#the only thing i use 100% of my power for is psychologically messing with people

[cassandrabaresi]

Professor of Magic

Lin yuan smiled and said, "Your Excellency, Vice President.". You know, people are different in this world. Some people will be psychologically unbalanced because of pressure, while others will turn pressure into motivation, but can play a higher level. And Fasno and Drona are the second kind of people. "But." "No buts." Lin yuan rudely interrupted Vice President Kapachi. I know my students. The two of them will surely win honor for Finol students in this competition! In a twinkling of an eye, he put on a smiling face and approached Kapachi and said, "Your Excellency, if one of them wins the championship, do I have any reward?" Kapach was just upset because Lin yuan had interrupted his words, and was immediately dumbfounded by his latter sentence. You still reward? Don't end up disgraced. Just let me clean up your mess. Lin yuan said with a straight face, "Your Excellency, Vice President, tell me, which time will I, Lin yuan, do something I'm not sure about?" When Kapach thought about it carefully, it was true. Although Lin yuan always likes to fool around, the final results show that his nonsense is actually planned and can bring benefits to the students of Finol College. If one success is his luck, then two or three times, the second success is not as simple as luck. Thinking of this, Kapach could only nod reluctantly. Right? Then,faux ficus tree, as the deputy dean, should you encourage your subordinates who are about to go to the battle field? Lin yuan smiled shyly and said, "For example, give our first-grade team members and leading teachers more subsidies, not more, just 100 gold coins a day for each person." "You might as well take the students to be robbers." "Kapachi finally couldn't help shouting and scolding, pulled out a piece of paper in his bosom and threw it to Lin yuan." What is this Lin yuan took it over in astonishment, only to find that it was a list. There are many names on it,large palm trees for sale, and there are corresponding notes behind each name. For example, a name called Nou Camp Tess is followed by this note: a first-year student of Mitzi College, a level 3 magician of the Wind Department, who is good at using the Wind Department magic to move quickly, while looking for enemy flaws to attack. These are some of the things that need to be paid attention to among the participants of the major colleges. Kapach explained. If you take it back and look at it carefully, you'd better remember the characteristics of all the students, and then tell the three students to pay more attention to it in the competition. "Wow, the vice president, you are really." It's too powerful! Lin yuan couldn't help exclaiming. He came here today for a long time, not just to explore the terrain, but just now with those people "flirt", that is, to find out the enemy's situation. Unexpectedly, now Vice President Kapachi has solved this big problem with a casual hand. All right, all right, artificial grass panels ,silk ficus tree, don't flatter me. "Kapach is getting more and more helpless with this Lin yuan." Lin, since you were so heroic just now, I promise you. If the studenurface, in fact, he was all the same. That is extreme protection of shortcomings. Finol College, for them, is as untouchable as ad. Only Vice President Kapachi stood in the middle of the field ents of Class 3, Grade 1, under the guidance of Lin yuan, there are very few who can pay attention to some skills in the use of magic and the basic theory of magic knowledge, not to mention that there will be freaks like Lin yuan,faux ficus tree, so Lin yuan did not bear much. Besides, this competition is also a kind of exercise, in the encounter can reflect the real strength. And the actual combat experience of Fasno and Zhuona is much better than that of the average first-year college students. hacartificialtree.com

[relax-and-read-on]

absolutely adoring your Konrad takes

Hahaha oh BOY im gonna use this as an excuse to babble about my favorite murder hobbo and sexuality.

I Love Konrad. I adore him. He's 100% my fav. I love him, and his sons, and his horribly shitty bat armour. God they are so ugly it goes right back to being funny.

I know that this is warhammer and that people care more about "where are the ammo clip" than the deep psychology of your fav, but shit, i do, and I have some THOUGHT.

Konrad grew up alone. He never had anyone actually care for him as a child. He was a homeless, nameless orphan, eating rats and corpse. He only survived by virtue of being a primarch full of instinct. If kids aren't properly socialised in early childhood, it develop a TON of issues for them (*Pointed look at Lion in the corner*). Anyway, at least Konrad had exposure to humans around him. The problem was, it was the happy fun criminals of Nostramo. I know a lot of people go "he was a primarch, he could probably take them when he was 4", but I call bullshit. In part because, at that early age, he probably craved human contact desperately. Babys are trusting. They *want* to be loved. That's how humans work.

What im getting at, is that Konrad was definitely, 100%, irrevocably, abused by criminals as a very young child. In the very bad no no way. That kind of abuse is also what probably lead to his mind splitting in with the Night Haunter, because Did is mostly caused by extreme abuse in early childhood. Poor Konrad, who was never touched of loved, and when it finally happen, it's only to brake and hurt him.

Now all that is fun, but as an adult, how does that bombs of trauma translate??? Weeeeell~! It's a mess!! On one hand, you have Konrad, who DO wants to do good. Yes, I know we always think of him as our favorite murder hobo who roll around in guts, but like. He wanted Justice. He wanted peace. He wanted people to be SAFE. Isn't that noble as fuck?? Doesn't that seem to you like the crooked wish of a survivor wanting others to never have to endure what he went through?? I think that, because of those facts, his baseline is being sex repulsed. He has just seen/experienced so much abuse and disgusting things, sex means nothing to him anymore. It's a power thing and he has no desire for it.

Than big E show up and goes "HEY LET'S WEAPONIZED YOUR TRAUMA SON" because he's a bastard.

And he has to be violent. And dangerous. And also discover a new world beyond the star, were some people actually love each others and are nice. He has to deal with motherfucking Fulgrim, who hug him and call him little brother and smile at him and very clearly sleep around and fully enjoy it, no pain at all. Poor Konrad. He cannot handle this at all. And ofc, the only person who realise this is Good ol' madlad Sevatar, aka "best fucking character in 40k, I accept no one else". Sevatar has a lot of similar trauma than Konrad, but instead of wanting to destroy any potential abuser or trigger, he just roll around in it and decide that you can't be traumatized if you never ever think about it. Charge ahead ayooo.

So ofc Sevatar get to Konrad, see him upset because his boss/dad walked in of Fulgrim enjoying heads or something, and goes "lmao I can suck u off too" wich probably earn him a beating. Except he take it sexually, wich weird out Konrad even more. Then he still probably still get sucked, because Sevatar aint a quitter.

And that's how the weirdest relationship ever in 40k start. Sometime Konrad wants to punish. Sometime he wants to be punished. He wants to hurt and then he wants to BE hurt the only person that seem to fully get it it is Sevatar, who happily and loudly goes along with everything. They show up the next day both looking like they had a fight with cave bear and missing some chunk of meat, and Konrad may not be saner, but at least he's getting some. It's 100% not romantic, he does not do that, he doesn't understand that. Sevatar like to jokingly call him "Daddy" if someone ask. He get punched into the face every time.

That's basically it! Wow that's a lot of ramble. Well, ok, he also probably after had a fling with Fulgrim, because everyone has, and probably slept with Dorn a few times before it became too weird. And there is the entire ~Thing~ with Vulkan but that's like, another giant rambly post entirely.

#imma smash that #konrad curze #sevatar #jago sevatarion #fuck his name is so stupid jago wtf #when your trauma make you hyper and a risk taker you see the big boss and go #warhammer 40k #warhammer #wh40k

[xo-alie-xo]

PORTWELL LONG GAME OR RINA SLOWBURN.

You can only choose one poison.🍷

Listen up my Wildcats.🐱

We all ship each character with happiness. No matter how much you love to hate them, a majority of us simply adores the characters and want the best for them. Then comes relationships and it's okay to ship our favorites.⛴

I'm a diehard Rina shipper and I know in my heart that they are series endgame. The set up, the natural chemistry, their mutual understanding, the surprises and angst literally put me on chokehold. So I'm 100% a Rina shipper till the end. I'm here for the slowburn and their development rather than one shots. They are worth the pain. 😭❤

Let me start with Ricky Bowen now.

Ricky shouldn't to be with Gina because he's hurting her mentality. He's not insensitive on purpose. Like when he tried to stop Big Red from telling her his message to Nina because he KNOWS it'll hurt her.

If you think, that Ricky didn't understand clearly when Gina confessed, think again. He shushed her. Kept their thing a secret from everyone. He knows he feels some type of way and she feels something too. But this boy is so used to safeguarding his childhood norms and has very little adaptability. Hence, he pretended to ignore everything between them because his home stability was falling apart and he clinged on to Nina, his constant childhood love.

He's a traumatised 16-17 year old boy that needs to heal and grow. This episode was heartbreaking because he had to accept that he had to let Nina go because their once upon a time fairytale had become toxic.

People change. I'm not the same person I was when I was 16 lmao. Being together as childhood lovers means growing together and accepting each other's growth. Which Ricky couldn't. He clutched to the idea of Nini. Even his love confession. It was sooo sweet but all he did was focus on their history.

This boy needs time to heal and maybe seek professional therapy. It would be so DAMN HISTORIC if Disney decides to take psychological issues seriously and show how he's dealing with his anxiety, pills and psychotherapy. He needs to breathe before he can be with any girl for that matter. He's hurting and isn't trying to hurt anyone on purpose. Including Gina.

Him asking her for advice on Nini was a dumb, insensitive move. But he's trying to find a way to build some supportive friendship that they shared in early season one.

As for now, this boy needs to get his own grip on life and heal.

As for our Queen Gina

In Gina's confession, she focuses on their future. She basically said, "I wouldn't quit on a possible future of us being together despite obstacles. Because I never quit. But moving away isn't in my control." Ricky deep down knows this, encouraged her to say it, teary eyed, despite right after getting back together with Nini. Gina is his future. She went to his new house. And I also have this feeling that when she was given a chance to stay, she stayed partly because of Ricky. She left a chance to be with her mom because she prioritised their relationship. Because she never quits. 💪🏼

But she came back and found out Ricky has gotten back together with Nini.😭 What she doesn't know is Ricky got together with Nina before her confession, and after Gina kept dodging his messages. She's hurt and questions why she returned because she isn't particularly close to anyone. Hence, she was so silent at the after party. She thinks it'll be fine, "she'll live", and finds other reasons to find permanence. Her arc this season has been settling down in East High, despite the pain of losing and being 'betrayed' by Ricky, she finds other reasons to stay. 🏡

This kind of contrasts her with Nina. Nina left her dream school and came to Salt Lake because she missed her established home, and not just because of Ricky. Nina returned and was loved and embraced by Ricky Bowen.💕 Gina came back to a semi new place called Salt Lake because of her promise of a future to Ricky. But she got stabbed and she bled. 💔🗡

Think about her situation. She feels confused, alone, heartbroken, out of place and seperated from her mom. She's broken and hurting too. And she doesn't need more from Ricky's accidental or intentional 'sick burns'. That's the one line where he was such a jerk and I can't defend him here. 😠

Here comes the Caswells.

Her second family. A place of healthy stability. A home that accepted her. Ashlyn, her roomie and her confidante. EJ, the misunderstood boy who saw her value and bought her plane ticket.

Let's get to EJ.

At first, I wasn't too keen on seeing Portwell's development. But then that video chat where they talk about the possibility of her staying and him convincing her. Had me sold for a solid brother-sister relationship. Few episodes later, when Gina's pain seemed to be oblivious to everyone, he was the only one who asked her how she was, and saw her glow. The comfort she must've felt.

Not that she needs a man's validation, but she must be feeling like a second choice and feeling a little insecure because of Ricky. But EJ lifts her up and I genuinely saw her smile. This boy has her back whenever. The man she can lean on and truly sees how special she is. She no longer feels alone now that she has his entire fam and other friends. She genuinely feels a place of belonging and happiness when she's the apple of his eye. Notice how happy she is? How happy this boy is? She's going through her own issues and she has found ground with EJ.

I was very doubtful when they started hinting at a romantic direction. Because EJ would be used as plot device again for a girl to get to Ricky.😤 This man doesn't deserve to be second best to anyone, just like Gina.😑 That's why I'm still hesitant on shipping them at least temporarily. EJ needs to be something even more special to Gina. They need to show each other how special and treasured they are to each other despite feeling like rejects. They are each other's source of comfort.

I'm sure they can keep EJ at East High for the next season. Whether it's the drama club, or the AV club or going to a local college. So he will be there for Gina. I don't know how they can work out a relationship with much distance as Rini's fell out when she moved away. So, if EJ leaves again, it'll again shake up Gina. Her being worried whether he'll date college girls, second thoughts, etc. I don't want them to go through that. And if they do move on to romantic Portwell, make sure it's not plot device for Rina. So you can either have Portwell endgame or Rina Endgame.

Basically I want Gina to be treated so right that she understands she doesn't need Ricky. And when he does ask her out, and he makes her feel like a second choice or a rebound, she says NO. Because EJ has helped regain her self assurance. Eventually I want Gina to confide in EJ about her and Ricky. EJ is jealous but also angry about how Ricky has been hurting her. And becomes damn protective of his 'babe'. Ricky gets jealous of their relationship, restarting Ricky and EJ's old rivalry. But this time, it's not because Gina is his girlfriend, but because she's EJ's best friend who he has a crush on and wants what's best for her.

If it's meant to be Rina endgame

EJ- RICKY, YOU IDIOT! You have no clue how to treat her right. You don't put her first. You mislead her. Get the hell away from her! She's too powerful and beautiful, she doesn't deserve your scraps. I know how she feels for you. I wish I were you. I would treat her like a queen. I don't mind even waiting years till she's ready. She deserves that. You're so lucky you have even a small chance that I may never have. So get your act together, prove you're worth it to win her over. All I want is for her to be happy. Even if it's with someone else. And maybe then I'll stop threatening you to stay away from her.😠

Ricky- .....I don't know what I'm more scared of. Change, or losing the girl I fell for or YOU. Okay, losing her but you're a close second.😬

If it's Portwell endgame.

Ricky- I messed up. Make sure you don't mess up with her. You'll regret it forever.

EJ- I'd rather get hit by thousand basketballs than ever hurt her. I'll be her plus one and her best friend until she's ready to be with me. I know she's ready now too. But I want her to know I'm willing to wait till she graduates before we make it official. I'm in it for the long game.

As for their age gap. I'm 100% sure Portwell won't kiss this season. If they do, it'll be next when Sofia turns 18. They are professional actors who are cast because they are the perfect fit for the role and are expected to carry out the storyline. But I suppose fearing some outbursts, they might delay Sofia kissing anyone till next season. It's so weird because Olivia was maybe 17 when Matt was 21-22 when they kissed in season one. But no one had a problem with that. But for this, they do. Remember, they are professional actors. They are acting! Sometimes, actors are over 10 years apart (but above 18) and act as romantic partners.

As for their characters, they are only two years apart. That's hardly any difference once you're over the age of 18. Age of consent is 16. But adults above 18 are only allowed to have sex with adults above 18. So, age isn't a problem here because EJ is a gentleman and is genuinely interested in her and isn't trying to get in her pants. So age isn't the issue when it comes to dating. It's the maturity. Gina is very mature and gives very sound advice. But I can see EJ being patient enough till she turns 18 just to kiss her because he loves her. 😚

As for the Ashlyn remark, "You look like a kid to me rn". He was JOKING.😂 Don't take things out of context. I tell my cousin sister that all the time. But she's three years younger than me and a grown adult. I don't see her as a kid but it's just a cousin teasing her younger cousin that's she's a little immature. I'm Matt's age and I'm very mature for my age and since I was a teenager, I always matched up with boys a little older than me. Now that I'm in my early 20s, I've dated boys even close to 30. So age is just a number.

EJ dating Gina and giving her quick kisses is fine. But to have a strong sexual element in their relationship (including making out), he'll have to wait till she's 18+. And I'm sure for that he'll wait till she's ready even past her early 20s. Age is really just a number and we can't help who we fall in love with. Trust me, I've been there.😂 So I can see EJ feeling conflicted about his feelings that are clear at this point.

They might not be a perfect fit, but they make each other sooo happy. They deserve a lot more than a short lived fling.😟 They are either endgame or Rina is. You can't have both as a Rina unless you're an EJ hater who wants him to exist as plot device. Nope! He's sooo much more precious than that.

But Jack on the other hand....I'm okay if he's the one to make Ricky or EJ jealous. Because he's just been introduced and it's okay if a character is used, but only once, for someone else to realize their feelings. 💁🏽‍♀️

In short.

Ricky needs help and needs to be on his own. No girlfriends allowed.🙅🏽‍♀️🚫

Needs to give both Gina and Nina space for them to grow on their own too.🌳

Ricky needs to understand the core of his problems and become more adaptable via therapy. Maybe the psychologist will point out his unresolved feelings for Gina, or he will conclude it himself. And in comes Ricky-pining-for-Gina season three.

Ricky needs to fully get over Nina before he moves on to anyone. Same for Gina if Portwell were to happen. No one deserves to be second choice.

Gina isn't Ricky's cushion. She's a living person with strong feelings for him and shouldn't be subjected to share his pain. She already struggles with her own issues.

Ricky needs to stay single till he wins back Gina and prove he's worth it. He needs to show even if another girl wants him, he'll never quit on Gina ever again. Even if he has to watch her be with someone else. *cough parallels*.

It's either romantic Rina then Portwell endgame OR Portwell flirty besties but Rina endgame. You and I can choose only one because my boy EJ shouldn't be used as plot device for a girl to leave for Ricky ever again.

Portwell's age difference can be practically solved and isn't much of an issue unless they get hot and heavy before Gina turns 18 which is impossible considering this is Disney. 🤣🤣

Jack and Gina will be plot device material and purely so sentimental to us OG Andi Mack fans. More than any ship, this is what I'm looking for. Sort of an Andi Mack crack ship for season 3a. It's gonna be soooo funny. 😍😂

I respect everyone's ship. I see what you're seeing. And I'm not going to invalidate your ship. But unless it's done right, I won't jump from the Rina ship. I liked Rini. I like Portwell. I like AU Juffy crackship haha.😂 But as for me, I'm still holding on to Rina slowburn.

Preparing myself for the pain. 😭🔥

(But if I had to pair two characters without Disney getting in the way, it would be Gini. The power duo. Undeniable chemistry. They can be written so well because of their layered relationship and contrasting personalities.🤩 The classic rivals to friends to lovers. But that's a talk for another day lmao.)

Thanks for reading my opinion, Wildcat!🐱❤

#hsmtmts #gina x ricky #rina #ricky bowen #gina porter #ricky x gina #portwell #ej caswell #jack hsmtmts #juffy #jonah beck #andi mack

[elbiotipo]

(cw: discussion of abuse)

What’s weird about clones in science fiction is that most writers seem to have this very strange belief (which is widespread in real life too) that there seems to be a limited number of “souls” and thus a cloned being is “souless”. Not only that does not make sense in real life (are test-tube babies souless? are twins souless?) but it conflicts with my belief on human nature (and souls, I guess). Even if a clone is a 100% accurate genetic copy, the experiences, the feelings, the thoughts, are different, because those aren’t saved in DNA; they are a result of our interaction with the world and other people. I don’t know where a new individual starts or begins, but I know for sure that a clone of me wouldn’t be me; he would be a new being, and most importantly, he would be a person, a person created differently but a person nevertheless, with all that implies.

One example I’ve been thinking of is Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion. She’s treated as a plot device by the writers (Anno himself said that he straight up forgot about Rei after the battle with Ramiel) and the fans tend to analyze her by her importance, again, as a Plot Device and her origin as a clone. She’s the clone of Yui, she has the soul of Lilith, she has a lot of clones that are involved in the esoteric projects of NERV, etc. etc. She’s somber and silent and weird because she’s a Souless Clone... or rather a powerful being with a messed-up soul, whatever: the point is, Rei is Like That because she’s a Clone and clones are “evil”.

But the thing is, if you see Rei as what she was: a traumatized 14-years old girl, the clone thing doesn’t really matter. Rei isn’t somber, obedient and silent because she’s a clone with a messed-up soul, she’s like that because she’s been raised in a sterile, downright cruel and distressing enviroment where Gendo uses (and abuses, seriously, that isn’t even subtext) her for his own purposes. No kid raised in the kind of conditions that the show explictily tell us would turn out ‘okay’.

And yet, Rei feels. She thinks, she does things on her own. She doesn’t know how to live a normal life, but she tries. When exposed to people like Shinji, when exposed to a normal life, she slowly breaks from her abusive conditioning and realizes she could be something else. The whole “ideal fantasy world” sequence on the final episode of NGE shows us that she *could* have been a normal, happy girl if raised normally. She’s not like that in the series not because she has the soul of an ancestral alien being, she’s like that because she has endured a lifetime of abuse.

Now, that isn’t news to anybody, most NGE fans know that Gendo is an abusive asshole. And yet Rei is treated in fan-discussions, again, simply as a plot device with no mind or will of her own. The other characters have complex psychological explanations for how they act and what they do; except for Rei. She does stuff because she’s a clone made up with messed up esoteric science and that’s it. If she did or think or say something important, that was Yui, or Lilith, not her. There’s no consideration on how all the extremely distressing enviroment where she was raised would affect her as what she actually was: a person, a human being.

And that brings me to my main problem on how cloning and genetic modification are portrayed in fiction. Leaving aside for a moment that in NGE they have a very supernatural and esoteric component, cloning and genetic modification are portrayed as evil on themselves, and the results: clones, genetic modified organisms, ‘superhumans’, mutants, and so on, are portrayed as evil, uncanny or just downright wrong because of the way they were born, and little to no blame or even consideration is given to the people and society that created them, that treats human beings as tools and consider them soulless.

For many science fiction writers and fans, the clone is the evil one, not the society that brought them up and said “we made you, you are not like us, now do what we want you to do, but we’ll hate you nevertheless”. And believe it or not, that kind of thinking is quite widespread in real life. The fears of GMOs or cloning often aren’t based on real moral dilemmas and problems, but rather the ‘unnaturalness’ of it.

For all I know I could be a clone of someone. Would that matter? No, because I was raised by a family that, while flawed, cared and cares for me. Were I raised as a living weapon and abused constantly in a reclusive, horrible enviroment, and rejected by society because of it, I would be extremely traumatized, no matter if I was a clone or a “““normal”““ human.

The monsters aren’t the clones. The monsters are the people who think that other people, by the condition of their birth, are monsters.

#nge #neon genesis evangelion #rei ayanami #cloning #cosas mias #which leads also to the question: how was Kaworu raised? what's his story? #but that's for another post I guess

[lunarrin]

Twisted Wonderland Theory! May have future spoilers so please skip this post if you don’t want to risk getting spoiled.

I accidentally posted this before it was finished before, that’s why this might seem like a repeated post, whoops sorry. Edit: Also I tumblr keeps on messing up the format and making me edit it again ;-;

Anyways, It seems like a bunch of people are interested in learning more about this theory circulating among JPN twisted wonderland fans so here I am to display the possible evidence/hints. I had to use google translate to look at some of their claims and although it’s easy to just confirm on your own the claims I have to admit I couldn’t list some of their claims simply because I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Please keep in mind this is only a speculation and has no in-game proof or foreshadowing that I’ve seen at the very least proving it, so take it with a grain of salt. Now, onto the theory!

The Ace Betrayal Theory

This theory concerns our beloved Ace Trappola and concerning “coincidences” that point to Ace possible betraying us in the future. If you would like to look at the twitter posts yourself, search up エース 裏切り説し on twitter.

So first of all, the first thing that may point at things being not what they seem, or at least that something is wrong is the Heartslabyul dorm main characters. There are 5 main characters from the Heartslabyul dorm and in terms of cards it seems a bit odd that there is no sign of a joker within the dorm, of course you could chalk it up to Riddle being the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland so he doesn’t count as a “Heart”. With the “heart” suit being represented by Ace and Riddle, is it possible one of them could also represent the joker? In this case, when I say “joker” I don’t mean they’re gonna be like “surprise I’m actually a joker not a heart suit!” I more so mean that one of them will like a wild card. Given that Riddle already had his episode, and Ace’s status proven by the twisted wonderland opening to be a main character, could we say that Ace could be the “joker” of the dorm in a way? The wild card? Of course this point is based on perspective, if you exclude Riddle from being counted as a “Heart” suit then the dorm is fine, but if you count him as someone representing the “Heart” suit then the repetition seems odd.

There is one main concerning part of this theory that surely would be difficult to pass of as mere coincidence, and it’s Ace’s last name, “Trappola”.

In Italian is means  “trap/pitfall(a possible danger)".  

And Ace is the only dorm member to not have his suit somewhere in his last name, instead he has Trappola, a Venetian trick-taking card game where the Ace is the most powerful card. (Funny enough, it seems like the Deuce is the second most powerful in terms of points alone) And it’s no news to anyone who’s read Ace’s profile that he enjoys card games doesn’t he? What’s a trick-taking card game? It’s a tile based game where each round is called a “trick” and in Trappola, your goal is to take/win the trick. Funny thing is, in Trappola specifically, it seems like the player is awarded bonus points for taking a trick(s) with a Deuce.

There is also another trick-taking, or more so, trick-avoiding game called “Hearts” where you try to have the least amount of points by the end of the game. You get points by wining hearts in tricks in which the amount of points lost depends on the the specific card, with the ace of hearts giving the most points (something you do not want). A fan interpreted this in terms of twisted wonderland to be another pointer for Ace betraying the group just as the Ace of hearts in the game in a way betrays you because it gives you the most points, I personally feel like this is a stretch? But I listed it anyways in case you wanted to know.

Edit: It has been brought to my attention that the Red Queen and Jack of Hearts are from Alice through the Looking Glass and not Alice in Wonderland so the next point does not hold as much ground anymore, but I’ll leave it here anyways

Then there is Ace's similarity or possible link to a character within Alice in Wonderland, being the Jack/Knave of Hearts, who betrays the Red Queen (whom he was previous lovers with, and in general close to the Red Queen). Both Ace and Jack(or the Knave of hearts) have a heart on or around their left eye (our right). Both Jack and Ace steal a tart from the Red Queen (Queen of Hearts (Riddle) in Ace's case). Next, Both betray the Red Queen/Queen of Hearts respectively at one point (Jack tries to kill the Red Queen while Ace tries to take Riddle’s dorm leader position).Off topic coincidence, there is an otome game where the Jack of Hearts is named "Ace". Now this point’s coincidences seem difficult to be just “coincidences” but at the same time you could also say that Ace’s role as the Jack of Hearts has already ended since he has already had his failed attempt at overthrowing Riddle. The concerning part of this link though is that the Jack of hearts tried to kill the person they were at least it seemed to be very close to and at least loyal to (when in actually he hated her) while Ace himself wasn't very close to Riddle at that point, but who is Ace close to and loyal(?) to? MC and the gang ;-; But still take this possibility as a grain of salt.

Of course, we know Ace’s name isn’t Jack, or at least, hopefully he doesn’t pull a “Ace is not my true name at all! Instead I’m also named Jack/Knave!”. But he does have a older brother who once went to the same school, could it be that Ace’s brother is named Jack/Knave? We don’t know much about his brother besides it seems like he was rather relevant as he led a parade that is shown in a picture in one of the halls of the school and that he’s good at card tricks. And similiar to how the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts are different, the Knave of hearts and the Red knight could also be different, with the Knave of Hearts and the Red knight being Ace’s brother and him. Still, we need more info to see how relevant Ace’s brother is in all of this.

Next we have the Twisted Wonderland Opening Movie, which has proven to spoil/hint at plot lines before with Azul as the opening movie teases Azul’s overblot form as well as his child self photos. Now in the opening a fan has noted that every character so far that has been seen alone (besides the part where they have the character’s names and dorms, this part (because Kalim appears and the dorm leaders have to be alone)

Every character that has appeared alone or a bit during the opening so far has overbloted, Jamil, Leona, (and we can guess Malleus and Idia will overblot). While every other character has been introduced with someone alongside them, for example, Epel only appears with Rook, Floyd only appears with Jade, Jack only appears with Ruggie, and the Diasomnia group(minus Malleus) only appear with each other. But who else appears by them self? Our boy Ace.

And Deuce who the OP proves alongside Ace has the same amount of relevance is introduced alongside Cater and Trey

Now for Ace to overblot, it probably means he’s gonna do something villainous like I don’t know, betray the group?

Now here’s the thing, does Ace’s character/personality have the potential to be evil/betray us? Yes, 100 times yes. This is the man who went up to us in the prologue and acted all nice and everything explaining the Great Seven, only to laugh (maniacally?) at our misery and ignorance claiming to have only visited us to mess with us and essentially mock us. If Deuce is the person who could and would (if you pissed him off) physically beat you to death, then Ace is the person to psychologically and emotionally torment/manipulate you, oh and verbal abuse too, he’s good at that. One thing I personally find very concerning about Ace is his hobby of card tricks, like aren’t you guys based off of cards? Are you trying to tell me Ace is good at manipulating/messing with people? 

Like we’ve seen Ace be good at acting and lying on two separate occasions in the story, one with us in the beginning, two with the guard at the underwater museum. In his personal stories, for example in the ‘A Kouhai This Honest’ story, Trey comments on how Ace did indeed have ulterior motives to helping Trey besides just wanting a cherry pie as Ace was trying to fish possible test questions out from Trey. This is their conversation:

Ace: “To collect information, I’m carrying all this heavy stuff~ Beside, Trey-senpai you too… You knew from the beginning I wouldn’t carry all this stuff for a pie with lots of cherry on it “

Trey: “ You… could it be you were lying about liking cherries too?”

Ace: “ That’s the truth. I learnt that from my big brother. “When you’re lying mix a bit of truth in it” he said”

And with the ‘Tch, I Got Found Out’ personal story he tries to take the profit all for himself:

Ruggie:  “ But anyway, isn’t it fine in the end? It wraps up without sensei knowing so your mark doesn’t get affected Anyway, I’m also… wait, Ace-kun!? Where are you going with that bag? That’s the mandragoras to be sold to the ghosts. Don’t just take it like that!”

Ace: “ Tch, I got found out. I thought I could sneak off with it while you two aren’t looking at me ”

Ruggie:  “ You were planning to slip out and take the pay all for yourself huh? What an impudent first year”

Jamil:  “ When I thought you were being all meek…You sure are bold”

Ace: ”Hehe, I’ll take that as a praise, senpais ♪ “

It clear to see Ace at times schemes for his own benefit, whether that is taking advantage of his senpais or other people, Ace will lie and pretend to be innocent while carrying out his ulterior motives. Funny how his big brother taught him that.

On another note, Ace has the uncanny ability of being able to copy what he sees, from his brother’s card tricks, to how to speak hedgehog from seeing Rook just say the phrase once, from quickly learning how to extract um, something from mandragoras and doing it very efficiently. Perhaps will his unique magic be a copy magic, maybe copying the unique magic of others? If so, that sounds like an ability that could build up blot fast if he uses it willy-nilly. (it also sounds OP)

All in all, it seems like Ace really does have the potential to be the villain at one point (even though almost all of them are villains lol).

One more thing pointing to a possible Ace betrayal in the future is kinda a stretch in my opinion, but I will list it anyways because it’s coincidences are a bit unnerving. It has to do with birth month flowers and the Dahlia, a flower which can symbolise “Warning someone about a potential betrayal” and Dahlia is the birth flower of August, what month comes right after August? September, the birth month of both Ace and Jamil. Guess what? Jamil betrayed Kalim in the story.

Well, that’s it for the evidence at least I found people using for the Ace betrayal theory, some of it is a stretch and some of it’s is concerning if it was a mere “coincidence”. I hope you enjoyed reading this, regardless if in the end you believe in this theory or not. I personally love this theory because I love the thought of Ace getting more development in the future, also the fan art people make for this theory is great. For example, the twitter account  @GPs_ac has a piece of fan art of the ace betrayal theory and it’s great.

Also If Ace does betray us, I want to see Deuce beat him into the ground ahahaha... (I still love you Ace but I will be hurt if you do betray us, this is why I stan Deuce lol)

Turns out MC can’t trust anyone but Deuce, because Grim is probably gonna overblot and Ace might betray.

Also, fun fact. The Ace of Spades symbolises death

Haha very funny Disney, making our lovable no braincells duo represent death

Anyways feel free to comment your thoughts on the theory!

#twisted wonderland #ace trappola #twst ace #twst #twisted wonderland spoiler #twisted wonderland spoilers #twisted wonderland theories #twisted wonderland theory

[thereaderstea]

G´day tor-mon, how are you<3? Recommend me your favourite bts!jungkook x reader fics! so I guess its not an au?(no smut✋🚫)

Merry meet, nonnie! I am well, busy and a little stressed because I had a power outage yesterday, but well nonetheless ☺️ I hope you are merry in the holidays (if you celebrate) and are happy and healthy 😄🖤💜

asdfghjkl, my favorite JJK x Reader fics? I have to choose? 😰 *has an existential crisis*

Alright, after some deep reflection, an existential crisis, and fighting the urge to devour these fics again (you have a mission, tor-mon!), I present to you my current favorite JJK fics (this list is only bound to grow). These fics have made me feel so intensely and I think about these fics a lot (an unhealthy amount, probably). I sorted them by genre: fluff to angst to yandere.

tor-mon’s Favorite JJK x Reader Fics

Sugar and Coffee by @jimlingss​  ➵Fluff, Angst, Slice of Life | slice of life au |  pâtisserie school au | enemies to friends to lovers au | Slice of Life series | 23 ch series | 100.5k ➵You are quite the pâtisserie chef, or at least on your way to becoming one, but there’s that one person who always has to complain, Jeon Jungkook.  ➵A masterpiece, honestly. I remember cracking up so hard over their competitions, the banter, and dynamics, but nothing beats that one day after the dream... I don’t want to spoil! but I do want to warn that there is a wet dream (not too graphic and it’s not a lot, I promise) somewhere in there, but honestly, it’s so hilarious.

Chess of Ice by Jimlingss​ | The Reader’s Tea Reviews 1 | 2 | 3 ➵Fluff, a lil bit of Angst | sports au | curling au | trilogy | 42.8k ➵Jeon Jungkook is a rising star, that is, until he falls. Now he’s picking up another sport, curling. ➵I love a good team dynamic and the characters in this are everything 🙌🏻

Date in a Box by Jimlingss​  ➵Fluff | Service Series | oneshot | 9.7k (Jimlingss’s summary: ) ➵If you’re in a hurry then we’re here to help you! Everything you need in a box. Delivery less than five minutes. Upgrade and we can personalize your date even more! Guaranteed 100%! Don’t fret, we’re here.  ➵I love the entire Service Series because the concepts are so much fun and they’re hilarious and I love the service descriptions, aka the commercials XD

I Will Not Lose! by Jimlingss​ ➵Fluff | magic au | oneshot | 6.2k (Jimlingss’s summary: ) ➵A single bet - use every means to make Jeon Jungkook fall in love with you. ➵It’s fluffy and cute, and it’s got that hint of enemies to lovers, especially with how competitive the mc gets over this bet. And the ending! asdfghjkl ^.^ 

midas by @gukyi​  ➵Fluff, (light) Angst, Comedy | enemies to lovers au | ceo au| magical realism au | oneshot | 32k (gukyi’s summary: ) ➵jeon jungkook was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and the power to turn whatever he wants into pure gold. you were born with healing and invisibility powers but without a cent to your name. so when you’re plucked off of the streets for pickpocketing and assigned to be his minder as punishment, you realize you’re going to have to overcome a lot more than class differences if either of you are going to get what you want. (or,) ➵you become Jungkook’s magical babysitter ➵I really love this concept! This fic is what got me looking into magical realism as an entire genre. But also, who doesn’t love a good enemies to lovers? and from the master of enemies to lovers 🙌🏻

ice prince by gukyi | The Reader’s Tea Review   ➵Fluff, (very light) Angst | figure skating au | enemies to lovers au | oneshot | 22k ➵Your ice skating partner just had to break his leg right before a big competition and “of all people on this godforsaken Earth, you’ve been re-paired up with Jeon Jungkook, Ice Prince.” ➵an axel-lent enemies to lovers :D I love it so much! And I really love Tae and mc’s friendship and all those icebreaker questions ☺️

if i told you by gukyi​  ➵Fluff, (light) Angst, Comedy | friends to lovers au | college au | oneshot | 22k ➵Jeon Jungkook is a broke college student, so to pay off his debt, he sells himself as the perfect boyfriend. If only you weren’t a broke college student either, then maybe you could buy yourself a date with Jungkook. ➵The mc is so not what I expected, (no spoilers!) all I will say is that I really love how supportive she is. I also love how close they are and this Jungkook is too fluffy and cute! ^.^

a moonlight melody by gukyi​ | The Reader’s Tea Reviews 1 | 2 ➵Fluff, Soft Angst | fake dating au | orchestra au | vacation au | duology | 50k ➵Your best friend has pranked you too many times and you’ve done nothing about it, because you, quite frankly, suck at pranking. As such, Jungkook ➵This is so soft and magical and sweet and soft ☺️ and did I mention soft? but also all those memes! There is so much good and wholesome and hilarious dynamics in here! This is the kind of fic that makes me wish I had a big friend group to do crazy stuff like this (but I hear you have to leave your house and, like, socialize??)

Down With The Ship by @tatastaetae | The Reader’s Tea Reviews 1 | 2 | 3 ➵Fluff, Angst | pirate au | trilogy | 25.4k ➵ You board a ship to escape forced love; but you join a pirate crew to fall into the arms of your only true and constant love: the sea. (or, tatastaetae’s summary: ) ➵Captain Jeon Jungkook; a beautiful mess of blood and gold. His greatest treasure, may also be his greatest downfall. ➵Very very fluffy! I love the adventure and the antics and I still want to know what’s in that soup, Jin! But that ending, holy heck, I didn’t see it coming and I just malfunctioned and stared at my wall in shock for who knows how long, and I just love tatastaetae’s fluffy writing which always somehow wrecks my soul! ^.^

His Name by @jimlingss ➵Angst | multiple personality au | 8 part series | 52.4k ➵Jeon Jungkook has multiple personalities and gaps in his memory. It’s your job to treat him and perhaps help him remember his past... ➵This is the first bts fic I ever read (a special thanks to Nani for reccing it ☺️) and so it holds a special place in my black heart, especially because I sobbed so hard at 3 in the morning and my mind was stuck on this for days

Gravity by @donewithjeon | The Reader’s Tea Review ➵Angst, Fluff | ‘90s au | oneshot | 29k ➵Time can bring you together, but Time can also push you apart; will you and Jungkook be able to fight the distance and Time to stay together, or were you always meant to only share this descent to earth for just a moment, always meant to eventually drift apart? ➵I am a wimp when it comes to Time, but does that stop me from reading fics that exploit that weakness? nope! That last train scene destroyed my heart and that entire ending, the acceptance, stabbed me in the heart, for good measure.

written on the sky by @inktae​ | The Reader’s Tea Review ➵Angst, Fluff | apocalyptic au? | end of the world au | ‘seeking a friend at the end of the world’ au | oneshot | 22k ➵The 60-mile-wide asteroid was supposed to slip by Earth, but it’s a little late to change its course or do anything about it except to prepare for the end. So while you’re waiting for the end, find a friend, someone to hold a hand with at the end of the world. ➵I was sobbing before the fic even finished. The odd thing is that you know the end, but knowing doesn’t prepare you for the feels. 

below thunder showers by inktae | The Reader’s Tea Review ➵ Angst, lil bits of Fluff | sci-fi au | oneshot | 30k ➵ Yoongi leads Earth, while you lead a withered space station. You go to Earth to settle the tensions that have been brewing between Earth and the space station, and Jeon Jungkook, a broken soldier who holds a deep love for the rain, is there to deliver you. ➵we stan a fellow pluviophile ✊🏻 I am so conflicted over this Min Yoongi >.< but Jungkook is so soft and he really didn’t deserve to live this way :(

first light by inktae | The Reader’s Tea Review ➵Angst, Fluff | hotarubi no mori e au | 24.8k (inktae’s synopsis: ) ➵“Have you ever felt like the world is too loud sometimes?” “No. For me it’s always quiet.” ➵This fic wrecked me and made me so conflicted >.< I can never forget this fluffy, masked boy who lives in the woods and silence...

the swirling way of stars by inktae | The Reader’s Tea Review ➵Angst, Fluff | fantasy au | oneshot | 19k ➵You’re tasked with showing Jeon Jungkook what it’s like to live a completely normal life. ➵It’s just falling in love with life itself, the simple things, and it’s written so magically...how can you not fall in love?

the train of lost souls by inktae | The Reader’s Tea Review ➵Angst, lil bits of Fluff | fantasy au | oneshot | 13.6k ➵You have two options when you step on the train: you can live but forget your life, and everyone in your life will forget you, or you can move on and keep your memories for the rest of time. But, how can you choose when part of your soul rests on this train, and the other part longs for someone just out of reach... ➵Once again, I’m a wimp with Time, and the choices really get me thinking...

Pen Pal by @chinkbihh​  ➵Part 1 | Part 1.5 | Part 2 | Final 1/2 | Final 2/2 ➵Angst, Horror? | yandere au | murder and crime au | pen pal au | trilogy | 127.3k ➵Warnings: mental disorders (agoraphobia?), yandere, murder (stabbing)  ➵You sign up to receive a pen pal and are paired up with an inmate, jungkook. You just wanted to talk to someone who could understand what it’s like to be removed from society, but you just may be getting more than you asked for... ➵I love a good yandere fic, there’s something about a yandere’s demented psychology that calls to me, and it’s always so interesting to see how one yandere differs from another, especially in different scenarios. But please please please read and be mindful of the warnings in case it just doesn’t vibe with you.

Quarter Quell by chinkbihh ➵Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | +more  ➵Angst, Horror? | yandere au | hunger games au | ongoing ➵You have resigned to your fate as a tribute in the next hunger games when someone from District Two takes an interest in you...a bit too much of an interest, you’d say. ➵I am a little hesitant to rec this because it isn’t finished, but the premise is exciting and I am really amped for the next chapter in this fic, heck yeah! I mean, heck, a yandere hunger games au? let’s go! But please please please read the warnings in case it just doesn’t vibe with you

~*~

Bonus rec!

I haven’t read this fic, but my friend, Nani, rec’d it to me the other day, and it sounds so exciting :D so I’ll let her tell you about it:

Fan Identity by @tteokggukk​  ➵Fluff, Crack, Angst | enemies to lovers au | social media au | 37 ch series   ➵Influencer!JK is whipped for influencer!reader. Both don’t know they’re interacting with each other on their secret fan accounts. You’re rooting for the two long before they properly meet. But the best part? You’re rooting for their pseudos, Blair Witch and Seagull, as well. ➵I laugh, I pause, I gasp. The conflict between the two mc’s hurt. Honestly, it made the story worth the read.

~*~

Can I also...🥺...may I suggest:

10 Series by @deepdarkdelights | The Reader’s Tea Reviews 1 | 2 | 3 | The Reader’s Tea Analysis ➵10 Seconds | 10 Days | 10 Years ➵Horror? | yandere au | Bouquet Series | 10 Series | trilogy | 29.2k ➵You’re just a college student returning home from a late night out trying to finish up your ungodly college work...but “All it took was ten seconds” and well, now, you’re his. ➵How can I not include my favorite yandere writer, the master of yandere, herself? 🥺 I’m only hesitant because you requested no smut and I respect that, but if you are alright with a small smut scene (I promise there’s not too much) or even just skimming/skipping over it, I would highly recommend this series 🙌🏻 The smut scene is in the final installment (10 Years). It’s an all-time favorite from an all-time favorite writer. But please please please read the warnings in case it just doesn’t vibe with you.

~*~

Happy reading, carissima! I hope at least one of these fics will become your favorite, too ☺️ Let me know what you think as well after you’ve given the authors some love ☺️

Well met!

your fellow reading monster,

tor-mon 🖤

#tor-mon’s favorite jjk x reader fics #asks #nonnie #thereaderstea recs #bts #bts jungkook #bts fluff #jungkook fluff #bts angst #jungkook angst #yandere!jungkook #fanfic rec #tatastaetae #jimlingss #gukyi #donewithjeon #inktae #chinkbihh #deepdarkdelights #i am so sorry this took me forever to post >.< #thereaderstea favorites #thereaderstea fave jjk fics #nani #nani recs #happy reading! #merry meet!

[vaguely-concerned]

The Mandalorian Chapter 15 reactions; *nobby nobbs voice* ‘s all gone a bit percychological, sir

 - so from both chapter 6 and now this: rick famuyiwa is incredible at portraying prolonged discomfort and tension (and also at getting din’s endless love for that baby across through the stress of being separated from him. this is the very first episode with no baby in it at all, isn’t it? wow that’s a heartbreaking milestone to reach im crying)

I liked this episode SO MUCH but I had to pause it pretty often and take a breather because it all made me so viscerally uncomfortable on din’s behalf -- not just the armour and having to take the helmet off and be seen for the (almost, ilu IG-11) first time in decades, people keep touching him in this episode when he clearly doesn’t want them to but can’t stop it and it makes me want to claw my own skin off in sympathy, it’s so awful. that’s really neat film making to manage to keep that tension steady almost all the way through!!! 

honestly this episode felt a little bit like psychological horror, with the cheering storm troopers and din in the wrong armour and clearly not digging it and there’s the palpable absence of baby and that ever present dread of being Perceived when you’re not ready for it; everything’s turned upside down from how it should be. and it’s playing with that discomfort both in the main character and in us, the audience, in having the familiar be made unfamiliar and also introducing these questions that shake up everything (that feeling you get of ‘but... if it’s not the helmet, and not the armour, but there’s his face, but we’ve only seen that face once before so it’s still basically new to us, is this... is this still him. is this still Dad’ (oooh I wonder if we’re... sort of getting some of the ??? the baby would be feeling about it too?) we’ve all imprinted on that t-shaped visor like little baby birds, and this was a very clever episode to break us out of that and start to really get used to the thought of him having several faces that are real simultaneously, in a way, and not just a voice. it’s all very smart and interesting and I’m sure I’ll have a lot of incoherent thoughts about this in the weeks to come lol)    

- the actual reason din can’t take off the helmet is that if people were able to see his wide confused puppy eyes they would no longer find it in themselves to send him on long arduous side missions and would help him immediately just so he’d feel better, and that would rob us of like 80% of the content for this show 

mayfeld in this episode: clearly a casualty of this. he literally sees one glimpse of the vulnerability there and then within five seconds goes on to materialize a few redeeming character traits after being a complete jackass for an episode and a half. (I mean. he was 100% still an imperial so I’m a bit ‘hm.’ about how easily especially cara let him off the hook, but with the way it was set up I guess it would have been quite shitty of them to just throw him back in prison so I mean I GUESS. I would be endlessly grateful someone got my awkward bff out of there alive and well too I suppose)

- I actually think din’s sense/integrity of self has gotten so much stronger and more resilient (though probably still quite fragile pls handle with care precious cargo within); if this had happened in the first season I think it might honestly just have killed him (and if it weren’t for IG-11 it probably would have lol)

- can you beLIEVE din is so bad at lying that they literally should plan for contingencies over it fjkasdlhfskajdhfsdj     

- very grateful for the scene with the spear throw that’s basically there to reassure us ‘uh-huh, he absolutely knows how to use it, don’t worry about that part at least’

I want to make a whole post about that fight scene, though, it’s just so GOOD! there’s so much storytelling and characterization in it! even out of the armour din has some real hand to hand MOVES!! he clearly came out of that aching all over, he can barely get back in his seat!!!

- so what I’m mainly taking away from this is that din absolutely cuts his own hair and you know what? he does a good job considering the conditions he has to work under, I love him  

I still find it so goddamn darling that he meticulously maintains that little mustache/stubble combo under there even when there’s every reason to believe no one will ever see it 

I suppose we can also gather that he did not ask cobb about whatever insane feat of magic he’s come up with to avoid helmet hair, but I don’t care looking a bit frazzled and tousled is exactly right for him (he’s so put together when he’s in the armour and a MESS when he’s out of it and I  l o v e  it) 

- boba fett is honestly so fucking hot in this I don’t know what to do with myself haha. he’s so CALM and CALCULATED and COLLECTED in his newly painted armour and he’s GOT THIS and he made that ‘I’ve got one of those faces. one of jango’s many, many, many faces’ joke and he’s so thicc now, he looks like he could easily lift me over his head with one hand and he’s just quietly steady and undramatically supportive and sdalfhsdjhfsa 

- ...din does know who the clone troopers were, right. I mean of course he does. he has to. but does he though. I’m sure he does and just wasn’t thinking. 

- no matter how stressful it was I’m still really grateful that in the end taking the helmet off was something din got to do himself -- it’s under some duress, but it’s still his choice and for the sake of the baby, and almost in two more manageable steps between putting on the storm trooper gear for a different helmet before taking it off altogether. it’s not something done to him by gideon, for example, that would be. so much yuckier and worse. he still has that control and agency intact, even if it’s been tested really hard, and now gideon doing that doesn’t hold the exact same nightmarish power anymore because there’s already a little space opened in din’s mind for different things it can mean, if you see what I mean. I’m not sure I see what I mean actually I just have a lot of feelings haha. so I guess thank you mayfeld for being decent about it and helping him towards that realization that he can still be himself outside these really really inflexible structures he’s set up around himself for like. stability and keeping himself upright for a really long time, and that even someone halfway decent won’t disrespect the boundaries he still has about it at any given moment. man there’s a lot in this episode isn’t there

- the sigh din gave when he saw even more pirates coming and knew he had to get back up... never has a single moment in cinema better captured how I feel about being alive. most relatable man in the world din djarin

- it was really cruel of them to make me listen to din’s dead bleak voice say ‘the child is gone’ again, it wrecks my heart every goddamn time 

- again... I wish carano wasn’t Like That in real life because the cara & fennec scenes should have been everything I could ever dream. ah well fennec was still wonderful and if I just allow myself to think in-universe for a few seconds it was really touching that din would entrust cara with his entire armour, that’s some prime BrOTP energy right there

I love that we got two female characters who were just allies and working together, no competition or nothin’. listen the bar is low but it’s nice to see something actually leap gracefully over it as well lol

- this was one of those with some pretty big open plot holes (why, exactly, would a scan of a completely unknown face be helpful to get into this classified system lol), but a) I don’t care, the emotional storyline was so sound it doesn’t really matter and b) eh handwave handwave let’s say mayfeld programmed that little stick with the good shit and overrode the code saying there needed to be an identity match within the system, it’s all fine 

- I know I joke a lot about this but din really is one of the most relatable characters I’ve ever had. just watching him struggle with eye contact and going pretty much nonverbal under enough stress is like. wow a bit close to home there could we, perhaps, nOT?? (honestly though these are trauma/anxiety things I really don’t see portrayed a lot, especially in protagonists, it’s so odd but healing to see it in a character I love and who’s EXTREMELY competent in many other settings)

- din repeating gideon’s speech back to him word for word (except for the crucial detail that he calls grogu ‘him’ instead of ‘it’ 😭😭😭) and saying nothing else is truly Everything. I’ve said some stuff about din’s deliberate and thoughtful relationship to language in the past and this is such an amazing example of it; he’s remembered that pitch perfect all this time, he’s kept it around in his head and mulled it over and then redeployed it to change the meaning of it completely from dehumanization to love. can you. can you even imagine. and it’s yet another example of his hilarious wonderful petty streak and I can never get enough of it fasjhdfkjalhs    

- din always noticing the children first and foremost Y_______Y (the kids running by is the only thing you see him sort of acknowledge when he’s walking into the covert in season 1 too)  

- please... please I just need him to be able to hold that baby against his chest all safe and sound and okay again I can’t it’s........ hh

NO SEASON END CLIFF HANGER ON THIS I AM  B E G G I N G  YOU 

- I would be having some thoughts about how much space there actually is on slave 1 and what that might mean (do not kill boba again please don’t kill him again), but honestly there’s only ‘GET BABY’ hours in here now, I can’t speculate about anything

#star wars #the mandalorian #the mandalorian spoilers #the mandalorian meta #this is an episode in the 'wow that was awesome but I need to go lie down in a quiet room for a while afterwards' tradition lol

[inspiration2001]

A New Beginning: Chapter 1

Soulmate AU - Savannah is a 21 year old woman, after a family tragedy she moves to New Orleans to attend Tulane University for her 3rd year. She seems like a normal college girl, going to parties, many lovers, beautiful, kind, but what no one knows is that she is supernatural sexual fantasy. She has one large secret, while traveling to her new home she made a pit stop in Mystic Falls, and had the night of her life with the man whose aura was the brightest she had ever experienced. A month later, she walks through the streets of New Orleans experiencing the fun of her new home only to be abducted.

PROLOGUE

Savannah POV 

The last 6 months have been a whirlwind of events. After fleeing from my home state and quickly enrolling in Tulsa University for my 3rd year as a Psychology major, I am ready to look forward into the future. I am ready to meet new guys and have fun again. I am tired of being sad and crying all the time waiting for time to rewind and I can go back to happy times with my family, but life is unfair.

1 month ago, I made the decision to stop wallowing in on myself, and to get back into school. 1 month ago I had the best night of my life, I met a guy. No, I met a man named Nik. I went out to the bar ready to spend my night in another nameless man's bed drowning myself in the feelings to forget my emotions. Then this man came to me and introduced himself as Nik, and when our hands touched I felt sparks. 

My mama always used to tell me that when electricity shoots through you where a person touched, it means they are your soulmate, I wish I had remembered that, it would have made life much more understandable. 

After the sparks, came the drinks, and the smooth talking. Next thing I know is I am having the best sex of my life, and its like part of my soul opened up. I never wanted to tell my family what I had done for them, so they never knew I was a succubus. My mama’s stories of soulmates never made sense to me as a human, but when I awakened in this new life as a succubus I used to dream of finding my soulmate or soulmates. 

First the sparks, then the aches, and then the physical connection finishes the bond and once the bond is complete the two halves cannot be separated for long without there being extreme pain. Soulmates become each other's greatest weakness’ and their greatest strengths. 

Walking down Bourbon Street, I enter a bar called Rousseaus. As I sit down at the bar, I notice these girls in the kitchen immediately turn to look at me. I subtly sniff the air and smell the scent of witches. Hmm thats fun, I heard of the supernatural community being quite large in New Orleans it was one of the reasons I chose this place to be my new home. 

I sit down at the bar, ignoring the stares, and see this cute little blonde walking my way. 

“Hi, my name is Cami. What can I get for you today?” she says in a very friendly voice. 

“Hello darlin, rum and coke please” I say to Cami, who gets a small blush. 

“You ok? Your eyes hold a lot of darkness in them. Sorry, psych major, I tend to let my mouth do the talking before my mind does the thinking” Cami said with a small chuckle. 

“That’s alright darlin. I came to New Orleans to start over” I say with a smirk on my face, looking her right in the eyes I ask, “What school do you go to, darlin? I would love to visit you.” 

Cami lightly giggles and blushes while saying, “I am a psychology graduate student at Tulsa University” 

“Hmmm...well would you look at that. I happen to be a psychology undergraduate student” I lean forward and whisper into Cami’s ear, “maybe you can help me study” I wink and down the rest of my drink before getting up and walking out. 

As I wander down the street, letting the emotions of everyone surround me and envelop me. God I love places where people drink, so much sexual energy for me to feed off. Out of no where I get a strong aroma of cinnamon and sex from an alley ahead of me, it is like a large beacon telling me to go near it. Walking down the alley, I whip around ready to get a look at the intruder's aura before I can. I feel a rag pressed to my mouth and within seconds I feel myself being carried out of the alley before the darkness welcomes me. 

I wake up with the largest headache known to man. God, this is worse than when I was human and went on a camping trip with a few friends, and drank 2 bottles of tequila by myself. 

“Oh good, you’re awake,” 

“Who are you and why am I here?” I demand. 

“Sophie Devaraux, you are here because you carry special cargo that the witches of New Orleans need.” she says with a malice intent in her eyes. What the fuck is she talking about?  

“What the hell are you talking about?” I say with fury while staring her in the eyes.. 

“Before my sister died she had a special talent of knowing when a woman is pregnant,” Sophie said. 

Fuck. Sophie is hunched over and her eyes are a little bloodshot. If her sister is really dead, the way she is acting is as if she was her only family, meaning she has nothing to lose now. People who have nothing to lose are the most dangerous people, and if what she is saying is true, then I am even more fucked. I can’t believe I didn’t even notice, I guess that would make sense then why I haven’t felt any pain. I was almost 100% sure that Nik was my soulmate, until I woke up in the morning and realized he wasn’t there. I was so sad, I almost cried. The sex was amazing, he was an amazing talker and it seemed like we really connected, but when I woke up without him and left him a note with my number with no response, I just assumed it was a fluke. 

“What the hell are you saying right now? There is no way that I am pregnant, sorry but you have the wrong girl. Even if I was, why the hell is my baby so special?”

“No, you are definitely the right girl, there are only so many succubus’ in NOLA. My sister did not die for anything! You are also the only succubus to be impregnated by an original vampire,” she says with disdain. 

Fuck, fuck, FUCK!! I thought I saw something weird in his aura, but he said all the right things at the right time, and all the tingles were there. 

“Wonderful, now let me the fuck out of here now. I may be carrying an original baby, but you messed with the wrong girl,” I say with sarcasm and anger. As I look into Sophie’s eyes I try to let my aura do the work. If I can connect my aura with hers, then I can make her feel like she needs to protect me and help me, but for some reason I can’t seem to feel anything. I can see her aura, but I cannot seem to make hers connect with mine, in fact I can’t even feel what she or anyone around me feels. I haven’t noticed because I was so busy trying to figure out what the hell I am doing here. 

“What have you done to me?” I say trying to fake anger, but in reality I am very scared. I haven’t been this vulnerable since I was human, and there was a reason I sold my soul to be what I am today. 

“While my sister was doing the spell to make sure you were pregnant with the original hybrids baby, I did a spell that bound your powers, you are now average like the rest of the human population, and a little something else” Sophie says with malice and a smirk on her face. 

“What else?” I say with fury dripping into every one of my words. 

“What the fuck have you done to me, bitch?! I will kill you when this is over, my face will be the last one you see before the darkness takes over!” I yell at her. 

“Well before that can happen, our guest has arrived,” Sophie says with a sense of calmness, but I can see in her aura that she has a twinge of scaredness. 

Who the fuck is she talking about now? I swear to God, I am so done with this all. I found I am pregnant, I am not a full succubus anymore, and now I am trapped with the witches. God knows what else means to Sophie in terms of what she has done to me! Even though I just found out that I am pregnant, I cannot help but feel connected to the baby already. 

I rub my stomach while thinking this baby is the only positive thing that has happened to me tonight. I always dreamed of having a big family with my soulmate or soulmates. My dreams didn’t necessarily have this exact scenario, but oh well this baby will be taken care of that they will never have to go through what I did. As I continue to daydream about my baby and if I will ever be able to find Nik again, I am interrupted by a pair of witches. 

“Get up!” one of the henchmen demands. 

“Excuse you, I am not going anywhere,” I say with a hand on my stomach. 

Before I can say anything, I am grabbed by my upper arm, ripping my hand off my belly while being dragged out of whatever room they had me in. They take me to another area of whatever this place is, and I am confronted with a sight of a handsome man, oh dear not again. 

#the originals fanfiction #the originals #klaus mikealson x reader #niklaus mikaelson #elijah mikaelson #elijah mikealson x reader #kol mikaelson #finn mikaelson #rebekah mikaelson #hayley marshall #Smut #original character #niklaus mikaleson #reader #tvd fanfiction #kol mikaelson x reader #finn mikaelson x reader

[beneaththetangles]

Reader’s Corner: Last Dungeon, Talentless Nana, and Oregairu

The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat, Vol. 1

When a proficient assassin gets “taken care of” after he is no longer needed, a goddess gives him the opportunity to be reincarnated in another world, but with a task to complete. The hero who will defeat the Demon King who is projected to go crazy with power and destroy the world himself, and he needs to be killed once his job is done. To that end, the newly-reincarnated Lugh is born into a noble house that secretly conducts assassinations to eliminate problematic nobles in the country. From here, this is pretty standard isekai fare: Lugh makes use of powerful skills and knowledge of his previous life as he meets girls, invents items from Earth, and prepares for his eventual encounter with the hero. A few things help this novel out, though: For one thing, as far as the romance/harem aspects go, things are not dragged out much at all. Lugh is explicitly in love with one of the girls, and is made well aware how other girls feel about him, so overall the romance aspect is more pleasant than frustrating. There’s also a running theme of Lugh wanting to live for himself instead of blindly following orders from those above him like he did in his past life, and how that affects both his current assassin life and his greater mission. This leads to the possibility of keeping the hero (who we do not yet meet in this volume) from being corrupted without killing him, which definitely has potential. Overall, though, this is still a fairly “standard” isekai that is mainly for established fans of the genre, who are okay with something that is entertaining even if it isn’t particularly groundbreaking or amazing. ~ stardf29

The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat, Vol. 1 is available from Yen Press, who provided a review copy for this article.

My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong, As I Expected, Vol. 10.5

After an increasingly seriousness tone, compounded for the last several volumes, 10.5 features the fluff of a date chapter involving Irohasu and Hikki and the special treat a chapter devoted to Zaimokuza. These initial stories, the earlier adapted into an OVA, reflect much of what makes the series special: outstanding and unique voices, the hilariously self-deprecating thoughts from Hikki, and the interplay between the characters. That last component is especially uproarious in the dating chapter, one of the rare instances in which the Oregairu anime doesn’t nearly do justice to the written volume. To be sure, this entire light is a special treat for Irohasu fans, with Watari himself stating in the afterword, “With Iroha on the cover, it’s been like, this volume has been all Irohasu! Irohasu 100 perfect!” But as expected of the author, even for a “.5 novel,” there’s more here than just romantic moments and humor. The third and most lengthy chapter reminds readers that the characters are all growing as they each, in their own ways, reach for that “something genuine.” So while volume 10.5 may be a respite from those coming immediately before, it’s not a throwaway, but rather a worthy addition to this popular and engaging series. ~ Twwk

My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong, As I Expected Vol. 10.5 is available from Yen Press.

Talentless Nana, Vol. 1

Let’s take a group of high school kids with super powers and place them in a separate high school where they learn to defeat enemies of humanity. Sound familiar? It sure feels very similar, after all, to the premise of My Hero Academia. Yet by the end of the first chapter, Talentless Nana has sets itself apart. The students of the series have super powers called talents, and are separated and trained to supposedly use their powers against the “enemies of humanity.” But that’s not the whole story. The first chapter ends with the titular Nana murdering one of the students in the name of protecting the world from these same “enemies of humanity.” According to her and the people who brought her to the school, the true enemies are the talented humans. She has a cell phone telling her predictions on how many deaths each student will cause from their misuse of powers. It’s a psychological manga that makes you question every character and their motives continuously, and also a fascinating tale of paranoia and misinformation.  ~ MDMRN

Talentless Nana is currently simulpublished by Crunchyroll.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Vol. 1

This light novel has an anime adaptation airing this season, and since I enjoyed the first couple episodes, I became curious to check out the source material. I’m sorry to say, of that I’m not a fan. Lloyd moves from a strange village on the edge of civilization, where everyone is so OP that Lloyd is considered weak, and comes to a more normal municipality, where everyone but him can see that he’s totally OP; comical adventures ensue. On the bright side, this story is quite funny and has some interesting characters. Unfortunately, I had other issues with it. An extended scene near the beginning of the tale features the villagers heaping ridicule on Lloyd and describing all the ways he is “weak.” It’s supposed to be funny, but frankly, their criticism is so unreasonable and hurtful to Lloyd that it qualifies as abuse. Besides knowing the truth yet not dealing with this situation, the village chief, Alka, is also petty, cruel, capricious, deceitful, needlessly destructive, and OH YEAH SHE’S AN OVERPOWERED AUTHORITY FIGURE WHO’S MORE THAN 100 YEARS OLD AND SHE’S GROOMING A KID (Lloyd) SO SHE CAN GET IN BED WITH HIM. Sorry, but being a sexual predator just isn’t funny. It’s a pity that she keeps showing up to ruin scene after scene. I won’t be continuing with this series. ~ jeskaiangel

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, vol. 1 is published by Yen Press.

Skip Beat, Vol. 16

The boys take center stage in volume 16 as Reino’s actions bring a surprisingly physical reaction from Sho, while the fallout of his insertion once again in Kyoko’s life has implications for Ren. So while this volume remains as interesting as the rest, that has less to do with the intricacies of the idol (and now acting) world and more so with its introspective look at Ren and Sho. The latter continues to be humanized as the series forces us to consider the question, Has he changed? It certainly seems as much, though readers’ feelings may turn based not only on his repentant treatment of Kyoko, but also the seriousness with which he approaches his craft, focused on for the first time in these chapters. Meanwhile, Ren is an absolute mess, with his worry about and desire for Kyoko finally bubbling to the surface in the form of…a stomachache? An unexpected side of Ren, for sure, but one that adds additional layers to his characterization. ~ Twwk

Skip Beat Vol. 16 is available through Viz, who provided a review copy for this article.

Shadows of Spawn: Collected Edition

Shadows of Spawn was a manga adaptation of the American comic of the same name…kind of. Instead of Al Simmons, though, a Japanese-American street thug named Ken Kurosawa dies and goes to Hell. He is then brought back to life years later as a hell-spawn after making a deal with a devil named Malebolgia. So, same general concept, but instead of a former government assassin, Shadows features a common criminal / martial arts expert as the main character. Kurosawa sells his soul for the primary purpose of returning to Earth to protect his sister, and spends the remainder of the three-volume series trying to do just that from the shadows while battling and befriending fill-in characters that represent similar ones from the mainline Spawn comic series. The thing about Shadows of Spawn is that the plot starts slowly, but the cast grows quickly as it tries very rapidly to build an ensemble cast for a new (manga reading) audience while staying inside the existing foundation of Todd McFarlane’s Spawn universe. The saddest part of all is that by the time the series really hit its stride with storytelling (volume 3), the series was cancelled. It’s a shame, as concept definitely had potential. ~ MDMRN

Shadows of Spawn: Collected Edition was published by Image Comics, but is currently out of print.

#Manga #Light Novels #The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat #Sekai Saikou no Ansatsusha Isekai Kizoku ni Tensei Suru #Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. #My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU #My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected #Oregairu #Talentless Nana #Munou na Nana #Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town #Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shounen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari #Skip Beat! #Shadows of Spawn #Otaku Reader's Corner #Author: stardf29 #Author: TWWK #Author: MDMRN #Author: Jeskai Angel

[dr-ladybird]

SpecRecs Letter 2021

Feel free to combine any of the pairings I’ve asked for, to create friendship groups or poly relationships.

Any time I’ve offered or asked for female versions of Shepard or Ryder, I’m happy with male or NB versions instead - I’m only specifying a gender because the site makes me.

If I’ve asked for romance, I’d also like a platonic version of the same relationship.

Likes:

Focus on friendship and mutual support.

Ensemble casts (background pairings are fine).

Humour.

Angst without hopelessness.

Action scenes.

Alien biology and culture.

Interesting, non-anime-elf quarian designs.

Genders other than 21st-century Western male and female (SF or real-world).

Consideration of the setting’s politics and economics.

Player characters being OCs with their own personality (I’m not fussed about what they look like, but I want a personality).

Human characters with cultural backgrounds. (Any cultural background. Sure, representation never hurts, but “I’m an Anglo-American from New York so my Shepard is an Anglo-American from New York” is a perfectly good background.)

Religious characters.

Coping with disability.

Fic that repairs canon plotholes.

Destroy Ending AUs with EDI and the geth surviving. (Shepard surviving in one piece is good, Shepard winding up disabled and having to get a new job is good, Shepard dying nobly is also good.)

Canon divergence AUs.

Stories about rebuilding after the Reaper War.

No Reapers AUs.

Porn likes:

Treatment of sex as a fun collaborative thing, and not taking it too seriously.

Necks as an erogenous zone. Also ears, if the character has external ear flaps.

Cuddling and massage.

Admiring partner’s body (regardless of whether they’re conventionally attractive).

Non-idealised sex, and things going wrong without ruining the sex.

Safe sex (whatever that means in context… contraception, avoiding fluid-bonding for disease prevention or due to allergies, being careful about using your fangs on soft squishy aliens, being careful when using your electricity powers on any kind of alien, being careful when tying up your partner to make sure they don’t sprain something, quarian issues…)

Light BDSM (particularly wrestling, spanking or biting). Focussed on fun for everyone involved, and nothing too hardcore.

Weird alien genitalia. Let’s get creative!

-particularly interested in knotting, tentacles, or cisgendered male characters who have some sort of sensitive sperm-producing orifice instead of a penis.

Quarian porn where they keep their suits on, and nerve-stim programs in general.

I like the idea of mating cycles, but only if everyone keeps all their mental faculties, everything stays 100% consensual, and the biology makes sense.

Dislikes:

Excessive/inappropriate romantic jealousy from characters who are supposed to be sympathetic.

Infidelity. (I’m fine with Shepard re-partnering after Horizon – I’ll count Horizon as a breakup.)

AUs in a totally different setting, particularly modern or Regency AUs.

Suicide, unless the context is someone sacrificing themselves for a good cause or as a final defiance.

“My true love died - this means I will spend the rest of my life mourning them, and can never love again!” Or any other variation on “you can only have one true love, ever.” Especially if it’s played as alien psychology!

Anything soulmate-related.

Batarians being innately and inevitably evil.

Turian society being male-dominated.

“Most salarians actually do have sex drives - they just pretend they don’t because their society is so repressive and anti-sex.” (I’m happy with individual salarians having sex drives, as long as it’s an odd individual quirk.)

Generic-feeling, “non OC” Shepards or Ryders. (The default names and character designs are fine, I just want a personality.)

Interspecies reproduction, unless it’s the canonical asari variety.

The sort of kidfic that acts like children are rewards for getting married/the inevitable next step after marriage, rather than their own people.

I’m OK with Shepard having a sexual assault backstory, addiction issues, or infertility angst - but only if they’re coping fairly well with it and it’s not the focus of the fic.

Porn dislikes:

Humiliation/degradation type kinks.

Taboo roleplaying – eg doctor/patient, police officer/criminal or teacher/student (especially if actual doctors or police are involved).

Dubcon or noncon, unless you’re deliberately going for “this is messed up and horrible”. Rape roleplay is OK, as long as it’s clearly roleplay in-universe.

Porn that feels like an X-rated parody of canon.

A/B/O or seme/uke stereotypes, in either slash or het.

Turian romance dislikes:

Female humans being objectively better in bed than female turians, or male turians as objectively better than male humans. (I’m fine with characters who prefer aliens – just make sure it’s played as “this character has a weird kink,” not “the aliens are objectively better”).

Implications that they “mate for life” in a way humans don’t.

Implications that they’re innately violent during sex or that they don’t understand cuddling.

Anything portraying them as mentally/emotionally savage and animalistic, or implying it’s OK for them to lose control and do things their partner didn’t agree to.

I’m generally pro-biting, but can we please treat it under BDSM rules (eg, only if your partner wants to be bitten)? And if there’s blood or permanent scarring, then unless it was an accident and the next paragraph involves first aid and a lot of apologies, that’s too hardcore for me.

#specrecs2021 #specrecs

[laemony]

What I’ve read in 2020!

Welcome back to this thing I started in 2017 and still don’t know WHY it should matter!

2017  2018  2019

This year has been a shit show but I must admit I’ve read quite a lot (who knew that staying at home with nothing else to do, except watching the world burn, could lead to this?!) Anyway! This is it, enjoy!

WAR AND PEACE, L. TOLSTOY – biggest book I’ve ever read in my life, I don’t know how but it’s never boring, I loved the characters and I adored the historical knowledge; the two subjects mix, when people are at war they miss peace, and when they are at peace they miss and look for war; it’s full of time skips in a very Russian fashion… only thing it bothered me, in my edition at least, all the paragraphs written in French didn’t have a translation, I hope I didn’t lose too many infos lol 8,5/10

PERSUASION, J. AUSTEN – this book! A surprise, a revelation, a discovery! Brilliant! Funny! Lovely! Anne’s expressions of her family are hilarious; one of my favourites so far, even if “lost love who is not as forgotten as you thought they would be” sounds way too much like the story of my life 10/10

THE YEARS, V. WOOLF – it felt lonely, yet lively; a bit hopeless, but not too sad; the chatter, the teasing, is all very familiar, as if she wrote about my own family; simple in its day-to-day life; felt like autumn (if it makes sense????) 8/10

THE DEAD SOULS, N. GOGOL – ridiculous characters, ridiculous conversations, I loved the ironic way it depicts Russian society and its people; the last chapter is a mess, I couldn’t imagine how it could end and to be honest I still have no idea 7,5/10

THE PROCESS, F. KAFKA – no time-line; not a single emotion, not from the characters neither from the author; a cold, indifferent depiction of a series of facts, which are everything but clear; not an inch of silence, just words; it tired me out, I just needed a bit more silence 5/10

THE WHITE GUARD, M. BULGAKOV – I simply love how he writes (wrote??) and his characters are always so unique and interesting; I adore the references to Tolstoy and Dostoevskij; this book has more of a painting than a book; it’s an impressive recount of a fundamental historical moment; the end is not clear but beautiful 9,5/10

THE HANDMAID’S TALE, M. ATWOOD – I thought I wouldn’t have been able to stomach it, and then I found out that there’s a right way to tell a story about violence and she mastered it; cruel people are just that, no craziness, no dark past, just thirst for power and the confidence of knowing what’s best for everyone; it gave me chills, it made me angry; I love how she writes, it’s the first time a first person pov doesn’t make me want to tear my eyes off my face… people who watched the series: do you know what’s the real name of Offred? I need it 10/10

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, J. AUSTEN – as usual, her books must be read in one breath; Jane and Charles’ story is my favourite; I love Mr Bennet as much as I can’t suffer everyone’s sisters (except Miss Darcy of course); it has an amazing mix of characters, I absolutely love the drama that follows Mr Darcy; I honestly expected a more dramatic confession at the end but it was great 9/10

NOTES FROM A DEATH HOUSE, F. DOSTOEVSKY – a bit too auto-biographic for my tastes, but I adored his depiction of a humanity which is often forgotten; it’s very disturbing in its actuality if you stop to think about it; he never tires himself saying that those “criminals” are also and foremost human beings 7,5/10

ASYLUM, P. MCGRATH – the first part is fast-paced, it leaves you breathless and with an anxious need to keep on reading; then it started to be a little more psychological and it kinda bored me; I liked the narrator very much, it was really disturbing 7,5/10

DOCTOR ZIVAGO, B. PASTERNAK – every Russian book I’ve read gave me a glimpse of Russian history and culture, yet they’re all different and I think that’s often underappreciated. Now, this book. This book is, simply put, breath-taking. The landscapes are immense and colourful, the talent of this man is unparalleled; it has a devastating end, it’s a book I’ll probably read over and over again just ‘cause reading it is “such a sweet sorrow” 10/10 (this rec is shorter than what it should have been in my mind, but I’d probably end up talking about this book and only this book so that’s it, it’s called self-control)

EMMA, J. AUSTEN – at first I was annoyed by Emma’s character, but then she proved herself so oblivious it started to become pretty funny; I can’t get over how much people talk in this book, the irony is SO on point, I love it; I probably like it more than Persuasion, because there are so many twists that the ending left me really surprised for once. And let me tell you, Jane Austen is THE BEST at depicting insufferable people 10/10

UNO, NESSUNO, E CENTOMILA, L. PIRANDELLO – look at me, reading Italian literature, world must be ending… to be honest? I don’t remember much of it? And I didn’t take notes as I usually do? I must’ve been bored out of my mind… I’ll give it a 6/10 on trust alone because I know Pirandello is great lol

HIS DARK MATERIALS, P. PULLMAN – finally got to this and it left me pretty confused; the first book is great, I loved the characters and the scenery, but in the other two I felt like too many things were left unexplained and Lyra’s character too lost some of its greatness; the end brought very little clarity, if at all, and of course I hated it with a passion; I don’t think he expressed the maximum potential of the world he built, but I liked it alright 7,5/10

1984, G. ORWELL – saying I was disappointed might be an understatement; I like how it’s written but the story in itself is frustrating, frankly boring, and disappointing, especially the end; you don’t build so much tension just to end it like that! Tho, maybe that’s exactly what he wanted to convey; everything is pretty much hopeless, made me angry 7/10

CARRIE, S. KING – first of his book I’ve ever read, AND I LOVED IT; it’s not a style I like very much, letting us know how it will end since the beginning, but it was great, magnificent, empowering; I don’t know if I’ll ever have the patience to read the others (they’re all so big) but this certainly got me curious 9/10

JACOB’S ROOM, V. WOOLF – confusing, very confusing, more confusing than anything of hers; of course it’s very beautifully written, but I have no idea what happened there 6,5 maybe 7/10?

THE WITCH, S. JACKSON – my personal Halloween challenge begins with this; short, CREEPY, VERY CREEPY, to the point (what point?); absolutely loved it 8/10

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, S. JACKSON – listen, creepy houses are my jam, they’re the best; my first impression of the characters went like this: they’re all batshit crazy, I love them; it honestly gave me nightmares; I wish I would’ve read it in English tho 8/10

THE ABC MURDERS, A. CHRISTIE – the queen of plot-twists herself, she never disappoints; not my favourite, mind you, but it was great how she built the story of the murderer just to… well, you’ll have to read it 7,5/10

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, E. A. POE – I love when short stories such as this leave so much space around them to build whatever plot your imagination can come up with; it’s great, even left like it is 8/10

THE PENELOPIAD, M. ATWOOD – whatever guys, this woman has the ability to write the worst things in such a delicate way simply out of this world; I ADORE HER 9/10

THE UNCOMMON READER, A. BENNETT – hilarious from start to finish, kinda frustrating in the way only royal etiquette can be; I love how the Queen relates to others and I adored her inner monologue; the end is brilliant and the whole book (more or less 100 pages) feels like a breath of fresh air 8/10

THEATRE

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, W. SHAKESPEARE – funny, brilliant, it became one of my favourite comedies (and there aren’t many of them) 8/10

CYMBELINE, W. SHAKESPEARE – nice little thing, with all the ingredients of a tragedy but with a happy ending; for a moment I thought it would end in a King Lear’s way, glad it didn’t 7,5/10

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, W. SHAKESPEARE – the first of Shakespeare’s plays that I didn’t like at all, and I think the reasons are pretty clear to whoever has read it; it kinda felt “out of character” for him, but maybe I’m just an ignorant 4/10

POETRY and LETTERS

ARIEL, S. PLATH – raw, powerful, sad, everything I expected of it, I also have the best edition ever, she’s great 8/10

POEMS FROM THE MOOR, E. BRONTE – the talent, the power of this woman; I’ll cry the loss of the Gondal’s saga for the rest of my life 8/10

LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET, R. M. RILKE – amazing, the thins this man could write even in such a trivial thing as a letter, I love him 10/10

MARINA CVETAEVA – I must admit, I like her prose better than her poetry; her letters are heart breaking yet so full of enthusiasm you can’t help but feel for her; also, she loves Boris as much as I do, her letters to him are my favourite thing in the world 9/10

BORIS PASTERNAK – this man was the best present this year could give me, do yourself a favour and go read him 10/10

SPECIAL MENTION: THE SECRET HISTORY, D. TARTT – I may have a problem with her books, but I’ve started this in January and never got the patience to finish it; chapters WAY too long, characters that are so insufferable they can’t be real; pretentious, boring… I can’t give it a rating because I didn’t finish it and I’m not a monster, but the bar is very low

This is it I guess! I hope I gave you a little bit of entertainment, this is something I usually do for myself but I’m glad to share with you every year. I wish you a better end of 2020 than the whole, stay strong and stay safe!  A virtual hug to everyone 💚💚💚 

#books #books ive read in 2020 #book recs #bookish advices #bookworm #booklover #literature #classics #poetry #theatre #reading #reading life #the hard life of a bookaholic #long post #laemontalks #a lot #lev tolstoy #philip pullman #boris pasternak #franz kafka #agatha christie #shirley jackson #edgar allan poe #jane austen #emily bronte #sylvia plath #marina cvetaeva #rainer maria rilke #patrick mcgrath #william shakespeare

[docgold13]

Doc, I have a question.

I have a... somewhat irrational attachment to a teddy bear that I’ve named Shep. I got him from Build A Bear when I was 19. He was actually my first Build A Bear, I have several, roughly 12, others. And they’re all in pristine condition. But Shep’s fur is matted and smells a bit gross, I can’t lie. He’s threadbare in places. I’ve had to sew parts of him up because his stuffing started coming out and he looks a lot older than he is. He looks almost like a family heirloom rather than something I bought 8 years ago. I have much, much older plushies than Shep too, including the plushie my father got me when I was born and several plushies from all my trips to Disneyland from childhood and adulthood.

I’m 27 and I can’t go to sleep without him. He comes on planes with me, on holidays with me, in cars with me and he went to university with me and cheered me on at my American football games and watched me as I performed in musicals. He’s even been with me as I’ve been canvassing for the Labour Party (I’m British!). I make clothes for him. Like actually measure and hand sew clothes for him. I bought him a little LGBT flag because in my mind, he’s gay and in a steady relationship with one of my other teddy bears.

My question is why have I attached myself so much to this particular teddy bear, to Shep and not, say to Mickey Mouse or Michelle Obearma (another BAB)? Is there a psychological reason for this? I was physically and psychologically abused as a young child, but not by my parents, they were (and are) pretty okay. Has that got something to do with it? Is it because I’m autistic? Like I logically, I know Shep is an inanimate object and I know projecting onto a bit of fabric and stuffing isn’t really healthy and it’s especially weird for an adult. And even more especially weird for a grown adult who’s a political advisor!

Should I be seeing a therapist for this when lockdown’s over (on Monday for me)?

To begin, there is nothing in the least wrong with your situation with Shep. It’s not alarming, not indicative of psychopathology, not weird... You can see a therapist if you like, but there is no reason for it specific to your teddy.

Indeed the only thing you need worry about is taking the efforts needed to keep Shep together and ready for cuddles.

As complex psychological beings, we all cultivate our own individual means of coping with stress and dealing with life. Some such means are good, some bad; some are effective, some ineffective; and some are common while some may seem odd.

Clearly you have been rather successful in life... despite the difficulties you have faced in the past it sounds as though you have been able to get done the goals you’ve set out for yourself and are kicking butt.

So don’t mess with success; if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. In short: do not get rid of Shep.

To the contrary, embrace and accept the fact that you have cultivated your own effective and idiosyncratic coping mechanism.

In regards to the psychobabble. Some refer to things like Shep as ‘transitional objects.’ Others call them ‘talismans’ others still use the term ‘psychically charged objects.’

I’m not sure that analyzing the matter in your case is necessary or even a good idea. Shep works... that’s all that matters.

In very general terms, I have found that with the individuals I’ve worked with who identify as on the autistic spectrum, sometimes abstract psychological constructs don’t resonate particularly strongly. Sometimes tangible objects or more powerful.

My own Shep is an internalized object, a psychic imago of who I am merged with the important people who have guided me through tough times. It works for me, but is abstract. I would venture to say you have something similar going on, except instead of it being an abstract internal object, it is a tangible, external object.

And one isn’t necessarily better then the other.

I’m 100% pro-Shep.

[marginal-notes]

I in response to your flamethrower comment, they have a cooler on Boiling Rock, which mean they have pretty good cooling system if the air outside is so hot. That means they know how to liquify some gases, assuming they just aren't hauling huge chunks of ice or something. So they probably do have the technology for flamethrowers(maybe). But from the show, they just seems to prefer chucking flaming rocks, which tbh, is easier.

You’ve unlocked my brother’s and my “cannons? Cannons?? WHY AREN’T THERE CANNONS????” discussion with a partial side of me crying at my screen about “what is the state of chemistry in this world at this point, ATLA, ANSWER ME.” 

This is going to be long. 

~~~

Some quick Googling:

A good portion of modern flamethrowers work by having pressurized gas pump out a liquid fuel which is ignited. 

So what does this mean within ATLA?

1) They can pressurize gas. Apparently people have figured out how to compress air since the mid-19th century. This is around the time period I’ve been pegging ATLA to reflect so that works out.

2) They can mass produce stuff on an industrial scale. Hi, I’m still not over how Zhao hauled over 100 warships to the North Pole. THE LOGISTICS OF THAT. THE SCALE OF THAT. COORDINATING ALL THOSE ORDERS. THAT’S LIKE BRINGING THE ENTIRE SPANISH ARMADA TO BRITAIN.

But the navy does prove the Fire Nation has the ability to produce standardized equipment and parts. A ship needs so many rivets. There are harbors in the Fire Nation entirely dedicated to building and repairing these ships and they must be doing super interesting things to the social fabric of the nation. Also, Jesus, where are they getting all this metal from. Where are they getting all their fabric from for the uniforms. If the Fire Nation ever loses its colonies, a lot of people would be foaming at the mouth with anger. 

Anyways, check that off too. 

3) They want to use them. Which. 

~~~

The presence of benders must really mess up the advance of technology. Bad enough that irl, before the West came smashing in, the Far East had barely any interest or initiative in developing these kinds of technology. To be fair, they weren’t constantly murdering each other through wars the way Europe did. But still. How do we clear out this mountain for our tunnels? Get an earthbender. How do we filter this water? Get a waterbender too. How do we set these people on fire and wreck psychological devastation upon the enemy by burning all their cover? Get a bunch of firebenders. 

No extra equipment necessary. No oil fuel needed. No hauling around supply chains that aren’t food. If they’re around, just grab a bunch of benders. 

But what about the nonbending population? Personally, I’ve always felt that benders are a minority of the population, though an elite minority. If earthbenders were all over the place, Master Yu would not be able to get away with his scamming that easily. Nonbenders are going to need tools when there isn’t the requisite bender conveniently around. 

(Jesus, the social tension that must be constantly shimmering over this dynamic and its effects upon the job markets.)

And frankly, in war? There will be times where sheer quantity overpowers quality. Longbows can devastate crossbows, thanks to superior range. But if the longbows aren’t there? Tons of people quickly trained with crossbows and other ranged weaponry are going to start winning. 

Emergencies like war are like a super fuel to rapid invention. Nothing motivates people to figure out tool and processes like the threat of thousands and millions of your people dying every day.

So where the fuck are the cannons.

~~~

Here’s where my brain keeps smashing against the limits imposed by the audience ATLA is intended for plus the pure reality of storytelling. ATLA works very well partially because it doesn’t go into all these details. There aren’t many filler episodes. It stays on track with the narrative. It doesn’t veer off into tangents. And I love it for that. 

But why does the Earth Kingdom suck so badly at responding to the Fire Nation?

(There are plenty of easy valid answers. My primary justifications are a) Aang is the protagonist and thus warps the narrative around him and b) one hundred years of on and off war kills the best and the brightest of all the militaries.) 

Benders can only throw rocks so far. That throw is only going to have so much force behind it. Excellent benders can move incredibly heavy weights, so presumably with smaller rocks they can sling those very fast. But its still not a cannon. 

The most powerful catapults and trebuchets could throw up to around 1000-1500 feet. 

During the American Civil War, a cannon used can hit something a mile away. During WW1, artillery could hit something 80 miles away. 

The key inventions necessary include a) an ability to bore precise rifling, b) at least gunpowder in mass quantities, and c) different types of shells to taste. 

(Side note from the brother: The Fire Nation might not have the natural resources for all the gunpowder necessary to hand out rifles to everyone plus feed all the artillery. I counter him with the fact that the Fire Nation made significant territorial gains into the Earth Kingdom continent and they were not losing that territory. Anyways.) 

If the Fire Nation navy is able to shoot out grappling hooks from their ships, I honestly canNOT understand why they still use trebuchets. Those things require so much open space around them for the arm to operate and get top ranges. You might as well set up a bunch of cannons in that space. Want a fireball of death still? Put blasting jelly or other fire-starting materials within the shells. Hey, they definitely know how to make bombs for their airships. Buddy.  

For god’s sake, they figured out hydraulics and maybe gyroscopes for their tanks. WHY ARE THEY STILL USING CATAPULTS. THAT’S STUPID. 

~~~

Here’s what’s not stupid. 

The use of new technology will always ruffle the feathers of members among the old guard. 

The use of this kind of modern technology will fundamentally change the entire nature of war. 

And these kinds of changes? They reverberate through society. Benders are no longer the only cream of the crop among the military. If the social hierarchy depends in part on bending ability, which I bet the Fire Nation’s been using for the last century plus, then this technology is, literally, revolutionary. 

And that’s not pretty. 

#the blah blahs #long post #as much as this drives me crazy #i'm glad ATLA didn't do this #ATLA is not a military story #i'm not kidding #Aang could have been COMPLETELY obsolete by the time he woke up #if the EK and FN were super dedicated to massacring each other the way Europe was #however this would make benders within the respective armies #also obsolete #so you know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #but yeah i've been thinking about this a lot #because frankly given the FN military industrial capacities #where are the rifles #and more importantly #WHERE ARE THE STEAMPUNK AUS #Anonymous

[disaster-fruit]

and I know it's unfair because I haven't answered the ask yet but you're Brazilian so you know way more than me but I'd love to hear your thoughts about Imperial Brazil?? I'm really struggling with him bc i know about him in this era more from a portuguese perspective.....

YOU THOUGHT I WOULDN’T ANSWER THIS HUH 

Sorry for taking so damn long audshdf I was saving this ask to do a real deep dive into the whole empire with a lot of historical explanation and a lot of detail buuuut I was having some trouble coherently organizing my thoughts about Pedro II’s reign so instead I’m gonna use this ask to more loosely talk abt the first half of the empire. You’ve seen my basic thoughts on the second half on that other post, so now I’m gonna ramble mostly about 1808-1840.

Also, hm, this is LONG. It’s embarrassingly long. I hope you have time. 

And yes 1808-1822 is not part of the empire, but Brazil was no longer a colony in practice during those years, and I think they were crucial to his development as a person. 

Before 1808, Brazil pretty much grew up alone. His mother was around less and less, and he had no friends. Portugal was, as we already know, a shitty dad. Up to that point, he was not only absent but also very controlling. He never allowed Brazil or his people to learn how to read, Brazil wasn’t allowed to have libraries or universities or newspapers or even print. Portugal alienated Brazil both from his mother and from Port himself. He was forcefully kept from developing his own ideas, and his growth was stagnant – even physically. The way I see it, after 300 years he was still a small child, while the others around him were already growing into teenagers even though they were younger in actual numbers. Portugal literally kept him from developing as a person, by force. 

But suddenly, Portugal needed him. Suddenly, he showed up at his shore, with hundreds of people, and objects, and books. And though Portugal desperately needed Brazil at that time, his king couldn’t be there with Brazil being like that. That land with no cities and no libraries and no economy no nothing because he was forced to have nothing. 

He starts growing really, really fast, and forcefully again. And it was a painful process – his people were being kicked out of their houses so that the people that arrived from Portugal had where to live. In a few years, he grew almost as fast as humans did. But it was still an incomplete growth – most of his people were still living in misery, but now he had a structured state that allowed him to more firmly fit into what a nation means. But it all happened so fast he was… dizzy. 

And that was all combined with what was happening in his relationship with his father. They had both gotten much closer now that Portugal was physically there more often. I think Portugal is considerably less shitty to Brazil during these years, both because he needs him and because he is a relief from everything going on in Europe. But that doesn’t mean he became a good dad, but also Brazil was a lot smarter now, a lot freer, and quick to realize something that had always been true – Portugal needed Brazil more than Brazil needed Portugal. Much more. 

The fact that he wasn’t a colony anymore but wasn’t quite independent, and thus still had to obey Portugal to some degree, started to annoy him. This has quite a bit of teenage rebellion element into it, but that doesn’t mean it came from unjustified anger. Not at all. His pride and ego were starting to really develop. The king of Portugal liked him better than he liked port himself, Brazil was heaven on earth, Brazil was rich, Brazil was full of potential, Brazil was great, Brazil was paradise, Brazil was not his own.  

And that just keeps building.

And when Portugal starts talking about making him a colony again. After all that shit about the being a united kingdom, about Portugal being his father and trying to get close to him, of seeing him as a refuge and a relief, after all of that connection I think Portugal genuinely tried to build with him, the ugly truth is bare again – Portugal never saw him as worthy of equal footing, never saw that united kingdom as anything but temporary, never saw brazil as anything more than a colony. 

And Brazil is mad. 

When he found out the plans of Pedro I to declare independence, he’s more than happy. He’s been thinking of it for a while, and I think maybe deep down he didn’t love the idea of another Portuguese man being his boss, but Pedro had grown up in brazil, dude was carioca at heart, his wife was wonderful, Brazil could work with that. He declared independence, fought against Portugal, won, still had to pay for his independence, but, at last, he got it. 

I think in a way Brazil’s anger, as righteous as it was, did blind him to what was going on. He wanted so bad to get rid of Portugal and avoid going back to how it was when he was a colony, that he waved away or even approved things that really just kept him stuck in the same place. Very little actually changed for most people, and as someone who literally represented all the people, he knew that and could feel that, but he was still so euphoric personally about it that he… ignored it. 

Pedro I’s reign was… messy. He needed a constitution, he got into a war with Argentina, everyone was talking about who Pedro was fucking, it was just a whole mess. For that reason, I think despite declaring his independence, brazil remembers Pedro as being mostly an irresponsible asshole who couldn’t keep it in his pants and was too busy being a playboy to rule this country yet still managed to be authoritarian and also made him lose Uruguay. And when it came time for him to choose Brazil or Portugal, just like his father, he chooses Portugal. 

That was a blow on his ego. Brazil at this point was still just a teenager, who had in two decades grown insanely fast for a nation, has been told by each king his land was heaven on earth and so much richer than Portugal, yet no one was willing to choose him. Ever. He was still an afterthought. Like a colony, that still had a metropolis. Pedro left him with a 4-year-old, with a government disorganized, and no money. 

And then the Provinces start to rise up. 

So, hm, a quick background on how I see the provinces: Some of them existed since around 1530, some were younger and some weren't around yet, and if Brazil first appeared representing the people that were born in this new colony, the provinces were much more… administrative and political. Yet many of the ones that were around grew much faster than Brazil – they were already teenagers or even adults by independence. They had always responded directly to Portugal and for a long time saw no connection between themselves or between them and Brazil. The idea of “Brazil” was only like… 100 years old, even less than that. And some of them were not loving being attached to those two kids – Brazil and the baby emperor. They saw the weak government of the regency as a chance to rise up and declare their own independence, as many who started as provinces around them had – like Uruguay.

The regency lasted 9 years, but I think those few years were also crucial to form Brazil as a person, due to how stressful they were. Think about it, he saw what was happening around him, with Spain’s former colonies. And I think he for the first time had to grapple with the very human existential fear of death. 

If each of his provinces became their own country, would he still be around? Would he just become… Rio? But Rio existed as a province too. Would he just… be a lot of different countries? Probably not.  He would probably disappear. He had only just started to be allowed to live, but that could be taken away at any moment. Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul succeeded in getting their independence. How long until the others? It was quite terrifying. And I think that experience not only made him averse to the idea of being a republic in general at the time, but also created a lot of emotional and psychological problems for him, a lot of insecurity, as well as it made him realize he was nothing. There was nothing to justify his existence. He couldn’t say he existed because he wanted freedom or republic, he had none of these, plus it was something the provinces too could have. What united that land? What made him him? Those were all questions that would haunt him for the rest of the empire, and he would soon be more than willing to go after and accept easy answers. That’s how he gets to that whole indianismo think I talked about some time ago.

He fights his own provinces, on people, countless times. Revolts that really were like civil wars kept popping, and he, who was just a teenager, had to fight to oppress his provinces and force them into being a part of him, for a reason he himself didn’t know. He couldn’t explain why they should be a part of him, except that they were and he wanted them to be and he wanted to live. And he didn’t know why.

In summary, this whole period was one of fear, and insecurity, and doubt. It shook him profoundly as a person more than as a country. Because once Pedrinho was in power, things were quick to stabilize and it was, in some ways, as if those revolts had never happened, but Brazil remembered them, he lived through them, and never really forgot that fear. 

If the regency was marked by external peace and internal turmoil, Pedrinho’s reign was one of relatively internal peace and external turmoil. Pedro II was… a complicated figure. Most Brazilians today regard him as an excellent ruler and a wise man, but I at least can’t be this optimistic about the man who insisted on the Paraguayan war, refused to abolish slavery for decades, and basically laid ground to a lot of the problems we still have today, like bad distribution of land and late industrialization. He didn’t do all that by himself, of course, a lot can be blamed on the senate, but he was the most powerful man on the country, and he receives way too much credit for his personal beliefs of being an abolitionist and a pacifist. Maybe he really was both these things, but that doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t use his power to end slavery and avoid war, quite the opposite. And why is that important here? Because I think brazil, the tan, was also fooled by it. He quickly bought into the narrative that Pedro II was this wise incredible man, and overlooked all the ways he kept the worst structures of the country untouched in order to not upset the elite that kept him in power. Brazil wanted nothing but stability and power, and Pedro, looking like the opposite of his father at the surface, brought that. There were no more separatist movements or civil wars once he rose to power, Rio Grande do Sul was reabsorbed, and the years that followed were ones of relative prosperity, and all of that really made brazil more and more attached to the whole concept of the empire. I think just like he was willing to ignore a lot of things during independence for the sake of it, here too he ignored all the ways Pedro II held him back so that he could fully feel the pride of being a powerful empire.

Brazil really did like being an empire during that time. The narrative of the empire was one that answered the question that haunted him for so long – what justified his existence. Justifying it, in the 19th century, is what I believe to be the main motivation underlying everything he did and thought. And the narrative was that the empire guaranteed stability and avoided civil wars and fragmentation, allowing Brazil to be, to quote José Bonifacio, “This majestic and solid piece of social architecture from the Prata to the Amazonas”, and again, all that in comparison to his neighbors that were constantly drowning in civil wars and fragmenting. For stability and that justification, he was willing to turn a blind eye to anything else.

So he rose from the regency feeling stronger than ever. Pedrinho had put everything into place, he was growing, he had a Brazilian in power for the first time, his coffee was going well, and he had survived. Many of his neighbors hadn’t, or at least not in the sense of managing to keep their territories intact. He did. His neighbors were unstable, with wars and coups and wars (like he hadn’t just had exactly that), he was stable and growing and he was the strongest. Once free of the fear of being destroyed from the inside, his ego grew once again, and he felt good. He felt pride in being a big strong and centralized empire, and to look down on the other Latin Americans and even on his father. He was ready now to make his power and influence spread, as an Empire. 

That's it, sorry if this is both ridiculously long and also a mess, I have way too many thoughts about imperial brazil and I could've probably written ten more pages of it and still have something to say. Also I'd still love to hear your thoughts on the empire for a Portuguese perspective, because I genuinely have no clue what that would look like. But anyway hmm I hope this was fun? 

#ask #sorry this is so goddamn long but come on yall know me at this point i cant and wont shut up #long post #hcs

[sometimesrosy]

Hi I'm an endgame believer in bellarke but I was curious about something. Why is it that Clarke said she loved l/xa but when Bellamy was going to say he loves echo that it was cut out? Like they're both not the healthiest of relationships but it's pretty obvious that they cared in both relationships. Or is it just because it should be obvious and with bellarke being endgame they didn't want bellamy to say it 2 seasons before bellarke becomes an official couple bf/gf?

Well, it’s not required that love be healthy. There are lots of love relationships that are not healthy. Or that could be healthier. Love is not the answer. Love does not fix all the problems. If a person is messed up and they fall in love, the love doesn’t fix them, they’re just a messed up person in love. 

Maybe two messed up people in love. Sometimes one person’s mess will make the other person’s mess worse. Or they’ll make each other’s messes worse. I think those are the kind of relationships we tend to call “toxic.” I think people often got mad at me for saying CL was abusive because in their understanding of love, which could ONLY be good, love can’t be toxic. I was in a toxic relationship for 10 years and I can assure you, there was still love. It just didn’t make either of our messes better. 

Sometimes both people’s messes fit each other and they kind of fill in the holes or give the other person the right perspective or sounding board and they make each person BETTER. Sometimes love supports the lovers and allows them to be better than they are. Allows them to succeed. Doesn’t swallow up one lover. Creates something that is bigger than the parts.

I do think that’s one of the misunderstandings that shippers have. They think that if there is LOVE then that means a relationship is perfect and ideal and forever and good for everyone. And while that might be true in SOME stories (the whole disney ideal of love is one of the schools of fiction where it is) it’s not true in life and it’s generally not true in the more realistic or psychologically realistic stories.

So you have to figure out what kind of story is being told before you can understand what is going on with the love story/stories being told.

This story *is* absolutely telling us something about love. It just may not be what we think it’s saying, as shippers. Because it’s not written from a shippers, or romance genre, perspective... even though there are some genuinely romantic stories in it. 

There is no intention to make Bellarke obvious as endgame or B/E obvious as not endgame. That’s not the point. That is a perspective of shipwars, where one ship can win and one can lose. THIS IS NOT HOW YOU TELL A STORY. It’s how you play a football game. Shipping is a football game where endgame is the ball. That’s not a story, it’s a battle. 

A story is about CHANGE, about a character starting out one way and changing due to the obstacles in the story and the choices they make. 

If that’s the case, then what we’re looking at is the changes in the characters, in regards to love. And with Clarke and Bellamy, we have some major changes.

Clarke actually started out very loving, loving everyone, embracing everyone, even her enemies (bellamy and lxa most notably) and this allowed her to be able to understand them and bring them to her side. But the toxic message of love as a weakness absolutely destroyed Clarke. She spent 2199 alone, letting her love for Bellamy keep her alive and sane, and he returned and broke her heart by betraying her. So. Like. The lowest she ever got was when her anchor, her soulmate, her true love, turned out to be not only a weakness, but a mirage... or so she thought. She realized that was not the case and came back to herself and committed to being the good guy (her original vision of hope and humanity) and committed also to being Bellamy’s friend, because she believes that was all she could have. And then she gets bodysnatched and spends time in her mindspace where she learns to value herself and that she DOESN’T want to give up or sacrifice herself and she wants to fight and she reaches out and finds... Bellamy. And then Bellamy brings her back with the power of his love for her, and she learns how love is VERY MUCH NOT A WEAKNESS, then taking that lesson and bringing it back and using it to save her daughter and the rest of them and humanity in exactly the same way. She’s returned from the darkness to use her lessons and new powers to save her world (this is the hero’s journey, yo, finally. she’s back from the wilderness.)

And what is the power? 

Love. It is LOVE, nonny. 

In specific, Bellamy’s love for Clarke. Bellarke.

But lest you think this is all one sided, let’s look at Bellamy’s journey with love.

Well, I mean, he’s “the heart,” right? So that should be important to him, right? Even though, according to the “canon” interpretation of shipping, he’s never had a real love story, either it was sex without love or relationship with out story. Fandom claims that his love stories have been minimized, and he has been neglected by the writers, as the hero, from getting his own love story.

UNLESS you realize that the entire 7 seasons is Bellamy’s love story. He meets Clarke griffin in 1.01. He falls in love with her as the seasons go on, she becomes his soulmate, always separated from him by other love stories, politics, time, space and death itself, right? 

Bellamy has ALWAYS been about love, but in the beginning it was a very self abnegating kind of love. He was erased in his love. It was always for other people. HIs story with Octavia is really partly him learning how to claim worth for himself, find boundaries, say no. Season 4 was explicitly about Bellamy learning that he couldn’t save all the people he loved. That it was not his responsibility to take care of everyone. Season 5 had Bellamy living his life, keeping Clarke inside of him by living as she would want him to, internalizing her lessons. He kept her heart within his heart. He became the hero she believed he could be. He became the hero she wanted to be. He reached the end of his hero’s journey, and yet, his story wasn’t over.

The thing is, Bellamy in season 6? Bellamy wasn’t trying to “be the good guy.” Bellamy was trying to live a good life, like Monty and Harper, in love. Bellamy wasn’t looking for philosophy or even really saving his people. He was looking for ONE thing. Love. And he realized the CLARKE was that love. IN season 6. He was not looking to save his people, he was looking to save his Clarke, and he brought her back withe power of his love, alone. Once they were together, then he could go and save is people. They could be the heroes again. But now, his story is a love story.

He is the heart, teaching them all to live in love. And she is the head, teaching them all to live in goodness. And they can both do this because their journeys have BEEN such a struggle and they have been DENIED their goal the whole time. 

To be honest. This is my interpretation of the love story of Bellamy and Clarke up to this point and I can’t actually say that it’s done or complete or even that I’m 100 percent sure. Because the story is not over yet and no interpretation can be made, truly, without seeing the WHOLE story. However, I have enough evidence that I am speculating that this is the trajectory of the story. 

JR said that there is a complete story and there was a purpose to the whole thing, it wasn’t random and he did mean it.

I’m telling you, he means Bellarke, not just as two hot people with chemistry let’s get them together, but as the backbone of the story about unity, coming together, yin yang, soulmates, redemption and forgiveness and the rebirth of humanity. 

#the 100 #bellarke #soulmates #endgame #romantic development #epic love story #it's about love