#who and how they relate to others/each other

[caughtthedarkness93]

Seriously!

I tear it apart because it gives me new ways to love it.

Returning to a beloved classic years later and finding a new way it speaks to you because you learned something new that lends it entirely novel context.

Talking to a friend of yours who examines things through a totally different lens. Someone who doesn't share your identity or has had different life experiences from you or something like that might pull something you never would have seen about a piece of art and completely change the way you see it.

Watching it and seeing how it's in conversation with other art that's trying to do something similar.

Working on something and being horribly stuck, and then some movie or book you're returning to or reading for the first time unlocks something in your own work that gets you past that roadblock.

Breaking down the details of what specific artistic decisions make it so good and applying those lessons to your own creative work.

There's something joyful in each of these practices, something that pulls more and more and more out of these pieces of art and makes you appreciate them more and more over time.

And yeah, sometimes that means finding something you don't like about it. But sometimes you find there's an artistic reason that makes it deeper than you thought and throws it into a new perspective, or you just...simply accept the fact that you can dislike things about something you otherwise love. No piece of art is perfect. But just because you find a flaw in something, even a glaring one, doesn't mean it's ruined. Edgar Wright's really bad at writing women a lot of the time. The female characters in his films often have little agency or development. Baby Driver has this problem too. Doesn't mean it's not a joyful film to experience that I found so relatable to my own experiences with autism. Just because a piece of art has flaws doesn't make it bad.

i find it so interesting how people act like "critically examining a piece of media" is the opposite of "enjoying that piece of media." rip to you but i actually find it really enjoyable and compelling to dissect and think through the art i engage with

[kiemiu]

having a secret relationship with chris | ( gender neutral!reader ) fluff + soft hours. established relationship headcanons wc 335 (library) + (request)

secret boyfriend!chris who loves the thrill of sneaking around behind everyone's back.

secret boyfriend!chris who follows you 5 minutes later into the kitchen when no one else is there to share a few sweet kisses and hold you close.

secret boyfriend!chris who uploads photos on instagram using your favorite song and a song lyric that he relates to you,

secret boyfriend!chris who gently grabs your ass when walking past you and no one's paying attention.

secret boyfriend!chris who gives you his unreleased 'fresh love' hoodies to wear because he's obsessed with the way you look in his clothes/merch.

secret boyfriend!chris who pulls you aside at parties into a more closed off area so he can have you all to himself.

secret boyfriend!chris who sits next to you during outings with friends and rests his hand on your thigh under the table.

secret boyfriend!chris who's instagram posts match up with yours in location, which starts to make the fans question.

secret boyfriend!chris who buys you both matching jewelry. dainty necklaces with each other's initials on it that you both tuck under your shirts and matching rings with the day you started dating carved into the inside of it.

secret boyfriend!chris who likes to color coordinate outfits and play it off as a coincidence when someone points it out.

secret boyfriend!chris who sneaks into the same bed as you in the dead of night to cuddle when you stay over their house.

secret boyfriend!chris who can't help but stare at you fondly whenever you're in his vicinity, not caring who catches him and teases him for it.

secret boyfriend!chris who smiles at the sound of your voice, laugh, and the mention of your name.

secret boyfriend!chris who likes to go on late night dates where he can fully express himself and how he feels about you without the judgment of others.

secret boyfriend!chris who doesn't want to be a secret anymore.

' 𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 ' 🥡: @emely9274 @ginswife @madifilipowiczsworld @chrisstvrns @conspiracy-ash @sturnina @lovetaylorrussellgrr @nervoussagittarius @sacaydia @chrissturnsss @hearts4werka @chrisprincesss @koilaniazul

a/n: a short one, i'm really tired today 🫠🫠

[that-weird-thing-in-the-woods]

~{ You all know what time it is! }~

•The Circus•

Jazz and Danny have always taken care of each other when their parents eventually forgot about them

Like when Jazz had to learn how to cook and fight off reanimated food to feed Danny when she was 6 because their parents got a new idea and had to work on it right that second

Or when Danny had to find a way to copy Maddies hand writing so when Jazz got sick or had class trip and she was to busy with other things so could go and have fun like someone her age so have

So you can tell they always took care of the other so when Maddie and Jack tried to lock Danny in the lab and have their way with the “Ghost scum” Jazz stood by his side until the end

And now that they both are full ghost that’s not going to change a bit they took care of each other in life

They going to take care of the other in death

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

When The Circus held out their hand for Jazz and Danny they were a bit surprised and untrusting in the beginning in fact Jazz would never leave Danny’s side or the other way around

But they have been with The Circus for some time now ( It’s hard to tell how long you’ve been in here Jazz and Danny find out pretty quickly ) and the people of The Circus has gained some of their trust but never quite all of it ( only the other has their full trust )

but the one they trust the most has to be the ringmasters or the leader of The Circus they keep everyone safe and protected so Jazz and Danny can respect that in them

And they made sure Jazz and Danny were safe as well so they respected the ringmaster a lot but not to the point where they would take their side over the other but they still respected them

Back on track, Jazz has been given the role as a sharp shooter and Danny as a Aerial act and of course jazz and Danny are always in acts together (The ringmaster has tried to get them to be separated acts due to their different roles and he got punched by jazz after he got to close to Danny for her liking, she gains everyones respect that day)

And if you need danny you often have to get past jazz first due to her being overprotective of Danny

How Danny and Jazz fight, Danny will use the silk he uses often in his and Jazz’s acts grab the person and fly around as fling the person all around and disorient them as Jazz fires her gun at them until the person is unable to fight or Danny and Jazz just get broad they will from Danny’s silks or whatever he’s using for flying around let them hit the ground or Danny will stop flying and Jazz gos at it, they treat it like target practice (They got everyone respect and fear after they did that the first time)

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

~{ Now onto the DCU part! }~

A emergency meeting is called for the JL about a new potential enemy or a rescue mission

So when one of the heroes [Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green arrow, Green lantern, Martian Manhunter, Aqua Man] in the meeting ask what it is are told about

A large big top that has large mechanical legs with the possibility of more due to the build of this structure and it seems to have been avoiding main areas where one of the main members of the JL are like its hiding

inhabitants of this is known to be unpredictable in their actions and how they react to people and objects out side of the structure and how they respond to questions about the big top or anything related to The Circus they will act as though the big top and whole Circus itself can hear them and become quiet and run off (They don’t really talk to people out side of acts so they just run back to where the others are or back to where their act is taking place)

And very little is known about them but this was brought to their attention due to the disappearances of people in the wake of The Circus (The ghost walk in and move on to the Ghost zone or find peace) and this is a problem and with the concerning words of some of the people who are in The Circus it is leaning towards the rescue mission

And they need to find out what is happening and need a team to go under cover and young justice volunteers to go under cover

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

~{ Now onto Danny and Jazz’s outfits! }~

For Danny I’m thinking

This for the outfit ~{ Or not this is really the best I could find that I at least liked enough }~

And for Jazz I’m thinking something like this

Or this ~{ I’m not picky about which }~

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

~{ And that’s it for this! I hope you things like it and life’s to short punch a politician! Byeeeee }~

[iamgonnagetyouback]

Hey 💕

I just found your page, and it's so good, like literally, omg 🥰🥰🥰

Can I get a frost bite with Mattheo. I guess a fake dating trope or friends to lovers, like they started feeling something for each other, and it brought some tension in their not public relations (like they were friends or something before that). And Mattheo came to the reader's dorm, and the reader like "You can't just keep doing that." (55). They talked, and here came "What would you do if I kissed you right now?" (80)

BTW, these phrases are so good and cute. I just want a million drabbles with all the variations of them, like girlll 😥🥺❤️

OMG, hiiiii! 💕 Thank you so much for the kind words, you absolute angel!

ivy's 1k celebration ❄️ navigation ❄️ prompt list

ˋ°•*⁀➷ MATTHEO RIDDLE #55: "You can’t just keep doing that." "Doing what?" "Looking at me like… that." #80: "What would you do if I kissed you right now?" "Only one way to find out."

Mattheo leaned against the doorframe of your dorm like he owned the place. His tie hung loose around his neck, his shirt half untucked, hair tousled like he’d been running his fingers through it nervously. And Merlin, you hated how unfairly good he looked doing nothing.

You crossed your arms, your voice sharp to mask the swirling chaos inside. "You can’t just keep doing that."

He raised a brow, smirking. “Doing what?”

“Looking at me like…” You gestured vaguely, avoiding his eyes. “That.”

He took a step closer, his smirk softening into something deeper, something real. “Like what? Like I’d rather be here with you than anywhere else?”

Your breath caught, and you backed up until you bumped against the edge of your bed. He followed, his dark eyes never leaving yours. “Like you’re all I can think about, even when I shouldn’t?”

“Mattheo,” you whispered, unsure if it was a plea or a warning.

“What?” His voice was quiet now, the teasing completely gone. He was close, too close, and yet not close enough. “You’re the one who started this, remember? The fake dates, the hand-holding, the stolen glances at dinner.”

Your heart pounded as he leaned down, so close you could feel his breath. “It wasn’t supposed to feel like this,” you admitted. “It was supposed to be pretend.”

“It was supposed to be,” he agreed softly, his gaze dropping to your lips. “But it’s not. Not for me.”

You were trembling, your hands clutching the edge of your bed as if it could steady you. "What would you do if I kissed you right now?"

His smile returned, cocky but laced with nerves, his voice dropping into a whisper. "Only one way to find out."

And then his lips were on yours, soft yet insistent, his hands cradling your face like you might disappear. It wasn’t fireworks; it was a firestorm, consuming and undeniable, and you melted into him, your fingers tangling in his hair.

When you finally broke apart, breathless, you could only manage a single thought. "You’re the worst at fake dating, Riddle."

"Guess we’ll have to practice the real thing," he replied with a grin that made your knees weak.

[confusedlamp]

I don't disagree with the general point and instruction of looking critically at studies and surveys that claim higher rates of mental illness or neurodiversity amongst trans people. Who is in contact with psychiatrists absolutely throws a wrench into trends of mental illness diagnosis.

However, I would encourage you to dig into the details of each study. Look into what exactly was measured and what is actually being claimed. A well designed study will try to account for some of the problems you have pointed out. Good papers will also acknowledge what they couldn't account for.

Things I think about under the cut, if you want to know what I mean.

How did they define mental illness? Did they look at formal diagnosises? Did they simply ask, "Have you ever been diagnosed with [x]?" Or did they evaluate participants for symptoms of mental illness? If they looked at symptoms, what questions were used?***

What did the study compare rates of mental illness in trans people to? Was it the rates in the general population according to another study (and was that study conducted similarly, is it comparable)? Or did they also give cis people the same evaluation? If so, are they comparing cis and trans people who have similar characteristics (ethnicity, socioeconomic class, geographic location, age, etc)? Is it a comparison of the same trans people over time?

Furthermore, how did they find participants? Were ads placed at locations that may add confounding factors or limit the applicability to the overall population? Was it a survey given out at a common location (high schools, for example)?

What exactly is being claimed (by the scientists or by anyone citing the study)? Are they claiming they know *the* cause of the trend? Or just a possible contributing factor? Proving a causal mechanism is very hard and isn't always possible, (conducting a randomized controlled double blind study doesn't really work here). Because of that uncertainty, a lot of studies will phrase it like "The results suggest that [X] may be a factor in [Y]."

Or are they just claiming a trend? Is it for all trans people or only a subset? Sometimes the subset of trans people the trend applies to can hint at causes or possible solutions. For example, a study could find that mental illness symptoms are only higher in trans people without access to transition related health care.

***I want to acknowledge that any survey can be screwed up due to lying. If, for example, older people are less likely to admit to having various depression symptoms that they do have, it could screw up any comparison you were doing looking at depression across age groups. Confidential written surveys (as opposed to verbal questions from an interviewer) can help minimize embarrassment, but it doesn't fix the problem. The best thing would be some sort of test for a mental illness, but that doesn't really exist, as far as I know. We just have to go off what people tell us.

*****Complete side note: I am not sure where you are from, or even if you meant it in the way I am reading it, but in the US a psychiatrist isn't required by law for surgery or HRT. Some doctors and surgeons will still require a psychiatrist's approval and it is sometimes needed to get coverage from health insurance. However, some clinics operate off informed consent. The doctor evaluates you and your health, like they would for going on any other non-pscyh med, talks to you about risks/ benefits, and then you can take the medication. I get my HRT from Planned Parenthood this way.

something that should be taken with a grain of salt are the statistics talking about the high rates of mental illness + neurodivergence among trans people (ocd, bpd, adhd, autism, etc)

I see both sides of the political spectrum taking these studies at face value - conservatives say we're broken, and trans people try to come up with reasons why for example autism + gender dysphoria makes sense and why one of them feeds into another

at the end of the day you have to remember that we're the one category of people on this planet who are legally required to go see a psychiatrist in order to receive non-psychiatric medication and surgeries.

more trans people are in therapy by law than any other demographic of people, and as a result, this captures more comorbidities.

if I had to look at my own family & rates of mental illness?

mom, dad, 2 maternal aunts, maternal grandmother, paternal grandmother, sister, sibling, and me all have OCD.

7/9 of them are cishet, never been to therapy, never diagnosed. 2/9 are trans, required therapy for hormone treatment, and were diagnosed.

you don't have to do any math to just see that the resulting statistics end up intensely skewed.

and we can think back to how autism was virtually never diagnosed more than 50 years ago - ruling out any grandparents being included in statistics - and even my parents' generation (they're in their 60s now) wouldn't have been included either.

I don't think it's to anyone's benefit to accept these studies uncritically. a lot of these things are hereditary and far more prevalent in the overall population than people realize

[bonelyheartsclub]

for the swap versions of eachother (undertale/underswap and underfell/fellswap) what was it like seeing themselves essentially swapped with their own brother? and do you think the swapped versions of themselves get along for being like minded or are opposed to each other for it (at least when they first met i know they get along now lol)

Stretch: Was definitely…… overwhelmed when he met Papyrus and Boss. Imagining himself running around, doing everything like that every hour of every day made him feel tired just thinking it. More power to those guys. And he gets along with them as easy as his “lazy” counterparts, just conversation naturally oozes out with them.

Blue: Was absolutely astounded to see Sans and Red, how could he ever be that lazy in any universe? Though given he also shares their trait of lacking motivation in some things, he supposes he can relate. Papyrus was a great make-up gift, though, and the two became quick friends! Boss not so much, but that was for other reasons. Mainly dissimilar wavelengths. If anything came from it, though, it was nice to see that no matter the universe, his brother still kept his sweet tooth.

Red: Felt right at home with Blue and Nox. Even with the switching, he just saw it as more people to playfully antagonize with puns and pranks a plenty. He knows himself, he'd enjoy some April fooling, even if they were a bit more uppity. Stretch and Rus were a bit odd; he never thought he'd see his brother be so lackadaisical about anything. It took a bit of adjustment, but he considers them good buddies now. Though he does try to tone things down a little bit for them, moreso than he does for Sans; the part of him that still sees his little brother deems it so.

Boss: The swap siblings were a bit of a surprise to Boss, initially. Though over time, he realized Stretch still had ambition in his own way. Maybe not for the same things HE did, but nonetheless. Blue was a bit more difficult to understand, but gradually he noticed more similarities with Red. Particularly in their need to mess with each other; something he was glad to not be a part of. He was most perplexed by Rus. Knowing he came from such a harsh universe, he was initially surprised someone so clumsy could make it out of there. Though seeing Nox, he supposed it wasn't too much of a surprise: his brother would look out for him in any universe.

Papyrus: For Papyrus, seeing other versions of himself was a little earth-shattering, since before he had assumed it was just he and his brother. At first, he's ecstatic that there's more skeletons!! More friends who understand, especially with Blue!! He does realize later on that not all of his alternates have had the best life, but he wants to make sure they're comfortable from now on.

Sans: Was initially a bit surprised by the swapped siblings (and he for sure had some thoughts about multiverse theory when he met them), but once he got over the moment of shock, he found it easy enough to get along with all of them. Both Stretch and Blue remind him of Papyrus at times, just in different ways. Nox and Rus don't exactly have that same odd familiarity, though he likes them enough to be a general nuisance to them.

Nox: Was defensive and confused at first; seeing different versions of himself and his brother disheartened and enlightened him a bit. Seeing that others had better lives than them had him disappointed, but knowing Boss and Red having similar experiences of the underground had him feeling a sort of comradery- especially with Boss, even if they don't see eye to eye all the time.

Rus: Was a bit overwhelmed in general by the different versions, but he finds them all to be good company now. Papyrus was the oddest version of himself to see, but he admires Paps' energy. Boss reminded him a little of his brother and Rus admires him for his drive and ability to get things done. Stretch is the easiest to get along with for him, and Blue is a bit perplexing to him at times. Sans and Red are odd and definitely different from Nox, but he likes them both well enough (as long as Red keeps any big pranks to himself.)

Via @/Buttergriffin332 (Stretch), @/DuskySkye (Blue, Red, Boss), @/Creative-poptart (Papyrus), @/Lost-immortality (Sans), @/ChrysanStarset (Nox), & @/Goatdadjaxx (Rus).

[lavatory-sealed-hanako-kun]

Words on Chapter 120

“You became what you hated most.”

Point Nr. 1: When Teru attacked Kou with spirit lightning to save Nene, Kou was already a ghost.

I am going to throw out a seemingly controversial take here immediately: Teru did NOT KILL Kou and additionally, there are NO PARALLELS between him and Hanako/Amane within the current events and arguably most of the entire manga. Especially not in relation to his hate of Hanako for having killed his twin brother.

This is going to be a very detailed and long one, so have fun.

In chapter 118, Sousuke and Kou are dragged into the exact same door, next to which Aoi later finds Nene's hair clip laying around. We know from the current chapter that this door leads to the basement of the Red House and the opening of the well. We also already know what purpose this well had, since it was established in chapters 68 and 80, that this is the well leading into the pit to which the Kannagi were sacrificed as offerings to a god.

It's a pit of sacrificial corpses, which due to the events of chapter 118 where Sousuke and Kou were dragged into that door and down to that basement, as well as this current one where Kou's possessed spirit tries dragging Nene into it, is clearly a spot still piled up with sacrificial bodies, nowadays the victims of the Red House. And those two boys were both thrown in already.

So now back to the scene where Teru attacks Kou!

Teru specifically uses his spirit lightning to slash at Kou’s hand gripping onto Nene. His sword blade never comes anywhere near Kou's body and we know for a fact that, while spirit lightning can hurt humans who are to some degree supernatural-

It has never been shown to go so far as to chop off limbs or leave very long lasting damages. (Which again, Kou’s hand being chopped off wasn't from Teru's blade either, it never came anywhere near Kou or Nene.)

After the attack, Kou's entirely blood and gore-free wound is shown and he suddenly starts crumbling into mist, exactly like most of the supernaturals did throughout the manga, showing us that this is exactly what a supernatural looks like when they’re exorcised!

Point Nr. 2: Teru knew Kou was already dead.

Alright, buckle in.

When we see Amane kill Tsukasa in flashbacks, it is bloody. He's got him pinned to the floor, using a knife to stab him in the torso, clearly spaced out in some way but committing a very real murder on a very real, living person beneath him.

Without even fully getting into just how completely different Teru's and Kou's dynamics are with each other, in comparison to the situation Amane/Hanako and Tsukasa have going on, you can't just claim that two characters are “parallels” to one another simply because they both happen to have siblings? Tsukasa and Amane were twins, Teru and Kou are not, they’re not even each other's only siblings, they have Tiara there too. Amane was never the one to sacrifice his childhood and future for Tsukasa's wellbeing, he killed him. Teru didn’t take his brother's life, the Red House did.

Tsukasa and Amane always had a very strange dynamic, glued by the hip and overly dependent on one another, Tsukasa even sacrifices animals and later himself to the wishing entity to grant Amane a chance at life without constant pain and illness. For several reasons Amane wants less and less to do with his brother as time goes on, they're still close, but Amane’s keeping his secrets from Tsukasa, and he in turn even accuses Amane of wanting him gone again. Amane immediately refutes that, yet still through a series of still somewhat unclear events, Amane later ends up brutally killing his own brother with what looks to be a kitchen knife (so very likely at home) on the floor, very dazed, but clearly intending to hurt Tsukasa.

Now back to a member of the “I professionally catch strays from the fandom” trio.

I’m going to remind everyone of the fact that this isn't the first time Teru has attacked Kou with his spirit lightning within the last few chapters. A couple chapters prior, when Sousuke invites Kou to search the school for his missing upperclassmen, they encounter the Red House. Aka Tsukasa's possessed soul most likely, since it only seems to take on the appearance of victims it already devoured and we know from the Yugi family photo in chapter 119 that Tsukasa must have died either before or after he went into the red house as a 4 year old, since he doesn't show up in the photo even when he would've still been very young. (This is a bit of a timeline discrepancy, considering the clock keepers went back to 1968 and not 1959 when Tsukasa first goes into the Red House, but I won't get into that right now.)

After this encounter, Kou gets possessed from chasing the entity around and right as he's about to seriously hurt Sousuke, Teru interrupts them by blasting Kou with spirit lighting, a thing he acts VERY CALM about (keep that in mind!). His stance is measured, he's clearly using a lot of force here too despite not using his preferred weapon, it even leaves Kou knocked out and a bit charred on the ground, but clearly not severely hurt in any way.

When even Akane points out how this was a bit overboard, Teru basically assures him that this wouldn't actually hurt Kou, he consistently has a ton of confidence in his brother's toughness.

This also shows he has experience with also using spirit lightning on possessed people and that it proves severely damaging or even fatal on supernaturals, but seemingly never on living humans.

And yet, attention back to the moment it all goes down: Teru is clearly screaming Kou's name in distress, moving to slice the space BETWEEN him and Nene, intending likely to merely free Nene from Kou's grip. If his intention was to just exorcise the entity possessing Kou’s body like he did earlier (in a very calm manner), why didn’t he just blast Kou with spirit lightning again? Why was he screaming his name with a face of agony before even making his attack?

It's because he already knew by this point, that wasn't Kou's living body, that was his ghost. Kou was already dead. He was too late to save him and now all he can do is stop him from dragging another victim down into the well.

Point Nr. 3: But how did he notice?

We can guess Teru has almost completely different senses from anyone else in the cast. He feels and notices things even Kou, Nene and Akane, all of whom can see supernaturals, don't notice. He mentioned seeing literal cracks between the near and far shores in chapter 73, he saw Hanako looking like that on the rooftop, he was the only one to immediately react to Nr. 6’s ambush attack and he is the ONLY ONE in the red house to feel a cold dread and fear of something powerful overcome him, a sensation neither Kou, Akane or Nene felt at all in the house. And again they can all see supernaturals, but they're not attuned to them like he is.

He could see down that well in complete darkness, immediately knowing that what he was looking at were the corpses of Kou, Sousuke and countless other victims. Akane needed a flashlight to get even a glimpse of what had made Teru collapse at the sight, he couldn't see it immediately, no one's eyes are as sharp as Teru's.

He knows supernaturals, he knows the clear difference between a ghost and living human, even when others can't see those. He knew from the moment he laid eyes on his little brother standing on the edge of that well, that he was already dead, a spirit walking without a living body.

He never “killed” Kou, there is no parallel between him and Hanako. He exorcised the shackled spirit of his beloved brother, possessed and puppeteered around by the red house to lure in more victims, because it knew they'd let their guards down around the sunshine boy Kou. He was one of Nene's best friends after all. 

Kou didn't want this, he would have never wanted to hurt Nene or lure anyone else to the same fate he and Sousuke endured here. In his very last moments, there was no anger, no blame towards Teru for attacking him to stop him from dragging Nene down. And none of the morbid fascination and happiness Tsukasa felt at being killed by his own brother.

All he felt was glad that Nene was safe now, hoping he'd get to see her again when the world turned back to how it once was. 

Endword!

So there you have it. Usually I don't make these kinds of commentaries for things I read, because quite frankly I don't care and I’m too busy to make these, thank you for sticking with me through this because huuhhh it took hours to make dear god. Props to everyone who makes these more often, solid troopers fr. I’ll make an exception for TBHK this time (and maybe if I’m asked to again)- solely because I see so many takes that I find are just very strange or completely wrong and that last chapter had me actually super interested in this series again.

I will take this is due in part to the very young average age of readers for this series and the fact it is often (as much as I enjoy reading this hot garbage, find its worldbuilding super fun and love the characters in it), just genuinely not a very well written series. It has an immense amount of plot holes, inconsistent character writing, situations for the sake of it with no proper set up and lets down on a lot of mysteries it builds up because it never resolves them, even several arcs later.

Anyways, if you disagree with my points and/or want to add something to this, feel free to comment, reblog or send in an ask about it. I think discussing stories does the best job at letting people realise things they never noticed before, so I highly encourage doing that lol. Also you made it to the end of this, you get a cookie. If I could bake cookies..

[boymanmaletheshequel]

One facet of Hellenistic and Roman, /Greco Roman paganism that I’ve always found extremely interesting to me, is how inherently human and relatable it’s gods, and their correlating counterparts are, especially when compared to deities in other ancient religions. They are divine, of course, this is made clear enough, but they all have aspects and traits to them that are inherently human. Rage, lust, joy, love, conflict. They represent, if nothing else, key elements of humanity and the human condition, which is something that no other ancient religion I’ve studied quite compares to in the same way. And not only that, but their relationship to people and humans as gods is clearly very symbiotic. They rely on their subjects for their fulfillment, interact with them directly on a regular basis, and often times even respect and revere them as not necessarily always equals, but as at the very least, creatures worthy of their consideration and respect, sometimes even falling in love with, and baring children with them. This is something that doesn’t really happen in any other ancient religion I’ve seen, sure, there are aspects of it in them, but not nearly are they portrayed as objectively or centrally as they are in Hellenism and Roman paganism. Each god represents some aspect of humanity in ways that are inherently non-Devine, Aphrodite is a lover, sometimes desperate to a vulnerable degree you wouldn’t expect a god to be. Dionysus is regularly consumed by madness as a result of his addiction and mental illness, and falls into spirals of depravity that are hauntingly ungodly. Artemis hunts even though she doesn’t need to, she respects her body as a goddess woman just as much as any human woman would, and fights back just as violently as well. Apollo finds much of his joy and happiness through the humans he falls in love with, and faces much of his suffering and sadness through them as well. Persephone fucking dies. maybe not literally in the sense of human, medical death, but absolutely metaphorically, and the grief her mother Demeter experiences is so inherently human, and so shockingly, gut wrenchingly tragic, that it is pretty obvious that this is what her story is meant to represent: a divine allegory for death and grief, an element that so many religions completely separate from their deities. Even Zeus, the primary deity, is a father figure who’s connection and relativity to fatherhood as seen in human men is almost identical. and if it weren’t for the pre-established lore and status of him as a an extremely powerful deity, there are moments in his Mythos where you might even forget that he’s a god, an all powerful, all divine, objectively non human god to begin with. I think it’s what makes Hellenism so emotional and so drawing to me, and to many other pagans, it’s a relationship that is mutual, and relatable, which is an element that is lacking in so many religions, even the major ones like Christianity and Islam. Yes, there are still elements of this in those religions, but it always feels like the stories constantly hammer in the fact that they are divine, so divine, so utterly unrelatable, so inherently disconnected from their subjects and their plights as a superior enitity, that there’s a limit to how connected one can feel to them. In hellenismos, this limit doesn’t seem to exist, and that’s something that makes it so much more personal and fascinating to me than any other religion I’ve studied. The gods are us, and we are the gods. At the end of the day, I think that’s what all religions should be about, and ultimately, are about, wether we realize it or not.

[thedissonantverses]

Let’s Talk Taash, Or How Neurodivergence Relates to Gender Identity:

I’ve tried to write my feelings on Taash multiple times now but realized I need to break it down into parts. I relate to Taash on so many levels it’s kind of insane. I’m biracial, queer, neurodivergent, and had a parent I had a complicated with relationship with who died before we resolved any of our issues with each other. I can breathe fire too but it’s a secret.

I’m far from the first person who’s noticed how heavily Taash is autistic coded. The hyperfixation on dragons, blunt patterns of speech, the strong sense of justice amongst other things.

If you can’t tell by the everything about me, I have a searing case of ADHD and would like to get retested for autism. I am not even remotely kidding one of the things that drew me to Dragon Age were the dragons because of that hyperfixation. There’s a reason I’ve spent years pouring over every bit of lore and doing meta analysis. I just…really like dragons….

One other thing to understand is that I have chafed against the gender binary my whole life. I’m a cis woman but to say my feelings around gender are complicated is underselling it. I know perfectly well I can lead saw crews in the woods and wear dresses and shave most of my head and still be a woman, but I’ll be damned if people don’t try to police my gender still at 32 years old. One of the reasons it was so easy for me to accept gender as a social construct was because I knew it was bullshit but was still expected to contort myself into some version of a “woman” that never made any sense. I use she/they pronouns as a result.

Like a wise protagonist once said “Being a woman shouldn’t hurt.”

I was listening to an autistic non-binary man speak and he said it better than I ever could, but when he sits in a room by himself he doesn’t have a concept of gender. He use he/they pronouns but he realized it’s because all of his masks are male. It hit me like a truck then that yeah, most of my masks are modeled after my mom.

I don’t know if other neurodivergent people relate, but it’s one of the reasons I’m so attached to Taash. This struggle against identity and the culture in your house and around you is something I’ve dealt with my whole life. It took a lot of struggle for me to get as comfortable in my own skin as I am now. Taash is my hero because they’re unapologetically who they are in the face of that struggle.

Shokra to ebra.

[purrassicjet]

I like to think Sandra Lynn is a local celebrity in Elmville.

Not because of her time as an adventurer, oh no, it's her Ranging prowess that garnered the attention of the Elmville press.

It all started when she graduated from the cadet two months early. Probably due to some feat of heroics that I don't want to headcanon right now. She probably held off a bunch of monsters all by herself or something like that. The details are irrellivant, but it got her in the local papers. She freaked out a little when they asked for an interview, afraid that they would dig up her past, but they were solely interested in her achievement.

She appeared off and on during the interviening years. She'd take down some monster that was bothering people, or win some sort of completition, and they'd do a small story on her.

Her popularity really picked up at the end of Freshman Year, when she was credited with saving The Seven from their imprisonment. She tried to convince them that A, The Seven had basically saved themselves by the time she got there, and B, The Bad Kids actually killed Kalvaxus, but when she refused to put local reporters in touch with any of the children involved, she was convinced to give a statement. People admired her for her willingness to rush into potential danger again so soon after she had nearly been killed.

She faded into the background about the Sophmore Year adventure, only giving a statement about the visiting Sylvare and leaving all the popularity to the Bad Kids, who were already famous through Fig and the Cig Figs.

During the Night Yorb Summer, she became a pillar of the rescue effort. The police were too focused on the crime spike to bother with actually helping people, so it became the job of the Solesian Rangers to manage rescue efforts and other natural disaster related things. They handed out food, made sure people were being civil with each other, and were there to resuce people who got stuck in the dark. Sandra Lynn stepped up to run the main rescue efforts while her Base Captain communicated with the Ranging higher ups. Everybody learned how to recognise her face, and learned that Mordred Manor was the place to go when you needed help and it would always be given to you.

People still recognise her from that time, thank her for helping their family members when nobody else would. She's been interviewed about it repeatedly since, but she maintains the stance that she was "just doing her job".

As she starts attending Ranging competitions again, and continues to serve Elmville as a Solesian Ranger, she starts to wonder if the local paper really wants to speak to her about the things she's done, or that the citizens of Elmville just like knowing that she's still active, just in case.

[vanillarosekiss]

His pink roses.. ˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊ part 1.

I saw an instagram reel that inspired me to write this. Listened to Lana del Rey the entire time i was writing…

A/N: Was originally meant to be smut with no plot, but part 2 will have smut.

His pink roses.. ˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊ mood board!

Pairing: Afab!reader x Simon "Ghost" Riley.

Summary: Gaz asks Simon to be one of his groomsmen at his wedding (along with the rest of TF141), but he has to walk down the isle with another woman as Gaz’s wife doesn’t know you as well. You and Simon are in an established relationship, and he doesn’t realise how much this makes you jealous.

Warnings: language, hints of angst at some parts?, alcohol consumption, afab!reader, dismissive and slightly argumentative Simon (at first), reader is insecure.

You turn your head as the groomsmen walk down the wedding isle, each with a bridesmaid hanging on their arm, each man sporting a tux that matched the pretty pink dress that the women wore. Every bridesmaid had a small bunch of dusty pink roses, all bundled together in the end to make the bride's bouquet. It was beautiful, a sight to be seen, and you were so happy for Gaz, he was always so nice to you since Simon had - reluctantly - introduced you to the rest of the task force. But you couldn't help but bite the inside of your cheek as you saw him, your Simon, walking down the aisle with a dainty woman hanging off his arm. The ugly green monster had poisoned you, it was inevitable. You didn't know why you were so deeply jealous, your stomach threatening to flip at the sight. You knew it wasn't as if Simon had chosen for this to happen, he would much rather have you on his arm if he could. It was just that you had barely met Gaz's fiancé before, so didn't have enough relations with her to be a bridesmaid. You didn't hate her for it at all, it was just a bit annoying that Simon had to step up for his own role, never letting down his team for anything, war or not.

You watched as they made their way down the isle and, finally, separated to their opposing sides. The wedding was pretty, the bride looking like an angel up there with her gorgeous white dress, frilled lacing around the hems and a long train that delicately laid on the floor. The couple exchanged vows and kissed once told to, everyone cheering for them in high spirits. You tried to cover your previous feelings of jealousy and bitterness by smiling, managing to catch Simon's eye as you did this. Your smile faltered a little, and he raised his eyebrow slightly, as if he was asking 'what?' from the opposite side of the room to you. You just smiled slightly at him before getting up like everyone else to see the newly married couple out to the after party reception.

As you walked, unknowingly looking gorgeous in your light pink evening dress, a few of the supposedly single men near you gave a few looks and compliments which you begrudgingly yet kindly accepted. Not even a few moments later you felt the oh so familiar feeling of Simon's hands snaking around your waist, his larger figure guiding you instinctively.

"What did they want?" He asked instantly, already feeling protective over you.

"What? Oh, they just said they liked my dress." You say, twisting their words a little to save an argument.

"Bullshit." He replies with a flat tone, his hands still possessively round your waist.

"Don't." You say gently, almost warning him, both of you walking now into the main room where all the guests mingled and socialised whilst Gaz and his wife prepared to cut their cake.

"Don't what?" He says, almost sarcastically. Too sarcastic for your liking. So you decide to change the subject in means of retaliating.

"You two looked nice together." You say, referring to him and the bridesmaid whom he had to walk down the isle with.

"Who?" He asks, oblivious.

"Her." You say, pointing her out, she was talking to a few of the other groomsmen near the buffet table.

He laughs a little, not picking up on your subtle tone of annoyance. But when he doesn't hear you laugh, he looks at you, your facial expression neutral.

"Oh come on, love. You can't be serious." He scoffs, his hands not on you at that moment, "You know I couldn't change anything, it's Gaz's wedding for God's sake. You know I didn't choose to do this myself."

You don't say anything, deciding you didn't want to argue, watching as the cake was cut. Simon takes note of this, his eyes following yours.

"She's pretty, isn't she?" You say, admiring the bride's dress and appearance. Simon immediately picked up on a hint of self depreciation, knowing that you were probably comparing yourself to her. It wasn't a secret that you weren't always confident in yourself, but you didn't like to talk about it with Simon. He always respected your wishes, still aware of your issue though.

Simon hummed in response, not really concentrating as he wrapped his arms around you again, his head resting on your shoulder.

"You're pretty. Unreal." He mumbles into your skin, pressing a few kisses on your collarbone and neck.

You didn't really react, just whispering a small 'thank you', before pulling away slightly. He didn't force you to stay in his arms, knowing what you were like sometimes.

You both ended up talking to lots of people, socialising for a while before you decided to get on the dance floor, tipsy after downing almost 3 tequila shots and a small handful of mixed drinks before that.

Simon sat and watched you from a distance, keeping an eye to make sure no one would try anything, and to make sure you wouldn't hurt yourself by accident. He loved watching you, not in a creepy way, but just admiring how lovely you were. Your dress complimented your figure perfectly, fitting tight like a glove. He was disheartened that you put yourself down so much. He saw that you were beautiful, but he could never seem to get you to believe his words when he complimented you.

After an hour or so, Simon decided that you were getting a little too unstable for his liking, and got you off the main floor, his arms holding you steady under your ribs. He sat you down on a chair gently, asking if you had had fun as he carefully undid the straps of your heels, his hands caressing your calves as he took your shoes off and carried them for you. When you said goodbye to everyone, he carried you outside to his car and put you in the passenger seat, doing your seatbelt for you, although you protested, pouting and saying that you could 'do it yourself'.

He laughed softly at you, "Whatever you say, baby” he kissed your lips sweetly.

He got in the driver's side and started the car, to drive you both back to his apartment.

[cr4zy-cycl0n3]

Yo! I'm doing a Heroes of Olympus rewrite!

I'm not a huge fan of how some scenes go in canon and how the characters esp the gods are handled in Hoo, and after reading one too many rewrite/AU fics, I've decided fuck it, imma make my own.

I'm changing quite a few things, like:

- making Piper's memories not be tampered with and as a result be way closer to Leo (credit to Heroes of Juno by @queenjunothegreat for this idea!)

- MOTHERLY HERA/JUNO WHO PSEUDO-ADOPTS JASON FTW also parental Lupa but that'll be more apparent in a Jason prequel/sequel(depends on how I wanna format it) I’ll write after TLH is done

- slowburn valgrace instead of comphet jiper

- Leo and Piper QPR(+Jason when Piper stops being his #1 opp). Jasipereo ftw babyyy

- the whole series is just gonna have a good deal of focus on the Lost Trio. I'm not gonna shaft anyone ofc but my favorite punching bags characters are just gonna get extra love :3

- Jason's gonna be considerably more feral cuz CMON MAN WAS RAISED BY WOLVES(this is more prominent in the later books cuz in TLH he was alr feral, going at 2 giants with his BARE ASS HANDS)

- Jason has more bite cuz DAMMIT HE DESERVES TO BE ANGRY/BITTER AND CLAP BACK. HIS LIFE IS SHIT, LET MY BRO BE MAD

- more exploration into Jason's character cuz man was shafted so hard :(

- exploration of characters' powers in general, def buffing the Big Three kids to be as strong as Percy cuz holy cow he's OP. I love Percy and his OP-ness, but the other Big Three kids should be just as OP

- Zeus is the God of Justice, which we don't see much of in PJO's characterization of him, but Jupiter is Roman and hence is much more strict in the RRverse, so consequently I think his domain of law and order is more central to Jupiter than his greek counterpart, so I'd like to explore Jason having powers related to that and being an absolute powerhouse when it comes to debates and politics despite hating them

- characterizing the Gods differently from canon as I'm a Hellenist and writing them as they are in canon makes me like. Kinda uncomfortable. I will be using mythic literalism as that is what PJO/HoO's based on and I'm not rewriting the very foundations of the series, so they will still have committed the things they did in mythology, though I'm keeping them largely unaltered from the Og greek mythos and unsanitized as this isn't intended for a young audience like PJO is. Their behavior won't be exactly like their depictions in myths nor how they actually are irl, it's a mix of both(Ex: Zeus has still done heinous shit so he won't be as great as he is irl, but he isn't supremely petty and bitchy like he is in PJO.). This uhh. Will probably mean that PJO events would go differently which would influence HOO but if I think about that too much I'm gonna wanna do a PJO rewrite too and akbhdhd so just imagine that everything that goes on in PJO goes as canon (for now at least) for some reason or another.

- Octavian and Jason are were best friends cuz I said so. This change is inspired by To Storm and Fire(a Heroes of Olympus rewrite) which I am in LOVE with. The antagonistic side characters(like Drew and Octavian) got very little development or character exploration so l'm definitely giving them that in my rewrite!

- The Seven feel and are much closer together

- delving more into the sevens' trauma pre-camp, might also do a one/two shot for each of them. Jason’s a given cuz I’m writing a whole ass fic or even series dedicated to his past, Leo and Piper definitely, probably also Hazel and Annabeth, not sure on Percy and Frank cuz for Frank I’m def going into the trauma that comes with growing up in an Asian household but don’t have too many ideas on how to execute that, and for Percy I don’t have all that many ideas in general outside of the little we know in PJO(I used to think we knew a lot but honestly, we really don’t? Like we know Poseidon left, Sally had to work a lot, Gabe sucks, and he got kicked out of 6 six schools in 6 years and the reasons, but we don’t have any concrete details. There might be more in HoH, I haven’t read it yet so lmk if there is). Open to any ideas for this!

- camp is. Tense. It's been only a few months since the war, grief is still fresh, and Jason being tall, blonde, and blue-eyed with a scar ain't helping 💀 some people think Silena was a hero, others think she was a villain, some people sympathized with Luke, others despised him, there's a lotta differing views.

I have loads more ideas that I won't get into here cuz the post'll get way too long, but l'd love to hear what you guys think! What scenes/characterizations should I change? What topics would you like to see handled differently? What should I add? I'm open to any and all suggestions!

Currently outlining TLH, will start posting it on my ao3 once I have the first chapter and 4-5 buffer ones written so I'll prolly start posting it in a month or two? Idk, depends on my workload irl and if I get hit by writer’s block. Maybe less, maybe more, who knows. I'll be writing a bunch of shorter stories for specific moments, time between books, and namely a prequel/tih sequel focusing on Jason's past and who he was before Hera wiped his memory. Open to any suggestions for additional works too. Feel free to drop any questions and suggestions bout the rewrite here or in my ask box!

[jeonscatalyst]

who do you think are jk and jm's comfort people in the group besides each other and why?

Hi anon,

This question is kinda tough but I’ll try my best to answer.

I think for Jimin, it’s Hobi and Yoongi but they do very different things for him. Hobi is Jimin’s Jimin. You know that person who dotes on him, encourages him, is soft with him and pretty much always there for him no matter where or what. I think them being roommates the longest out of all the other members helped out in them being so close.

As for Yoongi, I think he is the person Jimin goes to when he needs someone to talk to about the difficult parts of life. I think Yoongi is that objective voice of reason for Jimin who tells him what he needs to hear not what he wants to hear. Yoongi to Jimin is someone who encourages and pushes him to go beyond his limits so he is definitely someone I believe that Jimin knows that he needs. Yoongi also believes in Jimin very much and never fails to let him know that he believes in him.

Clearly, Yoongi and Hobi fulfil very different needs for Jimin and he relates to them in very different ways but I think they both are his comfort persons…..just in very different ways.

For Jungkook, it is harder to pick because he naturally isn’t someone who goes to others for comfort a lot by his own admission and based on what I’ve seen. The only person that Jungkook has ever admitted going to for comfort is Jimin and that is the only person we actually see him gravitating to when he needs comfort so I don’t know if he really has any other comfort person in the group but I know that he has others in the group whom he really enjoys spending time with.

He likes hanging out with Tae and doing fun things with him which obviously puts him in a good mood so in one way we can call that some kind of comfort but I just don’t ever see him trying to seek him out when he is in a funk like we have seen him seek Jimin out. I know that they talk too and share a lot of stuff with each other but I just don’t think they have those deep heart to hearts like maybe yoonmin do and not because they don’t want to but because both of them just don’t seem like the type to really know how to handle those kinds of discussions reason why it has always been clear that both of them sought Jimin out for comfort more than they sought each other out.

I think Jungkook naturally has a hard time opening up to people about his feelings and usually deals with them on his own which is why I think it is a huge deal that the only one he has ever admitted to actually seeking comfort from or needing comfort from is Jimin and this is probably thanks to Jimin’s personality. He has a personality where he allows you to be vulnerable with him. He makes you feel heard and validated and seems like no one feels judged when they confide in him. I don’t think there is a single BTS member who hasn’t at some point found the biggest comfort in Jimin.

This is what I think anon but anyone is more than welcome to contribute.

[anarcho-smarmyism]

This is even worse for patients who are institutionalized, even voluntarily. They can also go through your stuff they confiscate including your phone (one Black woman I met had her dentures thrown away and ended up suing the place over it, but some people can't sue), mislead you about how long they can hold you against your will when you've signed up for a "24 hour emergency hold", gossip with each other or with people in their social circle about your symptoms after telling you they're not allowed to due to HIPPA, take advantage of having a literal captive audience to proselytize their religious beliefs, lie about drugs showing up in your system/whether false negatives are possible/what symptoms can or can't present without previous drug use, show favoritism to patients to the point where they're ignoring threats, deliberately claim a patient is actively suicidal when they're not to get them involuntarily committed against their will (or coerce them into "voluntarily" committing themselves in order to avoid the long-term legal consequences of involuntary commitment) and much more. Every single thing here is something that happened to me or to someone I know personally, and nine times out of ten people are too afraid to complain at all because when you get "non-compliant" put in your file (or any of several other conditions that exist basically to mark certain patients as problems like 'BPD' or 'hypochondriac' or anything relating to addiction) you can be refused any treatment of any kind by some hospitals, sometimes even for non-psychiatric conditions.

For example, you could get diagnosed with "oppositional defiant disorder" and "alcoholism", and go in to a hospital with a broken bone with the wrong nurse on duty, and be deliberately denied pain relief of any kind in lieu of breathing exercises and recommendations of prayer because to do otherwise would be "enabling an addict".

One major factor that makes the nature of psychiatric treatment intrinsically violent is the fact that the boundaries of the patient is considered an obstacle to treatment. The lack of consent of the patient is considered an obstacle to treatment. These obstacles are abhorred by psychiatry and considered things that much be broken down. If the patient has a disagreement with the treatment, or objects to it, this is considered a symptom and therefore is seen as something not to be validated or respected. Thoughts, behaviors, beliefs; these are all considered symptoms if they are in opposition to treatment and must be broken down. However, compliance with treatment is almost never seen as disordered or symptomatic, even if the patient is fawning or similarly complying to avoid more harm done to them. The fact that only extreme compliance is accepted by psychiatry is inherently violent and conditions people to accept abuse. Isolation and violence are not vectors of healing.

[mythalism]

i'm back in the building.

i'm still on my first playthrough, slogging through it but i think i realized what it is about this game that feels more like a chore than an actual gaming experience. i talked about the cinematics and like that's a whole thing i have beef with in the world where we have mocap and also just genuinely amazing technology for animation development but WHATEVERRR.

as a person who enjoys story games even without creating my oc, like red dead 2, the witcher series, the reason i find veilguard lacking is that rook is neither an every man character (ala hawke & shepherd 🩷) nor are they an empty enough canvas to fill in (ala hof, inq, tarnished in elden ring) it kinda feels that even as a player you have to suspend disbelief for your own character.

like for example in the witcher, all of geralt's choices cross over through three games and really you can dress him & comb him how you like but the choices are story related and you can still find satisfaction in them. same with red dead 2 and arthur where the game is more rigid storywise but still, you can unlock two endings depending on how you approach arthur's personality as a person.

and the crux of the issue is rook is not a person. they are in every way, a video game character. the infantile gameplay (left off from the mmo no doubt with no tactical view, quest summaries, limited "loot" boxes, no interaction with fauna, no actual crafting just upgrading) the juvenile writing / "storytelling" (telling fans to interpret the plot however they want, trick saying it's possible the evanuris aren't even all gone which renders the entire game pointless if we did all that and elgar'nan is in turkey getting new veneers fitted.) the fact that rook is basically woe. storyline be upon ye. (taash's identity being chosen for them ???, telling either low app, high app, or rom inq what to do w solas and yes the dialogue option of yay let's save him! also exists w low app inq?? which is to say to stop solas isn't the same as having low app but they didn't even let players choose that lol you can still change inq's mind)

like the whole game is an mmo without the multiplayer aspect. the storyline is loosey goosey because well most multiplayers are bc they go through rancid updates and additions (fallout 84 comes to mind specifically, and considering how badly that flopped idk how bioware saw the reception and went yay!!!!! lets do that!!!) and all your companions prefer to interact w each other than you because well. yeah. you're a player. you're not playing a character, you're basically playing yourself or at the very least a very conceptual idea of yourself in this fantasy realm.

anyway i have a nuke enroute to ea's HQ. that's all 🙂‍↕️

i just read this like an old man reading the morning paper, sipping coffee and nodding along like 🙂‍↕️ mhm mhm 🙂‍↕️ 🙂‍↕️

i completely agree with all of this and it really clicked for me how much the multiplayer bones of the game impacted the story and choice specifically. like obviously ive known about the multiplayer foundations for like 5 years and how it’s sooooo clear in the gameplay but this just made it click for me that it’s literally to blame for the story too… of course none of the choices are truly significant. multiplayer games fundamentally cannot have significant choice that affects the world because not everyone will make the same choice. the only MMO I’m super familiar with is ESO and when i think of the choices you’re allowed to make in that game versus what you’re allowed to do in veilguard…. yeah. they’re both shallow, and usually only cosmetic. it makes sense to me that the choice like minrathous vs treviso is pretty much just cosmetic, and then it takes content away instead of adding something new. the companion choices seem to really only manifest in some new banter? except for maybe emmrich? like it’s so clear that they had this multiplayer foundation, which is mutually exclusive with meaningful player choice, and then were told to build a single player RPG on top. it was literally an impossible ask.

also hard agree on everything you said about rook. i literally hate rook LMFAO they are so nothing - like a voice acted MMO character… i do want to play the game a second time but i want to play a veil jumper elf and genuinely the fact that my dalish elf character would have the dread wolf in her back pocket and just never ask him a single fucking question on anything that she and her entire culture have devoted their lives to figuring out and learning is so fucking infuriating I cannot stand to put myself through it

[carlos-in-glasses]

How are you dealing with Tarlos being over? I’m seriously not good. It helps that Ronen said they are best friends off screen but knowing that we will never see them together again is really making me sad.

Hello! Thank you for this question. Firstly, a huge internet hug for you because I really feel your pain 💔❤️❤️❤️❤️ and this is a topic we're all grappling with I'm sure. In terms of Tarlos as characters, I'm trying not to look at it as them being totally 'over' because they and the other characters can live on through art and fanfic, just like they did during the hiatuses between seasons. We didn't need 'new' canon content to keep creating. We just...kept creating. Although this was perhaps fuelled by looking forward to the show’s return, I don't see why that has to be all that different now. There are fandoms that revolve around single books, single movies, and thrive on a lot less content than we have to work with. 

However, I appreciate that you might not be a reader of fic, and indeed even if you are…..The show itself and the physical portrayal of these characters is certainly ending far too soon, and honestly I fucking hate that. I feel sad in my body. I'd go as far to say I'm actually bitter about it, and bitterness is a horrible, horrible feeling! I keep thinking – if we hadn't had a season 3, we'd have missed out on so many amazing moments on screen, culminating in the proposal. If we hadn't had a season 4, we'd have missed out on the soulmates scene and the wedding! No season 5, no seeing TK being flung onto a dresser, no dancing at the party, none of the Enzo/Jonah/Carlos' investigation stuff that I'm LOVING. Which leaves me with this strong ache as I wonder what we are missing out on with no season 6, 7, 8... 

So, the silver lining is that the fandom will make the best out of a shit situation creatively, but it is a shit situation in reality. I think it's absolutely fine for us to mourn this loss and be there for each other, because those of us who profoundly love this show and Tarlos are all in it together and understand the magnitude. I am certainly in a weird state of grief not related to death but related to this different kind of loss, and there will always be part of me hurting over this thing I love so much. I only found the show after season 3 and it just doesn't feel like I've had enough time with it. I haven’t had enough fun!

I hope we do get to see Ronen and Rafa reunite again from time to time. They’ll be at the Paris convention in December, and maybe others along the way if their schedules allow. I was lucky enough to go to the one in June last year and Ronen, Rafa, Natacha and Sierra certainly did appear to be very close irl, so definitely do take heart in that – it’s a reason to believe we’ll get at least glimpses of them together going forward.

So yeah. I’m finding good things where I can in all this, but the headline is that I really am sad and struggling too, and I’m so sorry you are and I hope you’re able to fill your day with things that help you to feel a bit better. I hope everyone who reads this is able to do the same.