ako = There were so many things you were hiding, did you just use me?

Alam mo ba = Did you know? / You know?

Pero ang hirap kapag di mo naman talaga gusto sakin = But it's really hard if you don't really want me

[gettingvetted]

re: your last post with the serval and "she wasn't 75% housecat so it wouldn't work" Is it just that the rabies vaccine hasn't been tested and studied on wild animals of the same taxonomic family that it's not accepted? Or has it been tested and does it full out just not work and thus can't be trusted? This is wildly interesting and I'm very invested lol

Most drugs used on animals are used in an off-label manner, meaning that the drug is not approved/studied for either the species it is being used on or the reason for which it is being used. For example, most brands of pentobarbital (the euthanasia drug used by most vets) are only labeled for use in dogs only (you might see it labeled for horses and dogs but this is uncommon). We still use it on cats, cows, rabbits, chickens, zoo animals, etc, and it works just fine. Same with many antibiotics - most do not have animal labels and we use them anyway. One particular anti-vomiting medication for cats and dogs is frequently used to help with coughing and sneezing, joint supplements can be infused into the bladder to help with sterile inflammation, etc. The possibilities are endless and it seems like I learn new options every day on veterinary forums.

This is about 99.5% legal in cats/dogs/most exotic pets/zoo animals with a rare exception here and there. Animals that produce or become food such as chickens, cattle, goats, etc have stricter rules to make sure none of the drugs end up in the food supply, but a good portion of it is still legal with asterisks.

Vaccines are slightly different. In most cases, the viruses and bacteria that cause diseases are the same between animals. So even if a distemper vaccine is only licensed for dogs, you can pretty well assume that the virus is the same when it crops up in ferrets and raccoons. The variability comes in with how long immunity lasts, how much vaccine to use, and whether immunity will develop at all. For example, horses need double the dose of rabies vaccine of most other species and need to be vaccinated yearly, even if the vaccine's label for dogs and cats states that it lasts for 3 years. It's doubtful that immunity lasts even a year, as horses typically produce very poor immune responses to vaccines. And those are just the species we have data for.

When it comes to the possibility of transmitting a 100% fatal disease to humans from animals, absolutely zero chances are taken. So while it is legal, and encouraged, to vaccinate the majority of captive mammals for rabies, it's impossible to tell what or how much protection exists in each species as a result of vaccines that are only extensively studied in cats/dogs/ferrets. This is why many GP clinics outright refuse to work with hybrids like wolfdogs and high percentage savannah cats, because any bite of a staff member or client requires euthanasia of the animal and the resulting staff medical bills may not be covered under workman's comp and/or practice liability insurance if you don't have a rider for working with wildlife. Even antibody titers to rabies, while measurable, are not considered proof of vaccination or immunity, because we don't know what level of antibody titer correlates to immunity across species. Vet staff who are vaccinated for rabies are theoretically supposed to get titers every 2 years, but this only informs whether boosters are needed. Even a person with a normal titer should receive post-exposure rabies shots if they are bitten by an animal with any possibility of rabies. That's how seriously rabies is taken, for good reason

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Manga Review: Schemes and Heroes

Yup, this is the long-delayed review of updates 235 and 236, variously numbered as chapters 190-1 (Cubari) or 188-189 (Viz, Tonarinoyj). I've made several starts but somehow, never got far.

Summary: Slowly, then all at once

That's how bankruptcy is supposed to happen: the trouble sneaks up on you, and then suddenly, it's all falling apart. When it comes to the crisis of confidence that the Hero Association is facing, they've realised that they're in some bother since they're now struggling to get new recruits. However, things are about to get a lot worse.

We have Child Emperor, spurred by disgust and frustration at the Hero Association's faults and unwillingness to address those flaws, all topped with rage about discovering the pun that his hero name is, who has left the organization for the Neo Heroes. He's announced his new hero name, now known as Wild Emperor.

Zombieman has gone to consult Dr. Genus about possibly removing his limiter like Saitama has. He's concerned for Isamu's well-being and Genos's testimony is one he can't afford to ignore. The doctor has agreed to show him something interesting in the basement.

There's no question that the Hero Association is in deep trouble. We'd seen in earlier chapters that they were struggling to recruit new heroes. Now, we're beginning to see how they lose existing heroes. We see Snek given a brief to investigate a monster attack on a donor, only to learn from Isamu that the monster is long caught as it's one of the many monsters sold as exotic pets. Far from being an investigator trusted to handle a delicate cold case, Snek has been given some busy work. To say he's unimpressed is an understatement.

They still seem to imagine heroes grow on trees the way they're treating the most loyal ones.

More seriously, as Amai Mask tells the executives gathered to discuss the problem of heroes defecting, the executives have ignored Isamu's recommendations to address the shortcomings. He's got an idea other than ditching the HA: raise a hero to serve as a standard-bearer to inspire heroes to join and recommit. It's a great idea, but his choice of Saitama is going to be a hard sell from the get-go. Still, he gets the go-ahead.

We know that 'perfect' and 'Saitama' do not go together. Amai is about to find that out the hard way.

The next chapter starts at another meeting of the executives. And another shock defection. This time, it's not a hero, but Sekingar, who returns his HA-provided artificial eye and hand. He says that he's going to the Neo Heroes as their organisational details and plans for hero development are superior. He stands his ground and counters McCoy's accusation of his jumping ship to sell HA secrets to the Neo Heroes with some shade of his own, saying that he's a company man and knows no one trusts a traitor.

All starts to make sense once Sekingar picks up his new equipment and establishes comms with Wild Emperor. This is all part of a plan to infiltrate the Neo Heroes, find out what they're up to, and assess whether it poses a threat to heroes. Sekingar exits the lift to go out to the pick-up helicopter, only to find Metal Bat waiting for him. Metal Bat will be joining him as his body guard, after having been asked to do so by Sicchi as a favour. Since Sekingar is someone who has earned Metal Bat's respect -- not to mention going into danger like a hero -- he's only too happy to do so. The pair make their way to the Neo Hero chopper.

The earned trust and respect between those two is wonderful to see.

Changing topic, there's another not-quite-a-hero guy we've yet to hear about. Garou. We start out with a glimpse of what the Bang dojo dynamics must have been like. Toxic! He's back, and he's starting right where he's left off, terrorising Charanko. Bang quickly puts an end to it with a knock to his head and puts him to wiping the floor. Working his way up from the bottom of the pecking order is the only way to be accepted anew, Bang insists. Soon, it's time for Garou to head out to his court-ordered part-time job. Even as he grumbles about having too much to do, there's an eagerness and lightness to Garou as he heads off to earn money. The dojo sees him off.

Charanko settles down to relax at last, only to be shocked to see King come pay a visit. Inside, King tries to explain his current predicament to Bang, telling the old man about the near-miss he had with Atomic Samurai the day before. Unfortunately, between the old man's hardness of hearing, King's roaring heart beat, and how much King is muttering, Bang can't hear it. Finally, desperately, King shouts, 'Please make me stronger.' And that is where we end the chapter.

Shall we have some meta then?

META

Self-Efficacy

I love it when characters help themselves. There was a time that I nearly quit watching One-Punch Man: it was in episode 9, when despite everyone's efforts, the Deep Sea King had not been checked, and then Saitama dispatched it with one punch. I felt acutely depressed rather than elated or relieved: what was the point of a series where only one character's actions mattered? Thankfully, I gave it one more episode and the other S-Class heroes started getting introduced, with Tatsumaki showing that she was far from chopped liver. Good. The manga has more space, and it has given characters the opportunity to try more ways of understanding and trying to solve their predicaments, and I. LOVE. IT.

Carefully weighing up the threats and any opportunities this new thing poses rather than simply reacting.

I've Got My Eye On You

Sorry, I'm allowed one Dad Joke a day and today's your turn for me to set it upon you. The sight of the two one-eyed men casting sidelong glances at each other, sizing each other up, and each daring the other to come clean was splendid. McCoy has put himself in a great position to do harm to the Hero Association. He's the vice chief of operations and has made himself seem indispensable in these frightening times. He may be up to evil dealings -- and in chapter 188 we've seen that he's actively set up Amai Mask to fail and is colluding with the Neo Heroes, but he's nowhere near as untouchable as he thinks he is. It's good to see Sekingar and Isamu working together to thoroughly understand what McCoy is really up to and what the Neo Heroes' true intentions are, rather than simply jumping on the first evidence of wrongdoing and losing their leads. I'll come back to this in a sec.

However, McCoy knows that Wild Emperor is onto him, and what with having suggested the Neo Heroes to Sekingar in the first place, is sure to be wary about Sekingar's true intentions. This isn't going to be an easy mission for either of them. I have no doubt in the strength of Metal Bat's arm, but man, he's a little too open for a mission, isn't he?

They know each has dirt on the other. Who will crack first?

​

A Hero Is As A Hero Does

What I love about the cover of 189 is that it features people who act heroically whether or not it's in a capacity traditionally known as 'hero'. This pair of chapters has really been bringing that out. Sekingar's frustrated heroism is finding an outlet in looking out for heroes, even at risk to himself. Sicchi may not want to be a hero, but his unwavering concern for the well-being of humanity and willingness to find ways to use his position to help those who can make a difference shine here. He's a good boss. King and Saitama over in the distance need no explaining. And as for Garou, even as he's not willing to admit it yet, he's a hero through and through.

Speaking of Garou...

​

The Years Come Off, What New Experiences Will Grow?

It really disconcerted a lot of fans to see Garou be the slightly immature teenager he actually is rather than the young man he's been posturing as. Despite how he's being knocked around, there's a lightness to Garou which just goes to show how heavy the burden he'd placed on himself as Fixer of the World was. I've ranted before about Bang's style of dojo management -- the idea of being able to punch down definitely came from him.

Apples don't fall far from trees, after all.

It's not just Garou who has gotten a second chance to do better, but Bang as well. Between Garou and the former disciples who have started coming back, there are a lot of people looking to see if he'll do right by them this time. I hope he's up to it.

King? Eh, I'll leave his tale of woe to the next review!

​

Small Note

How did you know that? Why are you telling me this? These are questions that ONE takes the time to scrupulously ask: knowledge doesn't come to one just because one is smart. It has to have a source, and that source has to have a reason for sharing it with you. It's really nice to see that Phoenixman's knowledge of the Hero Association's backroom dealings comes from having been a previous captive.

I spy with my little eye, a little monster not all growed up yet

[nartml]

"now she even gets to parade around wearing that Uchiha crest like the trophy it is to her, while having done nothing to earn it!!!"

She's literally an Uchiha do you expect her NOT to wear it???💀 sakura haters get a brain challenge

Ah, yes, hello anon.

No time to chit-chat, let's break this down:

The fact that Sakura has that symbol plastered everywhere, even when Sasuke himself either never wears it or does so discreetly, is proof of how much of a trophy he is to her.

She doesn't love Sasuke. No, she doesn't love him, but she does love his status, the influence, the aura that comes with the Uchiha name.

Does she even know the truth about his clan? Is it even confirmed? And whether she does or doesn't, you realize how, well, not okay it is for her to wear that symbol so casually?

If she does know about his clan, then why is she okay with burying it under the rug? Why has she not raised a single concern about it ever? The fact that she would take no issue with Konoha, the system or just the injustice happening to the supposed love of her life, and still have the audacity to wear that crest is revolting.

And if she doesn't know? (Something that wouldn't be surprising, considering she didn't even know if he fucking wore glasses) Then that's a testament to how little she cares. And how little Sasuke cares too**. Because she could never truly understand who Sasuke is and why he's done what he's done, if she doesn't know the truth. And that she never cared to ask? It's either that she's delusional enough to assume she already knows him (which she doesn't; she knows the made-up idealized version of him) or that she doesn't truly care about Sasuke at all.

Plus, does she even truly understand what the Uchiha symbol represents? Does she, again, even care to learn?

Either way, she looks like a horrible person, and doesn't deserve nor has she earned the right to parade with that crest everywhere.

Sure, she might be an Uchiha on paper, but she shows no true respect for the clan, the symbol, and her husband.

____________________________________________

**In case you don't get what I mean here, anon, I'm saying that if Sasuke doesn't really care to tell her, well, that puts into perspective how few the fucks he gives about what Sakura thinks of him are. And if he doesn't tell her because he doesn't trust her, then shit, that might just be worse.

Anyhow, I love how you didn't even bother addressing any of my other points. Kindly saying this, don't even bother. This isn't an invitation to, I'm not interested.

(And I say that in an entirely neutral and good-natured tone, I actually feel very guilty the moment I say something even passively mean. Forgive me though, I can't resist sometimes)

And please, spare both of us from any escalation of this argument. We see things differently, it happens, it's a waste of energy ,especially because I'm right, you're wrong and maturing is realizing it /jk

[izloveshorses]

I saw a post complaining about musical Dimitri so I want to know what is your favourite things about him in the musical?

sigh... musical dmitry... giggling kicking my feet twirling my hair thinking about him. i'm always daydreaming about him. if you saw me on the street irl i almost guarantee you'd catch me lost in some variation of musical dmitry thoughts.

there are so many things i could say here, anon. his redemption arc™ from a selfish liar to the most noble and self-sacrificing slavic sadboy i've ever seen? his angsty daddy issues backstory? his bewitching silly goose ways? how he lets One Woman completely change the trajectory of his life? how he falls into an emotional spiral about it? the way he Knows Who He Is and is very self assured in his identity, and helps anya do the same? how his identity is so intertwined with his home? his role as a Storyteller™? etc????

but for this ask today i'm going to focus on how gentle he is. i don't think gentleness is something that comes very easy to this dmitry. he lost his father at a young age, as we know. he was alone on the streets and had to fight to stay alive. he cons people for a living. by the time we meet him he's very cynical about the world and doesn't really trust anyone, other than vlad. mostly he just relies on himself and can't really count on anyone else. when he meets anya, a cryptic girl who is a bit off but in need of help, his first response is to scoff and send her away, since unstable people are too risky to deal with. he's capable of being charming, but he uses this skill to get what he wants.

a lesser character with an identical backstory would be gruff and unfeeling, but... this dmitry isn't. in spite of it all, he's so hopeful, though he buries it deep. his most treasured story is about a girl he met at a parade. he is known as the 'prince of petersburg,' has a relationship with everyone on the streets. in the hartford production he calls an older woman in the ensemble 'little mother.' he rescues vlad, a complete stranger, from a firing squad. and though he turns her down at first, he agrees to get anya to paris. he protects what's his own.

you can tell it takes him a while to learn gentleness. whether it's physical or verbal, especially around anya, he is still always on the defensive for a while. fight first, think later. she's really jumpy and skittish but he doesn't start changing his behavior until they fight the ruffians together. he flags all of his movements around her, making sure she knows his intentions first. he talks about his father. he gives her a music box because he thinks it'll make her smile. because she 'earned it.' when she's crying after a nightmare he tells her a sweet, simple story from his childhood.

the train scene is the best example of this shift-- when she cowers after the gunshot goes off, he is completely lost about what to do. 'calm her down,' vlad tells him, but how is he supposed to do that? she's sobbing into his shoulder and he's frozen, panicking, because what is he supposed to do here??? but he shushes her and holds her anyway. he does his best. and it works. in such a tense situation where they very well could be shot next he is so so gentle and patient with her. and by the time we reach iacot in paris, he knows exactly how to comfort her. he learned how to hold her gently and speak in a soft voice. how softness can ground someone in need.

to summarize: musical dmitry is... really soft? and softness/gentleness isn't really something you see in the conman archetype very often. he is so special.

[hyperpotamianarch]

what does the Tanach say about the concept of love?? Like romantic love, the love that permeates the soil and allows life to grow, love that is everywhere? I was learning the portion for this week and yitzchak is the king of commitment, and this seems to be the basis of love: an ability to commit no matter what. I was just wondering though if you know if there's anything else??

The Tanach doesn't technically say anything about the concept of love. By which I mean, it doesn't have a list of concepts that it explains. So everything you can learn is by looking at context, results, and at how love is being expressed. In addition, the Tanach isn't called the Book of Books (at least in Hebrew) for naught: it's made of twenty four to thirty six books (depends how you cout Trei 'Asar and Ezra&Nehemiah), and has varied authors. We can perhaps extrapolate what the word means when it's used in different contexts, but it may well be tainted by the view of the author.

You actually were right on the money to start talking about it now, though, because this is the first time in the whole Tanach love is mentioned! ...However, when looking at the future of their marriage, it's... A bit marred.

Next week's portion is the only one that focuses of Yitzchak. And you can see his character from that, I suppose. He's certainly committed to one wife, unlike his father or son, but he does not consult with her when he tells Avimelech she's his sister. As a matter of fact, the only direct interaction between Yitzchak and Rivkah is when she tells him she can't have Ya'akov marry anyone from Canaan. But, to be fair, that doesn't actually mean anything. The Torah only tells us what's relevant, and perhaps Yitzchak's daily life with Rivkah isn't that relevant. I still wouldn't take them as model marriage, though - they both pick favourites among their children and by the time they get to the Blessings Rivkah seems to not trust Yitzchak to listen to her if she tells him Ya'akov deserves them more. A lot of that us about how you choose to interpret the text, and I might be biased by a Shi'ur I've heard from one of my Rashei Yeshiva once.

I can keep ruining every good part in this by talking about the next time romantic (or more likely erotic) love appears, but I think we can skip Shechem and Dinah. That story is horrible without talking about what love is there, though it might lean into committment considering Shechem's love leads him to want to marry Dinah instead of having this be a one night stand. This stands as a stark opposition to Amnon, who hates Tamar immediately after raping her and is frankly a disgusting human being, but that's another story.

If we want to look at romantic love in the Tanach, going one by one on every mention of love and weighing whether or not it's romantic is going to be exhausting though. So let's just jump into the most obvious book on the topic: Shir HaShirim, the Song of Songs!

Honestly, considering my opening I should probably just direct you in that direction and leave it at that. I marred everything with the touch of my opinion so far, maybe I should let the Tanach speak for itself. Especially since I don't really know how to talk about love in the Song of Songs.

Now, don't get me wrong, this is one of my favourite books of the Tanach, despite how it's one of the only two to have semi-erotic descriptions in it. It's widely considered a parable for the love between G-d and the people of Israel, but as I've heard from Rav Aviah HaCohen - if the story in the parable has no worth, then the moral would be empty as well. (Paraphrased from memory and translated to English, please cut me some slack if it doesn't carry the exact right meaning.)

Maybe I'm having trouble talking about that because I never actually experienced romantic love (though I'd be hesitant to call myself aromantic). I could (in theory) talk about the dedication to each other the lovers of the Song of Songs show - "I am for my lover and my lover is for me". Maybe. But I'm not convinced I can say what the Tanach says about love from that. The book is certainly full of passion and dedication. Maybe I should just gently direct you to read and study it yourself, I don't really know.

So, a couple of points: first, thank you for asking me about the Tanach, I love it and actually am currently studying to teach it. However, I would like to ask people who might send farther asks on it to not ask about such nebulous concepts. The Tanach doesn't really have a clear line on it. It would be easier to talk about love in Judaism in general, and that is a complex topic unto itself: you have the commandment to love G-d with all your heart, soul and being; you have Rambam's definition of loving G-d - like a man who is lovesick and can think of nothing but his beloved; then you have the Hassidic terms of love like fire and love like water, the idea of always seeking closeness as one type of love, and simply enjoying the presence of one's loved one presence as another. But point is, it's hard to answer such a question straight from the Tanach, and as a person who did not experience romantic love I'm likely the wrong person to ask.

Please, do ask about the Tanach - but be aware that you're asking me, a person with his pwn biases and conceptions. Be aware you're asking about a collection of books that touches many, many things from multiple different angles. Be aware that I can't really touch all of them. And be aware that when all is said and done, I am just a 20-odd years old guy who studies the Tanach, not an outstanding expert. I still hope I helped, though I'm not all too sure about that.

Thank you for asking, Shabbat Shalom! If you've hoped for a nice Wort to say on the Shabbat table... well, I'm really sorry I wasn't more helpful.

[fandomworld9728]

I return with another scenerio?

I really dont wanna be a bother I promise.

So, this takes place after Adam dies but since I can't handle character death he somehow comes back as a demon for a second chance or something. Vox finds Adam (or Adam finds Vox whatever you want) and they sorta make a deal (no soul, much to Vox's displeasure). Vox gives Adam a place to sleep and a job and Adam protects Vox since he still has his guitar (the guitar is linked to his soul so he cant really lose it).

After a while, Adam decides he wants to give this redemption crap a try because he misses the exterminators and other stuff. Vox decides to go with Adam (why? its up to you, fight with the Vees, he doesnt trust Adam alone, he doesnt want to be left alone again, whatever).

The Hotel crew was invited to heaven to talk about the hotel and redemption as a second chance, everyone was invited and everyone went (including Alastor, shockingly), But since Lucifer was kicked out he really cant go to heaven so he has to stay and watch the hotel.

Theres a knock on the door and, surprise surprise, its Adam and Vox (whos glaring at Lucifer, for some reason). They explain their situation and why they're here and Lucifer's like "Sure, cant do anything anyways since i'm here."

Lucifer now realizes how much of mistake that was. Not because Adam and Vox are assholes, no no he can deal with assholes, but because he is watching the worlds SLOWEST slow burn fanfic ever, in real life. He has to watch these to be so fucking in love with each other but they are so oblivious.

Vox is the type where he doesnt know he loves Adam so Adam could tell Vox "I love you" and Vox would be like "huh?"

Adam knows he likes Vox but hes scared to be rejected so he refuses to say anything and is willing to love from afar.

its to the point where Lucifer is about to do what girls do with their doll and make them kiss or SOMETHING.

If you wanna write when the hotel crew returns, then they're gonna walk in and see a drunk Vox singing something, Adam looking at the TV man like he hung the stars (/pos), and Lucifer looking exasperated while watching the two. Because I find that would be so funny.

(This was written for only Vox and Adam but if you want you can squeeze Lucifer in there or something, idk. I also feel like Alastor knows how oblivious Vox is since he watched Valentino try to romance him but Vox was like "Oh, as a friend!" so I feel like that could lead to a funny scene where Alastor and Lucifer can plot or something to get the two together? I dont want Alastor included in this through ship though, hes just like "If Vox is staying here he will be happy or SO HELP ME.")

Happy writing! -Bell

(I've never wrote anything for that pairing before. What a fun little challenge ^-^ )

Sitting in the parlor with the two Sinners, Lucifer stared them down. What in the Seven Rings could they be planning? "Tell me again why you're here?"

"I already told you-"

"Not you Adam. Him."

Lucifer didn't trust Vic- Vic? Vax? Whatever. He didn't trust the Sinner. Not after what Lucifer's learned from other Overlords that he was close with and from the residents from the hotel.

Not to mention he was around Adam. The first man. The first real friend Lucifer had ever made. No matter what bad blood was between them, he would always have a soft spot for the human soul. That protectiveness was once again showing itself whether he liked it or not.

"The two of us have a deal. He protects me with his power, and I give him a place to stay. However, I no longer have that. I've had it with Valentino, how he breaks our employees, and how he chooses his favorite porn stars over our relationship."

"You two had a falling out and you're the one who left?"

"Yes, well, can't really be protected if we aren't in the same living space now, can I?"

"I suppose that is fair. But if you're going to be staying here, you will not be causing or bring problems to my hotel, her friends, and her hotel. You will put in actual effort by either trying redemption or working here."

"We get it Luci. We'll play nice, okay?"

"Yes, your majesty- Luci?"

"Yeah. We knew each other since I was created. I'm gonna call him Luci."

~

This was a mistake. Why had Lucifer allowed them into his precious daughter's hotel? Why was he the one left here all alone to baby sit them and suffer through Slow Burn Hell?!

With Charlie and the other residents in Heaven for a meeting, Lucifer was the only one here to keep an eye on the two Sinners. So, when he had gone behind the bar to get himself a drink with their bartender gone the other two decided they wanted to indulge in a good drink also. That had been another mistake. Allowing them to drink.

Now, not only would he have to explain what they were doing there when everyone returned, but also why they were drunk. Maybe he'd have enough time to get them sober or at the very least in bed before that happened.

"Dad! We're back!"

Fuck. Spoke too son. Way to go jinxing yourself Lucifer.

~

"Dad. You did this?"

"Charlie I can explain-"

"This is amazing!"

". . .What?"

Lucifer had expected her to be upset, much like Vaggie and Alastor were when they saw Vix and Adam when they returned from their meeting in Heaven. Vaz was one of the people who let the mistreatment of Angel to happen, and Adam tried to kill them. And had killed on of their other friends. 

"I know Sinners aren't your favorite people, but this is a great first step towards your own self redemption! Giving people second chances. I am so proud of you. This is actually what the Hazbin Hotel is about."

Proud? Proud of him? He felt his heart soar at his little girl's words. But he wasn't sure if it was as amazing as she thought. Vox was standing up on the bar singing That's Amore loudly and off key while Adam watched him. Looking at the Overlord like some sort of lovesick teenager. Gross. Was that what he was like with Lilith?

At least some of the others were getting enjoyment out of the two drunks. Angel was laughing with recording the two on his phone and Husk was pouring them more drinks to keep their entertainment going.

"Babe. I'm glad that you're so... psyched for this. But we need to get them to bed so we can go to bed. I don't trust them as far as I can throw them and I'm so tired."

"Right. You're right."

~

"I hate this so much."

"As do I, sire."

Jumping with a yelp, Lucifer glared at his least favorite person from the floor. "Stop doing that, you creepy fuck."

"But it is oh so entertaining!" Offering the other end of his cane to the small man, Alastor pulled him up. "What is not is whatever is going on between those two morons."

"So, you noticed it too?"

"You would have to be blind not to sense the tension between them. Not to mention, our dear Charlie will not shut up about how 'adorable' they are together."

"Not the word I would use."

"Agreed. Now, what do we do about them. Because I will not be dealing with an oblivious and miserable Vox while he is living in my territory."

"Wow. You Overlords really are territorial, aren't you?"

"Oh, like you're one to talk."

~

Hiding around a corner, Lucifer had to admit that as much as he didn't like Alastor, this was a lot more fun than he thought it would be. It had been a while since he had played cupid with anyone. 

"Alright. Here they come. You remember the plan?"

"Yes, yes. You will talk to Adam, and I will unfortunately talk to Vox. And will help them through this little issue so this can finally be put to an end."

"You know, you always sound like a pissed off middle aged woman."

"Excuse me-"

"Shut up. They're here."

Not paying attention to where they were walking, their targets almost crashed into each other.

"Oh shit. Sorry about that dude- man- Vox." Rubbing the back of his neck, Adam couldn't believe he was acting like this. Again. For the third time in his life.

And it begins. Poor Adam was a nervous mess. Lucifer remembered the last time the first man had acted like this was when he had first met Eve. At least she had made the transition into a relationship so much smoother then whatever this cluster fuck was.

"It's fine. I wasn't watching where I was going. Valentino keeps blowing up my phone. Just a warning, he might come here and make a scene now that I'm not there to talk him out of having his hissy fits."

"Nothing I can't handle."

"Yeah. I know."

Face palming, Alastor couldn't believe this man could get any stupider. And he had wondered why Alastor had rejected him all those years ago. This had to end. Now. Or so help him, he was going to kill someone. Most likely the both of them.

~

"I thought you two talked to them and set up a date for them."

"We did. It went right over Vork's head."

"Are you getting his name wrong now on purpose?"

"Yes. Because I'm mad at him."

Angel didn't know what was worse. The romantic and sexual tension between Vox and Adam or the fact that this was actually helping Lucifer and Alastor get along for the first time since they met. Looks like it was time for him to take matters into his own hands. Going over to the two who was causing all of this, Angel snapped his fingers in their faces to grab their attention away from each other.

"Alright. We're all fuckin' done with this bullshit. You two need to just fuck already. That and go on a goddamn date. We can't stand this anymore. We're losin' our ever lovin' minds!"

"...What? Angel that's ridiculous. Adam doesn't- ..."

"Did the right wires finally connect in that empty head of yours?"

"I think I'm gonna go."

"Go? No. We're talking about this- Adam don't you run from me!"

Watching the two run around the hotel like a couple of children, Lucifer was flabbergasted. "IT WAS THAT EASY?!"

(Here is the song I referenced)

[scribeforchrist-blog]

Are Your Roots Deep Enough?

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

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+ Habakkuk 3:19: “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to tread on the heights.”

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VERSE OF THE DAY

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+ Romans 8:25  Now, if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.

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** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **

I HAVE THE TRUE FOUNDATION WHICH IS JESUS

I AM FULLY  INVESTED

I AM HYDRATED SPIRITUALLY

I AM CONNECTED TO CHRIST

********************************

THOUGHTS:

=======================

So, it's hard to wait on anything; we discussed this the other week, but we will see that God is ready to bless and keep us and help us through all our things and problems. Still, we don’t see him doing it sometimes, but it doesn’t mean he's not working everything out for our good, and that’s what we must wait for is him.

   How patient are you with him working things out? Look at David; David waited so long to be king he had to be under King Saul; he was a musician before he was king, a shepherd, a giant slayer, and a furious warrior; he was all those things before he became king, and do you think he was wondering when his time will be ,but look David had some growing before he could just take over being king.

  He had to experience things before he became what he was called to do, and that’s where some of us are at right now; we are in our waiting season, our growing season and a lot of us don’t want to be here; we want to be out doing what we want to do, but we can't ,so we must wait eagerly with patience and for things we can't see. Other people won't see your growth and your change. They won't, but we must always keep pushing forward.

    Colossians 2:7: Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then, your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

   We must allow our roots to grow down deep. When we see plants growing in a pot, they usually do this because they are comfortable; they will even take the form of the pot because they feel secure in that pot, and that’s when you know that plant is secure. Sometimes, we must allow our roots to grow in God and let him build our lives, and when we do this, our faith will grow because we are growing in him; we are trusting in him that he has our best interest in mind and then we will start to be content because we no longer depend on ourselves.

   That’s what David had to do, even if everything looked shaky. Everything looked like a windstorm. He had to stay in it and trust that God got him through his problems. It took patience and trust in God. Are your roots deep enough? Have you become comfortable in this season, letting everything around you go and walking in his purpose for your life?

   2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test

  Every day, we must examine ourselves to see if we are where we must be; a lot of us aren’t where we should be because we are too focused on other things like more money, jobs, relationships, and fleshly desires instead of where we should be, which is where God has us; sometimes, we forget that our lives aren’t our own and where God places us is for a reason, and where he places us is supposed to mold us and shape us.

    When we allow ourselves to take root in the season we are in, we can see his plan because we aren’t focused on anything else; how long has it been since you went to God and said, "Am I where you wanted me to be? Am I heading in the direction you wanted me to go? I don’t see anything, but I know you see it all!

  Proverbs 1:5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

  We must hear to be able to learn, and we must accept guidance from him and that’s because if we don’t hear and we don’t slow down and allow him to conduct us and allow him to give us what we need, we will grow deeper into more impurities than we could ever imagine. 

God is waiting for us to seek his will; we might think we are waiting on him, and we might think we are doing everything right, but if we are moving and doing everything else, we think he wants. Really and truly, he’s been trying to say to us stop and take root; we will miss opportunities and doors for our lives because we refuse to check in and see what he wants from us.

    We could be stepping into a place of dryness because we didn’t seek him before we moved; today, ask God do you want me to wait ? What is it you trying to show me? Because we can look and not see, we can hear and not hear because we hear what we want and see what we want. Ask God to open your eyes so you can see the bigger picture and take root in him.

   Luke 6:48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it because it had been well-built.

    We always want to be the man in this story who dig deep and laid a foundation; when we have a foundation in Christ, nothing else can come and break it; nothing can come and shake it because when we are deeply invested with God, that’s all that matters and that’s the most powerful foundation anyone can have is with him. We can try to have the foundation in other things here on earth, but nothing can help us stand strong; nothing else can make our lives better when we read our word, we pray, and we mediate daily those things help hold us up because we are seeking him, start seeking God more start taking deep session with him than the ones you have. You’ll see a deeper connection developing between you and God.

   ***Today, we learned that when a plant is comfortable, it grows deep roots into the pot it’s in, and when we are going deeper with our time with God, we will become like the pot and build a foundation like the man in the verse, anything we do when we fully invested in God it will show in our actions and what we deem as necessary.

   Many times, when we don’t think something is necessary, we will not invest a lot of time in it. Still, every day, we don’t spend time with God; we are dying spiritually, we are becoming dry, and to stay hydrated, we must come and drink of the living water; he asks us to come many times in the word but do we hear his call or do we deny it, take root in God today and don’t deny him your time or your life. ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

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PRAYER

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to see another day and for allowing us to be deeply rooted in you. Lord, help us stay connected to you and closer to you. Show us how to spend more time with you, lord; we ask you as we go through that; you show us how to not become disconnected because of life but to stay connected because you are what we need most of all. Lord, sometimes we become so confused, but we ask you to show us everything we need and more. In Jesus' Name Amen

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REFERENCES

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+ 1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.

 

+ John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.

 

+ Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

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FURTHER READINGS

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Proverbs 8

Exodus 26

Judges 9

Jeremiah 42

 =========================