#that no matter how many flaws thus person has this is still a person that you love

[demonsfate]

honestly... it's very concerning that jin has never won a tournament. especially when he's the one to save the world now. in his first tournament, he was highly likely defeated by paul. in his second tournament, he was kidnapped before he could proceed (outnumbered, but still - even his father could kill multiple tek force soldiers) and in his third tournament, he was defeated by hwoarang. (altho granted he was also falling physically ill during that time)

like it's a bit surprising what a "failhero" jin actually is. even his devil won a tourney. it's fascinating that, despite how hard he trains, and the fact he's part devil, he oddly... loses a lot - usually thanks to bad luck (other than his first tourney). but still.

#✏️ - ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏsᴛ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏsᴛ // (ooc) #// me pointing at my jin: he's an Absolute Failure sirs #// but he's trying! goddamn is he trying so hard! #// it's also why i love jin so much - #// he's a VERY unconventional hero #// he has flaws... but still a very good person at heart #// it's just that... life CONSTANTLY fucks him over #// and well... as he cried to his mother in the tk8 trailer #// he just can't save anybody no matter how hard he tries #// (albeit not entirely true - he did kill azazel - thus saving the war from dj's mess) #// and he did kill ogre which freed many souls #// and yes i do talk about jin like he's my oc because he might as well be now

[etherealiti]

chapter 25 of Beach Read completely broke me and it hit a little too close to home , and im sobbing and my heart is literally hurting

#fathers yall #they raise you and the whole time you're confused on how is it possible to love and hate someone at the same time #that no matter how many flaws thus person has this is still a person that you love #you dont like em but you love em #ykwim? #maria rants #beach read #emily henry

[yonemurishiroku]

Wondering the whole thing about loyalty being Percy's fatal flaw might actually be on a much more personal level rather than an encompassing "children of Poseidon"-trait.

This is to say that Percy's problem with unhealthy 'loyalty' could be a consequence of his upbringing. You see. The whole point is that Percy can be wary, yet once he deems someone an ally/ not-enemy, it's dangerously difficult for him to see them in a negative light. It's this sort of bipolar disorder but the categories are "Friend or Foe", each of which comes with a package of completely separate treatment. He put Luke in the Friend lot and he nearly died for that. He distrusted Nico but he didn't see him as an enemy and fell for the kid's trick still.

Revert back to his childhood. IIRC Percy had two parent figures growing up, i.e. Sally and Gabe. And here's a thing. They are basically two ends of the spectrum of Parenting. Gabe was an abusive, negligent, alcoholic, problematic stepfather whereas Sally was like a saint or something, who had sacrificed for him so much. So Percy had only experienced two types of attitude in his perspective-shaping phase: extremely loving and downright scornful.

This could thus limit his relationship categories, and later create a hole in his view of others' attitudes, I believe. His relationship table basically has only two columns, Friendly vs Not friendly. Percy puts people in those lots based on how they treat him, how they express themselves to him, how he sees them. But people are way more than just one facet. People can be many things at once, and so are the relationships. Percy's system is lacking, so he suffers from being twirled around in complicated, multilayer dynamics.

Imagine Percy, who only has two sets of acquaintances in his life, one of which gives him misery whilst the other fights for him, is thrown into a mess of two-faced lies and concealed intentions. He doesn't have the specialized code of reaction for that. There's no special section in his handbook dedicated to "People you need to beware of" or "These guys seem friendly, but better be safe than sorry". Once Percy has decided to put you in his mind as not an enemy - he would actively refuse to treat you as an enemy because that's not the way he does it.

And because Percy has so few 'Friends', you know, that he intrinsically, automatically puts you in the Friends column as long as he finds no hostility from you. Yeah, he has Sally, Grover, and Annabeth, but he also has Gabe and Nancy (?) and IIRC the bullies. He has always felt like he didn't fit in (no thanks to you, demigod-bonus ADHD and dyslexia). Percy has had to put too many in the unfavorable section that he, subconsciously or not, favors amicable acquaintanceships - that's why Luke got to him so effortlessly, just by treating him decently.

It's quite similar to the other category too. The best example I can come up with now is Bob/ Iapetus. Bob first made his entrance as Percy's enemy aka Iapetus, and later became harmless to him after getting his memories erased. You'd think Percy would rearrange the columns, but the fact is that Percy technically didn't even remember Bob, or Iapetus for that matter, after leaving him in Nico's care. If my theory is of any credit, I suppose Bob didn't make it into Percy's 'Friends' category, i.e. Percy hadn't considered him a friend. Bob landed in as a Foe and he stayed there in Percy's head - at least up until the Tartarus debacle.

So, like I said: a bipolar relationship classifying system.

#percy jackson #pjo #hoo #toa #yone rambling #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #over analyzing #sally jackson #gabe ugliano #luke castellan

[ganymedesclock]

random shout-out from someone who DEVOURED your SU theories years and years ago--you know, even if blue Fusion and all the other stuff turned out to be wrong--i'm definitely happy with the way SU turned out, but I find myself thinking--wistfully? about the universe and lore you speculated about. IDK. I do love the way the show went, but sometimes I think I liked your version of homeworld better (definitely liked your white diamond better XD)

That's kind of you to say!

I will say, some amount of theoryposting is an inevitable amount of creative writing. When we don't know where a show goes, we try to slide in what we think would fit based on what's known, which is our creation no matter how hard we try to base it in canon materials.

Some of it is weaker, some of it is stronger- I think the more forceful and bold Yellow Diamond in canon is definitely more interesting in the story Sugar and Crewniverse was telling, than the idea of a shy reclusive nerd that I put forwards. It makes Yellow working with Steven about White more meaningful, because we're not signaled from the start "hey she's a softie" and when they did that instead with Blue Diamond, it still comes with the edge of we've seen just how terrible her temper can be as early as The Answer.

Steven Universe was ultimately its own story and I was not completely right about what it was, which is fine. Sugar isn't me, and doesn't have to write "my" kind of story for it to be any good- that just means I get to write my own stories, to which SU has been a huge inspiration and challenged me to think about all the choices it did make.

I have immense respect for SU as a story that's very itself. Most of what I don't like about it feel like genuinely valid choices; I can't wholeheartedly say the meandering nature of many of the characters' arcs is "a flaw" when that very nature made their triumphs and final choices way more significant, and allowed them an almost unparalleled sense of reality to all these characters and the way that people deal with things (and don't). It creates a very distinctive flavor and identity and is committed and conscientious about it, which is a commendable thing not every piece of art gets to say.

And, yeah, that means either you like its flavor or don't. But I can definitely aspire to create something with that much style and gravitas to it.

I'd also say some of my theories around SU were born of ideological weaknesses in myself, not in that they were wrong and thus weak, but in hindsight, I realized that there were patterns I created.

About the main thing I was wrong about three for three with the Diamonds is how potentially scary they are; canon really went no-holds-barred with these grandiose personalities. This is baked deliberately into even the physical scale of the Diamonds- they are people who can thoughtlessly do a lot of damage because of their sheer size and power. We don't really need to get stereotypical "bad mean boss" scenes between Yellow Diamond and her Pearl, because the sheer scale of them defines the power imbalance. It's not surprising then that when we see a Yellow Diamond who is working to better herself in Future, she's interacting with Gems up on a desk that brings them closer to her eye level. The gap isn't closed, but she's trying to see where they are.

My versions of the Diamonds were leaning harder into how tragic and sad they were, which I think was born of a discomfort I feel very often in storytelling, that if someone is categorized as "evil" that a belief emerges that you cannot do anything evil or morally wrong to an evil person. Treating "evil" as just license to be exactly as mean and nasty as you want in response, because there's no way anybody who's done more damage than you think is reasonable could possibly have anything driving this behavior- and suggesting they have any reason to be sad or even the capacity to be sad is tantamount to being a quitter who thinks we should just let them do bad things unchecked.

Canon examined the tragedy of the Diamonds without needing to make them exaggeratedly soft. The versions of the Diamonds I created, while potentially compelling, were people who were themselves trapped, not decisive winners, who were so overtly vulnerable that I hoped people couldn't hate them.

And like I said- this is potentially compelling! A lot of this DNA carries over to the major antagonists of my original project, Chiaroscuro- so if you're missing my writing, I can guarantee those flavors are still around!

But it's ultimately born of a little bit of insecurity. The desire to make a blameless, tragic, vulnerable soul out of the villains so that people will feel obligated to see past their knee-jerk, "the character crossed a moral line and I don't want to relate to that or examine it" when I think that's important.

I think that we should be able to relate to people who make abhorrent choices. Even people who make unjustified abhorrent choices. I think we should be able to do that, and acknowledge their humanity, and not have it weaken our conviction that what's wrong is wrong.

If you can only stand against evil when it's an abstracted cartoonish force that isn't attached to anybody with feelings, when you imagine the worst person is actually not a human at all but some kind of demon from hell with no real feelings, you're not really in a good place to stand against evil. You're in particular, in a really bad place to stand against the potential for evil in yourself, and the potential of people with very bad intentions to appeal to you.

And that's something I tried to scratch at with my theories, and it's something canon also put its finger on, but canon, especially in Future, brought the added angle to this that sometimes doing the right thing and creating a better future means you don't get to punish people that did something wrong and you're mad at them.

The Diamonds are kind of dislikable and frustrating. But the scene with White Diamond and the pillar illuminates in stark contrast that the problem isn't White anymore; she's got loads of her own, and they haven't evaporated, but Steven needs to address his own malcontent and anger, rather than acting like it's all White's fault and getting rid of her would make his crisis stop. At the point White isn't a threat anymore, Steven nearly killing her is about him, not about her. It's not any evaluation on what she's done, or hasn't- what matters is that she's distant to him and he can justify she's done too much damage to have peace, so it's someone he doesn't, in the moment, mind lashing out at.

It's a point where the world is, easier, more peaceful, when we have enemies to attack that are just bad and we don't have to think about them and we don't have to think about what we do to them. But that easier world has some very ugly costs- because "mindless true evil" doesn't exist, so you have to choose to make the evil orc army out of other people.

#Steven Universe #readmore

[animerunner]

Very random question. What do you think about " [insert media name here] critical " tags and blogs on Tumblr? There sure a lot of especially for cartoons like TOH, SU, She-Ra and etc.

Okay so heads up I’ll be talking mainly TOH from that list but I do talk some other things.

TLDR: I don't like them mainly because its not a true critique. Its more of a pure negative view without a willing discussion of why it might be that way. Or even a willing discussion at times of where the show went right.

And that's not a critique.

That's just being negative.

(TBC I know every person in these tags behave that way. But there are too many for me to have the energy to deal with. Thus y'all are on filter unless I have the energy to maybe have a discussion.)

Longer explanation and discussion of the issues at hands under the read more.

So to be honest I have most of the straight up critical tags on my filter list. And thus the blogs by extension.

Which yeah a bit of a hypocrite here since I interacted with that one blog before. But for me at least the difference between blogs that take all comers and the straight up critical blogs. Is just about that.

One is allowing for an open discussion. Whether or not the people on either side want to have it is a whole other matter. But it’s not one sided at the very least.

Like I don’t mind having a discussion about a materials flaws. I am a PJO fan as well and have discussions with friends about the flaws on both the book and the show.

And I fully acknowledge that there are good critiques to be had. Nothing is ever fully perfect. I know as fans we like to pretend it is. But there will be flaws.

It’s more when you start straight up will go critical without discussions of what the material did right. Or not understanding why the flaw might exist in the original source material. (Ie lack of education on certain subjects with PJO or rather unfortunate consequences of Disney meddling in the case of TOH)

Which is where a lot of these blogs and the vast majority of that tag in my experience fail. All they want to do is talk about the failure of the material. Rather than where it succeeded. Or maybe even putting thought into why it ended up there.

Because yes sometimes it’s on the person making. (-cough- Rowling) And sometimes the source material has aged poorly enough finding the positives overall is very difficult. But other times there are outside factors. And sometimes there are still good things in the source (not just the headcanons people think are canon because its been repeated too much.)

And a lot of times with the tags. And by extension those kind of blogs. There is ironically not a lot of critical thought into why it exists. It’s more complaining for the sake of complaining.

(Which I get it. Sometimes that’s what you want. Sometimes that’s what you want to read. I do but being critique of the show you should be doing more than just be negative. At that point it’s not critical. It’s just negative. Which yes those do overlap. But they aren’t 100 percent the same thing.)

Like you’ll occasionally get into a discussion of valid issues with people on why it is that way. Which is why I’ll occasionally be willing to actually read posts that aren’t just tagged as critical.

But a lot of the critical tag has an issue with critical thought in my experience.

And sometimes you also just run into people who are so far down a rabbit hole they don’t want to admit flaws in certain things thus ironically somehow pivoting to being critical of the source material. When it’s their own perception of a character or situation that is at fault here.

(Looking a huge chunk of the Belos fans after WAD aired.)

Which yes that’s also a problem. I won’t deny it. There is a thing as being too positive.

And before someone tries to go oh well you don't know how to do it because you've never run one.

Not a blog. But if you follow me on TikTok I do have a critical series of the 90s anime of Sailor Moon. That I haven't worked on in a while because irl stuff. But am planning to get back to.

And you know what I do with it? I try to find at least one positive thing to talk about in the episodes along with the negative things. Because I want to make a point of discussing that yes as flawed as it is they did get some things right.

Not as much as that fandom likes to pretend to at times (90s fans have one of the worst case of 'only positive no negatives here' I have seen at times). But they did do some things right and I do want to acknowledge it.

Even if sometimes the stuff they get right gets frustrating because this would have been great as a non one off thing. But thats a whole other discussion.

Also I have no clue how the pure negative people have the time or energy to be constantly that tbh. Maybe this is a chronic illness thing. But trying to be constantly negative even when something does need to be talked properly critical is exhausting.

I can’t really speak on the others so much. I’ve never gotten into SU. Tried multiple times but eventually excepted that it’s just not my thing. This isn’t me being critical of SU to be clear. I don’t know enough overall to be making opinions on it. As much as reality. Sometimes there’s just media I try and it’s not my thing.

All I have with SU are a lot of second hand stories about its fandom. A lot of which are not necessarily positive. But that’s more the nature of second hand stories tbh.

And SheRas fandom I know even less about. I’ve heard of them. Heard of arguments about ships and I’ve heard critiques on their crew that honestly from an outside perspective sound valid.

All I can guess on both of them (and from what I understand from again second hand knowledge) is how their critical sides are based on my experience with TOH. Are very similar to each other.

So if I ever did get into their fandoms it would be the same issue.

Like to be honest if these tags and blogs were properly critcal. And not just negative 90 percent of the time. I might be willing to interact with them and talk with them.

But its a misnomer at best most of the time.

#the owl house #90s sailor moon #media critique #percy jackson #harry potter

[godsofhumanity]

⚝── 30 DAY HC’S | PERSEPHONE ──⚝

PERSEPHONE | lightly tanned skin. deep green eyes. magenta-coloured hair, wavy and to her should blades. a slender frame, but not tiny. average height.

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Persephone, Persephone, Persephone. was there ever a mythical character who's story has been told as many times as hers?

to begin with, a little character defining... i think Persephone's most noticeable quality is how kind she is. this girl is the definition of sweet. she's caring, she's respectful.

i've said this before, but i love the idea that pretty much no one has beef with her. if anyone gets into a fight with Persephone, they're just jealous of how near-perfect she is.

that's not to say she is perfect though.. i think Persephone's fatal flaw is that, like so many other queens, she has a terrible rage hidden within her. and she can be very cold and ruthless when she lets herself go. but more on that later.

her kindness is, without a doubt, what attracts Hades to her. let me step back a bit and explain my idea of Persephone's story from the start:

Demeter keeps Persephone away from Olympus because she knows how terrible the gods and goddesses in Olympus can be... Demeter is, in my books, the most damaged of all the Olympian gods- she gets taken advantage of so many times, it makes sense to me that she would keep her daughter away from it all.

but i think Demeter knows that she can't lock Persephone out of Olympus forever- when ur parents bans something explicitly and outright, it makes that thing all the more alluring to you. so i think Persephone does visit Olympus sometimes.. to bring fruits of the harvest, to replace the ambrosia, etc. she just doesn't stay long enough to make any connections with anyone.

i like the idea that all gods get "presented" to Zeus so he can assign them a domain.. a Baptism of sorts, if you will. so when Demeter brings Persephone to receive her blessing from Zeus, i think it's the first time that the other gods really see her and get to know her. and naturally, she's beautiful.. everyone's proposing marriage to her instantly.

BUT, i hc that Zeus doesn't let her go so easily. he's still her father, he still respects Demeter's decision to keep her away from Olympus, so he tells his sons that she's off limits. no one marries Persephone, she goes back home.

and yet... there is one person, not a son of Zeus, who notices Persephone- Hades. i don't think Hades has ever been immune to the charms of a woman.. i think he's had plenty of relationships of his own, he just never made anything permanent because it's a tall order to ask someone to be a ruler of the dead, no matter how much they love you... so i like the idea that even though Hades likes Persephone, it's just a fleeting thought to him- he never actually considers marrying her.

UNTIL. Zeus notices the way Hades acts around her. and Zeus, thinking in terms of his role as father to Persephone, brother to Hades, and king of both,, thinks it actually wouldn't be a bad idea for them to be married. so, he gives Hades permission to marry Persephone, and it's done.

things happen, and when Persephone comes to the Underworld, she's obviously pissed off. it's effectively a kidnapping. i love the image of Hades confessing his love for her, thinking it's a huge, sweet, romantic gesture, and Persephone just being furious. she refuses to talk to him. she locks herself in the room that Hades provides.

i think it gives Hades time to reflect on what he's done. and for Persephone? i love the idea that she comes up a thousand different ways to escape from the Underworld and return to her mother.

when my mum used to tell me about Hades and Persephone, she described Hades as being so in love with Persephone, that he would give her all that she asked for. so, similarly, i hc Hades to cast a spell on the room such that whatever Persephone asks for, in terms of material objects, the room magically makes appear for her.

thus she gains things like parachutes, and ropes, etc. to make her grand escape from Hades.

unfortunately, the Underworld isn't that easy to fool, so i think it prevents her from leaving, and while she's stuck there, Persephone makes friends with the Underworld's inhabitants, most notably, Thanatos. and then she learns things about Hades, and about her intrinsic connection to the Underworld.

overtime, Hades regrets his actions, and Persephone comes to terms with the idea of becoming queen, and i think she accepts the marriage willingly.. with a few conditions of course, but those aren't relevant here.

over the years, i like the idea that Hades and Persephone become a great couple for real- they're deeply in love with each other.

with Minthe- and, this is going to sound like a direct contradiction of my previous statement- i've been getting fond of the idea that maybe there was something between Hades and her. perhaps, they had a past fling, and Minthe was jealous of Persephone.

i think Hades might've unwittingly led her along, until Persephone puts her foot down and turns Minthe into mint.

but Persephone isn't perfect either- perhaps Hades and Ares joined forces to bring down Adonis for both their sakes.

in any case, i think both Adonis and Minthe's tales occur several hundred years into their marriage.

all in all though, for the most part, i think Persephone is very amiable. almost everyone loves her.. in particular, i hc that she's one of the only step-children Hera actually quite adores. i think Persephone is always very polite and cordial with Hera, which makes her feel respected, and after she becomes Hades' wife, the two queens share an even stronger bond.

Aphrodite and Persephone have a fair amount of encounters what with Aphrodite sending Psyche to retrieve some of Persephone's beauty,, and then Aphrodite later sending Adonis to Persephone for care. so i like the idea that Aphrodite and Persephone are very good friends. but they're also rivals.

anyhow. i think that's about all i can think of. my other Persephone hc's that i might have missed are here: x

┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☝︎━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙

#30 day hc #persephone #hc #long post

[randomnumbers751650]

This analysis got me thinking on what Aechmea's plan might be. According to him, there's no more purely human emotion than vengeance. I guess this shows that he has a low opinion of humanity to say the least.

But then comes chapter 97 and Doctor Ayumu also has a similar view of humanity. As the trope says, humans are bastards. But Aechmea and Ayumu react different to it. Ayumu wants Phos to burn the bridge and the most common interpretation I see is that Phos refuses to pray for the lunarians and go find their own happiness away from them.

So, as far as I can see, Phos had two options: either pray or don't pray. This reminds me of the moral conflict in the finale of Avatar The Last Airbender. Everyone was giving the green light for Aang to kill Ozai, but he didn't. Instead, he removed his fire powers from him.

Up to this day I see people criticizing Aang for not killing him, even saying removing Ozai powers was a fate worse than death. I must admit I don't understand why this debate is even a thing. If Aang had killed him, he would've won the war in the Fire Nation's terms - a dispute of strength. But Aang is the last Airbender, is this is the way of the Air Nation? The avatar is supposed to guide the nations and thus removing the powers from Ozai is more in line with what the avatar is, what Aang is.

Phos's dilemma is more complex than Aang's, however. If Phos doesn't pray, Aechmea will be right: Phos is human because he can avenge himself. Ayumu will be right, humans are yucky.

But if Phos prays, Aechmea will get what he wants: a free pass to Nirvana. It's been stated that the remaining lunarians are the worse of the worse humanity has to offer. So, is there a more dastardly plan than make Phos pray for them to go to Nirvana without deserving?

They aren't supposed to enter in Nirvana because of their many sins and flaws, so instead of working on them, improving as people, they'd rather explore loopholes and find ways to tore down the gate of the heaven. Phos is a kind child and Aechmea is counting on this kindness so that Phos can open the gate for him.

So, Phos either allows himself to be manipulated and let unworthy people in Nirvana, giving Aechmea a de facto victory or Phos refuses to pray, giving Aechmea a moral victory. Ayumu doesn't seem to care about Aechmea's moral victory, following the most common interpretation.

I really don't know what the alternative option would be. Vengeance already failed once. What if burn the bridge mean something else? Still, it raises deeper questions: can mankind "save" itself? And what does being saved mean?

Personally, studying and teaching institutional economics, one thing I learned and teach is that all institutions can be "hacked". No matter how oppressive or near perfect it is, people are always exploiting loopholes and defending vigorously these loopholes. We think ourselves really smart because of it. I've always saw HnK as a critique of transhumanism and a portrayal of the limits of human spirit because the Lunarians society is really the culmination of a post-scarcity society and, yet, all them want to do is to die. So they aren't hesitant about making Phos suffer if it means to that. Now we can only wait for what Phos will do.

#houseki no kuni #houseki no kuni spoilers #spoilers #in brazil theres a thing called jeitinho #and a saying #there's no jeitinho for death #that sounds really relevant right now

[june-egbert-official]

So I recently finished Owl House and I have some thoughts on how it handles the final boss better than Steven Universe.

Two things.

1. Spoilers for one or both series ahead. I'll tag it, dw.

2. This isn't putting them against each other. I fell out of SU due to unrelated trauma and Owl House is one of my favorite shows. This isn't dunking on SU.

So. The finale for SU everyone kind of hated, yeah? Because Steven basically talked to the Fascist Space Rocks that wanted to kill everyone. A lot of people were upset with it. To the point they made a follow-up series amounting to "Wow you've had a shit life dude that sucks".

Meanwhile, TOH has a finale where the Colonizer White Guy who wants to literally ascend to Godhood and kill all the Witches gets...fucking blasted. With a character we explicitly saying "I know we talked about friendship but this dude has to fucking die".

And that works better because sometimes in life it doesn't matter how much you like making friends...Fascism doesn't give a shit.

But that's why the two series are so different.

SU is about interpersonal conflict and growth. So many of the biggest moments are about Steven being true to himself, or accepting a truth he doesn't like or something. It's interpersonal. Which is IMPORTANT. It's GOOD to learn how to tell someone "I know things are kind of bad but we're still friends okay?" And "I am my own person and I love you, Mom/Dad, but I'm going to be ME."

But that fell apart when the enemy was a Fascist Space Rock. Because it was bigger than just interpersonal drama. But that's just a flaw with trying to tell a personal story with galactic stakes.

But TOH has the Collector pretty quickly handled by convincing them "You are hurting people even if you don't know it". But the major conflict was solved with destroying the evil. Because it accepts "Fascism can't be defeated with the power of love. You have to throw a fucking punch. Or a massive spell."

So when the Collector was stopped by telling him stories and showing him kindness, Belos was a fascist dick trying to murder people and thus "Hey making friends is about being kind" doesn't fucking work.

It fits the narrative and realistic expectations better. The idea being that someone like Emperor Belos/Phillip can't be talked down. You can't talk down a Fascist or a Nazi. You can't be their friend until they be nice.

And it's refreshing to see a show get that part right.

#the owl house #toh spoilers #steven universe #su spoilers #cw nazi #cw fascism

[broomsick]

Hi! I was wondering what your thoughts are on this situation. I started out the pagan path and after many years became a devotee of the god I worshiped more closely (Loki). However, ever since I introduced honoring Freyja and becoming a devotee of her into my daily life, Loki has been… completely silent and MIA (whenever I try to work with him for spells, give offerings, or communicate with him via divination). I keep having nightmares of hundreds of spiders trying to eat me alive. And I keep having trouble lighting Loki’s candle. It never stays lit. I swapped it out with three different candles and tried extensively to light it and keep it lit but it doesn’t stay lit. I’m worried that Loki doesn’t care to work with me or connect with me anymore since I connected with Freyja, but I don’t understand why??? I’m reluctant to give up on Loki but it’s been 5 months of silence and nightmares. I’m feeling defeated! Please let me know what your thoughts are on this! -Velvet

Hi there, Velvet! Well, that’s a complicated matter and though I can provide my own personal opinions, the interpretation of this situation is ultimately yours to make. Now, I just want to start off by making something clear: the spider associations with Loki were always somewhat wobbly to me. It’s sort of an SPG but I do find a few flaws to it (for example, people will see a spider in their house and immediatly label it as a sign from Loki, while disregarding the fact that at some periods of the year, spiders seek refuge within households and thus appear a lot more often). For this reason, I wouldn’t spontaneously believe your nightmares necessarily come from Loki. Spiders in dreams can mean many things, and as I see it, your nightmares seem to be the subconscious manifestation of some kind of fear. Maybe even the fear of losing Loki! If your mind instictively associates Loki with spiders, then that wouldn’t be surprising. Dreams where you’re being attacked that way can also betray feelings of vulnerability, or feelings of being trapped somehow. Loads of interpretations are possible. Now, the candles not burning could very well be an issue with the environment where you are burning them (humidity for example), but that is just a theory. It’s often best to explore natural explanations before supernatural ones. Plus, I haven’t heard of any recent case when a God was  angry at their devotee... I actually believe that they are generally lenient when it comes to their followers! In my experience at least, they are a lot more forgiving than some fearmongering pagan authorities would like to pretend. As for Loki’s “radio silence”, I don’t think he’s necessarily ignoring you! Maybe he’s still watching over you and you just don’t know it. Maybe he is guiding your way without you noticing. Perhaps he’s just giving Freyja some space to guide you herself, because he estimates that her touch in your life is what you need most at the moment! Still, even if you don’t hear his responses, there is no reason for you to stop honoring or believing in him if that is what you desire. An important part of being pagan is learning how to adapt to change. The Gods’ ways are their own, and I know how frustrating it can be to try and lift the fog on their intentions, but they always have their reasons. Certain deities will pop into our lives at times when we need them most. There’s really nothing we can do to change that, but there’s also no guilt to be felt on your part. Especially not for worshipping Freyja. The norse Gods are part of a very large pantheon and in their cultural context, they are generally acknowledged as a pantheon. That means you are free to honor one or multiple Gods, and there shouldn’t be any problem with that. My advice to you would be to keep worshipping Freyja as you wish, especially if it fulfills your spiritual needs and makes you feel happy. There is absolutely no reason for you to feel bad about that. In the same manner, you can keep honoring Loki as you did before. You can try to reach him through prayer, through offerings and gifts, or through words of praise to show your thankfulness. Talking to him about your life (problems, daily life, etc...) and giving gifts to him without expecting anything in return will still feel extremely gratifying, I promise. It won’t be the exact same, of course, so choosing to keep doing these things is all your choice. (If he truly is angry for whatever reason, he will see that you haven’t forgotten him and that you still love and admire him. Your spirituality is yours and I believe he knows that.) Finally, I’m really sorry to hear about your nightmares. Witchcraft-wise, drinking chamomile, lavender, jasmine, ginger or another low-theine tea before bed can help, as well as putting amethyst near your bed, or thyme under your pillow. Other, more drastic solutions exist, and if the nightmares persist, I suggest contacting a health professional who will be a lot more indicated than me to provide help in this matter. I really do hope this answered your questions, and I hope you will be able to find peace within this situation one way or another. Again, thank you so much for coming to me with your worries.

#spirituality #deity work #deities #loki #norse gods #freyja #asks #ask #norse paganism #paganism #polytheism #norse polytheism #norse pantheon

[sonderrow]

       LINK TO QUINN           LINK TO ROY           LINK TO ARCHER

PREESTABLISHED REFERENCE FOR JAEL.

I entirely get the urge of wanting to roleplay, expand our muses together, and this is my personal starting pack for Jael! If you’re hooked to one category but don’t think your muse can fit still HMU about it and I’ll see how we can work that out! REMINDER I HAVE A LOT OF THREADS. Like often a lot. Roleplaying is something that effortlessly really relaxes me, but I am still one human. I like to see all my threads through no matter how long the wait is and do my best ! Thus we might not be threading right off the bat depending on how much stuff I have, but everything established can get into asks, dash shenanigans, etc. What matters is that it shapes our characters. 🙏

MILITARY PEERS. Be it someone of the same rank, above or below, fellow militaries all have a particular bond by the fact that hey went through roughly the same thing, albeit it can go on the wild side. Be it from another country or from the same place, from being another soldier or the lady that gave food at lunch time, at some point you and Jael were in the same camp. This profile fits any muse who can fit an occupation into a military setting.

MISSION PEERS. Different from military peers, you didn’t necessarily know Jael while he was doing his everyday work, you two collaborated in action, be it to handle a hostage situation or launch an attack on a terrorist camp. Be it in the Middle East where he did earlier service or right in New York City where you had to juggle between politics and doing your duty, you were both on the same case and had to work your way through it. This profile fits any muse who has undergone military type of missions, they do not have to be officials; they can be mercenaries, criminals, anything goes.

BLACK OPS. At the peak of his career, Jael was part of the black operations. Nasty stuff with no records. See the ugly side of the nation, the whole world. A “good” soldier, he followed orders and did like everyone else his best to not be too emotionally scarred. However, as Jael became a branded traitor due to an inside machination from higher ups, several of his peers were killed and he found himself on the run. Whether your character also survived but think of Jael dead or you are still loyal to the army without having been betrayed, you two know what no one else do.  This profile fits muses who excels in what they do under military operations, they do not have to be officials; they ca nbe mercenaries, criminals, anything goes. It also targets characters who are in hiding with a convoluted lifestyle.

PAST FRIENDS. At some point in your life, you spent a consequent amount of time in Canada. There, you may have met a young farm boy who scraped his bleeding knees wounds on top of his knees wounds, or a tired young man who drank beers, played hockey and smoked weed with no idea where he was going. Maybe you went to the same secondary school. Although he had a lot of flaws, you befriended this person, maybe you were rivals through the sports team you were sharing or dated after meeting at the park you were both walking your dog at, with who you built youthful memories. This profile fits muses that range around 30+ years old who were at the time chummy enough to attract such a normie jock/slacker.

GIRLFRIENDS. Unlike dates that would be consider past friends, Jael had some serious girlfriends. That lasted several months, maybe even one or two years. They most likely broke up due to his insenstivity and immaturity, most likely your character became an adult while he stayed a kid the whole time. Still, you two spent so much time together, so many memories of young love, that it’s a unique bond that shaped how you both are. This profile fits female muses (or male muses before their transition) who range around 25+ years old. Mostly good-looking people who could handle such a normie like him to consider dating him.

ONE ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). Alcohol was most likely involved. Jael is casual when it comes to sex and your character has caught his fancy. You two spent the night together and… really, that was it. This profile fits female muses (or male muses before their transition) who are casual about sex and are quite open about it, with having, at least at the time, very feminine type of attire, most likely along the mainstream type.

PRISON BREAK. From being in the same gang in the caucasian corner of the yard to the guard he kept bugging when he was born, you were in a high security prison alongside John Smith, which was Jael fake name at the time. His chumminess, loyalty and muscular build helped him be on the good side of others despite the rougth environment. However, he was also known, like it or not, to participate in humiliating others who didn’t do the way they wanted, both sexually and physically to keep the jungle in control. If you ever talked, faught or just ate together, you witnessed John’s behaviour, and then, he broke out and was never seen again. This profile fits male muses who worked in a prison or were jailed.

FARM BOI. Jael grew up on the countryside in a numerous siblings family and like any of those, every mouth to feed at to pull their weight. You were involved in the market, be it as another farm or the kid of the trucker who took the bounty to the city. You saw Jael grow up (quite pathetically, to be honest…) alongside yourself and so many days spent together, although it was work, don’t go unnoticed. Atop of that, it’s always in those areas that town gossip and families pressure to find your future match too. This profile virtually fits any muse who worked actively with farmers.

DRINKING BUDS. He’s nearly 40 and is Canadian; Jael loves beer and will go to any pub that sells chips and nice a microbrewery drink. As a usual drinker yourself, patron gets to know patron, just by sight even, and sometimes exchange a drink or two, unbeknowst at times of the history of the other. This profile fits any muse who likes alcohol (most likely beer) and likes to hang out at common bars.

MISC.I’ll add more when I think of them! DO THROW ME YOUR IDEAS LET’S GO.

Like with any interaction, relationships are officially in the singleverse timeline if it is roleplayed to a minimum extensively. Looking forwards to write with you!

#preest #.saved

[haleigh-sloth]

Touya has the worst takes on both sides of the fandom particularly the hero side has worse takes than the villian side of the fandom. But the villian side also has some really annoying takes on his character- some people being pissed that he's distant towards the league and others thinking that he places the league before the Todorokis in his heart like???

I know the takes are abhorrent on the hero side, but I'm dead serious when I say I have so stringently filtered out my tumblr dash that I haven't seen a hero-stan Touya take in like....a year now? Maybe more.

The thing about League takes is that it's still in the little corner of the fandom I am in. And I do read some to explore ideas that I may not like, but still have to consider. But ultimately for metas and takes on the League as a whole, I just find "Society is the number 1 enemy and that's what the League is fighting to change!" Which...I don't agree. I'm sorry I just don't agree that's where the story is going with their characters. And that that is what their characters are doing lol.

But on Touya--I agree.

I mean, the idea of the League's arcs becoming about friendship and how "they realize that they've all had what they were looking for the entire time!" is definitely one way to explore their characters. And I can see the appeal, and if the story had taken a completely different direction many many many arcs ago, I'd say it would have been a plausible conclusion to each of the LOV members' arcs. But that's not what we have. That's not what's happening with literally ANY of the League members.

I think with Touya specifically it gets messy because some people think he should give his family the middle finger and run off with the League, while others (me) want to see him return to his family. That is allllll up to personal preference. Nobody can tell anybody what ending is "right" or "better", because it's a matter of opinion. But imo the rest of the League characters don't have an arc thus far that fulfills that ending either, not with the current circumstances and with everything we know.

Where it doesn't become a matter of opinion though...is, well, what you said. Touya does not give the League priority, not on the outside, nor in his heart. He kept his identity from them, for one. Didn't divulge his personal plans to them, for two. And for three, he has been actively planning his own death, the rest of the League and the outcome of the war be damned. It won't matter, he'll be gone.

And like....the rest of the League are operating similarly. Well, specifically Toga and Shigaraki. Spinner isn't and IS putting someone else's desires first, but it's painted as a flaw that has landed him in some hot water.

I really saw a lot of anger when the rest of Touya's backstory came out and his fight with Shouto took place. When Touya went full-on with displaying his raw envy and jealousy of Shouto's twisted circumstances, despite knowing what Shouto's gone through. And where it gets messy, once again, is when it shows that Touya desperately needs the attention of his dad. Even now, even still. And like--that is not for me to say whether that's right or wrong to like or dislike. It's a matter of opinion, and it's a messy, touchy subject in this manga. Personally to me--I think Touya being a daddy's boy through and through makes his circumstances all the more sympathetic, painful to read, and entirely relatable. So I love what's been done with his character. But again, that's just me.

But that is where I saw even the villain crowd's reaction to Touya take a super super negative turn. It was already somewhat bad after the hospital chapters, but when his backstory came out and we learned that losing his FAMILY literally made him full blown suicidal (and thus, heavily indicating that he will in fact have his family returned to him in the end) I really saw a lot of dissatisfaction with his arc. Also because it wasn't more focused on the League. But I'll say it again--imo that's not the case with any of them. Not just Touya. Again, matter of opinion. I like it, personally, it caters to the ending I want for all of them.

However what bothers me is I can't find takes on Touya that don't straight up ignore that fact, and still try to make Touya into a revolutionary warrior genuinely fighting for the betterment of society and for other abuse victims. Because man, that is not what is happening.

I could honestly go on and on about how this applies to the rest of the LOV but idk if you wanted a full blown rant or not. So I'm gonna leave it here lmao.

#whoops #bnha #anonymous #bnha asks #boku no hero academia #todoroki touya #dabi

[lightdancer1]

Time to bring out Ye Olde Winter's Tale once more:

I find it a fascinating irony that there is a single time in all of Sandman where Death is the central character in her own story and her actions and motivations are seen in her own eyes. The view, especially when contrasted with the version of her we see in the eyes of the mortals she visits on the job, or with Dream's view of her, is a vast gulf.

And in particular there's a bit of growing fanon that kind of bears some note with what the text both says and does not say.

As I said in the other meta, the lines "It made me sad, you know. I mean I was sad too much of the time. I thought about giving it up, walking out. And one day I did" read pretty blatantly like she fell into a depressive state and it eventually became too much and she well, broke under the weight of both her job and how people reacted to it, and to what it was that she did.

And I think that difference, first the sadness and then her leaving, is the essential point to understanding the bit and the glimpse we see in Endless Nights. She became bitter and angry and brittle and icy, but that was AFTER this.

This is the description of the Death we see in Endless Nights. The point of why she returns, and what it meant that she did return the way she did is also distinctly relevant. She didn't embrace the job, or find a sense of purpose in it. She saw the 'not very nice' alternative and just went back to work.

Factoring in this and what she distinctly does not say in the other pages, she also changes what she does with mortals while never actually saying that she finds joy in the job, or in actually existing. And since this Gaiman, whether or not he intended it, what is not said matters as much as what is.

The Death that I write in fanfic and that I do metas on hinges on this, because we have her descriptions of herself, in her own words. She is distinctly flawed and in many ways more like Morpheus than not in that she buries herself and her sorrows in her jobs, and in what she can do for mortals. At the core of her being is that she literally broke beneath the weight of her job and depression and never really got put back together from that, and her personality is shaped by trying to make sense of the fact that a job she hates doesn't allow her the freedom to leave....except, in the end, that she also will because she will outlive the universe. And that paradox, and duality, would shape a very great deal of what she sees of what she does and how she does it.

Now I know on the last page she says 'Lots of people don't have jobs they enjoy doing' and 'it's been pretty good' and then you get to her noting in her literal first appearance 'it still gets me down' and it's pretty clear that she's still struggling with it, billions of years later and trying mostly successfully to cope.

To me, at least, the fundamental elements that shape her as both an actual character in her own right and in terms of her understanding of what it is to be one of the Endless are that she literally had a moment of weakness and failure, caused reality to undergo significant 'chaos and pain' and had to make sense of not being able to leave when she very clearly did want to do.

She is the first of the Endless to be confronted in one of the harshest ways with their limits, and she has had the longest times to deal with them and make sense of it. She didn't have long enough to develop the superiority complexes of some of her siblings and even if she wanted to, the memory of a self-created catastrophe would linger.

Thus, in the end, she is also the Endless who basically 'all the other Endless fit a rule? She ignores it' is the basic rule.

#death of the endless #a winter's tale #sandman meta #death is repeatedly noted to not be like the other Endless #and I think the events she talks about in A Winter's Tale are 100% why that is #because she had to face her limits and that she isn't all powerful or able to cope with her job at fundamental levels #she did this before any of the other Endless went through it #and did it early enough that it became one of her formative experiences #Death changes as much as Delirium but doesn't change her name #and it's one of the ways where Delirium mirrors Death and Destiny both in different ways as a character #and that is something also not used or mentioned enough #delirium of the endless

[meili-sheep]

Ningguang: an amazing leader who has earned the respect of her people by sacrificing the jade chamber for their safety and helping them move forward, works at a rational rate and is able to leave time for herself.

Kujou Sara: the general of the shogunate, one of the closest to the almighty shogun, an honest and passionate leader who takes care of her soliders and leads them into the path of a better Inazuma, but doesn't exert herself with matters to big for her to handle or matter not worth her time. Recognizes the flaws of her family and doesn't support their actions, and tries to redeem herself to inazumans, who love her all the same.

Kamisato Ayato: handles the Shuumatsuban and the Yashiro Commission, shared the burden that was supposed to fall on his shoulders alone with his sister. Works hard to keep citizens safe ("I do whatever I can so that everyone has a home to go back to.") And makes sure everyone in Inazuma enjoys festival. Has unparalleled respect towards the Raiden Shogun.

Raiden Ei: the God of Eternity, whose view of the world is so distorted to that of mortals thus she fails to see the eternity her people desired. Fought for Inazuma and protected them from the shadows for centuries on end. Made mistakes and terrible decisions that hurt many of the people in Inazuma. Recognizes her mistakes and fought for Inazuma again for 500 years with no rest, working to better herself and become a better archon for her people, who will never forget how she fought for them despite everything.

Jean:

Im sorry but jean is so godamn underwhelming in comparison to all those people

While I don't agree that Raiden's redemption arch was handled the best. And I do think that She needs to continue working more closely with her people. She does at least have an attempt at an arch. Jean... Well, she doesn't grow or change at all or really has any distinct personality traits or ideology for me to latch on to. It also feels like she's constantly treading water and has no desire to change that.

But Especially compared with Ningquang, Kujoy Sara, and Ayato.

Particularly Ayato. Like I want to point out this conversation line from his teapot dialogs.

How's work in the Yashiro Commission?

Kamisato Ayato: I had thought you'd be inquiring about more personal matters. Heh, you don't need to worry about me being overworked. Case in point — I still have the energy to chat with you here.

-> But don't you think there's too much to do?

Kamisato Ayato: Oh, you mean my workload? Yes, it's rather enormous. But there's nothing that can be done about that. All I can do is try to work through each item as intelligently as possible.

-> -> Well, hats off to you.

Kamisato Ayato: I am flattered beyond belief to receive your praise and concern for my well-being. 

Kamisato Ayato: But you needn't worry. At present, there is no one more suitable than I to be in the position of Yashiro Commissioner.

Ayato is confident. He has worked hard to get his family back to his point. And he continues to put in that effort. And He is happy to share in the reward from his efforts. But he does that in part to make people feel indebted and loyal to him. His showing leadership, by saying, "Hey, I'm ready to give good reward to people who help me," And he makes sure to keep those promises. He also understands the balance between the commission the best and he knows that for the leadership to work, everyone must stand strong and stay in their lane. He can be an asshole, he can be perfectly charming, he can be loyal, but he can be mischievous. Ayato is just so much more dynamic. He also really care for his sister and avoid having her deal with the dirty parts of their work.

And a lot of my friends don't like Ayato. Which I totally get. He's a manipulative asshole. Who take joy in pushing people's buttons. And I totally understand how that would turn someone off. But I think he has personal reasons. I'll get into it at a later date as i just want get to my point.

Ayato is not only a much better leader than Jean. But he's much more dynamic than she is.

#ayato #kamisato ayato #jean #jean gunnhildr #in defense of my favorite asshole #and this isn't just cause i spent money to get his weapon

[dragonfyre-creations]

I don't think I've ever poured so many of my physical attributes and so much of my heart and soul into a character design before in such a personal way before so fuck it whenever I finish the final design for Faeng and whatever I come up with I'm making her into my sona (dragonsona? Persona? Idk how this works lmfao)

(long dump in the tags and under the cut)

The last time I was even remotely connected this much to a character was when I designed Jaxsu, but honestly never truly made her my sona/main character, she was just the one I used most often in art pieces. I never really actually liked her lore and backstory enough because she was what I wanted to be instead of what I am/was. Jax isnt perfect either, but her parents love her and otherwise has friends and is loved unconditionally. She has a healthy relationship with everyone and everything. This is where the disconnect happened and where I actually started to dislike her despite her being my otherwise favorite character for awhile. Both Faeng and Jaxsu have ADHD and Autism but Jaxsu was able to put that towards a job and becoming a ship captain and winning a colosseum tournament. She's done all of these great things so even if she didn't have a healthy relationship with her parents they'd still love her because she's done something impressive and useful.

Faeng on the other hand, has to fight for everything. Her parents are important and have important jobs, and place all of these unreachable and unrealistic expectations on her and expect her to reach them with minimal effort and be perfect, but she can't no matter how hard she tries. She needs someone to explain it and break it down for her in steps so she understands what do to and how to do it so she doesn't mess it up. She's both strong and smart but it's not in practical "normal" ways or subjects. It's convoluted, It's not in the ways everyone wants her to be, she has no teachers to help her understand how to channel that strength and intelligence into something "useful" so she puts it towards the things she likes and wants to do, and thus struggles in a world that would otherwise be easy to navigate and conquer if she were "normal". Those that do understand her and try to help her are alienated by other people in an attempt to either punish both of them or force her to adapt to be somewhat passing as normal, if not then at least listen to what she's told to do. She does eventually make acquaintances but find that her twisted speech and weird explanations aren't worth trying to decipher and understand so they leave, they don't put in the effort to meet her halfway even though she's struggling and doing her best to speak in a way they'll understand.

Her parents acknowledge her differences but in a way that frames it as flawed and wrong, something that needs to be corrected, and push her to figure out her problems by herself, tearing down any support network she tries to build. She tries her damned hardest but it's not enough, it never is and never will be for them because she's not the perfect child they wanted. She showed promise in her younger years being a "gifted child" so she knows what love and acceptance lies in wait and what could be if she could just be normal and perfect. Her achievements and promise come and show in waves. She burns and fizzles out in one of the most virulent, painful ways possible after getting hurt trying to prove her worth yet again. She holds nothing but criticism, vitriol and contempt for herself because she can't claw her way back to where she was before, this time something happened and something is terribly, horribly wrong this time but she doesn't know that it is and can't figure it out, nor will anyone tell her. Whatever it is, left a mental and several physical injuries and it does nothing but deepen her self hatred and her parent's waning belief in her. She listens to false promises and praise of other people who do nothing but wish to manipulate and harm her but she stays because any form of praise is deemed good, she hungers for more and does worsening things.

She ignores the people who tell her that what she's doing is dangerous and will only end in disaster, because she doesn't believe them. If the people who are saying they're her friends are telling her that the people she hurts deserve it and that what she's doing is good, then surely she needs to believe them over strangers, right? Everything comes to a breaking point and shatters around her leaving her with quite literally nothing but her own self hatred, newfound rage and overbearing mental issues she needs to navigate once again to find out what hell it is and what's wrong with her now. She's scared of everyone and everything with the added bonus of now being hyper-aware and perceptive of people's mannerisms and behaviors, especially those who want to manipulate or harm her again. She wraps every vulnerable part of herself in metaphorical thorns and teeth to bite and maim whoever pries and digs into what she truly is, even people who want to understand her. She suffers at more than her own hand, forcing herself to deal with everything alone, until she finally meets someone that could be considered a true friend. She slowly opens up and helps them as much as they help her before everything comes crashing back down once again upon the reveal that they've been lying to her the entire time about very serious issues, and she's been used as nothing more than an attack dog once again. She burns every bridge and everyone around her in one final breakdown of rage before shutting down completely. One of the groups of friends she's shoved stay comes back and asks if she's ok. She doesn't understand why they're being kind, why they're concerned it why they care and tries to shove them away again. Every single day they still ask, talking even if there's no response from her, until she finally relents and breaks.

She's finally loved and accepted despite every fault and every flaw she has, and every time she tries to pull away out of fear of being an inconvenience they pull back twice as hard and remind her that she's able to just exist, she doesn't need to constantly be useful and that they care. She finally, finally is comfortable enough to let herself be accepted and then becomes the most clingy little shit, just as they do with her. But yeah, my own life has been very much of the same, especially the last part. Every time I go on another self-hatred spiral and drop off the face of the earth my MonHun bros give me a metaphorical slap to the face and remind me that I don't need to constantly prove my worth to everyone and prove that I'm useful, and that existing every once in awhile is more than enough. If that doesn't work then it's "you need to get your ass back over here because we're failing the Safi siege without the absolutely ridiculous amount of DPS your build Switchaxe does". I was not intending for her to be so much like me but goddamnit she's wormed her way into being my favorite now and I guess Mirage is no longer my impromptu sona

#I've been working the last 3 hours on her design and like just noticed HOW MUCH of myself i put into her design #especially parts of myself im self conscious of and don't like/didn't like growing up. i usually zone out esp during a character design #but i stopped and i looked at it and my first thought was “that's me. that's me on that canvas.” and for some reason felt so happy with it #ik that's probably a selfish thought to have and im nowhere near done with her design but i looked at it and loved it so deeply. #she's imperfect and ugly and flawed but that's ok because she's still beautiful in her own weird way and her friends still love her #this is the weirdest shit I've ever experienced but i honestly feel like I'm finally accepting a part of myself I've hated and shoved down #for so long because of the absolute gnawing feeling of unacceptance I've always been subjected to as “not fitting in” and something she say #is “who gives a shit what other people think about me. i have friends who love and care about me just as much as i do for them. #you dont need to be liked by everyone to be worth something. sometimes just existing is enough for the people who do love you“ #the parallels of both my life and her lore are so similar they hurt on a visceral level i cant describe and it was completely unintentional #we both trust too easily whether it's out of naivety or stupidity and not learning from past mistakes and have been hurt so deeply #so many times beyond our own comprehension by the betrayal of other people to the point of shutting down every attempt at friendship #despite knowing just how much being alone aches and burns and put both physical and mental health on the line to get the approval of others #but never letting anyone get close enough to be friends out of fear of being hurt again #and having every vulnerable part of ourselves wrapped in metaphorical knives and glass to hurt anyone attempting to get to know us #but simultaneously and unknowingly hurting ourselves too with that choice. we're both aware of what we're doing but also unable to stop it #out of fear and lack of people willing to understand our pain and frustration and anger over things and it's so so frustrating #we both lash out when angry or hurt and push people that we love and love us back away out of fear that if any “ugly” is exposed to them #they'll leave because we lose our one redeemable quality of “being convenient” in a group #but simultaneously don't them trust fully out of fear. we know we're loved and love back but never fully in case its all a lie. #we both want nothing more than someone to understand and listen to what happened to us and actually stay and be friends rather than leave #like truly actually want to be friends and not just stay out of pity or sorrow over what happened #i think this is just something that comes with the autism tbh #i am she and she is me #rambling #dragon character #character writing #character building #dragon oc

[tamaradoubraomonibeke]

RSA (Reflection) (LO2 & LO3)

I know I have to make something substantial by the end of this unit but I think I want to slow down (Yes, all I’ve posted previously still stands and it’s in chronological order of my process except the Investigative study part).

My process

Whoever is grading me has witnessed my process for a year or two. This means, you can tell how I always go back and forth to try to produce the most visually appealing thing. However, with this brief, this is obviously isn't about me. It's about the people with skin conditions. Thus, I’ve Re-read the brief and Rich advice it’s all about going back to my research.

My research

Whilst researching, I found that there are three main issues concerning the target audience of skin condition youth; Representation, Enlightenment and Community. I can't represent their community (I wanted to do this via art but this isn't a short term problem that can be fixed with one campaign of beauty). This is why I focused on community and enlightenment. Presently, my USP is enlightenment or getting my target audience to express/tell their stories. After interviewing my target audience, I realised that some of them had to do personal research (as there is limited research on most skin conditions) and the working solutions or diets they've been using weren't advice in a medical setting. Thus, my solution doesn't lie in creating technology that can treat a condition but spread awareness of it so others can become interested, leading to ground-breaking future research.

13 Reasons why?

Now, one may be wondering why I brought up the book/tv series. It's simple, because it was bad but focused on a social issue (which is my goal too) until the seond to fourth season arrived. It's main premise was discussing on the matter of suicide back in 2017 but why was it so successful. Some would argue it's because of the book won Best selling author (Do you know how many best selling authors there are?). The reason it was popular is because it was so raw, honest and all characters were flawed. You see, in advertising or society now, we glamourise everything but 13 reasons didn't glamourise suicide, neither did it commend it (this is where it failed as it showed the MC ending herself and that gave room for teens to learn a new way to end themselves). So how exactly was it so raw and honest?

Synopsis: Hannah Baker was an 11th or 10th grader (I don't really recall), that ended herself and created 13 tapes giving each reason why she ended herself. These reasons are people that bullied her and whatnot.

Now, we are done with the synopsis, it's also important to analyse the method she told her story that got everyone shook = tapes. When designing, it's important to consider all 5 senses (taste, smell, sound, touch and sight). By telling her story in her own p.o.v via tapes (sound), it felt highly disturbing. There’s a reason a lot of crime podcasts focus on audio (most humans are highly saturated with visual elements that their other senses are heightened).

How I can implement senses in my design

I don't know how to represent skin conditions with smell and not get canceled. However, I can focus on mainly touch (phone so it can be accessible to a wide audience), visuals (imagery of skin conditions) and audio (the voices of my target audience telling their stories).

My idea in a more polished manner

A platform featuring a speech-to-text audio filter. Basically, individuals will be physically recorded on their phones (they won't be able to see themselves) so it's not just speech. The reason I do this isn't just because of accessibility. The world is revolutionizing and I also have to follow that path of problem solving. It's also not something I’ve invented from nowhere, there is pre-existing research on gesture-to-speech.

After recording themselves, it's then posted to the community page where people can relate, share and support the message. (This is my reward system)

Now, one may be thinking, they could post audio on other social media platform and edit their voices (e.g TikTok has voice filters). Well, that is exactly why I have to implement the gesture—to-speech, because there won't be anything else that makes my idea stand out.

There will also be the option to full view a post and read the captions.

Struggles

I have been making prototypes but struggled to create visuals for the platform. So, I need to do more research on illustrations or something. Staring at a dull purple viewport will be boring.

Name

Instead of DermaLink, I have changed it to talkderma.

Brand colors

The colors, I will be using as stated before comprises of mostly purple as that's the connecting link between HS and eczema (my two audiences). HS awareness ribbon is purple whilst eczema is purple and orange. I thought of implementing orange but looking through successful UI’s, the color palette comprises mostly of 3 main colors (it also reminded me of Instagram and that is definitely the OPPOSITE of my idea).

Conclusion

It seems like I'm reiterating the same thing over and over again. However, this is a post that shows I’ll be focusing on visual research before hopping into prototyping.

#in your skin #rsa #competitionbrief #visual communication #brief #learning #research #specialist practice

[csolarstorm]

Finally saw Everything Everywhere All At Once today, and the experience honestly reminds me of the way I felt watching FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Besides the multiverse stuff and the expertly portrayed experience of parenting in the Chinese diaspora, we keep returning to the theme of finding meaning in a world of scientific method that feels larger than life, that seems to tell us how insignificant we are in universe. It seems to take away that self-designated significance of our experience, of us, our family, our ideas, that we grow up with. Many of us feel our religion is threatened by it. Of course, for every person who feels belittled by an uncaring universe, there's a marine biologist who delights in the dazzling diversity of fish on the planet and doesn't care what it all might "objectively" mean.

This idea that everything is meaningless is a moot point, because not only do we create meaning, but we created meaning. "Meaning" is just our construct describing how we feel about something. And the beauty of it is, not only do we decide what everything means, but we can decide what everything means. Not only is it some Nietzschean ideal that you can decide your own meaning, it's just the truth.

I hate that nihilism is still something people use to describe the way people act despondent, depressed, or edgy because they think nothing matters. From what I understand of Nietzsche, the point of nihilism isn't to resign oneself to meaningless and self-destruct. The point is to build up the meaning yourself, to find meaning in the "everything" and even to love it. That's the point of the phrase "Amor fati". It's the love of your fate.

That might have been a longer explanation than I intended, lol. But it's what I read into both FullMetal Alchemist and Everything Everywhere All At Once.

One thing I was worried about around the middle of the movie was that people were going to come out of it identifying with the cooler, more edgy and simpler to understand Jobu Topacky (it's cool how the name still has "Joy" in it) just like how Thanos came off as a cool and identifiable villain with a goal that was easy enough for some of the audience to rationalize and take away from the movie as something actually reasonable. The thing is...Jobu is just immature. That's pretty much it. She is exposed to an overwhelming range of possible paths in life and has yet to learn for herself what her parents know about survival, love, and support. Multiverse or not, Joy, Evelyn, and Waymond are still the same people, and the story of Evelyn embracing her daughter vocally and sincerely for once, thus breaking the generational cycle of trauma her father inflicted on her, plays out in every universe and on every plane. There's no hidden truth yet to be revealed that makes it all meaningless; no matter what new discovery that seemingly makes them seem like tinier pieces of crap, Evelyn deciding that she wants to be in her daughter's life and embracing her family despite their flaws is the definition of finding meaning. There is no shortage of things to find meaningful, especially if you have a family to find love for.

So when Evelyn chooses to punch the auditer, that splits the times and creates the new one where all the battles, beatdowns, and butt stuff takes place...right? It's kind of confusing whether or not the timeline where all the action takes place is the timeline we started at. I mean regardless of what timeline the action took place in...I really want to see the aftermath of it all! All those poor Ratatouille'd people are gonna wake up and wonder what the hell happened. What could have done that much damage to an IRS floor? There's at least four security guards dead, one wearing a dress and a fruit hat, another with a broken back, and somehow there's just a uniform filled with glitter. And then there's the two security guards with the butt plugs... 😬 That Evelyn is definitely going to prison like the other Evelyn in the prison timeline (or is that supposed to be split from that timeline) if not taken to some government facility where they can question her about everything that the security cameras caught on tape.

And throughout this whole...review?...I haven't explicitly explained how nihilism ties into FullMetal Alchemist, but I think it's well known enough that people know what I mean. It should be infamous for pitting science and religion against each other, and pitting humans against inhuman zombie monsters that try to convince them of their meaninglessness. If you haven't watched it, you don't need my recommendation. It's the only anime that can make a mass murderer in a fine white suit come out of a zombie child's head and tell them they suck, and make it one of the most awesome scenes where we kind of cheer for the lesser of two evils for a moment.

#everything everywhere all at once #fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood