#and like. no! people are multifaceted and can have many positives

[adjit]

I think we need to get more comfortable with the idea that sometimes shitty, racist, homophobic, bigoted people are still incredibly talented.

I feel like every time I see a post addressing someone’s shitty behavior the post also takes the time to mention that they’re not even good at [x] anyway. And that’s just not always true? Equating being good at a skill as being morally good is just not necessary. Someone can be a fantastic writer, can have a beautiful singing voice, can create breathtaking artwork, and still be a horrible person.

I know part of this is probably just the instinct to dislike everything about a person when you dislike them, but I also think this mindset leads to people defending creatives way past where they should, because if bad people create bad art, then if this person creates art that I like and resonates with me, then they can’t be a bad person!

And you know. That’s just not true. Those two things are simply completely unconnected and I think it’d be healthier if we all started disconnecting them in our heads.

#ramblings tag #like idk. I think it’s possible to feel distaste for someone’s stuff while acknowledging it’s objectively good #but sometimes people act like admitting there’s a single good thing about a person who’s been shitty is impossible #and like. no! people are multifaceted and can have many positives #those don’t change the fact that they’ve done shitty things

[mercurianchild]

I read your post about Pluto-Ascendant and loved it! I have Pluto conjunct Ascendant and you nailed it. In which way also having Mars square, Neptune sextile, Saturn trine, Jupiter trine, NN square, BML sextile ( 0-degree orb ) on the Ascendant is manifesting? Could also having Venus biquintile be considered? I've heard this aspect ( as well as a quintile ) is quite underrated. What are your thoughts about all these aspects? Many thanks✨

Hey! Thank you so much! ✨

Let’s have a look at the aspects to your ascendant!

Mars Square Ascendant: The Mars square to your Ascendant adds a dynamic and assertive energy to your personality. You possess a strong drive and determination, but you may also face challenges in finding the right balance between assertion and aggression. Learning to channel this energy constructively can lead to powerful self-expression and assertiveness in pursuing your goals.

Neptune Sextile Ascendant: The Neptune sextile to your Ascendant infuses your personality with sensitivity, creativity, and a touch of mystique. You have a natural ability to tune into the emotions and needs of others, and your intuition guides you in navigating the complexities of human relationships. This aspect can also bestow a sense of idealism and spiritual insight, inspiring you to seek deeper meaning and connection in your interactions with the world.

Saturn Trine Ascendant: The Saturn trine to your Ascendant brings a sense of discipline, responsibility, and maturity to your personality. You possess a strong work ethic and a practical approach to life, which allows you to steadily pursue your goals with determination and perseverance. This aspect bestows a sense of stability and reliability, earning you the respect and admiration of others for your grounded and disciplined demeanor.

Jupiter Trine Ascendant: The Jupiter trine to your Ascendant expands your horizons and imbues your personality with optimism, confidence, and a spirit of adventure. You possess a natural charm and generosity that draws people to you, and your positive outlook on life inspires others to believe in themselves and their potential. This aspect enhances your social skills and may bring opportunities for growth and success in your personal and professional endeavors.

North Node Square Ascendant: The North Node square to your Ascendant indicates a karmic lesson or challenge related to self-expression and identity. You may feel a sense of inner conflict or tension between your past conditioning and your soul's evolutionary path. Learning to embrace authenticity and follow your true calling can lead to profound growth and fulfillment in your life's journey.

Black Moon Lilith Sextile Ascendant: The Black Moon Lilith sextile to your Ascendant adds depth and intensity to your personality. You may possess a magnetic and enigmatic allure that intrigues others, drawing them to you like moths to a flame. This aspect can also indicate a strong connection to your primal instincts and a desire for authenticity and empowerment in your interactions with others.

The Venus biquintile Ascendant aspect is not typically considered a traditional aspect in astrology, as I’ve learned. If anyone has a different way of seeing this, please let me know!

But from what I’ve read, biquintiles are considered aspects of creativity, talent, and inspiration, suggesting a harmonious blending of energies between the planets involved. In the case of Venus biquintile Ascendant, it could imply a natural affinity for expressing beauty, harmony, and artistic creativity in one’s persona and interactions with others.

These aspects combine to create a complex and multifaceted personality, blending assertiveness with sensitivity, discipline with optimism, and depth with charm. Embracing the insights and opportunities they offer can lead to deep personal growth and self-discovery as you journey towards realizing your fullest potential and finding fulfillment in life.✨🦋

#astrology #astro notes #astro observations #zodiac #astrology community #astro placements #ascendant #Venus biquintile ascendant #Mars square ascendant #Neptune sextile ascendant #Mars #Neptune #Saturn trine ascendant #Jupiter trine ascendant #Lilith sextile ascendant #bml #bml sextile ascendant #Lilith #Saturn #Jupiter

[merrysithmas]

re: nursing & Nurse Chapel in SNW @ Paramount/the fandom

new trekkies have begun to notice that Nurse Chapel eventually becomes a doctor in TOS canon. i'd like to challenge the stale (and rife with outdated sexism) misconception of that event with a more modern lens that hopefully SNW can retcon...

Christine does not stop becoming a nurse to become a doctor. She can be a doctor AND a nurse.

A DNP (clincial doctor of nursing practice) or nurse phd (researcher) or nurse educator/researcher (phd). One of my main issues with TOS canon is how they made Chapel "upgrade" from a nurse to a doctor which is extremely outdated and inherently insults the field of nursing (implying medicine is a hierarchy which it isnt - and SNW does a good job showing the partnership btwn mbenga &her). Most nurses never venture into physicianship but instead pursue doctorates in their chosen field: nursing. Because they want to be nurses.

I hope this is one thing they retcon and make clear she is a clinical doc of nursing (who have all the same diagnostic/prescriptionist responsibilites as a doctor of medicine) or some other variant of doctor of nursing.

Christine likely became a nurse because nurses have diff freedoms (and a closer patient relationship) and can expand to work in innumerable specialities - as nurses are trained as multi-specialty healthcare providers - whereas doctors are more limited and stick to their specialty. She chose to be a nurse because she wanted to be a nurse.

People choose nursing over becoming a physician for MANY reasons - and let me tell you, it's absolutely 100% not because the doctors are more intelligent lol. Nursing is a multifaceted field which consists of myriad opportunities, learning experiences, specialities, 1:1 patient connections, and freedoms that a physician will never have. Nurses can work in an ER, OR, Labor and Delivery, community health center, an herbalist shop, someone's home at their bedside, and research lab all in the same week. Physicians cannot do that - they have various legal and technical limitations (still a great field, but different).

Nurses are a medical jack of all trades - that is what Christine is.

An accurate portrayal of nursing is hardly ever shown in modern media which either erases nurses entirely (see House or ER or any other medical show), or sexistly mischaracterizes the field and ignores that nurses are hard scientists who partake in research, war, and can attend up to 10 yrs of schooling in their specialities (more than an MD). Not to mention that it is nurses who train in and learn the practical knowledge of medicine (injections, sterilization, IV admin, patient positioning for expelling mucuous, suctioning sputum, etc - doctors do not train in practical medicine and if they do they do not practice it).

If you are at the hospital and you have a head nurse and a physician resident making a call - guess who is going to have the last word. It isn't the doctor. And that is a respected norm.

It is thrilling to watch as Christine participated in research, engages in community outreach, joins fellowships, continues her education, assists surgery, diagnoses patients, engages in war and Starfleet, and cares at the bedside.

The old fashioned notion of "just a nurse for now" is about as stale as some of the sexist/misogynist concepts in TOS - and Christine is a GREAT example of a modern nurse character, highly accurate, and SNW would do well to correct further misconceptions of the field by making her an example of a Doctor of Nursing.

As far as I know, being a trekkie forever, they never stated what kind of doctor Chapel was - perfect opportunity.

#christine chapel #strange new worlds #star trek #jess bush #they have a great opportunitiy #quite literally many ppl choose to become nurses for the Adventure and that is Christine to a T #spapel #tagging the ship for exposure

[tuliptic]

What sort of gift you are to people around you?

I believe we have appreciated the presence of certain people around us, but have you wondered how you are perceived by them? Well then, this PAC is here to help you with the question. This reading is a collaboration brought to you by my boo @bichou-angel​ and me.

Piles go from left to right, top to bottom. Photos are taken by us, everything is literally by us. And we do not consent our work being used by third parties in other websites as well as in this hellsite (affectionate).  

Now. Breathe in with us, and then breathe out. Find which calls out to you the most.

Picked your pile? Let’s find out what are the answers

Disclaimer: This is solely for our entertainment purposes. Take only whatever you feel like it. If it doesn’t resonate, it’s okay to just drop it.

Pile 1

You’re someone who’s impactful and you bring change. You are the gift of change, bringing them into people’s life, affecting in ways you never thought you could’ve done so. Not gonna lie, some people fear you because of how you bring yourself, how the people around you changed because of your presence or what you’ve brought to the table.

There’s this youthful energy you bring along with that change and many are easily comforted by you, as though you’re someone they’ve known from a long time ago. Along with them is also passion. You have probably been called as double faced or multifaceted cuz of the different sides you have in you, but that variety is what makes you a special gift to others who appreciate you.

People who are strong and gentle think of you as their gift. See, strength comes in all forms, may it be physical or emotional or spiritual or mental. In this case, gentleness is their strength. They’re prolly spiritual as well.

These people have been through unfairly a lot and they’re healing right now. It’s not easy but they’re getting there, though there are times that they have fallen back into their dark times again. This is where you come in, bringing a youthful change to them.

This person may also have been generous to you in terms of finances and maybe food. I don’t know. There’s a person in my mind as I typed this so maybe a boss?

The changes you bring just… Changes their lives. I’m not even kidding. Your presence is very life changing and they were scared of this. But eventually, they accepted the change and they worked with it, turning themselves stronger in the process. It’s not easy cuz they may need to go against their families as they work, or they have to give up some traveling or walking away from a couple of things. But still, they persevere even tho the world feels like it’s against them.

They’re also creative in problem solving for some reason, and they are good at hiding how much they appreciate your presence. You just bring them hope, altho sometimes you make them question yours or their common sense.

You’ve been there for them at their lowest and they appreciate it. I’m also feeling that there’s something to do with religion as well? There’s this symbiosis between you both, and it often consists of air energy. One or both of you have some air influence in your sun, moon or rising because of the constant thinking and reviewing of the relationship, of what you two have achieved together. Know that good partnerships are made of equal amounts of positivity and both should learn from friendships, old and new.

Love, 

Mochi.

.

.

.

Pile 2

Strength, The Hierophant, King of Pentacles, Page of Swords, Justice, Ace of Cups, Ace of Pentacles, Nine of Pentacles, King of Wands.

My dear pile 2, immediately with cards I received, I could tell that people admire how much inner will power you possess. You teach people to believe in themselves as you show them that impossibilities are not something on your watch. Patience is your greatest strength where you would carefully plan out things and approach your goals in a stable way.

The positivity you bring to the table motivates people a lot. “You can do it” could be your personal quote when it comes to encouraging your loved ones. At the same time they trust you to make the important decision, you would consider both sides of the problem thoroughly so people might come to you for advice or to help them make any final decision. A harmonious energy.

You can separate it well when to use your head or to feel with your heart while you want fairness for everyone. That is why you treat anyone with the same respect and hate it when inequality takes place and that is also the moment where you would step up and fight back.

The woman in the Page of Swords is looking behind her back which makes me think that Pile 2 people are very reflective. Acceptance is the key here. You would accept to look back at your past no matter how negative it could be to fix on the matters with a determination of wanting to be better. People around would feel surprised every time they see you even after a short time because of how much you have changed over time. You keep evolving, for the better.

Your beloved ones might perceive you as someone who has so much love to give. Showing affection is not a problem to you because how much you want to cheer people up and the ones that choose this pile can be charitable where you give too much and do not expect to receive. With the big heart you possess, this is why you are very adored and loved. What you have given away with sincerity, you sure will receive the same from the right people.

With love,

Angel.

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.

.

Pile 3

First of all, Pile 3, there’s a lot of impatient energy here. Not sure if that’s you or the person who thinks of you as their gift. But let’s get moving here then.

You’re a gift who is like judgment. You’re not a judge, just that your presence is. You’re critical with things and it helps a very certain group of people to be able to use that energy you spread around to help themselves, making them see things from another point of view. Sure, this side of you may not be well received, but it’s only so when you’re not in balance with yourself. Once you’re balanced, you’ll be able to unleash this ability’s true potential and create various new opportunities as well as new beginnings. Your gift is something unconventional so I understand your concerns, but it’s a gift that not many people can have.

Partnership is also important here so maybe you team up with one or two and form a work or study group? Or you work in small circles? But either way, when you’re with the right person (not strictly adhered to relationship wise), you’ll be able to explore because of the total resources you have together. You probably have a 2H synastry with each other, in terms of astrology placement.

Someone who has been through a lot, someone who has gone through certain phases of addiction. This can be in monetary terms, so maybe someone who liked gambling or buying lotteries? It was in the past and as they looked back, they realized how much of a fool they are for letting themselves go wild. Because it was unhealthy. Anything in excess is unhealthy.

There’s also this energy where they’ve worked hard and yet didn’t get what they wanted/needed, hence the feeling of defeat and indulging in unhealthy behaviors. A lot of discomfort in the past has brought them to where they are right now or during the time they’ve met you.

You’ve brought hope to their life, joy to their life. The critical side of you helps them to see things from another point of view, to see things from other people’s eyes. There’s a gentle energy that you give out that tells them all that they have been through will be worthwhile and just take a small step of courage day by day. Seeing you reminded them who they have wanted to be and they now work hard to reach there. You’ve also taught them to communicate their problems, to know that one never needed to be shy to express what they wanted.

You’ve brought changes, mental clarity, action, creation and so many more into their lives, making them see the future isn’t that bad, allowing them to introspect what they wanted to achieve. You’re the good company that comforts them, helps them to heal whatever old hurt, and cleanses the past negativity they’ve felt. You’re their Empress to their imbalanced inner self.

Dear Pile 3, you’re an amazing gift and I hope no one tells you otherwise. Remember to keep yourself in check as well cuz you wouldn’t want to burn yourself out in the process too!

Love,

Mochi.

.

.

.

Pile 4

The Moon, The Tower, Nine of Cups, Seven of Pentacles, Seven of Swords, Ten of Cups, The Hanged Man, Knight of Cups, The Artist.

My sweet pile 4, with the scenarios you create in your head is what people find so much talent in you. This pile is creative but you will not mind showing it, even if your idea could be considered crazy but that is when you are perceived as fun to be with. When with you, you might say some random scenarios based on the smallest things around you which causes people feeling questionable but at the same time feeling amazed of how you could be very attentive to such minor details to think of something so bizarre yet so intriguing. Chaotic energy. Sometimes you could say something controversial but people will be like “Wait, why does this weirdly make sense?”. People love to hear your opinions on things because they know they will learn something new every time.

Pile 4 people could be strong manifestors where you get anything you want without shedding too much sweat but instead of questioning yourself how you actually get whatever you want, you would enjoy it while thinking you deserve it. However, there is one thing people hope you will improve is to speak your opinion more. It is because you are so nice to the point of being afraid of hurting anyone's feelings so you could often say white lies, even if you do not think that is good, you would end up giving people words of encouragement or compliments. It's alright, you are a sweet heart but speak up your mind more, people want to hear your true thoughts.

There is a message that I picked up for this pile is that you could have been hurt in the past by the people you loved the most and you don't want this to happen to anyone you adore. This is why you choose to spread positivity only to people. Your loved ones want you to know that they appreciate you very much for it but eventually they want you to express your honest feelings with them. So it is time to release your painful past and learn how to show your true self. You will never be judged, especially not by the people you hold dear to. There is only love for you from now on.

With love,

Angel.

#tuliptic #🌷 #pick a card #pick a pile #tarot readings #tarot community #idk what else to tag so i'm adding my thoughts in here #Angel is one of my favourite readers I've gotten to know from this hellsite (affectionate) #and I'm so happy and honoured to be doing a collab with her #I asked her if she wanted to work on this together and we both jumped onto the bandwagon #it's fun for us and i hope it's also fun for you guys too #ALSO TUMBLR'S EDITING COMPLETELY FUCKED UP

[xtarotdollx]

Attempting one of those long ass literary analysis posts because my friends have told me I should please enjoy this long ass ramble

Okay so like Jekyll creating Hyde is itself a crime right? Like it is it’s a horrifying event filled with body horror and pain like Jekyll creating the potion and creating Hyde is an objectively Bad Thing ™ but like why??? Jekylls motivations for doing so are both sympathetic and relatable (and intentionally so) so why are his actions considered the literal original sin of his story?? Anyway I was bored and fucked around and found an answer and I need to share it because fuck me I can’t be normal about Jekyll.

Anyway review time our buddy Jekyll is sad gay and alone and comes to the conclusion that people contain multitudes. And I say multitudes because Jekyll himself admits in his own research that there’s more to his theory and than just good and evil,

“I say two, because the state of my knowledge does not pass beyond that point.”

“… I hazard guess that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious, incongruous, and independent denizens.”

and that he splits himself into good and evil because that’s what he’s most familiar with (aka it’s the split that he can use for his own benefit.) But like, homeboy was kinda on to something. The idea that humans are complex and multifaceted with multiple conflicting ideas and identities has been a thing across psychology and even whole cultures for like forever, and considering that Jekyll and Hyde was written around and about the the creation of the psychology as a scientific field, Jekyll is has (for lack of a better word) discovered something very profound, important, and massively influential to the world around him. And positivity influential to!! It’s that iconic quote “if each could be housed in different Identities, the world would be relieved of all that is unbearable” I think he’s getting ahead of himself here and kinda self projecting but there is very real truth to the idea that studying the difference facets of human identity could improve people and society. And even if he’s dead fucking wrong still putting out the information would end up benefiting societies collective knowledge. Kinda like how Freud was so influential to psychology because some of his theories were so buck wild and wrong that people had to come and correct him, widening the scientific field as a whole.

And Jekyll doesn’t do that. This life altering information is kept to himself, for his own personal use, benefit, and pleasure. And that’s so fucking wild and horrific for so many fucking reasons. Like it goes against so many rules of behavior it’s FOUL. First of the selfishness and gate keeping is inherently just cruel, but this man is a DOCTOR, and a SCIENTIST. This motherfucker took an OATH BEFORE GOD to provide the best care to the people, and now that care, or at least information that could lead to better care, is being squandered for personal gain. That’s fucked. That’s criminal activity right there.

But also I dare you to find me a scientist that doesn’t want to share their research and passion THERE IS NONE. I may be basing this analysis off of a stereotype but I believe it’s a stereotype based in reality but isn’t this the very thing people who go into fields of science and research do??? Like, they are unified by their desire to explore and SHARE knowledge??? Even if like the Jekyll wasn’t a professional doctor with his Hippocratic oath just doing things for shits and giggles, how is the goal not to tell people about this?? This doctor isn’t doctoring the way doctors should. Jekyll keeping his discoveries to himself is also just borderline non human behavior to me because who actually in real life does that. Again how is the end goal not to share this discovery? Humans are social creatures we want to share things. Swapping stories around a campfire is like the oldest human tradition ever. If you’re out in the woods and see a cool frog the immediate reaction is to call your friends over to look, or take a picture, or something similar. WHEN I THINK OF NEW WAYS TO VIEW AND INTERPRET JEKYLL ANS HYDE, THE IMMEDIATE THOUGHT IS TO SHARE IT WITH MY FRIENDS. I cannot FATHOM how secrecy is Jekyll’s immediate desire as a fellow human who lives on this earth.

And this actually slots in with really well with Jekyll and Hyde as a social critique of the upper class. Keeping super important info to yourself is NOT a human activity in any capacity, but it is an institutional one. The best thing I can think of to describe and compare it to is oil companies history of actively suppressing information about climate change to stay in business. It’s a modern example but I feel so deeply that there is an 1800s equivalent that I just can’t think of or don’t know in this moment. But the point is, Jekyll isn’t a person (metaphorically speaking), he’s a institution of wealth and power doing what large institutions do best, profiting off of the the control and suppression of the people below them, in this case the control of information.

But of course, Jekyll literally speaking, is a person. He’s just some guy, and seeing a very very human character act without any human instinct so casually is freaky and 10/10 horror. Jekyll’s creation of Hyde isn’t a crime or a sin because Hyde is an evil thing that will do evil things, it’s horrifying because Jekyll’s choice to do so is inhumane in every definition of the word thank you for coming to my TedTalk have a nice day

#jekyll and hyde #the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #gothic literature #literature #henry jekyll #edward hyde #txt post #long post #my rambles

[rageprufrock]

can you please share with us more about your experiences relating to your response to the post “if you wouldn’t go to someone for advice, don’t take their criticism either” ?

(asking for a friend who’s struggling at work re: wanting validation and receiving criticism instead)

Unfortunately, very different situation for me. I had a work colleague-semi-mentor who I'd known for a long time, so it took a long time before I could really reconcile that their behavior was completely unacceptable and manipulative. It was a necessary period at the end of an increasingly toxic sentence.

As for your friend re: wanting validation and getting criticism, I do have some generalized insight on that.

One of the most difficult things about a professional career is not having clarity on your performance. Most managers aren't trained on how to manage people, which feels counterintuitive and insane, until you think about how organizations are structured: we usually progress into management after exceling as subject matter experts, which makes sense in some dimensions of work, but is cosmically cursed in so, so many other dimensions of work.

With the caveat that I can only speak to a certain species of Western aligned office for a certain phylum of profit generating organization: something I talk about with a lot of my earlier career employees and colleagues is the deep frustration of feedback, because it's multifaceted.

For a lot of folks it's the frustration and hurt of your manager never providing positive feedback for good work, because the de facto behavior in a lot of workplace environments is that silence is the positive review. It can leave you toiling away without knowing if you did well, or, knowing that you did well and not getting any acknowledgement for it.

This isn't great! A better trained and better prepared manager is as forthcoming with praise and encouragement as they are with constructive feedback. But that's an idealized workplace that doesn't exist in reality, and I think the most important thing to take away from this is that you're not in school anymore, and you can't get your validation from work. Unless you're one of the lucky ones and you work for an organization that's really invested in leadership training, you're likely to have to learn how to cope with this on your own.

You cannot and should not rely on your job for prestige or emotional validation, you shouldn't be looking to build great friendships there, to fall in love there. To be clear: all of these things are possible to gain through work, but none of them are guaranteed or even likely, and no one should expect them. Your job is the thing you do for money, so that you can do other things in life that will validate you emotionally and bring you joy--the job cannot be the thing itself. We all know people whose jobs are their entire personality, and not only is it terminally miserable sitting next to them at dinner parties, it is also not great for the person inflicting it upon you! No job will ever love you back, and you cannot, under any circumstances, let it become the whole of you, or to rely upon it for your sense of worth.

That's a long and intense way of saying: depending on the type of manager and the type of work your friend has, they may never get any validation, and they have to find a way to be okay with that.

But they also need to be honest with themselves, because is it that they're not getting positive feedback when they're delivering great work, or is it the "I turned around this 50 page presentation deck to you in two days and all you did was say that there were typos on four slides" experience?

Given the way you described it in the ask, my guess, and this is a rough one, because there isn't a lot of context here, is that they're doing work they think is good and only getting feedback that focuses on the smaller things that are wrong with it.

Firstly: hell yeah dude that fucking sucks.

Secondly: that said, you did have typos on four slides.

One of the other most significant transitions you make that nobody talks about when you move into the professional sphere is that you're no longer evaluated for effort. That can be a great or terrible thing.

That you spent 100 hours killing yourself to put this project together doesn't really matter if there's something embarrassing and dumb on page 16 that makes your boss look like an idiot in a meeting in front of the clients. As far as they're concerned, you weren't being paid for the 100 hours of effort, you were being paid for delivering something that would make them look smart in that presentation.

By that same token, if you can do that same backbreaking work in 15 minutes with a bunch of Excel macros and fuck around the rest of the day? Who cares--it's getting done, and if it's getting done well, great. Jobs are not forcing you to show your work.

But that doesn't change the sting of how much it sucks when you've worked so hard on something, and at the end of the day, the feedback you get is over something that you perceive to be petty.

Now there are a lot of different influences here: you could have a shitty manager who is just an asshole, you could be working with a fucking weirdo who needed to be shoved into more lockers as a teenager, you could be working for a sociopath--these are all possible.

But what's more likely, from what I have experienced professionally, is that you're likely working for someone who is busy, who hired you to take on something and own it, end to end, and who wants--desperately--to be able to give you work, and never have to think twice about its quality and to trust it absolutely, because it would simplify their life in some way. I'm saying this from personal experience. This is what I want--desperately--from my team, even though I know it is not realistic, and it's almost never possible in a seamless way.

So this is where it's really important that your friend be honest with themselves and evaluate whether those criticisms are--however frustrating--legitimate. Were there issues with the deliverable? Should they have done something different? Should they have communicated better? And if there's smoke there, try to work on gritting your teeth through the knee jerk emotional response and put out the fire, however small, because that's the grit that's going to help propel you through your very long professional career.

It's so, so, so frequently the little things, the rough edges, that feel so unfair to have called out. The typo on page 76. The weird formatting. That one image that uses the wrong hex code for red so it's cool instead of warm tone and that's bugging your leadership team.

But also these small things stand out in the face of an otherwise well-done deliverable. They mar the final work. I'm not saying the weight that they're given is entirely fair--it's not. But don't undercut your own hard work by letting yourself get sloppy as you're dragging across the finish line. You've worked way too fucking hard not to get the credit you deserve for all the work you did to get here. Of course it sucks that this is what anyone is going to notice instead of the broader value, but you can't control that--what you can control is building in time for a last review. Using your network of colleagues to help you give things a proof. Ensuring that you're communicating clearly with your team and manager. Fully take ownership of the stuff you can control, because that's how you're going to get your work taken seriously.

If you can do that, and you can be self-reflective and also detached enough not to let your work performance be an analog for your value, that's going to be an incredible asset as you continue to grow in your career. People say unhinged things to me all the time, and I'm not going to lie and tell you that it doesn't bother me at all anymore, but I'm really good at giving myself the beat, taking five, and then coming back with less immediately murderous reactivity to evaluate things on their actual merits. It means people aren't afraid to be honest with me when there are issues, and it means that I learn about them early enough that I can remediate them and stay a trusted partner and advisor in the workplace.

(And then I go to training and pretend the fucking 20 pound ball filled with sand is my manager and I throw him into walls yelling, "FUCK YOU DUDE," because that anger still has to go somewhere.)

I know it's probably not the answer you or your friend would want to hear, but it's the truth. I try my best to gas up my people by shouting from the rooftops when they do good work, but God knows I also make them crazy when they've spent a long time working on something only for me to tear it to shreds in editing or say, "thanks but this needs another proofing pass," and I'm sure they're plotting my death in bars about it.

#professional advice #advice

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Mixing Magic and Science to Shape Dragon Breath

I'd be lying if I said dragons weren't my favorite magical creatures. There are literally two of them on my desk right now, and I have handed more people the Temeraire books than I care to count. That said, the vast majority of my dragon experience is with what I'm gonna call white westerner dragons. If they're not literally fantasy British, they're inspired by fantasy British dragons, and the dragon world is just a lot bigger than that. So I was absolutely delighted to find a book with a Nampeshiwe and broaden my dragon horizons. Let's talk To Shape A Dragon's Breath.

When Kasaqua chooses Anequs to be Nampeshiweisit, it is largely a matter of safety that first convinces Aneques to leave Masquapaug to learn the skiltakraft to effectively Shape Kasaqua's breath. However, this is an Indigenous woman walking into the heart of Fantasy North America with flavors of Fantasy Nordic Countries, so... colonialism, white supremacy, racism, and imperialism are massive themes and major roadblocks that Anequs experiences. And experiences again. And again. And again. From literally everyone, from her friends, to uneasy allies, to indifferent classmates to bitter enemies. The nuance and variation in the racism that Anequs goes head to head with was stunning--as in it left me absolutely stunned.

On top of that, the world is developed to the point that Frau Kuiper keeps laying out multifaceted, multi-party political issues and Anequs just keeps having to go "literally all of these perspectives share the assumption that my people are uncivilized and need either exterminating or civilizing. What if we tried assuming we are people just as civilized as you with a culture culture traditions just as deeply held?" It's amazing how many characters tell Anequs that she is rude for suggesting that she is a person. Like the number of people I wanted to punch while reading was astounding.

That said, no character in this book is a simple allegory or one-dimensional caricature. Theod Knecht was separated from his family and his people at birth and raised to believe that the other way to be a person was to be Anglish--and even then, he could never be Anglish enough to be fully human. His arc is the complicated emotions of unlearning a system that says you have no worth and reconnecting with your people.

Sander is Anglish and coded as Autistic, but he and Anequs have one of my favorite friendships in this book. They take each other day by day on their own terms and at their own paces, and honestly Sander is just a sweetheart.

Liberty is in an interesting position because she is indentured and living in an Anglish society, which prohibits same-sex relationships. Which does not stop Anequs from expressing her feelings for Liberty in ways that are safe and supportive of Liberty. These two are darling and I genuinely cannot wait to see where they go in the sequel.

Then we come to Kasaqua. Kasaqua is just literally playfulness and joy in dragon form, and she is a delight. She isnt as talkative as say Naomi Novik or Rebecca Yarros's dragons are, but she is expressive and personality-filled nonetheless. There is also her deep-seated joy at [redacted because that's kind of a major spoiler and I don't want to spoil this book].

All these relationships really form and solidify at Kuiper's Academy of Natural Philosophy and Skiltakraft, to which Anequs receives a full sholarship. The school is like a mix of senior high school and undergrad at university, since students between 16 and 20 attend. Most of the students are male, with Anequs and Marta the only female students in attendance for this book. The school is run by Frau Kuiper, who, in her day, basically pulled a Mulan/Alanna of Trebond to get chosen by a dragon, trained, and then sent to the front of a war where she distinguished herself. Her "pet project" to to use Anequs and Theod to "prove that nackies can be civilized" which is honestly pretty gross and causes a metric ton of friction between her and Anequs. In the process though, Anequs learns lessons that it is debatable whether Frau Kuiper meant to teach her that I think will let her be heard in Anglish society enough to support and preserve her people.

Overall, this book was amazing. It was HEAVY, but it needed to be, and that weight just adds to the reading experience. This is one of those books that just literally everyone should have to read at some point.

#to shape a dragon's breath #moniquill blackgoose #anequs #kasaqua #indigenous literature #indigenous main character #indigenous dragons #dragons #books and reading #books and novels #books #books & libraries #book recommendations

[hollowtones]

as a publicly & happily trans woman on the internet you probably know how much you inspire young/nervous trans people that see you but i was wondering if you had any thoughts specifically on how your very positive trans presence effects audiences from a broadcasters perspective ?

Sometimes I get people who want to cause problems at me because I'm trans or gay or a woman, which is an experience that a lot of people online that aren't A Certain Kind Of Guy can relate to, unfortunately.

Many times, & with some regularity, I get well-meaning people (a lot of which seem to skew younger, and some of which are trans themselves) who... boil me down exclusively to the fact that I'm trans, or conflate everything I do and make with my transness, and I find that very frustrating. My transness is a very important and beloved part of who I am & how I understand myself & it's a lens that shapes how I view the world, but it's one part of myself! I'm a human being!! I'm multifaceted!! It feels almost condescending sometimes to know there are people out there whose entire concept of me is "oh yeah, you're The Trans One" in anything I do. I know a depressing amount of people that can relate in one way or another.

The positives are generally harder to see, outside of people coming up & outright saying "hey thanks for being you & for building an inclusive and welcoming community" (& partly because it's always easier to focus on the negatives). I do appreciate people saying that to me, obviously, it always makes me very happy to know I'm doing something right, but outside of that it's like... You know how you can be feeling comfortable inside on a cold day, then you have to step outside for whatever reason and it's 20 degrees below freezing and there's ice everywhere and you think "oh yeah, heaters exist, thank god for that"? It's like that.

There are a lot of nice and interesting and fun people that frequent my streams because I strive to make 'em a place that's welcome for them, and there are a lot of unpleasant and miserable people I don't want to spend time or energy on that get turned off by that and stay away, and then I look at 90% of streams on Twitch or YouTube and I realize "oh, right, thank god my streams don't feel like that". It's a very good thing, IMO, but very much a case of "you don't know what you've got til it's gone", I guess.

This is a little long-winded, and I don't know if this really answers the question you're asking me, sorry. I'm assuming you mean "from a broadcaster's perspective" as in "how does this affect your streams and your reception" and not something else.

[kaelio]

A few points for YA Authors:

1. People can have sex that they later wish they hadn't had, in the complete absence of any kind of abuse. I've ordered meals that I ended up not liking (or where I'd have preferred something else) and the restaurant did not wrong me or treat me inappropriately. Sometimes it just didn't work out with someone and sex was something you did in that relationship.

2. Things like colonialism and imperialism are complex and multifaceted, with many stakeholders with many different values. If you have an idea that will "solve" them, I recommend writing an academic paper so you can be showered in Nobel prizes instead of a story about a witch who works at the candy store.

3. If you are going to take a real stand, that means real consequences. You can't be like "But because Bopper's values were so good, it was actually fine to cede all agricultural land in the world of Frigno back to the singing butterflies. Grain fell from the sky now!" If you mean it, if you REALLY mean the stuff you're saying, your point is stronger for your willingness to show real consequences of that decision. Take your position seriously, or the readership should not be expected to take it seriously.

4. If you insist writers can only write "what they know" and anything else is problematic, you imply people should only really write autobiographies (dumb). However even a lesser version would make books whiter and more upper-middle-class because that's the commonest writer demo. This is true for a few largely unfair structural reasons, but it is true. If YA Writers were to only really write themselves for fear of overstepping, the genre gets less representative of the world because writers, as a group, are not representative of the world. Learn more and research more, talk to more people, and encourage other authors to do the same.

5. If you claim that it's super important that you research other cultures before writing about them (and I agree!), you must concede it is equally important to research business and economics and other things that affect the validity of the claims you are making.

6. Your characters' uniqueness should come from their personality and character not from demographic checkboxes. Tokenism is not just limp but indefensible when you control the entire narrative.

7. Let your characters make actual mistakes that are the result of their actual decisions which logically flow from their actual values. A character who is never really making decisions is basically just that art project robot that got its ass kicked in Philadelphia.

8. You don't have to always do a "twist on" a recognized thing. You can write werewolves that do not in any way challenge the normal perception of werewolfdom. Whatever you've landed on needs to serve the story first, not prove how clever and special you personally are.

9. If someone hates you personally, they will find a way to use your book as a conduit for that hatred and as an excuse for that hatred. You can't write a book where this isn't the case, so don't write your book with that expectation or as if you have any way to prevent this. Focus on writing a good book.

10. Whether you can use a fantasy/sci-fi element as a stand-in for a real world issue relies entirely on the competent execution of that idea. I know this sounds obvious, but yes, something might be outside your capacity to pull off (or in that story), but that is not inherent. In some cases it might be much harder, or too challenging to justify the attempt, but symbolism works to the extent that you make it work based on your capabilities as an author.

11. If half your book is basically just a thinly-disguised rant at how much you hate your parents... rip off that disguise! Don't be coy about it! If that's what you're writing about, just write about that. Why play games? If you think your parents could now read your book and not realize it's about them, you've also obscured your feelings for your audience. Do it or don't do it, but for the love of all things, don't half-ass it.

12. You do not solve any of the problems in your story by making your lead characters so pathetic that you can claim it's mean or unfair for the readership to "judge" them.

13. The only perfect metaphor for a thing is the thing itself, so test your metaphors and make sure they work, but do not hold them to the standard of translating perfectly, because they can't. That they are not 1:1 the thing is because they are metaphors for the thing.

14. Similarly, no fictional relationship can be held up to the standard of representing all relationships. You have to let this expectation go. People also need to be able to have relationships that are not framed as "lessons".

15. If you include warfare, research warfare enough that the conflicts are credible. If you don't want to do that, then the simple answer is don't put warfare in your books. It's YOUR book, YOU made that choice.

16. Overall, remember: your book exists to be a book first and foremost. It is not a treatise on you communicated via your book; if you want your book to be about yourself, write an autobiography. Otherwise, focus on telling a good story.

[falling-skyzz]

hey, i have some concerns regarding your sapphic glorybringer post, particularly about the representation behind it.

deathbringer in general is not a great character, and his dynamic with glory doesn't help his case. it can't be forgotten that deathbringer was originally supposed to kill glory and her friends, and making him fall in love with his target is just an abhorrent decision on tui's end, not to mention that he's twice her age when they first met (regardless if his age was a mistake or not). he's just a creep; he made many unwanted advances that were shut down multiple times and ignored it. making him queer doesn't really change any of that.

having deathbringer be transfem in particular makes it worse, perpetuating the harmful stereotypes imposed on trans women. I have a friend who is transfem herself and has a great issue with headcanoning characters associated with violence as transfem, which is wildly common in this fandom. even then, sapphic glorybringer has these implications that queer relationships are dangerous because of their dynamic. making them queer also doesn't erase their already existing issues. the label isn't some saving grace that masks the problems in their characters. this applies to deathbringer especially, and, as a queer person myself, having the queer and transfem label being associated with his predatory character is the worst form of representation that we can get.

you may have not considered these implications, and while I don't have any particular issue with making queer hcs just for fun, it becomes a problem when the characters in question don't serve as good queer representation because of how they are written.

before i say anything, id like to state that i am a cis female lesbian, and i had this checked over by a friend who is trans male.

first off, as you said, the glorybringer age difference was a complete mistake by tui. completely fine if you dont like the ship anyways, but glorybringer was never intended to be an age gap ship.

what im getting from your ask, though, is that because deathbringer was originally sent to kill glory and company, even though he grew and changed from his assassin mindset, youre saying that trans people cant be written in the enemies-to-lovers trope, and that they should be always written in a simple and positive light. deathbringer does do things that can be considered predatory, but his character is overall complex, nuanced, and up to the reader to decide whether they like him or not, but saying that a character like this cannot be trans is saying that all trans characters cant be complicated. this would be a different story if glorybringer had a clear power imbalance, but that is absolutely not the case.

i can see where your concerns are coming from, but by avoiding writing people of a certain gender or sexuality into tropes that arent perfectly healthy, youre also invalidating a whole bunch of shows with imperfect queer characters. its so important to portray trans people through multifaceted lenses.

#ask #answered #ava askbox

[myths-tournaments]

Awful Characters Round 3 (4/8)

Propaganda under the cut!

AZULA

Azula explicitly considers herself a monster. She says needlessly cruel things to her brother and friends. She kills the show's twelve-year-old protagonist and masterminds the idea of burning down the entire Earth Kingdom to force them to submit to Fire Nation rule. I have absolutely seen people get called abuse apologists for thinking she's a cool character. But she's also a (canonically) mentally ill fourteen-year-old who was raised by her father to see her ability to be weaponized as her only value. Her mother, arguably the only adult in her life who could have had a positive impact, had a strained relationship with her because she was more difficult than her brother, and then disappeared when she was nine. Her uncle, who was her brother's main healthy role model, took absolutely no interest in her. She watched her father belittle her brother for years and eventually throw him away when he failed to meet his expectations, so that was a threat she was always facing. She really had no chance. And she also has moments that suggest she wants some sort of meaningful connection with another person. She lets her brother take credit for killing the Avatar so he can come back from exile, even though it means she'll be bumped back in the order of succession and offers him advice that seems genuine. Her spiral into a mental breakdown starts when her friends betray her. She's just a much more interesting and multifaceted than a lot of the fandom gives her credit for.

ELIAS BOUCHARD

He manipulates the main character consistently, makes a character cry by telling him how much he looks like his dad, forces the knowledge of her father's dearh into a different characters head and ends the world through aformentioned manipulation of the main character

(this is about jonah!elias to be clear, og!elias is a different character) i love him so much he's so much fun but i'm not very open about it because he's the main villain and some people are very weird about it,,,, i have seen people say he's a personification of capitalism and if you like him you support capitalism or you didn't get the point of tma (which is just wrong, tma is vaguely a metaphor for capitalism yes but also for a lot of other things and elias isn't even a capitalist he runs a non-profit?) so many people call him homophobic or racist (because he's technically from the 1800s) and say if you like him you're a bad person but there are literally no canon basis for that at all (plus. he's literally a fictional character) i have actually seen a parody of the miku binder thing with elias to say that people who like him are just like people who woobify jefferson. which. what. you'd think people would latch on to the brutal pipe murder or the eye gouging that lead to body possession for his quest to be immortal or the constant manipulation to call him a terrible person but no apparently?? (or the. y'know. literally ending the world)

#awful characters tournament #tournament poll #awful characters round 3 #avatar the last airbender #atla #azula #the magnus archives #tma #elias bouchard

[joinvoda]

Being Queer and Happily Single

Finding Joy in Being Single: A Journey to Self-Love and Happiness 🌈💫

Hey wonderful beings! 🌟

Sometimes it can feel like we’re constantly being pressured to find that special someone.

The pressure of singlehood can sometimes feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

But the truth is, you can be happy no matter if you’re dating, in love, or single.

Here’s a short guide on we can find joy and self-love when we’re single.

🌷 Living in the Present: Whether you’re into monogamy, polyamory, or any form of connection, you can cultivate joy and practice gratitude while being single. Good coffee tastes good no matter if you’re single or partnered. You can still spend time with your friends, read your favourite books, or enjoy your special self-care rituals.

🍀 Self-Awareness and Self-Compassion: Often, it’s not the act of being single that is upsetting us, but the narratives we have woven around being single. Start observing your inner dialogue about being single. What stories do you tell yourself about your singlehood? Is it gentle? Or laden with shame and regret? 

💜 Speak to Yourself Kindly: Heighten your self-awareness and be kind to yourself. For example, instead of telling yourself, “I’m single because no one wants me,” you can reframe: “I’m currently single and this allows me to focus on myself and learn about what I truly want.” Remember that you have so many positive qualities; you’re funny, you have passions, and you’re worthy of love.

🔍 Being Complete in Solitude: Societal norms often paint singlehood as a phase of incompleteness, but embracing solitude or casual connections is equally valid. We are complete by ourselves, even though others can complement us, too. So many people find joy with just being in their own presence. Our existence is multifaceted, and not just confined to romantic bonds. 

🌈 Exploring Therapy: Growing up queer might have isolated many of us, hindering our emotional exploration. But now, we have the resilience and capabilities to learn from our past and embrace therapy to unravel our emotional narratives and foster self-love.

If singlehood feels overwhelming, and you desire to traverse this journey with support... We at Voda are here with you. 

Voda offers a variety of free features like queer-led meditations, daily mood check-ins, and a series of free self-guided therapy programmes on topics such as coming out, love, and gender dysphoria.

Please note that some programmes require a monthly subscription, we ensure that plenty of our features are available for free to the community, plus everything is accessible for free in the first 7 days. 

However, if you are in need of mental health support and facing financial constraints, please feel free to send us a message as we have scholarships available. Everyone deserves access to mental health support and we’re here for you.

You can download Voda here.

Stay radiant,

Voda 🌈💜

#lgbtq #LGBTQIA #lgbtmentalhealth #lgbtqplus #mental health #selflove #mentalhealth #therapy #queer shame #queer love #queer community #queer pride #Mindfulness #self awareness #self-love #meditation #singlelife #lgbtqia+

[transtalesofdoom]

Rambles about TERFs, miscommunications, and echo chambers

Accidentally looked at a TERF blog and by accidentally I mean I clicked on it and scrolled down knowing it was a TERF, and didn't leave the very moment it made me uncomfortable.

Yikes, dudes. I know algorithm-based social media creates echo chambers, but yikes. It's so sad. They call themselves feminists, and I want to believe them. I'm going to believe that they want the best for women. But they've been so misled, so caught up in their anti-trans rhetoric, they've lost the plot.

This isn't something that's exclusive to TERFs, either. Every stance, no matter how well-intentioned, will eventually turn harmful if taken to a strong enough extreme. Let's do an example I frequently fall into myself:

"Gender is such a complex spectrum that applying a norm based on genitals at birth is detrimental." I think, if we sat down and discussed this calmly, TERFs and I could agree on this. There are more ways to be a woman than just one. There are more ways to being a man than just one. Neither is abnormal for not adhering to stereotypes. (Nonbinary identities are a different talking point for now, this post is getting long enough.) "There are no cis people." This is what I say more often. To me, it's the same stance, but I've exaggerated to the point of being reductive. What I mean is the same as the above. I'm trying to say that gender is too multifaceted to compress into a binary system, that the way we've structured the system makes it impossible to find any standardized norm that doesn't exclude a majority of people. I mean to convey that gender is an experience, and no person ever has the exact same experiences in their life. If I say "There are no cis people" to my agender roommate, they know what I'm trying to say. This is because we've had similar discussions. We've gone down the path from "Gender is such a complex spectrum that applying a norm based on genitals at birth is detrimental." together. If I say it to my cis cousin, he looks at me like I've lost my mind and tells me he's worried about the online circles I've been in. He has no context for my statement. I've reached a reductive extreme. If I now go into my local (read: online) trans positive echo chamber, I can say "There are no cis people" and some folks in my echo chamber will understand what I mean and echo it. And some people will not understand what I mean, but echo it regardless. And some people will fully misunderstand what I mean and echo it. I get no pushback for the reductive wording. They don't get any pushback for their reductive wording or misunderstanding. The cycle then repeats, until the statement has completely alienated an entire demographic.

The TERF echo chamber works the same. Every echo chamber works the same. The rift between factions and their respective echo chambers widens and widens. It's near impossible to have a productive conversation with a TERF, not because we're both bad at discussing, it's because we're working on entirely different levels. I'm not going to convince someone that trans people aren't evil if they fundamentally do not believe trans people exist. I can point to as many examples of trans people doing good as I want, but if you believe that the act of being trans is an inherently malicious act of deception, that won't sway you.

I've seen a bunch of discussion between TERFs and trans allies about whether trans identities, rhetoric, people, etc are dangerous to children or women or society or whatever. And it will never get anywhere. Because one side argues that a group of people should get to exist in peace. The other side does not believe this group of people is real.

I wish I had the patience to sit down and explain to every TERF calmly and respectfully why trans people are in fact real. Talk them through the science and the experiences of trans people. Show them why misogyny and transphobia share a common root of upholding the status quo and suppressing minorities. But I don't. I don't have the strength to repeatedly advocate for my very existence. I don't have the energy to explain that my experience with gender is both scientifically backed and valid even without scientific backing. I don't have the patience to convince people that I'm not a threat to anything but the status quo, and that the status quo should be abolished.

I'm a feminist. I'm a trans. I'm a woman. I'm not a woman. All of these are exhausting. And they'd be a little less exhausting if we could stop infighting and focus on our real enemy: Ronald Reagan.

Recommended reading: my post on the connection between transphobia and misogyny.

If you've read this far, and you'd like to engage in discussion, do so respectfully. I will block anyone who completely ignores the point of this post and resorts to attacks rather than dialing it down to find common ground to work from. Good faith discussion only and from all sides. I'm not your battleground. I'm tired.

I also welcome the addition of any comprehensive, accurate, and respectful source.

#serious post #long post #trans #transgender #genderqueer #lgbtq #queer #trans experience #misogyny #transphobia #terfs may look at this post without threat of my hooves #in fact terfs probably should look at this post #terf #crimes against the gender convention #trans rights #social media is a prison #be fucking kind to each other #peace and love

[nadiawritessomething]

Part of my analysis of Miles G. One of many takes.

I. Start

Today, I want to talk about the teak "42 Miles is actually almost the same as our Miles, just serious in the moment because of suspicion"

And, okay, I understand why people want what they want, considering it an "unexpected plottist" and something "fun" just as much as they want something more simple and twisted at the same time, but now I'm going to explain a little bit why I think they can't possibly be incredibly similar or identical in character in my personal opinion.

Before I start, let me explain: I'm just as absolutely sick of Miles G's idea of a "cold emotionless hard abuser" because it's just as completely wrong, and even much worse. I just don't like it when people go to extremes and I want to analyse the character a little bit from the point of view of my small knowledge of human psychology.

II. "Don't judge a book by its cover"

Let's start with the premise that Miles G, or 42, as I'll sometimes call him, is not like the man we've been shown. And this is true.

We have the director's words that "we can't judge a book by its cover", the fact that there were many discussions on this topic in interviews with the film's authors, and, finally, the official information about Miles G. being a vigilante, which first appeared in the art book and was confirmed during #WilesWeek on Twitter with concept art and test animation that was posted even earlier.

But, with all that said, I don't think it's a hint that 42 is a completely different character. It's just a hint that he's much more complex and multifaceted than he seems at first glance, and that he has his own negative and positive traits.

Because in those three minutes, he looks too cold and serious, which gives rise to all these y/n fanfics about a cold abuser and a cruel destroyer of all life. This is the reason why many people (including me), before more official information came out, thought he was a villain.

And all these facts, shown above, do not point to his opposite character, but simply hint that he is not a villian, that he is much more complex than this concept, and is striving for justice and honour.

III. A different world

Now, let's talk about that in terms of psychology and obvious facts; yes, 1610 and 42 are the same person, and yes, some parts of character are innate (i.e., for example, some babies are quieter than others almost from birth, some are louder, and some like different kinds of toys), and so the different versions of Miles must have something in common. But a VERY large part of a person's character is formed in society, with the people and society around them and the world in which they grow up. And this is an aspect that is incredibly different in 42!Miles and 1610!Miles.

While our Miles lived in a world where he had someone to protect, a full family that loved him incredibly, initially had a circle of friends at his old school (until he transferred, of course, because the fact that 1610 has no friends left in his universe is one of the main conflicts of the second part), and generally lived the life of a normal Brooklyn teenager, the life of his alternate version seems to have gone to Hell from the very beginning.

He lived and grew up in a world full of crime (because, judging by the concepts of 42 Earth, thieves have been there for a long time, at least 5-10 years, having their own casinos, buildings, businesses all over the city. And, judging by this, 42 had to become Spider-Man to stop it when it was already there, just not as strong as it had become)

Also, judging by his Spanish accent, he lived (and raised) mostly with his mother, which suggests that 42 lost his father at an early age, much earlier than 1610 lost his uncle Aaron.

And, in a world full of crime and trauma, medical work is in great demand, more than ever, and so Rio42 is likely working overtime so that he can see his son (whom he obviously loves very much and was with him all the time) less often than they both would like.

And let's not forget the fact that 42's life was literally stolen, taking away so many chances to protect his loved ones better than he could. Lately he replaced what was stolen by doing the best he could, but don't tell me that such a life would not have affected his psyche and character as he began to form his identity further.

IV. We have our three minutes.

And let's talk about the last three minutes of the film, which, of course, are designed to confuse us, but they couldn't have been designed for that purpose alone. The person depicted there is still Miles G., yes, in a certain stressful situation, but the words he says are still his.

And here we see, one - he's really very traumatised by the death of his father, and Jefferson is the issue that interests him first and foremost, confirming my headcanon that he puts family and his own interests above everything else.

Two, he makes a clear distinction between his father and our Miles' father, which he explicitly says, most likely because his father's death is one of his main motivations for doing what he does and he does not want to give himself false hope.

Three, he doesn't want to let go of our Miles and sees nothing wrong with intimidating him and showing him who he is. Which probably tells us that a) he needs 1610 for something, because he clearly doesn't plan to kill him (then he could have done it much earlier, but he just knocked him out), b) he really does everything solely within his own interests, which are not yet known - good or more twisted (I don't say "bad" because that would be wrong). And, in addition, c) he does indeed use different methods and cannot be as innocent as commentators on the Internet sometimes say.

(Also, we have a few frames of the comic that was shown before the punching bag scene, and it's Miles and Miles G./Uncle Aaron talking about who the "real bad guys" are)

V. Man is created by the world

I say all of this to get to my theory that people raised in different worlds and families (in integrity) cannot have absolutely identical characters, even if they are the same person in the multiverse. Miles G. is not as manless and cruel as we are shown, but living in a world full of crime forces him to sharpen and change his concept of morality, different from that of "our" Miles. It is not "crueler", just, in my opinion, more radical in certain aspects.

(That doesn't mean he'll kill innocent children and women, no, never in his life, but he'll kick the bad guys' asses as much as he can according to how much they deserve it. And yes, in my vision, he can kill a person if he sees it as the only way out of a situation, especially (and usually) if that person is a criminal).

Now, before I conclude, let's address a few points that people are making as a counterpoint to my point and explain why it can't still work without Miles and Miles G. being identical people.

VI. A Vigilante

"But he is a vigilante, and they are always very good people!"

Yes, he is a vigilante. And "vigilante" is an incredibly broad term. In fact, a vigilante is a person who takes the concept of justice and the eradication of crime into his own hands. That's why Spider-Man, in its classical sense, is also a vigilante.

But the concept of "justice and eradication of crime" is as broad as the concept of an individual's morality. For example, Batman is also a vigilante, and he has more brutal methods (which is why it is quite logical when Miles G. is compared to him in this concept, and not to Spider-Man). Again, I'm not saying they're bad, and Miles G. definitely brings a bit of calm and peace to this burning place with his actions, but everything has a price. And 42 is paying it.

VII. A loving mother

"Okay, but they were both raised by Rio!"

Yes, and she definitely wouldn't have let her child grow up the way she is portrayed in these "x reader" works. That's another reason why I really condemn them.

I'm not saying that Miles G. is all steely and impenetrable in his true character, although he most likely wants to appear that way to society and his enemies, almost blending in, but that's still not who he is. He is incredibly in love with Rio and would destroy anyone for her in a heartbeat, on the rare nights they are together, Miles watches melodramas on TV with her, he loves comics and designing tech stuff, he has a simple and silly sense of humour, and he is more than capable of being clumsy and silly in moments when things don't go as he expected and are out of his control. He is a HUMAN being, and he has his own beautiful, warm personality traits that make him come alive in my head.

Rio, despite the fact that she doesn't see her son that often and is very exhausted at work, has done a wonderful job. Most of these serious, broken character traits that Miles G. has in him have been nurtured by society, by the universe, not by Rio. (Well, maybe Aaron's influence has played a role, too)

And one more important part about this tie-in. Jefferson also raised Miles, and please don't pretend that this had no influence on him. It was from Jefferson and his easy going nature that Miles got (and learnt partly too, which is important) was from Jefferson, who is a bit more straightforward in this regard.

Rio, in contrast, is also willing to literally kill for her family, and at times her character is more abrupt and radical in moments that personally affect her (just look at the moment with B in Spanish). This doesn't take away from the fact that she is a wonderful, warm, loving mother and a very kind-hearted person, but why wouldn't she teach Miles to respond fairly to people who have hurt him or those he cares about? I'm sure 1610 Miles had this lesson too, but in a slightly different way, because Jefferson, as a police officer, sees the matter from a more working, official and "legal" perspective. It seems to me that while Jeff is a "tell other people or call the police if someone is being mean" type of parent, Rio is a "just punch them in the face" type of parent.

VIII. Results

And so, my final thesis for those who have read this bloody essay to the end: Miles G. and our Miles are neither "the same" nor "opposite". They are different, and only BTSV can tell us exactly how different. Until then, everyone can see things differently, and you should understand their opinion as well as mine (as long as it's not stereotypical, racist, or makes you want to throw up your dinner)

Thank you for reading!

#miles 42 #miles morales #across the spiderverse #atsv #aaron davis #rio morales #jefferson morales #miles 1610 #character analysis #theories #my thoughts #wiles week

[yuzukahibiscus]

Minami Maito: An artist who conveys kindness and strength

She attracts attention with her energetic dancing full of dynamic. She fascinates the audiences with her acting full of human touch that deepens the performance. (Please read Chinese below the cut, 中文翻譯如下）

Last year, Minami Maito-san brought a charismatic performance playing as the movie star Kuraoka Ginshirō whom you couldn’t hate even though he is egoistic. 

“Since (Gin-chan)’s such a messed up guy, at first I couldn’t understand him at all. Even though it’s important to exchange and converse lines with my partners, director Ishida Masaya was saying that it’s alright if we don’t stress on communication. Gin-chan is someone that thinks people should adapt to him and he could understand what’s going on. But there’s something about him standing out that even if he’s clumsy, he loves everyone and I wonder if that makes me more accept him better. So while learning that there are people like that, I had fun since then learning how to perceive roles in a different angle.”

This character arc can be established because Minami-san has a warm personality that everyone around her admires. But there were times when she was lost. 

“These few years, there were many occasions where I mentioned I felt the warmth, and as a person I’m very grateful and thankful for that. It’s just I wonder if I’m being pretentious in playing the role, that would probably be my weakness. How I could do better is a challenge that I’ve been facing with myself recently.”

This became clear to her when she played Kouzukenosuke in “Genroku Baroque Rock”. He was an ambitious character with the desire of wanting to have the world for himself and she played him embodying with his impulsive force and fear. 

“The more I can express how much I wanted to have the world for myself, the more this reflects how much the Akō Domain hates me. Even though they’re really glaring at me, I’m still insistent on my beliefs so it’s like “So what?” kind of feeling, and that kind of acting was interesting.”

She was also reminded of her roles a lot. 

“During the time of “Years of Pilgrimage”, I play Chopin who had this inherent faith and passion for music and he was someone that everyone saw as a genius. If  you look at the overview of the story, the idea (that Chopin was a genius) is straightforward and consistent, but it’s essential for me to make the idea persuasive in the role, since I don't have the idea of how a genius should be portrayed. In order to show that by just standing, I have to solidly create that sense from within the role too. Every time I take a role, I could overcome some challenges. So I felt that the teachers in Takarazuka are really full of love.”

Now, she’s in a position where she’s supporting her douki Yuzuka-san who is a Top (Star). With both of them having these contrasting vibes when they stand together is how Flower Troupe can showcase their vibrantly multifaceted charms. 

“Everyone is so full of that bright passion for the performing arts. This probably begins from the upperclassmen till now, and now you can see that in Yuzuka’s attitude towards the performing arts. Every day, she would film herself and then later objectively looking through it and studying it. Just seeing that hardworking appearances is inspiring. For the troupe, it feels like because of the Top-san that everything changed drastically. For me, I want be as closest to her, to sensitively observe what Yuzuka wants the troupe to be and how she wants everyone to be and so that I could tell these clearly to the troupe members. It’s not presumptuous that I’m supporting them, but I want to be friends with them as we can improve together as Flower Troupe.”

If we speak of Minami-san, she was also lauded for her powerful dynamic dancing. 

“Since I was only doing ballet before I entered Takarazuka, I was so happy that I could dance all the time in underclassmen days. But now, I’m happy with expressing anything on stage including my dancing. Also I’m so delighted to do this and share the time with my friends and the audience.”

Next year (2023) in the Grand Theatre performance, what can we expect from Minami-san with her dynamic dancing? 

“What can I say (LOL). The show’s author and director Noguchi (Kousaku)-sensei is a teacher that really loves Takarazuka and especially the otokoyaku, so I’m sure that he’s going to feature some charismatic scenes with the cool Hanaotoko (otokoyaku in Flower Troupe), right? (LOL) I’ll be excited too.”

Now, she speaks about her aspirations about being an otokoyaku with depth and with ease.

“Even though I’m quite normal, I seem to have more energy than other people and I was just often told that I was a passionate otokoyaku (LOL). So this time I don’t want to be as straightforward but also exploring myself in various perspectives and directions. Since Takarazuka is also changing with the times, I hope to incorporate some modern elements and also remain some ancient but wonderful traditions. So while blending both of these, I could continue taking on new challenges without fear, and be able to meet a self I haven’t encountered yet.

Minami Maito・Born in Osaka. Entered Takarazuka Revue in 2009, assigned to Flower Troupe. Attracting attention for her beautiful dancing, she was the main role for the newcomers’ performance of “Embraced by the Seas of Calista” in 2015. She was also the lead role for “Senhor Cruzeiro!” in 2018 and “Ginchan’s Love” in 2021.

#minami maito #flower troupe #水美舞斗 #takarazuka #takarazuka revue #hibiscustranslation

[optimal-living-lab]

The Health Benefits of Outdoor Activities

In today's fast-paced world dominated by technology and indoor living, spending time outdoors might seem like a luxury. However, connecting with nature and engaging in outdoor activities is more than just a leisure pursuit; it's also crucial for our physical and mental well-being. From reducing stress to improving physical fitness, the benefits of outdoor activities are numerous and diverse.

1. Improved Mental Health

One of the most significant advantages of spending time outdoors is its positive impact on mental health. Studies have shown that exposure to nature can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. The sights, sounds, and smells of the outdoors can have a calming effect on the mind, promoting relaxation and improving overall mood. Activities such as hiking, gardening, or simply taking a walk in the park can help clear the mind and alleviate symptoms of stress and anxiety.

2. Increased Vitamin D Levels

Sunlight is a natural source of vitamin D, which plays a crucial role in maintaining bone health, regulating mood, and supporting the immune system. Spending time outdoors allows our bodies to absorb sunlight, leading to increased vitamin D production. Adequate levels of vitamin D are essential for overall health and can help prevent various health conditions, including osteoporosis, heart disease, and certain types of cancer.

3. Enhanced Physical Fitness

Outdoor activities offer numerous opportunities for physical exercise, contributing to improved fitness levels and overall health. Whether it's cycling, hiking, swimming, or playing sports, outdoor activities provide a fun and enjoyable way to stay active. Regular exercise helps maintain a healthy weight, strengthens muscles and bones, and reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions.

4. Better Sleep Quality

Exposure to natural light during the day can help regulate the body's internal clock, leading to better sleep at night. Spending time outdoors, especially in the morning, can help synchronize your circadian rhythm, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. Additionally, physical activity during the day can promote deeper and more restful sleep, further enhancing overall sleep quality.

5. Stress Reduction

Nature has a calming effect on the human mind, helping to reduce stress and promote relaxation. Activities such as hiking, gardening, or simply sitting in a park can provide a welcome escape from the pressures of daily life. Being surrounded by greenery and natural landscapes can lower cortisol levels, the hormone associated with stress, and increase feelings of well-being and tranquility.

6. Boosted Immune System

Spending time outdoors exposes us to various natural elements, which can help strengthen our immune system. Fresh air, sunlight, and exposure to different environments can stimulate the production of white blood cells and enhance immune function. Additionally, outdoor activities often involve physical exercise, which has been shown to improve immune response and reduce the risk of infections and illness.

7. Connection with Nature

In today's urbanized world, many people are disconnected from the natural world. Engaging in outdoor activities allows us to reconnect with nature, fostering a sense of appreciation and stewardship for the environment. Whether it's observing wildlife, exploring forests, or simply enjoying a picnic in the park, spending time outdoors reminds us of the beauty and importance of the natural world.

In conclusion, the benefits of outdoor activities for health are vast and multifaceted. From improving mental well-being to boosting physical fitness and immune function, spending time in nature offers a range of advantages that contribute to a healthier and happier life. So, next time you have the opportunity, step outside and enjoy all that the great outdoors has to offer.

#healthy lifestyle #health tips #healthcare #fitness #health and wellness #healthy living #wellness #health #diet #exercise #energy #nature #wellbeing