#the best way to illustrate strength is show not tell

[pieroulette]

yandere simulator; xo (only if you say yes). yjw

interactive roleplaying game: where instead of a yandere winning over your heart, you win theirs. by getting them to say 'yes', only then you will unlock the key to their heart where psychotic love resides.

currently playing. . . xo (only if you say yes)

warning: yandere, slight profanity, some grammar errors (i'm doing my best to study it >_<)

runtime: 3k.

director's cut, — jungwon boo u never fail to prove me that you're legit my muse in writing </3 this is just a fun fun interactive yandere game i randomly thought of, whatever you choose (majority of the votes) decides what happens to you with yandere jungwon :3

character visual: jw

"i'm sorry, but no. you're just not my type—"

you slammed yourself your face on your pillow, burying it so tight it sent you to heaven itself. however you'd rather die this way than pressing the 'continue' button to read the yandere's next words for his darling—which is you.

but you're not even his darling yet, much less being his close friend. maybe just a friend from school?

yeah, definitely.

well, as a twenty-nine years old office lady with her average monotonous schedule with the same routine over and over again for the past eight years, nearing her thirties yet never being able to find a qualified partner that fits her overly high standards—you're left with a game titled 'xo (only if you say yes) you've found somehow on the devil's hours; a game that was immensely difficult to pass, where you would do your best to win over a yandere's heart.

the game's description was too daring, almost too challenging, you are afraid to admit.

"wanna have your sweet affectionate yandere fawning all over you? no worries! however, as the old sayings goes; without efforts, you may never achieve anything—nothing is free in this world. therefore, why don't you sweat a little, get upset a little, cry a little, break a little—like your beloved yandere would once they fall for you? do your very best to get them to say yes to your love confession just once, and all of them—they will give to you.

blood, sweat, and tears; all of them shall be yours as long as you can make them say yes."

© 2024. all rights reserved xo, (only if you say yes)

and now you found yourself on the final level spending atleast, or disappointingly a huge sum of bucks on the game with currency of gems just to speed up the process, with your eyes bearing a newfound dark eyebags as an extra package of consequences.

you swore by your life and on god himself that you're only playing this for fun out of pure boredom and insomnia, however as you thumb through the game's introduction of yandere as it's dominant themes paired with a comprehensive summary of them; you questioned yourself with sheer shock as to why you've never find an ounce of existence about yanderes for the past eighteen years of your life despite being chronically online.

since yanderes are the exact definition of your overly high standards for men, ever since. no wonder you've never found a men like this before, turns out they only exists in fiction—you scoffed at yourself, filled with disbelief as you roll your eyes.

but! who cares if they don't exist in real life? they're now on the tips of your finger, waiting earnestly and eagerly for your love. a giggle so obnoxious escapes your lips, you feel like you are once a schoolgirl again, but without the experiences of one, actually.

but again who cares!

the game flashes a new pop-up, telling you the next step—choose your yandere character to play with. it shows you a list of seven yanderes illustrated on their respective cards, clad in coquettish-sort-of highschool uniforms; pink ties, beige vest over a dark blue shirt and pants paired with their set of flirty gestures as your thumb glided through each character—reading their descriptions; interests & dislikes, hobbies & talents, a little trivia about them, and of course—their strengths and weaknesses.

surprisingly, they had a range of informations so complete it felt like they were real humans. the developers did quite a spectacular job on it, don't they? and even the fact of how their weaknesses remains the same although with differences in how they would act on it or how far they would go; obsession, possession, and damn psychotic—willing to kill for you.

how romantic. . . in a psychotic way, of course. you hummed unconsciously, letting out a sigh after at the disappointing fact of how you still find it strangely attractive in your late twenties.

are you really that of a single pringle? pfft!

as you giddily spend your time trying to choose one of all characters. they're just all too good, looking too good for your heart to take. but one particular character catches your eye, intrigues you even with those pair of eyes—goosebumps ran down your spine as you could feel him gazing back at you.

like at you, literally.

or was it just the game's tactic to make the players like you fall deeper? hm, probably! it definitely was, unless a random ghost must've possessed your phone but that can't be right?

right?! you yelled the same word out loud, snapping your head around your room—looking for any potential jumpscares, but to your relief—thank god. now you can play your little new obsession in peace!

snapping your head back at your phone, eyes lit up in immense stars as you've made up your mind, heart thumping loudly as you scanned his unique features—tapping the "play with me?" soft pink button below the name 'yang jungwon' aka the mischievous leader kitty of the group.

in yandere academy, this group is called enhypen—and they have a bunch of fangirls, and it's not even a 'bunch', the size of their fandom is almost half of the female population in the academy and even outside of its territories—there is this ridiculously long line of female students from other academies. a feat that cannot be totally underestimated, and it's not even surprising as they are packed with dazzling visuals, and a set of numerous talents of their own.

they catch hearts everywhere, left and right, back and forth with their grand entrance to the school. each of them has their own separate fandoms too, and yang jungwon's taekwondo club practices are always filled with hearty eyes paired nerve-wracking screams that his coach spends half an hour yeeting them out.

"huh?" you let that out a tad bit too loud, almost exaggerated even. the game surely didn't turn out the way you thought, as you had the initial assumption that the yandere you chose already fell for you, and that you just had to spend those lovey-dovey levels roleplaying with them with a one or a few more predetermined routes to choose from.

the rules was pretty simple; try to get his heart—make him fall for you in the set duration of thirty days. in other words, there are ninety-nine percent possibility that he might reject your confession out of pure lack of interest. get that three row of bars; friendship, love, and yandereness as high as you can because if you were unable to do so then there will be no second chances of playing the yandere of your choice without paying an excessive sum of bucks, so you just had to do it once and make sure to do it right.

quite a challenging mission, huh? no it really is challenging but you were determined as your nostrils flared out a puff of air, straightening your posture as

the adorable motion logo of the game plays out, loading in a bunch of texts meant to help you along the way;

'yandere has each of their own unique love languages, pay attention!'

'little misfortunes are often a blessing in disguise, sometimes redirecting you away from what we call a 'disaster.'

'completing side tasks will increase your yandere's love bar by two percent!'

it soon pops up a bunch of pinky hearts and sparkling stars after all those introductions and guides before switching to a scene of him, jungwon—standing before you, and as expected, you were instructed to approach him.

the location in his taekwondo club, all while sandwiched in between his die-hard fangirls with those screams that you had to turn down your volume to zero. talk about in starting a cool first impression—well never mind, two choices popped up on your screen.

choice one: wait for him after his taekwondo practices (20% of working out)

choice two: act like a damsel in distress (5% of working out)

"uh," your thumb hovered over the two choices, is this a trap? act like a damsel in distress—what in the actual fuck? who would even do that in 2024?! you begrudgingly tapped on the first choice, and the scene switches to a pop up message:

try again, jungwon left a couple minutes earlier for a dinner with jay!

[ retry? ] [ exit? ]

your eyebrow twitches, what the fuck? just like that . . .? there's even barely a progress and you just have to fucking retry?

and jokes on you as your jaw dropped on the floor with the new set of choices presented before you, four choices—actually.

"what is this?!" you yelled so loud you immediately covered your mouth, peeking outside the window.

day three.

the love bar ain't going the fuck up, it's still there glaring at your face with it's zero percent. well that's fine, atleast the friendship bar goes up a tad bit—by five percent. a progress is still a progress!

but the game is just so greedy! you can't skip a day? sure then! but you only had three gems a day, one is to play the major mission, second to power up your aesthetics, skills, and status. third, to complete your side tasks such as running errands for your home or completing school assignments!

that even takes a whole day to refill back up, and it's not even enough with these thirty days you got and with this slow ass rate of getting jungwon to fall for you! you threw your phone on the bed, huffing like a madman—contemplating whether to spend a few bucks on it or just drop the game altogether. surely, you can't be that too attached with a yandere character, right?

right?!

jokes on you, your fingers find itself on the payment method against your will. ultimately cashing out a few bucks from your bank account with a single tear trailing down from your eye, all of this would be complete waste of money and effort if you fail to reign over his heart.

you let out an almost animalistic growl—filled with downright spite, actually. is this game even for real?! the choices they gave you are almost like deliberately setting you up for failure, definitely is! you were almost sure that is—to the point of contacting the developers themselves but you held yourself in sheer strength of self-control at last-minute, at the last digit of contacting them.

"it's okay, pampering myself isn't a sin." you pat yourself on the back, comforting yourself with a huge pout reaching the floor. it's okay! with a newfound determination, you're sure you'll make it!

day ten.

hopeless! utterly hopeless even the god of romance and cupid's themselves would laugh at you. you would, too. due to the fact that you went as far as googling on how to 'win over a man's heart" or "list of dialogues and actions that makes a man gain interest in you".

one of them even says food, that it is the way to a man's heart. but how the heck are you even going to feed a fictional game character? it would be easier if there was a food dialogue!

right, when is your character—or the game itself deciding to send a heart shaped box of chocolates? that would atleast give you a few percent to his love bar!

throwing yourself at your bed like a ragdoll, groaning and kicking your feet in the air. why do you even bother? for what? your search history is so hopelessly embarrassing, and even more embarrassing was when your co-worker had their eyes ogling at it. your mistake for letting your phone screen lit up for everyone to see, thank god she was the only one. patting you on the back that it was okay, and that she too had her fair share of struggles on fictional men.

truly a fellow comrade, you almost shed a tear.

day seventeen.

is this damn game trying to get on your nerves?

deciding to show a new bunch of rules that they didn't bother to show at the first day—set of rules you mustn't do while proceeding with the act of winning a yandere's heart, that is—you were not to skip a single day of playing—in other words, not spending a time with your yandere as in the game's words itself; they will be lonely and might end up throwing tantrums—loathing you for doing so, ignoring you for a short period or even longer depending on how long you were gone, thus risking the amount of effort you've spent so far down the drain.

and you actually skipped not one but two days because of your hectic work piling up after a fellow coworker's taking a sick leave for a week. . . and that was also after finally getting his love bar up to two percent and friendship bar reaching whopping sixteen percent.

yeah, it's sadly a 'whopping' one for you.

and now it's back at zero, with his friendship bar down to crashing down to nine digit and just as exactly the rules stated; every choice, dialogues, and routes you picked ended up him ignoring you with that furrowed eyebrows and slight pout on his lips, or responding to you in a flat out cold tone.

he's not even in love with you, so what are you even throwing a tantrum for?! you screamed that question at the animated game character on your phone's screen.

day twenty-four.

nah, this won't do. it definitely won't so why are you still trying? you bit your lower lip as you look for cheats, hacks, and tutorials online, praying to atleast find some miracle that could miraculously rocket you to ninety percent of love bar atleast!

since all you have left is six days.

you've spent an embarrassing amount of hours and days on this shit, even more dedicated and focused than you do back in your days as a student. you were so sure by this point that you could actually become a relationship therapist with all these accumulated knowledge!

day thirty.

eyebrows and lips twitching, it is.

level thirty, it is—ending on quite a horrible note, or actually, a total doomsday glaring back at you with all your nonexistent experience combined into a recipe with the title "never been in a relationship before".

a helpless laughter escapes your throat, of course—how can you catch a yandere's heart? much less make him your lover? you've never even caught a human's interest over the past twenty years of your life!

how cruel, how utterly cruel! god truly has it's ways of playing jokes. tears, laughter, giggles, sweat, money and effort—all gone down the drain.

all because of that one sentence ending it all, each word literally jumping out from his animated lips in a bold ass pink letters,

"i'm sorry but i can't accept it. i only see you as a friend, (name). i hope you could understand. . i'm sorry, but no—you're just not my type."

huh?! seriously?! a compelling urge, or a really tremendous one so colossal you can break your table into two parts—all that set of routes you've chosen so far with a careful decision and thoughts just for him to say this? just for the love bar to be at total ten percent?

jungwon, how could you? only ten percent? there's no hint of romantic affections found in his eyes or gestures, his friendship bar only by forty percent (a low score of only being his 'school' friend), heck you didn't even trigger his yandereness. like look at him! his yandere bar is at zero looming percent!

a trace of the pink love bar and red yandere bar nowhere to be seen, this is a pure scam! a love scam in the form of a game! meant to target single old ladies like you, fucking hell!

out of pure rage and disappointment, you slammed your phone on the bed—burying your face on your pillows as you let out a long drawn out, muffled scream. downright mad at yourself for even being so triggered by this whole shit, and at the fact of you acting like teenage girl imbued with hormonal changes,

"can't even get a fictional men to fall for me, i'm totally screwed for life!—"

you're so going to uninstall that shitty game, there's no point in playing anyways when you can't have the same character of your choice.

a notification 'tings' up, interrupting your bursts of tantrums—you look over at your phone with the game still up, a big pink heart-shaped bubble pops up on the screen—slowly draining into a pathetic colour of white, ultimately shredding it apart into a broken heart, mocking at your misery.

however the next message pulls outs a gasp from your throat, appearing in its usual glossy pink heart but a little redder at the bottom.

💌 2:09AM

hey there, our precious darling!

we totally get how you feel, there's no need to fret anymore! here we present to you an exclusive package where you will be given a final chance to retry for jungwon! this is a one in a lifetime chance for you—our dear player!

tempting almost, yet you're definitely not falling for that anymore.

and it's all free, let yourself fall deeper and deeper into this world of obsession. you can't really give up that quickly, right?

yanderes never knows when to give up, anyways ♡

free? there's nothing free in this world, even the game itself stated the same words. you've wasted your time, money, and effort on this dumb game and now it's giving a package that is exclusive only for you?

what dirty trick is this game trying to pull off once again?

© pieroulette on tumblr , 2024.

[twopoint99]

Possible spoilers if you haven’t already listened or read the book. Also, spoilers for The Horror of Dracula, 1958 and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992.

One of my favorite things about @re-dracula is seeing the reactions of people whose main exposure to the story is through the many film adaptations. The differences in how the characters relate to one another are way too many to list from film to film. Even aside from the bizarre choices (Lucy as Mina’s sister-in-law - the Horror of Dracula, 1958, or Mina as the reincarnation of Dracula’s lost love - Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992) the most important difference between those adaptations and re - dracula is that these are fully rounded characters who clearly care about one another.

Jonathan adores Mina, Mina loves him, and loves Lucy. The suitor squad and Van Helsing genuinely cherish Lucy and it causes everyone palpable pain when they see her slipping away. When the group finally gets together in one place, they all acknowledge and respect the various strengths they each bring, and they hold one another up as needed.

None of the characters seem cast aside, as often happens in film adaptations. Even the 1992 film, which includes all three suitors, doesn’t manage to make them all seem like full personalities. They appear more as aspects of an individual, or as tropes. Lucy herself in the ‘92 movie is the complete opposite of her characterization in the novel. Her behavior in the film is anachronistic at best, and offensive at the least. It is a perfect illustration of the stupid and misogynistic attitude in horror that “wanton” women are punished.

Not only that, but it also completely changes the story and the dreadful implications of it. Lucy isn’t targeted because she’s “done something wrong” (quotes because I don’t believe expressing/exploring one’s sexuality is wrong, no matter what my favorite genre keeps telling me), she is targeted because she is convenient. Dracula wasn’t musing in between leaving his castle and reaching England that by golly, he couldn’t wait to terrorize Lucy Westenra! He saw an opportunity, like any other predator, and he took it.

Of course, we’ve seen that he is very willing to play with his food once he feels in control. He was very pleased to be able to torment Jonathan, yet another character who is often treated poorly in adaptations - in the 1958 version he’s so smug and patronizing toward what appears to be a terrified woman, that I was actively hoping for his death.

In contrast, the novel/Dracula Daily/re-dracula show us a sweet, earnest man, one who is gentle and loving. He, like Lucy, is a convenient victim, and like Lucy, is innocent.

The true horror is that terrible things can happen to anyone, and no amount of wealth, education, or simple good-heartedness, will act as a shield. There are no preventatives, and no one “deserves” the terrible things that happen. The real strength of the story isn’t in deciding which characters(usually women) are worthy of saving, an overly simplistic approach that many film adaptations take, some more subtly than others. The story resonates because in spite of the randomness of the horror, the people involved decide to do something about it.

These people are not always perfect or even heroic. Dr. Seward (who I really enjoy, and who is also often portrayed badly in adaptation) is not a safe person for his patients to be around. He is ableist, arrogant, patronizing, and definitely not handling his own mental health well. He is also loving, practical, loyal, and in many ways exceptionally tender-hearted. All of the cast is achingly good in their portrayals, but Johnny Sims’ interpretation of Seward has been revelatory. The man is flawed, but gosh darnit, he’s absolutely human. His pain is visceral, his awkwardness is utterly relatable, and his attempts to make things make sense is so hard to hear, because we want the awful things to be a puzzle with a logical solution, but we also know that there is no motivation for what is happening, it is all chance.

Mina herself questions why they need worry about Dracula, once he is gone from England. By this time she’s had a horrific experience with the count and understandably wants to be done with the whole thing. Earlier, however, she begins her work of compiling all the information available about Dracula, because she understands that something may need to be done, for the good of all.

She is afraid of losing her husband, she is afraid of what other horrors may wait, but she also is able to put that aside to continue to pursue stopping Dracula, so that there won’t be another victim, and so that Dracula himself might be saved from the horrific reality he’s experienced for so long.

I have been telling people ad nauseum that re-dracula is hands down the best adaptation of the novel I’ve ever encountered. It is because it is treated as a story about people, real people, with real connections to those around them, real flaws and strengths, who grow to share a bond. They swear to stop Dracula, not out of vengeance, as Jonathan can be forgiven for wanting, but out of love for those they have lost and those they may save.

[enthusedbambi-jjba-au]

Monster AU - Risotto Nero research notes

You weirdos really wanted me to try and study this guy. It’s… been interesting! Here’s what I have:

[

[A paper of notes about Risotto Nero. The paper has tape in various places.]

[On the left side:]

Risotto Nero

he/him (I think)

At least 6'5" by my estimate (I'm VERY short so hard to tell)

Leader of "La Squadra" (bunch of assassins. Every time I've tried to infiltrate, catboy catches (:3) on to me.) Human jaw strength is about 7.5 times a cat's. hospital.

Species : Sanguisuge ('vampire') - species unknown

has fangs (yes)

drinks blood (yes)

Non-undead (bleeds normal blood, so he must have been born like this).

Not P.C.S (Pop Culture Standard)—no weakness to garlic, can be in direct sunlight (though he seems to prefer not to be) and no weakness to religious affects despite being Catholic aligned—can tell he's Italian-born.

I know he drinks blood because I’ve seen him do it. seems to have keen senses. I’m sure this isn’t surprising but I can’t get close enough to tell if he’s warm- or cold-bodied. he could be a half-vampire. They’re usually more likely to be warm-bodied despite still having poor circulation. They often don’t have to drink blood, but the craving is stronger, especially if they don’t give in often. They also tend to drink more at one time than full vampires since they tend not to satiate themselves as regularly… he drinks a lot of blood when he does drink it.

[There's an illustration depicting one of Risotto's eyes. The 'whites' are black, and the irises are bright red, and the pupils—also black—appear slit, like a cat's.]

Eyes are black sclerae and pupils with very bright red irises—glowing, I think.

Stand: "Metallica"

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! A SANGUISUGE WITH A BLOOD-BASED STAND ABILITY??! ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING!? HOW DO I KNOW WHAT'S STAND AND WHAT'S SPECIES RELATED!?!?

Update: its not blood based so much as its iron based but he uses blood as a source of iron which still makes things complicated for me to figure out. range seems to be a 5-10m radiu [The writing trails off at the end. There's a lot of blood on the corner of the page.]

[On the right side:]

Maybe in his 20s? Short of directly asking, I don't think there's a way I can pinpoint for sure.*

[There's an unfinished rushed illustration of Risotto Nero.]

My memory isn't the best and he uses invisibility a lot so I can rarely see him long enough to draw him from observation...

Will he show up in a photo? I don't think cameras use silver anymore!!

[There’s a partially-ripped photo of Risotto Nero, in dark lighting, presumably in the process of using his Stand, taped to the page. There's blood splattered over the photo. Frantic writing at the bottom of the photo reads "I PICKEDA A BAD SPOT TO STAND IN"]

he does show up in photos!! thank god for camera zoom haha...

*Vampires are known for looking fairly young, due to abnormal physical aging tendencies. Turned vampires usually stop aging once Turned, since they’re undead. Born sanguisuges like this guy can vary—some hit a certain point where they just stop “getting older”, and some age very slowly once they hit puberty. I heard someone say that the slow aging owes to vampires’ typical poor circulation—what?? Do you know what aging is? Yes, vampires tend to have poor circulation if they have any circulation at all, but the poor circulation contributes mostly to cold skin (and infertility, I think) like it does in humans. And for the record, they don’t drink blood to compensate for a lack of blood in their own bodies because, in case you’ve forgotten, that’s not how bodies work. Blood consumption does not affect the consumer’s own blood in any significantly direct way. ]

Guess it must be lucky to be a sanguisuge whose job is offing people… he’s hard to get close to because I usually catch him when he’s uh. You know. Doing his job.

He still hasn’t realised I’ve been tailing him though! I… I think. Like with his age, short of asking him directly, I can’t really be sure, and as I’m sure is obvious, that’s not really a good idea.

if anyone has any questions or insight… go ahead?

I could use any info.

~Bambi

[vindicated-truth]

(This was originally written as a response to this incredible post, which I also highly recommend reading as well as it sets up everything I'll further expound on below)

I concur with everything said above, and to further illustrate the point: it isn’t only with how Dongsik and Joowon are with other people, but how they implement their actions as well that resembles how starkly different they are—in a way that’s also remarkably complementary.

Dongsik’s actions in the entire story are mostly reactive. There’s a point in the story where he was about to storm out to save Jaeyi unthinkingly, and Joowon grabs him, even handcuffs Dongsik to him, fiercely telling him, “Stop storming out without thinking things through!” And Dongsik’s reaction was to punch him.

This scene illustrates more than anything the perfect example of their differences: everything Dongsik does is always in the heat of the moment, an emotional reaction to what is happening.

Everything he did with Kang Minjeong’s fingers is a primary example. The horrifying discovery that the person he treated as his pseudo-brother all these years is in fact the real serial killer, while reeling at the fresh, gut-wrenching memory of how he failed to save his partner, the turmoil of emotions led him to do everything that followed after the discovery of Minjeong’s fingers and the very likely probability that her own father had killed her.

Contrast that to everything Joowon did: regardless of the morality of it (because the truth is none of what Joowon or even Dongsik did was completely moral), Joowon meticulously planned everything. From Lee Geumhwa’s sting operation, to planting the evidence in Nam Sangbae’s vault and then later on planting a GPS tracker on him, to investigating Cho Gilgu, to the revelation of Jung Cheolmun’s bribes and Joowon’s own subsequent arrest at the Commisioner General hearing, to the car chases involving Lee Changjin and Han Kihwan and how Joowon had already anticipated their meeting by planting a recording device on his own father’s car, to saving Jeongje from the mental institution, to making sure they have enough evidence gathered from Lee Changjin’s and Do Haewon’s testimonies before he released the recording to the public, ensuring that all of them will be indicted—

All of these were logically, meticulously, well thought-out.

This is Joowon’s strength in their partnership: he’s the planner, as well as the calm executioner of those plans.

And where does Dongsik’s strength lie?

His strength lies in how incredibly, strongly emotional he is. Where he lacks the calm rationality Joowon possesses, he more than makes up for it with his emotional intelligence, because it’s precisely because his empath levels are through the roof that he knows exactly how people would also react—

Which meant he also knew exactly which buttons to push to finally get them to do what he wants.

Between the two of them, it’s actually Dongsik who’s more frightening. Because Dongsik’s strength had always been how he treats people—his almost instinctive understanding of human nature. He knows exactly how to care for them.

And he knows exactly how to break them.

This was demonstrated so eerily, so frighteningly, with how he knew exactly how to break Jeongje, and later on Do Haewon herself, with how he cruelly revealed that Jeongje had vowed to slit his own throat if his own mother wouldn’t own up to her own sins and reveal the truth. Even early on, with Kang Jinmook, Dongsik knew exactly how to push his buttons by bringing up Yoon Mihye.

(At some point, he had also tried his very best to break Nam Sangbae too, when he showed up to his interrogation right after Dongsik found Yuyeon's body. This, more than anything, might have also what pushed Sangbae to do everything he did afterward that led to his eventual death.)

And finally: he knew exactly how to break Lee Changjin, by following through with his earlier threat of (very nearly) killing him.

Where Han Joowon lacked in his understanding of people and relationships and the maelstrom of emotions that come with it, Dongsik knew exactly how to make use of all of it. To love people, to save people—and when the situation warranted it—to break them.

In this partnership, Joowon is the mind: he knows exactly how to outsmart you.

And Dongsik is the heart: he knows exactly how to save you—or break you.

[silver-grasp]

Narrative Power in Arda

An embarrassing number of months ago, I alluded to narrative as an in-universe force within the Silmarillion in my tags on a post I have since lost, which I feel merits further elaboration. The short version is that crafting a story carries meaningful weight and power in Arda, which is not much of a reach considering that 1) telling a story in a certain way has power even in the real world, and 2) music is already well-established as an important medium and means of magic in Middle Earth. I think it is relevant to consider this aspect when discussing the nature and weight of words in the Silmarillion, whether it be curses, dooms, oaths, or anything else.

To begin with, it is difficult to tease apart what I will call in-universe narrative from narrative in the sense that a guy called Tolkien wrote this whole story down, on purpose, with various story arcs that come to various narratively satisfying conclusions. The best illustrative example of in-universe narrative, thus, is Finrod’s duel in song against Sauron, because Tolkien could have had the song battle work however he wanted, but he chose to make it about storytelling. We joke about Finrod and Sauron’s rap battle, but their contest really is a battle of narratives – particularly cultural narratives. To quote:

Then sudden Felagund there swaying Sang in answer a song of staying, Resisting, battling against power, Of secrets kept, strength like a tower, And trust unbroken, freedom, escape; […] And all the magic and might be brought Of Elvenesse into his words. […] The sighing of the sea beyond, Beyond the western world on sand, On sand of pearls in Elvenland.

This is arguably the story of the Noldor, as told by Finrod – all the beauty and power of Aman, but brought by the Noldor to Middle Earth in their flight to escape the control of the Valar and avenge their king against Morgoth’s evil. This is his choice of story to wield against Sauron, and it makes sense. It invokes the Noldor’s heroism against Morgoth in maintaining the long siege, as well as their rejection of all the higher powers and his own faithfulness to his oath to Barahir that led him to this point. It’s a good story, but Sauron shatters it with a single invocation, because this narrative Finrod spins of the Flight of the Noldor cannot accommodate the atrocity that was the Kinslaying at Alqualonde.

The outcome of the song battle is not decided based on raw power, or skill in crafting magic or spells, or even singing ability. It is won on the merits of narrative: Finrod’s story doesn’t work; he cannot narratively reconcile the reality of the Kinslaying with “trust unbroken, freedom, escape,” and thus Sauron has the victory (1). Thus, we can conclude that “does the story work” is a legitimate part of how magic functions in Middle Earth.

This should not come as a surprise; Middle Earth (and the world itself) were created/predicted by the Music of the Ainur, which is itself a narrative work of music. It, arguably, puts the story in history (2). The narrative of the Ainulindale, moreover, is disrupted by Morgoth in much the same way Sauron disrupts Finrod’s narrative in their contest. But whereas Finrod’s story collapses under the contradictions introduced by Sauron, Eru incorporates Morgoth’s discord into the Music to create a new, greater theme than the one before. This is not an accident, and it shows that Eru, as God and Creator (read: Author), understands narrative better than Morgoth does: any good story has conflict of one sort or another. That’s what makes them stories, rather than a pleasant but boring account of a series of pleasant but boring events.

This is to say, Tolkien makes the necessity of having a plot arc into part of his theological worldbuilding. There is, frankly, a lot you could say about that, but I am not going to, because it is somewhat off-topic from the point I’m trying to make and also I really don’t know where to begin.

Additionally, while Finrod’s own narrative fails, the overall narrative of Middle Earth picks up where he left off and turns his defeat into a fourth-act crisis point, the abyss which makes way for Luthien’s subsequent victory over both Sauron and Morgoth and triumphant retrieval of the Silmaril. Finrod may not have known how to turn Sauron’s narrative disruption to his own ends, but Eru does.

Returning to the Doom of the Noldor, while Manwe is said to be the closest of the Valar to Eru in thought, I would argue that Namo, as the Vala of fate, is the closest of the God-as-Author aspect of Eru. His domain, fate, is closely linked with the Music. I said earlier that Middle Earth was created/predicted by the Music, and that blurriness between creation and prophecy is important for understanding the nature of Fate in Tolkien’s work - there is a careful tightrope walked between free will and determinism (3). I argue that the Music additionally suggests that fate in Arda is really Narrative at work.

So where does that leave, for instance, the Doom of the Noldor? Is it curse or prophecy? Punishment meted out by the gods or natural consequences of an unprecedented violent attack? Framing it in these binaries is reductive no matter which side you come down on. The Doom is neither a curse nor a prophecy: it is a narrative.

The soon-to-be Exiles, led by Feanor, kick off their narrative in maybe the worst way possible (murder). This is, objectively, a very bad inciting incident – stories that start with murder don’t tend to turn out well for the people doing the murdering. Within the Music, and the fabric of Arda’s fate, the Noldor have narrowed their narrative options significantly. “Slain ye may be, and slain ye shall be,” for have they not already slain their own kin? But it is very difficult to argue for the Doom as purely prophetic. The text itself indicates in multiple places the judgment or wrath of the Valar as something laid upon the house of Feanor and all who follow them, not simply natural consequences. There is a tangible weight to the Doom, and a sense after the War of Wrath that it is something that can be lifted.

Mandos says, you have chosen your story to be a tragedy by opening with a tragedy. But when this is spoken by Narrative himself, it takes on a weight greater than that of a mere prediction. The Doom defines the genre of the story that is to follow: Tears unnumbered ye shall shed. And they did.

The story, of course, is never truly over. But I’ll leave eucatastrophe for another day.

Footnotes: (1) As a side note, I am forever thinking about arrogantemu’s fic “Beyond the Western World,” in which Finrod says “I’d staked everything on an innocence I didn’t have.” Credit where credit is due for influencing my thinking on this subject.

(2) Tolkien as a linguist would undoubtedly be aware that the words come from the same root, and that other modern languages have not in fact separated the meanings of “work of fiction” and “account of real events” into separate words.

(3) To write a proper meta on this subject I would have to dig much deeper into other sources, but from my understanding fate in Tolkien’s works works very similarly to the Anglo-Saxon concept of wyrd – there’s a very interesting line in Beowulf, I believe, about how “for undaunted courage, fate spares the man it has not already marked” (paraphrased). I highly recommend reading more about it for a better understanding of fate in Middle Earth.

[animalsalvationassociation]

Grouber & Perchkin

[ DO NOT REPOST, ALL ART & CONCEPTS WERE MADE BY ME ]

Illustration Time of All Vegimals: 13hr 54min

Headcanon:

Grouber is the second oldest though most times he doesn’t quite show it. He tends to be on the lazier side, but when he does help his strength always plays a big part in any plan. Papa Shellington isn’t quite sure where he gets it, but why should he be the one to tell his son to hold back? I mean it’s never hurt anyone.

In any case he likes to pass the time by “Fish-Watching”, at least that’s what he calls it. Papa Shellington gifted him a book of all the known sea creatures in the world and Grouber has been very adamant about filling that book with pictures he took.

Every now and then you’ll find Perchkin helping him get the perfect photo, these two are two peas in a pod, best friends with no end. Grouber also tends to prefer the missions where they’re on the surface. His favorite places are the Everglades where Ranger Marsh is and the Amazon River. There’s just something about it . . .

Perchkin is one of the youngest just older than the twins. He tends to get distracted every now and again, but is a great help on the field when its time to get dirty. He’s pretty quiet but not in the way of being shy, in fact he likes to be by himself most of the time.

He’s wearing his favorite outfit, a very cute example of what he wants to be when he grows up, which is a train conductor. His real dream though is to drive trains that bring emergency supplies to folks and animals in need. He’s not entirely sure how he’s going to do it but he’s still young so he has plenty of time.

Next Characters on the Lineup: Sharchini & Vegi-Bot

The Other Vegimals:

Tunip & Tominnow / Barrot & Pikato / Halibeet & Codish

[ This is an Octonauts AU, in no way is this canon to the OG storyline. ]

[batrachised]

I am SO curious what you think of specific LMM short stories - namely, The Waking of Helen, The Doctor's Sweetheart, and The Growing Up of Cornelia - but also just all of them bc there is so much going on in literally all of them (not even counting the insanity that is tannis of the flats). apologies if you've talked ab them before but I am intrigued as to if you've read them/have thoughts

Thanks for this ask, I find it really interesting! I also find it very appropriate for this kilmeny shebang, because I think kilmeny provides a very good illustration for this.

I don't think I've read all of LM Montgomery's short stories, although I know I've hit a good chunk of them, so that in and of itself tells you something. There are some I really, really love and that I think are LM Montgomery at her best (The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's), but I find a lot of them to be LM Montgomery at her worst. Some of them encapsulate LM Montgomery's strengths in a really potent, concise way; a lot of them emphasize her weaknesses in parallel.

Because I haven't read a lot of them since I was a teen, I mostly have dim memories of the ones I liked, or of ones where I was like hmmm...that's funny, or the ones that I liked but now looking back am like hmm...that's funny. I used to love the Growing up of Cornelia quite a bit, but now I squint at it for obvious reasons. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVED the fake dating one because I thought it was hilarious (this spinster lies to the town about having someone courting her, someone she completely fabricates - only for a man who happens to fit the description to a tee show up in a sheer shenanigan of fate). The Strike at Putney is my sister's favorite (the women of a church go on strike to combat sexism).

So overall, there are some jewels in in the mix. The form of a short story is such that in some ways, you have to strip writing and storytelling down to its bare elements. As such, I think the form of a short story is particularly well-suited to demonstrating Maud's strength of humor. When they're good, they're good.

However, as referenced, that often means when they're bad, they're bad. Some are technically well-written but gross in plotline (these are the ones that tend to be the ones I liked as a child, but as an adult..); a lot are both disturbing and imo pretty poorly written, much like a certain novel we've been discussing lately. We have Tannis (YIKES), the Education of Betty (YIKES), and others which kind of pull back the curtain on Maud.

LM Montgomery was no angel, and even beyond aspects of her you'd expect historically, she was just...kind of mean. I remember reading a letter of hers where she visited some equivalent of a girl scout troop and frankly talked about how she couldn't imagine any of the girls finding husbands because they were so plain and ugly. You see it pop up in her books, but it pops up a lot in her short stories as well. In the end, to answer your question in a general sense, I feel like overall the short stories have more kilmeny's than anne's.

Regarding the specific stories, I'd have to reread them. We did discuss the Growing Up of Cornelia on here a while back - I used to LOVE that one, but now as an adult I'm like more errrr. It is interesting to me because Sidney is the Dean Priest figure that ever haunts LMM's work. As for The Waking of Helen, iirc this is @mzannthropy's favorite! Unlike Kilmeny, it actually commits to its premise and so I think it works. I'm not really familiar with the Doctor's Sweetheart - I looked it up and nothing rang a bell.

For my favorite short stories (You didn't ask, but I shall answer anyway) - here are the ones that I remember even years later:

The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's: iconic, in a word. endlessly quotable. A spinster woman who hates men quarantined with a confirmed bachelor who hates women? Much like the blue castle, this takes a basic fanfic trope (for tbc, 'where is my wife;' for this, quarantined together) and so successfully executes it you're left with your jaw on the floor.

The Strike at Putney: this is a sister's favorite, and I can see why. Women of the church learn that a missionary will not be allowed to occupy the pulpit to speak because she's a woman, and so they go on strike. It's also a emphasized critique of the undervaluing of women's work.

The Materializing of Cecil: GOD I REMEMBER LOVING THIS ONE. This unmarried woman is embarrassed to be unmarried at forty and so flagrantly invents a lover to her sewing circle - only for a man who fits the description to SHOW UP. It's hilarious. However, as a content warning, I reread it to find there is less than fantastic description of a Chinese man near the end.

The Little Brown Book of Miss Emily: guess what? this one is in first person, and that person is ANNE. 😱 this one...it's sad, but it always stayed with me. I have read quite a few lmm stories and forgotten most, but not this one. Also, its final line is beautiful to me.

[theflyindutchwoman]

You're a good influence. You're gonna make a really great dad one of these days. I'm gonna have to if you keep losing our kids everywhere you go.

| ANATOMY OF A SCENE - CHENFORD EDITION 5.17 - The Enemy Within

The fact that Lucy couldn't wait to tell Tim how much she appreciated what he did for Jordy and his dad while, in the meantime, he was reflecting on how much she brought out the best in him is just so endearing. These two and their unwavering support for each other...

Tim acknowledging Lucy's role in his growth - and telling her this - is really important too. She is such a kind-hearted person and unfortunately, that quality is sometimes used as a weapon against her, when truthfully, it is a testament to her strength that she remains this empathetic after everything she went through. Something that Tim recognises. Hence him calling it her 'superpower'. And he's right : she has been an incredible influence. She has challenged him from the start, helped him grow and see things from a different perspective. But the thing is, Tim isn't the only person she has tried to influence. That's what makes this moment even more crucial : his gratitude is in complete contrast to Chris's reaction when Lucy was dating him. She was trying to inspire him to be more understanding. She knew that as an ADA, he had the power to make a real change and wanted to show him how by giving him 'homework' as he called it. Only, her efforts were met with a certain dose of condescension, as his choice of word illustrates, to the point where she basically gave up because it wasn't worth the effort. Even Tim has been guilty of dismissing or scoffing at her compassionate disposition at times. In his case though, it was mostly due to the nature of their job, where he needed her to be more suspicious, and in the end, he still paid attention to what she was saying. That's why she never stopped challenging him. Even so, it is touching to have Tim verbally acknowledge this to Lucy, especially now that they're in a relationship… and the look in her eyes just conveys how much this means to her.

Lucy immediately returns his compliment with one of her own… She goes straight to the heart, by telling Tim that he would make a great father. One of these days. As in the near future. This is such a sweet sentiment, in light of his past. Their following banter is so irreverent… and yet, you can feel that they're completely serious. The casual way these two keep mentioning their kids, as if it is an inevitability, is mind blowing. There's a certain irony that so far, they're the only couple who have actually mentioned kids before being pregnant. Or even before they started dating for that matter. It's a conversation they've been having for a while and it progressed along their relationship. It was at first a mere curiosity, with Lucy venting to Tim about the appointment her mother made for her at the fertility clinic and asking him if he ever thought about having kids himself. Also, let that sink in : she was talking about the possibility of freezing her eggs to her superior officer… While Tim's dreams of ever becoming a father were growing more and more distant, Lucy, on the other hand, was taking steps in ensuring her future by going forward with the procedure. And since their second date, they've joked about grandchildren, coached together Tyler's Little League team… Even Tamara has chimed in on the topic. So here they are now. Joking again about their future kids. Plural. Several times. It's how they simply consider this a fact and none of them is batting an eye over it. That's how strongly they have faith and are secure in their relationship that they can envision themselves as parents and talk about it so freely. It's not even that they're actively planning on getting pregnant. It's about both being all-in and reveling in that knowledge. His grin after teasing her is perfect. He still loves riling her up - just like she does. And you know she wanted to affectionately push him. They're flirting in the bullpen, in front of everyone (including Grey), glowing and basking in each other's presence… This scene truly brings home how these two have managed to shift their relationship without losing their dynamic. That's what makes them perfect for each other.

[leonsliga]

Leon Goretzka for Sports Illustrated Deutschland

-> In this Sports Illustrated interview, Leon discusses not being called up to the national team, his character, and handling high pressure situations. The new Adidas Bodycare brand ambassador also discusses his hopes for the future.

On the pitch you show strength, off the pitch you are known for your social commitment. How is it that you are so present and outspoken?

That has envolved over the course of my life, but the sense of justice has always been within me. The only thing that has changed over the course of my career is that I now have a much greater reach and more people hear my opinions.

How difficult is it to fight against adversity? Can something like this be trained or is it something you’re born with?

You have to learn to deal with it. Then you can take a clear stance—or you can just leave it be. Everyone has to decide that for themselves. But I can cope with resistance, even though some of the things that come at me these days are extreme.

How do you deal with pressure and disappointment?

Pressure is something very positive for me. I really like it. It probably helps me in my job too. When it mattered most, I was able to deliver top performances. I like a bit of pre-match jitters. That's why I'm not afraid of pressure. Disappointments are also part of it. You learn that very early on, especially in football. Losing games starts in training. But that’s why you play in a team; that's the beauty of team sports—that you can support each other. Like at FC Bayern this season, which wasn't quite as successful as we had expected and were used to. These are experiences that you can take with you and mature from.

Did it hurt you a lot not to be called up for the national team?

It was an extreme disappointment for me because I didn’t expect it. Afterwards, I gave myself a day to come to terms with the situation. The day after that, I looked at how I could rectify it. The best way to do that is to perform at your best and accept this new role.

How hopeful are you that you will be at Euro 2024?

Very.

What is your emotional world like? Do you always allow all feelings—even the negative ones?

Everyone has to find out for themselves how they deal with feelings. My recommendation would be to talk about them, but I don't always manage that either. I like to work things out on my own and let the process mature within me. I can draw strength from that.

How do you strike a balance between self-criticism and self-confidence?

Self-criticism and self-confidence are mutually dependent. Telling yourself that you are the best has nothing to do with self-confidence. You are strongest when you also know your weaknesses.

As a leader, do you always have to live up to the sometimes very high expectations?

Yes, that's the job of a footballer. We live in a fast-paced, day-to-day business. You're only ever as good as you were in the last game. In my career in club football, I've won all the major titles that you can win with a big club like FC Bayern. Nevertheless, this season I have experienced what it means to be criticized as a leader. It reminds you that you are obliged to perform week in, week out.

How do you build yourself back up again when things aren't going your way? Do you train even more then?

I don't make my training dependent on situations that I experience week after week. I have long-term training plans. But of course, the motivation to correct things when they go poorly is always there.

What role do negative fan opinions play? Should they be ignored?

You have to accept these things. Everyone has their own opinion. Of course, it would be nice if things were a bit more civilized, but unfortunately that's not the case. This doesn't just apply to football; it can happen to anyone on social media. It's extremely disappointing. We should think about how this can be regulated. I'm lucky that things don't bother me too much. But there are certainly many users who unfortunately don't get on so well with it.

The football business can be very tough. What do you wish for the future of football, especially for the players?

I don't know if I should give an honest answer to that.

We’re asking for one.

If I'm completely honest, we should stop trying to generate clicks at the expense of the players—both on social media and in reports.

Can football help people and society feel more positive?

The 2006 World Cup showed how football can galvanize our country. Germany's enthusiasm and interest in football are certainly back. As players, we can influence this huge potential if the German national team performs well.

You are an ambassador for Adidas Bodycare. What does "well-being" mean to you?

For me, "well-being" means that I have an awareness of my body. For the balance between strain and relief, but also for regeneration. Ultimately, it’s also about work-life balance.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.185 thoughts

[The New York Soup Stock Exchange]

(Contents: thematic analysis)

I've been thinking a lot about Tozuka's editor saying that Undead Unluck's slogan would be "let's enjoy life," and maybe it's a matter of translation, but to me, it seems like every word of that slogan has meaning

"Enjoy life" is easy enough to see the significance of, but I'm willing to bet most people who read that discount the "let's"

To me, though, that phrase isn't a command, it's an invitation: it's not telling you to go out and enjoy your life, it's asking you to enjoy life with others. We all should enjoy our lives, together, and this chapter illustrates that concept beautifully

In shonen battle manga, togetherness is most readily conveyed through standing united against a common enemy, but that's not really applicable to most people's lives. However, there is one way to show togetherness that I think pretty much anyone anywhere can relate to: sharing meals

Family gatherings, holiday parties, celebrating special occasions, or even smaller occasions like dates or regular lunch breaks, the number one way that people spend time together is just grabbing a bite to eat. Any given cooking manga, like Food Wars or Toriko, capitalize on this throughout their entire runs, but even manga without a focus on food like One Piece, Dr. Stone or even Cipher Academy often feature their cast savoring delicious food in each other's company

Undead Unluck is no stranger to this, like with the cherry blossom viewing as Spring died in the previous loop, but this is the first time that we've focused on the creation and consumption of a singular dish in this series. The cooking process is just as important as the dish itself, and while Enjin has experience, Fuuko has love: a group of friends who will face any challenge with her, and who she has a strong enough understanding of to be able to create something greater than the sum of its parts. In a way, that's what the Union is: a hotpot of disparate ingredients brought together and harmonizing to create something incredible

I've noted before that very few fights in Undead Unluck are one-on-one, but one-vs.-many is a pretty common setup: Union vs. Victor, AnFuu+RipLa vs. Autumn, and, most notably, AnFuu+ShenMui vs. Feng. Unlike Feng, Enjin definitely understands the concept of cooking/fighting with love, but just like Feng, Enjin operates alone, taking on every aspect of the cooking process by himself while Fuuko has split up the responsibilities based on everyone's strengths. This is exemplified best through his taste test, where the panel zooms out to show his single silhouette struggling to cool down his broth while Fuuko and friends continue cooking. The wide empty space and his one shadow vs. the Union's three felt so incredibly lonesome

I won't dig too deep into Enjin's mentality or reasoning just yet, as I'm sure the next chapter will give me more than enough to work with on that front, but it's plain to see that Enjin isn't just solitary, he's isolated. Just like Feng, just like Billy, just like Rip, just like Andy. Did he choose to be this way like the former three, or did he find himself here like Andy? Again, we'll find out next week, but I'm willing to bet it's a little bit of both - something happened that pushed him away from others, and he chose to continue on alone

I'm really liking this arc so far, but I think the clincher is going to have to be Enjin's backstory. I like his design and personality, but for him to solidify himself in my heart like everyone else has before him, his story needs to move me. With everything we've seen in these last two chapters, though, I have no doubt that Tozuka will do just that with ease

Until next week, let's enjoy life

[dolphin1812]

@cliozaur included a wonderful image of the giant key used as a weapon in their post! The proportions are hilarious. (There's great analysis there, too, so please check it out!)

Patron Minette is a troupe, but not a well-organized one (at least, when Jondrette/Thénardier is in charge). Their 'ambush' begins with this:

"“Where is Montparnasse?”

“The young principal actor stopped to chat with your girl.”"

The lead didn't bother to show up! He got distracted! And by the time they're having this conversation, M Leblanc/Jean Valjean can tell something's wrong, so they can't stall until Montparnasse appears. They have to put on a show without their principal actor, which isn't a great starting point.

I love how Jean Valjean is surprised but not scared, because he knows his strength can get him out of this. @secretmellowblog has a great (and funny) post about his cleverness here, too, with his politeness and dishonesty being both strategic and effective compared to Thénardier's. Still, the reason for his calm is devastating:

"“You are wretches, but my life is not worth the trouble of defending it.""

He's able to remain calm in part because he's so used to living with constant stress that these kinds of emergencies are almost easier (as they are familiar) to deal with, but he's also calm because he doesn't value his life and he knows that Cosette is safe. He does more harm to himself than the ambushers do to him, and while it is an effective way of scaring and shocking them, it illustrates his unfortunate acceptance of martyrdom, too. His life only has value to him through Cosette, and although it's wonderful to see how much happier he's been with their love as part of his life, his lack of self-worth remains concerning. Thénardier is far from his equal in strength and wit, and that's also a big part of why this ambush is a mess, but "Valjean can't be hurt because he doesn't care what's done to him" is a horrible reason for an ambush to fail (from the perspective of caring about the characters - unfortunately, it's good writing, because his lack of self-worth is a very consistent aspect of his character).

And of course there's the shocking turn of this chapter: the mysterious man and M Jondrette are actually Jean Valjean and M Thénardier! (The Jean Valjean twists are rarely surprising because he's always just a sad strong man and he's often described by others, but I will give Hugo credit for Thénardier being less obvious, if still quite recognizable). But now Marius is having a crisis! Trapped between honoring his father and saving the man he respects for being the father of his love, he doesn't have a clear path that would satisfy him personally, nor is he going to be decisive in the way Javert told him to be. In a way, his issue stems once again from his idolization of people. His father was a good person overall, but even a good person can misjudge someone! His intention (help the person who saved his life) was good when he made this demand of his son, but he didn't really know Thénardier; in fact, their entire interaction was a lie, with Thénardier saving him by accident and really having tried to rob him. Marius, however, can't see his father as someone with limitations, nor can he surrender his notions of honor. Consequently, he can't fully process that abandoning his obligation to Thénardier would be the best course of action. He's definitely distressed by his behavior (and understandably so), but in a way that leads to crisis and nearly 'madness,' not to a change of heart.

Thénardier himself reveals a lot about his personality with how he reads Jean Valjean. Seeing his charity as part of a 'goody-goody air' and his earlier poor dress as an attempt at manipulating people through pity highlights his own scheming nature and cynicism, as he can't imagine anyone having a genuine commitment to charity. To him, the practice must be inherently paternalistic, a way to bolster one's own status or feel good about oneself without really giving that much (see his critique of bringing a too-large coat and two blankets alone). And he has a point about the limitations! Those items really can only do so much to help his family! And Valjean's charity does have its problems! As Fauchelevent pointed out, he maintains a distant sort of benevolence, and while he doesn't mean to be paternalistic (he's trying to live up to his image of a good person and is distant to stay safe, and he's also not great at social interactions), that he comes across that way is an unintended consequence of his avoidance of relationships with those he helps. The Thénardiers aren't a great example of this - as the Jondrettes, he'd just met them - but there's still some truth there. There just isn't malice or self-interest in the way that Thénardier assumes there is.

Here, rather than use class stereotypes to his advantage, Thénardier reveals a sense of class entitlement:

"Just see here, Mister millionnaire: I have been a solid man, I have held a license, I have been an elector, I am a bourgeois, that I am! And it’s quite possible that you are not!”"

Having been bourgeois once, it hurts him to lose that status, and not just for the painful poverty that he now lives in. Part of his status seems to have been political ("an elector"), but it was also about being "above" others. From his interaction with Valjean at the inn in Montfermeil, he suspects that he's not who he claims to be (which is true, but he feels angry about this in a class-based way). He saw Valjean as a possible criminal who had gotten rich through crime, and who was hiding his wealth because of its suspect origins. His hatred of Jean Valjean, then, comes from the belief that he was a poor man who came to live above his class (the opposite of what's happened to him) and likely from jealousy, as he's better at crime than he is (and Thénardier has been scheming since he was an innkeeper, so even if he wasn't an actual criminal then, he's always been close enough to recognize the skills involved. In fact, as a bourgeois, he simply used these skills in a more socially acceptable way, employing them to 'defend' his business from 'unsavory' customers like Valjean).

On a brighter(?) note, Javert's entrance at the end of this chapter is amazing. He's so dramatic! But Javert showing up is also never a good thing, and everyone here (except Marius) has very good reason to fear the police, and sympathetic reasons, too. Jean Valjean is the most obvious, but even the Thénardiers are just as likely to be arrested for circumstances beyond their control (poverty) as they are for violence, and the less-guilty Thénardiers (Mme Thénardier and, even more so, her daughters) would be especially vulnerable to imprisonment. She's ill, Azelma is injured, and Éponine seems to be the one supporting the family financially a lot of the time (or at least the one going out and searching for money). Since we're seeing things from Marius' perspective, Javert can seem almost 'cool' (and he's funny on his own anyways). But Javert only cares to enforce the status quo, which is cruel to everyone in this room of the Gorbeau House regardless of how they behave.

[streetqueenofmars]

'The Tigger Movie' is a representation of the sad clown paradox and examination of the ways lack of social support makes depression worse. Or, in more colloquial terms, 'The Tigger Movie' is a story of when the happy friend in the friend group gets depressed and no one knows what to do about it so they just make it worse.

The sad clown paradox refers to the phenomenon when a person who serves the social role as entertainer, or at least the person who makes everyone else feel better, is themself depressed and with no one to comfort them. Tigger serves this social function within the hundred acre wood even if he doesn't necessarily receive a lot of thanks for it, often dismissed as a nuisance or a problem. One of the strengths of 'The Tigger Movie' is showing how Tigger's absence is felt, in one scene all of the other residents all go around explaining to Rabbit how helpful and supportive Tigger is.

The tragedy of the film, and arguably the conflict that sets the plot into motion, is that they often forget to tell Tigger. Which leads Tigger to feel lonely and socially isolated.

Tigger's depression is represented within Disney's 'Winnie The Pooh' franchise often. We seem him struggle with self confidence in 'Pooh's Grand Adventure' but only admits it to the others in the third act. We see him struggle with self image in 'Stripes', an episode of 'The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh', when his stripes wash off and the other are convinced he's no longer Tigger. This is why the best Winnie the Pooh installments we see Tigger have a subtle bond with Eeyore who is the only person in the hundred acre wood who seems to recognize how sad Tigger can be. But as these and other examples illustrate the other denizens are often uncomfortable with how to respond and be supportive to Tigger during his depression spells, since they take his comfort for granted.

Never is Tigger's depression as bad as it is in 'The Tigger Movie' however. Tigger starts the movie a little melancholic and lonely but it's the reactions of everyone else, too busy with their own problems to notice their friends trying in his own way to ask for help, that tips things over into full blown depressive episode. The normally bouncy Tigger can only melancholically ruminate on his own loneliness, exacerbated by his friends emphasizing how they are not Tiggers as explanation for why they are not interested in hanging out.

Roo's roll in this is fascinating because, while he does mean well, he only manages to come up with bandaid solutions to the problem and only manages to make things worse every time he tries to help.

Roo suggests Tigger should find his family of other Tiggers, Tigger obsesses about this idea with great enthusiasm at first but starts to slide back when the search yields nothing.

Roo suggests Tigger write his family a letter, Tigger is once again hopeful but when again returns to his depression when he doesn't get an answer.

Roo convinces the other members of the Hundred Acre Wood (sans Rabbit) to forge a letter from Tigger's family. Once again Tigger is ecstatic but he misinterprets the letter as saying the Tiggers are visiting him soon.

Roo convinces the others to dress as Tiggers and visit Tigger, but when Roo blows their cover Tigger becomes convinced his friends have escalated their previous callous behavior to full out mockery and leaves them to go out into a blizzard to find the family of Tiggers he not only believes exist but will give him some sense of community.

None of this to say that Roo is the secret antagonist of the film or anything that melodramatic. If he had other older people to bounce his ideas off things probably could have stopped before escalating. But since everyone else is caught up in their own problems they don't really give this issue the attention it deserves and so Roo is left stumbling around.

The only person who has not gone a long with all these misfires is Rabbit, the most level headed one who's need for order and control often put him at odds with Tigger. In the films climax Roo's last attempt to fix everything is to rally everyone to go out into the blizzard, find Tigger and bring him home. Pooh has the idea to bring Rabbit into it to help them. Now finally invested in helping Tigger his friends all work together to remind Rabbit of all that Tigger does to help them all ("sort of lights up the room when he enters" as Eeyore says), thus convincing Rabbit to help them.

The finale feels like an intervention, the Hundred Acre Wood residents journey into the blizzard to rescue Tigger thus confronting him with how much they care for him. This gives him enough of a boost to turn around and help them by saving them from an avalanche (In typical blockbuster finale fashion where a visual spectacle set piece is paired with the climax of an internal emotional conflict). Furthermore, when all the thrills of the climax subside, Tigger is further confronted by the proof that his friends all wrote the letter and he accepts them as his actual family and that he doesn't need a literal family of Tiggers to make him feel less lonely.

What's especially interesting about the consequences of this finale is that Tigger's recovery has a ripple effect through all the others. Once his mental state is more balanced Tigger goes around and helps everyone else with the micro conflicts they had had throughout the film that kept them too distracted to help him. Reaffirming all the things the other said about him to Rabbit about his roll as comfort and support within the larger social group.

[artzychic27]

Incorrect sb+ib with she ra and the princesses of power quotes?

Max: Imperfection is what makes scientific experimentation possible! Imperfection is beautiful!... At least, to me.

—

Alya: Isn’t it obvious? There’s an amok spy somewhere in the school! *Thunder and lightning* And no one is going anywhere until we figure out who it is!

—

Scarlet Beetle: He’s just so cute!

Monarch: I am not cute!

—

Rose: It’s not easy being the friendly and upbeat girl all the time! And I get that it’s hard being friends sometimes. You gotta work at it. So why am I always the only one who’s willing to work at it?

—

Jean: I can’t cry on cue. Whenever a roll calls for tears, the only thing that works is thinking about people falling. They’re tears of laughter, but no one can tell the difference!

—

Ikati Black: Ooh! Are we messing with Scarlet?! *Sits in Scarlet Beetle’s lap and purrs*

Scarlet Beetle: Ikati, do you have to sit right there?

—

Aurore: The Scarlet Akumas are wreaking havoc across Paris! We gotta find a way to survive, and-

Cosette: Leave this to me! *Slams their notebook on the table and opens it to a few illustrations* I've been keeping track of everyone’s weakness. And I've figured out the best tactical strategy to overpower every one of them. Nath’s weakness is obvious.

Aurore: Uh-huh, uh-huh. Real obvious. And, um, ahem, what is it exactly?

Cosette: Everyone knows he twisted his ankle when he was a kid. If you keep him off balance, his injury will act up on him. *Flips to a page of them kicking Nathaniel’s ankle* So if we come across Evillustrator, I'll target it, and subdue him, and take his akuma, and save him, and remind him of it every time he tries to take the last cupcake at lunch! *Shows a drawing of Nathaniel handing her a cupcake*

Simon: Right. But could we circle back to your not-at-all-weird-and-very-detailed theories on our weaknesses?

Ismael: Yeah, not all of us will be as easy as a twisted ankle.

Cosette: Oh, you don't believe me. That's--That's fine. I'll just demonstrate. Simon’s weakness? *Pushes a laptop off of a desk which Simon quickly catches* tech.

Simon: Demon!

Cosette: Mireille- loud noises. Reshma- also loud noise. Aurore can't act to save her life. Also, EXTERME pigtail-envy with Stormy Weather. Ismael- crippling self-doubt mixed with overwhelming hubris.

Ismael: Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's, like, really personal compared to loud noises.

Denise: What about me?

Cosette: An inability to unleash your full strength due to your overwhelming fear of hurting the people you care about.

Denise: Some might say that's actually a positive quality.

Cosette: It's really not. Jean weakness... *Scrolling through a comments section* Terrible reviews of plays he was in.

Jean: NO! *Smacks the phone out of Cosette’s hand* You've spent a lot of time thinking about this, huh?

Cosette: Contingency plans are how you win, and we will win.

Lacey: Okay, we get it. They are easy to take down. You and your files don't have anything on real threats, like me. *Sees Cosette holding a picture of her brothers over a lit match* You monster!

—

Marinette: *After meeting Audrey* Chloé… *Holds her hands* You’re worth more than what you can give to other people. You deserve love, too.

—

Monarch: I’m like, the only one who’s not a hero.

—

Denise: I Am Brave, Strong, Loyal, And I Give Great Hugs!

—

Simon: What does it say?

Alix: *Reading her dad’s note* It says, “What did the ancient Greeks say when they burned dinner?” … “It was ruined.”

—

Cosette: So, we all pitched in, took Jean’s ration bars for a week, and made this! *Points to a cake*

Jean: I’m hungry, but celebrating your victory is worth it.

—

*After the Wish was made, it’s now the canon universe*

Lila: *Sits next to Nathaniel* Hi. I’m Lila.

Nathaniel: Oh, hey. Nathaniel.

Lila: … *Stares at him* You know, I don’t know what it is, but I do not like you.

—

Nathaniel: *Pulling Alix along* Come on, let’s get you outside. You need some air.

Alix: No, Nath, I don’t need air- *Suddenly, she and Nathaniel are on the roof of the school* … How… How did we get out here?

Nathaniel: We climbed up, like we always do. Don’t you remember?

Alix: I don’t know what’s happening to me. It’s like I’m losing my mind!

Nathaniel: You just need to relax.

Alix: Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I’m fine. Everything’s fine. *Looks at Nathaniel, and for a brief second, he turns into Monarch* …

Nathaniel: Of course, I’m right. Everything’s perfect. I mean, unless you count HawkMoth running around, but, that’s why we got Ladybug and Chat Noir.

—

Lila: *Pouring some chloroform into a rag* In fact, Kim, I think I know some nice people who can help if you just-

Kim: *Quickly turns around and Lila hides the rag* Lila! You have to remember something! Tell me you remember! Everyone’s acting like things are perfect, except for you. Oh, and don’t get me started on Nath-

Lila: Nath?… Nathaniel?… *Has a flashback of Monarch striking her with his cane and a pink tambourine cracking*

Kim: … You do remember.

Lila: … N-No, I… *Has a flashback of Monarch snatching Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black’s Miraculous* I mean, I don’t know. And, Nathaniel, he… Did he… Do something? *Looks around, startled* … What’s going on?! I keep forgetting things!… This is all wrong! How did we get here?

—

Marinette: *Having flashbacks of Monarch transforming back into Nathaniel, putting on the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, and smirking* Nathaniel. It was Nathaniel! Nathaniel did this. He… He was dressed as Shadow Moth, he took… *Flashes back to Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black unconscious on the ground transforming into Kim and Max* The Miraculous… He made the Wish?!

—

Kim: Oh, wow. This is gonna be a lot to explain. And it’s gonna sound a little weird, but I swear, it’s all true. *Sighs* … Reality is collapsing in on itself because of the Wish Nathaniel made back in a different reality. The Nathaniel here had the Butterfly Miraculous in the other world except you guy don’t remember because the Wish altered memories. It was pretty crazy. The Butterfly Miraculous is now in Hawkmoth’s hands, but I promise, it used to be Nathaniel’s, and Marc had the Peacock Miraculous, and I was fighting Nathaniel and Marc when they had the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous, because I had the Ladybug Miraculous and I was fighting them alongside by partner, Ikati Black. I had the same powers as Ladybug, but a cooler suit, but Nathaniel- Monarch, used the Ladybug and Black Miraculous to make the wish, and I need Ladybug and Chat Noir to help re-do the wish and save all reality. *Takes a deep breath and starts panting*

Master Fu: I… Uh…

—

Marinette: *Grabs Austin T’s shoulders* Austin, I know what I’m about to say sounds crazy, but-

Austin T: Is this about the unstable portal caused by Nathaniel’s wish that’s slowly consuming and warping our reality?

Marinette: Now, you’re not gonna believe- What did you just say?

Austin T: Oh, I figured it all out a while ago while you guys were still freaking out about Nath and Marc being villains in another reality.

—

Marcelle: Nino! You aren’t the spy!

Nino: You don’t know that! It all makes sense. Who else could it be? *Thunder and lightning*

—

Cosette: I think I saw Marinette with Nino’s phone.

Nino: Wait, you guys have been here the whole time?

Cosette/Simon/Lacey: Uhh…

Cosette: *Offers a cupcake* Cupcake?

~

Sabrina: I can’t believe you read those two! Dark Mystery: The Mercury Case is my favorite.

Alya: Ugh, that one’s so predictable. I saw that twist coming a mile away.

~

Chloé: *Posing on the table*

Kim: Chloé. You weren’t even there.

~

Adrien: I told you how I took out 100- No, 150 guys, right?

Alya: *Groans*

~

Nino: You have to arrest me for everyone’s safety! Otherwise my evil alter-ego might do it again!

Max: Nino. Knock it off.

~

Chloé: *Posing with a ball and chain*

Kim: Still no! And put that back!

~

Max: *After interviewing Manon and Kiran, Mme. Bustier and Mendeleieve, and Denise and Simon who look a little irked after their date was interrupted* Not them. No. No.

Lacey: Okay, so, I think, like, maybe Scarlet Beetle did it!

Alix: Hey! We already questioned you!

Lacey: Oh yeah, I came back for the cupcakes!

[aevyk-ing]

2023 review stuff

Here we go again. Gotta keep up with the tradition because it's always interesting to go back and reflect on a whole year. While things have improved ever so slightly, my life isn't good yet. But hey, I'm doing my best to keep on fighting until I get there.

2020, 2021, 2022

Health (mixed)

I started out this year with a surprise: I'm autistic! And while it's not a bad nor good surprise, it has changed completely the way I treat myself. I used to feel useless and an idiot but now there's an explanation for most of my quirks and I can use my newly discovered "superpowers" to make me feel better. But hey, it's still a secret. I'd like to get a formal diagnosis (I mean on paper) before talking to my parents and family.

That being said, I've used this new knowledge to fight the many bumps I've encountered this year. There's still a long way to go, but I feel like I know myself way better now.

2. Writing (freaking good)

I started the year finishing a book, then I wrote another one, translated three, wrote four short stories, a full comic strip and lots of stuff more. I've created a whole new continent for Gingaria and new places for the next books. I had a great presentation for my book Kylkos and lots of people have praised Legends of Gingaria, which makes me so happy! It all gives me the strength to go on the days I feel bad. And I can't wait to show you what's in store! Also, shout-out to all my AO3 readers.

3. Art (quite good)

I'm getting the hang of Clip Studio Paint and I think you can see the leveling up. I'm trying to improve with more character, creatures and places designs. I've drawn more comics and some illustrations I'm really proud of. While I sometimes have bad days when nothing seems to work, I can just go back when I feel better.

4. Cosplay (eh...)

Believe it of not, I've managed to keep on sewing some new stuff. I can't share it for now, but hopefully next year. I've done some clean-up and while I'll use most of my time to fix stuff next year (once I can get it out of the boxes), I'm planning to do more photoshoots.

Now I'm going to talk about the stuff that has helped me go through this year. But first...

I'm sure nobody cares, but this year has been worse because we've had some problems regarding the documents so they can demolish our house and pay us. The thing is some... baddies have been meddling with the process and we were in the middle, so that's why our case is getting longer to resolve. Hopefully, now that we've got the papers we need, things will start going on more smoothly.

Movies & series

I've watched a lot of stuff this year. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse was so good, I loved Suzume and The Boy and the Heron and, about series, Over the Garden Wall and The Blue Eyed Samurai.

2. Gingaria

While writing is not always easy, I've had so much fun making this world even bigger. And I made a doll maker! There's a lot to come and I hope it keeps on growing.

3. Webtoons & reading

I still struggle with reading but my mind is calmer this year. I've read some books from a public place where you put one and get one (left one of my Zem copies just because). I'm currently following some Webtoons and my favorites are The Blind Prince and Your Smile is a Trap.

4. Side projects

I was commissioned to make 35 fabric cubes and a replica of Gladys from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Also made some props for cosplay and fixed other stuff.

5. Therapy

I'm so lucky to have found someone who gets me and understands what I'm going through. Sometimes is hard because she makes me rethink everything but I've improved so much this year thanks to her.

Someone asked me recently about my New Year's resolutions and turns out I don't want to have any, I'm going to rely on my projects. I've had an interesting idea recently and I'm going to search for someone to make it come true, I have more stories to tell (currently writing yet another book) and more surprises along the way.

Thank you so much for being there. I hope you all have a happy New Year. Keep on shining!

[coral-melon]

Hiya! I thought since i’ve never asked anyone before i would ask you! Could i get a match up? :3

My personality: (described best i can)

Im an ambivert, vv quiet and shy at first however when i get to know someone I’m very comfortable!! When i get excited about something i tend to talk louder by mistake, i am a massive people pleaser but i loveeee gift giving and just making stuff for people, i also do this thing where i end up watching the same shows on repeat but i never get sick of them.

Likes/dislikes:

i’m creative!! My artistic string suit is illustration :)) I play a lot of games however I’m terrible with fixing technology, i love baking!!! I love going and just being outside, and one of my favourite tv shows is ‘The walking dead’

I hate!!! Medical needles they are my worst irrational fear they just freak me out!!

Appearance:

(AFAB)

I’m 5’7, pale-ish (i don’t tan well =^=), brown hair with blue streaks at the front, i wear glasses.

I wear alternative-ish clothes (I’m British so i get called emo!)

Strength/weaknesses:

Im not too sure about this one =^=

I would like to say I’m a good person to rant to or if you need comfort in general anyone can talk to me!

Anddd probably the fact i tend to hold back how I’m feeling for the sake of not wanting to bother other people/make them feel bad

Other!

And i saw it was tagged with Obey me so i assume obey me match ups :3

Oh also no problem at all if you aren’t taking requests right now! I look forward to see your writing <3

-anon <3

Omg hi! You are the very first person to come by! :D

Thank you for taking the time to write this to me! My request are open, so feel free to submit anything✨

((Side note, you and I are very similar! ^^))

I’m sorry if you don’t end up liking who I match you with but I still hope you enjoy the hc I made for you!

I match you with…~

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

𓏸𓈒 At first, your interactions were strained at first.. He can’t be caught lacking talking to some normie! He also believed that you looked like a very hard person to approach, so why even bother? He thought. You looked too cool normie to want to interact with him of all demons!

𓏸𓈒 He eventually learns that he’s in fact wrong, you end up listening to his ranting about how mammon owes him money and played along with his scheme. Many would’ve already dissed him by now. So maybe you aren’t that bad as he had originally thought..

𓏸𓈒 But lord have mercy, whatever sparked your interest that got you talking made him into an automatic simp! The way you just glow with such excitement has his heart pounding and attacking his chest.

𓏸𓈒 You two are one in the same. When both of you end up figuring out the same passions, you become an unstoppable duo. So much so that it sometimes becomes too much for the other brothers to handle.

𓏸𓈒 Levi also happens to rewatch so many of the things he has already watched more than ten times. For him, each time he does it feels better than the last time. So if you wanted to rewatch something you enjoyed, he’ll most definitely join you with no complaints. He also goes ahead and find different shows or movies that are similar to the ones you like. He’s an expert!

𓏸𓈒 Everything you make and create are a godsend to him. And if it’s for him??? He can die happily at any given moment. Will have a shrine of all the things; it’s hidden away in a safe place tho. Behind one of his bookshelves.

𓏸𓈒 He appreciates so much how you listens to everything he says, even if it’s the most mundane or trivial things. Or if it’s so major for him that he just needs to let everything out of his system. The way m you go back and forth with him and not make him feel less of a person. Makes him suddenly have to stop the conversation for a moment to calm himself down every now and then.

𓏸𓈒 He loves being able to play video games with you, and you’re always the first person he’ll tell whenever the new game he had ordered arrived. If you ever accidentally messed up your console or computer, he takes this as his chance to shine and show you just how useful he can be. If you praise him, his brain will crash and there’s no fixing that.. Worry not though! He’ll come back to his senses, just give him a week or so!

𓏸𓈒 But when playing games with him, you guys tend to lose track of time very often, so this meant you got scolded by Lucifer quite often.

𓏸𓈒 He has made it pretty clear that he doesn’t like going outside of his room, he’s a hermit crab after all! He can’t handle being outside of his room for no reason. But, he would feel very envious of the people you hung out with whenever you weren’t with him. He found ask you to come by his room but you obviously can’t stay there forever! Unless he lock you up

𓏸𓈒 You’re a very busy person, a lot cooler and more popular than him. So he’ll try to step out of his comfort zone to be around you more often. Though fails many, many times to just barge into a conversation like Mammon or Asmo does. He’d also ask you if you could accompany him to an event that’s going on. Anything to have your attention!

𓏸𓈒 Whenever you have an appointment that requires you to get shots taken, he’ll do his best to hide you in his room. But if Lucifer is demanding it, there’s not much he can do.. He’ll try his best to comfort you though!

𓏸𓈒 As awkward as he may be, he really enjoyed being with you and feels like he has been able to open up to you easily. So, he hopes you feel the same way with him. Being able to rely on him to tell your problems or worries to him. He doesn’t know how to comfort perfectly, but he’ll be there for you no matter what! You’re his #1 player and a Best friend to him! It’s the least he could do for everything you already do for him.

End

Omg, I hope this wasn’t bad..! It’s my first time doing this and I hope I didn’t disappoint too much (╥﹏╥)

But I had a lot fun making this for you. Ty for introducing yourself to me, anon! Take care and have a good rest of your day/night!✨

[chirpq]

120+ Happy 65th Birthday Wishes, Images, and Quotes

Funny 65th Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to such an incredible 65-year-old man! Hoping your day proves to be as impressive as you are by the end of it. 65 looks great on you! May your birthday cake be as sweet as your smiles. Oh, sweet 65, my dear, much beloved senior citizen. Invest in yourself and adapt to the changing world to keep on living. My always-hip friend, you're growing older but not aging. So happy Birthday! 65 doesn't look 65 at all! Happy Birthday to the one who is a little child in years but a big boy in attitude. You need not age the extra day with each Birthday of your 65th year. Celebrate my 65th Birthday! see also: 101+ Best Dog Birthday Wishes & Dog Birthday Quotes I appreciate that you (plurality) have shared this, while aging is just a number. You don't look that old or that young, either. I hope you find your birthday card filled with love and best wishes. The walker has the effect of blasting 1965. Thus, it is time to rock while in the walker. Happy 65th Birthday! Bye, my junior year. Please welcome to the senior's club. Happy 65th. 65 years into the future, you remain old but still more relaxed than the mainstream. Happy Birthday! 65, you may have a lot of pain and pains, but you don't feel it. Have a wonderful birthday!

 Heartfelt 65th Birthday Wishes

Today is the 65th anniversary of a particular person. It will be remarkable if your day is half as lovely as yours. 65 years young and still turning heads! Celebrate with a special 65th birthday card filled with memories. Happy Birthday to you, silly, whose positivity is perpetual and perfect.Happy Birthday! Each year, getting better makes the world a brighter place. I wish you all the best for the upcoming year ahead! Happy 65th. Your 65th birthday card is on its way, filled with wishes for happiness and health. Clearly, you are debunking the myth that age is simply a number. You give us courage with your youthful spirit. Hoping for a beautiful day for you! The month seems to pass quickly when life is fun. Thank you for endlessly filling our devotion with joy. Wishing you a bright and sunny 65th birthday. What is it like being an ingredient of the limited membership of 65 years? I am sure you are glamming at it totally your way. Happy Birthday! also read: 101+ Best Dog Birthday Wishes & Dog Birthday Quotes Uniqueness is your strong point, and to your friendship, I wish for another orbit around this blazing ball of sun. Have a great 65th! Making their way to the festivities, he is now 65 years old and still adored and youthful like a child. You've really had my back through this - that is remarkable. Happy Birthday! With your goodwill and endless quest for joy, you give each day a beautiful shine. I mean, well, you have a happy and wonderful birthday! 65 is only a number, but you will always be a hero to us. Thank you, and I wish you an evening of your special day as much as you want.

Inspirational 65th Birthday Wishes

It is with joy that I tell you that you keep on motivating me with your incredible life and study spirit. May every day of yours be as valuable as yours. Thank you for proving that 65 is just a number theory by showing that your energy and spirit do not tire.Happy Birthday! Your illustration suggests that sometimes our best years lie in yet to come. Celebrate well! You always inspire me with strength, wisdom, and a cheerful attitude. Here's to the beginning of a new season and our latest adventures!

Thank you so much for guiding me; that every upcoming year is the beginning of new adventures. Have an inspiring and wonderfully blessed birthday! You are the evidence that experience makes one fearful, not old. Shine on! Thank you once again for the theory that proved helpful to me. I wish you more revelations in this New Year, which you will communicate. That is true; you inspire me to see life better everyday. Happy Birthday to you, and I hope it is the greatest of all! Thanks for showing how one's mind can be opened and broadened if the heart gives in. Steal the show as you twinkle upfront! Your love is a new hope for me. And the sky continues to clear - soaring high, page after page of enchanting narratives yet to unfold. Shine on!

Polite and Respectful 65th Birthday Wishes

Much love, the best gift for my dear soul. I wish you all the best today and hope that you enjoy your day as much as you. May your day be filled with joy; maybe you have many years of health ahead. Happy 65th! Here's to acknowledging and being grateful for one more year of wit, which has brought us more notches to our belts and the most of life. Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday to someone who always sets an example with love, care and positivity. The planet is mesmerizing with our lights on. Thank you for being my tutor, best friend and one who brought out the best in me during my college years. May your day be filled with all that makes your heart smile. 65 years young! This day is better due to your company. Your day is a bit more wonderful because you're fantastic. Happy Birthday! Also Read: 90+ Heartfelt & Best Happy Birthday Wishes for Son With most profound thanks, admiration and warm regard, may you have a wonderful birthday and a year that brings you joy. I hope you see your most entertaining celebrations today and a year full of good health, a happy life, and multiple blessings. Happy Birthday! May the day you cherish like no other be just as happy. I hope you have everything the world offers: the best. The time has come to give a toast to another beautiful year. A special thank you for what you do every day. Happy Birthday!

65th Happy Birthday Wishes that show Appreciation or Gratitude

Thanks for always being like an older brother: ever ready to tell me something that will catch me thinking for days. To you, we say - thank you so much; happy sithy! Behind every achievement is someone who has pushed me forward; I am wonderfully indebted. There is no better day than your Birthday. Happy-Birthday! It is in no man's mind to be gifted with such a good friend; I feel fortunate. Thank you for all that you do. I wish you a restful and enjoyable time! Your assistance and devotion have impacted many people. We appreciate you! May this be a year in which you can always have something to laugh at?

I'm indebted to you forever, and I could express my deepest thanks in words. You are treasured! All the best. Today should be as inspiring as you. I am grateful for your influence, encouragement, and love. You are unique, just as you deserve to be on this day, wishing you a happy 65th, ! I am grateful for all the joy and happiness you bring to our existence. You are an original as such. May your day be filled with joy and light! To me, there are certainly nobody's friends but yours. Appreciate all you do. I hope you have lovely memories to cherish forever. Thanks for your loving spirit and your presence all the time. You are loved! With the new year, I wish you all a year full of happiness and blessings. I appreciate your congratulations and comfort during the good and bad times. We want to say thank you and wish you the best. - have a great 65th!

65th Birthday Blessings

May your 65th year be embodied with happiness, good humour and precious nostalgic memories with your beloved! Happy Birthday! I wish you a good day. May this year be filled with joy and success. My dear, I love you so much! Happy 65th Birthday! You are a fantastic person! Happy 65th birthday! Wishing you many more years of joy, laughter, and adventure. May your life continue to be filled with love, happiness, and good health. Cheers to you! You are always in my memories for all the love, friendship, and inspiration you showered on me. I wish to be kind to you next year and grant you all your wishes. Enjoy your special day! You are unique: intelligent, humorous, and full of joie de vivre. Here's wishing the year ahead will bring you new encounters and prosperity. Happy 65th!

Happy 65th Birthday Greetings and Wishes for Grandma

Hi Grandma, so you are a member of the "senior club" now for real, yay! I wish you a 65th birthday and hope you are the same amazing as you are. Love you! I have an additional 48! Notable, isn't it, Grandma! Without all your feedback and support, we couldn't have made it. You're simply the best. Happy Birthday! Also Read: 90+ Heartfelt & Best Happy Birthday Wishes for Son Unbelievable! This year, Grandma is getting to celebrate her 65th Birthday milestone! Definitely, you don't seem like those extra years at all. I wish you a marvellous celebration today! I am throwing my hat into the ring with much love and gratitude! I shall be my first grandma forever. Wanna have all the stars in the sky shine just for us, like a galaxy created just for you and me.

Happy to your 65th awesome grandma, the person. It's also you; I will miss our fun memories and always being there for me. Hey, you are worth the great day!

65th Birthday Wishes for Grandpa

"65 Belated Son" Grandpa! I owe you infinite gratitude for always making you happy, giving you a shoulder to lean on, telling you life stories, and reminding us where we are from. "Hoping your day will be like wow, our fondest person. Thank you for all the laughs and memories. And many more fun days." "Grandpa-Cooler, hope you enjoy your 65th year more than any of the previous ones! With Love!" "Happy Birthday to our favorite storyteller. May this year be your most exciting chapter yet. LOVE from all your grandkids." "It is always your arm for wisdom and your face with smiles-I'm sorry, I cannot say enough about what a wonderful grandpa these roses are! I wish your day to be as beautiful as you! I love you."

Funny 65th Birthday Quotes

"65 is your good friend, a bit crinkled and sagged," you say in a messed up way. "But you manage to pull it off." "Happy birthday to you and I hope your joints stay flexible all through!" "65 years old. And by old, I mean the early bird is not yet old." "Another year does not matter in this world, I wish you 56.5 years of health! Birthday greetings!" "Congratulations for successfully handling 6.5 decades --- here's to the next one (which is hopefully coupled with more fibre and calcium)."

Lovely 65th Birthday wishes and inspirational quotes

"May your day be filled with the treasures found in the smaller things we encounter and whatever brings a smile to your face so that your heart tips in bliss. Have an amazing 65th!" "You have always been an inspiration for me. Happy 65th Birthday to you. Do you continue to inspire other people by embracing your own unique light." "Happy 65th! Over the umpteenth number of years, you have remained the guiding star in many lives. Thank you for the gaps that you mend. Cheers to the new ones we can yet discover. "Age doesn't mean anything as your everyday you remind me of how great our minds are and how young we can still be. Congratulations my friend, may you have more years to enjoy your happy life!" - This birthday poem for my 65th anniversary wishes you infinite wisdom and direction to continue lighting the way. May you have the best this life can offer today.

 Happy 65th Birthday Quotes for Mom or Dad

"You are one person to the world, but to me, you are the world." Happy World! "Papa is always changing a baby into a little woman. And then he turns her back into a perfect woman when she grows up." - I will always be the one you called 'Papa.' Happy 65th! I do not know how much I realized we were already in love before you and I started this journey. Happy Birthday, Mom/Dad. "A father tells himself that his child is more manly, intelligent and admirable than any other one." - Just like you're my everything, baby. Love you! "A mother's love is unique in the world. It does not know the law, or it does not pardon; it dares everything and crushes without empathy everything that opposes it." - Thanks for all these! Happy 65th!

Happy 65th Birthday Wishes, Messages for Female Friend

To one of the people I like the best, you've stood by me through everything. Thank you for our friendship, and hope we reach our 65th! Here you are, proof that people exist for forever. For you to be so kind and supportive leads to being inimitable. Can't wait to see how you top this year! To your health and the many more to come! I count on you being one of the few people who know me entirely. We toast the many memories you've made over the past 65 years. Happy Birthday! You are always a source of happiness and amusement, deserving of a fantastic birthday celebration. You instantly flood any space you are in with warmth. May you always be joyful! Happy Birthday! 65 old and still out in the world – a lady who inspires all of us. You are a delight! I want to thank you for all that you do. Here's to celebrating you!

 Happy 65th Birthday Messages for Male Friend

Congratulations on the happy 65th Birthday, my man, one of the best friends a guy could have! Thanks for all the funny moments shared. Here's to many more! A strong woman of 65 years struck me like a branch with flowers blossoms. Remember, we have lots more to explore; cheers to a long friendship connection! Happy Birthday! We have been together for a long time. Thanks for your words of wisdom and interest in my work. Here's to the next chapter. I'll toast you to many more of the best moments of our life - happy 65th! Get yourself an age armour, just like a day back on your 21st, and remember a birthday gift that marks your resilience. That's what true friendship is all about! I am so pleased to offer these birthday wishes to you on your outstanding 65th Birthday. 65 years and so many memories - you own the title of "the good one." Thankless is what you are, but you are the best for us. It is your Birthday, so celebrate it as uniquely as you are.

Happy 65th Birthday Wishes for Aunty

Dear beloved aunt, may your special day, like yours, remain forever bright. Happy 65th Birthday! 65 years young! With such an attitude, you can enter the world as a beauty magnum opus. The coolest aunt ever is precisely what you are. A happy birthday to you. It's time right now to say goodbye. We have made great memories together. You are unique - go ahead with your 65th jubilee in a grand style! You possess energy and can always be "on" for fun. Today is the day, now a new chapter starts. Let memories of many happy years shared guide us today. Happy 65th! Hoping that it will be just as wonderful as you are. I'll never forget you as my angel of health and love. Happy Birthday, Aunty!

 Happy 65th Birthday Wishes for Uncle

Designer, Happy 65th birthday to my beloved person! Thank you for your continuous help, laughter and loving support. I'm blessed to have you in my life. 65 yet this year(2024), and I am still humming in power! Thanks for the good times we enjoyed together over these years. You already are every light - Have a magical day! Have a great 65th birthday to one of the most fantastic uncles! Thanks to you, I am more self-confident and independent. Wishing for the best for the person you are. It's so hard for me to believe that time is dashing! This way, it looks like we were just kids. Thanks for standing by us all these years. You really are something special! I hope you will have a great day! From card games to insane travels, you have been consistently around. Thank you for the Instructions and the humour. Hoping you've as great a day as you are! May you receive a fantastic birthday gift that brings you joy.

Happy 65th Birthday Wishes for Father-in-law

Cheers to life at age 65 to the guy who married my lovely mother-in-law! I'm so glad you are part of our family. Thus, thanks for a decade of laughter and friendship. I hope it shines on you just as brightly as you do! Dear Dad-in-law, Thank you for all the joy and happiness he has brought. Have a happy 65th birthday! May this year be filled with health and happiness. Thank you for being an essential part of my journey. 65 years young! Looking forward to seeing you. May your day be as fun and somnolent as you are. Thanks for the jokes and the education. You are one of a kind-happy birthday! How time flies! Seems it was just yesterday we came. Thank you for all the memories, along with the wisdom through time. This you're the best Father-in-law. Happy 65th! Turning 65 is a milestone, and relaxing and enjoying the fruits of your labour is now acceptable. Blessed be your Birthday, the man who cares without leading. Your birthday card messages are always filled with wisdom. We are immensely thankful to you for your noteworthy contribution. I hope you enjoy today to the fullest!

 Happy 65th Birthday Wishes for Mother-in-law

From the first time I called you, my mother-in-law, thank you for the lovely and solid support that has always been there. You're undoubtedly one! Happy 65th! Whatever our blood relationship may be, for you, I will always see the family. Thank you so, so much for everything you do.Happy 65th Birthday! You are not simply my mother-in-law. You are one of my very best buddies. Read the full article