#some thoughts I’ve been having

[ketchuppee]

During the 2008 recession, my aunt lost her job. Her, her partner, and my three cousins moved across the country to stay with us while they got back on their feet. My house turned from a family of four to a family of nine overnight, complete with three dogs and five cats between us.

It took a few years for them to get a place of their own, but after a few rentals and apartments, they now own a split level ranch in a town nearby. I’ve lost track of how many coworkers and friends have stayed with them when they were in a tight spot. A mother and son getting out of an abusive relationship, a divorcee trying to stay local for his kids while they work out a custody agreement, you name it. My aunt and uncle knew first hand what that kindness meant, and always find space for someone who needed it, the way my parents had for them.

That same aunt and uncle visited me in [redacted] city last year. They are prolific drinkers, so we spent most of the day bar hopping. As we wandered the city, any time we passed a homeless person, my uncle would pull out a fresh cigarette and ask them if they had a light. Regardless of if they had a lighter on hand or not, he offered them a few bucks in exchange, which he explained to me after was because he felt it would be easier for them to accept in exchange for a service, no matter how small.

I work for a company that produces a lot of fabric waste. Every few weeks, I bring two big black trash bags full of discarded material over to a woman who works down the hall. She distributes them to local churches, quilting clubs, and teachers who can use them for crafts. She’s currently in the process of working with our building to set up a recycling program for the smaller pieces of fabric that are harder to find use for.

One of my best friends gives monthly donations to four or five local organizations. She’s fortunate enough to have a tech job that gives her a good salary, and she knows that a recurring donation is more valuable to a non-profit because they can rely on that money month after month, and can plan ways to stretch that dollar for maximum impact. One of those organizations is a native plant trust, and once she’s out of her apartment complex and in a home with a yard, she has plans to convert it into a haven of local flora.

My partner works for a company that is working to help regulate crypto and hold the current bad actors in the space accountable for their actions. We unfortunately live in a time where technology develops far too fast for bureaucracy to keep up with, but just because people use a technology for ill gain doesn’t mean the technology itself is bad. The blockchain is something that she finds fascinating and powerful, and she is using her degree and her expertise to turn it into a tool for good.

I knew someone who always had a bag of treats in their purse, on the odd chance they came across a stray cat or dog, they had something to offer them.

I follow artists who post about every local election they know of, because they know their platform gives them more reach than the average person, and that they can leverage that platform to encourage people to vote in elections that get less attention, but in many ways have more impact on the direction our country is going to go.

All of this to say, there’s more than one way to do good in the world. Social media leads us to believe that the loudest, the most vocal, the most prolific poster is the most virtuous, but they are only a piece of the puzzle. (And if virtue for virtues sake is your end goal, you’ve already lost, but that’s a different post). Community is built of people leveraging their privileges to help those without them. We need people doing all of those things and more, because no individual can or should do all of it. You would be stretched too thin, your efforts valiant, but less effective in your ambition.

None of this is to encourage inaction. Identify your unique strengths, skills, and privileges, and put them to use. Determine what causes are important to you, and commit to doing what you can to help them. Collective action is how change is made, but don’t forget that we need diversity in actions taken.

#long post #some thoughts I’ve been having

[loveyourownsmiilee]

A question I keep asking myself is why ABC is so adamant about Ryan and Oliver promoting together and using these two as the face of this season. Like we’ve gotten many articles about their storylines, both alone and together. We also see how both men did two hours of press today that should be released soon. Now why would this network want to use these two young, relatively good looking men to promote the show when they have such big names like Angela Bassett, Peter Krause and Jennifer Love Hewitt on the show. Let’s not forget about Kenneth Choi and Aisha Hinds because they’re all big names and it would generally be in ABC’s best interest to use big named actors to promote their newest show. Especially when you consider that Angela and Peter’s characters have a three episode story arc and JLH and Kenny’s characters are getting married this season. So where are all of their joint interviews??? Why are Oliver and Ryan doing all this press and joint interviews if they’re just “best friends” and have nothing important happening with their characters. I just feel like all this would be too excessive and a bad business move on ABC’s part if it’s all for nothing and just to get fans’ hopes up for nothing. So I just, idk it’s all suspicious and makes me question these things that ABC is doing with Oliver and Ryan bc if they do all this only for it to not lead anywhere, what are they gonna do if and when Buddie is meant to go canon??? They can’t pull this publicity shit again and have fans irritated since it never lead to anything of substance the first time around. If all this is for absolutely nothing and just to convince fans to tune in by using a fan favorite pairing, then it will truly be a bad business move on their part and they will not only lose fans’ trust but any and all credibility. Which is why it makes me really think we are getting all of this for a reason and we just have to wait and see how all this plays out.

#buddie #ryan guzman #oliver stark #some thoughts I’ve been having #911 on abc

[lieutenantbiscute]

After asking around I’ve come up with a sorta naming system for the Salamandarian’s??

The suffixed word before names is generally a house name, Y’gythgba G’throkka as stated the precursor letter is the house letter.

With Mona’s parents I think he line and house would be ruled by her mothers house name, Y’. Generally speaking house names are decided upon by parents so it differs from family to family.

So if I’m speaking ShellShock wise or just Ramona kids wise they’d probably fall under the Y’ suffix for names since Raph doesn’t exactly have a Salamandarian name to say the least. Of course the kids would have earth names as well which leads to the kids having long names but it’s all good ✨

Edit: also I have the HC that the language doesn’t have words for L, J, and S. So they combine other words the emulate the same sound!

#2012 tmnt #tmnt 2012 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #shell shocked au #some thoughts I’ve been having #raphmona

[rosesxnlace]

sometimes i think about how nice it’d be to be in a relationship but then i start feeling like i’m not ready for one. maybe something short-term and casual would be nice but at the same time it feels like i still wouldn’t feel ready for it or feel like enough for whoever my partner is (even if short term and casual is what they want)

#sxntalk #some thoughts i’ve been having #doesn’t help that the only ex i’ve had was the absolute worst that can’t be described #i should probably go to sleep

[digitalmyyth]

Evil awful women and the blond guy who hangs out with them (he is also evil and awful)

#been overwhelmingly obsessed with this au sorry #I don’t know why. but they are in my head #mainly fuelled by wanting to draw this Mac. I’ve drawn her so much. help #I have many thoughts about her #I was going to change Deans shirt to say ‘boys’ but I think. it’s funnier if he’s just wearing it to pick up women or something #anyway. #it’s always sunny in philadelphia #iasip #genderbent sunny #? that’s the tag some people use right #mac mcdonald #dee reynolds #dennis reynolds #charlie kelly #frank reynolds #my art

[noctilia]

#anastasia the ninth #anastasia the first #alecto the first #alecto the ninth #noctiliart #the locked tomb #fan art #nona the ninth #‘im so sorry about samael’ ;-; #i ship them your honor #i’ve been having a lot of anastasia/alecto thoughts lately #you might have noticed #also after months of painting various blonde women with issues i’ve finally nailed down how to paint blonde hair from imagination #and make it look fluffy #here’s a video bc some of you liked it when i include the progress last time 😘

[smilesrobotlover]

Heh

#posting this now before big name aus get the idea too #idk I was looking at the mangas and how they’re drawn is somewhat similar #like their tunics #link between links #lbl first #lbl fierce deity #I’ve been… having thoughts #I was gonna keep this a secret but I honestly got scared #that some big au was gonna have the same idea as me #and people would think that I was jumping a bandwagon #and like there’s nothing wrong with doing that #but idk #it’s my pride talkin #now I HAVE seen random artists playing with this idea so I’m def not the first one to think of this #but yeah #I want First to be bright and like the sun #while fierce is dark and like the moon #anyways I’m rambling #just take it

[turtleblogatlast]

No but like every time I think about Splinter and what he had to go through just to keep the boys alive, my heart hurts for him so badly. Is he perfect? No not at all, but none of them are and by god does he love his sons.

The fact that all of them are alive, and grew to thrive despite the circumstances surrounding them is a testament of how much Splinter loves his boys. He raised four babies following the most traumatic time of his life, all alone with nothing but the sewers to house them (to hide them.) I feel like he’s not given the credit he deserves for all he’s done.

And I get that it’s easy to hold up his flaws and faults when it comes to parenting, I myself like looking into them because flawed characters are super interesting and said flaws make them more realistic and engaging, but he tries, and again, so many others would have given up on the boys or failed along the way but Splinter didn’t.

He’s their father, for all his faults he did his damndest to make sure they survived.

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt splinter #rise splinter #he’s not perfect as I’ve said #and he’s got a whole slew of flaws and faults #but he’s a person - we are all flawed #he loves his sons dearly dearly dearly even if he struggles along the way to show that #parenting is not easy! especially as a traumatized mutant who is forced to do it alone #side note but I think this is one of the reasons why it kiiiiiinda ruffles my feathers to see so many people assign parentification to Raph #and in turn make Splinter out to be way worse and way more distant than he is in canon? #like idk I just don’t see what so many others see ig but maybe that’s just me #i guess my thoughts are like- let parents have flaws without villainizing them? #they’re still parents even if they mess up? #we can discuss the repercussions of a parents actions on a child while not casting that parent as an awful person #parents are peopleeee #I could go on but yeahhh #idk it bothers me seeing splinter’s efforts undermined when he’s been through so much #idk if ppl realized this by now but I love me some flawed characters #tho I do think in this fandom the ones whose faults are discussed the most are like #Splinter mostly then Draxum then Leo #of the main cast #and in Splinters case in particular his faults are made to cover his good qualities which makes me sad #because he is SO INTERESTING #they’re all flawed characters and tbh so interesting because their flaws are ALSO their strengths in many aspects

[puppyeared]

Remember how they pointed out that Palistrom wood was becoming rarer? Because Belos kept over harvesting it and not giving it time to grow back?

The University’s tree is blue. Its a big ass Palistrom tree

#I THINK. PROBABLY #I haven’t seen any other trees in the show coloured blue. but it has the swirls like Luz’s log #ALSO THE LIGHT GLYPH CARVED ABOVE EDAS OFFICE SNIFFLE #I’ve been seeing a lot of posts abt how the isles are recovering from Belos like removing the coven tattoos and #eda raine and king stomping on Belos. but I thought this was a nice callback #Belos didnt just hurt the people on the isles. he also destroyed a lot of stuff that was culturally important #palistrom makes companions and tools for people on the isles and Belos took all of it for himself. greedy bastard #ALSO if u notice on the banner above the University’s entrance theres a symbol shaped like a titan skull #and if you look at the scene with raine ever wolf and Darius you can see they have the same symbol as a badge or on Darius’ belt #so I assume that means the Isles also formed a new government after Belos died. the fact its shaped like the titan is also cool cause they #dont need to rely on some puritan to lead them pretending tk have their best interests in mind #the Emperors sigil doesn’t even have anything associated with the Isles in the first place either. its Belos imposing his own beliefs #yapping #the owl house #the owl house spoilers #toh #toh spoilers #toh watching and dreaming #watching and dreaming spoilers

[thrillerhark]

The Takaba vs Kenjaku fight was such a uniquely good piece of writing for jjk I’m still wrapping my head around it. Kenjakus big bad plan involved forcefully transforming Japan into a new world of jujutsu sorcery, he wants to create something that has never existed before.

And he’s immediately responsive to Takaba, whose cursed technique can manifest phenomena so long as he finds it funny, because of this desire. And the “fight” is so funny! Akutami clearly has a love of comedy and it’s nice to see him stretch his legs in what has become a very joyless manga.

We see how delighted Kenjaku is during this fight, he’s been alive for a thousand years and no doubt countless battles, and finally! he’s experiencing something new.

Meanwhile, Takaba, after years struggling to chase his dream of being a comedian now flung into the insane world of jujutsu as a late awakened sorcerer, has finally found someone to be his partner, someone willing to “yes and” his sketches, to get in on the joke with him, you almost forget they are fighting to the death.

In a weird way, both men get what they’ve always wanted, and it all ends in a genuinely beautiful moment between them.

You never know what circumstances you’ll meet your soulmate under, and these two men met as opponents in a battle of jujutsu sorcery and it couldn’t have happened any other way.

#these chapters have been stuck in my brain ever since they came out #and I had to get some thoughts out about them #I’m pretty mixed on the writing of jjk overall #it’s sometimes good #often bad #but this just came out of nowhere and totally blew me away #I honestly don’t even care what happens from here because of how good this was #I’ve already accepted Hiromi is gonna die and he’s the only other character I care about #jujutsu kaisen #jjk spoilers #takaba fumihiko #kenjaku

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Thinking about step 9 and the whole concept of forgiveness of one’s self and others and it bringing healing and how bobby and Eddie have been paralleled a fair amount and the idea that Eddie started this process back at the end of s5 with his forgiveness and acceptance of his father but how he hasn’t yet gone anywhere near his mother and their relationship .

How his catholic guilt storyline seems more likely to play on his reltionship with his mother than his father (if his father wasn’t around that much it would’ve been Helena taking him to church etc each week) so the idea of an Eddie - Helena storyline that plays on catholic guilt and potentially his queerness in relation to that has me chewing on glass - it could be so epically good

#I’ve always viewed Helena as the biggest issue in Eddie’s relationship with his parents - Ramon has always - to me a least always seemed to #just go along with what Helena wants or dictates #it made sense with how his trauma ptsd army related arc played out that it was Ramon who was the centre of that #now though - catholic guilt - possibly playing into his queerness and suppression of that queerness #to keep some kind of reltionship with his mother - who only seems to view him through a lens of failure #leading him down a road where he wasn’t able to be his true self - it would be so powerful #there is so much potential there #eddie saying his mother wasn’t an issue in s6 - was such a choice and so pointed that they have to be wanting to explore that #so many aspects of who Eddie is and why he is the way he is - his want to nest but not being able to with women - stems from his mommy #issues and the fact he’s been denying they exist #I will eat it up - it would be the right kind of angst for the show and Ryan would deliver #plus the way it parallels with Bobby and his relationship with Catholicism would be fascinating #not to mention the whole Eddie not having a relationship with the faith he was brought up in only to start dating someone who is a literal #embodiment of that faith - and female - as a symbol of his needing to explore and reconcile the actual reasons for his faith lapsing- become #could not be queer and Latino and catholic when Eddie was growing up - it wasn’t an option - so if you step away from the faith that’s #denying a fundamental aspect of who you are #even if you still can’t act upon it - ​it is easier to keep that part of you concealed #911 spoilers #911 Thinky thoughts #eddie diaz #I need this arc to be a thing so badly #911 abc

[loveyourownsmiilee]

At this point, I’m just fully convinced that Eddie knows about his feelings for Buck, and has known for a long while now. He is content with the way their little family dynamic works because for him, having Buck by his side, helping coparent Christopher together, do family things such as homework and dinners and zoo trips is more than enough and it makes him happy. He doesn’t have to stop and think about whether or not he’s alone because he’s not. He hasn’t been since Buck found out he had a kid and fully stepped in with him. We also see many moments of Eddie blatantly checking Buck out and giving him all these heated looks. We even seen the pure fondness and love when he talks to or about Buck. His hesitancy in wanting to date others can stem from the fact that he knows who his heart wants and has made peace with the fact that they may never want him back. I think Eddie really believes Buck does not and can not ever love him back the same way. Whether it’s due to his sexuality or something else, I genuinely believe Eddie doesn’t think for a second he can be what Buck is searching for in a life partner. Which is why he stays quiet and shows his love in other, louder ways. Such as being Buck’s safe place for when he needs to get away, and supporting him with whatever he’s going through. He took him out to poker to test out his new cognitive capabilities and made it a fun experience that hopefully Buck would never forget. And the reason why he didn’t want to date other women is because he knows, he’s known for a while who he really wants. And I think him agreeing with Pepa on not wanting to be alone is because he knows he has to probably move on from Buck. Because Buck will eventually find his perfect couch right? And then what happens to their little family of three? Eddie doesn’t want that but he’s also protecting his heart. Either he tells Buck and Buck breaks his heart, or he doesn’t and Buck finds someone else and still ends up breaking Eddie’s heart. He’s stuck in a lose lose position which is what’s most likely what is keeping him from dating again. I think he needs to not only accept that he has those feelings for Buck, but also trust their friendship enough to tell Buck about it. Either he’s gonna choose to do so himself or wait til Buck finally catches up and tells him first. Either way, I really find it hard to believe that Eddie isn’t aware, at least a little bit, of his feelings for Buck. He’s just waiting for Buck to catch up. And I think by the finale, Buck will finally catch up.

#buddie #some thoughts I’ve been having since Monday #911 speculation #jujus having thoughts #not fully expecting anyone to read this #but if u do thank u 💜

[thelaurenshippen]

I know we love the “you only get two” triangles, but idk that I’ve seen one that is, like, the grand theory of fandom, like, you know—

you only get two. do you see my vision?

#fandom #fanfic #like #i stay out of fandom discourse #but I still SEE it #and every big fandom I’ve ever been in….woof #amazing all you can eat buffet of fic #and some cuckoo bananas hot takes #whereas the fandoms I’m active in #tiny #very kind and low drama #and also the epitome of #I have to do everything myself around here #also I’m SURE someone has done exactly this #I’m positive this is not a new thought #but me and a friend are just texting about this thing right now and I had to do it for my own sanity 😂

[flickerintwilights]

on the road to hell

#hadestown #art #my art #tag ramble as promised: #firstly #i’ve been thinking about redoing this as digital art #(like - mostly the same but cleaner and with some of the details fixed) and probably will if i have time #because i like this composition a lot #but! for now i am oddly happy with how this turned out despite being traditional art/watercolor (no undo button. sobs.) #and it Is a noteworthy day for hadestown with lola tung and lillias white departing #(this is Not meant to celebrate them specifically - i used the obc as reference not them - i just think it’s a nice day symbolically) #so i thought i’d put this out. whatever. yknow. #oh a second thing i will say is that this was a great excuse to check out the slime tutorials on youtube #i spent like 9 or something hours on this :/ so. plenty of time to have things on in the background while i was working. we love slime #thirdly! two things i feel like are worth mentioning rq for Symbolism: #wait for me reprise (intro) originally having wedding procession imagery (from anaïs mitchell in working on a song) #is what first made me desperately want to put the flower/petals on the edges (it still fucking haunts me) #though it was a solid composition choice in general i think #and i mean. clearly the carnation should be prominent. it’s the carnation. from hadestown. #i don’t think the wedding procession reference comes across the way it turned out but that was the first thought #NEXT ouroboros. the snake devouring its own tail (i legitimately forgot that this was why i first drew the rattlesnake that way but #fundamentally i really did just want its tail and head to point to each other lmao)

[laniemae]

Just gonna say it again- I really hate when people flanderise John to just some “always angry guy” who’s always bitchy but actually an uwu tsundere. Like seriously John in canon is a lot more stoic and composed yet EVERY fan content I see of him has him be constantly angry and hot headed like he’s Fuuta! And it makes me upset because I really love John and he’s probably the most flanderised character I’ve seen so far ever and just. Ugh I want people to properly understand him instead having him be a ship tool.

#milgram #mikoto kayano #John kayano #john milgram #like please let him be an actual person instead of just a tsundere! #I elaborated on this in a tag rant not too long ago but I really feel like it’s mido’s fault #Like before double people always thought that John was the angry one and mido existed and he was the stoic one #But now we’ve got more characterisation for John people still haven’t dropped the thing of him being hotheaded and just #Basically having him be a flat archetype and mido be the stoic one and like #I still really don’t like mido and how his involvement always flanderises John (and mikoto to an extent) #And his fans are so pushy about him being canon it’s just aughh #it’s sad as lots of mikoto (and especially john) fans I see don’t actually like them who who they actually are in canon #But for this distorted perception of them by fanon #I just needed to let this off my chest this thing has been annoying me forever #I guess I’ve always felt iffy as having mikoto and John as some of my favorites and I guess since I focus more on their actual canon selves #This is why I’ve always felt weird about my love for them as I just feel like what people’s ideas of them are just completely different #I just want people to understand this

[stuckinapril]

.

#I’m only very rarely inclined to get this intimate w my thoughts so I might as well say it NOW butttt I will never not see the dead children #In everything I do #Like legit #I’ve read up on Hind so extensively and seen so many photos of her #And I have a very healthy relationship w the popular Palestinian journalists so she’s not my blorbo or anything #But hearing that memo destroyed me bc bisan is only 23 and she seemed so vivacious #Idk like I do normal people things I can’t just pause on my life #But idk how it feels like to sit at a boba place and enjoy my pearl milk tea w my friends #While the horrors over there don’t just lurk the back of my mind. I do normal things and I’m guilty for having the luxury #And as an Iraqi girl I’m living in the literal ideal timeline #Where my mom decided to immigrate to the us and that’s why I’m here living a normal life like everyone else #It’s like in a different world if I were born in a different time it could’ve so easily been me. I’m one of the Lucky Ones idk #It’s not survivor’s guilt bc it’s not like I had to survive anything like I never had the chance to live in Iraq or anything #But like. If some things had fallen just a little differently #And I keep thinking about how I’d feel if it were happening to Iraq and people behaved the way they’re doing to Palestinians #I’d be so mad #And some people on here are dealing w assholes while bursting at the seams w grief #For losing their loved ones #This is why I’m so fucking angry at anyone who’s complicit #This was a major tangent but basically I feel weird about doing normal things now while simultaneously knowing I can’t just sit and wallow #And watch life pass by as if it’ll do anything #Misery is not a home but I’m struggling to be 100% normal #And I think that this tonal dissonance is reflecting on my blog too bc I can’t go back to just #Posting about all the other normal things I used to. Like I want to but sometimes I feel off. #Is this anything. I haven’t slept all night #I can’t just allow myself to lose interest in everything I used to like and be and just fade away but maybe it’s about accepting that this #Will also always be a part of me now. It’s that awareness that shadows everything I do #or maybe I need a therapist it’s a toss up #I’ll probably feel better once I get my day started but this was cathartic to voice I think #p