#the force tour

[genshinimpactresources]

Genshin Impact | Iridescent Arataki Rockin' For Life Tour de Force of Awesomeness | Character Album Covers (2/2)

Download Link (Google Drive)

[jewreallythinkthat]

I just watched the production of Fiddler on the Roof on at the moment in London. If you're UK based, I 100% urge you to go - the run has been extended.

What really hit me, as I have never seen it before which is shocking as I'm Jewish and a musical theatre person, is how my family fled Lviv and Kharkiv to escape pogroms and expulsions and I sat there watching the show and all I could think was "that would ahve been me".

I don't think people understand how much we, as Jews, do not forget the persecution we have faced. Not because we are here "holding grudges" or whatever but because it was literally our grandparents where are offer STILL ALIVE who were survivors of european antisemetism. My grandfather's family came by foot from Kharkiv to the UK and I will absolutely be telling my children how resilient their foreparents were.

People may have forgotten what their grandparents did to ours, but don't worry because we never will.

[reunitedinterlude]

trying his best (1, 2)

[swatchlings-art]

Rough first meetings

(also, just the way things go in my pharma redemption au lmao)

Bonus:

[mobius-m-mobius]

#buckle up y'all here we go again 🫠

[gamergirl-niffler]

Iridescent Arataki Rockin' for Life Tour de Force of Awesomeness

[materassassino]

I cannot believe how lucky I am to get this wonderful JoeNicky commission from the lovely @chimchiri! Seriously go commission them, they're one of the best people I've ever worked with and I feel so privileged to be able to have art from them! I'm in transports of delight! 😭💖💖💖

[skidmarkeater]

Minimum Wage (Part 1)

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

if anyone wants to watch the tit stream but can’t afford tickets dm me. i’ll be streaming it over google meet because the tickets with the afterparty total to over $25 USD not the “reasonable” $15 USD they advertised.

please take me up on this offer. it’s the only way i’ll be able to stomach the fact that i spent over $25 on a livestream that i know won’t even be captioned properly/accessible.

(also maybe other people have offered this—i have been out of the phannie tumblr loop the past couple weeks)

edit: google meet now limits meetings with more than two people to 30-45 mins (i forget which) so we’ll be moving to discord!

[napping-sapphic]

My legs have many important uses such as wrapping around you whenever you get close enough and trapping you so i can ramble about all my interests

[retrowitchy]

effie doing her best to look out for haymitch

sotr makes it obvious that effie is very capable and smart and socially savvy- there is absolutely no way she got stuck being the escort for district 12 for 24 years and just was never offered any opportunity to rise through the ranks or be promoted to a "better" district.

so i FIRMLY believe that means she chose to stay with district 12 because she knew she was literally the only person who was able to look out for haymitch and be a constant kindness in his life.

[akirathedramaqueen]

Stolas: A Gradual Descent to the Bottom of the Bottle

This post analyzes Stolas's situation with alcohol and discusses whether the show effectively represents this systemic issue, and what it implies about real life.

The take is certainly not unique, but I decided to post it anyway to spread awareness about how subtle, seemingly harmless, occasional drinking can seamlessly turn into a full-blown addiction over time.

TW: substance abuse, addiction, alcoholism

Is Stolas an alcoholic?

The answer seems obvious at first. You look at him—all posh, intelligent, and articulate—and you might think, "He doesn’t look like one." You won’t find him, Satan forbid, somewhere under a porch, or truly dependent on the bottle, like drinking during the day—or not absinthe, anyway.

Sure, he drinks sometimes, but it’s fine . . . right? Everyone drinks sometimes. Everyone deserves to feel a bit happier after something bad happens once.

Or twice.

Or thrice . . .

. . . Oh.

Not so obvious anymore, eh?

The real issue here is that the answer is kind of between 'yes' and 'no.' My TL;DR is that the show makes it pretty clear his drinking is becoming problematic, but it’s not quite there yet. And it will become alcoholism soon enough if nothing changes.

I think what we see happening to Stolas right now is an excellent, textbook example of how people end up there. So let’s get into his head, explore where he stands, and what it means for us and for him.

It starts easy

It doesn’t happen in one day. It's not like you get up early one especially glum morning and decide, "Hey, that's a good day to ruin my life!"

It's a vulnerability that makes you susceptible to drinking. Constant pressure. Anxiety. Depression. Trauma.

And you might find yourself wanting to do everything, anything, to get it out of your brain. Not think about it for one evening. Forget.

What a pathetic fucking man!

Her attacking you, whether physically, verbally, in public or private. You, having no one to turn to, having no way to mend it, having to keep up appearances for your kid.

We all have bad days. Bad situations. It’s not to say that one wild night is inevitably going to turn you into an alcoholic. But when you allow the bottle to be your crutch for life, when it becomes a habit to avoid uncomfortable, traumatic events, then . . .

Then it turns into a coping mechanism

You know, it’s . . . it’s simpler. It’s comfortable. Soothing.

You can’t kick her out of the house. You can’t make the man you love love you back. You can’t get a support network because she ostracized you from royal social circles and made a laughing stock out of you.

But you can forget. Forget that one excruciatingly humiliating night. Where not only was all your dirty laundry thrown out on the dance floor for everyone to see, but also, that said romantic interest made it clear it’s only about sex.

You used to have a smoking wife, a kid, you had it all! I hope you didn't give it up so you and him could get it up

Stolas, don't act like what we have is anything but you wanting me to fuck you, okay? You make that really clear all the time.

Forget well enough to fall asleep drunk on the floor among the only living beings who didn't run from you yet. Maybe only just because they are in pots and don't have legs.

And it spirals out of control

Things get gradually worse. Your only lifeline—your . . . uh, romantic interest and daughter—fall out of reach. He finds every reason to avoid you. She hasn't visited you since that LA incident.

Your only power move with a divorce request turns into a lengthy, exhausting proceeding and leads to an assassination attempt. Your—what are you even anymore?—romantic interest pretty much ignores your distress call, or so you think.

You go with a showdown. You can't stand the ambiguity anymore. You want to know whether there's something behind your transactional thing. It's either 'yes' or 'no,' and . . .

It doesn't end too well.

Lastly, you go to a party to try to unwind (or at least be polite, because it's rude to ignore invitations). But your ex's (???) ex acts cruelly, and you don't feel comfortable there. And the wound is still fresh, bleeding . . .

Fuck it, the absinthe won't cut it. Beelzejuice it is then.

And here we are, back to our starting question

Stolas wears a functional alcoholism guise. Or dangerously close to it. Because that's what I believe is going on.

He is still a functional member of society, but he is shown not being capable of processing his trauma without the bottle in hand. And, as things get worse for him, we see the bottle or the glass or any other alcohol container more often on the screen.

For now, he's hanging on, but it's just a matter of a flip switch—the moment when every second of his life will start to feel unbearable without alcohol, simply because there are no other ways to cope.

It's worth noting, though, that Stolas isn't the only character depicted struggling with the urge to drink away his problems.

The most obvious example is Verosika, who is a severe case of alcoholism. We won't delve deep into her character since I want to focus on gradual decline rather than the end result, but we rarely see her without a bottle. There are a couple of scenes where she doesn't hold one, but these moments are situational. She's also been to rehab at least once and only got out because of her reputation.

But there is another character I'd like to dissect, because this will answer the lingering question, "Is there a way out?"

Blitzø, and why he didn't fall victim to this

We saw Blitzø drinking too, at the Bee’s party. To a rather disturbing degree, actually.

But why does no one say he has an alcohol problem, even though he did use alcohol as a coping mechanism? 

Because Blitzø is an example of how the addiction might be prevented and what ultimately makes a difference, a turning point.

To start off, we first see him not in the bar. We see him at home with a pint of melting ice-cream. Dude sugar-bombed himself to sleep . . . after the already mentioned disastrous date with Stolas at Ozzie's, that is.

And then he gets a call from Loona, who asks to pick her up from the party. He has no plans to stay there whatsoever.

But what changed his mind? Pressure did. 

He was pressured by both Loona and an old acquaintance to stop by. (I stress that no one is wrong for this, by the way—he still had the agency to turn the invitation down.) He reluctantly agreed to one drink . . . which we know how ended.

It's much harder to keep it to just one drink when you're sad and alcohol makes you feel better. Nobody wants to be sad.

But with all that said, Blitzø is extremely resilient. In contrast to Stolas—who is strong in his own way but slipping despite all the privilege, magic, and immortality that Blitzø thinks make him invincible—Blitzø never let that one drinking occasion become a habit.

Because he has a support network. However closed off he is, he has his business to take care of, Loona, and M&M. He has things he likes to do and he has people he cares about.

Stolas has all the money in the world, but no friends or activities he could look forward to. He doesn't seem happy with his royal life at all, referring to himself as an owl in a gilded cage.

So the difference is, essentially, this: Blitzø has alternatives and doesn't see alcohol as an outlet. There is a wonderful post from @warblogs17282 which has similar points I make, but also, it shows another angle of Blitzø's relationship with alcohol—his, unfortunately, long history with addiction in family. So that contributes, too.

Is Stolas a lost cause?

Gods, no. But it’s definitely a problem by this point. 

Is he an active alcoholic? Maybe not yet. He isn't Verosika yet. But he is getting there, which I think is the point the show makes.

Alcohol might be a one-time patch on especially rough days, and you might wake up the next day strong and aware enough not to make a habit of it. But the problem is, Stolas already has a habit, and he doesn't have anything to replace it. 

To solve it, he needs just that—a replacement for the bottle. Someone who cares. My hope is that one particular red lizard will share his pint of ice cream and his love. And maybe then, grim days won't be as grim anymore, even when the absinthe stays in the store, or wherever these royals get their alcohol.

Closing note. Why it’s important to talk about this in real life context

Warning: Extreme TMI

I had an alcoholic in the family, and this topic triggers me because, for him, it also started as "no biggie."

He was still functional for years, coming to work regularly. But he was slipping. He drank more, skipped work, and eventually became unbearable for his family—my family, even if not immediate. His wife requested a divorce. He got isolated. He drank even more. Eventually, he got fired because it's not appropriate for a director to skip work and reek of ethanol. The smell was so strong that people couldn't be in the same room with him. He tried other jobs. He aced interviews thanks to 30 years of experience and a solid background. But he got fired again because he couldn't live up to his legacy anymore. At the end, he descended into what you would call full-blown alcoholism.

So, you followed his story, and my question is: Did it start here, when he couldn't help it anymore? Or did it start a couple of years before that, when alcohol became too comfortable as an outlet for struggles?

I've had rough months too—with the war in Ukraine and everything happening with my family—when I realized it became comfortable for me to drink my problems away. Because it works. Because it’s pleasant not to deal with anything, to force your brain to shut up and be happy for one evening.

And it's terrifying to realize I had (thankfully, I don't have anymore for a long time by now) those patterns of thinking: "Jeez, I just want to drink and forget this happened."

Because I saw where it leads. And the farther you go, the harder it becomes to say 'no.'

So please, pay attention to the ones you care about. Pay attention to yourself.

[genshinimpactresources]

Genshin Impact | Iridescent Arataki Rockin' For Life Tour de Force of Awesomeness | Rhythm Game Overlay Assets

Download Link (Google Drive)

[vaguely-concerned]

I am developing such a deep understanding and sympathy for garak, honestly. It's only been a couple of weeks, but already so much of my mental and emotional well-being is wrapped up in getting to see Julian Bashir's little face Do Things on a regular basis. I can't even imagine what 7+ years of that could do to a motherfucker

[larrylimericks]

12Jun24

A soul made of plastic and hollowed, In missed exploitation, Si wallowed: If he owned 1D’s name He’d cash in on their fame ... It’s a no from our Lou, who unfollowed.

[murmurlilies]

been playing 1000xRESIST over the last couple days, finished it this morning. genuinely one of the most astonishingly good indie games I've ever played. hell it might be one of the best games I've ever played PERIOD. can't even describe to you the way I felt when I finally rolled credits on it. I feel empty, emotionally exhausted even, but I also feel transformed, inspired. I seriously can't give enough praise to Sunset Visitor for what they've accomplished, especially for their debut title. I'm gonna be thinking about this one for a LONG time.