#this is literally so irrelevant like it does NOT matter i just have thoughts on it

[strwbrrygrrl]

born to be a rapunzel girlie forced to be brunette

[samara444]

THE 3D DOES NOT FUCKING EXIST.

the 3d is 100% irrelevant. shadow? mirror? delay? FUCK THAT BRO it doesnt even exist! the onlyyy power it has is the one you give it.

you think you fell off? till now u were affirming and persisting but something horrible happened in your 3d and now everything sucks again? congratulations, it doesnt matter, cuz you still have it. you still have your desire.

you fucked up? you have doubts? you start looking at the 3d for validation? congratulations. doesnt matter. I still have what i want.

you felt negatively? you acknowledged the lack of ur desire? you thought whyy is it not here yet? congratulations. doesnt fucking matter at all. i already have it.

spiral. go ahead and cry and whine and have doubts and question if this is real or not. hate everything and feel like shit. doesnt matter baby, YOU STILLLL HAVE WHAT YOU WANT!!!

when we say the 3d doesnt matter. it truly doesnt. the only meaning the 3d has is the meaning we give it.

i felt like i fell off, the month changed and my 3d didnt so i started wondering where is it, why dont i have it, am i doing something wrong, then the intrusive thoughts follow “what if its not real” “omg am i just wasting my time” “what if i dont get it” “what will i do now” you know what i did? i gave myself the biggest smile and told myself….it doesnt matter sam, my love. you still have it. and i dooo. i still do.

you have to understand that this disgusting ass stinky crappy old 3d which is literally a graveyard, an absolute shitshow that does not have anything to do with us, its all the past, its all dead, so it doesnt matter how i react, when i know i have it in my god state, aka my imagination, aka the only true reality, aka the only reality that matters at all.

so you cann spiral. you can fuck up. my god you can have a mental fucking breakdown and ur 3d could turn into absolute shit and ur sp can hate u and ur dad could get cancer and a tsunami could come and world war 3 can start…IT DOESNT FUCKING MATTER!!!! IT HAS NOOOO EFFECT AT ALLL.

take ur power back. literally announce that no matter what this old dead reality shows u, ur life could go to complete shit, trust me that doesn’t matter when fulfillment is present in your heart. ur only job is to have it. stop reacting. stop stop stop reacting and start having, thats where all your power lies and thats the way to pure fulfillment.

-love, samu <3

[clover-the-awesomest]

Sorry for using classic meme images as a reaction to this but I honestly don’t really know what to say… I don’t understand in the slightest as I am not an adult and don’t quite get that feeling of hopelessness yet, but I do still wish the best for you. I want to understand, to give proper advice or words of encouragement but I just. Don’t know how??

However, I do think that things will get better for you. You’re still so young, you’re still so new to this life, you are just starting out. You’re barely even 32, judging by this post, so please. Do not tell yourself that it’s over, that you’ve wasted your life. Don’t keep believing that you’ll never amount to anything in life, that you mean nothing to anyone. Do not listen to those voices that say you’re a waste of space or anything like that at all! Because none of it is true!

You are a wonderful artist! Your attention to detail is immaculate, and you’re really great at hyper-analyzing things that others wouldn’t even batt an eye at! You are funny, you are kind, and you are incredibly considerate. I don’t know what you do IRL since you value your privacy and I greatly appreciate that about you, so I can’t really judge you otherwise. But I still do know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you matter. You matter to me. You matter to others. You matter to your family, your friends, your pets, the strangers online that you’ve adopted, the random people on the street that pass you by, YOU MATTER.

And don’t you dare let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

❤️💖💞

I don’t feel like I belong anywhere. I’ve cried. I’m bitter. I’m bitter watching people get to travel and explore and go pretty places. I’m bitter that i can’t get help for my medical complications. I’m jealous that others can go swimming and experience nature while I’m confined to a tight little space and a bathtub. I’m sad that i have no IRL friend/peer group. I feel alone. I’m exhausted. My best is never good enough. I feel my family doesn’t take me seriously when i say “I’m checked out.” I wish i was impressive to them. I wish i was intelligent or competent to them. I wish i was useful. But I’m not. I’m dependent and trapped and, in this moment, fairly convinced my future is dull and bleak. I live in a world beyond my reach. Everything is dreams. My 20’s are almost completely gone. I feel like dreams don’t come true.

It’s just an episode. They pass. I got triggered and i’ll get over it. But lately the sensation of being trapped and feeling like it’s impossible to have the life i want has been very persistent. There’s been loads of progress in some spaces, but in this one idk. All that keeps me going are my dog, my gecko and Ash. This has been all that’s kept me alive for a long time. It continues to be the only thing. I genuinely do not see a way out of this tunnel. Not tonight. There is sorrow, and sleep. But at least i have a place to sleep and a dog to snuggle.

Tomorrow is another world, most likely as uneventful and stagnant as the last…

[ripplestitchskein]

I find the general idea of Stolitz being “toxic” to be fucking hilarious. It’s thrown around so easily like it should be accepted that they fit this definition and….they really, really don’t lol. Like they have a pretty chill and common miscommunication and personal issues interfering with wants and desires conflict. Like I cannot stress how fucking chill it is. They don’t actively hurt one another intentionally, neither are trying to murder the other directly or indirectly, they are not on opposing sides of a larger external conflict save for inherent world class dynamics, they don’t manipulate each other or work against each other, etc. They say hurtful things and argue and are oblivious to the other’s issues but like, in a fairly normal neurodivergence and historical trauma driven way.

They do begin with a mutually agreed upon transactional sexual dynamic, which is often the crux of these “Stolitz is soooo toxic” arguments to the point the really intense anti’s cry SA. A transactional sexual dynamic Blitz was so okay with when it is no longer agreeable to the other party, and they communicate that and change the parameters in a way that gives him full autonomy, he spends half an episode trying to return to that dynamic. Much trauma. Very coerced. 🙄

There is a power imbalance but it only exists in the sense that one person is societally more powerful by nature of his birth and ignorant to it by nature of his upbringing. Stolas does not force Blitz into said transactional sex dynamic by exerting his power or influence so it’s largely irrelevant save for how it impacts Blitz’s personal self worth issues and it is never from a place of malicious intent. Which is what matters in media? Character intent and decisions are literally the crux of the narrative?? Stolas figures out it’s a problem for the type of relationship he really wants to have and corrects it and even goes above and beyond to ensure that Blitz will suffer no fall out from his choice if he decides to not pursue their romantic relationship further. Like, toxic WHOMST? Just, don’t talk to me about toxic until they get hot and bothered about how well the other tried to actively murder them. We have had zero poisonings or major betrayals in this ship and ya’ll throwing around toxic like words have no meaning.

“But he called Blitz his impish little plaything! He thinks of Blitz as a toy! As a sub-species!” Or maybe, just maaaaybe the sexually inexperienced character who is making shit up as he goes along based on his canonically identified incorrect perceptions of what the other wants/likes as well as ignorance of his own power and position thought he was just being sexy and cute? Just maybe? Like can we apply a smidgeon of deductive reasoning based on the sum rather than the parts? As a treat.

It just speaks to what I have observed as probable immaturity/lack of life experience driving a lot of the criticism or straight up vitriol regarding the show’s major conflicts. A very black and white application of moral purity that deems anything not rainbows and sunshine as toxic and where the ultimate goal is some nebulous and frankly hella ableist concept of “healthy”.

A similar thing plays out with regards to Octavia and the classification of Stolas as a “bad parent” because he is pursuing a relationship and has issues of his own to deal with on top of parenting. Heaven forbid a closeted gay man raised in isolation going through some late in life awakenings is not perfectly navigating an ill defined relationship and a divorce and raising a child on top of his myriad of mental health issues. What gets me the most is she’s not even a young child, she’s 17 possibly even 18 at this point in the timeline but the way people act he abandoned an infant at a flophouse to get his rocks off with someone who fears he will smite them down with his incredible Goetian might and if they refuse they’ll be living out of a gutter eating dirt because they wouldn’t perform sexually for him. Instead of the in-universe reality where the most egregious thing Stolas has done is fail to consider his daughters perspective and how this impacts her, made some inappropriate sexual comments really early on in front of her when he was still excited, and forgot, during a major life upheaval, a promise to watch a meteor shower he made to her like a decade ago. He didn’t even forget the promise itself, he just forgot what day it was. Like I forget shit I promised my kids last week much less when they were like 5.

Like there is such a huge disconnect between actual toxic behavior portrayals in media with regards to relationships and parenting, or hell toxic relationships and parents in real life, and what is going on in Helluva Boss. This is ignoring the fact that the actual universe of the show, which is what should be the metric when examining character dynamics not reality, has established real toxicity in both relationships and behavior, and has shown us time and time again how that toxicity contrasts with our characters and their relationships, be it Stolitz or Fizzmodeous or Moxxie/Millie or the parenting dynamics of Blitz & Loona and Stolas & Octavia. We have examples of toxic relationships, and we have examples of toxic parents in this world and we’ve been shown that the relationships of the main characters is in opposition to them.

But even if you were to take the, imo incorrect, position of applying real world considerations to fictional worlds it still doesn’t track as toxic.

Do you realize how many sexual transactions and power imbalances occur in relationships everyday as just a matter of course?

Like “I’ll wear that outfit you like if you do this for me?” Normal, Transactional. Accepted straight couple in a sitcom premise. I would wager “I’ll preform this sex act if you do X” is said in one way or another without anyone batting an eye a hundred times a day. And that’s ignoring the implication that transactional sex is inherently problematic. It isn’t, it’s the coercive aspect that is an issue and even then we get real handwavey about it in reality when the situation isn’t explicitly coercive.

“I’m a police officer/government agent/politician/media influencer/sole household income earner that has the ability to fuck up your entire life/reputation/financial stability just by nature of my job and how well we are getting along” is perfectly fine and normal. No one would suggest that a police office or government agent can only be involved with someone of equal systemic or social power in reality. Do my partner and I have a toxic power imbalance because I am the sole working person in our household and they are a stay at home parent and I hold all the financial power? No, that’s fucking silly.

Not to be all “sweet summer children I grew up in the trenches of toxic” about it but it’s the most baffling part of this fandom that a pretty low key conflict and relationship dynamic, where neither party is actively trying to hurt the other and has approached the entire thing from a place of earnest confusion and ignorance and is working through it in a pretty normal way is classified as “toxic”. Get back to me when they are poisoning each other, have killed several of each other’s loved ones and there is necromancy involved.

[jozor-johai]

Ned has this small speech in AGOT Bran I about why he must behead Gared, and I think there's some really interesting takeaways. Not about why he must do it, the part he focuses on; the part Ned doesn't focus on: why it's legal, and what that means for Gared.

"Do you understand why I did it?" "He was a wildling," Bran said. "They carry off women and sell them to the Others." His lord father smiled. "Old Nan has been telling you stories again. In truth, the man was an oathbreaker, a deserter from the Night's Watch. No man is more dangerous. The deserter knows his life is forfeit if he is taken, so he will not flinch from any crime, no matter how vile.

Ned moves our attention along to why Ned had to be his own headsman, but in just a few sentences here, we've been introduced to the paradox of law that makes this system so fundamentally unjust and broken.

We're told that "no man is more dangerous" than this deserter, so we might think, for a split second, that Ned feels he must kill the man because he is dangerous. But as Ned points out, the logic is actually the reverse: "he knows his life is forfeit if he is taken, so he will not flinch from any crime" (emphasis mine). It is not the prevalence of crime that is creating the demand for law, here, it's the existence of this extreme law that is generating the crime. Not wanting to be killed, the deserter would do anything to survive.

For Ned, the epitome of law in the North, who literally acts as judge, jury, and executioner, the tautology of the reasoning is irrelevant. The man is dangerous, now, whatever the situation. Of course, for Ned it's also really about an adherence to the laws of the Night's Watch, which is an institution as old as his house. It's their death sentence to declare, his to pass.

This time reading it, though, I was struck by how Ned's words here are an inversion to Septon Meribald's broken man speech, which is too long to relay here but ends with this:

"He turns and runs, or crawls off afterward over the corpses of the slain, or steals away in the black of night, and he finds someplace to hide. All thought of home is gone by then, and kings and lords and gods mean less to him than a haunch of spoiled meat that will let him live another day, or a skin of bad wine that might drown his fear for a few hours. The broken man lives from day to day, from meal to meal, more beast than man. Lady Brienne is not wrong. In times like these, the traveler must beware of broken men, and fear them . . . but he should pity them as well."

Septon Meribald is describing Gared here, just as much as he's describing the men at war. There isn't a mention here directly of the threat of punishment for desertion, which is more extreme with the Night's Watch than elsewhere, but the reality is the same. Here, though, Meribald's approach is entirely different than Ned's—Meribald, who walks among the smallfolk and gives away what good he can offer, has a much more understanding and empathetic view of these men.

Ned has the capacity for this understanding, but his role is simply not to have kindness here. All of the goodness and kindness Ned has otherwise just doesn't matter here, because here Ned is the law, and Ned is a lord still.

With the fact that even Ned is given this treatment, we see how rigid and unjust the laws and class structures are here. Even a "good person" is not good in Ned's position.

I think this highlights the cause behind the growing smallfolk unrest throughout the books and especially in Feast/Dance. Even the good lords, the ones who can see the problems at work here, are still lords, and still hold themselves to the status quo that keeps them in power above all else. And it takes a very different perspective—like the kind Arya has gotten, for example—to see it the way Meribald does. (Though Arya has gone the opposite route away from forgiveness... that's interesting too.)

[sencubussubs]

The 3D is NEUTRAL

Hi lovelies,

I have talked a lot about reacting to the 3D but not this pivotal point! SO if you read this before my other 3D/ Circumstances related posts - good.

What does the 3D being Neutral mean?

The 3D means quite literally nothing. No, not just in the “ignore unwanted circumstances way”, the 3D itself and everything that happens in it is entirely ‘neutral’ it has no actual consequence on or causes from itself (the 3D). Because of this, anything that happens in the 3D only matters if you give value to it - not by interacting with it, but with what meanings you attach to events, people, ‘circumstances’ or whatever else in your inner world. Everything that happens in the 3D is inherently neutral, and what comes out of it is entirely dependent on how you perceive the event and if/how you continue to think about it.

After all it is the law of assumption, your assumptions - dominant thoughts are reflected into the 3D.

This is why it is easier than you might think to change the 3D - by for example ignoring a circumstance - and where the idea of “where your focus lies will manifest” comes from.

How is the 3D neutral if it stems from our Dominant Thoughts?

Yes, the 3D is a reflection of your dominant thoughts - assumptions - however it is only a reflection and an experience. The 3D’s position as a reflection is where its neutrality comes from: if you look in the mirror and don’t like your hair, you don’t blame the reflection, you change self.

Your reflection can not do anything to you to change it - thus it is neutral. The only way you create changes in your reflection is by changing self , perhaps because the reflection makes you feel a certain way, however, as creator you can decide how you let the reflection impact you.

(this is like the simplest way i can describe it)

Anything that happens in the 3D has no impact until you give it meaning. The reason most actions and events in the 3D continue or unfold in certain ways , is because you unconsciously and automatically assign meaning to things you perceive and experience. This is normal, humans are habitual creatures that act and react based on stimuli and repetition. Additionally if you live by assumptions like “everything happens for a reason” you will take 3D events much more seriously, so the 3D will not feel neutral - but it is.

When you take the time to consciously decide if an event, person or circumstance aligns with you as the version of yourself who has your desire, you are able to remove the meaning / impact or, conversely ,emphasize the meaning of it: This is when you’ll typically see the true neutrality of the 3D, because you really do get to pick and choose what stays and goes with no consequences.

Even if the 3D has, let’s say, an ongoing ‘plot’ where your SP doesn’t want a relationship with you, this literally can change in an instant as soon as you change your dominant thoughts.

The 3D is a reflection, it can not and will not argue facts and logic with you to keep a circumstance ongoing. If you look in the mirror and then put on a hat, your reflection is not going to refuse to put on a hat. like it does not have that power! The only way you give the 3d that power is by looking in the mirror and going “oh i don’t have a hat :(“ and then not putting on a hat.

Validating the 3D by letting it impact you is just validating pre-existing dominant thoughts, if they don’t serve you, don’t let them thrive!

The irrelevance of taking action

You can not change your reflection by breaking your mirror

I believe that is a quote from Neville and it explains this principle quite well. Since the 3D is a reflection of your dominant thoughts, you can only really change it with your dominant thoughts again (to change your reflection you do not do anything to the mirror you see it through, you change self). As such nothing you see in the reflection matters, only how you choose to perceive it and there from react to it (internally) does.

This is the choice between: “i don’t have a hat” versus going to put on a hat - just to clarify the hat is a metaphor for changes to your assumptions lol.

Don’t get me wrong, if you have a strong ass - i am talking netherite armour level - self concept, you likely can do whatever you want in the 3D and get what you want - but that also starts from within, with that self concept and denying all the times you took action in the 3D and didn’t get what you wanted. I also don’t like meddling with unfavourable 3D because i don’t want to give the circumstances my validation, time and attention.

This doesn’t mean that every action in the 3D is what i’m talking about, if i am hungry i eat, i am talking specifically about not needing to take action in regard to your desires.

How do we attach meaning to the 3D?

We do this unconsciously like over 95% of the time (i am using this value to give you an idea, this is not a scientifically confirmed statistic lol.) Most of the time this is done due to previous experiences.

—

example:

Someone messages you saying they don’t want to talk.

Since your associations to good relationships means people want to communicate and enjoy each other’s presence, you create the assumption they don’t like you, or will continue not to want to talk to you.

This is someone who you value highly and are desperate to have a good relationship with so you also find it easier to believe that you messed up to make this happen // that they wouldn’t want to talk to you - because of you.

This then develops an assumption of your relationship with that person that they do not like you and as such the relationship diminishes.

—

Since we are so used to deriving our understanding of the world from 3D experiences, we automatically apply meaning to new experiences based on old ones. Now just because most of the meaning we have attached to the 3D up until this point has been unconscious using logic and pattern recognition does NOT mean it has to stay that way. Since anything that happens in the 3D is inherently neutral, you don’t have to associate - in your inner world - with anything you don’t like.

Logically being told someone doesn’t want talk to you may follow the neural pathway of “if A (doesn’t want to talk to me) then b (doesn’t value or like me)” of course you can add in all the assumption that that lead up to that like “Event A (does not want to talk to me) was based off of D (assumption that i am not valued or worth being appreciated in relationships) and E (SP is amazing and deserves good relationships)” but like we could keep going like that all day…

However, who gives a fuck about ‘logical thinking’ (nerd ass emoji). On a more serious note, since your inner world (or as neville often put it your imagination) is what the 3D reflects, and you can imagine anything, you have no reason to follow or feed “logical” assumptions that make you feel bad. You do not have to internally validate any 3D circumstance or dominant thought that does not serve you. If you are able to avoid such in the 3D as well, great! if not, it doesn’t matter.

Actions like doing your job to pay your bills while changing your internal beliefs and knowing you have the better fun job internally, does not mean you are validating the belief that you are stuck at the job that sucks, cause 3D action doesn’t matter. Your internal will be reflected and you will be at the fun job in the 3D in no time, as long as you persist and don’t give in.

Only if you actively continue to think that you are stuck there and how much you hate it (and basically deeping your situation) then you are validating those beliefs.

An Important Note about the 3D and Law of Assumption

Just because the 3D is a reflection of your assumptions does not mean it isn’t real. I totally understand why some LoAss followers say it isn’t real, i personally don’t really know how i feel about that but my point is: Don’t just be a dick to people because of the lack of impact the 3D has. If you enjoy being a dick to people you likely have the assumption that they are affected by it - so yes, you are hurting people. REAL PEOPLE.

I get that the law is personal and you can do whatever you want, but if you decide to use any of the Law to hurt people etc honestly just get off of my page, my content isn’t for you. I believe people deserve to know about the law to live good lives, and no ethically good life requires the suffering of others. You have the choice on how to live your life, make the right one.

[alornights]

⟢ you took my soul.

➜ in which ! your beauty took their breath away.

💌 ﹫main 4 + butters stotch.

✩ 🎸 warnings﹗none.

🍓 ⟡ notes — me when subliminals start working, tehehe. based on the jimmy & kyle pretty people drabbles i did. idk what im doing tbh.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ eric cartman.

hates you.

the guy was so confused about why you looked like you were glowing and why his heart was about to beat out of his chest.

death stared you the entire first week you moved to town.

he later confronts you asking if you do witchcraft. you obviously answer you don't. he thinks you're lying and got plastic surgery.

you say you didn't with like the prettiest smile he's ever seen. he takes your word for it and everyone was shocked.

since then he's been like a parasite who always seems to be stuck with you always there to shoo off anyone irrelevant.

thinks he has asthma bc every time he sees you his breath cuts short and fucking hates himself for "having" asthma.

has tried on multiple occasions to "get rid" of people who bothered you even in the slightest way.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ kyle broflovski.

is actually so fucking flustered around you.

when he saw you in the cafeteria walking in he couldn't take his eyes off you the entire time, even with his friends calling for him.

if you even give him the slightest hint you're into him, he will take matters into his own hands and just brag to everyone.

for funsies of course.

deffo helps you away from any unwanted eyes, help meaning may literally threaten them in the worst ways possible.

when he's around you its like he's in a daze for him, he just feels like he's on cloud nine and is living the best life ever.

suddenly becomes the most romantic person ever, not that he wasn't already. but like hella cheesy hopeless romantic.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ stan marsh.

the classic and boring response is a throws up. but he actually doesn't do that contrary to popular beliefs.

he faints instead!

he thought he died since he saw an angel and then his vision went black but he thought hey at least that meant hed be in heaven.

he is stunned when he wakes up in the nurse's office and sees you worried about him of all people.

is like a stuttering mess but he starts slowly but surely relaxing around you, still very nervous talking to you though.

has bragged very purposely in front of wendy that y'all are friends.

while he may not be good at romance, he does try. and by trying i mean he makes u a picnic and brings takeout.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ kenny mccormick.

ay, he has a heart attack because of you.

kidding. but bro does feel his heart like- stop when he sees you walking down the halls like it's some rom-com movie.

instantly starts making moves on you, no hesitation.

doesn't matter whats going on, if he has the chance, hell take it.

at one point thought you were like his actual guardian angel because he had yet to die after meeting you.

still thinks you are and worships the ground you walk on.

very much one of those "ill do anything for you" but he actually will do anything for you, like seriously. just ask.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ butters stotch.

surprisingly the most normal of the bunch.

treats you like a normal human being thankfully.

though he does like stutter around you a lot but that calms down and he's usually back to his normal self in like a day or two.

is very much attached to you especially since his parents have

brags so much to the guys and tells them to "suck on these nuts bitch" because you don't hang out with them, ever.

has tried, and failed, to set up a date with you two. cried himself to sleep, and repeated this process for like a week.

it did work. at his house, in front of his parents! but it was kinda fun, you surprisingly got along with them very well.

[awhkacey]

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦！

What do i exactly mean when i say this? I mean this is YOUR world, and you are it’s operant power, bby. You get to decide what does or doesn’t go on in your reality. You have power over everything.

Circumstances? Yup they have nothing on you. You are safe because nothing happens in your reality without YOUR permission. Nothing and i mean nothing manifests in your reality unless you specifically say so. That’s how things go around here.

And if you do have a problem where you unconsciously manifest bad circumstances from your old story and self concept, you can just quickly revise that shit on the spot. Why? BECAUSE YOU ARE THE GOD OF YOUR REALITY!! Everything you say, goes. But for our sakes we’re just going to assume nothing can manifest from our old story anymore because it’s dead. It’s deleted from both our subconscious and conscious mind.

Literally there’s nothing in this world that you cannot do. You are limitless. You are unstoppable. So if you want it, you’re getting it.

Logic getting in the way? Girl you manifest out of thin air, why you tryna make sense of this? If you want it, then you got it right now because you said so babes. Logic is irrelevant.

Sp’s not showing up the way you want them to? Babe, you run this shit. You are in control. YOU get to decide how others show up for YOU!! No one else. So shake that victim mentality off your shoulders and dwell yourself in the new versions of them not the old. BECAUSE PERSISTENCE IS KEY!!

3D not showing up the way you want it to? GIRL STOP! THE 3D IS NOT YOUR CONCERN!! The 4D is, as that is what your reflecting back into your physical world. All you need to do is to change your 4D and the 3D will do it’s own thing to reflect that symmetry. “Well i’ve affirmed and my 3D is to the same” Great. Now keep persisting and know no matter what you see your 4D is changing the world around you.

Don’t you see? you are in control of everything in your reality. So there’s no point wallowing in victimising thoughts when you know that’s just gonna be reflected back to you. No one but you can save you from the victim state as nothing outside of you has the power to do so. You are the one that’s in control, even if you don’t feel like it.

・❥・ So it’s time to ask yourself, do you want to create a world that imprisons you to a life of being victim or do you want to choose the reality of taking the accountability that you have created the unwanted circumstances in the and continue to persist towards turning those circumstances into everything you have ever desired? ・❥・

[felinefractious]

Final (hopefully) Notes on Moonpaw

So first off I’d like to specify this is not a Warriors blog.

The Warriors series was hugely important to me during my childhood so there’s a definite nostalgia factor there. I no longer read the books but I still interact with the material and community.

There is a hefty overlap between the cat genetics + phenotype community and Warriors fans. A non-insignificant portion of my followers are involved with the series to some extent.

As such the subject will occasionally come up. Going forward these instances will be tagged as #wc bullshit, even if the circumstances or nature of the discussion aren’t negative. It’s just better to have one consistent tan people can block.

But ultimately this is not and will never be a Warriors blog.

Now onto the matter at hand.

Let’s summarize.

Moonpaw is the protagonist of the upcoming series of Warriors. The official website recently released her design as well as her parents, which has caused a buzz within the community for multiple reasons.

She is labeled as a chimera in her description, which the authors represent with a split-face pattern. A notable aspect of her story is going to center around this and how unique and special this makes her…

Which only demonstrates the authors poor understanding of the subject, as the split-face pattern is a normal presentation of tortoiseshell coloration and something which would certainly have occured numerous time within the clans population prior to now.

One of the authors thought mackerel referred to a green-hued cat, though. So.

It is possible for Moonpaw to be a chimera in the same way it is possible for any character to be or have been a chimera, there is no singular way for chineric cats to look and phenotypically normal cats can be chimeric and it’s just not detected because no-one knows to look for it.

But the split-face in itself isn’t suggestive of being a chimera, this is a widely perpetuated myth.

The belief that split face = chimera may be a relatively benign misunderstanding but it’s somewhat concerning how devoted to this misbelief some people seem to be. It’s okay to be wrong, it’s okay to not have known something. If you’re given new information accept it, don’t come snapping back with “Why does it matter?”

It’s a slippery slope to try and decide what degree of misinformation is acceptable to spread and the way some people react to almost as if it’s a personal slight to be told is teetering dangerously close to anti-intellectualism, especially during a time where misinformation in general is on the rise a la AI.

Don’t get me wrong, deliberate information can be fun to play with because it involves some degree of understanding that it isn’t true. Goncharov is an excellent example of “Yes, and” and sometimes I’ll assigned completely fabricated breeds to followers cats as part of a game.

This is different than sincere ignornance.

And we’re already seeing the inevitable conclusion of this behavior, I’ve seen swaths of misinformation about chimerism stemming from this which are not as benign as the initial split-face misbelief.

Chimerism occurs when two zygotes fuse into one organism… and that’s all chimerism is.

Chimerism is not a and is not related to any disability. It is actually so benign that we don’t know how common it actually is because most remain undiagnosed because there’s no inclination to test for it.

In instances where it is tested for this usually isn’t due to any medical complication for the individual, rather reproductive anomalies seem to be the most common instigator for testing, such as someone failing a parental DNA test.

So of course Moonpaw could be disabled but in the same way literally any character could be disabled. There’s been nothing in her design or the rest of the source material we’ve seen thus far that indicates she’s canonically disabled. Her chimerism is irrelevant to this subject.

Chimerism is also not inherently an intersex condition, although it absolutely can be. Intersex conditions occur when there are chromosomal, hormonal or anatomical variations that deviate from the narrowly defined social norm of one sex or another.

Ezra is a well-known chimera who with 96% XX and 4% XY chromosomes in blood but 100/% XY chromosomes in skin which means Ezra is intersex… but if the zygotes that fused were both XX or XY the individual would not be intersex due to their chimerism, though.

Discrimination of intersex people is a real problem.

But it has nothing to do with Moonpaw as a chimera.

Of course Moonpaw could be intersex, the same as any character could be intersex. Moonpaw can even be intersex as a direct result of her chimerism, as is the case with Ezra! But being a chimera in and of itself isn’t an indication that she’s intersex, it is entirely possible for her to be a chimera and still be endosex.

So once again there is nothing present in the canon we’ve been presented with thus far to indicate she’s canonically intersex, and if she is intersex then her chimerism may or may not be relevant.

And finally… the inbreeding issue.

I’d like to emphasize that Moonpaw being inbred was not a deliberate choice made by the authors and is not intended to represent individuals born from a consanguineous union. The cast of these books are tremendous and they fail to keep track of the family tree, frequently resulting in related characters being paired essentially due to sloppy record keeping.

So with this in mind nothing has been included in the canon thus far to indicate Moonpaw canonically experiences any adverse effects due to her lineage.

Anyways, it seems that people learned about the Habsburg family in 9th grade and that they had health kssues attributed to inbreeding and that… is where their knowledge on the subject ends, I guess?

The problem with inbreeding from a strictly biological perspective is that recessive traitd are retained and perpetuated. This article from BBC Earth does a pretty good job of breaking down the jist of the issue in a language that’s pretty accessible to the layperson.

Speaking of the Habsburg I’ve seen Moonpaw’s situation related to them a few times so I plugged Moonpaw’s family and the Habsburg family into a calculator to see how similar their COI (coefficient of inbreeding) is.

Moonpaw has a COI of 11.62% which is about the same degree of relatedness as first cousins while Charles II of the Habsburg family had a COI of 25.20% which is the same degree of relatedness as half-siblings.

So if Moonpaw were to display characteristics of inbreeding they would most likely be hypertyping (essentially extreme preservation of family traits), recessive traits (which may be benign) or inherited disorders such as PK Deficiency.

Other characteristics of inbreeding in cats that we’ve seen come through the clinic include pectus excavatum, abnormal testicular and lymphatic tissue, bilateral or unilateral cryptorchidism, or non-severe structural abnormalities such as a syndactyl digit or additional, small tail vertebrae.

So there’s no reason to believe Moonpaw would resemble the mother from Barbarian (2022) and real people born of incest don’t actually look and act like that either. It’s a horror movie myth and acting like it’s an accurate representation does a disservice to those genuinely born into and disabled due to such circumstances.

Side Note: Jokes about incest aren’t funny and stereotypes about inbreeding in rural areas are deeply rooted in classism.

A final note that the inbreeding is entirely unrelated to the chimerism, there is no evidence that inbreeding increases the likelihood of chimerism occuring. So logically and canonically her chimerism and her inbreeding exist completely independent of each other.

So TL;DR

Moonpaw could be a chimera but the premise that her split-face is indicative of being a chimera is based in misinformation.

Moonpaw being a chimera is not and is not related to a disability.

Moonpaw being a chimera can cause her to be intersex but her being intersex is not a given based solely on her being a chimera.

Moonpaw is inbred due to author negligence but the way people visualize the effects of this are grossly sensationalized.

Moonpaw being inbred and Moonpaw being a chimera are unrelated.

Chimera, disability and intersex headcanons are awesome for any and all characters indepent of canon. Go wild!

[jolynesmom]

Hey, I’m really sorry to dump this onto you. I really apologize. I don’t know who to talk about this anymore.

I’m 26. Struggling with the void state. I basically messed up my entire life and career and I only found out of the void state like 8 months ago. But I find myself getting so frustrated.

I know it’s easy and it’s basically us. But I can’t seem to grasp this and achieve it. Do you have any tips about this please?

hiya, you really don’t need to apologize! I totally get you and it can take some pressure off when you talk out your worries;

I understand where your frustration comes from, it took me 4 years to finally get any results in my journey, I was just so desperate to get out of here I kept persevering even when I felt like giving up

I don’t know if you want to use the void state to shift or manifest something here but let me tell you something!!

even if it takes you 10 years to get your desires, after you get them, those years will feel so insignificant and short lived compared to the life you live after

why does it matter you messed up your life and career when you can fix everything overnight? the 3D be damned, it’s so irrelevant I literally just laugh when I think how powerless it is compared to me or you

I suggest you take a step back and relax. find the source of your frustrations and address it. treat everything with indifference and keep persisting. even with not entering the void yet, you can manifest a better life here and now. when something negative comes my way i manifest it away immediately, I don’t stay sad or stressed for more than 10 minutes. even if I fail entering the void or shifting, I remind myself I have all the time in the world to achieve it

entertaining the void is very easy: you just need an alternate state of consciousness (hypnogogia, lucid dreaming, sats etc) and intention. you don’t even need to have a positive mindset or fully believe it. if you’ve read my post on how to I entered the void, I mentioned how I didn’t think I can enter the void without doing yoga nidra then entered it a few minutes later because I simply wanted to get into the void

your thoughts create your reality. just state what you want, keep persisting and watch how your desires come to you

repetition and persistence are the keys; you don't have to fully believe the things you want to manifest, you just have to persist with the new thought

if you desire something, just immerse yourself in the idea that it's already yours in your imagination. affirm it, feel it, and don't let the current reality bother you. focus on your imagined reality (4D), persist in it, and over time, your outer reality (3D) will align with what you've imagined. that's when your desires come to life

here is some advice I can give regarding the void and manifesting, but I’ll also link some posts I hope you’ll find useful:

—the void state is nothing special, it’s just a deep meditative state just like when you zoom out in class and can’t hear, see or feel anything

—meditate; find a meditation you find comfortable doing and do it any time you can (I suggest doing it at least one time per day, especially in the morning). I like doing wim hof breathing method and listening to white, pink and brown noise. you can also use guided meditations on youtube. meditation can help you also release stress

—affirm daily for your desires. even if you get negative thoughts, ignore them and continue affirming

—be delusion regarding your desires. even if it feels icky at the beginning, keep on persisting

—if you can lucid dream use it to get into the void. it’s so easy and quick

links:

—cici’s meditation guide for beginners

—the void state is easy

—jani’s law of assumption guide

—the best and fastest way to manifest

—enter the void on command by turning off your left brain side

—lucid dreaming guide

—void method: wake back to bed

—void method: pink hof breathing method

—void method: distraction method

—void method: lullaby method

—meditations to enter the void state

I wish you the best!! I hope only positive things come your way from now on 🤍

[andy-wm]

When you can't stop thinking about Jikook.

A couple of days ago i responded to a post about Jikook, and I've been thinking about it ever since. I wanted to write down my thoughts here because they just won't leave my head.

I've seen a few posts and comments recently about whether we still think they're 'together' now that we don't see them together.

Thinking about this has made me realise just how real they are. Because It's not about any of us. Its not about ARMY and it's not about BTS. It's only about them.

Their relationship is not performative. They don't put on a show for us. They don't invite the viewer in, in the way a constructed fantasy does. Because their story isn't constructed. Because they are not a fantasy.

They exist far beyond stolen moments or heated looks on screen. They have private jokes we don't understand. They share touches that imply intimacy way beyond what we see. They have a life together that DOES NOT INCLUDE US.

Honestly, I think JK and JM don't care if we do see them. Having us there won't stop them doing what they're doing, but it is not done for us. It's not about us. It's about them. In fact, we aren't invited.

There have also been a few posts about how strange it is that people will ship JK with literally anyone but Jimin.

Any time anyone shares a space or a camera frame or a glance with JK, fantasies about their romance start coming out. Its wild. Threads about the supposed romance appear. They trend ship names. They stalk and threaten any woman (only ever women, never the men) who dared to look his way. They either buy in, or they refute with all their proof and theories.

And looking at this repeating cycle, I think I understand why these people will never ship JK with Jimin. And I understand why people who ship JK with random other men and women have a problem with JK & Jimin being together.

It's because there's no way a jikook romance can be their romance. They have no place or role to play in the jikook story... not through being paladins in a secret war (like tkkrs want to be) and not through substitution (as a y/n fantasy). In this romance, everyone but jikook are irrelevant. We don't exist in Jikook's world. For people who just want to support them, that's no problem. We happily cheer them on from the sidelines.

But people who need to be INVOLVED ... those people hate when they don't CONTROL or OWN this story. They hate that JIKOOK DON'T OWE THEM ANYTHING. They hate that their opinions really DON'T MATTER.

Look at them....

There's no space for us to insert ourselves into this story. In this moment, and in so many others, we simply don't exist. And i love that.

I WANT to close the door and leave them to it. 💜

[monbons]

WIP Wednesday

Posting actual WIPS on a Wednesday? Imagine that.

As long as we are all baring our hearts on tumblr, I have to admit that I have been struggling to write anything since I wrapped up Eternal Life (back in the first week of April). At first I figured I was simply burnt out since I wrote all 42k words of that fic in just about a month, but given that I've started three separate WIPS since then and made zero progress on any of them, I'm wondering if I am just out of stories. I hate all my words--even though I really love some of these concepts. So, as you may have noticed, I've been distracting myself with sewing projects because good progress is so clearly visible there...

Anywho, to motivate myself, I decided to post a snip of each today and hope that having bits out in the world will motivate me to finish at least ONE of them! All untitled. Set up and snips below the cut.

Very creatively titled "Party Robot," this WIP is a silly/fluffy one-shot inspired by an article I read a while ago about a growing trend in American weddings. This one is the furthest along and will likely see the light of day eventually...

A nervous bounce.  From a robot. I recognize that bounce. “I thought you said Shepard was working tonight.” My voice is tight. “He is.” Bunce replies, similarly strained. “What did you say he does again?” Panic rises in my chest.  “He’s in entertain–”  Whether Bunce trails off or I simply don’t hear the rest is irrelevant because the music has changed from easy dinner instrumentals to much-too-loud techno and the show is clearly starting. As the synths build, driving towards a crescendo, my brain reels with the growing realisation that Simon would never just abandon me at the last minute, would never send me anywhere alone, certainly not my cousin’s gay wedding, which is every kind of milestone given his Old Families lineage and Pitch blood specifically and– “PARTY PEOPLE!” The DJ booms into the mic. “Have the grooms got a treat for you!”

A multi-chapter AU I have lovingly nicknamed "Baz in a Bubble." It is sad and angsty and is proving significantly more difficult to execute (despite having a complete outline) than I once thought it would be. Who could have guessed having one home-bound character would make me too sad to write? Thanks to @thewholelemon and @hushed-chorus who've listened to more than their fair share of my griping about this one. Anyway, here's the first bit of BAZ POV:

There are exactly 297 stars in the sky above me. I count them while lying in my bed every night. They do not twinkle or flicker hello like real stars. Instead, they glow a constant yellowish-green that reminds me of the colour artists always make toxic sludge in the cartoons I grew up watching. It's the colour of superhuman villains and their evil plots. Of poison. Of danger. It's the colour of the plastic star stickers Fiona put up on my ceiling when I was 10 and spent the whole year crying and begging her to go outside. Just once. Just for a minute. Because I was starting to forget what fresh air smelled like or how it felt to have grass prickle against your bare feet or how the stars lit up the night sky in Hampshire. There are no stars in the middle of London. Not outside my window. Not in this room.

And then the WIP I have the least progress on (literally almost nothing) but I so desperately want to write and could really use a thought partner to help me brainstorm/plot/figure out what the hell I'm doing--- a canon divergence where Simon successfully exposes Baz as a vamp and Malcolm steps the fuck up as a father. Here's a bit of Simon POV:

It didn't matter anyway. Pitch Manor was empty. While [the Mage] ranted and raved, I wandered into Baz’s living room. The TV was still on. Peppa the Pig was playing. A half-dressed Barbie was splayed on the couch next to a small bowl of grapes, all cut in half. I picked up the doll and brushed her tangled hair out of her face.  Why didn’t I know Baz had a sister? A family that ate snacks together in front of the TV? Parents who loved him so dearly they fled their whole lives under cover of night? In the days that followed, I sat in meeting after meeting with the Coven, listening to The Mage. He demanded the casting of tracking spells, pushed through more dark creature reforms, and rambled about the miscarriage of justice and the dangers of harbouring monsters.  But Baz wasn’t a monster.  He was just a boy.  A scared boy.  A boy who ran because he wanted to live. 

Anyway...here's to accountability via tumblr. Maybe once I've slept for several weeks and feel more refreshed I won't be so frustrated by every word I know, or more precisely, all the beautiful ones I can’t seem to find…

Thanks for the tag @bookish-bogwitch. Cannot wait to devour the new chapter of BPD!

Hellos and high-fives to all. May your words (and art) be faring better than mine: @raenestee, @cutestkilla, @roomwithanopenfire, @facewithoutheart

@emeryhall, @artsyunderstudy, @aristocratic-otter, @larkral, @rimeswithpurple

@drowninginships, @valeffelees, @shrekgogurt, @blackberrysummerblog, @iamamythologicalcreature

@run-for-chamo-miles, @thehoneyedhufflepuff, @arthurkko, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @youarenevertooold

@beastmonstertitan, @supercutedinosaurs, @rbkzz, @fiend-for-culture, @theearlgreymage

@brilla-brilla-estrellita, @skeedelvee, @ic3-que3n, @talentpiper11, @ivelovedhimthroughworse

[ya-zz]

okay, didn’t tell you i was coming in here so hi my love.

i did mention this idea to you a little though, i need some junkrat x reader but it’s reader introducing junkrat to their mom. (ana)

just some parental fluff please <3

thank you sweetheart :3

Hiiii, hello~

I hope this is what you were looking for

Junkrat x Reader (gen)

Word Count: 1337

You had been dating the junker for a few months, never a day went by that was the exact same as the other. He was something else entirely, definitely not someone you would’ve thought you would fall for given his looks or demeanour. Jamison was a little bit of a hot head, figuratively and literally, but you loved him all the same. 

He would do anything to make sure you were okay, he didn’t care about himself, as long as you were okay, that’s what mattered most to him. His hands were gentle when he held you, calloused fingers grazing against your cheeks, thumb on your lips when he was intimate.

Jamison would always smell burnt, even after the countless showers and baths he would share with you, but despite the smell, you had grown used to it. He was messy, but his workstation was always clean. His hands were always washed before he stroked your soft skin, oil and debris scraped from under his fingernails. 

But, there was the underlying issue; Jamison wasn’t exactly the man someone would take home to meet their partners parents. Now, your mom, Ana Amari, wasn’t judgemental, she lets you love whoever you want to love, but Jamison probably wasn’t the man she had in mind for you. 

Sooner or later, however, you’d have to let him meet her. 

It was a plan in the works. Get him washed, clean him up and begging for him to wear something presentable. It was a struggle, but he was committed to it. To you. 

…

…

“I need you to trust me.” You say to your mom. 

“Oh, sweetie, I do.” Ana starts, her hand holding yours before she reaches for her cup of tea on the coffee table. “If you love him and he treats you right, that’s all that matters. Not all junkers are a piece of crap.” 

“He’s just not… someone you’d think I’d fall for.” There was hesitation laced in your tone as you spoke. “But I love him regardless, no matter what you say or think.” 

The woman lets out a hearty chuckle. “My dear, you are worrying too much. Are you happy with him?” 

“Yes.”

“Do you feel safe with him.” 

You hesitate for a split second, hoping she doesn’t pick it up. “Yes.” 

Her eyebrow raises. “You hesitated.”

“Mom-” You sit up straight. “I feel safe with him.”

She nods her head, humming in response, though it was an uncertain hum. 

“Jamison has his moments, but that is irrelevant.” You try to reassure her. 

“Has he done anything to hurt you?” She asks. 

“No. Never.” You take a sip of your own tea. 

Ana nods her head again. “You would tell me if he does?” 

“Yes. You have my word, mom.” You smile, a genuine look that reassures her completely. 

“Alright.” She returns the smile. “Now, when do I get to meet this gentleman? I will cook for us all.” 

“How does tomorrow night sound?” You suggest.

“Tomorrow…” Ana looks through her calendar on the holopad. “Tomorrow is perfect. What does this junker like to eat?” 

…

…

You spoke to him that night, hand attempting to comb through his hair. “You’ll get to meet her tomorrow.” 

“I won’t lie to ya, I’m kinda nervous.” 

“You? Nervous?” You laugh, wiping away some dirt from under his eye. “Come on, she won’t hurt you.” 

“But she is the esteemed Ana Amari.” He leans into your touch. “And your mum too.” 

You laugh softly. “Regardless of her status, she’s looking forward to meeting you. She’s making your favourite food too.”

You saw the way his eyes lit up when you mentioned what Ana was cooking for him, it makes your heart flutter, the anxiety you were feeling dying down instantaneously. 

“Don’t worry so much. You’ll be fine. We have all day to make you look presentable.”

Jamison’s cheeks rise in heat as your thumb grazes over it. You plant a soft kiss into his lips as his hands pull you flush against his body. 

“One last night of fun before you completely ruin my good looks?” Jamison whispers against your lips, a smirk forming on his own. 

You let him push you down, lips crashing together. “You bet.” You gasp between breaths.

…

…

The day finally came, Jamison was washed and dressed, hair slicked back and the dead, burnt ends were cut. He looked… more or less presentable, at least more than before. 

“Are ya sure I look okay?” The junker asks, looking over himself once more in the mirror. He was wearing casual clothing, shirt and jeans, nothing too fancy or over complicated.

You pull the sweater over your head, smoothing the fabric over your torso. “You look perfect, love.” Approaching him, you wrap your arms around him, planting a kiss to his cheek. “Come on, we don’t want to keep her waiting.” 

The drive over there was tense, you could tell he was nervous. The way his leg bounced, the anxiety rising within him, you had never seen him like this. You place a hand on his thigh, thumb rubbing gently against the cloth. 

“You’ll be fine.” 

“I sure don’t feel fine.” He admits sheepishly. His eyes are vacant as he looks out of the window, watching the passing scenery. Jamison looked pale, body shaking slightly. 

It was hurting you, but the drive was almost over, you were nearly there. 

Once the car pulled up to the driveway, you take a moment to breathe, the nervousness rising within you. 

“Come on.” You say, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Think of the food.” 

His eyes softened as he nods. “I am pretty hungry.” A toothy grin and laugh escapes him as you laugh alongside the junker. 

Ana appears at the door the moment the pair of you stand on the porch, arms open and awaiting for you to hug her. You waste no time in doing so, feeling her warmth envelope you. 

“It’s good to see you.” She speaks, the familiar warmth in her voice. 

“You say that like you didn’t just see me yesterday.” You joke as you pull back. “Mom, this is Jamison.” You turn, opening your hand and gesturing over to your partner. 

The junker ruffles his hair before scratching the back of his neck. “G'day.”

“Please, come on in.” Ana gestures for the two of you to enter the house. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

You escort the junker to the sofa where Ana brings over some tea and a special drink for your partner. You nudge him. 

“Cheers!” His demeanour completely changes when he holds the cup of boba. The childishness that radiates from him makes you smile. 

“Figured it would make you feel at ease.” You admit, knowing that it was his favourite drink. 

Ana sits down on the sofa opposite the pair of you. “Your partner has spoken highly of you, Jamison. I’m glad to hear you’re treating them well.” 

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course!” He looks over at you with a toothy grin on his face. “They mean the world to me. Wouldn’t change ‘em for anythin’.” 

“Stop.” Your cheeks flush. 

Ana lets out a soft chuckle, eyes creasing at the corners. She sees his genuine smile, the honesty in his voice as he speaks. As she sips her tea, she listens to the stories he tells her, the mischievous adventures he went on with you. Jamison was excited, the anxious nature finally dying down as he finally feels like he’s home. He has another parental figure in his life, one who he believes would help him when he needed it. 

“You really are happy.” Ana states, eventually standing from the sofa after an hour. She sees you nod, the same creases in the corner of your eyes. 

Jamison watches as Ana walks towards the kitchen. The next question she asks makes the junker giddy, his body warm with excitement and a sparkle in the otherwise crazed eyes.

“Now, who’s hungry from some Junkertown loaded burgers?”

[toxicroyjamie]

*holding ur face gently* I'm listening to u. i see the roy/jamie/isaac vision. tell me more.

It's great because these three don't have a single scene together BUT it's a perfect triangle that consists of three two-way dynamics that I think are sooo compelling and might be even more compelling if they were all in tandem

Like obviously Roy and Jamie activate my prey drive and you all know that. Literally the same person but also sooooo fundamentally different. Mirrors. Direct parallels and perfect opposites. Etc

But Roy and Isaac's relationship is almost just as interesting to me!!! I think Roy really sees Isaac as a younger version of him in a way that he doesn't with Jamie (like he definitely sees parts of himself in Jamie, but not the way he does with Isaac - Isaac is his actual successor), which leads to a lot of really important moments of character development for Roy where he realizes that he's playing a role in perpetuating toxic cycles of behavior and corrects them. Roy's talk with Isaac about "I know that you're really angry about something else, and you need to sort that out or you're going to keep being angry" for example was such an important moment.

Isaac is also affected by Roy's mentorship in personal and professional ways. Best example off the top of my head is that he makes the decision to talk to Colin (his closest friend that he had fallen out with) because of what Roy had told him about addressing what's really making him angry, but Roy's tenure as captain also had major effects on the way Isaac captains in both positive and negative ways (like having secret handshakes with each of his players to hype them up on the pitch, or yelling at Jamie about how he "looks like a prick" and there's something the matter with him because he was drifting back for total football.)

There's also Jamie and Isaac, a relationship that is narratively irrelevant in canon but interesting in my mind palace. You might be thinking "they're literally just coworkers" but like. They didn't USED to be just coworkers. They were FRIENDS. They were pricks together. Jamie still thinks of Isaac's name first when he tries to name his BEST friend!!! That means something!!! Isaac used to be Jamie's lackey and is now his captain, and the tension and distance between them following that shift in power dynamics is pretty evident. And I want to see more of that!!

When you combine all 3 of these I think you would get an absolute mess of jealousy and competition and unhealthy power dynamics, and I love those things :) in my mind Jamie is Roy's clear favorite, but he respects Isaac more, and they're each jealous of the other. Isaac desperately wishes Roy cared for him the way he cares for Jamie, and Jamie desperately wishes Roy thought of him as equal or someone admirable the way he does Isaac. So they're both competing for Roy's affection in a way that they will never get it. Yum yum

(I also just think mentorship is extremely erotic and I have soooo many sexy ideas about them lol)

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

Haruka and Michiru as Aylin and Isobel. Y/N? I've never actually played BG3 but I'd love to know your thoughts.

I loved getting this ask right after seeing fanart of that very concept (but the other way around). And I love pondering stuff like this!

Certainly I've rolled this around in my brain as soon as people started calling Aylin and Isobel "the moon lesbians". I absolutely see the vision if it's a kind of more surface-level "cast the BG3 characters as senshi/the senshi as BG3 characters" or writing an AU/crossover in which case that's absolutely and without question the roles they'd get. But I think that going much deeper it starts to break down.

There's neat parallels, absolutely. That iconic romance! That all-consuming devotion! Beyond even death! And the whole dying-and-resurrecting thing, too! And a literal magical girl transformation that will forever be the best scene in the game. We sadly never get to see Aylin and Isobel in combat together the way we do Haruka and Michiru, but they'd make a really neat battle couple, I'm sure. Though their "I fight better when I know my beloved is safe" stuff might get in the way - a fun thing to explore.

And yes, one of them is loud and boisterous and tall and strong and sword-y and loves putting up a front and brushing her own feelings off as irrelevant even when she is suffering horribly. Also has the whole extreme dedication to duty thing going on, good ol' Being A Sword, while being brash and reckless and having a concerning disregard for personal safety. (You can't tell me Haruka wouldn't jump into 500 godawful fights a day, just plain facetanking everything, if she knew she couldn't die.) The other, meanwhile, is a way more subtle fancy princess lady type who seems to be calling a lot of the shots in the relationship.

My darling Isobel says we will stay allied at your side. I am pleased to hear it.

(Never fails to get me - Aylin, you already swore your sword and fealty to me 5 minutes ago, were you just going to dip if Isobel said so?)

She is also very insightful, is "the mage" and is capable of some excellent and on-point snark and verbal cuts, though I can't really see Isobel as being very ~ara (she's also a laughably horrible liar). Selûne actually has a lot of divination-related stuff in her portfolio and Isobel (who already uses mirrors in her iconic ritual we see in the game, and I love love love the setup she has there) doing some augury, scrying, and future-sensing via mirror-gazing would be super on brand.

(The moon, the tides, the sea... I could go places with this. But of course, now I've thought of Umberlee Cleric Michiru and The Seas Are Stormy, and that is a true delight.)

But the one place where it really breaks down for me is probably my very favourite thing to chew on with regards to Michiru, and that is that one iconic line, no matter how seriously you decide to take her words:

A world without Haruka isn't worth saving.

I cannot see Isobel saying anything like this, even as a joke, even as a taunt aimed at a defeated enemy.

Because we see Isobel go through exactly this: she wakes up in a world without Aylin. Against all odds, she is in the exact opposite of the situation they two with their mortal/immortal disparity have discussed and prepared for. She is told her unkillable demigod beloved is somehow dead and she believes this lie fully - we have no indication she ever doubted this. And what does Isobel do?

She makes a stand against the shadows, makes herself a beacon and protector, adamantly refuses to abandon any bit of her faith and her lifelong service to her goddess (even while expressing her dissatisfaction with Selûne's apparent laissez-faire approach there, if pressed), gives her all to set up a shelter and support the people mounting a resistance against her own father. "At any cost," she says, and it all clearly does cost her quite a bit - she is so very visibly exhausted and at the end of her tether when we meet her, but also chooses to be patient and to stay back and support and heal and all that. I feel like Michiru, in this situation, would rather march up to Moonrise and take on the entire army herself in a doomed last stand. Unless, I don't know, maybe a Jaheira-Setsuna situation could help?

All this actually makes me think Isobel has a lot of Hotaru vibes! The goth girl whose antagonist dad is part of leading an entire elaborate evil operation (she's the only thing he has left, she is an obsession, he will keep resurrecting her no matter the cost), being brought back from the dead by him in a weird way and suffering the various consequences of this. She even has an Ominous Cough going on, and her most prominent magical power is shielding and healing. Then, a tadpoled Isobel as a parallel to Mistress 9? You could go places with that.

Looking at the other halves of the couples, Haruka, when she thinks Michiru is dead:

You’re so unfair, Michiru, to leave for a world of your own. Don’t leave me here.

Aylin, in turn, seems to have dealt with Isobel's first death fairly... healthily. I mean, it's hard to say, when the one point of coping comparison we have is Ketheric. Certainly her grief is immense and when she says "I have mourned her these hundred years" it is the most believable thing. If Isobel dies again before they get reunited, we see a more subdued version of Aylin who is extremely duty-focused and determined to soldier on (her epilogue letter guts me) and who gives me that very I Will Never Love Again impression of kind of cutting herself off from the more mortal/human parts of her that Isobel seems very much a tether to (and you could go neat places with this being a parallel to the senshi dealing with having human identities, i.e. Haruka vs Uranus). But we do get some truly chilling stuff from Aylin if Isobel dies after their reunion (as well as a serving of some absolutely heartbreaking "I don't care what happens to me as long as Isobel is safe" right before that).

When I am free, I will destroy you! I will murder you, and your children, and their children beside! I will rip this world apart, plank and beam, until every iota of your being is scalded by my light.

So she is going to make very sure that a world without Isobel is also a world without you, traitor. And after that most thorough vengeance is done? I can't think of anything that bodes well, I'm afraid. But the senshi I could most easily see going down this particular dark route is, well, Michiru, and not Haruka.

Continuing this extremely self-indulgent thought exercise, it reminds me a bit of "every yuri couple is Utena and Anthy if you try hard and believe in yourself" and I'd say let's go for a twist: while they are absolutely nothing alike, Aylin sure makes an interesting Anthy because she's magically imprisoned for an unimaginably long time, has a thousand swords stuck in her over and over again, and she suffers because men objectify her and covet her for her power and what she represents and want to use her, and it seems to be a cycle she is doomed to repeat forever purely because of who she is. Meanwhile, Isobel is, uh, a car? I don't know how far I can stretch this, hahah.

In any case, thank you for this excuse to blather on! Always appreciated. Again, this is peak self-indulgence, and I love it.

[cellarspider]

29/30 Quit while he's a head

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We return to a movie that does not know when to stop when it’s behind, Prometheus. Content warning for a random last bit of metaphorically kicking David’s head around like a football.

So, we last left Shaw lying on the ground, fully in the I Can’t mood, which I was actually feeling sympathy for. Let’s see how long that lasts, because David is about to give her a call.

“Dr. Shaw… can you hear me?” “Yes. Yes, I can hear you.” “I was afraid you were dead.” “You have no idea what afraid is.”

Is this just the lashing out of someone who’s emotionally overwhelmed at the moment? Could be! We’ll check back in on that in a minute.

David informs Shaw that they can escape, because there’s more ships. I’m not sure whether this is intended to be a plot twist, because the movie already showed us that there were identical buildings all lined up in this canyon. But nobody ever mentioned them or thought to check them out, so maybe Shaw literally did not ever think of that.

Next thing we know, Shaw has found David, and demands to know where her cross is. “Even after all this,” says David, “you still believe, don’t you?”

Shaw says nothing, because this movie does not appear to have any idea what her faith might mean beyond “believes a thing, cross good, God made Engineers.”

I’m not a religious or spiritual person, and I’m annoyed at how shallow this turned out to be. This movie has an explicitly christian worldview, and yet it doesn’t engage with actual christianity at all. This is bonkers.

David is also of the opinion that Shaw’s plans are similarly inexplicable–David assumes they want to go to Earth.

You know what would’ve made a tense, relatively cheap sequel to this? Have them head towards Earth. Have Shaw repair David, and then realize he plans to use the black goo on humanity. Too late to keep him from gaining control of the ship, you wouldn’t even need a critter to hunt Shaw or whatever, it could be kept as a straight thriller, where she has to figure out a way to stop David.

But no, Shaw wants to go to where the Engineers came from. 

“May I ask what you hope to achieve by going there?”  “They created us. Then they tried to kill us. They changed their minds. I deserve to know why.”  “The answer is irrelevant.”

Oh, no it is not, David. The answer is very relevant. It’s absolutely maddening, but I will GET to that next time.

In the meantime, Shaw completes her undermining of my brief moment of sympathy for her.

“Does it matter why they changed their minds?” “Yes. Yes, it does.” “I don't understand.” “Well…”

You can stop right there, Shaw.

“I guess that's because I'm a human being… and you're a robot.”

That is the face of a man who has just added another entry to The List.

What the hell kind of line is that. I really, truly do not understand that. In alternate versions of this scene she called him a fucking robot instead, so they were really committed to this idea that she’d deny the personhood of David right here. He's behaved horribly toward others, but basically in the way a child behaves horribly when they feel slighted. He has been mistreated and he didn't like it, so he did what he felt would make it stop. That's a very immature, very human reaction.

Is the movie unaware of this, or is Shaw unaware of this, and making a mistake?

Holloway was positioned as an unlikable character, partly on the weight of using real-world racist language toward David. What does this mean for Shaw? Does this confirm that she’s not supposed to be a likable or moral protagonist? Because she starts doing a “This is Ellen Ripley Elizabeth Shaw” message in a bottle end monologue, as they sail away to David murdering her between now and Alien: Covenant. This is her last living act, as far as her on-screen participation in the series is concerned.

This is just ambiguous enough to make me confused, and not because I’m conflicted about her character–I thought she was a wingnut from early on, and she contributed to a whole lot of destruction and deaths the movie didn’t sell me on as being inevitable. I’m confused because I cannot tell if this movie has a protagonist-centric morality or not.

As stated before, films do not need to follow any sort of moral code or consistency. But when they do, there are two broad ways to go about it: Either a moral code stands on its own, and characters are tested against it regardless of who they are, or morality is exemplified by the protagonist(s), defining the moral framework of the movie through their actions.

Neither of these are inherently bad. They can lead to what we once called “flamewars” on Ye Olde Internet, because this distinction is not explicitly announced by the story, or any story really. If one person thinks a story’s morals are protagonist-centric, or perhaps all stories are protagonist-centric, then a story with a real bastard of a main character can create a very angry response.

As I said previously, Ridley Scott has directed movies where the protagonist is not the moral center of the universe. But big spectacle action movies tend to lean in that direction, and the writer for this movie wrote and produced for both the JJ Abrams Star Trek movies.

You see my problem here.

I’m still thinking that Shaw isn’t meant to be taken as morally correct here. I’m just confused as well, because her ending message is hopeful. That she’s going off to a home planet of the Engineers, because “It is New Years Day, the year of our Lord, 2094," and she’s “still searching” for answers.

I hope that her hope is meant to be read as foreboding. Delusional. I don’t know. What is she expecting, showing up in what they now know is a bioweapon bomber? Why not spend some time trying to figure out how to not bring an apocalypse’s worth of ordinance to wherever she wants to go? “I come in peace” isn’t going to be very convincing when you can–and David certainly will–kill everything that moves.

What a weird way to end the movie. If its characterization wasn’t so often flimsy, I might like it. Instead, I’m just left spinning my wheels as we fade out.

Oh, sorry, we haven’t ended it yet, we need a non-human chestburster to go reee at the camera, like how Alien versus Predator ended.

Great. Good job. That didn’t cheapen the movie at all.

What a mess. What a mess of a movie that didn’t know itself.

But we are not done. Because traditionally, as the credits are rolling, I tell my friends about an interview Ridley Scott gave after Prometheus came out. One where he talks about the Engineers and their motivations.

I have heard the screams of my friends as I told them, and I have laughed. You’re next!

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Citations for alt-text rambles

https://media.tenor.com/mweqSDA_s_gAAAAC/game-of-thrones-got.gif 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Offspring_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharyngeal_jaw 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gQYNl0DEC7w/UYhmdkvmOVI/AAAAAAAACA4/HYWxCBYccHM/s1600/Sandworms.jpg

https://bogleech.tumblr.com/post/745405355995037696/i-forgot-people-dont-generally-know-what-these