#who knows how much is hindsight

[phoenixcatch7]

Given the most recent update (blorbo is back!) I would just like to highlight the genuine unease that spikes when you read about John's ravings:

- in his delirium his ravings have been dreadful; of wolves and poison and blood; of ghosts and demons; and I fear to say of what -

Ghost and demons and I fear to say of what,

Jonathan, dueteragonist of the world's most famous vampire novel, escaped captive of count Dracula, traumatised and alone in another country with nothing but the clothes on his back and not even a coat, still doesn't know what a vampire is.

Even after all he's been through, he still has no way to name what happened to him, he still has no real reference for what Dracula is. He has not got any explanation for why it happened.

And of course we know, we knew before we even met the count who he was and we could guess at what he was going to do and how and why, but Jonathan has no idea. He hasn't escaped the setting of the story just because he fled the castle. We wouldn't be able to talk to him as an equal authority about what happened just because it's in his past, because there's still so much he doesn't know. In a way, he's still in there. He's still locked in the novel with Dracula.

[girlyliondragon]

Honestly I do not mind being the crazed worshiper of an unforgiving and vicious plant goddess.

[goldensunset]

If someone had told you a few months ago that Young Xehanort or for that matter any Xehanort would be joining your blorbo rotation, would you have been surprised?

y’know what? probably not that surprised. i mean i knew the dark road finale was coming and i knew how much nomura’s always loved xehanort, especially in recent years. so i expected him to try his best to make us all love the future crusty old man murderer and apocalypse-hailer in retrospect. and honestly he’s done a pretty good job he can’t undo mx’s crimes but he can make me overall appreciate xehanort as a character so much more. besides yx has been growing on me lately. probably the false playernort confirmation did a lot of that for me but even now that that’s debunked i still care about him a lot with everything else we know from dark road

[bytebun]

the more I think abt it the more I feel a little insane that the first of my major artistic influences were just randos on the internet with maybe a couple hundred followers that are all just. ghosts now. where are they now. what are they doing…. etc

[kellystar321]

here we go again~!

[spicysucculentz]

the sickest swag at the involvement fair was by far the rosaries from the catholic ministry but as an atheist I felt it would be unethical for me to take one so I didn’t💔💔

[hella1975]

I have a question. Part of the reason Sokka holds onto his anger towards Zuko is because he feels Zuko broke his trust. How did Zuko do that exactly? He told Sokka in the closet that he wasn’t a good person. He was very blunt about it because he knew he was going to kill F*ng. So other than Sokka seeing how well they worked together and deciding that Zuko was trustworthy in spite of Zuko saying the opposite, how did Zuko betray his trust? Am I missing something? I probably am, but that’s why I’m going to you for clarification

Ps. Currently reading ch 33 and Kanut is breaking my heart

i would love to talk about this because i’m a sucker for looking into how sokka thinks and how he’d handle this situation let’s go

so to lay the facts out, sokka off the bat didn’t like zuko. like he walked into the boiling rock not liking zuko and he walked out not liking zuko. now since the chapter is literally called the crossroads of destiny i am gonna compare to the canon interactions between katara and zuko a lot, but i don’t want anyone assuming i’m going ‘i took canon and just switched the characters about a bit’ because that is not at all it and i’ll explain why in a sec. but as a foundation layer, because of those comparisons between zuko choosing his destiny in that chapter and the way he chose the ‘wrong’ destiny, it’s natural to compare. in canon, katara didn’t like zuko in the catacombs, but was very quick to offer him a semblance of trust in the form of the spirit water. i think her and sokka both have that trusting streak through them, and ironically, despite katara being more likely to see the best in people, i tend to think sokka can actually be more easily trusting than katara. especially in regards to the fire nation, because katara’s trauma surrounding them has manifested in a very different way than with sokka that stops her trusting them like he can.

so that’s the basis. sokka, like katara, didn’t like zuko but was still willing to work with him. then it very harshly deviates from canon, because sokka and katara’s personalities are so wildly different. sokka decides to trust zuko, which while difficult, isn’t too big of a deal. but in that, sokka also puts his intelligence on the line, which is very much a big deal. he says it at some point that ‘zuko made him look like a fool’, and that’s really the crux of it all. sokka is a genius but beneath it all he is cripplingly insecure, and i think that’s why he values being the plan guy so much. it’s one thing he knows he’s good at.

so for zuko to ruin one of his plans, to throw his carefully thought out trust and strategising back in his face and so blatantly choose to kill fong which is basically a big ‘fuck you i see you deciding to trust me despite everything i did and i raise you the fact i’m embodying my father’s version of the fire nation by ignoring that and instead killing this guy’ - it’s a massive deal, and sokka’s not good enough at handling his emotions to really comprehend that, so it starts to lash out of him. i don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he tends to jump around a lot on why he hates zuko, as if he can’t decide. and that bit in ch33 with suki is the first time you can really see that, actually, it’s all a front. he’s bullshitting his way through it. he says he hates zuko for killing fong, then he says he hates zuko for making him an accomplice in that, then he says he hates zuko because he’s jealous of hakoda’s fondness for him, etc etc. when really, while those things are valid in their own way, it boils down to what he says in the scene with suki: ‘how did he explain this betrayal that should never have been a betrayal because Sokka should have known better?’

that’s why the ‘should have known better’ line keeps being repeated. by turning his back on sokka, by killing fong, by going to the fire nation, zuko has started to represent all of sokka’s biggest insecurities. because this was one thing sokka got wrong. he can’t plan zuko, and he knows how catastrophic that can be now. the same way katara wouldn’t trust zuko as quick as the gaang in canon because she’d seen that bad side of him and wasn’t willing to let her guard down a second time, sokka is building his walls up. he refuses to be wrong again. and everyone else being nice to zuko just catalyses that, because in sokka’s mind, he sees zuko as the guy who convinced him - him! sokka! the plan guy who’s supposed to see these things coming! - to trust him and then proceeded to betray that trust, and now all of sokka’s friends who he loves are relaxing around the guy while sokka’s just there trying to get them to see sense, and it’s beyond frustrating because sokka is being logical. if zuko wasn’t an established character and we hadn’t followed his journey and we saw him from an outside perspective, we’d be with sokka on this one. we’d think it was ridiculous that everyone was so willing to let him into their camp just because he had a really rough few months. but despite that frustration, sokka - thanks to his empathy which we see him cursing in ch33 in regards to this exact thing - decides not to be too much of an asshole about it BECAUSE zuko has had a rough few months. he finds himself feeling sorry for zuko and he doesn’t kick up too much of a fuss when zuko stays at the camp. he just does what he sees as the bare minimum to keep his friends safe; ‘hate zuko enough for all of them.���

so really, it boils down to sokka not appreciating himself and also him being protective of his friends. this got longer than i expected but i love sokka a whole lot and honestly? this is the shortened version because his mindset rn is SO fucking interesting and i could talk about it for hours god bless

[pepprs]

my life is literally a movie i am going INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[citrine-elephant]

i plan to get back to drawing, yes, so i apologize for the personal babbling and whatnot.

but, it’s not even been 24 hours on testosterone yet, and i’m just feeling great.

i swear to you, the world LOOKS brighter, more vibrant, more alive. it feels like I’M alive. i’m aware this is all placebo, that it’s just the excitement from getting this moment, having the opportunity to finally be comfortable in my own skin. 

but i feel less like an observer of existence, and more like a living, breathing creature. 

fancy talk aside, i feel alright. i feel normal! i’m not expecting this feeling to last, as my depression won’t magically go away. it’s not just gender that triggers it! but if i could feel alive more often, it’s a big bonus. the fog going away is pleasant, to say the least.

[god-fucking-dammit-mizutani]

“I’m still pushing my narrative [Taichi and Koushirou] were never foreshadowed as drifting,” isn’t really too much of a reach actually when I think about it because I’m pretty sure the Tri staff writers in that one interview literally said pushing Koushirou off to the side (for Yamato) was an active decision they all made?? Like not something that was just naturally happening?

That’s kind of what that first paragraph here is saying, right? Or am I totally off base?

[eijiroukiriot]

good morning i had a dream that i was friends with bkg and he asked me why i had so many pictures of him on my phone

[so-i-switch-off]

Even though I’m not a Shawol I’ve been having a hard time thinking about Shinee’s comeback

[crossedeyes]

u

[captainoftheseaqueen]

Gods, I love animals. I spent most of today thus far curled up in a ball because of cramps, but did end up watching a documentary about cats.

I did not know that it’s assumed domesticated cats began to develop around Jerusalem. 

I am not at all shocked that the first widespread domestication of cats is thought to be in Egypt. At all.

I need to find some good documentaries to watch. No specific topic. Just good, accurate documentaries.

I like to learn.

[glitchthesenuts]

glitch’s idea of being funny is quoting funny shit and relying on other people’s originality to come across as likeable

that’s it, that’s my post

[chimchiri]

Hi! So, i know this is not the kind of question you wanted or something like that, but i really need some advice from someone out of the buble i currently live in.

I always liked writing, just that, and always liked the feelling of sharing a message through the words. It's been about a week since my friend introuduced me some tools to start writing profissionally, his aunt has already written a lot and earned money with that at home, he started writing too, writing a book, and he did pretty well. His story is about to be published and he is so happy wirh that.

He made me feel confident enough to write my story too, he inspired me and said i have the ability to write a really good book. But i'm nervous. I want to write, but i don't know if it is the right thing to do or if my story will be good enough as his. What if they don't like it? Is it the end of my life? (I'm too dramatic sorry)

What do i do? Can you answer me?

I thank you so much just by reading this, sorry for wasting youe time.

Thanks.

I'm answering publicly because maybe any of my followers have some uplifting words for you as well? Maybe even someone who has experience? Any followers who have other recommendations, help, or would like to reach out? ***

No problem, don't worry about it. People are free to send me non-fandom related questions as well. You're not wasting my time either.

I mean, I'm not a writer but it sounds like there are two issues here. 1) process-related: getting good at writing and publishing a book and 2) emotion based: becoming more confident, accepting failure/mistakes and improving

(Just to preface this, I'm answering this from my own perspective and how I would probably handle this and pep-talk myself if I was in this position)

For 1) there's little advice I can give you myself, seeing as I'm not a writer. But if I was in your position I'd probably use the resources I have and do further research. Ask your friends aunt for advice and her experience. What do you need to do to publish a book? What's the process? Anything you need to prepare, etc? Anything your friend can help with? Are there any websites (tumblr? reddit? other forums?) where people could help you out? Anything to answer these hard facts/questions. And if you've got your answers, you can start working towards them.

But from your ask it sounds like 2) is your bigger issue. If you want to publish a book (and not just write as a hobby for yourself) then fact is, you will not grow efficiently either as a person (getting more confident) or as a writer (getting better at writing) if you don't take risks. No one is born exceptional (ok maybe like 0,1% but for us peasants it doesn't work like that lmao). A person doesn't grow when they're in their comfort zone. You improve when you take risks, try new things, make yourself vulnerable, and make mistakes.

Everyone starts out shitty (I did bad anime fanart as well when I started out drawing). But when you accept this, and start accepting criticism, you can start to take what's bad and improve it. Show your work to people (your friend? your friend's aunt? other writers? beta readers? an agent?). Actively ask for criticism and prepare yourself for things people may not like - only if you know what is not good can you improve it.

Always remember that no one is born perfect. Imagine that most likely even someone like Stephen King started out writing shittily. You will only get better if you open yourself up for the possibility of improvement. Take a deep breath and tell yourself "maybe it's bad, maybe even really bad - but this means it can only get better".

Lastly, it probably won't hurt to reach out to other writers in a similar position. People who are uncertain, who share the same fears. Check on tumblr, reddit, and other places. I know it helps myself to ramble to people in a similar position, so maybe it will help you as well.