#which is not a bad thing. I hope it means they're more reliable than my old manager was

[ehlnofay]

GUESS WHO GOT THE FREAKING JOB

[tenabrye]

You. You my friend. I love you. ❤️

Can I get your take on what stampede Vash and Wolfwood would look for in a partner? Looks are out of the question cuz everyone is different and unique in their own way, but personality wise, what do you think would make Nick and Vash fall for someone hard? What kind of mannerisms? Are they feisty, are they level headed? What kinda person would these boys fall head over heels for?

Thank you homie! I love being fed by your writing! 👌🏻💕

I'm very happy that you enjoy my writing. I hope it's keeping all of you well fed. 🥹

Vash

As much of a wide range guy as he is, Vash does have a few preferences when it comes to a personality that really, really makes his head turn. He'd love someone that's kind, or at least has a positive outlook on life in such a way as he does. With how much negativity there is in the world, it's just really nice to have another positive person that shares the same views as he does. They don't necessarily have to be entirely positive, but he wouldn't want them being too pessimistic. He can feel other people's emotions and they can affect him negatively.

They have to be patient and understanding. Every story has two sides and he's the kind of person that prefers hearing both sides before making a final decision. He'd like for someone to understand that and who might also be like that. He'd also like for them to be understanding and patient with him. He may not be the type whose actions can be easily understood, especially at first when they may not even make sense, but he's always got everything under control. Most of the time.

Being both empathetic and sympathetic. Whether it be with himself, which he would absolutely appreciate to the moon and back, or with other people. When it comes to him, however, he just really loves someone who understands how he feels in certain situations. Or, when it comes to situations they can't relate to, such as Vash's entire history with his twin and existence, he appreciates someone to lend their shoulder or welcome him with open arms.

This leads him wanting nothing more than being with someone that makes him feel absolutely safe. Both physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. Someone that doesn't make him want to not open up and have to hide some things about himself from them. As much of an open book as he may seem, there are still some secrets he won't share unless he fully trusts someone. Very, very deep secrets. This also means he'd enjoy someone that he can allow to see him on his bad days and help cheer him up. He puts a lot on his shoulders, a lot of guilt, and he, sadly, lets it all build up until it's crushing him. He'd love someone who will just take him in their arms and hold him during these times.

He wouldn't mind if they were shy or a bit reserved, nor would he mind if they were a boisterous type. He can be quite an energetic man, given the situation, so it helps if they could also be as such. But as said, he doesn't mind if they're one or the other, or even both. Humorous, too, since he can be quite the funny man at times. Though he does know when the situation calls for it, and he hopes they would, too. If they're feisty, he'd actually like that. It's entertaining and he himself isn't like that, much.

Vash likes it when people come through on promises, even though he can't sometimes. Someone that's reliable, always keeping their word, and who he can put his absolute trust into doing a task. The same goes for their intentions. He likes good intentions, but he also knows that sometimes the bad ones are often for a good cause. So long as the reasoning is just.

Someone that doesn't hold a grudge. He's not that type of person and he knows how much a grudge or even seeking revenge can damage one's heart, allowing anger and hatred to consume it whole. Having some sense on the matter would be ideal, but he can also fill that spot if they don't have it or can't. That's not to say he wouldn't like them having such feelings, since he knows it's natural, but he doesn't want someone to be fully consumed by them and throw half, or all, of their life away for it.

Overall, he would like someone that's a bit similar to him, yet also different in many, many ways. For him, opposites do attract, but he doesn't mind if the similarities outweigh the opposites.

Wolfwood

Nicholas would be the type to like someone with a little bit of feistiness in them, or a lot. He's not picky on that. He's a bit of a realist when it comes to seeing how the world truly is, so he'd like someone the opposite of that. Not entirely, but there's really only room for one person who mostly thinks the way he does and he's already taken that spot. However, he doesn't mind if they're a little bit of a pessimist. A nice balance of that is good, too.

A good amount of sympathy and empathy is good in his books. Afterall, they would eventually learn about what he really does in life. Nicholas has his fair share of issues and would actually talk about them if given the time of day with a trusted partner. Someone that can listen to him voice his concerns with a certain situation, whether big or small, and to offer advice. He doesn't even care if they're not good at giving it, he just wants to hear their opinions. So, someone who isn't afraid to do that is another thing he would like.

He may seem like he doesn't like Vash and his antics, but he does, so he would also like that in a partner. Someone that can make him laugh when he needs it and who can also be witty with comebacks at times. A nice balance of seriousness and playfulness, considering he enjoys letting loose and knows when to be serious whenever a situation arises. Also, he gives nicknames, so they would have to be chill enough for that. No matter how ridiculous the nickname is, but it's all in good fun.

He would really, really love for someone to be a quick thinker when it comes to fast paced situations. He feels it would balance out the times when he can't think fast. Nicholas would also prefer them to be a bit humble, or at least just a bit. Tolerating children is definitely something he'd like in a future partner. They don't have to like them, but with his backstory and all, yeah, they can't outright hate children.

Someone that can read the room and, more specifically, read him. Sometimes he may not speak about whatever is currently on his mind, but he does have telling facial expressions. Reading and observing him to at least let them know how he's currently feeling when he doesn't want to say is a preferable thing. Major plus if they're the type of person to just silently take him in their arms when he can't form words to even ask for a hug, yet he still wants one.

He would like someone that raises him up. He's done a lot, killed a lot, sometimes it was what he didn't even want to do yet had to. He's the type to hold that guilt and think badly of himself sometimes. So, someone that can be the positive to his negative during those moments is a good thing for him.

Someone that isn't afraid to get assertive with him. Nicholas can agree that sometimes he just needs someone to help him see from another point of view. That, and he likes someone that can think for themselves. Someone that doesn't go along with what someone else suggests for them.

Overall, Nicholas would prefer someone with a flexible personality. Assertive and a little feisty, yet also tender and sweet when need be. Someone whose personality is easily rubbed off on others in such a positive way that it makes him smile.

[kineticpenguin]

One problem with any discussion of armed self-defense is the pervasiveness of military myths and copaganda. And honestly, I think the latter is more problematic.

An example of military myths would be the fragility and unreliability of the M16, and the notion that any given veteran happens to know what the hell they're talking about when it comes to guns. I think this is generally less of an issue since the internet means the guys who don't know what they're talking about can and often are debunked.

Copaganda, however, includes some notions that are taken as gospel and people will vehemently defend them. I've talked about the "21 foot rule" before, which was just a sort of rule of thumb that anyone inside that distance can rush and stab you in the amount of time it would take you to draw and fire a handgun, especially one on safe without a round chambered. Over time, this has morphed into "I need to be ready to murder anyone within 21 feet of me without hesitation if they so much as twitch while I have my weapon drawn."

Another example is the concept of "condition orange." Basically copaganda that draws on military myths, the idea is that any time you are outside of your home, you need keep tabs on everyone and everything around you. It's essentially inflicting hypervigilance on yourself in the hopes that you can be Spike Spiegel, noticing something amiss out of the corner of your eye or in the reflection on a shaker bottle just in time to avoid the bad guys' attack and defend yourself, something totally normal to want and possible to achieve. Yet arguing against preaching this as truth gets people very angry at you. These people also tend to have really strong opinions about wearing earbuds/headphones in public, as if you could Vash the Stampede yourself into trouble.

And finally, one thing that is practically The Sacred Text at this point, is the FBI ballistic penetration standard. It essentially divides firearms into two categories: Guns that penetrate less than 12" of ballistic gel in a lab, and guns that can actually kill people. This used to be considered at least slightly debatable (I recall reading Massad Ayoob writing about how this standard would rule out certain, apparently effective .357 magnum loads) but in recent years, questioning it is blasphemy. However, anyone familiar with how most modern cop science ranges from dubious to outright bullshit should think twice before accepting "because the FBI says so." Dr. Martin Fackler, the researcher who suggested the 12 inch minimum, was basing this mostly on a hypothesis that wound depth was more important than previously thought. That's it.

(The point is pretty much moot because just about anything stronger than a .380 will reliably exceed 12 inches in ballistic gel with modern ammo, but still).

[gayleviticus]

i think dantes plan for gaining the philosophers stone in fma 03 feels kindve awkward on a plot level, because yu'd expect the logical synthesis of 'philosophers stone is made of people' and 'causing wars to make the stone' would be 'amestris is genociding people in order to directly churn them into a Stone'

so the fact 03 instead goes for the more convoluted 'war and disaster makes people desperate for the Stone which means they will massacre others to make it' seems a really weird and unnecessary bump in the road plotwise against the straightforward elegance of 'cause war to make the stone yourself'. and yes, there is a plot reason given for it (or at least implied?): making the Stone requires both great skill and is very dangerous, so Dante doesn't want to do it herself. but I get the feeling that surely after 500 years and with a military dictatorship full of state alchemists at her disposal she could have found a more reliable method for having others make the Stone than 'cause trouble and hope someone is both smart and reckless enough to make it'

BUT I think it's another one of those 03 writing decisions that is messy plotwise but extremely interesting theme wise, because I think it helps tie together a lot of the big threads to do with war and equivalent exchange. the philosophers stone is a fabled treasure that lets you bypass equivalent exchange; except that's not true at all because making it requires the tremendous cost of thousands of human lives.

im having a bit of a hard time piecing my thoughts together here but i think eds line towards the finale about how there's no war we aren't involved is really important. the elrics began their journey believing in the fairy tale philosophers stone and joined the genocidal military because it was convenient to them. they believed that equivalent exchange would mean all their hard work would pay off eventually, but I think in another sense they didn't really understand that equivalent exchange means actions have consequences. just as the prosperity of powerful nations and its citizens comes from imperialism, so too does the magic of the philosophers stone stem directly from violence and bloodshed of war.

but the thing is, if dantes plan was just to have the military make the stone directly from war and massacre... it would be s typical evil bad guy plot and nasty and evil but nothing to do with our heroes. but the fact her plan relies on individuals seeking the stone changes things up I think - if ed and al were just a bit more ruthless that could very much have been them. The War for the philosophers stone very much has something to do with them. it's not an evil scheme they're helplessly embroiled in as victims.

and the fact this then means scar turns the tables on the military to make them into a Stone is also v interesting because it manages to be such a nuanced depiction. the elrics are clearly against it. but 03 often depicts the elrics as wrong and naive in their ideals, and it's undeniable the amestrian soldiers have done terrible terrible things in liore. scar is no longer even really an anti villain, but an anti hero, and his final act is to bequeath the stone as a gift to alphonse. but at the same time, even if we find scars motives here deeply sympathetic - the fact is it's still exactly what Dante wanted, all the same.

and so I think the Liore arc manages to have this really nuanced and open to interpretation depiction of violence and vengeance and killing that doesn't feel preachy but also doesn't flinch from being very upfront about the stakes. if we want to celebrate scar killing 7000 soldiers as an unambiguously good thing there's the awkward fact that Dante doesn't care who dies to make the Stone as long as it gets made. But it's hard to disapprovingly tut tut about how killing is bad and revenge is bad when characters like scar and Rose are so sympathetic and understandable.

not to mention of course the fact that Dante herself fully rejects the concept of equivalent exchange and hence of taking responsibility for her actions, even as she fancies herself as humanity's guardian. she wants other people to do the work for her and then swoop in just so she can live a little bit longer. she herself never comes even close to paying the price for the Stone.

[sapphos-darlings]

Are you a radfem? You've reblogged from radfems before and share a lot of detrans stuff, I like your blog but I don't feel really welcome and safe with stuff like that

Hi! We're two people running this blog, and no, this is not a radfem blog, this is a wlw/female positivity blog, run by two people who fall under these two categories ourselves.

Detransitioning also isn't automatically a political statement, please do not label it as such; when we started this blog, I was still living as a transgender man whose history and present still heavily tied me to the wlw community. However, HRT was making me very sick and not actually masculinising my body, and ultimately it was both better for my physical and mental health to first go off HRT, and when living as a man didn't get any easier through that, detransition. Most detransitioned people aren't detransitioning because of an agenda, and furthermore, while plenty remain allied to the LGBT community, most are still part of it - myself, as a bisexual gender non-conforming person who has no intentions of ever entering a heterosexual relationship, for example, and a person who does not feel that I am any more cisgender now than I have ever been. Others detransition from a binary gender identity to a nonbinary one, ceasing transition but remaining somewhere inbetween socially and where they feel themselves to align internally. Many of us, like myself, still regard ourselves under the wider transgender community: for myself, because I am not and have not and will not be cisgender, even if I am socially presenting as my assigned sex. People who know me more know that my experience with gender goes much beyond simplistic labels and assigning any beyond the factual "detrans female/woman" to what all of the above means is very difficult, but it's a private matter to me, like most things concerning deeply personal aspects of my life.

As per the blogs we reblog from - to be completely honest, we don't vet them, and have no intention of doing so in the future, as upsetting as this might be to hear for people who may feel unsafe coming across posts from users they're uncomfortable with. Most of our posts come from the tags and as long as they're not inflammatory and upsetting in themselves, we have no reason to be skulking through the sources or cultivating a blocklist of blogs we overall don't agree with. So there's going to be all kinds of ideologies, bad takes, drama, horrible people behind the urls. I quite honestly wouldn't know if I reblogged a tradfem post from a deep-end Catholic, anti-gay user/source (such as a quote) if the post itself somehow innocently floated into the wlw tag and was talking about cottagecore romance or some equally benign subject. The reason for this is simply that vetting each and every blog we scroll past would make running this blog extremely draining and require such specific hard rules to be established between the two of us posting here about what is a "good" blog to be reblogging from and what is a "bad" blog - there isn't one blog out there that we both 100% agree with, or find non-controversial, and we quite simply do not have the required energy to be putting into something like that.

You, however, as someone who scrolls through our blog, are more than welcome to block and blacklist urls and blogs that you see reblogged here. You control your exposure, you control whose thoughts you feel comfortable engaging with. This is absolutely, 100% fine to be doing. You never need to agree with anything we post, or with any user or post that we reblog here. We're posting here mostly for ourselves, what we relate to, in the hopes that someone out there relates to it as well. That's... really about as deep as it goes.

In order to help curate your experience, beyond Tumblr's own blacklist and block functions, for desktop users I highly recommend installing New XKit (Chrome/Firefox) and/or Tumblr Savior (Chrome/Firefox), which will make it much more reliable to vanish users and posts from your curated feed.

Hope this clears things up!

[cometconmain]

Please note there are articles from sites I was specifically told to look at as well because they're more reliable for Palestinian news due to not being connected to Hamas propaganda. I mean this as genuine information sharing from areas I'm hoping are reliable so I can support Palestinians properly as well without falling for antisemitic dogwhistles. I'm genuinely trying and I do mean all this in good faith. When I'm sharing things/talking about things criticising the government and the military and anyone else as individuals committing awful acts against Palestinians or supporting these things in other ways because of their own suffering, I do genuinely intend to just criticise that, not Israel even existing as a whole or Zionism's existence as though it is a monolith when it isn't, etc etc.

Israeli people are going through horrors right now too at the hands of the terrorist group Hamas and this is fucked up and needs to end, antisemitism is a huge problem that is only getting worse and impacting Jewish people around the world, way too many people in the pro-Palestine movement in Western countries are falling for antisemitic dogwhistles and then radicalising worse and worse against Jewish people as a whole while telling themselves and others it's about Palestine even while actively causing issue for things that would help Palestinians because their Jew-hatred has become more important and many of them likely never actually cared about bringing freedom to Palestinians, Zionism isn't inherently bad there are just extremist sections of it like there are with any ideology in the world that people then bad faith point to in an attempt to paint the entire thing as all the same thing going for the same goals when it isn't, antisemitic people then use Zionist interchangeably with 'Jew' to hide what they're actually calling for, Jewish people are native to the Levant and Israel as a country full of millions of people should not be destroyed with all those millions displaced nor should anyone aim to destroy it as part of seeking an end to the oppression that is going on (we don't even get calls for that in countries where settlers aren't historically native in any sense of the word so I don't see why challenging and fighting the radicalisation happening in Israel is expected to include that now as an end result; that's just radicalisation on the Western side of things which also needs to be challenged and fought. We cannot reach justice for Palestinians by enacting injustice on Jewish people any more than justice can be reached for Israeli people by enacting injustice on Palestinians.

With the wording of the article being what it is, I think/hope it's talking only about areas that are Palestinian land that have been taken over and held with cruelty and support from the soldiers, not Israel itself as a country, which is why I'm sharing it as well as the other sources that have been cleared as reliable rather than propaganda.

It also talks about Israeli social justice groups I'm hoping are the helpful ones because I don't remember seeing them on the shitlist and they're calling this out too.

I'm sharing these because we need reliable news reporting on this that isn't just propaganda kicked around by bad faith actors so Palestinians can be taken seriously in their fight for freedom from genuinely oppressive systems they're facing, rather than what too many people use to intentionally whip up antisemitism in people who couldn't care less what's actually happening because outrage is enough for them and Jews are the easy bogeyman to unleash that rage onto regardless of what's specifically happening to Palestinians by specific groups and how that system is upheld according to Israeli activists and even IDF members themselves.

But it does need to be talked about. So here are articles from the ABC but also Times of Israel and +972 Magazine. Please read my notes after as well.

I will finish by again saying PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you are a non-Jewish pro-Palestine activist reading this PLEASE understand this is the result of not just Hamas' horrific actions against Israeli civillians being utilised by the government and military to fuel the pain and rage of Israeli civillians against Palestine, but also OUR ACTIONS AGAINST JEWISH PEOPLE AS A WHOLE.

Do not take this post and turn it into another weapon against Jewish people. If you seriously need to be reminded this isn't a monolith situation, there are multiple mentions of Israeli groups standing against what is happening, and the only reason we have some of these articles at all is because of ex members of the IDF speaking out, including people at the commanding level!! Not to mention +972 itself is run by Israeli people. Israel as a whole is not the problem; the rampant radicalisation of people there is the problem.

BUT

If we are going to genuinely talk about that in actual good faith, we CANNOT be going around ignoring our part in that radicalisation. Jewish people around the world are TERRIFIED right now and understandably so. We are allowing antisemitism to sweep through the movement in huge waves that are only getting worse, even to the point of abandoning the people we profess to be fighting for in favour of just attacking Jewish people harder.

(On a positive note, the vaccinations have begun and Palestinians will be less at risk of facing a polio outbreak on top of everything else:)

This is not a simple situation in any sense of the word. There are atrocities happening all over and then bad faith actors are using those acts to push for annihilation of whichever group they want to point the angry mob at. If you want to criticise Israel on this topic, make sure you don't lounge complacently on criticising radicalisation in our own movement, among Westerners in general, in our schools and places of worship and workplaces and especially protests, or we are doing exactly the radicalisation we supposedly are criticising Israel for doing.

Every time we pull shit like what I've linked from my blog above, we push more Jewish people into the radicalisation we insist we're trying to stop. You have to understand that if we want the things in the above articles to end, we cannot be giving Jewish people more reason to believe we just want them dead. There are definitely way too many people who clearly do, who gleefully use actual points about radicalised behaviour among Jewish people to shut down Jewish callouts of antisemitism in our movement and beyond while also continuing to enact that antisemitism even harder, and it makes it nigh impossible to discuss occupation of and radicalisation against Palestinians as a result because many Jewish people are now so used to flinching away from the cudgel they've understandably come to expect from any form of criticism of Israel or attitude toward Palestinians from Westerners, because it's impossible for them to know if we're actually trying to address the actual issues or just picking up the same antisemitic club pretending to be activism again.

We have to move forward trying to incorporate all of this and remove the antisemitic behaviour in our movenent rather than constantly deny it if we are going to actually reach peace, healing, safety and freedom for everyone in Palestine and Israel.

"At the end of the day, this idea that we will be able to achieve stability and security and peace for Israelis while continuing the occupation and stepping on the throats of millions of Palestinians is just not going to work. There is always going to be another generation, there is always going to be another people who will not accept this. Occupation has never worked before in history and it's not going to work now. The only way we're going to have peace, stability and security is if both sides walk out of the room with rights and dignity."

- Yehuda Shaul, former Israeli Military Commander

(I think this is the best I can do for wording all this right now so I hope I handled it somewhat ok.

Again, I am not anti-Israel. I do not believe in destroying Israel and displacing the millions of people who have now lived there for generations any more than I can ignore the building information about areas of Palestinian land that are occupied and the atrocities that are being inflicted on Palestinians and the extremists existing who wish they could wipe them all out. They don't deserve the horrors being inflicted on them by members of the IDF and I also don't believe any Israeli deserves the horrors being inflicted on them by Hamas.

I'm genuinely meaning all this in good faith and trying to help everyone here and I never ever intend to pull more bigotry while fighting it elsewhere. I'm trying to learn information on all this and how to handle it delicately and effectively without causing more islamophobia or antisemitism.

This is an absolute minefield to navigate no matter how well meaning one is because there are so many facets and historical atrocities on both sides involved and that's before including the part the West played in all this to begin with and continues to play while acting like this is only Israel's or Palestine's problem and we somehow had nothing to do with it when we have like at least 70% to do with it because of our rampant antisemitism.

I'm still learning and figuring out how to effectively and with as minimal harm as possible communicate my learnings and thoughts as I go. Please be patient with me if you have any patience left to spare.)

[hylianengineer]

Okay I'm done with the film review for my sociology class, now you can all have my rant about it, and it's LONG so it's going under a read more:

I'm watching that new Netflix documentary about dirt - Kiss The Ground. For context, I'm an undergrad researcher in biogeochemistry and I study the carbon cycle, particularly a very specific type of decomposition that occurs in waterlogged soils - methanogenesis.

I'm so thrilled that something this mainstream is talking about soil carbon, soil microbes (my beloveds), and carbon sequestration. They're talking about root exudates and mychorrizhae and agriculture as part of an ecosystem! That's exciting. There's also a really excellent dose of climate hope in this documentary - and I am really excited to see that concept getting out of niche environmental circles and into things that regular people might actually watch.

On the other hand, parts of this documentary tick me off. I do not consider Tom Brady, nor his wife, to be a reliable source about the importance of organic agriculture. I know you're trying to interest the non-science types but come on, that is a classic appeal to irrelevant authority fallacy. And they should have said the thing about how we do still have to stop using fossil fuels and reach net zero emissions IN ADDITION TO sequestering the carbon we've already emitted more than one time in the whole film, because I just know people are going to take the rest of this message and run with it in the wrong direction. And they are really hammering home the appeal to emotions in the first half, to the point where I think the core of their argument suffers for it. Are you trying to explain this thing to me or are you throwing around buzzwords and pictures of sick children in hopes I'll get distracted?

Also they keep introducing guests with credentials like "ecologist from the Rodale Institute." You know nobody knows what the fuck that is, right? (It's an NGO dedicated to organic farming, for the record, but I did have to google it, and they had multiple guest speakers from this group.) Come on, you have no credibility if I can't tell where your info's coming from, and most people are not going to do background research as they watch a documentary.

Overall, I agree with their main points but I'm annoyed with how they made them. They're right about the ability of soil to sequester carbon, they're right that it could play a big role in climate change mitigation, and they're right that helping the soil is also better for people, ecosystems, and the planet. They're right about no till farming, permaculture, and crop diversity. They're even right about the bullshit that is the US industrial agricultural system, and they dug into how it came about in the post-WWII era, which isn't something I see talked about much. Kind of baffled how they managed to talk about soil degradation in the Midwestern USA without getting into the unique ways prairie soil and roots work, and instead went down a weird rambly path about how plows are bad (true, at least here - I cant speak for ecosystems I don't know as well - but explained poorly) and cows are good because this system evolved to have bison in it (sort of true, but incomplete. Cows aren't bison and the differences do matter.)

Also, reduced meat consumption is a very common thing that a lot of experts say is needed for climate change mitigation, and don't think I didn't notice how you sidestepped the issue just to say 'cows are good actually, stop vilifying cows.' I call bullshit. Just because cows work well in some ecosystems on a certain scale does not mean that it's possible to farm meat sustainably on the scale we currently do - factory farming and feedlots (CAFOs, if you want to get technical) are what allows us to make this much meat in the first place. You just admitted we need cows spread out on a lot more land to making ranching sustainable, and then failed to address the fact that this idyllic system doesn't really mesh with a world in which everybody eats multiple servings of beef per day. I see that decision and I know why you made it, because asking people to make sacrifices for the climate tends to make them ignore you, I don't even necessarily disagree with that decision because I know you're trying to persuade normal people and not environmentalists, but don't think I didn't notice.

Okay, fine, NOW they're talking about eating less meat and how what meat people do eat needs to come from more sustainable agricultural practices. Good. Better.

Oh look at our free range eggs, they're orange and that means they have more nutrients. Do they? Please back up this claim with scientific evidence. Of course the farmer says his eggs are better, he raised them. It's plausible, but I am pedantic and a scientist and I want data. You have to prove things to me.

Overall not a horrible documentary but ticks me off in several ways and tries to cram too many different subjects into like an hour and a half. Also, visiting the film's website makes me MORE ANGRY because they say even STUPIDER things about how they think climate science works. They make it sound like carbon sequestration in soil is THE solution which is BULLSHIT. There is no THE solution, there's gotta be a bunch of em stacked on top of each other - according to basically every climate change mitigation plan I've ever heard of (Project Drawdown is a good example). There's this metaphor I like to use to explain this to people - there's no silver bullet, but there could be silver buckshot. I read that somewhere once and cannot remember where but I'll never forget it.

Anyways, if you want a good intro to soil health directed at non-scientists/environmentalists, Kiss The Ground isn't bad, but you gotta think critically about some of the claims it's making because some of them are bullshit.

[bouquet-of-clumsy-words]

23, 17, 16 & 13! ✨

Do you believe in aliens? Yes, Tom Delonge would be disappointed if i said no also Want any piercings? Where? Ooooh I think i've said before but lmao once again, I really wanted aa lip piercing like tom delonge Want any tattoos? What of? I mean Ihave 5 currently but ofc I want more, they're kind of addictive. I still really want a tattoo of a moon, and defo something to remember my cats from, obviously with Nugget and Jasper I was tempted to get a "Nugget" of "Jasper" but idk how well it'll.. translate into a tattoo per say. I still really want an Asthenia style tattoo too ofc and there's like SO MANY, like okay hang on i'll write them all. So like a tattoo of some eyes for multiple reasons, there's a Twenty one Pilots lyric along the lines of "No one looks up anymore, because you might get a rain drop in your eye"

No one looks up anymore 'Cause you might get a raindrop in your eye And Heaven forbid they see you cry As we fall in line then blink (ofc??) "Tears from eyes worn, cold and sad" So it's like, idk how to incorporate them together or do I simply just get two set of eyes? "Tidal waves they Rip right through me Tears from eyes worn Cold and sad Pick me up now I need you so bad" There's sorta another one from a Holding Absence song which I *COULD* tie in, where the lyrics are like, "I've got clouds, you got Halos" "I've got clouds, you've got halos Shut my eyes, where do the days go? So tired from making the climb That I can't enjoy the view, I'm begging you Do something, say something I'm fading, I'm losing The one thing I can't afford to lose" idk those lyrics hit a bit in the feels yknow, like struggling then when you get there you're so tired. Then back on the Asthenia kinda space vibe ~ like, there's another song by Boston Manor - Laika so like Asthenia is v much like left out in space vibes v similar and like the lyrics;

Last night, it came as a picture With a good reason, a warning sign This place is void of all passion If you can imagine, it's easy if you try Believe me, I failed this effort I wrote a reminder this wasn't a vision This time, where are you, Houston? Is somebody out there? Will somebody listen?

Should I go back, should I go back, should I? I feel alone and tired Should I go back, should I go back, should I? I hope I won't forget you

Then Boston manor Laika is; I'm so sorry that I'm leaving You so little to believe in Just tell me, that you're free, of your woes and of me There's weather more reliable than me

Idk the, there's Weather more reliable than me slaps as a lyric also so idk man, so many ideas and thoughts, this is like a HANDFUL OF THEM. Sorry I got massively side tracked on this Question Fears? oh my god, so so many. SO MANY HORRORS. Idk, I guess growing old and regretting life and not doing stuff? making similar mistakes to what my parents did in essence.

[parulite]

repost and rate your muse's traits out of 10 in each category !

COMPASSION: 9/10. Driven by a deep desire to alleviate others' suffering (when she isn't too wrapped up in her own head), Kiri chose the path and rites of a healer. Right now she mostly deals in physical ailments, but she hopes to build the skills of spiritual aid too.

BITTERNESS: 6/10. There's a general sense that she's carrying a lot of confusion and discontent. She feels estranged from her peers and even her family, and doesn't understand why she is just so different. Why it had to be her.

HAPPINESS: 4/10. Really going through it™ with the awkward teenage years, made much much worse by the re-arrival of the RDA and the destruction of so much of her home. She lost two dear friends; the shaman of songs who lived deep in the forest was killed by the inferno of the arriving ships, and in the months that followed the first ikran Kiri was bonded with was shot and killed by a SpecOps soldier (& that's really only the beginning...)

POLITENESS: 5/10. Generally knows her place and respects tradition and those with more experience than her, but isn't afraid to give a little lip and form her own opinions. Occasionally prone to nyeh nyeh nyeh and sticking her tongue out. Currently going through a little bit of a "everyone in my family is so embarassing" phase.

MORALITY: like... 8/10? I don't know. She has a set of beliefs she lives by and holds to them. But .. as things are changing around her, choices are getting harder, and she's pushed at these lines in the name of protecting and defending her loved ones. As well, I have.. a thought about that some of that... being able to hear and feel Eywa is driving her to make choices she would have shied from just a year ago. Which begs the questions of if they're her morals, or something else. Which sounds very scary to me.

PRIDE: 7/10. Working on lowish personal self esteem/ego, but has high value on her home, her family, her clan, her planet. Does not take kindly at all to insults and shaming; does not take these things silently, either. She will at least try to stand up for herself, but she's twice as active when standing up for/with others (especially her family. Especially Neteyam.)

HONESTY: 8/10. A little sneaking away here, a little keeps-things-to-herself there, but mostly honest about her choices. She aims to be reliable and trustworthy, someone people can come to, and in general just doesn't like to lie. Leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

BRAVERY: 5/10. There will be much worrying, and grumbling, and hesitance. Will notably step up much more directly when it comes to defending others, especially her siblings and, presumably, other/younger children. Otherwise, she'd much rather make peace and/or flee than fight.

RECKLESSNESS: 4/10. Fairly sensible on her own, a little absent minded sometimes but not particularly prone to risk taking. Also susceptible to following others (i.e. Lo'ak and Spider) into nonsense out of a reluctance to miss out, but it almost works out because then she can act as a voice of reason those situations and at least slow them down a little.

AMBITION: 3/10. Genuinely just wants to live a 'normal' life, a quiet life she feels she belongs to, in harmony with nature.

LOYALTY: 8/10. Bends her personal values for the sake of others.

LOVE: 6/10. Deeply emotional, but afraid to commit to it. She withholds herself a lot, often hiding behind a vague leave-me-alone attitude (that she, of course, secretly and silently wants people to ignore, and see her through it anyway. But only if they're going to really love her. You know how it is.)

SENSE OF FAMILY: 7/10. Very connected to her parents and siblings and loves them dearly. Also feels ostracized, being 'technically an orphan', and every now and then is afraid that she is not quite as much of her parents child as her siblings are, like there is somehow a difference between them and her that means she doesn't really count.

ATTRACTIVENESS: I...... Don't want to use a number in this instance? She doesn't strike me as having a high opinion of her own looks, but I don't think it's necessarily a point of focus for her. I do think, though, she's got a lot of features that could be considered more human-influenced, such as her four fingers and smaller nose, defined brows, and smaller canines. This probably effects others' opinions of her beauty, but I doubt (at least among her own clan) as much as she thinks it does.

AGILITY: 9/10. Mostly she likes to take her time and tends to sort of ...drift around, but when pressured or excited, she's light on her feet and difficult to catch. Notably, she's an incredibly quick climber, and excels at moving over both the forest floor and higher pathways among the branches. She's still learning & building her skillset but I imagine she's showing signs of this in the water, too.

[the-monkey-ruler]

So my brother bought me JTTW to read when he found LMK so I could compare/contrast with the show and now I come bearing a question about Macaque: I see that he's supposed to be the shadow-self, but there's this emphasis on completely eliminating the shadow-self (which in JTTW makes sense he was terrifying). IDK what message they're going for in LMK other than 'Wukong bad' (but the show seems to have a vandetta against Wukong so idfk) so if it just zoomed over my head please inform me I am l o s t. What if an interpretation came out discussing Macaque in the light more of the Black Moon Lilith? It hits the same beats as being the "shadow self", that being the nastier truths about yourself that you don't want to admit. But I think it would be neat if there was some expansion: In reading a star chart you're meant to use your Lilith as a way to confront the darkest parts of yourself and learn that they're a part of you just as much as the positive sides of you. I feel like Macaque could be a really good example of someone who leaned into his Lilith entirely too much until he was consumed by it, versus Wukong who acknowledged his Lilith (destructive behavior & anger) and didn't obliterate it, he did the healthy thing and acknowledged it (eventually), even moderating it. Outright trying to destroy your Lilith is actually a horrible idea since, whether you like it or not, it's still a part of you. Hurting your Lilith still hurts you. I dunno I just would love to see this,,, If a piece of media has already done this please let me know because I actually study astrology and I would go WILD if this concept was explored (/positive)!!

Well in Xiyouji they don't kill Six Eras being he is terrifying (while he is) but rather they kill him because it is to show Wukong finally standing up to his inner self. This is his first time controlling his own impulses and shutting them down with his own self-restraint.

That being said I really think that LMK just makes their Six-Eared Macaque a guy. Some person. Which isn't the first time Xiyouji media has given the Six Ears an individual past from Wukong, there is a lot actually! There is a lot of Six Ears backstory lore, esp in the last 10 years or so but… I'm not sure if I can say that LMK Six Ears is a Lilith at all.

Considering that 1. trying to wrap other mythos in Chinese mythos. I've seen interpretations where Indian or Japanese lore has been mixed with Xiyouji interactions but this "Black Moon Lilith" looks like it comes from Greek Astrology. I really don't think the showrunners would go that far at least for what is supposed to be a Chinese franchise to add Western mythos… at least I would hope that as that seems a bit tasteless.

And 2. they are really making it that the LMK Six Ears wasn't born from LMK Wukong but rather they were separate entities from the very start. LMK Six Ears is a person all unto his own and yes while he is supposed to represent the worst traits of Wukong as an allegory and is a spiritual monkey that doesn't have to mean every interaction he has to bodily be connected to Wukong. At least in this version from what I can tell he is to be on the same level of connection as Demon Bull King as they are Sworn Brothers.

That being said I don't know a lot about Greek Astrology myself and I've been interested in studying it... so I don't know if other media has used it before.

I would just say to be careful when trying to pinpoint Western mythos and apply them to Eastern mythos. I'm not saying they can't interact but that trying to analyze one through the lens of the other could just lead to confusion. I understand trying to find concepts and trying to make new media more reliable but I think it might be dangerous trying to try to use other media as examples when expressing these ideas when they are not the intended purpose.

[hypershocked]

Reliability is the most important thing when it comes to combat robotics. If you have an exceedingly powerful weapon but are unreliable, I'm rooting against you. (I'm looking at you Glitch from last year and Hypershock of years past! Hypershock used to be straight-up bad as a team because they would never be prepared and were VERY unreliable. They're good now though, so at least I'm fine with rooting for them now.) I wish they did more to reward reliability within the scorecards and competition rules.

P1 is an underrated bot and I like it a lot! Shame that his creator has moved on to make Starchild, but at least Starchild is interesting. P1 still deserves more love though. Also Shatter is a decent bot with a good design principle behind it that deserves more wins than it gets purely because the design principle aesthetically looks bad.

I disagree with the decision BattleBots made this year with limiting the number of robots they accept and giving each bot more matches. I would much rather see more variety with the bots than more matches with each individual bot, even if it means seeing some truly pathetic bots getting stomped into the ground. Honestly, sometimes you need a bit of that! (Though I don't know if there was anything else behind the scenes that led to this decision. I don't exactly keep up with the social media, community, or decisions behind the scenes with this sport.)

Vertical Spinners < Horizontal Spinners < Lifters and Flippers. Because I'm a barbarian. Good driving is important, dammit! But admittedly, I do like drum spinners a lot (but this is purely my Copperhead and Minotaur bias speaking).

ooh lots of spicy takes here. going point-by-point:

definitely fair that reliability is number one! but i don't think it's ever made me root against a bot. it usually makes me root for them, and wanna see them pull through. if anything, if a bot is known to be unreliable, my expectations for them are just mega lowered. i will say that it is objectively sexy when a bot is sturdy and reliable af (looking @ you endgame)

I miss P1 so much aah. It was so unique compared to 'vert spinner #74' etc. And you can tell Brandon really loved that bot. I'm glad he's still in the sport but I do wish P1 was still around. I hope Starchild gets a chance to really shine though at some point but oooff so far (I blame the matchups, not the bot)

Interesting that you think Shatter! aesthetically looks bad. I personally love the vibe they're going for but I can see how it might be polarizing.

Hmm I think the 4 fight thing was the right thing to do just for the sake of the builders and making BattleBots feel more like a proper sport. I would love to see variety but I'm glad we have a few weeks of alternate matches coming up soon. I'm really happy they made the decision to let the drivers know all matches at the beginning of the tournament, but they still possibly could've done that by just picking from the get-go which bots get 2/3/4/etc fights.

I get why people don't like verts but I have to admit I'm a bit of a simp for them. They simply put on some great fights and belong to some of my fave bots. I will say that drum spinners are in a league of their own. Copperhead and Minotaur are always an absolute JOY to watch. Also omg this season has given me a whole new respect for control bots. Claw Viper and Quantum have been absolutely incredible

[letterstodreams]

Dream well, wishing well

I'm not a poet, but these words flow most similarly to poems, but I don't know if they're good and I don't even care either, since it's just something that I need to get out of myself. And in that space of release, thoughts of good or bad writing tend to stand in the way, more than anything. So I was thinking and these thoughts came to me.

Dream well, make your dreams work well for you. Dream well, wishing well, you wishing well, the portal to my dreams, a well of dreams, tossed in coins and wishes and tears and unicorn tears and alligator tears and boys' tears and girls' tears, and all that which might be and could be. Seen in our reflections, seen in a scrying pool, reflecting pool. Reflecting inner and outer.

The portal to inner worlds, gears turning and alchemy making this or that, who knows what. I wish the wishing well to be well. The wishing well wishes me well. Wishing you well, wish you well, wish you will, wish you why, wishy washy, washing clean. Well wishes, what do they mean?

If I dream well then maybe the well wishes will turn to what I want. Maybe the dreams will become something that will translate into the waking world too, in a way that I want, but not a way that is out of control or goes awry, turns foul and fake or scary or dumb, sad or cruel, embarrassing or humiliating or miserably, yes painfully awkward. No, not that, but something soothing, realistic enough but not so realistic as to be irresistible, not until or if ever it is really real in the waking world.

Waking world and dreams have to be kept in proper balance, with proper boundaries between, lest I start to foolishly lose control and feel that the dreams are more a part of the waking world than they actually are. I start to fool myself with all the myriad myths and wishful ideologies of the superstitious ones, along with my too-real-to-be-believable dreams, too-intense-to-be-controlled or contained, dreams.

No, I can't go there, so I have to be careful that I don't go there, on accident. Wishing well is a distant thing, a reality construed by the necessity of boundaries and the unpredictable, uncontrollable reality. We can wish well, when we don't and can't control the outcome. We can wish well, when we can't or don't want to intervene directly. To fool ourselves our wishes are more than they are, with greater power of influence or importance or promise, devotion or commitment? That would be a fool's gambit, one I' taken far too often and learned my lesson well, and yet, maybe not so well.

My emotions and mind and life are so out of control and volatile, desperate and with so few options, it's all too easy for this vivid, insanely real dream world to seem all too real to restrain myself from trying to make it realer than it can be, or is likely to be. Needs denied, mocking my mind, mocking my feelings, mocking my survival of my mind and heart, it becomes hard to contain the will to live, to thrive, to grow, to run wildly towards what looks like hope, joy and healing and well-being. But there is a big difference between dreams and reality, such a huge distance between hints and full expressions. Such a enormous difference and distance between what is spoken and shown and what is inside a person and in their character, reliable and strong, unflappable and persistent, in all kinds of situations, among all kinds of people, true and true, my safe refuge.

So, no, instead of running to dreams and trying to make them real, fooling myself they're realer than they can be, I have to try to handle it like a reflecting pool, wishing well, so much inner, so little clearly outwardly real or lasting at all, I have to cultivate what dreams will bring. I try to cultivate a beautiful and healthy kind of longing, because from that can come the most amazing insights and joys, energy that makes me physically tremble, visions and messages that pop into my head from someplace outside of my own mind.

These can be things that change my real, waking world life in significant ways, helping me along my path and goals. They can be things that also give me motivation and joy and a mesmerized sense of pleasure, tingling skin and giddy energy and love and hope and creativity, even when my goals are far from being in reach or even in clear sight. But that energy and hope and creativity keep me open, when nothing else would or will, and i reach it by this path of the wishing well, dreaming well, wishing pool, mirror reflecting your wishes, in elaborate forms your conscious mind could never willingly conjure.

If this was truly happening, spoken, acted on in real life, I think it would be worlds apart different. If it was brought into real life, I think a thousand different problems would come in and block the way, problems in me, in others, in the world, in my heart, mind and life, emotions, dreams, visions. Problems in personality, in expression and ability to speak all that is in my heart. Problems in the others I reach to and touch, their ability to see me, and what I want to say or do or what I feel and all I know, and all that is possible, and all that matters.

But all that I see is real, matters and is possible and is needed, often can't be shared or communicated. And whenever I have tried, many times, to reach out, it fails. It runs up on an impenetrable wall with others, is swallowed into incomprehension and lack of caring, disagreement and disregard, outright scorn, arrogant condescending clanging invasive abuse.

Attempts to block, discard, belittle and mock, minimized and tossed aside on the road, just a joke, what child, what a crazy person, they say. So many ways to say or show that I'm ridiculous, insignificant, crazy, self-centered, not worth paying attention to, self-pitying, weak, wrong, full of lies, full of delusions, not trying hard enough, annoying, burdensome, unrelatable, unbearable. So they would think, and often it's shown only through outright ignoring, abandoning, but sometimes through words of scorn and twisting my reality through their replies that show they don't understand or see the real me at all, but only the surface layer, if even that.

Notwithstanding my trying to show and share and reach so much, that seems so beautiful, so good, so worthy, so desperate, so urgent. So, I always am baffled and shell-shocked, lost and cowed into silence and hiding, building my walls thicker and stronger, less likely to ever emerge, every time this kind of clash happens between me and others. It leaves me feelings so painful and numb and lost, wondering how could they just toss it aside and scorn what felt so good and true and desperate. And I thought that it felt so human, understandable, impossible to ignore or abandon. Why did they do that? And, what could I ever hope for, if this is how it will be, and always is, over and over again?

But even if someone could see me more deeply, and was good and kind, I feel like it would still reach a wall, or go off the rails, spiral out of control, and maybe in so many different directions, going beyond all recognition from the original beautiful vision and tendrils of intricacy and goodness in my mind and heart. So I keep this inward vision, apart from reality, instead. I keep vision of longing, hope and possibility, and I cultivate it and see where it goes. Even if it doesn't ever really reach my reality in such a strong, clear, fully defined way to make much difference in the many many huge entangled problems that I must try to see how to face, still it helps. I hope one day it will guide me and lead me somehow, through various paths, maybe, to all those answers, within and outside myself too, the insights, inner self work and actions in the real world.

It's like a bridge to a world I haven't found to exist in the real waking reality, and it gives me hope that I might find a reality for me where I can work out my problems and meet and solve my needs in waking reality, one day. Maybe one day I'll find how to reach those who will see me more deeply and clearly and be good to me. And maybe one day I'll find some way to keep it all from going off the rails with all the complications and sensitive issues.

Maybe I'll learn how I can hold at bay or integrate all the real world problems and burdens. Maybe I'll safely navigate our inability to express clearly what's in our hearts and deep mind. I'll heal or cover, contain our weakness, bearing it all in myself with grace and understanding and wholeness.

And, perhaps, without having to say a word, I'll contain and accept our inability to bear it together between us, so I'll be the one to bear it. I'll bear, inwardly and secretly, all the pain and confusion and longing that seem to make all sense of proportion and logical behavior get drowned in mistakes. I'll hold at bay all the errors of judgment, lost sense, lost answers, lost direction. All the problems that tend to emerge in the tornado of emotions and real life problems that seem to take over when things such as this are brought into the waking world.

One day maybe I can find a way to sidestep so much of that chaos and get straight to the heart and what is true and real and what will work. Because if the wishing well lets me flesh out so much of my reality in the dream, then maybe I'll solve it all in dreams. Maybe in then, I'll see how to take up, act out, fully envision the burden in dreams that we couldn't carry in reality. Then I can see how to heal my burden without anyone else. And then when the burden is well-healed, then it will become manageable, not too heavy or huge or entangled for others to manage anymore, and finally I'll be able to reach out and share with them, and walk with them.

If that could be created in dreams, and then in real life, then, maybe, we could be such deep, good friends. We might be pillars of each others' lives. Maybe we'd be mirrors of each others' hearts and souls. Or wishing wells of each others' hearts and souls, not mirrors, not identical, but more like a pool we can look in , scry out the inner world in each other and see what we couldn't see or feel in our own minds and hearts and life.

Then that would be like a secret world of treasure we can go adventuring in and find jewels and wonders and bring them back into our own lives. Look what I found in you and now I can share it with you, we can both have it. Maybe you didn't see it in yourself but it was there and I brought it up, free from the thicket of your soul. Or maybe you knew it was there but couldn't express it so openly, and the miracle of love and relationship lets us feel and say and do what is deep in our hearts and minds with such more vividness and energy and vigor and conviction than we ever could on our own. Sometimes. Maybe. So that is what I hope for, and the dreams do let me hope.

By the way, this train of thought was first sparked off by a quote, which I'll post below. It made me think of two people, separated by dreams, longing, fear, fragility, the sense of chaos and disaster that might emerge if they tried to reach out in a situation that feels too fragile and too star-crossed. But in dreams they can sense one another, and be together all the time. If in reality, they are together hardly at all, or maybe not at all.

It could be a one-sided dream also, where one person has visions and dreams about another person, based on a few limited interactions and knowing much about the other person, or enough to spark spontaneous visions and dreams about them and wonder how much the other thinks of them, if at all, but maybe lots, who knows.

Yes, this a line of daydream thoughts sparked forth as a result of extreme isolation and being misunderstood and mistreated, my own life. And also by my life of having intense, complex visions and ideas that pop into my mind and give me answers to my whole life, answers from people I don't know and characters. Answers that pop into my head and come to me from somewhere seeming outside of myself, somewhere I can only ever access by dreams, visions, and the "others", the characters. So, here's the quote:

I think we dream so we don't have to be apart for so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can be together all the time.

~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

(This quote was something I saw online, so it might be misattributed or misworded or reworded, but many sites contain this as an A. A. Milne quote, though some word it a bit differently. I rather do like how internet quotes often come in several different wordings, though, as sometimes just the right wording will make it hit home or make me see it in a certain light that applies to me, when the other wordings would not have given me the same insight ).

[jentlemahae]

tbh idk much of what that fandom is saying rn i just skimmed ur anons but its very weird that that fandom is saying he's just a famous white artist :/ esp bcs *** have collabed w a mega famous yt artist like twice or thrice now & r besties w her & have worked w yt people before lol how kpop stans interact w whiteness has always been the weirdest thing bcs like 90% of major fandoms r pretty much r cis white het i think (from like fandom surveys n stuff, ik they're not superr reliable bcs the data is from twt only but eh) i feel like there's this mentality to blend in with the queerness postulated among the kpop fandom realm bcs when ure terminally online ure kinda taught that cis white het = boring lol its like they're equating his whiteness with like privilege or that like jennie's stepping up or using him, disregarding the clear lack of his fame. it turns their argument into smth v very shallow, very one-dimensional, very biased, & very misinformed. & also makes them hypocrites! ik not all of them r like this (tbh they're kinda funny imo but their fandom is so huge its easy as hell to spot the bad eggs). if anything HE'S stepping up bcs jennie's sm more popular than him, but bcs he's white and kpop stans have such a shallow & misinformed perspective of what exactly racial privilege is they're quick to point out his race. its so dumb?? ik ur blog is just 4 funsies but i just wanted 2 drop my 2 cents, from what i've observed of kpop stans behaviour etc etc

ohhhh thank u for sending this bcs u really said what i was thinking but could not put into words!! white people definitely have privilege from a social and societal point of view when it comes to race, but the way white privilege is tackled in online spaces is mostly one dimensional and superficial, like nowadays ‘white’ has become synonymous with ‘boring and not hardworking’ in online communities. and i’m not saying i’m personally offended or affected by this as a white person, but i do think mellows down the conversation about racial privilege, which should be taken seriously obviously (idk if i’m explaining myself but i hope so!). so the pinks working with white artists and having white friends = they’re boring and lazy 🙃 and i also think it’s just a very weird and disrespectful thing to say that an artist of colour wants to be white…..i am white (if it wasn’t obvious fshsh) so i cannot really articulate why that’s strange, but i do think it is (i mean it’s like saying a gay person wants to be straight just bcs they happen to have straight friends ?? that’s very weird)

[vinkunwildflowerqueen]

Hi! I was just wondering if you had decided how you feel so far about the Wicked film just based on the first look trailer?

I’m still torn on how I feel. I’ve been nervous about the film since it was announced because I love the musical so much, but I’m also intrigued about it. If I want to watch it, I may wait until it’s on streaming or able to rent on demand, and not see it in cinemas. I’m not sure yet, though. I may wait to decide until more trailers are released.

one thing is for sure I am most looking forward to seeing Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero and Michelle Yeoh as Morrible. Those were the cast announcements I was most excited for.

Hi :)

This could be a bit of a long post, so I'm going to put my thoughts below the cut so people who don't care can just scroll on past.

The TL;DR version is that I didn't hate the trailer but I'm still not completely sold on some of the cast; however I am reserving judgement until I see the movie in November and I'm really hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

"Cautiously optimistic" is how I would describe it.

Well, there's things I like about what we saw in the trailer, and things I'm really intrigued to see the context of and what they do with it. I hesitate to say there's things I don't like- especially from a teaser trailer, because the point of it is to tease, so I can't judge whether or not anything is "bad". But when I've spent 14 years wanting this movie and building my own mental Oz, which doesn't line up with Jon M Chu's, because he does not have access to my imagination; it is hard to be objective and let go of your own vision!

I'm really just trying to go into the cinema in November with an open mind and low expectations. I've been burned before with bad adaptations of things that I love, so trying not to get too excited (if that makes sense?) I'm also planning to try and see the movie with a mix of friends who have seen the musical and those who haven't; to try and get a wide range of perspectives.

I know there are a lot of people out there who love the book and really want the movie to include a lot of elements from it. I, sorry, am not one of those people. I know there's some apparently pretty reliable reports out there that they have included some aspects of the novel into the film; but this isn't really something I'm excited about. But I am curious which elements they've included- world building? Character aspects? Plot bits?

I'm super excited to see Michelle Yeoh as Morrible. She's such an amazing actress, and she was pretty much the only casting announcement where I was immediately on board.

Other than Jeff Goldblum, I really don't know much about anyone else in the cast. I'm not a Bridgerton gal, so the only thing I've seen JB in is Broadchurch. And really, my only hesitation with JB and Cynthia is that they're both older than I would've preferrred (but the time jump between movies, I hear you say. And yes, sure. Maybe they are lengthening the time skip of intermission to a more similar length of the novel; because although it's never been confirmed, the musical has always felt like a shorter time jump).

I didn't love the riff at the end of DG we heard- not because it was bad, I just prefer a... cleaner(?) riff (I don't know if that's the right word for what I mean. I am not a singer in any capacity, so I don't have the jargon nailed down).

I'm not an Ariana fan (of her music. I can't speak to her personally because I don't know her), and she's just not how I envisioned Glinda, but I really want to be pleasantly surprised by her. As far as her acting goes, my only exposure is episodes of Victorious, which I wasn't a fan of.

From what we've seen so far (trailer and leaked set photos from during filming) the things I am most unhappy with really have no effect on the story and they are weird things to be unhappy about, so I'm trying to get over myself.

A colleague said to me during the week "Oh once the movie comes out, you can stop seeing the show and just watch the movie on repeat." and I was like "lol, no."

The movie is going to be it's own thing. And maybe (hopefully?) there'll be world/plot/character elements I love and want to add to my own mental Oz for future fics. Or I could just be like "well, that was a thing" and ignore it completely. We'll see!

[italoniponic]

hello!! hope you're having a wonderful day so far! i'd like to ask for some h/cs for the hat wearing guys, please. (Trey, rook, azul) when they're about to kiss gn!s/o, they instead pull their hat down over their eyes, delighted that they caught them off guard. how would they react? of course, later they get lots of kisses from s/o to make up for it. i'm reading through all your writing and i love it so much its hard to stop. thank you so much for all you do!!

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲'𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭

| Notes: Hi! Okay, so… it was hcs right? It kinda looks like scenarios instead so I’m sorry for that lol I got so caught up in writing Trey that I decided to do the same style for Rook and Azul. And, omG, it was so much fun! 

Thank you so much for the compliments, sweet heart. I’m glad to write more than usual and that people like my texts. It’s been a very interesting experience. Thanks for the request <3

*"Amore" means "love" in Italian. |

Trey Clover, Rook Hunt, Azul Ashengrotto x g!n reader / fluff and a bit of comedy / establish relationship / use of "you" pronouns

Cherry's Harvesting event 🍒 Masterlist

The Hat Between Us

You just wanted to kiss Trey. Let's start here. It was a pleasant afternoon in Heartslabyul, you two were together in the dorm kitchen and you had just put a cake to bake. Conversation comes and goes, Trey's words are sweeter than sugar and his eyes are intense like honey;

As if attracted by the curiosity to look at them more closely, you got a little closer to him. These things always come more naturally than we anticipated. Your hand was on his shoulder, keeping him there, so that reality would not mix with fantasy;

Before you could think, courage had already grown in your heart — it had stolen two or three “Eat me” cakes for this action alone — and you were too close to turn back. Trey had already realized what your next move was. He gave you a gentle smile and…;

... put his hat in front of your face;

Were you a joke to him? You knew that Trey has a very peculiar and unique sense of humor, which sounded strange — and dangerous at times? — given that he has this very “reliable guy” face. One sane among the madmen. The only one with his head in place. Oh, poor child, maybe you were trying to kiss the craziest among them in the end;

Annoyed, you took his hat off your eyes and put it on your own head, a perfect pout on your lips. “Really, Trey? Really?,” you asked when you saw how hard he was struggling to hold back the laughter. He was laughing at you on top of it! You crossed your arms;

“Sorry,” Trey said, still laughing a little. He looked back at you, amused by your angry reaction. Call it a bad habit or entertainment, Trey liked when he managed to surprise others. Life was made to have these little amusements, like a sweet bun that you eat from time to time to liven up your day. And you were the favorite for these situations;

Trey approached you and in response, you turned your face, wanting to punish him a little for his actions. At least as long as you could. He was like the raw dough of a freshly prepared cake, still present in the bowl. Simply impossible to ignore and not pick up a little to taste. But for your own dignity, you need to be strong!;

Equally aware of your strategy, Trey smiled. “The hat looks good on you,” he said, the tone warm and quiet like a morning coffee. Oh... to the Jabberwocky with your dignity! Your heart turned to butter when he spoke like this. Without much choice, you turned to him again. Still keeping the frown expression tho;

“What do I do with you?,” you asked. “Be patien...,” Trey couldn’t finish answering. You kissed him on the cheek. And on the other, on the nose, on the chin, on the forehead. His low laugh was wonderful to hear. When you got to his lips, you knew — just staring deep into those intense eyes — that maybe that was his plan from the beginning;

There wasn't much to do about it. Maybe you were a little crazy too to let him be like that. Luckily, the cake still had a little more time to stay in the oven. And you two could have that sweet, anticipated kiss.

Rook was a passionate soul. And such was you too. He invited you to Pomefiore to show you the woods around the castle, so that you could see the beauty beyond the lilac stones and well polished windows of the building. It would be a moment only of you two, nature as your witness;

It was a fun ride. Rook seemed to have made a poem for each tree and bush, beautiful and touching words to praise the emerald green of each’s leaves. Little birds made a background song, happy that the gentle hunter brought a company;

You two stopped to rest at a given moment. You brought a picnic towel in your backpack and spread it on the floor, surprised that some squirrels showed up to help you. When Rook sat next to you, they fled to leave you two alone. The world seemed so different from that angle;

But none of the trees could compare to the beauty of the Rook’s green eyes. You meant that to him. However, when you were going to turn around, he turned along and you both took a fright when the tip of your noses met. Rook let out a giggle, closing and opening his eyes soon after;

It was like bait for prey. As if you couldn’t admire his eyes anymore. The way some sunbeams escaped between the tree leaves and played with the color tones of Rook’s gaze, dark and light dancing in front of you. Who needs prince charming when that charismatic hunter was already perfect in your eyes?;

So you wanted to kiss him... and felt fabric instead of lips;

“Oh, mon amour! The desire in your eyes petrifies me! It makes my blood stop and run, boiling in my veins! Can my heart stay still? Can my poor soul endure the ecstasy of your pure love? Oh!,” Rook began to declaim, a dramatic hand in front of his forehead. And you wanted to hit him with a stick;

Taking the feather hat off your face and squeezing it in your hands, you had a deadly look in your eyes. A frown on the forehead, a clenching of eyes dangerous as poison. Sometimes you wanted to hug Rook and not let go anymore, sometimes you wanted to hit him enough to return him to nature. And even better, he seemed even more admired with your new gaze;

“Ah, the anger! The frustration! Like small orange and brown flaws on the emerald leaves, only giving more charm to your beautiful eyes. Pardon, dear, pardon! It was not my intention... but the look you give me now!,” Rook put his hand to his mouth, delighted. “Oh, my heart beats harder!”;

“It seems like it's my turn to hunt then,” you said, drawing his attention. You smiled, getting closer to him. The hat was left on Rook's lap but he didn't bother to put it back on his head. Challenge colored his gaze. “Follow your instincts, mon amour,” he said in a different tone than before;

The hunt continued from there. Hunter and prey swapped roles many times, rolling from the towel to the earth in a fierce competition for power. The whole Pomefiore would kill you for the dirt left on Rook’s clothes. But he got enough kisses to not care about the situation — not that he needed much. What about you? Rook's kisses could protect you from any curse.

Loving Azul was like dating a businessman, but you enjoyed the romance of the two of you more than what the books usually showed. Perhaps because it looked more real, truly elegant;

That day you managed to sneak through the Mostro Lounge without anyone — especially the tweels — seeing you. With luck, you arrived in the VIP room, Azul’s office, and found him working at your desk. But with the noise of opening and closing the door, Azul immediately raised his crystalline eyes from the papers to you: the most beautiful pearl of the sea;

Azul wasn't to do that but you always ended up giving him reasons to take a quick break to rest. He stretched out a little and followed you to the leather sofa, where you sat side by side. You didn’t know if you should buy him a honey bun or a cereal bar so, in doubt, you bought both. He ended up laughing at your endearing kindness;

Now more relaxed and chill, you both talked about how your day was going. School chores, jobs, problems, those things. You loved Azul’s voice, for all that was most sacred on earth and shore. He had a melodious tone, proper to a merman. It was only natural that you would practically melt on the couch, no matter how hard you tried to keep yourself together;

And because of the tweels’ comments, Azul was getting more and more aware of this. That effect he had on you. Would it be really possible? He started talking about some technical problems of the Mostro Lounge and you looked at him as if he were singing a serenade;

Azul’s voice started to get quieter and suddenly, you were too close to each other. You could almost touch the blue of his eyes, once heavenly as the sky and now refreshing as water. You wanted to dive into this feeling, let yourself be carried away by the pleasant music that sounded in your mind whenever you were with Azul. And you dive…;

... and received a hat in front of your face. What kind of exchange was that? You heard Azul’s low laugh and took the fedora hat out of your eyes, staring at him like a client who demanded explanations from the manager;

“Oh my, isn't Jade and Floyd right? You're like a hungry shrimp after food,” Azul had that smug (annoying) smile on his face, which made your blood heat up for various reasons. At that moment? Anger. Maybe a little shame. Should you take that as a compliment? “What was even that?,” you questioned at last;

“Just a humble experiment, dear. I want to get to know my clientele more,” he replied. After laughing once again, Azul straightened his glasses. “Excuse me for that, amore.” Damn octopunk! You didn't even know if his docile expression was innocent or one more setup. His smile thinned, as if he was the one delighted there. And to call you “amore”...;

You then laughed. “Well, every product offered has its payoff. Let me give you mine, Aazul.” There was something about your words, your tone and the way you threw fedora on the center table that made Azul slightly worried. The closer you got to him, the more he moved away, the instincts talking louder;

“Amore...?,” that's all he managed to babble before you attacked him with kisses and hugs. It was a mess. Azul got redder and redder, unable to escape your vendetta. That's when you finally kissed him on the lips and looked at him closely, knowing that he could barely see because you had also kissed the lenses of his glasses. You then took the glasses and with a handkerchief began to wipe them. “Good to do business with you, honey,” you smiled. Azul would die before admitting that he only fell in love with you more and more.

[i-want-my-iwtv]

I hope the rumours of Louis being a brothel owner aren't true, but if they are I can sort of see why they're going for this route? I mean, with a black Louis they can't have him being a slaver anymore, so maybe they're trying to find something that is also morally reprehensible for him to be.

TL;DR: My kneejerk reaction was to be saddened, and I don’t like that this is starting up, and will continue to fuel, fandom drama. Ultimately, if we want peace, we’ll embrace the fact that the existence of this adaptation doesn’t take away from the existence of the books, and it also doesn't mean we have to acknowledge it.

It makes me wonder whether AMC wants us to make a storm about this. We’ll see...

After all, what makes this adaptation any more important than the graphic novels of the ’90s, the graphic novel Claudia’s Story, movie!IWTV, or movie!QOTD? In fact, many fans here on tumblr consider VC to be a trilogy only!!! and don’t accept the majority of the PUBLISHED CANON so what makes anyone think we have any obligation to swallow this AMC adaptation as some kind of gospel?

I see movie!QOTD as a buffet of ideas carried in an official fanfiction work, and I don’t accept as my headcanon the various things it changed about the books that I didn’t particularly like, such as merging Magnus and Marius (which, IMO, effectively made both characters more morally reprehensible). I accepted the things I did enjoy, like casting a Black/POC actress to play Akasha. I see this AMC adaptation as a buffet of ideas, some can be taken, and some not, it’s just another official fanfiction work.

[Anon, I need to catch other ppl up on the information, too.]

Deadline.com informs us that in the AMC adaptation for Interview with the Vampire, Jacob Anderson has been cast as Louis. I'm not familiar with him, but it looks like he’s a successful actor, from Game of Thrones and other things, he’s also joining Series 13 of Doctor Who. I’ll have to check him out from an acting standpoint!

Aside from his talent as an actor, this is by far the most controversial thing that's happened in VC fandom recently. I've been thinking about this for a few months now, talking about it privately online and offline, still gathering my thoughts. So this post is not engraved in stone, it’s initial thoughts on this.

I’m glad to see ppl talking about it and I’m sure we’ll have more public discussions. I’m trying to discuss it very carefully, but also, this is an entertainment blog, my opinions are mine alone, and I’m not looking for dogpiling on anyone, I have no obligation to respond publicly or privately to anything. Plenty of other ppl have differing opinions on this. So take all of the following with more than a grain of salt, I’m not being salty, I’m providing the links to the little info we’ve seen pulicly, I’m giving my initial thoughts, and I’m also trying to add a little levity because ultimately, again, this is an entertainment blog, and I try to add a little humor to help with such serious topics, humor can help ppl talk about controversial things.

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The casting of a POC/Black actor (I’m sorry I don't know the preferred terminology, let me know if you know what Anderson prefers) confirms at least one part of theilluminerdi articles that stated that Louis’ race will be different from the books. I didn’t post about these before bc I wasn’t sure how reliable theilluminerdi’s sources are (and I'm still not sure), but this was one major aspect that theilluminerdi announced before Deadline did, so now seems to be the right time to share those articles. For now, you can go check them out yourselves rather than have my reposting of the information, trigger warning: mentions of sex workers and race in the changes to the canon story of Interview with the Vampire.

>>>theilluminerdi articles from May 21, 2021 and July 15, 2021:

www.theilluminerdi.com/2021/05/21/interview-with-the-vampire-amc

www.theilluminerdi.com/2021/07/15/interview-with-the-vampire-amc-2

^Meme of Dr. Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park reads: “Your writers were so preoccupied with whether they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

I’m using that meme with a little levity here, clearly an AMC adaptation of vampires in which the producers/writers have chosen to change the race of a main character (arguably the original protagonist of the series) isn’t in the same VICINITY as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park that broke out of containment and killed visitors to the park, but John Hammond’s intention for the creation of that park was very good, as I assume this race change was intended. Time will tell.

“But with this place, I wanted to show them something that wasn't an illusion. Something that was real, something that they could see and touch. An aim not devoid of merit.”

“Creation is an act of sheer will.” 

- John Hammond, Jurassic Park

Race is a more complicated subject than ever, so for AMC to make this bold change, I hope they have POC and Black writers on staff and are handling this very carefully. Even then, no racial group, including POC and Black people, are a hivemind, disagreements are bound to happen in the writing room, whether in good faith or bad. People have different intentions and motives, compromises will probably be made with the story in many ways, we all know how it goes with collaborations; the end product is a shared vision among multiple creators. This could be a potentially controversial adaptation, I don’t know whether they’re aiming for that or not, but with the elements it has so far, it seems to be headed that way.

Here's a comment by "Angellus" on the 5/21 article. It's undeniable that there's going to be the accusation of racism thrown at anyone who has any negative view of this change, regardless of their reasons. I find it unfair and narrow-minded that any negative response is automatically assumed to be coming from a racist point of view. To say that changing Louis' race is unequivocally an improvement fails to take into account how that change has a Domino effect on all of the other parts of the story. Not the least of which is that, if he is still a slaver/slave holder/plantation owner/(insert your preferred term) that adds a whole new racist element to his owning Black/POC people, even though, apparently there were Black/POC plantation owners. 

Not the least of which: How will this change impact his relationship with Lestat? Particularly when Lestat has the added issue of being described in those articles as having “mind control abilities” and “insistent that he gets what he wants and when facing rejection,” a terrible combination in terms of consent, even in a relationship of the same race, let alone invoking Caucasian/white dominance over Black/POC people, AND Lestat being the catalyst to Louis’ questioning his sexuality:

Lestat is insistent that he gets what he wants and when facing rejection, petulance can quickly turn to ruthless rage which causes frenzied acts of horrifically brutal violence. Lestat also has mind control abilities. Lestat initially infuriates Louis, but this soon turns to fascination which leads Louis to question his religion and sexuality. 

^Screencap reads: "I love how racist everyone is in the damn comments, this doesn’t pervert the story you’re all racist and it’s disgusting. I’m looking forward to it, I hope you keep crying your salty racist tears asswipes."

It makes me question whether Angellus truly believes what they wrote, if this is an ideology, or a troll. I would suggest their use of the term “pervert” is correct though, pervert means: “alter (something) from its original course, meaning, or state to a distortion or corruption of what was first intended.” That’s what this race change does, factually. Although, in this context, “distortion or corruption” carries a negative connotation. It would take a lot to show how this change does not meet the definition or “to pervert,” though.

I hope the rumours of Louis being a brothel owner aren't true

I agree 1,000%, I was hoping that these were just rumors. But, aside from the race change, if this were the only change, I find Louis being a brothel owner to be equivalently morally reprehensible to being a slaver/slave holder/plantation owner/(insert your preferred term). Ideally, they’d change his career to something that doesn’t involve benefiting from the bodies/labor of others in any morally reprehensible manner.

I mean, with a black Louis they can't have him being a slaver anymore, so maybe they're trying to find something that is also morally reprehensible for him to be.

He might still be a slaver. Who knows. Being morally reprehensible as a mortal man didn’t seem to me to be crucial to the story, but they still could have chosen something better. It seems to me like they want a brothel so they can have eye candy for an audience who want to see sex workers, maybe full frontal nudity. 

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What also gets my attention is that Anne and Christopher Rice have not yet posted publicly about it, which leads me to believe that this change wasn’t their choice. They take every chance to brag when they’re proud of something, every chance to crowdsource about casting ideas or which VC books Anne’s fans liked best, etc., and in this case, as of Aug. 31, 2021, (and to be fair, maybe I missed it), I haven’t seen either of them post about this on the official VC FB, Anne Rice’s FB, Annerice.com, Christopher Rice’s FB, or christopherricebooks.com. If it had been their choice, I think they would have gladly trumpeted their credit by now, but maybe they’re waiting to do it in a specific venue. Time will tell.