#Sometimes it's necessary to interpret things in as positive a way as possible

[wearepaladin]

Well, if you'd like to restate your positions, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the Oaths (particularly Vengeance, Devotion and Ancients, as they seem to be the most iconic) and to hear your position on them?

Oath of Devotion: The more traditional oath among the core three, and my favorite, if I'm being honest, for among other things, it provides the most clarity on how the oathkeeper is supposed to act.

Honesty: Don’t lie or cheat. Let your word be your promise.

Courage: Never fear to act, though caution is wise.

Compassion: Aid others, protect the weak, and punish those who threaten them. Show mercy to your foes, but temper it with wisdom.

Honor: Treat others with fairness, and let your honorable deeds be an example to them. Do as much good as possible while causing the least amount of harm.

Duty: Be responsible for your actions and their consequences, protect those entrusted to your care, and obey those who have just authority over you.

Every tenet begins with a virtue, a clear ideal to aspire to, followed by clarity on how best to fulfill that tenet. While this Oath would thrive in the Altruistic Collectivism that typically embodies the Lawful Good Alignment, it is by no means not capable of providing guidance and purpose to a person who lives outside such systems. It is my favorite oath because it's not overly ambiguous, has solid and clarified ideals and how to achieve them with the freedom to interpret them to their best fulfillment.

Oath of the Ancients: While the most popular according to polls I've taken in the past, and while I don't dislike it, it is my least favorite among the core three. It's an Oath that encourages goodness and benevolence to an admirable degree, but I sometimes feel it is too nebulous in its directives.

Kindle the Light. Through your acts of mercy, kindness, and forgiveness, kindle the light of hope in the world, beating back despair.

Shelter the Light. Where there is good, beauty, love, and laughter in the world, stand against the wickedness that would swallow it. Where life flourishes, stand against the forces that would render it barren.

Preserve Your Own Light. Delight in song and laughter, in beauty and art. If you allow the light to die in your own heart, you can't preserve it in the world.

Be the Light. Be a glorious beacon for all who live in despair. Let the light of your joy and courage shine forth in all your deeds.

It encourages a philosophy of altruistic consequentialism, a benevolence that focuses more on the final result than how best to achieve it. If it it stands against anything, unnecessary destruction and despair are illustrated as the closest it will acknowledge as Darkness in a tenet system that wants to encourage Light in all its forms. It is a moral oath that wants to find the goodness in everyone, foster it, strengthen it, but hesitates to name its enemy. Perhaps this is a statement that goodness can be fostered anywhere, and that is admirable.

Oath of Vengeance: The most martial of the core oaths, and one that embraces ruthlessness as a virtue. Out of all the Oaths, its perhaps the most focused in its belief and means of achieving it, to the point that the unwary can trap themselves.

Fight the Greater Evil. Faced with a choice of fighting my sworn foes or combating a lesser evil, I choose the greater evil.

No Mercy for the Wicked. Ordinary foes might win my mercy, but my sworn enemies do not.

By Any Means Necessary. My qualms can't get in the way of exterminating my foes.

Restitution. If my foes wreak ruin on the world, it is because I failed to stop them. I must help those harmed by their misdeeds.

In a way, its the opposite of the Ancients Oath in that it focuses more on the Enemies of the Oathkeeper than how to best live a virtuous or benevolent life. The only virtue it name sis restitution which it underlies as the final world: Where Evil Harms, you shall Restore. For many avengers, this can be overlooked or seen as less important than the Hunt, but allows the Avenger a means of reminding themselves that destruction of evil is meant to lead to good prospering. Destruction is not the end goal. Unlike the other 2, this is purely a warriors oath and can be ended by action, fulfilling the Oath, either allowing the person to move on or focus purely on the restitution tenet.

All three have a place and can be coterminous.

#oath #oath of devotion #oath of the ancients #oath of vengeance #paladin philosophy

[sparring-spirals]

i've only seen the scene once, so maybe i misread it, but... i saw imogen being kinda distant and stoic? detached hyper-rational? in her talk with laudna at the end. like, i saw more emotion in the whole fcg/fearne parents doll therapy. i'm not sure what i expected in this first "now laudna is scared and needs a friend" scenario, but i wasnt satisfied with the whole "she's evil, don't believe her. lets go we gotta solve our problems in order, there are bigger ones". again, maybe i misread it.

tl;dr: i think imogen approaches problems by just Feeling Minimal Emotions (sans rage), and Laudna and Imogen both have very distinct (and understandable) comfort/reassurance methods.

Hmmm. So, I don't really agree with this interpretation, although I can see where it comes from. Sure, Imogen was being very very- level, and matter of fact, and her tone very, very low and steady. You could make an argument for the detatched-hyper-rational tone, but I think equating it to a lack of care or even bad care really doesn't jibe for me.

A lot of this probably hinges on my personal reading of Imogen, but knowing that Imogen is the kind of person to sort of Shove All Her Emotions Way Down Deep And Do What's Necessary when things get dicey sets the stage here for me. Its been a rough morning. And after all that hubbub, after F.C.G is getting healed up- this is Laudna, normally her rock (ha), shaken and wavering and none of her usual stability in sight, Delilah threatening more and more, and Laudna is- rattled.

It makes a lot of sense to me that Imogen is trying to stay as steady, as calm, as level and logical and rational as possible, and trying to provide that to Laudna too.

I also think that Laudna and Imogen approach comfort and reassurance in radically different ways- and both ways that make a lot of sense for their characters.

Laudna comfort tends to be about- affirmations, and validations, and compliments. Its very positivity oriented. Its about 30 years alone, about isolation and a horrific death and people recoiling in horror from what you are, and town after town of hostility. Its about finding small good things and positives in an ocean of awful to hold onto and showering compliments and little gestures of support. Cups of water in a hand. Sometimes the logistics of things are bleak and tragic and the facts don't change when you look at them, but you can find the good in them if you keep looking.

Imogen comfort, on the other hand, has a lot to do with breaking things down until you can breathe right again, until you can corral the panic and the whirlwind and spiralling into order again. Its about- a brain overwhelmed with thoughts, your own and others, about fear that grips you by the throat and leaves you sleepless. Its about spirals of anxiety/thoughts/feelings that paralyze you if you try to indulge them. Its about- crushing the emotions down, the good, and the bad, before they can overwhelm you. Give your hands and your self something to do. Breaking down those insurmountable problems into bits and pieces, truths you know. Things you are sure of. Things you have to be sure of, so you don't get ripped into howling winds.

Or to put it another way- i think the surety, the facts, are meant as a comforting gesture from Imogen the same way a cup of water in the hand is for Laudna.

And. I think the more terrified she is, the more angry, the more there is on the line- the more still and sharp Imogen goes. ( 👀👀👀 )

(None of the above directly dictates how helpful it was for Laudna, but the intent? I think the intent was there.)

#i very much like the second half of this meta it crystallized some stuff for me #critical role #cr spoilers #c3e31 #imogen temult #laudna #sorcery pact #character meta #laudna meta #imogen meta #spar speaks #ask away! #my meta #speculation #this isnt anything against you anon and i get it if this kind of comfort style would just be Bad for you. valid! but i think it makes sense #and i very much read it as care on imogens part. #i do think laudna shouldve gotten a hug though #🤔

[small-screen-superman]

Superman Ideas That “Stuck” (and Should They Be Unstuck?), Part 1: Powerless on Krypton

This post is also on my independent blog, Small Screen Superman - go there for an even better experience!

A lot of things about Superman and his world change over the years and across media, but some things rarely if ever change, even if they weren’t that way from the beginning. That’s to be expected, especially with things from very early on, such as Superman’s powers.

While it’s nice to have a certain amount of consistency, I actually consider it a positive of the Superman franchise that it has such a wide variety of different interpretations. So sometimes it feels like a bit of a shame if certain ideas end up being used everywhere, especially if I think there’s potential to the way things were before that idea was created.

In this series, I’m going to discuss aspects of Superman canon that have been implemented widely since their introduction and potential advantages of not sticking to them all the time. First up:

Kryptonians have no powers in their native environment

This is a very old idea, likely the oldest idea I will discuss in this series – you have to go back to the Golden Age to escape it. It has a clear purpose: make it easy to make sure almost all Kryptonians died when Krypton exploded. Superman wasn’t nearly as strong or invincible when he was first created, so it used to be easy to believe that all his people would’ve been wiped out by their whole planet exploding, but as his powers grew more and more through the years, this idea became “necessary”.

Of course, I put “necessary” in quotes because it’s not like this idea is absolutely necessary. I certainly don’t blame them for going with this all those decades ago – it’s a simple and easy solution. It also has the advantage of making Krypton simpler and easier to write and conceptualize for in general. A world full of extremely superpowered people sounds pretty crazy. Could random citizens destroy the planet or conquer other planets if they wanted to?

So it makes sense this idea has survived so long and been implemented into almost every Superman continuity. In and of itself, though, I’d say there’s nothing really logical or interesting about it. It’s pretty unbelievable that a species would evolve to be able to do such amazing, incredible things that they’d never be able to do in their native environment. OK, a lot of things in Superman are unbelievable, but usually in a way that makes stories more interesting. This idea, if anything, does the opposite. A world of supermen sounds like it could be very interesting to me.

I don’t think you’d have to worry too much about random Kryptonian citizens causing destruction as long as you established that the technology of Kryptonian society could prevent this. For example, you could have important objects and structures be invincible themselves, and make there be a forcefield around the planet that can only be passed under special circumstances.

Of course, you do need to solve the central problem of why almost all Kryptonians were killed by their planet exploding, but there are other possible solutions. For example, you could make Kryptonians have powers in a red sun, but be less powerful than they are in a yellow sun. The powers of Kryptonians under a red sun could be at the level of early Golden Age Superman, or even early Post-Crisis Superman. This solution would also be rather logical: the idea that Kryptonians would evolve to be able to absorb yellow sunlight (which they would never normally be exposed to) and get powers from it is strange, but the idea that they evolved to be able to absorb red sunlight and get powers from it, and they could get even more powers from a young and vibrant yellow sun, makes more sense.

Another thing you could do with this idea is make it so Kryptonians have superpowers in a red sun, but Superman doesn’t. Superman’s body could be so adjusted to the overabundance of energy from Earth’s yellow sun that red sun just can’t empower him the same way. Something a bit like this was actually established in an alternate universe miniseries called Superman: Space Age. It didn’t have Kryptonians be powered on Krypton, but it does establish that Superman has a weakness to the red sun that other Kryptonians don’t have due to being away from it for so long.

Another idea I’ve had is that maybe instead of pieces of Krypton becoming radioactive after its destruction to become Kryptonite, this could happen before and be a part of the destruction process, poisoning all the inhabitants of Krypton.

Should it unstick?

Overall, it’s not surprising this idea has stuck around, but it’s an idea that I think mostly exists for convenience or simplicity as opposed to because it adds interesting storytelling possibilities. And I personally see a great appeal to Kryptonians being inherently super, and the simplicity and logic of this idea. But ironically, reintroducing this idea might be confusing to people since it hasn’t been seen for a very long time. And I admit that it simply can’t be as simple as it could be back in the early Golden Age since you still need some explanation for why there are so few survivors of Krypton’s destruction.

However, for me personally, it would be so cool to see a version of Kryptonian society where everyone has Superman’s powers. Very little time and attention was spent on Krypton in the early Golden Age, so we never got the chance to explore a planet of supermen in detail.

Other than potentially being confusing due to it not being the case for such a long time, the only other major disadvantage I can think of is Superman losing his weakness to red sunlight, and I already explained how this could be kept. Admittedly, this adds another thing that needs to be explained and thus more potential for confusion. Personally, I wouldn’t consider it a deal breaker if they eliminated Clark’s weakness to red sunlight altogether, but it would be at least a little limiting to storytelling.

All this being said, I admit that I’m pretty unique for even caring about this at all, and even I will concede it’s not exactly a big deal. But I feel like a Krypton with powered inhabitants at least deserves a try in some form of media.

Will it unstick?

All things considered, Kryptonians will probably always be unpowered on Krypton in mainstream comic canon, and the same can probably be said for live action films and other high profile media. But spinoff media is more flexible, so I can see the idea of powered Kryptonians on Krypton being explored there. In the My Adventures with Superman show (which has already made some big changes from Superman tradition), there is a scene where Clark is shown a hologram of Krypton and it features a yellow sun turning red (seemingly because of something artificial). If this means what I think it means, Krypton used to have a yellow sun until it was artificially and recently turned red, and therefore Kryptonians had powers on their native world until recently. But we probably won’t know any details until Season 2 comes out.

Another possibility is that it might be used by non-DC entities when Superman enters the public domain, particularly because when this happens, people will be drawing on the earliest Superman media. I’m unsure if simple concepts such as Kryptonians not having powers on Krypton are able to be copyrighted, but if they are, non-DC entities won’t legally be able to use it, and thus will have no choice but to bring back how things originally were.

Conclusion

I’ll admit that Kryptonians having or not having powers on their home planet is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things, even by Superman lore standards. After all, the planet gets destroyed when our hero is a baby. But I’m the kind of person who enjoys when aliens are significantly different from humans biologically, and with Kryptonians being so human-like in most ways, it seems a shame they don’t even get their superpowers (their only major difference from us) while on their home planet. We’ll just have to see if My Adventures of Superman, or any other Superman spinoff, decides to play with this idea.

#superman #clark kent #dc comics #my writing #my adventures with superman #superman space age #Youtube

[possible-eldritch-catboy]

lmfao thinking on the mbti stuff it's really fuckin funny cause like,, ppl wanna insist intp and infp are practically functional opposites, because one consults a logical framework however personal to make decisions, weighing options and their possible consequences, while infp consults personal thoughts feelings and emotions to form a moral and emotionally gratifying decision. and sure!! on paper these sound very functionally different. in practice for me tho?? less so!! bc ofc I try to make the most logical decision, but are possible thoughts, feelings, and moral interpretations completely unworthy of consideration when making a logical decision?? no. very much the opposite.

(full rant and reasoning under the cut here :3)

because neurochemistry begs to reason that feelings stem from biological necessities of some sort, and can therefore inform more personal decisions equally or even more reliably than some frameworks of "logic". to try to completely sterilize logic of all emotion is to deny the merit of biochemistry, and in deeply personal situations in which the consequences are less material and external than they are emotional and therefore physical, this is an exercise in futility at its finest. after all, in cases of toxic relationships, perhaps "logically" it would make sense to stay with a toxic partner, because on paper they seem to bring more good than bad.

perhaps they're talented with finances, have a well paying stable job, give frequent gifts and praise, and are loyal and don't keep secrets. but, perhaps by that same token, they're uncommunicative or cold in their mannerisms, they don't seem to adequately communicate care or tenderness, they have irksome habits that make it hard to live together, and perhaps they have a temper that makes them argumentative and unsympathetic.

by some frameworks of logic, perhaps you should stick it out to see if these troublesome feelings based issues can be resolved. however, with interpersonal relationships, these things are highly subjective to how this person makes you feel on a day to day basis. if you generally feel these issues are small and fixable, then by all means, sure. a toxic relationship has the potential to improve, sure. however, if you feel fundamentally as though your communication styles are incompatible and you don't feel loved the way you know you ought to feel loved in a relationship, feel respected the way you should be, and you don't feel as though communications can improve, then despite ample reason to stay, that's plenty adequate reason to leave.

even if it seems "crazy" or "illogical" to leave such a "good" partner, if you feel it isn't working, then it isn't working. you can't force it to. that, I feel, is the well roundedly logical answer. to consider feelings as a logical variable. not of course THE logical variable to decide all others, but one in many with its merits not unlike any other.

moral questions are the same. these are much more complex, as humans are only that, and feelings inform logic and legality (ESPECIALLY LEGALITY) much more than "cold, hard facts" types are often willing to admit, but that makes it much more important to consider all sides to a moral dilemma before decisive action is taken. harm reduction (punishment) and positive impact (rehabilitation/community care) are sometimes pitted against each other as opposite consequences of moral decisions, but a well roundedly logical solution (if one Can be reasonably found and enacted) should keep both solidly at the forefront of its decisive reasoning.

compromises should be made where necessary, and as many variables should be considered as possible, as humans are complex and societies are built on relationships, systems, and inherently personal goals and agendas, even and especially in groups and teams. to imply otherwise is naivety. to simplistically imply inherent selfishness and lack of morality on all ends is laziness. humans are complex creatures, and the only sort of logic that exists to us is also something invented, something felt as much as it can be observed (for there is no truly unbiased observation; everyone can only see from their own individual perspective).

for these reasons, I feel to be a true "thinking" type, one absolutely must be wary of emotion, yes, as it is subject to subconscious, environmental, and chemical sway, but one must absolutely never disregard emotion entirely. One cannot cleanly compartmentalize all of human experience into "emotional" and "logical", because they will always, always feed into one another. there is logical merit in tenderness, in kindness, in working towards a world in which man thrives, logic and emotion intertwined in symbiotic harmony. there is logical merit in art, expression, and feeling. to imply otherwise is baselessly cruel, and cruelty, as one may observe interpersonally and historically, is a cheap and self destructive means to survival that ultimately hurts the whole and therefore hurts the individual.

there is no human damage that can be isolated in its entirety. there is no war that is waged purely by the few and felt only by the few. there is no suffering of the many that will not threaten the few. there is no society built on violence and fear that does not eventually fall. nothing is built to last forever, but terror least of all.

thx for coming to my ted talk this has been your local intp who's incREDIBLY HORRENDOUSLY sick both of "feelings are always logical and right" and "logic is always unfeeling and therefore 'good' " pathways of thinking. please for the love of FUCK get it together. literally. get your fragmented theoretic boondoggling and put it all together. please stop trying to completely separate out and reject parts of the human experience PLEASE INTEGRATE IT ALL INTO ONE COMPREHENSIVE WORLD VIEW PLS

#possibly connie #long post #mbti #mbti types #intp #infp #philosophy #this was gonna be a dm but then I uploaded it to my notes app instead and went a little insane #thought maybe somebody might find this thought provoking idk #ig if somebody has a solid counterargument this might be grounds for debate?? #but also I'm pretty tired in my old (/j) age I'll probably block ppl tryna argue unless they seem really chill or Really compelling

[blanketforcas]

yeah! i just think we’ve truly moved beyond a point where ambiguity and “open for interpretation” is considered acceptable particularly when it comes to queer rep — the winchesters and walker (both obviously ep’ed by one of the j’s) had/have overtly queer characters, as is rightfully expected in the current landscape of television, so to potentially have an spn revival continue the outdated trend of the original is only going to ultimately make people question why that would be necessary when it isn’t elsewhere. which is valid!

i mean, why is it seemingly so hard for j2 to openly acknowledge the gay angel do you think?? the fact that they haven’t thus far does make me worried that they’ll try for ambiguity (which again, just doesn’t make sense in 2024 and beyond!)

mm i think there was some top-down censorship re cas' confession and his queerness in the beginning (not sure if that's still in place or if they're just trying to play be smart - by which i mean mostly jackles cause i don't think j*red really cares when it's not about him and his comments at dencon were in bad taste)

cause i remember jim beaver doing a very similar spiel about that whole thing with the same kind of vocabulary

so either that was given to them or it was (casually) discussed between the cast what the conversation around that should be so as not to get in trouble

i think now it's just like. they try to be a bit more relaxed about it but they still try to not "stir the pot" wrt a revival. but when you read between the lines (well sometimes barely even that), it's clear jensen (well first of all he isn't stupid and he knows they did very much canonize queer cas) feels very positively about destiel. ("it would go how we all think it would go", watching over me, etc) and i don't think that's always been the case (whether he felt seen in a way that was uncomfortable or whether that was just him going through some intricate process lol who's to say - it's clear destiel was special cause he never had any issues with possibly being gay for pay on dool) but i'm glad he seems to be more normal about it now lol (well, if you consider writing a song about cas without realizing "normal")

#destiel

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Can I ask you a Ship ask game?Albert/Louis; Sherlock/John; Bond/ Miss Hundson

I have another ask for Bond/Miss Hudson so I'll answer the first two here and tag you in the one where I answer that one!

I'm going to go with Don't Ship It for both Albert/Louis and Sherlock/John, but like most pairings in this series, it's a very loose No. To bring back an old fandom term, my only personal NOtps in this series are the bio sibling pairs. So like, I probably could enjoy either of these ships if someone tempted me with a really good fic, they just don't call to me particularly.

Don’t Ship It - Albert/Louis

Why don’t you ship it?

They don't interact all that much really, and even if they did I think their connection would lack a lot of what makes a ship interesting to me. Sherliam and Mycal are fun for the whole cat-and-mouse dance of manipulation and scheming, and in Sherliam's case particularly, for their playful delight in each other. Albert/William intrigues me with its angst potential: the pseudo-religious pedestal Al puts Will on, their mutual desire to die, the way it's like...they hate what they've made of each other while also loving each other. I don't think Albert/Louis would necessarily have any of that. Louis is the most practical and grounded and the least suicidal of the three, so I guess it's just...not dramatic enough for me? 😅 Again, that could be flavoured by how hard a time I have shipping Louis with anyone. I'm not saying he's boring: I adore Louis. In fact, maybe what I'm really saying is that he's interesting enough on his own: he doesn't need to be paired off in my mind.

What would have made you like it?

Louis being a little crazier maybe? He gets kinda scary with the knives, but I always feel like he's ultimately very much in control of himself (with the possible exception of around Sherlock, which is probably why that ship has managed to win me over). It's like I want my ships to either be Really Sweet Actually...OR Horrifyingly Destructive *cough*Hannigram*cough* and I think shipping between any combination of the Moriarthree almost automatically needs to lean towards the latter, so I'm gonna need them to be hella unstable in order to ship them. 😅

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I mean, maybe Louis could be really good for Albert. A voice of reason and caution and hope. But he can be all those things as his brother too, and in this particular case I think that's the way I prefer it.

Don’t Ship It - Sherlock/John

Why don’t you ship it?

Weirdly, I've just...never really shipped Johnlock? Admittedly I haven't consumed a lot of adaptations, but...I didn't get super into it in the books, I could never really figure out why people shipped it in BBC Sherlock *collective horrified gasp, sounds of torches being lit and pitchforks being lifted in the distance* and the other adaptations I've seen now and again never really won me over to it either. The only notable exception is the RDJ/Jude Law versions. Those two had CHEMISTRY. *dreamy sigh* Anyway, I guess I'm usually a fan of Johnlock as either the best of besties or like...queerplatonic life partners? Which I guess is a form of shipping too!

What would have made you like it?

John being less straight? LOL no shade whatsoever to anyone else's interpretation of the character, but I just don't really headcanon this version as being anything but straight.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Their friendship is wonderful. John is such a good influence on Sherlock, and contributes in so many beautiful ways to his character development. They are necessary in each other's lives. They have a deep and powerful love, and I think I sometimes don't appreciate it enough. I personally see it as a platonic love, but all of those things are certainly also a good foundation for a ship.

#yuukoku no moriarty #moriarty the patriot #ship ask game

[filthyopmusings]

Hi, I can ask you about your headcanons about BennxShanks? I like your little stories with them, I think you write them really good! <3

thank you <3 I love them, so I’m happy to hear you like my interpretation of them! let’s give them some love with these hcs~

Shanks has a million names for Benn in bed. Benn, Beck, babe, my love, sweetheart, daddy... Benn just uses Shanks or captain

they’re super versatile, they switch up who’s top or bottom, or dom or sub just based on the mood they’re in. if they had to choose a favourite, Shanks would say it’s him as a power bottom with Benn as his service top. Benn would take days weighing the pros and cons of all possibilities and end up agreeing because he can’t decide by himself so he just takes Shanks’ preference as the one thing giving that dynamic the edge

Benn has a thing for Shanks’ conqueror’s haki. like, he could resist it if he tried, but he just likes letting it overwhelm him, it gets all the pesky thoughts out of his head, reminds him intimately that he’s sleeping with one of the most dangerous men on the planet, while still making him feel safe because his entire world is just Shanks

they have a lot of kinky sex, but sometimes they just have super sweet vanilla sex with lots of kisses and soft touches and proclamations of love, because they just felt so overwhelmed by love in that moment and that’s the best way to express it

Shanks likes to pull on Benn’s hair, especially when Benn is giving him a blowjob

Benn loves to make Shanks wait, doesn’t matter if it’s for touches or release or for sexy times to even begin. he’ll wait hours if necessary. even if Shanks can be surprisingly patient if he wants to, Benn always wins the waiting game

one of his favourite pastimes is shibari/elaborate bondage, it gives him an excuse to touch and admire Shanks’ body while at the same time not yet getting to the main event

there’s no room on the Red Force they haven’t fucked in

Shanks loves the thrill of maybe getting caught and Benn can’t resist him when he’s so excited. as a result, it’s basically a rite of passage for the red-hair pirates to walk in on the captain and first mate in a variety of compromising positions

after sex, Shanks always wears the most blissed out expression. Benn tells him it makes him look stupid but he’s totally in love with it

#bennshanks #shanksbenn #akagami no shanks #red-haired shanks #benn beckman #one piece #headcanon

[aprofessionalwithoutstandards]

hey. sorry to do this but i have to second what the other anon said re: your reply to the first(?) guy. you're dead right that you don't owe people complete agreement and that your blog is not their confession box. at the same time i think it's a pretty bad faith reading to interpret that ask as anon saying that trans men bottoming is gross. as far as i can see what they said is that lack of rep makes them FEEL gross. i say this with love in my heart as someone who has often fallen prey to it myself but i think you may need to check that your approach-everything-as-discourse switch is not switched on. responding to someone being vulnerable about their sexuality by nitpicking the possible political implications of their wording is not really necessary and a bit mean. anyway love you i hope you have a good day/night and enjoy your team fortress pornography

Looking back at it, I do think I was a bit harsher to that person than I should have been, especially since I have a lot of very similar feelings myself. I want you all to realize that whatever interpretation this has of my words is definitely not what I meant in any way. However, I am also under no obligation for every post I make to be perfect, and I am ESPECIALLY not well-equipped to perfectly answer something THAT personal which I was not prepared for and did not ask to receive. I think referring to what I said as me "approaching everything as discourse" is disingenuous. I don't think looking in on your feelings and asking yourself why you might have such a strong gut reaction to other trans people's expression is "discourse". I'm not saying that no one's allowed to feel that way (if you knew literally anything about me outside of this stupid comedy videogame blog, you would know I have a LOT of the same feelings myself), but I am asking people to think about how they express those feelings and try to not word them in a way that TO ME, IN THE MOMENT, sounded like it was somehow other trans people's fault or something. I'm a vers and allowing myself to feel good again about bottoming, which is actually very stigmatized for trans guys and "mascs" in general in a lot of spaces, is something that took a lot of work. Despite my best efforts, I too will have strong gut reactions to anything that posits either topping OR bottoming as like The Good Proper Trans Guy Thing To Do. If I had gotten an ask complaining about transmasc tops in the same way, I would have probably given the same response. I have feelings about this stuff too, and I don't really want these feelings to be a topic of Great Debate. Literally nowhere in my response did I tell that anon that they weren't allowed to feel the way they did, just to think about ways to word their response that doesn't accidentally put the blame on other trans people with different relationships to their bodies, which is something I am working on myself! I was too harsh and I do apologize to them, but I don't retract any of the actual content of what I said. I think if anything the issue should be viewed as "not enough transmasc top posts" and not "too many transmasc bottom posts". Everyone deserves to be "represented" and make content about what they like. I really DO hope that we get an increase in "representation" for transmasc tops, we ARE underrepresented and I talk about that on my nsfw sideblog literally all the time, I just don't think that should be done at the expense of posts about trans guy bottoms, which I understand now was probably not that anon's intention at all, but it's how I read it at the time. I am a human being and I will make mistakes sometimes. I am going to ask to please stop overanalyzing my feelings AND that random anon's feelings now. I really do not want this to be the next "discourse" or whatever on this blog

#ask #anon #mick dicks

[wingletblackbird]

True Balance in the Force

I think an issue with Star Wars and its interpretation is that George Lucas takes a superficial understanding of Eastern philosophy and tries to apply to it a more Christian view of good and evil that just does not work well. Good and evil as warring concepts do not exist in the same fashion in Eastern philosophies. It’s like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

What do I mean?

Well, the Jedi say that the Dark Side is evil, and the Light Side is good. However, this conflict does not work with Taoism, for example, which probably makes for the best analogy for the dual nature of the Force. Taoism would say that things are defined by their opposites. Moreover, they cannot exist without their opposites. Yin and Yang are not seen as opposing forces per se. They are interdependent and complementary. Neither one is better or more moral than the other. Taoism also preaches "balance." This means having a healthy balance between these two extremes, not that one is the corruption of the other.

The parallels between this perspective and the Jedi and Sith are clear. There is the Dark Side which is anger, hate, fear, conflict, passions etc. Then there is the opposing Light Side which is peace, harmony, tranquility etc. However, the error is in the statement that says the Light Side is better than the Dark Side. This is where I feel there is an attempt to apply a superficial view of good v evil on a philosophy where that just does not work. This is not about God v. Satan; this is just about emotions which are amoral.

At first blush, it may make sense to say that the Dark Side, which is based on anger, is evil. However, when you scratch away at it, I argue that does not make sense. For instance, I hate child abuse. That is hatred and I would argue it is a good hatred. I will also oppose child abuse because of this hatred of the harming of children. This is not evil just because it is "dark." Likewise, Luke is not in danger of becoming evil just because he feels anger and hatred when Palpatine is killing his friends and allies in front of him. He might be in danger of darkness, yes, but not evil. There is a difference. It is not evil to hate evil. It is not evil to act out of that hatred too. It should motivate you to oppose evil in every way you can.

Moreover, harmony, peace, and tranquility may seem like good things at first, but that may not always be the case. Conflict is necessary where you see a wrong that must be righted. The Jedi were so harmonious, they refused to rock the boat where it was necessary. They let bad things happen and went along with things for the sake of maintaining the status quo. Sometimes you need a bit of aggression. It’s not always bad. Being too passive and conflict-avoidant is not always good.

In this way, the Dark and Light feed off of each other. If you love something, you will hate what hurts it. Anakin aptly points out that love is necessary for compassion. However, the Jedi are wary of it, because it is a strong emotion that can lead to darker ones. This does not make it evil. It shows how entwined Dark and Light can be. (Honestly, vaaapad is treading pretty closely to this idea. Maybe that’s why Mace lasted more than any other against Palpatine.)

At the end of the day, only cleaving to the Dark Side is bad. Always being angry, and hateful, and upset, and in conflict over everything is not healthy at all. This cannot always be your approach to life. And, in the worst cases, you even get the Sith, especially since the Force can act as an echo chamber and can start using you as much as you use it. Conversely, always being passive, tranquil, and “peaceful” can be damaging too, in the same way that it is possible to have toxic positivity. The Jedi are guilty of trying only to cleave to the Light Side. That is not healthy either.

George Lucas has indicated that bringing balance to the Force meant that Anakin would destroy the Sith. That the Dark Side is a corruption. Certainly that is what the Jedi think. Maybe it is what Lucas thinks, but morally it makes little sense to me. Personally, I am of the opinion that balance to the Force ought to mean that people would learn to not use the Light or the Dark Side exclusively and excessively.

Anakin wipes out the Jedi. He wipes out the Sith. He lives as a part of both Orders, and then finds balance. True balance.

One thing I liked about the Mortis arc in Tcw is that Anakin was confirmed as the chosen one because he could hold/control both the Daughter, the Light, and the Son, the Dark. The father himself represented that balance. It was not one or the other.

This belief is supported by Legends sources. In those, the precursor of the Jedi Order was the Je'Daii. They believed you had to use both "Bogan" and "Ashla" or the Dark and Light sides of the Force equally. Being out of balance with either was dangerous. Eventually, there was a civil war. Some people said Bogan was better and some said Ashla was. Then, you get to the prequel Jedi who are Light Side only users, and this is actually not good at all.

Forcefuls should feel all their emotions and act out of them whether it be dark or light. There is not a single thing wrong with hating slavery and fighting against slavers, even if that is dark. There is nothing wrong with loving people and healing them, even if that is light. Just make certain there is balance and control.

If you are to judge what makes things good or evil, it ought to be in what the act entails, not the emotion that fuels them. People need to find the balance inside of themselves. Iirc, this is also a conclusion Luke comes to in Legends.

#meta #balance to the force #dark side #light side #we see many force traditions apart from Jedi and sith too

[he11follows]

𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠   𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬   𝐨𝐟   ┊𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒,  𝑡𝘩𝑒  𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡  𝑜𝑓  𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠,  𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ  𝑎𝑛𝑑  𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ,  𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑙𝑦  𝑙𝑖𝑡  𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚𝑠,  ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦  𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑  𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠,  𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠  𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡  𝑔𝑜  𝑏𝑢𝑚𝑝  𝑖𝑛  𝑡ℎ𝑒  𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡,  𝑡ℎ𝑒  𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒  𝑜𝑓  𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠,  𝑎  𝐵𝐸𝐴𝑆𝑇  𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔  𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑝  𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ  𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑝𝑒𝑟  𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠  &  𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑦  𝑘𝑒𝑝𝑡  𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑠.

#𝖍𝖊𝟏𝟏𝖋𝖔𝖑𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖘 ┊ Private ,  independent & highly selective AU DAMIEN THORN of THE OMEN series 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖜𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖉 and inspired by various media / literature interpretations of GOTHIC HORROR and FOLKLORE.

highly affiliated with : @wickedslip

important links : carrd ⛧ board ⛧ promo

Carrd isn't quite ready, I am in the position of getting it ready for this account. For now, I have listed rules for your accessibility.

OOC : Lets cover this first, this is a SAFE PLACE, so HOMOPHOBIA , TRANSPHOBIA & RACISM of any kind will NOT be tolerated under ANY CIRCUSTANCES. You will be BLOCKED. MUN goes by Nox, is 29 years old apart of the LGBTQIA+ community and uses HE/HIM PRONOUNS. THIS IS A MATURE BLOG MINORS DNI! PREFERS TO WRITE/ INTERACT WITH 21+ MUNS.

SELECTIVITY / FOLLOWING : I’m SELECTIVE & PRIVATE. I roleplay for fun and it will never be an obligation, so if I would like to stop writing with you or if I’m no longer feeling it please don’t take it personally. NOT only that but due to the nature of this portrayal, I might not always follow you back. Give me time firstly, I usually will look through your blog before deciding on whether it's "safe." I'm open to roleplaying with just about anyone but being that this is a PRIVATE BLOG, I do only follow those I want to write with or see myself writing with.

SHIPPING : I ship with chemistry, NSFW content or SMUT isn’t necessary. PLEASE REFRAIN FROM SENDING RP ASKS THAT ARE OF THAT NATURE. They will likely be ignored or responded to in a non-romantic platonic way. I do not accept those sorts of ASKS UNLESS A CONNECTION HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED. I am currently not looking for any kind of ships, but am highly affiliated with @wickedslip's Nausicaä Black and my storylines are interwoven with hers.

DISCORD : Discord is for mutuals only and will be given ( if asked) after we have begun writing, discussing or at least interacting somewhat. I don't feel comfortable giving my discord out to someone I don't know, as I use my discord for other purposes other than writing.

TRIGGER WARNINGS : My muse can be triggering for many, I will do my best to tag any and all content I find to be possible TRIGGERING CONTENT. I HAVE MENTIONED THIS THROUGH MY BLOG. MATURE THEMES are to be EXPECTED, Due to the nature of my muse. I will only write with AGE CONSENTED ADULTS. THEMES to mention through blog as whole : *Drug and Alcohol use, Substance Abuse, Violence, Explicit Language, Death, Killing, Blood - Gore.

STYLE : I'm a MULTI-PARA writer, I use GIF / ICON** small text**, italic and BOLD lettering when writing but I don’t expect others to do the same. I'm lazy and sometimes you might find my post not having anything, I pick and chose when to colorize. PLEASE do not feel as if you have to style your writing or even use icons. I don't care I'm just super OCD and have a preference for my writing.

ACTIVITY : My time online is low to med activity, Sometimes my responses are SLOW I work a FULL TIME JOB and don't always have the time MENTAL ENERGY to be online. My muse can be very fickle. I work throughout the week with having weekends off, so most times you will catch me online readily available, if my energy and muse cooperates. During the week depending on the week I have a SINGLE DAY OFF (due to other responsibilities and obligations), and those days I have little capacity to get anything done when it comes to WRITING / PRODUCTIVITY.

DASH THINGS : I like my dash to clear of SPAM, you can post what you want but it's my decision whether or not I want to see it. Another thing, I will likely unfollow if you post EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS NUDE OR PORNOGRAPHIC IMAGES/GIFS. I'm all for nsfw content to a degree, but content like that I really don't care for it on a writing platform. I write to WRITE, if it's concealed in links that's fine, but out in the open, I have to pass. This doesn't mean I have an issue with some, but if I'm seeing this all the time, and that's all I'm seeing from you, I will soft block.

DISCUSSIONS : I will be honest while I need discussions to write they can intimidate me, sometimes I question my creativity. Interactions ooc give me anxiety, quite a double edge sword. So if we are unable to plot I do love memes, so please send one if any catches your eye!

INTOLERANCES : Roleplay is my escape from reality, SO PETTINESS, DRAMA OR HATE. WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. I really don't want to see it.. I won't engage in any CALLOUT POSTS, and honestly I don't care for them, If you tend to post a lot of that INSTEAD OF WRITING, I will likely soft block ,it's nothing personal. I just want to enjoy my time and not be BOMBARDED with negativity. This should be a SAFE PLACE FOR ALL, meaning if I'm uncomfortable with the DRAMA you post, it's my choice to REMOVE YOU so I don't have to feel anxiety over your CONTENT.

#pinned post #please do not interact #minors and non rp blogs will be blocked on sight #was gonna upload ave satani but DUMBLR wouldn't let me

[lulu-nightbon]

@alienembers so, on the theory where kinkajou is xianzhi's daughter (to make it easier im just gonna speak on the au where it's canon, it's up for debate in the main canon) we already know that she was willing to die for them to defeat apostasia- displaying their skill as a mage, with stances derived directly from how xianzhi moves, as well as a little trickle of gold in her magic, among other colors- the trickle of gold is the MOST indicative, as that could've only come from wukong, and there's no way in hell mk helped birth that thing nor any way that he figured out how to send it to the past. he does not have the braincells to pass on to a child to give it the intelligence for that. so the only other options are macaque (shadow magic would be a LOT more prominent if that was the case), tian shi (plausible, but that doesn't explain the stances or the colors, especially since adult tian shi isn't particularly noteworthy/accomplished with magic), and xianzhi (who got a little bit of wukong's magic so that they didn't die sparring with mk, and the golden chains restricting their power are made of wukong's power, so it's easy to say where kinkajou would've got that trickle of gold). whoever this "presidia" they refer to isn't entirely known (i know im just trying to tease and see if you can guess it) let's take it a step further- what if she was going back in time to save her mother? her existence indicates they won against apostasia, in that regard, but there may be some other danger, and kinkajou is trying to protect them. attacking and poisoning them? she needed them out of commission to stay safe on ffm, and she knew they'd survive the poison, possibly even lowering the potency/dosage on purpose for them if they were really nervous about overdoing it. attacking tian shi? she needed to keep xianzhi on ffm to avoid a danger- which could have been kinkajou herself, out of hunger and starvation. bouncing around and not directly targeting them in the city and other places? keeping up the show while making sure xianzhi's safe, an extra check-in even if she's always watching. going to such self-destructive lengths that may not have even been necessary to free them from apostasia? pain at seeing her mother suffer. she even kidnapped a few people for short periods of time during xianzhi's amnesia period, and was surprisingly passive when trapped with the diamond snare during the incident with zheng delun's spirit, even seemingly "attacking" zhouei with basic fire during that time to give the impression that she was a monster while the wavy heat mirage revealed zheng delun's position to those that couldn't see ghosts, allowing them to "manipulate" her into revealing his location. hell, she even attacked xianzhi/zhouei at times that just so happened to coincide with an attack- whether it be a bullet, a knife, a spear, so on and so forth- whizzing past them as they dodged kinkajou, coincidentally. sometimes the attacks would even graze or hit kinkajou instead, regardless of if they knew that it hit her. all with a smile, and a laugh that grew to send shivers down their spines, knowing that they would never learn of what she was really doing- to her knowledge, at least. would their opinions change if they watched her take a bullet for xianzhi, with no way to interpret it as anything other than protection, giving them a smile as she blacked out to try and convince them she was okay despite bits of her insides now being outside?

[crystalelemental]

My wife has finished her Golden Wildfire run, and with that, all three routes are complete.  It is time for my final opinions on Three Hopes.

I feel like the best indictment of this game is that the bad endings are all universally better and more interesting than the true endings.  Every time.  Without fail.  I’ll definitely come back to this, but to set the mood: this game does not impress at all.

A big issue is an ongoing one from Three Houses: they’re really invested in making every protagonist have a point, and making this feel more open-ended in your interpretation.  That’s all well and good, but this game has kinda blended viewpoints to a degree where the lords can honestly feel interchangeable at times, so they sometimes have to take a stupid position to justify a distinction.  The best early-game example I can think of is Dimitri’s “The people don’t need sweeping new freedoms” line, which...man, I get that you’re talking about stability being necessary to ensure lasting change, but they way it’s presented just sounds stupid, because if you didn’t say it that way, you basically just admitted you like the principles Edelgard has in mind.  And this back and forth keeps going, with shit like Edelgard talking about how she wants to capture Rhea and doesn’t feel the need to kill her, but doesn’t exactly spare much effort to capture and only subdue compared to kill.  I think Claude gets hit the worst though.  Before, his whole thing was being 100% in agreement with Edelgard conceptually, but disagreeing about going to war, but now he’s not only all-in on war, but actively pulls some asshole moves (that I appreciate given he’s supposed to be a schemer who never did much dubious scheming) to give the Alliance the upper hand, and consolidates a lot of power on himself as a king rather than just an appointed head of a conglomerate.  But by the end of the game he’s backed off of unifying everything to insist they should all be able to exist as separate nations as long as the Church goes down, and...that’s it.  The shifting goalposts are hard to keep track of, and it’s really hard to follow what the hell they want out of things by the end.

Which is a shame, because 90% of the game is really solid!  Exploding new ideas and new angles to the story is fun, and seeing how things develop, and how characters interact with these new dynamics, is great to go through in the moment.  But in retrospect it’s...hard to feel like this isn’t all a byproduct of FEH’s CYL results.  Edelgard feels a lot less intense than usual here, with a lot of backpedaling on “Rhea has to die” rhetoric, as if to soften her in a way that wasn’t really necessary.  Gatekeeper is playable, despite being a non-entity, but Cyril, who is Almyran, remains non-playable and is actually killed off in Claude’s route.  Alois, who is part of Jeralt’s Mercenaries this time, and who is recruited to your side every route, is never playable.  Hanneman remains unplayable, despite being the professor with the most valuable insight into the whole Crest System debate.  Why?  Because those three are the least popular CYL characters, and Gatekeeper won.  It leaves a bad taste in my mouth just thinking about it.

But even with that in mind, the oddest part is how hard this game shafts Rhea.  Three Houses didn’t give Rhea much to begin with, but at least she gets to share her history with someone in one of the routes.  Here?  Nothing.  No one learns anything about the Nabateans, or why they’re fighting or what they’re doing.  She barely interacts with anything, and again, as if more in response to fan perceptions, made the Church seem more sinister with the “hush money” thing in the intro, and having Rhea really only show up to advocate for Dimitri effectively abandoning the Kingdom to take back Garreg Mach, and hope that can undermine Edelgard.  Every other iteration is just her yelling about “The land you stole from us.”  Which is parroted by the Agarthans.  There’s some land, and it was stolen from both, possibly in succession?  Don’t worry, this will never be explained.

And here’s where we come to the biggest issue.  The true ending makes no goddamn sense, answers nothing, and only compounds questions.  I am fine with deep lore.  I am fine with leaving some things open-ended.  But this is not what’s happening.  This is explaining literally nothing.  What the fuck is Arval?  Who was Epimenides?  Why are they important, and why are they the one specifically opposed to Sothis?  What the fuck are the Agarthans?  What the fuck is Shez?  Who was their adoptive mother?  I assumed an ex-Agarthan who helped get Arval established within her, but fuck I guess we’ll never know!  Why do they hate the Nabateans so much?  They call the Nabateans beasts, but also humans?  Zahras is supposed to be, like, a thing?  What is the “rehousing of souls” as a lost art?  What is the cycle of the world?  What is anything?  And these are the big conceptual questions.  This doesn’t even touch on how the minutia of “Hey Dimitri, sorry we killed Sylvain, but we’re cool for a bit, right?”  Or how Edelgard just recovers from possession amnesia brainwashing in Zahras to talk but goes right back to it afterwards.  Every single thing about the true ending, from the moment Zahras is brought up, just annihilates the context and flow of what’s been happening.  To call it bad is underselling it, because again, the bad endings are better!  There, you just kill Sothis/Byleth!  Arval is relieved, and you have your triumphant ending before moving on to your final battle!  Sure, Edelgard’s route still cuts off early, but it’s still better than dealing with Zahras!  And like, brief aside, but Sothis is kind of a bitch here?  Like, highly antagonistic toward Byleth in a way that she never really is in Three Houses under any circumstances.  I guess Arval just sets her off, but her goal seems to be reviving now instead of laying dormant and then passing on the torch.  Granted, her revival still has no basis in like...helping her remaining kids who survived the whole genocide thing, but you know.  It would’ve been interesting to explore that a bit?  Maybe...maybe articulate that yes, we can get rid of Sothis and Arval both, or that we don’t need to destroy either, instead of “definitely destroy Epimenides, but the good ending is entirely about Sothis and Byleth surviving.”  Byleth’s mary sue bullshit is so severe it even warps the spinoff game where she’s an ancillary character around her presence.

But honestly, even final confrontations make little sense.  Dimitri’s gets a pass for at least being coherent and resolved, although I absolutely hate how they handle letting Edelgard live.  God that’s dissatisfying.  But Edelgard...like, you’re just going to assume the guy who can teleport and the dragon survived a big fall?  Byleth survived that fall.  What the hell do you mean that’s the end of the game?  Though again, Claude gets it worst, because they really lean into his whole thing about wanting to dismantle the Church.

Why?  No really.  What the hell is the Church that it needs to be dismantled?  We really never get much insight to this.  The Crest System is cited, but that’s upheld by the nobility more than the Church itself.  There’s stuff like the church limiting human development, but a lot of things they said were banned exist in the Church, like Hanneman wearing glasses and Manuela performing autopsies.  Almost everything about the Church that’s supposed to be this inherent problem...isn’t.  It’s directly contradicted elsewhere, and if the organization’s practices can’t be made clear enough to indicate problematic, then we can only turn to the direct actions of those who work for the church.  So you know.  The people who took in the refugees from Remire, and try to operate a school that anyone can attend (granted, tuition costs make that impossible for some, and this is a big point Ferdinand brings up, but I digress).  Aside from Rhea’s intensity, which I would argue is 100% justified as a survivor of a genocide carried out by people using your kin’s bones as weapons, the Church doesn’t seem all that diabolical.  At worst, it’s something like the hush money; a perfectly reasonable level of political fuckery.  Margrave Gautier proposes worse than that.  Claude carries out worse than that when he lets allies in the Empire die for personal profit.  It just feels like the Fodlan games wanted so badly to develop this idea of “All sides have a good point” that they over-extended and made everything too minimally problematic for Edelgard to have a serious leg to stand on.  And when Claude jumps on that same bandwagon this hard, I think it’s a bit more pronounced.  Edelgard at least had the personal ties to her own trauma and how that projects where it does, but Claude?  All he ever had was “The church forbids foreign contact,” but fucking explain Petra.  Explain Dedue.  There’s constant outside contact!

My bottom line here is this: Three Hopes is fan pandering without substance.  It’s a game designed around CYL results and fan interpretations rather than coherence.  Sometimes, it works out, like confirming the Teacher Replacement Theory was real, and was a means to try and save Monica to rout the Agarthans early.  But sometimes, it’s just softening Edelgard to be more “likeable,” and trying to villainize the Church’s actions more, and making Gatekeeper playable while ignoring the potential involvement Cyril may have with Almyra.  Not that Almyra mattered; Claude’s route had exactly two chapters focused on them, on the same map, around one (1) prince guy, and nothing else was discussed or given meaning about this other nation or his ambition surrounding them.  No time to actually think or develop the real big questions Three Houses left, we’re just here to shit out another Fodlan product with the lords on it.  This game is our cash cow like Awakening and Fates used to be, but bigger, and just like with those two, we refuse to try to do better with anything designed to milk that profit.

God I’m salty.  It was such a good start, I was so hopeful, but this game is a complete disaster.

#fire emblem three hopes

[prince-simon]

Hej💜 I've become a huge fanfiction lover in the last 10 months since joining the fandom and I'm curious about comments and commenting! I don't write myself but I try to leave comments as a little thank you for getting to enjoy the art. So I decited to send some questions to the writers I follow here. No pressure to answer ofc I'm just curious, I adore you writers 🦋

1. Do you often leave comments or kudos on stories ? Why/ why not ?

2. What do comments mean to you?

3. What are your favorite type of comments to receive? Long and thoughtful ones? Favorite parts or lines? Praises? Asdfghjkl? Guesses or hopes for the future?

4. Do you reply to comments? Why/why not?

5. Has there been any negative comments? How did you deal with that ?

6. Are there comments that are not necessary negative but you just don't enjoy?

7. Do you ever get nervous how people are going to receive something you are writing? How do you deal with that?

8. Has there been a moment when someone interpreted your writing in a totally different way that you intented or misunderstood you in the comments? How did that make you feel ?

9. Do you ever go back to your comments? Are there comments that stayed with you?

10. Is there something you wish us non-writers would know regarding writing or commenting?

If you are a writer and I didn't ask you, please answer anyway if you feel like doing that! I only follow so many ( and also wanted to ask this anonymously because I'm shy hah). I'm so thankful for all you wonderful writers out there, this fandom is full of super talented people 💜

hiii friend!! 💗 i'm so happy you're enjoying fanfic so much!! thank you for leaving comments as much as possible!! that honestly means so so much!!

okay these questions are fun so here we go!

i try to leave kudos and comments as much as possible if i enjoy a story bc i know what it's like to get that little notification that you got a new comment as a writer. that little serotonin boost can mean so much!

comments mean EVERYTHING. like they say you write for yourself and no one else but obviously we're just human, and we love validation and recognition and like i said. seeing that someone took the time to leave a comment, no matter how small, on something you spent hours and hours of work on and that you decided to share to hopefully bring joy to someone else- like, it's such a special feeling to hear someone tell you how much your story means to them

i honestly don't know if i have a favourite type of comments. i loveeee people quoting their favourite lines back to me, i am incredibly in awe of in depth analysis in comments of what people think lead to a certain situation or how it'll affect a character and all that. i get super emotional about people telling me that my story affected them in a positive way, made their day/week/month better or helped them realise stuff about themselves. but honestly keysmashes are just as fun bc to know that my silly little words made someone speechless? that's amazing too

i make a point of replying to comments - sometimes it might take a while but i just appreciate y'all's comments so much, i wanna make sure you know that

gonna put 5 & 6 in one. i don't think there's been any outright negative comments, the support has been overwhelming. i have been getting some comments where people point out decisions i made that they don't like and those always confuse me a little bc it is my story and it's been written already, why point that out? there's no gain in that. like it's out there what do you expect me to do? i'm not gonna change it. (that doesn't refer to pointing out language things, like those i appreciate). also other comments that i don't enjoy are the "no pressure but..." comments asking when the next update will happen. i'm writing 20-30k chapters in my free time while doing uni full time and work. it's gonna take some time and comments like that are more discouraging than anything else

^^^

oh yeah i'm a ball of anxiety basically, i worry ALL the time ahhaah. how do i deal with it? mmmh i'd say i don't jdjdjfk i panic rant to my friends lolol

i don't remember but i don't think so. if a different interpretation happens it's more like a "oh that makes so much sense!" and it inspires me actually

yeah i definitely go back to comments. there's one comment that is just pure poetry that i keep coming back to but in general it's all the comments that tell me i somehow changed/influenced someone's life

really the only thing i can think of are the "no pressure but..." comments. they're not helping. i know they're well meaning but they're in fact very pressuring and sometimes even lead to not wanting to continue a story at all. there are other ways to voice your appreciation. even a simple "can't wait for more" is perfectly fine (for me at least idk about other writers) but asking for more. now. doesn't do anything good

#ask #anon #young royals #writing

[lunaprincipessa]

ENTRY FORTY-FIVE

Last night, I was thinking about all of the people who have left an impression on me throughout the course of my life. The good, the bad, the ugly, all of it. I started to wonder what is it that makes people have such an impact? I also questioned myself. Do the types of people, places, and things that I find attractive play any role in this?

I suppose in a way it does. Once we become attracted to someone or something, we want it and therefore open ourselves up to it. This openness and acceptance, I believe, is what makes it possible for the impact itself to be developed and eventually gifted, be it positive or negative.

That being said, it's important to realize not everyone leaves a good impact. Sometimes, people cause harm whether it's directly or indirectly, intentional or unintentional. So, my dear people, WE MAKE AN IMPACT. Maybe on potentially everything and everyone that crosses our path. That's pretty significant, right? We should pay attention because IMPACT is important.

People who are confident do things differently from people who are arrogant for example. Their energies and styles are way different. Both will make an impact though, won't they? The quality and after-effect will be very telling of what type of person they truly are. You'll know then what kind of impact was left, a blessing or a lesson.

We simply have to care about the impacts we leave on people, just as we wish for them to care about the impacts they leave on us.

Is this person better off with your company or your absence? Are you better off with their company or their absence? Is this person better off with your arrival or your departure? Are you better off with their arrival or their departure? Side note: things like conceit and anxiety should NEVER answer these questions because they'll lie to you. Use realistic and critical thinking instead.

Continuing on, does leaving an impact require us to push limitations? Perhaps, but make discernments to assure the pushing of said limitations is necessary and appropriate. Limitations are always subject to scrutiny and change anyway. Just try not to push a person's boundaries, be it theirs or your own. Boundaries are what people use to protect themselves with.

A couple of other elements to leaving an impact are being influential and creating some type of change. Inspiring either way, those people, places, and things that compel us to see the world differently. The goal here though, is to never make someone's vision or progress worse. So if you want to make someone see the world differently, watch every move you make. A part of making an impact is instilling trust. You don't want to be the type of person to instill trust just to break a person down.

One article I read talked about, what I view as, the two best ways to make an impact. The absolute BEST and ONLY ways if you want the impact to be genuine are:

*be your authentic self

*make others feel welcomed around you

Truth! The people who are themselves do it better. It's similar to buying something handmade versus buying something that's mass-produced. The handmade item isn't a fucking copy of something else, it's an original! Same with people. Screw trends of any kind, show me who you really are!

Another article I read a while back had a quote in it about people and the impacts they make which I think can be a good fit for this blog.

John Neffinger and Matthew Kohut wrote, "Strength and warmth... Find a way to balance this tension to be the most compelling person that is high-value and commands that attention."

The author explored the strength and warmth mentioned by Neffinger and Kohut, using her own interpretations to explain their perspective.

She interpreted Neffinger and Kohut's version of warmth as:

*giving others a sense of belonging

*letting others know they're cared for

*having a "we're all human" mentality

*appeals to those looking for their "tribe"

*being generous with time and kindness

*shares one's own journey with others

*sympathizes with others

She interpreted Neffinger and Kohut's version of strength as:

*making things happen

*being consistent

*being bold

*being courageous

*having true confidence (not arrogance)

*being assured in one's own authenticity

*being a source of security

*helping others with survival

*gives reassurance in general

*people knowing what they offer is valuable

I'm sure we could all add our own interpretations and perspectives on strength and warmth, but I thought the author's words were more than adequate in pertaining to an individual making an impact. The article continued to share more of Neffinger and Kohut's work quoting, "the ability to master this tension, to project both strength and warmth at once is rare - so rare in fact that we celebrate, elevate, and envy those who manage it. We even have names for this ability. The Ancient Greeks called it a "divine gift," from which we get the word "charisma."

In my opinion, true power and wisdom is humble. And those very elements of power and wisdom can be found in charisma. That innate ability to make an impact on people using nothing more than presence.

True, things like greed, apathy, or power and wisdom without humility can leave an impact as well but as previously stated, we should heartfeltly pay attention to and care about the quality of impact that we leave.

It's crucial for us to take full inventories of ourselves and reflect on things like our own behavior(s), what we're proud of, and what we feel we should change. To hone and improve while remembering that perfection in human beings is a myth.

Maybe that could be an incentive for taking the time to leave a good and gracious impact. While perfection cannot be achieved in people, it can be achieved in the eyes of the person you impact when they look at you.

The good news here is that we get to decide what kind of impact we leave. This also means we should ever be keeping in mind that we can successfully make an impact on people without intimidation or being devoid of human decency. Causing discomfort, fear, or harm earns you bad karma and a bad reputation, not respect.

"This is rightly said that the way you treat people leaves a lasting impact and is often remembered, whether it's in your personal or professional life. How you interact with others, the kindness you show, the respect you give, and the consideration you demonstrate all contribute to how people perceive and remember you."

Some other words associated with making an impact:

*seminal

*indefatigable

*gravity

*primary

*memorable

*ineradicable

I'll conclude by pointing out that last word, "ineradicable," means unable to be removed or destroyed. That being said, make sure the impact you leave is good because it will be a lasting one. First impressions and impacts are not to be underestimated!

"People who greatly impact others in a positive way often possess qualities such as empathy, kindness, integrity, and a genuine desire to help others. They may be good listeners, supportive, and encouraging. They lead by example and inspire those around them to be their best selves."

More thoughts later.

#making an impact

[petscatsdogs]

How to get your dog to accept the new puppy

How to get your dog to accept the new puppy Do you want to adopt a puppy, but fear your dog's reaction? Sometimes the coexistence between a new puppy and your dog will be achieved without problems, but at other times, the arrival of the "intruder" can become a headache for everyone. Here are a few helpful tips to make your dogs best friends.

Be understanding of their reactions

Dogs are territorial and will defend their family and home if they perceive a threat. You should try to be tolerant and patient if things do not go as expected, remember that your dog is afraid that you will stop taking care of him because of the newcomer. Also consider that puppies younger than 4 months do not interpret the body language of adult dogs, such as ear positions, tail movement, and other warning signs and aggressiveness. If the matter overflows, it will be necessary to remain calm and avoid or stop fighting .

Correctly choosing the new puppy

How to get your dog to accept the new puppy When choosing the new member of the family, you must take into account that he will be the companion of your current dog. Examine their personality and consider whether or not they will be compatible. An older dog will be more reluctant to accept a puppy if it is too playful. Also, remember that puppies have habitual behaviors (such as biting too hard while playing ) that can trigger aggressive reactions in an adult dog.

Take into account race and size of both

Ideally, look for dogs of sizes and the like to avoid the physical strength of one endangering the other in case of conflict. This is not decisive, we all know large dogs that are very submissive and true tyrants of small breeds, but it will be better to take precautions since a poodle will not endanger the life of a Great Dane, but the reverse situation can occur . The characteristics of each breed are also relevant. Find out correctly before choosing your new puppy.

Make the presentation in a neutral place

For the same territoriality that we mentioned before, it is not a good idea to take the puppy to the territory of our dog. The ideal way to achieve a good coexistence between a new puppy and your dog would be to find a new place for both of them, such as a friend's house or open space and give them time to recognize each other, always with their leashes in place. At this time, it is essential to be attentive to the body language of the older dog, to avoid aggression or fighting. Then when we see that everything is going well, it will be time to go home together.

Don't forget or let go of the old friend

The arrival of a puppy generates excitement and the desire to always play with it. It may happen that, inadvertently and without realizing it, we dedicate less and less time and attention to who was previously the only king of the home. To avoid your older dog's jealousy and aggressiveness, pay as much attention to him as to the newcomer, and set aside time to be alone with him.

Meal Precautions

As a fundamental measure, do not allow them to share the same plate. If possible, feed each one separately. If your previous dog is elderly or is feeding slowly for other reasons, it will be better to place his plate in another room to prevent the puppy from invading his space or stealing his food.

Control behavior, especially during the first days

Although everything goes well the day of the presentation, do not be distracted. Control the development of the relationship and try not to leave them alone for a long time in the first two weeks. If in that period no conflicts or fights arise, you are on the right track in your task of achieving the correct coexistence between a new puppy and your dog . Adding a new member to the family can be a very positive change for everyone, even for your old dog. You will receive twice as much love from your pets and your dog will have someone to play with and it will no longer be alone when you go out to work or study. But do not take it lightly: if you are thinking of adopting a puppy, do it with a conscience, a lot of responsibility, and with the security of being well informed so as not to make mistakes. Read the full article

[airiat]

Hello! I am an aspiring graduate student, possibly going into a post doc. I love writing fanfic, yet I feel like I must focus on academic writing.

How do you reconcile both styles?

i'm interpreting this question in two different ways. let me speak to both of them. but also know that i am extremely biased--academic writing torments me. i have nothing positive to say about it. this is long, so here's a cut.

one: there is no need to reconcile both styles. you can keep the creativity out of academic writing, and, in many cases, it's necessary to do so. do not think of your academic writings as works of art. think of them as a means to an end. you just need to fulfill a set of requirements. you just need to get a grade. you just need to make a point. they can be soulless. it's alright if they are.

however. you can be creative if it's appropriate, if it makes you feel better to do so. here's the introduction to a paper i wrote last term. you'll see what i mean:

To be human is to tell stories. For as long as we have had minds to think and mouths to speak with, we have been weaving tales about ourselves, our ancestors, about how to explain the way the world works around us. People have been using art, for perhaps almost just as long, to grapple with the pain that comes as a part of living. From J. R. R. Tolkien conjuring a literary marvel out of the horrors he endured in WWI to a teenage girl scribbling angry poetry in detention, creative writing has become a way for us to cope and overcome. It is only natural that it could also be used as a therapeutic tool to process trauma.

this is not my best work. frankly, i don't care that it isn't. it just made me feel a little bit better to write this way. it gave me the relief of that little creative spark while i wrote something that i have to turn my brain off in order to cope. sometimes that's all it has to be. but my professors probably liked it. i got 100% on this paper.

you can grow as a writer through academic writing. it will teach you how to organize your thoughts and present ideas clearly. it will teach you how to convince and how to be concise. but, again, i say: your writing does not have to be a masterpiece. do not hold it to the same standard as the work that you are passionate about. but if you are, perhaps, passionate about academic writing, go ahead and give it that treatment. i'm not, so i won't. i'll cry about an assignment and grit my teeth through the whole thing. that's okay, too. it gets it done.

lastly, my first draft is my final. i run it through grammarly and then hit that submit button. if you have been writing, in any capacity, for a long time, you can probably do this, too. you'll have the foundational skills down, and you can be adequate, or even above adequate, in anything you write with little effort. you can also use your creative process in academic writing. if you outline, you can outline. if you pants, go ahead and do it here, too. use your editing practices. don't reinvent the wheel.

all in all, your professors are not expecting beauty. they just want you to follow their rubric. toss your work into the ether, get the grade, and then forget about it.

two: i'm not sure that this is what you were asking, but i thought i'd talk about it, too, briefly. how can you continue to pursue your creative endeavors while also in school?

believe it or not, you can. it just takes a lot of sacrifice. i'm in school, i work a highly, highly stressful job, and yet, just about every night i sit down and write. but i also have no social life. absolutely none. that's my sacrifice. but it does not feel much like a sacrifice because i need to write. i cannot live without it. it's the only thing i do that makes me feel like i can actually get through my days.

if there's a will, there's also a way. if writing is important enough to you, you will find a way to do it at any cost.

but even if you love writing with the whole of your heart, do not feel badly if you just can't swing it while you're in school, or when you're enduring another stressful time of life. it's okay. it'll be there for you again when you're ready. you're always a writer, even when you're not writing.

hopefully this helped in any small way. but i'm not really in the best place right now, being bitter and resentful toward academia. take it all with a grain of salt.

#answered #anonymous